Site Visits and School Walk-Throughs

Our district has hosted several site visits since moving to a 1:1 iPad environment in September of 2011.  Though these visits can be time consuming, I believe they benefit all involved.  Classroom teachers have the opportunities to share their practices with other educators, students engage in authentic conversation with adults and participants get to see, first hand, a school in action.  School visits build collegiality within the broader community and work to improve education by collaboration.

I often get asked for tips about planning school visits or walk-throughs.  Here are a few:

1. Mix up the sessions and get people moving around.  A little pedagogy, a little technology, visits, eating, etc...
2. Participants come to see, first hand, what goes on in classrooms so be sure to build in ample time for walk-throughs.  Be sure to let participants know whether it's okay to speak with students and teachers.  I always ask teachers to prep students regarding the visit so when the adults entered they wouldn't be wondering why they were there.  If events can be scheduled on the same day of each week, even better, because then everyone knows it's a school visitation day and they can expect visitors.
3. No surprises visits.  Let teachers know you are coming.  The beauty of seeing a 1:1 in action is seeing it in action.  If your visit is to be "real," visitors need to see not all students use the iPad every single minute of the day and that everyone uses the device differently.  
4. The only request I had of teachers was that they did not have any direct instruction going on during the site visit.  This would make it difficult for visitors to roam the classrooms and interact with teachers and students.  
5. Build in time for Q&A.  Whether you do this in each session or do this at the end is entirely up to you.  A mix is nice.
6. Student panels/tour guides are awesome.  Everyone likes hearing about the student perspective because it provides the participants a unique view of the 1:1.  I selected students who could handle the makeup work of being out of class and whom I knew had a good working knowledge of the iPad.  This is important as they are representing the school and the implementation and you want them to be good.  I asked teachers for recommendations on students who were eloquently spoken and could work well with adults.  
7. We had 5-6 school/Apple personnel roaming the hallways during the classroom visits for those who had specific questions.  We included the representatives from technology and administration.  Our Apple Development Executive and Sales Executive were present.  This helps.
8. A teacher panel adds a nice touch to the end of the visit.  I selected the teacher panels based on availability(planning times) and the teacher's strengths in the 1:1.  Every teacher on the panel had embedded technology into their lessons seamlessly in a different way.  (Some focus on content, some on process, some on authenticity, some on the differentiation aspects of the apps and the device, etc...)  Look for teachers who will provide a variety of methods of doing just this so that it offers a glimpse into the many ways iPads are transforming classrooms.

iPads at MSES

Yesterday, January 7th, marked a transformative day in some of the Manitou Springs Elementary School classrooms as teachers distributed iPads to students in select first through fourth grade classrooms.  One class in each grade level will experience a 1:1 iPad environment for the next five months of school.

Students using iPads - Day 1

The excitement level was similar to that of the first day of school.  Students were completely engaged in activity.  In an attempt to capture the excitement in writing, Mark Langseth, fourth grade teacher, asked his students to send an email describing their thoughts and attitudes toward learning with the iPad.  One student responded as follows, thought the sediment was the same among all students:

"I love the iPads they are so cool. I think this will be a very fun learning experience.  I think I am going to look forward to going to school now.  iPads have a big effect on kids and how they learn.  Thank you for the iPads we will enjoy them."

All teachers are incorporating a series of digital citizenship lessons to teach appropriate use and understanding of the many platforms and interactions students will experience through out the course of the semester.  These lessons will be embedded in classroom activities.
By the end of day 1, kindergarten students had learned how to author story books, first graders had visited the San Diego Zoo, second graders began blogging with students in Great Britain,  third graders had researched science topics, and fourth graders were emailing and studying comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.
The teachers in the 1:1 environment are already questioning the next school year, wondering how on earth they will cope in a non-1:1 iPad setting.  With only one day of 1:1 access under their belt, they see the impact this access will have on student engagement and instruction.

Manitou Named Apple Distinguished Program

I am pleased to announce that Manitou Springs School District 14 has been named an Apple Distinguished Program for 2012-2013 school year for its 1:1 iPad implementation.

The Apple Distinguished Program designation is reserved for programs that meet criteria for innovation, leadership, and educational excellence, and demonstrate a clear vision of exemplary learning environments.

The selection of our district as an Apple Distinguished Program highlights its successes in enhancing and extending teaching and learning with thoughtful and innovative implementations of technology. Incorporating iPads into the classrooms of Manitou Springs has encouraged teachers to break away from traditional teacher-led instruction and utilize technology to increase student engagement and lead to more active and meaningful student experiences. The district continually works to implement new technologies as a way of learning how they can best serve students.

Way to go staff and students in Manitou!

Handshakes in Collaborative Projects

Group projects involving one or more classrooms from other schools are a fantastic way to teach the 21st century skills of collaboration and communication.   Organizing a formal lesson that focuses on introducing all the students in a project to each other is often referred to as a handshake.  Time zone differences and class scheduling often limit the opportunities for students to meet face to face but need not impede the process.  Handshakes  can also incorporate a variety Web 2.0 tools like wikis (student introductions,) blog posts, vodcast introductions, Voicethread,  talking avatars, etc... All the collaborative project needs is a common space to link, embed, or post these handshakes for all other members of the group to view.

Handshakes are so important in that they are the first form of acknowledgement between group members.  Handshakes confirm that all involved are in agreement and ready for what is to come in the project.  In a global project the handshake unites all members as they embark on a similar voyage.  Many times this handshake is the  first time many students in the project will interact with someone outside of their school, state, and even country, making the handshake exciting and rewarding.

The handshake also gives students in a project the much needed practice of interacting in appropriate ways with others they don't know online.  This practice of experiencing and interacting with new tools is often referred to as the sandbox. The handshake space is very much the sandbox of the global project because it is here that students will learn appropriate methods of online introductions.  The handshake a learning space and should be treated as such.  Students may make mistakes and instructors or leaders in a the project can easily use these mistakes to educate all on the values of appropriate interactions online.

Prior to initiating a handshake be sure all leaders in the project are familiar with the chosen tool.  A good idea is to initiate a handshake with project leaders prior to launching the project with students.  Not all schools have access to Web 2.0 tools so be sure to complete any necessary checks on limitations particular schools may have.  Some schools have rules against students posting images of themselves online.  Know your school rules and instruct students on the appropriate course.  Some teachers have students post images that represent the student's interest or use student created avatars.

Sharing Documents and Files Using Dropbox

There are various methods Dropbox may be used to share documents and folders with others.

1. Share Link via Email
   • Pro: Material remains private between sender and recipient of email
   • Con: Reliance on Email as a means of communication
     1. Create a document and save it to Dropbox
     2. Locate the file in Dropbox
     3. Select the Link Icon in the upper right window of screen
     4. Select Email Link
2. Share Link via Student Blog
   • Pro: Easily publish link for others to view
   • Pro: No reliance on Email
   • Con: Material is published on web - maybe an issue for younger students depending upon school policy
     1. Create a document and save it to Dropbox
     2. Locate the file in Dropbox
     3. Select the Link Icon in the upper, right window of screen
     4. Copy Link to Clipboard
     5. Paste into blog
3. Share Folder with a Specific Recipient
   • Pro: Entire Contents of a folder are shared with teacher
   • Pro: Sender may add documents to folder and recipient has access to this new content
   • Con: Entire contents of folder are shared - this could be a problem if enabling camera loads and sharing photo library
     
     1. Open the Safari App
     2. Sign in to the Dropbox website (if you haven't already)
     3. Click on the file row to the right of the file's name to select it
     4. Press Get link from the blue action bar across the top of the file browser
     5. Select Share and add email and message into whare window that appears
     6. Tap Send

Camera Uploads

The “Camera Upload” feature in Dropbox allows for Dropbox to sweep the Photo Roll of an iPad and upload anything on that Photo Roll to a folder in Dropbox. This allows the student to share the file via a link in an email.
This process allows for relatively private sharing between student and teacher as well as a quick and simple answer to the problem of sharing large files created in iMovie. Once the folder is shared, every time students make a create a new iMovie project, it will be easily accessible by the teacher.

Enabling Camera Uploads in Dropbox

1. Have students create a dropbox account (http://www.dropbox.com) and download the app to their iPads.
2. When signing up for the account, make sure students enable Camera Uploads.
3. When on dropbox.com, have students rename their Camera Uploads folder “Camera Uploads-TheirLastName” (this way you can later organize these shared folders in a larger folder on your dropbox account).
4. Have students share that Camera Uploads folder with the teacher.
5. On the teacher account, you can then put all the student Camera Uploads folders into a single folder, or group by grade or class.

Building a Digital Citizenship Team of Students

Teaching digital citizenship and responsibility should be at the forefront of every teacher's mind these days as we bring more and more technology into the classroom.  I strongly believe students will do the right thing and behave in the right way when they are made aware of what the right thing and the right behavior is exactly.  Do do this, our teachers are relying on the material made available for free from Common Sense Media.  And though the efforts are notable, I believe additional steps are necessary to truly move students from being skilled in the understanding of digital citizenship to becoming a fluent digital citizen.  That's why we're beginning to talk about ways we can develop a student task force to empower safe and ethical use of technology in each and every individual.

In an effort to use reverse mentoring, we're hoping to develop a team of students to reach out to each and every advisory class to be the student liaison to the teacher.  If a student is struggling with an issue related to digital citizenship, they can contact their digital citizenship "liaison" to assist them with the matter.  There would be one liaison per ~15 students.

These students would be resonsible for the following:

1. Understand the areas of awareness of enlightened digital citizenship as well as the rays of understanding that permeate each area
   It would be this understanding that would guide responses to crisis or questions other students are currently encountering


2. Monitor a group discussion area to foster communication/questions
   Student liaisons would be responsible for posting response to questions by students in their group and to pose questions causing the group members to think about scenarios they might someday encounter.  

This idea is in it's infancy.  I hope to grow it over the next few months so that our community becomes progressive in building digital citizens.

Classroom Monitoring Portal

I recently created a classroom monitoring portal, (CMP,) using Netvibes for the fifth grade teachers in one of our elementary schools.  You can find it here.

This CMP has a different focus than a typical CMP might have in that it is designed so parents can access information related to  student/teacher work and expectations in fifth grade.
Parents were struggling with having to visit so many different pages to access classroom information pertaining to each of the fifth grade teachers.  Since each student travels to each of the teachers for a specific content area, parents were having to go to three different websites and more for this information.  It was too difficult for parents.  Solution - a parent CMP.

This CMP houses individual tabs for the following:
1.  Each teacher's google calendar
2.  A portal for teachers to enter frequently visited websites
3.  A link to classroom wikis
4.  All student blogs
5.  Class list of blogs
6.  News Feed
The google calendar tab allows for the parent to view the classwork and homework related to each teacher on one page yet allows for each teacher to maintain an independent google calendar.  Keep in mind the process of learning for many teachers.  That's why you won't see much on their calendars.  They've just learned about them, love the idea, but haven't used them yet.  Things will change in the next week or two.
I have not included feeds for wiki edits/discussions to teacher wikis on this CMP because it is not relevant to the parent and it would confuse them.  If I wanted to put a feed in for wiki edits I would do so exactly the way I entered in student blog feeds only I would select the wiki edit or discussion feed for that page.
Teachers have not had a lesson in how to edit the portal to add in their favorite links other than the science teacher.  It's part of the process.
I did throw in a tab for news but will take that out eventually.  I may choose to put in some feeds relevant to parents related to our district in the future.
This page is a public netvibes feed.  I struggled a bit learning about how to move a tab from a private dashboard to a public dashboard.  I ended up sharing the link of the tab via an email to myself and then adding it to my public page that way.  I could not figure out how to do this in the manage dashboards section of Netvibes.  If any of you know how, I'd appreciate the feedback.
Lastly, if this post finds any fifth grade classroom teachers who are interested in sharing blogs with each other, please contact me.