Still moving forward with technology.....

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am having a lot of success with the technology in my classroom!!! I have been making a lot of connections using SKYPE and I have set up a classroom blog spot at kidblog.org My students are really really excited about this... and SO AM I! :) I only have time for a quick post... just want to let you know I am still here and I am still working hard to reach my goals.

www.kidblog.org/Ms.Pollock's Class

Falling 4 Skype

Fall is my favorite time of year!  Many view Spring as a time of "new beginnings," but as an educator, I'm the opposite.  For me, it's fall.  As the new school year approaches, I'm always looking to create change.  The focus of our PLC has helped me to keep my goals on learning and sharing with others here at my school. 

As a rural girl, fall is also the time for sunflowers and apples here in Randolph, New York.  I can't tell you how thrilled I was when my fellow PLC member, Tammie Thomas, contacted me about her idea!  She knew our class usually started with a mini sunflowers unit and her class apples, so Skype was added to the formula to connect our classes in a new way.

Initial Steps - Planning Phase: We did almost all of our planning through Skype with a combination of the chat feature and video calls.  Our purpose was two-fold.  First, we wanted to show our students how teachers, even at the same school, can communicate using forms other than little notes, face to face conversations, and emails.  Second, we also hoped to solve any technical problems prior to the actual Skype calls.  Personally, I love planning on Skype and have used it with many teachers at different schools.  My favorite part of it is that you have a little orange indicator with sound that informs you that you have a message.  Some would say that it's not much different than email, but it just seems quicker and easier for me.  You can then reply, at your convience.  You also know when the other educator is "on" Skype.  The second component that I really like is that classroom teachers often don't share any similar prep time, but they still need to talk in order to collaborate.  It really isn't the best to bring my whole class down to talk to another teacher and that's impossible if they aren't in this building.  But, if it was planned ahead, I can call for a quick 2 min clarification conversation while my students are working for a moment, just as if another teacher came into my classroom in person.
Area of Impact - Personally, I was thrilled to be working with an educator at my school who shares a similar vision for her students, who I can learn from, and always share my classroom successes with.

Monday - Let's Meet: This is fully needed for students who have never Skyped before.  They are so excited, rightfully so, to be on "camera", that they get overly distracted by this element and forget about the purpose - communication and collaboration.  We kept it simple and decided that each student would get their own webcam moment to share their name and something about themselves. 
Area of Reflection - After the call, I asked my students to take a moment and reflect on the call.  Even second graders, when challenged, have the ability to be thoughtful and genuine in their reflection.  I like to see what they think, both areas of success and concern before I give my thoughts.  The one comment that really stuck out was, "I liked how Mrs. Thomas called her groups up one by one so we could hear what each kid had to say." 

Wednesday - Sunflowers: My second grade class took their turn to share about sunflowers.  As part of our preparation, we read a non-fiction book A Field of Sunflowers by Neil Johnson.  Three student pairs chose their favorite fact, recorded it an a question format, and then illustrated a picture to correlate.  We also read a fiction story Sunflower House by Eve Bunting.  Three student pairs chose either the beginning, middle, or end to summarize and illustrate.  Last, two students were in charge of explaining the glyph that each of the students in both classes were going to create.  These two were so excited about it all they even made up their own little song that taught about phototropism. 
Area of Improvement - Well, they did such an impressive job getting ready and they were so excited, that during the call, many partners kept preparing.  We talked about how it's important to give each other our attention, so we can all learn from each other.

Friday - Apples: Now it was time for Mrs. Thomas' class to share about apples.  This time we tried to really focus on being a respectful and attentive audience.  Our tables were cleared of distractions and we were ready!  Student groups came up and taught us how an apple tree looks through the different seasons.  My class thought about when to clap and I gave them signals of when to stop.  They shared the life cycle of an apple tree, as well as the directions for the apple man craft.  But, then I put my class on the spot and asked them to come up to the webcam.  They were asked to say their name and one compliment of specific praise about their presenation - either about what they learned or how the students presented. 
Area of Success - Well, this was one of those moments that you realize that your students really have SO much potential.  We needed this moment as an entire class - both students and teacher!  When the camera was off, we were all smiles to say the least.  We all can't wait for the next adventure involving Skype!

This week - Open House: This was such a unique call for me, since we are both here at the same school.  Parents and students will be able to see the crafts from both classes and hear about how we are both getting our students prepared to be global communicators and collaborators in a world of ever changing technology. 
Area of Connecting - I can't wait to hear how my students describe elements of Skype to their parents and visitors they bring with them to our classroom.  It helps me to see what they understand and where to take them next!

Our door is always open -

literally, figuratively, and virtually! 

So, come on in and let's talk tech!

Initial Thoughts...

Thoughts...
Yes, I'm still THINKING!  I guess I have many unresolved thoughts still circulating that I am struggling to find a way to express and formulate them into text.  But, I'm going to consider it a good thing that I'm still thinking on our first PLC meeting since we learned, shared, experienced, and accomplished so much! 

Virtual Meetings...
It was so neat to be able to connect my PLN, Personal Learning Network, with my PLC, Professional Learning Community.  When we had talked about what we'd actually do during the meetings and resources, I couldn't help but to think that this would be a valuable resource to tap into.  The educators who we've connected with so far, have made this idea not only become a reality, but had such an impact on the team that we can't wait for the next connection.  So much was shared during such a brief time, but here's what stuck with me the most...
Josh Allen - Take a bunch of tech tools, play with them and decide what you can latch onto.  Sometimes I get overly excited about the tool, the options, the possibilities when I share my thoughts with others.  I need to constantly remind myself that what works for me, may not be what works best for them.  But, I need to keep sharing because sometimes others need to see how you are using a tool in your class to understand how they might also embrace it.  I also learned about some updates in Diigo that I can't wait to explore more.  Lastly, I really need to match up those I follow on Twitter and my tech viewpoint, also know as stop following people and realize that it's okay. 
Avivia Dunsinger - Get into Evernote and get it off my to do list.  She's raved about using it for student assessment and record keeping.  Well, I need to get started and soon!  I liked her simple format that she utilizes in an attempt to increase her amount of student feedback - I really like how you did ________.  For a next step try__________________.  I also look forward to using her student's Kidblog blogs as examples of wonderful student blogs as my class gets blogging this fall.
Dennis Grice - I admit there are times when I think backwards, but he reminded me yet again to... Start with your learning goal and work from there.  Be mindful of all the resources out there when designing units, not only the tech resources, but the educators as well!  Not only did he share useful tools, but also student examples which made my mind start getting into "creative mode."  I haven't tried out Youblisher when making little page-turnable digital books before, so we are going to give it a try.  I plan on asking him more questions about Google Maps and the pin-cushions as we start our unit on migration. 

Personal Goals... (Sept 2nd - Oct 8th)
Skype
- find new connections (2nd grade) that share a similar tech vision and communication style
- continue to build on established connections, re-create what was effective and experiment new approaches
- set-up another "virtual meeting" for our PLC's next session
Webcam
- organize a computer station for webcam and voice-capture "projects" that the student's will create independently...VoiceThread, GlogsterEDU, Vocaroo, etc.
- install and experiment with the new webcam we received as a resource for our PLC team
Snowball Mic
- continue to utilize for whole group and small group Skype calls
- use during literature discussions as an accountability element and post recording of conversations on the classroom blog
- try out the above concept among ourselves during our next PLC meeting (thanks to esipe for the suggestion!)
Centers
- get all of my students set-up with their Kidblog, GlogsterEDU, and Storybird accounts
- utilize the SMARTboard for collaborative creation and practice of the above mentioned tools
- borrow two of tthomas and esipe's iPods for a fluency center and sign-out some others for use
- brainstorm ways to make our center time more focused...cross-curricular, content, creation, connecting, collaborating,

Teaching4Tomorrow...  I'm absolutely thrilled about this PLC and can't wait to see where we go as a team!  We have a wonderful mix of educators who really want to learn, grow, encourage, explore, and share.  We've fine-tuned our main goal and work together in a way that will make us all better educators.  We understand how important communication and accountability are as members.  It's always the people who make things, I'm glad that we are starting the year with such a willing team! 

A Final Thought... Keeping things simpler is a personal goal of mine for the year.  I'll take any advice you can offer!

(First PLC Meeting) Learning.......

-So many emotions, thoughts, ideas..etc as I begin not only my first year as a teacher in a wonderful district, but also as I begin challenging myself with technology. I feel very lucky to have an awesome PLC group to work with and I learned SOOOO much over the two prof. dev. days. I left our meetings feeling excited about learning and ready to expand my horizons... after all, we are "teaching for towmorrow."

The one thought I had that stuck with me over the past week is... "WOW, what is education going to be like when my daughter gets to fourth grade?!" At eleven months old now it is amazing to me that she already knows how to pound on computer keys, hold/talk on a cell phone, etc... that brings me to the thought that life/education is changing and we as educators must keep learning and moving forward or we will let our students/our own children down. With that said, I am planning to push myself to keep up with the "way of learning now" and explore new ways to incorp. technology into the fourth grade curriculum! I LOVE the goal of our PLC and I cannot wait to meet in 6 weeks and see how far each one of us has come.... esp. ME. :)

My personal goal for the next 6 weeks is to become familiar with all the available technology out and about. I made a twitter account.. I am going to try and get in touch with other educators... Mark Carls is going to be helping me set up my snowglobe and webcam.. and also giving ideas on how to use them in my classroom. I am planning to incorp. skype into my classroom and also glogster. I am very excited to teach in a 21st centry style!

I am writing this blog with a smile because I am very excited about the educational journey I am about to embark on... not only at an individual level, but with a wonderful team of teachers from R.C.S and a journey with a group of amazing fourth grade students! I am having fun learning/teaching and I am very exited to put the technology into my students hands and see where it takes us.

Wish me luck as I challenge myself to be the best teacher I can be using unfamiliar technology. :)

First Post

I found our first meeting very successful. I was introduced to MANY tools that will help me as well as my students in a number of ways. My personal goal for the next six weeks is to create accounts and get comfortable using the equipment on my own. I am looking forward to setting up Skype and putting it to use in my classroom.

First meeting: personal goals

Wow, is my head ever spinning! Our guests from around the continent during our first meetings were phenomenal. Aviva Dunsinger, Josh Allen, and Dennis Grice each shared so many wonderful ideas, resources, and points of view. I'm thankful that our Team Agend Template supplied us with a place to be organized about our goals so I don't shoot off into a dozen different disconnected directions : )
And while I'm on the subject, I'm also thankful for my team members. We seem to be a great mix of personalities and ideas. Some of us are still getting to know each other BUT we seem to have a lot of common educational goals. I think the prospect of having the time to work with colleagues whom I can both admire and respect is the very best thing about our new PLC focus here at Randolph Central Schools.
Back to the goals...we've worked together over the past two days to develop a broad set of goals for the group, but we've each set our own personal goals. I'm going to work on using different types of technology to contact my colleagues over the next few weeks. In addition to email, I'll be experimenting with Skype calls using my wonderful new webcam and Snowball microphone (many thanks to the RCS powers that be), and I'm going to make an honest attempt again at using Twitter in a meaningful way. Was it Sheryl Nusbaum Beach who said that you really have to use the technology personally before you can teach it to your students?...well here goes, Sheryl! I'm also going to try to continue to post to this blog about how I make out with my personal goals.
One goal I have for my students is to teach them about VoiceThreads: what they are and how to make them. Many of my first graders are coming to me as children who are in the very beginning stages of reading and writing. Some are even non-readers and writers, SO we'll use our webcam, snowball mic, and other tools to help them express their thoughts orally through VoiceThreads as we're waiting for those reading and writing skills to develop. Mrs. Moritz has strongly encouraged us to not just use technology ourselves, but to get it into the hands of our students. I'm also going to continue to work hard to incorporate technology into my literacy and math centers. I have some really great ideas after working in my PLC group for these past two days.
Now I'm going to wrap this up but you have to know that I have many other even more lofty goals that I'm not going to list, they have been moved to the back burner for now. Please understand that I'm not promising to accomplish all my goals overnight, but with the support of my colleagues and my school district I think I stand an excellent chance of accomplishing them by the end of the year. It's going to be a wonderful adventure...want to come along?

First PLC Meetings

We had our first PLC meeting during our staff development days.  First, we focused on formulating our goals.  As a group, we decided for the first six weeks our focus would be on Skype/webcams, Snowball Mics, and incorporating technology into our student centers.  We will also find a location for a "Making Connections" map.  After continued conversation, we realized that as individuals we all have different needs within the common goal.  Overall, our individual goals will be to incorporate more technology in centers, set-up accounts Blogger, Skype, Evernote, Diigo, Story Robe, and MORE! We agreed to communicate through various forms of technology within our group at least once every two weeks.  Next, we participated in three different  virtual meetings. Josh Allen reminded us to focus on the content, not the technology tool.  He introduced various ways to use technology to better yourself as an educator, such as social bookmarking and Twitter.  Avivia Dunsigner gave us a wide array of technology resources that she has implemented with her students during centers.  For example, she uses Evernote for assessment and documentation.  She gave us examples of how she uses these tools to meet the needs of her lower ability students, as well as tips in keeping centers managable for the teacher.  Dennis Grice's main point was to start with your learning goal and then think about what will be the best tech tool for implementation.  Everyone really wants to try out his rapid-fire progressive story idea in conjunction with Storybird.  "Learning should be fun, if it's not you're not doing it right!"  This hit home with all of us.  We also used the templates provided to document our goals.  After that, we created the norms that will assist us in making our PLC beneficial to all members.  Lastly, we took some time for hands-on exploration to familiarize all with the new initatives of the group.  For example, we wrote this post collaboratively to experiment with the options within Blogger. In conclusion, we had a very successful first meeting!  We look forward to continued learning and are excited about Teaching4Tomorrow!

PLC meeting 1

I'm really excited about our PLC group. I like the fact that we get to choose our own direction in what we want to learn. I also love the fact that we can implement the technology we are learning about as we go. For instance, we are using this blog to discuss our thoughts about the meetings, but this gives me an opportunity to check out blogging and how I can use it with my students. Also, we are planning on using our snowball microphones and the Evernotes program to "blog" about our next meeting. Additionally, I'm looking forward to using Skype. I already have a corny name in mind for this: "Skype with Sipe." I've learned that "corny" can be good at times in education when used appropriately. Lastly, I'm excited about using at least one piece of technology I've either learned this summer or in our PLC group in the next few weeks with my students. It will be extremely beneficial that my group is going to keep me accountable towards this goal. I can't wait to our next meeting!