Ready, Set, Go Tech!

Featuring posts on technology integration, education, and my experiences in the field.

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This Blog Has Moved!

As of today, I will no longer be posting my blog on tumblr. Now that I’ve really gotten into blogging, I decided to take a more professional approach and move to a site that is more suited to my needs. I also needed something not blocked by school districts so my content was more easily accessible. If you’re here because you’ve picked up my business card or because you found this blog some other way, click the link below:

www.tisinaction.wordpress.com

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GAFE Teacher Resource: Equation Editor

As I go along, I’m always learning new things about GAFE and its set of programs. Today I was exploring ways to use Google Classroom in the math classroom and came across the equation editor in Google Docs. While I am aware that there are some more robust add-ons (and that I’m looking into them!), I went ahead and put together a quick how-to sheet for my staff while I learn the other add-ons.

Click here for the resource

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Twitter Transcript: #wvedchat on Growth Mindset

Last night was another successful #wvedchat, and led by Rebecca Recco (@beccarecco). She wanted to focus on growth mindset, something she greatly enjoys and loves learning about.

Shortly before the session began, I had the idea to host a Meme Challenge. It’s something we’ve been doing with #IMMOOC, and I wanted to see what our crew could come up with. Their meme had to focus on growth mindset. The rules are thus: 

Any person from #wvedchat is welcome to participate. All entries (one can submit as many memes as they want) are due by 11:59 PM this Friday, 10/7/16. Submit your entries on Twitter using the hashtag #wvedchat, or to our Facebook page, WVEdChat.

The winner will receive a copy of the book “The Growth Mindset Coach” by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley.

Check out our chat from last night:

Transcript here

#wvedchat meets every other Tuesday at 8 PM. Derek Oldfield (@Mr_Oldfield) is one to follow for notices about the chat itself.

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Helping Others Become Connected Educators

I’ve mentioned numerous times about how being a connected educator has changed my perspective on my personal growth and development as an educator. One of my goals this year is to show other teachers how to become connected educators, and the benefits from doing so.

It took me some time to figure out just how to do this. As an ITRT in my district, I am required to offer professional development sessions after school. I will be doing two a month. This will be in addition to my club that I’ll be hosting once a month, and any other after school meetings that I have to attend. I didn’t want to just add another PD day after school, as I felt this might overwork me, but also because it might keep people from attending.

Instead, I took the 1:1 route. I did this for a few reasons. The first I mentioned above. Another reason was because I wanted anyone who wanted to learn to be able to choose their day and time. They could choose either before school or during their planning, but it would only be done in half hour chunks. I also would be able to personalize the training to meet the needs of the staff member that I would be working with at the time. I would move at their pace, and they wouldn’t have to feel overwhelmed.

I sent out an email to my middle school and high school staff, seeking those interested in becoming connected through blogs and Twitter. I was very surprised at the response, and have ended up with about ten people from the high school and middle school that would like to give things a try. It doesn’t seem like a lot, especially when the high school has over 100 staff members, but it’s enough for me. It’s honestly more that I could have ever expected, and I’m hoping to keep these members wanting to be connected.

Now that I have some interested educators, it’s time for me to take the next steps. I’m going to have them decide whether they want to learn about blogging or Twitter first. No matter which tool they pick, in most cases we are going to start with a “watch first” approach and then work on taking action slowly. I have seen and attended sessions where users are happy to join Twitter or create a blogging account, but then it’s never used again after that session. It falls to the wayside and is abandoned.

My goal with this program is to avoid that abandonment by providing 1:1 coaching throughout the year. I am hoping that by providing support all year long that these folks will become active with at least one of the tools and continue to find ways to support themselves. We shall see!

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#IMMOOC: Innovation and Professional Development

Thinking differently isn’t enough. We can think differently all we want, but that’s only a step in the right direction. It takes more than just a step to evoke change. We also can’t simply replace one thing with another, such as when teachers replace pencil and paper with computers and tablets. In many cases, all that has been done was replace the traditional with a far more expensive tool, unless educators decide to use the tool to make their lessons do something new or better.

As an instructional technology resource teacher trying to help teachers see how they can innovate with the technology they have in their classroom can be rather difficult. My district recently received a large load of Chromebooks. All levels received a cart of 30-40 Chromebooks to share between 2 or 3 teachers. At the high school level, all English teachers received their own Chromebook carts. This is great!… except it’s not. We’re almost 2 months into the school year and teachers are typically using the Chromebook for the following: MAP or IA testing, Mobymax/Study Island, or simply having them type up papers. This is one use for a Chromebook, but it’s nowhere near the best use. All that’s been done is replaced the typical pencil and paper tools. And while the data and computer adaptive nature of some of the above programs are amazing, that’s not all that the Chromebooks should be used for.

My fellow ITRTs and I are trying to counter this use of the tool, but it’s very difficult to accomplish. So far we’ve offered professional development that’s been lacking in attendance, usually a handful at most. When I came on board this year, I made the suggestion to move to doing Google Classroom self-guided professional development. Our teachers had 3 options to partake- in person, Google Classroom-based, or 1:1 with one of us instead. Our sessions that are being offered are based on the feedback given from staff so we go from offering Google-based sessions to others, such as Kahoot or Seesaw Portfolios.

Despite the feedback and new ways of attending sessions, we feel the reception to be lukewarm at best. This is a problem for us because in most cases professional development isn’t mandatory for teachers. They have to attend anything offered on a staff day, and they need 180 points for licensure renewal (VA requirement), but they don’t need to attend so many sessions a year. It was like this in my previous district. They had to get 18 hours of PD each year, but if they attended the Opening Day session and the next day, they easily had 12 hours completed.

Even if the trainers have the tools to help teachers begin to innovate their lessons or to help inspire them with something new, it does no good without teachers attending the sessions. This is my 3rd year in instructional technology, and still I don’t have the answer to this. I haven’t figured out a way to make professional development sessions new and better, at least in the sense of getting more people to attend them. I have moved away from the sit and get method, and the sessions I offer have teachers doing hands -on work. I know this still isn’t enough, and I’m working to improve in that regard.

If you are a teacher, it would really help me if you would give me some perspective, on why you choose not to attend professional development. What would make you want to attend a session, especially if all you have to go on is the description before signing up?

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Positive Post Friday: 9/23/16

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another Positive Post Friday!

Fridays mark the end of the work week. Fridays mark the start of the weekend. Fridays should end the week on a positive note. Therefore, I’m going to share 5 positive things that happened this week:

1. Today I am at a training for NWEA-MAP. We are ready to learn more about effective uses of the program. It really makes the training better when you have colleagues with you who are excited and love to share and discuss.

2. I met with more teachers who are part of my Connected Educator team this week. Both of them were interested in blogging and ready to learn how to share their stories. I really cannot wait to see where this professional development leads.

3. This week began participation in #IMMOOC, which is this massive book study group reading and responding to George Couros’ Innovator’s Mindset. Each week begins with a Youtube Live video, required reading, and possible ways to respond to the material, including quick video reflection. I was a little late in getting started, so I didn’t get my stuff finished until Wednesday night. I can’t wait to read more blogs and see what others thought.

4. I hosted #wvedchat’s biweekly chat this week and had a blast. I got a lot of comments and remarks about the topic. It was very fast paced, but oh so worth it. I love being able to host things like that.

5. I spent two days this week helping a MS student during Genius Hour with his project. He did his on video games and wanted to make his own game. His teacher contacted me and asked for help. He and I have been discussing his plans, as well as working on Gamestar Mechanic. He’s excited and eager ot figure out the program!

Your turn: Share your Positive Post Friday.

Until next Friday! Have a great weekend!

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#IMMOOC: Inspiration

I started this post with the quote from the very beginning of the introduction to George Couros’ Innovator’s Mindset because it resonated strongly with me, even after I finished reading the section. Ever since I was little, I’ve been curious about the world around me. My interests have changed and evolved over the years, but no matter where I end up, I seem to be curious about learning new things. Perhaps this is why I hate click bait articles so much... I know they aren’t as good as they are made out to be, but my curiosity can’t resist at times.

Curiosity lends a lot to my desire to learn new things and to seek new information. As an educator, I’m eager to seek new opportunities for professional development to learn new things. I get to learn about GIS and makerspace next week, and I’m sure more opportunities will arise throughout the year. I am eagerly developing professional development for staff, and am so very proud of my effort to create some new connected educators. I tell many educators that all it takes is being motivated to want to learn something new, especially when it comes to my technology PD sessions.

Education should make us motivated and curious about learning. We should willingly seek new knowledge, be willing to share that knowledge openly with others. To me, this is the true purpose of education. And yet we send five and six year olds to school curious and eager to start, and by the time they graduate, they can’t wait to get out of school and move forward. They are done with school and all it entails.

Something has to change. The times are changing. The way we learn and the way kids learn is changing. School should no longer be the time where children sit and consume knowledge with bouts of time for them to explore their passions. No, not at all. School should encourage them to be creators, innovators, game changers. We expect them to change the way the world works, but how can we expect that if we don’t change the way their education works?

Innovation is a gateway to changing the game. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it can happen over time with dedication and passion. It’s my hope that after reading the introduction, that I’m in for quite a treat with the #IMMOOC. I can’t wait to continue!

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Twitter Transcript: #wvedchat on Summer PD Lessons

Last night I hosted #wvedchat’s biweekly edchat. Originally, Dr. Rikki Lowe was to be the main host and I was to be the 2nd moderator to assist. However, she had a family emergency, and so I took over the chat. She had all of the images prepared, so I only had to make sure they got uploaded at the proper times. Well that, and encourage the conversation to expand.

If you’ve never hosted an edchat, it can be a bit daunting. Being a participant and watching things move quickly is one thing, but watching as a moderator and replying/liking others’ tweets is a whole other ballgame. My fingers were left flying across the keyboard as I participated, but in the end, I was pleased with how things turned out. 

We focused on lessons from summer professional development, and the things that were learned. Many of us shared edtech tools or workshops that we attended. If you weren’t there, what was your favorite summer PD opportunity, and why?

Transcript here

#wvedchat meets every other Tuesday at 8 PM. Derek Oldfield (@Mr_Oldfield) is one to follow for notices about the chat itself.

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Need Twitter Teachers to Follow?

I was very, very excited yesterday when my fellow colleague Derek Oldfield posted a LinkedIn blog from Keith O’Neal on 100 West Virginia Educators to Follow on Twitter. Turns out O’Neal is doing the #eduFollowChallenge, and is working on creating a post for every state. At this point, he’s nearly finished, and his LinkedIn profile has every single post so far.

I decided to curate all of his posts into one easy list, not only for myself, but for others as well. That way I can always go back and check out new people I may want to follow. I went through the Virginia list this morning and specifically sought out edtech and ITRT folks. I looked through the West Virginia one last night and found I knew nearly every person listed.

I also plan to pass this list on to those teachers who are participating in my Connected Educator professional development. I know it’ll help them find new followers on their own time, and it’ll give them a big start.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland (DC is included here)

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Note: At the time of this publishing, 5 states still were not complete. I will add them later.

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Positive Post Friday: 9/16/16

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another Positive Post Friday!

Fridays mark the end of the work week. Fridays mark the start of the weekend. Fridays should end the week on a positive note. Therefore, I’m going to share 5 positive things that happened this week:

1. Last Friday, sign-up forms for my Fluco Game Designers club went home with progress reports. I had a huge stack returned this week. I had to cap it yesterday. I have close to 70 kids signed up, way more than I can handle in one go or in both connecting labs. I have emailed parents and snagged 2 helpers. I have a 3rd possible one. I will take all the help I can get. I am going to split the kids into two groups after the first meeting and they will meet every other week.

2. I held my first PD training in my new district. I did one on Kahoot. While I only had 2 people show up, it went very well and I loved having my Google Classroom set up so that I could easily refer to things as I went along.

3. I started designing more PD classrooms this week. I have one nearly finished for Home Connections with Facebook Pages and I will start designing my PD sessions for next month as well.

4. I started meeting with educators for my Connected Educators sessions this week. Everyone wanted to start with Twitter except one, who wanted blogs. I’m good either way, as I have a learning plan with assignments no matter which topic they choose. I’m looking forward to good things from this.

5. I presented to all administration on Thursday about social media and building our brand. It looks like we are off to a good start, and I was able to reference some of the stuff I was already doing with educators and connecting them. I hope to take the next steps soon!

Your turn: Share your Positive Post Friday.

Until next Friday! Have a great weekend!

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ITRT Goals

Since I’m in a new state and district this year, I wanted to set some goals for myself and see if I can achieve them this year. I’m an ITRT this year, aka an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher. It’s really the same job as when I was a TIS (Technology Integration Specialist), just a different title. We were asked to create goals in new teacher orientation in July, and I later sat down and made my list a little longer. In the end, I ended up with 6 different goals.

Increase the use of the project library at FCHS- The project library is a wonderful room that many schools do not have. This room is a collaborative space and is set up with three different sections. The front section is a round sort of couch with a table, where connectors are placed to plug in. Users at this table can immediately have their table connect to the Promethean board in the room. Behind this section is a high cafe table with stools where students can sit and view the front or work on their own stuff. In the back of the room are two more sections, each with a table and large screen TV. The setup is the same as the front.  It was asked that I train teachers on using this room, and work to provide them with support and ideas for how to best utilize it as well. I know it will easily work for ELA teachers, and I need to find ways to get others to use the room. I am going to work on talking with teachers every now and then to see if I can spark any ideas.

Get more educators “connected”- This goal is one I always have in the back of my mind. I want to show more educators what the power of Twitter and blogging can do for their teaching. I think it will be easier to get them to use Twitter than to blog, but that’s okay. Twitter can be a very powerful tool for connections and ideas, and I have plenty I can share with staff. My district already wants to utilize social media more, and the superintendent is aware of what I can do, and has asked me to speak with the other administrators and technology team. I have already begun developing a self-guided course for staff development. I plan to send out an email to see if I can find any interested educators, and then work one on one with them during school hours to help them learn to utilize Twitter. I have a feeling that the self-guided course will be beneficial as a reference guide when I cannot be there to add support. It’s only a beginner course, but I am hoping to be able to develop a more advanced user course in the future.

Increase staff use of technology in classrooms at FMS/FCHS- This is a goal for me in my position no matter where I am. I do know that staff utilize the technology more in this district than my old one overall, and they have so far been more willing to ask for resources/help on different tools and resources. I am working to develop staff development that will assist me in this, and if I can get all of my training materials into Google Classrooms, then I will have self-guided classes as well, which will also double as references for staff. I plan to make sure staff know I can co-plan, co-teach, and co-reflect with them so that they have the support necessary. I feel this goal might take me a little bit to get started as I am still working to settle into the routine and getting to know my staff.

Use Google Classroom to create online staff development resources- I have already mentioned parts of this goal above, but I need to go into more detail. I come from a Microsoft state, and am now in a Google district. The switch has been interesting and not as bad as I thought it might be. I’ve been introduced to Google Classroom, and though it doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that I’d like for it to have, it’s a decent tool to use with both staff and students. When I began learning to use Google Classroom, I started working on setting up my own coursework. Since I don’t have my own class of students, I made my classroom meant for teachers, and focused my design on professional development. I started with Twitter, but soon switched to Kahoot, since teachers wanted PD on interactive tools for the classroom. I successfully finished the Kahoot one, and was so pleased with it that I am working to develop other classrooms for tools as well.

Build relationships with ALL staff- As a new staff member in a brand new district, it is absolutely vital to work on this goal. I need to build good relationships with staff so that they will be able to trust me as their ITRT. I have found that this has worked well for me in the past, but that it can take some time. The first school year is often rougher because I am still developing relationships. I found in my last district that the second year was easier once I had established relationships in place. Once I have a good relationship with a staff member in place, then it becomes easier for me to be able to make technology suggestions to teachers. They are usually more willing to listen and consider what I have to say because there is a level of trust there. I know it is going to be hard to make sure I have a good relationship with all staff, but I’m really going to try my best with this one.

Work on Google certification- This goal is a must for me now that I am in a Google district. I have always wanted to do it before, but have never had enough time, and since I wasn’t in a Google district, it wasn’t too high on my priority list. Now that I am, I want to make sure I know all there is to know. My teachers expect me to know a good bit, and thankfully I am a fast learner when it comes to technology. There are two levels of regular certification, and I intend to take both before the year is out. I am planning on having the first level finished by Christmas, and the second before the school year is over. Each level has coursework that can be taken, and then an exam to sit for online. The exams cost, but thankfully they aren’t expensive.

Six goals seems plenty to me for the 2016-2017 school year. I am hoping that I remember I set goals by the time the end of the year rolls around. Then I’ll come back and address which I met, and which I feel I failed to meet. Wish me luck!

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Positive Post Friday: 9/9/16

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another Positive Post Friday!

Fridays mark the end of the work week. Fridays mark the start of the weekend. Fridays should end the week on a positive note. Therefore, I’m going to share 5 positive things that happened this week:

1. I had an interesting encounter with some 6th grade boys this week. I walk into the school usually around the same time as the students. They were behind me. I had my jacket, backpack, and lunchbox. They came up beside me and asked if my name was Javier. I had to inform them that I was their ITRT named Miss B... the look on their faces was priceless!

2. I have been working on design staff development courses using Google Classroom. This week I finished up designing my course for Seesaw, the digital portfolio website, and for Google Forms. Three courses designed now.

3. I have been working on building up a crew for my Connected Educator PD. I have 10 people, and this week I surveyed them, designed my templates for both Twitter and blogging, and had my first meeting with one of the teachers. It was great and I feel like I can definitely do this. I figure I’ll do better as I do more sessions with folks.

4. I worked with a SPED teacher this week to plan some lessons on digital citizenship for his students. We are starting with communication and learning how to send a proper email. He wants his kids to be able to communicate with their peers and professionals and I will do my first lesson with his kids on Tuesday.

5. This week #wvedchat had an amazing edchat session on Tuesday evening. We worked really hard to make it better based on the plans that Rikki, Derek, and I discussed and it was successful. We had our best group of participants since the April switch to using Participate.com for stats. I hope it keeps up!

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What I Wish I’d Known as a 1st year Technology Integration Specialist

Note: This article was originally written last school year, but I never finished or posted it. At the time, I wasn’t actively blogging as much as I do now, and I wanted to get this post out there. This post applies to anyone brand new to the field of instructional technology, no matter the job title. Since I’m in a new district this year, you can bet I’m going to heed the advice of my past self!

I always see these articles for teachers, but I’ve never seen one for a technology integration specialist (TIS). I’ve decided to create my own article, and hopefully my experiences will help another TIS in getting started on their new journey.

As I’ve mentioned before, I became a TIS last year. I applied for the job in September, thinking that I would not be allowed to switch out of my current job as 4th grade teacher into the position. The deadline to transfer jobs had just passed for the district when the job itself was posted. In order to apply for the position, one had to have their TIS credentials, or be able to apply for the 1 year temporary certification. In order to do the latter, one had to be a part of the current TIS cohort for the 2014-2015 school year. I fell into the latter category, so I took a shot and applied. I was hired, and allowed to switch. Come the end of October, I said goodbye to my students and classroom, and stepped forward to begin my new journey as a TIS.

Looking back, there are many things I wished I’d known about being a TIS, or getting started in the position. Unlike a beginning teacher, I didn’t have a mentor in my building to go to for advice. I could email the technology office if I needed anything, but for the most part, it was a learn-as-you-go experience. I was pretty confident in my abilities with technology, but I was overwhelmed as to where to begin. My first day on the job happened to be a staff development day without students, and so I was to shadow the previous TIS at the middle school. We didn’t do the elementary school. After that day, I was to work 3 days a week at a middle school, and the other 2 days at an elementary school. The days I chose to be at each school were up to me, as were my hours. I could do 7-3, 7:30-3:30, or 8-4. Of course, I worked hard and made it through the year, but not without a few issues and lessons learned along the way.

So without further ado…

What I Wished I’d Known as a First Year Technology Integration Specialist

1.      Exactly How Crucial Relationships are for Collaboration: As with any work environment, relationships are key. However, a TIS does not have the option to lock themselves away and be isolated. A TIS must be able foster and build a comfortable relationship with the teachers they will be working with. We all hear about collaboration and working as a team. I came from a school where for the past 3 years I’d been the sole 4th grade teacher. Collaboration between grades or areas was minimum at best. Collaborating with other teachers in the county? Difficult. We didn’t have time anymore to get together, and schools were spaced out. Not the best, but that’s how it was.

A TIS must be able to work with anyone- teachers, librarians, custodians, cooks, administrators, and more. This can be hard, especially when there are teachers who would rather be left to their own devices. As a TIS, one learns that some teachers do not wish to have them, or know how they want to use them. The best thing to do is to continually offer services, but not push for them. Instead, building relationships with them. Find common interests, talk about the classroom, or just eat lunch together. Sometimes they’ll come around, and sometimes not. Don’t take offense to it, as there are others who are happy to have assistance.

2.      Expectations of You May Not Be What The Job Actually Entails: Coming into this position, I knew that a TIS is expected to help teachers and students integrate technology into the curriculum. This means that we must teach both teachers and students how to use the technology. We also find new technology for teachers, show them how to use it, look for resources, and teach their students technology lessons or co-teach lessons involving technology. However, if the previous TIS did not do this, beware of what others’ expectations may be. Expectations for your position may be nothing more than a glorified computer repair person.

If the above happens to be the case, then a TIS has quite a task in front of them. The first problem that a TIS faces is that faculty expects them to fix computers or any other technology related issues that arise, and that is the only expectation. In my district, a TIS will take a look at the problem, but if they can’t resolve it quickly, or they don’t know how to resolve it, then a work order is put into the system to have the issue fixed by someone who can. At first, this is what most of my job was for teachers in the middle school, and the only time they would sign up for my assistance. I spent the entire year trying to show that my job was more on the side of technology integration, rather than just fixing. By the end of the year, I was leaning closer to a balance of the two. Hopefully this year I can swing it so that I’m doing more integrating than anything else. It takes baby steps to swing the pendulum the other way, but it pays off in the end.

3.      Elementary and Middle School Collaboration are Very Different: I come from an elementary background, so most of my knowledge and experience was with the elementary level. I was used to working as a team with a variety of staff, or working with a particular colleague. I was not ready for the difference I found in middle school. I discovered a lot of isolated pockets my first year, and found that there wasn’t very much cross-curricular collaboration going on. Granted, it may just have been my school, but still.

When faced with trying to build up collaboration, a new TIS needs to make sure that relationships and trust are gained first. I didn’t heed this in my first year. I worked toward it, but not as adamantly as I should have. Had I known this, I might have been able to gain the teachers’ trust more quickly. I’m hoping that a year in this position makes a difference for me as a TIS and the amount of technology I can help my teachers integrate.

4.      Go Slowly: A TIS cannot just through random bits of technology at the teachers and expect them to grab hold and use it. This is absolutely the quickest way to gain a staff member’s distrust. Not only is it overwhelming, but the staff have no buy in, and no reason to use it. Rather, a TIS should make suggestions from time to time, but really focus in on what staff do want. They may not know the name of the particular technology tool, or if it even exists, but they will describe what they want so that the TIS can research and see if something does exist.

A TIS should also learn about the staff members’ comfort levels with technology. Someone who is very comfortable may know exactly what they want and request it. They might be happy to go at their own pace from there, or they might need a little bit of help. Other staff members may not be very fond of technology, or know what it can truly do. With this type of staff member, it’s best to go slow. Make suggestions, offer to co-plan and co-teach with the teacher as well. Make them comfortable from start to finish to help reduce the fear. Of course, you will have staff members that fall in between these two levels as well. A TIS isn’t meant to create more frustration in the work environment.

5.      Always Watch for New Learning Experiences: Okay so this isn’t something I necessarily needed to know as a first year TIS, but it is something any TIS should always know. It’s a good reminder to start the year with as well. Technology is an ever changing field, and there are always new applications, programs, and websites for educators to review and look at. Just because one year a particular edtech tool is hot, doesn’t mean that it’s going to be the next year, or that it will be the only tool to do that particular task. There are always new programs, and they don’t always replace the old ones.

As a TIS, stay connected online. Research new edtech tools, and ask colleagues what they might recommend. Stay current on new changes in the field, and don’t be afraid to try something that doesn’t work in the end. Oh and one of the most important parts to this- always listen to the teachers at the schools. Just because they aren’t a TIS doesn’t mean they don’t have some great ideas or resources to share. It’s easy to avoid having to research, but it only hurts you as a TIS, and is a disservice to the teachers, too.

Hopefully, these 5 things will help get other new TISs started on their journey in the field, and help them to avoid making some common blunders. I wish all the new TISs the absolute best this school year!

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Twitter Transcript: #minecraftedu on Gaining Admin Support for GBL

Because I was helping with the revamping of #wvedchat, I wasn’t able to pay attention at all to this one. That’s okay though because that’s what transcripts are for!

Last night’s chat focused on how educators can work toward gaining support from administrators for game-based learning. As teachers, we all know that when we have the support of administrators behind us, implementation of anything becomes so much easier.

The chat discusses roadblocks, the support needed, how to use Minecraft for assessment, and more. For many, it should help them to see that they aren’t alone when it comes to implementing game-based learning into the classroom.

Transcript here

#Minecraftedu meets every Tuesday at 8 PM. Mark Grundel (@mgrundel) and Garrett.Z (@PBJellyGames) are the founders of the chat, and ones to follow for notices about the chat itself.

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Twitter Transcript: #wvedchat on #SuccessTogether

#wvedchat has been working to relaunch itself this past week. A few of us got together on Saturday to discuss the future of #wvedchat and how to improve the community. Myself, Rikki (@DrRikki908), and Derek (@Mr_Oldfield) spent over an hour last Saturday morning discussing the possibilities, which I will explain in a future post. Suffice to say, the result of our effort was visible last night.

#wvedchat uses Participate for it’s host, which means we have stats to track each chat. We switched over to Participate in April. Last night was our best chat since that switchover. We had more participants, more discussions, and way more activity. Rikki and I took on a side moderator role in which we made sure to engage in conversation, retweets, and liking of others’ posts.

The chat itself was hosted by Remind’s Sarah Dougherty (@sardougherty). It focused on communicating and connecting with not only educators but parents and families. Of course, Remind is one of the many ways to accomplish this. Read the transcript below to see what transpired during our hourlong chat!

Transcript here

#wvedchat meets every other Tuesday at 8 PM. Derek Oldfield (@Mr_Oldfield) is one to follow for notices about the chat itself. 

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Personal Vs. Educational: Keep It Separate

Recently I have been talking to educators about becoming connected online and networking with other educators. Connecting with other educators is a great tool, and I have made many good friends through the connections I have built up online. 

I love the educators that let me see glimpses of what’s going on in their classrooms. I love the ones that give me new ideas or ways to get professional development, and I love links to resources. I also love the conversations I can have with another educator about policy or the classroom. These are all wonderful ways to keep me connected to others, and I have learned so much.

So what’s not so good when it comes to an educator’s professional account. When an educator uses an account created for the purpose of being their “professional” account for mostly personal reasons, then there’s a bit of a problem. Sure, the occasional family pic or hobby post isn’t bad, but when your account is used more for personal reasons than professional ones, it’s time to consider separating the two into different accounts, or considering the reason you created the account in the first place.

Yes, educators themselves tend to be held to higher standards in general when it comes to social media posting, but educators have always been held to higher standards. We should keep this in mind when connecting with other educators, as they tend to follow us for our educational insight and knowledge. I want to hear about what fellow educators are doing and thinking as it relates to education, as I look for new ideas for my own development.

It’s very easy to mute or unfollow someone, and it’s something I’ve taken advantage of a few times myself. No matter how good of an educator someone might be, if their personal stuff is overtaking their professional account, I take care of it. Sometimes it’s harder than others.

We all have our own opinions and ideals. And yes, we like to share them with our peers, too. However, before posting that political tweet or sending off the tenth picture of your family vacation on your professional account, stop and think about how other educators are perceiving it. Why did they follow your account in the first place? Is this post or tweet going to live up to the ideals you’ve set forth for your professional account? If not, you may want to consider posting it to a personal account instead.

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Positive Post Friday: 9/2/16

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another Positive Post Friday!

Fridays mark the end of the work week. Fridays mark the start of the weekend. Fridays should end the week on a positive note. Therefore, I’m going to share 5 positive things that happened this week:

1. I have scheduled my first professional development sessions that I’ll be teaching this month. I am starting with Kahoot and Google Forms. I already have people signed up too!

2. I sent out an email about getting teachers on board with becoming connected educators. I have around 10 set to learn about blogging and Twitter. I’m going to do it as a 1:1 training, rather than whole group so I can easily tailor the material to the staff member.

3. I spent today working on my training materials for Google Forms. I decided to go with doing tutorial videos and my usual Google Classroom setup. I got most of the screencasting completed, and have just a few more videos to create for it. Hopefully I will be finished next week.

4. #wvedchat is working on getting better at its schedule and moderating teams, so we have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10 AM. It should be interesting and hopefully a big step in the right direction for building up this edchat.

5. Not educational, but exciting nonetheless! Digimon Tri is getting a special 1 day limited screening on September 15 in 300 select theaters. I got lucky enough to see that one was ten minutes away from me. I’m excited to see the English version for sure!

Your turn: Share your Positive Post Friday.

Until next Friday! Have a great weekend!