Small group discussion -

• "you know what you want to cover...there are projects in place" but being able to navigate the technology would be the thing to learn
• start with the 9th grade or 9th and 10th grade - but you have to have something that would give the students a choice. If students were forced into this from the start, where would the student buy-in be? We would have to have a selection process.
• We would have to look at the numbers we have and see how many teachers we could actually pull in
• $$$ to cover computers, travel, training, construction?????
• REDESIGN the building in some way
• what students would we target? average students? honors students? struggling students?
• the middle of the road kids get fewer choices - more courses for GT, more help for Special Ed.
• How many kids? you have to balance your demographics? So what about ESOL kids? Can we do a break up of our demographics?
• What about the academy (AAST)? Aren't they already doing this? Why not just expand this? Theirs is more focused on the major, rather than the inquiry method (more liberal arts)
• Whatever we do - in order to do project-based learning, we HAVE to have the resources separate from the rest of the building. We can't gobble up all of the technology in the building just for OUR classes. Could we guarantee use for all students every day.
• Would the teachers be just New Tech or could they also teach an "out" class? Would that take AP teachers out? Can we find out from other schools?
• Learning styles - the kids that do well in AP usually do well in school, in general - this should be targeting those students who don't always do well with school
• If we adopt this for 9th and 10th grade, do they other teachers in the building have access to the online materials? Would those of us who are NOT New Tech teachers still be able to use the materials (bits and pieces).
• If the state funds it, what accountability do we have? Do they take the computers back? the funding? the resources?
• technology is not the biggest part of this - we need the coach and resources
• non-EOC courses - best place to start? More flexibility, less accountability
• down side - 11th graders not as trainable, some EOC scores might actually go up - English I EOC is less about literature than informational texts these days.
• Classroom space - availability of labs, a wing of the school?
• need to see it in action - could we go to NC?
• what is the time frame for this? in the spring - Nona and lead teacher would go for 1 week to work with a school; then the teachers would shadow for a few days; training in the summer for 5 days.
• Application for those who are interested? then a lottery that would match the demographics
• teachers - application process - teachers need to be on board for this
• team teaching doesn't have to ALWAYS be done - would we be able to do both methods?
• What about the majors? These students have to finish within 4 years - could they be a part of the New Tech school?
• students would take their core classes so they would have other "out" classes when they could take their electives
• you may have low numbers the first year
• what is guidance's role - what stops guidance from just putting people in who need a class?

SUMMARY

• teacher application
• student application - lottery - need something to educate the 8th graders, something in the curriculum guide, publicity
• target a group to market it to - it is open to everyone, but we're going to invite specific ones and market it to them
• we need to visualize how this is ACTUALLY done - we need to SEE this done
• where is all of this $$$ going to come from - this will require a lot of $$$

New Tech Network Presentation

The title of the presentation: Powering the Future of Learning Presenters: Matt Williams and Kelley Yonce Every lesson starts with two things: 1) What you know and 2) what you need to know What we know:

• Student-centered
• project-based
• cross-curricular
• teacher collaboration
• student collaboration
• student/teacher buy-in
• anyone welcome
• technology-based

What we need to know

• how do teachers find time?
• how do we incorporate students with special needs?
• how do we accommodate various pacing/scaffolding?
• how do we teach collaboration?
• what types of technology do we need in our building?
• how do we address learning styles?
• what is project based learning?
• where do we get the materials?
• how do we design a project?
• how do we keep them on task?
• how much direct instruction is involved?
• how much of it leaves the classroom and moves into the community for something more authentic?
• what components do we already have?
• can we see an example of how a high school like this works?
• how much redesign is involved - what are we looking at for as an end result? stand alone school or school within a school?
• how does the lab component fit into the science aspect?
• how does the guidance aspect work in new tech?
• how do you get the student buy-in? is this assigned or do they self select this?
• discipline problems?
• student/teacher ratios
• teacher accountability - standards based learning and assessments - standardized testing??? HSAP? EOC? etc.

How have the goals of education changed?

• agriculture = subjects; industry = workers; service = citizens; knowledge = entrepreneurs
• We are in a society that stands between service and knowledge - creating citizens and entrepreneurs

In the 21st cent

• Information is abundant
• students learn to create and problem-solve

Top 5 New-Hire Skills

1. Oral communication
2. teamwork/collaboration
3. professionalism/work ethic
4. written communications
5. critical thinking

New Tech High was started by the business community in Napa Valley. It was designed to mirror the workplace through the use of real-world projects, relevant technology, and "professional" interactions. It became an engine for economic development.

The New Tech Approach

Culture That Empowers

• Trust, Respect, and Responsibility
• students "own" their school
• students consider the school their community
• openly and actively involve students in the government and decision making process
• students are respected - no passes or bells
• teachers collaborate with one another

Teaching That Engages

1. Project information phase: 1) starts with an entry document - introduces the project and provides real-world context; end result 2)knows and needs to know (don't only focus on the content but also the execution
2. Group Planning
3. Research and Investigation
4. Formal Teaching

These things keep going through the wheel (process)- they keep going through the process as needed.

Then it moves to

1. Drafting solutions
2. Final presentation
3. Reflection (and then you might go back through the process if needed)

Non-traditional requirements

• digital media
• college courses
• senior projects
• professional digital portfolios
• internships and community service
• integrated courses (some courses are stand alone courses)

Technology That Enables

• technology is the tool, not the focus
• PeBL - Web portal - Online tool for teachers and students at New Tech high schools
• grading - common assessment practices (rubrics - weighting) across the curriculum. For example, having a common rubric for oral communication no matter what class you're in (math, science, English, etc).

From a teacher's perspective

• bring the community in to the classroom and allow them to evaluate
• small group workshops (for direct instruction)
• kids work in teams and have team leaders
• leader sheets/team collaboration sheets - what the group accomplished for the day, what the plan is for the next day, grade teammates on professionalism skills, etc.
• Project briefcases - administrative things first, contains entry documents, other pieces of the projects, resources, lectures, articles, websites [all is transparent for students to see - unless you lock them, i.e. tests, quizzes, etc.]
• new tech coach - someone that helps develop projects?
• Sharing space - where teachers can share any and everything
• Project library - projects that have been evaluated and approved by New Tech
• Resource library - rubrics, documents, tutorials, procedures, group collaboration documents, etc.

OK...it's 12:34. I should be sleeping soundly in my big comfy bed...my last night in Boston. So why am I still on my laptop? I'm crazy that's why. The sad thing is...I bet a few of the others from HCS are up exploring these new resources too (well, new to us) and working on stuff for school. I can't pull myself away. I've learned so much in such a short period of time that my brain is on overload. I have 10 windows open, and I'm a bookmarking demon right now. Michelle...please...step AWAY from the computer. Now I'm even starting to talk to myself...via the keyboard...does that make me more or less crazy? Anyway, I just wanted to create a little post NOW while I'm still on the natural high of learning...yes, there is such a thing for all you skeptics out there. I don't think I can quite capture what this conference has taught me. But I will say that when you can't fall asleep because you're thinking about all the powerful things you can do to help children...that's a good thing. Well, unless you look at it from the perspective that I need to catch a plane in the morning. No, it's still a good thing. Thank you Alan November and crew. Thank you HCS for sending me. Thank you to the rest of the HCS team who traveled with me for such powerful conversations and support. We WILL make a difference when we return. Night ;-)

Narrative Inquiry - Using Photography

This presentation confused me some...it was very abstract. Although she had a ton of beautiful photography. I really wish I would have brought the camera with me to Boston. Boo :-( My notes probably won't make much sense so I copied the link to the presentation as well. It's all about getting the kids to think outside the box...from a different perspective...a different point of view. Then they try to think about how the POV alters the narrative. They start with pictures and then go to writing. She encourages them to take pictures that are unique, from a different perspective than the postcard versions of the world.

• http://www.slideshare.net/JuLeong/narrative-inquiry-julia-leong
• photographs are one way of trying to make sense of life as life - could have students video or photograph a day in their lives? How do they view the world? I think I'll use this with my AP students as well as Broadcasting and Newspaper.
• thousands of photos out there...thousands have tags now...
• the eye is a lamp to the heart - what do we photograph and why?
• focus on the composition of a story as a way to represent experiences
• how do we frame the shot, and how does that affect the story? - ****Have students take the same picture and frame it in different ways to change the story. Then they rewrite the narrative from varying perspectives.
• Reveal Effect - "masking" to a photo editing software
• Can use Comic Life software
• moving image done in imovie - look up the "Ken Burns" effect
• kidpics, picasa, photoshop, iphoto for the slow reveal
• instead of asking is this good...ask what is this good for?
• S is the nikon setting for changing the speed on your camera (speed 1/2 sec)

render the familiar a little strange

• Show scale
• shooting at angles
• time
• time exposure - paint with flashlights (leave shutter open)
• suspended time
• self portraits...layer portraits http://www.ordeal.ca/
• look for and shoot shadows

have kids shoot from point of view - to paint their voice

how does my point of view influence my narrative? my teaching?

use it as a way of inquiring into something - a process of framing questions, asking questions

Shoot things from 3 points of view

3 questions: 1) what does it look like 2.) what else does it remind you of? 3) How are you like...

http://www.the-private-eye.com/

Do close ups - set to macro or little flower icon...

Show me a standard student

presentation by Lee Colbert - Her website: sites.google.com/site/edtechlearning FREE TOOLS!!!

• Mind Mapping - http://www.mywebspiration.com/ - Made by the same people who created Inspiration, but it's free. You can transfer things you've created in Inspiration so that your students can work on them at home (for free). You can link documents you've already created on the web to your mind map. They can link to videos, pictures, docs, etc.
• Writing Prompts - http://www.plinky.com/ - Every day they provide a new prompt (like a question or a challenge), and everyone gets a chance to answer. You post your response on the site for others to read (but you don't have to post). It's simple to add photos, maps, playlists and more. You can easily share your Plinky answers on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and most major blogging services. You can follow people. The prompts can be automatically emailed to you daily.
• Vocabulary, Poetry, Character Analysis, etc. - http://wigflip.com/automotivator/ - it uses images and words to create a poster. They can use the pictures already on the site or load their own. They add text and can save it, print it out, or order it from the site. This is also great for creating posters to motivate students - we could use images of our own school, students, parents, faculty, etc. and combine them with words that target our students/parents/staff/environment/issues/etc to inspire our community. It helps to personalize those motivational posters you see everywhere.
• Digital Storytelling (Problem Solving, Role Playing, Vocabulary, Biographies, Sequence) - http://www.xtranormal.com/ - make 3D movies for free...if you can type it, you can create it :-) You can upload videos to YouTube and then download or embed into wikis, powerpoints, etc. from there.
• Download a video from YouTube - http://www.zamzar.com/ it will also convert music, documents, etc. Almost any document you can think of could be converted.
• Online Polls - http://www.polleverywhere.com/ - 1) Ask your audience a question 2) They answer using SMS text messages, Twitter, or the web 3) Results update live in your web browser or PowerPoint. The free version limits your poll to 30 responses, but you can erase those responses and start again. You could have students, parents, faculty members, etc. respond to your polls.
• Collaborative Lists - http://tadalist.com/ - You can create lists and share them. You can even allow students, parents, etc. to edit and add to the list. You (or they) can check things off the list as you go.
• Photo Novels - http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/index.php - Allows you to create comic strips using flickr. You search images and add speak bubbles.
• Social Bookmarking - http://delicious.com/ - Create student accounts and they can link to you and one another to do collaborative work. http://www.diigo.com/ is even better because they have educator accounts where you can create student accounts where it doesn't require student email addresses. You can also highlight, search, and use post-it notes in diigo.
• Literary Family Tree - http://www.family-mingle.com/ - creates family trees using pictures. They can also upload pictures/drawings/sketches of "characters"and add information to them like background information on character, quotes, key characteristics, motives, etc.
• Voicethread - http://voicethread.com/#home - capture students voices to comment, do storytelling...you can even email it to others so they can comment on it too. You can comment on video, mark things on the screen, etc. You can share with entire groups or individuals. You can export and allow others to download it. You can allow others to make a copy. You can create templates for your students. NOTE: Let people view it, let people comment, moderate, and don't show it on browse. This is SOOOO cool. Teachers or students could use this to showcase their work (and then share with peers, parents, faculty, etc.). It could be used to combine the audio and visual to have a virtual discussion where the voices of the people contributing can be heard, not just read.
• Book Club - online book club where you can read books, comment, get a group of cohorts reading together, upload your own stuff, and friend others.

Follow-up to Stephen Heppell

I decided to go to the follow-up session with Stephen Heppell... He did a Q&A. Here's a little bit of summary.

• one school doing schoolwide broadcasts to celebrate student/team achievements instead of assemblies; the students run it - yea! we already do the broadcast!!!! we still have assemblies though...
• reflection time is so small now with the rapid growth in technology - how do you combat that? That is why we hear great things but have NO time to implement them effectively or in a timely manner.
• "Leadership in the 21st century is different...leaders today are leading from within...Vision is absolutely the key."
• Can change happen on a large scale, or does it need to be individualized - on a small scale? The vision can be on a large scale,but you need to give people license to be great. It needs to be good fun for teachers as well as students.

"It's about the space. It always is."

• Shared spaces where teachers and students can read, be on the web, text, relax, etc. Places esthetically pleasing and relaxing - conducive to learning. I wish we had shared spaces like this for students and teachers that were not huge herding areas (i.e central stairwell, cafeteria - yuck). Most teachers don't like being in those areas, why would the students? How about a place that the students AND teachers would enjoy relaxing in?
• "Put mirrors on the wall...it transforms the space." Can we even have mirrors in our schools?
• Little blow up spaces where students can sit and work quietly. They are like tiny inflatable rooms/pods/stations that are actually really quiet and can be deflated when not in use. Too cool!
• Big children working with little children. We could have students at the high school work with kids at the primary, elementary, middle, intermediate schools.
• Outside of the school remodeled into a skate park. "Make the school a more playful place...it's not a hospital. They are going to be there for a long time."

Neighborhood Learning Centers

• "One of the things we do so badly is celebrate children's learning in the community." He put an artist in residence in all the schools and their job is to celebrate what the students are doing in the school. That is what is advertised around the town!!! They also did it with the older people in the area.
• Students have spaces in the community (not just in the closed walls of the school) to showcase their best work. Have them get in the HABIT of exhibiting their learning!!! Have the students teach the other students in the school, in the community - Not just in a few classrooms!

Other thoughts:

• Have students text their thoughts, suggestions, etc. to a certain number. We could do that with class meetings, assemblies, classes, etc.
• Do we want to lead in education or do we want to follow? "We must take great care to avoid the UK mistake of over-testing against narrow targets." - from the Australian conference Unfortunately, we OVER-test here as well.
• The countries that are doing well in education are the countries who are comfortable with who they are.
• heppell.net - all of his info - He has a phone blog where he takes pictures as he goes around the world and blogs about them - This is along the lines of what I'd like to have my AP kids do. Should I have them do it on a specific topic, or just life in general and anything interesting they find? Any suggestions?
• Talking Heads program - online chat of head-teachers in UK - Why couldn't we do that? we could start an eClassroom for the dept heads within our own school, or the technology committee (do we even have one), or the heads of a particular subject across the district, state, country, world !!!! Am I getting ahead of myself? I'm just excited! I'm already set on doing an eClass for my English Department (some will want to kill me, but so be it ;-) We need to start leaving global footprints instead of national ones.
• From a cab driver in Singapore: "We have great natural resources, they're called children."
• the learnometer project http://rubble.heppell.net/learnometer/
• One interesting thing from the above website: "doctoral profession - turning every school worldwide into a micro-research centre where the hypothesis is that the school can improve, the scholarship is to see what other schools have found to be effective and practice is to harness it for that improvement..." Teachers can earn their doctorate within their own school...Get a cohort within your school to work on this together. See more about it at http://www.heppell.net/doctoral/
• Search for mental arithmetic on YouTube - amazing way to learn multiplication!!! So awesome!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xF4hOcDi5Y This is crazy!!!
• How many people in the real world..in the workplace are doing timed essays? None. Instead of assigning an essay, have them find one of those essays online, critique it, change it, fix the grammar, etc. That is a 21st c skill...something more realistic.
• School accountability is essential...but NCLB is a catastrophe. We have to be accountable to our parents and students. Parents rarely see what students are doing. We have to do a better job of articulating our students' work. "if you are trying to teach students water safety, we don't keep them away from water for 13 years and then throw them off the pier." That is one of the best things I've heard all day. We have the technology; why are we keeping them from it? We need to teach them how to use it at an early age...just like we would teach them how to be safe around water. I wish everyone in our district felt that way.

Real Reasons to Write: Working with Authentic Tools and Audiences

Presentation by Sara Kajder - This is her wiki where a lot of this can be found... skajderblc09.pbworks.com

• back channel - a separate chat just for a group during the time the session is going on; share a link, post an idea, etc. chatterous - chatterous.com/reasonstowrite_blc09 (she usually has 2 students monitor it while they are using it in class)
• Pulse pen - it has a voice recorder in the pen and sync it to my written notes on the written page, can be synced to the desktop as well. Putting one of these in each class and one person is in charge of taking notes each day. Then they sync it to the computer and upload it to the net each night. Here is the website http://www.livescribe.com/ This is cool!
• Skype - duel chat - to bring in authors and artists without really having them there.
• (This is from our chat room) medieval help desk video--for all you techies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ
• YouTube as a publishing medium for your kids' work...your kids' work in progress. Can it be used as a way to teach and learn? check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuFsDN8dsJU This kid knew where to go for help, how to get it, and how to get it done safely... notice he never shows his face, says his name, location, etc.
• Etherpad http://etherpad.com/ Using etherpad, etc. to have other writers chatting and sharing with students at the same time as the students
• Another collaborative thing to create a community of writers...Have kids do a "This we believe" about writing (or learning, or anything really)...interviews blended together. Hey wait...maybe I can start that idea here with the group that I'm with...hmmmm. I believe writing expands your mind, swells your heart, and frees your soul.

*Note to self...get a gorilla for my flip camera.

***another idea - flip cameras could be used to do short 30 sec spots on their summer reading books

• ipadio - use your cell phone to create a podcast...could be used for storytelling, oral history, etc. my kids can use it for broadcasting, newspaper, INTERVIEWS
• qik - share video live from your phone - transform oral history writing...
• cell phones can help writing not just for texting but for gathering information
• flicker 365 project http://www.flickr.com/groups/365days/
• GlobalSchoolNet http://www.globalschoolnet.org/ - connects kids from all over the world
• Jing - screen casting software...I can record anything happening on my screen and the sound that goes with it. Every kid has a jumpdrive that they wear with their student id's - they save the Jing's to the kids' jumpdrives and post it on the class wiki. You might also email the file.
• videoant http://ant.umn.edu/ video annotation
• diigo - social bookmarking with highlighting and post-it note capability. You can add to, share, and write info in it. http://www.diigo.com/

Web 2-point-oh-yeah

Notes from presentation by David Truss... He started with this great video called "Famous Failures": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6hz_s2XIAU Great way to start the year!!!

• How important is the process? If it's important, then why don't we assess it? We judge a book by how fast we read it?
• It's all about the mindset that we are ALL learners.
• Here is a link to his video for student teachers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyPQ4Qr8xks
• Skype and Ustream - video chat...i need to figure that out.
• Can you teach without technology? Yes, but why would you want to?
• He did a Renaissance Fair at school - For TWO weeks, most classes shut down. Instead, the kids apply to university style courses (through application). They take a morning and afternoon course (in 80 minute block). Things like witchcraft, robotics, etc. Very specific. Blogging began with it and kids started to take real interest.
• Here is one of the science wiki's that resulted from it: http://sciencealive.wikispaces.com/
• RULES for Blogging...try not to tell them NOT to do something. Give them expectations! See more: http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/blog-rules-respect-inclusion-learning-and-safety/
• Wetpaint is another thing to explore: http://www.wetpaint.com/
• Parent permission is VERY important. Keep them aware and involved!!!
• Starting small... create a cartoon storyline (instead of a movie); Use a wiki to plan a field trip
• You don't (and can't) read EVERYTHING online...you need to have the expectations and deal with the individual students. Students will report on other students (good and bad).
• Begin with the end in mind!
• "Dodging Bullets in Presentations" http://www.slideshare.net/RowanManahan/dodging-bullets-in-presentations
• Check out: "Thirst" on Slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/carlosremontti/thirst-presentation-583044
• Have the kids answer this question over and over again: What does ___________ look like? Fill it in.
• Are you counting marks or marking what counts?
• Audience matters - share what you learn with students, parents, colleagues, etc.
• Other links: http://tr.im/2pointoh and http://tr.im/abnwww

Stephen Heppell - Beyond the Great Crash

Presentation from Stephen Heppell (runs event called Be Very Afraid every year) [My thoughts are italicized]

• OK, so he starts off by showing us a 3D printer... it print objects!!!! That is crazy! Like a whole chess set! And a few people in the room raised their hands that they actually already have one. Note to self - research that for copying/creating Christmas presents ;-) No more shopping!
• Here's one idea for the art teachers, math teachers, tech teachers...some students at a college in Britain who struggle with Asperger's and other disabilities are given a pocket GPS, and they walk around the town with it on trying to create art. They then download it to Google Earth and it draws their paths (hopefully, it looks artistic as they planned). But they really have to do some hard thinking about direction, how far they go, etc.
• kids at a school in Scotland play the Nintendo DS Brain Training game for 20 minutes every morning...scores have gone up across the board
• Singapore's national eduQuest gave video cameras to do science projects
• Australian School has students from age 11 sitting in for 4 hours per week on undergraduate classes
• schools shutting their staff rooms! we don't actually have staff rooms anymore...I would like to see those rooms turned into those "shared spaces" mentioned below...a place where students can work on the Internet and relax with teachers and other students :-)
• schools around the world allowing kids to take their shoes off
• schools where students stay in homes bases (buildings) of no more than 125 kids
• students attend staff development days and staff meetings, do lesson observations, and interview new staff - How cool would that be? Students actually involved in making the decisions that will affect them!!! They might start taking ownership AND we might actually learn something from them -heaven forbid ;-0
• intense focus...one class in 1 month and then they are finished with that course - results have gone up dramatically... kids are younger and are completing the coursework faster
• Praise Pod - manned by peers and videoed - students articulate their own "special" thing they accomplished. Peers can recognize them or teahers/staff. DVDs go home to parents - radically changes school's culture
• family learning spaces (see more in follow-up blog)
• stair wells become learning spaces
• schools being built without industrial scale toilets - shared male/female toilets in every class space. I LOVE this idea! Imagine if we had bathrooms in every classroom. It would cut down on the time students wander in the halls, bullying, smoking, vandalism, etc. The bathrooms would be cleaner and students wouldn't mind using them so much. Teachers could monitor their own bathroom just as they do the classroom.
• COOL, funky furniture that allows for collaboration

POLLED STUDENTS and here is what they had to say:

What are the most common teaching methods used in classes?

• 52% we copy from a book or board
• 33% listening to the teacher talk

What would they like to do?

• work together
• have phones on
• do practical things

how do you know your teacher is literate?

• they think there teachers should know how to upload to YouTube and add a comment, edit a wiki, turn on or off predictive text on your phone, find a safe way to pay online

personalization is not individualization, community needs to be a key element, collegiate

Good parenting ("mumology") far outweighs psychopharmacology - "study of drug-induced changes in mood, sensation, thinking, and behavior" He really promotes educating the parents as well.

Why can't the school become a place of research where teachers who study, develop, and implement plans for change? If the school is successful, then why shouldn't the teachers who participated in this receive doctoral degrees? Wouldn't that be lovely? Instead of doing online courses full of book work and incidentals, we could actually be making a change (SO MUCH MORE VALUABLE) in our classrooms, schools, etc. [see more on this in the follow up blog]

This presentation was so exciting...so many ideas about different ways to think about teaching. The tools are there, but we have to rethink how we present them!

I also decided to go to the follow-up session with Heppell. If you liked anything you read here, please read that post, too.

Motivate Students Using Primary Source Documents

Notes from presentation by Stephanie Greenhut...

• www.digitalvaults.org/The National Archives Digital Vaults - primary sources available online and where you can find the actual items archived throughout the country.
• Pathways Challenge..they can take a challenge OR they can create their own challenge by selecting documents, writing clues/questions, etc. they can then post it for students and teachers to view. THAT IS SOOOO COOL. Students teaching other students!!!!
• Create a movie or a poster using the primary sources :-) The posters etc. can be snagged through snagit.com or use print screen etc.

Creating Immersive Learning Environments with Mixed Media

Notes from presentation by David Jakes... Tools for the classroom: YouTube, slideshare, Google Streetview, Flickr, Issuu, Scribd, Jing, Voicethread, Voki, RSS and del.icious.us, Slide.com, Wordle... I need to figure these out. Basic advice: FIND Resource (above) - COPY Embed Code - find Platform (Google Earth, Wikis) to display it in See all his presentations at Slide Share (David Jakes) Voki is so cool...you can create an avatar that speaks the words you type in. A funky way to give students instructions or lecture (not that I lecture, really), but interesting and fun nonetheless. I'm sure the kids will LOVE that. Maybe we could use that in broadcasting. I could also create an avatar that talks to Bella (my daughter)...she would love having a cartoon talk to her like it knows her. I could freak my husband out with that ;-)

BLC09 opening Keynote by Benjamin Zander, Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

This week I'm at a technology conference in Boston (BLC09). This is my first technology conference, so I thought I would finally join the blogging world. I'd like to record here my thoughts and ideas as I go through the workshops this week. We're singing "Happy Birthday" to a woman named Shannon under the direction of Benjamin Zander, Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic. He's too funny! http://novemberlearning.com/blc/main-sessions/benjamin-zander/ Here are some thoughts:

• We have three responses for everything in our lives - 1) resignation 2) anger 3) possibility
• How do you get "out of the box" thinking? Ask two questions: 1) What assumptions am I making that are giving me what I see? 2)What can I invent to change what I see?
• "In any organization, people need to speak openly about what assumptions are being made. There needs to be at least one person willing and able to do this.
• Beethoven's 5th symphony - FAST - it was an attack on complacency...I could use this to introduce to students at the beginning of the school year. AP, my class, can be an attack on complacency because the students are going to have to challenge themselves. They didn't choose honors or CP...they are choosing not to be complacent.
• Beethoven's 7th symphony - skipping, children, happiness, carefree - "My job is to remind the players what the rhythm of transformation is - lighter, faster, more buoyant."
• What kind of world do we want, and what kind of person do I need to be in that world?
• When a student "performs" two people are actually performing...the student and the student's doubts in his/her head. Students are so anxious about the pecking order, the competition. They can not become great and achieve their potential with these doubts taking over.
• have students write a letter dated May of the next year..."Dear Ms. Tallada, I got my A because..." They have to fall in love with themselves and discuss the potential of what they could be.
• "I only take A students" We can give an A to anyone...imagine how our relationship changes if we "give" them an A.
• It's only when we give an A that we can be honest with them. We give them a "name" as a potential to live in to, not live up to.
• You can not learn anything without making a mistake...when you make a mistake say "How fascinating!"
• We can imagine things on a small scale or on a grand scale. It is the grand scale that can change the world.
• The secret of life - "It's all invented."
• "one buttock playing" - stop thinking about each individual note and start thinking about the long line - the finish. THE VISION
• "there is no where to go from an 'A' but down" - education is filled with downward spirals.
• "If the eyes are shiny" then you're doing well - "if their eyes are not shiny, then you have to ask yourself what you aren't doing to make your players' eyes shiny"
• Let students have a blank piece of paper...they can write on it...what can I do to help you play better?
• Rule #6 - "Don't take yourself so god damn seriously." In other words, get over yourself!
• "There's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing...A person can't live a full life under the shadow of bitterness." - Zander's father who never complained once (Holocaust survivor, blind for last 12 years, etc.)
• "We never know where the treasure is buried...all we can do is stand in possibility. You never know."
• Boston Philharmonic's Vision - "Passionate Music Making Without Boundaries"
• "Everyone loves classical music, they just haven't found out about it yet." So maybe everyone loves reading and writing - they just haven't found out about it yet :-)
• "If the eyes aren't shining, shift the goal posts."
• Eyes don't shine when you say, "you must, you have to, etc." Instead, try saying "what if."
• "Remember to apologize...If people don't do what you want them to do, apologize for not enrolling them." Don't use blame and criticism.
• Comes down to three things: 1) it's all invented 2) standing in possibility 3) Rule #6
• The new leader is the person who recognizes the downward spiral and can get people over to the side of possibility.
• "It's a game we're playing...what did I contribute today?" This is not about a person, it's about a power...possibility. Every conversation should be about the possibilities.
• "It makes a difference what we say." Remember the words you use, what you say; it may be the last thing you ever say to that person. It is a possibility to live into. "Possibility is always only one sentence away...the downward spiral lives in our language...lives in our speaking."
• BTFI -"Beyond The F*** It" Play the 2nd way (I know you won't understand that, but the 2nd way is the way without doubts, with passion, all heart - when you don't care anymore, when you go beyond the doubts, the fears, when you take a chance)
• from one of his stories...one of you could be the next messiah...but who? Every one started to treat one another with great respect for they might be the one...they treated themselves with great respect, for they might be the one. And peace permeated.

Well, here is my first post... I'm a wife, mother, and teacher, and I struggle to keep all those "balls" in the air. So I'm going to try to post here my struggle to juggle family, career, and my own sanity...and what I'm thinking while I try. Wish me luck!