Appy Hour - Fri, 10/4: Communication Channels #edtech #edchat

[Originally posted on my Appy Hour blog]
I thought I'd share my broadcast channels that I am currently utilizing this year. My main, functional channels are:

• Weebly (the site you're reading this on)
• Google Calendar
• Twitter (@MrCelini is my school account)
• Remind101

Feel free to visit my Tech page for more detailed info on how I use each (and forgive me, I did not include a Twitter update...bad tech guy moment).

Weebly
One main attraction of Weebly is the ability to create blog pages anywhere you'd like. Blog pages deal with posts, and posts let you categorize things. Users can easily select the tag, and hence the content, they want to view.

Calendar
I maintain one for each of my classes, and post classwork and homework daily. You can enter some basic HTML (link links to handouts) in the description field. I see great possibilities for students adding their CCSD Gmail accounts to their phones and customizing notifications, etc. If only they would listen...

Twitter
I use to broadcast news and class info. I use a nifty website called IFTTT to take any calendar event I create and automatically tweet it. Additionally, when you publish your blog post on Weebly, you can cross-post to Twitter.

Remind101
A great tool to keep students/parents informed of things. I remind my students of graded class work, updates or changes, etc. The phone app makes this super easy and convenient to use.

Here's an example of how this all comes together:

• I told my students earlier this week that I would no longer be providing them with grade updates in class. 
• If they want to know their average, they need to see me in extra help. Or...(surprise) log on to the portal.
• I will inform them when I update the grades; it is up to them to take the responsibility to follow up and see that's changed (if anything)
• Parents have access to the same channels, so they can stay in the same loop, if they choose. I plan to send a mass parent email this weekend ahead of progress reports (too soon!) explaining all of this to them.

I see it as a nudge in the "right" direction.

Come to the Writing Center tomorrow after the Pep Rally to discuss what lines of communication you use with students and parents. Or, bring other questions.

Keep tech'ing!

Gmail: Organizing and Sorting (#edtech)

[Originally posted on the Appy Hour Blog]

Hey all. Here's the understatement of the week: we get a lot of email.

The issue I have with this near-constant barrage of information is how to sort and process it all. I have tried a number of methods and am always fine-tuning how I "use" my inbox (perhaps to my detriment).

David Allen wrote a book called Getting Things Done. In this book, he outlines a "process" to use to organize your life. Regarding email, he gives us the phrase "inbox zero" - meaning there are no new messages in your inbox. (Gasp!)

He does not say you need to be "done" with all of your emails; rather, he insists that you need to set time aside each day to "file" the barrage of emails into doable categories. Your inbox may be clear, but you have a series of other folders that contain your "next steps." These folders could be "Read and review," "Archives," "Do now," etc.

Fortunately, Gmail provides very flexible inbox solutions. You can modify how Gmail handles your incoming messages, possibly automating those daily, repetitive actions you take each day (i.e. you can file the Daily Announcements automatically in an "Announcements" folder so you can read them later).

Here are some links (from the Google Help Center) to help you along your path to getting things done (NB: GTD is the shortened version, typically appearing in phrases like "My Gmail GTD solution," should you care to Google it). You can view the main Gmail help page here (I've only highlighted a few of the many topics it covers).

• Using labels and filters to automate things
• Inbox tabs and priority inbox
• Search and Advanced Search (this has a lot of potential to help you find things later...)

Appy Hour Blog - "weekly" tech updates for the staff

I am serving as tech liaison for the second year in a row, and I am really trying to step up my game, so to speak. I started using appointment slots on Google calendar so staff and/or students can reserve Tech Help time. And, since I have a flex-schedule, I teach "period 9." So my tech-spiration for the year: a weekly opportunity for staff to get free PD. So began Appy Hour - from 2-3 on Fridays.

We're only a few weeks in, but I've held workshops on our SMS, eSchoolData, and blasted out reference material for Google apps. This week, I plan to offer a gmail workshop. Attendance has been low, but I love the idea of being able to share good practices (not sure if they qualify for best yet). I also love being able to be there for staff - if we plan to push edtech tools like GAFE, we need to model those practical uses. We need to be the mentor to our colleagues, much like we are with our students.

I an including these weekly professional development opportunities as part of my Google Certified Trainer application.

I also plan to cross-post on both blogs, in the hopes that the posts will reach a wider audience.

Here is the Appy Hour blog page... feel free to peruse my site and leave feedback (anywhere) - I've been working hard on it and would love to see where I can improve.

Keep on tech-ing.

My #edtech palette to start the year

I think I finally got a handle on how I intend to begin this year in terms of my core educational technology.

Weebly
I am quickly falling love with how much power this free website creator has. I was drawn to the site because of the blog page capability and the RSS feed - I still need to play with how I can "hack" (i.e. customize) my way through things. Favorite inspirational moment: placing 5 RSS feeds of world newspapers side by side for an at-a-glance look at world headlines.

Common Curriculum
For lesson planning. They made some major upgrades to their software offerings. My two faves: linking individual lessons to unit plans, and the ability to insert a file from Google Drive. Put that together with the ability to display your plans as a webpage (and link it to Weebly), and you have a powerful moment of transparency and accessibility to your teaching.

Google Apps
We are a GAFE district, and I am enjoying my life in the cloud. The ability to share breaks down so many borders; I am no longer the broker of information... now I can share in the learning with the kids. New ideas for this year: use a student info form to collect student info (obvious), and to make student folders for eventual online submission, and add them to a class contact list (to make it all the more easier to share more things with them).

Socrative
My new find for the summer: I no longer feel the need to try to code this functionality - the folks over at Socrative have done it. I plan to use this for all my objective w quizzes this year. It allows students to answer with their devices (we are a BYOT district), gives them instant feedback, and can generate a score report that gets emailed to you. Solid.

I think that's my base for the year. And I'm pretty damn excited about it. Yeah!

Google guffaws (#edtech #GAFE)

So...I get to serve as tech liaison again this year, so I decided to use google calendar's appointment slots to set up tech appointments. Admin asked me to speak for five minutes at the first faculty meeting to explain some of the tech, etc. 

So...I get up to do my spiel, I click the link for my calendar to show staff how to reserve a slot, and I see my tech help slots in gray. 

And then, in pink, we all see my AP's calendar events. Soccer practice, nail appointments, etc. She jumps up shouting "that's my calendar!" And runs to hide the browser window, and we all got a good laugh. No harm, no foul. 

But a word to the future: if someone is

logged in with their account...

Happy back to school everyone!

DRAFT: My letter to parents/students explaining my goals / philosophy for the 2013-14 school year

Hello fellow educators. I have been publishing a letter to parents/students for the past few years that explains my goals and philosophy for the year. I'm not sure how many people actually read it, but it is important to me to model what I ask of my students: in this case, open and honest reflection (not to mention publishing it for the world to see).

I would love some feedback in the comments section (or @acelini)...I fear I get too "political" in the beginning, and I do not want to offend anyone (I am not ashamed of my feelings, but I am trying to be "fair and balanced").

Thanks in advance!

======================================

Dear Students and Parents of the 2013-14 school year: 

Education is at an interesting crossroads right now: we are increasing the rigor of teaching and learning by implementing things like the Common Core State Standards (CCSS); we are also feeling the strain of that implementation and the initial results that are being reported. It seems that the current “ed reform” has good intentions at heart, but is experiencing difficulty with the practical reality of day-to-day teaching. One fear I have is that students are being forgotten in this shuffle - I believe that students are more than a test a score, and learning is more than a test. It’s easy to lose sight of the small, daily matters while looking at the big picture. 

With that in mind, I believe it is our job to strike a balance here. Yes, students need to be prepared for these new standards and assessments, but they also need to feel what it means to enjoy learning, that moment when you “get it” and you love it. I intend to incorporate both of these “strands” while teaching this year. (For context: given current state rules and district decisions, none of my students this year will be taking the new assessments.)

I one core belief that is central to my teaching and to myself: Respect. Everything flows from this. 

In addition, I have three areas I am focusing on this year:

• Choice
• Context
• Collaboration

CHOICE

All humans want some say/governance over the moments in their lives. I hope to engage the students by giving them more choice in what/how they learn (and what/how I teach). I consider myself an honest and reflective educator, and I care deeply about my students’ experience in my class. I am open to new ideas (or variations on my ideas) - after all, the students are doing the learning, and they need an environment conducive to that. Choice is a powerful change agent.

CONTEXT

In order for students to engage with and in their learning, it needs to be “real.” In order for it to be real, we need to view students as people, not data points. And people have emotions, concerns, problems, and solutions. One hope I have is that my students will be able to connect these human elements with the literature we will examine throughout the course of the year. To do so, they need to understand the context in which the work was composed.

COLLABORATION 

We have entered an age where collaboration is both accessible and, perhaps, a more effective learning tool. Teachers are told to prepare students for the future, for college and careers. How many of those careers require an individual to work by him/herself? This world is moved by people working together, so why not infuse that skill into the classroom? I hope to craft more collaborative learning experiences this year; I believe students will retain more by working together. (I will still be assessing students individually, as that is how they will be scored on their school and state assessments.)

Finally, communication is an essential piece that ties all of this together. I maintain an online class calendar that is open to the world. We review it daily in class; feel free to look through it and ask any questions. I post updates on Twitter and through an optional service called Remind101 - you can follow me or sign up for the text message updates. Finally, if you ever need to check in, I’m just an email away.

I hope this year will be a positive experience for your child (and you).

Sincerely,

Anthony Celini

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Summer "break"

Hello world (again). 

It's been a bit of a crazy summer, and I have been absent from most of my professional educational endeavors, both on twitter, and here, on my blog. 

I had big plans for this summer break, from flipping my classroom to reinventing my assessment strategies. 

And then a different break occurred - our sewer line. Again. 

It's amazing how life throws the curveballs at you, eh?

The long and short of it is that the house is functional and my family and I still love each other. 

I am now trying to ease back to my online resources, trying to contribute once again to this community I so value.  

For the record: my pops and I did ALL the labor required to fix the line, including digging a hole six-foot deep and busting out 1,000 lbs of concrete (only to put a new 1,000 lbs back in once the pipe was fixed). I'm still working on the "finishing" - I lost July. But, we saved thousands of dollars. 

My pops posing (eerie) 

The new connection (6 1/2 down).

The concrete step we demoed (and then refilled).

Can you imagine if this happened during the school year? Oy. 

Here's to getting back on track!