A Piece of My Mind

I volunteered to make several copies of some DVD’s of our teachers doing what they do best in White Oak ISD: teaching. Our primary campus principal had a great idea of videoing key segments of the day in her teachers’ lives. She then created a video to give to teachers who have been hired to join our school district next school year. What an awesome idea! I am glad I volunteered to do it because it gave me some insight into what the direction is on her campus with her teachers, and technology is definitely a big part of it.

Now this principal has been an early adopter for me already this year in a few separate instances. One, she asked for laptops for her teachers. The first thing she wanted was to get a few MacBooks and a few Windows based machines so her teachers could compare and decide. (as a side note: one of her teachers had over TWENTY enhanced podcasts up in less than a week and never owned a Mac!).

Her next tech integration involved interviews for new teachers. One (or more) of her teachers shot quite a few pictures of what the classrooms and areas of the building looked like while the kids were in it functioning during the school day. Then, text was added over portions of the pictures to label the event/area being viewed. It was all then compiled into a very nice looping video that each applicant was to watch after her interview prior to leaving the building. Yes, a slide show is considered fairly low tech, but when a campus decides to jump into the tech waters and finds a neat way to tie in even a slide show during staff interviews, I say good for them. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure they used Keynote and exported the file as an MOV file since it was looping in QuickTime. That is a pretty good skill to have for a primary teacher, I must say. I have been very proud of the work my elementary teachers have done this year. They have not backed down from the challenge to integrate more technology. As my Australian buddies on Twitter would say, “Good on them!”

So anyway, I was headed into the conversation of the video conversion. If you need to rip a file off a DVD (which is what the video camera recorded to as a VOR/VOB files) and convert it for podcast use, grab you a copy of the free program Handbrake. It converts to either AVI or M4V files. I had issues with the AVI, but the M4V worked flawlessly inside iMovie and Final Cut Pro. Converting to M4V allows me to put it right into our Virtual Roughneck podcast blogs without any editing if preferred. It is by far the best product I found to do the trick. It will also come in handy when I start moving DVD’s onto my iTouch.

My apologies to Robert Frost. And to be accurate, I actually took two posts marked Unread.

I have had two blog posts saved in my Bloglines account for what seems like eternity. They are too good to mark as read, yet they are blaring at me with each stroll past. I have no idea what to do with them. They make bold statements that educators should hear, yet they can be inflammatory each in its own right without thorough discussion of the context.

So in the spirit of sharing my current thoughts, here are the two things Darren Draper and Sylvia Martinez have published on their blogs that have me pondering:

Darren posts this graphic from Carl Glickman’s Leadership for Learning: How to Help Teachers Succeed-

Sylvia posts this quote from Alan Kay -

“Virtually all learning difficulties that children face are caused
by adults’ inability to set up reasonable environments for them. The
biggest barrier to improving education for children, with or without
computers, is the completely impoverished imaginations of most adults.” – Alan Kay (Scholastic Administrator, April/May 2003)

Both make awesome points and serve to inspire the bendable and tick off the rigid. Which one can you relate to the best?

I realize I have not hashed these two things out very well in this post. My goal was to archive them on my blog so that I would be forced to discuss them with others or at least revisit them together on a regular basis until I get it all organized in my head. If anyone wants to discuss/debate the content and context, comment away. Otherwise, these remain in my head until further notice.

The following are my few notes from my short meeting with Anita Givens and three other school districts held 11/2007. They are strictly my thoughts/perceptions/views/etc.

tech funding to support LRPT – will be asking for new money every session headed toward 75 to 100 per student

hb 2864 (point person – Richard Lagow) –

• renewal for second year will place priority on first year districts looking at number of students served;
• in other words, if we do 200 this year, we will get first consideration for 200 next year then second consideration with the additional students;
• Anita suggests get in this year, or be prepared to miss out on the money next year due to limitations of renewal money amounts (My note as of 1/10/08 – This grant processing is not going well at TEA due to limited funds and more interest than expected; legislators should fund higher next year)

K12 databases being worked on

sb1788 (point person – Anita Givens) –

• not funded, but what can we do until it is funded;
• creating criteria for dl classes;
• criteria for educators PD and certification;
• look at web-based learning site for progress of this process;
• if student is getting full day’s worth of ADA on a campus, they are going to be eligible to take up to two online course for additional ADA;
• requires teacher to have PD about teaching online before they qualify to teach DL course; taking NCOL to help with standards/criteria for each area (student and faculty);
• these standards must be in place 6 months prior to implementation;
• bill says open program by 08-09, but no funding or time right now to get it all done in time, maybe by mid-year;
• will not lose ADA based on taking online coursework, funding is lost via the network providing the courses;
• districts will have autonomy to create their own VHS networks, rules are permissive to allowing students to take courses from other networks;
• build ADA off kids in private schools and homeschooled;
• “we do not get docked for having a kid fail and repeating a year so why would we get extra money for a kid that succeeded a year early?” (My response was that the doctor does not give me my money back for the visit and/or prescriptions when he does not heal me either.);

Tech Assessment Pilot –

• going out for RFP to figure out costs;
• waiting for this process to take place before proposal hits ISD’s;
• vendor side takin gplace this month, maybe March-May to get it in place;

Notes for after event:

email Richard Lagow about our elementary online coursework

ask about textbook updates for software between adoptions, etc

I would like to thank Mrs. Givens for taking the time our of her schedule to meet with us at that event. It is refreshing to be able to talk to a face instead of a voice mail these days. Her candid answers are exactly what we need to be able to guide us in our planning. Sometimes what is not said is almost as powerful as what is said. Thanks again!

Technorati Tags: scott_s_floyd, tea, edtech

Dan Pink recently posted a short quote from a presidential candidate (from a NY Sun article).

“Education is only a true education if we’re developing both the left and right brain of the student,” Mr. Huckabee told scores of bloggers listening in person and on the phone. “The left brain is great for math and science and all the logical forms of education, but knowing what to do with what a student has learned is as important as what they’ve learned. Music and art, teaching the stimulation of the creative side, is absolutely critical to a total well-rounded education.”

Finally, here is a discussion of substance about education. I was wondering how long we had to go during this election cycle before we heard something more than “We need to fund our education system better” (like we have not heard that before and are still in need of it). While I may or may not agree with everything this candidate is saying during the campaign, he at least is saying the right thing here. And the media needs to listen and promote this. The rest of society needs to understand why their kids “have no common sense” or know the true answer to “What were you thinking?” (when no thinking was really going on during the bad decision). Our students are left with little or no opportunity to explore their creative side once the standardized tests kick in. It’s not fair to them, and it actually takes away a lot of the fun of teaching (remember I went from teaching primary to middle school). So you can imagine how it takes away a lot of the fun of learning.

Then that leads to the entire conversation Dan Pink started with his book A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers will Rule the Future. Even the 2.oh students are talking about it on their blogs. Anthony Chivetta wrote a post about “Teaching the Process of Design” to students. Funny thing is, design is dependent on design:

I would argue that the reason watching student videos can at times be excruciatingly painful is that they lack a cohesive design. Often, they represent a hodgepodge of ideas strewn together with very little thought to creating a unified whole. However, when students begin with picking a thesis, and then work from that thesis, a pattern, a design, begins to emerge. When the question for every single decision is “what supports my thesis?” those awkward transitions, strange cuts, and random transitions begin to make sense.

I have to say I agree here. Much of what is needed to be true designers comes from the ability to organize the design ahead of time. That come in so many fashions from basically every core subject taught in school. Papers make no sense without organization. Math results are wrong with corrupt organization. Science experiments go awry with disjointed organization. History makes no sense with a disorganized presentation of the facts.

Proper design forces abstract thinking. Abstract thinking engages the right brain. Engagement of the right brain generates new ideas, products, manipulation and processing of data, and visions. 

If we just model correct design through curricular creation and delivery, expect the same high levels of design quality from our students through problem based learning, and showcase the products with exemplary design, then maybe, just maybe, others will notice the importance. It may be just a detail in learning. But as they say, the devil is in the details. It separates the winners form the losers. In our students’ futures, it will separate the have’s from the have not’s.

So to go full circle with this somewhat rambling post…..pay attention to the presidential candidates. While we all know Congress holds the real power, we must recognize a true visionary in the White House can lead to a more innovative (some will call it catch-up) vision for education. It is about time.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, politics, president2008

The law is a prickly thing. One wrong misstep and you can create a heap of new issues. While many questions are created, few answers are understandable. It is the crux of school law.

Fortunately, Corey Wood has done a great job of capturing the information in a blog post from a TASB presentation titled “Trustees and Technology: Getting Wired Without Getting Shocked” from Thomas A. Gwosdz, a Staff Attorney for TASB. I have linked to Corey’s blog post and the TASB presentation, but I thought I would share the highlights below that will help answer some of the more nagging questions as they pertain to the new technologies. It is a very interesting read, for sure.

What do e-mails have to do with the Open Meetings Act?
Short Answer: If school board members use e-mail as a substitute for deliberation in properly posted public meetings, the e-mails may violate the Texas Open Meetings Act (OMA).

Is it ever appropriate for board members to contact each other by e-mail outside of public meetings?
Short Answer: If the e-mail exchange causes a quorum of the board to deliberate outside of a public meeting, then an illegal meeting will have occurred. Whether the board or any individual could be held liable for the violation depends on the circumstances surrounding the communications.

What kinds of e-mails qualify as deliberation of public business?
Short Answer: According to the attorney general, if even one board member speaks (or, presumably, e-mails) about school business to a quorum of the school board, deliberation-and therefore a meeting-occurs, even if no other member responds. If a one-way communication by one board member to a quorum of the board constitutes deliberation, then a listserv posting, cc to the rest of the board, or a reply to all e-mail on a matter of public business could run afoul of the OMA.

Is forwarding information from a non-member considered a deliberation?
Short Answer: Arguably, yes. By expressing views in a message copied to all board members. Potentially causes a deliberation among a quorum of the board. On the other hand, if the message is sent to the superintendent without copying the board, no violation will occur.

Can the administration use e-mail to contact board members outside of a public meeting?
Short Answer: The superintendent is not a member of the school board; therefore, he is not technically subject to the OMA. As a result, the superintendent and other members of the administration may use e-mail to communicate with the board (even the whole board at one time) about school business. Superintendents and others who are not on the board should exercise caution, however, not to use e-mail in a way that facilitates an open meetings violation on the part of board members.

Are board members’ e-mails public records?
Short Answer: The e-mails are records subject to the Public Information Act. According to the attorney general, e-mails about district business sent to or from a government official’s home computer are subject to disclosure absent an applicable exception.

What about a personal e-mail sent from a school e-mail account?
Short Answer: E-mails that are not related to the transaction of official district business are not subject to public disclosure.

Are trustees allowed to make personal use of school district technology?
Short Answer: Perhaps not, at least according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Are there any limits to what a trustee can say on his or her own website?
Short Answer: Yes. Just because it is easy to say your peace on the Internet does not mean it is free. If members cross the line and disclose confidential information or commit defamation, they may expose themselves to a variety of civil penalties.

Can trustees use cell phones to conduct school business?
Short Answer: many of the legal issues presented by the use of e-mail are also presented by the use of cellular telephones.

Is there a way board members can participate in meetings while they are out of town?
Short Answer: Yes, but it will not be easy. The OMA provides several telecommunications options for participating in or broadcasting public meetings, but each applies only in limited circumstances. Although a telephone conference call is not an option, the OMA appears to permit participation by video conference if the district can overcome several technical hurdles.

So there you have it. Clear as mud, right? Well, thanks to Corey and TASB, I have learned a few things here. Check out their links and see what else you can gather from their work. Lord knows that I am no expert (consider that my disclaimer for answers listed above). Check with a school law attorney whenever there is a question about these things.

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I wrote this post a year ago. Has anything changed?

School 2.0 – Join the Conversation
Reading habits change in new on-line revolution – Houston Business Journal:

Younger Americans, who buy only about 4 percent of books sold, have crafted their own environment for print media — non-traditional, of course. Kids, teenagers and young adults spend hours (and hours) on the Internet writing and reading (which should be of some comfort to English teachers). Bored with old-fashioned e-mail messages, kids prefer “synchronous chat.” Through MUDs (multi-user domains), young folks have transformed the solitary activity of reading into a highly social medium….

Nevertheless, I am excited and exhilarated by today’s electronic exchanges. The medium has changed, but the skill of reading is alive and well.

Writing is still essential, even if the style is mutating to “Internet casual.” Format aside, communication remains essential to getting your message across, and words are still the core components of the message.

The next generations are as hungry for knowledge as any we’ve seen — and, with the spread of electronic media — will likely be as literate as any other. – Dr. M. Ray Perryman is president and chief executive officer of The Perryman Group and economist-in-residence at the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University

It is good to see that the higher ed folks are paying attention to the changing habits of today’s student culture. I wish I could say the same for the K-12 crowd. Videos such as
Download? Are we unaware that there are more students in China taking the SAT test in English than in the Untied States? Do we simply not care that the top 10% of the population in China equals the total population of the United States and the top 25% is more than the total population of North America? We are not just competing with the neighboring school districts anymore. We are (or at least should be) preparing our students to compete against the world.

Will it take fear as David Warlick contemplates:

2 Cents Worth » Scare Em!

Is this a legitimate avenue for affecting change? Does fear motivate people to change? Might it motivate reluctant teachers to modernize their practices?

So is it the right thing to do? Do you think it is even possible to scare teachers into this type of paradigm shift in a K-12 setting? Do you see the need for this type of change in thought and instruction?

“Sometimes I think my blogging is self-assigned professional development – forcing myself to take the time to think more deeply about certain ideas.”

The Fischbowl: Who’s the Audience?

Have you ever thought of blogging in this way? It is what drives me in this area of the new web. As an information junkie, I am always trying to figure out a more efficient way of learning more in less time. Blogs eliminate a lot of the searching I had to do before because there are so many people doing the work for you now. I challenge you to blog for this reason if no other. While the state might say you have to get PD hours, make them useful. Remember, you can count the time you spend blogging and reading for a portion of the time. This is what Texas law reads:

Texas Administrative Code Title 19, Part 7, Chapter 232, Subchapter B
(c) Participation in interactive distance learning, video conferencing, or on-line activities or conferences.
(d)Independent study, not to exceed 20% of the required clock hours, whichmay include self-study of relevant professional materials (books,journals, periodicals, video and audio tapes, computer software, andon-line information) or authoring a published work.

Take advantage of it and gain ownership of your own learning today.

I found a neat collection of free videos that are online for streaming right to your PC/Mac for many purposes. Take a look at the following topics.

• Teaching Reading 3-5 Workshop- This video workshop will show intermediate elementary teachers how to help their students transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Supplemental classroom programs provide further exploration of each topic.
• Teaching Reading K-2 Workshop- This video workshop addresses critical topics in teaching reading for K-2 teachers.
• Teaching Reading K-2: A Library of Classroom Practices- This video library shows the teaching practices of K-2 teachers across the country as they introduce their students to reading through a variety of methodologies.
• Teaching The Children of Willesden Lane- This set of video and Web resources with curriculum guide helps middle and high school teachers teach the Holocaust-survival book The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek.
• Write in the Middle: A Workshop for Middle School Teachers- This video workshop helps middle school teachers learn effective practices and strategies for writing instruction.

Teaching Multicultural Literature: A Workshop for the Middle Grades- This video workshop introduces middle school teachers to ethnically diverse American writers and offers dynamic instructional strategies and resources to make works meaningful for students.

Annenberg Media

These are just a very few of the listed topics. They range from administrators creating great campuses to science(tons) to math (tons) to pedagogy to many literacy-based videos. The registration is free. Don’t miss out on this. There is a lot of great information provided here by Annenberg Media whose goal is:

Advancing Excellent Teaching in American Schools Annenberg Media uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation’s goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.Annenberg Media’s multimedia resources help teachers increase theirexpertise in their fields and assist them in improving their teachingmethods. Many programs are also intended for students in the classroomand viewers at home. All Annenberg Media videos exemplify excellentteaching.

technorati tags:literacy, video, professional_development, Scott_S_Floyd, math, science

Tim Wilson, a technology integration specialist from Minnesota, hosted a session at NECC last year (NECC will be in San Antonio June 2008). The audience put together a list of classroom uses for podcasting. Tim blogged about it and offers this list:

Collect field notes during a science field trip
Living museum, researching characters
“Radio shows”
Creating audio guides for local museums
Teacher powerpoints
Early language learners, (rhyming, etc.)
Staff development
Screencasts
Language learners recording assessments
Discovery Education videos
Science reports
Art projects
Digital portfolios
Weekly classroom news
Serial storytelling
Reflective journals
Summaries of school events
Broadcast school sporting events
Roving reporters
Capturing oral histories (family history)
Podcast vocab words and spelling lists
Flashcard practice with iFlash
Musical compositions
Soundseeing tours

Since podcasting is new to many in our school district, I thought I would offer this list up and see if anyone was interested in trying it out.  If you are, give me a call.  We have the equipment available for our staff to try these things out.

Any other ways to use podcasting that you can think of?

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, podcasting

I was in Florida on vacation with my family when I came across this bumper sticker. While, its intended meaning was not, how I would say educational, it definitely drove my mind into the educational arena for whatever reason.

I have spent the last year and a half reading, listening, and learning about 21st century students, classrooms, and learning. David Warlick, Wes Fryer, Miguel Guhlin, Vicki Davis, and more have all been great examples for me to follow in this new area. While I have always felt that I was on the cutting edge of instruction with technology, I realized that I was… only it was the edge just ahead of the rest of my district. It was not the edge that my students were teetering on.

Their edge is dangerous. It has few boundaries and requires them to take risks to learn new skills. Their edge is the manipulation of multiple environments virtually to engage with others of like interests. Their edge is scaring the living daylights out of teachers everywhere so much so that new rules are being written almost daily to halt the tide. But why?

What the kids know, and few of us do, is that the future is now. Technology is just a tool to comprehend, adjust, manipulate, collaborate, integrate, mash-up, publish, and communicate. Technology is just a tool to share, envision, enlist, create, and orchestrate. Technology is just a tool. And every tool has a use. Our students are using this tool. Sometimes the right way, sometimes not. Ever hear your dad say, “If you are not going to use a (insert tool name here) the right way, don’t use it at all.” That is where we are at. Sometimes the tool is not used the right way, but it is mainly because we have not shown students how to do that. That is mainly because so many of us do not know how to do it ourselves.

So what does this all have to do with a bumper sticker seen on the back of a rusted, black primered 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am on Dale Mabry Boulevard in Tampa, Florida, on a balmy summer evening in June of 2007? Ammo. Plain and simple. The ammo our students use, to be exact. It is most definitely the currency of the new millennium. It is the currency that will deliver them into the new millennium with strength and knowledge beyond our comprehension. It is the ammo that we build our profession on. It is the ammo that we use to build our skills as professionals. The ammo? Information.

David Warlick and others have said many times, it is not the technology that is the focus. It is the information. He lists three things about information and how it has changed: 1. information has become increasingly networked, 2. It is increasingly digital, 3. We are overwhelmed by information.

Information is networked.  I read and hear about people continually frustrated about their children memorizing odd facts to regurgitate back on to tests (capitals of states, major crops for regions, etc).  I am fine with asking kids to know these things.  No, let me restate that.  I am fine with asking kids to know how to find these things.  Right now it is as simple as Google.  I am also fine with asking kids to remember these things AFTER engaging activities to learn them.  Webquests, wikipedia searches, Google searches, informational videos/podcasts creation, wiki creation, fictional newscasts, and more can all give them these experiences.  The point is, these kids can access and share information in ways they never could before.  Networked.  Yes, they are, and yes it is.

Information is digital.  This is pretty simple to demonstrate.  In 2002 alone, people around the world created so much new information (mostly digital), it could fill 500,000 Libraries of Congress.  If it were not in digital format, where would we house it all?  How would we and our students ever access it in an efficient manner?  Blogs, wikis, and other digital tools are the avenue to which this information is being created.  And that was nearly six years ago.  Can you imagine now?

That easily leads to David’s last point: we are overwhelmed by information.  Easily, this is the most fundamental reason to be using new read/write web tools in the classroom.  Yes, we are overwhelmed by what is out there.  our students are not.  Yet if we sit back and do not offer them the chance to use tools that will allow them to wade through the mass, they will just grab the first ring they pass by and claim it to be accurate and factual.  Consider these two sites:  Dog Island & Tree Octopus.  Both are very believable.  Both are very false.  Could you tell the difference if you were a kid?

We have not even hit on the ability to use and process this information in appropriate ways.  That is a lengthy topic for another post, but start with this and this.

I am not preaching the “tech only” way of instruction.  Putting a computer in front of a student (or teacher for that matter) does not a lesson make.  Nor does it build new knowledge and higher level thinking without proper use.  Technology is a tool. Or should I say that technology is the key.  It can open doors for our kids in ways we cannot yet imagine.

Probably the most telling quote comes from Net Generation Comes of Age, written by Dr. Larry Rosen, Cal State professor who has been studying this generation of kids. He says,

“A baby boomer and even a Gen X would say, “Well, I use the Internet” or “I use my cell phone a lot” or “I text message” and so on. Gen X learned how to use technology, whereas the Net Gen kids were raised steeped in technology and they don’t use it, it just simply is.”

Technology allows our students to do new things with old and new stuff that will drive our future and theirs. It is the information that guides our futures. It is the information that causes us to think and operate at higher levels. It is the technology that allows us to collaborate, communicate, and create new things with information.

So as you begin this new experience of integrating technology, keep these things in mind. Regardless of the content area you teach in, your students need the ammo that only you can provide. Let them use technology to process it, and you will be impressed with the outcome.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, literacy

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