If you have not yet garnered from our previous posts, we have an unquenchable thirst for new knowledge. We love learning from those who have perfected their art, alongside those who are in the same trenches we are, and sharing our own learning journey with those just starting out. As we come across opportunities, we can’t wait to share them with each other. We place the contenders on our professional bucket list and then put our heads together to try and make them happen. As you can see from our post  “You CAN teach old dogs new tricks!,” we often do find a way to make it work.

While we try to engage with other educators through a variety of social media, we know that we only see the opportunities through a very small lens. We are therefore asking you, our readers, to help our bucket list grow. What conferences, books, classes, workshops, etc. have you read/participated in that you would recommend? We can’t wait to start seeing our bucket fill up!

Let us start by saying “NO! We are not old!” We are just getting to that place where the new teachers look more and more like our students than they do like us. (: In all honesty we both feel very young, and we have a love of learning that only seems to grow with our years. It is one of the things that drew us together and one of the things that keeps our classroom alive. Over the past four years, we have thrown ourselves into whatever opportunities we could to learn about technology, blended learning, personalization, data, mastery grading, growth mindset, and the list goes on. We are so happy that we can say that we were able to take away at least a nugget from every learning opportunity. The list below constitutes a partial list of the books we have read and classes/experiences we have taken part in since the start of our blended learning classroom four years ago. We also will give a huge plug to YouTube at this point in the post as we have devoured more hours of video instruction than we can count. We share this list with you for two reasons; first, we hope it inspires you to embrace learning alongside your students and second, to give you some ideas of where you can find inspiration to build your skill set.

Books:

Blended Learning in Grades 4-12: Leveraging the Power of Technology to Create Student-Centered Classrooms by Catlin R. Tucker

From Amazon “In this step-by-step guide, Catlin Tucker provides concrete strategies, ready-to-use resources, and sample rubrics grounded in the Common Core State Standards”

Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day by  Jonathan Bergmann

From Amazon “Learn what a flipped classroom is and why it works and get the information you need to flip a classroom.  You’ll also learn the flipped mastery model, where students learn at their own pace-furthering opportunities for personalized education.”

The Blended Classroom: A Guide for Technology Supported Learning by Kerry Rice

This book was written by one of Tammy’s professors at Boise State University. Amazon describes the book in this manner “If you find yourself wondering how to begin, then this guide is for you. In it, you will be shown how to put student learning first using a strategic framework for implementing blended learning. Practical strategies using a variety of technology tools are included, but technology is not the focus. The focus is on thinking through the most important aspect of this transformation; your teaching practice. Alignment of blended learning with the Common Core State Standards and competency-based learning are also addressed.”

Ready-to-Use Resources for Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci

As we have been working towards a growth mindset community, we have relied heavily on the work of Carol  Dweck. We also found this book helpful with some easy to use lessons that we could put into place to support our work. Amazon states “this book is perfect for schools looking to implement the ideas in Mindsets in the Classroom quickly, easily, and successfully.”

Making the move to K-12 online teaching: Research-based strategies and practices by Kerry Rice

Another very helpful book by Kerry rice, this is filled with a wealth of information. Amazon describes it as “Unique in its focus on K-12 learning, this book shows educators how to transform their teaching as they move from traditional face-to-face classrooms to online settings.”

Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (6th Edition) by M. D. Roblyer and Aaron H. Doering

“Using hundreds of lesson examples and recommended resources, the text balances the theory-based “why” and the practical “how” of using technology to support and shape the future of technology in education.” (Amazon)

PBL in the Elementary Grades by Sara Hallermann, John Larmer, John R. Mergendoller

We feel that this book is a great reference to use after attending training on PBL. Amazon describes it this way “Designed for teachers of Kindergarten through 5th grade students, PBL in the Elementary Grades contains down-to-earth, classroom-tested advice for project planning, assessment, and management.”

 

Professional Development Offered Through Our District:

Schoology for Secondary Educators:  We took this course as our new LMS, Schoology, was being rolled out to the district. At that time the class was not available for elementary, but as we have found with most of our learning, with minor tweaks many tools/strategies can be modified to work with all learners.

Introduction to Google Drive:  We live in the world of Drive, as do our students. This initial course got us started on the path to collaboration, project choice for our students, and showed us how easily technology can be integrated into our subject matter.

Smartboard Training:  In this course we learned how to create Smart lessons as well as access lessons already created.

Flipping your Classroom: Another class which was designed for high school teachers, we were able to learn the basics and now regularly utilize flipped lessons within our classroom.

Embedding Web 2.0: In this course we were taught how to use and integrate into Schoology several tools including Animoto, Educreations and Prezi.

PowerTeacher Gradebook (K-5 grades):  Our district uses PowerTeacher for gradecards. This course taught us how to utilize the gradebook features within the platform. We have chosen not to use the gradebook at this time as it is not viewable by parents (our Schoology gradebooks are shown in “realtime” to both parents and students) but we do like knowing the features in case we want to move towards the gradebook in the future.

Think Tank:  Think Tank is a 3-Day conference which our district has delivered over the past two years. Teachers and administrators from both within the district and outside of the district deliver professional development on innovative classroom practices.  Amy attended a participant last summer in its first year of inception and she and Tammy presented their blended learning model in the second year.

 

Workshops/Conferences Outside of Our District:

OhEdTech Conference:  “The Ohio Educational Technology Conference (OETC) is the premier P-20 state educational technology conference. Each year, more than 4,000 educational technology professionals and enthusiasts come together to explore the forefront of P-20 learning and innovation in Ohio. For three full days, attendees can learn what’s new and look towards the future by exploring new technologies,  trying them out in a interactive atmosphere, and learning how to integrate them into the learning environment.”

PBL Institute (ESC of Central Ohio): “The PBL Ohio Institute is a collaboration with the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) and ESC of Central Ohio. Fully facilitated by BIE national faculty, the PBL Ohio Institute features exemplary learning academies, inspiring keynote speakers (from PBL practioners and students), and community building opportunities to catalyze transformational change in teaching and learning. ”

4Cs Institute 2016 (Otterbein):  “This institute introduces the “4Cs” and supports teachers’ efforts to integrate the 4Cs in their own practice. Each day, the Top 5 strategies for cultivating the targeted 4C will be shared and teachers will participate in active learning experiences modeled by Otterbein professors that are grounded in research and theory.”

 

Online Classes: Boise State University-  These classes were all taken by Tammy as she completed her master’s degree in educational technology.  Our extensive collaborative planning has allowed Tammy to share these ideas with Amy so that we are both able to utilize the newfound skills within our classroom. Links will take you to the course syllabi to learn more about the standards addressed within each course.

EDTECH 501 Introduction to Educational Technology

EDTECH 502 The Internet for Educators

EDTECH 503 Instructional Design for Educators

EDTECH 504 Theoretical Foundations of Educational Technology

EDTECH 505 Evaluation for Educational Technologists

EDTECH 521 Online and Blended Teaching K-12

EDTECH 523 Advanced Online and Blended Teaching

EDTECH 537 Blogging in the Classroom

EDTECH 541 Integrating Technology into the Classroom Curriculum

EDTECH 542 Technology-Supported Project-Based Learning

EDTECH 592 Portfolio Tammy’s portfolio can be found here

 

In the fall of 2012, our school district joined with a consortium of other schools throughout Ohio to bring about innovative classroom designs. This effort was facilitated by a team at the Tri-Rivers Educational Computer Association (TRECA), but the classroom design was solely our own. All teachers within our district were given the opportunity to submit proposals for their ideal classroom of the 21st Century. If chosen, the teacher/team would have their classroom funded, and they would be free to implement their designs. The classrooms were meant to inspire, engage, and transform the educational experience of students.

Our initial proposal was submitted to TRECA in September of 2012 and we were notified that we were finalists for the opportunity. One person from each team was chosen to visit a school in the nation that already employed successful “disruptive innovation” and Tammy joined six other educators from throughout the state on a trip to visit Carpe Diem school in Yuma, Arizona. Carpe Diem delivers a highly personalized instructional program to students in grades 6-12. Tammy could feel the student energy walking throughout the building and their assessment results proved that what they were doing worked. Tammy came back to Ohio to share the experience with Amy and together we started to plan.  We were asked to dream big and we did just that.

When you have two dreamers working side by side and not a realist between them, things can get out of hand quickly. The proposal needed to focus on three key components:  Personalization, Student Growth, and Engagement. We knew from our previously combined 25+ years in the classroom that we also wanted to incorporate sound pedagogical practices including station-rotation models, rich technology integration, flexible grouping, project-based learning, and multiple ways for students to demonstrate their understanding.  We thought we could do it all, and we thought we could do it all at the same time. After 13 drafts and over 100 hours of work, this dream became a reality and our submitted proposal was chosen for implementation.

This brings us back to our lesson learned.  We had our big dream. We knew where we wanted to go. We did not start small.  We welcomed our first group of students into the BLC in the fall of 2013.  Rather than allow ourselves time to gradually introduce components and develop the skill set needed to manage this new environment, we jumped right into every component of our design. We did many things well, and we did not do many things well.  We ended up often feeling frustrated, our students were frustrated, and our greatest allies, the parents, felt frustrated.

Time heals all wounds. We can now look back on the experience and recognize the tremendous growth opportunities that these initial struggles provided to us. Even though we did make it through, we encourage other educators who are making changes to their instructional design to start small. Focus on one thing at a time. At the end of the day, you will still get there, and you may end up with a few less gray hairs than we have (:

Certainly, the statement has merit. We are living proof of that. Had we known all that we were going to face four years ago when we started brainstorming ideas for our innovative classroom, chances are we would have thought twice about it (and possibly had our heads examined!) Like all worthwhile experiences, however, we could not have ended up where we are today without the rocky road that led us here. When you set out on a new course, you are alone. There are few examples to follow, and as such, you are the ones who must pave the path for others. With the endless hours of work, frustration, and feelings of isolation, there were many times when we considered giving up. We are so happy that we did not throw the towel in. We have come to a place where we know that we still have far to go, but we are filled with pride, joy, and exhilaration as we realize that what we are doing is changing the lives of children.