Blogging is a very popular web tool for educators, particularly for international educators. It enables people to write about their overseas travels so their family and friends back home can keep up to date with their adventures. It also enables people to write and share about their teaching and resources they have found useful.
Patrick Larkin, Principal at Burlington HS and guest Blogger on Free Technology for Teachers this week, writes a very interesting post that points out why every Principal needs a blog. I would take this one step further by saying that every Principal (and educator) needs to read blogs. Why? By engaging in the blogosphere you become part of a professional learning network where many talented and dedicated professional educators around the world share best practice and resources through their blogs.
Last night as I scrolled through my Google Reader I felt like I was engaged in a professional development workshop - there were so many links to valuable educational resources and rich discussions related to blog posts! This type of professional networking really is inspiring and can only help to improve educational practice as educators engage with colleagues from around the world through the sharing of thoughts, opinions, articles, resources, links, and ideas.
Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts
Friday, February 19, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Differentiate with Twitter
Early in 2009 our MYP Coordinator, Mr Fambro introduced me to Twitter. I signed up for an account and played around with it for a while, but in the beginning I didn't really understand the point of it. During last year's EARCOS Administrators' Conference I began 'following' some colleagues and found that this really improved my connectedness to what was happening at the conference, and also to online resources related to conference topics.
Since then I have started following a network of educators, technology specialists, and people who are devote to infusing technology into education. Following these people has given me access to a professional learning network (PLN) that provides resources, advice, and answers beyond what's available to me within the walls of GSIS. The most exciting part about my Twitter PLN is that the resources are there for me to access when I am ready - these resources are much more valuable and relevant to me when I have a practical for need for them.
In the latest Educational Leadership journal William Ferriter writes about Why Teachers Should Try Twitter. In his article he writes:
What lessons have I learned from Twitter? First, I finally understand how much differentiated learning matters. My own motivation levels have skyrocketed, I'm accessing ideas connected to my professional interests, and I've taken ownership of my own learning.
This is certainly true for me as well. I feel that I am now connected and part of a global team of educators committed to sharing and promoting best educational practice. With the teacher's role now being one of facilitator and learning coach it is increasingly important that we assist our students in developing their own professional learning networks. Twitter may just be one of the tools that we can use for this purpose.
Source: Ferriter, M. (2010) "Why Teachers Should Try Twitter." Educational Leadership, Vol. 67, No. 5, pp 73-74.
Since then I have started following a network of educators, technology specialists, and people who are devote to infusing technology into education. Following these people has given me access to a professional learning network (PLN) that provides resources, advice, and answers beyond what's available to me within the walls of GSIS. The most exciting part about my Twitter PLN is that the resources are there for me to access when I am ready - these resources are much more valuable and relevant to me when I have a practical for need for them.
In the latest Educational Leadership journal William Ferriter writes about Why Teachers Should Try Twitter. In his article he writes:
What lessons have I learned from Twitter? First, I finally understand how much differentiated learning matters. My own motivation levels have skyrocketed, I'm accessing ideas connected to my professional interests, and I've taken ownership of my own learning.
This is certainly true for me as well. I feel that I am now connected and part of a global team of educators committed to sharing and promoting best educational practice. With the teacher's role now being one of facilitator and learning coach it is increasingly important that we assist our students in developing their own professional learning networks. Twitter may just be one of the tools that we can use for this purpose.
Source: Ferriter, M. (2010) "Why Teachers Should Try Twitter." Educational Leadership, Vol. 67, No. 5, pp 73-74.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Just in Time Technology
One of our MS initiatives for faculty this year has been the introduction of the JIT (Just in Time) technology training sessions. These optional sessions are offered every Wednesday for those faculty and administrators who are interested in the week's topic, and whose schedules will allow them to attend. Sessions are run by faculty who volunteer (or who are approached) to share how they have been using technology to improve learning, communication, collaboration, and sharing.
These sessions have been growing in popularity and have been attended by faculty from all 3 divisions - we have also had presenters from all 3 divisions deliver and share a range of topics. The goal is that those who attend a session will go out and share what they learned with 1 or 2 of their colleagues, creating an organic growth of tech skills and knowledge amongst the faculty.
Today I had the opportunity to share some of the tech tools I have been using over the past couple of months - Prezi, Chatzy, Evernote, Diigo, Wordle, Twitter, and Commoncraft. The real value of this session came from the discussion that was generated amongst the participants who willingly shared their knowledge of the different applications and how they have found them useful in the classroom, as well as in their professional and personal lives.
Professional growth occurs when opportunities are provided for professional discussions and sharing of practice. The JIT Tech sessions are one way that we are providing these opportunities.
These sessions have been growing in popularity and have been attended by faculty from all 3 divisions - we have also had presenters from all 3 divisions deliver and share a range of topics. The goal is that those who attend a session will go out and share what they learned with 1 or 2 of their colleagues, creating an organic growth of tech skills and knowledge amongst the faculty.
Today I had the opportunity to share some of the tech tools I have been using over the past couple of months - Prezi, Chatzy, Evernote, Diigo, Wordle, Twitter, and Commoncraft. The real value of this session came from the discussion that was generated amongst the participants who willingly shared their knowledge of the different applications and how they have found them useful in the classroom, as well as in their professional and personal lives.
Professional growth occurs when opportunities are provided for professional discussions and sharing of practice. The JIT Tech sessions are one way that we are providing these opportunities.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Wordle
The web-based application "Wordle" has been around for some time and has been utilized by educators in many different ways. Yesterday I put my Blog address into the Wordle creater to generate the following image:
It is interesting to see which particular words appear most throughout my Blog posts - the larger the word the more times it appears. I am especially pleased that the words 'communicate', 'sharing', 'collaborate', and 'technology' appear as large words. These words maybe aren't as large I would have hoped, but then I see that other members of their word families (collaborative, collaboration, communicating, communication, share) also appear. The dominant presence of these words is important as these are skills that we need to help our students develop if they are to be successful in the 21st century.
It is interesting to see which particular words appear most throughout my Blog posts - the larger the word the more times it appears. I am especially pleased that the words 'communicate', 'sharing', 'collaborate', and 'technology' appear as large words. These words maybe aren't as large I would have hoped, but then I see that other members of their word families (collaborative, collaboration, communicating, communication, share) also appear. The dominant presence of these words is important as these are skills that we need to help our students develop if they are to be successful in the 21st century.
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