Getting Your Tweet On

Inservice Day One: I was still reeling from having to wake up at an ungodly hour and processing the fact that my blessed summer was over. I skipped out on the mandatory "Eat Lunch With Someone Else So You Can Get To Know Him/Her" lunch and quietly at my sandwich at my desk while cranking out some last minute work... and it happened.

My principal popped into my office and gave me a job.  (She does this frequently. I need to find myself a hidden office she can't pop into.)  I was given a new task -- teach Twitter to my colleagues tomorrow, and I had a half hour to do it. #Ishouldagonetolunch

Many connected teachers have learned in recent years that Twitter is a great source for personalized and FREE professional development. It's wonderful to connect with other educators whom we wouldn't otherwise meet and learn from. Granted, there are other avenues of collaboration, but Twitter is so convenient, I was thrilled with the chance to teach it the next day!

Inservice Day Two: There was a general buzz among the faculty as they contemplated getting on Twitter.  Some were excited. Some insisted they wouldn't do it. Some were apprehensive. That's OK. Twitter isn't for everyone, but at least we were giving them the option.

Does your school block social media sites? I was assured Twitter would be unblocked for my session...but it wasn't.  I was hoping for a hassle-free start. For some, an immediate roadblock all the excuse some people need to skip out on a new technology.  Anyhow, we found our individual ways around the filter and got rolling on Twitter.

I had a half hour to wax eloquent on Twitter, which is about half a day less than I would have liked. Fortunately, I had other Twitter users in the room who helped me out as we got some people signed up and answers tons of questions.  We talked about why Twitter is a good thing, who to follow, and a cursory introduction to hashtags. We had a half dozen or so teachers take the plunge.  Many teachers didn't join up, but at least they got to see it in action.  One teacher stated, "I'm just glad I know what a hashtag is. My kids won't tell me when I ask them!"

Later that day... I went home and saw my overflowing pile of zucchini and squash waiting to be eaten and sent this tweet.

Free zuke or squash for first #mvcaoh employee to retweet this. #gardennerd #shamelessbribe pic.twitter.com/q47OTGtAGQ
— Craig Dunlap (@Cncdky) August 19, 2014

The winner was our first grade teacher, who happened to be showing her college-aged daughter her new Twitter account.  "Oh! Zucchini! How do I retweet?"

The next night, I did the same thing with my pumpkins.

Who wants a homegrown pumpkin? 1st #mvcaoh employee to retweet can have one of these orange beauties. pic.twitter.com/W47qEBXEOX
— Craig Dunlap (@Cncdky) August 21, 2014

Of course, this was just a way to get people excited to use Twitter, but the real thrill came later in the week. 

Thursday morning.  Our preschool director emailed me about using iPads in her class.  She just received four iPads for preschool and wanted help getting started.  The best line from her email? "You'll be happy to know that I have been researching the topic on Twitter!"   

And THAT was the whole goal of the exercise. I'm pretty excited! Not only did I get rid of some of my excess produce, but we have some teachers beginning to collaborate outside our building.  This is gonna be good!

#edtechex Chat Archives 5-6-13

Here are the archives for our first #edtechex chat. Thanks for joining us!  See you next week! (Mondays 11:30-12:30 EST)

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B63-r4uLf6eDeTB5cFp0ZXprbkE/edit

Thanks to Alex for creating the archive.

Beans and Rice Week

I don't think it comes as a surprise to many of you that we live in abundance here in America.  Sure, our economy isn't exactly fun right now, and many of us have to pinch pennies to make our pay checks last.  But, our current conditions far outweigh the large majority of the world's population.

The leadership at my church decided to make a statement using beans and rice. As a church community, we are foregoing our normal diets for one week and living off of beans and rice instead.  There are two goals.  One, we will have a better idea what life is like for about one billion people who only eat beans and rice as their main staples.  Two, we are taking the money saved on groceries and restaurants and putting it to good use.  All the money collected will be divided among three causes to help improve the lives of others. You can read more about the project here.

I know what you're thinking.  What does this have to do with educational technology?  Why are you blogging about it here?

I am stunned not by how many people are taking up the challenge, but by how social media is keeping the excitement going.  Seriously, eating beans and rice is not that exciting, but we are doing this as a community and are keeping each other enthusiastic about the cause.  We are using Facebook as a place to share pictures, encouragement, video, and recipes. (Yes, recipes. Our church leadership got some of the top chefs in Cincinnati to post recipes using beans and rice.  Makes it a bit more palatable for the tummy.)  You can also share pictures on Instagram and funny stories on Twitter (#beansandriceweek for both).  Now, it's not just my family and our small group doing this together, but we can tap into a larger community (including our pastors and people we don't know) to encourage each other on the journey.

So, while this isn't educational technology, it's an example of using technology for the greater good, the greater community, and spreading some beans and rice love.  And I'm excited to see the fire spreading.

What are some great uses of social media you've seen lately?

Updated:
We wrapped up Beans and Rice Week on Easter morning, reviewing the benefits of the fast, taking up the offering, and showing this really sweet video (see below).  Once again, social media showed me that I was a part of something bigger than what's going on in my own home. This should make us ponder how we can leverage social media to created a bigger sense of community in our schools.

What's Working for You? #edtechex

I love connecting with other educators online, getting to know them and discussing educational philosophy.  I've discovered that Twitter and blogs are great ways to learn from like-minded people and get a sense that I'm not the only one trying to integrate technology into curriculum.

Recently, my role at school was changed, and I was able to participate in #edchat for the first time.  I was excited...but completely overwhelmed.  I would hop into the stream and hop out throughout the hour the first time I participated.  Now, when I can join the chat, I normally hang in there for the whole hour, unless I have more pressing matters on my desk.

But...sometimes...I get frustrated. Sometimes it feels like we keep saying the same thing.  Sometimes I feel that I am preaching to the choir, or sitting in the choir being preached at.  It's good to have affirmation, but we all think the same way (or at least similarly).  After all, we're all on Twitter... we are a demographic unto ourselves.  Chances are we like the way we teach and aren't fond of the way they teach.  We have no dissenting opinions because we are using a platform the dissenters wouldn't dream of using. 

Is this bad?  Not really, but instead of patting each other on the backs and pointing our fingers at them, I'm looking for something more concrete.

That's why I'm proposing a new hashtag.  #edtechex.  It stands for "educational technology examples" and I'm using it as a place to showcase excellent examples of technology use in schools.  It can be an app that you enjoyed, projects your students did, helping a colleague take a step toward tech integration awesomeness, or an article you read that you really envied.  

Personally, I'm interested in seeing great things that have grown out of your research, hard work, and student innovation.  Since you're online, I'm already guessing you lean toward technology integration, project-based learning, constructivism, and more progressive educational thinking.  Great.  Now, let's look at the concrete results of what you're doing out there. 

Will I continue with #edchat? Of course.  I'm still connecting with great educators and having interesting discussions, but let's get our hands dirty together. Shall we?  

Will you join the conversation with me in the comment box or on Twitter at #edtechex?  

eTech: Collaboration #oetc13

I'm much more extroverted online than I am in real person, as I hinted in my digital footprint post.  I found that one of the best aspects of being at a conference is being involved in Twitter during the conference.  I used the hashtag #oetc13 and tried to use the unconference hashtag #oetcx once or twice (but realized I spelled it wrong).  I'm still trying to get a grasp on what an unconference is, but that's a different thought for another time.

This was beneficial to me for a few reasons.

1. It gave me a whole new group of people to follow.  If I liked what you said, I clicked the FOLLOW button.  That way I can keep track of your thoughts, ideas, and lessons in the future.
2. Multitasking is not necessarily efficient, but helpful.  While I was sitting in a session and tweeting about it, I was reading other people's thoughts.  It was as if I was sitting in two or three rooms at once.  In fact, here is a whole list of things I picked up on from other people. 
3. It made those boring and useless sessions less of a waste of time. When I felt that I wasn't learning anything in a session, I could tune out the speaker and pay attention to Twitter.
4. I could ask a question and get an answer from someone who was in a session about that.  I was able to get answers about Minecraft in schools and math apps for high school this way. 

These connections took me further than the people at the conference.  I am now connected with the teachers from the real classroom session through Twitter, and sharing ideas through blogs.  I also blew off one session (I was super late due to slow breakfast service) because I got an email from a Kindergarten teacher who is helping me forge my way through the primary classes. I read her email on the escalator and knew that the ideas she just fed me would help me succeed as a Kindergarten teacher and I needed to work on that idea.

What I'm driving at is this.  Teachers can become better by expanding their network. We no longer have to resort to reading a text book to get great ideas.  They are all around us.  By joining in the Twitter and blog conversation, I have more access to information, support, and encouragement than ever before.  

So, the next time you go to a conference, join in the conversation on Twitter and see how much more you can learn!

eTech: Twitter #oetc13

This is an unedited list of things I learned from other people via Twitter.

Stuff I picked up through twitter

http://www.gingersoftware.com/  Spelling and grammar check.

http://nlvm.usu.edu/  Virtual Math Manipulatives

http://littlebirdtales.com/ Publish and animate your story.

http://byrdseed.com/differentiator/ Bloom's Tool

Lingro.com easy dictionary for ESL  

http://www.seomraranga.com/2013/02/bring-a-teacher-to-twitter/

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/edtechresearcher/2013/02/failure_is_mandatory_creating_a_culture_of_innovation.html

 http://www.innosightinstitute.org/media-room/publications/blended-learning/

http://ronbrogers.pbworks.com/w/page/62366229/E-Tech%20Conference%202013

http://mrsmithtrt.weebly.com/class-ebooks.html

https://sites.google.com/a/mcburg.org/how-to-do-it-all-from-google-drive/

http://www.appsusergroup.org/presentations/paperless-classroom

http://www.appsusergroup.org/presentations/paperless-classroom

http://prezi.com/nzj0ulrs3tg-/creating-247-paperless-classrooms/

App Smackdown: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BTMXUAGTWgEIGROGrlpl5zYcovIXm10DttGJ9jtFNUk/edit

Don't let the pigeon 

eTech 13 - Overview #oetc13

I had the privilege of spending two days this week attending the Ohio Educational Technology Conference in Columbus, OH. For two days, I was totally immersed in educational nerdom, both live and on Twitter, and loved it!  Over the course of the next few days, I'll debrief myself via Blogger and hopefully share some great insights with you as well.  For now, I have some quick hits before I go prep myself for classes today.

• Innovate or become an afterthought. Like it or not, technology is changing the way education is being done. Schools, administrators, and teachers need to learn how to innovate with the times to stay on top of the technology.  The way we did school is obsolete.  How can use technology to be relevant?
• You have to meet students where they are to reach them. I'm slowly starting to see that I can reach students better through gaming than I can through text. I'll get into this more later, but teachers have students building Mine Craft games, I am piloting a word game to teach Tier 2 Vocabulary, and I'm going to look into a game building software for my middle schoolers. No longer can I expect them to meet me in my world and my vocabulary; I at least need to appear to meet them half way.
• Sometimes the best way to learn is to connect to others. I'm happy to say that I walked away from this conference having started conversations with other educators, and I hope that this networking will lead to learning on both sides of the email or tweets.  I even got a bit geeked out when I got to sit next to one of my favorite presenters and tweeters.  It's about connecting with each other and sharing what works and doesn't work.
• Be very very careful what you post online. I'll get more into this later, but I saw first hand how dangerous it is to be online. In this age when nothing is private, we have to be careful to protect our privacy... and to teach our students to do the same.
• I really like sushi.  I've never had sushi before, but one of our school's vendors sprung for a huge sushi dinner for a few of his clients.  I. could. not. stop. eating. sushi.  Wow! 

That's it for now.  I have to prep for my classes.  Maybe I'll write more later today.  

Tech Integrators - December 8, 2011

I am sitting in the Philadelphia International Airport awaiting a flight home after a funeral, so I have some time for blogging.

My first thought is about my iPad, my music, and the Internet here in the airport. Every time I bring up Safari, my iTunes cuts out. So I turned on Pandora. Same thing. Now I'm listening to Muzak. Ugh!

Here is an article about what to do before you unleash a 1:1 program on your middle schoolers. The #1 thing? Email training. Interesting. I think my students are being trained on Office right now, so we're a bit off the radar here. I know that in one of my wiki projects I had to put the kabash on goofball emails as teachers and parents had to read them. Craziness. Here's the link. http://tericeschneider.com/?p=11

This article is about 10 months old. Ancient for this discussion, but it has good questions to comsider before you get into a program. A lot of it is for administrators and the IT department not the teachers, but there are some good thoughts for classroom teachers as well. Are you teaching in project-based environment or are you still the lecture-style teacher. If you are putting machines in there hands, you have to be prepared to give up some control.
http://ipadeducators.ning.com/profiles/blogs/preparing-your-school-for-an

Do you use Twitter as a teaching tool? I have a hard time allowing my 10- to 12-year old students get ahold of Twitter. I must still be a bit old fashioned. However, this article gives reasons to ponder it.
http://www.teachhub.com/twitter-classroom-discussion

I'm a gmail guy. I really think a third of my life is run by Google, and another third is run by Apple. This article helps us guide the way to meld the two together. I need to do this.
http://lifehacker.com/5859854/

If you're not following the Nerdy Teacher, then start now. Here is his list of 5 most needed apps in school. What would you put on your list?
http://www.thenerdyteacher.com/2011/11/in-next-few-days-i-will-be-rolling-out.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Technology Integrators (#1)

I plan on creating a post once a week talking about the world of technology integration.  As I spend time researching and learning new things, I'll post summaries and links in my post and put it out there for everyone to learn.  Of course, in today's world, what I learn today could be old news next week, but we'll give it a go.

While I was reading about this I discovered paper.li, a site that automatically creates a newspaper based on what you are following on Twitter.  I filtered out the stuff about my favorite musicians and athletes and landed with this.  Tell me what you think?  It changes each day.  So, bookmark, subscribe to it, and check back often.
http://paper.li/Cncdky/1320172334

Cool Cat Teacher is an amazing teacher/integrator.  Read her Daily Paper at http://coolcatteacher.visibli.com/share/erWxdC.

How can you stop lecturing and start students doing projects that promote learning instead?
http://www.edutopia.org/stw-maine-project-based-learning-replication-tips

Here is an article on why you should join Twitter too. Let's face it.  With today's Internet, we're all networking more and more.  Twitter is a place where today's educational technology integrators are meeting.  Read more at http://paper.li/shurrey/1292300532?utm_source=subscription&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=paper_sub.

Speaking of networking, here is an article talking gathering together teachers, administrators, and students to work together to create a technology plan that can work.  It also mentions the need for using such social networks as Facebook and Twitter in the regular classroom.
http://innovativeedu.visibli.com/share/CJK52f

How are you using technology in your classroom?  There are three models you can choose from: doing old things in old ways, doing old things in new ways, or doing new things in new ways.  Guess how the author thinks you should be doing things.
http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt

Technology integration in elementary school?  Can we use blogging, video penpalling, and podcasts to help the kids learn.  I mean.... the kids doing these things, not necessarily the teacher.  See how one school district in South Carolina is doing this effectively.
http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-technology-integration

Let's end with a question.  What are your thoughts on this tweet I just read?
"Kids are not only consuming information, they are producing it. And our classrooms need to reflect that. (ClaudiaCostin)

Thanks for reading.  Let me know what you want me to cover, and I'll try to find it.