Seeing the World through Blog Colored Glasses

I continue to be amazed by the affect that blogging has on my thinking. Everything I do and see and experience is filed away as a potential blog post. I make meaning of my world in ways I never did before. I am constantly composing posts in my head. It makes for some incredible learning experiences, but can also make it hard to sleep.

I haven't posted in a while. I've been finishing up the school year and just ended 4 days of teaching a professional development class for teachers. There are lots of things bouncing around in my head that I plan to blog about. I thought I would give you just a taste of things to come and, in doing so, force myself to follow up on my ideas.

I have a new job! I just accepted the position of Director of Academic Technology at The Belmont Hill School in Belmont, MA. I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to help define and lead this extraordinary school in a quest to prepare students to succeed and excel in the 21st century. I am honored by the confidence in me that the leadership team of this school has expressed. It is truly an exciting new adventure that I can't wait to start.

Top Down or Bottom Up? Should every teacher in a school have a basic technology proficiency? Is it more important to focus on complex and creative technology projects with a few teachers and let the excitement and rewards spill down through the faculty, or should the focus be on making sure every teacher is at least proficient in using a mouse, a browser and setting up a Web page? I think there is a choice to be made, because I don't think there is enough time to focus on both.

Professional Development that works. I just finished teaching a 4 days professional development course titled Using 21st Century Technology Tools to Improve and Inspire Student Writing. I co-taught this course with an English teacher with whom I have worked a lot this year. I think our model overall really worked. We focused first on the learning goals and then on how different technology tools could help teachers achieve these goals and objectives. It was wonderful to have a teacher working with me who could really speak to the realities of using these tools in the classroom.

Professional Development Meme. I haven't forgotten that I was tagged for this meme a while back. I have a lot of things on my list - one of them being working on this blog. I do plan to dedicate an entire post to laying out my professional goals for the summer.

Trying out a new tool. In just the last two days I have been playing with a new Twitter like tool called Plurk. I'm not sure yet what I think of the tool, but I have been loving learning to use it. For me it has been a true constructivist experience. Together with my network, we've been working out how things work. Plurk may or may not be the hot new tool, but just learning to use it has been a great experience for me.

Here is a screencast of what I have learned so far.


So stay tuned for more on at least a few of these topics (let me know if you have a preference for where you would like me to start).

OK - now I just have to figure out when I'm going to take a vacation...

Photo Credit: Life Through Rose Colored Glasses from pangalactic gargleblaster's photostream on Flickr.

This I Believe...

Beth Knittle tagged me for the This I believe meme started by Barry Bachenheimer. I blogged a while back about my Common Principles for 21st Century Schools. I think I lot of what I came up with encompasses what I believe, but here is my latest articulation of those ideas. Thanks Beth for tagging me!

• I believe that risk taking is essential to learning.
• I believe in a growth mindset - failure is not a reflection on the learner, rather a reflection on the strategy.
• I believe in the power of collective intelligence, together we can accomplish so much more than we can alone. We are what we share.
  
• I believe that learning to effectively and efficiently discover, evaluate and synthesize information is more important than the information itself.
• I believe that teachers must be given the opportunity, the time and the resources to experience and assimilate new technologies for themselves before we can ask them to share their understanding with students.
• I believe that we need to constantly and consistently ask ourselves why we teach what we teach.
• I believe in the power of educational technology to improve learning, create communities and inspire new thinking (had to include this one since it is the subtitle of my blog :)

So there you have it. I believe in lots more, but that is all I can pull together tonight. Now I have to tag some more people.

• Lisa Thuman
• Alice Barr
• McTeach
• Dennis Richards

What do you believe?

Meme: Passion Quilt

Joyful Learning Connections

I've been double tagged for this meme by both Cathy Nelson and Connie Cossar. This was a hard one for me, I find this kind of visual thinking challenging. I wrote about my passion for educational technology in a recent blog post titled "Why I Love This Stuff." This picture captures the essence of what I was trying to say. I guess a picture is worth a 1,000 words (or at least 221).

Here are the rules:

1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

I look forward to seeing the images that Jenn, Darren, Matt, Allison, and Nedra and Sabrina choose!

Image Citation: "hands across america" The Singular Achievement of Keanu Reeves' Photostream on Flickr. 18 August 2006. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/herecomestheflan/218281388/] 25 Feb 2008 .

Thinking Blogger Awards

Earlier this week RashKath tagged me with a thinking blogger award:

Congratulations, you won a !

The participation rules:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

5 blogs that make me think:
(I read a lot of blogs, so picking only 5 that make me think was hard to do. )

1. Your Not so Normal Everyday Teacher: Not only does this blog make me think, it also makes me laugh. This blogger likes "to make sarcastic and witty remarks" as well as making "honest and intelligent exchanges about current policies, experiences and changes being made in the public education system." The combination makes for a fun and thought provoking read.

2. On an E Journey with Generation Y: This is the second time I've tagged Anne with a meme, but I can't help but include her blog on this list. She writes about her experiences integrating Web 2.0 technology into her classes. She is doing some incredible things.

3. Beyond Podcasting: Susan describes her blog as "An educator's journey to ubiquitous technology in the classroom. " And herself as "a techno-geek teacher." Her posts are both thoughtful and thought provoking.

4. Not so Distant Future: After meeting Carolyn Foote in Philadelphia, I know she is a great thinker both in person and Online. Carolyn is a high school librarian in Austin Texas. She uses her blog to discuss web 2.0 tools, teaching strategies, and library research tools for educators.

5. Burnt Toast and Inside Jokes: This new student blogger has made an amazing and inspiring start. Her writing is wise and funny. As she puts it: "Musings of a teenage girl are usually stuffed full of "like"'s and "love ya!"'s... but not me!" and she is true to her word.

So there you have it, 5 fabulous bloggers. I thank them for enriching my professional life. I would also like to thank RashKath, who's blog also deserves this recognition.
-Liz

Bucket List Meme

Ok This is the first time I've been tagged for a meme (that I know of). I must be coming up in the world. Thanks to Susan at Beyond Podcasting for thinking of me.

The Bucket List meme was started by Jeff Pulver and is based on the movie. It seems to have not evolved much and is still essentially a list of things you hope to accomplish in 2008.

What do I hope to accomplish in 2008?
1. I would like to get to know the faculty and staff at my school and I would like them to get to know me.
2. I hope to successfully play Charlotte Lucas in a local community theater production of Pride and Prejudice.
3. I hope to make a great decision about who I will vote for in the upcoming presidential primary.
4. I hope to continue to fit exercise into my very busy life.
5. I strive to be a good mother, wife and daughter.
6. I hope to inspire teachers and students to start blogging.
7. I hope to encourage people to join and participate in the social networks (ning) that I have created.
8. I strive to continue to contribute to this blog in a thoughtful and meaningful way.

OK now I have to tag some others.
I tag Cathy Jo, Anne, and Carolyn.
Your turn.
-Liz