Recently I watched a member of my PLN leave a group chat over an innocent comment.
Feedback is something that we all need in order to grow as professionals, but I'm sure most of us have been on the receiving end of feedback as well. Although designed to be helpful, if you're like me you will take certain comments way to personally.
Recently a former colleague of mine was complaining because during a walk-through, the principal wrote "your garbage was too full for the beginning of the day" under the classroom environment section of the feedback form. Is this truly helpful feedback? Would the principal have preferred the garbage be on the floor? I'm sure the comment was meant innocently. Just like teachers have certain forms they need to complete, so do principals. Perhaps this teacher was doing everything correctly but the principal was required to give at least one place for "improvement" and couldn't find a real area.
I remember that once during a PD, a principal said that every assignment we returned to students required feedback and "great job" was not acceptable. The student could have done an exploratory job but we were still required to give them a place for improvement.
As I continue on my journey in education, I need to look at this in relation to my students. Is there an acceptable point to not give room for improvement. I know that no one is perfect, but that doesn't mean we have to crush someone's spirit.
I might think my comment is helpful, but when a student has worked extremely hard on a project they might take a major emotional blow that will end up preventing them from trying the next time.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Saturday, May 28, 2016
To Compete or Not to Compete
This week, I took my students to the PA Computer Fair to compete in digital design and webpage design. Both students worked really hard on their projects and I'm extremely proud of their final projects.
Before we took the journey to Dickinson College, we started regionally. I learned about the Delco Computer Fair about a week before the entries were due. With such a short time frame, I looked at the work students had already completed in class and found two of them qualified for the competition.
After speaking with those students, I submitted their names to Delco. It seems that for both categories, my students didn't have much local competition and their names were passed on for the state level.
We spent the next few weeks using the feedback from our local judge to improve their presentations before the big day. Their technical projects were ready but we were told that displays were important as well. As a first time adviser to this level of competitions, I feel that I learned just as much, if not more, than my students. Many of the tri-folds displayed were of professional quality. One piece, largely printed displays were common compared to our hand made boards.
While we didn't take home any prizes, it was a great day and everyone enjoyed themselves. Besides the competition, there were activities set up for students while the judges where evaluating the projects. My students choose to attend "Angry Nerds" which was a Quizzo style game using Kahoot.
So here's my dilemma, and the purpose of this post's title. When did competitions become about the money spent on displays and not the process. There were projects better than my students', I'll admit that. However, the presentations that won the prizes were not, in my opinion, the best work. They were just the fanciest displays. Additionally, the grand prize was only $150 yet based on what these students had set up, they spent much more than that on the display. So how do we encourage students to compete without forcing parents to spend a fortune? How do we encourage students to compete without parents and teachers micromanaging?
For my students, I wanted it to be about the experience. They both worked hard and our school was extremely supportive of getting them to the competition. Honestly, I think I'm more disappointed than they are about the results. Perhaps it's because when the mother asked about uploading her design and ordering business cards from a website, I had replied "no, we can print them at school. No reason to spend extra money" only to get there and see everything professionally made.
Live and learn. I took pictures of the competition and next year if I encourage students to enter, I'll make sure they see what they need to beat.
 |
| Their projects on display. |
Before we took the journey to Dickinson College, we started regionally. I learned about the Delco Computer Fair about a week before the entries were due. With such a short time frame, I looked at the work students had already completed in class and found two of them qualified for the competition.
After speaking with those students, I submitted their names to Delco. It seems that for both categories, my students didn't have much local competition and their names were passed on for the state level.
We spent the next few weeks using the feedback from our local judge to improve their presentations before the big day. Their technical projects were ready but we were told that displays were important as well. As a first time adviser to this level of competitions, I feel that I learned just as much, if not more, than my students. Many of the tri-folds displayed were of professional quality. One piece, largely printed displays were common compared to our hand made boards.
While we didn't take home any prizes, it was a great day and everyone enjoyed themselves. Besides the competition, there were activities set up for students while the judges where evaluating the projects. My students choose to attend "Angry Nerds" which was a Quizzo style game using Kahoot.
So here's my dilemma, and the purpose of this post's title. When did competitions become about the money spent on displays and not the process. There were projects better than my students', I'll admit that. However, the presentations that won the prizes were not, in my opinion, the best work. They were just the fanciest displays. Additionally, the grand prize was only $150 yet based on what these students had set up, they spent much more than that on the display. So how do we encourage students to compete without forcing parents to spend a fortune? How do we encourage students to compete without parents and teachers micromanaging?
Live and learn. I took pictures of the competition and next year if I encourage students to enter, I'll make sure they see what they need to beat.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
The Continuing Issue Known as Bullying
Bullying has always been around. Years ago, people just ignored it or made excuses such as "boys will be boys" when something happened. So what has changed? Has bullying increased? Become more physical? No, I don't think so. I think that bullying is the same now as it was years ago in certain ways. It's unfortunate that it wasn't taken seriously years ago. For a long time, victims of bullying were told to ignore it. The people giving that advice must never have been bullied in their own youth. Tuning out bullying is like tuning out the barking dog when you're trying to sleep; you might learn to live with it but you never just ignore it.
I was trying to think of a good example to use so I decided to reference the 1999 movie, Never Been Kissed. In this film, Josie (Drew Barrymore) is a reporter that returns to high school undercover to write a story. Her original high school experience was full of bullying and taunting that culminated with the prom experience that would make anyone cringe. She eventually went to college and found people with similar interests to her own. She was able in some ways to move on from the experiences of high school, however they were always there in her mind and impacted decisions she made.
Now imagine that cell phones and YouTube had existed at the time. Not only was this poor girl tormented by her peers, now they've posted it online and it's gone viral. Suddenly, the awkward and horrible experience is everywhere. Josie can't escape it. Everywhere she goes, the video and a pre-conceived reputation follows. Although she was bright and went on to college, the video would follow. Moving on would be difficult when she would always wonder if people were being nice because they truly liked her as a person or felt bad for the girl from prom.
Cyberbullying is as old as the Internet itself. The ability to remain anonymous has allowed teens to become more viscous in their taunting. It also makes it more difficult for someone that is being bullied to find a safe place to get some peace. Where can someone go that Twitter doesn't follow? How can a victim prevent being victimized again when the video of his/her torment is posted to YouTube? While YouTube does allow you to report videos and try to remove them, this option is a slow process when it does work and the video has already been out there where it can be downloaded and re-posted.
Now more than ever, the Internet is so intertwined with life that it's impossible to just avoid it. Right now, as I write this post, I have flipped back to social media no less than ten times. I know that we can't stop bullying completely. It's a sad part of life. True or not, these posts and comments stay with us and influence the person we become.
So how can we help our students deal with the issues? Ignoring the problem won't make it go away. And "an eye for an eye" never works either. This is where digital citizenship comes into play. Instead of ignoring the problem we need to work within the system. Schools can try to block social media or claim to have zero tolerance, however it won't prevent students from getting on their phones or going home to post. School's can try but it's difficult to enforce policies outside the school building. We need to incorporate lessons on digital citizenship into the classroom.
Teachers and students need to work together to help each other. The Internet can be a weapon for bullies but it can also become a safe haven for victims. Someone might not feel accepted by their peers but that doesn't mean they deserve to be pushed aside or made an outcast. Use the Internet to search for local groups with similar interests. Do you live in a city but love agriculture? Do you live in a small town but love live theater? You can connect with other people online with similar interests. You might even find a local group of like-minded people to meet.
Let's start a discussion. Help find ways to combat the negative impact of bullying.
image source: Valentine’s Marathon: Never Been Kissed (1999)
I was trying to think of a good example to use so I decided to reference the 1999 movie, Never Been Kissed. In this film, Josie (Drew Barrymore) is a reporter that returns to high school undercover to write a story. Her original high school experience was full of bullying and taunting that culminated with the prom experience that would make anyone cringe. She eventually went to college and found people with similar interests to her own. She was able in some ways to move on from the experiences of high school, however they were always there in her mind and impacted decisions she made.
Now imagine that cell phones and YouTube had existed at the time. Not only was this poor girl tormented by her peers, now they've posted it online and it's gone viral. Suddenly, the awkward and horrible experience is everywhere. Josie can't escape it. Everywhere she goes, the video and a pre-conceived reputation follows. Although she was bright and went on to college, the video would follow. Moving on would be difficult when she would always wonder if people were being nice because they truly liked her as a person or felt bad for the girl from prom.
Cyberbullying is as old as the Internet itself. The ability to remain anonymous has allowed teens to become more viscous in their taunting. It also makes it more difficult for someone that is being bullied to find a safe place to get some peace. Where can someone go that Twitter doesn't follow? How can a victim prevent being victimized again when the video of his/her torment is posted to YouTube? While YouTube does allow you to report videos and try to remove them, this option is a slow process when it does work and the video has already been out there where it can be downloaded and re-posted.
Now more than ever, the Internet is so intertwined with life that it's impossible to just avoid it. Right now, as I write this post, I have flipped back to social media no less than ten times. I know that we can't stop bullying completely. It's a sad part of life. True or not, these posts and comments stay with us and influence the person we become.
So how can we help our students deal with the issues? Ignoring the problem won't make it go away. And "an eye for an eye" never works either. This is where digital citizenship comes into play. Instead of ignoring the problem we need to work within the system. Schools can try to block social media or claim to have zero tolerance, however it won't prevent students from getting on their phones or going home to post. School's can try but it's difficult to enforce policies outside the school building. We need to incorporate lessons on digital citizenship into the classroom.
Teachers and students need to work together to help each other. The Internet can be a weapon for bullies but it can also become a safe haven for victims. Someone might not feel accepted by their peers but that doesn't mean they deserve to be pushed aside or made an outcast. Use the Internet to search for local groups with similar interests. Do you live in a city but love agriculture? Do you live in a small town but love live theater? You can connect with other people online with similar interests. You might even find a local group of like-minded people to meet.
Let's start a discussion. Help find ways to combat the negative impact of bullying.
image source: Valentine’s Marathon: Never Been Kissed (1999)
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Earning Free Supplies for Your Schools
Did you know that many companies want to give your school money and supplies? It's true. Businesses get huge tax breaks for making donations and often times it encourages people to buy their brands. Below are a few programs available to schools that will help you raise money or supplies for your campus. You can do them all. You can do none. It's really up to you and how involved your communities are in the schools.
BoxTops4Education - Probably the most famous program around. Each boxtop that is turned into the school is worth $0.10. Twice a year, your school will get a check. There are also times when products and/or stores will run promotions that double the value to $0.20 each.
Participating brands include:
Labels for Education - Each UPC is worth a set number of points depending on the item. The points can be redeemed in a catalog for school supplies such as gym equipment and art supplies.
Participating brands include:
My Coke Rewards - Every bottle or package of Coca-Cola products has a code listed. For bottles, it is in the cap. For cases, it's on the cardboard. These points can be donated to schools and converted to quarterly cash payments. Schools can then use the funds to buy supplies.
Participating brands include:
Amazon - Amazon allows eligible non-profits, including schools, sign up for AmazonSmile. Once enrolled, any purchases made through smile.amazon.com will give your school a 0.5% cash donation of the total purchase price. The shopper just needs to designate your school as their charity and then shop as normal. Amazon sends electronic payments on a quarterly basis for any funds you have raised.
BoxTops4Education - Probably the most famous program around. Each boxtop that is turned into the school is worth $0.10. Twice a year, your school will get a check. There are also times when products and/or stores will run promotions that double the value to $0.20 each.
Participating brands include:
- General Mills
- Ziploc
- Totino
- Betty Crocker
- Hefty
- Pillsbury
- Green Giant
- Land O'Lakes
- and more...
Labels for Education - Each UPC is worth a set number of points depending on the item. The points can be redeemed in a catalog for school supplies such as gym equipment and art supplies.
Participating brands include:
- Campbells
- Pepperidge Farm
- Spaghettos
- V8
- and more...
My Coke Rewards - Every bottle or package of Coca-Cola products has a code listed. For bottles, it is in the cap. For cases, it's on the cardboard. These points can be donated to schools and converted to quarterly cash payments. Schools can then use the funds to buy supplies.
Participating brands include:
- Coca-Cola
- Sprite
- Dasani
- Minute Maid
- Powerade
- and more...
Amazon - Amazon allows eligible non-profits, including schools, sign up for AmazonSmile. Once enrolled, any purchases made through smile.amazon.com will give your school a 0.5% cash donation of the total purchase price. The shopper just needs to designate your school as their charity and then shop as normal. Amazon sends electronic payments on a quarterly basis for any funds you have raised.
Target - If you have a Target credit or debit card, you can sign up to have Target make a donation to a school of your choice, 1% of what you spend in the store. Sadly, they announced this month that the program will be ending in May 2016, but there's still time to sign up your cards and earn some funds in the meanwhile. Schools will receive a final check after the program ends.
Additional programs may be available at a regional level. I've heard of grocery stores offering incentives and restaurants having designated "school nights" for fundraising. Good luck!
Thursday, August 13, 2015
The Next Chapter In My Life
Changing jobs is never an easy decision. It's made more difficult when you work closely with an amazing group of educators that feel like a family. While I had some challenging times, I also had amazing breakthroughs as I watched my students throughout the years.
Earlier this year, my principal discussed with me the possibility of changing grade levels. He was preparing a major change-up in the school and I do have multiple certifications. In hindsight, this was the push I needed. In my heart, I knew I could teach the content but wouldn't be happy. Shortly after, I took the certification exam for computers/business and posted my resume on the state's centralized teacher application website. I'm not sure what I was expecting at the time but I couldn't be happier with the end result.
Last month, I accepted a new position in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The position is going to be an amazing opportunity. I will be teaching computers and business in the high school and working with the district's technology coordinator on the cyber school. Additionally, I have already met with other administrators and will be helping to design ongoing technology professional development.
While sitting in the administration office for a meeting, I met another new teacher for the high school. She will be teaching English and also helping with the school's television studio. We spoke for a while and she seemed just as excited as I was to join this district. While I will miss my old colleagues, this is not really goodbye. I'm sure I will stay in touch with them.
Earlier this year, my principal discussed with me the possibility of changing grade levels. He was preparing a major change-up in the school and I do have multiple certifications. In hindsight, this was the push I needed. In my heart, I knew I could teach the content but wouldn't be happy. Shortly after, I took the certification exam for computers/business and posted my resume on the state's centralized teacher application website. I'm not sure what I was expecting at the time but I couldn't be happier with the end result.
Last month, I accepted a new position in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The position is going to be an amazing opportunity. I will be teaching computers and business in the high school and working with the district's technology coordinator on the cyber school. Additionally, I have already met with other administrators and will be helping to design ongoing technology professional development.
While sitting in the administration office for a meeting, I met another new teacher for the high school. She will be teaching English and also helping with the school's television studio. We spoke for a while and she seemed just as excited as I was to join this district. While I will miss my old colleagues, this is not really goodbye. I'm sure I will stay in touch with them.
Friday, July 3, 2015
I Just Went to ISTE and Barely Used My Technology
I'm still recovering from the week of intense technology and yet, the only technology I truly used during the five days was my phone. Even then, it was mostly to tweet about the amazing things I was learning. If you are unaware, ISTE stands for International Society for Technology in Education and each year, they host an annual conference for teachers to come and connect in person. This year, the conference was in my home city of Philadelphia so of course I had to take advantage. I put up a request for professional development on Donor's Choose and thanks to a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation I was able to fund my conference registration along with materials purchased during the conference.
The official conference began on Sunday night with a Keynote but I took advantage of already being in town by participating in a pre-conference training through Microsoft. I spent Saturday and Sunday in full day professional developments. I had brought my own computer, however Microsoft provided Surface Pros with all the required software ready to use so I never took my own computer out. At the end of the two days I received a certificate starting that I was a Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE), also known as a trainer. Following the two day training I also took advantage of Micosoft's offer to take their certification exam for free, receiving the Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE) certification.
Besides Microsoft, I also spent a good amount of time at the conference at events sponsored by Google. First up was a special breakfast for Google for Education Certified Innovators (the new title for Google Certified Teachers) and developers. This breakfast gave me a chance to hear about upcoming projects from Google and third party developers for Google add-ons. During the following days, I attended two more special events and learned about some amazing features that all teachers will appreciate once they become public. I wish I could share now, but I was sworn to secrecy. Just know you will love it when Google releases these new updates for Google Apps for Education.
The best part of volunteering at the Google booth in the expo hall, was when a professional sketch note artist drew my presentation on simplifying communication. I was able to take the artwork home. I then spent two hours answering questions and talking to people about Google tools. I meet some really cool educators from around the world including a group of three ladies from Guam. I also finally meet a ton of educators I have known online for a while. The best meeting was Nick, a theater teacher that encouraged me not to give up after being rejected from GTA on my first try.
On my last day of the conference I went a little overboard in my attempt to win a new Acer Switch. The person that tweeted the most would win the notebook. By the end of the competition, I had almost 200 tweets. The guy that won had over 400 so I had no shot. While trying, I sat down in Acer's display and had a caricature drawn. Even cooler was that the artist used a tablet instead of a traditional paper and pen to draw the sketch. I'm not sure about you, but I think it looks just like me. While I didn't win the Acer Switch, I did get lucky with one of the expo hall's raffles. I won a new laptop, mobile hotspot, and 12 months of data from Mobile Beacon, a company that helps bring high speed Internet to non-profits for reasonable costs. I'm not sure what kind of laptop yet because they are mailing it, but it's still awesome that I won something so cool.
FAVORITE ACADEMIC TAKE-AWAYS
FAVORITE SWAG TAKE-AWAYS
Besides Microsoft, I also spent a good amount of time at the conference at events sponsored by Google. First up was a special breakfast for Google for Education Certified Innovators (the new title for Google Certified Teachers) and developers. This breakfast gave me a chance to hear about upcoming projects from Google and third party developers for Google add-ons. During the following days, I attended two more special events and learned about some amazing features that all teachers will appreciate once they become public. I wish I could share now, but I was sworn to secrecy. Just know you will love it when Google releases these new updates for Google Apps for Education.
FAVORITE ACADEMIC TAKE-AWAYS
- How to use Microsoft OneNote
- Upcoming releases for Google
- How to correctly use features from Study Island
- Warrior Tech - a concept for a student run computer science program
- New (to me) websites and programs I didn't know about
FAVORITE SWAG TAKE-AWAYS
- Google Cardboard
- Google portable phone charger
- Google Certified Innovator pin and bag
- IPEVO Interactive Whiteboard System
- Tshirts from multiple websites I use in the classroom
Thursday, April 23, 2015
I Failed and That's Alright
Following my journey to become a Google Certified Teacher, I decided to apply for Apple Distinguished Educator. Based on the title of this post I'm sure you can already guess that I was not accepted into the program. Sure I could be upset but I'm really not. Just like becoming a Google Certified Teacher the process to become an Apple Distinguished Educator is extremely competitive. I was told by an insider that Apple received over 800 applicants for 100 spots. That means that 700, highly motivated and extremely qualified educators received the same rejection letter as I did.
If you remember, it took more than one try for me to be accepted into Google Teacher Academy so I'm not going to say that this is it for Apple. Sure, I wish I had been accepted for the week long training in Miami, but life goes on. I will still continue to present and attend professional developments to help myself grow as a teacher. When the next round of applications are accepted for the ADE program, I will be a stronger candidate.
If you're interested in my application video, you can watch it on YouTube. My idea was to create a mini sitcom and my students had a great time dancing and acting silly. This was also my first attempt at manipulating multiple videos on a screen.
If you remember, it took more than one try for me to be accepted into Google Teacher Academy so I'm not going to say that this is it for Apple. Sure, I wish I had been accepted for the week long training in Miami, but life goes on. I will still continue to present and attend professional developments to help myself grow as a teacher. When the next round of applications are accepted for the ADE program, I will be a stronger candidate.
If you're interested in my application video, you can watch it on YouTube. My idea was to create a mini sitcom and my students had a great time dancing and acting silly. This was also my first attempt at manipulating multiple videos on a screen.
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