Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted!  Lord - obviously my life is a lot busier than I thought, and I thought it was pretty busy. Alright, let's get to it. Last year I did an entire series on hybrid professional development centered around teaching mathematics with technology and the Common Core, with specific use of Sketchpad as the technology tool (series listed at the bottom of this post).  It was a really exciting experience for me, and one that I have to say has sort of become my mantra - long term, supportive PD that provides time, practice, support, and collaboration using both a face-to-face and online component. Time is a key factor here - long-term, slow integration of technology into instructional practice where the focus is on how knowledge of the technology, the content being taught, and teaching strategies work together to provide learning experiences that help students.  For those of you in the know, this is TPACK - Technological, Pedagog...

I am feeling like a proud parent after my final face-to-face meeting with my two teacher cohorts.  After 6 months together, this final meeting was all about them sharing what they each have been doing in their classrooms with Sketchpad and Sketchpad LessonLink and focusing on Common Core Standards while integrating technology into math instruction. Just like a parent, I merely started them on the path and guided as needed. They, through personal motivation and interest as well as with the support and guidance from each other, have personalized what they have learned, adapted it to fit their needs, and shown change not only in skills but in confidence about teaching the Common Core Standards, teaching with technology, and listening to their students and helping students deepen mathematical understanding. From my most recent post , my final lesson was: Lesson Six: Provide the opportunity for sharing, presentation and peer feedback to model the professionalism, collaboration, a...

I am preparing for my final face-to-face meeting with the two cohorts of middle and high school math teachers I have been working with the past 6 months.  We will still have one more online component, which ends in June. I am a little sad about the fact that our journey is coming to an end, as it has been one of my most rewarding professional development experiences, in large part because I was able to really get to know these teachers both personally and professionally and actually see the progression of change and confidence as they learned and integrated Sketchpad into their mathematics instruction. A quick recap of the five previous face-to-face lessons, or focus you might say: Lesson One: Begin professional development experiences assessing background skills of participants. Lesson Two:  Work on building a sense of community and support among participants, where they feel comfortable sharing their struggles, their experiences, their ideas and expertise. ...

Just a short post today to provide some feedback from my most recent face-to-face with my two blended PD cohorts. Last posting I discussed the focus, listed here: Lesson Five: Provide suggestions and examples of taking the activities/content of the professional development and modifying (adding to, deleting from, etc.) to meet the diverse needs of their students. By helping teachers consider how the activities might need to be altered to differentiate for students, you provide them with power and control over what they are learning, and help them make the PD learning and content their own. Things went pretty well - we had our customary share out at the beginning, where there was some nice conversation and suggestions for helping integrate Sketchpad into lessons. There were some teachers who shared really fun experiences with their students and then some teachers are experiencing real frustration with trying to integrate the technology into their classrooms, from classroom manage...

This week I meet for the fifth face-to-face with my two Sketchpad cohorts. It's only been 3 weeks since our last face-to-face meeting and it is also the beginning of their spring break, so planning for this week has been interesting, since I know their minds will be elsewhere! As I posted in last weeks online community development posting (part 4) , the teachers have really begun to think about student needs as they consider using Sketchpad and the Common Core Standards, so I want to continue to foster that in our face-to-face meeting.  As I did last time, I had participants make suggestions of content/topics they wished to focus on in this weeks face-to-face. Our content focus, based on their input, will be on learning some more about the multiple-representational capabilities of Sketchpad as well as some of the animation capabilities. In addition to teacher input as I planned, I also really wanted to think about addressing student needs, since in their online discussion for...

There has been a lot of focus on professional development for teachers in light of all the new technology, 1:1 initiatives, Common Core Standards...the list goes on. It's definitely a concern because in order for anything new or different to be effective in the classroom, teachers need training and practice. Which of course has many schools and districts in a bind since everyone is also in the midst of budget constraints. The question then is how do we pay for the necessary professional development when we don't have the money to do so? One answer is look within - good professional development doesn't have to cost money.  There are ways to utilize the resources in your own building or district and get quality professional development.  All that's really required is a little time, effort and commitment. Having been both a teacher, administrator, and now a provider of professional development, I have had a wide range of experiences with professional development and th...

I am in the midst of the fourth online unit with my two teacher cohorts, part of the long-term Sketchpad PD we have been engaged in since December 2011. So far, we have had four face-to-face get-togethers and four online units, which have varied in their length. I have been sharing what I have noticed these past several months as well as the planning I have done based on the feedback and interactions from the online units(see the series listings at the end of this post). What has really struck me, this month in particular, is the focus of all the participants on their students.  I know it seems obvious that a teacher would focus on their students, but what I mean is the actual thought behind what they are teaching, how they are teaching, and how that impacts student understanding. This long-term PD has  focused on technology activities, the math content, the pedagogy, and the Common Core standards, and how all of these components fit together to help students learn and, mo...

In my most recent post in my hybrid PD series, Planning for Hybrid PD (part 4) - Teacher Input I talked about my plans in my next face-to-face meeting with teachers I have been working with for the past four months. My focus was on teacher input and really addressing the needs of the teachers and giving the teachers the control over the content and focus of what we did. Lesson Four: Provide teachers with a choice in what the professional development focuses on..  Let them choose topics of interest, or topics they are struggling with, or topics they feel will be of benefit to their specific content are or their specific students.  By providing choice, you are allowing teachers control over their learning and the ability to make it personal. This provides a sense of empowerment and motivation. Things went well for the most part.  We spent some time, as we always do, sharing what they had done in their classrooms with Sketchpad and lessons .  This is such a g...

 Five weeks goes so much faster than expected! It's already time for me to do my next face-to-face workshops with my two cohorts in my hybrid/blended professional development. I will say I feel more excited than usual about the workshops because I really have a connection to these teachers now, something I don't often get to experience in my position.  Usually, I am in and out in a couple of hours, or a day or a few days, but with these two groups, we've been together, physically and virtually, going on five months.  I definitely think it's making what I have to offer and what they have to offer so much more connected and personal because we have had time to work through things, change things....time is not something that is often given in PD and it's been rewarding. Here's a quick recap of previous 'lessons' from the prior 3 face-to-face workshops: Lesson One: Begin a professional development experience assessing the background skills of participa...