12 July 2010 e Minutes

12 July 2010
eNotes

Morning Social
Lost Coast Writer's Retreat discussed/mentioned
-professional writers retreat
-happening this week
-project is self-sufficient

Mary Ann: Fighting Tech Battle 915
Self-introduction: digital immigrant, nature fan
+interested in promoting embracing practical; applications to technology

Quick Write: what are obstacles in the classroom regarding technological advancement
Round Robin Discussion of quick write topics:
-availability
-learning curve for students/teachers
-outdated technology
-malfunction frustration
-lack of tech support
-true Luddism
-resistance from administrators
-blocking of internet & applications
-platform-dependent skills
-accessibility/availability of computers/internet to students outside of school
-resistance to tech from teachers
-find balance between tech & teaching
-enhancing community & class activities with technology
-modeling
-etiquette/ digital citizenry/ safety

Theory & Applications: read articles
+Prensky “Shaping Tech for the Classroom”
+Curtis “From Curriculum to Communication, a School Immerses Itself in Tech”

group split in half; each half read 1 article
done with writing breaks

Highlights from Curtis
emphasis on collaboration
improved communication & issues of communication privilege
intentionally created infrastructure
built in support/blogs/technology
teachers being treated as professionals
one goal was: teach teachers how to support themselves

Highlights from Prensky
bring tech to students in a way that's familiar to them
still a lot of old tasks done in new ways
process: dabbling, old thing/old way, old thing/new way, new thing/new ways
old thing/new way: make sure that new tech can work with what we're already doing with our students
culture/technology are already shifting—how can education respond to those shifts
our students are already doing this

Small Group Activity: You're in Charge
get in response groups
come up with ideas for implementation /practical for bringing technology in classroom
-coming up with design
-plan on how to get there

Closing Reflections
using/modeling with Google & establish a case with Google & Google docs
-do it as a model case for this or any related/similar technologies
determine what technologies you want/desire as an ideal
+build community support for it

Presentation Evaluation
filled out forms

CRAT Talk 1030/45-1130
Read & discuss “The Digital Divide Within: Creating a Level Playing Field for All Students”
Point: need skills in order to even apply/qualify for a job
Point: kids can pass through the same school and get very different technological training/exposure
mentions tech standards
Digital divide: can't do much about it in students' homes, but we CAN impact that in the classroom
Question: when left to their own devices, what do kids do—where do they gravitate to?
Term/phrase “tech curious”: provide teachers a chance to be exposed to things without requiring them to commit to using it
Meaningful use of the computer, not gaming—how do you make it accountable
Task solving/orientation instead of just teaching a platform

NATIONAL TECH STANDARDS—ISI locate it or add it to resource list

eTime 1130-1145 [CRAT talk ran into this time]

Lunch 1145-1230

Post Workshop Coaching Demo 1230-130
Mary Ann's presentation reviewed/feedback from Stephanie & Rachel
Normally, the person gets the feedback forms to take home & review overnight

Step 1: What Mary Ann thought went well:
article selection
having participant-led discussion
participants engaged based upon their own experience(s)
writing break method was valued

Step 2: Debriefers give feedback—what they think went well
Rachel:
instead of just complaining about things, provide action suggestions/encouraging collaboration
kept the focus on the participants, not just talking about her classroom
good article selection
Stefanie:
treated audience as professional
organized agenda
let discussion hit pro/con on article(s)
good moderation/facilitation
good articles
processing some of the content with writing

Step 3: Group feedback on things that went well in workshop
efficient delivery
limited scope w/enough time to work on each stage
applicable to all grade levels, not just a specific level
took place outside of the lab
relevance of the writing activities to the content

Step 4: What would Mary Ann change?
Bibliography
Went slightly over time in the sharing activities at the end—would plan/schedule for that in future
Explain/model writing break a bit more or give a couple examples

Step 5: What changes group suggest
more clarification on outcomes poster (not too specific, not too general)
define prompt at end more clearly
timing got a bit off—be sure to keep people on track/on time [politely cut people off]
on agenda, make sure to list your
provide a short summary of each article for the people who read one, not the second, article—it helps to contextualize the material

Step 6: How would Mary Ann change format?
Add more time for discussion
Cut down introduction
start with quick write and then do the introduction
shorten the “what are your obstacles in writing”
do more modeling of the activities

General format for the Post-Presentation Coaching:
15 minutes went well/ 15 minutes on how to improve


Writing Activity 145-245
Write the autobiography of an object

Committee Meeting 245-3