Peggy’s World

First there was the Megaconference, then came the Megaconference Jr and finally came the PPS Megaconference. We had a great time again this year (our 3rd annual megaconference) and hope to see everyone back next year.

We got other great things planned using video conferencing, like a chat with Mrs. Claus coming up in December. So check out our Distance Learning info and let me know what you think.

Hey, all you geeks out there, I’m looking for some serious emerging technologies that can find their way into a K12 classroom, either thru the teacher or thru the student. I would like anyone out there who has some ideas to text me using wiffiti. Here are the directions:

1. Text @wif9314 + your message to 87884. Yep, it is that simple. but if you are not sure I’ll go thru it more slowly

2. Text to 87884

3. In the body of the text, start with @wif9314, then type in your message right next to that. Yesp, right next to it.

4. View the screen here off on the left side of this page. You can always click on it to see it larger. Have fun.

So much has been going on her in the ‘burgh, it’s hard to know where to begin. The city is changing, I hope for the better – yep, definitely for the better. We have the SuperBowl champs and the Stanley Cup champs in the same year. The G20 selected Pittsburgh for their upcoming meeting. Suddenly the city is getting accolades upon accolades (maybe an outsider’s view of Pittsburgh can be altered!). Pittsburgh could be the Silicon Valley of the East. And, let’s not forget that our new casino is opening in August, yippee! Ok, so I don’t really care about the casino but it could have some positive financial ramifications for the city. Pittsburgh could be the Silicon Valley of the East.

Personally the summer always represents a busy time at work. I am heading out later today to attend NECC09 (National Educational Computing Conference) in Washington, DC. Haven’t been able to go in a few years and so excited about doing so now. I hope to blog about the ‘journey’ so stay tuned.

Next starting in July, we get to hang out with teachers. First we will see the staff from our new Science and Technology School opening in August. This will be so cool. The model for this school could change how PPS views instruction. Endless possibilities. It hasn’t come easily and it may not be an easy start but anything of value never is.

We also will be working with a group of World Language teachers as we collaboratively revise their K-8 curriculum to align it to the NETS and include technology integrated lessons, activities and resources. This is part of our most recent EETT (Enhancing Education through Technology) grant. I’m sooo anxious to see how this project turns out. I think we have a major gap in our curriculum and this will allow us to embed these kind of resources directly into the curriculum. Sweet!!!

Finally, we are offering teacher workshops in July called the 21^st Century Classroom. We had a good turn out last year for these sessions and we have a good list of registrants for this summer too. ‘One teacher at a time’! and I haven’t forgotten about the social learning questions from my last post. That will be a BIG part of everything we do in July.

So stay tuned for my NECC Journey blogs. Peace out for now.

I recently read a research study that discussed social capital in schools and the factors that contribute to it. Throughout the paper, social learning was mentioned. I started to connect the term social learning , not as it was used there, but rather as the means of learning through social media. Then I had my AHA moment. For a long time now I have struggled with describing the changes I have experienced personally, in my experiences with immersing myself in social media. But that’s exactly the phrase I need: social learning. For example, I was never much of a writer (math teacher) so ‘words are not my friend’ resonants loudly with me. Yet I have noticed that when I started blogging, my ability to write has changed. Not saying that I do it very yet but it certainly feels like it is easier for me than ever before. And, the more I do it the easier it is.

The other big idea is the networking aspect of what I do. The world of instruction technology is ever changing. Much of what we do as lifelong learners is to continually seek new sources of information. Where I once relied solely on those informal conversations at conferences that are always so valuable in order to find out what other districts were dealing with, I now rely on the social media tools for those informal conversations with new acquantances. My circle of acquantances is much larger now. I’m certainly not the first to come to this realization. I recently saw a ‘tweet’ regretting: “I wish staff I see every day was more like my Twitter PLN”.

Finally, I find myself reading differently now. Where I used to read very carefully and intricately, I now read and scan. This is more with news information than other types of reading but this method allows me to take in more information

I think social learning is my new obsession. You’ll probably be hearing more from me on this subject. 

So now is when we should be providing teachers with resources they can explore over the summer. I found this one recently: http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listweb20s.html. What is the best time and way to get this information into the hands of teachers? We struggle with what teachers view as conflicts of their time: integrating technology or keeping up with the curriculum. Why do these two things also have to be in opposition to each other? They don’t. I recently heard a quote (sorry but I don’t remember the source) that says “if your school views technology as an event, you are doing it wrong.” I may not have that right but you get the idea. We as leaders in technology must find ways of building these tools and resources directly into the curriculum so it isn’t viewed as a separate event that teachers feel they need to step outside their curriculum to participate.  

We are just concluding our 2nd Annual PPS Megaconference: Rocketing Towards the Promise. What a great day it has been. So what is a megaconference, you ask? Well, you’re in luck – I can tell you. Our PPS Megaconference is modeled after the world-wide Megaconference, Jr (http://www.megaconferencejr.org/). It is a video conference by, for and about students. It has been a day of PPS students and others, connecting and sharing presentations and conversations. If you want to see the scheduled sessions, please visit our website: http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/143110127104733313/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=62532

Pittsburgh Public Schools students ROCK!

Well, I can sometimes be a reluctant learner. For the field I am in, I came late to the Web 2.0 party. MySpace didn’t quite do anything for and blogging came about slowly (still struggling with updating regularly) but then Facebook came long. Well, that was a little easier because my family was using it. So the conversations were fun and I could interact daily with my siblings like never before (I think this is a good thing ). Next came Ning and things began to change. I needed to start thinking about using this social networking tool with students and the door was beginning to open up for me. Finally came Twitter. I get it. No, seriously, I GET it now. Quickly my behaviors changed: how I acccess information, how I scan news sources but more importantly how SOCIAL I’ve become. Many in my generation (you guess which one that is) think all this stuff isolates ‘kids’ – “doesn’t anyone acually have a real conversation anymore?” But I am having conversations, Many conversations. The world has changed, expanded. My teenage world consisted of my school friends. I had no way of being friends with someone in California let alone Ireland. Now, your friends could be on the other side of the world. Sweet!

Up until recently, I didn’t pay as close of attention to all the new tools, Web 2.0 stuff, that kept popping up. There was just so much stuff out there that I could only absorb one or two at a time. That is why I don’t consider myself to be a Digital Native but rather a Digital Immigrant (even though I’m older than most digital natives, many are surprised to hear me say that, given my habits – Hehe). But I have to confess (Hail Mary…) that I have finally caught the bug. Let me explain: when all the blogs, myspaces, wikiis, etc arrived I was convinced they were be gone in no time. Certainly I wouldn’t be interested – it was for those digital natives. I even tried all those tools for a while just to understand and be able to talk somewhat intelligently about them. But again, wouldn’t waste my time. I didn’t see them replacing any tools I use at work and since no one in my age group used these things (or in some cases, even heard of them), I didn’t see them replacing any thing in my personal life. Then it happened: I registered for a facebook account just so I could talk about web 2.0 tools to teachers and wouldn’t you know it, I found FRIENDS!   Now I’m connected to my family, old college friends, etc, etc. Who Knew??

But it didn’t stop there, next I went and started Twittering. I love it. Short and sweet bits of information. I can scan and move on.

Finally, I’m using ning for some projects at work and again, I love it. So easy to communicate and collaborate with people, especially if there are clear goals (I’m all about goals – what’s the point otheriwse, right?).

So why do I say all this?  Because now that I get the reason for this, I have found that my writing and my creative side are flourishing. In the past I struggled with writing a blog (what to say, how to say it, blah, blah, blah – I’m a math person – give me numbers or give me death). Now, no problem (typos are still here though). I think it is all about the constant communication and instantaneous flow of information that I now participate in that has caused the change. Very scientific, right? I know, more blah, blah, blah. I think it became very personal to me and now so much easier. I guess we as teachers should take something from this experience.

Just a little while ago I came across this article in the New York Times, citing information from the College Board. It discusses the number of African Americans taking AP exams. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/education/05exam.html?_r=1&partner=rss

I guess what makes this particularly interesting in Pittsburgh is that this is one of the areas identified early on by Mark Roosevelt to target for improvement. Seems like, again, Pittsburgh is on the right track. Maybe we are not all white trash, grubby, loud and nasty ( sorry that was for Phoenix – couldn’t resist ).

Go Steelers!

On Tuesday the Pittsburgh Public Schools held an event that is a little overdue: We Dream Big, We Work Hard, We Promise. It was an event that brought the entire staff from the district together.  Mark Roosevelt shared some very promising results that may indicate we are moving in the right direction: PSSA results and Magnet registrations are both up. He took the time to share this information and to say thank you for the effort put forth by the staff. He also urged us all to stay the course. There was also some very motivating speakers on hand including Saleem Ghubril, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Promise.

My impression was very positive. It has been a long time since this district has been able to have pride in what we do. I admired the time and effort this administration is taking to bring a snese of pride back to the school district. For many years, we have all taken a beating. It is nice. I’m sure many are still not able to see this clearly but the atmosphere is changing, for the good.