Wednesday 14 June 2017

Be a Role Model

Blog post #3: Peer Videoconference What skills are needed by principals and leaders in technology rich learning environments?

James and I discussed this question by referring to an article in Flipboard, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-leading Principals. According to Jennifer Demski (2012), there are seven practices that should be part of a principal's repertoire in order to lead in today's tech-rich educational systems.

  1. Create an atmosphere that inspires innovation
  2. Foster collaboration
  3. Be open to new ideas
  4. Be a connected learner
  5. Locate and provide adequate resources
  6. Take risks
  7. Have a Visionary Focus

School leaders who model these practices will more likely inspire the same habits in their faculty and staff.



References


Demski, J. (2012). 7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-leading Principals. The Journal. Retrieved from https://thejournal.com/articles/2012/06/07/7-habits-of-highly-effective-tech-leading-principals.aspx



                                          

Monday 12 June 2017

Discussion #2: TED Talks

Key Takeaways

Will Richardson at TEDXMelbourne

Will Richardson's talk was centered around the idea that learning inside of school is different than learning outside of school.  He spoke to ideas on how schools should respond and change to mitigate this factor.  The comment that resonated with me the most was "don't neglect the immeasurables". Skills such as being creative or a problem solver are essential for students, even though they are difficult to measure, don't neglect explicitly teaching them.

Sugata Mitra Build a school in the cloud

I admire the work and extreme ideas that drive Sugata Mitra to claim that "knowing is obsolete." His focus on encouragement really aligns with my teaching style.  By encouraging students, we are building their self-efficacy, agency, confidence, and promoting life-long learning.

Sal Kahn Let’s use video to reinvent education
According to the Kahn Academy website, "Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom."  In the video, Sal Khan shared that his very first instructional videos were used as a supplement, for motivated students, or in homeschooling.  Then, the videos gained traction with teachers; they were using the videos to flip their classrooms.  Sal Kahn stated that this style of teaching used technology to humanize classrooms. A very interesting and thought provoking statement, in my opinion.

Sunday 4 June 2017

Blog Post #8: Interview Reactions

For me, the most salient points in John Burns’s interview (Boll, 2015) center around taking a closer, deeper look at your own organization and finding ways to work better together in order to make connections.  He mentions that these connections can be made by 'deprivatizing' practice and having a deliberate plan on how to scale change.  Aspects such as robust learning environments, a technical infrastructure, and a willing and capable faculty are all crucial to 'deprivatizing' practices and scaling innovation. At Singapore American School (SAS), we have all three of those components, so why is authentic and consistent technology integration only happening in pockets or still seem a bit haphazard?  I would argue that there is very little sharing of practices vertically across the school,  One way John Burns mentions in his interview to build better community and a sharing of practices, internally and externally, is through social media.  SAS does have a hashtag and teachers do post, but it seems to always be a small select group of teachers that post and learn from each other.  Our school is so large, it is hard to keep up with everything that is happening, but with tools such as Twitter it is possible.  I will admit that even though my office is on the 2nd grade hallway, I learn the most about what they are doing through Twitter.  If SAS coaches were to build a greater online community of teachers sharing, I believe practices would become more 'deprivatized' and teachers would be more connected at our school.  I try to encourage and promote change by using social media as a platform to highlight teachers’ practices that are compelling evidence in support of a new change, innovation, or initiative happening at SAS.









Friday 2 June 2017

Blog Post #6: SAMR

A Grade 1 “Redefinition” Lesson According to Ruben Puentedura’s SAMR Model:


Title of Lesson: Show Data Digitally - Which app is best for the job?
Topic or Main Idea: Graphing and Choosing the Best Tool for the Job
Objectives: Students will think critically about the apps they know and decide which app is best to use for creating graphs of a given data set.  
Standards: Represent and interpret data - CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.C.4
Technology Standard - Critical Thinker - I can use digital tools to represent data.
Materials: iPads, whiteboards, markers, snap cubes, or other materials that students choose to use in their graph creation
Activity: Students will create graphs using a variety of apps.  They will communicate with their peers and collaborate on ways to create the graphs in the apps.  Students will problem-solve how best to include the required components of a graph in each app.
Assessment: Are students able to verbalize (reason) which app they felt was best and why?  Do they show an understanding of the various parts of a graph?

For me, this lesson classifies as a "redefinition" lesson due to the autonomy and ownership that students have in deciding which app they use to create a graph. The stop motion example is of particular interest to me because when this student asked if he could use the Stop Motion app to create a graph, I was skeptical that it would work. My initial reaction (in my head) was "No, that app won't be the best tool for this job. I don't think you can do it." But....my verbal response was, "How do you imagine creating your graph with Stop Motion? How do you plan on getting started?" When he was able to answer those questions I positively reinforced his desire to try something completely different and his creativity. In the end, as you can see in his video, he was successful in using Stop Motion to make a graph.


Student Sample using Stop Motion

Thursday 1 June 2017

Blog Post #7: Your Personal Inquiry


My personal inquiry is how to achieve more consistency with technology integration in SAS’s Elementary School’s (ES) 1:1 ipad program.  This inquiry directly connects to classroom learning and instruction as it clarifies expectations for teachers and students in relation to technology integration.  By identifying Technology Power Standards that align with our school’s Desired Student Learning Outcomes (DSLOs), very similar to 21 Century skills, providing natural curricular pathways, and sharing examples of lessons or student work for each standard, consistency will be easier to achieve.  This work is crucial for moving our 1:1 ipad program forward, and it couldn’t have been done without the support and input from teachers.  Teachers will continue to be responsible for helping to maintain and support this work with their teams next year.  Building capacity within our faculty is a critical change element in our context.  According to Michael Fullan (2013), one of the Six Secrets of Change, #3 Building Capacity Prevails, he states that successful innovation means harnessing the collective power of all faculty and administrators to implement change.

https://www.amazon.com/Six-Secrets-Change-Leaders-Organizations/dp/1118152603

Reference
Fullan, M. (2013). The six secrets of change. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.