Module Eight Notes

The theme for module Eight is "Bringing it All Together"

The session began by looking at other one-to-one laptop programs as models. Presenters shared videos from the Irving ISD focused on classroom management. It was useful to hear teachers talk about how they managed the use of laptops in their classroom addressing how they started class periods, enabled students to help each other, and used proximity monitoring to work with individual students.

Teachers also viewed a video from the state of Maine's one-to-one program, with former governor Angus King talking to educators about how they implemented the program in the classroom.

Teachers spent time writing "Future Stories" looking back from December 2010 on their experience teaching in a School2Home school. They shared wonderfully creative stories with the presenters and one-another.

As a final learning activity, participants visited Classroom Learning 2.0, a self-paced website for educators to use to learn about the Web 2.0 world.

The group celebrated the success of their four days together.

Module Seven Notes

Theme for Module Seven: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Real World Data

The day began with a viewing of the "Gotta Keep Reading" Video made by Ocoee Middle School in Florida.

Micheline shared the Spanish version of the CTAP Cypersafety page, and showed participants how to locate Cybersafety resources in Spanish in the CTAP directory of resources.

Sara talked to the group about developing deep questions, or driving questions, to guide student thinking and research. Stevenson teachers worked on developing driving questions for the lessons they are developing for use with students. A good driving question will lead to other questions.

Presenters shared some wonderful resources for use in the classroom that focus on the curriculum areas.

• The Thinkfinity site, with resources from ten content partners - all of which are free.
• The ThinkQuest Library, with websites that were created by students for student use.
• The Calisphere site, with resources from the University of California designed for classroom use and
• The California Learning Resources Network, which enables searching by state standard and links to resources (both free and commercial).

Stevenson teachers spent time working on their lesson/unit plans, incorporating electronic learning resources into planned activities driven by their essential questions.

Some of the lessons in development are:

• A lesson on the Sumarian Social System, which includes having students develop a Cornell note page, write, use a graphic organizer, research images online, and involve their parents tying modern images to the roles in Sumarian society.
• Integrating computer technology into math and science, looking at teaching math and science.
• Teaching students about cybercitizenship and internet safety.
• Having students collect data about favorite meals in the school cafeteria and analyzing the results.

Sara mentioned an article that Mr. Oram shared with the presenters about about recent positions being taken by Diane Ravitch about education and learning.

During the next part of the professional development, the group learned to create surveys or quizzes using Google Forms. Working together, Micheline stepped everyone through the process of creating a quiz using a Google Form.

The session concluded for lunch at noon.

Modules 1-6 in video

Participants all learned to use Animoto during Module 5. They were also informed about how to request free educator accounts.

This short video will give you a sense of our learning community at work.

Module Six Notes

The focus of Module six is Digital Citizenship

Prior to lunch, the group viewed a "Wordle" picture based on language in the ISTE book on Digital Citizenship.

Following lunch the group participated in an activity called "Lingo Bingo" identifying common terms and text abbreviations used by youth on the Internet.

Gerald Bailey and Mike Ribble, the authors of Digital Citizenship have identified nine elements of Digital Citizenship, grouped in three areas.

Student Learning and Academic Performance

• digital communication
• digital access
• digital literacy

School Environment and Student Behavior

• digital security
• digital etiquette
• digital rights and responsibilities

Student Life Outside the School Environment

• digital commerce
• digital law
• digital health and wellness

Participants were give a paper copy of a "moral compass" and asked to respond to different scenarios - and to determined where they would place themselves in that scenario, and where they think their students might place themselves in that scenario. Following the activity, groups shared their reflections some of the most interesting scenarios they had discussed. For many of the scenarios, the answer was "it depends on the situation." For others, there were clear divisions between right and wrong.

The group watched a video from NetSmartz called "Feathers in the Wind," one of many excellent NetSmartz videos from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Participants received copies of a Cypersafety poster created by CTAP Region 4, and learned about the many resources identified on CTAP 4's Cybersafety website. They also learned about the Internet Safety videos available on BrainPop. Presenters also shared copies of a new booklet on Internet Safety from the FCC, Netcetera. This booklet will be shared with Stevenson parents when they attend the parent training. It is available in English and in Spanish.

Teachers reviewed an article and a website with ideas for one-to-one implementation.

Teachers commented on the ideas they valued, which included:

• Start small and grow.
• It's a cummulative process . create the expectation that students will use them properly once they are given guidance.
• Students will need to improve their typing skills.
• Students will need to understand that technology use will be a privilege and not a right.
• Don't forget the importance of good teacher management.
• If a student is not using it correctly, they can lose the privilege for a few days.
• "Lids down" is an important way to get students' attention.
• Have extra battery chargers.
• Lesson plans and good management will be key.
• Explain the punishments for violating the rules.
• If students forget computers, have them sit elsewhere with other work.
• Teachers will learn to "pick their battles," and have the majority of students on task.
• Student leaders can help other students.
• Online testing will provide instant results.
• MWA - Management by Walking Around
• The ability to see what is on student screens for monitoring.
• Screens down when you want students' attention
• The importance of good planning
• Use of instructional posters that have key information with directions.
• Plan for down time - when students finish earlier than anticipated.

Micheline reminded that the website features a page of one-to-one strategies.

The day concluded with a reflection: Using the 4-1-1 strategy:

Four things you learned today.

One strategy you were already using.

One strategy you will be learning soon.

Module Five Notes

The focus of Module Five is Research and Information Fluency

The morning opened with an Animoto video review of the group's activities during Module 3 & 4. Following that, participants worked on developing their own Animoto video, using photograph of Stevenson Middle School and Robert Louis Stevenson that Micheline had shared with them by posting to to Google Docs.

Micheline reviewed the key objectives of Modules Five and Six and provided participants with copies of an article by Alan November called "Teaching Zack to Think." The instructors shared resources that can be used to help students evaluate the validity and reliability of information they find on the World Wide Web.

Key criteria to consider:

Authority

Accuracy

Objectivity

Currency

Coverage

The teachers spent some time viewing a website about Martin Luther King and using the key criteria to judge the validity of the site.

The next portion of the workshop focused on search strategies, with instructors demonstrating advanced search strategies in Google. An excellent "cheat sheet" supporting search strategies is available at online at Google Help.

Sara also introduced the group to Boolify, as search tool designed for student use.

Teachers spent time practicing search strategies, with a focus on their curriculum projects. They also practiced using Google's translation tools.

Prior to the break, presenters shared some of the Animoto videos created by the teachers during the first hour.

Following a short break, teachers talked in table groups about ideas to increase parent engagement. Each group generated a list of ideas in a Google Doc, which the presenters merged into a single list.

The group then began looking at issues of copyright and fair use, beginning by taking a copyright quiz. They also learned how to use David Warlick's Citation Machine to site websites as resources.

Module Four Notes

Module four focuses on Cultural Understanding and Global Awareness

The group watched an Edutopia video on a project connecting a Choctaw tribe and children in Thailand. Connecting Ancient Culture First People's Project

Sara shared a number of sites that she recommends for global collaboration projects. The list includes: ePals, MyHero, Global SchoolNet, ThinkQuest and Project Registry.

Teachers discussed the topic: Instilling global awareness and cultural understanding in our students through participation in global projects and organizations

Mr. Gonzales addressed the group after lunch and acknowledged the sixth grade teachers for their work in moving the School2Home program forward.

The presenters talked about the skills students need today and shared information about the Partnership for 21st century skills.

Connecting the topic of Cultural Awareness to 21st century skills, Sara shared another Edutopia video about students in a Seattle, Washington learning about the Northwest Native Canoe culture and participating in a service learning project to build a canoe.

Collaboration

Engagement

Productivity

Applying information

Collaboration

Presenters talked about the need for good assessment strategies and tools. Since many of the teachers on the staff are already familiar with Rubistar, it was shared briefly. Library Teachers Mr. Oram volunteered to assist teachers who are new to Rubistar and would like to learn how to use it.

Micheline addressed the topic of classroom management in a one-to-one laptop program. The Irving School District website in Texas has posted some excellent strategies to their website, which includes video clips.

Teachers responded to an evaluation that will provide input to the School2Home professional development team.

Participants closed the day by recording in a Google Doc their reflection on the day.

Module Three Notes

Micheline shared her top Five strategies for One-to-one programs

5 - Break the Digital Ice

4 - Find Your Classroom Experts

3 - Think Globally

2 - Work better together

1 - Get off to a good start

The presenters talked about the many wonderful models and videos that are available on the Edutopia website.

Teachers discussed in table groups ideas and strategies they were thinking of implementing in their School2Home classrooms.

Ideas shared with the group included:

Journal writing

24-7 access

matching assessment with technology

the need to be realistic

the need to always have a plan B

The group viewed a series of slides created with the Google Docs presentation tool, with quotations about learning, technology and parent engagement.

Following that, they participated in a "tea party" activity, connecting in small groups with one another about the quotations they found meaningful.

Micheline took notes on current parent involvement at Stevenson on Webspiration

• parent connect voicemail system
• Special Ed class homework folder - with a place every week for parents and teachers to exchange notes and view grades
• School Website, with a page for each teacher
• IEP meetings
• Student led conferences where parents review student portfolios
• Family math and science night
• Back-to-school night
• Pinewood derby (physics class)
• Sending notes home

Teachers participated in an activity where they charted what they thought might be things that parents will be both excited about -- and concerned about as the School2Home project moves ahead at Stevenson. The presenters will share the lists generated with Stevenson's School2Home leadership committee and the Parent Training team.

The group viewed a video from the Edutopia website about a school that has implemented an intensive parent engagement program that incorporates the family into school activities. Following that, they discussed how aspects of the school shared in the video were pertinent to involving parents at Stevenson. The school in the video has a program that includes night classes for parents.

The teachers logged into the School2Home website and into their mymail Google accounts.

The presenters introduced the Google Presentation tool, and Ms. Stiles reviewed how create a new presentation. Teachers spent time working, individually or collaboratively on developing presentations focused on a topic related to engaging parents.

Magic moment -Micheline demonstrated two free and easy resources, Skype and Goog 411

Module 3 ended with a Teacher Reflection - How will this project improve/change my communications and collaboration with parents?