Courageous Edventures Challenge - Day 5

Twitter Chats are an awesome opportunity to engaged in some right on time, relevant professional development!  By simply searching for the hashtag of your choice, you are immersed into deep conversations with educators all around the world that are just as passionate about what you are!  They are fast paced and full of goodness so you have to keep up!  A great tool to do this is TweetDeck.  This allows you to monitor your Twitter feed, notifications, messages and Twitter Chats in an easy format!  Try it out if you haven't.  It literally takes 2 seconds to set up.

This challenge came right on time!  Last night I participated in the #squirrelschat.  This is a chat facilitated by different educators once a month that are a part of the Alpha Squirrels.  Alpha Squirrels are educator ambassadors for the Reflector App.  This chat takes place on a Thursday night at 8pm EST once a month.

I have also recently participated in the #gaetc17 chat within the past week as well.  What I love about participating in different Twitter chats is that you gain the perspective of educators all around the world.  Now that Twitter has a capacity of 280 characters vs 140, the conversation that takes place has even more content and meaning.

The list of Twitter Chats that are out there is HUGE!  Cybraryman has curated an extensive list that I can't wait to delve into and explore.  Another awesome thing about these chats is that you can start your own!  All you need is a hashtag and the conversation can take off!  Recently, I was able to train one of our assistant superintendents to host her own Twitter Chat with her region principals.  It's taken off and she's now had 2 of them!  She used TweetDeck to facilitate her chat and schedule her posts.  Doing so, she finds, allows her to be more engaged in the chat as opposed to worrying about posting the questions/prompts and then being active in the conversation.  It's really been an amazing opportunity!

Have you tried a Twitter Chat before?  What are your favorites?

Monday Minute: Tweet Deck

Happy Monday!

Recently, I was working with a colleague on how to facilitate and moderate a Twitter Chat.  She became very excited about the possibility of hosting her very own Tweet Meet, which in turn got me thinking about Tweet Deck!

https://tweetdeck.twitter.com

Tweet Deck is an amazing resource that allows you to keep up with your chats easier and faster!  You are able to customize your dashboard to include certain people that you follow as well as different hashtags.  During a TweetMeet this critical as it keeps everything nicely organized and neat in columns for you!  The columns are able to be deleted, changed and even dragged and dropped where you would like them!

Currently, I have about 8 columns on my Tweet Deck. Each of these columns is automatically updated as new content comes in so there is no hitting the refresh button!  Here are the first 4 columns.

I created a quick sheet for her and thought I'd share it here as well!  Of course, where you see specific hashtags, you will want to change those to meet the chats that you are wanting to follow!

This also got me thinking about researching some educational chats that I could recommend to you guys!  So, here are a few:

#alphasquirrels

#principaldynamicchat

#edtechchat

#onenoteq

#MSFTeduChat 

#edchat

#flipclass

What Tweet Chats are you following?  Have you tried using Tweet Deck before?  If not, try it out and let me know what you think!

Tasha's Top Five Tech Tools (right now...lol) for the Classroom!

Technology changes faster than the days go by!  With that said, it's imperative that we are (as cliche as it sounds) life long learners. Not going to lie...I get a LOT of my personal professional development on Twitter.  I find myself spending hours getting sucked into the Twitter abyss.  We've all been there, right?  You find yourself scrolling through your Twitter timeline, stumble across an informative Tweet, hit the hear, then you click on the attached it to read it and before you know it, you've started scrolling through their timeline, searching who they follow, and so on and so forth! You realize that HOURS have gone by and you've somehow stumbled to Pinterest and YouTube, too! I KNOW I'm not the ONLY one!

With all of the researching and reading that I do every day, I find myself TOTALLY immersed in a ton of apps, websites, web 2.0 tools, YouTube videos, etc!  I have curated what I consider to be the top 5 tech tools that, if I were still in the classroom, would be MUST HAVES from day one!  Of course, as time goes by and new tools are introduced, this can, will and should change to keep up with the ever changing world of instructional technology!  A few are oldies but goodies but are tried and true.  So, here are my top 5!

1.  Flipgrid www.flipgrid.com
This INCREDIBLE tool gives students a voice!  I have previously talked about this tool in another post HERE.  The incredible hard working peeps at this company have just released a TON of new upgrades such as "stickies" that allow you to create some notes for reference before you start recording and "stickers" that allow students to decorate themselves and be creative.  During the keynote event, Charlie said something that stuck with me.  Teachers may not be crazy about the stickers, BUT let the students be creative with the stickers as their thumbnails for their videos!  The thumbnail is for the students BUT the content, the meat of the Flipgrid, is for the content!  In addition, the look and feel of the portal has been streamlined to look even more interactive, intuitive, and cool!

The ways to use Flipgrid are endless:  give students a topic and have them explain their answer, have the staff of your school create their introductions and post it to your school's website, use it to engage with the parents of your students to further create community, discuss current events and have students really be engaged in what's going on in the world, or create "Flipgrid Friday" in your classroom and have it become a part of your classroom "normal!"  I urge you to go to Twitter and find out how innovative educators are using Flipgrid in their classes and with their schools!

To learn more about all of the upgrades, go to Twitter and search #flipgridfever and watch the keynote HERE!

2.  Twitter  www.twitter.com
I don't know anyone who's NOT using Twitter right now!  But, if you are one of the few that still isn't on the Twitter background, let me tell you WHY you NEED to be using it!  Twitter not only allows you be engage in 24-7-365 professional development for yourself, but it's a great way to keep your students and parents engaged all year long!  Create a hashtag for your classroom that can be tracked throughout the year.  All you have to do to create a hashtag is come up with something creative, add the # in front of it, and there you go!  I have seen teachers have their students Tweet during the Presidential State of the Union Address, during an election, while on field trips, etc!  I've even seen an assignment where students take on the persona of a historic icon and create a "fake" Twitter feed of what that person (think Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, etc) would be Tweeting during the time period that they experienced.  Genius idea to integrate technology in the class!  Annnnd it doesn't hurt that students are ALREADY on Twitter! Talk about meeting them where they are, right!  Using a class hashtag is another way to have parents be able to quickly see what's going on in their student's classroom.  You can Tweet what happened in class that day, pictures (with the appropriate release forms, of course) of what your students are doing, links to forms that you need filled out, what the homework is for that day, the possibilities are endless!

3.  Remind  https://www.remind.com/
Remind is one of those tools that have been around for years, however I have been hearing more and more educators using it lately!  I love that tools like this never really go out of style!  Most recently, I have interacted with a principal who NEVER emails his staff....WHAT?!?!?  How is that possible?  He now has a blog that is internal to his staff and all of his updates, go on that blog.  He only posts there on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  He incorporates Remind into his practice of better and more effective communication by sending a Remind message to his staff once his post for that day goes live!  How genius is this?  Remind is one of the best communication tools to use with students, colleagues, and parents out there.  It's intuitive and simple to use.  Posts can be scheduled out to send later which makes planning for future communication so simple!

4.  Google and/or Microsoft
My district uses BOTH Google AND Microsoft!  We started off as a Microsoft district and have recently introduced Google.  Our teachers, administrators and schools have the autonomy to choose which of these tools, or even both work for their desired outcome.  It's important that we, as instructional technology leaders in the district don't tell them which tools to use, but rather find out what the educator is trying to accomplish and then recommend the technology tool that will enhance what their need is.  We never try to overwhelm our educators with a bunch of "tools" but rather provide a "menu" of resources to enhance their lessons, or whatever it is that they are wanting to accomplish.

Google and Microsoft both have the tools in their platforms to support this!  I have fallen in love with both of these platforms for different reasons.  A blogpost on what I love about both is forthcoming! Both of these platforms allow for users to create some sort of document, excel type sheet, power point presentation tool, and a form.  In addition, they both provide a portal to save and house all of the documents that a user would create!  No matter which one you choose to utilize, or even both, you can't go wrong!  In the words of Martha Stewart....one, or both of these portals, are a good thing...

5.  Kahoot and/or Quizizz and/or Plickers
Yes, I have included a three in one here!  LOL!  If you're an educator, you MUST formatively assess your students!  Why not integrate technology into this practice?  Kahoot and Quizizz work in a similar manner in that you are able to create an online quiz that students have fun answering the questions.  It's gameifying formative assessment!  One of the difference between the two is that the teacher controls the pace in Kahoot, but the student controls the pace in Quizizz.  Both of them contain a leader board that places your students in the order of correct answers chosen along with the time in which those answers were selected.  Both of them are also SUPER fun!  I am a VERY competitive person and have been known to get a little crazy in a PD session if the presenter chooses to utilize one of these tools!

Plickers is another awesome tool for formatively assessing students.  Students hold up one card in a set of cards that is specific to them and depending on the direction in which they hold the card, their answer is recorded via the teacher's cell phone or ipad with a simple scan of the room!  It's absolutely crazy and magical how awesome this tool is!  I remember the first time I saw it in action, I was BLOWN away!

So there you have it!  My top five tech tools that I would absolutely, without a doubt, would be using if I were still in the classroom!  What about you?  What are you currently using?  What are you top five?

Who's in your PLN?

A Professional Learning Network (PLN) is a group of excited, enthusiastic, innovative educators that connect to share and learn!  Most of the time this takes place through social media, however the face to face relationships that form as a result are priceless!  You know how you have friends on Facebook that you haven't seen in years, but when you finally do see them in person, you feel like you just saw them yesterday because you've kept up with them on Facebook?  Well, my PLN is the same way!  I have followed #edtech educators for years and have had the opportunity to meet many of them in person!  I may or may not have had a few fangirl moments meeting some of these amazing educators!
Be mindful about who is a part of your PLN.  We have a practice of adding people on Twitter, for example, just to add them.  I have spent some time recently, cleaning up the people on Twitter.  If they haven't tweeted in over 2 months, I hit the unfollow button!  I am committed to ensuring that when I scroll through my Twitter feed, that it's full of positive, innovative, creative and enthusiastically passionate educators and leaders that truly care for children and their futures!  I would consider the following when you are making connections that lead to the relationships formed in your PLN:

1. What value will this person add to your professional and growth?
2. What value will you add to this person as a result of being a part of their PLN?
3. What can you learn from this person?
4. Is this person continuously growing themselves and others?
5. Is this person innovative, creative and excited about the future of education and technology?
6. Do they genuinely care about people?
7. Who is in this person's PLN?

I've had several fangirl moments when meeting some of the #edtech leaders that I follow on Twitter! Here are a few!

Anthony Salcito from Microsoft with myself and fellow Georgia Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts!  I think of Anthony as the Steve Jobs of Microsoft!  He is so knowledgable about technology in education and I always leave from listening to him feeling so inspired!
@anthonysalcito

Tony Vincent!  I've met him a few times and he never disappoints!  He is just as sweet in person as he is online!  I could sit and talk to him for hours about all things #edtech.  He is like a walking encyclopedia of creative ideas that I wish would transform to me through osmosis!
@tonyvincent

Every time I meet Chris Craft I have to get a hug!  The first time I met him, he was full of such genuine energy!  Even now, every time I see him or talk to him, it's like I'm with a friend I've known for years!  I have 3 pictures with him from 3 different events and this is his signature pose!  He's AMAZING!
@crafty184

Leslie Fisher is one of the most down to earth #edtech gurus I've ever met!  Her heart is pure gold!  She's amazing, and smart, and transparent, and just a phenomenal person overall!  If you EVER see her, buy her a caffeine free diet coke!  Trust me!  She'll love you forever!
@lesliefisher

Mike Tholfsen, Microsoft Innovator, and Alice Keeler, Google Guru!  After seeing a side by side of these two awesome people on Twitter during ISTE 17, I HAD to find them both and get my own side by side!  I ran into Mike in the expo hall and Alice on the streets of San Antonio!
@mtholfsen    @alicekeeler

So what about you?  Who's in your PLN?  Who would you have a fangirl/fanboy moment over? What are you learning from those in your PLN?

Getting ready for the new school year...

It's the beginning of a new year...where should you begin?

The 2017-2018 school year is upon us!  Whether you are new to the field of education, dipping your toes in the #edtech water, or you've been teaching for years, it's time to set some goals to grow your current teaching practice as well as fill your professional toolbox with some new goodies!  I get asked a lot, "where should I start?"  There's not one "right" answer to this question, but I would recommend the following:

Be active on Twitter:

I spend a lot of time on Twitter!  Not going to lie, this is where I get most of my professional development!  If you don't already have an account, go ahead and create one, and post your first Tweet!  I love that if I'm curious about a certain topic, let's say educational technology, elementary science, or STEM, that I can search for #edtech or #elementaryscience, or #stem and I am automatically connected to tons of educators all over the world that have shared this same interest. They may have posted articles, blogs, or other resources that match my interest.  It's a great place to start and I find myself getting sucked into the Twitter-verse for hours on end just searching and searching!  Following other educators allows me to see what they post in my Twitter stream so I never miss what they share.  Having access to other educators opens up my reach and source for resources to a global level!

Find an accountability partner:

I firmly believe that ALL educators should have an accountability partner.  This goes for new educators as well as seasoned educators!  An accountability partner gives you someone to check in with, someone to push you towards your educational goals, and someone to bounce ideas off of.  The field of education and instructional technology are filled with different certifications, degrees, and badges just waiting for you to gain!  Consider working on these with a fellow colleague.  Perhaps there's another educator that you know of that has what you are working towards.  Ask them to guide you and help you get to where they are!  Check in with them consistently by setting a standing calendar appointment that protects that time.  If you don't see yourself and your growth as important and protect that time, it will pass you by.  You also want to make sure that you set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely) goals with your accountability partner.  This will help to ensure that you meet the goals you set. Instead of saying, "I want to get my Google Trainer certification" or "I want to become a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert," make the goal a SMART goal so it's bound by time and relevancy!

Grow your professional learning network (PLN):

I definitely use Twitter as a part of my PLN.  In addition, I continue to make those connections with other educational technology leaders that I know I can learn from.  It's all about relationships!  As cliche as it is, I definitely consider myself to be a life long learner.  I have pursued my bachelors, masters, specialists, and am finishing up my doctorate.  I have a ton of #edtech badges and certifications.  I don't want to get too comfortable or complacent!  I remember sending my first email during my senior year of college in 1998 and thinking, "WOW....as soon as I hit enter, my mom is going to get this email!"  You have to continue to learn and grow from other educators and leaders so you stay informed, inspired, creative, and innovative!  It's always a great feeling to meet people in my PLN face to face after conversing with them online for years and years!  There are a lot of people that I follow on Twitter as well as blogs that I follow, and YouTube channels that I follow that I consider all to be a part of my network.  I am continuously learning from this group of people and this network is constantly growing, so I, too can grow!

Learn one new tool a week:

In order to stay relevant in this ever changing world, I would encourage you to learn one new tool a week.  I'm not saying to become an expert in that tool, but rather research and seek out a new tool and scratch the surface of it, how it can be used, as well as when you might be able to incorporate it into your practice.  There is sooooo much out there to learn!  Follow blogs, stay active on Twitter, talk to other educators and technology leaders to find out what they are using.  Pick and choose what you like and don't be afraid to try!  I guarantee you that your students will be willing to try and will probably help you figure out how to use whatever it is!

Don't try to become an expert in EVERYTHING:

This is a BIG one!  You can do anything, but you can't do EVERYTHING!  Don't even try it!!  Find you a couple of good apps, tools, or web 2.0 resources and become an EXPERT in those!  Once you have those down packed, add to your toolbox and master a few more!  This goes back to number 4...learning about what's out there will allow you to determine and discover when to pull what from your professional toolbox!  Trust me, you will 100% totally overwhelm yourself attempting to do it all!  There are educators and technology leaders that publish weekly tech tips that will give you ideas. I remember having a pair of educators that I was working with that had a notebook and they would write down the tools that I shared with them every week.  They would refer back to that notebook throughout the school year and pull different resources to try and utilize as they determined where it would fit into their lesson plans.

So, go forth and Tweet, identify that accountability parter that's going to push you towards your goals and dreams, grow your network, learn a new tool, and don't try to do everything!  You have the power to make this year your BEST year yet!  As the educational leader in your classroom, you drive the instruction and the way it's delivered!  I challenge you to become a "Technology Teacher Extraordinaire" this year and take your teaching practice to the next level through the integration of technology!

Flipgrid Fever!

I have heard about the web tool, Flipgrid for a few years now but just recently got super pumped up about it!  So much so, that I applied for to be a Flipgrid Certified Educator and I found out yesterday that I received it!  Whoo hoo!  I have for the most part, been on the "response end" of Flipgrid.  However, last night, after attending my first Flipgrid Twitter chat #flipgridfever, I learned a lot of great ways that Flipgrid could be used both in and out of the classroom.  There is a lot of information out there about how to use it in the classroom with students, however now that I am in a central office position, I would like to approach this from my point of view!  So, how can you, as an administrator or member of central office staff use Flipgrid in your position?  Keep reading for some ideas!

• If you are a Principal, create a Flipgrid and have your staff create introductions about themselves.  Include their name, the grade they will be teaching, and something interesting about themselves.  You can then post this Flipgrid up on your school's website.  How awesome would it be, as a parent or future student in a teacher's class to get to "meet" their teacher virtually before face to face?  
• If you have substitute teachers that frequent your building, why not have them create their own video on a Flipgrid to introduce themselves.  As teachers need to request a substitute, they can gain a feel for who would be a fit for their class based upon the sub's responses to the Flipgrid!
• Virtual Professional Learning Communities! Why not engage your staff in some professional learning from a virtual standpoint?  Post your questions and receive feedback all in one place.  The great thing about this is that your staff is able to communicate with each other and see each other's responses.
• Virtual Book Study!  Is your team reading a book together but can't find the time to get together to discuss it?  Put together a Flipgrid in order to do so!  
• Parent Feedback can also be solicited through the use of a Flipgrid.  The Principal could post a greeting at the beginning of the year and parents could use this as a place to share kudos and good news in a positive way!
• Have teachers post a "letter to themselves" at the beginning of the school year with their goals for the year.  Revisit it again at the end of the year and see how many of those goals were actually met!

So there you go!  Just a few ideas about how Flipgrid can be utilized outside of the classroom!

Here is an article that I found that outlines some great ideas about how teachers can use Flipgrid in their classrooms!  http://www.hollyclark.org/2017/05/28/15-ways-to-incorporate-flipgridfever/