Beyond "It's Not My Job!" Teaching Digital Citizenship and Literacy

I look at teaching digital citizenship/literacy the same way I look at teaching reading.  I am a Social Studies teacher, but I also realize that I am a teacher of reading.  It would be hard for students to learn and do one without the other.  In this age, the same goes for digital citizenship/literacy.  I use digital media and tech apps everyday in class, so I know that to be better at achieving my Social Studies course of study goals, I HAVE to find ways to lessons on digital citizenship.  So I think the main personal responsibility of educators is to come to the understanding that this is your arena, whether or not you already think you have too much on your plate!!

Another big aspect of personal responsibility for an educator is to model effective digital citizenship yourself.  The knowledge and skills we want our students to demonstrate should also be a part of our daily work, personally and professionally.  If you haven't gotten to know the ISTE standards for teachers, that would be a good place to start.  And then educate yourself on the vast and growing amount of resources out there in this area.  Look for ways to integrate a digital citizenship tid-bit or reminder into daily instruction.  Use teachable moments to bring issues to students' attention.  Emphasize the importance of ethical digital use and the pitfalls of plagiarism.  Team up with other teachers or your media specialist to focus on one or more digital citizenship topics.   There are a LOT of things general education teachers can do to approach the teaching of digital citizenship, but first we must realize that we are all in this together!!

Also, don't be fooled by how tech-savvy our students seem to be... Of course they feel comfortable with the technology that has always surrounded them, but they still need us to help them be critical consumers and consumers in this digital age.

Pencil in Some PLN Time into Your Schedule!

It’s a point in your career that I hope every educator reaches….the day when you stop thinking of professional learning as something that is assigned to you based upon what administrators or organizations think you need, and instead, as something that you seek out, willingly, eagerly, to devour in all of its glorious forms.

My PLN journey began in earnest several years ago when I realized that summers were the perfect time to get re-fueled with inspiration, ideas, and to get a head-start on the year ahead.  I devoured every workshop, webinar, and online course I could get my hands on.  I love learning anyway, and summers freed me to take things at my own pace, when and where was most convenient to me.  It’s not that I didn’t do summery-things. I did, but if I went fishing or to the beach, I had a book with me that was related to my profession.  If I spent time on Pinterest, or Twitter, or something similar, I was adding to my professional network and growing depository of ideas.  I yearned for summer, not because it was time off from my job, but instead it was time to dive in!  Through my summertime efforts, I felt more connected to my profession, confident that I was up to date on the latest trends, and eager to put them into practice when the school year began!

My challenge has been to sustain my summer time blitz with an ongoing approach to professional learning all year long.  It’s not that I stop cold-turkey, but my PLN gets sporadic attention at best.  To find some balance, my plan will be to set a realistic schedule to accommodate PLN activities during the school year.  I’m penciling in PLN time to my schedule and looking for activities which bring me enjoyment and professional fulfillment.  For instance, Monday evenings will be reserved for an on-going Twitter chat (#InspirEdMobChat) that I always enjoy.  Tuesday nights at the gym will serve double duty as a time to listen to a podcast from the Cult of Pedagogy.  Friday evenings before bed are my Twitter feed and Pinterest times, while I will set aside time on Saturday mornings to monitor RSS feeds and to catch up on certain blogs. 

PLN offerings in education are like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and my goal will be to consume a balanced diet of activities which will help me to grow as an educator and teacher leader.  I have created a Symbaloo webmix for professional development that has links to all my favorite resources that make it easy to navigate to them.  I will use my blog to share with my colleagues what I am finding and to facilitate on-going discussion about what they’re learning as well.  I will also request that our faculty reconvene a professional development committee that can teach our faculty about PLN offerings both locally and nationally. 

So, what are you penciling in?  What are some of your go-to PLN activities?  Share so that we can all keep adding to our PLN and sharing the love of teaching!

Just Say "YES!" to Hosting a Student Teacher

This is the time of year when your local college or university reaches out to ask for your help in hosting a student teacher for the following year.  I've recently detected a slight sense of desperation on the part of the placement coordinators, who seem to always have more students than cooperating teachers willing to host them.  Honestly, I've known a fair share of teachers who have groaned at the prospect of hosting a student teacher. Maybe it's because they've hosted a student teacher who wasn't quite up to par.  Others might be put off by the paperwork, required observations, and loss of teaching time. But probably most of all these teachers realize that hosting a student teacher is not easy.  If done right, it's actually quite a bit of work on the cooperating teacher's part. All the more reason to host one, I say!  I've been quite fortunate to have had some very good student teachers.  Here are a few things I've discovered from my experiences hosting student teachers. 

The key to developing a good relationship with your student teacher is to be willing to give up some control of your classroom. This is not the easiest thing to do for many teachers. However, to give the student teacher the most effective experience, they need to have the sense that you trust them enough to fully take control of the classroom as appropriate.  Be sure to include them from the very beginning. The students need to see them as co-partners or co-teachers in the classroom. The last thing you want is for several weeks to go by before the students even hear the student teacher speak.

The best thing that you can do for your student teacher is to be honest with them, to show them the reality of teaching, and to give them a chance to get comfortable with the classroom. Explain to them why you do something. They may have a difference of opinion, and they very well may be thinking to themselves that they will do it differently when they have their own classroom, but tell them your rationale.  Ask them for ideas, and put aside any sense of being territorial. 

Think back to what you may have needed as a student teacher. Weren't you most fulfilled when you felt like you had a purpose and were given some responsibility in the classroom? Isn't student teaching supposed to prepare you for having a classroom of your own? Do right by your student teacher by giving them as much responsibility as you're willing to give. Sure, they may not be as skilled as you, and their teaching schedule may put you behind in your own pacing guide.  But in the end, it's all going to work out alright.  I've not had a situation yet where my students in any way suffered because of a student teacher.

Remember, to develop this profession we need to make sure that we are developing new teachers. If you consider yourself to be a good teacher, then you owe it to your colleagues and your students to play a part in ensuring a continual flow of ready and willing educators to continue what you've started.  Just say "Yes!"

Drawing in Class - The Power of Sketchnoting

Like a dutiful teacher, I've been using my summer vacation for my professional development and to up my game as an educator!  Among the many things on my radar is the concept of sketchnoting.
You've probably seen what I'm talking about...a visual representation of concepts using drawn images, icons, and words.  I read "Ditch That Textbook" by Matt Miller, who does a lot of great sketchnotes in his book, and I was motivated to learn more and to encourage my students to take notes in this way.

I  subscribed to the Sketchnote Army Blog and came across a great TED talk featuring Rachel Smith who does visual note-taking professionally. Her story about being called out for drawing in the back of the class resonated with me.  Rachel makes the points that by making visual notes, a person has to really listen to what's being said, understand it, and connect it to something he or she already knows.  It turns note-taking into something more than the passive activity it often is, and it can help students remember concepts later more readily.  As teachers, we should allow and encourage students to take notes in whatever form will help them most. 

There's no one way or right way to do sketchnotes.  The three main steps are to pick a tool, develop a few basic icons, and to listen for and capture key points.  You don't have to be an accomplished artist to do this.  If you can look at your visual notes later and tell back the story or main points, then you know you did it right.  As a scrapbooker, I've used this same technique to capture memories with no idea what it was called.  Those sketches and notes are precious to me now, especially the one-pager I drew during Army basic training,

The best advice I came away with was not to spend too much time on any one image, because then you're not listening anymore.  It's all about listening and capturing the speaker's key points.  For more on visual note-taking, check out the video:  Drawing in Class: Rachel Smith at TEDxUFM.

Happy sketching!

Writing is Thinking! Why I’m Excited about Using Blogs with my Students

I had already decided that my 7^th graders were going to write next year.  Those dismal writing scores on the ACT Aspire had teachers across the county and state talking about what needed to happen to bring them up.  So already I was planning on less objective tests and more open-ended, essay responses for assessments.  I had also considered having my students keep a learning journal.  Then I really started considering a familiar idea which I had never tried in my social studies classes:  blogging. 

According to Kristen Kennedy, students will write when they have something to say, an audience, and feedback (Writing with Web Logs, 2003).  As I consider how that could possibly be different than any other writing assignment, it struck me that my students might be more aware of their thought process and what they’re writing when there is an audience who actually read and respond to their words.  It might take writing beyond just an assignment that only a teacher is reading into a whole different level of connectedness to the larger community and world. 

And they might even learn something in the process!