Monday morning arrived. I was eager to begin our new journey into the future. I should add that our beautiful building was built in the 1940s. On Monday morning I had no airconditioning and no Internet connectivity from any of the computers in my room! I still used the projector and laptop without the Internet. I passed out CD-Roms of our new literature books and French I books. All in all, it was a good day. My students were well behaved and excited about our new ideas. I was so hot by the end of the day that my hair was sticking to my face. I felt as if I had gone back in time instead of forward.

Tuesday came, and it was my day for the laptop cart. (Five of us will share a cart with 10 laptops.) Of course, no one could log in. The tech coordinator came to my room and helped us. We spent the morning setting up Gmail and AirSet accounts. I should mention that we couldn’t set up many Gmail accounts at one time from the same access point.  I got connected with my laptop. It would be Friday before my PC would have connectivity. I was so tired when I got home that I collapsed. All I could think about was that I had committed myself to cheering at the alumni game on Friday night. I certainly didn’t look or feel like a cheerleader.

Wednesday came, and a few students brought their own laptops from home. I assigned several basic things for AirSet: post a link, add a birthday to the calendar, reply to a blog post, and add contact info.

By Thursday and Friday all students were in their AirSet groups. Several students were bringing their own laptops to class, taking notes in Google docs. The school was all abuzz with tech talk. I managed to cheer at the game, and the alumni won. Go old Bulldogs!

This week has been much smoother. I’ve gotten all of my students in Gmail contact groups so that I can send out mass emails. The French students have been blogging in French, and we’ve located three classes in France through ePals to collaborate with on projects. I enjoy Google chatting at night with the students, and it’s very easy and quick to answer a quick question through Gmail.

My seniors have formed Google groups for the Classes of 1999, 1989, 1979, and 1969. We will invite the alumni to join these sites as we research and write the annual homecoming skit that students will perform in October.

I am beginning my 21st year of teaching this year. I am overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated by the many challenges and problems technology presents. However, I must admit that this is the most exciting time to be a teacher and student. I truly feel a part of something great-a new age in education. We will look back on this year one day and recall that in 2008 the digital age arrived at Andalusia High School.

During the two-day workshop, we covered the following topics:

National Education Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S)

Bringing Technology into the Classroom: sample syllabus

Copyright, fair use and www.creativecommons.org

Setting up Gmail and Airset accounts for all students

Google Document, iGoogle, Google Groups, Google Sites, Google Reader

Creating a virtual museum template

Tips for using our new equipment (laptops and projectors)

Project-based learning planning templates and deadlines

Mock lesson for using Airset, Google docs., and the Interne

      Learning so many new things in such a short time has been frustrating for all of us. (Working with teachers can be more challenging than working with students.) Yet, we remain dedicated to helping our students and ourselves be prepared for the future. We have become a family of brothers and sisters, sometimes fighting but always coming together to help one another.  Another lesson we learned was to be more empathetic towards our own students. Sometimes, we use words that are foreign, our instructions are vague, and our desired outcomes are unclear.

     On August 11, our students will arrive. I anticipate that we will have lots of problems; however, we will work things out. I’ll have to remember the advice below from Brian Adams:

Wiki Basic

www.wikispaces.com

I have a wikispace at www.dawnthompsonunlimited.wikispaces.com; however, it is undeveloped at this time.

free educational wikis

1. Edit-Every change is recorded.

2. History-history of page, green added or red deleted

3. Groups-members of a wiki, collaboration of groups, group essays, removes barriers

4. Monitoring-email, RSS

5. Easy, free, no email, Add video to wiki page; post messages.

Vicki Davis   www.coolcatteacher.blogspot.com

100% class participation, class wiki, download from wiki and save as files, projects, blog posting, vocabulary

Project

Create template for student.

Use tags (a teacher’s best friend) Every assignment will have a tag.

Teach students to edit wikipedia responsibly.

Students will create their own wikis and post class notes. Students will begin by partnering across the room. Eventually, they can partner across the world.

Permission Settings

Manage space: public, protected, private

Lock assignment pages

Wiki vandalism: Take online spaces seriously. Computers are bad babysitters. Monitor carefully and punish students who break rules.

Why wiki? A blog is a journal, a wiki works for evolving content

www.ning.com  blogs, sharing, photos

Blogs are for opinions, reflection, and debate. Wikis are for facts and assignments.

People from all over the world can send bookmarks to students.

educational wikis–200 ideas

I know wikis will help my students with collaborative research projects. In senior English, students work in groups to research The Middle Ages. This year, they will collaborate on the AHS Legacy Project, which will involve researching the Classes of 1999, 1989, 1979, and 1969. Students will compile their research and write a skit for the annual homecoming production. This project will also involve input from our alumni. I must admit that I was hesitant to allow students to cite Wikipedia for their research. I have a better understanding of that site now.

For sample activities, you may visit Keeler’s blog at http://keelerthoughts.blogspot.com.

What’s PBL

Students learn content while constructing an artifact. Our job is to teach content and 21st century skills. We should be content focused and artifact driven.

Content  80%   Artifact 20%  I

I’m not sure where I heard this breakdown, but it makes sense. We’ve said from the beginning that technology is a tool for teaching our content.

Strategies:

Video

• adapting literature
• research-based video reports
• audio
• Day in the Life Journal Memoirs

Blogs

• journaling
• daily homework
• eportfolio space

Digital Photography

• scavenger hunt
• Flickr
• movie poster

Page Layout Software

• book review
• tri-fold brochures

Common Applications

• virtual museums, educationalvirtualmuseums@blogspot.com
• game shows, jc-schools.net/tutorials/ppt-games
• slideshow-based games

Cyber Gals from the math and English departments synergize.

This summer, rather than lie by the pool or relax in a hammock, I started hosting BYOL (laptops) gatherings, which is quite anachronistic since my house is nearly 100 years old-hardly the site for a cyberden. I found that by working side by side with co-workers, we got more accomplished and swapped many good ideas.

Working together certainly saves time since we can help each other.  Words like wiki, RSS, widget, Twitter, etc. were so foreign to us. We realized what it must be like for many students who lack the essential vocabulary for our courses. After working all afternoon, we reached a consensus on what would be best for our students this semester.

For example, another teacher and I will recommend that all of our students use Gmail and Airset this year in order for them to have some consistency throughout their different classes. Many of them will be overwhelmed with the new technology we are incorporating.

Michael Fullan shared excerpts from his book The Six Secrets of Change in the June 2008 issue of Scholastic Administrator. Secret Two is to connect peers with purpose. According to Fullan, “Peer interaction . . . is the social and inbtellectual glue of an organization.” I have grown so much this past year from working closely with my peers. During the 20th century teachers were isolated. Seeking advice from a fellow teacher showed a lack of knowledge, and since we were supposedly experts in our field, we wouldn’t want to feel dumb. Fortunately, I had wonderful mentors who helped me with even the dumbest things.

Our school organized a Building Leadership Team in 2003. We’ve brought about many positive changes through this group. Through the Digital Immersion Project, we’ve brought teachers from different departments together. We’ve realized that we all face the same challenges. We’ve broken down the walls that separated us within our own school. Web 2.0 will break down more walls as we begin to collaborate with teachers from all around the world.

“We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom
that is in it – and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a
hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again—and that is well;
but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore. “

     We’re going to have some hot stove moments this year. Rather than letting fear stop us from creating 21st century classrooms,  we need to anticipate problems so we’ll be ready. Last spring we met with members of the State Super Computing Authority. They will help us train two people on staff at our school to help with technical difficulties. We teachers must remember that these two people will still have their other duties, and we cannot call them with every little problem. Also, their knowledge will be limited. We must teach ourselves the basics so we don’t burden them.

Next, we need to anticipate student behavior problems. First, there’s the potential for vandalism. By using Airset we can monitor who blogs, comments, and edits. Of course, we must carefully monitor the sites our students visit. There’s another problem that will be more annoying than dangerous. As students start using laptops in the classroom, we will struggle with keeping them on task, not sending out funny e-mails, chatting, playing games, etc. Furthermore, we want our students to think about and discuss what they are learning, not just mindlessly taking notes. Sometimes, we get so involved with our notetaking that we don’t really listen and fully participate in the lesson.

Finally, we must limit what the students do with their laptops if they finish an assignment early. We did not spend grant money on this equipment for students to play solitaire or go shopping. If students finish an assignment early, perhaps they can go to Airset to blog or do another teacher’s assignment. (Of course, they can always read a book!) That will be up to the individual teacher.

In his book The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman urges us to “be good.” Our “electronic footprints” will follow us.

Let’s take one situation at a time. I certainly don’t want an entire class or the school to be punished by the actions of a few. This year will be challenging, but that’s part of the excitement.

Talking about preparation reminds me of another favorite quotation.

“Chance favors the prepared mind.”  Louis Pasteur

Please add your comments about other potential problems.

No limits,

Dawn

I gained a greater understanding of these digital technologies, yet I still need to learn to how use them and, more importantly, how to teach my students how to use them. I’ve spent every day since we returned playing/working on the web. Creating this edublog has taken time and patience. I get so far, and then I hit a wall. Hey, it’s better than watching tv.

I think our teachers are somewhere in the middle of incorporating Web 2.0 into our classrooms. Yes, we are a few years behind. However, we do have a plan in place for creating 21st century classrooms. We have come a long way in one year. The most amazing thing is that we have all of our core teachers-young, old, new, and experienced- on board with this plan. Our biggest drawback will be a lack of equipment and funding. Hopefully, we will receive more grant funds to implement fully our plan.

As I’ve stated before, I’ve been teaching for 20 years. I’ve never had the opportunity to travel with thirteen of my colleagues. We had lots of great conversations and formed deeper friendships. None of us will ever forget our trip to San Antonio.  I feel so blessed to be a part of the faculty at Andalusia High School. We’ve got an amazing year ahead of us.

Our slogan is “a proud tradition.” We can now take pride in our future.

The answer: DIP

The Digital Immersion Project (DIP) is an innovative idea created by AHS teachers for our students and teachers. DIP will provide educational hardware, software, curriculum, assessment, professional development, and technical support to our school.

After receiving $129,000 in grant money, we bought Tablet PC’s and LCD projectors for our core classrooms. This year, teachers from the departments of language arts, mathematics, science, and social sciences will participate, using digital technology to incorporate project-based learning as a method of teaching our graduation exam objectives and state courses of study. In December and May we will host an open house/tech fair to showcase the projects to the parents and community.

 As we enter this brave new world, we will become participants and creators.  We will embrace Daniel Pink’s notion of a “whole new mind,” incorporating design, story, play, meaning, empathy, and humor. We will break out of our bubbles and join the flat world of the future.

This project is about more than technology, grants, and project-based learning. It’s about building relationships and hope. DIP will reach all students, grades 9-12, regardless of ability level or socio-economic background. As success in learning builds confidence and self esteem, we hope our students will have happy and prosperous futures.

If we want to control the future, we must create it!   Author unknown