What an adventure we were on during our first F2F session! I came in a little nervous as I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect but was blown away by the energy that this group had! Very engaging PowerPoint which incorporated a variety of tools which I could take away and use immediately. The first F2F opened the doors to network with others as well as learn how to use our toolkit.
Twitter – As others mentioned, there is a whole other side to twitter which I didn’t know existed and how it can be incorporated into the classroom. We learned about call outs (@) and keywords (#). Truth be told, I didn’t know there was a difference. We also got a chance to try an activity out with twitter where we created a “backdoor” conversation during a video and got insight into the strengths and struggles that come with this concept. I’d be interested to see a video on this being done in the classroom.
Google Apps – A powerhouse tool which has blown me away with all the features it has. Coming into this, I knew of Google Docs and how students can communicate in real-time despite physical locations but I am inspired to look more into this platform and find out more about the many plug-ins I can enable and maybe why I would want a plug-in J
Diigo – An awesome bookmarking site! Although I had never heard of Diigo, after the group discussion, I learned about a few applications for this tool and how others are using it as a place for students to post websites for projects – very clever idea with so much potential. This enables students to work collaboratively together and share resources while allowing feedback on the types of resources they find. The other idea I liked was using this tool as a potential search engine. It not only eliminates advertisements and top hits but gives you sites which have been bookmarked (liked) and the number of times.
Finally, we learned about two tools – poll everywhere and socrative and how we could potentially use these in the classroom. Cohort 21 is a wonderful idea to bring schools together, learn new tools all awhile enabling everyone to experiment with the tools and work collaboratively together.
I am flooded with ideas on how to integrate these tools into the classroom and rather eager/giddy to try them out but find myself wondering how far to dive into each tool with the students.
Hi Chris,
I’m sure you’re not the only one contemplating which direction you’d like to take after being exposed to so many new tools at our first F2F. My feeling is that the opportunity will present itself naturally, when you are planning something new or you reconsider something you’ve had experience teaching. When you’ve given something a try, let us know how it goes!
Hi Jen,
Couldn’t agree more! I’ve started the ground work with looking into setting up a group on Diigo for an assessment coming up in December and looking more into the various apps in google. As you mentioned, sometimes, opportunity presents itself and this is exactly what happened for me with Diigo. It was exactly what I had been looking for as a collaboration and research tool which I can also contribute to and help develop students’ skills through. I’m still tossing ideas around on how to integrate this tool but I am currently thinking of using it as a spot for students to post their research sources and share with others. This would allow students to do research, reflect on what kind of source they have selected while allowing others to also check the sources and maybe become inspired.
Have you had a chance to integrate Diigo into the classroom?
Hi Chris,
I would love to hear if you have chosen a specific tool to explore in depth or if you are just testing the waters with several simultaneously.
When I was at Klingenstein, the head chef of The Lawrenceville School spoke to our cohort about change. He said that he could realistically change 1% of his working world each week. Which really seems like nothing, but if you consistently target and tackle one small thing, by the end of the year, you have modified a HUGE segment of your program.
Perhaps this could also be useful when thinking about how to assimilate all these new tools into your teaching practice…just 1% for now!
Hi Celeste,
Thanks for the post. I have decided to start with a few of the ideas we learned about and research more into them. I started with Diigo and have set up a premium education account and began creating an account for one of my classes. I am hoping to integrate this site as part of the researching step during an assessment in December.
In reading your post, I realized that that is exactly how I am approaching the new tools we learned about; 1% every so often. I know if I tackle everything at once, I and possibly the students may become overwhelmed. Changing only a small part and slowly integrating and investigating into the tools allows you to incorporate different tools into the classroom while being able to critically reflect back on the tool and make changes as needed… which is an important step.
I have also spoken with the schools IT department to see if other teachers in the school are using any of the tools we learned about and beginning to network with them. Why go it alone when others may have tried it and have feedback?
Awesome advice from the head chef of The Lawrenceville School… Thank you for sharing