It Could Happen This Way: New Programs/Apps

As I think of positive ways to advocate for a new tool/app system in my school district, I provide the following scenario.

A teacher like me is introduced to a large number of tools and programs daily via my online PLN. I'm also met with a large number of student needs, interests, and passions as well as standards and curriculum to teach. As my program evolves, I am constantly on the look out for tools and venues that respond well to the program requirements and students' needs and interests.

So when I learn of a program, I would like to do the following:

• Access the trial. Follow system-wide protocols for appropriate, forward, engaging, and empowering digital use.
• Try it out with students. Chart results.
• If worthy, apply for the funding needed.
• As long as the program meets system-wide protocols and funding is available, funding would be provided and the technology would be available.
• Also, when tech is deemed profitable, it would be shared so that others could access if desired.

This would be a more fluid, responsive system of app/program use--one that has the potential to invigorate our efforts to personalize and differentiate teaching in order to serve all students well. 

Tech Approval Process?

I continued to be challenged by the technology approval and purchasing system at my school.

I'm trying to figure out what to do.

The current system includes the following:

• When you see an app or program you'd like to use, fill out a lengthy form that requires significant information and research.
• The form goes out to a large number of tech specialists and leaders for review and approval.
• The approval or non-approval usually occurs sometime in one to two month's time.
• Work with multiple systems to purchase, upload, and set the program in process.

There are many challenges to this process including the following:

• It's difficult to know about the worth of a program before trying it out with children. Often when you try out a program, you decide right away that it's not so good, it's great, or somewhere in between. I believe this should be the first step.
• The form process is not matched with the purchasing system, hence the response is often, "No, we don't have the money for this or perhaps we'll have the money next year."
• The system doesn't match the fluidity of new apps and programs. Apps and programs are steadily beginning, evolving, and ending--it's a fluid process that doesn't match the more static form process.
• The multiple leaders and tech specialists who approve the technology often don't know the students your teaching or the specific standards deeply so they may not understand why that app or program is relevant at this time.
• The process is very different from curriculum selection and design processes used with regard to other tools such as books, manipulatives, field experiences, expert visitors, and other learning design. I wish the process was more similar to how we choose good books to match our curriculum. We are free to choose the books we'd like to use. We try them out, share with colleagues, and continue to use if worthy or discontinue if the book results in less impact. Our book selection is guided by our experience and education, protocols, reviews, research, and share. 
• The process does not allow for steady, responsive teaching. Identifying an app or program that will be engaging and beneficial to a child today cannot wait two months. In two months the child, teaching needs, and schedule have changed.
• Apps and programs are created to be responsive, ready teaching tools. When used well they can serve to invigorate personalization, individual teaching/learning paths, and differentiation. However to do this requires fluid, timely, and open share and use. 
• I believe that purchasing systems for all materials in a school including apps/programs should be an ongoing process, not a once-a-year event. In order to be responsive and to save money too, school purchasing would benefit from a manager who is able to use the money well, make use of sales and incentives, and respond to educators' needs. As it stands now, many teachers just spend their own money to buy school tools, programs, and materials since the lengthy and time consuming systems for purchase hinder the ready response needed to teach children well. Fortunately many PTO's help out in this regard by giving teachers some freedom and support to purchase worthy materials. 

I was the first teacher to try out the form process years ago. After multiple hours with the first form, I realized the program that I waited about a month or so for approval for was not a good fit. So it was about 10 hours time for a 15-minute analysis to realize it wasn't a fit.

Similarly this summer I identified an app that I wanted to use. I had the time this summer to investigate the app with depth, but didn't want to invest the time only to hear that I couldn't use it. The app was recently approved, but now it's the school year and there's less time for exploration so it's on my waiting list and I will explore during the winter break as I've pushed the learning experience back to the spring. I may have planned for this in the fall, but I had to wait.

Also, the other day, I was needing a really engaging tool to keep a few students in the learning arena. I know of some that were not approved in the past, and another one that's share settings were changed thus losing the engagement. I wrote about the need for the tools, and I was told to fill out the forms again for the tools not approved in the past (about a 10 hour process including needed research, rationale. . .). Yet, I could use those tools now and I know those tools would really benefit the learning/teaching agenda. But, I can't have them now, and won't have them if I don't put in the significant form-filling time to advocate for each and every app and program.

Perhaps I am wrong in not finding the current system supportive. Perhaps I'm the only teacher in the system who find this cumbersome and not forward moving with regard to teaching well, but my research and experience shows that as educators we need to continually have the flexibility to reach out and try new tools and programs to respond to students' needs in timely, engaging, and empowering ways. Given our mostly time-on-task with students' days, we need greater flexibility and ability to add apps and programs as needed to support students during our early morning, evening, and weekend planning time.

I'd like this system to run with protocols rather than a strict, time-consuming, and lengthy form system. I'd like for teachers to be able to fluidly try new tools to readily respond to students in order to build engagement, empowerment, and a strong, blended education. Then when tools are deemed profitable, engaging, empowering, and rightfully educational we could share and look for ways with leadership and technology to extend the use of that program or tool. 

I'm putting my thoughts here to chart the issue. I'm open to naysayers' commentary and education. I want to learn what's wrong with my ideas here with regard to fluidly choosing and using tools to teach well. In the meantime, I'll share this point of view with leadership again as I have in the past. I hope to learn more about this issue and gain some perspective, or even better, positive change. I will ask leadership to guide me with regard to advocacy and teacher voice in this regard. I want to follow the paths set in my system that allow teachers to voice interest, concern, new ideas, and questions to further what we can do to teach our students well. 

What Are Your 2015-2016 Teaching Goals?

Massachusetts, in my opinion, has implemented a worthy system of educator evaluation. The system represents many dimensions of what it means to teach well. When the system is employed in an ethical, streamlined, effective way, it serves teachers, administrators, and students well. It's important to consider how you will manage this system for best effect. If you're not a Massachusetts' educator, this system offers you an avenue to good work, a path that I recommend.

Soon administrators in Massachusetts will meet with all educators under their charge. Those administrators will ask educators if they've assessed their strengths and challenges related to the Standards for Professional Practice outlined in the Massachusetts' Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Teacher Evaluation System. Then they'll ask educators to share both a professional learning goal and a student learning goal. After that a discussion with ensue, and then teacher and administrator will work together to create goals, rationale, action plans, and a list of possible evidence.

There are many ways that you can tackle this process.

I suggest the following.

Assess
First, assess your strengths and challenges. I created the chart at the bottom of the page to support that effort if you're interested. Each element connects to a short reflection I wrote about the element to lead your assessment.

Draft Goals
Next, draft your goals. I recommend drafting your goals on a google document and then uploading the goal to your professional ePortfolio. Here's an example of my goals draft for 2015-2016 and ePortfolio. I recommend the use of an online ePortfolio since it provides an easy vehicle for revising, cutting and pasting, and sharing your goals/evidence with any interested party. Of course you don't have to share your ePortfolio with the world as you can adjust the privacy settings. This handy guide will help you to create an ePortfolio.

Meet With Your Evaluator
After that ,when you meet with your evaluator bring your computer and ePortfolio with you. Discuss your draft with your evaluator, make changes, and then add the goals, rationale, action plans, and possible evidence points to your organization's evaluation system. The school system I work for uses TeachPoint.

Regularly Assess, Reflect, Revise, Enrich, and Design
Then, as you teach and learn, update your online information. Keep your lists current. Add evidence links as available. This ongoing process will prevent you from having to search for evidence and write long descriptions at the end of the year when you might not remember all the details as well. Make this process one of ongoing assessment, reflection, revision, enrichment, and design.

I wish you well on your teaching/learning year's journey. If you have further ideas for successful management and implementation of your teacher evaluation efforts, please let me know.

Evidence Chart and Links: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rFpIcsaUUnp_HsG7wDiHG69cYCMeHse7rxWj6aafP4Q/edit?usp=sharing

Standard I Curriculum Planning and Assessment	Standard II Teaching All Students	Standard III Family and Community Engagement	Standard IV Professional Culture
A. Curriculum and Planning     Indicator Subject Matter Knowledge Child and Adolescent Development Rigorous Standards-Based Unit Design Well-Structured Lessons	A. Instruction Indicator Quality of Effort and Work Student Engagement Meeting Diverse Needs	A. Engagement Indicator Parent/Family engagement.	A. Reflection Indicator Reflective Practice Goal Setting
B. Assessment Indicator Variety of Assessment Methods Adjustments to Practice	B. Learning Environment Indicator Safe learning environment. Collaborative learning environment Student motivation	B. Collaboration Indicator Learning expectations Curriculum support	B. Professional Growth Indicator Professional Learning and Growth
C. Indicator Analysis Analysis and Conclusions Sharing Conclusions with Colleagues Sharing Conclusions with Students	C. Cultural Proficiency Indicator Respects differences. Maintain respectful environment	C. Communication Indicator Two-way communication Culturally proficient communication	C. Collaboration Indicator Professional Collaboration
	D. Expectations Indicator Clear expectations High expectations Access to knowledge		D. Decision-Maker Indicator Decision Making
			E. Shared Responsibility Indicator Shared responsibility
			F. Professional Responsibilities Indicator Judgement Reliability and Responsibility

Imagine: What Do You Need?

An individual approached me and asked, what do you need to teach well?

I responded, if possible, I'd like the following:

• a laptop computer for every child
• the ability to choose apps and tech programs readily as needed 
• more cozy, comfortable furniture
• a bit more planning and collaborative time during the school day
• a bit more time-on-task-with-students support

Generally I have a top-notch learning/teaching environment, but if I had the opportunity to make it better, I'd choose the items listed above and then I could do an even better job :)

Productive Thinking: 5

My sister Christine, a veteran teacher like me, and I were discussing math teaching this morning. I told her how I emphasized the fact with students that when we learn math we develop our thinking/learning skills and abilities. Then she responded by telling about a great productive thinking exercise she uses with her class to develop deep thinking and creativity skills. She learned the lesson from a productive thinking workshop. I outlined the lesson below:

1. Pose your grade level number.
2. Ask students to think about what they could create on paper beginning with that number.
3. List students' ideas.
4. Then ask students to take that number and create an image that's different from any of the ideas on the list. 
5. Let students work on their creations, then hang their masterpieces up for all to see and examine.
6. Make the connection that good collective process helps one to develop wonderful ideas and creativity.

I can't wait to try out this idea as one way to build students' ability to think deep and wide. Nice!