Google Classroom Video

There is a new tool for a teacher to use called Google Classroom. Google Classroom is a new free LMS that embeds many of the Google Drive Apps. The video was created by Aubrey Harrison, a instructional technology specialist with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.

Inspiration and BYOD

This is the first post in literally years. I feel ashamed but was inspired this past spring by Kevin Honeycutt to tell my story as an educator. The stories that can come out of my school building as teachers inspire high poverty and multicultural/lingual students to strive for success would be totally invigorating to a teacher that is in a rut. One of the policies that my district has put into place that we are trying to come to grips with is BYOD or Bring Your Own Device. The primary reason that is found in the literature to move toward BYOD is to limit the cost for the school district to provide technology for students. There are several other arguments against BYOD but the one that is most relevant to me is the poverty gap. An example of the poverty gap compared to other schools is the number of students driving to school. We have a student population of almost 1800 students but less than 50 students drive to school. Our students cannot afford to drive cars to school. When they begin to look at cell phones, tablets, and laptops, they know that it is out of their family's economic reach. A school such as mine cannot effectively put a BYOD in place.

Another issue with BYOD that arises is the infrastructure that will need to be in place. Can we imagine almost 2000 devices being on the WiFi system at a school at the same time? Most schools' systems would slow to a crawl or crash completely. When the system becomes unreliable, teachers will not use it because it takes valuable instructional time that is crucial in our high stakes testing environment.

These our two of the reasons I disagree with BYOD in a school system as it relates to my current situation. I can see it working in smaller more affluent schools, but BYOD is not a panacea fix to our current shortage in education funding.

Week 4 Leadership Post

My presentation project is a collaborative research project completed by my students using various Web 2.0 tools trying to understand why disadvantaged students don't pursue higher education. I want to present my project at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education Conference in Austin, Texas. Outside of it being one of the few that fits my time window, I selected this conference because they have breakout sessions for individual teaching subjects. This is important because it increases the probability that the audience will be truly interested in implemented the ideas in the classroom.



Week 1 Leadership Post Link: Mentor to Emulate


Week 2 Leadership Post Link: Paper or Present

Week 3 Leadership Post Link:  Where to Present

Link to my leadership presentation, click on the picture below:

 

Week 4 Peer Comment #2

Joe is a talented musician that doubles as a music teacher at two elementary schools in New Jersey. He desires to pass on his love for music to the students he teach.













Here is an excerpt from a recent post in his blog:

My response:

Week 4 Peer Comment #1

For my first peer comment this week, I chose to respond to a paragraph from Mindi's blog that resonated with me. As you can see to the right, Mindi is very passionate for her students and they love her in return.

Excerpt from Mindi's blog:

My response:

Week 4 Reading Post

Chapter 9 -12 Art of Possibility by Ben and Ros Zander

These chapters, for that fact the entire book, is about humility. Humility is a concept that the United States has difficulty grasping. We have a tendency to believe that humility is allowing everyone to tread all over us. It is not that at all. The majority of the greatest leaders were humble. Humility is being able not to think of yourself higher than what you really are. The chapter on Being the Board is difficult to grasp if you are trying to play the game. If you are playing the game, then you have your own interest at heart. The board is there, evaluating and sometimes allowing consequences to happen. I think that part was missing in the book. The board has certain consequences in it in games such as Monopoly and Life. The board is the framework that the game is being played. When we play Monopoly, we evaluate were things are before we buy real estate. If we just bought several houses and hotels in hope of catching our opponent, but do not leave enough money for the dreaded street repair bill card, then we quickly downsize. Our opponent did nothing to us, but the framework of the game did. We need to continually look at the framework that surrounds our life and even become it in order to become successful and enjoy all that life has to offer.

Week 3 Leadership Post- Where to Present

Options=Limited

In all honesty, I feel like I have been caught in a downward spiral with the leadership project, but I will try not to take things too seriously:) I was wanting to present closer to my home in North Carolina, but most conferences have stopped taking proposals. I don't want to write a paper because I enjoy the interaction at conferences as people exchange ideas on more topics than those presented. So I have made my choice of conferences:

Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education in Austin, Texas first week of March. One the deadline is appropriate, January 16, but there are sessions for different disciplines that are taught in the classroom which will be beneficial to me. An added bonus would be to go see a Mavs game with Mindi if I can make a side trip to Dallas:) 

  

 

Week 3 Peer Comment #2

Thoughts from Mitch Canter's Blog

My comment:

Week 3 Peer Comment #1

Excerpt from Joe Brightman's Blog:

 

My comments:

 

Week 3 Wimba Session

Giving an A is the chapter from The Art of Possibility that meant the most to me because it doesn’t just apply to only teaching. The chapter asks us to place value to all around us for whom the person is, not what they can give in return. When you do that, it is easy to make a contribution to them and not take yourself so seriously.

 

The greatest thing I am taking from the book is humility. The majority of things I think are important aren’tJ! Our relationships with other people are important. I need to give value to individuals around me. As a Christian, I didn’t realize how far I had strayed from one of the fundamental beliefs.

Glenn Shelton MAC Week 3 Reading-Rule #6

First, let me say if you feel you are nearing burnout in your current situation, read Art of Possibilities by Ben and Ros Zander. Now that I have that plug in, let's examine Rule #6 from chapters 5-8. Rule #6 is don't take yourself so seriously (edited for my own tastes). I think a true sign of burnout is that you have believe that everything that you don't like is wrong. That is not the case. What you consider to be an emergency isn't to everyone, so chill out and relax. This is saying a great deal from me since my wife went through thyroid cancer three years ago and being diagnosed with Parkinson's this summer, everything has been super serious for me. Until my wife tells my dad that she will get a purple scooter in a couple of years to race his red one in the mall. Enjoy life and those in it.

The picture above is a snapshot of my family except my parents. The person that has me in the headlock in the backrow is my new son-in-law. I pray that he continues to feel he can clown around me the rest of our lives. Sometimes in the classroom, students are battling things far greater then memorizing Shakespeare. Placing food on the table for a baby is more important than understanding Hamlet that you will forget in 3 months. However, too many teachers make their work to be a life or death situation. Don't take yourself too seriously and enjoy those around you for the ride.

Week 2 Leadership Post- Paper or Present

I heart's desire is to present my findings from the CBR. I have a co-worker that is using my project with his classes which cover all three levels of students, regular, honors, and advance placement. After my work and being able to use his insights, I believe that it would be an effective presentation.

The conference I would love to present to is the North Carolina Technology in Education Seminar annual meeting in March.

I also teach online with North Carolina Virtual Public School so I would look forward to meeting several individuals in person that I have only met virtually. However, I have one problem--- deadline for proposals was two weeks ago. Not only that, the deadline for North Carolina English Teachers conference proposal was last week.Ugh!! I checked the deadlines for conferences on the list that were within six hours of my home and the conferences all occurred last month. Are there any other options if we want to present for this project?

Week 2 Peer Comment 2

  Mitch Canter wrote in his blog:

As a teacher, it seems that I spend an inordinate amount of time living in the world of measurement.  One of the things I’ve done to release myself from the constant desire of students to know how they’re “measuring up” is to post grades online for all of my courses.  This allows the students to check on their progress without making me constantly reference grades for them.  That releases me a bit, but not them.  So I have to ask myself, is there more I can do to make my students see the world of possibility?

Both Chapters 3 and 4 made an impact on me so I have to comment on both.  There were many moving stories in Giving An A, but I was struck by Roz’s story about the teacher that was disappointed that Roz achieved an ‘A’ even after her procrastination.  As a teacher that tries to engage and support students, it would never even occur to me to express to a student that I would wish them to do poorly to “teach them a lesson.” That said, I can’t be sure that I would see the circumstance as an opportunity to challenge the student to do even better next time.  That is truly living with a vision of possibility.

Finally, I’m a big believer in being a contribution.  I’ve offered up my expertise for charitable causes in the past and continue to do so.  I know that I have skills that I can bring forward to help in some small way to a larger contribution that can raise funds for terminally ill children, help the fight against birth defects, and I give my time willingly to such things; but chapter 4 of this book opened up this vision and narrowed it at the same time.  It helped me understand that being a contribution isn’t something that I should be just for special events, but a way to look at myself everyday.  How can I be a contribution to each of my students, to the people I live with, to my kids?  Starting today I will try to keep this in the forefront of my mind as I deal with people on a daily basis.

My response was:

Mitch,
When I read "Be a Contribution", I thought the same about being okay since I "step up" pretty well for the special occasions. I also was struck by the need to step up for everyday events. Thank you for sharing.

Week 2 Peer Comment 1

Here are my responses to Mindi Vandergriff's blog. I only copied the section labeled Giving an A.

Mindi wrote:
Giving an A is so much harder than it sounds. I know. I tried. More than once. I started with my husband, but that failed miserably, so I tried on someone else. Myself. As a teacher, I understand the impact the grade can have on a student and I resent the institution of grades for comparing every single  child to every other child out there. Yet, as a student, I thrive for the A. Because it is part of the ridiculous plan i have invented for my life. Then, again, as a teacher, i strive to create a safe environment for my students where they are free to make mistakes and learn from them and fail and succeed multiple times in a day. Yet, as a student, failure is not an option. I have gone through the last 10 months with a perfect average. Something I knew I was capable of but never achieved in my educational career. A couple of months ago, that average was in severe jeopardy of being tarnished. And I was devastated. I had already convinced myself that the project I produced wasn’t good enough (for my invented standards) and thus convinced myself that I might get a B. Heaven forbid. In hindsight, it was ridiculous because although I had earned an A in every single class up to that point, I had never truly given myself an A. And that’s actually quite embarrassing. I can see in my future that I will celebrate my mistakes and failures and say, “How fascinating!” but I’m not quite there yet. Maybe after month 12!  

My response:

Mindi,
I feel the same way you do at times about not giving yourself an A. I think also that many teachers push their students to meet standards because they feel that it is a reflection on them as an individual. However, I think we miss the reason for giving an A. It is so the teacher/boss/etc. and the student/employee/etc. can meet the standards that are place on them as a unit and not worry about the standard or divide created by grades or evaluations.

Week 2- Wimba Seesion

Good ole copyright laws. Teachers may be the worse offenders of copyright laws. In addition to playing whole movies, I have seen teachers copy entire books for their students. Teachers at low income schools are the worse. It sounds as if I'm dragging the bravest of the teaching souls through the mud, but it is really the school systems and the means of support they receive I'm berating. You can't expect a teacher to teach effectively when they are dealing with out of date materials. That is why I liked the notion put forth about approaching the artists directly to use materials. Many are not ruthless and can evaluate situations like the one I just described. They will help. The other notion I liked is the change with Youtube and copyright laws. Many times a bit of nostalgia is kindled and old hits return, especially if people start hitting facebook button and placing it on their wall.

Week 2 Reading Post- Hester Prynne and the Letter A

After reading the third chapter of the book The Art of Possibility by Ben and Roz Zander, I asked myself why do I give grades. Grades are a way to measure students and how you think they will do in future courses. However, they are also labels we place on people. Stop and think about it, what if we put an oreo package on a package of store brand cookies. How does our expectations change and will that pack of cookies live up to those expectations? Probably, if we didn't know about the earlier change.

What if students came into our classroom wearing the letter "A" on their chest, but not given the class roll? Our expectations would be great for  the group. We would expect great in-depth conversations, well thought-out papers, splendid projects. After the first two weeks and all of our students are meeting the goal, then we are given our rolls. We see one Hester Prynne. Do we expect the same from this student or do we expect less from her since she was cast out of her former community after committing adultery with the pastor? The past didn't matter before given a roll, does really matter after the fact. By truly giving students an "A" as Zander suggests, we also help eliminate self-fulfilling prophecy by giving value to all students. It is truly an amazing concept to consider.

Week 1 Post 5 Leadership Project

A person that has been a leader/mentor to me throughout my life is Rev. Reavis Fox. I started attending church where Rev. Fox was a pastor when I was 16. As a typical teenager, I didn't always see eye to eye with my father. Reverend Fox was always encouraging, but not afraid to correct me when I went astray. I also saw him lead a church, not with an iron fist, but with love and compassion. He has led the same church for thirty years.

I am currently leading the church as interim pastor as Pastor Fox is recovering from open heart surgery. It is difficult to follow someone that you have tried to emulate most of your life, knowing that people know the difference. I am learning that a true leader leads with their own style and I know that is what Reavis would also say. He did pick me to fill in for him after all.

Week 1 Post 4

The one thing I took from the Wimba session is the Leadership Project assignment. I knew the CBR project was coming to a head with it being Month 11. However, I didn't know about the Leadership Project and I am apprehensively looking forward to it. The idea of preparing myself for publication or presenting at a regional conference is exciting but daunting at the same time. I look forward to the challenge.

The other thing I am amazed by is the fact that I am in Month 11. After various medical problems and seeing several classmates having to take leaves of absences, I didn't think I would make it on time either. I knew I was working in a limited in window as my oldest has started college and my other two children will start with two years. Financially and age wise, I knew it was now or never. I am glad I chose now!

Week 1 Comment 2

Joseph Brightman writes in MAC BLOG

Being a music teacher, I’ve dealt with the issue of copyright for most of my career.  Can I copy this sheet music we are working on?  Am I allowed to send home a copy of the CD of the song we are learning?  Am I allowed to record my kids’ performances and sell them to parents as a fundraiser for the band?  For the most part, the answer to these questions has always been no.  Copyright ensures that the original creators of a work maintains control of its use, and makes an effort to ensure that the creators get paid for their work.  So for music teachers, when the question shifts to ask if we should pay for what we use, the answer quickly turns to yes.  Yes, you must purchase more copies of sheet music, and yes, your student must buy their own copy of the CD, and yes, you can record your students’ performances and sell them to raise funds, (but of course, you’ve got to send a previously negotiated portion of the proceeds to the publisher of the sheet music.)

But, there are some checks and balances placed on copyright law that help the school band or choir director as well as the starving artist from being thrown away in “copyright jail”, or rather, being sued by a recording company.  For example, if you record your students’ performance of a copyrighted work without selling it, and the director keeps only one copy of the recording, then the recording is considered an archive of the performance groups’ progress, and is legal.  In a similar manner, filmmakers and media organizations have put much time and effort into defining a legal defensive position called Fair Use.  If one is taken to court for copyright infringement, depending on the context of the content use, as well as the amount of material taken and its effect on the original work, Fair Use can defend a teacher, reporter, comic, or critic from legal penalties.

So what does this mean for us, the busy creators of new media, whose deadlines prevent us from creating every pixel and sound used in our projects?  Or, the artist who seeks to base her work in the history of what was created before?  Should we shy away from all copyrighted work in fear of a lawsuit, or should we use what we want and attempt to blatantly throw loopholes in the face of the law?  Personally, I think that finding a happy balance between the two is most likely the healthiest approach.  Below is my personal approach when it comes to seeking the right media and staying out of court.

First: Use copyright-free sources.

A simple Google search reveals a slew of resources where works licensed for reuse can be found, such as MorgueFile, Creative Commons, OpSound and many more.  Using media that’s already licensed for reuse, or whose copyright is expired is completely fair and legal, and you may be surprised by the quality of the work that’s out there for free.

Second:  Make it yourself.

If there is a photo you’d like to use, or a song that you just can’t live without, download it, and attempt to recreate something just like it through your own personal resources.  For example, if you wanted to use an instrumental portion of a copyrighted song, using Logic Pro, you can recreate the beat of the song with a similar drum machine, then find or create loops that had a similar feel to the song you are attempting to emulate.  Or for images, study a photo, then find something similar, and attempt to get a good quality shot of it.  Creating media similar to copyrighted works not forces you to study the original works, but then helps you develop your own skills by going out and creating your own work.

Third:  If you can’t live without it, use it respectfully and carefully.

If there is a snippet of media that your project absolutely can’t exist without, Fair Use does exist as a defensible standpoint in a court of law for specifically for this purpose.  So, as long as long as you are careful with regard to the amount of media you use, the nature and purpose of your new work, and its commercial effect on the original work, if you are ever dragged into court you should at least have a case.  The law surrounding Fair Use is a very grey area; so personally, I’d stay on the conservative side of using copyrighted material.  But, since Art itself evolves based on its roots, it only makes sense that we need to be able to build new works based on old ones.  Although I’ve steered away from copyrighted material so far in all of my work, I wouldn’t be surprised if some popped up in the near future.

My reply was:

Glenn Shelton

Joe,
I agree with the majority of your ideas, but I take opposition to creating your own work based on the original. However, I teach my students that they must cite ideas of an author in a research paper. What is the difference between what you propose and using an author's ideas in a paper. I'm ignorant when it comes to the area of media creation so help me understand.

Sunday, November 27, 2011 - 04:15 PM

Week One Comment One

Mindi Vandergriff writes from Week One Blog:

My reply: