Starting a New Job

It's been nearly a year since I've written and much has changed in the last year.

I left SNU in July of this year to take a job at Canadian Valley Technology Center. I'm still doing instructional design, but much of what I do revolves around face to face technology integration in the classroom. We don't offer any sort of online courses, so things are a bit different than they used to be.

I'm enjoying it here so far and I've gotten to learn many new things. One of those is coding. I've been working on Javascript for the last month or so, mostly so we can streamline our work flow through Google Drive. It's a lot of fun. It involves a lot of troubleshooting, especially when you are as new at it as I am. Basically, I'm learning a new language. At least it's written in English!

The only other thing I'll mention is something I just did today. I registered a domain (oklahomaspeedshop.com) and I hope to start designing a few tshirts and selling them there. I plan to design using cars and bikes from the 40s, 50s and 60s, done in the advertising style of those decades.

I've still got a lot to learn before I can create anything, but I do love to learn new things!

Prepare, Discover, Analyze, Share

I had the opportunity to share an online pedagogy training with our faculty at SNU. We did a little discussion of ADA and how can offer equal opportunities for learning to our students with disabilities. We also talked about our online template. We use Moodle as our LMS and when I begin working with a professor to develop a course, I set up a new course for them from a template. While we hope that instructors can make a course their own, we do want to have some similarity between all of our courses. If students know exactly where to look for resources (assignment lists, etc.), we reduce their cognitive load and free them to learn content, instead of trying to learn where components of a course can be found. Our online courses are only 6 weeks long, so they have a small window in which to learn where resources within the course are located.

Our main focus of the training, however, was the PDAS model. While we do not expect every course to have each of these four components in every single week of a course, we do hope to balance these strategies throughout their courses.

Prepare is the part of a course in which students are "instructed" on the concepts or information to be learned. Usually, this would look like students reading from texts, watching videos, reading journal articles or websites, or some kind of similar activity. The key to this component is that professors tell students where to get the information. This is instructor-centered learning. As a side note, I personally think this should be minimalized in a course. I'm a constructivist and I think students learn best when they have to go find information.

Discover is the antithesis of the previous strategy. In discover, students construct their own knowledge. They are tasked with finding the information on their own. They have to go and "do" something. This particular strategy could take many forms, e.g. experiment (science), argumentative essay (english), find patterns of behavior in a culture (social studies), etc. The bottom line is that students begin to find their own knowledge and evaluate that knowledge for parts of it they find relevant.

It is hard to talk about either of the first two without bringing in the third component: Analyze. This is the part of the learning process in which students actually do something with the information they have learned in the first two steps. After all, if you learn something and do not do something with that knowledge, what's the point? In analyze, students might compare and contrast two stories they have read. They could read a piece of literature and create a modern version of the work (video?). They might analyze a piece of literature through the cultural lens through which it was written (literature and social studies connection). I have always enjoyed looking at the historical context of science and thinking about why advances where made. There might even be a fine arts connection to be had here in this step (pointillism and atomic theory?)

Finally, students need to Share. How can you have any kind of class without some kind of buy-in to a social theory of learning? Students need to interact with others. This becomes even more important when you consider that by simply taking an online class, they area at a disadvantage in the social aspect of learning. This means that we, as designers/instructors, must be purposeful in creating opportunities for students to share their knowledge with others. This accomplishes two things: the "sharer" learns more by being forced to communicate their learning, either in writing or in the spoken word. The "sharee" learns more by being exposed to other's worldview, perspective, and ideas of what is important within a particular knowledge domain.

This model of learning is not new to most of you, I would imagine. You probably have components of this in your classes, whether online or face-to-face. I'm learning this as I begin to deepen my understanding of classroom models and learning theories: In education, as in Physics, there is not yet a Grand Unified Theory. No single learning theory works for every single learner. We must use components from many different theories to enable students to be successful in our domain.

As teachers, we must be able to offer students opportunities to learn, based on their particular learning style. There may be learning theories that work better for differently structured domains or even from one "class" in a school to another, i.e. this year's sophomores, juniors, seniors, etc. This idea is why every teacher should be a learner (yes, SNU School of ED, I also think we need to be lifelong-learners). I didn't really understand this when I was in school. When I finished my undergraduate work, I thought, "I've arrived." However, continuing my learning beyond that has shown me just how much I don't know. That, I believe, is where true learning begins.

Social Media in the Classroom

Today is the second of what I hope will be many days of work at SNU. Friday was the official first day, but that was time spent in Human Resources with a little bit of running around and meeting with the Director of Online Learning. She got me a broad overview of the grant and it's purpose; so at least I have a vague idea of the direction we are moving.

I'll be spending some time today in faculty workshop. I'm going to be doing some PD with faculty about using Social Media in the classroom. Seems like pretty standard fare if you've been reading my blog for very long. However, it occurred to me that the powers that be want me to teach the faculty something new. These are the people who were my teachers, mentors, & professors (and continue to be so). It just struck me as odd.

I'm going to organize my thoughts here a little bit.

A few of the biggest things I like about Social Media in the classroom is that it can bring new perspectives in (through non-class members sharing), it expands the boundaries of the classroom (again, engaging people outside the classroom in conversation), and it can extend the amount of time students spend learning your content (by continuing the conversation outside the 50 minutes see your face each day). I'll spend a bit of time talking about a few of the tools available and how to integrate those.

As I write this, I'm thinking specifically about faculty who are late adopters (or non-adopters) and I can see them looking at me with skepticism. What in the world is that about? These people know me. Many (dare I say most) of them, I have a pretty good relationship. In fact, that was what I stressed in my interview. I already have significant amounts of currency in my relationship accounts with many of these folks. So what am I worried about? I know there are going to be some who don't "buy it" who are not (and maybe never will) drink the technology Kool-Aid.

Facebook - It's a great way to extend the time you can interact with students. According to TechCrunch, 85% of them are using the site already. That statistic is from 2005, so I would imagine the number is much higher. You can create a group for each class. You could post materials and put reminders there about assignments, due dates, or even just a word of encouragement. The great thing about it is that you don't have to friend your students. As the teacher (or the student) you post on the group wall and it shows up in the news feed of everyone else. It's like seeing all of your students outside of class and talking to them about class.

Twitter - Twitter could function similar to Facebook in that it uses status updates to carry on a conversation about class/content. However, there are no groups. But there are hashtags. If you create hashtag for your class and have your students tweet using that hashtag. For instance, if you wanted to see what conversation is happening right now about Education, you could look here. If you are on twitter, the "Discover" button at the top is a hashtag search. If you have never heard of a hashtag, it is analogous to a keyword search. If you have ever searched for an article in a database using a keyword, you already understand how to use hashtags. They are simply searches for keywords in the conversation that is happening on twitter. It's simply a way for you to focus on what a particular subject of conversation. If you aren't sure what a hashtag might look like for your classes, I teach an Earth's Natural Disasters Class. It starts next week, so it's a winter class. My hashtag could be #ENDwint12. I could then have students use that hashtag everytime they tweeted anything related to class and I could easily search for it.

This strategy is especially useful for things like reminders, changes, canellations, etc. You can also use it as what is called a "backchannel". This idea is akin to passing notes in class, but you are able to see it. It gives students the option to ask questions, make comments, etc. without interrupting what's going on. These are very useful during formal presentations, but could also be utilized in the classroom.

Twitter has a 140 character limit. Imagine asking students to synthesize an entire semester's worth of learning in your class into a single tweet? You might be surprised at the results.

Google+ - I could probably share for an entire hour about each of these tools, but Google+ probably has the most functionality. It has components of both Facebook and Twitter. The great thing about this one, is that since SNU is a Google Campus, all students and faculty are already on Google+. They need only click their name at the top right hand corner of the page (when logged into email) and then click "Join Google+" and set up their profile.

In Google+, you have what are called "circles". This would be very similar to a group on Facebook. You add people to circles. They have no idea how you have your circles arranged. They only see that you have said something. You simply choose which circles you send your update to. If I had a Physical Geography circle, I could add students. When I write an update on Google+, I simply choose my Physical Geography circle as the group to with which the update is shared. Like all update services, you can share links, photos, or places.

One other really great thing about Google+ is the Hangouts function. You create a hangout and it becomes a virtual space for you to interact via webcam and voice with people who come to your hangout. Think of it as office hours without students having to actually walk into your office. This is fantastic for you if you teach online. You can still interact with students even without them being at your physical location.

This is my starting point for what I'm going to talk about this afternoon. What have you been doing with Social Media in your classroom? I'm certainly open to ideas to share!

You want spoonfeeding? Sorry, no can do

I am really struggling to write here. When in the course of my jobs I write something that I feel is appropriate to post, I'll do so.

The following is a response to a student. I'll let you draw conclusions based on what I say (said).

You said "I understand that we are adults, but I am paying a hefty tuition for a professor to teach me." You will probably be sorely disappointed in this class if that is your expectation. I am a facilitator of learning and much of what you do and learn in this class will be a result of independent learning. As a teacher, I hope your other professors will do the same. Knowing the mission of professional studies as I do, that is the intent, although it doesn't always happen in actuality.

Education has changed significantly over the last 10 years. A major change has been that the impetus for learning has moved from the teacher to the student. This is true in MANY progressive universities and it's how I structured my classes in both the university and the high school. I've learned a lot of what I do from other, veteran professors here on campus, so I know you will run across these same strategies in other classes; some of those profs teach in this program.

That said, I recognize that the program is expensive. I just spent over $30k for a Master's. However, I didn't pay for a professor to teach me. I paid for convenience (1 night a week) and for a professor to know how to engage me in the learning process, whether through lecture or independent learning. My philosophy is that you get out of class what you put into it.

It is my job to bring all of my mental faculties to bear on the learning environment so that it is one that is conducive to students being engaged and learning However, it is your job to come prepared to class (which you clearly do) and do your best on each assignment and while you are participating in class. I say things like "You are college students and need to figure things that are not spelled out on your own" because that is what is expected of college graduates. You should be a critical thinker, a problem-solver, and an independent learner.

This week, I was asked to prepare an RFP for a vendor. Prior to that assignment, I had never heard of an RFP and didn't even know what the letters stood for. However, through a day of research and independent learning, I was able to learn not only what it was, but what was supposed to be included in one and I prepared a (very) rough draft. This was done much to the surprise of my boss. She didn't even expect that I would know what it was, no less be able to create one from scratch. I learned that skill through professors putting me into situations in which I had to think for myself. This is exactly one of the skills I am hoping to engage you in. Be sure to check the learning objectives again. No doubt you will see "critical thinking" listed.

This program is not about (at least it shouldn't be) "paying for a degree" or even "paying for a professor to teach you". It is about you engaging in the process of learning. Many students come to SNU thinking the professor should "spoon-feed" them the information, assign them an "A", and get them on to the next class. I refuse! I will point you in the right direction, facilitate learning to the best of my ability, award points where they are due, and PREPARE you for whatever challenge you meet next.

You guys know how these things go. Sometimes you've just got to get these things out of your head before you can move on.

why students should go to college

Today we drove away from SNU (although only 1.5 miles down the road) and left our daughter on campus to begin her freshman year. During the month of August, I'm sure there are millions of other people doing the same thing some time this month. While I don't think my experience is any different than any other parent, I had some thoughts this morning and thought I might share them with you.

In 1949, Charlie Edgar Jones, Jr. was born. He grew up in the Amber-Pocassett community of Oklahoma and graduated from the high school there in 1967. He never missed a day of school and even drove one of the school buses while in high school. (Can you imagine if we had high school students driving buses in this day and age?) Shortly thereafter, he entered the Marine Corps and went to Vietnam as a mechanic on the A-4.

I suspect (I've never asked) that he took a few college classes from time to time while he was in the military. Once he left the Marines,  he and his wife Linda went back to Oklahoma with their 2 year old daughter, Michelle (who is now my wife). I'm not sure when, but at some point he made a decision that has affected my family's life (and mine) in a really significant way: he decided to go to college. Dad was the first in his family to do so. He finished his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (without an undergraduate degree*) in 1980. He continued his education by doing a Master's of Public Health at the University of Houston, after re-entering the military, this time the Army, as a veterinarian.

I've never asked if he knew during high school that he would go to college, but I know that he believes in the power of education. Michelle and I married young and both dropped out of college when the strain of a new baby (or two) came quickly in our lives. Dad (I'm sure) was disappointed that we weren't continuing our education. I remember him asking me (as I was leaving for the Army) "Don't you just want to go back to school? We'll do whatever we can to help." I continued to resist, thinking I was taking the right path in my life at the time.

If you've read this blog for long, you know the rest of this story: Michelle finished her undergraduate in 2000 and then quickly a Master's in Education in 2002. I went back in '04 for my undergraduate and just completed my Master's this past May.

This morning, we spent our Sunday not in church, but in the dedication service at New Student Institute. We were there not as faculty mentors, but as parents. We were dropping our daughter, Jessica, off for the beginning of a new chapter in her life. During this service, Dr. Gresham asked all of the students who are the first in their family to attend college to stand and be recognized. I've never attended Oklahoma State, so I have no idea if they have anything like this for new students, but I wonder if Dad knew the powerful impact this would have on his family when he began his studies there back in 1974?

Over the past several days, I've been talking with people about beginning to work on a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) plan for the State of Oklahoma. One of the things we have discussed is that not every one needs to go to college. There is some sentiment that we do students a dis-service when we expect every single one of them to go. I wonder if people, back in high school thought Dad was one of those people who needed to stay in town and work in a blue-collar job? I wonder what it was that got him interested in the science of animals? I wonder what teacher first lit the fire to inspire him to go beyond what the "normal" expectation was?

As a result of his decision, all three of Dad's children and each of their spouses have an undergraduate degree and half have Master's degrees. The first of his grandchildren is starting college this weekend and I imagine the expectation for the rest of the grandchildren is that they would attend college and pursue a vocation which requires at least a bachelor's degree.

We have no idea what Jessica is going to do in college. What we do know is that she would have been much less likely to be attending school if her grandfather had not made that decision to work on his education beyond high school. When you reach for excellence in all things, you have no idea what effect you will have on those that come after you.

This reminds me of one of my favorite Isaac Newton quotes: "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." Thanks Papa Charlie for allowing us and now Jess, to stand on your shoulders; we can definitely see further.

*While I'm not sure if they still allow it, back in the 70s, at OSU you could go to Vet School before you finished your undergraduate degree. Students started a pre-Vet degree and then could be accepted to Vet School before graduating. At graduation, you actually got both your undergraduate and D.V.M. degree.

computational thinking: a digital skill for everyone

I grabbed the first periodical I could find for this article review. I wish I could say I headed directly to a journal I knew I could connect to the learning objectives for our course, Long Range Planning. I ended up finding Computational Thinking: A Digital Skill for Everyone, (Barr, Harrison, & Conery, 2011). Since my focus of education is technology integration, I am very interested in objective number 4, “Understanding the Characteristics of a 21^st Century School.”

The article summarizes Computational Thinking as a way of “solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science,” and refers to an article by Jeanette Wing from 2006 in the Communications of the Association of Computing Machinery. The ideas in this article are even more interesting to me because I am fascinated by the idea of computer-human interface and how we interact with machines. But I digress.

If there is going to be a fundamental in the way we do business in education, our spaces are going to have to be conducive to some informal thinking in the ways described in this article. Students will have to have spaces in which they can think, draw, sketch, collaborate, and analyze. Many of the problems described in this article are open-ended and very difficult to solve. In fact, some of these problems may not have known solutions. This means students will have to have the ability and confidence to deal with complex problems, be persistent in finding a reasonable solution, be able to tolerate ambiguity, and the capability to communicate their solutions and ideas to other students. This may be over the web through web 2.0 tools such as Skype, GoogleChat, or through a wiki. This means they will need a space with wired or wireless access, whiteboards for face-to-face collaboration and tables on which they can spread out their work.

Nothing in this article alludes to a classroom in which students sit in rows, face the front, and have information delivered from a lectern; the article talks about skill development, specifically collaboration, communication, and analysis. When I read about this kind of work with students, visions of a casual, informal space come to mind. Students are free to work, research, experiment, and communicate in the same space. There is not a separate lab in which they work and a separate room for lecture. Students would also need a small space for presentations. Maybe something with a few chairs situated around a Smartboard on which their information could be projected and used for brainstorming activities. This ideal classroom would encourage decision-making. It would allow teachers to differentiate learning, and encourage analytical thinking.

A change in education is going to require a re-design of where students work. They will expect to have information “talked-down” to them if we continue to have rows of desks facing the front. Multi-use spaces should be considered if we are going to expect students to use multiple skills. Actually what I have just described is my ideal classroom. I have moved away from the rows this year. I am resistant to that change (or any change) because my personality loves rows, but it was a conscious decision to begin to move towards a student-centered classroom. Our classroom now has 7 small groups of desks arranged facing each other instead of rows facing a Smartboard. As I tell my students, you cannot eat an elephant in one bite, you have to take tiny bites. My re-arrangement was a very small bite. A classroom as described above would be the entire herd of elephants!

It's nice to think about what you would have in your ideal classroom. What would you do?

References

Barr, D., Harrison, J., and Conery, L. (2011, March/April). Computational Thinking: A Digital Age Skill for Everyone. Learning and Leading with Technology, 38 (6), pp. 20-23.

Wing, J., (2006) Computational Thinking. Communication of the ACM. 49, pp. 33–35.

2010 in review

2010 was a really good year in the Science Classroom. We integrated technology even more than before and I grew a lot in my practice.

We spent quite a bit of time working on the textbook over at the Science Classroom Wiki. Students produced some great products and we even got some AP students to peer edit. I think this was a really good opportunity for all students to learn from each other.

Students created some presentations as a part of learning and they can be found here. This was one of my first forays into GoogleDocs and we haven't looked back since. This blossomed into a more recent adventure wherein students created the lecture notes we used in class. Students have taken the integration of GoogleDocs in our classroom to a new level, they have started using them in other classes, they share documents with me instead of turning papers in, they collaborate together on note-taking, and the list goes on and on.

Spending time in GoogleDocs in the classroom resulted in the creation of a presentation I gave to the Oklahoma Science Teachers Association called Google Will Change Your Life. (I'll also be giving this presentation to the Oklahoma Technology Association at their annual conference). I gave a presentation about Wikis, Blogs, and Discussion Boards with one of my colleagues to OTA back in February. Giving presentations has been an enriching experience and I've made a ton of contacts as a result. It has certainly increased the number of people in my Peer Learning Network.

Putnam City High changed over from a 4 block day to a 7 period day and there have been some pains involved (as usual) with the change. I personally have really enjoyed it but it has taken some getting used to. Students have had to learn how to get to class on time in spite of the fact that they now have nearly twice as many opportunities to be late. Teachers (especially those of us in science) have had to redo our curriculum while keeping labs as a part of our classes. This has certainly been a challenge. For whatever reason, it has been easier for me to add labs.

At the beginning of this school year, I decided it might be a good idea to toss my Lesson Plan book into the trash (figuratively not literally, Janie if you are reading this, don't freak out) and start putting my curriculum online. I created a Google Site and started organizing my curriculum to include every component required on our Lesson Plan forms. I really like having it online since I can access it from any computer that has an internet connection and requires no programs. I've even started including a link to each of my assessments since they have all been given online and are self-graded as a Google Form. Students have reacted positively to online tests and really like the timely-ness of the feedback I can give since they are graded before they walk out of the room. The online curriculum will be what everyone is doing in the near future, so I just thought I'd be a trend-setter and set the bar instead of trying to reach it!

I've been working on my Master's in Education and that has affected a lot of what I do in the classroom and has certainly changed my outlook on who I am as an educator and the confidence or lack of it that I have in myself. Everything I have learned through this program has been seen through the eyes of technology. This degree program has caused me to consider going beyond the Master's and look at a terminal degree. That's something I never thought I would do and certainly not something I thought I was capable of doing. Of course, I suppose that outcome remains to be seen since I haven't picked a school (or program)!

Finally, I just registered the domain jodybowie.com to make it easier for my students to access our classroom website. I think students will be more likely to use the site if they can access it easily. I'm working hard to make our website useful to students. One of my goals for this next year is to begin doing video capture of my lectures and embedding this for students who either miss class or need extra time to study.

So, this past year has been a year of growth for me. Has everything been positive? Probably not. Have I been more effective in my practice. I hope so. Have I solved all of the problems in my classroom? Definitely not. However, I think I have learned to engage students more effectively and that's certainly a big part of the battle. What kinds of things have you tried this year? What kinds of things will you be trying in the coming year? I've learned this year I don't have the answers to being the perfect teacher, but I have learned that if I ever stop trying to learn something new, I'll definitely never be the perfect teacher.

I think 2011 is going to have even more opportunity for growth. I surely hope so.

day 365

Today marks the final day of my 3rd year teaching. Tomorrow begins the first day of the 4th year. Do you ever wonder whether or not you are making a difference with your students? Well, that's good, because I certainly wonder about it. I wonder if I am creating an environment in which students feel comfortable to take risks? I have been thinking about what students think about my class when they come into the classroom.

I was able to hear a great teacher speak tonight. He talked about the idea of "faithful presence". We were at a dinner, at the president's house, with everyone who attended Lead Retreat, a week-long time of bonding for the student leadership of SNU. Every year, the First Family has everyone over for dinner during this time and Dr. G speaks just a short inspirational word to us. Faithful Presence was his message tonight. Honestly, when I heard that initially, I had no idea what it meant. My take-away message from it was "just being". It doesn't really matter what your job is. It doesn't matter if you are in some kind of leadership position. You can make a difference just by doing the very best that you can in whatever position you find yourself.

The other idea he talked about was "spirit of place". Again, I'd never heard of this. Here's the idea: when you enter a place, you change it's spirit and the opposite is also true. When you enter a place it changes you, too. This leaves me wondering about the spirit of my classroom and thinking about how different it will be tomorrow when student enter. It also makes me think about how students will be changed as a result of being in my classroom. I hope students will be changed in a tangible, meaningful way. I work to purposely create experiences for students that will impact their learning. Often, I fail, but I simply reflect and change what I am doing the next time.

Probably the best part of the whole process is the fact that I am affected by my students, as well. My life is enriched in ways I have never imagined as a result of the interactions I have with students, both at PC High and at SNU. Speaking of SNU, I'm sure I've mentioned that Michelle and I are class sponsors there and our kids are going to be Seniors! Already, we are getting a little sad to see this wonderful group of students prepare to graduate and move on to another chapter in their lives. This is bittersweet. We are thrilled to see them complete their time at SNU, but we are sad to lose them as a regular fixture, sometimes at our house and always on campus. We were a bit reticent to take the job when we were first asked, but I am so thankful we decided to say yes! Getting to know students outside the classroom is a completely different dynamic.

So, to sum up, what are you doing that makes a difference? Hopefully, you are being solid and stable for your students. They need your "faithful presence". Additionally, I hope your classroom is a place that changes students in a positive way. If its, not, I hope you reconsider what you are doing.

ISTE - Denver, CO

Next week, (actually starting this weekend) a huge number of techno-geek educators will descend (or would it be ascend) on Denver, CO for the largest technology conference in this part of the galaxy: the International Society for Technology in Education Conference. Best part? I get to attend! We are going to make a family road trip out of it (why fly 3 hours when you can drive 12 right?). Seriously, though, I love road trips with my family. They are the best part of my life and spending several hours in the family mini-van is actually a lot of fun with @mishelleyb, @justjessa, and @JCismyname. I spent several hours yesterday (instead of doing homework) planning my conference attendance so I thought I might do some pre-flection on my plans.

The conference officially kicks off on Sunday so there will be the usual keynote speech and stainless water bottle giveaways. I might even win an iPad! Monday starts the real business of learning, however. I'll begin the day by having breakfast with the president of SchoolCenter and their PR person. They are being very nice to me because I am going to help them out with a presentation on a new product we beta-tested last semester. That promises to be an adventure; even my kids are going to get involved, although I'm not really sure how they feel about it. I'll continue Monday with a session on how to "Creating a Google-Enhanced Classroom". I love the idea of Google and I've already ingested a significant amount of their Kool-Aid. That really about wraps up Monday, other than my SchoolCenter responsibilities, unless you count the reception the Oklahoma Technology Association is having that evening. Maybe I'll have time for a nap in the middle of the day.

Tuesday starts bright and early with (wait, it starts at 11 am.) "10 Web Tools to Make Learning in Your Class Even Better". I honestly have no idea what this one is about, so I am prepared to be surprised and hopefully learn something new. I really hope I am able to take something home that I can implement and possibly even share with my colleagues. One thing I have found with technology: if you find something that works, you cannot be selfish, you HAVE to share with everyone. It's all in the spirit of creativecommons and open-source. That afternoon will be filled with "Thinking Spatially: Using Geographic Tools to Enhance Learning". This smells of GoogleEarth, but we'll see. I want my students to become more spatially aware, so surely there will be some good nuggets (get it? Denver? Nuggets?) in this one! Then, that evening, I'm attending the "ISTE/NCATE Accreditation Standards and Program Reviewer Preparation". Yes. I know. It sounds like its over my head, but I'm on the accreditation team at PCO next year and I thought anything I could do to increase my knowledge of the subject would be beneficial, even if its only tangential knowledge. I'm strongly considering continuing my education beyond the Master's level and I feel fairly certain I will do that in Instructional Technology, so this seems right up that alley.

Wednesday is the final day of the conference and its a full day! I start the morning with one of my favorite subjects: "Wonderful World of Wikis: Practical Classroom Wikis for All Ages". I already use a wiki heavily in my class, but I have no doubt I can learn to do it better. I thought SNU had given me my fill of reflection during my undergraduate, but I am learning the value of true, focused reflection in education. That's why my next session is "EPEARL (Electronic Portfolio Encouraging Active Reflective Learning K-12)". I always want to find a way to make my student's and my own reflection better and more valuable. Since I just can't get enough Google, I'll continue the day with "Using Google Apps Education Edition to Improve Learning". Then, my final session of the conference will be "All Digital: The Paperless Classroom for Less Than $100". I dabbled with a paperless classroom last semester with my AP Physics class and then made a serious move towards it with my Physics 1 classes, so this one should be intriguing. My main concern is simply having enough technology to go around on a mission such as this. At least I can do it with the adult learners I'll be teaching during August.

So, there you have it. I hope I make this experience worth the money the district is spending to send me. I am so blessed to have the confidence of my district. I mean, I'm just a classroom teacher (yes, I know how that sounds). I simply mean I'm not necessarily someone who's job it is to teach other teachers. I feel that is my intrinsic responsibility (and some times there are extrinsic reward$), but I recognize there aren't that many folks who get an opportunity such as this. I'm ready to attend my first "big" conference as a full-blooded, tenured teacher! PC teachers, get ready to hear all about it when school starts up again. After all, it is my responsiblity.

p.s. - I'll be tweeting, so follow me if you don't already!

Closure Part 2

Today was the final official day of work today for Putnam City teachers. This signals the end to an amazing year. There are so many things about this year that were awesome, yet during school, I felt like I couldn't wait for it to be over! Since I really prefer to remember things in a positive light, let's reflect:

I blogged more than ever before. I spent a ton of time talking about myself, but I feel like I've begun to truly reflect on my method as a teacher. According to the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, that convention is one of the single most important things to implement in an effective teacher's practice. So, while it may have seemed that I was "tooting my own horn", I'm really just trying to think about what I do.

I was challenged by some extremely smart students. Not to downplay the intelligence of previous students, but this year there were several students who really made me want to know my subject area better. Fortunately, I have found some really good blogs to read and I've learned so much! Reading blogs by teachers, physics professors, and researchers has really taken my thirst for knowledge to a whole new depth. I've devoted a page on my feed reader to science and one to teaching. I admit, some days I just click "mark all as read" because I simply don't have the time I'd like to devote to some in-depth reading. Other days, I drink in the knowledge and end up on an hour long "link-flow" from one good article to another. This year has been one which has seen expanded horizons for me.

I started a Master's program at SNU. That has been the onus for my increase in blogging. We are required to journal over our experience while we are in the program. Originally, we were supposed to write in a book! "What the duece?!?" was my first thought. I couldn't believe in a world of Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, I was being asked to do some good old-fashioned handwriting! This was crazy to me. After just two years of teaching, I was already integrating some of this technology into my classroom, so why not in Higher Education? Shouldn't they be modeling what we are supposed to be doing in class? I'm almost halfway through the program now (after this next module) and its totally flown by!

I have gotten more heavily involved in the use of social media and technology in the classroom. I created a Facebook group for my students. (So far only the AP class). My thought was students are already using this technology. Why not have a homework reminder in their newsfeed? I mean, duh! Right? I have embraced the transparency of friending student on Facebook and its simply a way for me to model digital citizenship for my students. I sense that there are some other teachers in my building are beginning to catch on to this trend. At least that's my perception. (Perception is reality, right?)

I embraced the use of GoogleDocs in my classroom. If you don't currently use it or know about it, you should consider it! In my AP class, this has resulted in an almost entirely paperless. Students need to turn in a lab report? Have them share it with you on GoogleDocs! Students need to collaborate asynchronously on a presentation or document? Have them share it with one another on Googledocs! Would you like to embed a test into your teacher webpage? You can via GoogleDocs! Would you like to give a test with no paper used? GoogleDocs! Want to make a document and have it available for students, in other words embedded in a webpage? Yep, you guessed it, GoogleDocs! Oh, wait, don't have a webpage? Google can fix that with GoogleSites. BTW, if you are interested, and you are a Putnam City teacher, I'm teaching a couple of classes on how to use GoogleApps in your classroom! Check out .pc for information.

I was able to get some new technology in my classroom. I got a new laptop computer before the year started (a MacBook Pro). I got a new SmartBoard after I mentioned that mine was not working correctly. I was able to check out a new product put out by SchoolCenter, the company that hosts our teacher webpages. Its a pretty secret project so I can't talk much about it, but I'm going to get to take part in a presentation in Denver at the end of the month as a result of my involvement in the project. Speaking of Denver, I am being afforded the opportunity to go to the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) conference. I was blown away when they asked me if I wanted to go. Of course I wanted to go!

This year, I have even been given the opportunity to teach some other classes. I am going to be teaching a Bridge course at SNU. Its a course called Earth's Natural Disasters. If you are not familiar with the Bridge program, SNU has a deal where you can finish your undergraduate degree in 18 months, but you can only into the program if you have 60 hours. Bridge is where you get your hours to that level. So, I'll be teaching adults. This is going to be a major shift in my practice, at least as it concerns my interactions with students. I'm auditing a class right now and these guys are some major gradehounds! I used to think my students were worried about grades, they are nothing compared to these guys.

So, overall this year has been a fantastic year. I think I am in some of my best years of teaching. I am finally figuring out what I am supposed to be teaching. I am finally beginning to find out how to really do some authentic assessment of student learning. That's new. That's not something I learned in college. That is a skill that can only come from experience. I'm stoked to be looking summer vacation right in the face. However, I'm also excited at the prospect of what the next year will bring. What are you looking forward to?

Classroom Management, Week 1

We started a new class this week in MACI. Its hard to believe that we are already done with 1/4 of the program!

The new class, as evidenced by the title, is Classroom Management. According to some former MACI program graduates, this class was done online in the last program and it was terrible. I just talked to someone today and they told me the type of topics covered were "how to set up your classroom for effective learning" and "what to do if a student begins to throw a chair". Hmmm. Sounds like you should catch it! Anyway, the class is with a first rate secondary education director from Norman Public Schools.

In the class, I hope to learn a number of things:

1. I’d like to learn how to deal with students more effectively in the halls and one-on-one when I teach something other than physics; specifically, students who are economically disadvantaged and have little or no parental involvement in education. This is my weak area because it is where I have the least experience. If you don't know, I teach physics, which are usually honors students. I don't really have to work very hard at classroom management. Its more about keeping them engaged and less about making sure they aren't causing trouble. Since I don't deal with lower grade level (and therefore less mature) students, when I do pick up a physical science class, I'm way off of my game when it comes to real, in-the-trenches classroom management. I need to have some more tools in my classroom management toolbox so when I run across a situation that I don't normally deal with, I'm prepared!


2. Additionally, I’d like to develop and implement some sort of plan-of-attack for more active parental communication. I am not good at this aspect of education. It is too easy to not work on it when most of what I teach requires little to no communication with parents for continued student success. This, however, is extremely ineffective when I am teaching some class other than upper level science. It only takes a little bit of rationalization to dismiss this very important aspect of teaching. I am probably more concerned about this than any other issue or deficiency I have in classroom management because I am graduating a Pirate Time (advising) class full of Seniors this year. That means I am going to pick up a class of Freshmen for Pirate Time. This means I'll be meeting with Freshmen, every week, with little-to-no curriculum. That seems like a setup in which failure could be imminent if I'm not on my game.

I'd love to hear your ideas on what has worked for you in your classrooms when dealing with students who may not be "quite as polite" as my own two angels (my apologies to @JCismyname's computer apps teacher for his behavior Wednesday in class).

As with any other class in the program, I'm looking forward to it. It seems like I always end up trying to make a mini New Year's resolution by pledging to blog more every time I start a new class. I imagine I'll get bogged down in work and not do it as much as I want to. Okay. I can live with that.

a social media research project

This week finds me thinking about a research project we started in the Educational Research module of the MACI program at SNU.  This module may prove to be the most challenging class of my academic career, but possibly the most rewarding. I am integrating the research project into a some sub-committee work I am doing with the Putnam City Technology Committee. We are tasked with integrating online resources into our curriculum and I think social media is a great extension of the classroom.

My research is qualitative in nature, probably due to the time constraints of a six week-long module, so I will not have any hard numbers to analyze. I have already begun to notify my peer learning network of this project and will be contacting many of them further, via social media, of course!

Since my research is about social media, I thought it might be appropriate to talk about the different types I use in my classroom.

• Facebook - I friend students (at their request, not mine) on facebook and use it as a way to build community beyond my classroom. Students communicate with me for homework help via the chat function. I get better insight into student's home life through status updates. I am also able to show students that I am a real person as they read my status updates. They can get some insight into my home life, as well, and begin to understand that I do normal things; I am just a person with many of the same life struggles as they have.


• Twitter - I only have a few students who use twitter, but I still consider it social media in my classroom. Most of the students I am in contact with through twitter are in my advisory class (Pirate Time - kind of like a homeroom, which students attend once a week).  This enables me to know what is going on in their lives, since I only get to see them once a week.


• Wikis - I do a wiki project in my physics class, which has been mentioned several times on this blog. Its seems to be more "acceptable" to students, instead of a straight ahead research paper, even though that's what they are doing. It is a "paperless" research paper. They even submit the entire project to turnitin.com at the conclusion of the project. Its much easier to grade, since I only need an internet capable computer, instead of carrying around a gigantic stack of papers. The point of the project, however, is not to make things easy on me. The point is to teach students they have the ability to contribute to the body of knowledge and their contributions can be seen/used by others. It extends the boundaries of our classroom beyond the walls of our school.  English teachers constantly talk to students about "writing to their audience", but do they do anything to extend the audience beyond the teachers themselves? In most cases, probably not.  This project also teaches students not to be afraid of Wikipedia, but that's an entirely different post.


• Skype - I am very new to skype. Skype is a free, voice over IP (VOIP), which allows free videoconferencing. I've been consulting with mishelleyb since last year about this, but am just now getting its use implemented. I have some ideas for this in the classroom and they include:

1. Guest scientists - Its much easier to have a researcher talk to a webcam for 15 minutes than it is to have them travel to Oklahoma City.


2. Collaboration with other classrooms - I just contacted another Earth Science teacher in Maine via email and we are hoping to talk to each others classrooms about the differences in climate, types of storms, etc. through skype.

• Social Bookmarking - I am vested in delicious.com, even though there are several platforms out there, which offer the same benefits. I require, at the beginning of the wiki project, each student to setup an account with Delicious. They save each bookmark on delicious as while they are working on the research project. I require them to tag each bookmark with "pcwiki", so they are easily searchable. Anyone can go to the website and search for that tag and see the resources we are using for the project. It also allows me to easily share bookmarks with students as I find them by simply tagging them when I save the bookmark. It makes the transition from home computer to school computer much easier by eliminating the need for saving all bookmarks in a document on a flash drive. I have noticed my most successful students continue to use this tool even after they leave my classroom, especially as they begin to work on projects in college. This fact makes me very happy!

Have you noticed a recurring theme in my reasoning for the use of social media? If you guessed extending the boundaries of my classroom, you guessed correctly! Each different type of social media I use were chosen specifically for that reason.

The following are a list of questions I am going to begin using in my research project. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas about them. If you are interested in being an interviewee, please contact me via email (jbowie at putnamcityschools dot org) or direct message me on twitter. Do you use social media in your classroom? Why do you use it? Why do you not use it? What experience have you had with social media in the past? Do you feel your students are prepared for the 21st century?  Why or why not? Do they have the ICT skills needed to be successful after leaving your classroom? Are you aligning your curriculum to include these technology standards? Why or why not? Would you please share a positive or negative experience you have had with the use of social media in an educational setting?

I am looking forward to your comments! As always, thanks for reading.

What comes around, goes around.

Module 2 of the Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction has started at SNU. What does the mean for me as a student in the program? It means that all of the things I have been asking my students to do are now being asked of me. One of the major goals of the Educational Research Module is to "Be able to identify and formulate research questions and hypotheses."  Not entirely surprising  that a graduate level class would be having us do this kind of higher-level thinking.  If the rigor were not in the program, I wouldn't be in it. (on a side note: I was a little worried about it - I mean it's one night a week!)

This week I have to come up with a research question (it probably wouldn't surprise you that I am considering looking at the effect of social media on student learning would it?), decide what I am going to study during our "ethnographic foray at Penn Square Mall, and find 5 citations of scholarly articles from 3 different databases.

Of course I should have talked to my in-house research expert before beginning my homework (@mishelleyb). She has already taken the class and has had a plenty of practice since she is an innovator at her school. Half way through, she suggested that I use every homework opportunity to build my research for the major project. Now why didn't I think of that?!?

So at least I got one resource that will fit nicely with my research question. Oh, did I not mention that? Here goes: something like "Does social media positively affect student learning?" Do any of you have any insight on this project?  The specialist and I discussed (briefly) what I am going to have to cover in my literature review:

• student learning, i.e. styles and processes


• cognitive development


• multiculturalism


• change implementation


• staff development

Talk about a daunting task! I have a lot of work to do. Looking at this list, its easy to see how they all need to be integrated (especially the first three). The last two are easily integrated; I have to think about how I will "convince" other teachers and administrators that this type of interaction with students is useful and needed. Not only that, I have to decide how to approach the teaching of the teachers once I have convinced them change is necessary.

My purpose here is multi-faceted. I also am the chair of a sub-committee on the Putnam City Technology Committee and have been tasked with exploring this very subject. I still can't believe agreed to do that!

Now that I have rambled on...the point of my whole post was to say (for myself as much as for anyone else) I am only being asked to do the same things I am asking my students to do: think critically.

MACI week 1

We are reading Mike Schmoker's "Results Now". I must admit, I felt like I was being forced to drink the "education Kool-Aid" and was worried that I might die. After reading the first 1/3 of the book though, I gotta tell you, I'm a convert. It seems a little far fetched that the change can happen so "easily" with the ideas the author has, but I agree: administrative leadership, curricular alignment, peer learning communities, and teacher accountability are the factors that will guarantee student learning is occurring. And if learning is occurring, it will show in test scores and we all know that is where the rubber meets the road as far as the federal government is concerned. (Thanks a lot President Bush)

Mr. Schmoker talks alot about the "buffer". That imaginary wall that is up. Its a wall between administrators and teachers. Its a wall between teachers and their colleagues. Its a wall between students and teachers. Its a wall that must come down. Teachers need to be transparent. If we aren't transparent, how can we know if we are being effective? How can our administration know what we need? How can you communicate with parents effectively if you aren't even communicating effectively with their child? Transparency! Open yourself up. Open up to criticism. Open up to praise. Open up to collaboration with your peers. Do whatever it takes to foster a sense of community in your classroom with students, in your department with colleagues, and in your building with your administrators.

I admit: I feel the need to justify whatever it is that I am doing in class when an administrator come into my classroom. Why do I do it? I have no idea. I am still new enough that I feel like I'm being checked on whenever "they" come in. In reality, "they" are usually just checking on a student or making me aware of some situation involving a student. My goal: work on that. Allow administrators to come in and (me) not feel intimidated by their presence. Get. Over. Yourself.

While I may have some reservations about the program (MACI), I can see that it can't help but make me a better educator. And that's the goal here, isn't it?

busy

Why do we make our lives so busy? We, as humans, constantly put ourselves in positions in which we have deadlines, tasks, and Lord knows what else going on in our lives. I say all of that as I sit here contemplating as few things: starting my master's, cooking pork for 350 people for a dinner next Thursday night, working on a proposal for a class to teach to my peers which would be maybe 2 nights during the summer (of course I still have to develop the class), and possibly doing research for 8 weeks this summer. This AFTER I have already committed to working at the local dirt track on Friday nights until October. So, do I NEED to commit to more time away from family? Granted, I am not getting any younger and I did set a goal of having my master's done before both kids are out of high school (that is just 3 short years away).  So I guess my question is this: should I do it? ANY of it?

I am excited about all of the prospects that are before me, I just have to ask myself: "Where do I draw the line?"

Thanks for reading.

An incredibly busy week

Mishelleyb and I have been quite busy this week.  We are the class sponsors of the sophomore class at SNU. That means we really just work with the class council to manage and plan the events for which our class is responsible. Its not a big deal unless (like us) you have to plan a totally new event from scratch which just happens to coincide with a band concert on the same weekend in the same venue.  This makes setup and rehearsal almost impossible. So this weekend is our event. It is called "who's the Man" and will be held in Herrick Auditorium at 1930 on Saturday night. We are excited about what it will look like, but its gonna be crazy for the next day or two. If we can make it to midnight on Saturday, we will be okay.

Maybe by then, my headache will go away.

Two years ago this week

I went back to look at the things I had written in the past and thought 2 years was a sufficient amount of time (since I wasn't blogging at all before that time).  This is what I found from February 2007:

This past week student teaching was the most interesting yet. I actually fulfilled the long awaited "takeover" of the class on Wednesday. It was a momentous occasion when the students began to ask where the teacher was and when she would be back. The look on their faces was worth every dreadful hour I spent sitting in my chair wondering what I would do differently, given the opportunity. We are still finishing up genetics for the first two days of next week, but then we start space on Wednesday. I am pretty excited to be able to share some of my passion for astronomy with the students. I hope I will be successful in that. It's a tall order since they are just getting used to me, but I'll do my best. It's hard to believe I only have two weeks left there, but it's exciting to think about going to the high school. It is not, however, exciting to think about learning 100 new names of students. Oh well, such is the life of a teacher.I was able to exercise a little of my classroom management techniques on the class this week. It's been interesting to see how these kids react to me versus the normal teacher. My naturally loud voice really gets their attention when I choose to use it. It is usually followed up by "Mr. Bowie, why you yelling at us?" To which I reply, "You guys haven't heard me yell yet!" I try to be light hearted about that even when I feel angry. It's a real trial to not let the kids get the best of me. It's actually much more difficult than I thought it would be.

Stay tuned for updates on how my job search (had an interview this week) is going and how my last two weeks in middle school goes. Thanks for reading.

I remember that time.  I was still student teaching and couldn't wait to get in front of a classroom.  I thought then that I could do things so much better.  While that classroom was peppered with difficult students,  I was humbled to be in front them as a leader.  It all goes to show education is about relationships and I didn't have a relationship built with them yet.  I have worked on building relationships with my current students; I have worked especially hard on that this school year.  Its tough, but worth the effort.  There are few things in education that are so rewarding as when a student comes to share a personal problem with you or when they ask for a letter of recommendation because they feel you know them better than any other teacher.

I think SNU did another thing well: they taught me to reflect on my past experiences to become a lifelong learner. I hated those reflection papers in the School of Education at SNU, but it is surely helpful at this point in my career. I have, finally, learned reflection as a skill that will help me be better at what I do.

While I am by no means an expert on reflection, blogging is an activity that is very therapeutic for me.  Its like going to a counselor.  Maybe I should adopt that as my new mantra: "Blogging, cheaper than a psychologyist and just as good"!

thoughts about this week.

This week has been both exhilarating and exhausting.  I had the privilege of being invited down to the state capitol to attend Superintendent's Technology Day.  I was supposed to talk with legislators about how I use technology in my classroom.  That didn't really happen since my people were busy with other stuff.  Apparently they were considering how they can persecute a man who doesn't share their value system by voting to not accept his prayer.  I think that's just pitful, but this isn't the time or place for that I guess.  It reeks of religious persecution and I thought our country was founded in part to avoid that kind of stuff. I was able to meet a great guy from the OSDE, @ittosde.  He and I were able to talk some about the online learning environment from my classroom, eg. discussion boards, online homework, and a blogging project I am rolling around in my head for after spring break.

Today was especially exhausting just because I was teaching material that is both important and difficult conceptually to explain.  In physics 1 we have been talking about color, specifically light color, and today was about blue sky, cyan water, and red sunsets. It was great to do away with some long held misconceptions and actually explain and help kids understand phenomena that occur and can be observed on a regular basis.  I think I was just exhausted because both phys 1 blocks were crammed full of material and the kids asked good questions and were engaged and that can be a bit draining.  Very fulfilling though.  I love teaching what I teach.

The easy thing:  I must say that SNU impressed on me the need to make my content relevant to kids.  When you are teaching them observable phonemena that can be seen later in the day or immediately, its really hard not to connect it to everyday life.  Physics is just fun!  Students hopefully leave my class challenged and better informed about the natural world around them.  They used to call it natural philosophy and I am a firm believer there is a reason for that.  It was "knowing" "nature".  Pretty cool.

This post is a bit disconnected and you can probably tell I didn't do a lot of pre-writing; I'm sorry @mishelleyb.  I never was one to make an outline, first draft, and all that other writing stuff you teach in Comp 1.  Maybe you could have the paper resource center look this over and get back to me with some edits.

Thanks for reading.