Relaxed domestic cat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I started reviewing the parts of Seth Godin’s Manifesto so that I could get my thoughts together and begin to process. I didn’t make it very far as the words “don’t settle” jumped off the page and embedded into my thought process in the second section. The author is encouraging the reader to take some sort of action after reading the Manifesto.

I am wondering if I have settled. I think in many ways I have not intentionally done so but settling has happened more because everything becomes a routine and then a habit that becomes ingrained in the behavior.

I discovered all things Web 2.0 and totally immersed myself into a a topic with a huge learning curve. It seemed that everything I learned just led to so many more things. There were so many more ideas and apps and projects to read about, to try, to investigate. I seemed to never reached a point where I felt that I had learned enough so I would feel comfortable starting to  share my knowledge with others. But as I think about it now I think it was my way of settling. As long as I felt I was still learning new things I did not have to put myself out there, I didn’t have to commit to a particular path I could just keep learning but not really contributing. I didn’t have to acknowledge the extreme discord between what I was learning and how I was teaching. I didn’t have to acknowledge how my pedagogy was changing. I didn’t have to acknowledge the stress that I was feeling with the disconnect between what I believed was the optimum way to teach and the structured and unbending approach the system in which I was teaching.

All that changed when I was hired for my next job. That is what made me realize that I have settled and it was time to change.  OK, the job didn’t make me realize that, it was Seth’s writing,

but with a new job on the horizon it is time to step out of my comfort zone. I don’t expect it to be perfect and I know there is another learning curve ahead of me but it won’t be here where I have become so comfortable.

I don’t know what the future is going to hold but I do know that I am not I am no longer willing to settle. It is time to start sharing, giving back and helping to lead other teachers on a new chapter of their journey. Let the games begin.

The fact that it is free and in PDF format allowed me to pop it onto my iPad and read it using iAnnotate my favourite PDF app. I have scribbled and commented and questioned the things that I am reading with great enthusiasm. It is giving me much to think about. While it is set up in such a way that you do not have to read it in order that is what I have chosen to do.

Seth gives an excellent historical background of how the present day education system started. It is, of course, the American history but as so many other countries also chose to follow that model it doesn’t really matter in the whole discussion. I enjoyed reading about Horace Mann and his vision. A quick search on Wikipedia and things fit together a bit more. I am sure I learned about all of this back in a Foundations of Education course. (I can still picture the hard covered red textbook.)

Horace Mann Daguerreotype by Southworth & Hawes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So far I have read through the first eleven essays and I am trying to process them as I go. I am also working hard to remove myself from my present circumstances and just think about the manifesto as guide to my pedagogy. I am taking it slow.

For years I have voiced my opinion that I totally buy into to the changes that are needed and yet I don’t really think I have totally worked it out in my own mind how this works and how it will change me. Maybe because I am changing my job and leaving the classroom as a home room teacher after over 30 years and moving into the IT Specialist role where I will be more involved with the professional development of teachers than daily interaction with students has led me to do some real soul searching on what I, Heather Davis, really believe and how I can actively begin to make a difference.

Let the thinking begin!

I really wasn’t sure how this was going to work as I had never taught any of these students. While a teacher has the opportunity to incite enthusiasm in their own class it is sometimes hard to judge how a new group will respond. I am happy to report it was a huge success. Last Thursday was our final meeting and the students all were so sad and asking why I was not doing the club the next session. That response was certainly rewarding.

The purpose of the club was to give the students an opportunity to sandbox a number of applications that they may use in their regular classwork in the future. There were no assignments though I did give a few suggestions of things they could try t home if they wished to do so.

I set up a website on Weebly that they could all access though I am not sure if anyone actually did after the first week. I wanted there to be place that the students could visit after the sessions were over. To help them chat to each other during the week I also set up an Edmodo groups

The thought behind this was that they would share ideas with each other when they were ome as a social networking opportunity. Tis did not work at all but I thing the problem was more that the students that were in the club had never used the site before. I will have to think about including this in the future.

The other apps we used were all very successful and as the weeks went by the kids started contributing their suggestions.

Here is the outline that I used,

Week 1 – we spent the time getting to know each other, verify email addresses, look at Edmodo and the Weebly account and talk a bit about what sand boxing is. Sand boxing is not a word that is common in other cultures. In Canada all my friends and I grew up with sandboxes in our backyards and portable ones in our Kindergarten classes. It is not something that happens in other places. The closest any of the students could relate to was being at the beach. International teaching always techies us something new.

Week 2 The club looked at how to make and download avatars as well as taking quick look at Scratch.

Week 3 Professor Garfield Comic Lab and Toondoo were the apps we looked at for making Comics.

Week 4 – Go Animate

Week 5 – Animoto – I had asked the students the first week to bring in between 10-15 pictures of their family, vacations etc. on a USB that would be used for this project. Parents had to approve the pictures that were being used. The two boys whomdidn’t bring in pictures due to memory lapses just used the built in pictures. It certainly was a shock to me whenI opened up the program to show them and interface had completely changed since I had last been using the program. We got through it with no problem though and had a lot of fun.

Week 6 – each student crated their own website using Weebly. Parents had had to sign a release form before the club started allowing their child to participate with this section. Everyone signed with no problem.

Week 7 – Google Sketchup – this was so much fun. I fought long and hard to get this program put on our lab computers two years ago and it was well worth the time spent.

Week 8 – our final session was an opportunity for them to revisit any of the programs we and looked at. The groups was split between Go Animate and Google Sketchup though one boy went back to Animoto and created another video for his family.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience and certainly one I hope to try again.

My initial group of four has come a long way in their writing and are becoming more confident in what they choose to write about. They are incorporating their own voice into their writing and it is wonderful to see each of their personalities making an appearance through the words.Pictures are appearing that are increasing the interest and they have shared with me that when they go places now they always carry a camera so that they will have pictures to share. To my way of thinking they are now working regularly with two important areas of Literacy – visual and text.  It is exciting to see.  I recently came across a page that suggested that there are 26 different kinds of Literacy. As I read the list I realized that in many ways it was true as there is a different vocabulary for each item on the list that must be learned in order to be understood and that is Literacy.

The second group is moving forward: most of them are English second or third language learners and face their own challenges.  What has been really helpful is the Reviewing feature of Word.  My students now send me an e-copy of their blog post and I review it, make the suggestions in the right hand column indicating the area that needs to be changed and then send it back to them or give them a hard copy.  We now have a period every Wednesday morning when we are able to use the IT Lab just for our blogging. The students use this time to correct their blogs, post them to their site, read other blogs (both our students are other classes) and make good comments. At the moment we are working on everyone writing at least one good blog post a week and having it posted.  That seems to be a good balance.

Some of the students are struggling to find topics to write about such as Jack’s blog post today and others have many ideas and need support sorting through what they should write.  We are working on ways to let them use their own creativity and still provide guidance for what they may write about.  We have created a Blog Idea Box where students can put in blog post ideas to share. Students who are stuck for an idea can choose to go to the box and see what the suggestions are.  This may kick start their thinking process.  Writing is all about thinking.

My struggles are keeping up with the process.  I have 18 bloggers in my Literacy class and to give them time they need can be time consuming when I am pulled in so many different directions. Yet, I strongly feel that student blogging is essential to produce writers that are comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas to others.  The students have spent their school years writing strictly for the teachers, other students and their parents.  Giving them an audience is vital and is creating enthusiasm for the process. Checking the map on each blog has become of paramount importance.  I must stay up with the students, do may part. We are committed.

March 6-8 are the days to mark on your calendar and make sure students are involved.  Right now we are using the incredible World Education Games practice site.  Each day we check to see how our class and individual students are going along.  Today was exciting when we saw that our class was listed in the top 50 classes practising Spelling.  While these scores will all be wiped out once we begin the actual Games the way it is set up this year is already exciting.

Playing against students and classes around the world is fantastic and always adds some interest especially when my students end up playing someone from their home country.

Each special day actually last for 48 hours.  Why is that you might ask?  The rules are that as long as it is March 6th any where in the world the game is still rolling along.  It is a great opportunity to also bring in study on time zones and distances.

Finally, this is also a wonderful fund raiser for UNICEF. School-in-a-Box is a learning kit which gives around 80 children the opportunity to start school.

My final word is “Please check out the website and see what all the excitement is about.”. Http://worldeducationgames.com.  It begins in 20 days….

Beijing Spring

This morning I had a bit more time to read my Google Reader as it is a wonderful Saturday and it is beginning to feel a bit like Spring here in Beijing.  As I did that a new blog was Guiding Digital Nomads was recommended and so I went over and visited it and now I am going to recommend it to you.

Guiding Digital Nomads

I was really interested in the blog post about digital nomads.  I commented and then decided that I would post it on here as I really think it is an interesting concept. The following is my comment.

“I really enjoyed your use of the term “digital nomad”.  I have always felt that digital native and digital immigrant that Marc Prensky coined in 2001 is a bit too dogmatic especially when I look at how far I have come.  I certain fall into the immigrant position but that doesn’t sit right with me anymore than digital native seems to fit my students. To me it implies that children are born with an innate understanding of technology and how it all fits together. It seems to indicate that somehow in the womb children are now different just because of the outside world. (Ok, I admit that it taking it a bit far but that interpretation seems to be there.)

In actual fact children that are born into our digital world are not intimidated by the the world around them because for them it is their reality.  They do not fear technology but they do not just intuitively know how to use it or operate it.  Just that their approach is different.

Therefore, I think the term “digital nomad” fits well for all concerned even a digital immigrant like me.  I was a stranger wandering in a strange land when I came to know about Web 2.0 but gradually found a direction with the support of many guides.  As I see it – that is my job as an educator for my students who fall under that digital native category – I am their guide, not their leader because often I learn as much from them as they do from me.”

I have also found some apps that I love and want to share.

1.Blogsy – as funny as the name is it is without a doubt one of my favourite apps and easy to use.  It allows you to blog and post to any of your blogs.  While I am doing this particular blog on my laptop the post I did last night while watching the fireworks was done on Blogsy.  It is amazing.  I wrote the post, pulled up my Categories and tags, filled in what needed to be completed and then posted it directly to my blog.  I would be able to input pictures if I wanted to do so.  You can start a blog and just save it until you are ready to go back and complete it or to post it.  I love this app.  I am finding that I am blogging more frequently as I can work on a blog wherever I am.

2. iAnnotate PDF – one of the best apps to use with PDF’s. It has just recently been updated and is sleeker than it was before.  Underlining, highlighting, note taking are just some of the incredible tools you can use with this app.

3. Notes Plus – an excellent note taking app that will allow you to make folders and notebooks as well as convert your handwriting to text. You can download to Evernote and Dropbox as well as email. They have just updated the app and it works even better.

What I would really like is an app that I could use in the classroom to take notes.  I have found a couple but they don’t quite do it for me yet.  Does anyone have an idea?  This makes me wish I knew how to create apps…or at least knew someone who does and I could share my ideas with them.  Until that happens I will listen to your suggestions.

Courtesy of: newgre.org

I have decided that is what I am in my current job – square peg in a round hole. I have always just thought that I was marching to the beat of a different drummer but today when I was reading a post for Tech Transformation written by Maggie Hos-McGrane, things became much clearer to me.  I am in the wrong place. While my pedagogical thinking has changed for the most of the people I work with they haven’t even realized that there is a different approach let alone begun to think about it.

Don’t get me wrong- I have really enjoyed my time at my present school for the most part. I was able to expand my horizons and turn my classroom into my learning lab. It was here that I saw there was another way. This is not because the school is pedagogically attuned to change but more because they are not. For some there is the desire to change the direction but the difficulties of getting teachers to change their outlook and direction is almost impossible. I believe this is especially true when it comes to an international school setting as there is so much more going on with living in a different culture, struggling with just the day to day things and the language that teachers fall back into what they are most comfortable doing. Our classroom becomes our safe place and taking on new challenges and stretching to incorporate new ideas is seen as an impossibility or a challenge to their teaching credibility.  On the other hand, international teachers have already made a huge, life changing move and so it would seem that they would be willing to branch but that has not been my experience. 

But what does this have to do with my sudden epiphany?

1. For the past two and a half years I have run IT Tuesdays for teachers in the Primary/elementary section of our school.  When they first started I ws a relative newbie and finding out all of this great tools and wanted to share my excitement with other teachers to help them begin to transform their classroom. I shared Google Reader, Audacity, Animoto, Prezi, Edmodo, Dropbox, Evernote, Glogster and on and on. At first there was a lot of interest but gradually it disappeared and while I would get apologies for teachers not coming eventually that even died off until at the last session in November only two people were there- one was our Librarian and the other Curriculum Coordinator. So I decided to end them for the time being and focus on student doing an after school club with computers.

The discouraging part that I have just put a name to thanks to the above mentioned post is that never once have I seen any teacher actually use the things I was teaching.  My enthusiasm and their initial interest did not translate into a change in their classroom. So I have asked myself the question “Why?” we are a well funded and IT supplied school – equipment is not the problem. Every classroom has an interactive whiteboard and at least two computers plus teachers all have been given a laptop.

2. It has been a lonely journey except for my small PLN. While I am supported in what I do in the class most teachers eyes glaze over when I start to talk about it. The general feeling is that they are too busy (they are very busy but so am I), it is too steep a learning curve to attempt (it is a high mountain to climb) or the one mentioned the most is “it is the schools job to provide the Professional Development not mine to find”.  That is such an old approach. The amazing thing about all of the information available to us as educators is that we no longer have to be locked in a box with a textbook or help up by finances to develop our knowledge.  It is all right there.

What it does take though is a proactive spirit.  How can a profession that is responsible to educate the world citizens of tomorrow be so stuck in the past as to refuse to move forward unless someone else arranges it and virtually forces it on them absolutely boggles my mind. We look longingly at Finland and their school system.  It is good but will probably be the flavour of the month. We have testing because the Asian system was looked as the answer to the problems. Trust me it is not. They have good things certainly but if you want individual and creative thinkers do not look at the Asian system.

When I get discouraged I am lifted up when I read a blog like the one Dave Truss wrote yesterday on Pair A Dimes about the new learning initiative he is involved in back home in Canada. It is exciting……it gives me hope….. Check it out….doesn’t this sound like something you would like to be a part of??????? at least for a while to get a feel for what it could really be like.  This is not a pipe dream….this is a dream that is developing and now has legs to move forward.

What do you think?