CEDO565 - Session Five

So I've spent my last two days and this morning in Madison at the Wisconsin School Leadership Academy and although I'm not wishing summer away, I am recharged for this upcoming fall and really implementing some new initiatives both in my classroom and throughout the high school and district. As I mentioned last post, the change game we've been playing has really opened my eyes to the necessity of paying attention to the political realms when attempting to make change in schools. The conference reinforced many of the topics and ideas that we've been talking about in class lately but first I want to chat about this amazing presenter this morning!
David Warlick presented on the 21st Century classroom and how the millennial as a student must force a change in how we deal with information and that it's more than just using technology. What I loved about his seminar is that he practiced what he was about to preach. The first things he did were to show us how to "KnitterChat" (much like tweeting - its called backchanneling, I'd post the link to our actual transcript but it's not posted yet) about the seminar while he was presenting, then he directed us to his blog, his wiki, and his second life file cabinet before using two Prezis to really begin his talk. This was the second half:

Cracking the 'Native' Information Experience on Prezi

I was shocked at first because he started out showing us the half a dozen ways that we could get "off task" during his presentation. He truly was a facilitator of information and did not require his audience to be staring up at him with their eyes glued as he delivered content to us for 2 hours. Not only that, all through his talk, he showed and demonstrated many tools to illustrate the difference in how students access information in the digital age. DoodleBuzz was one of my favs and he also explained the QR codes that can be printed anywhere so that individuals with smart phones can point the phone at the barcode and automatically receive downloads of the materials - his was linked to all of his presentation handouts. As you can see there was tons of great info and materials.
So how do I apply this information to my instruction? My leadership? First and foremost, I've already begun a discussion with my principal about allowing students to use their cell phones in my classroom. The discussion is necessary as this goes against current school policy, although last fall the policy about digital devices was modified, phones are banned from the classroom. A close colleague and I also began revamping our grading structure and brainstorming new methods for classroom instruction in addition to planning for writing some new curriculum. (See why I can't have the summer go too fast - I've got way too much to do!) I really plan to use some of the strategies from the changes game we played - most notably talking to key individuals and getting them on board for the changes I'd like to see implemented with my portfolio project in the high school. Previously I would have had everything ready for the great "reveal" and then become frustrated when teachers didn't jump at the chance to use something that was all set and ready to go. I've realized it's much more than that - all of the talk about teacher buy-in has started getting through my thick skull. This also lead my colleague and I to want to set up some very informal professional development mini-seminars for any interested teachers to begin a culture of sharing classroom ideas among all high school teachers in a very non-threatening way and without the push of a condescending this-is-the-way-it-should-be mentality. Rather, we'd like to present tools of the trade and allow teachers to pick and choose things they'd like to see, try, modify and steal.
I just figure that I'll need to work 40 hours a week this summer on all of my ideas in order to have them ready to go by September 1st. Hmmmm..... not likely so I'd better get to prioritizing!