Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

I am a teacher.  17 years teaching at the public schools in both middle school and high school mathematics.  I still teach, but work now on the business end of things, teaching teachers how to effectively integrate technology into mathematics instruction and trying my best to support teachers whenever I can. But...I am going to come out and say right now - if I had to go back to public school teaching, I wouldn't do it.  Nor would I encourage anyone considering this as a career to go there. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love teaching.  It is my passion. Yet, when I look at the constant berating that teachers get these days, the blame that is placed on them for the failure of the educational system in our country, the amount of work and time that teachers put in versus the benefits they receive...well, it's not worth it. Are there terrible teachers out there?  You bet.  I had the 'pleasure' of working with many in my years of teaching and supervising math tea

I have found some helpful articles and resources in my research today that I just wanted to pass along. Those of you who are trying to find ways to help teachers integrate technology might be interested in these. 1) Collaborative Apprenticeship: A New Role for the Technology Coordinator in Teacher's Professional Development by Glazer and Page 2) A series of Ed Tech Professional Development by Judi Harris One Size Doesn't Fit All: Customizing Educational Technology Professional Development      Part 1: Choosing ETPD Goals      Part 2: Choosing ETPD Models      Part 3: Combining Goals & Models to Fit Teachers' Characteristics and Needs      Part 4: Evaluating ETPD Designs 3) Twenty Everyday Ways to Model Technology Use from Heather Wolpert-Garwon I will post more as I find them or as I feel they might be of use.

Immersed in my dissertation writing, as usual. Even on Thanksgiving, no break - write, research, write, research - does it ever end?! But, I digress. I am focusing my writing and research today on technology professional development, which will be a short section in my literature review. It directly relates to some long-term (in terms of months) training I am about to embark on, and it just has me really questioning the value of what I am being asked to do versus what the research says I should be doing and what I know I should be doing. In a nut shell, I know that to really integrate technology effectively, in this case, The Geometer's Sketchpad , I need to provide teachers with long-term, content-embedded training that focuses on how to teach using the software in the context of the content and work environments of the teachers. I need to ensure they have support both for the software skills as well as how to use the software to teach and help students learn math conte

Well, I just finished writing for my company blog, blog.keypress.com   and I have been researching and writing all day as well.  I am plum tuckered out so I am going to be lazy and plagiarize myself!  I made a fun video using TinkerPlots and some Turkey Data, so posting it here as well, just in case you don't have the energy to click the link above and read my other blog posting.  I tell you - this social presence takes a lot of work! Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been working on my literature review for my dissertation proposal, so reading quite a bit about online professional development and technology integration.  I have also been participating in several online discussion forums focusing on technology integration. So, this article that popped up in Twitter this morning thanks to a couple retweets from  @ bhsprincipal @gcouros @meriannaNeely seemed quite appropriate to where my brain has been of late: The 10 Barriers to Technology Adoption: Technology will absolutely change K12 learning by Cathleen Norris and Elliot Soloway. Nothing said in the article startled me or was new information - research backs up every one of their 10 barriers. So, what do I think, of the ten, are the top three? Well, in order of biggest barrier -  Barrier #9: Time, Barrier #7 - Infrastructure (Tech and Personnel) and Barrier #2: Leadership.  Don't get me wrong - all 10 are crucial for sustained implementation of technology integration to enhance in

In my quest to be more of a professional, social presence, I have been participating in more online community discussions. I am involved in one now where the topic is on getting technology to actually be used in the classroom. It's a great conversation, but what strikes me is that all the participants know what should be done, and yet realize its not being done. It's the same situation that has been ongoing for decades...every time "technology" is deemed to be the miracles that will save education (think radio, tv). So...if we know what will help really get technology integrated in a way that will truly help students learn achieve (think TPACK), what needs to change to really make it succeed and not repeat history? I am on a quest to figure that out....any suggestions along the way will be greatly appreciated. I know fundamentally changing how we structure learning is key.

I was in a meeting yesterday where one person mentioned that his daughter was so amazed that there was no internet when he was growing up. He talked about how she has so much technology - iPad, iPad touch, computer, and yet when she went to school, she wasn't allowed to use any of it. And that he had to buy an outdated graphing calculator for school since she wasn't allowed to use the tool she normally used, the iPad. In response to that remark, there was another person in the meeting who responded that her children were not allowed any technology, especially calculators, at home. Things should be done by hand, especially math. No calculators. It just struck me as odd - such diverse perspectives about technology (in a technology meeting mind you) and about what should or should not be allowed for students in schools and at home. My view is that we do a disservice to our students/children to not provide them with tools that could enhance their learning. I don't think

I just had a very surreal moment - searching for articles/information on online learning and communication and the ONE article I have written came up in my search. Pretty funny, as I had forgotten about it...it was a while ago....2007. It was done for one of my doctoral classes and we were encouraged to submit for publishing, and it was published in Learning & Leading with Technology (August, 2007) - Turning Lurkers into Learners Anyway, just a funny weird experience....and a reminder I need to be trying to publish more, as that is what people with doctorates are suppose to do, right? Yikes! Better get writing. Enough of the shameless self-promotion. The reason WHY I was doing this search actually was because I was trying to gather information on how to increase my online learning community participation and exposure. I write this blog, contribute to my company's blog ,post to Twitter ( @vpigreenie ), post on my company's and my own Facebook (though not too frequent

Well, hosted a webinar today and technology failed.  The presenter's internet crashed...we think...so with 40 minutes left, and 60 people online, how do you pick up the pieces and move on?  Key word of the day - wing it!!  It took maybe 10-15 minutes for us to get the presenter back up, and more than half the folks stayed with us, so kudos to those wonderful people!  Myself and my coworker filled the time with information about the software, Sketchpad , some ready-to-use lessons...clearly not the topic of the webinar, but, better than just closing down. This leads me to the classroom and teachers trying to use technology. It's going to fail sometimes and you need to have a back-up plan!  And, you need to learn to go with the flow and laugh...and try again.  Don't give up on technology because sometimes it fails and maybe your great lesson plan for the day is ruined...that's life.  And that is a lesson even students need to learn.  Don't NOT use technology because

I saw this article, "Idaho to Mandate Online Classes" the other day and am just now getting around to responding to it.  Idaho, apparently, has approved the graduation requirement that all students must take two online classes to graduate from high school. I have to ask - why online?  They say that it is so students can develop skills in that area, which I assume means online learning.  But, I don't know that it requires students taking online classes.  Don't get me wrong - I am a huge advocate of online learning, but not necessarily online classes for all.  Online learning is NOT the same as taking an online class. Online learning can mean many things - looking at videos, finding resources, participating in online communities, listening to podcasts....I could go on and on. I definitely think all students should be exposed to aspects of online learning when appropriate and when it enhances or extends the learning of a particular content or topic.  An online class

Just a short post today to thank our war veterans.  What you do for our country is immeasurable and I for one appreciate the freedoms I have because of your service and sacrifice. My father is a veteran of the Korean War and my grandfather was a veteran of World War I, earning among many medals, the purple heart. I am proud that I have family members who fought for our country and lucky that they did not sacrifice their lives in the process, as I know many do.  So, hug a vet, say thank you, and appreciate what we have as Americans because of them.

Well, I am feeling slightly vindicated now that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is agreeing with my opinion that we need to be teaching financial literacy in our schools. Could the government actually be making a connection to the current world-wide financial crisis and what is being taught (or not taught I should say) in schools? Here is a posting by Kennith Corbin entitled "Education Secretary Appeals for Financial Literacy, Planning Instruction in Schools"  that sums up the comments of Mr. Duncan. And, in case you want to 'revisit' some of my previous postings on the topic, here are some quick links to them: 1) Math Curriculum - What Should We Be Teaching 2)  Financial Literacy - Bring It Back to School!  and  3) Financial Literacy - Real-World Math, Really!

As I mentioned in my previous post I have been working on a draft of my literature review, much of which focuses on online professional development.  Online learning communities are a big part of what I have been reading about, and, as I have been involved in many online communities myself through online courses and chat forums, it got me thinking about what exactly constitutes and online learning community.  Specifically, can Twitter be considered an online learning community?  Why Twitter you ask?  Probably because I have recently delved into Twitter myself ( @vpigreenie ) and am slowly learning how to navigate this social media tool. Definition from Wikipedia : An online learning community is a public or private destination on the Internet that addresses the learning needs of its members by facilitating peer-to-peer learning. ......... In an online learning community, people share knowledge via textual discussion (synchronous or asynchronous), audio, video, or other Inter

I realize I haven't posted in a few days, but in the midst of my traveling I am also trying to read research on professional development for my dissertation literature review outline draft due on Monday.  It's so time consuming and a little brain-draining. Just a quick summary of the consistent message I am getting: 1) Professional development needs to be content focused and relevant to the reality of what the teachers actually are doing in their classroom.  Seems logical, but you would be amazed at how many times in my own experience, so I assume in many teachers experiences, I attended professional development that absolutely had no connection to what I did or needed in my classroom. 2) Professional development should include collaboration with others, reflection, and active learning.  Just like students, we need to be hands-on, try it out, talk about what worked and what didn't, and relate to our own understandings. 3) Professional development should be long-term an

One of the most frequent questions today at NCTM in Albuquerque was "how do I get the students involved with the software (in this case Sketchpad and TinkerPlots ) using the interactive whiteboard?" Which, if you think about it, almost makes no sense...isn't that the nature of an interactive whiteboard - students are interacting?  But...apparently not. My guess is many teachers continue to use the interactive whiteboard in the manner that they used the projector/screen set up - as a demo tool, with themselves as the driver and students watching. If you want interactivity and student involvement in order to engage students in learning and discovery, then you want them to "drive".  How to do this? Here are a couple suggestions: 1) Have students go up to the whiteboard and be the driver of the software physically, either by following the directives of the teacher or the steps in the activity worksheets or from inquiry and suggestions from other students in the

Okay, just have to report that the third time IS really a charm! The first NCTM in Atlantic City it took 6 hours to set up the booth, in St. Louis, 4 hours, and today in Albuquerque, 1 1/2. I am feeling happy. And, saw Arnold Schwarzenegger in the bar (yes, really...apparently filming a movie here), so my day is just a little strange and strangely complete. Any of you out there who happen to be at the NCTM conference tomorrow or Friday, stop on by the booth. would love to talk technology!

I am off tomorrow to Albuquerque, NM for the NCTM regional math conference .  Third conference in three weeks - by now I think I have the exhibit booth set-up down to a science! In thinking about all the teachers I have spoken with in the last couple of weeks, and anticipating the teachers I will speak with later this week, I thought I would share my suggestions to one of the most asked questions I have received: "What suggestions do you have for using the software if we don't have any money for training?" In this economy, definitely not a surprising question.  And, unfortunately, I think for a lot of educational software purchases, a very common occurrence - purchasing educational software without offering training or support.  But...all is not lost!  Here are some of my simple suggestions to at least get started with a new software and integrating into technology, even if you have no training. 1)  Go to the Help or Tutorial section of the software and find at least