Personalized Professional Learning

Personalized Professional Learning

Standards---yes, we use them to guide our teaching but did you know that there are standards for professional learning too? Learning Forward is an organization devoted to professional learning.  They state that:

“The standards make explicit that the purpose of professional learning is for educators to develop the knowledge, skills, practices, and dispositions they need to help students perform at higher levels. The standards are not a prescription for how education leaders and public officials should address all the challenges related to improving the performance of educators and their students. Instead, the standards focus on one critical issue -- professional learning.”  

Indeed, you have been a part of professional development or learning in the past.  Many times the PD or PL includes an outside source telling you what you should learn or develop. I am sure that you can reflect on times when the PD was “great” or “just what you needed”.

Likewise, there have certainly been occasions when the time that you spent being developed fell short.  What if you took some control over what you learned?  This is not to suggest that you ditch the next PD session you are invited to.  Instead, this is to remind you that you have options.  

Below are some things to think about as you take more control over your learning!  

• Visit this guide from EdSurge for Brewing your Own Professional Development

• Consider using Twitter to create a Professional Learning Network or PLN.  Check out this post on the topic.  You do not have to be an expert or even know how to tweet.  Set up an account and start searching for topics that you are interested in.  Soon you will find yourself following others and learning from them.  When you are ready, you might just start to find your voice in 140 characters or less.  For a little more wisdom on twitter, look at this blog.

• Visit Connected Educators.  This is a site dedicated to help educators thrive in a connected world.  Bet you did not know that this is Connected Educators Month?  

• Participate in a webinar- Many companies have free webinars that you can sign up for.  Being part of an actual webinar is exciting as you have an opportunity to ask and hear questions in real time.  Can’t make the specified time?  Don’t worry. Often times if you have signed up to be a participant you can watch an archived version at a later date.  
• Here are a few to check out: 
• EdWeek
• The Center for Learning
• ASCD
• Learning Forward

The challenge is up to you.  Decide.  What do you want to learn about.  Take charge and investigate.  You will thank yourself.  

What Works for Me on Twitter: Lists

Does your Twitter timeline tend to overwhelm you from time to time?  Is someone posting random tweets that keep you from accessing the useful information you joined Twitter for?  Do you have a group of people that post tweets regarding a similar topic most of the time?  If any, some, or all of the above situations apply to you it's time to begin setting up some Twitter lists.

Many users aren't aware of this, but you are a mere few clicks away from way more control over what you see and when on Twitter.  Simply click on your settings wheel in the upper right hand corner of your Twitter home page and you're on your way to a less complicated and more valuable experience with Twitter.

The main Twitter list "pane" looks like this.

Click on the "Create list" button to get started.  Here are the options to choose from:

Give the list a name.  Add a description if it will help you or your audience know what information and/or who is included in the list.  Also be aware that the list you create can be private only to you or be shared with others.  Pro Tip: Explore the public lists of the people you enjoy following most to find other Twitter members you may like to follow as well.

If you ever want to go back to a list, rename it, edit the description, or make a private list public or vice versa, simply go to the list and click on the "Edit" button here:

 
Also, clicking the "Member of" button here,

will allow you to see which public lists other Twitter users have placed you on.  See who may be stalking you because you're awesome!

As seen in the images, I have two lists associated with the Twitter account I use professionally.  One list, titled "IT Team" is there to make sure that I don't miss any tweets the colleagues on my team posts.  I follow them in the traditional way, but if I'm not on my timeline at the right time I could miss an important tweet of theirs and I don't want that to happen.  The other list I created is simply titled "List."  I have reserved this list for a few people that I really want to follow, but they just post too much during the day.  This way I can still see their tweets, but now I see their tweets when I want to see them instead of when they post them.

There are many reasons to create a list on Twitter.  I was speaking from experience in my examples earlier.  Your reasons may be different than mine, but one thing we can agree on is that having a little more control over when you see particular tweets from particular people is a positive thing.

So this should hopefully get you started with lists.  Enjoy the new control you have over your timeline and let your more personal Twitter experience work better for you.

(For further information about the creation and use of lists on Twitter the great people at Edudemic have you covered.  Click here for a post about how to create Twitter lists and click here for some perspective on how to manage information from your PLN via Twitter lists.)

Note: This is a cross post from my CCSD blog, also under our district Google domain.  A link to my blog is here if you're interested in reading a little more about various topics.  Find me on Twitter here and visit and follow one, some, or all of my boards on Pinterest here.  Let's get connected! 

October is Connected Educators Month

Connected, as defined by dictionary.com:

(Please click on the image for a clearer view.)

The ease in today's world with which we can connect with each other and how simply we can empower ourselves as well as others cannot be overstated.  This is why it is more important than ever that we acknowledge and celebrate October being Connected Educators Month.

There are numerous means to be better connected as an educator.  The purpose of this post is to share just a few of the resources with you in hopes you'll find something useful and meaningful.

One, visit connectededucators.org whose mission is "Helping Educators Thrive in a Connected World."  This site is perfect for resources, ideas, and plenty more regarding the idea of being connected as an educator.

Source: https://goo.gl/2u4RXs

Two. use social media to create and build your very own personal learning network (PLN.)  We are no longer limited or tied to resources only within our schools or districts.  It is simpler than ever to find educators, ideas, strategies, and more from throughout the world which can add meaningful depth to your passion for teaching and learning.  What a time to be alive!  Related Reading: Social media is (initially) more about who you follow rather than who follows you.  Read a short post with more detail about this approach on my blog here.

Three, if you are already active on social media in a professional sense, include the hashtag #ce16 (Connected Educators 2016) in your posts.  This will help you more easily find other professionals to connect with this month.

As Will Durant said, "We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."  By changing the word "excellence" to "connectedness" we can make connecting with others a habit rather than a act.  This way we can all celebrate Connected Educators Month all year long.

Again, these are just a few of the many examples of how we can celebrate Connected Educators Month.  We're excited to hear about and see all of the different ways in which you are celebrating being a connected educator.  Feel free to comment below to share what being connected means to you!

Source: https://goo.gl/RvZd0d

 

Tuesday Tech Tip: Get Going with Google!

Calling all Google Apps for Education fans! Coming back for their 5th Colorado event, the EdTechTeam Colorado Summit featuring Google for Education is happening in November! This two-day summit focuses on using and integrating Google Apps for Education in the classroom in order to promote student learning and innovation.



Here are the details:
WHO: Open to all! You, your teachers, your administrators! Make it a party!
WHEN: November 5-6, 2016
WHERE: Monarch High School
(329 Campus Dr, Louisville, CO)
WHAT: Learn, share, practice, grow. Each day will begin with a Keynote speaker, followed by 2 sessions, lunch, and then 2 more sessions. Day one ends with a Demo Slam and day two ends with a closing keynote.
HOW: Register HERE!

Here are some highlights from the schedule include using Google Apps for Education (GAFE) and other online tools to help students read and write in an online environment, the power of Google Forms, Using Social Media in the classroom and for building a PLN, Chrome Browser tips and tricks, Google Cardboard and virtual fieldtrips, differentiation, templates, Chrome extensions and add-ons, MakerSpace ideas, ways to use GAFE in all classroom content areas and grade levels, portfolios and publishing, badges and gamification, Breakout EDU, Google Classroom, the power of Google Slides and Drawings, Google Sites, Blogger, Google Photos, Pear Deck, formative and summative assessment ideas, interactive storytelling ideas, EdPuzzle, augmented reality and more! With the number of topics available, it'll be hard to choose just one session in each time spot! Just think though, the more teachers you bring the more you'll be able to take notes on and share with each other after the conference!

We would be happy to connect with you at the summit, just let us know you're planning to be there! Let's get as many people as we can to help represent the amazing work we're doing in CCSDD, and help our teachers grow and learn how to better integrate Google Apps for Education into their practice! We know there are already some pretty awesome things happening in the classroom, but it never hurts to have a few more instructional tools in your teacher toolbox to support your students in an ever-changing and evolving online world.

Again, here is the link to register for the summit. We look forward to hearing about your experience and sharing our learning with you! Happy Googling!