The idea, use a collaborative space like, TodaysMeet, Twitter, Google Doc, Blogger or another area in which twenty students would contribute to a story by "popcorning" it around the classroom. For those unfamiliar with popcorn, one person starts and then it bounces to the next and so on. The belief, if twenty students each contributed 140 characters per posting, we would have created a 10,000 word novel/short story in forty minutes. In actuality, we fell way short, but gained a lot of information.

We explained to the students how this worked; went over the rules of appropriate posting and explained our expectations. The teacher created an introductory prompt, showed it to the students and away we went, slowly. 

The first obstacle, typing speed. There are a lot of peckers in that class. It was quickly apparent we had not done a good job teaching typing skills to the students. These were 6th grade students who were "meeting" the typing speed standards through an extreme utilization of their index fingers. The good news, future carpel tunnel will be limited to one joint.

The second obstacle, creativity. I was somewhat saddened that by sixth grade we had already bred most of the creativity out of these students. I saw this at the high school level where students would often say, "just tell me what you want me to know." I would respond, "I want you to tell me what you know and I don't care how you do it." That froze the best students, but provided the struggling students an avenue for success. The good students knew how to memorize and regurgitate content, but not how to demonstrated their own understanding of content. It was the "strugglers" who found create means of explaining ideas. 



The students were spending a lot of time on dialogue and when we asked them to set up the scene, the students could not. This seems to go back to creativity and to simply be able to tell a story. We had to intervene here and there to set up a new scene for the students, otherwise we would have been in a circular dialogue pattern.


The third obstacle, appropriate online behavior. I'll admit, I was naive. I did not think sixth graders would post anything inappropriate, but up came "hey bitchie." I do not even know what a "bitchie" is and I it definitely was not used in the appropriate content. Had I been in high school I would have stopped and pointed out the lack of capitalization in "hey" and then broken down "bitchie," and how it did not fit into the story at this point, but this was sixth grade. None-the-less, that post shut down the rest of the 40-minute novel and led to a discussion. We were using TodaysMeet for the ease of use. Unfortunately you cannot control user names (the post came from a student who typed in a different student's name). You also cannot delete other students' posts. In the future I would use a Google Doc, plus, then through revision history I can go back and see who contributed what. The good news, we used this opportunity to discuss appropriate online behavior using this as a perfect example of how to use social media. 

In the end we had written just over two pages, but gained a tremendous amount of insight. Would I try this again? You bet. The next time I would have students tell me what they want to type and I would be the typist. In the meantime, the keyboard covers are ordered and a new typing curriculum is underway and the deficiencies in creativity will be address with students and teachers.

To see the transcript of what was created, click here. It was based upon the story, Jackie and Me by Dan Gutman. 

I recently had the opportunity to demonstrate how to teach in a 1:1 environment for two different social studies classes. I knew I could not go into the classroom and blow it out with cool technology, but had to demonstrate one or two ideas that could be used. The idea was to demo one style, observe the teacher use her style and then create a blend she was comfortable with and could incorporate into her style. The challenge was doing this for two unique teachers who work closely together without turning them off of technology.

The teachers I was working with had students take notes by copying an outline, or by writing down what they saw on a slide-show. In both cases, students only wrote down what was on the board. The details were limited to what was posted for them. My goal was to have students create their own notes and still cover the needed information.

To begin with, I demonstrated one of my methods, a wordless presentation shared through Google Drive. Since students today are more visual learner than we ever were, I wanted to emphasize how important pictures are. They say a picture paints 1000 words, but it also helps students connect ideas and concepts. By using pop-culture images to tie to the past, students work in this game like scenario where they have to figure out how the images relate to the topic at hand. Did I also mention it is a lot of fund to create? In addition to the presentation, I also shared my lesson plan and a Cornell note template for students to copy and use. I am a fan of Cornell notes as it really helps students to organize ideas. (Click here for the template).

In-between topics, I stopped the class and let the students create their own notes. I had to walk them through the first two sections, asking them what was the main idea we spoke about and what were the supporting statements. This was new to the students. When you introduce something of this nature, it is imperative to step students through the process. At the end of the day the teacher asked how the students liked taking notes this way. Out of 27 students, 26 said it was a lot better.

For the other teacher, I asked if we could simply freestyle it for the blend class approach. I had my outline, but I was not going to give students any information. Instead, I provided the students with the Cornell notes template, a TodaysMeet.com website link and a very specific search phrase for information on cowboys. Students had to post what they thought was interesting (Note: I did not ask for things that were important). Each time a student came across something they felt was interesting, they posted it to TodaysMeet. 

Within a couple of minutes, posts were flying in, and not just any post, but quality posts were we could then disseminate and have students create their own notes. Before the class had ended, we covered the same notes we went through in the other class, but I gave the students nothing. I also noticed students actually taking more detailed notes in the "freestyle" method than in the other classes.

While freestyling is not something you can do daily, it is a nice change of pace and you can really get into depth on a topic. It also prompts a terrific discussion. The students did create their own notes, and notes with meaning. I have used this in the past for a class that was filled with second time around students; I have used this with AP students. It works, but only if you, the teacher, is able to release all control.

So you need to ask yourself, are you ready to let go?

When I fist began creating videos for my classroom, I never thought of why I was doing it. I did it because it was fun. I did it because I got a kick out of students' comments. I did it because it made my life easier in the long run. Then I started to realize, creating videos was simply smart teaching. I was not answering as many questions; students were taking control of their own learning; we were able to focus on other topics and go more in-depth. I had never considered these positives until years after the fact. But I began to wonder, what more could I do?

Then came YouTube and its annotating feature. Remember "I love the 80's" on VH1? This is what YouTube provided, the ability to include pop-ups in my videos. The YouTube annotation option has been available for some time. Unfortunately, I have not seen it used very frequently in the classroom. Teachers can take a video and re-emphasize key points with pop-ups. Teachers can provide links to additional video tutorials about a subject, allowing students to essentially choose their own adventure. Teachers can spotlight parts of a the video. Teachers can enhance the students' experience in ways not available a few years ago.

The Annotation
If you can see it, read it and hear it, the point should be driven home. Each video that I make now has pop-ups for each point I want to emphasize. It is not uncommon for me to have one every minute. With students' attention span somewhere south of five minutes, I found by adding these pop-ups helps to keep students' attention as well as emphasize key points.

Choose Your Own Adventure
The other trick I enjoy using is the annotation that has an attached video link. Now teachers can provide students the option to click on different videos within the video. If students do no understand a topic, they can quickly and easily jump to another video, either created by me or someone else. Recently, I was in a predicament where I had to differentiate instruction for six grade levels in five different buildings for a teacher inservice at the same time. Thanks to YouTube, I was able to provide teachers with information that pertained only to their grade level. Click here for to see what I did.

All of this can seem complicated. I know I thought it was until I tried it. YouTube annotations are simple and easy to use. When you have a chance, explore YouTube beyond today's hot cat video. There are other tools to use with Youtube, but the annotation feature is definitely a tool teachers should throw in their resource bag that will assist in their instruction. 

Click here for a video instruction on how to add annotations to your YouTube videos.

As I am preparing for my presentation on Annotating and Creating Video Lessons for the Midwest Google Summit, I am thinking of a couple recent conversations I had with a couple of teachers. These conversations all came back to one question, why should I do this when others have already done it?

It was deja vu. It was as if all these teachers Skyped together for lunch across the state. In all the conversations, they began by telling me how great videos are to use. I agreed. They then went on to tell me you could have experts on subjects teaching your students. I agree, but with caution. They said there was no reason to do extra work and create a video because someone else with more knowledge did it already. Warning!!! Warning!!! This is where I had to speak up.

I agree you cannot be the expert on everything, but you are the expert in your classroom. Students look up to you and expect you to know the answers. What they do not want is to see the teacher outsourced to someone they have no relationship with in the classroom. Yes, there are times when you may not know an answer. In those cases, find an expert who can explain it for you, but do not make that person the teacher.

Why should you make your own videos? They are a great way to build relationships with your students. They see your personality. They hear your kids in the background. They laugh at your outtakes. They look for your mistakes. Referring students to a John Doe misses these opportunities to build upon these relationships.

I parted ways with this teacher and said, as a teacher, if I did not know an answer, I would go out and find someone who could explain it to me. From there, I would take my newfound knowledge and create my own video for my students. I made the information applicable for my students. I built upon relationships and I maintained the image that I was the expert in the room.

Teachers who simply take other's information, print it out, show their video, use their lesson plans, fail to establish a very important management piece in their classroom, a relationship. So create your own video tutorials, have fun making them, build that relationship and enjoy the best job anyone could want, educating our youth.

I was reminded the other day about our digital natives and really how they are digital naive when it comes to learning. We often make huge assumptions that our current students know how to use online resources in an educational environment. This is where we need to step back to rethink what students know how to do with online tools.

This past year, rolled out a 7-10 1:1 environment in our school district. We looked at different devices, the acceptable use policies, insurance, tech tools, teacher training, created a 3-5 year plan, did everything we could think of to cover all bases. It was not until the semester started we realized we forgot something, training for students.

Sure students had used Google Apps for Education, they had used laptops in the lab, they know their way around the internet, but the students had never experienced how to use these tools together within a non-lab environment, not to mention daily. We needed a bootcamp. We needed to step back and train students how to use and apply these tools. We needed not to push forward but to stop and educate students on this new educational method. 

It finally came. The Chromecast. When I initially read about the Chromecast in August, I knew I had to try it out. The device was touted as being able to stream from any device for a small $35 price. Since we are looking to put Apple TVs and iPads into classrooms, the Chromecast seemed to be a much more affordable option.

The setup was relatively easy. I plugged it into my tv and installed the app on my Chromebook, iPad and my Mac. I really like how I can use my laptop to screencast one particular tab while browsing on another. I can show a Google Presentation and work in a different tab at the same time without showing the second tab. This is a great perk that the Chromecast has over the Apple TV. Only one tab can be mirrored at a time, not your entire device. You can show a YouTube video on your laptop and then have another tab open where you can setup the next part of your lesson. If you are using the YouTube app, or the Netflix app for that matter, you can actually shut down your device and the video will continue to play.

However, since we have numerous iPads already deployed within my district, I wanted to see how well the iPad interacted with the Chromecast. I have to admit, I was hoping for a device that would rival the Apple TV's ability to mirror the iPad. A Chromecast is not an Apple TV. You can stream Netflix and YouTube videos through the iPad apps, but you cannot mirror anything on the Chrome browser app, yet. 

If you are looking for a simple device that mirrors video streaming apps. This is great. If you want a device to mirror a laptop to allow you to bounce between tabs while being invisible, this is it. If you need a device that actually mirrors your tablet or laptop screen, this is not it. Until the Chromecast has some better mirroring capabilities, I will have to stick with the more expensive Apple TV, but for what the Chromecast does do, the price is right.

Over the past few years, I have asked if Smartboards are really the tool high school teachers need for their classroom. I often told people I did not think I was using the Smartboard to its fullest potential and I was considered one of the best users in the district. The Smartboard is an interactive whiteboard, or the way most teachers use it, an expensive movie screen. 

Because I used the Smartboard daily, I also became too familiar with the popping sound an LCD projector bulb makes when it blows. This became another $100-$200 replacement bulb expense that we never seem to include in our budget. This led me to ask if there is something we can do that would be utilized more and cost less to operate?

This year will be the beginning of my grand experiment. We are outfitting each classroom with a 55" LED television, an iPad and an Apple TV (possibly Chromeshare in the future) to enable mirroring of the iPad. At a price of roughly $1,000 per room to be fully outfitted. At our high school, only a handful of rooms were equipped with an LCD projector and several others donned teacher's personal projectors. A couple of rooms have a moveable Smartboard. So this year, all rooms without a projector are receiving 55" LED televisions. These televisions are HDMI and VGA compatible and should last ten years or more. The cost, $580 per television, or roughly the same cost as an inexpensive LCD projector. Should this experiment work, we should see an immediate savings each year with replacement bulbs; more interaction between students and teachers and overall an increase in student achievement.

Why was this necessary? We are currently implementing a 1:1 Chromebook environment and utilizing Google Apps for Education (GAFE). Teachers have spent the last year going through training on GAFE. We offered online courses; have demonstrated ways to set up 1:1 classrooms; and have ongoing training throughout the year.


Now that teachers have the basic training, they now need the ability to move around their room and not be center stage, as is typically the case. Teachers can couple apps, like Doceri, with GAFE to annotate documents. Teachers can open up files and presentations anywhere in the room. Teachers can have students demonstrate their understanding from their desk, not in that "embarrassing" front part of the room.


Will this work? I hope so. We cannot afford $4000+ in replacement bulbs each year. I guess what needs to be said is, I cannot afford not to try this grand experiment. One thing is for certain, those teachers who have seen or heard about this are excited about the potential our new classrooms will bring to education.

As we continue to rollout our 1:1 environment, I started to take some notes on anecdotal observations.  I wanted to see and hear how the students reacted to a flipped classroom. How did the teacher's lessons change? What we needed to modify and what were the overall results? Were the results similar to the experiences of other flipped classes? The teacher I worked with also journaled her experiences which I am awaiting to read.

First and foremost, the students. How did their learning change? The goal was to have students take over their own learning. The class I followed was a summer school math class. I like to say these students enjoy math so much they wanted to take it again in a summer session. Needless to say, these students were not the valedictorians of the school. The teacher followed a version of the lesson plan template I provided her during the teacher training class. (It is imperative for teachers to learn how to educate in a 1:1 environment).  The idea was to write a lesson for students to follow while she assisted those that needed one-on-one attention.

The teacher's initial comment was that she was floored and even called the class "amazing." However, they were doing project work, not daily math work. To me, the non-project based work was what I felt the most important criteria. Would the students continue to behave of blow it off? The answer was both.

Prior to providing the students with their Chromebooks, we blocked sites, blocked apps, extensions and themes and took the necessary precautions to try to make this successful. The majority of these students went through the lesson plans, watched the video tutorials and submitted their work. Then there were others. I expected this group to find ways to not complete everything. Some spent a lot of time trying to find music they could listen to before doing their work. Some picked up the challenge of finding unblocked gaming sites. Another was so infatuated with Justin Bieber (I don't understand that), she spent too much time ogling over him by surfing the web for Bieber sites. We confiscated the Bieber computer and blocked the Bieber sites (like I can really get them all) and gave the teacher gave the student a stern warning on appropriate computer usage. We blocked another 600 gaming sites through the Chromestore and gave the music student an iPod with his own playlist to avoid future paralysis by song choice. (This was the teacher's idea).

What did I learn from observing all this?

The lesson plan worked well when written for students to read and follow. The videos worked well, especially when annotated and students SPaR the videos (Stop, Pause and Rewind - t-shirts are available soon). However, as I mentioned to the math teacher, using shorter videos might work better than one long one. I know I get bored as a student. I wondered how some of these students felt about the video length. Unfortunately I did not get to ask. 

In the end the students did control their own learning. They did SPaR their videos as needed and sought out additional help when required. They seemed much more comfortable in this new environment. The class was not a sit and do, but a modified class where the teacher was on the side, interacted more frequently with more students and, according to the teacher, felt rejuvenated and excited to apply this model in the fall. To things to restate, the teacher met more often with individual students and more frequently than she had done in the past. The teacher was able to easily individualize instruction. 

As for this group of summer school students, almost 90% of the students successfully completed the course. These students are set up for success in the fall and will start the year ahead of everyone else.

I was recently reading an article by Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post, on cheating in schools. It made me think, are students cheating or simply using the same resources we use to find answers? Are we as teachers asking questions that can simply be "Googled?" By the way, Google is a noun, not a verb as we so commonly abuse.

Not soon after reading the article, I receive an email asking me if a teacher from another district could use my material on creating a technology plan. I did not hesitate and said of course. Did this teacher just cheat or simply use her resources effectively? Isn't there a saying, "Why reinvent the wheel?" How many of us have found another lesson plan and snarfed it up to use it as our own? Are you cheating? Aren't you suppose to be creating your own lesson plans?

So what about our students in the classroom? If our students did the above, we accuse them of cheating or plagiarism. Aren't we being hypercritical?  We should ask, if we can Google it, is that the a good question? Who was the first president of the United States? Who cares, I can Google it. Was George Washington the best choice for our first president or should someone else have deserved the honor? Explain. This last question is not so easily Googlable. It requires students to think, take a postion and justify their answer.

If you are a teacher who is discovering their students are simply finding answers on the Internet, then you are doing a good job teaching students how to use their resources, leveraging technology and collaborating with others. They are doing what they know how to do to find the answer. Is that wrong, or simply preparing students for their world today? If you want to know if a student understands, then change your question to allow for the leveraging technology to create justifiable positions.

I met a former administrator of our district the other day who proudly introduced himself to me and said he worked in the district for 41 years. That in-itself is an amazing accomplishment. He came up to me to make a statement. Less is more. I did not tell him at the time, but sometimes, less is simply less.

He told me a story of how he was at a technology conference many years ago. Based upon his statement, it had to be in the late 1970s. While at the conference, he came back with, "less is more." Because of what he hears we are doing in the district, the former administrator felt he needed to impart this wisdom on me. 

As a person who majored in and taught economics, less is more is a concept I applied frequently. However, when it comes to implementing technology into a district whose students do not have it, giving them more is like watering a dry plant. There is a point of saturation, but it absorbs a whole lot in the beginning.

That is where we are at, the beginning. Teachers have feared using technology and shied away from it. At the same time, students were parched for it. Microsoft Word and Powerpoints were old school; Google Docs is refreshing; Animoto is fun; Little Bird Tales is cool and posting videos to YouTube to show parents is exciting. Is it too much? No, students still want more. They want to grow. Upon using these technology creation tools, we are seeing focused students; students who do not want to stop working; students who are helping each other. Who am I to stop this?

I will agree with this former administrator that introducing too many tools is overwhelming, which is why I search out only the tools that enhance learning, not replace current methods. With that said, water your plant and let it soak it all in, you will see exponential growth. We already have.