Mr Hammerlund

This post in nothing new, but rather is a collection of ideas gathered from many places and a way for me to work out an idea. I started blogging way back in 2003 when I went to Japan as a way to keep in contact with my friends and family. It evolved into a photo blog, and when I became a teacher, it became what it is today - a blog for me to reflect on teaching and learning. I am a believer and proponent of blogging.  I believe teachers should blog for the following reasons (which are all related and some could probably be combined): Blogs are a great platform for reflection. Write about your day, lessons, current issues, or ideas you have and invite others to join the conversation. And speaking of ideas, blogs are a great way to keep track of ideas you have. Sam Sherrat had a great line in his Learning2 talk," Ideas are like bubbles, if you don't catch them, they float away. " Blogging also has the potential to show you your own thinking. As Shelly Blake...

All the students in Grade 4 are very excited to have their own blogs and be able to make comments on each others' posts. And since they are beginning a blogging project with three other schools, they will soon get plenty of practice. The teacher and I collaborated on the best way to introduce comments and starting online discussions. She followed the guidelines Taipei American School uses for their elementary school: Make a compliment Add new information End with a question Proofread your comment For older students, one might use these guidelines via Eduro Learning : The comment: shows insight, depth, and evaluation. is connected with the original post and subsequent comments. is relevant with links to supporting material. shows personal opinion expressed in an appropriate style and is clearly related to the thread or post. shows a level of evaluation and considers in some depth the outcomes, impacts or effects of the post or comments. The lesson went as ...

Last week I went into an elementary classroom and observed a solid language arts class. It was a solid program with students learning independently and knowing just what to do and what was expected. I had been wanting to try using Google Drawings more for a long time, and I could see a few ways I could easily substitute it in. It went OK. The students were engaged, but they were not speaking as much as I thought they should be speaking. So now I have a followup lesson where the students will take the words they practiced and use them in sentences. So, what do you see that I could do to make either one of these better? If you are interested in either of these Google Drawings templates, let me know.

Best friends are the people who make your problems their problems just so you don't have to go through them alone. — Legofans (@Legofans_pa) November 10, 2015 I saw this Tweet in my feed, and it spoke to me. First, because I feel it is the truth. Second, because this is partially what I hope to be as a coach. I want to be there for teachers, and support them through difficult times. I want to be able to offer insights that will help them achieve their goals. I want to be helpful. I want to be a good teammate. These are all the reasons I love being a coach and what drew me to the position in the first place. These are not all that a coach does though, it's only a partial definition.

Now that structures for the coaching program at KAS have been built, it's time to deliver the message to the teachers and explain what coaching is, can be, and will mean for them. Victor and I (with Diana 's guidance) have decided in this first year of the coaching program to focus on the Tech Ambassadors at KAS. The Tech Ambassador is a team of teachers who are able and willing to help their peers with learning technology. Diana instantly recognized that we have a built-in group of teachers who are willing to take risks. So that's where we are starting. I spent a lot of time in the past few weeks looking over resources and decided SIS had the most easy-to-follow definition I could find. Something I am going to work on is creating an elevator pitch I can use to briefly explain the program whenever I am asked about it. I have done this preparing for job interviews but didn't think of it as an option for explaining what you do until I saw Geoff Derry'...

The Learning Technology Strategic Plan has three parts: Lead -- Collaborate -- Share . When drafting the coaching plan for KAS, I kept thinking of how teachers currently feel disconnected from teachers in other departments or parts of the building. Yet, when I observed teachers or learning working together, I saw great collaboration and idea sharing. KAS has had a group of teachers called the Tech Ambassadors (TAs). The TAs are the innovators of the school, knowledgeable with tech, and able to help others when they had questions. When I arrived, the Tech Ambassadors met every other month. From my point of view, these teachers needed to spend more time together. I thought long and hard about creating some sort of discussion forum where conversations could take place, but there is something magical that happens when ideas are shared face-to-face. I read something about time and space needed for innovation to take place. (This might have been from Sam Sheratt  from the b...

The other day I felt like talking with my best friend. That term is a little strange since I haven't lived near him in 13 years, and it might be a one-way feeling, but that's how I feel all the same. So I was feeling that I needed to email him to talk out some things I had on my mind. Then the next day I got an email from him. Then when I replied to his message, I unloaded. That was probably the wrong timing and I know I caught him off guard. I explained my issue and he replied and all was going well until it wasn't. Suddenly he was offering advice I didn't want. All it seems I wanted was someone who I could trust with airing my issue rather than looking for advice. I wonder how much I jump in and offer advice when teachers are not looking for it. I wonder if that is an option teachers should have when meeting with me. I wonder what I could look for to determine if that is how someone feels during a coaching meeting.

When I was a homeroom teacher, communication and understanding took on a different form than my current role as a technology coach.  I feel like communication in my lower elementary classroom was me as more of an authoritative figure who could dictate when and how students would make themselves clear when I did not understand them. I was also directing the learning, so I knew, or could predict their lines of questioning. This picture really has nothing to do with this post. SJSA Fourth Grade - The Longest Year in My Life!,  by  Michael 1952 , via Flickr ,  CC BY 2.0 Now, however, I am on the outside and people come to me with ideas. The role is new to the school, so a culture is still being established. This has meant a lot of what I am doing is last-minute, can-you-come-in-later-today-to-teach-X? -type lessons. I'm not complaining, I just realize that the program needs to move to one of the coach joining planning sessions if there is to be a mi...