Tech Integration Workshop – Watch Last
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Watch Last Video
Wow I can’t believe it’s over! I can’t believe the Tech Integration Workshop has now been completed.
So, hey, I hope you have had a great time learning all the things together with me on how to really integrate 21st Century Skills and Technology into your Building.
I just want to review a couple of things because I have got my little worksheet here in front of me, and so… Back in the beginning we really talked about the big picture, and how to understand the need for 21st Century Skills.
I made you order all those books that I hope you have enjoyed reading up until now. And I hope every year you order a few more books on 21st Century Skills.
As well as I hope you are participating in the Nings and the groups, and listening to podcasts, and doing all those great things!
Alright, let’s take a look at a couple of things. We talked about how you have got to take the lead in it; that it is up to YOU, as the Tech person for your Building, to do all these things.
We talked about the speed bumps of really Time, Money, People and Systems. Now I hope you feel that all that has been fixed, okay.
So, Time: I have told you all the tricks that I do to try to reduce the amount of time as well as not wasting other people’s time. You know, I have used the tricks of Atomic Learning for all those things that people can just help themselves to, as well as the other websites and programs that I use.
Money: We have talked about using only seven items; seven cameras and seven tripods – those types of things – so that you don’t have to buy thirty of something but you can really work on a minimal type of a set-up so that you can save as much money as possible.
People: This has all been about how to work with the people in your Building – how to work with your teachers on getting them to come along.
And I hope as far as Systems are concerned I hope you feel that this is the system that you really need to make this all happen. So those speed bumps hopefully have been flattened out and you can go as fast as you want now.
We talked a lot about grade level artifacts and how to design perfect ones for your students in your Building.
Of course the K-T-E-C System: You have got to Know it, Train it, Embed it and Check it. And that has been a big thing that we have gone through all those steps to make sure that happens.
We talked also about getting that buy-in from Administration so that you have go the backing of the Principal in your Building so that you can make sure this thing really does go forward.
You should have presented the Technology Plan to your Building so that everybody has kind of bought into it and they are all supporting it.
And then as well as supporting the teachers and everything that they do and learn. You have gathered lesson ideas and then you have embedded digital artifacts into lessons and then given those back to the teachers to be able to teach to the children; as well as combining whatever YOU might do as far as bringing it into your computer lab and those types of things.
We finished off with ideas like continual professional development for your staff, for your teachers there, and how I have got about twenty-five different courses that my teachers sign up to and take with me so that we can get all of that stuff done.
And then finally we gathered a body of evidence; all the proof that our students have 21st Century Skills. Because remember, that is really how you prove it, you know; you have a student and you have the proof, and that really equals a 21st Century Skills student right there.
And then we finished off with the last video there; just being able to make improvements. So you take what you have and make it better every year. And I PROMISE you, I tell you, it just gets so much better! I look back at the first couple of videos and animations and podcasts that I did with kids, and they were SO bad! But we had to start somewhere. And every year we would just get better and better and better because those kids see what is possible and then they want to do BETTER! And it makes it so much more… it just brings so much more to the table because the kids bring so much more. And it is just awesome to see!
So I hope all the best for you! Once again, you can use the contact information on the “About” page if you need to get ahold of me for anything. But other than that, it has been a great pleasure working with you and I hope all the best for you and your Building – and your students especially, so that they have got the skills that they so desperately need in the upcoming world that they are going to face when they graduate.
Tech Integration Workshop – Step 12: Make Improvements
Note: Do not do this lesson until you have watched the Watch First video.
Once you have watched the video please complete this step in the Workshop Checklist.
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Lesson & Action Guide
Hello again everyone. Welcome to the Tech Integration Workshop here at SchoolTechnology.Org. My name is Brad Flickinger – and welcome to Step 12 of the Tech Integration Workshop, which is called “Make Improvements.”
Now this is the last Step and we only have one more video after this, which is called the “Watch Last” video. But this is really it; this is the last come-together for everything to work out – and that is “Make Improvements.”
Alright! So, for improvements to happen, you need to record data along the way. So you need to have some place where you start and some place where you are going. So for me to be able to reflect back over time I use my reports that I have. And so every month I give my Principal a monthly report basically saying the things that are happening this month technologically, and with 21st Century Skills, in the Building – just so I can keep track of what happens in October or what happens in November.
And then on that report is a little line I have on there for making improvements – like, “Allow an extra week for podcasting,” say, or, “Animation happened a lot faster than we anticipated so subtract a week off of that – those type of things; so I have a little list of improvements.
And then, although my Superintendent hasn’t asked for it, I send him an annual report of basically the state of the school that I am in with regards to technology; so the great things that we are able to do. And then on that report I will send links to the website to show off some of the great things that the students are doing. And really I just want it so that the Superintendent knows that in our Building 21st Century Skills are being taught. So if he is ever asked when he is out and about and doing all of his superintendent things, like, “Hey, what are you doing about 21st Century Skills in your schools for your students?” he can say, “You know what? I was just looking at something the other day and I saw this incredible animation that happened in one of our elementary schools…” Just for those… and it is very brief – “This is what we’re doing. This is what’s happening.”
But, again, it allows me to be accountable and to make improvements by seeing what happens from year to year and from month to month.
Now, you HAVE to keep the digital artifacts fresh – meaning that, you know, what is “hip” and cool, and the students are into it this year, it might not be that way a few years from now.
Let me give you an example: Right now in 2010 Facebook is the thing to have. Kids are using Facebook all the time. But if I was to be still teaching lessons on MySpace, it would be a joke! The kids don’t use MySpace any more! I don’t know who’s still left using MySpace but it is certainly not the kids around me!
So you see, you have to… even though one social media has just been replaced by the other one, they are very similar – you HAVE to keep with the freshness of what you are teaching. Because the last thing you need are kids coming into a classroom and rolling their eyes going, “Are you kidding? We’re going to learn about 5 ¼ inch diskettes?” or something, you know? Things like that – you have got to keep it fresh.
Not meaning that you start from scratch every year – but you take a look at your digital artifacts and just say, “Hmm, okay. Animation – yes, still good, still really good for my kids to learn. Let’s see… podcasts – yes, still very relevant…” – those types of things. You just take a quick look at it; make any final tweaks to it – just to keep things fresh.
And, boy, I tell you, any time there is a change or anything you have GOT to always be there for the teachers saying, “Oh, you know, we kind of adjusted / we got new software for recording audio – let me come in and teach you, show you…” whatever differences there might be with what they are familiar with – those types of things. You have got to support the teachers one hundred percent in any little minor changes that come through the curriculum or through the program – those types of things. So always do that.
As well as take a look at those twenty-five to thirty different courses that you offer your teachers and see if any of THOSE need to be updated and refreshed to keep them current.
And then finally, I spend my summers taking all this together and making whatever improvements that might need to happen on these projects. So for example, right now it is summer 2010 and I am really digging into the web show that my kids have produced – and you can see a shot of it right here.
I didn’t like how some of the things were coming together but I LOVED a lot of the other parts. So I am just trying to tweak a couple of those things.
So I have a list of I think about forty / forty-five items, of just little improvements I want to make across the whole gamut of things that I take care of for technology.
And the great thing about having the summer is that when the kids start I get a whole new crop of kids that come into these certain programs and then it is just like, “Okay, now this is how we do it this way…” And I am not trying to get out of them the old system because they might not be familiar with that.
So I really do spend my summers doing improvements. And that is what I am recommending for you to do too.
So, hey, welcome to the end of the whole Tech Integration Workshop. I will see you just for a couple of parting words in the “Watch Last” video. But other than that, good luck with everything! I hope you have learned a lot and I hope your school is improving all around you with 21st Century Skills. It is something that you can be really proud of.
And thanks again for being with all this. My name is Brad Flickinger, with SchoolTechnology.Org. See you!
Read MoreTech Integration Workshop – Step 11: Gather a Body of Evidence
Note: Do not do this lesson until you have watched the Watch First video.
Once you have watched the video please complete this step in the Workshop Checklist.
Return to the Table of Contents for the Technology Integration Workshop.
Resources:
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Transcription of Videos:
Lesson & Action Guide
Hello once again and welcome back to the Tech Integration Workshop here at SchoolTechnology.Org. My name is Brad Flickinger, and welcome to Step 11 of our 12-Step series here – and it is called “Gather a Body of Evidence.”
Now, as we have talked in the past, back in the first couple of Steps, we use a K-T-E-C System, so K is for Knowing, T is for Training, E is for Embedding – and now we are finally at C, which means to Check on the work that has been done. And this is what this is all about: A body of evidence is all those little pieces you put together that PROVES your teachers and your students have 21st Century Skills in your Building. And that is what it is all about – that body of evidence.
Because remember, for the most part – I mean, it is starting to get a little more popular out there – but for the most part none of the skills that you have taught these students will show up on a standardized State or National test.
Now, 21st Century Skills are being added to a lot of State testing. But for right now, like in my State of Colorado, everything I have taught them about podcasting, and creativity, and collaboration – all those things like that – would just not show up in a normal standardized test. So you need to have a different way of collecting the data.
And really we said 21st Century Skills deserves 21st Century assessment – and so we get little artifacts; digital artifacts are what you are looking for.
So we want to celebrate the successes of the students. So students that were shy are now suddenly doing podcasts, or movies – those types of things; that had a hard time in other academic areas can excel in animation and… you know, it just… So you want to find all those moments when the whole system is working and students are having a great time, teachers are having a great time, and you want to celebrate those with either an evening of showing things off, or an assembly – whatever – but find a way to celebrate the successes in your Building.
And of course I don’t mind putting in a little bit of a competition and awards. Now I spread out my awards; so for example when we make a documentary, we have “Overall Best Documentary,” we have “Best Cinematography,” “Best Sound…” So we have different categories so that there are different winners in there. And it is not like we are trying to give a blue ribbon to everybody for participating because I don’t think that is authentic.
But I think if someone really has exceptional, let’s say, cinematography; how they film everything is so beautiful, see you can use that the next year when you show the upcoming students, and say, “Now, why did this one win Best Cinematography? Why did this one win Best Sound?” And all the kids are like “Oh, you know, because we can understand everything that’s being said, and the sound track’s not too loud…” All those things you collect, all those things – and of course these students walk home with an award for doing something really, really good on a project.
And so we have competitions in my schools with all these digital artifacts, and then we have little awards; and we just get simple trophies and those types of things to give out.
Now, you can see I crossed out here this whole idea of “Audience of One.” And that is because these kids work hard to produce all these things and now it is time to put them out there for the world to see, in a SAFE way. So you don’t want to be putting their full name and address and those types of things.
But your school website should have some type of an area where you show off the best of student work. So you show all the best web shows and podcasts and documentaries and animations and all those things; best writing, best photos… those types of things all should go in some type of Showcase so that these kids can get home and realize their aunt and uncles can come to see it; everybody in the WORLD can come to see it – and they just LOVE that idea of being open to the whole world. And it is great that way.
And also it is really important to gather what I am calling “Best of” examples – again going back to the awards that are given out for like cinematography and sound and stuff.
But think of it from a teacher’s point of view, not a student’s point of view. So if you have a teacher working on a great digital product, you want to get like the BEST example from the school so when NEW teachers come in, they can go online and see, “Oh! THAT’S what it means when we were going to do an animation about cell structure!” because you are showing them the best possible one there is. Don’t show them the cheesy ones – show them the really GOOD stuff, so that the teacher goes, “Okay, we are going to use clay, and we’re going to do it this way; and we’re going to take photos, and it is going to end up being an animation.” They will get it once they can see those “Best of” examples.
And I also like to survey my students with just a simple little survey, just asking how much they enjoyed these projects, what could we do better, what could we do different; what would they do if they were in our shoes – those types of things.
Because, you know, when I gather them all up and look at them over the summer, when I make all the changes to the curriculum and to the ideas, it’s good to look at them with, well, you know, you have got to kind of weigh it out for how much weight you might put on a student survey because sometimes they might be very opinionated in one way or another; just because student doesn’t like to write they might go, you know, “Way too much writing.” Now, that doesn’t really play out.
But you should look for trends though. So if all of them are saying, “Oh, the project was just way too long,” you go, “Well, okay, let’s not do a five-minute documentary – let’s do a three-minute documentary. Those types of things are what you are looking for.
And most importantly, when my teachers go back and take the self-assessment that is on Atomic Learning, this is what I am really looking for, is them to come to me and say, “Mr. Flick, look at where we’re at now.” And you know, I don’t have access to what their information is, but they voluntarily bring it to me and say, “Look at what has happened to ME! I had no idea what a Wiki was..” or a blog – all these things. And now their classroom is doing all these things and they can show their results from their self-assessment, and they are very happy with it.
And number one is that the STUDENTS are very happy with being able to acquire 21st Century Skills. So THEIR self-assessment is way up, that they take on Atomic Learning.
So suddenly, you know, we are seeing these big, huge leaps in one or two years of students now having great 21s Century Skills. And THAT is what it is all about.
So gather all this body of evidence – because in Step 12 we are going to talk about making just those minor improvements that you need to do to it.
Read MoreTech Integration Workshop – Step 10: Continual Professional Development
Note: Do not do this lesson until you have watched the Watch First video.
Once you have watched the video please complete this step in the Workshop Checklist.
Return to the Table of Contents for the Technology Integration Workshop.
Resources:
Updates to these videos:
Transcription of Videos:
Lesson & Action Guide
Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Tech Integration Workshop here at SchoolTechnology.Org. My name is Brad Flickinger – and welcome to Step 10 which is “Continual Professional Development.”
This one is going to be another one of the combo videos where we are going to have the lesson as well as the action guide kind of put together all in one. And you will especially see that near the end of the Steps here, just because so much at the beginning was based on action; there is so much work to do; where now it is more just inspirational-type stuff. I am going to show you what I am doing and then you can just replicate that in your own school. So this is what we are going to get here. There is only one vide on this one here.
Alright, so what I want to start off with is just giving you a taste of the professional development that I offer in my school. And I offer about anywhere from twenty-five to thirty just topics that go on all the time. And these kind of change from year to year, but most of them stay the same. And you will get an idea what they are, and if you have worked with teachers you will agree with what you see here.
And they are in no particular order – but these are what I offer my Building. And again, they can come Tuesdays before school, Wednesdays after school; I can meet with them one-on-one during planning times – all those things, so that they have these ready to go.
So the first of course being district email. Because new teachers that move into our district, they need to know how to use the district email because we do so much of our correspondence through that. So we have a quick little course on how to use our web-based district email and that goes pretty quick.
Now the other thing I really go for right at the beginning is how to use our Atomic Learning subscription, because SO much of the professional development they might want is on Atomic Learning.
So if they want to learn how to do a podcast they can go to the Workshop there. If they want to learn how to do a Wiki; Workshop. If they wan to do… you know, all those types of things. Blogging; go see the blogging workshop.
So it just saves up so much of my time that I don’t have to sit there and meet one-on-one with all these teachers to cover the same subject. Now there are some things that obviously are not covered by the Atomic Learning subscription, like my district email. So I have to do that one-on-one. And other things, though, I send them right into here. Especially the “How to find an answer to a Tech question” – so that they can solve their own problems very quickly and easily. So that works out great that way.
We spend a lot of time to make sure that our teachers understand, know and embed 21st Century Skills. And we do that with a lot of mixture of different things. We want to make sure that there are 21st Century Skills being taught all the time in their classes.
We spend time on making sure that they have a nice classroom website that is informative and fresh and current and not getting stale. We want it always to be updated all the time. So we work on how a classroom website should be, as well as being able to use Google Docs.
For most of this I send them right back into Atomic Learning but there are a few things that are particular to our Building and how we share things within our Google Docs. And they need to know how to get in, use it, share it, print it – all those types of things. And that is what we cover in a couple of quick lessons.
We have SMART boards in our classrooms; they are a type of interactive whiteboard. So of course they need to know how to use the technology that comes in their classroom. So we have some SMART board basics as well as advanced things – so how to REALLY use their interactive whiteboard effectively in their classroom.
We REALLY like using Google Earth at our schools. So anyone new coming into our Building who doesn’t understand how to use Google Earth, we give them a nice little refresher course on this, and again then send them back into Atomic Learning for some more particular “How to use it in the classroom;” how to use Google Earth that way.
Ah, using ePals: Now we love it when our classrooms connect with other classrooms all across the country and all across the world; and they can Skype to each other, and just exchange emails, comment on each other’s blogs. And so teachers need to know how to get into ePals, how to search for another classroom and how to communicate using the ePals platform.
Now, again, every one of our classrooms comes with a document camera so teachers have got to know how to use their document camera in their classroom. And it’s funny because when people first come in and they maybe have not used a document camera before – a new teacher – they are like, “Oh, do I really want to have this?” And then you check back in two months later, after they have been trained, and they are like, “Oh no, this is the BEST thing I have ever had in my classroom!” They just LOVE document cameras!
And also our classrooms come with a sound system that have both a wireless mic and then a landured mic that goes on them; and they need to know how to use that system effectively so that when they play a video off their computer, that it plays through the whole sound system; or put a DVD in and it plays through it, as well as the microphones in the room. So they need to have an understanding of that.
And then also we share what we think are the best websites for – depending on what Grade you are talking about or what subject – but, you know, Math websites, Social Studies. You know, if you are studying all about Columbus; “Well here is a great website…” – and so we keep track of that on a bookmark, social bookmarking-type website so that we all know and share what the best websites are. So we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time we start taking out a subject every year.
And now let’s kind of finish off with this one here. And many of you are sitting back going, “Okay, those are some really great things – but how do you get teachers to do it? How do you get teachers to show up and to take these things?
Well, I am really fortunate in being in a fantastic school where the teachers just WANT to do it. But I have been in other schools where it has been like pulling teeth sometimes, to get teachers to come and take professional development when it comes to technology.
And so I have a little one-word answer for you here – and that is “Bribe!” And when I work with administrators, we all agree that money is going to be spent on technology in a Building. All the time. Even if you are broke right now, I mean, money does come. Technology money comes the way of buildings and schools all the time. And it might take a couple of years – but essentially you get it.
And then what we tell administrators is, “Since you are going to have it, you spend it where it is going to be used.” And you know it is going go be used if someone is taking professional development. So it is kind of a bribe. But let’s see you take all these classes. Well of course, when it comes time to buy a classroom set of flip video cameras, well they are going to go to YOU because you have proven that you use 21st Century Skills and you have done all the other things, and you have a classroom website. And you need this kind of stuff. And that goes for all the kinds of things like document cameras and SMART boards and all those kinds of things – put the resources where they will be used.
This isn’t about spreading it out evenly among all the people. If you have got people that are refusing to learn technology, then you just can’t be dumping technology in their classroom. And I would rather use a carrot than a stick; so it is just great that when administrators come in and they already planned for the future, and they know that they want to get let’s say a digital camera for every classroom, so they can do that. And then they might say, “Okay, once you have built your classroom website, and that’s up and running and you have had it going for three months, and I can see that your blog is always up-to-date, then you will get a digital camera. Because then you can use it to add more photos to your classroom website.”
So make sure the bribes tie in with what you want to do there. I wish there was an easier way that I could do it for you – but that is how I have done it in the past.
So that is kind of a review of the continual professional development that goes on in my building week after week, month after month during the school year, so that they are always staying on top of this. And they might take a course like on Google Docs with me in the beginning of the year, and then they might again take a couple of refresher classes on Atomic Learning just before they need to teach a lesson – those kinds of things. So it really is interesting to see how it all comes together.
Read MoreTechnology Integration Workshop – Step 9: Embed Digital Artifacts in Lessons
Note: Do not do this lesson until you have watched the Watch First video.
Lesson Video:
Action Guide Video:
Once you have watched both videos please complete this step in the Workshop Checklist.
Resources:
Technology Integration Worksheet
AtomicLearning.com
Updates to these videos:
Transcription of Videos
Lesson
Welcome back everyone to the Tech Integration Workshop here at SchoolTechnology.Org. My name is Brad Flickinger, and this is Step 9 – Embed Digital Artifacts into Lessons.
Now, since the beginning we have been working on my K-T-E-C System that I use all the time with my teachers in the buildings that I work with; and that is you Know 21st Century Schools; then T is for Train them; E is for Embed them, and then C is for Check on them.
So finally we are at the “Embed” phase where we are going to embed 21st Century skills into the lessons all around us.
Now, to be able to really kind of explain that I want to show you the lessons that come out of my Elementary School. At first you might be thinking, “Yes, but I teach at a High School or a Middle School.” Well kind of use it as a platform for where you might be able to go. So if I can do it at Elementary school, surely you can do deeper, stronger, more at Middle and High School levels. It is just to give you an idea of what is happening here.
So here is the system or the schedule that I follow, all the way from kindergarten to Fifth Grade – and I will explain each one of them to you.
Essentially these are not fixed. They can change from year to year, depending on what the technological needs of our students are. So let’s start at kindergarten. So in Kindergarten they start by really learning how to use a computer properly, which means really using, knowing how to use their mouse to click, to drag, to select – those types of things. So we do a LOT of digital drawing with them.
And in this case they are doing an alphabet and they are writing out… they are on the letter C. So this is really early in the stage of being able to do this book.
So you can see he has got a car, a cookie and a cake. And here is another shot of a different student here. And they are REALLY getting good at how to use the mouse. Their mousing skills are clicking, and changing colors, and all those things – fantastic! These kids, by the time they are done kindergarten, have got the skills.
Which moves us into First Grade, where we start using documents; Microsoft Word – they can type text, select text, change it, move it around – all those types of things. By the time they are done First Grade they can do INCREDIBLE things with documents. So much so that look at this guy here – he’s relaxing a little bit there with his document all done!
But we felt, as a school, that being able to manipulate news documents is one of these skills for academics, and as far as the rest of their life too. So we start off REALLY young for them to be able to be familiar with using a word processor.
From there, in Second Grade they get really good at being able to make presentations or slide shows. So in this case they are working on an insect slide show. And being able to stand in front of their peers or classmates, and present that information.
And you will notice this one doesn’t have bullet points on it; this one is really using imagery really well. We are not teaching kids to stand up in front of their classmates and read all the bullet points that are on the slide show. No, they have got to be able to PRESENT great information – and they get really good at that in Second Grade – because they do it for the rest of their life, basically.
In Third Grade the students work on a book; an actual tangible book that we get printed out. So they work on… of course this is REALLY tied in to their classroom; all of these things are – you know, the insects, the letters, the alphabet – all those things are tied back to their classroom. In this case they talk about everything they learn all throughout the year. They make different chapters in their book and then finally, in the spring, we print that all up. So that is what they work on here.
So you can see that it has been great that they had the experience with both the slide show and the word processor to come back on for their book project here.
Fourth Grade they do their own podcast; so they do all the research, the writing, the sound effects – all those things; the recording of it and editing, so that everyone comes out of there with a podcast. And there is a LOT of work goes into this. You talk about the 21st Century Skill of researching information fluency – they do a LOT of that in Fourth Grade. So they can get that all done. And of course they are making documents and doing all those things.
So here they are recording their podcasts out in the Media Center.
And then finally, in Fifth Grade, each student makes their own documentary about a subject. So, again, it is a lot of research, a lot of writing, a lot of the planning; you know, it is months of the planning work before they ever really get to the stage where they are shooting the video here in the classroom, and those types of things. And they will narrate their documentary and do all those great types of things.
So that gives you a kind of a glimpse of what is happening in my building. And it comes down to these three Steps that I use. So first off (oh, I like that sound effect there – that little effect of it coming across there) we pick a lesson. And that is what we kind of did in Step 8; you look at all the different lessons there and you pick a lesson.
And then we complete a work sheet. And then the Action Guide part to this Lesson, this Lesson 9, you will see that worksheet and you will see how I work through it with the teachers.
And then three, it is kind of teach and repeat. So we just pick the lesson, do the worksheet, teach and repeat. And we just go through that three-step recipe that is GREAT for embedding 21st Century Skills into your lessons.
So I will see you in the Action Guide part and we will talk about how YOU are going to do it.
Action Guide
Alright, welcome to the Action Guide for Step 9 for “Embedding Digital Artifacts into Lessons.
Now, here I am; I am in the actual worksheet that I use when I brainstorm with teachers. I will have a link to this in the Resource Section on this page here. But let’s just zoom in and take a look at what we have got here.
So here I am; I have X’d out the teacher’s name here – but this is for Fifth Grade; Social Studies is the subject matter we are on for last year. And they have already gone through the Introduction of 21st Century Skills where I sit down with them and I show them things, and they have also watched certain videos on Atomic Learning. So they understand what 21st Century Skills are.
So the digital artifacts: From those previous Steps that we have done earlier on in this workshop; you know, that YOU picked the digital artifacts. YOU are the expert on 21st Century Skills, so YOU picked the artifacts. So in this case my Fifth Grade students made documentary films. And so we have got that.
So this teacher here, she had a lesson that she called “Understanding the Causes of the American Revolution.” That is what she wanted me to kind of take on in my Computer Class.
So we have an Objective here; and then the Summary. What we are going to do is replace the final test and report that she used to do (kind of a science fair-type thing); we are going to do it with the documentary. So this is going to be a longer-type project.
Let me just scroll down a little bit here. So here is my 21st Century Skills Brainstorming. So we sat down and we just said, “Okay, Creativity and Innovation – what are we doing to do there?” Well, we have got to write script; they have got to do it in the perspective of the story. So there will be sets and costumes and things; very creative, very innovate – great!
Communication, collaboration: they are going to work in teams; they are in change roles, they have got Google Docs so they can be at home and they can still collaborate on items.
Digital Citizenship, Research and Information Fluency – you can see all these things. And we started to type in; we just used this as a “Fill in the blank worksheet.” You know, she was giving me ideas, I had ideas – and we just kind of put it in there.
And then we decided, “Well who is going to do what here? Roles and Responsibility.” Well, the Principal is going to present the Award at the Premier, so we have got her to do that. And the Media Tech; I am going to take care of the research skills, all the computer lab time for script writing, editing and that kind of thing. We have a District Tech person that is going to come in and make sure that we have all of the up-to-date… that our flip video cameras all sync in and everything. So we are going to check on that.
And the teacher is going to teach the lessons, like they have always done. But I am in the background; I have got the support happening in my computer lab for a lot of the work time. So teaching kind of happens with the teacher, but in the work, the assignment stuff happens with me.
And then our Librarian is going to have books on display for check-out, all about the American Revolution.
So we looked into some needs that we might have for this. We have got some training for the teacher, training for the students; hardware, we’ve got all that… software – got it. Prerequisite skills for our students – we’ve got all that. And, yes, I think everything… we have got the Rubric; we sat down and worked on a rubric together and got all that taken care of.
And we are scheduled and we are ready to do it! And we have got a basic schedule to how it all works out. So that is what my worksheet looks like. And by the time you’re done, you have got a 21st Century embedded lesson. It’s ready to go! It’s got the skills all embedded in it!
Now, I know you might be thinking, “But my teacher doesn’t know how to do a documentary /doesn’t know how to do podcast / doesn’t know how to use PowerPoint – those type of things.” Well, I hate to kind of be … keep going back to the same thing; but you know, I use Atomic Learning for all that thing.
So here I am logged into Atomic Learning. And let’s say you are in First Grade in my Building, which is where we use word processing. So, okay, I am just going to go here in the Application area and I am just going to find Microsoft Word. Go down here… it might be under “Word” or it might be under “Microsoft.” There we go. Word. Go into there. And then what versions of Word? Well, we’ve got 2003 in my Building. And we are only PC in my Building. So we go there. So I think that is all I am going to do. So I am going to find all the tutorials for Word 2003.
And there we go! There they are! And we open that up. So we’ve got Intermediate, Intro, Advanced and Newsletter, Workshop, Members. There they all are. So we go “Introduction.” Look at ALL these Intro videos! Now there’s fifty videos in here on the Introduction to Microsoft Word 2003.
It’s all ready to go! They just need to figure what they want to do and how they are going to do it. The students log into here, the students follow this. It saves you time.
And I keep going back to this: You want to save time – this is the thing you need to have here, is Atomic Learning. It is one of the BEST things I have found for my work as a Tech Integration Specialist.
So that is how you get all the skills to both your students and your teachers, as well as yourself. So when you are ready to take that on… and when I said “Documentary,” there is a whole movie-making guide in here on how to make movies; there is all the stuff for podcasting as well as how to use Audacity or Garage Band – whichever one you are going to use for your podcasting. That is all in here, step-by-step on how to do it.
And let’s take a quick look at what these are; let’s go in the “Using the Task Pane.” It is only forty seconds there.
“Another feature in Word is the Task Pane. To turn the Task Pane on you can click…”
There you go! That’s my Word right there, ready to go!
Alright, so that concludes the Action Guide thing. So meet with your teachers and fill up these worksheets so that you are ready. Get it all scheduled into their teaching schedules so that you have got this ready to go!
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