Challenges, Connections, and Learning every day!

December 16, 2019December 14, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Recently I had a colleague ask me for some ideas for dealing with challenges when it comes to classroom management, student behaviors and just keeping up with the responsibilities of teaching in general. I’m always happy to have time to talk with other educators, there is so much to learn by connecting. I think sometimes there is an assumption that because someone may have been teaching for 10 or more years, or worked in the same school district for a long period of time, that’s there is a higher level of knowledge and skill held by a teacher that fits into this description. While of course the more that you teach, it might seem like you would have a lot of ideas and answers to share with younger or new to the school teachers, but the longer you have taught also means, I think, that you have that much more to learn.

Having taught for about the last 25 years, I’ve had a lot of different experiences, some good, some bad, some in-between and some just absolutely fantastic. I have been in the position where I needed to improve, and felt like no matter what I tried to do or could try to do, that I just would not succeed. That I would lose my job. I’ve also been at the opposite end where I felt like things were going well, I could feel more success and a change in how I had been teaching in the classroom and in my connections and relationships that I had built with the students and colleagues.

I think if you ask any educator, most can probably identify the best year they’ve had, and if they can’t, they just can’t yet. We always have room to grow and things take time. How do educators decide what makes it the best year? For some, is it a year without many challenges, the students are well-behaved, homework is complete, other clerical tasks and responsibilities held by the teacher are finished, observations went very well and teacher ratings are satisfactory or proficient or whatever the ranking may be? Maybe. But how do we truly define what would be the best year ever?

It takes time to build

I am fairly certain that last year was the best year I’ve had yet. I think because I changed a lot of things in my classroom, I stopped worrying so much about having every minute of every class accounted for and instead gave the students more possibilities to lead in the classroom and for me to have more opportunities to interact with them. Now it did not come without its challenges, some student behaviors that in some cases pushed me so far beyond frustration that I thought I reached my breaking point. I reacted in ways that I was not proud of, but I let the frustration get the best of me. I stopped seeing the student and only saw the behaviors. My “lens” had become clouded and it took some reflection and just not feeling very good about it for me to realize that I had to do something different.

The common feeling or response is when you feel like there is a lot to handle or come up with a plan for, can feel so isolating. you might feel lost or like others are judging you based on what you perceive to be your weak areas when it comes to instruction. And I’ve had a few people confide in me that they feel like they’re too different or too weird or they’re not normal enough to be teachers. Hearing those kinds of things breaks my heart because I don’t want to see teachers become disengaged or to lose their passion for doing the work that teachers do because of worrying about how others may or may not perceive them.

My response is always it’s good to be different, what does normal look like anyway? Does normal mean everybody gets and does the same thing? Does being normal mean you fit into some kind of mold, one that may or may not be who you truly are? I think the best that we can do for our students is to show them who we are because we want to know who they are.

We can’t hide behind some perceived idea or model of what a teacher should or should not look like. Nor should we compare ourselves to our colleagues or other teachers that we may have had in our own experience. When we do this we lose sight of something and I think it’s important for us to demonstrate and model for students. We need to worry about ourselves first and only compete with who we are today by judging it based on who we become tomorrow. Everyone has weaknesses, everybody struggles, everybody feels like they don’t belong at times, a friend once wrote about being in the land of misfits, I’m totally fine with that.

What can we do, regardless of what year we are in during our careers? New teachers have a lot to offer us veteran teachers, there are better pre-service teacher programs and more information available to current students that are seeking to get into the profession, than what is available to us veteran teachers, who may not have access to or may not even know they exist. And for the new teachers, when you are assigned to have a mentor in your school, I really don’t think you should consider it to be that you are the learner and that you must follow and adhere to all of the advice of your mentor. You have to decide who you want to be, what is your purpose, your why, your spark, your passion for doing what you’re doing?

It starts with us and it always starts with us to take that first step. We have to be okay with who we are and commit to doing whatever is best for our own personal and professional growth but being mindful of what that means and how it will impact those we lead and learn with.

So if at any time you feel down or lost or frustrated or like you’re becoming disengaged or that you don’t fit in, please send me a message. I’d love to talk to you and share some of my own experiences on my 25-year learning journey.

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

Can iPad Pro (2018) Replace Teacher Laptops?

November 23, 2019November 20, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest Post by, Jeffrey Patrick, M.Ed, Computer Science Integration Teacher, Propel Homestead @jeffreypatrick_

The worst thing happened. My MacBook Pro fell. It slipped right off of my lap. The black screen of death has arrived. I got this MacBook Pro to get me through graduate school. It did its job, and I taught with it everyday for over 5 years. Since switching to Mac in 2004, it was my second in over a decade. The Apple tax hits you hard at first, but honestly these devices seem to last way longer than PCs that I’ve owned. I realize that there are alternatives, but I’m in the Apple ecosystem, and for me it’s a good place to be. None of that mattered now, I needed a new device, and I went on the internet to research. There it was, the iPad Pro.

The new iPad Pro (2018) has been my daily driver for about 6 months. I’m not yet running iPad OS, but its “MacBook” features are promising. More on that a little later. The main eye catching specification on the new iPad Pro is the A12X bionic chip. Apple has been making huge strides with its SOC chips. The iPad Pro, the one I’m using, has a Geekbench score of 5000 and a multi core score of 18000. It’s fast. It’s really fast. My old 2012 MacBook Pro 15 inch with and I7 processor and 16GB of Ram maxes out at 13000. Yes, this iPad is faster than many entry level MacBooks and some of the pros, and all MacBook airs. In some situations, the 11 inch model can be had for bout 700.00 dollars. That’s easily 3 hundred cheaper than the cheapest air, and it’s more powerful.

This device does everything faster. Typing, with a Bluetooth keyboard, editing Doink videos with green screens, coding applications, social media, mirroring examples for students to Promethean boards, using external displays with usb-c, and taking great photos are a few of my favorites. I’ve even had a smoother experience using Apple Classroom when controlling student iPads. The blazing fast 120hz screen refresh rate makes for nearly zero latency for the Apple Pencil too.

This machine is almost the MacBook that I’ve forgot about. Here’s where the caveats come in. It is a mobile device. That means using mobile versions and apps for almost everything. I ran into several issues when editing google docs and sheets because of the mobile platform. This was exacerbated by the limited view of document settings and tool bar menus. I imagine that Google with eventually fix some of these issues, but I’m sure they are more concerned about developing for their own devices. There is also no SD card reader. I mainly use this to print from our classroom 3D printer, but it’s annoyingly very mobile when it comes to these little tasks. My MacBook Pro could handle these simple tasks without any issues at all. Oh, and no mouse. This is really frustrating when doing word processing or trying to select specific text. It’s more like a long press with a little menu that you get on iPhones. It’s not as fast as a mouse right click, and painfully awkward when editing and moving things around.

The future is bright with iPad OS though. iPad OS is set to be announced soon, and it is the first time that iPad will have its own version of Apple’s OS. Part of the main features are the ability to use external storage, like SD cards, and a native file management system. It will also feature a full version of Safari that will display and act the same as a browser on a full Mac OS platform. It also has a very color accurate display which Apple calls the Liquid Retina display. Text, videos, apps, and the camera look great. They look really good. I’m even typing on it right now. This is not going to replace desktop hardware, and it’s not meant to. However, as a busy teacher, I use the iPad Pro everyday to teach with. It’s a good choice if considering a new device or in the case you don’t want to pay Apple 600.00 dollars for a new display in an out of warranty 2012 MacBook Pro.

If you think this is a good transition for you or you already own and/or teach with iPads, I recommend becoming an Apple Teacher. I have earned all of their badges, and they do a great job at getting you oriented as an educator. In addition to this, Apple has started an Everyone can Create and an Everyone can Code program. You can download their free CS For all Scope and Sequence as well as easy to use lesson plans. Also visit their Apple Disguised Educator forum to get great ideas from teacher leaders from around the world.

So the MacBook isn’t entirely dead, and I like to tinker. I’ve decided to take the hinge off of my old MacBook, and its’ currently hooked up to my school Promethean board with a wireless keyboard and a mouse. When I have it at home, I use it in target display mode with an iMac. It still works really well as a desktop replacement. It’s also a great teaching tool when showing students different components of hardware.

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

How to Read (in) Music

November 11, 2019November 3, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest Post by:

Peg Grafwallner, Instructional Coach/Reading Specialist, Ronald Reagan IB High School, Erica Breitbarth, Music Teacher, Ronald Reagan IB High School

One of my favorite ways to spend the first block is to observe a music class. I am an
Instructional Coach and Reading Specialist at a large, urban high school. I collaborate with dozens of teachers by supporting them in embedding literacy into their classroom teaching with disrupting their learning objectives. This particular morning I observed Ms. B’s Beginning Chorus class. As students practiced their scales, Ms. B played the piano and offered instructions. She encouraged students to use Curwen hand signals to align to the notes. These hand signals offer a kinesthetic connection to the notes giving students the chance to, according to Ms. B, “visually and spatially represent the sound they are producing.”

As students were practicing their scales, I noticed explicit similarities between reading and music; and most notably, reading in music. Ms. B. prefaced the lesson’s song by offering background on the composer and the arranger. Frequently, the background of an artist can be directly related to the piece they create. Therefore, that background is often analyzed to make meaning from the piece. Likewise, when I introduce a short story, I always share with students the background of the author. Often, the author’s interesting life experiences is a hook to get students interested. As an example, the life of Edgar Allan Poe is as emotionally complex as his poem, “Annabelle Lee.” Therefore, it is beneficial to spend time on the connections between author and text and in this case, between the composer and the music.

6E56F311-72C8-4FAC-83B5-79D1E9CCAF0A Next, Ms. B asked her students to listen to the introduction of the song and try to predict
what it was about. What mood did the piece evoke? How did it make them feel? These questions encouraged students to imagine what the composer or musician is saying within the music. What do they want us to know, to feel, to understand? In addition, students were encouraged to apply music terminology to their explanations. Utilizing that terminology supports their practice of music language and inspires them to communicate as a musician. In a similar way, when I teach a new piece of text, I often “tease” students with the first couple of lines from the story (“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times,” A Tale of Two Cities) or the name of the main character (“Bigger Thomas,” Native Son) or the location of the setting (“Starkfield,” Ethan Frome). I ask them to predict what they think the story is about, or to anticipate the attitude of the character or to foresee the importance of the place. That conversation helps students to imagine the theme, the characters and the setting.

Next, Ms. B distributed the sheet music and asked students to take a few minutes to
“read” it over. She asked them to sing the rhythms on counts and encouraged them to keep reading the music even if they mixed up a rhythm, but to continue working on it both visually and aurally. As a reading specialist, I encourage students to keep reading if they get stuck on a word. I remind them of various “fix it” strategies to make meaning. As an example, can the student determine meaning from the prefix, the root word or the suffix? Is the student able to understand the gist of the reading without the word?
When students finished reading, Ms. B asked them to highlight their individual line so
that it would “stick out of the musical texture as you read.” This type of close reading, or
“musical annotation” is a valuable skill in all content areas. When students begin a new piece of text, even a brief close reading supports their annotation skills. By doing a close reading, students are asking questions, making comments and deciphering unknown vocabulary. This engagement with the text helps students for the challenge of reading and making meaning of what could be an unfamiliar topic.

2F7ECCC0-891D-4DF0-AE40-86521386832B As students read and highlighted, Ms. B prepared a video of the song being performed by
an authentic ensemble, so students could “feel” the style and the spirit of the piece. This visual is critical in making an auditory connection. By listening to the music and watching the singers’ body language, the student is hearing and seeing the relationship between the singers and the music. Similarly, I often show a video or play a recording of an author reading a portion of their short story, poem or novel. I want students to see the author’s demeanor when reading and hear the tone and inflection of the author’s voice.
Finally, after a visual and spatial warm-up, an introduction of the artist, a prediction of
the piece, a detailed close-reading with annotation, and lastly, a visual and auditory opportunity to hear the music, Ms. B’s students were ready to practice the piece themselves.

In closing, it is essential to create scaffolded reading opportunities in all classes, not just
the four “core” where one would most expect them. To support students in reading, explicit and useful strategies are necessary to make meaningful reading connections, which in turn, highlights the value of reading in every single subject. Applying those specific reading strategies in music and all classes demonstrates the value of that discipline and the ability to transfer those strategies from one content area to the next.

References
Dickens, C. (1859). A tale of two cities. London: Chapman Hall.
Wharton, E. (1860). Ethan Frome. New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Wright, R. (1911). Native son. New York, Harper.

Peg Grafwallner is the author of Ready to Learn: The FRAME Model for Optimizing Student Success, available now through Solution Tree.

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

Books available

Learning and Growing as Educators On A Busy Schedule

July 8, 2019July 2, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Educators have busy schedules and one thing that I hear quite often is that there never seems to be enough time. We need time to plan for our classes, to complete different tasks required by our roles in education, and of course, most importantly is time to spend with our students. But in order to be at our best, we need to find time to take advantage of different learning opportunities to stay informed of best practices and emerging trends in education. We also need time to connect with other educators. It’s through these relationships and finding the right tools that we will grow personally and professionally, and bring our best selves into our classrooms each day. The challenge is not so much in finding resources, but rather in finding the most valuable ones that will fit into already busy schedules.

Personally, I stay involved in a lot of different ways so I can continue to build my professional knowledge and my connections with other educators around the world. Having chosen to spend many of my first years of teaching isolated, I missed a lot of opportunities to learn more, to do more, and to provide more for my students. A few years ago I made a shift to becoming a more connected educator by leveraging the technology available through social media. It has been an ongoing personal and professional transformation. Becoming connected has increased my awareness of the plethora of learning opportunities available for educators. I have changed my teaching methods, broadened my perspective of strategies and best practices in education and have more options for getting the support that I need to bring new ideas into my classroom.

Here are different ideas for ways to learn on any schedule. These options create a lot of possibilities for how, when, and where we can engage in professional development and become more connected educators. With the summer break coming for many educators, it can be the perfect time to explore new ideas.

Social Media

Over the past few years, there has definitely been an increase in the amount of social media used by educators for professional learning and networking. Depending on your level of comfort and how often you choose to interact, there are many ways to learn, crowdsource ideas and access different perspectives and people with different backgrounds and experiences.

Twitter. Although I was hesitant for many years to create a Twitter account, once I did a few years ago, my Professional Learning Network (PLN) has continued to grow. Whether you have time to engage in a nightly or weekly Twitter chat or just follow one of the many hashtags related to education, there is something for everyone when it comes to Twitter. Do you have ideas and want to gather more? Create your own hashtag and use it to invite people to share their ideas with you. Post a poll to get quick feedback, find educators to follow and create a list to keep track of resources and ideas shared. In addition to hashtags, there are many chats and topics to follow. If you want to find educators to follow on Twitter, David Lockhart created a list of 100 educators to look into.
Voxer. A walkie-talkie messaging app that promotes communication and collaboration. It’s easy to get started with and it provides a lot of different ways to add to your professional learning. Use it for somewhat asynchronous conversations with a colleague, create a small group to discuss specific topics such as blended learning, project-based learning or augmented and virtual reality. Using Voxer for a book study also works very well. It provides a great platform for talking about a book and sharing resources, without having to be in the same space at the same time. There are even groups on Voxer, you can search the list and join them. It’s nice to be able to listen to the messages on the way to or from school, perhaps during a lunch break, or while making time for a walk and self-care.
Facebook. Initially used with friends and family as a way to share what’s happening in each other’s lives and maybe to reconnect to organize events like family or class reunions, Facebook is now used by a lot of educators. There are many educator accounts to follow as well as groups of educators to join.

Information Sharing

Sometimes it is easier to find the information that you need, especially information which is current and offers a lot of resources, by exploring the different digital forms of information such as books, blogs, and podcasts. Knowing that the information is credible, up-to-date, and provided by educators with experience, is what sets these options apart from other options.

1. Blogs are a quick way to get information from a variety of sources, especially when you look at different blogs available from publications such as Getting Smart, EdSurge, TeachThought, Edutopia, eSchoolNews and EdWeek to name a few. Searching the list of top education blogs to follow is helpful for finding specific topics, content areas, and grade levels, or even for opportunities to contribute to a blog.

Many educators have personal blogs which offer a lot of inspiration and share ideas and even struggles. You can browse through this list of educator blogs to follow. Some educators that I follow are Mandy Froehlich, Jennifer Gonzalez, Eric Sheninger, Kasey Bell, Kristen Nan, Matt Miller, and David Lockhart.

2. Podcasts can be a great way to pass time when traveling to and from work, relaxing or even during exercise. Most podcasts are short enough that you can listen to an episode and pick up new ideas and inspiration. Over the past year, there has been an increase in the number of podcasts available to teachers, whether created by educational organizations or simply teachers wanting to share their experiences and inviting others to join in the conversation. Some that I regularly listen to and which have been recommended to me are: Edumatch Tweet and Talk, Jennifer Gonzalez (Cult of Pedagogy), Vicki Davis (Ten Minute Teacher), Will Deyamport (The Dr. Will Show, the Edupreneur), Barbara Bray (Rethink Learning), Brad Shreffler (Planning Period Podcast), Don Wettrick (StartEDUp), Google Teacher Tribe, Teachers on Fire, Andrew Wheelock (Coffee with a Geek), Dan Kreiness (Leader of Learning), and Denis Sheeran (Instant Relevance Podcast).

3. Books. There are more educational books available for professional learning than ever before. It’s easy to find book recommendations by following specific hashtags on Twitter or looking at different curated lists of education books. For some book recommendations, I generally follow the hashtags #bookcampPD, #PD4uandMe, and #Read4Fun, which are led by different educators. The Read4Fun group also shares books in a Voxer group. For a list of recommended books, ISTE crowdsourced recommendations last year and I also created a survey to gather ideas from educators. Some of the books mentioned on the list include: Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess, The Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros, Courageous Edventures by Jennie Magiera, Culturize by Jimmy Casas, LAUNCH by A.J. Juliani and John Spencer, Lead Like a Pirate by Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf, Start with Why by Simon Sinek, Daring Greatly by Brené Brown, Take the L.E.A.P. (Elisabeth Bostwick), and What School Could Be by Ted Dintersmith. Many publishers have books coming out on an almost weekly basis it seems. Check into DBC Consulting, EduMatch Publishing, IMpress and ISTE to explore more books available.

Online Learning Opportunities

When we leverage technology in a way that opens up powerful learning opportunities and pushes back the limits based on time and location constraints, we find innovative ways that we can learn.

4. Online Learning Communities. There are different learning communities to join in for professional development. As a Common-Sense Certified Educator, you have access to the newest tools and resources. By becoming Google Certified or a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, educators can enroll in learning modules, training sessions, and receive a digital badge for completion of each different module. Besides building PLN, these opportunities offer yet another way to learn on your schedule, in a time and place that meet your own needs.

5. Summits and Webinars. There are organizations that provide webinars for educators, many of which are offered free of charge or a minimal fee or are subscription-based. For example, if you take advantage of providers like EdWeek, Simple K12, or ASCD there are webinars available on a variety of different topics that work with your schedule. As a member of ISTE, joining in any of the PLNs gives you access to a series of weekly webinars and sometimes even more than once per week depending on the PLN. These webinars can be viewed live or as recordings when most convenient to you. The topics are always current and in some cases cutting edge or emerging trends, so you can keep informed of new ideas and teaching strategies, better than you ever could before.

Throughout the year there are even online conferences, or “Summits” which provide a series of speakers and sessions, sometimes held over a multi-day format. These are offered free and in my own experience, have always provided a wealth of knowledge and resources. Personal favorites include the Ditch Summit hosted by Matt Miller, Hive Summit hosted by Michael Matera and EdCamp Voice on Voxer, started by Sarah Thomas of EduMatch.

It’s clear there are many options and resources available to educators for professional development. It simply takes thinking about an area you would like to learn more about, exploring one of the choices and giving it a try.

In Other Words: Quotes that Push Our Thinking

April 23, 2019May 24, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth 1 Comment

Teddy Roosevelt once said, “I am a part of everything I have read.” When I read his quote, it greatly resonated with me because of my love of quotes and the impact they can have in our lives. In Other Words is a book full of inspirational and thought-provoking quotes that have pushed my thinking, inspired me and given me strength when I needed it. The book shares stories around the importance of growing ourselves as educators, knowing our why, as well as learning from and embracing failures and taking risks with learning so we can become our best selves for those we lead and learn with.

Get your signed copy here: bit.ly/Inotherwordsbook

There are stories shared by educators with different backgrounds and different perspectives. My own experiences and interpretations and the educator vignettes shared by my PLN (Personal or Professional Learning Network) will hopefully push your thinking, inspire you, and provide whatever it is that you need. My hope is that by sharing our stories, it will inspire you to share yours.

There were many people involved throughout this journey. I reached out to members of my PLN and friends to include as many educators and students as possible. I wanted to share more than just my story, but rather many stories and experiences. This book is one that can be read by anyone, not just people in education. There are many quotes, unique personal experiences, beautiful graphics and more.

About the book #Quotes4EDU

In this book, I share some of my experiences and reflections based on quotes. I have included the stories of different educators in the form of vignettes or guest chapters. One chapter was written by two of my students and my book cover was drawn by one of my 9th-grade students. The story behind the book cover is included at the beginning of the book. The book is available on Kindle or in paperback: bit.ly/Inotherwords A few of the stories are available for listening on Synth. gosynth.com/p/s/pyzbnm

Chapter Authors

Dennis Griffin

Maureen Hayes

Holly King

Elizabeth Merce

Melissa Pilakowski

Laura Steinbrink

Amy Storer

Donald Sturm

Cassy DeBacco

Celaine Hornsby

Vignettes

Marialice B.F.X. Curran

Jon Craig

Kristi Daws

Sarah Fromhold

Jeff Kubiak

Matthew Larson

Jennifer Ledford

Kristen Nan

Toutoule Ntoya

Paul O’Neill

Zee Ann Poerio

Rodney Turner

Heather Young

Graphics

Michael Mordechai Cohen
Dene Gainey
Manuel Herrera
Shelby Krevokuch
Amber McCormick

Dana Ladenburger

Heather Lippert
Scott Nunes
Chris Spalton
Tisha Richmond
Monica Spillman
Laura Steinbrink
Kitty Tripp
Julie Woodard

Thank you Kristi Daws for creating these images!!

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Screenleap for Education: Learn From Anywhere at Anytime

March 1, 2019March 9, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

This post is sponsored by Screenleap. Opinions expressed are my own.

At the end of January, I attended the Future of Educational Technology Conference (FETC) in Orlando. FETC has become one of my favorite conferences to attend and each year I return to my school with a lot of new ideas and tools that I’m excited to try in my classroom and share with colleagues and educator friends. This year was no exception. After reading about the 31 start-up companies that would be participating in the “Pitch Fest” competition happening in the expo hall, I decided that I wanted to start there. These companies—the “best-of-the-best startups”—would be pitching their products and services to a panel of judges. I find this to be one of the “musts” for me each year to learn about the new ideas and products available to educators. I enjoy getting to talk with the companies to understand their tools and how it benefits educators and students.

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Before arriving, I had received a flyer from Screenleap. I took a quick look, but decided to set it aside and instead make time to meet with Tuyen Truong, the CEO and Founder of Screenleap, at the conference. We had a great conversation and I was immediately impressed with what I learned about Screenleap from Tuyen and from the reactions of other attendees who had stopped by the booth to learn more about Screenleap.

Not long after speaking with Tuyen, I presented my own poster session on designing “Creative, Personalized, and Productive Classrooms.” A common interest of the attendees was that they wanted to know options that would enable them to share lessons, to work with schedule changes that interrupted the normal class periods, and to provide access to learning opportunities for their students when their students needed them. Screenleap immediately popped into my mind and so I gave them a brief overview and pointed them in the direction of Screenleap’s booth in the EdTech Startup area.

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Tools with Purpose: Getting Started Quickly

Common issues for teachers regarding education tools are knowing where to start and whether something will have a big learning curve. These are both important factors, but we should also consider the WHY behind adding the technology. Based on the interests of the educators that I spoke with, thinking through it and trying it out on my own, Screenleap definitely addresses these concerns by making it easy for teachers to set up and start using with students and by saving valuable time for teachers who use it.

So How Does It Work?

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Screenleap for Education allows teachers to share their screen with students and record it for later viewing. Whether the students are in the classroom or absent from class on a given day, they can watch the screen share live from wherever they are or access the lesson afterward when it is convenient for them. You can learn more about Screenleap for Education here. If you would like to try it out, you can start a free trial here!

Why Use Screenleap for Education?

When thinking about adding some new technology into the classroom, we really need to focus on the why behind choosing a specific tool or method. What difference will adding this tool make and how can it enhance the learning process and go beyond the traditional methods that are being used? What sets it apart from other tools you are currently using?

I think the benefits are clear with Screenleap for Education:

Teachers can share from any device (including Chromebooks, iPads, Android, PCs, and Macs).
Students don’t need to install any software to view their teacher’s screen, which makes it easily accessible to all students and saves time on IT administration.
Everything is automatically recorded on the cloud for later playback. Teachers don’t need to manually upload the recording after the screen share.
It saves teachers a lot of time because now they do not need to reteach lessons to students who miss a class since the recorded lessons are available for students to watch on their schedule. In addition, when it comes to re-teaching, you don’t always present the information the same way, so having a solid lesson that can quickly be shared with students to view and learn from is a real benefit for you.

Ideas for Using the Recording Feature

Depending on the content area you teach, or even if you have a different role than a classroom teacher, creating these recordings is easy and of great benefit. Having recordings available that you can share with colleagues, offer as extra instruction for students needing review, or even as a way to get feedback from colleagues about how you delivered a lesson, are just a few of the great ways to use the recording feature of Screenleap for Education. There are a lot of other possibilities for teachers, students, and administrators when the recording feature is used as part of a teacher’s daily instruction.

Getting Started

I found Screenleap for Education very intuitive and easy to get started with:

After creating your account, there is an initial setup step where you can create your classes and add students to them.
Once your classes are set up, it is easy to start sharing your screen with your students: all you need to do is click on the button for the class you want to share when your class starts. If it’s your first time sharing your screen, you will be walked through a one-time app installation before your screen share begins.
Once your screen share has started, your students can watch your screen share by signing into their accounts and clicking on the “View live class” button for your class.
While you are sharing your screen, it is automatically recorded in the cloud.
When you stop your screen share and have recording enabled, your recording will be processed and made available to you from the “Recordings” page. If you have automatic sharing configured, the recording will also be made available for your students to review.

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Additional Features That I Like

If you want to remove something from your class recording, you can do so and then upload the updated version.
You can share the same recording with multiple classes.
You can track student engagement in real-time by clicking on “engagement” or after the recording has been processed. You will see a snapshot of the engagement graph at the bottom of every recording.

Conclusion

Screenleap for Education offers a lot of benefits for teachers, students, and administrators: students can easily follow along in the classroom or from home, teachers do not have to reteach lessons that students miss, students can review lessons before tests, and administrators have resources available that can help to improve test scores for their schools through better learning. In addition, being able to stay connected and keep up with class—even when not in the classroom—and having information available to share with other teachers and administrators really makes Screenleap stand out when it comes to tools that benefit student learning.

Let me know what you think of Screenleap for Education. Again, you can start a free trial here!

TCEA and FETC

February 8, 2019February 9, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

A few of my favorites

Two conferences and time spent with the greatest friends who inspire me every day.

I have learned so much over the past two weeks by attending these conferences and every time I return I cannot wait to share my learning with my students. A large part of my learning happens by spending time with my closest educator friends. There are so many things that I want to learn, and I am fortunate to know a lot of educators who are working with different tools and technologies every day. We always have something to learn, even if we have been teaching for a long time or using a tool or implementing a strategy for years. For me, some of my best experiences have been attending sessions led by my friends and co-presenting, or from the many ideas that attendees share within sessions.

Another favorite of these conferences is time together with faraway friends.

Sometimes conferences can become so busy that we are often all pulled in different directions. Because this happens, and we know ahead of time that it will, we truly cherish the time we have together even if only for a brief moment, a quick meal or just enough time to give hugs, take a picture and then head off to where our schedule requires us to be. And even if all of us can’t be together in the same physical space, technology allows us to share our experiences by connecting through Voxer, or sharing videos or going live on Facebook.

By knowing how busy our schedules can be, it has helped us to become more proactive and intentional about setting aside that precious time to spend together, time that matters more than anything. So we, the 53s, set aside time to have dinner, have some fun taking selfies and then to go find a space to play some games. Yes, games. Trying out a new game where you have to create a pitch for a random company and then try to “sell” the idea to an investor, or playing other games that are based on spontaneity too, led to all sorts of laughter and stories to be told. Thankful for the opportunities we had to set aside a specific time to just relax during a nice dinner at Fogo de Chao or Paesano’s and know that we have a couple of hours just to spend together, in and around the other chaos that often is our schedule.

Jennifer, Mandy, Jaime, Marialice, Stew

I love the random moments of adventure that appear as you’re walking down the street and you see a larger-than-life swing, and it occurs that it might be a fun idea to just go and take a ride on it. Not letting on that you might be a little bit afraid because after all, the swing stands at about 385 feet and spins you around somewhere between 50 and 60 miles per hour, way up at the top, flying through the air, at night. It’s not your average swing and finding people to brave it with you under normal circumstances might be a challenge. But when you find that you are left standing there staring up at the swing with big eyes and a daring spirit, you are lucky to find an unsuspecting friend, thank you Rodney, and you just decide to give it a go, buy the tickets, cross your fingers and hope for the best.

What happens? You bond over a slightly scary but super fun experience to think back upon for a long time to come. Sharing the pictures, and the video with others which leads them to ask you “what in the world would make you want to ride that?” Or “you couldn’t pay me enough to go on that ride!” And knowing that you did it, you conquered some fears and even kept your eyes open, while singing at the top of your lungs and just enjoying the experience, got you through it. And you shared the awesomeness with a good friend sitting beside you.

But when the time comes and you have to go your separate ways again to head back to your homes, often states away or even in another country, a bit of sadness is there. We get so used to being in that same space and enjoying that time together. But the more often that happens, I have started to notice that the distance may separate us but it cannot diminish the closeness that we feel, it is quite the opposite actually. I feel that it strengthens our bond each time that we get to spend together.

There were many laughs and even some tears because we laughed so hard, funny stories sometimes awkward “only could happen to us” moments, but it’s always the best part of every conference.

Rodney Turner, Jaime Donally, Tisha Richmond and I presenting together FETC

TCEA

My first time attending and presenting at TCEA, held in San Antonio this year and it is definitely one that I hope to make a part of my yearly conference plans. My only regret is not having more time to spend there learning and taking in all of the different professional development opportunities that were everywhere within and beyond that conference center. Whether in the sessions, the Keynotes, the learning stations, poster sessions, Innovator spotlights and mostly just in those times you have talking with members of your PLN and learning from each other. Fun time spent presenting together, and I’ve decided that I truly enjoy presenting with my friends like Jaime, Jennifer, Tisha, Evan, Mandy, Rodney, and Jarod. There is a dynamic between us and it just seems to really work. We have different backgrounds and roles in education and can learn a lot from each other. Presenting together was something we started at ISTE two years ago and has become part of each conference. And if not presenting together, we are there to support one another as tech support, food and drink delivery services, comedic relief or anything that might be needed. We somehow just know what we need to do and do it.

The other benefit is getting more time with people who you’ve known on Twitter or some other form of social media or even by interacting in a webinar and you just haven’t had the time to spend together in the “real world.” That is until you’re in the same space of the conference and you truly get to connect with these other people who you feel like you already know anyway.

There are a lot of words that I could use to highlight the experiences but I think at least for this post, I’d rather share some of the photos, and let the photos tell the story.

Fun at MERGE HQ, Jaime, Joy, Jen, Marialice

The big cat pillow!

The “professional taste-tester” at Haagen Dazs

Mandy Froehich

On the Riverwalk with Jennifer Casa-Todd TCEA

Jaime, jon, Amy, Andi and Claudio – FETC

Tisha and I presenting on Infographics FETC

Jaime and Evan, arriving late to the presentation!

Mandy Froehlich session – thanks for the shout-outs!

Taking some risks with Rodney Turner

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Artificial Intelligence: What do we need to know?

January 3, 2019January 4, 2019Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Part one of a series I will be writing about Artificial Intelligence.

About a year ago I started to notice more news coming out about artificial intelligence and machine learning and their uses for education. I understood the concepts of AI and ML, I could provide pretty decent definitions but beyond that, I really had to invest some time in learning more and being able to identify what it looks like in the world and what it could look like in today’s classrooms. Years ago while working on my Spanish translation coursework, we looked at machine learning for translation and that goes back well over 20 years, so it’s not something new, although it may seem like it because it has been coming more into light recently.

What I think of when I hear “Artificial Intelligence”

When first hearing the words “Artificial Intelligence,” is there an image that pops into your mind? Is AI something that you find easy to define or give examples of? For some, the understanding or a reference point might be something seen in the movies. For me, being an 80s child, my first thought goes to Star Wars, and I picture R2D2 or C3PO. Beyond those two references, my mind wanders to the movie “I, Robot” which starred Will Smith, where the robots developed the capacity to think like humans, to feel and were able to take action on their own. Today, one of the most common thoughts goes to Alexa, Echo, Siri and the other virtual assistants that have continued to gain popularity. All good examples to think of in order to get a better idea of AI, but what is the true meaning of AI and where might we see it in action in daily life?

What is AI

It is a complex concept to understand at first because it is an amazing technological advancement. When I wanted to find out more, I started to look at some of the research done by Getting Smart started in December of 2015. The team at Getting Smart launched a research study referred to as #AskAboutAI and over a two year period, they identified over 100 applications of AI to life in areas such as education, healthcare, recreation, transportation, military uses and gaming to name a few. There were three objectives in the campaign: education, employment, and ethics. The research centered on finding how AI can be beneficial for different industries, some of the main uses, whether there are any risks associated with it, the benefits and of great personal interest, the possibilities for using AI in education.

According to their report following the research, the notion behind AI is that machines become capable of exhibiting human intelligence. “Machine learning” a concept started in 1956, refers to when algorithms are used to interpret data and take an action or complete a task. At its base, artificial intelligence is a computer code that displays some form of intelligence, learning, and problem solving in what has been referred to as a kind of “super intelligence.” It is basically the development of computers that are capable of completing tasks that normally require “human intelligence” however the AI learns on its own and continues to improve upon its past iterations. AI becomes smarter, its knowledge base grows, and it creates new possibilities for society. Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence, and it can be said that all Machine Learning is AI, but not all AI is Machine Learning.

Common uses of Machine Learning and AI: Did you know?

In my exploration to learn more about AI and what its potential is for the future of learning, I researched how we might already be using AI in our daily lives without even realizing it perhaps. Here are 5 common uses that I was kind of surprised at finding out work by AI.

Communication: So much email, fortunately there are spam filters. Spam filters are powered by AI and help to streamline the amount of spam that appears in your inbox. We know that computers can generate email, and so as email senders, whether real or automated, become more careful with choosing words that were not previously flagged, the filters must learn to adapt and do so by learning based on words that the email user flags. Google takes it even further by continuously learning the types of email messages which are marked as “important”.
Travel: Whether you have taken a ride using Uber or Lyft, you have experienced ML (Machine Learning), which is used to predict rider demand and to calculate ETA ( Estimated Time of Arrival). Even the airline industry uses AI, which fascinated me in finding out this fact. Autopilot qualifies as AI, and it has been estimated that actual “human steered” flight time is approximately only seven minutes of the actual flight length. That is amazing!
Social networks: Ever notice how quickly faces are detected in images and names are suggested for tagging friends in photos on Facebook? The artificial intelligence can detect faces and suggest a name to tag the person. Facebook has added new features as part of its own AI Initiative, because the goal is to offer a more personalized and interactive experience for Facebook users. Other social media sites like Twitter, generate lists of accounts to follow, recommend chats to join based on an analysis of user input and data.
Online Shopping: Have you started searching on Amazon, and it quickly suggests other items you “may be interested in,” as a result of prior searches and order history. There are systems are in place to help protect consumers against fraud, with alerts capable of being sent almost simultaneously in response to a transaction that does not seem to be “typical” purchase or is located in a non-home base location. All done through AI.
Education: There are a wide range of tools available for educators and students whether in the form of Google Searches, where alternate search terms are instantly suggested, the use of citation, plagiarism checkers(a favorite) and even Siri is a popular tool for searches. Simply ask Siri a question, have a conversation.

What does AI mean for our classrooms?

Artificial Intelligence can transform classrooms, there are so many possibilities, and of course, we want it to be something with purpose that enhances the learning experience. I think that it is important to think about your classroom and consider: What are some of the tasks that are typically done? How is class time being spent? How could you save some time by using AI? What would you want for your classroom? Dream big!

There are some time-consuming tasks that take away valuable time for providing the best learning experiences for students. It takes time to locate appropriate supplemental activities to differentiate and to find more engaging and immersive learning experiences.

How could AI help?

Communication: Students and teachers would communicate instantly with one another as well as to connect with other forms of AI around the world. Students could be paired with peers instantly, which would help each student to expand their own personal learning networks, with personalized and more authentic connections that will meet the students’ interests and needs at any given moment. Think of the benefits of being able to converse with AI or a virtual peer, which has been located based on an assessment of student needs and error analyses.
Differentiation: With the use of AI, students and teachers could connect with the resources they need right when they need them. An entire internet of resources accessible and deliverable to each student within seconds. Through AI, students could have access to one to one tutors or a virtual peer to learn with.
Personalization: Offer more personalized learning opportunities for students with AI that can analyze student responses, determine areas of need and interest, and access resources to help students better understand the content.
Exploration: Augmented and virtual reality are being used even more in classrooms, and through AI, resources could be found instantly based on student responses, or for the entire classroom to experience. We would not be limited by the time and place of the classroom setting. AI could find ways to bring the content to life instantly.
Assessments: AI could help teachers to assess students and streamline the grading process, with the added benefit of being able to quickly take the data, provide an analysis for teachers, so that time can be saved for more classroom interactions. It can help with student achievement, making sure that each student has the opportunity to learn and grow, benefitting from the faster responses through AI.

Considerations for the future.

There is always a concern when it comes to the use of technology. Especially with AI, we need to determine the true purpose, value and impact on student learning. We don’t want to use it just because it is the newest thing or the latest trend. When it comes to AI, the biggest concern has been whether AI would lead to the replacement of teachers? Would the use of AI in the classroom have negative impacts on student learning? As for replacing teachers, AI cannot help students to build SEL skills and learn from human interactions, all vital components of relationships in the classroom.

So in the end, what could AI do? Here are 10 roles for AI that can be used in education.

A few:

AI can quickly interpret a student’s needs and design an appropriate assessment.

It can show students mastery, repeat lessons as needed and quickly design a personalized learning plan for each student.

AI could provide teachers with a virtual teaching assistant, (something that was done in 2015 without students even knowing), which then frees time for the teacher to move around the room and facilitate learning.

But more than just teachers and students, it can be a way to support parents by involving them in the learning environment of students and providing them with the information they need to help their students be successful when they’re not in the classroom. The future likely holds a lot of possibilities for AI and teachers can take the opportunity to be informed of the possibilities and being open to discussions with students.

Stay tuned for part two of the AI series coming up next week! Check out the ISTE U course on Artificial Intelligence. And look at Montour School District in Pittsburgh, I will be sharing more about that school after I visit it to see the AI Space and Showcase event on January 22nd.

Image from Thinkstock

Bringing Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality to all Classrooms

December 12, 2018December 10, 2018Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Bringing Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality to all Classrooms

Jaime Donally’s book “Learning Transported” is the resource to go to to learn how immersive technology can be used in education. For anyone looking to get started with bringing augmented, mixed or virtual reality and different learning experiences into the classroom but not sure of where to begin, Jaime provides a well laid out format which provides the reader with the all of the information and resources they need to feel comfortable in using AR and VR in the classroom.
For some readers, knowing the differences between augmented and virtual reality or knowing the different apps available for each of these may not be clear. However, the structure of the Learning Transported book enables the reader to progress from understanding how it is used, and even more importantly “why” it should be used education, to reminders of some things to consider before getting started and then how to have a successful implementation into the classroom.

Beyond just having students as consumers of the content, Jaime offers ways for students to become the creators and design their own stories through augmented and virtual reality experiences.
Jamie is constantly looking for more tools and new ways to bring immersive learning experiences to educators and students, and has done nothing but share her wealth of knowledge and fully invest herself in making sure that educators feel comfortable with using the technology and knowing that she is available to help them in the process.
Learning Transported is a book that can be enjoyed by anyone, as the resources and experiences that she shares within this book definitely have application to other settings besides education.

Before Jaime even dives into the content of the book, she engages the reader with her message of “why” for using AR and VR. She shares the reasons why educators need to understand the possibilities of using immersive technology and the benefits that will happen as a result. She explains how to use the book, and guides the reader on how to navigate each of the chapters, explaining the process involved when starting to implement some of these augmented virtual and mixed reality tools, and encourages the reader to join in with other educators through social media using the #ARVRinEDU chat.

Learning Transported is geared toward anyone looking to try immersive technologies in the classroom and Donally provides all of the resources and many examples, especially through the lesson plans written by Jaime and how they were facilitated in different classrooms.

Another key features of Learning Transported is in Jaime’s message about why educators should use AR, VR and MR in education. The largest benefit is for students being able to engage and explore in the content in a different and more authentic way. It also facilitates building skills of communication and collaboration as well as social-emotional learning, when students connect with their peers and learn more about places and life outside of their own community. Jaime also explains exactly how the use of these tools can meet the ISTE Standards for Students, and encourages the reader to think about how these tools can benefit the students in their own classrooms.

Each chapter provides a wealth of examples and images for reference, explanations of each tool shared and ways that it can be used, and ends with a “Learning Transported” challenge for the reader. Jaime provides clears definitions and more detailed explanations throughout each chapter, and continues to encourage educators to challenge themselves to implement some of these different tools into their classroom and to share their experiences using the #ARVRinedu hashtag.

Some of the best features of the book are the way that Jaime conveys the information, reassuring educators that it is okay to take some chances with trying these in the classroom and involve students in the process. Chapters 5 through 8 include so many different examples of augmented and virtual reality tools, including ideas for creating with the tools, brief descriptions of how the tool works and for using it, as well as including some sample lesson plans that educators can try within their own classrooms.

The last chapter focuses on preparing for the future of mixed reality and Donally reminds us to keep moving forward as these tools are constantly evolving, and having an impact on the learning environment and educational market. In the conclusion, Jaime ends by stating “Teachers will facilitate a class of explorers, developers and designers as they experience, build and present their own immersive technology resources.”
Donally reminds us that “authentic learning experiences and opportunities that have never been accessible in the classroom are now possible with virtual field trips, interactive stories, and tools that can allow students to explore the world, the solar system and beyond.”

The book concludes with an appendix listing all of the apps shared within the book as well as the websites to find the apps and a brief description of what the after does. The standards for students are also included

She encourages the reader to share whatever they create after completing some of the learning transported challenges

Learning Transported makes a topic that can be overwhelming to anyone just starting with augmented and virtual reality, become something that is digestible and helps the reader to build confidence in learning more throughout the book. Donally provides answers to the questions that educators all have to consider when starting to implement these tools, and gathered everything into one well laid out guide for learning.

Creation just got even better with Buncee!

December 4, 2018December 4, 2018Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Rachelle Dene Poth

One of my favorite things about teaching, besides working with my students, is finding new and engaging ways to have students create and show their learning. I remember when I first came across Buncee about two years ago, I really enjoyed creating different presentations and exploring all of the choices that were available. Coming up with new ways to use it in the classroom and even creating a Buncee for Open House, that could later be sent to families who could not attend. I was amazed at the many options to include my own images and even to record messages explaining what students would be doing in our class throughout the year. An added benefit was that by sharing one of the tools that students would be using in class, I hoped that it might become something that other members of the family could use as well, because Buncee works for everything!

Buncee is the one tool that educators and students need for creating a multimedia presentation that includes animations, a drawing feature, emojis, stickers, 360 images and even audio and video embedded within and a lot more. As teachers, we should strive to offer different choices for our students to be able to show what they are learning and to apply their knowledge in a way that provides opportunities for them to be creative, to have fun while creating, and that will engage students more in learning. Buncee has consistently provided a presentation tool that offers all of this and much more for our students and for everyone.

Newest options

There are new features and items added all of the time, but some of the other features that were a game changer for me was being able to set up classes, thousands of new items to choose from in the gallery, and even new ways to share the Buncee creations. We were thrilled when students realized that they could share their work seamlessly by sharing to Google Classroom. In my own classroom, I think it is so important to give students more choices and to provide a tool that offers more than just one format for students to create with. Using Buncee, students can find what they need to be creative, communicate ideas, and think critically about the work they are doing, while having fun during the creation process. It promotes student engagement because they can truly create something that is authentic and meaningful to them. And it enables educators to learn more about the students in the process.

I love creating Buncees to share quotes!

Templates are here!

Finding enough time to get started with new tools is often a challenge, but with the new templates, creation just got even easier. Buncee enables the user to create something wonderful in a very short amount of time. Just this week, Buncee launched hundreds of new templates, divided into categories based on topic or type of media format. With these new templates, it now offers even more options to make creating more personal and fun.

With the new templates, it’s easy to get started creating right away. There are many different categories to choose from including: Awards, bookmarks, business cards, flyers and events, printable worksheets, scrapbook and photo albums, various social media formats and much more. The hard part is deciding which one to go with because there are so many awesome choices, and when you start looking at them, the ideas for how you can use them keep coming. Don’t be surprised if you start creating and then keep on going, there is so much to choose from that can truly enhance the learning and teaching process.

Select a Template and Go!

Once you select a template, it becomes yours to change and to really make it your own. Each template is different and when you select one, you can preview the different backgrounds that will be included within the template. You can easily change the font color and style, change the colors in the background and then add more items into your Buncee. Creating with a template is perfect for anyone who wants to get started quickly, but does not have a lot of time to search different backgrounds and add in text and other items. You can change anything within the template, it simply makes getting started easier and gives you more time to find fun animations, stickers, emojis and more to visually represent your learning. Using the templates is also perfect if you don’t have a lot of time in class, but want students to be able to create something unique and personal to them, giving a boost in confidence by having a great starting point that they can build upon.

Buncee has made it their mission to amplify student learning and provide a tool that enables each student, educator, anyone to visually communicate learning, thoughts, experiences and create something unique. It gives students a ton of options and a safe space to explore and find exactly what they need. Can’t wait to see what they create!