Final Project

• For my final project I am taking on the role of a technology coach for a district of 7 far-reaching villages, housing 11 schools.  
  
  
  Goals and Expectations:
  
  
  The intended goal is to educate and work with teachers throughout the year to provide hands-on learning practicums for students in relation to state and ISTE standards.  
  
  
  In doing so, teachers will develop their own master plans of incorporating making practices into their classroom, growing in confidence in their abilities and inspiring other teachers around them while continuing to learn and develop themselves.
  
  
  The ultimate desired outcome is that students will be able to connect with their schoolwork on a more personal level, and build problem solving skills rather than just gaining the ability to understand a problem.  
  
  
  The steps I intend to take in order to achieve these goals are as follows:
  
  
  1. August - I will create a public blog for the teachers of my school district to frequent, linking to other notable blogs and articles regarding making, and some sample projects they could try in their own classrooms with little overhead cost.  A link to the blog will be made available either through an All Staff email, or a space on the district website.
  
  
  2. September - Once the school year is a little underway and teachers aren’t quite as overwhelmed with everything, I will offer weekly to biweekly videoteleconferencing sessions for anyone who would like to learn more about making and how it can be incorporated in their classroom.  As the year progresses we could either do more or less VTC sessions, depending on involvement and need.
  1. Suggested topics:
  1. What is Making and why should I care?
  2. Good starter projects for any level
  3. Dreaming big - how to fund your making lifestyle
  4. Creating Creative Spaces
  5. And always allowing time to share out on what they’ve been doing
  3. Using either a Google community, Blackboard, or another LMS made available to the district, the involved teachers and I will keep in touch, checking in and sharing successes and struggles.  I will also use that space to alert to interesting articles and lessons I have found through my research.  
  
  
  4. While teachers are of course welcome to do as many or as few projects throughout the year as they’d like, for the purposes of setting up a community I would urge them to plan at least one maker’s project per quarter, aligned with the standards.  
  1. If they’re struggling I would look to bring in a curriculum partner, to help figure out what we can do to both bring the curriculum to life while also making sure students are on track.  
  2. Hopefully this will also inspire the curriculum department to get more interested in making and we can work together in a joined effort to provide more making opportunities.
  
  
  5. End of October - by this time all teachers included should have completed at least one project with their students.  Teachers will give a short end-of-quarter survey, asking what their favorite or most positive experience has been.  Using that, along with any other grading evaluation, teachers can gauge how effective their lessons were, and adjust accordingly.  
  
  
  6. November - Throughout the fall I will have been visiting schools and classrooms throughout the district to provide professional development opportunities and help incorporate technology into the classroom.  I will also be using that time to work with and collect images and video from my makers, so we can build up our blog and encourage and attract other teachers to join the movement.  November is when I should be ready to deploy, allowing teachers a chance to see what we’ve accomplished, and get them excited to come back after the break (as well as maybe inspire some neat winter projects!).
  
  
  7. December - We will continue to use the LMS as well as any method of social media accepted by the district to share out and keep up with each other.  By the end of the first semester I hope to have at least one teacher per school with two makers projects under their belt, excited for more an inspiring those around them.  
  
  
  Working with AKTeach on enhancing my understanding and use of virtual learning has been such an incredibly positive experience, and I am excited to continue with it and use the skills I’ve gained to help teachers create their best classrooms.  
  
  

When will my Reflection show who I am inside?

When I was offered the chance to attend the Kodiak Island Virtual & STEM Learning Conference, I was stoked.  I had gotten just a taste of paper circuitry through an ASTE session, and was keen on learning more.  Being a person who wants to truly master a subject- to the point of being able to teach it to others- I decided to stick with Elementary Paper Circuitry rather than moving onto Advanced or delving into the Distance Learning course.  In hindsight I still think I made the right choice, but truly wish I could have experienced each strand in its entirety.  There's always next year (hopefully!!!).

Having the basics of paper circuitry already under my belt, I was able to assist a bit in getting the brand newbies up and running, as well as refine my own techniques.  And as always I was able to learn from my fellow attendees, as different experience levels and inquisitiveness brought forth a myriad of ideas and suggestions, so that by the end no two projects looked alike, even if we were all following the same pattern.  Creativity and exploration were encouraged, and the end result was true discovery.  

By the end of the conference I felt as though I was ready and able to build my own cohort of makers, get them started on the road to incorporating making into their classroom, to practicing true inquisition with their students.  I also know I am ready for the next steps, and look forward to advancing my understanding of paper circuitry and making in general.  To do this I will have to fully embrace my position as a virtual teacher, as my past and (fingers crossed!) future positions place me in a centralized location, and not always in the direct space of the teachers with whom I am working.  In this regard specifically I think it was very important for me to be a part of the conference, to hone and more fully understand the skills a virtual teacher must have in order to be successful, and now I also have a plethora of teachers and professionals I can call upon for a number of reasons.  Expanding my knowledge base and professional network is so important to me, and I am absolutely thrilled I was given the chance to do just that. 

It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway!) that I am excited for what the future holds, and am truly looking forward to help bring making into the lives of teachers and students in the district lucky enough to snag me for their ed tech coordinator ;) 

Maker Lessons for All!!

Using my hypothetical classroom of a high school English class (my old stomping grounds), one could argue that there's no place for a circuitry lesson within the realms of Shakespeare and Thoreau.  But one would be wrong.  Because with making the end game is less of a science experiment and more of an emotional and logical tie in, allowing real-world experience to infiltrate an otherwise abstract ideal.  Just like Dr. Lee Graham brought up in her keynote speech in regards to her daughter's use of Making in a language arts course; the point was not if they made the machine work or not, the point was how they felt while doing it, and how it allowed them to relate to classic characters in a very real and poignant way. 

In that vein, I would like to use Making in a way that makes lessons more relatable.  That allows students the chance to experience more than just words on a page.  Students have a tendency to remember more when they are allowed to really digest the material, and giving them a chance to practice kinesthetic learning goes a long way.  While I admittedly haven't looked deeply into the standards in the past 3 years (hey I was in the technology department, there were computers to be fixed!  So many computers...), I feel like it wouldn't be too great of a challenge to align a Making lesson with any number of them, regardless of the content area.  If given the chance I would love to work with teachers of each level and content and develop makers lessons relating to a number of standards, and build something of a database for anyone struggling with where to start.  Dare to dream!!!

Of Budgets and Makers

The budget crisis is over!  Schools across the nation have received MORE than adequate funding to properly outfit their classrooms, facilities, and faculties with the tools needed to make learning relevant for students and get them interested in not just the class at hand, but their futures as productive members of society!  Literally everything gets better!

And then we wake up and remember that sadly, we don't live in such a society (yet...).  Teachers are often resorted to begging for tablescraps when it comes to anything leaning outside of the textbook mandated curriculum, so is it any wonder so many give up on the idea of going outside the box to challenge and intrigue students?  It's hard enough to fully and thoughtfully develop a hands-on, interactive, creative lesson plan without ALSO having to worry about how you will find the money to fund it.  But the truth is this:

No student ever found their passion from a worksheet.

This is my new mantra. This is what will get me up in the morning, will get my creative juices flowing, will be my rock when I feel all is lost.  

No student ever found their passion from a worksheet.

With such a simple but clear statement to guide my path, I can now face the daunting task of building a maker space with more resolve and determination.  As with most things, it's best to start small, and grow with progress.  In my hometown of Pickerington, OH, one of the school's most acclaimed events was Karaoke Biology*.  Every spring the AP and honors biology classes would put on mini stage shows, singing popular songs they'd rewritten to explain different aspects of biology.  This started as a simple, silly activity held within the classroom, with just a few neighboring classes invited in as an audience.  Within five years, it became a full fledged event; a platformed stage was set up in the library, students made their own costumes and props, choreography was added, digital backdrops designed, and of course, the songs were still amusing, informative, and catchy as all get out.  Elementary school teachers would plan field trips to it, students would duck out of lunch early to catch a show, and honors and AP biology were The Place To Be.  

This is all to say you don't have to start a Maker's Space with the 'top of the line' technology.  Start small, with free, local, donated, recycled materials.  Once you have a mission and vision in place, it will be easier to to garner funds from such places as The Administration, and crowdfunding websites like Donors Choose.  There are people more than willing to help, they just need to know what they're helping, and to what end.  

*Disclaimer: videos linked are not necessarily that of the school referenced, just examples of Karaoke Biology collected from YouTube. 

Sources:

Stager, Gary (2014, Winter). What's the Maker Movement and Why Should I Care? Retrieved June 28, 2016, from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3758336

All about that Sosch Me~

As a user of social media pretty much since its inception (or at least since TheFacebook had deigned my college institution worthy of admittance to such a prestigious club), one would think I would be whiz at it, using it at every opportunity and for every convenience.  But the truth is, much like a lot of us, I get easily overwhelmed by the vastness of it all.  There are simply so many variations of social media that it is nearly (or really, completely) impossible to be up on them all.  

This is not to say that there isn't GREAT value in social media.  Quite the contrary.  I love how social media has turned lecture into dialogue, how easy it is for people to reach out to experts, share their own ideas, and display their creativity.  I have seen people rise to stardom through YouTube and Vine, advertise their self-published novel on Tumblr, and share political revolutions on Twitter.  There have been a number of world events that broadcast media had not been allowed to cover for one reason or another, that lived on through social media.  One such event happened just two days ago, as House Democrats staged a sit in to protest the lack of gun control.  When the cameras turned off, the social media flew on.  CNN's article, "Democrats End House Sit-in Protest over Gun Control" highlights several instances of social media usage in getting the word out, including Twitter, Facebook, and livestreaming on Periscope.  

I truly believe at this point in our lives it is folly to ignore the importance and benefit of social media in our classrooms and curriculum.  To continue "doing things as we've always done" is to not fully equip our students for a future that is still being developed.  

Of course there are concerns: students abusing social media privileges by playing around, getting off task, or posting inappropriate things.  But one could easily argue all of those fall in line with establishing set expectations and maintaining classroom management.  Education World's article "Study Suggests Benefits of Social Media in the Classroom" highlights the power of virtual study groups, and provides more links than you can shake a stick at to help educators build a database of resources.  One of my favorite points of the article comes towards the end, where it states "the choice to implement any classroom technology should be based on sound learning theory and should support a specific aspect of the curriculum" (from Technology in Schools: What the Research Says).  Don't tweet just for the sake of tweeting.  Have meaning behind the usage, and follow through.  Just like any other solid lesson plan, you need to have objectives, expectations, and full awareness of the tool you are using.

That being said (whew, that was longer than I had anticipated!), I am excited to become more adept at both tweeting and blogging.  While I am tech friendly, I am not always tech savvy in regards to platforms I am not usually on, and look forward to using this time to become better acquainted with my old accounts.  I've started by following some stellar individuals, such as our good friends from the conference David Cole, Jeannine Huffman, and Dr. Lee Graham, as well as artist Corrine Okada Takara, and my dear friend and colleague Cristina Toflinski, who was my rock during college and continues to inspire me every day.  She is an avid twitter user and has shown me the power and benefit of tweeting through author-talks, research sharing, information gathering, and just funny quips that make life better.  I am looking forward to the absolute wealth of knowledge and insight these individuals will provide.

Social media will be used to sustain a maker's place in my life and the schools I service by being a nigh constant source of information, inspiration, and support.  And this is a reminder to myself that the best way to sustain something is to be actively engaged in it.  Don't just peruse sites and twitter accounts, post on them.  Comment, reply, and share your own content!  Not only will it be more fun, but it puts you directly into the movement where you can now inspire others and help it grow.  

I'm so excited!!!