Thoughts and Ideas
Why C4 Matters…
Two and a half years ago, I was sitting in our district library with a group of library media specialists trying to figure out what Osseo was going to propose for the EdTech ARRA grant that was currently available for application. After batting around several ideas, the group started to focus in on the idea of creating a professional development program and going for the Seal of Alignment with ISTE.
Earlier in 2009, I had proposed an idea called the C4 Model of Learning, which stood for Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity embedded to make explosive Content. I wanted to create a professional development program that was different than the just-in-time learning model that most teachers are accustomed. I wanted teachers to learn and integrate essential skills instead of specific technologies. In fact, the idea made a lot of sense once I heard Simon Sinek’s talk on Start With Why, before that I am sure that my colleagues thought I was crazy. Teaching teachers how to use a specific tool was at the ‘what’ level, teaching them a skill to integrate and then choose the tool that would best fit that goal would be at the ‘why’ level.
The ISTE NETS for Teachers are, in short, brilliantly written and designed and are built around the ‘why’. Yet, I had to breakdown the indicators to see what the goal of the standard was and then figure out how I could give teachers that skills. For so long I thought it was important to know that 2d. (the indicator that has to do with formative and summative assessments) was only a part of the standard ‘Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments’ and what I needed to do was create a class on Digital Age Learning. Boy was I wrong. Once I started reading the indicators closer, I realized that the twenty indicators were in fact connected in a completely different way. Instead of five standards, there was eight different themes. The C4 Model of Learning was built on those themes.
I did the first run through in the 2010-2011 school year and the participants gave great feedback for redesigning the program. They pointed out the holes and where extension activities could take place. In one example, while the original program had pounded formative and summative assessments, teachers felt that there would be value in teaching them how to unpack standards and understand the nouns and verbs contained within. When Tom (a member of the first C4 cohort) started in the fall of 2011, he was able to take that feedback and we completely redesigned that program from the ground up.
In January we got word from ISTE that our program had received alignment at the Mastery level. This is the highest level of recognition that ISTE gives professional development programs. Talk about validation of Tom and I’s work, yet more so the feedback of the first C4 cohort. I highly doubt that this program would have melded into what the Maple Grove Magazine label as joining the elite company of PBS, Intel and Verizon Thinkfinity without that first cohort.
So what is next? Hamline. In the fall of 2011, Tom and I proposed to Hamline a certificate program using the C4 model as our guide. Dreaming big we wanted to share the program with others, we wanted others to think beyond the tools and think about the teaching. In fact when asked after receiving the Seal of Alignment someone asked me, “I know what C4 stands for, yet what does it really stand for?” Having to think about it for a few moments I thought…
Teaching before technology and tools, in practice just like it is in the dictionary.
That is why I think C4 matters, it is about the teaching and not the technology and tools.
Someone Please Explain C4
As the project lead, more often than not, I am asked by people what is the C4 Model of Learning. The C4 Model of Learning is a professional development program offered through Osseo Area Schools that is aligned to the National Educational Technology Standards. While many programs claimed that they are aligned to the ISTE standards, the C4 Model of Learning has gone through the Seal of Alignment process. This process allows ISTE to give their stamp of approval that we are meeting the standards to the rigor that is intended. What should be made clear is that the ISTE NETS while coined as Technology Standards actually are more standards to enhance a teacher’s ability and skill level of teaching best practices.
The ISTE NETS•T have five standards, each with four performance indicators. Currently, ISTE has given the Osseo program a ‘meets’ (standards) in two indicators (1d. and 2a.) and three (5a., 2d., and 1b.) are extremely close to meets after the initial review of the product. Since Osseo intended to address more than five indicators, as project lead, I am currently heading up another re-write of the program with two co-developers provided by ISTE. After the re-write the product will go into review to seek alignment for eleven total indicators.
To receive either a ‘meets’ or ‘supports’, the entire indicator must be addressed including the various nuances. For example, 1a states that teachers promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness. This means the alignment proposal had to demonstrate nuances such as promote creative thinking, promote innovative thinking, promote creative inventiveness, promote innovative inventiveness, et. al. In short there were over two hundred nuances to be addressed.
The indicators which Osseo had elected not to seek alignment (5b. and 5d.), are indicators that have been described by many on the ISTE NETS•T review team as “trying to teach multivariable calculus.” Only two of the organizations who have received the Seal of Alignment have addressed these indicators and these programs require a time commitment of two to three years. Osseo intends to only require a time commitment of up to nine months for participants.
The C4 Model of Learning was offered to all teachers in the Osseo system who had a .8 or greater or FTE. These teachers were selected through an application process, which measured individual participant’s ability to communicate and synthesize their ideas as related to the 21st century skills and technology integration. Eighty-two (N=82) applicants accepted their offer to be a part of the learning model that would provide standards-based professional development. Participants ranged in education level with over half of the participants indicating that they had some post-Master work (N= 44, 53.66%), while only a small number of participants (N=11, 13.41%) indicated that they had only received a bachelors degree or had done some post-bachelor work. The mode for years teaching was 5-9 years (N=19, 23.17%), with 0-2 years of teaching (N=2, 2.44%) being the smallest subset. Accepted participants received a $1,000 stipend. In addition to the $1,000, stipend participants could take five credits through Hamline University (St. Paul, Minnesota). All participants also received 85 hours of CEUs; including receiving credit for state mandates of Technology Integration, Differentiation, Literacy, and Positive Behavior Intervention.
Finding Your Passion
While at TIES 2010, I had the opportunity to listen to Sir Ken Robinson talk about “How finding your passion changes everything.” As I thought about the words he said and the story he shared about Bart Conner and other people who had found their passion. What little people might not know is that Bart’s brother Bruce at 53 years old skated in the 2010 US Olympic Trials/World Cup Qualifier. If at 53 years old and you are skating as fast as teenagers and those in their early twenties, you have the potential to inspire a lot of people. In fact his story is inspiring, to skate in the US Olympic Trials/World Cup Qualifier and professionally be a 747 pilot for United Airlines now that’s having passion.
So I started to think about my own passion. The one that makes me wear a skin suit and now 16″ blades (I elected to drop an inch with my new boots/blades); however, I can dream about skating I doubt that I am passionate about that. But passion comes in all shapes and sizes, and seizing upon the idea is more important concept that I took away from the morning.
For example, I love cooking- I do have a passion for cookbooks, my cooktop island, and bright orange Kitchen Aid Mixer. Am I good at cooking? Not really, ask my loving husband and he will beg that I stick with the basics, but I will argue every time that making a Filet Mignon is just too good to pass up.
In a recent blog post I talked about being challenged. As I looked at it more, there is most likely a direct correlation between being challenged and finding your passion. For example this is probably most evident in speedskating, it is a challenge to speedskate. While it looks graceful and easy, there are in fact at least 75 different nuances that you have to master. Then once that is mastered there is an art of fitting a skin suit, which is not easy by any means. You also need to overcome your fears and overcoming the fear of falling but then speedskating is so intertwined with my passion.
This past winter I was featured member in Learning and Leading with Technology and I told during my interview that the ice is the only place in which I feel completely at peace. No worries, since I found my passion I have found peace in many other areas of life as well.
Over 30 and Willing to Wear Spandex
Cross Posted on my Speedskating Blog: This Might Hurt Our Reputation
Bottom Row (L-R)- Carole, Kathie, Melissa, Suzy, Dorothy; Top Row (L-R) Jacki, Lisa, Silvia; Not Pictured Jan
If there was one thing I was looking forward to this weekend was the fact that I was now able to join the ranks of Master Ladies. In fact, I was so excited last May to be turning 30 that when I was looking through my emails I found an email from Silvia a few weeks before my birthday saying, “Ha! You don’t often hear women be excited to grow older!” But at that point there was some grandeur illusion of excitement to become a part of Master Ladies and now I know why.
Speedskating has a great secret, the support from the other skaters and coaches far outweighs the really bad day on the ice. When I returned to speedskating a little more than three years ago and skated in my first US Marathon Championships, I was in dead last. All I wanted to do was take my skates and shove them back in the closet, throw my hands up, and claim I was finished; but the fact that Chantal stood there and waited for me to finish made me rethink that proposition.
Rethinking that proposition was a really good idea. I will admit, I am the most technically imperfect skater out there. But in the past three years I have found this deep respect for those who speedskate; for those who are willing and daring to try something that requires technical perfection, stick their butts out, deal with aching backs, sore thighs, and most of all wear a spandex skin suit. It makes any time a weekend of speedskating is part of the agenda, an adventure.
To say the 2011 Age-Class Nationals were not an adventure would be an understatement. I do not know about the others, but my adventure started on Tuesday when walking through Target, I slipped and fell- hitting my butt, back and head. New boots and blades arrived on Thursday, leaving me to break them in as the temperature fell in to the negatives. Friday was too cold to do nothing more than figure out the packing challenge that lied ahead. Then being greeted both Saturday and Sunday morning with subzero temperatures and the question of, “why do I do this?” It was time to skate and the fact that I got to skate with two women who made the list of the 30 most inspiring people I knew, the lady who put my national championship medal around my neck last year, one who did an extra lap at the marathon to bring my water bottle after she had finished, and four other women who I got to know more this weekend.
So what makes these ladies so awesome? Each of these ladies has a story and their stories are incredible, from coming from a family of skaters to seeking out a dream. They can tell you why they got into speedskating, who inspires them, and what their feeling is about wearing a spandex skin suit. They support everybody- even if they are a competitor, they also support the men and the future of the sport.
If you ever have a chance to sit in the heat box with any of these ladies you will be well taken care of; they will make sure your boot bolts are tight, you have your bib, and will inspire you to do your absolute best.
Finally, as we were laughing and taking the above picture, I thought about the quote from Miss Congeniality (with a few modifications):
I realized that these women are smart, terrific people who are trying to make a difference in the world. And we’ve become really good friends. I mean, I know we all secretly hope the other one will forget their bib and get disqualified… but oh wait a minute, I’ve already done that!
So to the other eight women who fell into the “Over 30 and Willing to Wear Spandex” category. Thanks for a fabulous weekend, it was great fun.
The Art of Being Challenged
Over four years ago, my former boss (Dorothy) called me from home and proclaimed, “We are doing it all wrong.” What ‘it’ was, was the idea of technology integration at my former school. In the span of twenty four hours we came up with a new plan. I am not sure if we were absolutely crazy but somewhere deep down we knew we were doing something right. Well that was, except to everyone looking in and I am convinced that they thought we were doing it all wrong.
However, what were we doing wrong… technology was this pull out model. It was intentional when it came to integration. We had a cart of laptops, but even though it was used frequently (including teachers who attempted to ‘permanently’ check it out), it was so intentional. It was such an event and definitely not something, I think either of us aspired too. Honestly, I am pretty certain, that even if they didn’t say it, students probably thought our technology integration was an extremely lame attempt. So we began to vow to challenge ourselves and our teachers each day.
So how did we get it to work:
- Understand that you are going to be busy, that when you are undertaking change it is going to be tiring, and at times it was going to be messy.
- Whatever you do, please do not scream out, “I’m so overwhelmed.” Because if you do say that, you are not committed to the task at hand and if you are curious what this task is… we are changing the way you teach.
- Immerse yourself and realize that things are going to constantly change, if not you are going to be stagnant and boring- but don’t worry you have a community to help you with this change.
- You have to be creative, a collaborator, and you have to communicate in different ways, and if you are curious… you have to be competitive with yourself.
- This is a team effort, so make sure you ask others and work with others.
- Finally, in a few years, someone might ask you what you are doing. And you will not be able to answer them, that is the goal of seamless learning.
Oh and if you are curious, there were times that I doubted myself- but on those hard days I just had to remind myself that what I was doing right. And even if it felt like I was walking through wet cement– I knew that I was not going to get stagnant and stick with the same ol’, same ol’.
The Value of The Young Educator and ISTE
Tuesday I read a post by Mary Beth Hertz, Is ISTE Still Relevant for Young Educators? I quickly sent the post of to a few of my colleagues and told them to read this post- because Mary Beth hit the nail dead on. There has been a lot of talk about the Young Educator and the ISTE conference, including Julie LaChance‘s Post Young Educators Rock Denver. And I started to think about my own experiences with ISTE.
My first conference was NECC 2006 in San Diego. When my boss and I had learned about the conference, it was abundantly clear that this conference was cost prohibitive for our small Catholic school. However at that time I was a full-time student, my conference fee was $90 and we decided to ‘try it out’.
And in the years since my first conference The Bank of Sjogren has had to pay for parts of the conference. However, each year I come back with learning that was valued well over the cost of the registration, plane ride, and hotel stay. So in our books, it is worth it.
But as always after each conference my mind is swirling and after reading those two posts, I thought up this question:
What is the value of the Young Educator?
I heard once, “I am not going to do anything because I am young and no one cares what I have to say.” In fact, that is about as far away from the truth as you can get. Last year, I was nominated to SIGilt’s Board as their Communications Chair. Sure I had to prove myself… first by winning the election, publishing a newsletter to meet the masses and getting time-sensitive information out. That when I arrived on Saturday morning to the SIG Leadership meeting, I saw:
Lisa Sjogren
SIGilt and SIG Board Committee
Sure, I have gone beyond my initial role on SIGilt, but I knew that my contributions were worth it. That what I had done proved to some one on the ISTE Board of Directors, that my ideas were good. However, sitting in the meeting on Saturday it was apparent that the SIG’s need more young leaders- Katie Christo, Bryan O’Black, Jayme Johnson, and I’m sure I have forgotten a few others, cannot carry forth new ideas for ISTE’s special interest groups.
And nor can Julie LaChance (ISTE’s first Outstanding Young Educator), Adam Bellow, Christopher Craft, Andy Crozier, Mary Beth Hertz and myself (Class of 2010 Emerging Leaders). Why?
Even if we are young, our ideas are worth it.
And if you are scared to step up and share your ideas- take this one take away:
While backstage awaiting to be announced as part of the first class of ISTE Emerging Leaders, I readily admitted that I was nervous… yes me the speedskater who has skated at US Nationals- was nervous to go on the stage. I was not afraid to be in front of the entire crowd, I was afraid of the word ‘emerging‘. After a few minutes of playing positive mental games with myself, I realized that ‘emerging’ meant that someone saw that I am committed to this charge of promoting leadership with ISTE’s youngest members and showing that my our ideas are worth it. And you know what? I bet every person I stood with on that stage plus the youngest members of the SIG Leadership Teams, would say the same thing.
The Act of Listening
My colleague on SIGilt, Adam, is one of the most business saavy people I have ever met, he also does a great job of being a good friend. With his quirkiness, wit and ever so practical advice- I’ve personally learned a ton since first meeting him at NECC 2009.
I took a picture of him just glaring at the camera during the ISTE 2010 Leadership Symposium- I asked a few people what they thought the picture said, and the most common response I got, “Listen.” Little did I know that during ISTE 2010, I would realize that listening shaped what we did this past year and how by listening gave me a new direction (I’ll explain that in a bit).
See the real story is, how did listening get SIGilt to this point..? Last year at NECC 2009 (Washington DC), Jean, Katie, Adam and myself started as newbies on the SIGilt Board of Directors for ISTE. We were unprepared to say the least, I remember finding myself giving the SIGilt report at the SIG leadership meeting and stumbling through the entire thing, Adam ended up helping me finish out the report. In fact, we were without any plans or directions, that did not stop any of us. Looking back, I would say that it took the act of listening to achieve what we did.
Throughout the year we built our newsletter, which now has turned into a magazine of sorts- it will go from being published four times a year to six. We restructured our board to introduce an Online Professional Development Coordinator and furthermore, achieved continuity when Katie was elected as chair-elect. Additionally, we started a digital citizenship project and are preparing to set up book talks and a webinar series.
And that new direction? This year while in Denver at ISTE 2010, I was in the middle of the review of Osseo’s ISTE NETS•T Seal of Alignment project. I am currently on the ‘last mile’ of the project. As I was fretting over how I was going to get to the finish line, Adam proposed the idea of ‘why’, not ‘what’ we are doing. After listening to his ideas, I went back to my project and started rebuilding the project to make sure we answered the ‘why’ instead of the ‘what’. It has been some of the best advice I have gotten since I started this project seven months ago.
Inspired to Write Again
Before I turned 30 I made a list of things that I wanted to do prior to the big day. The list was kept fairly private, and shared only on a need to know basis. However, a few things in my list talked about writing again- and I tried my best but for some reason I could not achieve it to the level I wanted. I had no motivation to write.
Last week I arrived in Denver, Colorado for ISTE 2010. It was to be my 5th conference and this one would be the busiest of them all. Between being in the middle of our ISTE NETS•T Alignment process, a SIGilt Board Member, a new Member on the SIG Board Committee, and an ISTE Emerging Leader, my conference was packed with activities that had my mind swirling. Before I continue on you should also know that I was in the middle of hard core training for speedskating, which had me up at 5:30 AM each morning while at the conference.
Although, each night the day would end with a good talk with the other members of my SIGilt Board and my former boss. There were the typical laughs and some comments will forever be saved in our corner booth at The Curtis Hotel.
While I am still the flip-flop, jean wearing, iPod listening, iPhone addict millennial-I decided to move my old blog Being the Millennial to its new home Your Ideas Deserve a Bigger Stage. I moved my old posts over, but I intend that there will be a different approach to my writing- because one night sitting next to a good friend, I learned something that encouraged me to change the way I approached this blog.
And am I going to make a list for when I turn 40? Yes, that list has been made. This time it includes- write an article or book.
In the Coming Days
Whoa! NECC is around the corner. Actually, I will be in DC in less than 96 hours. There is a so much left to do before I depart. Actually, as long as I remember my phone charger, laptop and camera, I should be good. Right?
This afternoon on my ride home I was talking to my mum about my upcoming trip. She reminded me about when I went to DC at 12 years old and how my entire trip was planned for me. I remember it vividly, walking the monuments, going to the Air and Space Museum, and eating gelato at the Museum of American History. As I am planning this trip, I am reflecting on what I did and what I would like to explore this time, this includes how to integrate the conferences. The schedule I have developed is timed exactly, including times of trains and a nightly relaxation of martinis by the pool. I have an extreme type-a personality and this planning has exemplified my INTJ personality.
This is my fourth NECC. So much different then my first NECC when I was in tears in my hotel room. I was scared being at that big of conference but I began to live it up, network, collaborate, and it was the best choice. God bless my former boss who put up with me after the conference, and found herself attending the last two, heading to conference number three.
This year, I have the same fears as I did at my first NECC, I doubt it will send me in tears (I hope). This time I took on a new leadership role with SIGilt (innovative learning technologies). Check out our newsletter http://bit.ly/s1YEY. I am excited to begin working with Jean, Katie, and Adam to provide our SIG with a cutting edge approach to sharing resources, our meeting is Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 2:00 PM in WWCC 209B.
So going back to that phone call with my mum. I am excited to take the 21st century approach to my trip. I am excited to take pictures on my iPhone and email them back home (including my ice cream gelato from the American History Museum), tweet what I am up to so my coworkers who were unable to attend, and explore D.C. as an adult.
Learning to Skate
Skating probably has very little to do with Ed Tech, but there is a science to both. For some odd reason this thought came to my mind as I was reading about the digital equity summit.
A couple of weeks ago I was out with some friends, when one reminded me about the time we went skating in Kindergarten. In my mind, I remember the horrible memory of that day. I had double blades to keep my balance and everyone, including her, laughed at me because I did not have the ‘right tools’. I went home to my mother and started crying saying that everyone was making fun of me because of my skates. I remember that she took me to the store and bought me my first pair of single blades, they were a used pair nonetheless, but they were single blades and I was thrilled. My dad took me skating that night on my new pair of skates, teaching me how to keep my balance, so that I could ‘skate’ with my classmates.
Fast forward 23 years, I now speedskate and over the years I have captured two major titles: U.S. Senior National Marathon Champion (twice) and North American Champion in the 25k . My friend who reminded me of that day in kindergarten, still references the story about how you should not make fun of someone who does not have the right tools and finishes the story with, “I didn’t think I’d be laughing a National and North American Champion.”
So I was thinking about how I could tie this story back to technology education. See the pencil and paper, well those are the double blades, absolutely necessary to keep your balance. The single blades are the schools who provide students with a 21st century education, excellent and will do the job. But what is the cutting edge…? What are the speedskates?
How can we insure that you are giving students an education that is like the 17 inch blades that I race around an oval with?
Either You Get It or You Don’t
I just returned from NECC yesterday, the long flight coupled with the intensity of the conference sent me straight to bed for several hours to recoup sleep. So today I thought to return to my computer and participate in Leadership Day 2008.
I am convinced that I drove St. Raphael’s Chief Learner nuts (and I mean NUTS) by saying, “Either you get it or you don’t.” I always put her in the ‘get it’ category. That particular statement started two years ago when I took a group of teachers and the principal to Oak-Land Junior High to look at integrated technology instruction. The view of teaching and learning changed instantly, as that evening in my voice mailbox the principal left me a message that effectively launched SRS from a 20th century school to a 21st century school.
The post could get lengthy if I decided to write out the entire story, but in short there are 10 things that explains how after two years I figured out what I really meant when I said, “you get it.”
- Try the tools as well.
- Allow time for sharing.
- Celebrate the success and recognize the times it doesn’t work.
- Be innovative.
- Share excitement and enthusiasm with others.
- Research, read, and blog too.
- Take risks.
- Encourage creativity and collaboration.
- Enjoy the moment.
- Mold the teacher’s wings and let fly.
Like a good leader, my wings were molded and I was released to fly to begin the next stage in life. So thank you to the Chief Learner and all innovative leaders who ‘get it’.
NECC … T-Minus 7 Days
Okay so in 7 days I will be heading to NECC in San Antonio. I am extremely excited about the conference and the fact that again I will walk out ahead, with more knowledge than the cost of attending. This year I am excited because I have offered to blog about my experiences. So I am sure that my blog postings will go from four (4) to a number I have yet to figure out.
So what about this year? I am so excited to see the refresh of the NETS*T, last year I spent the entire year developing a new curriculum around the NETS*S, which would meet the needs of the 21st century learner. It was such an exciting project that allowed me to really implement not only our curriculum but also a lot of the 21st century skills. This next year, I am hoping to take the standards and create an extended rubric to show how the SRS teachers can meet the standards from the most basic level to the most advanced (or expert).
This will be my 3rd NECC, so let us take a walk down memory lane:
Last year at Atlanta, I learned so much about the different generations and educating Generation Y (or Net). The power of that learning allowed me to go back to SRS and learn about something even more profound, the four generational workplace. I am currently working on an article with my research about the generational workplace, my goal is to finish by NECC.
My first NECC was in San Diego, that year I learned about the value of professional development. I was able to return to SRS and implement Thursday Tea and Tuesday Toast, but also I was able to transcend my information to other technology coordinators through the creation of the TechTober Fest and the Spring Fling. I am still sharing that information today.
However, now I should get back to my year-end to do list. Check back for NECC updates.
The Idea of Global Contribution
In February, St. Raphael’s Catholic School hosted their annual State of the School. As I was assisting the teachers on their presentations and talking about various topics regarding educational technology, a nagging thought kept coming into my mind, “What is Global Contribution?” We talk as educators that we want our students to contribute to the community, but is today’s community larger than our local neighborhood? In fact, it truly is a global community, here are a few examples:
- I studied abroad at Oxford University and on my Facebook page, I am able to connect with friends from my time there.
- I joined a Ning and am networked with individuals around the world who have the same vision.
- My blog has been visited from every continent except South America
and a multitude of other things showing me that the world is much bigger than when I was a child.
Whether we know it or not little things have the potential to be contributed globally.
How did I ever come to this conclusion? What very few people know is that I speed skate. I picked up the sport during college, it was due to the fact that Bemidji was literally the “Ice Sports Capital of America”. I also tried playing hockey, curling, figure skating, but speed skating stuck. Over the past few years I have been so busy with other things: student teaching, writing my thesis, buying a house, getting married, that I reluctantly put my skating on hold.
This year I made a promise to myself to take my speed skating seriously and devote as much time as I could. However, the speed skating world changed in the past few years. With changes like: boots that are interchangeable from ice blades to inline blades, the Nike swift suit, and the fact that world record times are dropping. I felt like I had literally been moved to another planet, bad crossovers and all.
As a true millennial all of my answers to life should be found online, right? However, speed skating is not as popular here as it is in the Netherlands but rest assured this is the 21st century and I could connect to someone, somewhere that had a connection to speed skating even if it was in Danish.
Then I found a blog, Zen and the Art of Speed Skating (www.andrewlove.org/blog). Who? What? An American a speed skater who decided to keep track of his preparations for the 2006 Olympic Trials and just posted his 500th post on February 29th. I learned that over 1,000 visitors come to his site daily, has had close to 3,300 comments, and will crack 500,000 visitors this year alone. He writes in his blog:
“I never intended to create something like this. I just wrote and photographed what interested me, and the world showed up.”
I could only think about how it is such a profound statement. Connecting to something I once saw in a picture, “From personal knowledge, to global contribution.” This is so true.
Finally, I just want to send out a thank you Andrew for helping me come to the conclusion about global contribution.
From The Peanut Gallery
Last week, I received an email telling me to read a blog posting by another Director of Technology. It was called “What I Do”. As I was reading this, I began to think I too should write a post about this too and thought I would have a bit of fun with what I do with my day. Understand that is this is a really random post. A more educational post will be coming in the next few hours!
First, I process RSS feeds- I lost count a while ago on the exact number, I use Google Reader to track all of them. Google Reader is like another email inbox for me, it shows a (1) when there is a new post. I also have two email accounts both of which I use daily and I get in the neighborhood of 50-100 emails a day. On my bookmark bar in my web browser alone, I have five RSS feeds and seventeen other links, all of which, I use on a daily basis. On average I have seven windows (tabs) open in my web browser. I participate in five nings, write to four listservs, and contribute to three blogs. Oh and I am on MySpace and Facebook to keep in touch with friends who have found themselves distributed throughout the world. All of this just to keep me up to date what is going on.
Then, I do what I LOVE! I get in each morning at about 7 a.m. Right away in the morning, I check the schedule to see who has the labs checked out during the day and double check that our wireless is up and running. I double check my lesson plans for when I teach. I visit the classrooms and learn about the different projects that are going on. I help guide the teachers so that they can have their questions answered, answer the student’s questions, and talk with them about the project. I wore a pedometer once- I reached 10,000 steps before lunch time.
My week never starts or ends. I have a yellow electronic post-it note on the side of my screen detailing what I need to do. Somethings stay on there longer than others. In short, if you are familiar with PostgreSQL let me know! The jobs vary just like the technical support I will encounter each week. It is a unique challenge for me and like I said earlier…. I LOVE IT!
During my lunch time, I catch up on blog reading and the latest news (as I am in bed before the news is on). I send off interesting posts to others who might benefit from reading these as well. Then it is time to head back to the classrooms, teach, or meet with a teacher. I try to spend a half hour at the end of the day, reading and reflecting.
Once the day is done, I pull out my cell phone for the first time. Check all my missed calls, usually one or two calls from my mum or husband. Although, my phone does more than receiving and answering call. I also can read my email, scan the Internet, check for traffic delays, or look up what to make for dinner that night. I try to leave by four, although sometimes I will leave closer to six each night. Dinner is usually on the table when Erik gets home by eight.
What else? Well as of last week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, I was skating. Sometimes skating until as late as 10:45 p.m. getting home at 11:30 p.m. and getting up at 5:40 a.m. to begin my next day. The reward was skating in the National Long Track Marathon and a Senior National Championship. Did I mention I have a blog about that too?
So how do I keep up? Well, I can multitask with the best of them. I can cook dinner, blog, double check my lesson plans, read my newest library book, and watch TV. I have a blast doing what I do. I thank you all for reading. That’s all from this peanut gallery.
I am a WINNER!
Okay, so I admit. I am a bit weird at times and I tend to do some really crazy things. However, this year I thought I would challenge myself and write a novel in the month of November in my limited spare time. I cannot believe how rewarded I felt when it was all over, what a challenge.
To answer a few of the frequently asked questions.
Will you let anyone read it? Sadly, no.
How long did it take you to write? About an hour each day. Weekends I spent more time writing.
What do you plan to do now that you are done? I won’t publish it, I just wanted the thrill of doing something difficult.
Parent Education Series
This year I am going to be offering a monthly parent education series. Here is a copy of the presentation for further review.
Easy or Stronger?
I originally had this as the second part of my last post, until I realized it would solidify that I was completely random! So I moved it to its own post.
One of my favorite quotes, I used to have on a poster in my bedroom, on it was a gymnast standing on the balance beam. I am not sure of the significance of the beam. Although, on the bottom of the picture it says: Do not pray for an easy life, pray to be a strong person. I can only think about how that is such a powerful statement.
So I have spent a bit of time reading articles about making students stronger. Reflecting and reorganizing my thoughts as the Director of Technology, but sadly, having little time to write down those thoughts.
Until I wrote an email to a good friend after I hosted several teachers for our Techtober-Fest. As I wrote the email I began to see what my job was suppose to be. Here is a small excerpt:
When I first started teaching, I like most young naive newbie teachers thought my subject area was the most important. Oh how things have changed… As I have progressed through these past three years, I have learned that technology is only a small piece of the puzzle, and each of us contribute to the puzzle… This idea needs to be about giving the WHOLE student a better experience. Building them as an individual who has strengths in many areas but is a good person overall.
So as I stand on this earth (which seems to have kept me quite busy), I reflect each day a little differently now. I am asking myself constantly, how am I making these students a stronger person?
I Have not Fallen off Earth’s Face!
I find myself incredibly busy throughout the month of November. The past two months, I have found them to be a blur, with reflection time but little time to write the reflections into thoughts.
I have been working in my spare time to write my novel for NaNoWriMo, I only have about 2,000 of the challenge 50,000 words, but like any true German/Irish/Spanish/Swiss mutt, I find myself incredibly determined to finish this task. Even if I find myself pulling a college all nighter, okay probably not that dramatic but being the determined me, I want to finish the task at hand. So you might be asking yourself… what are you writing about? What exactly, can you find something that you can talk about in 50,000 words. Well, I decided to write a fiction piece about my time when I studied at Oxford University. Maybe someday I will write a real novel, the topic has yet to be determined.
Different Participation
This year I am going to be challenging myself during the month of November. I will be challenging myself to write an entire 50,000 word novel as part of the National Novel Writing Month. I hope this will be a challenge that will help me explore other avenues and interests, since my friends are on a search for a “hobby”.
So far I have 234 words. I am a bit behind in the challenge, but I hope that I get a chance to complete that task.
Planning for the Future
Oh busy! busy! busy! As I am starting on the various little tasks that this school year has given me, I thought I would give a quick synopsis of our technology plan and some of the little ideas. This post will be short as I have spent most of my day writing down the plan.
This year I am working on the school’s technology plan. It has a promising end result, but the hours devoted to research and development seem to be adding up. As I am looking at the information, I can start to develop a direction in which I would like to take Technology at SRS. I know that I want to add programs, such as parent education, continue with the sharing days with other Technology Coordinators, and begin looking at system to upgrade the labs.
I have introduced Google Apps to the Technology Task Force. I have asked them to use this tool as we begin our document- we are building this tech plan on a collaborative effort of many people.
The Techtober-Fest
Last spring we hosted the Spring Fling- we had close to 30 participants from various schools around the archdiocese. This year we decided with the energy that the Spring Fling we could not keep our energy bottled up- so we decided that we would host a day in the fall. We affectionately called the day, “Techtober-Fest”. The morning started off with Dorothy presenting (Dorothy’s Presentation) about how learning is the most important, technology comes second. After a bit of a discussion with our participants, I presented on the Tools We Use (My Presentation). The presentation was to be a starting point to share the resources we use- I learned about several new tools, including backflip- which looks much cleaner and nicer than del.icio.us.
I am hoping that these days will be able to further generate a discussion about the importance of 21st century learning.
Part 5: Looking Forward
Today was the last article in the series- it talked about looking forward. As I read the subtitle it said that the school would move forward with whatever tools they had. Looking at SRS, I find it interesting that we move forward with the tools we have everyday.
When I first started I learned that every teacher was 1 entire operating system behind. The students had newer tools. I started simply by introducing some of the new laptops to our middle school teachers and then buying each of our other classroom teachers a new computer. The changes were immense. Student computer upgrades followed. However, I am reminded about an interesting incident.
Our first visit to the Stillwater Area Schools was a real eye-opener- they said to all of us, “Before doing a large scale intiative, take about 3 years to plan.” So year 1 would be 2006-2007 and we would be ready for our initiative by 2009-2010. Then one of our teachers said, “3 years… look how far we are!” She was so right, even though we did not have the cutting edge tools- we were moving forward with what we had. Each day we continue to look forward and plan.
Day 4: Political Ramifications
Well, as I read about the political ramifications. I thought back to the election in 2003. I remember the write-in candidates winning that election. I was so proud of their accomplishments the fact that they had ousted individuals that had supported a measure that at that time I still thought was ridiculous.
How things have changed! As I was looking back from what I have learned, I should have been supporting the decision of giving every kid a laptop. Students rise to the occasion every single time! Even if I carry my laptop incorrectly the students let me know quickly and demonstrate how I should be holding my laptop.
So I thought about the workplace, what happens if politics took away the tool that gave me a tool? I know I would be finding and supporting someone that believed that I needed that tool to work.
Part Three: Computing the Costs
I found it interesting that in Part 3: Computing the Cost of this 5 part series in the Stillwater Gazette they began talking about numbers- the “true cost of ownership”. Since costs are the pinnacle of most technology enhancements- usually it is the first thing that is brought up in a discussion, I found it interesting that . As I began to reflect on this article I began to think about the “Total Cost of Ownership” or TOC. During NECC 2007, I went to a session given by Richard Kastner of CoSN- this session talked about his new model that helped schools determine the T.O.C. I have been working on using this model in my own professional practices as we develop the St. Raphael’s School Technology Plan
As I was thinking about this more, I thought about how it is nearly impossible to measure the cost savings in opportunities. Sure it costs roughly $300 a year for a student to use a laptop but thinking of it in more long-term investment. How much money could be saved if a student went to college better prepared? If we gave students the necessary tools and taught them real-world applications, so that when they left high school and middle school these students would know how to present publicly, they knew how to write a paper and collaborate with others, and they were able to effectively evaluate resources. Each of those things, are what professors in college spend hours teaching students how to do. I know with the education that I walked away with after high school, I was able to teach others about PowerPoint and was able to go in my first year of college without having to take a basic research methods class and accelerating me to the upper level research lab class. The cost savings, I have yet to find the exact number.