Expanding the Boundaries of Teaching and LearningGraduate Level CourseSalem State College/Northeast Consortium for Staff DevelopmentNE 9994September 15, 2008

Do Now

• Sit at tables that have only one other person from your level at the table.

• Read the 3-2-1 response from last time, located at http://cianews.wikispaces.com/3-2-1+Results

• If you have not already done so, create a google account by going to www.google.com and following the instructions to create an account.

• Once you have completed all of these items go to the Web Literacy Course Comments page at http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Web+Literacy+Course+Comments and begin to add your group information.

Goals for Day 2-September 15, 2008• Solve technological and logistical issues• Continue to construct cohort relationships• Develop norms for course• Talk about alternative evaluation• Begin to understand web literacy• Identify current areas of need and areas of expertise• Create and develop personal web sites• Create a google reader on your google account• Create a delicious account• Talk about Assignment #11 (Conference Assignment)• Talk about January classes • Discuss the need to transform classrooms and schools (if time)• Evaluate Day 2 and Next Steps

Today’s quote

"It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change"

Charles Darwin

Assignments

• Assignment 2: Complete the online course, Blogging for Educators, from November Learning. Password and User Name will be given to participants in June.• Due: September 15, 2008 (This assignment is

worth 5% of your grade).

Alternative Evaluation

• To provide professional growth for Reading teachers using an alternative approach to teacher evaluation. The purpose of the Alternative Evaluation is to differentiate the process for PTS teachers by allowing them to choose projects and activities that focus on their professional growth and align with the Reading Standards for Effective Teaching.

• This course qualifies as an alternative evaluation

For Teachers Pursuing Alternative Evaluation• Year 1 of Alternative Evaluation (Planning and Preparation

Year)• October 15-Evaluation Proposal due to the building principal (in lieu of

annual goals)• Prior to October 15th, the teacher should meet with the building principal

to discuss the possibilities of pursuing an alternative evaluation.• By November 1-Building Principal and Assistant Superintendent meet

with teacher to review proposal• By November 15-Notification to teacher on status of proposal• June 1-Midcycle review of proposal by building principal

• Year 2 of Alternative Evaluation (Implementation Year)• October 15-Status review of proposal by building principal (In lieu of

annual goals)• February 1-Status review of proposal by building principal• Late April-Presentation at Annual PreK-12 Staff Sharing Conference• May 1-Final Evaluation report due to building principal

Type of Proposal

• Professional Growth Portfolio• The professional growth portfolio is a means of

collecting evidence and reflecting on a professional growth experience. Teachers select the areas in which they wish to enhance their skills. In this process the teacher will select learner-centered goals, develop professional goals and plans based on one or more standards/ indicators of the Reading Standards for Effective Teaching, document progress in achieving these goals, and reflect on the learning experience and results of the goal setting.

Preparing the Proposal• Preparing the Proposal

• Complete the Alternative Evaluation Proposal Form. Indicate the alternative evaluation selected and the standard(s)/indicators(s) of focus from the Reading Standards for Effective Teaching. You will need to provide the following information:

• Description of Project or Activities Including Timeline• Describe the project or activities you will implement to achieve growth

toward the standard(s)/indicators(s) you selected. Include a timeline showing when activities will be accomplished including the middle and end of year conferences with the evaluator.

• Describe how you have prepared or will prepare to complete this project.• Outcomes

• How will the implementation of this proposal improve student’s learning and assist you to achieve professional growth in the selected Reading Standards for Effective Teaching?

• Evaluation• What type of evidence or criteria (reflection journal, student work/

assessments, data, documents, etc.) will you use to evaluate your professional growth and improve student learning?

Alternative Evaluation

• Forms are located at

http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Documents+for+Course

Blogging

• To set up blog• Go to www.nlcommunities.com

• Scroll down to Reading Public Schools Community• Click on that community• When you get to the RPS community page, click on

register in upper right hand corner of page.• Read the agreement http://nlcommunities.com/user/UserAgreement.aspx?ReturnUrl=/&Mode=Registration

• Accept the agreement and follow the instructions from there.

RSS

• Real Simple Syndication

• Allows you to consume information in more efficient and relevant ways.

• Content comes to you instead of you having to go get it.

• You can read more content from more sources in less time.

• You can personalize your interest.

What does it mean for you?

• Students could be immediately updated when new information about research topics is published.

• Teachers could track for discussions about pedagogy and content.

• Administrators could track areas on leadership or their school.

Steps and Advice

• Go slow

• If you do not already have an RSS feed, create a google account (unless you have already created one).

• Go to your google account.

• Click on reader (under more)

• Follow the instructions to create your reader.

• Add the following link under subscriptions http://nlcommunities.com/communities/default.aspx?GroupID=1807

Blogging Advice (Continued)

• Pick five more blogs/sites to subscribe to

• Possible source for subscriptionshttp://cianews.wikispaces.com/Resources+for+Web+2.0

Rules of Blogging

• Use Headlines• Keep your entries meaningful and exciting• Don’t share all of your ideas all at once. Spread it out

over several entries.• Allow for interactivity• Minimize the gimmicks• Don’t be afraid of lists• Show up and write with a purpose• Say it, don’t hide it.• Link, Link, Link

Source: Jeff Utecht-The Thinking Stick

Example of an amateur blog

• http://nlcommunities.com/communities/jd/default.aspx

Blogging Resource

• http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Resources+for+Web+2.0

Creating a Del.icio.us Account

• Go to www.delicious.com

• Create an account

Developing Norms for the Cohort

• [According to a cohort participant,] cohorts are created not born. They are successful when everyone works collaboratively and collectively on improving their own and others' learning experiences. It takes self-responsibility, patience, courage, humor, commitment, sensitivity, and a lot of hard work to create such an enriching learning experience for everybody. (Nesbit 2001, p. 3)

Developing Norms for the Cohort• Go to your “level” groups.• If you do not know who is in your “level” groups, go to http://

cianews.wikispaces.com/Documents+for+Course• Go to: http://www.calpro-online.org/ERIC/docs/pab00033.pdf• Read the article in Groups of 4• Based upon this article and your knowledge of effective

classrooms, brainstorm 5 or less norms for the group.• Place your norms on http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Norms+for+the+Cohort

• We will agree upon a set of norms at our next class.

My Personal Norms for this Course

• Start on time and finish on time• Provide a safe environment for you to take risks• Challenge you to think differently, but provide

support• Encourage risk taking• Encourage dialogue• Give timely feedback and support• Know that I am not an expert• Use the resources in this room to improve the

course

Web Literacy

• Go to http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Web+Literacy+Activity• IP Addresses

• Web browsers search these numbers for access to a website• Example: 212.58.240.33

• Domain Names• Example cnn.com

• Component 1-Created by the owner of the site• Example: cnn

• Component 2-Top Level Domain• Designated for certain groups or categories

• .com commercial• .gov government• .k12 K-12 Education• .edu Universities• .org Organization

Web Literacy

• Third Component-Country Code• .us United States• .cn China• .za South Africa• .mx Mexico

• URL (Uniform Resource Locator)• Another name for web address• Most begin with www (World Wide Web)

• Go back to http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Web+Literacy+Activity

How to Validate Information on the Web

• Use Get REAL Acronym

• Read the URL• Do you recognize the domain name?• What is the extension in the domain name?• Are you on a personal page?

• Look for a name• Look for a ~• Look for a %• Look for the words users, people, or members

Examine the Content

• Is the information on the Web site useful for the topic?• Are additional resources and links provided?• Do the links work?• Is the site current?• Do you know when the site was last updated?• Do you think the information is accurate?• Does the information contradict information you have

found elsewhere?

Go back to http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Web+Literacy+Activity

Ask about the author

• Is the author’s name provided?

• Is there a contact person or an address provided?

• Is there biographical information provided about the author?

• Does the author seem knowledgeable? Is he or she an expert in the field?

• What kinds of results do you see when you do a search on the author’s name?

Web Literacy

• Using your knowledge of web literacy, investigate the following:• You are a student in an astronomy class and you

are curious as to why Pluto is no longer a planet.• Using the web find out why Pluto is no longer a

planet. Cite your web sources.• http://www.edutopia.org

/student-web-research-technology-literacy

Carousel Brainstorm• Get into your “like” groups

• If you do not know who is in your “like” groups, go to http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Documents+for+Course

• Each group should go to a chart• You will have two minutes at each chart.• Brainstorm questions that you would like answered under each

topic in your color marker.• If you are an “expert” in this topic, place a post it with your

name.• For the sheet marked “other”, identify other areas that you

would like to learn about in this course other than the ones listed.

• For the sheet marked “expert” identify areas that you feel you are comfortable presenting to the group.

Next Time• Continue Web Literacy• Why transform schools?• Assignment 3: Read or listen to The World is Flat and critically analyze the

Partnership for 21st Century Skills Website (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/ ). Answer the following question in detail as a blog post:

“Your Superintendent/Principal has read “The World is Flat” and is deeply concerned that the district/school is graduating students who are not globally competitive. He/She has asked you to produce a draft list of recommendations for their consideration of what the district/school can do to prepare students for a 21st Century Global Society. Your memo is in two parts:1. What can the district/school do to take advantage of a Flat World? 2. How can the district prepare students to be successful in a Flat World?”

Due: Post it to your blog by October 1, 2008 (This assignment will count as 10% of final grade.)

Next Time• Assignment 4: All course participants will create a Weblog on November

Learning and will be instructed on how to add to and maintain their sites during the second class sessions. In addition, participants will be shown how to develop an RSS (Really Simple Syndication). You will be expected to add, at a minimum, one blog post a week along the lines of but not limited to the following:

* Reflections on reading* Experiences at school* Sharing of Lessons* Interesting Websites or Blogs

In addition, course participants should maintain an RSS with a minimum of 5 blogs (from outside the cohort) and plan on offering one comment per week on one of your classmates’ blogs.

Due: September 16, 2008 – April 15, 2009 (This assignment will count as 20% of final grade. You will post to your blog each week for 30 weeks (including the assignment posts below.) Each post will be worth a maximum of 5 points for a total of 150 points for this component.)

• Refreshments (Google Docs)

Technology Conference• Assignment 11: Attend a technology conference sometime

between June 1, 2008 and March 1, 2009. Write about the experience in your blog. In addition, make a 10 minute presentation on the workshops that you attended at a staff meeting in your school and in class. Explain how the information that you learned at the conference could impact your school or classroom. Here are some possible guiding questions:• What technology applications are currently being used that could

transform classrooms?• How can we connect our classrooms globally with other classrooms in

other parts of the world?• How should we rethink the way that teaching and learning occurs in our

schools and classrooms?• What will tomorrow’s classroom look like?

• Due: March 9, 2009 (This assignment will count as 5% of final grade.)

Possible Conference

• MassCUE (November 19 and 20)

http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Documents+for+Course

Refreshments for Next Time

• Refreshments (Google Docs)

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=px7YGdPDMLzGGWF7_l_sjDQ&hl=en

Dates for Course(All sessions meet from 3:30-6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.)• Monday, August 25th (8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.)• Monday, September 15• Monday, September 29• Monday, October 6• Monday, October 20• Monday, November 3 • Monday, December 1 • Monday, December 15• Monday, January 5• Monday, January 12• Monday, January 26• Monday, February 9• Monday, February 23 • Monday, March 9 • Monday, March 23• Monday, April 6• Monday, April 13

3-2-1

• Go to your blog or send me an email

• Identify three things that you learned today

• List two questions that you have about today’s class that you would like to know more about.

• Name one idea that you have to improve today’s class.

Final Thought

• Dalton Sherman Video

• http://cianews.wikispaces.com/Videos

Have a great week!