Tech Talk

Instructional Tech Weekly

Technology is awesome. Teachers are BETTER!

In this first issue of Instructional Tech Weekly, I would like to first start off by thanking each and every one of you for the hard work and dedication you have already displayed in these last five weeks, all for the benefit of our students. As we continue to progress through the school year, the goal of this weekly correspondence is to provide you with tips and examples of how the world of ever changing and advancing technology can be easily incorporated into lessons within your classrooms.

As you are all aware by now, our district is currently in the first year of a multi year roll-out of Chromebook devices. Within the next 2-3 years, every student and teacher in the district will have their own personal Chromebook device to help facilitate their learning and teaching. This is an exciting time! However, it can also be a stressful and concerning time for you as the educator. In this first issue, I want to let you know the following: You, the teacher, are the most important part of the classroom and will always be the key aspect of ensuring our students receive a quality education.

Regardless of the new technologies that are developed and used in our classrooms, NOTHING can or will replace YOU. Quality education can only take place with the knowledge and expertise of quality educators.

BOLD Blending

I was recently introduced to a book that was specifically written around "the right way to do blended learning". The title of this book is Bold School: Old School Wisdom + New School Technologies = Blended Learning That Works by Weston Kieschnick. Throughout the following weeks I will be referencing excerpts from this resource including myths and truths that revolve around education and technology. This is a very informational and fun (yes I said fun) read and I highly encourage all of you to explore its contents.

The Rush to Tech Innovation

As we progress towards a complete 1-to-1 device implementation across our district, I want you all to hear it from me that the Chromebooks are tools to help implement the quality instruction that has and continues to take place in our classrooms. They are not meant to completely replace the role of the teacher in the classroom nor should they ever. There is a common misconception that grows throughout school districts around the usage of 1-to-1 devices, especially during the initial roll-out. Now that we are getting these devices there is the feeling that, as a classroom teacher, I need to use the new tech all day for every task in my classroom. This is simply not true. Like I had stated previously, the Chromebooks are a tool that can be usedto help implement the instruction that has and currently takes place in your classroom. Like any tool, there are certain tasks that it can/should be used for and there are those tasks that it should not be used for. Think of a hammer being used to cut a piece of wood. It just isn't the right tool for the job. Using the Chromebooks in the classroom falls under this same principle.

My first piece of advice is to find a healthy balance between Chromebook/technology use and traditional practices. Finding this balance will help to reduce any stress caused by trying to figure out how to use the devices for every task. Early on, pick one or two ways to use the devices in your classroom. Once you feel comfortable with the one or two tasks, you can start to branch out and try others. As Weston Kieschnick states in his book. "Many blended learning initiatives fall flat because too much attention was paid to the bright, shiny technologies, and not enough attention was paid to instructional strategies, pedagogy, and academic goals that teachers apply to instruction." Start playing around with how the Chromebooks/technologies can best be used to support what you are already doing in class.

Helpful Handy How-To

In the next issue of Instructional Tech Weekly, I will begin providing examples of various educational apps and websites and how they can be implemented in the classroom. I will provide examples at both the Elementary and Secondary levels. The goal of this section is help inform you all about the different tools that are available and show you how they can be used. If there are any apps/websites that you would like to be featured, please contact me and I will do my best to get them in.

This is an exciting time for Canon City Schools and an exciting opportunity for our students. I would like to thank you all again for the exceptional work that you do and I am honored to be working with all of you. I very much look forward to supporting you all in our transition into blended learning.

Thanks for reading!

Daniel Coppa

Technology is awesome. Teachers are BETTER!

I would like to start off this week with acknowledging and reaffirming my core Instructional Technology belief: You, the teacher, are the most important part of the classroom and will always be the key aspect of ensuring our students receive a quality education.

As I have traveled throughout the buildings this year, I have been able to witness the fantastic work being done with device implementation as well as traditional instructional practices. I can't express enough how proud I am to be working in this district and with all of you! In this first year of device implementation, my primary areas of focus have been McKinley Elementary and CCHS as they are the first schools with full Chromebook implementation. In these first weeks I have been able to observe teachers at both schools stepping outside of their comfort zones and begin to experiment with different ways to implement the Chromebooks into their classrooms. To the teachers in both of these buildings I say Bravo!

I have also had the pleasure to work with educators in all of our other schools and I couldn't be more impressed with the quality of education we are providing our students. Well done all!

BOLD Blending

As we continue to progress through this school year, I offer you the following Instructional Tech challenge from Mr. Kieschnick: "Try early, fail often, pursue excellence with joy, and be an omnipresent model of lifelong learning for the kids and adults around you."

Two of the most important skills we can teach to students in this era of technology is to always strive to learn and to "persist without exception" (Andy Andrews). Modeling this for the students on a daily basis will inevitably yield a positive shift in the learned behaviors of our students. The technologies that are being used in the classroom as well as in the work force are fantastic tools that allow us to complete tasks exponentially faster than ever before. This is a positive result right? It is easy to be a fan of technology...when it works. An interesting question to ponder is, "What happens when technology doesn't work?" Too often I witness what I would call the "standard" tech-failure reaction. The tech isn't working so my only option is to give up. I have seen this reaction throughout all age levels. From elementary students all the way up to educators and professionals in the work place. As a classroom teacher, I have been told by students, "I couldn't figure it out so I didn't do it." As educators, we must model the concept of persisting without exception. This is a skill that is increasingly lacking in our students. We must build the mentality of "finding a way when there is no way." By bolstering this "persistence in the face of adversity" mentality, no longer will we hear, "I can't do it," and instead we will begin to hear "I found a way to..." Building this skill will not only reduce the stress caused by tech failure, but it will also provide our students with a key skill that all employers are looking for. We owe it to our students and most importantly, to ourselves to adapt, persist, and overcome any struggle we might face.

Helpful Handy How-To

Elementary

Class Dojo

Class Dojo is a classroom management app that helps teachers to create a positive culture within the classroom.

• Teachers can encourage students for any skill or value — whether it's working hard, being kind, helping others or something else
• Students can showcase and share their learning by adding photos and videos to their own portfolios
• Get parents engaged by sharing photos and videos of wonderful classroom moments

*Info from classdojo.com

Secondary

Kami - PDF and Document Editor

Kami is your digital pen and paper where you and your students can learn, create, and collaborate

• Teachers save time - Kami's Google Classroom, Schoology, and other LMS integrations improve teachers' workflow saving precious teacher hours and ending wasteful printing
• Students get work done - Kami annotation tools and Google Drive Auto-Save feature encourages student collaboration and engagement. Accessible anytime anywhere

*Info from kamihq.com

Technology is awesome. Teachers are BETTER!

This last week I had the pleasure of beginning the process of implementing our District adopted blended learning professional development with all of our middle school staff. We have partnered with iLearn Collaborative, a blended learning training and implementation non-profit, to provide our educators with the skills and resources necessary to begin implementing blended lessons with our students. We started this process with an all middle school staff kickoff event hosted at CCMS. As a district, we firmly believe that providing our teachers with quality device-usage and educational implementation professional development, well before their students receive their devices, is key to the success of our 1-to-1 initiative.

We were fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to have this kickoff implemented by Natalie Ruecker, a representative from iLearn. In talking with Natalie, she was very complementary of our middle school staff. She was very impressed with their willingness to "Jump right in" even if they didn't know exactly what they were supposed to do.

This is a mentality that I love to see in teachers and a mentality that I hope builds in all of our students. As I had stated in last week's edition, educators must continually model the concept of, "Try early, fail often, pursue excellence with joy, and be an omnipresent model of lifelong learning for the kids and adults around you." By doing this on a daily basis, our students will grow into quality members of our community with the skills necessary to be wildly successful.

BOLD Blending

This week we begin our look into the myths and truths that surround the blended learning conversation.

Myth #1 - Education is broken

It's not. Mr. Keischnick summarizes the emotions that this statement provokes as such: It's just plain insulting. To say that education is broken is insulting to everyone that works tirelessly to educate our children. There are plenty of statistics that exist that show that education in the United States has been on a steady uptick. Things are not perfect, but we are all united in a commitment to moving the metrics of success in the right direction. Something that we have always done. The argument has been made that our schools are failing because of how slowly they have been able to adapt to the digital world. This is a baseless argument that falls short because of a lack of understanding.

If you step back and think about your upbringing, the majority of people would agree that, for the most part, it was analog. Many people grew up in a world without digital technologies. We're talking rotary phones, writing letters, reading an actual newspaper analog life. Yet, today our lives, for the most part, are digital. We have been able to adapt from an analog to a digital lifestyle thanks to the education we received as kids. Through our schooling we have learned how to adapt and problem solve.

To say that we are failing our students because technology isn't front and center in our schools is an insult to teachers. -(Keischnick)

At its core, how is a Chromebook or iPad different from a pencil or a typewriter or a calculator? At one point, each of these technologies were new and disruptive. We didn't upend instruction as we know it. We folded them into what was already working well in our classrooms for more efficient and effective education.

Education isn't broken. As a society, how we think about technology use in the classroom is.

With this being said, I can say with full confidence that our school district is approaching the integration of technology and implementation of blended lessons in the right way. We have people all throughout the district that are ready and able to support you, the teacher, as we continue to progress toward full 1-to-1 implementation. This week I challenge you to simply start thinking about how you can begin to fold technology into (not replace) what you are already doing in your classrooms.

Helpful Handy How-To

Elementary & Secondary

CK-12

This week's Helpful Handy How-To can be utilized at any level K-12. This is a fantastic FREE resource for every content area with fantastic features including quality complete curriculum Textbooks, Simulations, Interactives, Adaptive Practice Materials, Study Guides, and much more!

100% Free, Personalized Learning for Every Student. Create digital classrooms, customize textbooks, and learn K-12 STEM concepts.

https://www.ck12.org/student/

Thanks for reading!

Daniel Coppa

Here is an example of what CyberPatriot is and how it is quickly spreading throughout the nation.

Helpful Handy How-To

BOLD Blending

In last week's edition, we took a deeper look at Myth #2: The old way of teaching no longer works. We discussed why this way of teaching must always be present. This leads us to the next Blended Learning Myth:

Myth #3: Kids are digital natives

Now, I know what you are going to say. When you take a look at the students that we have in our schools today in 2018, it is easy to see that, for the majority, they have not known a life without technology. They have grown up in a world of yearly roll outs of new cell phones, tablets, gaming systems, and computers. They have probably been using technology in some capacity since before they can cognitively remember. However, it would be folly on our end to assume that they know everything there is to know about the new technologies. Familiarity with one kind of technology does not translate into familiarity with another kind of technology. For the majority of our students, especially the younger ones, it would be appropriate to say that they are fairly strong "swipers." This referring to their ability to use and effectively operate a touch screen; more accurately, a cell phone touch screen. Many of our students are using their parent's (or their own) smartphones and tablets and have been able to build their swiping skills. The problem with this is that this skill doesn't translate to computers. You can make the argument that, today, most computers have touch screens. Unfortunately, the "swiping" skill does not translate to the deeper uses of the computers. As Mr. Kieschnick states, "It does not translate to an ability to cultivate presentations, filter online content into fact or fiction, or engage in constructive ways online or with technologies, ways they will need to replicate in their future careers."

In a 2015 survey of employers, it was found that 60% of their millennial employees couldn't complete basic tasks such as sorting and searching data in a spreadsheet (Schaffhauser, 2015). These younger employees are spending an average of 35 hours per week on digital media but they are building only low-level skills that don't relate to the higher-level tasks that they are expected to accomplish at work. As we progress towards our goal of giving our students the knowledge necessary to be career and college ready, we must make it a point to help build the "non-swipe" skills that employers are in desperate need of.

When we start to take a look at today's student's education, technology is the great equalizer. "It is the one thing that unequivocally puts both the student and the teacher in a position of learning" (Kieschnick). They might be able to show you how to use a particular tech item, but you the teacher are the master when it comes to using technology productively, smartly, and with purpose.

Helpful Handy How-To

AutoDraw by Google

AutoDraw by Google is a neat tool that allows anyone to create high quality drawings at the touch of your finger. This resources is appropriate for all ages and can easily be incorporated into any lesson.

BOLD Blending

In last week's edition we took a look at Myth #3 - Kids are digital natives. We explored why it is foolish to think this way and that familiarity with one type of technology does not translate to familiarity to other technologies. This week we move on to our next myth:

Myth #4 - Technology must drive all decisions

When we take a look at technology's role in our lives, it is easy to see that it is quickly reaching into pretty much every aspect of our day-to-day. Last week, I talked about how our lives as educators have been shifting from analog to digital at an increasing rate. There are many that are concerned about how fast the tech seems to be forced on us all. This week's myth is very interesting because we can literally look all around us and see examples of this same concept in full swing.

I would like to being by telling you about the LA Unified School District and their very ambitious iPad rollout and integration of the 2012-2013 school year. If you are not familiar with this initiative I will bring you up to speed. The LA-USD made the decision to supply all of their students with the hottest tech of the day - iPads. What this amounted to was 650,000 iPads equal to $1.3 billion (including the cost of required Wi-Fi upgrades). This example of a blended learning initiative gives us a great example of what not to do in regard to tech deployment and starting a blended learning initiative. For the LA-USD getting an iPad in the hands of all of their students was more important than the why behind them. They were more focused on the technology itself, not the academic outcomes. The LA-USD put devices in hands without any form of training or professional development for the teachers. It was pretty much a, "here you go, now teach" approach. This would give even the most tech-comfortable teacher some major stress.

With this being said, The LA-USD gives the rest of us a clear picture of what not to do. I am very thankful to be a part of Canon City Schools. From the very beginning, there has been careful thought put into every aspect of our blended learning initiative. We knew from the beginning that the last thing that we wanted to do was put devices in student and teacher hand at he same time. We intentionally wanted to avoid the "Here you go, now teach" madness. That is why we are intentionally putting devices in the hands of teachers a full year before your students will receive their devices. We have also planned for and begun implementation of a district wide professional development program that is centered around blended learning and how to best begin implementation within the classroom.

Helpful Handy How-To's

Each of these tools will allow you to record your screen for a video or even just a simple picture. These tools are great for creating instructions, presenting information, and much more! Click on the links to learn more!

BOLD Blending

Last week we took a look at Myth #4 - Technology must drive all decisions. We were able to take a look at how technology driving major decisions doesn't always work out for the better. We were able to see how a quick jump to tech infusion can quickly lead to a disastrous outcome. With that being said, I am very please with the rout that our district has taken in regard to our 1-to-1 implementation. We have been very thoughtful about what our implementation will look and the reasons behind it.

Moving forward to this week, we will begin taking a look at the Truths that Mr. Kieschnick states in his book.

Truth #1: Blended learning can and should elevate, not diminish, what you do best.

As we start down this new road of Tech infused classrooms, we must be very intentional about practicing strategic blended learning. What I mean by this is, as we begin using the new tech, in our case Chromebooks, we as educators should be using the devices to enhance and elevate what you all are experts in already.

There are many of you that have been experimenting with new apps and resources to help enhance the students experience in class. I have seen how teachers have used NearPod or Google slides to engage students during a lecture. I have seen entire classrooms deeply engaged in Kahoot challenges. These new tools are meant to support, not replace, the educational experiences you all create every day in your classrooms. As Mr, Kieschnick states, "When strategically implemented, blended learning has the power to reach more students by accommodating different learning styles and paces, accelerating learning by delivering personalized instruction, increasing the amount of data available on all students' progress, and allowing students to access diverse learning materials both in and out of school."

As I have stated in previous editions, this initial time of device roll out and teacher professional development can be stressful to a lot of people. This is the time that I look at every single teacher in this district and ask, "What do you do awesomely? What do you love most about teaching?" You are a master of peer tutoring? Fantastic! Now, lets find the technology tool that will help you better match partners based on needs and abilities and track progress. Your comfort zone is in Google Docs and Slides? Great! Now lets explore tools and extensions that will elevate your use and provide a more engaging and purposeful experience for the students.

Instead of using the tech to rebuild your strengths, identify your teaching strengths and then find the technology tools that will best support and elevate them. You are all amazing teachers and we are lucky to have every one of you. I am here to support you and assist you in finding how these new technologies can best support what YOU do best.

Helpful Handy How-To's

Kahoot

Kahoot! is a game-based learning and trivia platform used in classrooms, offices and social settings. Sign up to create, play and share fun quizzes on any topic!

Technology is awesome. Teachers are BETTER!

I would like to start off this week by stating how impressed I am with teachers willing to take a risk and try new things within their classes. In this week alone I have witnessed classes from Kindergarten through 12th grade implementing various stages of blended learning and taking risks. What I am most thankful for through all of this is the eagerness I have witnessed in our teaching staff to branch out and try new ways of getting the information to and from students. It is a very cool thing to witness. Thank you. All of you.

If we look back at the events that transpired in the LA unified school district, we get a great picture of what happens when a district starts with technology first. It just doesn't work. It is essential for any school or district to first start with the academic outcomes we hope our students achieve through instruction and instructional strategies.

Technology use in the classroom must be strategic in how it is implemented. When not used purposefully, technology tends to become more of a hassle and inevitably becomes ineffective in teaching our students. In one of my early teaching positions, I was given a device roughly the same time as my students and there was little to no thought around how the devices were going to be used to accomplish the academic outcomes we wanted to see. As a result, I found myself trying to use the devices for anything and everything that I could in my classes. I became frustrated because I started to doubt my teaching practices. It seemed as if everything I was doing in my classroom was 10X harder because I thought that I was supposed to use the devices for everything I could. At that time, I was not sold on blended learning. Looking back, I am thankful for my experience because I now have a great example of what Blended Learning isn't.

Don't get me wrong, I was able to do some great things in my classes because of the devices that the students had access to. I was able to have more engaging lectures, deeper conversations fueled by the students ability to instantly research topics, and MUCH faster grading opportunities through various apps. However, because I was not trained in blended learning, my versions of blended learning were much farther away from the effective practices that we are in the process of training all of you in. If you look at the graphic to the right, you will see the proper process of technology infusion into lessons.

1. Identify the desired learning outcomes for the lesson
2. Identify what learning strategies will work best to achieve the outcomes
3. Determine what tools will help assist you/students in achieving the learning outcomes.
      Keep in mind that tech might not be the best tool to assist. This is OKAY!
4. Make a plan for how your tools will be used in the flow of the lesson.

Helpful Handy How To's

Elementary/Secondary
30 Hands - Digital Video/Slide Annotation Tool

We help people tell their story, explain a concept or teach others with fast and easy video creation. Our digital storytelling tools and techniques help learners understand topics more thoroughly when they explain what they are learning in a narrated video. Teachers and corporate trainers can turn their presentations and lesson plans into powerful videos with ease to better engage learners.

*Info obtained from 30hands.com

30hands.com