Technology in Education: Notes from the Closet

This year I changed schools and was lucky enough to join Coonley's staff as a technology coach. Coonley is a great school doing many wonderful things with its students.  Parents can see these but what about everyone else?  Coonley didn't have a Twitter feed when I arrived.  I started an account and have been encouraging teachers, parents and students to join the conversation.  The first week of school had a different Twitter prompt a day.  Now individual classrooms are posting work samples and many people are jumping on board.  I'm hoping to eventually reach the point where we can have "Twitter Takeovers" where classrooms can lead the discussion for the week on our account. For those who are still new to Twitter and need a little guidance I created a Twitter User Guide.  It isn't just for newbies- it contains 4 sections for those ranging from "what-is-Twitter" to "How-can-I-take-it-to-the-next-level".  Please follow us on Twitter! @Coonl...

Here at Coonley students follow a simple code of conduct:   be responsible, be respectful and be safe . Sounds simple, right?  As adults we all know what this means but for students sometimes it takes a bit more detail.  In 4th grade Ms. Malhiot's class decided to dig deeper. Setting the Stage Still getting to know each other,  Ms. Malhiot's students discussed their various learning styles.  As the picture suggests this class is "off the chart" (pun intended!) when it comes to being visual learners.  Having that knowledge helps the teacher determine what types of activities students might respond to best. Even though the Cougar Code is displayed in the classroom Ms. Malhiot decided to take the concept and give students a chance to visually represent it.  This not only reinforces the notion that this is an important set of rules but gives students specific examples of what someone might mean when they walk in and say "Be Responsible!", "B...