Day 28: The Worst Advice We've Ever Heard About Technology in the classroom? #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Day 28...The Worst Advice We've Ever Heard About Technology in the classroom

It's just after 7 on day 28 and I have been thinking about this topic all day.  For the life of me, I could not think of any specific advice I had been given about using tech.  I am one who has embraced tech and often ends up teaching other teachers how to integrate themselves. 

At my current school, we have a computer science department (because we are a CS school) who for the most part are working on an entirely different level of tech than most of us.  I have great aspirations to let better at tech- at least learn some basics of coding so I can talk more with our students about what and how they are doing- but finding the time to sit down with Alice or some version of Scratch is overwhelming for this old lady.  Eric, graciously spent time with me on two occasions teaching me-or trying to teach me- how to use Doctopus but my brain just can't wrap itself around that one.  I do have my mainstays: Skedula (that has improved so much over the last 5 years) and I wish our school used more of it's features, but it's our online grade book.  I also use Teacher Dashboard, a lot.  It is on my top 5 digital teaching tools ever.

I guess for me, the prompt should really be: what misconceptions did you/do you have about tech in the classroom.  

Here are three:  

1.  All tools work for all teachers, because they are teaching tools.  

One of the most frustrating parts of EdTech- is that there are so many tools and administrators want to try new things, get on board with what will best help students move forward, support teacher development, and provide the all important data to support positive instructional outcomes.  I stand by this: do a few things really well.  REALLY WELL.  Not two dozen things half way or sort of.  I feel this way about lots of school related things.

2. Practice makes perfect.

We are not all excellent at everything.  I can be proficient, even ok- but who wants to be just ok?  I want to be HIGHLY EFFECTIVE.  There are been a few things over the years that I just couldn't figure out.  I don't push myself to master all the nuances (like with Excel) but I also don't have cause to use it very much because I teach English.  


3. More experienced (read: old) teachers can't learn new tricks.

It's all about what an individual clicks with- don't assume talent coaches.  


It's now almost 9.  Cooked and eaten dinner.  Still have a PPT to make for class tomorrow- thankful for this tech that will let me quickly, prep, save and get to go to bed.

Day 24: I Love My School Because... April Blog A Day Challenge

Prompt: I love my school because...

My school is pretty amazing.  I came in the second year of the school and have helped to build and develop this extraordinary teaching and learning community.  Next year we will have our first cohort graduate, the Class of 2016.  I knew it was something special when I arrived for PD in the middle of August two summers ago and proceeded to spend the next two weeks working with a team of educators and professionals who were passionate, excited and committed to our school and our kids.

I love our school because we are an amazing community that is building something special.

11th grade team at Facebook NYC

I love my school because our kids are amazing.  I like to think that all teachers things this way.  Our kids are here.  We have 94% attendance on average each day.  Our kids show up.  They stay and they are learning and growing and I get better at my job because I am here with them.

I love my school because I get to work Rebecca every day.  She and I are both in the Model Teacher program this year.  It's been a gift to have a colleague, confidant, sounding board and friend.  I was lucky enough to meet her sister +Gretchen Ziegler  9 years ago in grad school at NYU and getting to add another member of this family to my circle is a gift.

I love my school because as teacher leaders Rebecca and I have been able to invest in the development of our Year 1 and 2 teachers as mentors and through professional development. Below are photos from PD yesterday where teachers created posters for a gallery walk showcasing a assessment strategy they tried with a target class for the last month.  They had to provide student work, highlight pros and cons of the method, modifications for next time and a ranking- 1-4 stars.

I love my school because it's in Union Square, NYC.   If you have been to NYC you know.  If you haven't, come to NYC! I love my school because we move in a pack through the streets of our city.

I love my school because through my battle with thyroid cancer this winter, they have been a huge part of my support system, cheering me on taking away some of the stress that goes with missing days with my kids.  In other schools, it may have been a different story, and thankfully this was not the case.

I love my school because it is a home away from home.  I thrive when I am there and I could not imagine being anywhere else at this point in my career. 

Day 19: "I Think In Word Not Excel" or "Tech In The Classroom?" #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Day 19: Tech In The Classroom?  How? Why? Should we?

When I tell my students that When I was in college... I didn't have a laptop,  and a cell phone didn't come until the last couple years and it was a clunker.  When I started grad school in 2006, the idea of having a laptop in class hadn't even dawned on me.  I like taking notes on paper.  Sitting in grad school, next to Millenials with their fancy shiny new Mac Books and me with my spiral notebook, I felt antiquated. 

Boy, have things changed in 10 years.  Today, I sit in the Starbucks a couple blocks from my house, my Venti Cold Brew (if you haven't switched to cold brew, from anywhere for that matter, you should) my morning pastry, the ridiculous music planing in the coffee shop, and me, sitting in front of a MacBook Air, blogging.  Could I embody a stereotype any more than this?

My laptop is provided by my school and I am beyond grateful.  I have gotten so many hours of work done on this little machine.  When I was with out it for a month last summer when they were doing inventory and upgrades, I was at a loss. I do have a desktop, but being tied to my office, especially in the summer, was an inconvenience.  I have embraced tech (well, most of of).

Working at a school that is ALL ABOUT TECH has meant that I ramp up quickly.  I fill in holes that were lacking of resources and find myself looking for new things that I may be able to use.  We have SmartBoards in every classroom, each class has a cart of laptops and as a result I was about 90% paper free in my English classes last year.  It was a eye opening experience.  It was the first time I felt that I was really preparing students for college too.  Using Google Docs and Teacher Dashboard by Hapara allowed me to support and engage with students in more ways than ever before.  Working in a school that supported this use of tech changed my teaching practice for the better.  (I will qualify, there are things I don't like and wont use that some of the CS Department uses and loves.  I don't find it user friendly (yet)  and despite training, wont use. I think in Word, not Excel.) 

Some of my favorites: 

• Google Docs
• It is still the gold standard, despite it's flaws (a completely inadequate grammar support and formatting options).  I lost all the lessons and materials I had created over my first year and a half of teaching thanks to a faulty flash drive.  Never again.  Hello Cloud, I love you.
• TurnItIn.com 
• I started using this platform for AP.  While not a new resource for students and teachers, it was new for me and I love it.  It keeps student plagiarism in check, offers grammar and punctuation tools/support (especially helpful for my ELLs) when students use it, peer review and feedback, and online grading and feedback.  I love it.
• Quizlet Online Flash Cards
• I have used this for both AP and for Theatre Arts. I can create sets of cards and students can create their own.  It can be used online and there is a mobile app. For courses that have a plethora of vocabulary, this is a great tool. You can also generate quizzes (I don't love this feature, but it is there and I have used it).
• Shmoop


• It just keeps getting better and better as year progress. I only use the free materials.  I love the videos they put together for books.  I think it is more visually interesting for students, especially those who struggle.  Adding "academic WD-40 to squirt on the tracks whenever we can." Indeed.

There are drawbacks to using and depending on so much tech- the biggest being, when hardware doesn't work or the network is down, I am screwed.  Thankfully, the percentage of time that this happens is small, but when it does, I have to think quickly.  I have learned to trouble shoot most connectivity problems and students always have a back up- good old paper and pen- just in case.  

I find myself thinking, pen and paper is not ideal and I can't believe that is my thinking.  But it isn't. This is the state of education and it isn't changing.  I hope that when my students look back on their time in my classroom, they say, "I learned to take really great notes in Ms. Towne's class," or "Ms. Towne taught me how to organize my materials when I am doing research." I learn a lot as I go.  Kids teach me more.  I am teacher future developers, coders and designers their inspirations is everywhere and who am I to get in the way of inspiration?

Day 16: Professional Learning Groupies #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Prompt 16: Why does a PLC or PLN matter? Are they different? What do they look like when they work? Not work? True purpose? 


I went my own way with this one.

I applied to a new program for this fall- it's school, a 2 year program in school based leadership, the nice way to say administration.  One of the questions on the application was about school based teams that I am on or could do work with next year.  Like many teachers, there are many.

• Model/Master Teacher Team
• ELA Department
• 11th Grade Team
• 9th Grade Team
• 10th Grade Advisory Team
• School Leadership Team

AND don't forget committees...sigh. Some of the groups meet more often than others, some I plan for, lead and/or facilitate.  Being in a small school means there are many "opportunities" for teachers and this school is no exception.  Of these six groups, one has really continued to my development as an educator because in many of these meetings I am the one supporting the growth of others.  

I won't lie, I crave experiences that support my development.  The most growth for me has come through 1:1 conversations or collaboration with both my Principal and AP or with my fellow Model Teacher, Becca or Master Teacher, Cameron.  The cultivation of my self-awareness, of my strengths, and areas for growth have come when I have worked in a mentoring role.  I have learned what roles I love (1:1 collaborative curriculum development) and those I love less (group lesson planning).  

I try to learn from each experience but somethings are harder than others.

My ideal Professional Learning Community would be one where all grow and thrive, it is collaborative and constructive and there is room for discussion and expansion of thinking.  I am hopping that, if accepted into the program for the fall, provides me with a cohort of colleagues who can take on that role.

Three weeks ago, when I ventured back into the twitter, I had no idea I would begin to make connections, and develop my network of colleagues and inspiration.  Like any tool, it is what you make of it.  I am excited to see how this professional learning community continues to grow and evolve.  

Day 10: What's Left? #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Prompt 10: What is left to do with your students? In your classroom? With your colleagues? Personally?

I had started a post this morning that over the course of a few hours became irrelevant so I am starting over.


1.  With my students...

• prep for the AP exam in May!
• Move the 3 kids who are not "college and career ready" to get at least a 75 on the NYS ELA Regents
• Read A View From The Bridge with 9th grade
• Teach 9th graders about theatrical design

2.  In my classroom...

• I am expecting to have to change rooms again so I suspect packing up is going to have to happen.  Ugh...yuck.  Packing.
• Find ways to share a classroom that I feel comfortable with and can still be proud of the space and what it reflects.

3.  With my colleagues...

• I want to learn to ask better questions to when I mentor so teachers lead their own development through inquiry.
• I want to help new teachers to take on new roles in a growing school.  
• To help teachers build up their capacity as teacher leaders.

4.  Personally...

• I want to be better with each year I continue a career in education.
• I want to develop interdisciplinary curriculum with ELA/CS
• I want to get my admin cert 
• I want to be healthy 
• I want to love my work
• I want to inspire others to do great work
• I want to grow...grow....GROW

Day 9: Dear Meredith... #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Prompt 9:
"What would you say to your
beginning teacher-self"?

We have all been there: if I knew then what I know now but in reality, we can't know- it's what helps us grow as humans, as educators.  This was my first classroom, before kids, before piles of papers, before learning happened. It was also my home for 5 years.  I loved this room.  The first thing I would tell my younger self is: Always create a space that YOU feel good in.  You will spend more time here than anyone else (even kids).  It is an extension and representation of you, what you believe and the teaching and learning that is taking place there.

Eventually I had a smart board and white boards, but this is how the school year started.

This is my favorite board of ALL time. Books allow us to travel,
even if real life keeps us in one place.

Armed with materials from undergrad, I showcased different careers in theatre.
I had not learned to laminate yet and this didn't make it into year two.

In looking back, I did feel good in this room.  It had a stage, there was space to create and learn.  All teachers should be as lucky as I was to have a room this large.

Second thing I would tell myself is: Always stand up for your curriculum, prepare as much as you can and pick your battles.  In the first 5 years, working in a Transfer School I wrote 6 curricula a year- each 12 weeks long.  That is 30 different curricula.  Out of 30, there was 1 trimester where my choices were questioned and challenged.  (Not for the right reasons though.) I stood by the challenged planning but untimely I had to rewrite 2 weeks into the school year.  I had other battles that last year and this didn't need to be one of them.  

The third and what might be the most important thing I would tell my younger self: Don't be afraid to move on.  Life is too short to be unhappy.  I should have moved forward after my third year, to find a new working community.  I would always tell myself, one more year.  I'll give it one more year. Then I should have really moved on after my 4th year, but again I gave myself another year.  I would tell myself things like: I'll stick with it- for the kids...until so-and-so graduates...am I good enough to leave a place where I know I am good?  Can a be successful with a different population of students?  So much self-doubt had crept into my teaching practice, my confidence was gone.  I cried at work, more than I would like to admit.  I wish I had had the courage to do what I knew was the right move: leaving a place where I didn't feel welcome any longer.

My new classroom (above) after I made the decision to move forward.  

Me ready for a drama class at my new school, that I can teach in the auditorium (below).

Day 8: What was the question again? #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Prompt 8: How should we foster question asking instead of answer getting?

I struggle with this.  Not in my design of challenging and rigorous questions to provoke higher level thinking but with the engagement of students in deeper thinking an questioning of each other and of the material....

I thought about this a lot today.  Here is what I came to:  in order to ask great questions, and engage in discussion means you have to LISTEN.  What I have seen my students do is this: they sit, they not, they can't really engage in discussion because they are NOT LISTENING. 

I did an exercise one day- having set a goal that I wanted my AP students to really work on note taking skills that they will need in the college classroom- I had showed them a brief 4 minute video on feminism.  There was a lot of information and the presenter spoke quickly, rattling off facts and figures interspersed with some humor and reflection.  The first time I showed them the video none of them took notes.  They watched passively, enjoying the video and laughing from time to time.  The following class I asked, "How many of you think you could pass a quiz about the video you watched on Monday?" A few, maybe 5 raised their hands.  "How many people took notes during the video?" Two kid's hands went up.  I knew I had missed the boat on this one.  It was a skill I should have been building in from day one.  Not just taking notes from lecture but from reading, class discussions, videos, reading homework!  These are the skills they are going to need to be successful in college.  Copious notes to digest, process, reflect, ask questions, thinking critically.

It's not a natural skill- it is something to be cultivated over time.  Accountable talk is great (and the prompts that we get students to use) but I need to do more to help kids develop the ability to listen, really HEAR and critically engage. 

Prompt 7: Champions #AprilBlogADay Challenge

The end week one. Prompt 7: Has anyone ever helped you in your career? Been your champion? How will you become someone else's champion?

Has anyone ever helped you in your career? 

Theatre is all about collaboration (and networking).  I have been lucky to have mentors who have, not to be cliché, seen something in me. My high school drama teacher, my costume design prof- who when I came to him at the end of my second quarter and said that I wanted to try my hand at design he jumped into the pool with me and put me on the Fall schedule to design my first show: The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and eight shows after that in a short 2 years.  

When I transferred to a larger university and a more rigorous program, I switched my focus to construction.  Mentors provided opportunity and new knowledge to help me develop in my field.  After I graduated, I did the Professional Artists Training Program at The Seattle Repertory Theatre.  I met amazing mentors and professionals while interning in the costume shop.  Drapers, First Hands, Stitchers, Wig Makers, Designers, and Milliners.  This is also where I began to focus and hone my craft, refining my focus to millinery.  I fell in love with making hats.  Each chapeau was a piece of art, telling a story about who the character was.   Again, mentors pushed me by making me work, taking chances, learning through doing to grow and improve.  It was this time and these relationships that ultimately brought me to NY to work as a milliner for Broadway, Opera, and Film, ultimately achieving all my professional theatre goals.

The challenges placed in front of me by each mentor over 10 years changed me.  Each step pushing me forward, improving, letting me make mistakes, and learning from them.  With out each of these mentors (and many others) I would not have had the career and opportunities I did.

Has anyone ever been your champion?

There have been many champions of me or my work over the years.  The most consistent has been Marci. I met her years ago when she was an ELA coach for the network our school was in. I always believed she understood my thought processes, my logic for choices and she was never afraid to speak frankly with me about my practice or advocate on my behalf when she felt it was necessary. When she left the network and I was so sad to not have her with me but I quickly saw that she had become part of my community.  In the years following she has served as a sounding board and become a friend. Her insight and thinking is always inspiring and helpful. Even though I don't get to work with her as I did, I know she is in my corner and will always be my champion and my friend.

How will you become someone else's champion?

Much of the work I have done this year, in addition to my teaching load, is as a mentor of new teachers.  Working in a school that is at its beginning has a host of challenges.  One of the biggest challenges has been that teachers in their first and second year don't know what their rights are, have not taken the time to read their contract, usually because they are busy with other things, oh, like getting through their first teaching year, writing and implementing curriculum and learning 150+ names and developing a working relationship with a new group of people.  So, beyond mentoring and supporting teacher development, I have been in a position to speak up when it comes to union issues and teacher rights.  Some things have been as small as making sure teachers have access to information on the different insurance plans each fall when the transfer period opens. Bigger things have been about working with Administration to develop structures that support teachers at school events like Parent/Teacher Conferences. Professionally I am at a place in my career where I am an advocate and able to be the kind of person people like Marci have been for me: Leader, Friend, Sounding Board, Advocate and Champion. 

Day 5: This Must End! How WE can move education forward. #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Prompt 5 : What practice, tradition, instructional strategy or anything else "must die". What needs to stop in order for Education to move forward.
 

There are many things that I like, love even.  I like the workshop model and UbD, I like many of the methods Dr. Janet Allen and Kaylene Beers have shared with the world.  Nancie Atwell and my mentor while at NYU Maureen Barbieri laid a solid foundation of practices that have served me well. I ambushed Tom Romano (read THIS then THIS) at NCTE a few years ago and introduced myself and gushed about how much his writing and ideas have influenced and inspired.  I have learned to modify and make their work my own and I have developed my own methods that have served my students well over the years.

In talking with Chris (@the_explicator) today I was struggling with the prompt.  My mind went to broad things like the divide between public and charter schools here in NY, but as we quickly refined I came to this: the thing that has to end for EDUCATION to move forward is for educators- teachers and administrators alike to stop thinking of students as "these kids" and start thinking of them as "our kids".

When I began teaching, I worked in what some would say is the toughest neighborhood in NYC.  We had 150 kids that first year and a teaching staff of 9.  Our kids came to us from a range of backgrounds and experiences that had led them to alternative high school: teen parents, gang members, illegal immigrants, drug dealers, kids who were homeless and living in shelters with their family, kids who got lost in giant NYC schools and slipped through the cracks in the system, kids who were super smart and bored and stopped working because were lost in their school, kids who were bullied because of their sexuality or how they looked...

I wanted to work in alternative schools because I believed, and still do, that all children deserve great teaching and educators who will work hard for them.  It had seemed to me that programs that push inexperienced and undertrained teachers into the highest need schools were doing students a disservice (I'll qualify- there are some amazing teachers that come out of TFA and NYC TF, but it takes time and many drop out..and there are crap teachers that come out of fancy programs like NYU, Teacher's College at Columbia and Bank Street that are also crap teachers.)  There were colleagues over the 5 years I was at that school who would talk about our populations as "these kids" with distain and sometimes resentment.  "These kids can't be taught." "These kids can't learn, that is why they are here."  "These kids are a waste of my time."  I heard it all, from adults who for many kids were a first line of defense and they had no interest in defending, teaching, caring for our students. Over time I became very vocal when I heard "these kids" uttered in staff meetings.  "Not these, OUR kids."  I am sure some of my coworkers didn't like it but I didn't care.

It was hard to leave alternative schools to go to a more mainstream "traditional" school.  9-12th grades (though I came in year two- only a freshman and sophomore class).  We are a limited-unscreened (no test required to get in) school even though we are specialized- all students who come can learn to code and many will be able to earn a CTE certification upon graduation in addition to a diploma. They don't have to take a test to get in and we don't look at test scores.  Our students who live in public housing learn along side affluent kids from families on the Upper East Side.  They all have equal access to education and training that has historically been limited to the brightest (and the best test takers!).  Occasionally I hear those dreaded words "these kids" and "those kids" and I have the same reaction even though the context may be different.  At this school I try to model the language that I think is the best way for teachers to talk about students rather than being bossy. :-) Always: our kids.

In order for education to move forward we must stop thinking of children as a product, number or percentage. School should not be thought of as a business (and be privatized). They are all our children and it is our responsibility as educators to be authentic and real with them, to support them through ups and downs and to be their greatest advocates once they step inside our school.  These are OUR kids and should be thought of as such.

Prompt 3: Professional Responsibilities #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Side Note:
This morning I found myself looking forward to the new prompt.  I was talking to my husband last night about how much I enjoy this short form writing.  I have done NaNoWriMo a few times, never getting more than about 20,000 words (the goal being 50,000).  Blogging allows the writer to create a vignette- a complete movement of story telling, that follows an arc and takes the reader on a journey- even if it is just around the corner and not across the country.  I have felt the most inspired when I have been blogging, never forcing the writing but letting the ideas come and the words flow.  It is when I feel the most authentically me.

I was talking to a couple of my colleagues about the April Blog A Day Challenge- about how I am enjoying the network it is helping to cultivate and pushing me to reflect on my practice. It is often difficult to find the time to reflect on the day to day but in thinking about the larger pieces I am able to do the reflection that is so helpful to my development as an educator. That said...

Prompt 3: 

What's our most important professional responsibility outside the classroom?

Many of us over the last 5 or so years have gotten to know Ms. Danielson and her Framework for Teaching well.  It is the language NYC Principals use to talk to teachers about their development and ultimately how we are evaluated at the end of the year.  Last year all 22 elements of the FfT were used.  This year, with the new contract, there are 8:  1a, 1e, 2a, 2d, 3b, 3c, 3d, and 4e.  Domain 4 is the one that is all about professional development. 4e is Growing and Developing Professionally. The elements of component 4e are:

• Enhancement of content knowledge and pedagogical skill
• Teachers remain current by taking courses, reading professional literature, and remaining current on the evolution of thinking regarding instruction.
• Receptivity to feedback from colleagues
• Teachers actively pursue networks that provide collegial support and feedback.
• Service to the profession
• Teachers are active in professional organizations in order to enhance both their personal practice and their ability to provide leadership and support to colleagues.

I remember as a newer teacher, finding time to do all these things was challenging.  Even now, between the 16 classes I teach each week (plus advisory) and grading and planning... when do I find time to do things to develop myself? I have always found the most time in the summer- last summer I took a class offered by the College Board for teachers of AP Lang at I took at Hofstra University.  It was a week of challenging work and inspiring thinking with teachers who were amazing.  It had been a long time since I had been in a classroom setting and it was an excellent reminder of what it meant to challenge myself, to stretch my thinking in order to get better at what I do.  

When I returned to school in August as we began our summer PD and Teacher Development (integrating a new group of teachers into a growing school- next year will be our first year with all 4 grades) I was surprised by how new so may of them were.  New teachers work hard.  New teachers are pliable. New teachers are inexpensive.  And New Teachers Are Young.  As a career changer, I came into the system at 30, not 22.  For the first time in my career I was senior- by years of experience and by age.  I am not an administrator though so I don't have that kind of status with the staff.  I am a model teacher, a new position in the DOE this year, which has pushed me further into the teacher leadership role.  This was also the first year where I didn't feel like I fit in with my colleagues.  At my previous school there were only 12 teachers and we stuck together for the most part, but I was also new and there were teachers who had much more experience than me and I looked to them as mentors.  Now I am the mentor...how do I continue to develop my practice while supporting the development of new teachers?

This winter I FINALLY made the decision to pursue my administration certification.  Less because I want to be an admin and more because I NEED to continue to develop and evolve in my practice and the skills I have. I am begging to create a vision for what I want the next 10 years to look like and it is my professional responsibly to grow, to challenge myself and be an example for new teachers as well as students: practice what I preach!  EVOLUTION is our most important professional responsibility.