Flipped PD

This is a Flipped Professional Development discussing Daily 5 and the technologies you can use with it.  Flipped Professional Development, very similar to a Flipped Classroom, is when the you view SOMETHING at home, and take what you learning and work to apply it at school.  Think homework, but opposite!  We decided to incorporate Garage Band and Audacity, two recordable devices, to utilize the technology in Daily 5.

To use this PD, I have a few recommendations.  Teachers will need to be given ample time and experience with the Daily 5 method.  If you don't know about Daily 5, it might be tough to do this PD.  Also, please check to verify what kind of recording technology you have on your computers.  It would be easier for a teacher if he or she knew what software they were dealing with.  I would recommend letting a teachers view the video together, possibly in grade level teams.  This way immediate collaboration could be possible and it would support teachers that may not have as much tech understand.  Post video, it would be great for teachers to have access to computers right away.  This would be fantastic if teachers were given a half day to work.  To collect feedback, check on implementation, and support the teachers, you could do one of two things.  It would be best if as a school, time could be set aside during a staff meeting just to check on the status.  If that doesn't work, it would work to have a resident "PD helper" for each Flipped Professional Development.  They would be the go to, to answer questions or help out if there were some confusion.  If we had multiple Flipped PD, I could see the individual helper role being incredibly relevant.

All of the introductory content about Daily 5 and K-2 student learning was my portion.  I was asked to break down the Daily 5 and come up with ideas in which we could use programs such as Audacity and Garage Band.  Once I completed this part, I also made my own mini-powerpoint presentation which looks like this.  I put all of the language in the comments so that it could be read easily.  It was Amanda's job to take all of these slides, including the ones done by Daniel and Eric, to put into iMovie.

To view our Flipped Professional Development with Daily 5, click here!

Post 2: Story Board and Script

Well our group has been busy working to finish this story board and script for our flipped PD presentation.  Because we are an elementary focused group, we decided to take what we are already doing in our elementary classroom and add technology to it.  I'm really glad that we decided to focus on Daily 5 and utilizing specific technologies within that.  To read the script we will be using, click to view our Google Doc.  

My responsibility was to create all of the script.  By this, I mean the explanations.  Pretty much all of the talking, specifically about the Daily 5, is all me.  I will probably be the voice of this as well.  The boys, Eric and Dan, are both taking the technologies and showing how exactly to utilize them, making it as user friendly as possible.  I'm sad to say that I still haven't heard from Amanda.  We have emailed her often and assigned her the job of focussing on research and info.  Because we still haven't heard from her, I took some of that responsibility by incorporating research about Daily 5.  I hope everything is okay with her.  I think we are going to collaborate by adding our own bits of the project to the Google Presentation.  Hopefully it all works out!

Web Conferencing

This blog post is to briefly describe how out web conference went for our Flipped Professional Development for CEP812.


We used Google Hangouts for our web conference.  I tried out Yugma and WebHuddle before our meeting and I really didn't find it as user friendly.  I had done Google Hangouts before, so I figured it would be easy to use.  We couldn't figure out how to record this session, but we took many screen shots throughout to help document our work.  

Our group decided to meet at 9:00EST on Saturday.  Our family took a mini ski vacation to Boyne Mountain on the weekend, so doing the hangout in the middle of the hotel lobby was somewhat awkward.  Another problem we had was getting the meeting to happen.  We never were able to reach Amanda.  We sent emails and such, but she hadn't responded so she didn't participate in the meeting.  I did send her an email after we assigned her a job, but I haven't heard from this email either.  

We also had a challenge meeting on Google Hangout.  Apparently, I was given multiple invitations to the hangout, but it never appeared on my screen.  Luckily we shared phone numbers, so we could figure out the issue and finally get myself into the hangout.  

We decided to focus our professional development on utilizing recording features like GarageBand, to help supplement Daily 5 instruction.  We will use Google Presentations to help present this Flipped Professional Development.  We broke up the responsibilities accordingly:  

1.  I will create the script/story board, which is to be a Google slideshow presentation (Google’s PowerPoint)
2.  Eric will create the example and any helpful guides towards the PC side of the project creation.
3.  Dan will create the example and any helpful guides towards the Mac side of the project. My example will be screencast using Camtasia.
4.  Amanda will provide the research aspect.

How will this experience be useful in my first grade classroom? Well it really won't be. It would be challenging to do this with first graders. But I can see utilizing it in different ways. We could do Google Hangouts with other classrooms, similar to using Skype. I'm not sure how it would work, but you could use Google Hangouts, provided to parents, in case they want to mini-conference about an issue.

WIcked Problem Part B

For CEP812, we were asked to think of a "Wicked Problem," of which we face daily in our teaching.  Wicked problems are issues we face and there really is not one easy answer.  A wicked problem that I face is involved with my grade level.  It would be an understatement to say that I am jealous of the ease at which many of my colleagues can utilize these new technologies that we have discussed.  Being an early elementary teacher, I struggle to find things that are developmentally appropriate, as well as budget friendly.  Take a listen to my podcast to learn more about how I tackle this wicked problem:

Nichole Plank Wicked Problem Podcast

Wicked Problem

Wicked Problem:

Part A:

What can the MAET program do for you?  Well one semester in and I can tell you exactly what it is doing for me:  it is making me feel like a dog chasing my tail.  I mean this is the best possible way because, well I know the possibilities but I just can’t seem to catch it. This is exactly where my wicked problem presents itself.  I love technology.  My school does not.  In the past five years, we have gotten document cameras and projectors.  The students have a single computer lab, which seventeen classrooms must share.  Now that doesn’t seem to bad, until I tell you that this computer lab is only available daily from 8-9:45AM.  When I student taught and completed my internship year, I was spoiled.  We had SmartBoards, COWS (computers on wheels), iPads, computer programs, etc.  Now this isn’t a pity party, as I understand that as teachers, we use our resources, which is exactly what I am doing.  So I use the technology we do have; last semester the children published their best writing by capturing images and recording their voices to a digital storybook program.  It was such a meaningful experience and kids can’t wait to do it again.  But, what they didn’t see was the fact that after the kids did all of this, I had to pull of the pieces together in order to create the published story.  I have no problem putting in the time for the kids, but the students also need accountability to complete the task.  This would be easy, if they weren’t novice six year old computer users.  So, my wicked problem is: how can I hold each of my first graders accountable with their technology learning with the resources I have to use? 

Well the solution appears easy enough: just use what I have!  But it is much more complex that that.  Technology should not be just added to an assignment for technology sake, but added specifically with good pedagogy in mind.  One of the easiest ways to keep the children actively engaged, while holding them accountable is through project based learning.   According to the Buck Institute for Education, project based learning is rich in standards and it inquiry based.  But more than that, project based learning has an audience!  An audience is something that can be easily used with technology.  Skype is being used in the classrooms more frequently.  Skype provides a sense of community to the users, is flexible, and most important in my school, budget friendly (Galloway).   The plan will be for my students to teach students from another state about our school and town. 

A friend of mine teaches first grade in North Carolina.  The two of our classes are going to complete the same project based learning activity within the next month, except my class is going to teach her class and likewise.   I will group the kids, assigning specific tasks. For example, one group is in charge of telling about their school. Another group will have to research about life in their own community (what do kids do in Tawas for fun).  Maybe another focuses specifically about the classroom rules and routines.  To differentiate, I can even assign a higher level task such as to focus on specific issues that the students face daily. Within those groups, the kids are responsible for documenting using video/photographs/pictures, doing "research", drafting, editing, and publishing. This is where the technology comes in use; the students will need to use cameras for pictures, perhaps computers for research, and specifically the use the Skype to share all of the information with the other class.  I am optimistic that this will help solve a problem, as if the project is student directed and not teacher driven, the students will have to be accountable.

Citation

Galloway, Megan. "Skype in Elementary Classrooms." Connextions. 05 Oct 2009: n. page. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <http://cnx.org/content/m32296/latest/>.

"What is PBL?." Buck Institute for Education. N.p.. Web. 20 Jan 2013. <http://www.bie.org/about/what_is_pbl>.

CEP812 Introduction

CEP 811- Final Thoughts

I’ve learned a lot about teaching strategies.  CEP810 was a lot of “stuff” besides just content.  Children need to learn about Internet safety.  They need to be prepared, in order to not provide personal information or visit unsafe websites.  CEP811 has been more about using technology for differentiating.  For example, making a lesson the most accessible to all students.  One of the most interesting parts about evaluating technologies has been incorporating the standards.  During undergrad, I was never made aware of the Michigan Technology Standards.  None of my coworkers are either.  I feel like I can already be a better advocate for this. 

When I showed my students my STAIR project, the kids loved the interactive features of it.  Another goal of mine will be to use these type of features in my class more often.  I always used the fact that I didn’t have technology, such as an Interactive Whiteboard, as a crutch. However that shouldn’t limit the interaction my students have with their learning.  I could create interactive questions on a daily or weekly basis to remind students of past concepts and assess understanding.

 Since starting CEP 811, I’ve been making progress on my goals.  I completed a project with my students, in which the children are all worked together to compile one digital storybook.  They were really excited about using this new technology to “publish” their work.  Now they can’t wait to publish their own independent work.  This would be a future goal.  I still have a lot more to do in reaching my other goals, such as contributing to a blog frequently and contributing to Teachers Pay Teachers.  But, I have actually begun posting to the website and have sold two items, so I’m pretty excited. 

I wanted to thank you for these last eight weeks.  I survived my second graduate school class as a mother, teacher, and wife.  I’m gradually starting to think that I can do it!