Mini-Conference

It is a universal problem in education.  How does a school make professional development relevant to teachers?  Our building is made up of around 130 teachers.  And while our PD committee can never make 100% of the teachers happy even some of the time, I think they got it right with today's activity. 

I had read about a Mini-tech conference in Tech and Learning Magazine several months ago.  What our building did was survey teachers on their interests in the area of technology.  As teachers, we always hear about the cool things that other teachers are doing, but we never get the chance to be taught how those cool things work.  After looking at the results of the survey, the committee found teachers in our building who were using technology and had them create a presentation on their area of expertise.  I did a session on The Flipped Classroom, for example.  We had sessions on using Ipads, Edmodo, SMART Notebook and social media.  The "expert" teachers shared their experiences during two 45 minute sessions, and teachers were able to choose the sessions that they wanted to attend.  Teachers love to be able to choose; we hate being told what to do.  The fact that teachers made the choice of what they were learning created a more positive attitude from the beginning. After attending the two sessions, teachers were allowed work time to impliment what they had learned.  I loved it!!

We are all in this together.  As teachers we must grow in our fields.  To gain the attention, and respect, for that matter, of our students, we must also continue to learn.  This is an awesome time to be in the field of education because of the exciting new technology applications available, but one person cannot learn it all on his or her own.  As teachers, we must pull or resources together and teach each other what we know.

A New Year, A New Start

Starting 2nd semester means that we have the opportunity to start brand new.  I love coming back from Christmas break because by now I know my students, and this is when changes that I have been wanting to make can begin to take affect.  It was 2nd semester last year, when I came back from Christmas break and began to implement my flipped classroom.

This year's change isn't as drastic, but I decided to make a change to deal with cell phones in the classroom. I teach in a BYOD school.  I love that students are encouraged to bring their mobile devices to school, and I love that I have permission to use devices to help support 21st century learning.  However, students have difficulty knowing when it is appropriate for phones to be used and when they should be put away.  Phones were driving me crazy at the end of the semester.  I was trying to review information for finals, and kids had their phones out texting, checking Facebook, tweeting...and not paying attention to me.  Or ear buds where in and I couldn't tell if they were listening to music or not.  I have to give credit to some teachers at a neighboring school for this idea, but I started it on our 2nd day back and it has worked wonderfully.

I have moved to the Stop Light System.  I went to the local teacher's store and bought a Stop Light poster for $3.49.  I also bought one piece of black card stock.  I cut black circles out of the card stock to cover up the different lights on the stop light so that only one color will be seen at a time.  Each color represents how students can or cannot be using their phones.  Red means NO DEVICES.   I told them that I don't even want to see them when it is a red light.  Out of sight, out of mind.  A device out during a red light means I will assign a detention and confiscate the device.  Yellow means that devices can be used if permission has been granted.  This means that students can use their phones for a calculator or they can listen to music after a quiz or a test, as long as they have individually asked me for permission.  A green light means that I want them to be able to use their device to complete the assignment or activity.  For example, today we were completing our newest vocabulary list in order to be able to talk about our daily routines.  Students could access the internet in order to find the words or use our online textbook.

I want to be able to use BYOD to its fullest, but students need to have boundaries to eliminate any confusion and so that they are not distracted by their phones.  So far, it has been a great system.  Kids will ask if we can move to "Green". Or they will come in and see that it is a "Red" and ask if it will be moved during the class period.  They are paying attention to me when I need them to do so, and they are using their devices appropriately when given the opportunity to use them.