STOPiT Class... Success

Have you ever had that moment when teaching where you just think a lesson didn't go as great as you had hoped? What about that moment when you felt a lesson exceeded your hopes for success.  Well, the motive behind this post relates to a recent success that I felt exceeded what I hoped.  The feeling of excitement and joy following the lesson (You know what I mean), prompted me to share...

On Wednesday, after much discussion and prep, Patty Wolfe (@wolfep) and I were ready for our January STOPiTclass. This class is the class we teach to students who have violated AUP or specific mobile device rules or policies in our schools.  Our theme this month was Self Image and Identity.  We always work to create an engaging, collaborative lesson that promotes a positive digital presence.  Today was no exception.  As I welcomed students and briefly gave an overview of the day's agenda, I felt a little nervous.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to leave feeling that moment of success today.

After a quick "Kahoot" game over social media use, I decided to dig right in with this lesson.  Lots of great things were shared and discussed regarding what to post,what not to post, what others post and how these things make you feel and others feel.  The highlight of this lesson was the Twitter chat that +Patty Wolfe and I arranged.  We were able to hit our students right on their "turf".  We used the hashtag #stopitclass and had a list of six questions we posted asking for responses.  We invited other members of our Twitter PLN to participate by adding advice and suggestions when thinking of one's online image.  This is where the feelings of success and excitement hit me.  These students were excited to participate.  Not only did their enthusiasm show during the Kahoot challenge, but the Twitter chat was proving its success as well.   The connections, conversation and feedback were amazing.  

When this "short' hour was over, I knew I needed to call or text Patty.  Before I could even get the text sent, I received a message from her: "Thank you Thank You Thank You! My kids loved STOPiT Today.  My response: "DITTO!"

There is just something about ending the day with a feeling of success.  Here's to the rest of the semester. 

Blogging... an attempt to keep at it...

As I reflect on my Blogging goal for 2013 and realize it was not where I wanted it, I am once again, at it for this year.  It may be slightly ironic to think that my last post was on Edmodo, and the motive behind this post comes from a recent Edmodo presentation as well.  Once again, I had an opportunity to share my love for this online social learning network to a group of enthusiastic educators.  I had the privilege to share this love and passion with the Shelby-Rising City staff.  As I hoped, things went well and everyone was engaged and intently working on setting up groups, adding to their library, connecting to Google Drive, exploring the planner and noting class codes.

It was the end of this presentation that was the "gentle" reminder to me of how blogging is important and people DO read it.  As @Mr_Bill_Curry was thanking me and making some concluding remarks, he made reference to my "Callihan's cache" blog.  My immediate thoughts were: "I haven't updated in forever. I didn't think people actually read my blog."  This was just a gentle reminder that things you say and post, whether you think so or not, DO matter to someone.

Whether you are considering blogging yourself or getting students on board with blogging, I highly recommend that you take the plunge.  Blogging has so much potential both educationally and professionally.  If you don't know where to start, here's some simple information.

So here's to 2014 and my attempt to blog myself and encourage others to do the same!

A special thanks to +Brent Catlett and +Craig Badura for being such great Blog models.

Engaging with Edmodo

As I began this school year, one thing was certain in my mind; I was gong to use Edmodo.  After a successful year utilizing this great tool with my 8th grade Language Arts students last year, I knew this tool was a "Sure Win" this year.

Not only was I planning to utilize this tool, but our entire Middle School team was also on board.  At a recent team meeting, we discussed ways to engage, communicate and go "digital" in all classes.  Edmodo was the deciding tool to do all of these things in a user-friendly environment.

Last Friday, each student in all of my 6-8 grade classes was given the code to join his/her group section in Edmodo.  Each one of them was new to Edmodo! The excitement, enthusiasm and engagement was immediately evident as they so diligently read recent posts, explored the calendar of events and explored ways to change their profile pictures.

This weekend was full of "notifications" that displayed messages from various students.  The messages ranged from, "My friend can't get logged in anymore." to "I love Edmodo. When do we have homework?"  All of these things were proof of engaged and excited students.  I am so anxious for Monday.  I can't wait to hear more about their first experiences with Edmodo!

As I use this tool to engage, communicate and support, I am expanding the learning environment to one that meets the needs of 21st century student learners. I am excited for what is to come this year!  Here's to  a great year!

My Summer in ONE Word: SCORE

Summer 2012: SCORE

 

Sharing: Summer 2012 proved to be a great one.  I spent a lot of time sharing information with others.  Weekly WOW sessions were a success.  This makes me excited for the New Year.

Connecting: This had to be my favorite part of the summer. Not only was I able to connect with family and friends, but was able to make awesome connections with other professionals in education who have a passion for technology in education.  Thanks to Twitter and my #PLN

Organizing: Although I spent time organizing trainings, I was also successful at organizing thoughts full of the awesome technology ideas and tools I have gained this summer.  Tools like Evernote (thanks to @Mandery) have kept me on my toes and more organized.

Reflecting: I also spent some time reflecting on technology trends, tools and am excited to share these ideas with students and staff.

Energizing: This has to be the most energizing summer I have had.  There is just something about surrounding yourself with others who display positive energy and ideas for technology.  I am thankful for the many opportunities this summer had to offer and am ready to SCORE this school year!  Let's "PLAY BALL!"

WOW: (Wired On Wednesdays) Living up to its name

I never could have imagined how "big" this WOW idea would become. Yesterday's WOW session on iMovie with featured iMovie expert @mrbadura, proved to be yet another successful morning. We had approximately twenty-five people in attendance. The best part was seeing that all five schools in the district were represented. The enthusiasm was tremendous, as you will see in the iMovie clip below. When brainstorming this whole WOW idea, I imagined a few teachers who work closely with me coming just to support me and my efforts. Little did I know, I would soon receive emails and tweets with questions and inquires about WOW and the weekly topics?

The idea of WOW is to provide short, informative information/training on a couple of tech tools or apps and allow participants time to "play" while in the presence of a techie to provide support. When choosing to only go an hour at a time, I felt this would keep people in the mindset that they were not giving up an entire day or half of a day to attend. I like to compare it to a "lunch date". We all know that teachers like to schedule lunch dates in the summer because they have the time. WOW is like a “lunch date” where teachers can get together for an hour and get excited about technology.

 The first three sessions have been absolutely wonderful. A quote I must share from this week is this: "I am so excited about this new technology that I don't even mind school starting on August 9th." This is one example of how WOW has proven to be a successful idea and it has taken off. I am excited for what the future of WOW holds.

WOW (Wired On Wednesdays)

As some of you may know, I decided to start a summer PD "gig" for staff members in our district.  As a teacher and technology facilitator, I felt the need for a variety of simple, short training sessions that would cover a variety of technology and integration topics.  My idea was WOW (Wired on Wednesday).  Each Wednesday morning  I am holding hour long sessions on various technology related topics.  


Today happened to be WOW session #1.  Thirteen teachers and two administrators attended today’s session.  This was not bad for a first attempt at PD like this.  Due to the recent distribution of iPads to teachers, I decided to focus on iPad tips and tricks today.  This was a great starting point.  The reassurance that proved this was a great topic was hearing the "Ohhhhhs" and the "Wows" as new things were learned.    


 I am anxious to see what the summer brings as these WOW sessions continue to strengthen teachers and bring more technology knowledge and integration to our students and staff!  Thank you to all of you who are a part of my PLN.  A lot of what I am gaining and able to share comes from great people like you.  

Hello Summer: Here's to more learning and sharing

Recently, I tweeted about my "switch" from PC to MAC. I feel this blog post is meant not to justify my switch, but to share the excitement I have for learning more about all technology tools and platforms.  Technology knowledge is a journey.  This journey is forever changing and consistently exciting. 

After "re-connecting" with Twitter and adding to my PLN during these last few months, I find myself acquiring new friends, new ideas, new tools and new challenges.  With these new challenges comes the challenge of becoming familiar with new technology.  I want to not only pass these ideas and tools on to others, but want to be comfortable with the tools myself. I plan to continue my PLN journey by becoming more familiar with the tools I am constantly reading, hearing and seeing in my PLN.

Here's to summer 2012: May it be one filled with fun, learning, sharing and excitement for what's to come!