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Reflections on ISTE Standards for Educators

I’m really excited to move from the classroom to being Vice Principal at my elementary school next year. As I read through the ISTE Standards for Administrators I see a lot of work ahead of me to bring together classroom teachers, specials teachers and the technology teacher together to look at the ISTE Standards for Teachers and how we can work collectively to implement a shared vision of technology in our school.  Currently, our school has a laptop cart in the library for the third and fourth grade classes to use, a laptop cart in the fifth grade that all four classes must share and a computer lab. The lower elementary grades don’t use technology outside of their weekly technology class. With just one technology teacher for the whole elementary school, technology lessons seem haphazard and separate from the classroom curriculum. Not being particularly comfortable with technology myself, though fully understanding the importance of digital literacy, the road ahead seems
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Personalized Learning

This week’s reading highlighted the similarities and differences between personalized learning and adaptive learning. Both of these approaches provide students with the opportunity to learn what they need in order to move their thinking forward. These systems take into account the student’s background understanding and build upon this prior knowledge to fill in gaps in understanding or extend into new learning. Technology can be used to support both of these approaches and to tailor learning to each student’s unique needs. However, personalized learning and adaptive learning are not the same. Personalized learning is a broader category of which adaptive learning is one aspect. In both cases, personalized learning and adaptive learning aim for students to learn in their “zone of optimized learning” (Lemke 2013). Personalized learning can take many different forms. One-on-one tutoring is one form of personalized learning. Small group instruction that is focused on a particular skill
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The World At Your Fingertips: How Digital Libraries are Expanding Learning Options

Thanks to Andrew who showed me how to save my Google Slide presentation as a PDF with speaker notes. The next thing I need to learn is how to embed it into my blog so you can see it without clicking on the link. I welcome tips and feedback! LINK
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Book Review, Prediction and Summary of Critiques of "Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in A Digital Age" by Sherry Turkle

Summary of Critiques LINK. After struggling with Padlet for quite a while, I think I have a working document to share on the critiques of the book I reviewed for this week, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in A Digital Age. Please let me know if you have any trouble accessing it. Also, if anyone can help me learn how to embed it so it is visible on the blog without needing the link, I'd be grateful for your advice. Thanks!  Prediction Podcast LINK Book Review Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age . Turkle, S. New York: Penguin Press, 2015,  436 pages, $18.00, ISBN 9780143109792 At the dinner table, parents are checking emails on their phones while their children fight to get their  attention. At work, employees hunch over their computers with headphones on and email their  colleagues at the next desk. In class, students check Facebook and shop for shoes. A woman, out on  a date, goes to the bathroom to check who else has swiped righ
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Professional Learning

I have had the good fortune to work in several schools with different professional learning models and  opportunities. One school provided a set amount of money that you could use for your professional  learning purposes. You could travel to conferences and workshops or you could take an online course  or purchase resources that met your professional learning goals. The school was quite remote and far  from the rest of the world and it was often necessary to combine two or three years’ worth of allowance  to attend one conference. When you returned from the trip, you were expected to share your learning  with the staff. This method allows for the teacher to pursue what they are most interested in but ends up  being a bit disjointed as staff members veer off into many different directions. Two schools I have worked  in have allocated time, usually once a month, for staff to form small learning communities to pursue a  topic of interest. At the end of the year, each group share
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