When Winning Becomes Something More

Back in October, I was attending an event when I saw a booth for a radio station. As I often do at similar events, I stuck a mailing label on an entry form and put it in the box on the table. I then walked away and forgot about it because what are the true odds of ever winning something from a radio station? Then the phone call came: I won a Dell Latitude laptop and would be able to pick it up from the radio station. I was shocked and excited because my personal computer was dying after six years. The next thing the woman on the phone said blew me away. As one of the eight winners of a personal laptop, I could nominate a deserving school or community center to win ten laptops. Immediately I asked if I was allowed to nominate the school where I worked.

Today a group of executives from Comcast and KYW Newsradio 1060 came to my school building to deliver ten brand new Dell computers. It was exciting and my students seemed happy to represent their school. I spoke with one of the executives while we were waiting for the reporter to arrive and he mentioned how nice it was that an inner city school won this year because he knows what a difference these computers will make for our community. We talked about the struggles my students face in the classroom and how additional computers will help them.

For those that don't live in the Philadelphia area, KYW Newsradio 1060 is a station that repeats the same stories often for people that are commuting. It's also the go to station when you stuck in traffic and trying to find out what happened on the road ahead. On my drive home from school, I listened to 1060am hoping to hear our interviews but I didn't hear it play. About ten minutes later, my mother called and said "was that your voice I heard on the radio?" I then sat listening to the live stream of the station for the next hour until finally I heard the repeat. I quickly grabbed my phone and used a recording app to get the audio. It kind of reminded me of my childhood when I would listen to the radio for hours just hoping to record that new hit song onto a tape. I am a true child of the nineties (technically eighties but who remembers their toddler years?).

So here's the interesting part which led me to write this rambling post regarding the entire experience. Since my sister, and then mother, aunt, etc. all posted the article on social media, I keep getting comments such as "Your students are lucky to have you" and "Super teacher! Nice job Cori." However, I'm having trouble understanding some of these responses. How did being lucky constitute being a good teacher? I could understand if I had written a grant, or organized fundraisers to get these computers but all I really did was put my name in a box at an event. The event wasn't even about education; it was a fundraiser for the local animal shelters and I took my dog for a day at the park. I know that these computers will really help our school but I just can't wrap my head about the attention I'm getting for it.

Since my colleagues found out about the new computers, I've been asked what I would be doing with them. Again, I just nominated my school. These computers were donated to our building, not directly to my classroom. I don't know any teacher that would turn down more computers for the classroom and I hope to see these computers put in the middle school classrooms, however I will respect the decision my principal makes. Ten computers can help any classroom or be split to help multiple classrooms. He sees the big picture and will know where the computers will do the most good for our students.

I am truly grateful to both the radio station and cable company for their community support. As one of my students stated to the reporter "It's nice to have people give us computers; we can't afford them sometimes."

borrowed image sources: KYW Newsradio 1060

My Action Plan - Google Hangout on Air for Holocaust Memorial Awareness

World War II and The Holocaust are often taught in classrooms, but how many of our students actually have that moment when they realize exactly what it means? They memorize the dates and names and then forget it after the test. It often saddens me when I hear of people talking about The Holocaust in the same manner they might refer to The Trojan War. What many students can't comprehend is that The Holocaust took place less than one hundred years ago.

At the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem, a separate memorial was placed for the children that were killed. The memorial is extremely simple with just a few candles and mirrors. However, the message is clear: not only must we remember those that died, but the infinity mirrors are used to represent all those that will never be born.

It is those somber thoughts which make me want to complete this project I have begun. I am going to bring Holocaust survivors to classrooms through a Google Hangout on Air (GOA). I am currently messing around with a few different formats which include one long HOA or multiple short HOAs. Using the Connected Classroom Google Community, I have connected with another GCT and we are working together to create this learning experience for our students. I have also emailed a few organizations to help connect us with survivors. My hope is that we will be able to connect with classrooms that might not otherwise have the opportunity to hear first hand accounts.

The hardest part of this program, and future conversations, is that while these people persevered and survived The Holocaust, they are all senior citizens. My step-father is the son of a survivor and his father died about ten years ago of natural causes. We must hear their stories while they are still here to tell them. Future generations of students might become even more disconnected from the events of generations before them. It is important that we preserve the stories from people that lived through it to keep the memories alive and prevent history from being repeated.

Action Plan - Google Doc

My New Year's Resolution

2104 was an amazing year for me professionally:

• Added Biology to my teaching certificate
• All teaching certificates were updated to level II
• Became an authorized Google Education Trainer
• Presented at multiple conferences
• Became a Google Certified Teacher

Now that 2014 has officially ended and 2015 has begun, I have made myself a few goals for 2015. These goals are for outside my classroom.

• Write at least one blog post a month. It can be something about education in general, or a reflection on something happening with my career.
• Organize a Hangout On Air (HOA) to connect Holocaust survivors with students around the world.
• Continuing to present at regional conferences.
• Become an Apple Distinguished Educator.
• Begin my Master's degree in Educational Technology

Sponsorship Offer to Present at ISTE 2015 in Philadelphia

A few months ago, I received an email from a representative of Class Dojo which asked if I would be interested in presenting at ISTE and included a short survey to complete. I immediately responded and was thrilled when a few days later I received an email response. Since I have never presented at a conference as large as ISTE, I had stated that I would be willing to present alone or with a group. Following a few emails with the Class Dojo representative, I was put in contact with a fellow educator in Philadelphia who was also interested in presenting on the topic of parent involvement.

A week later, we met at Starbucks and discussed how we would want to present. My new partner was a school psychologist so we actually played off each other nicely. He will talk about the psychological benefits of positive communication and I will demonstrate how to use different types of technology and websites to make that communication efficient for all involved. After a few hours and many refills, we had a basic idea of what we wanted to present. We emailed back and forth a few more times with both Class Dojo and ISTE before submitting our proposal.

Unfortunately we were not selected to present at ISTE. Just being sponsored does not guarantee a spot within the conference but it was exciting to know that I have begun building up enough of a reputation to even be asked. Class Dojo is still considering a sponsorship for my attendance at ISTE, however it will not be a full sponsorship so I will be looking to find a way to fund the rest of my admission.

If you have not used Class Dojo with your classroom, I recommend checking it out. The website has been around for a few years now but they are still improving all the time. They listen to teacher feedback and make changes based on popular requests. If you teach elementary or middle school, your students might enjoy the personalized monsters they can create. High school teachers? If you think the avatars are too "babyish" for your students, you can import actual photos of your students.

Class Dojo also allows your parents to connect and allows for easy communication. Parents can sign up for accounts which allow them to monitor their students. Many of my parents have loved it. I'll admit that some days I'm more consistent with my points than others, but it really helps with tracking behaviors in the classroom.

Reflections of GTA

Within minutes of receiving my acceptance letter in October, the Austin 2014 cohort of the Google Teacher Academy (GTA) immediately became a close knit family of educators with a common goal. We talked technology, lesson ideas, successes and failures. We talked about school and random topics. By the time my plane landed in Texas, I felt like I already knew my cohort of 52 educators from around the country. I knew their voices from Voxer, their faces from G+ profiles, and their personalities from Hangouts.

After four days in Austin Texas, I feel rejuvenated in my career as an educator. The actual GTA was only a two day program but our group added a few extra activities. Monday night, a large group of future Google Certified Teachers (GCT) went out for dinner at a local restaurant that shared its parking lot with our hotels. This restaurant was selected because of its location, but we had a great time as we all got to finally meet each other face to face. The following morning, many of us met for breakfast before walking over to the Google offices.

The buildings lobby looked like a normal office, but once on the elevator we were transported to the magical world of Google. Tight security required us to always have an escort because without an employee badge, the elevator automatically returns to the first floor. As we walked off the elevators on the fourth floor, we were greeted by our lead learners, a cool title for past GCTs that now act as mentors, and Google staff. A few signatures later, we had our name tags and were touring the conference room that would be our home base for the two days and the attached break room.

I was shocked when the first thing we were told was to put our computers away. Our first lead teacher began by talking to us about what we don't know. He proceeded to show a video tutorial about tying shoes and passed out a ton of shoes to practice. Did you know you can tie your shoelace in one quick motion? Neither did I but it was a great introduction to the way we would be learning and thinking.

From tying shoes we started moving very quickly. The morning was spent using post-it notes to organize our "problems" in the classroom. After moving, categorizing, moving again, and narrowing it down, we each selected one problem to focus on. My personal choice was to think about why students feel disconnected in the classroom. After moving around the room to work with teachers that had similar problems selected, I was working with a group of eight teachers that all wanted to focus on student engagement.

Later, we split into groups based on the color of our name tags and rotated through smaller workshops each with a different theme. In these workshops we discussed different uses of the Google tools for the classroom. I got tons of cool tricks that I didn't know about before and learned about a few Google tools that are useful but lesser known. For example, did you know you can compare the use of keywords in books written to recognize patterns? Star Wars and Computer Science have a pretty cool relationship. These relationships can spark some interesting discussions in class.

Day two continued the smaller workshops but also included some full cohort activities. The Amazing Race was a great competition which I hope to recreate for my students. The basic idea was that you create a scavenger hunt using Google Maps and associate a challenge to complete which each fact. We had a lot of fun, but I did feel bad for waking my friend up for the Hangout challenge. Turns out that he had taken a sick day because he wasn't feeling well.

As the second day wound down, we continued working on our big problem and began to come up with a way to solve that problem within our communities. I choose to try and begin a 20% plan, sometimes referred to as a genius hour, for my students. I'm going to begin by having my students think about passion. They will then take their passions and create a personalized project. My hope is that by encouraging students to pursue topics they choose, they will become more interested in the learning process.

The two days at GTA went very quick and I was sad when it ended. Speaking with other teachers in my cohort helped me to see that things I thought were problems, really weren't the end of the world. I also saw that every situation has its issues. Some schools have the issue were students don't care about their grades but other schools have the issue where students care too much about their grades. Either way learning is not happening in an authentic way. As I continue to speak with my cohort, I have brought the lessons from GTA back to my school and community. I am looking forward to what the future brings and I am honored to hold the title Google Certified Teacher.

borrowed image sources: +Danny Silva and +Amy Mayer

How One Email Changed My Life and Teaching (For the Better)

Each day, our school email accounts get filled with tons of "junk" mail. Subject lines such as "Planning Retirement Seminars" and "Teacher Practice Networks Survey - Chance to Win $100" were just two of the fifteen emails I received yesterday. With all this extra stuff, you normally scroll through quickly looking from emails that were specifically for you. Whether you're looking for your principal's name in the sender column or a subject line that makes sense, many emails tend to get passed over.

Two years ago, I received an email from the curriculum office that has changed my life: "Pittcon Science Teacher Workshops." I knew about Pittcon because of a family member so I opened the email. I am forever grateful that I didn't skip over that email because it was the turning point for my career and my classroom. I attended a five hour PD about hands on chemistry lessons that I could do in the classroom without any special equipment. Some of the experiments I already knew, such as self-inflating balloons, but it was so much more. This was the first time I connected with teachers outside of my own school district. I also received a gift certificate to purchase science equipment for the classroom. Free supplies? Just for going to a professional development where I actually learned something? So began a beautiful relationship.

After that day, I started opening every email that came from that particular colleague. I joined her and a group of teachers, referred to as the Math and Science Partnership (MSP), the following summer for a two week Biology program at Drexel University which led to my qualifying for an additional teaching certificate in Biology. Besides the content, I was surrounded by educators of all backgrounds. Some were young and newer to teaching like myself but others were wise with experience. Through discussions during this summer program, I began to gain more confidence in myself and my abilities. The following year at school, I stopped worrying so much about the paperwork (which I still make sure to get in) and more about my students. I stopped following the textbook script word for word and started to actually teach. Wow, what a difference. When I started enjoying it more, my students did as well. I continued to meet with my summer PD group multiple times throughout the year and each time I gained more ideas to bring back to my classroom.

The next turning point came when I received an email from the district's listserv about the Google Education Summit that would be taking place on Temple's campus. I was so excited until I saw the price tag. It felt like someone was reading my thoughts because before that day ended, I received another email from MSP announcing that they had six tickets and it would be first come/first serve. After spending the weekend with a group of Google Education Trainers and Google Certified Teachers, one of my MSP friends said "You should really go for the next level. You have so much knowledge to share." I went home and decided to take the series of exams to become a Google Educator.

Now, months later I received yet another life changing email. This week, I received an email from Google inviting me to attend the upcoming Google Teacher Academy in Austin Texas. This was my second time applying to the program and I was really nervous waiting to see if I'd be accepted. At 7:25pm the email finally arrived. I can't wait to continue this journey when I step onto the plane in December and head to Austin for a few days.

First Week With Our Chromebooks

It took a few days to set up and organize the Chromebooks but I am happy to say that my students have now been using the Chromebooks for a week in class. My students completed the Chromebook Scavenger Hunt and it really helped them to see the potential of Google Drive and the Chromebooks. Between sharing the Chromebooks and common first time confusions, the scavenger hunt took my students about three class periods.

Since I received these Chromebooks through Donors Choose and did not purchase the management licenses, I also had my students adjust a few basic settings such as "Require a password to wake from sleep" and setting their homepage button to our classroom homepage. My students are already having a great time with the Chromebooks and have begun math interventions on Manga High.

I think the best part so far is that students in other classes keep asking my students about their new computers and they are very excited as they tell them about the assignments they're beginning. I look forward to continuing to see these Chromebooks in action and my students are already walking advertisements to the administration. When I walk around the room, I do not see students off task with the Chromebooks.