Blue Skunk Blog - Comments

Steph comments on Put the Personal in Your PLN - Ed Leadership column, May 2013

Steph — Mon, 20 May 2013 08:14:48 +0000

Thanks for this. Finally a simple, "how to" explanation for building an effective PLN.

Lissa comments on Tech lessons from Tokyo

Lissa — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:26:22 +0000

Living in the Middle East, it's quickly become the norm for all toilets to have sprayers but I was shocked when I first arrived from the US. Comparing toilets around the world is quite interesting ;)

Vivian comments on Tech lessons from Tokyo

Vivian — Sun, 19 May 2013 10:25:52 +0000

The technology that I miss from Japan is the way they can program their bath water, shower water according to the exact DEGREE! I love the idea of having your bath/shower water the exact temperature you want , just as you hit it. I love hot baths!

That subway shot could have been Hong Kong. It's rather depressing to see, I agree.

Hope you had some nice meals during your trip!

Welcome back!

Anon comments on The lost souls of technology training

Anon — Sun, 12 May 2013 04:31:11 +0000

Our biggest hurdle on this front is managers who don't think maintenance and custodial workers can be trusted to use email or the internet responsibly - as a result, those workers end up out of the loop. This persists despite our district having switched to an online only payroll system. The reduction in librarians and technologists has left our district with too few staff to answer questions and offer training for those staff as well. The union brings up concerns about tech training and non-certified staff often, but admin, which wants everyone to be using technology, doesn't want to offer time or staff to train all ESPs.

It's good to hear your district is paying attention to the tech training needs for all staff!

Jen Hegna comments on The lost souls of technology training

Jen Hegna — Sun, 12 May 2013 03:11:09 +0000

Hi Doug,
We quickly realized after our grade 7 1:1 iPad pilot (this year) that we did not properly train our paras. Many of them work directly with our special ed students, and when the classroom workflow becomes completely digital - it was hard for them to help our students because of the lack of training.

This year, as we ramp up our iPad initiative and move it to grades 7-12, Paras are included in the training AND we have provided them with their own iPad. While we have increased the number of teacher digital learning coaches, we have also added a Para digital learning coach. We launched our Flipped PD training on May 1st. Throughout the month of May, we will open new iPad modules via Moodle on Mondays. After the staff watch the vids and "practice" they indicate their competency level on a checklist. If there is still some things that any staff is not comfortable with, we will provide them with small group or 1 on 1 coaching sessions either Thurs /Fri.. This is a gradual training and I really like the idea of chunking out short sessions, vs days of "sit and "get". The other thing is - staff will always have those resources to go back to if need be.

We do have a workshop day (snowday makeup for staff only) planned for June 6. The morning will be spent on developing the teacher/classroom workflow. Because we are giving our teachers some flexibility in their choice... our paras will also have to be on board. In the afternoon, we are doing our own internal iPad Edcamp. I am hoping our Para's will take advantage of crowd-sourcing PD. There will also be other optional training provided and our summer institute has quite a bit of iPad focus as well - all open to Paras attending.

Stephanie Essien comments on The lost souls of technology training

Stephanie Essien — Sat, 11 May 2013 17:10:32 +0000

We are going to try to provide online courses, and use elements of a flipped classroom, such as a video playlist with commenting. We also give an incentive in their contract to take some courses to receive a raise.

Just a thought....... it is so hard to have subs that are tech trained! They are the lost souls too!

Doug Johnson comments on The 3 AM worries

Doug Johnson — Sat, 11 May 2013 11:53:43 +0000

Hi Vivian,

I looked at his site (very cool). The Tokyo map is there!

Doug

Doug Johnson comments on Indispensable Librarian, 2nd edition published

Doug Johnson — Sat, 11 May 2013 11:52:06 +0000

Thanks, Heidi. I hope they get something from it.

Doug

Vivian comments on The 3 AM worries

Vivian — Sat, 11 May 2013 10:38:36 +0000

@BruceFerrington is a math teacher on Twitter and he has turned the subway map in Singapore into a math inquiry: http://authenticinquirymaths.blogspot.com.au/

I'll Tweet him this post too so he can see the map in Japan!

Heidi Hammond comments on Indispensable Librarian, 2nd edition published

Heidi Hammond — Sat, 11 May 2013 02:40:29 +0000

Looking forward to using your book in class!