BYOD Model Lessons

Over the past two years, Green Brook has been developing a Bring Your Own Device policy for our students to bring in their personal devices to use for learning. Part of the process of implementing this policy is to give sustained, professional development to our teachers so that they can see what BYOD is all about and how to use it in their classrooms. 

Mrs. +Sarah Diczok - Vajtay  and Mrs. Laura Philip, two amazing educators at GBTPS, became our model teachers and educators during this PD process. Laura and Sarah created model lessons in their classes. We then used a peer-to-peer observation model to invite small groups of teachers in to view the lesson LIVE and in person. The first groups were based off of content areas but the second groups were mixed. The small groups were also invited to participate in a group reflection period right after the lesson to talk about what they saw, issues with BYOD, and how to overcome the pitfalls of using devices in your teaching. 

The road to a BYOD pilot has not been easy and it has come with many challenges, some of which we have not even faced yet but so far since the pilot started in March, our network hasn't imploded, our classrooms are still buzzing, and our teachers are using BYOD ideas to help deliverer great lessons.

The results have been more than what anyone could have hoped for!! During the last two lessons, our educators learned about using devices as great learning and teaching tools in a variety of ways. 

1. Using Socrative or a QR code to start off a lesson or Do Now. 
2. Implementing a short video to provide notes. 
3. Device management using similar terms such as "show me" or "devices down."
4. Large and small group assessment 
5. Lesson closures via collaborative tools such as NearPod

The purpose of these types of lessons is to give our educators a chance to see what BYOD looks like to give a picture of what it can look like in theirs. While the pilot is just starting to finish up for our 8th grade students, the hope is to expand the pilot to other grades in our schools so that even more teachers and students can use these powerful devices as learning/teaching tools and to help their classrooms knock down walls and engage in true, 21st century learning models. 

Mrs. Diczok-Vajtay talking about Socrative with her students. 

Eager Listeners Pt. I 

Eager Listeners Pt. II

Engaged students. 

Devices down procedure. 

Listening to a video and taking notes. 

NJASA Techspo 2014 - A look back and forwards

I had the upmost pleasure of presenting with Jay Eitner (@isupereit) and with OnCourse at this years annual Techspo! The #edtech convention was fantastic and I think that it truly helped to reshape some thinking of major stakeholders in our schools. 

The conference had its ups and downs, as all do, but it was fantastic to meet up with fellow like-minded educators. These folks are true #agentsofchange in education. 

While I was happy to present, I was unhappy to note that the organizers doubled booked me and I wasn't able to present again with Jay and Sandi Paul (@SPaul6414) about Bring Your Own Learning and devices. I heard it was a great session with questions flying back and forth. That is exactly what this sort of conference should have, CONVERSATIONS. Not just a few people talking at the front and other listening but active participants who want to make a difference in the lives of our students and how our schools are run. 

This was my second year going to this conference. Since last year, I have been to about five "unconferences" and EdCamps and I have to say, it is a world of difference. Not that this type of conference isn't worth your time. It is. But there is a time and place for both. No matter what though, as long as you come out of these with some great connections and deeper thinking about what you are doing, then they had done their jobs. 


Here is the presentation that Jay and I gave:

Breaking Down Barriers 


Here is the one Jay and Sandi gave:

BYO Learning 


For more pictures and testimonials, check out my Twitter page and the hash tag #techspo14.
Also check out the session page! 

Join us for a great session at Techspo! - Breaking Down Barriers

What a year! 2013 in Review

What a year it has been, huh? From going to my first #edcamps to wearing a pair of Glass, this year in edtech has been something of a whirlwind. It all started last January at the annual Techspo presentation, where I was able to present and meet some great folks, including +Jeffrey Bradbury. I will be presenting again this year and I can't wait to see how that helps me kick off 2014 with a bang. 

I want to thank all of those who made a difference in my life this year and helped me grow as a educator and a person. Even though I was on Twitter for a few years, this year took it to a whole other level. Never in my life did I think that I could make friends, colleagues, and compatriots on the twitter-verse, but I did and many of them I can truly call friends now. Heck, I even ran a 5K with some of my #njed friends, most of whom I had never met face-to-face before. 

To cap off the year, I was promoted to Supervisor of Instruction in my district! A honor and one that is certainly humbling. While my primary mission to serve our district with the best technology will not change, my aim and focus will become more precise. I will work even more with my teachers and students! That is something I can't wait for! I will be able to visit even MORE classrooms. 2014 is shaping up to be a pretty good year so far. 

As for resolutions, I resolve to follow my mantra:

Be attentive, vocal, and present. Be willing to be there for those who need you. Help in any way you can. 

Be an #agentofchange in anything that you do. 

iPads for Starters Follow Up

As a follow up to my post yesterday, I say a great article on Edudemic about iPads, starters, and failures.

Here is a clip:

Allow for Failure

Your classroom should be a hot mess at first. Enjoy this, even relish it. Every time someone makes a mistake or something goes wrong, celebrate it like they did at the Apple Distinguished Educator Institute with an arm-raising “Woo Hoo!” Let kids know that failure is okay, and not everything will be perfect. Have fun with failure and messiness that might come from trying something new – it really is the fun part of the process. Another great article to read: Failure is Mandatory – Creating a culture of innovation

Here is the rest of the article that I highly recommend - http://www.edudemic.com/teachers-ipad-guide/

Why I Fail.

Have you ever had a day when everything went right and you just patted yourself on the back when it was over?

Yeah, those days are few and far between. Often, if you are like me, your days are filled with a roller coaster of emotion as you hit each peak and valley. Some hours are filled with elation and you reach a goal and hit your mark, while others are filled with dread and contempt. 

Yesterday, I experienced something that I had not felt in a long time. FAILURE. 

Here is the set up: 

I was trying to teach a group of fifth graders about two software programs on iPads. One was a cloud service that enables classrooms to go paperless. The other, well, is Google Apps. I have prepared and I know my stuff, or at least I thought I did. As a teacher for over five years, I knew how to interact with students and help them out but for some reason, the wheels came off.

The kids got the tech, knew how to use the iPads, but when I tried to open a document in one app from the other, it stalled and they couldn't edit it. The kids lost it. Rather, I lost the kids at this point. Well, that was the whole point of the process. I saw the teachers face and after a bunch of kids tried and it wouldn't work, she pulled the plug and decided to do it with pencil and paper. As a sullenly walked about to my office, I felt something that I hadn't felt in sometime - utter FAILURE.

This failure felt like a jab in the stomach. I saw the teacher later, apologized that it didn't go as planned and thanked her for letting me try. I know why she puled the plug, and I don't blame her one bit. This was the second time she tried it. It didn't go well both times.

Teachers today don't have time to experiment and fail. They have SGO's they need to hit. The have new standards that need to be taught and mastered. They have new tests to get their students prepared for. They have 1001 things they are working on that to deviate from the plan and try things is hard. There is just no time at times and many districts don't allow for that flexibility because there is so much pressure on testing.

My failure to make that tech work or to make that class period successful was painful but I am determined not to give up. Real learning happens when you buckle down, figure out what went wrong, and TRY AGAIN. If Edison had given up on making the light bulb, well then I guess we would be reading this blogs in candlelight.

I saw that teacher in the hallway today and let her know that while that tech and ideas maybe didn't work, that she shouldn't give up faith on Google Apps and Ebackpack individually yet. They are great products that can really save you time. I let her know that I will work hard to find something that works well in her class and for her students. And you know what? She came back to me at the end of the day and let me know that she wanted some iPads in her room to help with leaning.

Why do I fail?

I fail because I love to succeed.

I fail because I know that it is the FIRST ACTION IN LEARNING.

I fail because I am human.

The return of the blog! (2013 Edition)

After taking the summer off to relax and work on other projects (such as grad courses, raising baby, and you know, going to the beach), the blog is back and better than ever.

School started two weeks ago now (wow, where did the time go) and thinks have gotten off to a heinous pace. After a rocky start in which some things went down the night before the first day of school - because really, why wouldn't they - we rebounded and are making sure the students, teachers, and classrooms have what they need to succeed.

Another year under the belt means something else to me though - knowledge. Last year, we were working in new territory. We understood what needed to get done but not necessarily the best way to do it. Somethings we got it done quickly, other times it was a pain. But we learned. We failed. We grew.

I am happy to report that we have grown a lot. So much so, that we are rolling out a lot of new projects and products this year. Not only are we going to pilot a Bring your own Device initiative at our 5-8 Middle School, but we are also going to prepare for a PARCC test pilot, 1:1 pilot at the lower grades, and an expanded network to handle the load. It is going to be a crazy year.

That is why I came up with the GBTPS Technology Institute for the 2013-2014 school year.
I will be running, with hopefully many special guests from within and outside our district, a bunch of great workshops that are aimed at truly bridging the gap for EDTECH in our schools.

GBTPS Technology Institute 2013-2014

Take a look and let me know what you all think! If you want to be a part of a day, I would love to have you be a part of it and share what you do in your classrooms or schools. Please hit me up here or on twitter @MrCsays

Until next time, Carpe Diem folks.

Shifting Gears... and getting stuck in neutral. PART II

You got all that?

Common Core is about reforming standards, AchieveNJ is about reforming evaluations and tenure, and PARCC is about reforming test taking/assessments.

Wait, you don't? Well neither do a lot of other people. Their are many proponents and opponents To clear the air (and to better clarify why in the world they want to do all three of these at once), the NJ Department of Education held a seminar on all three of these. The crux of the meeting was devoted to how great all three of these things were and how they were all inter-related; and more specifically, how you couldn't have one without the other... and the other. 

They were, as Chris Cerf so aptly put it:

1. 
   

   Tim Charleston@MrCsays

   Cerf - parcc and common core are two sides of the coin. But the third side is educator evaluation tools. #shiftgears What??!!

   3 DAYS AGO
   

   REPLYRETWEETFAVORITE

To be clear. I am not against changing standards. I do like the fact that these are about mastery instead of coverage and I do like the fact that they are vertically aligned from K-12. As for changing assessments and test taking, I am in agreement with the folks who say that we need to test using online assessments. In the next decade or so, many tests will be online and it just makes common sense to change it. And as for the evaluation system, yes, it does need changing as well. Some teachers have only been visited once a year by administrators and that is not enough. What the DOE are proposing and have been are decent changes.

But let's be clear. It's not about doing these. It's about doing these NOW and all at ONCE! +Eric Sheninger had  many great tweets about this, but he summed it up best by stating:

1. 
   

   Eric Sheninger@NMHS_Principal

   NJDOE moving much too fast on numerous initiatives simultaneously; I am fearful that this is a recipe for disaster#shiftgears #njed

   3 DAYS AGO
   

   REPLYRETWEETFAVORITE

We need time. We need to focus. We need to understand what is coming at us. If we truly decide to do all three at once, our teachers, students, and admins are truly going to be stretched thin. We are racing to get all of these things in, like we are perpetually stuck in the month of June trying to cram things in at the end of the year. 

While worrying to get students to understand all new concepts and standards, teachers will also be worried new test assessments which are tied to their overall evaluations. 

There is still too much unknown. We don't push our students through to the next concept unless they have truly learned the one before. Shouldn't we get the same treatment? The DOE treated this seminar like a giant PEP rally for these three things. And that stuck out. I felt bad for educators. I felt bad for students. Where were their voices? Did anyone ask them what they wanted? While more and more businesses (and some schools) are moving to 80/20 time, why are we focused on THREE monumental pieces of legislation?


My good friend, +Jay Eitner, had spoken about all three of these things as a TIDAL wave crashing down on educators. 

We need to FOCUS. 

If we focus on one of these things a year, it would have a much better outcome. It would give everyone a chance to catch their breath, at least for a minute or two. 

I have faith in our teachers. I have even more faith in our students. The NJDOE should share in that faith and give us time to get it right. 

1. 
   

   Eric Sheninger@NMHS_Principal

   Cerf - "Change is hard" - yes, need 2 focus on 1 initiative at a time, get it right, then move 4ward if goal is sustainability #shiftgears

   3 DAYS AGO
   

   REPLYRETWEETFAVORITE

Let's focus on the most important thing here: helping students grow as individuals. Helping them reach their passions. Helping them through the formative years of their lives. 

WE ARE EDUCATORS. And we need to be there for them. So, let's shift the focus.

Shifting Gears... and getting stuck in neutral. PART I

This was originally intended to be one post. But as I wrote it, there was a clear break in what I was writing. Part II will be unveiled next week.

I am an educator. 

No matter what my job is now or what it may become in the future, my job is an educator. My passion is helping students grow up, learn and understand, and find their own passions in life, whatever they may be.

Since jumping to the "other side" of education, I have not been that intimately familiar with items such as the Common Core (though in our district, we have talking about it for years) and the new evaluation system in New Jersey, called AchieveNJ. I knew they were both coming, but as a former Social Studies teacher, we were usually one of the last involved. I have been very intimate with PARCC, though.

As a casual reader, or for those with their heads in the sand, most states around the USA are going through a paradigm shift in how the evaluate students and how they, therefore, evaluate teachers.

For a basic understanding, here is what all three are:

Common Core (taken from their website)

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English language arts and mathematics that states voluntarily adopt. The standards are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to enter credit bearing entry courses in two or four year college programs or enter the workforce. The standards are clear and concise to ensure that parents, teachers, and students have a clear understanding of the expectations in reading, writing, speaking and listening, language and mathematics in school.


AchieveNJ (taken from their website)

There are many differences between AchieveNJ and the old evaluation system. After two years of piloting in 30 districts that contain over 14,000 educators, AchieveNJ has been created to better align educator evaluation with best practices that lead to improved student outcomes. Our new AchieveNJ evaluation and support system is structured around several guiding principles; each one describes improvements from the previous system.

Educator effectiveness can and should be measured to ensure our students have the best teachers in the classroom. 

Evaluations should always be based on multiple measures that include both learning outcomes and effective practice. 

Tenure and other forms of recognition should be based on effectiveness. 



PARCC (taken from their website)

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of 22 states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands working together to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for college and careers. These new K-12 assessments will build a pathway to college and career readiness by the end of high school, mark students’ progress toward this goal from 3rd grade up, and provide teachers with timely information to inform instruction and provide student support. The PARCC assessments will be ready for states to administer during the 2014-15 school year.

The PARCC Vision
Builds a pathway to college and career readiness for all students,
Creates high-quality assessments that measure the full range of the Common Core State Standards,
Supports educators in the classroom,
Makes better use of technology in assessments, and
Advances accountability at all levels.

You have all that? 

All three about talking about college and career readiness and accountability  which on the surface, no one can really complain or go against. OF COURSE we want to prepare our students to become life long learners and leaders in this world by going off to college or into the work force. And of course, we want to make sure that our teachers help our students get there. 

So, how is the NJ DOE trying to rally us around? ... just wait for part II. 

20th Century Classroom vs. the 21st Century Classroom

Recently, I have been researching and reading about the differences between this century and last century in terms of classrooms and what they look like. 

A great site summed it up perfectly - http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_21st_Century_Education.htm

Here is a snapshot of what is found!

20th Century Classroom vs. the 21st Century Classroom

USA 1960’s typical classroom – teacher-centered, fragmented curriculum, students working in isolation, memorizing facts.	A classroom at the School of Environmental Studies, aka the Zoo School, in Minneapolis.  A perfect example of real-life, relevant, project-based 21st century education.
Time-based	Outcome-based
Focus:  memorization of discrete facts	Focus:  what students Know, Can Do and Are Like after all the details are forgotten.
Lessons focus on the lower level of Bloom’s Taxonomy – knowledge, comprehension and application.	Learning is designed on upper levels of Blooms’ – synthesis, analysis and evaluation (and include lower levels as curriculum is designed down from the top.)
Textbook-driven	Research-driven
Passive learning	Active Learning
Learners work in isolation – classroom within 4 walls	Learners work collaboratively with classmates and others around the world – the Global Classroom
Teacher-centered:  teacher is center of attention and provider of information	Student-centered:  teacher is facilitator/coach
Little to no student freedom	Great deal of student freedom
“Discipline problems" – educators do not trust students and vice versa.  No student motivation.	No “discipline problems” – students and teachers have mutually respectful relationship as co-learners; students are highly motivated.
Fragmented curriculum	Integrated and Interdisciplinary curriculum
Grades averaged	Grades based on what was learned
Low expectations	High expectations – “If it isn’t good it isn’t done.”  We expect, and ensure, that all students succeed in learning at high levels.  Some may go higher – we get out of their way to let them do that.
Teacher is judge.  No one else sees student work.	Self, Peer and Other assessments.  Public audience, authentic assessments.
Curriculum/School is irrelevant and meaningless to the students.	Curriculum is connected to students’ interests, experiences, talents and the real world.
Print is the primary vehicle of learning and assessment.	Performances, projects and multiple forms of media are used for learning and assessment
Diversity in students is ignored.	Curriculum and instruction address student diversity
Literacy is the 3 R’s – reading, writing and math	Multiple literacies of the 21st century – aligned to living and working in a globalized new millennium.
Factory model, based upon the needs of employers for the Industrial Age of the 19th century.  Scientific management.	Global model, based upon the needs of a globalized, high-tech society.
Driven by the NCLB and standardized testing mania.	Standardized testing has its place.  Education is not driven by the NCLB and standardized testing mania.

 In this day in age, its all about our students. It's all about sharing the classroom space to make sure we aren't creating "teachtatorships" within them. We are more facilitators of learning then we are teachers. We want our students to go out and learn everywhere, not just in our classroom. 

One similarity I do believe holds true from both centuries though - we need teachers who care, are driven by passion, and can make differences daily in students lives. 

In the AIR tonight...

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been thinking of ways to bridge the gap between what people want and what we have. Its a tricky situation at times. For one, we have tons of iPads and iPod touches in the district but people also want document cameras and the like. 

I don't want to buy tech for the sake of buying tech (as some districts and people do). You know that person. The person who will wait inline for the new launch of something (hey, I've done it before. I'm not proud of it but I have done it).

After going to some Apple seminars and visiting the Apple store with our G&T students on a field trip, my mind began to spin with some new ideas. The Apple iOS devices are much more than just app-filled devices. The basic functions of it can be used by all teachers as a camera, recording machine, sharing and creation device. 

How could we stream what is on our iPads onto our SmartBoards? Currently, some teachers were using 30Pin to VGA connectors but that kept the iPad and teacher in the same location. I didn't want to do that anymore; plus, the cords and cables were expensive. Could we buy Apple TV's for each classroom? Sure we could, but at $99.99 a pop, money could have been spent better elsewhere. I couldn't figure this one out. 

So... as I do with many questions I can't answer, I turned to my collegiate friends and Twitter PLN. Thanks to my friend +Susan M. Bearden, I was able to get the answer I was looking for: AIRSERVER via Airplay. 

  No, not the 80's soft-rock band. AirPlay is something that gives us the ability to use all the technology in our classes concurrently to create a seamless class with endless possibilities for student-student create and interaction, as well as excelled lesson plans and ideas. 

Apple summarizes:


AirPlay Mirroring lets you show exactly what’s on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch screen to everyone in the room.2 Show web pages, games, photos, videos, spreadsheets, class material, and more on your HDTV via Apple TV. Zoom in and out and pause for applause. Rotate from portrait to landscape and your audience sees that, too. AirPlay does it all wirelessly, so you can work the room or sit comfortably among the crowd. If you see it, so can they.

Using a product called AirServer, which was about $3.99 a license for commerical and educational use, we will be able to give this great product to all our teachers who have staff laptops. This means that a teacher is no longer tethered to a certain spot in the room. It also means that they can use their SmartBoard while mirroring to their PC. It also means that they can use the iPad as a Document Camera, video camera, or picture editor. 

This has so many possibilities in the classroom. Mr. G summarizes quite nicely just some of the ways we can use this function:

• An ELA classroom where students can share their notes, collaboratively write paragraphs, edit shared texts and compare choices, or share drafts for others to read to feedback on, with the writer making real time changes as the feedback comes.

• In Math, where multiple strategies created by the students are shared simultaneously and discussed.

• Multiple videos showing different views of the same event or object.

• A music classroom using Garageband with children combining different instruments at the same time to create a digital orchestra,combine parts of the same song for harmonies or multitrack experimentation or simply share their individual creations wirelessly.

• A Science classroom where different observations, diagrams, videos of experiments are shared and compared.

• A video and text can be played simultaneously to compare and contrast how a particular part of the story is portrayed in different media.

• Ideas can be shared concurrently instead of waiting for turns, allowing students and teachers to focus on a specific point of their choice rather than waiting for turns.

• Collaborative teams presenting the work without having to spend time cobbling all their individual efforts together into a single PowerPoint/Prezi etc. Each student can just mirror their iPad on the screen at the same time and control a video, audio clip, slideshow, comic strip, ebook, themselves. 

Not all devices can connect to AirPlay or use AirServer. Here is a list of supported devices.

• iPad 2, 3, 4 or mini
• iPhone 4S or 5
• iPod Touch 5

This is going to change how we use tech and what learning will take place with it... and that truly is the most important thing we need. 

"Its not about the technology, its about the learning that can take place from it." - +Tom Murray