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People Make the Difference

Posted by Unknown Senin, 29 Juli 2013 0 komentar

I often think back to my early years as an educational leader in order to gain a better perspective on how much I have grown. Almost all of this growth can be attributed to a point in time that I became connected using a variety of social media tools. Prior to this moment I would say that I led my school in an efficient manner as opposed to effective. More time and emphasis was placed on managerial tasks rather than those that could transform the culture of the school.

Image credit: http://www.celeritystaffing.com/how-to-develop-a-social-media-policy-part-2/

I led in a way that I thought was best. This was due to a lack of information on better ways of doing things. Being on an isolated island in terms of access to information had a real negative impact on my ability to move my school forward during my first two years as principal. Not only was I being held back, but also so were my teachers and students. When we know what we know we develop views and perspectives that we think are spot on. It is only when we push ourselves outside of our knowledge comfort zones that we can truly be the catalysts for change that our schools, districts, and communities desperately need.

As many readers of my blog know, the big changes in my career came when I discovered the value of social media as a leader and learner. It started with Twitter and eventually led to the use of virtually every major social media tool available with the sole goal of improving professional practice. Becoming connected and developing my own Personal Learning Network (PLN) freed me from the purgatory that the traditional system of education had created. Social media and the resulting PLN provided a doorway to endless learning opportunities that have forever changed my professional practice. In my eyes this was the freedom that I desperately needed to no longer be a cog in a wheel. I want everyone to experience this freedom. It is a rush like no other.

I finally became the CEO of my own learning as I began to forge a path that in time helped me to become more effective. It really clicked after I applied what I had learned to transform the culture of NMHS. What is even better is that these initial changes have been sustained. As much as the social media tools were important to this process, they pale in comparison to the ultimate driving force of a connected model of learning – PEOPLE! Social media is a catalyst for conversation, plain and simple. In itself, it will never be a transformative tool. It is the people that engage in conversations, participate in learning communities, share resources, acquire knowledge, and reflect on their practice that ultimately become the agents of change education needs.

Our voice, ideas, and opinions have never been so important. We can choose to stick our heads in the sand and remain isolated within our buildings or our localized school communities. In my opinion, this is not a wise choice. Together, we as educators, have the potential to easily, and seamlessly, connect with one another and to be the driving force for professional development and reform, but only if we are united. Social media provides the medium for us to collectively empower each other to become better while learning side by side. It allows us to showcase everything that is good in education while providing inspiration to change.

The more people we have engaged and connected will dramatically enhance our ability to learn from each other, elicit feedback on our ideas/initiatives for change, and magnify our voice as to what our education systems really need to be effective. During a recent Twitter conversation Tony Sinanis stated, "The perk of SM is that we seem to have access to the best of the best in education." I couldn't agree more. I am indebted to the many PEOPLE I have connected with through social media that have made me a better leader and learner. The power and value of social media lies in the PEOPLE that connect, converse, engage, and learn in these spaces. Make it a point today to get someone connected to strengthen our learning community and transform theirs.

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What Constitutes Good PD?

Posted by Unknown Senin, 22 Juli 2013 0 komentar

We can all agree that professional development is essential in any profession, especially education. It is an opportunity to become better at what we do as well as gain knowledge on new pedagogical techniques, learning theories, leadership strategies, technologies, and federal/state mandates. With budgets being continuously slashed across the country, Districts are beginning to tighten their belts. When this happens the first line item to get cut is professional development. This has resulted in fewer and fewer opportunities for educators to attend out of district learning opportunities as there is no funding to support travel, registration fees, and expenses.

Image credit: http://theevolutionofeducation.blogspot.com/2011/07/people-development-is-key-to.html

Professional development has now become the sole burden of school districts for better or worse. It has become a tug of war, in a sense, as districts use this valuable time, which equates to only a day or two in many cases, to focus on organizational needs. On the other hand, individual educators have specific needs and passions that they want to explore. They want the freedom to chart their own learning course while receiving support from the organization to do so. Quality professional development rests in the ability of the organization to not only meet their needs, but also that of its constituents.

Something has to give though. The trainings that many educators are now forced to attend are usually driven by whatever the federal and state governments have mandated. The key word here is forced. Educators now have to attend mandate-driven workshops on the Common Core, teacher/principal evaluation, and student growth objectives. Now, I am not saying that these things are not important, but it is hard as a professional to develop a love for learning when one has to succumb to daylong trainings with absolutely no authenticity. Many more questions than answers materialize. Will this help my students learn and achieve? Is this yet another flavor-of-the-month initiative? Is this a wise use of our time?

When the organization dominates the planning, agenda, and implementation of mandate-driven professional development, the end result it often catastrophic. The most important element of PD is missing – the needs, desires, and passions of the learner. Even in the absence of mandates, organizations seem to be out of touch with their stakeholders as session after session becomes death by PowerPoint and stacks of paper handouts. The dominating structure fulfills the goal of pumping as much information as possible into our heads, yet fails to inspire change.

Effective professional development is:

Meaningful
Relevant
Allowing educators to choose what they what to learn about
Accommodating to different learning styles
Providing time to apply what has been learned
Focused on one initiative as opposed to many simultaneously
Organized in a way that time to apply what has been learned is provided
Convenient in the sense that learning can take place at anytime from anywhere
Cost-effective
Embedded into the school day if possible
Accessed through available technology
Resulting in observable outcomes related to changes in professional practice and student achievement

The list above includes some lofty, but necessary, expectations of professional development today. So where do we begin? Below are some effective strategies, ideas, and learning opportunities that will provide you and your school the means to invigorate professional development to get real results. Each is hyperlinked to additional information.

Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s)
Personal Learning Networks (PLN’s)
Professional Growth Periods (PGP’s)
Edcamps (For an introduction to Edcamp click HERE)
Edscape - Saturday October 19, 2013 at New Milford HS (NJ)

In this day and age we must take control of our own learning if organizations are not providing and/or supporting meaningful PD opportunities. The three pathways above provide practical, cost-effective, and accessible means to improve professional practice. Nothing is more important than our own learning if we are to not only meet the demands of the profession, but also the needs of our students. Great teachers do not wait for PD days!

So what did I miss? What are some other issues with professional development? Can you provide other innovative and effective PD options?

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How to Print from Your Android Tablet or Smartphone

Posted by Unknown Rabu, 17 Juli 2013 0 komentar

Smartphones and tablets are very handy but what if you want to print something? Maybe you’ve got a document or a picture that you want a copy of. What to do then? Printing from a mobile device is not as straightforward as from a standard PC but here is one method for Android platforms.
It uses a free service from Google called “Cloud Print”. You’ll need a Google account and a separate PC with a Chrome browser and an attached printer. You’ll also need a free app for your Android device.

First, configure the PC that has a printer attached.

Open the Chrome browser.
If not already signed in, sign in to your Google account by clicking the menu button in the far-right upper corner and then select “Sign in with Google.”
After signing in, return to the Chrome menu page and click “Settings”.
At the bottom of the Settings page, click “Show advanced settings”.
Scroll down to the section “Google Cloud Print” and click the button “Add printers”.
A confirmation page will open. Click “Add printer(s)”. Internet-enabled printers will not need this step.
A Cloud Print web page will open where you can make further configurations of your printers, if desired.
The Google Cloud Print section of the Chrome Advanced Settings page will now have two buttons, “Disconnect printers” and “Manage printers”.

Next, set up the Android device that you want to print from.

Download and install one of the free Cloud Print apps. I tried the newly released Google Cloud Print app.
Open the Cloud Print app and it should show the printer(s) that you set up on your PC.

You should now be able to print from any apps that allow sharing. The PC and/or the printer do not have to be on when you want to send a print command. The print job will be queued at Google Cloud Print until you turn the PC and printer on. You can check what print jobs are waiting by clicking the Chrome “Manage printers” button mentioned above in step 8. If you do not want your printer to always be connected to the Internet, simply click the "Disconnect printers" button imentioned in step 8 above.
How to Print from Your Android Tablet or Smartphone

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Sensible Learning

Posted by Unknown Senin, 15 Juli 2013 0 komentar

Social Media is bad and has no place in education. It is a distraction to the teaching and learning process. If students are allowed to use social media in school they will stay off task or exhibit inappropriate behavior. Worse, teachers will spend countless hours “socializing” instead of educating. This is the misguided stigma that social media carries and, as a result, it is often banned in schools. However, there are a growing number of passionate educators who have embraced social media as a powerful tool for learning. When you look at how reliant the world is when it comes to social media use these educators look like geniuses. Take a peak at the video below.

One must get past the stigma and truly experience what this free resource can do for our schools and students to appreciate its inherent value. Social media is all about conversations that center around user-created content. When structured in a pedagogically sound fashion, learning activities that incorporate social media allow students to apply what they have learned through creation. This fosters higher-order thinking skills and caters to a wide range of learning styles. Social media tools allow educators to authentically engage students as they encourage involvement, discussion, communication, collaboration, and creativity. These include mainstream examples such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, as well as, specialized ones such as Voicethread, Glogster, Animoto, and Prezi.

Blogs are an incredible social media tool that can be utilized in a variety of ways. Teachers can set up a class blog to foster creative writing and reflection, or as an alternative to a school newspaper. Blogs are not isolated to just writing, students can add rich media to posts such as pictures, videos, widgets, and gadgets. The Holocaust Study Tour blog created by a New Milford High School teacher and her students who travel abroad to Europe on an annual Holocaust Study Tour provides is a great example. School administrators can use blogs as a powerful public relations tool in lieu of traditional newsletters and email blasts. The ability to comment on any blog increases both student and community engagement.

In our digital journalism class students are required to have their own Twitter accounts. They are then empowered by the teacher to promote their articles and tweet out real-time school news as it happens. This class provides our students with experience using real-world tools that journalists rely on more than ever. It also teaches them about how social media can be used responsibly, to support learning, and as a professional tool.

For our students that have grown up in the digital age learning needs to be relevant, meaningful, and fun. Allowing them to use social media tools to achieve learning goals and objectives, of which they already are familiar with outside of school, makes sense in the globally connected, digital world we are all a part of. This, in my opinion, constitutes sensible learning. A shift towards incorporating social media into education provides a golden opportunity to teach digital responsibility and citizenship to our learners, an area where many schools are failing. When doing so, we must ensure that policies are in line with this change, teachers are supported through professional development on how to effectively use social media in the classroom, and parents are educated on its value.

All of this makes sense to me as an educator, parent, and citizen. What about you?

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Top 5: Free Android Texting Apps

Posted by Unknown Kamis, 11 Juli 2013 0 komentar

If you're still paying for texting, you might want to sit down, because we have some news for you. Instant messaging apps are slowly taking over and replacing SMS messaging on smartphones. Free and usually easy to navigate, users are making the switch to save money on text messaging rates and text their friends overseas. Some of these apps are cross-platform, and others have a group-messaging feature, encryption, and much more. So we've decided to round up the top five texting apps available for Android.

5. Skype
Free Although it's not the best communication app for Android, Skype is definitely useful for keeping in touch with certain people like long-distance relatives or friends. Users can place free voice and video calls and also send instant messages to other Skype users on almost any device. When placing a video call, you can switch between your front and rear facing camera. Now with a revamped interface, Skype has a whole new look and a few new features, such as sending video messages to offline users.

4. Google Voice
FreeGoogle Voice offers low-cost international voice calls and unlimited free text messages for your unique Google Voice number. The app also includes group messaging, offline voicemail, and conference calling. Users have the option to read transcripts of their voicemail (though this depends on the quality of the call, making it a far from perfect feature) and record their incoming calls. One thing to keep in mind is that when placing domestic or international calls, Google Voice for Android will use minutes from your cell phone plan, so watch out.

3.TextSecure
FreeAre you paranoid about your texts being seen or accessed by someone other than the recipient? If you are, then this is the app for you. TextSecure has you create a password upon startup and then proceeds to enter your existing SMS and MMS messages into an encrypted database. You can also send secure texts from the built-in messenger app or participate in a group chat. One downside is that the text is only encrypted when the recipient is also using TextSecure. On the up side, the settings on this app are pretty powerful, giving the user a range of options. The app itself isn't perfect, but it is certainly a viable option for someone who is looking for a decent secure texting app.

2.WhatsApp
FreeOf all the texting applications available, WhatsApp probably has the largest user base. It supports Android, iOS, Symbian, Blackberry, and Windows Phone smartphones. Feature-wise, it has a few more customization options than your standard text-messaging service: multimedia messages, inserting emoticons, and changing the conversation's wallpaper are among its abilities. Another awesome feature is the group messaging with titles you can edit. What makes WhatsApp better than regular texting is the ability to leave the conversation to avoid pesky notifications after you've had your say. Unless you're satisfied with your existing instant messaging app, then you'll definitely want to try this one out.

1.Viber
Free This VoIP app aims to improve users' talk and text experience with some impressive features like OS integration, group chatting with up to 40 people, no ads, and push notifications even when the app is off. You can save money in the process when you send free calls and text messages to other people who use Viber (though it only applies when you're on a WiFi network). Users also have the ability to transfer their conversation (voice or text) to their desktop provided they have the Viber software installed. The app itself is well-designed and if you're looking to save money in voice calls (especially to other countries), Viber might be what you're looking for.

Source pcmag.com
Top 5: Free Android Texting Apps

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How To Decorate your inbox with custom photo backgrounds

Posted by Unknown 0 komentar

Decorate your Gmail inbox with custom photo backgrounds Gmail tip: Decorate your inbox with custom photo backgrounds

Tired of Gmail’s boring blank wallpaper? Think the built-in Gmail themes are a bit too cheesy? If so, you’re in for a treat.
Buried in the list of color, HD, and “classic” Gmail themes is a pair of customizable themes that let you upload your own images—perfect for decorating your Gmail inbox with vacation photos, art shots, baby pictures, you name it.

Gmail Themes option Gmail tip: Decorate your inbox with custom photo backgrounds

Click the gear icon and select “Themes” to get started with your own custom Gmail background.

You can upload photos from your desktop, your Google+ account, your Android or iOS device (assuming you have the Google+ social app installed), or you can even plug in the URL or a photo from the web.
Here’s how…

Open Gmail, click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the screen, then select Themes.
Scroll down to the Custom Themes section and click either “Light” (for a lighter-looking Gmail inbox) or “Dark” (for a slightly darker inbox). Don’t stress about which one to pick; you can easily change your mind later.
As soon as you click, a pop-up window titled “Select your background image” will appear. Click “Upload photos” in the left column to upload an image from your desktop, or click “My photos” to select pictures from your Google+ profile. You can also click “Paste a URL” to grab an image from the web, or “Photos from phone” if you have the mobile Google+ app installed with “Instant Upload” turned on.

Gmail custom themes Gmail tip: Decorate your inbox with custom photo backgrounds

You can upload your own Gmail background images by selecting either the “Light” or “Dark” custom theme.

That’s it! Within a second or so, the image you selected will become the background for your Gmail inbox.
To change your custom background, go back to the Themes setting and click “Change your background image” under the “Custom Themes” heading.
You can also switch your custom theme from “Light” to “Dark” by clicking the appropriate icons—and no, you won’t have to upload your photo again if you do so.

Bonus tip

Want to delete an image you uploaded for your Gmail background? Just go to your Google+ profile (click your name in the top-right corner of the main Google page), move your mouse over the Home icon, click Photos, click the photo you uploaded, then click the Trash icon near the top of the page.
Source http://heresthethingblog.com
How To Decorate your inbox with custom photo backgrounds

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Investigative Science

Posted by Unknown Selasa, 09 Juli 2013 0 komentar

NMHS science teacher Ms Tahreen Chowdhury taught the work-energy unit through investigative science learning process. The students started off the unit smashing pieces of chalk using different methods such as a wood block, rolling cart and sling shot. From this activity students developed the idea that a system of objects can have different types of chalk smashing ability based on their location, speed, and stretch/compressibility.

Image credit: http://www.vrml.k12.la.us/1st/homework/science/science1un3.htm

Once the students related all the experiments to an objects’ ability to do something (i.e. smash chalk or make the touching surfaces of two objects in a system warm), Ms Chowdhury introduced their scientific terms of gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, spring/elastic energy, and internal energy. Ms Chowdhury encouraged the students to develop their own names for these energies so they internalize the meaning better. Some of the names that the students developed were Apollo (gravitational potential energy), Sonic (kinetic energy), Elastigirl (spring/elastic energy), and Charmandar (internal energy).

Then with the students assisting, Ms Chowdhury introduced the equations that represent each of the energies and took them through activities that helped the students developed the work-energy conservation theorem. To top it all off, Ms Chowdhury had a roller coaster building project for the students. Their task was to build a roller coaster for a marble with one loop and two humps; they were also required to utilize their knowledge of work-energy to find the speed of the marble at any three locations on the track. The students put together Prezi presentations that walk viewers through the building process and how the concept of energy is related to building a functioning roller coaster.

You can view on the of the Prezi's that the students created HERE.

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