Technology in Education: Notes from the Closet

Back in January 2021 , I wrote a post about my Professional Learning Network (PLN). In this post, I mapped out who helps me grow professionally and reflected on the contents. Here is what I said then: What I Notice I have an extensive network. This may not come as a surprise to most, as I’ve been in the field for 28 years. What is significant about this, however, is that even though I have been in the field for a long time I am still learning from others, seeking help from others, and giving back to my network.  I contribute as much as I consume. For me, I see this as one of the internal traits of being an educator- to share. I often will find resources that relate to the work others are doing and will pass content on. Those who connect with me are used to my “FYI” or “Thought of You” emails with links to content I think they can use. I tend to predominately connect with colleagues who share the same viewpoints on education. This can be seen as both a positive and a negative. Given...

This week in my CEP 810 class for Michigan State University my students are tasked with creating a concept map to examine their professional learning networks (PLNs). I’ve done presentations on this topic, advocate for and promote the power of PLNs, and contribute to mine on a regular basis so I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to update and reflect on my PLN map.  What I Notice I have an extensive network. This may not come as a surprise to most, as I’ve been in the field for 28 years. What is significant about this, however, is that even though I have been in the field for a long time I am still learning from others, seeking help from others, and giving back to my network.  I contribute as much as I consume. For me, I see this as one of the internal traits of being an educator- to share. I often will find resources that relate to the work others are doing and will pass content on. Those who connect with me are used to my “FYI” or “Thought of You” emails with...

In Chicago we start school with our students the week of Labor Day so our first week is always 4 days long. To build excitement for the new school year each day I release a different Twitter prompt for our students and teachers to respond to. Past examples include: what are three things you love about Coonley? What are you looking forward to learning this year? What does your teacher need to know in order for you to be successful this year? What is one thing you learned this summer? For our teachers that already use Twitter they respond directly to the prompt and tag us. Those that don’t use the platform still contribute! Many will give students post it notes, use their whiteboards, index cards, etc. to respond to the prompt. The teachers will then snap a picture and send it to me to post for them. This not only allows our parents a sneak peak into our classrooms but also our teachers some talking points about responses they receive. Each year more teachers join Twitter to be ...

The more I use Twitter the more ways I find to enhance my experience.  Following is a slideshow I put together with 13 tips that I've discovered along the way.  If you'd like to hear the slideshow narrated for a bit more content the link to a screencast is below.  Let's connect on Twitter ! Screencast:  https://youtu.be/HLPDIWSf5Y4

Giving Thanks When was the last time you thanked someone?  Do you do it often? Recently I was asked to cover the library for a couple of periods while our librarian hosted an author's visit.  It was unexpected but sometimes is part of the job as a coach. The next day the librarian brought me a plant as a thank you.  It was such a sweet gesture, one I truly appreciated and one that doesn't happen every day. We all appreciate when a family member, a colleague or a member of our social media PLN does (or says) something that makes our day brighter, better or easier.  But we often don't take the time to say thank you to them.  Sure, we may think about how awesome they are but we usually are so busy we don't take a few minutes to let them know. As a coach, I spend a lot of time presenting technology project ideas to teachers (and a bit of prodding, too). Even though these projects benefit their students I understand that for some it doesn't come easily an...

A presentation I developed for my faculty to teach about using hashtags in Twitter.

In November 2016 my colleague Sam Carpenter and I presented at the Illinois Education Technology Conference on Active Learning and Tweeting in an elementary school.  Below is our presentation.

Have you thought about tweeting with your students but didn't know how to get started?  The end of the school year is a great time to pilot something new!  Below are 5 tips that the fabulous teachers at Coonley Elementary ( @CoonleyES ) have implemented (along with a bonus tip!). Start on Paper The first week of school I begin with a Twitter Prompt-a-Day to get the school community  excited for the upcoming year. While my goal is to someday see all of our teachers with a Twitter account we aren't quite there yet.  Photos by  @CoonleyLibrary  Not wanting to leave anyone out, I ask the teachers to tweet on paper and then I tweet it from the school account.  Additionally, you can have students create "tweets" via sentence strips to practice offline.  Have little learners?  How about creating a graphic organizer that only has 140 boxes (this is the character limit on Twitter) for students to practice tweets on (and sneak in a bit of s...

As an instructional technology coach and adjunct professor the amount of information I cover is extensive.  Teachers expect that a coach will have a wide range of knowledge, skills and pedagogy in order to help build capacity and provide the best recommendations for student learning. As a teacher I am always learning from my PLN and my colleagues, building my knowledge base and improving my craft.  This post is dedicated to the ways I am learning right now, at this point in time.  I plan to cross post this information on my About.me page as well as my digital portfolio .  As educators it is increasingly important that we expand our own knowledge and model this learning for our students.  Cross posting this information on a page that I know others will see will help to keep me accountable and current in my journey. Can you imagine if all teachers posted how they were currently learning?  Our students would not only see we don't stop the journey when we l...

The use of social media in education is growing. More districts are supporting this effort with good reason. Connecting with others outside of our buildings allows our students to become global citizens. It allows students, teachers and administrators to share knowledge, learn, create excitement and to model positive digital citizenship.  It allows us to begin developing our digital tattoos the way WE want them to look.  It's branding, it's storytelling, it's all around empowering. Recently a colleague at another school in my district asked for advice about my experience with launching a school Twitter account from the ground up.  What should she tweet?  Who would see her content? What were some tips I discovered along the way?  Following is the information I shared with her talking about our journey into Twitter. Management Tips for Administrators of the Account Create a Master Media Consent Google Doc where all classroom teachers list names of ...

Can you sum up anything in 6 words? Coonley students were asked to do just that!  Chicago Public Schools has a lonnnnnng end-of-year with students in classes through June 19th.  As a challenge for the month of June grades 1-7 were asked to write 6 Word Memoirs based on the following prompts: Tell something you like about Coonley What activity did you really enjoy this school year? Write about yourself Give advice to others The results were fantastic!  All memoirs were combined into one giant slideshow resulting in over 470 slides ranging from 6 year to 13-year-old student perspectives.  Each day three memoirs were selected and featured on Coonley's Twitter feed.  We hope our work inspires you to create your own! Direct link:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qD3_1UaWp7LEUSGAVwcDFGKQPSln1iqtzCT-kC4A4z4/edit?usp=sharing   (See 2016 version here !)

Happy New Year!   January is a good time to take a look at your class Twitter account and see if it’s all it can be.   Below are some ideas to excite you again about the power of Twitter in your classroom! I came across a great blog post by  Mrs. Davison , a kindergarten teacher that showcases many of the ideas below.    She keeps her Twitter page open throughout the school day so it's available if students have things they would like to say. Students get to host a little blue bird on their desks when they tweet! Be sure to visit her blog to see her examples in detail. Offline Twitter Ideas  Create a Twitter bulletin board that has a map of the world. Print tweets that you receive and have students pin them on the map as a visual reminder of how far their voices reach! Print out cards to give to students when they tweet so they can go home and talk to their family about it.  Here are some I created as examples: Create a bulletin bo...