tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87822319055837551292024-03-14T01:06:12.234-05:00J.P. Prezzavento - The Bits and Bytes of Education:My thoughts on teaching and technologyJP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-33515077785144709632016-09-16T16:04:00.000-05:002016-09-16T16:18:04.797-05:00A Friday Morning #medialiteracy lessonA few weeks ago, I was looking for a new car seat for my four-year-old daughter and sent a tweet to Babies R Us to ask about a promotion I saw on their web site.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/BabiesRUs">@BabiesRUs</a> you are advertising a carseat trade-in, but no details. Start/end date? Any seats not accepted? <a href="https://t.co/5KvSeIiHN2">pic.twitter.com/5KvSeIiHN2</a></div>
— JP Prezzavento (@JPPrezz) <a href="https://twitter.com/JPPrezz/status/773858662020374530">September 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
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I hadn't received a response until I saw a Twitter notification for this mention today.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/JPPrezz">@JPPrezz</a> Save more money using 75% OFF coupon on our profile bio</div>
— Babies R Us Coupon (@babiesruscoupo1) <a href="https://twitter.com/babiesruscoupo1/status/776708466148794368">September 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Even half-asleep at 5:04am, I could tell that there were some serious issues with this tweet. That got me thinking: what a great way to talk about media literacy with students! We've all seen tweets like this before. Why not take a quick screenshot, throw it on the projector, and have students talk with a shoulder partner about all the ways they can tell this tweet is spam. I would give them something like this:<br />
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After taking a few minutes to analyze and discuss this notification and Twitter profile, we could come back together as a class and share out reactions and takeaways. Some of the biggest red flags students are likely to identify include:</div>
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<li>The tweet didn't come from a <a href="https://support.twitter.com/articles/119135" target="_blank">verified account</a>. Wouldn't a major retail chain like Babies R Us be verified?</li>
<li>Why direct us to a link in their bio? Tweets can include links. </li>
<li>The link doesn't point to the Babies R Us website, but a blogspot blog.</li>
<li>They have a very small number of followers for a major retailer outlet.</li>
<li>The store logo isn't present in the profile picture. </li>
<li>Why would a store give 75% off everything? </li>
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This could be followed by a short conversation about spam accounts students have run into online and the importance of not clicking on spam links that kids see online. This short lesson could even be the introduction to a larger lesson or unit about research, digital citizenship, and the validity of online resources. </div>
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The entire lesson would likely take no more than 15 minutes, but think about the value and real-world application of this short lesson. Our students, their parents, and, yes, even us educators, are inundated with media. We constantly have to evaluate social media to determine its validity, and my very true story from this morning is a perfect example of why its the job of all educators to be advocates for media literacy. </div>
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How do you teach media literacy in your class? What other issues would you point out to your students about the Twitter account above? Sound off in the comments below to share your ideas, lessons, and stories!</div>
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-72016857122498184202016-06-28T08:24:00.000-05:002016-06-28T08:24:07.455-05:00Google Forms Updates: Create Quizzes in Google Forms<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p3SMkB5p7v0/V3HJBosd-PI/AAAAAAAADf4/gHU1bwhBNOEQJwfiGZ93fEJO-pOnA1xAwCK4B/s1600/create-quiz.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p3SMkB5p7v0/V3HJBosd-PI/AAAAAAAADf4/gHU1bwhBNOEQJwfiGZ93fEJO-pOnA1xAwCK4B/s320/create-quiz.png" width="320" /></a>This afternoon, while preparing to deliver some PD on Google Forms tomorrow, I was reviewing Google Forms and noticed something new pop up in the top of the screen: a create quiz section. This excited me for several reasons, including the possibility of being able to skip <a href="http://flubaroo.com/" target="_blank">Flubaroo</a> when grading quizzes in Google Forms. <br />
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In this post, I will break down some of the new features of Google Forms and share how they can be used to increase communication in the classroom and increase teacher efficiency.<br />
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One of my biggest complaints with previous versions of Google Forms was that teachers could not collect the usernames of people filling out a form without giving them the ability to get a copy of the questions and their responses. This could be problematic if a teacher were to assign a test early in the day. By the end of the class period, all students could potentially have access to the test questions (let's hold off on the conversation about what might be wrong with the assessment in this scenario). Now, teachers are able to collect the usernames of people filling out a form and choose whether or not those users can get a copy of the questions and their answers. </div>
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Teachers can select <b>COLLECT EMAIL ADDRESS</b> to automatically record the email address of the people filling out the Form and select <b>RESPONSE RECEIPTS</b> to allow users to request a copy of the questions and their responses. </div>
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Quizzes Baked into Google Forms</h3>
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Google Forms now allows teachers to create a quiz in a Google Form and grade all objective questions right in the form by clicking the settings gear, then Quizzes. </div>
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The only downside of creating a Google Form as as quiz that I can see is that unlike with the most recent version of Flubaroo, users can only grade multiple choice, check box, and drop-down menu questions inside the Form. So, teachers will need to manually grade the subjective questions (short answer and paragraph questions) and add those grades to the quiz score generated by Google Forms. </div>
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Teachers can easily create an answer key for any objective questions in a Google Form by clicking the question, then clicking <b>ANSWER KEY</b>. </div>
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When a teacher creates a quiz in Google Forms, the Responses spreadsheet also gets a new column for student score. This is helpful because many teachers want to be able to look down that column and enter grades right into their grade book and, for the most part, this feature will be very helpful for teachers. Again, the only downside to this is that short answer and paragraph questions cannot be graded - either automatically or manually - in the Google Form, so teachers will have to grade those questions independently. </div>
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One other feature I was looking for in this update was for Google Classroom to inherit the grades on Google Forms quizzes. Unfortunately, it looks like that didn't happen in this update. Hopefully this is something Google will roll out in the future. </div>
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For a more detailed walk-though of the updates to Google Forms, check out the YouTube video below. </div>
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Did I miss a new feature? What would you like to see Google add to Forms in the future? Use the comments section to share out. </div>
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-7824661271190230112015-02-28T10:23:00.000-06:002015-02-28T10:23:10.842-06:00"OK Google": it's time to unleash the learning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In case you haven't heard, this week the good folks over at YouTube released a new mobile app called YouTube Kids. YouTube Kids takes advantage of Google's voice activated search tool, OK Google in conjunction with traditional keyboard searching to help younger YouTube viewers find age-appropriate videos with a very kid-friendly user-interface. <br />
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I donwloaded YouTube Kids app on "my iPad" (I use the phrase <i>my iPad </i>very loosely since my daughter uses it more than I do) right after its release to give it a try. . The first time my two-and-a-half year old Giuliana used YouTube Kids she wasn't very interested in it. She noticed that she it had less content to view compared to YouTube. In order to try to get her more interested in the app, I showed Giuliana how she can utilize the "OK Google" voice search to find the videos about the characters she wants to see.<br />
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After a few demonstration and countless times running around the house yelling "OK Google!!" Giuliana had figured out how to tap the search button and the microphone to search for what she wanted to watch. Here is what that looks like:<br />
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My wife and I thought it was so cool that she was able to immediately find what she was looking for without running over to us asking to find it. Obviously Giuliana thought it was pretty cool, too. </div>
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Once I finished my proud poppa moment, I started thinking about the educational implications of tools like OK Google. If my two-and-a-half year old can use this tool to find information online (videos of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=frozen&page=&utm_source=opensearch" target="_blank">Frozen </a>and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=peppa+pig&page=&utm_source=opensearch" target="_blank">Peppa Pig</a>), what can other emerging learners use this tool to do? Could we use this technology to start showing elementary students the power of Internet to find information? Students could use this tool to quickly find images to include in presentations or iMovie trailers. What about special needs learners? Learners who have trouble spelling could take tools like this and have the power to unlock a whole new world!</div>
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I'm excited about how this assistive technology can unlock the learning potential of the Internet! Let's get started, OK Google?</div>
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<b><i>How are you using assistive technology to engage emerging and special need learners in your classrooms? Sound off in the comments below. </i></b></div>
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-15369307479651495772014-12-30T10:11:00.000-06:002014-12-30T10:11:03.220-06:00Google Chrome/Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts<div style="text-align: center;">
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In the past year, my school district has deployed over 1,000 Chromebooks to schools. As I have <span style="text-align: center;">spent time observing students and teachers interacting and creating with their Chromebooks, I noticed that very few people were familiar with keyboard shortcuts that would save valuable work time. I created the infographic below to share with teachers and students. Use the comments below share some of your favorite Chrome shortcuts. </span></div>
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-30756386936031919692014-12-04T15:11:00.000-06:002014-12-04T15:11:10.795-06:00Tech Tools for the BYOD Classroom<div style="text-align: center;">
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Recently, I had the opportunity to present at the MOREnet M3 technology conference in Columbia, MO on tech tools for the BYOD classroom. Below is the slide deck from my presentation. This was my first experience presenting at a conference outside of my home district. I found this experience to be rewarding and provided me an excellent opportunity to grow as a presenter. </div>
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Use the comments section below to share what tech tools are on your must-have list for the BYOD classroom. </div>
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-13683741325661505222014-12-04T15:07:00.001-06:002014-12-04T15:07:13.098-06:00Google Classroom Resources #edtechchat<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dkRyHgnUG1Q/VIDL6VyiqcI/AAAAAAAAC-4/lh7pF_r49Go/s1600/Google-Classroom-Logo1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dkRyHgnUG1Q/VIDL6VyiqcI/AAAAAAAAC-4/lh7pF_r49Go/s1600/Google-Classroom-Logo1.png" height="150" width="200" /></a>One of the hottest new edtech trends this year is Google Classroom. The Google Apps for Education team has created a tool that links the power of Google Drive and Gmail into one user-friendly interface. Google Classroom isn't an LMS that can replace systems like Blackboard...yet. But educators who have been looking for a place to send, receive, and organize student work stored on Google Drive LOVE Classroom.<br />
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Below is a YouTube playlist I have created with screencasts that demonstrate a how to do most common tasks in Google Classroom including: adding students to a class, creating, assigning, and returning student work, and more.<br />
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Use the comments section of this post to let me know what videos you would like me to add to this playlist.<br />
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-28039524556503311592014-06-04T15:34:00.001-05:002014-06-04T15:45:00.474-05:00The 3 B's of BYOD Tools<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My school district just finished a BYOD pilot program and is preparing to roll-out BYOD to 5,500 middle and high </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">school students early next school year. As the district’s Instructional Technology Coordinator, I work with teachers to help them transition to teaching in a BYOD environment. One of the biggest obstacles teachers faced while working with student devices has been learning how each student’s device works with the tools the teacher uses in class.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In some cases, the lack of continuity between student devices is as small as where to go to add a Google account to Google Drive – on iOS devices, Google accounts can be added in Drive, but on Android devices, users have to go through the device’s account settings to add a Google account. In other cases, we have had to learn through trial and error which applications function differently on Android devices than they do on iOS devices and Windows phones (</span><a href="http://padlet.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Padlet</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is difficult to use in Android’s preinstalled browser). In other instances, certain tools or applications were only available on one operating system.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I quickly learned that dealing with device continuity would be one of the biggest struggles we would face as our BYOD program expanded and more teachers who aren’t necessarily tech savvy got involved. To help combat this, I published the 3 B’s of BYOD Tools:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be Free.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Just like we don’t expect students to buy their own textbooks, we shouldn’t expect students to regularly purchase apps for our classes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be selective</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Master a handful of useful tools that simplify classroom procedures and make learning in a BYOD environment collaborative and authentic, such as </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Drive</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/start" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blogger</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://padlet.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Padlet</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><a href="https://awwapp.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">awwapp.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Leave out apps that are more flash than substance or complicate simple classroom procedures.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Implementing the 3 B’s of BYOD Tools has helped teachers in my district spend less time on device management and more time working with students. If you are getting ready to implement a BYOD initiative or are new to BYOD, be sure to consider the 3 B’s when selecting tools to use in your class.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This originally appeared as a guest blog post on Sophia.org's <a href="http://www.sophia.org/school-of-thought" target="_blank">School of Thought</a> blog. </i></span></span></div>
JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-68656407609777376432014-05-29T11:09:00.000-05:002014-05-29T11:14:30.088-05:00Tech Tool Review: Kaizena (Voice Comments)Kaizena (Voice Comments) is a Google Drive application that allows teachers to leave audio feedback on their students' Google Documents. Kaizena is a great tool for helping teachers to maximize the time they spend leaving feedback for students. The video and PDF below demonstrates how to use Kaizena. <br />
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-70587216000253162212014-03-28T14:14:00.000-05:002014-03-28T14:14:43.247-05:00Social Media: 21st Century Communication #c6learnsI was recently asked to speak at <a href="http://merameces.fox.k12.mo.us/" target="_blank">Meramec Heights</a>, one of my district's elementary schools about social media. I was very excited to share my passion for social media with the Meramec teachers. Below is a copy of the presentation I gave to the Meramec Staff.<br />
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<iframe align="center" allowfullscreen="false" frameborder="0" height="500" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jngDXfCM65sc7AlnGw4cprBEB01NnvS-2lyAsWTcW6I/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></div>
JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-36452712165143782222013-12-19T19:04:00.005-06:002013-12-23T08:59:19.139-06:00Tech Tool Review: SafeShare.TVAs an educator, I love YouTube. I love finding funny videos to supplement my lessons and to provide examples of the concepts I teach. However, I don't love some of the comments, suggested videos, or related videos that I see when watching a YouTube video in class. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zrEZzHGH0Qs/UrMOtjJUqSI/AAAAAAAAApE/5UcQ7b61n6s/s1600/safesharelogo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="53" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zrEZzHGH0Qs/UrMOtjJUqSI/AAAAAAAAApE/5UcQ7b61n6s/s200/safesharelogo.JPG" width="200" /></a>Enter <a href="http://safeshare.tv/">SafeShare.TV</a>. SafeShare.TV allows users to share a YouTube video without having to worry about any inappropriate content popping up on the screen.<br />
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The video below demonstrates how to view a YouTube video in SafeShare.TV.<br />
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-81261174210833934532013-11-10T20:41:00.005-06:002013-11-11T08:14:45.926-06:00A snapshot of #EdcampKC 2013<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6e-cpevMzhw/UoA21SxQ1YI/AAAAAAAAAi8/sq7AxbdebIQ/s1600/logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6e-cpevMzhw/UoA21SxQ1YI/AAAAAAAAAi8/sq7AxbdebIQ/s200/logo.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
Yesterday I attended the fourth annual <a href="http://edcampkc.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">#EdcampKC</a> at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. For anyone who has not attended an edcamp in the past, it is run in the format of an un-conference, meaning that the participants are also the presenters and facilitators of the day's learning.<br />
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As always, the day was filled with learning: professional discussions, challenging and changing of viewpoints, and resources...lots of resources. Below is a list of some of my favorite tweets, images, lists, and resources from #EdcampKC.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Formal vs. Informal PD Notes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Take Edcamp to your School Notes</span></div>
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Love the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edcampkc&src=hash">#edcampkc</a> mural that everyone created together today. <a href="http://t.co/lxovxUUgBr">pic.twitter.com/lxovxUUgBr</a><br />
— Kyle Pace (@kylepace) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylepace/statuses/399298783181557760">November 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Let's stop calling them 21st century skills; it's now 2013 so we should just start calling them "life skills." <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edcampkc&src=hash">#edcampkc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edchat&src=hash">#edchat</a><br />
— Dr. Justin Tarte (@justintarte) <a href="https://twitter.com/justintarte/statuses/399247745032007681">November 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Thank you thank you thank you to all those that supported <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edcampkc&src=hash">#edcampkc</a> <a href="http://t.co/0LQ8VkP3Ge">pic.twitter.com/0LQ8VkP3Ge</a><br />
— Dr. Chris R McGee (@cmcgee200) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmcgee200/statuses/399206625791066112">November 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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I went to a museum and an edcamp broke out! <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edcampkc&src=hash">#edcampkc</a> <a href="http://t.co/O9OLKqDxcZ">pic.twitter.com/O9OLKqDxcZ</a><br />
— William Chamberlain (@wmchamberlain) <a href="https://twitter.com/wmchamberlain/statuses/399201141814083584">November 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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RT <a href="https://twitter.com/mandyadey">@mandyadey</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/cmcgee200">@cmcgee200</a> priceless moment in a session! Holy cow love that app! <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edcampkc&src=hash">#edcampkc</a> <a href="http://t.co/DBOztas2HK">pic.twitter.com/DBOztas2HK</a> Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow">@TheEllenShow</a><br />
— Dr. Chris R McGee (@cmcgee200) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmcgee200/statuses/399234304607129600">November 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Does your Teacher PD mirror the kind of learning you want for your students? Via <a href="https://twitter.com/wmchamberlain">@wmchamberlain</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edcampkc&src=hash">#edcampkc</a><br />
— toby brown (@tbbrwn) <a href="https://twitter.com/tbbrwn/statuses/399270969283317760">November 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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300 educators who chose professional development on a Saturday ... Wow! That's the power of the EdCamp philosophy. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edcampkc&src=hash">#edcampkc</a><br />
— Mitsi Nessa (@mitsinessa) <a href="https://twitter.com/mitsinessa/statuses/399206979924537344">November 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Social media is no longer taboo at work. Consider it free publicity for your district. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edcampkc&src=hash">#edcampkc</a><br />
— JP Prezzavento (@JPPrezz) <a href="https://twitter.com/JPPrezz/statuses/399231651559272448">November 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">#EdcampKC Attendees!</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilchristlaura/10788446703/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="What an amazing group! by LauraGilchrist4, on Flickr"><img alt="What an amazing group!" height="300" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3702/10788446703_b63659c15b_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-14411560997919549812013-09-03T15:18:00.000-05:002013-09-03T15:19:17.421-05:00Planning for student teaching successThis school year I embarked upon a new journey in my teaching career: serving as a cooperating teacher to two of my department's three student teachers. At first I was reluctant to take on student teachers because I wasn't sure if I was cut out for job of helping two pre-service teachers in what will be one of their final preparations before they get their own classrooms. However, after a colleague and close friend reminded me <b><i>serving as a cooperating teacher is one of the most valuable forms of <a href="http://jpprezz.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-does-high-quality-pd-look-like.html">professional development</a>,</i></b> I realized that this was an amazing opportunity for me not only to offer <a href="http://jpprezz.blogspot.com/2012/05/5-proven-strategies-for-successful-pd.html">PD</a> to the students assigned to me, but also this would be an opportunity for me to grow as a professional.<br />
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Throughout the semester I have or will do the following activities with my student teachers:<br />
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<b><i>I introduced the student teachers to everyone they need to know in the building including principals, secretaries, department chairs, and custodians.</i></b><br />
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<b><i><br />I created a structured student teaching <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/157q43GCCD45UIdizf9d08KqTO4Vc9i_iIS5tUpj_o80/edit">schedule</a>.</i></b></div>
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<b><i><br />I shared lesson plans and assessments with the student teachers.</i></b></div>
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<b><i><br />Every day we reflect upon and discuss the day's activities. I ask them what they noticed about my lessons, the good and bad, and I offer suggestions to them as well....OK, we really do this more than once a day.</i></b></div>
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<b><i><br />I encouraged both of my student teachers to join Twitter and to follow <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edchat&mode=relevance&src=typd">#edchat</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ntchat&src=typd">#ntchat</a>. </i></b></div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">I asked my student teachers to each create and maintain a blog for weekly reflection of their student teaching experience. </i><br />
Feel free to check up on their progress and offer feedback and encouragement: </div>
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<a href="http://missgrahamsstudentteaching.blogspot.com/">The Adventures of a Student Teacher</a></div>
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<a href="http://drmoore1979.blogspot.com/">Student Teaching Blog</a></div>
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<b><i>Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. </i></b><br />
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We are constantly working together to refine what goes on in the classroom. It is important to me for my student teachers to know that they are not just practicing in my classroom, we are all working together in <u style="font-weight: bold;">our</u> classroom to make it a place that is conducive to learning for all members of the learning community, students, student teachers, and classroom teacher. </div>
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What have you done in the past to help student teachers grow during their time in your classroom? Student teachers: what have your cooperating teachers done that has been really beneficial to you? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section. </div>
JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-61959915285313680962013-05-22T21:05:00.001-05:002013-05-23T14:31:30.922-05:00Always say "Happy birthday"Yesterday I celebrated my birthday. I am incredibly lucky that this year my birthday fell on one of the first days of summer vacation, so I was able to spend the day relaxing at home with my wife and daughter. Throughout the day, my iPad kept displaying happy birthday messages from my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram friends. I got birthday wishes from co-workers, friends and neighbors I see almost every day, and from former colleagues and friends from school I haven't seen in years. Each of the birthday messages I received had one thing in common: each one made me feel appreciated. Every year I am touched that people take the time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday. <br />
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While I consider myself to be blessed with an amazing family and many great friends, all of my students aren't that lucky. I know that throughout my 9 years of teaching I have had students who don't have people to wish them a happy birthday or to make sure they feel loved and cared for. Like all teachers, I do the best I can to make sure that the first thing students learn when they walk into my classroom is that I care about them, that I care about more than their score on a standardized test or if they turned in last night's homework assignment. In order to make sure that all of my students know that I care about them as people I make a very conscious effort to do a few things:<br />
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<li><i><b><span style="color: #666666;">Find out when each student's birthday is, and tell every student happy birthday every year.</span></b></i></li>
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<li><i><b><span style="color: #666666;">Figure out what type of praise students respond to. Some kids want to be recognized in front of the class, while others would prefer a note, tweet, or a private chat after class. </span></b></i></li>
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<li><i><b><span style="color: #666666;">Compliment students on new clothes and haircuts. </span></b></i></li>
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<li><i><b><span style="color: #666666;">If a student looks like they are having a bad day, ask about it - even if they don't want to talk or give the infamous "nothing" response, just asking likely made a difference in the student's day. </span></b></i></li>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-01hWY3Qxjm0/UZ1xSHzrfKI/AAAAAAAAAbk/j_vsFv3nzaM/s1600/4878145_orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-01hWY3Qxjm0/UZ1xSHzrfKI/AAAAAAAAAbk/j_vsFv3nzaM/s200/4878145_orig.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<li><i><b><span style="color: #666666;">If a student doesn't turn in an assignment or has his head down, don't judge the student, talk to him about it. </span></b></i></li>
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<li><i><b><span style="color: #666666;">Ask about events going on in students' lives. Find out about last weekend's camping trip, soccer tournament, or whatever activities are important to students. </span></b></i></li>
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Please continue the conversation by leaving a comment to share your best practices to make sure your students know that you care. </div>
JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-53397624603641416012013-05-08T14:31:00.000-05:002013-10-10T21:52:16.104-05:00Fox C-6 Technology Team PresentationThis week I have the opportunity to give a brief presentation to my school district's teacher technology team<br />
on tech tools to make teachers' lives easier. I am excited for the opportunity to speak to a new audience. My presentation is below. Please use the comments section to share some of your favorite tech tools.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="389" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ih_E97PVOvTlthvXGMle-fcY54R8QFJp5XQDAglcRAA/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe><br />
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-91481828077006300662013-04-05T20:16:00.001-05:002013-04-05T20:16:41.068-05:00Best practices for a class Facebook pageFor the past two years, I have maintained Facebook pages for both my Language Arts 1 and Language Arts 2 classes. While I don't have 100% participation from my student and parents, the students and parents who do use the pages have found them to be very useful communication tools. Like any tool, it took some experimenting for me to make the most of my page, but once I got familiar with the some of the features of Facebook Pages, my class pages have become very beneficial to me as a classroom teacher. <br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #666666;">Here are my 5 best practices for maintaining a classroom Facebook.</span></i></b></div>
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<b>1. Fan Polls</b><br />
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One of my favorite features of Facebook Pages is the polling options. I like using polls to get feedback on activities and to let students vote for future projects. Not only does this let me get student opinions and feedback, but also it increases traffic to my Facebook page and gives students an opportunity to be engaged with the page. <br />
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To use the poll feature on Facebook, click <b>EVENT, MILESTONE + </b>and select <b>QUESTION</b>. You can add as many options as you need and can allow your page's fans to include their own answer choices as well. <br />
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<b>2. Facebook Office Hours</b><br />
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When my classes are working on projects, I always advertise office hours for when students are working at home and have questions. During office hours, students can post on the page wall to ask a question about the project they are working on and I will answer their question in the form of a comment on the student's post. This is good because I have noticed that many students feel more comfortable asking questions on the Facebook page than in class. Also, the questions and answers remain available on the wall for other students to reference. <br />
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<b>3. Scheduled posts</b><br />
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Facebook Pages allows users to create posts and schedule the time and date they will appear on their page. Since starting to schedule my posts, I have posted more regularly and intentionally, making my page more valuable for its fans. <br />
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To schedule your posts, click on the clock icon at the bottom left corner of the status update box. Make sure you have established a date founded for your page, then you will be prompted to select a date and time for your post. Users can schedule as many posts as they would like within the current year. <br />
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You can confirm your scheduled posts by viewing the activity log under the <b>EDIT PAGE</b> menu of the admin panel. <br />
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<b>4. Student guest posts</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jhQ_7lwYxoA/UVI_isRVW2I/AAAAAAAAAY0/lFN4PNxI4wQ/s1600/guest-post-top-blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jhQ_7lwYxoA/UVI_isRVW2I/AAAAAAAAAY0/lFN4PNxI4wQ/s200/guest-post-top-blog.jpg" width="200" /></a>The concept behind this is very simple: teachers have students compose posts to be shared on the class Facebook page. I have seen this technique used mostly in elementary classrooms, but it can be modified for middle and high school classes as well. Teachers can give students some ownership of the class Facebook page by allowing them to write posts to be published. In an elementary classroom, students can take turns writing summaries of a particular lesson. In a secondary classroom, students could post a reflection on a recent project or explain how a lesson impacted the class. Obviously teachers would want to preview any posts that guest posters compose before posting to the Facebook page. In a secondary school, a teacher may want to have guest posters email or hand write a post to be reviewed and posted by the teacher pending approval.<br />
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<b>5. Resource Curation </b><br />
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While I know that there are a number resources available for the curation of resources, having students post and annotate web-based resources on a class Facebook page is a great way for students to interact with the page and continue learning and class discussions outside of the school day. One way I do this is by asking students to post on the page wall or to post a comment with a picture, video or link that relates to or provides an example of the concept we are working on that day/week. <br />
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Before setting up a class Facebook page, be sure to familiarize yourself with your school district's social media policy. Some districts do not allow teachers to communicate with students via social media, while other districts like mine, do not allow any private communication to take place online between teachers and students.<br />
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Use the comments section to share your best practices for using Facebook in education.<br />
<br />JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-51984553721788325752013-03-14T10:15:00.000-05:002013-03-14T10:27:18.445-05:005 tech tools to increase teacher productivityEvery time I attend a tech conference I always attend a session or two during which the presenter shares his or her favorite tech tools. As I have been reflecting on <a href="http://2013.metcconference.org/index.php" target="_blank">#METC13</a>, I have been thinking about my favorite tools, the ones that make my life as a teacher so much easier. Here is my list of 5 tech tools to increase teacher productivity. <br />
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<b>1. <a href="http://www.dropbox.com/" target="_blank">Dropbox</a></b><br />
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Dropbox is great for me because I am forgetful. I have forgotten my flash drive in my pants pocket, in my car, in my desk, at home, at Starbucks, well, everywhere. My trusty flash drive walked out of my life for good at the beginning of last school year. At that point, I was forced to find a new way to take files from home to work. Then I met Dropbox. Dropbox looks and works just like a file folder on a Windows PC. However, when you save a file to Dropbox it syncs to every device on which you have Dropbox installed. Dropbox gives users 2GB of free storage, but users can amassup to 16 GB of Dropbox space by completing simple tasks like installing it on a mobile device or getting Facebook friends or Gmail contacts to install Dropbox on their devices. <br />
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<b>2. <a href="http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/" target="_blank">Screencast-o-matic</a></b><br />
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Screencasting is the process of recording what is happening on your computer screen or smart board and recording your voice as you narrate the action on your screen. I use screencasts to explain concepts or activities when I am absent from school. Additionally, I can use screencasting to create tutorials for both students and teachers to use as they work with new tech tools. Screencast-o-matic is a great tool for screencasting. It is user friendly and allows screencasts to be saved to either YouTube or your computer. With the free version, screencasts can be up to 15 minutes (but let's be realistic: who wants to watch a screencast for more than 15 minutes?). For $15 a year, users can upload videos to Google Drive, save screenshots, and are not burdened by the pesky 15 minute limit per screencast. <br />
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<b>3. QR Codes</b><br />
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QR stands for quick response. QR codes can store a wide variety of data including links to web pages, contact information, map locations, Twitter feeds or Facebook profiles, and much more. These can be used to give students with smart phones, iPod touches, or tablets access to specific destinations on the web in class. I currently use QR codes in two ways: At parent/teacher conferences, I create a QR code of my contact information for parents to scan and save in their phones. Additional, I have a QR code of my email address in my classroom so that when students need to email me, all they have to do is scan the code and my email address automatically shows up in the "to" field of a new email message. Check out <a href="http://qrstuff.com/">QRstuff.com</a> to create QR codes to use in your classroom. <br />
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<a href="http://educationtnt.wikispaces.com/QR+Codes+in+Education" target="_blank">This wiki</a> by <a href="http://www.twitter.com/2teach_edtech" target="_blank">Jenna Linskens</a> shares everything you ever wanted to know about QR codes in education. <br />
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<b>4. Facebook</b><br />
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I love my class Facebook pages. I use them to share information with students and parents on a regular basis. While I also keep up a class web page, I really prefer my class Facebook page. For a number of years, we have heard the phrase <i style="font-weight: bold;">we need to meet students where they are</i>. I think that publishing a class, school, or district Facebook page is a great way to do that. I am able to give students reminders about due dates, share scoring guides and assignment sheets, and use the polling option to get feedback or to give students a voice on an upcoming unit of study. The great thing about Facebook is that most students <i style="font-weight: bold;">and</i> parents have accounts and check them regularly, so I can easily share what'g going on in class with a large number of stakeholders all at once.<br />
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<b>5. <a href="http://www.splashtop.com/home" target="_blank">Splashtop</a></b><br />
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Splashtop is a remote desktop sharing application. It allows users to manipulate the screen of a device remotely from a second device. This is great for teachers who want to run their PowerPoint presentations when they are circulating the classroom. Additionally, Splashtop give users the option to access the desktop of their computer from home or while out of school on a conference. The free version of Splashtop allows users access to devices that share a wireless network, but the paid version (only $8.99 in the Google Play store) allows users to access connected devices when they are on separate networks (such as accessing your work computer from your laptop or tablet at home). I have found this to be beneficial when I forget to load a file to my Dropbox or if a sub needs my assistance working with a file or tool on my computer. <br />
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Each of these tools has helped to make my life as an educator a little easier. Use the comments to share the tech tools that help you be more productive.<br />
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<br />JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-83130877025628213922013-02-25T19:54:00.000-06:002013-02-25T19:54:18.240-06:00Low-tech methods to teach 21st Century LearnersOne of my favorite type of activities to do with students in my 9th and 10th grade language arts classes is to incorproate social media into lessons. I like to have students make Facebook pages for characters in stories, create Twitter feeds for characters and write blog posts that allow them to compare issues in a text with issues that are faced in our society today. <br />
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While this all sounds great in practice, I quickly learned that making my dream of seamless socian media integreation into a reality was a little harder than I thought it would be. To combat the lack of technology and firewall issues that have stopped me from incorporating Twitter, Facebook and blogging into my classes, I have come up with low-tech paper-and-pencil replacements. <br />
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Below are three sample low-tech activities I do with my students in place of their web-based counterparts. Click on the name of each project to view the handout for each project. <br />
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<strong><em><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZDFtTp--cQ-ZiZbOnTC29i-9WTnzAL73L3FyM_UwcNY/edit" target="_blank">R+J 140</a></em></strong><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://goo.gl/QJvlS</td></tr>
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While reading <em>Romeo and Juliet</em>, I have my students break an act of the play down into tweets. I have them select a character and compose 5 tweets for the act. Then, students trade papers with a total of 5 other students who reply to tweets as other characters in the play. I discuss a few things before starting this lesson:<br />
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<li>I use this opportunity to discuss with students what is appropriate and inappropriate to post online. I will discuss this in the context of the play and ask students if in Act 1 Romeo would tweet about being in love with Juliet. I then facilitate a brief discussion about what we should and should not post online. </li>
<li>I talk to my students about how hashtags have two purposes: to categorize tweets and to add personality, or voice, to tweets. I encourage my students to use hashtags to help convey their character's message. </li>
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In addition to touching on digital citizenship and voice in writing, R+J 140 gives students an opportunity for a form of collaboration they typically do not get at school. This always proves to be a popular activity both with students who have 15,000 tweets (true story...) and students who have never heard of the social network. <br />
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<strong><em><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/179GzlEihX9DklepajDWpdCcCQwfAGjp0EAzSr-OLSvk/edit" target="_blank">Low-tech Blogging</a></em></strong><br />
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Low-tech blogging is a fancy name for reader's response. I will take a text, whether it is a short story we read in class or a series of articles, and ask students write a blog post in which they quote the text and make text-to-world connections. After writing their posts, I collect all of the blogs and randomly distribute them to students to leave comments on their classmates' blogs. I like this activity for a few reasons:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://goo.gl/v0tMw</td></tr>
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<li>Students are required to formulate a thesis and support it with evidence from one or more texts.</li>
<li>I discuss with students what makes a good blog comment. We discuss restating the question, giving an opinion, and supporting it with evidence from both the original text and the blog post. This prepares them for responding to a variety of writing prompts throughout my class and on standardized tests. </li>
<li>Students have the opportunity to hear/read opinions of peers outside of their social circles. Students who are usually timid and reluctent to share are able to share their thoughts with others. </li>
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<strong><em>Character Facebook Pages</em></strong><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://goo.gl/sj5Zy</td></tr>
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For one novel a year, I have students create a hard copy Facebook page for one of the book's characters. While I know there are a variety of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=facebook+page+powerpoint+template&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&safe=active" target="_blank">PowerPoint templates</a> and tools like <a href="http://www.classtools.net/fb/home/page" target="_blank">Fakebook</a> that would do the same job, I have, for a variety of reasons, used a write-on template for my students. Not only does this engage students who love Facebook but dislike reading, it also gives me an opportunity to discuss a few elements of digital citizenship.<br />
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<li>Just like with the R+J 140 activity, we discuss what type of content is appropriate and inappropriate to post online.</li>
<li>In order to have success on this type of activity, students need to have a deep understanding of the story's characters in order to create posts, likes, and ads that show up on their character's Facebook page. </li>
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4b6_CV88YppMEVJOWFaSUVkU2s/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Facebook Page Part 1</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4b6_CV88YppS0taQ0pFZi1HY28/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Facebook page Part 2</a><br />
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My students enjoy all of the low-tech projects that we do in class. Student engagement is always sky-high during these activities and I am always impressed by the quality of work I get on these projects. If you are in a situation like I am and do not have many computers or a strong wireless network in your building, I encourage you to try these activities. </div>
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Feel free to use or modify any of my activities that fit your classroom. </div>
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Share in the comments section what low-tech tools you use to engage your 21st century learners. </div>
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-85374884132111137342013-01-13T21:40:00.000-06:002013-01-17T20:36:29.037-06:005 lessons I learned about PD from attending edcamp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After attending my first edcamp in <a href="http://edcampkc.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">Kansas City, MO</a> about a year and a half ago, I immediately began to see how the edcamp model could be applied to PD on a building level. As I prepare for <a href="http://edcampstl.wikispaces.com/edcampstl" target="_blank">EdcampSTL </a>on February 9th, I have started to think about what I have learned about PD from attending both EdcampKC and EdcampSTL.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: blue;">1. Everyone is an expert.</span></i></b><br />
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The great thing about attending an edcamp is that discussions can be started by anyone in attendance. I have been a part of professional discussions led by brand new teachers and other sessions led by veteran superintendents who have been in education longer than I have been alive. The common bond all of those sessions and "presenters" have shared is that they are there to learn just like everyone else. No matter what one's area of expertise, experience level, or passion, there is room for everyone to facilitate a session at an edcamp.<br />
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<i><b>Don't look too far when you need presenters for building or district-level professional development days. Often times the best presenters for your building's PD days are already walking its halls, your own teachers</b>.</i><br />
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<b><i><span style="color: blue;">2. Sometimes the best plan is no plan at all. </span></i></b><br />
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In my experience, both the toughest sell for edcamp and its greatest strength is the unpredictability that goes alone with the day. When I tell someone that there is no keynote speaker, no planned breakout sessions, and no big name presenters, I am typically met with looks of disbelief. However, once the skeptics get past their original concerns and walk in the door, they quickly forget about the lack of name recognition of the attendees/presenters and embrace the lack of pre-planned activities. Some of the best edcamp sessions I have been a part of were planned on a moment's notice and thrived because of the people in attendance. Sessions like What Rocks/Sucks about Education and an English teacher round table discussion have made me think about my professional views and classroom practices more than most planned building-level sessions I have attended throughout my career.<br />
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<i><b>Occasionally, let teachers in your building plan their own professional development. Let teachers determine what conversations are going to take place throughout the day. You might be surprised by the roles taken by some of the more reluctant teachers in your building. </b></i><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: blue;">3. Never underestimate the power of a little immaturity. </span></b></i><br />
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One of the most memorable parts of last year's EdcampSTL was the after lunch activity, <i>Things you Can't do While Kids are in the Building</i>. This activity required participants to take part in goofy activities like throwing mashed potatoes in the cafeteria, yelling in the library, and running down the hallway. These juvenile activities not only woke everyone up from their free-pizza-induced coma, but also helped participants to foster relationships with others in attendance. <br />
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<i><b>Taking this activity back to your building is guaranteed to help teachers who may not work together often to foster a working relationship. </b></i><br />
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<b><i><span style="color: blue;">4. Intrinsic motivation is the only kind of motivation.</span></i></b><br />
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The beauty of edcamp is that no one has to be there. Edcamps are filled with progressive educators who all share one thing: the love of free food...well, that and a burning desire to improve education. Filling a room with individuals who are intrinsically motivated to make a change is a very powerful thing. <br />
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<b><i>Allow teachers to share their passions on professional development days. Their excitement will be contagious and will lead to teachers going back to their classrooms excited and ready to set the world on fire. </i></b><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: blue;">5. The real value of the day is in making connections. </span></b></i><br />
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When the last session of the day is over and the final attendance prize has been given out, the most powerful aspect of an edcamp is relationships that are formed and cultivated throughout the day. Starting with attending a pre-edcamp tweet-up and continuing through the event itself, make sure meet as many educators as possible, talk to people who teach the same classes or grade level as you do and make connections that last long past the end of edcamp. <br />
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<b><i>While all of the meetings, breakout sessions, and informal learning time is important to making a PD day a success, it is important to give teachers a time to make connections with their colleagues they do not have a chance to talk to on a daily basis. Allowing time for teachers to foster relationships with their face to face colleagues will pay dividends throughout the school year. </i></b><br />
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If you haven't had the opportunity to attend an edcamp yet, I encourage you to attend <a href="http://edcampstl13.eventbrite.com/" target="_blank">EdcampSTL </a>on February 9, 2013. It truly is an amazing day of learning for everyone involved. After a day at edcamp, like me, you will surely take many lessons back to your building. For those of you who have attended an edcamp before, leave a comment and share what you have taken back to your building from edcamp. <br />
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<br />JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-61164769611454237622012-12-12T07:30:00.000-06:002013-01-17T20:37:02.720-06:00What I learned about education by wrapping Christmas gifts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last night I locked myself in the guest bedroom to wrap my wife's Christmas presents. I didn't think this would be a difficult task since I have been wrapping presents for many years. I wrapped her "main" present easily; it was a standard box shape, so I didn't have to put much thought or effort into it. Her second, smaller gift was slightly more complicated, so I had to think about how I was going to wrap the present before I started, but in the end I used the same basic method I did for the box. When it came to her third gift, one of those travel cups that has a built-in straw (sorry for the spoiler alert, Kim), I decided to use the same process that I did for the other two gifts, but low and behold, I wasn't successful...at all. I tried to wrap it several times before I had the stroke of genius to use the gift bag you see to the right. <br />
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After I put her gift in the bag and admired my handiwork (or lack thereof), I started thinking about some of my current students and how wrapping Christmas presents is a lot like teaching and learning: the same method doesn't work for everything. While some students learn best using traditional "sit and get" methods, other students will not learn a thing without being actively engaged in the learning process and involving all of their senses in the learning experience. <br />
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As you get ready for the new semester, keep my wife's travel mug (sorry again for the spoiler alert, Kim...) in mind. One size doesn't fit all for wrapping Christmas gifts...or for education.JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-14382001049928303252012-09-04T21:07:00.000-05:002014-04-14T13:25:23.377-05:00What does high quality PD look like?Today I was at my district's professional development committee meeting and was talking to my building's co-chair, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/thompson_shs" target="_blank">@Thompson_shs</a>, when an interesting question was posed: <br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #444444;">What does high quality professional development look like?</span></b></i></div>
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Seeing as we were at a district-level meeting, there were representatives from elementary schools, middle schools, and of course the district's two high schools. Since the needs of learners in each level of school is different, should professional development look different at each level? Or should it look the same at each level since strong instructional practices are similar all across education? I am not sure that PD should be similar or different in each level of education, but here is what I do know about high quality professional development:</div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #444444;">High quality PD meets the needs of all the participants.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #444444;">High quality PD is not quiet</span><span style="color: red;">. </span></i></b></div>
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Teachers are talking, moving around, and interacting.</div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #444444;">High quality PD is offers plenty of choices. </span><span style="color: red;"> </span></i></b></div>
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Teachers have the opportunity to learn about a variety of topics on one PD day. </div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #444444;">High quality PD is focused on a theme or set of goals. </span></i></b><br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #444444;">High quality PD is based on standards.</span></i></b><br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #444444;">High quality PD is on purpose and thought out.</span></i></b><br />
Research shows that it takes 50 hours of professional learning on a topic for it to truly impact student learning. This means big initiatives need to have professional development planned for consecutive school years to truly impact learning.</div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #444444;">High quality PD gives teachers a choice in their learning. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #444444;">High quality PD is facilitated by experts. </span></i></b></div>
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Sometimes that means outsourcing to specialists, but often times it means looking for experts in our own buildings to share what they know. </div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #444444;">High quality PD has an immediate impact on classroom instruction. </span></i></b></div>
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These are my preliminary thoughts about what high quality professional development looks like. What did I leave out that is important? Are my thoughts on track or did I miss the mark with my vision of PD? Please continue this conversation by sharing your thoughts on high quality professional development in the comments of this post. <br />
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JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-57632488217632607132012-08-17T21:19:00.000-05:002013-01-17T20:38:21.306-06:00The Little Things Matter<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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This past spring, I prepared my first group of students for the Missouri End of Course exam, and I have a confession to make: I taught to the test. That's right, I did it. I was that teacher that all the good teachers complain about. Now that testing season is over and I've had the summer to reflect on my last school year, I feel like I'm on a perpetual walk of shame. Did I let my students down by focusing too much on test preparation and not enough on <i style="font-weight: bold;">what really matters</i> in education? Was I focused too much on the big picture and not enough on the little things that make up a school day? Of course none of these thoughts crossed my mind while I was worried about 3s and 4s, but the day after my testing sessions ended, something amazing happened...<br />
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My first child, Giuliana, was born April 26th, the day after my students finished testing. The birth of my first child has helped to put a lot into perspective for me; mostly, that <i style="font-weight: bold;">the little things matter, </i>both in school and in my life outside of school. Among other things, Giuliana has helped me realize that my professional life doesn't boil down to 3's and 4's, but being able to make a difference in a student's life. I remembered that if I can ignite a passion for learning in the mind of my students then the test scores will take care of themselves. </div>
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As I start a new school year, I am refocusing myself to make sure that I never again lose track of what's really important: developing and maintaining a strong rapport with my students. Because as we all know, the little things like knowing if your student scored the winning goal or just got a new dog is much more important that a 3 or a 4 any day of the week. </div>
JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-48067100660089254162012-05-16T10:39:00.001-05:002013-01-17T20:39:32.120-06:005 Proven Strategies for a Successful PD Day<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7HVN9ComcQ/T5nignHeeBI/AAAAAAAAAKw/1vVIkirdoDY/s1600/SHSPDlogo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7HVN9ComcQ/T5nignHeeBI/AAAAAAAAAKw/1vVIkirdoDY/s200/SHSPDlogo.JPG" width="200" /></a>Does the talk of professional development in your building make teachers cringe and hope to plan their next root canal on a PD day? Professional development doesn't have to be painful or boring for teachers. Under the guidance of a forward-thinking principal, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/mrgrimshaw" target="_blank">@MrGrimshaw</a>, and with the help of an awesome present and past PD rep, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/thompson_shs" target="_blank">@thompson_SHS</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/justintarte" target="_blank">@justintarte</a>, respectively, at <a href="http://goo.gl/TIVBO">Seckman High School</a>, we have been able to add fun and interactivity to our PD days. Now teachers are getting more out of professional development and more teachers are getting involved with PD. Here are 5 strategies we have used to increase teacher engagement and enjoyment of our professional development days. <br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #666666;">1. Make sure each activity is part of your PD plan. </span></i></b><br />
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The first step to a successful PD day is to have a long-range professional development plan. Scheduling random sessions with no rhyme or reason to them will leave teachers unsure of what to expect on professional development days and leaving the days feeling thrown together and disjointed. Just like with a successful unit of study, determining ahead of time what skills you want teachers to gain during the PD cycle will help give PD days more fluidity and purpose.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #666666;">2. Give teachers an opportunity to move around during the day.</span></i></b><br />
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The best way to ruin a PD day is to have your teachers sit in one room listening to a speaker all day long. Just like students, teachers want to be able to learn actively and stay entertained throughout the day. Consider planning activities that will allow teachers to move around as they learn. One activity in which I participated at <a href="http://goo.gl/5nu9B">#EdcampSTL</a> and then recreated for a PD day in my building is called <i>Things you Can't do While Kids are in the Building</i>. We created a list of things that kids can't do while they are at school and set up stations for teacher to do those things. We had stations such as screaming in the library, sprinting down the hall, playing shufflebook by the library (a building-wide hit), a paper airplane throwing contest, and others. The stations were open for 15 minutes between each of the day's breakout sessions and had the goal of helping faculty members to bond and to start conversations during breakout sessions and to continue them after the sessions ended. <br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><i><b>3. Feedback is key.</b></i></span><br />
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After each professional development day, we utilize <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/" target="_blank">Survey Monkey</a>, a free online survey creation and analysis site, to poll teachers and determine the success of our day, the presentations, and the presenters. This helps the PD committee to determine if we are going in the right direction, if teachers feel that we are adequately meeting our PD goals, and it is helpful to get an overall feeling for how professional development is perceived throughout the building. Additionally, we send out a survey at the beginning and end of each school year to see what we did well, what sessions we should offer the following year, and to solicit hosts for the upcoming year's PD sessions. <br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #666666;">4. Give teachers a choice in what they learn.</span></i></b><br />
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Earlier this week, I was talking to a friend who teaches in a neighboring school district about how her school runs professional development. Her biggest complaint is that every educator, no matter what they teach, sits through the same PD sessions. In my building, we use a breakout session format, giving teachers a choice of 4-6 breakout sessions on each PD day. Typically our mornings are made up of whole-staff activities and in the afternoons teachers will select which sessions the want to attend. Moving to this model from a more traditional professional development model has been difficult,but with the help of teacher leaders who have volunteered to lead PD sessions, our breakout session approach to PD has been a huge success, allowing teachers who previously felt as if PD had nothing to offer them a chance to personalize their learning.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #666666;">5. Utilize the experts you have on hand.</span></i></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dQIHqodVOew/T7Oy6KO8eNI/AAAAAAAAALU/SA7vtDrpkgE/s1600/challengeaccepted.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dQIHqodVOew/T7Oy6KO8eNI/AAAAAAAAALU/SA7vtDrpkgE/s200/challengeaccepted.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://goo.gl/iYnE7</td></tr>
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I have 126 colleagues in my building. That means my school has 126 experts in it. There are 126 people who can offer unique points of view about their areas of expertise. This means that there are 126 possible presenters for professional development days. I <a href="http://goo.gl/LvhsP" target="_blank">challenged </a>each of my colleagues to share their passion with the faculty on a PD day this year. While not everyone accepted my challenge, those were not only able to share new information with their colleagues, but also had the opportunity to <a href="http://jpprezz.blogspot.com/2011/03/metamorphosis-of-educational_04.html" target="_blank">grow as a professional</a> and experience something new by stepping out of their comfort zone.<br />
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Success with professional development won't happen overnight, nor will it happen between now and your next PD day. However, making sure that the right people are in leadership positions and involving the entire staff in the long range planning will go a long way to improve the quality of professional development offered in your building. Don't be discouraged if everyone doesn't get on board at first; keep trying and planning engaging sessions and before you know it, your colleagues will be happy to attend and participate in professional development days.JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-91660907318069590372012-01-23T19:00:00.000-06:002012-01-23T19:00:31.843-06:0010 Reasons I'm Excited about #EdcampSTL <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OLcP2gdfIpc/TxyG2l1B5aI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/RMAb3qeFuD8/s1600/edcamp_logo_fav.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OLcP2gdfIpc/TxyG2l1B5aI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/RMAb3qeFuD8/s320/edcamp_logo_fav.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://goo.gl/16Zut</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The past few days, <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/wmchamberlain">@wmchamberlain </a> has been tweeting reasons to attend <a href="http://goo.gl/KSMXn">#EdcampSTL</a>, a participant driven unconference. As I have been reading and retweeting, I started thinking about why I can't wait for Edcamp to get here in19 days.</span><br />
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</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>Here is my list of ten reasons I'm excited about #EdcampSTL.</i></b> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><span style="color: #666666;">1. Edcamp is a day of FREE learning. </span></i></b></span>Many educators are attracted to edcamps instead of traditional conferences for many reasons, but in my opinion, one of the most attractive aspects of #EdcampSTL is that it is totally free. Edcamps do not advertise world-renowned speakers but sessions and professional discussions led and facilitated by the participants. </div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="color: #666666;"><b><i>2. A </i></b><i style="font-weight: bold;">chance to reconnect with educators I met at</i></span><i style="color: #666666; font-weight: bold;"> <a href="http://goo.gl/pMw7u">#METC_CSD</a> </i><i style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #666666;">and </span><a href="http://goo.gl/THwtK"><span style="color: blue;">#EdcampKC</span></a><span style="color: #666666;">. </span></i>Professional discussions and Twitter chats are a great way to stay connected with members of my PLN throughout the year, but it's always great to get to meet with like-minded educators face to face and continue our discussions from Twitter at Edcamp.</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="color: #666666;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">3. I have a great chance to expand my PLN</i><i style="font-weight: bold;">. </i></span><i style="color: #666666; font-weight: bold;"> </i>While much of any edcamp's publicity takes place on Twitter, Edcamp isn't all about Twitter. Attending #EdcampSTL gives me and all the other participants an opportunity to meet a wide variety of stakeholders in the educational process: teachers, principals, superintendents, and even students and community members. All of these people can help make us all better educators. </div><div><br />
</div><div><i><b><span style="color: #666666;">4. Amazing impromptu discussions and learning opportunities.</span></b></i> While conferences like <a href="http://goo.gl/PD6U0"><b>#METC12 </b></a>allow me to look forward to hearing from amazing speakers and presenters, #EdcampSTL allows participants to host sessions and facilitate discussions that are pertinent to the participants that day. </div><div><br />
</div><div><b><i><span style="color: #666666;">5. My Twitter account will see more action than it has in weeks.</span></i></b> Edcamp is sure to produce plenty of tweetable moments. I will want to spread the Edcamp message to those not in attendance, help create the back-channel conversation that makes up one of the most beneficial parts of any conference, and share stories and jokes with other participants. </div><div><br />
</div><div><b><i><span style="color: #666666;">6. Friday night's tweet-up.</span></i></b> No edcamp would be complete with a tweet-up the night before. Since I missed the #EdcampKC tweet-up in November, I'm twice as excited to get the #EdcampSTL weekend off to a great start by networking with participants at the tweet-up. </div><div><br />
</div><div><b><i><span style="color: #666666;">7. Sharing my knowledge with my face to face colleagues at work on Monday.</span></i></b> Unfortunately every educator in the area won't attend #EdcampSTL, but I will be sure to share everything I learned with my colleagues when I get back to work.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #666666;">8. Free stuff is great. </span></i></b> Not only is #EdcampSTL a free conference but the organizers (<a href="https://twitter.com/#!/cmcgee200"><b>@cmcgee200</b></a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ideaguy42"><b>@ideaguy42</b></a>) have arranged giveaways at the end of the day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHV_o3_CkWs/TxzpMk7YRXI/AAAAAAAAAKA/BBw9AlT_PGU/s1600/284695_135394763217731_134120436678497_210509_4419255_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHV_o3_CkWs/TxzpMk7YRXI/AAAAAAAAAKA/BBw9AlT_PGU/s320/284695_135394763217731_134120436678497_210509_4419255_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><i><span style="color: #666666;">9. #EdcampSTL gives me a great excuse to wear my #coolshirtcrew shirt.</span></i></b> Be sure to look for me sporting the @jpprezz t-shirt. You can even scan the QR code on my back to visit my blog while we talk.<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #666666;">10. #EdcampSTL helps me remember that I'm not alone</span></b></i>. Edcamps give participants the opportunity to meet and talk with like-minded educators whose main goal is to have a positive impact on students' lives. <br />
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What are your favorite aspects of edcamps? Use the comment section to share what you love about attending edcamps. </div>JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-10811737990015101872012-01-17T19:59:00.001-06:002013-04-16T13:10:00.870-05:00Lessons from the Classroom...15 Years Ago<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ywFPa3FWAaI/TxYDWyXX1zI/AAAAAAAAAJI/vszE0qOA6ok/s1600/slate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ywFPa3FWAaI/TxYDWyXX1zI/AAAAAAAAAJI/vszE0qOA6ok/s200/slate.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://goo.gl/OS0V2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
During passing time today I was making small talk with a colleague I typically don't see or talk to much throughout a normal work day. The topic of lesson planning came up during our 3 minute chat. This person told me in no uncertain terms that it has been about 15 years since he has updated his lesson plans because his content doesn't change and he has found what he believes to be the best way to teach students his curriculum. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H3EGJlsWw-8/TxYX_CEoMbI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/Cp4eppUfhYg/s1600/shock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H3EGJlsWw-8/TxYX_CEoMbI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/Cp4eppUfhYg/s200/shock.jpg" width="177" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://goo.gl/JJMnB</td></tr>
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I didn't have much to say in response to this person partly because I didn't want to start screaming at a colleague in the middle of the hallway and partly because I was dumbfounded that an educator could feel that he or she is doing students, parents, and our profession justice by not changing or modifying lessons year after year.<br />
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Personally, I rarely reuse lessons from year to year. I regularly tweak lessons to make them apply to my current group of students. Occasionally I will go as far as to throw away lessons to force myself to re-create an assessment or project or just to re-evaluate why or if I should teach a particular lesson. Needless to say, when I told my colleague about my practices he was more than shocked and looked at me like I had just started talking to him in a foreign language.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1DrwQWLPCh4/TxYdgbB4WiI/AAAAAAAAAJY/QT8u9jgVvbs/s1600/tweet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1DrwQWLPCh4/TxYdgbB4WiI/AAAAAAAAAJY/QT8u9jgVvbs/s400/tweet.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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After reflecting on this conversation and tweeting about it, I realized what the most upsetting part of this conversation was: <br />
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While I can <i>almost </i>buy into core concepts and important skills not changing each year,<i style="font-weight: bold;">students do change from year to year. </i>The experiences that my students this year have are different than the experiences students brought to my class five or six years ago. <br />
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In case my colleague happens to stumble upon this post, I want to share a few things that happened in 1997, the last time this particular teacher's lesson plans were updated, that would shape the students he wrote his lesson plans for.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LvDRhFgbtoQ/TxYk3Qs3vjI/AAAAAAAAAJo/ch3uXnHumeg/s1600/aol_s397m4_disk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LvDRhFgbtoQ/TxYk3Qs3vjI/AAAAAAAAAJo/ch3uXnHumeg/s200/aol_s397m4_disk.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://goo.gl/m682k</td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>America Online (AOL) was the world's leading provider of residential internet access.</li>
<li>AOL had just released unlimited internet plans, not charging per hour of usage anymore. </li>
<li>Most internet users had dial-up service that tied up phone lines when users were online. </li>
<li>"Speak" by No Doubt was one of the most popular songs of the year.</li>
<li>Reality television was still in its infancy with MTV's <i>The Real World</i> being one of the most popular reality shows on TV.</li>
<li>Speaking of MTV, it still played music!</li>
<li>Mark McGwire played his first game as a St. Louis Cardinal.</li>
<li>Popular video game consoles were the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation 1. </li>
</ul>
JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782231905583755129.post-51231121733189765642011-09-06T10:58:00.000-05:002011-09-06T10:58:42.465-05:00Passion-Driven Professional Development<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MjeSKETAXY4/TmKxqnEA65I/AAAAAAAAAFE/82auVM_djug/s1600/Passion-lge1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MjeSKETAXY4/TmKxqnEA65I/AAAAAAAAAFE/82auVM_djug/s200/Passion-lge1.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://bit.ly/o0WVrp</td></tr>
</tbody></table>What is passion? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, passion is defined as "an intense, driving...feeling of conviction." To me, passion is feeling strongly enough about something to want to shout about it from the roof-tops. Well, maybe not a literal roof-top, but you know what I mean.<br />
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Last year I found my passion as it relates to education: instructional technology. Once I started learning about it and using it in my classroom, I felt like I had to tell everyone I could about it. I took to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jpprezz">Twitter</a>, Facebook, <a href="http://www.jpprezz.blogspot.com/">my blog</a>, <a href="http://prezi.com/84c_8ma3iljt/twitter-presentation-for-advanced-hardwaresoftware/">professional development days</a>, and <a href="https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Ae2vGPiGFHl0ZGN6YndtbXhfMzRjNnd4d2Q1Zw&hl=en_US&authkey=CNaD3LsD">conferences</a> to share my message. I didn't feel obligated to do any of those things, but once I realized what a powerful tool I had unearthed, I felt the need to share it with anyone and everyone who would listen to me.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FYtoc4hUZKs/TmKwKaYPbLI/AAAAAAAAAFA/7UDruf-dp1M/s1600/Center_for_Professional_Development.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FYtoc4hUZKs/TmKwKaYPbLI/AAAAAAAAAFA/7UDruf-dp1M/s200/Center_for_Professional_Development.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://bit.ly/poalPX</td></tr>
</tbody></table>What is your passion? Do you feel strongly about Google Applications? Using student feedback effectively? Standards-based grading? Maybe you have found a way to integrate a new media tool or piece of pop culture into your lessons. Whatever your passion is, your colleagues want to hear about it! We all know that the best teacher is the one who is passionate about his or her topic. Consider facilitating a PD session in your building or applying to present at a conference, or attending an <a href="http://edcamp.wikispaces.com/">#edcamp </a> and sharing your passions there. Whatever you do, don't keep your passions to yourself, shout about them from the rooftops so that others can benefit from your passions as well!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><i><b>Originally posted as a guest blog post on the <a href="http://shsstafftheinsidetrack.blogspot.com/">SHS Inside Track. </a></b></i></span></div>JP Prezzaventohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964724345612260363noreply@blogger.com