Online Learning Network

I've done it! I have officially established my business. This was done for tax purposes for the online courses I'm already teaching, but also because I hope to began to create online professional development for teachers - something that helps them to better understand how to use technology in their classroom...at least in the beginning. I would eventually like to be able to hire people, say an English specialist, who can create an online course which helps English teachers. I would also like to create some quick "how-to" courses in which someone who, say, wishes to learn how to use Microsoft Office can take the course and get credit for it.

I'm just in the process of starting to build the company so I hope you will all stay tuned as things continue to progress. You can follow me on Twitter, email me if you have questions, be a fan on Facebook, and, as soon as it is finished, go to the webpage.

This is what I've been working towards and it's exciting to see it finally coming to fruition.

TCEA 2010

I write this as my short, but very worthwhile TCEA 2010 experience comes to a close. It is sad to think that this year I only really got to go to the convention one day. It's just how it happened, but even with that, the sessions I attended were great! If you're interested to read about some of the learning, visit my TCEA 2010 Wiki page.

I will also say that my first TCEA presentation experience went great! As best I can tell, everyone was paying attention, they were engaged in the conversation, and (perhaps a tell-tale sign if things are slipping) people didn't get up in the middle of the presentation and leave. I hope to be able to do it again!

For those of you who will continue on with your TCEA 2010 experience - Happy Learning!

Today I Present...

It's my first time to present at Texas Computer Educator's Association (TCEA) and I must admit I'm a little nervous. It's the unknown. I don't usually get nervous about speaking in front of people, but not knowing how many people will be there, knowing if everything is going to work right, knowing if my topic is too "dated"...all those things - the unknown - is making my tummy turn over and over.

My topic - "Using Web 2.0 Tools to Increase your Personal Learning Network (PLN)". How can some of the interactive tools (Web 2.0) that are available on the web help you learn? Things such as blogs, wiki, and yes - even Twitter! How can subscribing to blogs and wikis and following people on Twitter help you learn? That's what this session is all about.

Because of all the planning that goes into putting on a conference like this, proposals for presentations have to be submitted in the Spring the previous year. Because of this, I've known since May what my topic would be. In the world of technology, though, that's a hard call! Deciding on a topic to discuss at a technology conference almost a full year before you present - technology changes so fast, how can you ensure your topic is relevant? (Another unknown that is adding to my tummy flops!) Handouts had to be "turned in" in November and, again, I will often make changes to my presentations even the day before! I'm just glad I use Web 2.0 tools so people have access to the most current - recent - information that I present. :) For tools and a copy of the presentation (after it's over) visit my wiki: http://jmcdaniel.pbworks.com. I will create a link on the front page that will take you directly to a TCEA 2010 page where you'll find information about my presentation and all of the presenations I'll attend.

Best wishes for learning about some wonderful tools all TCEA 2010 conference attendees! As you attend some amazing sessions - continue to ask yourself, how can this help me create a better learning opportunity for my students?

When Technology Fails...

To say technology can be frustrating is an understatement. We've all felt it. You know how it's supposed to work, but it doesn't seem to do what you want it to do (or it crashes, etc.). An experience like that happened to me just this afternoon and I thought, what a good learning opportunity. I hear all the time, our kids know how to use this stuff, but I just can't seem to understand it or I get so frustrated with it. What is the difference between us and our kids when it comes to technology? There are several different things, but one that I realized - they don't give up. If something doesn't work, they try - try again. They figure it out. Isn't this problem solving? Maybe not in the way educators want or think of problem solving, but they're using their brains to figure out how to make something work.

Problem solving is definitely a 21st century skill and allowing our students to struggle a little when trying to figure something out is okay (this isn't only true of technology, but anything). Encourage your students to figure it out on their own and allow them to fail.

The next time technology fails you, remember...it's a learning opportunity!

Information, Media, and Technology Skills

Information, Media, and Technology Skills is another cog in the Partnership for 21st Century Skills framework. These, in fact, are emerging as the new set of literacies that today's students really need to understand: Information Literacy; Media Literacy; ICT (Information, Communication, and Technology) Literacy.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills address the fact that we live in "technology and media-suffused environment" and schools/teachers who ignore this fact will quickly become extinct (that is my opinion - not the Partnership for 21st Century Skills). Many teachers fear the idea that if technology becomes a part of the educational system, their services may no longer be required and they'll be out a job. Who, then, will teach them about the literacies of the 21st century? Those teachers who continue to ignore these new literacies will be the ones who become extinct, but not because technology will replace them, but because teachers who understand how to use and leverage the technology to engage and teacher students will replace them.

Will you become extinct or will you choose to better understand how the face of education is changing?

Eight Habits of Highly Effective 21st Century Teachers

With this blog posts come a great article as well as some news concerning my career.

First of all the great article! When I was at Region 16 ESC one of the trainings we offered was a Web 2.0 Boot Camp. I have written about the details of this training in the past, but I bring it up now because we ran a 2009 version as well. One of the participants of that course shared some great bookmarks with me on delicious and one of them was right up the alley of this blog.

Eight Habits of Highly Effective 21st Century Teachers is a great article written by Andrew Churches who is in charge of Information Technology at Kristin School in Auckland. He believes that teachers who strive to be considered a "21st Century Teacher" exhibt the following eight qualities:

1. Adapting
2. Being Visionary
3. Collaborating
4. Taking Risks
5. Learning
6. Communicating
7. Modelling Behavior
8. Leading

As I reflect on these 8 qualities, I realize that these are qualities we also want to encourage in our students to be successful in the 21st century. My question is, then, does this mean that to be able to successfully prepare our students for life after school, we must also be willing ourselves to step outside the box of traditional teaching? I will even go as far as to say the task is near impossible to prepare students for the 21st century life for the strickly traditional teacher.

As I've mentioned before, I am not saying that things "we've always done" should go out the window, but I encourage and challenge today's teachers to take a long hard look at what you do in your classroom and ask yourself:

How is this relevant to learning?
What

is the purpose of this task?

If the answers to those questions do not reflect a 21st century type of learning, then maybe it's time to retire that lesson. With the way things change so quickly, it is no longer "okay" to create your lessons once never to have a look at them again.

Do you have any other questions teachers should consider when evaluating their lessons according to 21st century learning and education?

Now for the news! I have left my job at Region 16 Education Service Center. There were many reasons behind my decision to leave - some of them personal - but one of the main reasons is because I would like to focus more on instructional technology and the job, for various reasons, was turning into a grant management position. While grants are necessary and very helpful, I found that I was not able to focus as much on getting technology into the hands of teachers and changing classrooms. After much discussion with my husband, I felt this was the best move for me - both personally and professionally.

I do have plans to stay heavily involved in the Instructional Technology world, though "the plan" is 100% ready to go so I shall refrain from discussing that until it's all ready to go. I have also been blessed with the opportunity to teach some online professional development classes for Texas Virtual School. This has helped keep me busy during the day (though I've been plenty busy trying to get my house in shape after moving into our new house in March), plus provide some extra spending money.

Stay tuned for further developments and hopefully you'll see more and more posts with some great information!

Go forth and be a great 21st Century Educator!

Wes Fryer's Landscape of 21st Century Learning

Wesley Fryer, a leader in educational technology and someone that is in my Personal Learning Network, recently spoke at a conference in New Zealand. He posted his presentation on slideshare. I highly encourage you to watch/listen to his presentation. It is an hour long and definitely gives you something to think about.

Why 21st Century Skills are Important

Dr. Scott McLeod, someone that I follow on Twitter, read his blog posts, and learn from, has recently posted the first in a series about 5 key levers he feels like will move schools forward. He is specifically speaking about schools in Iowa because that is where he lives and works; however, I feel as thought the same applies for schools everywhere.

The very first lever he wrote about is 21st century curricula. As a society we will be unable to move education forward without understanding what it means to give our students a 21st century education. This blogs has focused on defining 21st century skills and even given my readers some practical 21st century tools; however, Dr. McLeod's blog post, Iowa - 21st century curricula, does a wonderful job of answering the why. He states:

Why are these skills so important? Because the rise of digital information
and communication technologies such as e-mail, instant messaging,
videoconferencing, and the Internet have virtually eliminated the workplace
barriers of geography and time. It is now about as easy to work with people
halfway across the globe as it is with folks halfway across town. As a result,
information, money, and ideas criss-cross the globe at dizzying speeds and
work moves to the location of lowest cost or greatest expertise. This puts an
extraordinary amount of pressure on the Western wage premium: why pay an
American worker such a high salary when someone in another country will do the
same work for less?

Basically we are doing a disservice to our students if we are not preparing them for the workforce they will join. The best thing we can do for our economy is teach our children to be competitive.

I would highly encourage you to read the rest that post. He's got some wonderful statistical graphics and goes on to answer the "how." I also encourage you to subscribe to his blog, Dangerously Irrelevant. Make him a part of your PLN (personal learning network).

Are you preparing your students to be competitive in the 21st century workforce? If the answer is no, you need to take a step back and reassess.

Microsoft's Career Resource for Students

Microsoft has created a FREE (love that word!) online course that aims to prepare youth for 21st century job. How cool is that!

This course, called Career Forward, is all online and is organized into four modules. The course can be given in a classroom type setting or the students can complete individually and the project aims to get students thinking about what they want to do with their lives. It also gets them thinking about their career path and the skills they need to have to succeed.

I will be honest, I haven't take the course, but on first glance, this looks to be like a great resource for student's to realize what job field they may want to look into and what skills they need for that job field. The course is free and available to any U.S. student.

Anyone who may have used the product, I encourage you to leave comments about the quailty of the course.

21st Century Skills - Learning and Innovation Skills

It has been said, by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and several other people, that learning and innovation skills are the skill sets that will set students who are prepared for this ever changing world and work force and those who are not.

Because teachers of today are preparing students of tomorrow for jobs that don't yet exist, knowing how to learn is a must for our kiddos. Not only that, but they have to be innovative and creative problem solvers. They must know how to look at a problem and find a solution for it - either something they create or know how to find the answer.

We will not be there to help them. Their parents will not always be there to help them. Their bosses will not have the time to help, but will expect results. If we don't teach our kids how to learn and solve problems, we will be doing them a disservice.

Additionally, our students will need to know how to work together to solve these problems. No more is is the loner sitting at the desk who has the bright idea, but the group as a whole that brainstorms and comes up with the best solution. And by the way, the group might include many different people from many different backgrounds, countries, and experiences. Our kids must know how to work with other people who, more often than not, are different than they are.

Please visit the Partnership for 21st Century's Learning and Innovation Skills for more information. I would want my kids to be set apart in the work force - do you?

Blogging as a Tool for 21st Century Learning

Great article! I highly encourage you to read this article and reflect on the possibilities for doing something like this in your classroom. Not sure who you could collaborate with? Get out there and start "talking" to people or even start a blog yourself and put the request out there. You might be surprised to find someone else who would be willing to join you!

Blogging in Place: Writing That Explores New Neighborhoods
Edutopia 1.7.09
Written by Momo Chang

This article doesn't mention math or science, but there are many ways to use blogging with those core subjects as well. One idea is to have the students journal about the different climates of their area. Someone who has always lived in Houston, Texas may not fully understand what it's like to live where it's very cold. You could also have your students journal measurements of different buildings and compare (ex. Supermarkets) with the other class. You could even go as far as to have your students make a virtual replica of the buildings so the other class could "visit." There are so many possibilities...what are some ideas that you have? Please share with us - that's how we learn!

Merry Christmas

Today I am only in the office for half a day. This is a good thing (just like before Thanksgiving) because I need this break more than I've ever needed a break before. I need the break for my mind as much as my body. I'm tired.

Being the only Instructional Technology Specialist has really eaten away at me, though my supervisors would tell you I'm doing a great job. I have kept my head above water which, some days, just means that my nose is sticking out of the water to allow me to breath just enough to stay alive. I haven't had the time to do some of the things I want to do and things I feel are important (like posting to this blog), but, as far as I know, I've been able to maintain the help are districts are used to receiving.

The plan is still to post the job in March (I'm keeping my fingers crossed!) so after the break there are just a few more months before we can try again. That gives me a renewed sense of, "I can do this."

This Christmas break will involve taking a winter intercession class (Computer Technology and Reading Instruction) for my Master's Degree, but it will also involve resting and relaxing with my family. My brother, sister-in-law, and two nephews will be here (YEAH!), my mother's parents will spend Christmas with us and my dad's dad will be here the Saturday after Christmas. We will enjoy our time together knowing that life can change in a moment even though, at times, it seems as if the everyday of life is enough to make one go insane. We will laugh, we will cry (my Papa - my mom's dad - likes "family time" which usually involves tears :)), we will eat, and we will be miserable together from over-eating. We will play games (my dad always wins... :)), we will watch Christmas Vacation (family tradition...), and we will read the Christmas story (have to remember the "Reason for the Season"...). The most important thing, though, is that we will relish in the time spent together and share in making some really special memories.

Merry Christmas All!

p.s. This is cross-posted at my personal blog: http://jennafuzz76.blogspot.com/

21st Century Skills and English Map

On November 24th, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills released the 21st Century Skills and English Map which is:

a new framework that provides educators with teacher-created models of how 21st century skills can be infused into English classes.

How wonderful is that! A map that will help English teachers infuse 21st century skills into their classroom. And, better yet, it's using a teacher-created model! Wonderful!

They also have a map for Social Studies as well as many other publications. I encourage you to visit their publication listing and choose one to read/review. If you find something outstanding, post that information as a reply to this post and share with everyone else!

Good 'Ol Days of Wheelwright, Kentucky

I have subscribed to receive notifications of any new Edutoipa articles and this one caught my eye. The title of the article is Community Connect: The Bluegrass State Blends Technology and Service Learning by Suzie Boss.

Students have taken pictures from Wheelwright, Kentucky (a former coal-mining town that has basically become a ghost town) and perserved the history by restoring these photos. They've even published a coffee table book and DVD.

This is one example of how students in the state of Kentucky are honing their 21st century skills. The statewide Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) mixes community service with technology in hopes of empowering students with technology. The article goes on to highlight additional student-led projects as well as giving information on how the projects have inspired teachers and community memebers alike.

This article is definiely worth a read...

Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes

Many (notice I said many - not all) teachers have a fear/belief that technology could quite possible make their job obsolete. Could this happen? Doubtful! I am here to say, though, that if educators don't get on board with the changing face of education, they may become obsolete. They will not, though, be replaced by technology, but by educators who get on board with bring education into the 21st Century.

Teachers need to change from being the giver of knowledge (because with the Internet, knowledge about anything can be found), but the facilitator of learning. I've mentioned this in previous posts; however, today's topic of the importance of the Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes brings this point home.

Learning to read, write, and understand math, science, and history is still at the very heart of our students' education needs; however, the way our students learn these things is changing...and changing at a very rapid pace. Teachers are still a very important key in this learning process, but it is very necessary to help facilitate the learning as opposed to giving the knowledge and just expecting them to learn. That doesn't cut it anymore!

The additional component to this area of 21st century skills framework are the 21st Century Themes. According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills:

...schools must move beyond a focus on basic competency in core subjects to promoting understanding of academic content at much higher levels by weaving 21st century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects.

Those 21st century interdisciplinary themes include:

• Global awareness
• Financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy
• Civic literacy
• Health literacy

These items may be taught in our school systems of today; however, as is pointed out in the quote from Partnership for 21st Century Skills they believe these themes should be woven into the core subjects. That means that the core subjects are taught using projects and ideas that promote the interdisciplinary themes.

For most, that is a shift from what is currently happening in the classroom. No longer is lecture followed by paper/pencil test enough. Really - it should never have been enough, but that has been the method adopted by most educators for many years now. No longer can a teacher sit back and watch the students learn. The teacher should be an active participant in guiding the students' learning - the keyword there being active. Giving a worksheet to the students while reading the newspaper at your desk will no longer cut it. That is a rather extreme example. Do I believe this is happening in most classrooms? No, but I know it does happen to some degree. There are still teachers who think that the most effective way to teach is to hand them a worksheet where they have to do 20/30 (or more in some cases) problems practicing the same concept. It doesn't work! Do you go home and do a worksheet to learn to bake a cake? NO! Why would we think our students learn this way?

Yes - I am quite passionate about this. Engaging our students in their learning is so important and the change needs to happen now. We can no longer sit back and see if this will work. It works! Engage your students. We'll all be better for it.

21st Century Skills Framework

I have not been able to post to this blog as often as I intend and would like, but I am not giving up. I hope this information, though few and far between, will still help a teacher on their journey to move their teaching into the 21st Century. Today's topic is the 2nd installment in a series of postings about what 21st Century Skills look like for our students. If you have not read the 1st Installment, What are 21st Century Skills, I recommend you take a look. This post will focus on the Framework that the Partnership for 21st Century Skills created.

For a visual representation of the Framework, you can visit the Partnership for 21st Century Skills page dedicated to the Framework.

They have broken down the skills into 4 Basic Categories. Here I will outline what those categories are, but will be going into further detail in subsequent blog postings.

• Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes
• Learning and Innovation Skills
• Information, Media, and Technology Skills
• Life and Career Skills

It may seem at this point that I am just outlining information you can find on Partnership for 21st Century Skill's website (which is true), but my goal is, once there is a good foundation of understanding, to go into further detail about how instruction needs to change because of these skills.

Take the time to really understand 21st century skills/themes - our students will be glad you did.

What are 21st Century Skills?

I felt it important, if this blog is to be used to move teachers toward 21st century teaching, that I write to the idea of 21st century skills. What does this mean? What skills does this include? What can I do to ensure I am teaching these skills?

I plan to address some of these questions in the next few blogs. I know everyone is gearing back up for school (if you haven't already started) so I hope you will begin thinking about 21st century skills when writing lesson plans and teaching your students. Addressing these skills needs to be a natural part of your teaching.

The best place to start for information on the 21st century skills (or literacy) is with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Their mission statement:

Serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders

Their members include many businesses and education entities. There are actually nine states (unfortunatley, Texas - where I am from - is not one of them) that have become involved and made it a state-wide initiative. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has great resources and publications that you may find useful in professional development as well as using at your school to further the idea of 21st Century Skills and being a 21st Century Teacher.

My next post will include information about the framework and exactly what the 21st Century Skills include.

Good luck with the beginning of school and remember...our kids deserve an education that will prepare them for their future!

Tuesday Afternoon - NECC

While I leave things like this very encouraged, quite typically I am very overwhelmed and walk away feeling like I'm fighting an uphill battle I will never win. I'm at that point today. I have attended some wonderful and very informative sessions, but it makes me realize how far we have to go in the Panhandle. I get up and fight another day, but it sure makes me tired! :)



The Adobe breakfast this morning was yummy, but not only that they had three speakers (national-state-local) that spoke about the need for technology in the classrooms. Tim Magner, who is with the Office of Educational Technology under the U.S. Department of Education, was the national speaker and spoke to the idea that our kids are 21st century learners. Nothing I didn't already know; however, it was good to hear someone on the national level say it. He did give us a great resource (some of you may already be aware of it's exhistence): www.school2-0.com This is a eToolkit that will help districts develop a common education vision and explore how that vision can be supported with technology.



The second speaker (and I can't remember her name...I apologize) is from Florida and is with their state department. She discussed the way that Florida is encouraging the integration of technology.



The final speaker was a teacher, also from Florida (and I can't remember her name - again, I'm sorry!), and she walked us through some amazing things she's done with her kids and technology. It was a great way to start my morning.



We didn't get done at the Adobe breakfast until about 9:30 or so and we decided to head into the exhibts. Oh - so many! :) Prior to heading into the exhibit hall, we stopped by ISTE central and bought some books. When will I have time to read? They're going to be great books when I get around to reading them.

I was hoping to make it into the Marzano and Web 2.0: Ed Tech That Works with Stephanie Sandifer. I even brought my book! Unfortunately, I was too late and didn't make it into the session. I think it ended up being a good thing, though, because I was able to go into another session: Developing 21st-Century Skills in School and District Leaders. It was how a school implemented a 1-1 with an emphasis on how they trained the leaders in the school. If we're awarded the Technology Immersion grant, this information will be invaluable. It also made me realize how behind we are. Will we ever catch up?

The second session I attended was supposed to be Second Life Virtual Caper: The Case of the Cyper Footprint, but it ended up being a session on what the 21st century student looked like. It didn't have anything to do with Second Life. That's okay, though. It was an amazing experience none-the-less. Peter Reynolds - renowned auther and illustrator - along with Eric Close (yep...that's right - of Without a Trace fame) used the audience to come up with a picture of what a 21st century student looks like. Eric Close asked questions and the audience would answer them. As we answered, Peter Reynolds drew the character. The amazing thing is that Peter asked to be sent additional information and he would continue to develop the character and would eventually animate the character and would share it with the world. How awesome is that!?! :) It was sponsered by Thinkfinity which is an amazing (free) resource that teachers can use. You don't even have to have a username/password. The resources are just there for educators to use to the benefit of kids. HOW AWESOME! The picture that was created at that point is available and I'll post the animated version when it's available.

After I left that session, I went over to the poster sessions to find my co-workers and ran into some people I know from Austin. I had gone done with some teachers from the Panhandle to view what iPods in the ESL classroom looked like. They're doing amazing things with their kids! It was nice to see them again.

Then I went back to the room for a some rest and I checked my e-mail and started this blog. Okay...time for confession here...it's Wednesday morning and I'm finishing up this post. My brain was too tired and I was too tired to finish...so...you're getting my Tuesday recap...on Wednesday. :)

Blackboard had a meeting last night to show their new interface that will be released during this next year. I want it now! It's amazing and appears to be so much easier to use - especially on the class creator side. I'll be excited when this comes out.

Last night was an evening of events. I first attended the Discovery Education get-to-gether. It was fun and I met my contact. It was just very loud, but a good experience. And...I won! It was a Discovery Education fleece pullover. After that I went to the TCEA get-to-gether. It was fun, but at that point I was so tired from my early start to the day that I just sat there and stared. We left early.

Back to the room...and off to bed.

Very Early Tuesday Morning - NECC

It's very early in the morning and I am not a morning person. On top of that, I stayed up late working on an online professional development that I am taking. I didn't get much sleep, but that's what conferences like this tend to do. You stay up late to have fun and wake up early to continue the fun.

Some cool things that happen here that have never happened at a conference before (and I've been to several):

There is a daily paper that is printed, published, and left out for anyone who wants one
The Daily Leader (the daily paper I mentioned above) is delievered to our hotel room door (we think this is because we're staying a room with the TCEA block because one of my co-workers is on the TCEA board)
Blogger's Central

My session yesterday wasn't all that great. Interestingly enough - she did exactly what David Jakes spoke about yesterday. Bullet points. I could have printed off her presentation, read the information, and understood everything it took her an hour to share. What can I expect, though. Two out of my three sessions I attended yesterday were wonderful. Those odds aren't bad!

I'm looking forward to today. We're going to breakfast with Adobe this morning and then I've got several sessions to attend today. I'm not going to lug my computer around, though. The hotel is close enough that I can come back if I need to use it...

Another exciting day of NECC...

Monday Afternoon - NECC

I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment, but more than that, I'm frustrated because I can't seem to get a wireless connection in any sessions I've attended except at the very beginning and very end. It could be there are many people trying to access the wireless (this is a technology conference anyways), it could be my computer (it's been giving me fits...it's time for a new computer), or a combination of both. Needless to say, I have now walked back across the street to my hotel room and plugged into the wall (because this hotel does not have wireless...hmm...).

I decided that I was not going to carry my computer around when I really should be typing as little as possible (see previous post about hand) and I can't even get onto the internet anyways. I am going to drop off my computer (lighten my load), post a blog, and head back over to the convention center.

If I had to sum up, in one word, my first two session this morning... Humbling.
I chose this word not because they were such amazing presentations (and they were!) and not because it was information I had not heard before (though I always learn something new), but because of the overwhelming feeling I have to be better at what I do to impact our 21st century kids. Sometimes I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and talking to a brick wall, but I come here and realize it's all worth it. I feel like a small insect in a big forest, but then, as David Warlick pointed out, we all have the capability to publish information. In my book (figuratively speaking, of course) - that is one way I can make a difference. It's very humbling to think that I can post this information and people from all over the world can read this information or I can stand up in front of teachers sharing a learning experience with them and, hopefully, use the information to their benefit and the benefit of our kids (why most of us do what we do).

Okay...enough of that. :)

David Jakes - One Hour PowerPoint: A Strategy for Improving Presentations

I realize that this presentation was intended for teachers to use to help their students become better at presenting; however, since that's my job, I was able to find wonderful strategies to make me better at my job. We were introduced to 10 practical ways to improve presentations. You can find information for this training on his wiki.

David Warlick - Our Students-Our World

David spoke to the idea that our students do not learn like most of us were taught (and learned), therefore we need to change the way we teach to reach our kids. Our world is flat and, it's that way whether we like it or not! :) We've heard it before, but I suspect it'll keep being said until we all hear it "We're teaching 21st century students in 19th century classrooms". Think about that... That goes right along with the theme for my blog... You can find more information for this training on his blog.

I suspect I will continue to find wonderful sessions. Check back later for more NECC 2008 goodies I've found!