Wednesday night, April 20, 2016 the WSU Cohort #1 held its final #byronedchat. This has been quite an experience. We had our regulars but this time we had several make their presence known that were not even from our district. It makes me think that if we are able to keep this going we can become just as big as some of the other chats that I have participated in such as #mnlead or #satchat. I am impressed with how quickly we have become known by others. I think that is because of the the strong PLNs developed by of some of my classmates.
This semester has been very exciting. I have created my own PLN and watch it grow almost daily. At the beginning of this semester I had 53 followers. I am now up to 144. And reading those bios, those are people that that I consider credible in their fields.
This semester I have learned many things. I did learn I can "go off the grid" and survive without technology or social media. As much as I have referenced it, one must get the impression that this was very difficult for me. That would be an accurate impression. Because of our district wide Twitter chat, I have come to know others from the district that I have only known by name. I have learned what an incredible team of educators we have in our district and through our discussions it is no wonder that we are considered a Blue Ribbon School.
The pace of this course was very manageable. It allowed me to take time to explore options before trying them without the pressure of a deadline. Through collaboration I have been given many resources that will help in enhancing my teaching.
As class 2 in this program comes to a close, it finds me not only reflecting on what I have learned this semester but pondering what I would like to learn in the classes ahead. I am excited for what is to come.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Monday, April 4, 2016
Feeling Panicked
It is hard to believe but our cohort is down to the last few weeks of this course. At this point, I am finding that I still have much to do. There is only one assignment that is giving me trouble and has me losing sleep. That assignment is creating a lesson that includes a global learning experience.
Going into this course, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had (and still do) every intention of connecting my students with students from another district. The purpose was to allow them an opportunity to improve their social communication skills. At the start, I was very hopeful and very excited about this lesson but as time continues, the excitement has turned to nervousness. The nerves are not because I am worried about them doing it. It is more about finding a classroom teacher that is willing to work with me on this mission. Since the planning of this assignment I have had three different teachers outside of our district who have expressed interest in connecting our students but have not been willing to follow through with the request. I am not a procrastinator when it comes to my coursework but I do fear that this will put me in a situation where I will have to implement a Plan B.
There is somewhat of a bright spot in all of this. By reaching out to teachers from other districts, I have increased my PLN. I feel the teachers that have been willing to collaborate with me (who I have added to my PLN) are very credible educators. I sense that the challenge is the same for them as it is for me-time. We all have the same goals for our students but we have them in a different chronological order. We are all on a different calendar.
So, as I continue to assess my situation it leaves me to wonder when do I give up on my original plan and resort to Plan B? Time is not on my side.
Going into this course, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had (and still do) every intention of connecting my students with students from another district. The purpose was to allow them an opportunity to improve their social communication skills. At the start, I was very hopeful and very excited about this lesson but as time continues, the excitement has turned to nervousness. The nerves are not because I am worried about them doing it. It is more about finding a classroom teacher that is willing to work with me on this mission. Since the planning of this assignment I have had three different teachers outside of our district who have expressed interest in connecting our students but have not been willing to follow through with the request. I am not a procrastinator when it comes to my coursework but I do fear that this will put me in a situation where I will have to implement a Plan B.
There is somewhat of a bright spot in all of this. By reaching out to teachers from other districts, I have increased my PLN. I feel the teachers that have been willing to collaborate with me (who I have added to my PLN) are very credible educators. I sense that the challenge is the same for them as it is for me-time. We all have the same goals for our students but we have them in a different chronological order. We are all on a different calendar.
So, as I continue to assess my situation it leaves me to wonder when do I give up on my original plan and resort to Plan B? Time is not on my side.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
I Am a Pioneer
This week has been a very exciting week for myself and our WSU Cohort. In an effort to increase the growing use of Twitter within our district our cohort has taken on the initiative and sponsoring a district wide Twitter Chat. I have found that within our district there are many that have a Twitter account but there are also many that have let their account go unattended. I suspect this is primarily due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of the benefits of Twitter as part of a PLN.
Our first chat began at 8 p.m. and lasted for 1 hour. We had several participate that are not part of our cohort. I suspect that those that did participate found it engaging and interesting. I anticipate that as word gets out about our conversations, the number of participants will increase. This is something that I find very exciting. I enjoy collaborating with colleagues both within our building and within other buildings within the district.
Next week Kory and I will be leading the discussion. I am very excited for this. Through the continual use of Twitter, I have become comfortable with doing more than re-tweeting. I have learned many things from others and I enjoy sharing out what I know or have tried. With that being said, I am looking forward to another evening of collaboration.
Our first chat began at 8 p.m. and lasted for 1 hour. We had several participate that are not part of our cohort. I suspect that those that did participate found it engaging and interesting. I anticipate that as word gets out about our conversations, the number of participants will increase. This is something that I find very exciting. I enjoy collaborating with colleagues both within our building and within other buildings within the district.
Next week Kory and I will be leading the discussion. I am very excited for this. Through the continual use of Twitter, I have become comfortable with doing more than re-tweeting. I have learned many things from others and I enjoy sharing out what I know or have tried. With that being said, I am looking forward to another evening of collaboration.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
BLACK OUT!
As I had mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, one of my assignments in the course Connected Educator, Connected Classroom class through Winona State University (under the instruction of Jen Hegna) is that I participate in a BINGO challenge. And challenge it was. When I saw the card I thought to myself, "This will be easy peasy." Well, it wasn't stressful but it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be.
There were many activities on the card that had me "putting myself out there" publicly. Things such as posting pictures of teaching and learning in my classroom, participating in various Twitter chats, organizing lists of followers, posting inspiring thoughts. Some of these things I found exciting, some made me nervous because I worried about being judged.
One of my favorites was participating in #satchat this morning. There was a high volume of tweets going on which was exciting and frustrating at the same time. Seemed like every time I went to retweet or reply to something, the tweet would jump farther down the page because of the activity. I had to move fast. But I did find alot of new resources that I want to investigate further. That is why I saved the whole session to Storify. Here if the link if you are interested as well:
https://storify.com/TracyLermon/satchat
Now that I have finished my BINGO card, I am spending some deciding if I want to go back to "lurking" or being an active participant on Twitter chats. I have learned alot from the "lurking" part but to me it does seem important to share what I have learned.
Let the learning continue!
There were many activities on the card that had me "putting myself out there" publicly. Things such as posting pictures of teaching and learning in my classroom, participating in various Twitter chats, organizing lists of followers, posting inspiring thoughts. Some of these things I found exciting, some made me nervous because I worried about being judged.
One of my favorites was participating in #satchat this morning. There was a high volume of tweets going on which was exciting and frustrating at the same time. Seemed like every time I went to retweet or reply to something, the tweet would jump farther down the page because of the activity. I had to move fast. But I did find alot of new resources that I want to investigate further. That is why I saved the whole session to Storify. Here if the link if you are interested as well:
https://storify.com/TracyLermon/satchat
Now that I have finished my BINGO card, I am spending some deciding if I want to go back to "lurking" or being an active participant on Twitter chats. I have learned alot from the "lurking" part but to me it does seem important to share what I have learned.
Let the learning continue!
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Where Are We in Getting Our School Connected?
Through this course we have read and discussed many things from where the importance of how to get our staff connected in their own Personal Learning Network (PLN). Our final chapter and last Twitter discussion has shown me that as a district, we have a strong beginning to making that happen.
The first step necessary is providing the equipment necessary to be connected. As teachers, we all are provided with both computers and iPads along with access to the internet. Additionally, the majority of us have Smartphones so we have continual access to our PLN. The rest is fairly easy, just seek out sources that help us to collaborate and learn from each other. We are also given free access to Google drive which serves as our Cloud. By utilizing our Cloud, we have all of our gathered resources at our fingertips no matter which device we may be utilizing. We are rapidly making the transition to a paperless education system. Parents are able to access tools to the progress of their child, see what is coming ahead in their learning and to communicate with their teachers.
I feel that as a district, we are probably "ahead of the game" in not only being connected as staff but also supporting our students and parents connectivity. The advantages to this are abundant. I strongly feel that by being having a strong PLN, we as teachers are opening ourselves up to a variety of teaching lessons and tools. Every student has their own individual style of learning and a PLN allows us to be diverse in teaching to those individual learners.
Byron prides themselves in meeting the needs of the 21st Century Learner. I am proud to be an active part of that mission.
The first step necessary is providing the equipment necessary to be connected. As teachers, we all are provided with both computers and iPads along with access to the internet. Additionally, the majority of us have Smartphones so we have continual access to our PLN. The rest is fairly easy, just seek out sources that help us to collaborate and learn from each other. We are also given free access to Google drive which serves as our Cloud. By utilizing our Cloud, we have all of our gathered resources at our fingertips no matter which device we may be utilizing. We are rapidly making the transition to a paperless education system. Parents are able to access tools to the progress of their child, see what is coming ahead in their learning and to communicate with their teachers.
I feel that as a district, we are probably "ahead of the game" in not only being connected as staff but also supporting our students and parents connectivity. The advantages to this are abundant. I strongly feel that by being having a strong PLN, we as teachers are opening ourselves up to a variety of teaching lessons and tools. Every student has their own individual style of learning and a PLN allows us to be diverse in teaching to those individual learners.
Byron prides themselves in meeting the needs of the 21st Century Learner. I am proud to be an active part of that mission.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Becoming a Networked School
This week's reading tells us not only how, but why, we must become a networked school. It may seem like a "trendy" way to bring innovation to the classroom but our times are changing and it is becoming almost an essential element to teaching and learning. This statement addresses one of the three cornerstones in the path of making change. The cornerstone of providing a compelling case.
This week we have learned that a networked school should include ALL educators. You will always find a "nay sayer" or one that may resist the change. That is where it is also essential to have a collaboration of staff to collaborate to create a networked school and to persuade those "nay sayers" to embrace the change. This group will serve as your change team, the pioneers. To sway the thinking of skeptics, the change team can then put their work into action which is the pilot stage of the three cornerstones.
Chapter four points out that motivation can be as much of an issue for us as it is for our students. I like how Richardson and Mancabelli acknowledge that each participant is at different levels of learning. Those differences should be recognized and expectations set at varied levels to keep the motivation alive.
21st century teaching and learning is here. As educators, I feel we must welcome this and be willing to incorporate this in our classrooms. Move over Xeroxed worksheets, make way for Makerspace!
This week we have learned that a networked school should include ALL educators. You will always find a "nay sayer" or one that may resist the change. That is where it is also essential to have a collaboration of staff to collaborate to create a networked school and to persuade those "nay sayers" to embrace the change. This group will serve as your change team, the pioneers. To sway the thinking of skeptics, the change team can then put their work into action which is the pilot stage of the three cornerstones.
Chapter four points out that motivation can be as much of an issue for us as it is for our students. I like how Richardson and Mancabelli acknowledge that each participant is at different levels of learning. Those differences should be recognized and expectations set at varied levels to keep the motivation alive.
21st century teaching and learning is here. As educators, I feel we must welcome this and be willing to incorporate this in our classrooms. Move over Xeroxed worksheets, make way for Makerspace!
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Is it important to be a connected educator? Why or why not?
This is a prompt in our course that has me thinking deeply. Is it important to be a connected educator? Absolutely!
Currently, for this course, we are reading the book Personal Learning Networks by Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli. Chapter 2 points how we are not only educators, but we are learners too. I feel that Professional Learning Communities (PLC) are starting to experience a shift where they are not becoming Professional Learning Networks (PLNs). We are no longer relying on the colleagues that exist just within our building, but those within the entire world. We are becoming connected through technology and social media. Resources such as Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest are no longer considered time killers but are now becoming a resource to connect with other colleagues to collaborate long distantly.
Richardson and Mancabelli also tell us that it is not the number of connections we have but the quality of those connections. From experience, I am finding that to be true. When I first started using Twitter or Facebook, I would find myself "following" anyone that had knowledge in Special Education or Reading since I am licensed and teach in both. Before I knew it, my "feed" was was becoming unmanageable and I was missing very good information.
The importance of being a connected educator is that it provides us the opportunity to grow right at our fingertips. Not only is social media a resource to us but there are also online journals or webinars. The more connected we are the more the opportunity to improve.
During the coming 12 weeks, I plan to create a quality PLN. I will be assessing my current activity and determining what is beneficial to me and what it not. I plan to use my PLN tool as a resource to learn and to collaborate.
Currently, for this course, we are reading the book Personal Learning Networks by Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli. Chapter 2 points how we are not only educators, but we are learners too. I feel that Professional Learning Communities (PLC) are starting to experience a shift where they are not becoming Professional Learning Networks (PLNs). We are no longer relying on the colleagues that exist just within our building, but those within the entire world. We are becoming connected through technology and social media. Resources such as Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest are no longer considered time killers but are now becoming a resource to connect with other colleagues to collaborate long distantly.
Richardson and Mancabelli also tell us that it is not the number of connections we have but the quality of those connections. From experience, I am finding that to be true. When I first started using Twitter or Facebook, I would find myself "following" anyone that had knowledge in Special Education or Reading since I am licensed and teach in both. Before I knew it, my "feed" was was becoming unmanageable and I was missing very good information.
The importance of being a connected educator is that it provides us the opportunity to grow right at our fingertips. Not only is social media a resource to us but there are also online journals or webinars. The more connected we are the more the opportunity to improve.
During the coming 12 weeks, I plan to create a quality PLN. I will be assessing my current activity and determining what is beneficial to me and what it not. I plan to use my PLN tool as a resource to learn and to collaborate.
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