MACUL Conference musings

Under the guidance and advisement of our University of Michigan School of Education Teaching with Technology professors, my fellow classmates and I attended a conference of the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning, more informal identified as MACUL.

The three-day conference was held at the Cobo Center in Detroit, MI, and it drew over 5,000 teachers, administrators and faculty from all around the state. Ranging in age and experiences, each speaker and attendee was there for a common purpose: become a better teacher for the benefit and growth of our students. I had never been in a space so densely concentrated with educators. The experience that was initially overwhelming changed throughout my time there to become both a memorable and inspiring.

The theme of the conference focused on equipping educators with the tools and knowledge to develop a culture of collaboration within classrooms, schools, districts, and educators across the state and nation.

In the spirit of collaboration and sharing, below are some of the takeaways granted to me from one of the speakers during this conference.


Work Smarter, Not Harder: Time for Less Doing and More Being
Speaker: Derek Wheaton, Consultant

Description: Wheaton, an experience educator, principal, and teaching consultant presented numerous technological opportunities to decrease our work load so that we can focus our finite mental energies on the subjects that are the purpose for this career: out students.
In order to maximize out time for creative thinking, he encouraged us to reclaim our time and minds by optimizing, outsourcing, and automating.

Takeaways:
- 4C's to reclaim our time and minds

• Control your calendar
• Set priorities and write in your vacation time (otherwise, you won't go on vacation).
• Cluster your work
• Set specific times to work.
• Change the culture
• Educators and administrators should be there for their students, not stuck in the chaos that is overloaded email inboxes unnecessary time-consuming tasks. 
• Use of 21st Century tech tools
• Tap into the help that technology is offering.
• Click here for a listing of the technology applications presented in the seminar and access to the presentation slides (given freely by Wheaton). 

- In addition to accepting the help that technology can provide, you can make an impact in the lives and stress levels of your fellow teachers, faculty, and students in other ways. Giving space for gratitude in your day or classroom can have psychological and culture-changing effect.

• Commit random acts of affirmation
• Each day, identify one thing you are grateful for.
• Go on "gratitude walks", which means to go on a physical walks through the school for the sole purpose of expressing gratitude when an opportunity arises.

- Five Coping Strategies

• Set priorities for your time and focus on the situation most at hand.
• Use self-statements that are positive, uplifting, and empathetic
• "Delegate, Dump, Do, or Digitize it! (organizational skills that will free your mind and time)
• Only set attainable goals with appropriate time limits.
• Schedule your work according to your physical energy periods.
• Ex: If you're more productive in the morning, use that time to complete more mentally demanding work.

This seminar in particular left a great impact on me, and it presented me with many tools to aim the preservation of my time and mind as I continue developing as an educator. 

I hope these notes are both inspiring and thought-provoking to you as well. 

Using Cell Phones for Informative Assessment | Technology Teach-In

As a developing student teacher, I, at times, feel overwhelmed in my efforts to appease the continual onslaught of lesson planning. Hours of my week are put toward the gathering of materials and formation of realistic lesson plans—delusions of grandeur must at times be tamed by the reality of material resources and tweaked to more effectively address the context of my particular school placement. Recently, my professors have challenged my classmates and I to individually develop a lesson plan that integrates one of the everyday technological tools—blogs, wikis, cell phones, Diigo, or Twitter, to name a few—we have discussed in class. Given the context of my placement, this assignment is both challenging and intriguing.

When I assess the technological resources at my placement school, I am underwhelmed. Due to the normal financial issues that act as the Achilles Heel of many schools, the technological resources at my placement are limited. Those that do exist are in poor working condition or spread thin between the faculty. As I have discussed in one of my previous blogs, the ever present and most robust form of technology in my school resides the pockets, purses, or hands of many students: cell phones.

Cell phone usage in the classroom is normally discouraged by the faculty as it a source of distraction for students. Yet, in this new day and age where young babies know how to swipe on a cell phone or iPad before they can even speak—a scary thought—the prevalence and usage of cell phones in the classroom is becoming ever more commonplace. Although I recognize the negative impacts they can have in the classroom, I am challenged to change my perspective. How could cell phones be used in the classroom to further a student's learning?

This question served as the impetus behind the design of this technologically integrated lesson plan.

I am currently teaching Environmental Science, and I have been seeking out methods of assessment that I can use to develop a better understanding of where my students are in their mastery of the content and what misconceptions need to be addressed. Using polleverywhere.com, cell phones can help with this process!

This online polling system provides me the opportunity to ask my students questions to assess their understandings anytime during a lesson. Using their cell phones, students can anonymously text their answers to the prompt, and the responses will be tabulated in real time! The visual analysis will allow students to compare their understandings to that of the class, which presents an opportunity for student self-assessment, and it tells me how well students understanding the concept in question.

Below is a schematic of the entire process:

Using Poll Everywhere as a means on informative assessment in my future lesson plan will serve to uphold several of the student and teacher standards as set forth by the International Society of Technology and Education (ISTE). By utilizing Poll Everywhere as an activity in the classroom, students will be meeting the student standards for creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, and digital citizenship (ISTE student standards 1, 2, & 5, respectfully). Using this technology tool, I can facilitate student learning, design digital assessments, and promote digital citizenship and responsibility (ISTE teacher standards 1, 2, & 4, respectfully).

The use of cell phones in the classroom is currently considered an issue of classroom management and an example of poor behavior. Applications such as Poll Everywhere may serve to change this perspective. This mental shift, however, could backfire if not properly framed ahead of time as students may view this activity as an encouragement to further utilize their phones during class. The reward of this activity, however, is enticing, and I look forward to implementing it in my classroom.