STEM with Dr. Helen Padgett and Lynn Castiglione

I am live blogging this session:

Goals-Building a pipline of sutdents who are prepared to enter the university with STEM degrees.

75% of AZ 275 physics teachers do not hav ea degre in phyxics. ASU physics classes for teachers is available.

Online engeneering textbooks–there are opportunities.

nsdl.org-great resource.Lots of their postings are on iTunes U is also excellent too.  courses are up from universities and there are lots of stem pieces there.

World of the future–transforming life–

demand for online learning.high school classes will be in an initiative.  in 21st century skills, the stuents need to learn

Partnership for 21st Centurry Skills -they have 6 skills and key elements we need to go. 21stCenturySkills.org.

Adaptive Curriculum presentation where we use online curriculum to enhance learning.

Based on “flash” activity objects.  objects can be manipulated and use problem-solving.  This is supplemental curriculum, supporting core content. Typically enhancing the most difficult concepts, an standards-based.

Teachers can use this as a teaching tool, as a closure tool, as an independent tool for students.

This software is excellent in fostering collaboration and learning, dynamic discussions and problem solving.  It will be available to the HS level this fall.  In our district we have been part of a pilot using this curriculum at the HS level in Math and Science, I believe.  The teachers all report that it is amazing, in that it enhances the teaching and learning moment.

The rest of the materials that accompany the system are amazing.  Not only are there printable work pages, there is also a variety of teaching strategies to help with implementation.

Personal Learning Networks for Professional Growth

With Irma Sandercock, Professional Development Coordinator, Arizona State University.

 

I am so excited about this session.  I respect Irma and am anxious to learn how to grow this in my district.  

What are our current issues:

She started with a poll from Polleverywhere.com.  What is your biggest professional development challenge?

Showing a publication  called”  Professional Learning in the Learning Profession–a report.  we do great with the one shot workshop, but we fail at the sustainable learning.

Another publication:  Grow you Personal Learning Network. Leadership and Learning magazine.

Allows educators to prticia\pate in formal and informal modes of pd

teachers assume greater responsibility foro their guided PD

As a professional developer:
Create a professional learning network

Formal pds and informal pd otpportunities offered through ideal.

Webinar solutions:

wimba

dimdim

eluminate

Using the tools, we could try to create even a static presentation and upload it to iTunes U and then using the google chat feature conduct a synchronous session.

Showing IDEAL and the opportunities there for Personal Learning Professional Growth and Learning. 

In Discovery Streaming, there are ASCD Videos in there for all sorts of topics.  Idea:  Show a movie and then post a discussion forum for the community of practice.

Collaboration Tools:

Interest Groups-you can use these groups to increase group collaboration.

Then also Google Apps for Education.

Personalized Start page in IDEAL Google Apps, lets you create your page.  

Google Sites:

this is a quick way to build a webpage that houses al of your resources.  You can use this google sites to create  a workspace.  

iE.  Make a math site, add a calendar, recent announcements, recent files, sites block.  

In IDEAL go to >Collaboration Apps

>Sites, 

>Search Sample Learning Network

NSDC.org,

WOW Conference-May 2 Keynote Dr. Howie DiBlasi

This keynote is about google, and titled:  Super Amazing Google Search Tricks

I am attempting to live blog this, but I am rusty.  

Search:

Link:

• whos linked to that site

Related:

• find out what sites are related to the site

Define:

• Youll get the definition

allintitle:

• restricts a search so that all the keywords must appear in the title.

allinurl:

inurl:

 

Use the Advanced Search in Google–using series of words.  Using quoates, get something specific.

 

PDFs, PPTs, DOC, type:  exmple:  21st century learning filetype:pdf

Scholarly searches:  filetypes:pdf site:edu

The tilda:   ~   means an educational webpage.

 

<Here he is talking about lots of different types of searches.>

Have you checked the : “more” button on the front of the google Site?  

There is even an “even more” button.  

He talks about 80 things you can do with Google.  

Talking about the Google Apps Education edition.  Talks about the power of collaboration and this groups.

howie@frontier.net–share your story with him.

He is talking about blogs in the classroom.  <I want our teachers to send him our blog and podcasting pages to him to see what we are doing!>  

He will share his presentation that has links etc.  Talking about doing blog searches.  search using the two letter coutry codes to see multiple perspectives of a topic.

So many things in Google, that are tools FREE available.  I believe this is building everyday!

How do we unblock things in our schools?  communicate and collaborate together to decide what you need, what projects you will be doing, and what sites you need to be unlocked. 

Search engions have “bots” that go out to your sites.

Directories have categories.  this may be easier.

sketchup. gooogle.com/download.  This is a free tool.  It is a fun tool.

Google Language Tools:  less than good.

Google Groups–you can form your own groups.  

Google Moon.  google.com/moon, google.com/mars

Google.com/sky

Anyway, many different things you can use in the classroom.

 

Drhowie.com

Go there to see all of the classes he teachers, and download his handouts.

Digital Storytelling!

Well, I just want to say how thankful I am to have been able to be trained two years ago in Digital Storytelling.  I was fortunate to have attended two training courses with the Center for Digital Storytelling;  one out of Denver-with Daniel Weinshenker, just an incridible experience.  And one out of the home office in Berkley, California, the Train the Trainer course.   Both of these experiences have been transformational for me, and I had hoped to bring back the learning to my school district, Cave Creek Unified School District, and work with teachers to bring this powerful medium into classrooms. 

My work with the AZ K 12 Center, helped open those doors, last summer when one of my participants in my Digital Storytelling Workshop at the Tech Camp that I was teaching happened to be a 7th grade teacher from my district.  We had never met before but her principal had paid for her to attend this excellent technology camp which I will write about in my next post.  At that time, I remember her writing a reflection saying she was going to use Digital Storytelling in her classroom during her Immigration Unit. 

Sure enough I got a call from her, in mid-first semester, saying she was ready to plan the unit!  This teacher is Jill Kratzke, and she is, I found out later, just a 2nd year teacher.  This was a surprise to me because of her willingness to jump in and take the risk, plan and implement this project.  She was welcoming and invited me to co-teach with her, and what a gift that was to me.

I appreciate her for inviting me in and letting me participate in this project from start to finish.  Here is a link to the project.

I sent this project to my twitter network when we were finished, and then I decided to send it to Wesley Fryer, knowing he is especially interested in Digital Storytelling.  He sent me such a nice note and then posted a note to the ISTEConnects blog.  How nice! 

I am very excited about this project.  Currently I am working with a small group of  6th grade special education students in Jill’s school(Desert Arroryo Middle School).  Additionally, I am teaching the process to a group of five teachers at an elementary school, Desert Willow Elementary School in our district.  This is an interesting school, because it is a Spanish Immersion Program, where students are learning Spanish during their Social Studies classes.  One of the 4th grade teachers in that building Kira Dubin just won a competitive statewide grant to do Digital Storytelling in her class, and she received 17 netbooks, among other things…..This has implications across the board for every student and every learner. 

I am so fortunate to be invited in and help facilitate.  That is the best and morst rewarding part of my job.

Making a Different Kind of Pie–Creating a new class

 

This was a little class I was in during the MEC conference.  It was a good little class about how to recreate your online coursework.  The big take away was make things modular, so that you can pick and choose your content, based on the needs of the students. 

Good plan.

Below are the live blog notes–Like I said–It was a short class! 

 

program

brainstorm

standards

modular

Create modules of sections of courses…keep it modular so that all stdents get the same Material, but each teacher teaches their order and manner they choose.

This will not work on classes that you are scaffolding and building background.

Decisions:

length of class, standards to complete, how funded, type of class, who would attend, where do we place it?  How long to plan for it –1 to 3 years….?

Stadards,

Ask wat is the top priority?

Brainstorm?  What do you have, what do you need?

Common Syllabus….

STandard testing?

The presenter is extremely organized and asks her teachers to be organized.

My ig take away, is modules!