The power of the people...

Yesterday was an interesting day in the life of a school administrator.  We held a press conference at Harrison High School which was attended by Superintendents, teachers, school leaders, parents, school board members and community leaders from over 40 school districts in the region.  The press conference was held to announce that we were fighting back against the mandates of NY State and trying our best to change its course, hopefully for the better.

"It is time for New York State to get it right!" exclaimed Dr. Wool, Superintendent of the Harrison School district as he left the podium.  At that point we had 600 signatures to our petition.  600 signatures in roughly 5 hours.  Here is the amazing part...24 hours later, we have 4500 signatures....wait, we have 4550 signatures.  Each refresh of the page comes with more signatures.  It's taking on a life of its own on Social Media including Facebook and Twitter.  #GetItRightNY is our hashtag.  It is our hope.  It is what we demand.

In the next week, it is our hope that we can gain enough momentum that the NY State Senate will join the Assembly and pass legislation putting these changes on hold until we can make a better system.

If you care about education, please sign this petition.  Let's put pressure on our elected officials to do what is right.

#GetItRightNY

Link to Petition:  http://form.jotformpro.com/form/51403613544952

Link to Resources:  http://www.harrisoncsd.org/index.php/featured/571-getitrightny


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Going Google Part 2:

I recently wrote about "Going Google".  Here is a section of the post:

I know that change is difficult, and is usually avoided. I wrote about that in 3 separate posts:  the Pessimist, the distracted, and the procrastinator.  I know deep down that teachers will embrace going Google, once they realize its potential.  I decided that I would speak to some of those potentials here:

1.  Going Google allows teachers access to their work anytime, from any device.

2.  Use of the "Drive" and a smartphone as a scanner to display work on their smartboards. All they need to do is snap a picture of the document, and send it to their "Drive" and then display it on their smartboard.

3.  Collaboration has never been easier than with Google.  Sharing a Google doc with multiple colleagues as they work on a common assessment or curriculum plan is one click away.

4.   Auto Save.  No more "File Save as", "Ctrl-S" and certainly no more...."oh no! the computer crashed and I forgot to save".

5.  Google for Education gives them unlimited storage.  Wow...unlimited storage?  Yes, Unlimited storage.

6.  Google Classroom is a tremendous resource for teachers.  I just introduced it to our 4th grade teachers and posted a short blog on it here and here. 


However, there is a huge challenge to "Going Google".  Teachers will fear the unknown and the loss of something they know and use everyday.  We are all creatures of habit and fear change because it makes us uncomfortable.  Knowing and planning for the unknown can help ease this transition.


A teacher at the middle school asked to be introduced to Google Classroom once she heard about it from her colleagues.  Her request came and I set her students up.  Less than a week later she stopped me in the hallway to tell me how amazing it is.  She has already used Google Classroom as a means to assess understanding by setting up a Quiz and using Flubaroo to quickly grade the assignment.  She was also amazed that she can track her students' progress in real time as all the work is shared between her and her students.

I am confident that when teachers see the power of "Going Google", they will never miss the "good old days" of the past.

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Technology Spotlight #1

I have decided to dedicate my next few blog posts to technology recommendations.

Evernote:
Evernote is an organizational tool that can be used in a variety of ways.  Here are the main ways I would recommend using it for the classroom teacher.

1.  Creating Portfolios for each student.  In Evernote, you can create a notebook for each child in your classroom.  In each notebook, you can record notes, running records, capture pictures of student work, record audio messages such as a student's reading fluency, and much, much more.  At the end of the year, the notebook could be shared with the next year's teacher or archived.

2.  Saving Digital copies of chart paper.  Elementary teachers use tons of chart paper.  They use them to take class notes, write goals, or use them to highlight tools and strategies students may refer to.  Most of the time, the chart paper gets rolled up and stored until there is no more room.  I would use Evernote to make a digital copy of the chart paper.  You can use add ons such as Skitch to edit the chart paper and make notes for the next time you may create a similar one.  Saving the image of the chart paper in Evernote, hwlps to organize your library of resources.  You can also tag the images for sorting and filtering.

3.  RTI notes.  In many schools, teachers participate in RTI meetings.  If you don't have RTI meetings, maybe you have Child Study Teams, Instructional support teams, or anything like that where teachers come together with support personnel and principals to discuss the progress, or lack of progress for students in your class.  Evernote can be used to keep notes and recommendations regarding interventions that can or could be used in the classroom.  You can track progress as well. 

4.  Make Checklists.  Evernote has a simple way of making lists...and my favorite kind of list - the checklist.  Thanks to the Evernote blog, you can find out how to make the checklists here:  https://blog.evernote.com/blog/2011/08/02/did-you-know-how-to-create-a-checklist-in-evernote/


I also recommend going to the Evernote Blog to read stories and find tips on how to best use the product.  https://blog.evernote.com/blog/category/tips-stories/

Evernote is free.  It is compatible with any smartphone, any laptop, and any desktop computer.  It will syn your notebooks and notes across all your devices.  Good luck and give it a try.



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Device Fluency

The other day, my three year old daughter begged me to play minecraft with her.  So, of course, I said yes.  Well, how could I say no to her?  As we walked around the house looking for unoccupied devices, we came across the macbook first.  "Daddy, let's play it here", she said.  As soon as we started, my older daughter rushed in and stopped us.  "I need to do my homework! Can't you find another device?" she yelled.  

Ok, there are others.  So we moved along and came across the iPad.  "Daddy, we can use the iPad."  As soon as we started to use the iPad, my other daughter rushed in and took the iPad away and said that she was already playing a game.  "Can't you find another device?"  

Ok, there are others still.  So we moved along again and found the xBox.  Finally, a device that nobody was using.  I guess with 4 kids in the house, it is expected.  So Jordan and I sat down to play minecraft on the XBox.  I looked at the controller and had no clue what to do.  How can I move up, how to I place a block, how do I "fly"?  Uh oh!  How can I play minecraft when I don't know which of the 9 buttons to press?

Without hesitation, Jordan showed me how to use the controller.  To her, the device wasn't a roadblock.  It was a means to play the game.  She didn't care if she played on the laptop, or on the iPad, or even on xBox.  All she wanted to do was play the game.  

This lesson came to me when introducing BYOD to our teachers.  The device is not relevant.  The skill and the context for which the device is being used is what is relevant.  So, when teachers expect students to write persuasive essays, while collaborating with a peer, they can accomplish this task on virtually any device.  Device fluency may not be the terminology I am getting at...maybe its device agnostic (denoting or relating to hardware or software that is compatible with many types of platforms or operating systems.)

Our children are growing up in a world where they need to be able to manage various platforms and hardware.  Our digital world relies on it.

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