Summer 21st Century Learning

We have put together a plan for summer  designed to introduce teachers to 21st Century Learning. Classes in June will use Macs and focus on Web 2.0 tools, rather than anything that is platform specific.

We will also begin a new round of Digital Leaders in order to develop people in every building who are dedicated to 21st Century Learning.  This new group will be launched through a course in July when the laptops arrive. (Hopefully early)

An opportunities for current Digital Leaders to continue their learning and participate in Train-the-Trainer will be available as well. I've proposed this to be a hybrid format, meaning it would be a combination of in person and virtual participation to allow for flexibility. Dell training for staff will most likely be being around July 8th.

The summer learning plan will be reviewed by the Tech group on Thursday, May 6th, and if all goes well we will post the classes and open them for enrollment right away.

The vote

The Board voted unanimously in favor of the first year of the tech plan. Let the wild rumpus begin!

View approved motion

Tuesday April 27th: Tech Plan Vote

This is it. The Board has agreed to vote on approval of the tech plan at the Tuesday night Board Meeting. This action item is listed under section 4.3 of the agenda, which is seemingly earlier than some of the other related tech plan items. It should be an action packed evening. If you would like to show up in support, the meeting starts at 7:00 at Central Office. I will be there.

View Board Packet

Snippets

I believe teachers in our district would like to see some real examples of 21st Century Learning and take a peek at what Digital Leaders are doing. I'm starting with Ashley Kannan's video and will be featuring more work from our group. Keep it coming please and thanks to all you are doing. You are amazing!

Meeting Resources

During our meeting there was a lot of great sharing. Here are links to the resources. Thanks to Phyllis for hosting the meeting in her room and showing us how wonderful it is to have a document camera!

Publishing Student Work and Ideas:

• Google Search Story published on YouTube by John
• Land & Water presentation: published on Veena's blog
• 100's Day VoiceThread: published on Sheila's blog
• Erica's Blog(s): Sharing classroom experiences and learning
• New Blogger Templates and Student Discovery Fair Projects glog, published on Sarah's blog 
• Pixie2 Essential: Activate Check as You Type, video tutorial created with ScreenToaster

Additional Resources:

• Twiddla, online interactive white board, good for Virtual Meetings
• NETS translated: from Phyllis
• Google Search Tools: Wonder Wheel and Timeline
• Look for Google > Show Options > Wonder Wheel OR Timeline

Meeting Resources

During our meeting there was a lot of great sharing. Here are links to the resources. Thanks to Phyllis for hosting the meeting in her room and showing us how wonderful it is to have a document camera!

Publishing Student Work and Ideas:

• Google Search Story published on YouTube by John
• Land & Water presentation: published on Veena's blog
• 100's Day VoiceThread: published on Sheila's blog
• Erica's Blog(s): Sharing classroom experiences and learning
• New Blogger Templates and Student Discovery Fair Projects glog, published on Sarah's blog 
• Pixie2 Essential: Activate Check as You Type, video tutorial created with ScreenToaster

Additional Resources:

• Twiddla, online interactive white board, good for Virtual Meetings
• NETS translated: from Phyllis
• Google Search Tools: Wonder Wheel and Timeline
• Look for Google > Show Options > Wonder Wheel OR Timeline

Next Meeting: April 19th

According to my calendar, our next Digital Leaders meeting is scheduled at the following time:

• April 19th
• 4:00 pm
• Brooks: Phyllis Frick's room, C302

On the table:

• Tech plan follow up
• Summer Train-the-Trainer and training opportunities and building-based training throughout the year
• Internet safety update
• Demos
• Online WhiteBoard(s)
• Elmo demo
• Your ideas here

Board Meeting Agenda: Tech Plan

Click on the link to view the Board Packet. The agenda is on the first page. The Tech plan and cost reductions can be found under section 5.5. Digital Leaders are mentioned in the write up about staff development.

View Board Book

If approved, Digital Leaders will be recognized on Institute Day. Stay tuned please.

Networked Student

I found this video along with many other amazing ideas on Mrs. Finn's Challenge Class blog.

Looking Ahead

Now that we've returned from Spring Break, there are a few things to focus on.

1. Train-the-Trainer Staff Development: Building-based
• Longfellow was a success on March 10th
• Beye is scheduled for April 14th
• Next stop has yet to be determined, please let me know if you would like to give your building a snippet of Digital Leader training during a staff meeting fairly soon.
2. Board Meeting on April 13th: This is the time to make a statement with our presence as tech leaders
3. Internet Safety Committee: I am working on rescheduling our meeting
4. Publishing: Please remember to send me interesting things you and your students are working on. If it's on your blog, it's easy for me to find, link and share.
5. Summer: TBD after the Board Meeting.

Since only a couple of people wanted to meet this week, it looks like it probably won't happen. I am happy to make my way around to your school if you would like to chat about the status of the tech initiative, or anything else. I will be at Beye at 2:00 on Wednesday.