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This article first appeared on Edudemic. So it’s the beginning of school, and if you’re worth your salt (and you have access), you’ve probably already been in your classroom setting it up. What kind of inspirational posters are you pinning to the walls? How much scotch tape and staples and how many thumbtacks do you need? What resources do you want your students to absorb as they look around during a classroom discussion? What kind of atmosphere do you want to create? How do you want your students to feel when they walk into your room? If you share a…
This post, co-authored by Holly Clark & Tanya Avrith, first appeared on Edudemic Digital citizenship is not a one time discussion. It is an ongoing process that needs to be taught to all grade levels and to all stakeholders. The problem is that things are changing so rapidly that it is difficult for everyone to keep up to date with the trends. Everyone has to be educated and develop an understanding of the role digital citizenship plays in our everyday lives. There is so much that goes into being a digital citizen; from taking photos of others to knowing when…
This post first appeared on Edudemic and was adapted from a talk that I gave at the iPad Summit in Atlanta. The Boston iPad Summit 2013 is now accepting proposals and offers discounts for early bird registration! As an educator, when I am given a new tool my first thought is “how can I use this in the classroom? How will I roll this out?” However, I have learned over the years that I need to pause, step back, and think, “Okay, how is this tool going to make my life and job easier? How can I use iPad to make…
“Ms. Clark, when are we going to do that again?” Nothing makes me happier as an educator than hearing those words – and lately, I have been hearing them a lot! It is not the question, as much as the look on the faces of my students, that I enjoy the most. It’s the inspiring glow of engagement and enthusiasm plus the fire in their eyes that makes me want to keep trying new projects. Their relentless desire to do collaborative-based work is proof that they enjoy the journey, the connections, and the role of play in their learning. One…
This post first appeared on Edudemic. With all of the iPads flooding into schools these days, many other classroom systems have come under scrutiny. In particular, the following questions re abound: Do I have current resources for my class AND are they iOS compatible? What’s the best way to distribute work to students, receive the work, and return it graded? How complex do my workflow systems have to be, and how many do I actually need to get the flow the way I want it? If the school already has a system that doesn’t work well with iPad, what do…
This post first appeared on Edudemic. It’s the summertime! This is when educators, free from the daily schedule of a classroom, can focus on professional development. More specifically, summer is a great time to network and to build your personal learning network (PLN). If you’re unfamiliar with a PLN, it’s a network of individuals you foster specifically to learn from and cultivate your professional skills. They are especially important in the world of education where classrooms can easily isolate you from your colleagues and peers. Starting a PLN and cultivating it is surprisingly easy and doesn’t take a lot of time.…
Stories bring us together, encourage us to understand and empathize, and help us to communicate. Long before paper and books were common and affordable, information passed from generation to generation through this oral tradition of storytelling. Consider Digital Storytelling as the 21st Century version of the age-old art of storytelling with a twist: digital tools now make it possible for anyone to create a story and share it with the world. WHY Digital Storytelling? Digital stories push students to become creators of content, rather than just consumers. Weaving together images, music, text, and voice, digital stories can be created in…
Jen Carey is LIVE blogging for us from the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit USA. You can also find these posts on her site – indianajen.com. Tony Perez of the Atlanta Girls School: How can standing in place be interactive – or – how we sold our interactive boards and redefined our classrooms. I saw Tony speak at the last iPad Summit and today was eager to hear more about what the Atlanta Girls School was doing. I love the fact that Tony starts out this discussion by being honest – that this was not an easy transition, and in fact he categorizes it as a “tale…
Jen Carey is LIVE blogging for us from the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit USA. You can also find these posts on her site – indianajen.com. Day 2 Concurrent Session with Douglas Kiang – The Curated Classroom: Finding and Sharing Great Online Content with iTunes U I am a big fan of iTunes U, so I was thrilled to learn about Douglas Kiang’s presentation on creating and curating content using iTunes U in your classroom. He started out by telling us that teachers are storytellers, curators, and publishers. Storytelling Being creative, a designer, is what is key in this new world. Storytellers, or concept bearers, are…
Jen Carey is LIVE blogging for us from the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit USA. You can also find these posts on her site – indianajen.com. Day 2 Afternoon Keynote with Tom Daccord: “Keys to Building a Successful iPad Program” Tom’s keynote focuses on redefining not only the physical classroom, but also the cognitive and metaphysical classroom. He states that he will explore, though briefly, what this means for educators and administrators. “What does learning look like?” Tom asks us. In other words, how do we know that learning is going on? We certainly have an idea of what it is and what it looks like,…
Jen Carey is LIVE blogging for us from the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit USA. You can also find these posts on her site – indianajen.com. Day 2 Morning Keynote: Redefining the Classroom: The AUSL and Chicago Public Schools by: Autumn Laidler Anita Orozco Huffman Jennie Magiera Please see their presentation content here and on the iPad Summit Site. Autumn, Anita, and Jennie are all veteran and distinguished educators with the Chicago Public School System as well as a network of schools within the Academy for Urban Schools in Chicago (AUSL). These teachers are clearly excited and e nthusiastic. Those of who saw them at…
This article below, written by Greg Kulowiec, first appeared yesterday on Edudemic. Last November, Justin Reich, our co-founder at EdTechTeacher, wrote a piece on his Education Week blog, If You Meet an iPad on the Way, Smash It. The piece came out the morning of the first iPad Summit in Boston and put iPad use in schools into perspective. As Justin explained in the piece, “If the nitty-gritty details of iPad use distract us from our larger mission, then we need to smash them. If we get too lost in the “how” of iPads in classrooms, then we need to…
Jen Carey is LIVE blogging for us from the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit USA. You can also find these posts on her site – indianajen.com. Concurrent Session #3: The iPad as a Leadership Tool with Patrick Larkin I saw Patrick Larkin first speak at the iPad Summit last Fall. If you would like to read about that, see my blog post “Getting Your Entire School Community on Board with iPads (1:1).” Given that experience, I could not pass up an opportunity to watch him again. Patrick starts out his discussion by telling us about his journey implementing iPad into a 1:1 environment. He…
Jen Carey is LIVE blogging for us from the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit USA. You can also find these posts on her site – indianajen.com. What is the Answer with iPads? from Greg Kulowiec How does iPad support teaching and learning? How do they give students a voice? How do they get children to focus on things that matter? Greg starts out his talk by telling us about his days as a DJ. The “menial task of carrying turn tables and vinyl records in milk crates” occupied his pre-teaching years. Just as the 21st century has redesigned the life and tools of a…
Jen Carey is LIVE blogging for us from the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit USA. You can also find these posts on her site – indianajen.com. Concurrent Session #2 – Redesigning your Learning Spaces: How Mobile Technology Demands a New Classroom – Don Orth, Director of Technology at Hillbrook School, Christa Flores, MS Science & iLab Director, Tim Springer, Founder & President Hero, Inc. What should classrooms (physically) look like with the learning that is happening now? The Hillbrook School is hosting an iPad School 2.0 Summit this summer. Big Picture questions: Where do you go to be creative? When is the last time you reinvented your…
