Being Silly Helps You Remember?

We use Words Their Way as a way to teach spelling and word patterns. Each week, in the beginning of the week, when I hand out the word lists, I go around and make sure students know how to pronounce the words and I can answer any questions the students have about the word lists. When I am doing this I record the students repeating me on Seesaw so parents also have a copy of the pronunciation if they need it.

One of my groups this year, maybe out of boredom, started using silly "Alven and the Chipmunks" voices when they repeat. 

While they are working with me, there are about 15 others students working in the classroom. Loud squeals might be distracting for others, so I remind them of it. I have been reluctant to have them stop since this helps make a mundane task manageable for them. 

However, after listening to an episode of Kwik Brain, I feel it is important for them to be silly while doing this because that silliness makes these words more memorable. Maybe it is the unpredictability of it.

It seems to serve a dual purpose.

Laughing Together

Today my class and I were discussing my small moment story. We were talking about the scenes in a story that can help you understand a character's motivations.

I was using my small moment story as an example and I talked about how I needed a bottle to wash away my dog's pee on the street.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Thomas Hammerlund (@thomashammerlund) on Nov 25, 2018 at 2:53am PST

Well, that set them off laughing, and since they were sitting on the carpet in front of me, rolling on the ground. And this happened every time I said the word pee.

So I tried to say it more.

So here I was, at the end of the day, 18 fourth graders in front of me, rolling on the floor laughing uncontrollable belly-laughs, erupting, again and again, each time I said the word pee and I tried to use it as much as I could.

This was back in October, but I still think back on this afternoon as one of the highlights of the year so far.

Newsletter Template

I was asked to share this with my principal, so I think I will share it here too.




Here's a link to the template if you are interested.

A Meeting With a Parent of an Internet-Addicted Child

A parent of mine recently reached out to tell me that his kid has an internet addiction problem.

I knew I would get an email or a question like this sometime. I have given advice before, but it was either to parents of early-elementary students or in my role as tech coach.

Ideally, when parents have young kids they will stop using their phone or iPad as a pacifier to make their kids behave or be quiet. I also think parents should use the internet together with their children to show them how to use it properly -- how to know when to stop, how to know what scams look like, how to know how to search, how to know how they can use the internet for work and not just consuming information and share out their achievements, and how to communicate like a citizen ...

But that is a goal too lofty for most parents who don't know or do many of those things themselves.

I really need to start talking with my own students more about balance and both the positive and negative effects of technology.


But for this week when I meet the parents I have a few ideas I am going to share with the family:

"Tell kids to stop at a natural break, such as the end of an episode, level, or activity. It's hard for kids (and adults!) to stop in the middle of something. Before your kid gets on a device, talk about what they want to do or play, what will be a good place to stop, and how long they think it'll take. Set the limit together and hold to it, though a little wiggle room (a couple of minutes so they can finish) is fine."

"Discuss consequences and follow through when kids test the limits. When all else fails, it's important to have discussed consequences for when your kid won't give it up. For little kids, the line can be something like, "If it's too hard to turn off, the tablet has to go away for a whole day." For older kids it's more about keeping devices in a public space, setting expectations, and enforcing them. If they show you they can be partners in moderating and regulating themselves, there can be more flexibility."
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/5-strategies-for-getting-kids-off-devices

"Help your kids self-regulate. Start by having a conversation about all their daily duties and figure out how much game time fits in. Create a calendar, have them set a timer, and reward them for sticking to the time limits. If you've tried this and want more control over their screen time, consider installing a parental-control program that lets you set daily screen limits for different programs."
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/screen-time/is-it-ok-to-let-my-kid-play-minecraft-for-hours

How can I help my kids develop good media habits?

I chose these based on what I think this student's home-life is like.

Here is the contract I came up with for her.

I Got Hacked ... or Did I? What to do

Last week I went to clean out my spam email and found this piece of trash. It caught my eye because the subject line said: Change your password ********** immediately. Your account has been hacked.

I will definitely give this scammer credit for making a subject that was attention-getting - the password was very similar to one I used before.

The note goes on to say that I need to pay about $800 USD in Bitcoin to a provided account. (how generous!) The author went on to say that I couldn't get in contact because

I did have a minor freak-out but then thought through what the email said.

1. The phisher said there was evidence of dirty habits. If watching CNN on YouTube is dirty, you caught me.
2. The password wasn't exactly what I used to use. I also knew that my password was different at the date of the "hack".
3. The hacker phisher said s/he used my own account against me. So, I went into my sent box to see if an email was sent from my account. It wasn't.
4. I went to Have I Been Pwned? and entered in my email address. Yeah, a few years ago my email info had been leaked from a third party. 
5. Thought through the worst-case scenario - the phisher actually had control over my computer and if I didn't pay would brick it. -- NEW LAPTOP! No, seriously, I can get a nice laptop for less than the asking ransome.

It made for a good lesson with my class and Tech Crew. I talked through the problem with both groups and told them my thinking and what to do. My class suggested I should tell the IT Director, cute.

If you think your Gmail account has been hacked:

1. At the bottom of the Gmail inbox is something that says "Last account activity" with a link to Details. Click the link to see when and where your account was last accessed. (Unfortunately for this problem, the "hack" was a few months prior so I wouldn't have been able to see that anyway.)
2. Go to myaccount.google.com and go to the Sign-in and Security tab. Check account activity and run a Security Checkup.
3. Change your password.
4. It might be a good idea to remove any connected apps that you don't need at this point as well.

Social Media Commenting ... on Paper

This year the third grade teacher and I are swapping classes once a week so my students can get a period of art, and her students can get a period of tech skills.

I agree with the decision to hold off on giving them their school email address for a few months, but it makes the lessons a little more challenging.

So, seeing as how they will, or most likely, are online I have spent the last few weeks doing offline responsibility activities. Talking about topics around questions like:

• What does responsibility look like?
• How can you be a good communicator?
• What do you like people to say to you?

The Plan

Copy of the template.

I wanted the students to practice communicating online, and I had seen the fourth-grade teacher do an Instagram thing last year. Since Instagram is pretty popular, I went with it, but I didn't find an Instagram template mobile template I liked so I made the above one.

The students drew pictures of what they did over the autumn break. Next time they will add their avatar, choose an appropriate username, write a comment for their image and choose an appropriate hashtag for their post.

After that, they will do a gallery walk and look at others pictures and write a comment. If we have time, they will reply.

Internet Comments

Good communication offline and online is very similar.

You should be cordial.
You should give compliments.
You should try to keep the conversation going.

What comment would you make about this picture?

Not finding anything in my own files for elementary students, I came up with the following guidelines.

Compliment
If you are taking the time to write a comment, there must be a reason. Give the author a boost and tell them what caught your attention.


Connection (if possible)
Just like in reading, show a connection from the post to yourself or from another comment in the thread to yourself.


Ask questions in your writing
Conversations are like playing catch with a baseball. The game ends quickly if you don't throw it back. A question is how you can do that in your comments.


Think before you post. 
Ask yourself, is this something I want my parents, teachers, friends, strangers to see? What are the consequences if you post this?

===

Browsing through my files I found this gem from a friend sent to me a few years ago. I really like the one about proofreading and I think I will add that to what I give my students.

Make a compliment

Add new information

Make a connection

End with a question

Proofread your comment

Me as a Learner

This first unit has been interesting for me. I am back in the Grade 4 classroom after a six-year hiatus. But what a journey the last 6 years have been! I taught a combined Grade 1-2 class for three years, then an MYP Year 5 class for two, then last year I taught Grade 1. I never would have imagined that path when I moved out of the G4 classroom.

Our first unit has been Who We Are focusing on teaching and learning. The initial idea I had was for the students to share what they learned about themselves after/while doing their Passion Projects. I think that could have worked, but one night, in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep, I had an idea.

Using the image above, students would write the factors that help them learn - external factors on the outside and internal factors on the inside. I am not even sure if "factors" is the right word, it might better be called "traits".

The idea is that this will be an ongoing (living) poster that can be added to and changed over the year.

Summer Doing

Looking around my PLN, it is hard not to feel envious of the accomplishments everyone is making. I must be following the right people. If you had a great summer, congratulations!

I felt like I was treading water - not moving anywhere in my own journey.

So I decided to sit down and write out what I did [professionally] this summer.


* Completed a course to gain credits for recertification
* Started learning Scratch
* Became an MIE
* Became a Screencastify Ambassador
* Renewed my driver's license
* Made it to the "new" Twins stadium
* Created new extension

What I am realizing I haven't done is take some time for myself and just try to relax a little bit. We go back to orientation in two weeks, so maybe I can take a day trip or two and just unplug for a little bit.

Six Video Project Ideas

This summer I watched a webinar about video project ideas offered by School Tube University.

Instead of writing up notes, I made an infographic.

What Went Right

I had a post planned about my year, but I scrapped it. Instead, I am going to reflect on what went right. After all, if I don't write this down, it won't be written down at all.


English as an Additional Language

All EAL students improved and 3 of the 5 from the beginning of the year are ready to exit. This was a big jump since they came with no English at all. They are now included in the group of students I need to tell to be quiet (a good thing).


Collaborative Projects
We did a few collaborative writing projects this year through Traveling Tales and Traveling Teddy. These are two awesome projects that I can recommend to anyone.

Here is one of the stories we helped write.

Writing skills
It has been amazing to look back at some of the writing pieces students did in August and compare them to recent writings. Yes, it was Grade 1 so of course there would be progress, but it was a long journey to get to where we ended.


Making
I introduced my students to the concept of making. I guess that is a bold statement. I should say that I introduced them to making something when they are not occupied with another activity. I set up a table in the room with a bag of bottle caps, cardboard, and toilet paper rolls. They ended up making some interesting things and I [re]found a new tool for my classroom.

Ganesha and the Curse on the Moon

I remember sitting in a restaurant with a former coworker in October or November and asking what I could do for a fairy tales unit. She suggested a readers theater, but that scared me off with this crew, so I opted to try to produce a movie with them. 

Learning my own limitations
I tried to take too much on my shoulders this year. I don't know if it was me thinking back on my previous homeroom experience, or if I was arrogant, but I learned I need to lean on the parents more when I have difficulties with students.

Next year I will be working towards this ...

Waiting for them to Be Ready

Our current unit in Where We are in Time and Place has us looking at innovations and discovery.

This unit I held back the poster with the central idea, instead, wanting to see if my teaching was leading them to their own conclusions. This is not revolutionary, but I haven't done it much this year.

I have been waiting for them to be ready.

The first week of the unit saw us making and testing paper airplanes, looking at the history of different things (cars, airplanes, bicycles, toys - we started with airplanes), trying to make sense of data we collected, and making tops.

Note: I happened to use the airplane video because there were many questions about how airplanes worked. I fell into the trap of misleading students and then having it snowball by students becoming interested and asking questions, eventually ending up off track. This reminds me to be more careful with provocations -- or at least to do a more thorough reflection afterward. Still, part of me thinks it is OK to be off track as long as the students are thinking and wondering.

I thought making LEGO tops was the best activity of the week. It was an activity that was accessible to all students. 

After about 10 minutes, I had them stop to reflect on the steps they were taking, they came up with the following ...

plan 

find parts 

build 

play 

test 

The list had to be boiled down to this list, but they mostly used the words in their explanations. One thing I should try next time is to record (video or audio) these discussions we have.

When we were making it tops, I stopped them to ask what their steps were. #stemeducation

A post shared by Thomas Hammerlund (@thomashammerlund) on May 31, 2018 at 11:46pm PDT

We met to do a short reflection at the end of the activity where I wrote what they said on the board. I think my prompt was, "what did you learn?"

I am glad that one student picked up on my use of the word improve.

Our reflection after making LEGO tops and improving on them. The challenge was to see who could spin the longest.

A post shared by Thomas Hammerlund (@thomashammerlund) on May 31, 2018 at 10:13pm PDT

Using Google Keep as a Writer's Idea Book

I am in the thick of a course about teaching writing.

One suggestion I learned from this course, and I've heard it before in a workshop on the Readers and Writers Workshop Models, is to have students keep a notebook of ideas for future writings. These ideas, or seeds as I first heard them referred, are just that -- seeds for future stories to grow out of. It's another way of saying curation.

While reading, I thought of what I would do if I were keeping a notebook. In fact, I am keeping a notebook, it's just in the form of this blog. So understanding that I am more digital than paper, got me to think about how I curate content from around the web.

I use Twitter and have an IFTTT recipe set up so my "favorites" on Twitter are saved to a separate blog I keep for me or anyone who is looking for interesting teaching ideas.

That got me thinking about students. I would prefer that students use a notebook. But what if I had students who were able to curate content from the internet? This year in Grade One, it seems like a far-off dream, but I will be teaching Grade Four next year, so teaching curation is on my list.

Two tools came to mind - Google Bookmarks and Google Keep. I don't bookmark much, so aside from messing around with it a little, I don't have much experience with Google Bookmarks. I wonder if bookmarks can be shared.

I do use Google Keep regularly, however. I like how notes can be tagged and colored. I was thinking for a seed journal to introduce students to the Google Keep Chrome Extension that allows you save web content with a click of a button. 

Once content, or seeds, are collected in Keep, they can be tagged and color coded. If students are already using Keep, maybe they could choose a color to use for their writing notes since you can filter notes by color in Keep.

Diigo could be another option. It also allows for tagging and sharing. In Diigo, you can make groups.

Google Calendar Shortcuts

Google Drive Shortcuts

9 P's of Digital Citizenship by Vicki Davis

This was a good webinar about keys to digital citizenship by the cool cat teacher herself, Vicki Davis.

I have tried before of writing out my notes to books and other learnings, but I wanted to try something new. So instead, I made an A3 infographic that I can print and refer back to.


Feel free to take it and modify it.

Download this template

What questions come to mind when you watch this video?

This morning this video was shared with me by a family member.

Did you notice the two countries being compared? 

Why do you think it is these two countries in particular?

Which country looked better?
For which country did they show shots at different times and at different locations?
Which country got more airtime?

The SF footage looks like it is all from one news report with no commentary. Why might that be?

Next take a look at the channel's home page.

What are the related channels? 

What does that say about this channel?

Does this channel have an obvious bias?

What questions would you add?

Start with the Why: TPACK

This post is a script for a podcast episode I am making for a course. This transcript is slightly different from the recording.

Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org

WHY

Unlike other frameworks, TPACK has the educator examine possible technology integration lessons from three different lenses - pedagogical, content knowledge, and technical.

I first heard about TPACK in 2015 while I was taking Coaching Digital Learning | Cultivating a Culture of Change through The Friday Institute. Immediately could see that it was a good support to what I knew about evaluating technology integration and could work nicely with the SAMR model.

TPACK differs from other technology integration frameworks that I know in that it forces the teacher to consider different pieces of knowledge before getting started.

WHAT 

The TPACK considers technology integration through the three lenses of Technological Knowledge, Content Knowledge, and Pedagogical Knowledge.

Technological Knowledge
I first understood this, or remembered this as, "The technological knowledge piece of the framework requires you to evaluate yourself based on how well you know the [technology] you want students to use." That didn't sound right to me because how would the teacher then give the student a choice in which tool to use? Looking back at tpack.org (on the page, What is TPACK?), I was relieved to see that I was wrong. Technological Knowledge looks at how well the teacher knows how to use technology as well as different ways of thinking about technology use. Most important in my opinion is "being able to recognize when information technology can assist or impede the achievement of a goal." (Koehler & Mishra, 2009 via tpack.org).

Content Knowledge

Content Knowledge is how well you know the content you are teaching and how it differs from year to year in the curriculum. 

Pedagogical Knowledge
Pedagogical Knowledge is how well you, as a teacher, understand teaching methods and ways students learn.

In addition, there are four additional areas where these circles of knowledge intersect. They are Technical Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), Technical Content Knowledge (TCK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), and Technical Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). All these are wrapped in what context you are teaching and what the students are like.

HOW

I don't see TPACK as a ladder or as a way of moving up a scale, rather, I see the TPACK model as a way for teachers to assess themselves and look for opportunities to "collaborate with teachers at your school or within your Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)" (What is the TPACK Model?). This is where I see both the strength of TPACK and its weakness.

I really like the idea of teachers working together. When teachers work together ideas flow and new ideas can be created. On the other hand, I have worked in schools where collaboration is not easy. A teacher might be in a small school and not have a teacher or a coach they can work with. This is where I think teachers need to take matters into their own hands and reflect using the TPACK and SAMR models themselves and get connected with other teachers online.

Using technology with students is easy, but integrating technology purposefully is not and takes time. Using frameworks like TPACK can help you become more in tune with what you are doing.


Information gained from the following sources
tpack.org
TPACK in 3 Minutes
What is the TPACK Model?

Note 2 - I found out after making this fictional podcast that there already is one called Start With the Why.  Too bad it only ran 16 episodes.

A Few Education Podcasts To Listen To

I shared some podcasts with a coworker who asked me what podcasts I recommend the other day. Then I was asked again which ones I listen to, so instead of typing them out each time, I'll write a blog post that can be easily linked to and shared.

In no particular order ...

In General

The Ten Minute Teacher Podcast

How often does it come out? 
Daily

How Long is Each Episode?
About 10 minutes

What topics does it cover?
It covers different topics depending on the day. Tuesday is Tech Tip Tuesday.

Ed Tech Takeout

How often does it come out?
Once or twice a month

How Long is Each Episode?
About 45 minutes

What topics does it cover?

Edtech and integrating technology

Shift Our Schools

How often does it come out?
Once a weekish

How Long is Each Episode?
45 minutes

What topics does it cover?

Learning innovation

Google Teacher Tribe

How often does it come out?
Once or twice a week

How Long is Each Episode?
45 minutes

What topics does it cover?

Google stuff and how to use it in the classroom

The Creative Classroom

How often does it come out?
Twice a month

How Long is Each Episode?
30-45 minutes

What topics does it cover?

Project-based learning and creativity 

Teachercast

How often does it come out?
Almost everyday

How Long is Each Episode?
It depends on the

What topics does it cover?

A range of topics from tech coaching to edtech-related topics

21CL Radio

How often does it come out?
About once a month

How Long is Each Episode?
30-60 minutes

What topics does it cover?

Edtech, learning innovation, coaching

Education on Fire

How often does it come out?
Once a week when it is in season

How Long is Each Episode?
30-45 minutes

What topics does it cover?

Music and new ways of thinking in education

*The first season was really interesting and got me hooked.

Principal Matters

How often does it come out?
About twice a month

How Long is Each Episode?
About 45 minutes

What topics does it cover?

Education leadership

Start ED Up

How often does it come out?
A few times a week.

How Long is Each Episode?
It varies from 5 minutes to an hour

What topics does it cover?

Education innovation

The Time Space Education Podcast

How often does it come out?
Infrequently

How Long is Each Episode?
30-60 minutes

What topics does it cover?

PYP and pushing education innovation forward

Meet Them Where They Are

Yesterday I popped my earbuds in and turned on my podcast player while I took my dog for a walk. One of the podcasts I listened to was the Shifting Our Schools Podcast Episode 46: Teaching a Media First Generation.

There was a lot to think about in this episode, but what resonated with me was that we need to reach the community the way they like to be reached.

Until recently, I was of the mindset to have one or two places where the community (or students) can get information. In the past when I formulated that thought, there weren't the tools needed to create a "wide net" strategy. Now, with If This Then That (IFTTT), it is easier than ever. So really, there is no reason to not cast a wider net.

Every school I have been at has had a Facebook page. I haven't followed any FB pages of the schools I have worked for, and I have wished the schools were on Twitter (one was heavily on Twitter, one light, and the other is not). Since I am a Twitter user, I found it much easier to follow, receive, and interact with the information.

I know that I have resisted what I believed to be a school's push of one platform over another, so I wonder why I have, as a coach and teacher, pushed one platform over another.

Going forward, one idea I have is to survey the community, including the students, to ask them how they would like to get information. Then, use IFTTT to deliver the same message to different platforms. I am also rethinking how I communicate with my own students next year. Hopefully, I can meet them where they are.

Podcasts the got me thinking

Principal Matters Podcast
PMP:107 Positive Messaging with Parents and Communities

What's This Useful Alternate Timezone in My Google Calendar?

Today I was putting something on my Google Calendar when I saw something I haven't noticed before. On the left side, next to the calendar in week view, were two time zones.

So I opened the calendar settings [hover the cursor next to the calendar name to reveal the three dots] and looked at my settings.

Here is what my settings looked like.

Right away I saw that there were two time zones (in the Time zone section). My first thought was to change the second one. But instead of having an option located inside the menu to not include it, that just allowed me to change it to a second time zone.

Instead, Google has added a tick box at the top of the section. 

 A little further down, Google has added a world clock function.

More really nice changes to Google Calendar.

QR Codes in the School

Scan to go to wikipedia.com

Aurasma and School Play Programs
When  I went to a PD event at Yokohama International School a few years ago, when walking through the building they had student work displayed, along with the Aurasma codes. It was awesome, but I couldn't see them because I had an iPod (with no internet connection). There was nothing I could do.

But the art without the explanations was nice nevertheless.

At another school, the administrator was telling the audience to access the concert program using a QR Code. I thought it was an awesome idea that saved paper, but again, how could I get a QR Code reader without having WiFi access?



The Seesaw Connection
We use Seesaw as our portfolios and parental communication. A few weeks ago I learned that student work can be printed with a QR code. This is a powerful way for students to share their work with students in other classes within the school.

We are currently in the WASC accreditation process and some of the criteria ask for ways we are teaching. In order to get that evidence, we are going to go into each other's classrooms to look for those criteria.

While I think we should be going into each others' classrooms, we could have more dynamic evidence right in the hallways.





Some ideas

1. Not everyone has a QR Code Reader App installed on their phones, so why not open up the WiFi to the public? I understand why schools don't do this, I think they should, then how about changing the Guest password each week/month? The point is to give guests access to WiFi to download apps to access the learning.
2. If you are going to go this route, it might be good to send a note to the community beforehand recommending a specific app for both Android devices and iPhones. While there are many, not all work the same, and some have annoying ads. Spend some time researching a few options, then give the community ample warning.
3. Let's get the community into schools more often. 

Recipe to Discovery

We came back from spring break and I was greeted by these colorful projects on the window.

They are mine from my class. This was my idea.

Well, I found the idea online, but it was my execution.

Since the students had many questions about it, we did this activity to see what the water cycle was physically like. The water in the bag will actually go through the water cycle when it gets heated and cooled.

But looking at the bags, I thought back to something I have heard often that goes something like, "If all the students are doing the same thing, it's not an activity, it's a recipe." (Iknow that's not right by a long shot, but I cannot find the quote right now.)

I don't regret doing this activity, but I do regret the way I did it. If I were to do it over, I would ...

1. Start by putting water in the bags and putting the bags up on the window. Then we would just wait, watch, and question.
2. We would then figure out where to go from the students' questions and wonderings.
3. I would hope that we would come to (this might need to be guided) how the water cycle works in the world. Students would research different versions of what the water cycle might look like and draw them on the sides of the bags.

My class is pushing me this year.

Paraphrasing and Active Listening

One thing the first few coaches talk about in this video is paraphrasing, or active listening.

I have read that paraphrasing is an effective way to show the person you are talking to that you are listening. It is a staple of the coaching toolkit.

I do not like paraphrasing, however.

I wish I could put my finger on why, but I think I must have had a bad experience in the past. I wonder if it was used to twist my words or trap me at one time - or many times.

The coaching position comes down for the need for trust. I believe it is imperitative for a coach to first build good relationships with those they are coaching. Without trust, there might be seeds of doubt that could hinder the coaching process.

Take Advantage When Opportunities Arise

In her book, The Power of Inquiry, Kath Murdoch has a chart of what inquiry teachers do. One of those things is to link investigation to authentic contexts (p. 21).

This has been a focus of mine for this current unit. The phrase jumped out at me because I missed out on one such opportunity about five years ago, and I have probably missed out on many opportunities since then, but I have always thought about that missed chance. Hopefully, regretting that missed chance has helped me be more confident in taking risks with my teaching and looking for opportunities when they arise.

The other day I may have caught the opportunity.

The Junior High was having a Pancake Bake Sale fundraiser, but it was during recess time. The schedule worked out so that Grade 1 had class during this time. My students were not too pleased with this development and I got an earful coming up the stairs.

We are currently looking at opinion writing, so I decided to try to make a connection to our writing by telling them that they should make their voices heard by writing letters. I gave them a choice of three people to whom they could write and set them up by saying that they should think about:

Who - who will they write to
What - what they want
Why - why they want it

There was only about 15 minutes of writing time until an assembly, and some students were not into it since we had already "done writing" in the morning. But some students were able to express themselves. And hopefully, the others started to realize that the different subjects are interconnected throughout the unit.

* While not exactly an authentic inquiry, I think it was an authentic context for which I could guide the students to make a connection. It was probably as close I could get with this group.

The 4 P's and Coaching

I'm currently taking the MIT Lifelong Kindergarten MOOC. I'm trying to keep up with it anyway.

The mantra of the MIT Media Lab is the 4 P's: projects, passion, peers, and play.

This is a great way to teach, but what if teacher PD was set up around these four words? What if we allowed teachers to take an hour a week to work on a passion project that they shared with their peers?

What if coaches encouraged teachers to choose one project for the year, a project that would impact their classroom and allowed them to learn a new teaching technique?

My Biggest Regret

via Google Search

I don't like to ruminate, but I do catch myself wishing I could have done things differently in the past.

It was the first month into a coaching position that was new to both me and the school. I was asked for some ideas for math ... I had some, but I also had an awesome math book. I am embarrassed to admit what I did next - I went to this teacher's room, handed the book over, and said something like, "Read this. It's good."

No offer to come in.
No observation.
This issue didn't have anything to do with tech and I was a technology coach after all.

If I could do it over I would go in and observe. Then I would meet with the teacher. I would then go through the book and pick a few (3-4 perhaps) of the ideas out and make a menu from which the teacher could choose. I would brainstorm ideas along with the teacher how to make it work.
I would then offer to model or co-teach a lesson.

That's what I would do now anyway.

I want to think that this particular decision wouldn't have made a big difference in my time as a tech coach. But then again, maybe had I worked more closely with the teacher I could have gotten more teachers on board faster.

And it wouldn't be weighing on my mind even now.

The LAUNCH Cycle

What's my reaction to the LAUNCH Cycle? That is the question I am at in the Design Thinking for Teachers course.
I have seen many different cycles for design thinking and many more than that for inquiry. I don't know if the cycle is what makes one successful, rather the implementation of it.  

The LAUNCH Cycle

As opposed to other cycles, though, I am excited to try this one because it was made for kids rather than adults, or even older kids like the MYP Design Cycle. 

I would like to close out the year with more project based learning, so I have been looking for ways to add projects to all my lessons.

Choices and Consequences: A Provocation

When thinking of a provocation I could use for the Sharing the Planet unit, Resources, with the Central Idea, "Access to resources is shared and limited leading people to make choices", I wanted to offer my students the experience of making choices and understanding the consequences of their choices.

The Writing Workshop connected to the unit is on opinion letter writing, so to create a connection between the writing and the unit concept I created an island. Of course, someone from that island had to send them a letter inviting them there.

The students had a lot of questions, and I did not have the answers, so they had to write back to the man on the island and try to get the answers.

After another round of letter writing, we brainstormed what resources are and what resources might be on the island. The students started populating the island with resources until there was a good-sized forest with animals, a river, and a lake.

One student said she needed a house if she were to live there. So I handed out some paper in three sizes and the students could choose the size of there house. After choosing, they built themselves houses and could choose where on the island they would like to live.

After the houses were up, I started cutting trees in half which had all the students shocked and asking questions.

Why are you cutting so many trees?

What they didn't know was that each house size had a point value. All but two students opted for the largest size house, so that turned out to be a lot of cut trees.

The experience gave the students a chance to ask a ton of questions and discuss what had happened. I think it also gave them the kind of shock to the system that gets them thinking about what we are learning.

In her book, The Power of Inquiry, Kath Murdoch has an awesome table titled WHAT DO INQUIRY TEACHERS DO? Starting my current unit, help students make connections between ideas and using authentic contexts were two strategies that I thought I could use.

Before people and after people

A post shared by Thomas Hammerlund (@thomashammerlund) on Feb 16, 2018 at 5:00pm PST

Sharing the planet
An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.


Resources
resources, equality, access
Natural resources contribute to meeting the needs of living things (Function)
access to resources around the world isn't always equal (perspective)
Living things compete to share natural resources (Connection)
Balanced, Reflective,
function, perspective connection

SMS: codes of behavior; informed choices, Healthy lifestyle
SS: resolving conflict,
TS: Acquisition of knowledge, Comprehension, Analysis, Evaluation, Dialectical Thought
CS: listening, speaking
RS: Formulating questions, Observing

Appreciation, Empathy, Integrity, Independence

I am taking a MOOC (again) about technology integration (2015). These are my notes.

Strategic Technology Integration

STEP 1: EVALUATE AND ASSESS

• Find Inspiration and Evidence of Tool Effectiveness
• Use your intuition. Ask yourself: "Does this tool allow me to do something in my teaching practice that I can't do without it?"
• Poll your personal learning network
• Attend a professional conference like ISTE or TCEA.
• Ask a colleague to sit in on a lesson
• Search the web for research-based evidence
• Take a free online graduate course at Tarleton State ;-)
• Assess Your Own Understanding, Skill, and Confidence Level with the Tool
• Do you truly understand the functional purpose(s) of the tool and its general capabilities?
• Assess Your Students' Understanding, Skill, and Confidence Level with the Tool
• Do your students truly understand the functional purpose(s) of the tool and its general capabilities?
• Assess Your Resources and Time Needs
• Do you and your students have access to the hardware, software, bandwidth, and technical support that is required?
• Try to forecast the amount of time it will take you to learn to use the tool from both the teacher and the student perspective.
• Try to forecast the amount of time it will take you to test run and troubleshoot problems with the tool.
• Try to forecast the amount of time it will take you to scaffold your students' use of the tool.

STEP 2: LEARN AND PLAN

• Invest dedicated time and energy into learning the tool (ideally from the student perspective first!).
• Seek out training (professional development, online, from a colleague, or even from your own students).
• Seek out opportunities to talk about and show others what you're learning.
• What does success look like in your mind's eye?
• Try to imagine how your class looks (organized chaos?), sounds (quiet, focused chatter?), and feels (energy in the air?) when learning is occurring using a technology tool. Try to work backwards from that point to determine how you reach that state of success.
• What learning objectives can you accomplish with the aid of the tool?
• What pedagogical strategies will you call upon?
• What learning strategies will you call upon?
• How will you scaffold your students' use of the tool?
• Try to view things through the lens of the students. How will you provide them with instructions?
• What might be hard for them to conceptualize or manage?
• Where might students get off track?
• How much 'experimenting' will you allow students to have with a tool?
• What is your timeline for implementation?
• This timeline should include the remaining steps 3-6.
• Always overestimate the amount of time you think tasks will take by 1-2 hours. ;-)
• What is your backup plan?
• As you probably already know, technology misbehaves. Work with your support network to brainstorm workarounds for when the technology doesn't act the way you want it to.

STEP 3: COORDINATE

• Schedule dedicated time with support staff, colleagues, and even your own students to accomplish the goals you set in Step 2.
• Test-run your use of the tool alone first, and try to forecast areas where things could go wrong. Develop a scaffolding strategy based on this.
• Schedule time for support staff to assist you with a test run and for the "prime time" roll-out.

STEP 4: TEST

• Test run the use of the tool in the exact environment that you will have in "prime time"
• Test run your scaffolding on a test audience (your colleagues, your friends, your family - anyone who will agree to it!)

STEP 5: IMPLEMENT

• Use the tool for the first time!
• Be okay when (not if) the technology misbehaves! Just keep your cool and move to plan B.

STEP 6: RE-EVALUATE and RE-ASSESS

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the tool in your context.
• Did it facilitate learning?
• Did it streamline a task?
• Did it engage learners?
• Did it engage you?
• Assess your own attitudes, understanding, confidence, and skill level.
• Was it worth the time and energy you spent?
• Will it get easier the more you use it?