I want you to think back to your first day as a teacher (some of you may have to think harder than others). Think about the uncertainty, the questions, the fear; now think about where you turned for help in you times of need.
I've had a passion for Education Technology & Reform for nearly 3 years now. When my wife became a teacher I started finding tools for her to use in her classroom. That soon developed into a desire to teach and 6 months ago I started a new job as a new teacher. However when I started teaching I noticed something alarming; there wasn't much out there for new teachers to easily use for their own personal growth. Now don't get me wrong, PLC's (Personal Learning Communities) are great, but the differences between a community and a network are huge. A network allows for someone to go outside of their comfort zone, get outside of their school walls and connect with people from all over the globe with something enlightening to say. I am lucky enough to be fairly tech savvy and very curious (a potent mix) and have been able to pull teaching tips from out of the rubble that is the internet.
But what about those new teachers that aren't tech savvy enough to dredge through all the crap that is out there? What about those that don't have veteran teachers around them that promote and help build a PLN? What about those that don't know who or where they can turn to in a time of need?
This is the void I hope for #teachtips to fill.
I want one place for teachers who care about making a difference in education to point those new and lost souls to find resources, links, thoughts, ideas, lesson-plans, research and anything else that could be of great use. I want to turn #teachtips into not only a Twitter tag but a tag on Diigo, Delicious, Flickr and anything else that the Twittersphere sees fit.
You can't move forward with
this thing attached to you
So lets make these new teachers' jobs a little easier. Let's make it easier for us to get these new teachers (the future of education mind you) into the discussion of education reform and technology in the classroom. If we hope to make a change to the way classrooms are run, we need to get these teachers that are fresh in the field, before they have a chance to burn out a become another potential anchor holding back progress.
Whenever you make a big transition in your life it seems customary for people to give you some kind of welcome package; new house = bottles of wine & ugly plates, new baby = bottles, diapers and some stupid outfit they will grow out of in a week. Moving to a mostly cloud based teaching method is just as big a deal right? Therefore I present to you... fanfare please... Your Teaching in the Cloud Welcome Package!
Google Docs
If you don't have a Google account yet it's time to get out of the 1990's and leave your Yahoo! account (do they still use the "!"?) back there with your Chumbawumba CD (don't lie, you know every word, there's less than 15 in the whole song). Google Docs is an free real-time collaboration tool that makes your classroom work smoother than you could ever dream possible.
The best way to learn Google Docs is to simply try it. Even better, try it with a friend. The best thing about Google Docs is the ability for 2+ people to collaborate in real-time on several common document types.
From a standard text document to an Excel style spreadsheet to a PowerPoint-like presentation, all are available from any web browser or even your phone. If you don't try any other item on this list, make it Google Docs.
Here is a great video from Common Craft that gives a simple and elegant explanation of Google Docs:
Dropbox This is one of those services that I didn't realize I needed until I found it. Imagine the scenario: There you are, at your computer ready for your big presentation (to your class of students or peers or whatever) when suddenly you realize you left your USB storage device at home. Don't lie, it's happened to you. Any time we are secured to physical device that we must remember we as humans are destined to forget it whenever we need it most. This is where Dropbox comes in.
Dropbox is cloud-based storage service that is accessible from both the online service at www.dropbox.com or through a small program installed on your machine that simulates a standard folder on your operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux or your cell phone). It is simple to use and extremely useful, with helpful uses for both beginners and advanced users. With 2Gbs of storage costing $0 and plans for more storage costing as little as $10 a month, this service is too good to pass up.
Once again I bow to the guys at Common Craft for creating an incredible video describing the Dropbox service.
Edmodo Should you as a Teacher have contact with your students on Facebook? Yes, No, Maybe? Edmodo is a service that attempts to create a service with the benefits of Facebook while overcoming the privacy concerns that come with a company created by a drunk college student.
This goof created the most notorious time-suck currently in existence
Most students seem to be able to use Facebook instinctively as if it's their left arm, and while Edmodo has a slight learning curve, they should be able to pick it up with ease. Edmodo is your go-to service to keep in contact with your class and if you can get them involved, the rest of your faculty. The Edmodo in my school is used for assigning homework, taking class polls, scheduling net book carts, sharing links, file-sharing and more. The best part however is that there is a large user base, which means excellent ideas on uses such as these and these.
Edmodo is an easy and comprehensive way to show reluctant teachers a great use for technology, and with their excellent privacy features you can easily bring some over from the "dark side" of the educational "force".
Twitter
This is what most people think of when they think of Twitter. Possibly NSFC (not safe for class):
Twitter has come a long way since it's beginning. It took awhile for people to find a use for it that didn't involve what they had for breakfast or their gastrointestinal movements.
With the use of "hashtags" Twitter has found it's niche as a way to quickly share ideas and thoughts about any number of subjects. As a teacher, Twitter should be a essential resource in your PLN (Personal Learning Network). I won't get into the details of how to use Twitter as an educator, but I will recommend 2 important things: Use a Twitter client (Hootsuite and Tweetdeck are great) and use hashtags (#edchat, #edtech and #edreform should get you started).
Conclusion These are only 4 of many resources you can use to make your life easier. However the cloud is not going away, and these resources should be enough to get you started.
Got any resources you think everyone must use in their classroom? Let me know in the comments.
A recent Huffington Post article does an excellent job explaining all the reasons that zero tolerance policies tend to fail. As I was reading it I started thinking about about a chapter I read in a book called Freakonomics.
Freaknomics was one of the most influencial books I've ever read in terms of changing the way I look at the world but the chapter that really stuck with me discussed the concept of the Broken Window Theory. The theory also gets a interesting treatment in The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
The Broken Window Theory goes like this:
You are walking by a old abandoned building. The building is obviously deserted and decrepit, the sidewalks are cracked, the walls are stained with graffiti and nearly half of the windows are completely shattered. You notice a chuck of concrete sitting next to your foot. You take a glance around and realize that if you were to throw that rock into one of the still intact windows, nobody would ever know. How likely would you be to smash a window, or at least throw the rock?
Now imagine the same building, still deserted, but now the building has been kept clean looking. The windows are all intact, and graffiti that has been painted on it has been removed and there have been attempts to fix any cracks in the sidewalk that may have formed. You have the same chunk of concrete in your hand and are still the only person around. Now how likely are you to throw the rock at the building?
According to the theory, people constantly monitor their surroundings to determine the social norms of that place. In a surrounding that people feel is already negative, they are more likely to act negatively. In a positive and protective surrounding they are more likely to protect the things and people around them.
Think about how a riot breaks out, all it takes is one person to begin tipping over trashcans, and as people see that act going unpunished the violence can spread very quickly.
New York City famously employed this theory in order to turn around the rise in crime in the 1980's. By increasing enforcement of small crime (like turnstile jumping) they were able to show that no small crime would go unpunished and therefore would deter more people from committing that same crime. By whitewashing graffiti immediately after it was finished, they took away the incentive of those that would tag those areas.
Zero Tolerance policies seem to be based around a similar method, however they have perverted the very aspect that makes it work. The theory does not call for every small crime to be punished the same as every large crime, simply that it be punished. The turnstile jumpers were not treated to the same punishment as someone who robbed the local convenience store, but instead was attempting to show that even a small crime cannot be overlooked.
I feel schools should take on this same mentality. Instead of treating a child who brought a LEGO toy holding a gun to school like a columbine shooter they should punish him in a manner that is more fitting to the crime. Students are not criminals. They are not in jail and should not be treated as such. We expect them to enjoy going to school and then arrest them for doodling on a desk.
As we continue our forward thinking about the method in methods used to educate our students, we need to address other reason they don't want to come to school, including some of the more inane discipline policies.
This post expresses the thoughts of the author alone and is not indicative of the thoughts of the authors employers or any school district or school.
