This is when it gets hard

Last week, I was listening to teachers chat in the teacher workroom, and I noticed several teachers were hoarse, coughing, and sniffling. I also noticed that many of my colleagues were looking tired and stressed, including me. Then, it dawned on me after 16 years of teaching, this is when it gets hard.

October. When summer is officially over. This is when it gets hard. When the excitement of a new school year and a new group of students has waned. This is when it gets hard. When the paperwork, emails, and meetings have become overwhelming. This is when it gets hard. When our homes and families start to feel the strain of our long days. This is when it gets hard.

All of this adds up to rundown teachers who end up sick and tired and dragging through the month trying to stay afloat. I'd like to say that eventually things settle down, and we all become re-energized. But, what really happens is we adjust to this new level of stress and activity. I wish I could offer some wonderful, innovative ideas to combat the October rundown, but I think you probably already know what you need to do. Here are things to keep in mind when you're running on empty:

Accept imperfection 
That's right. I know that is hard to hear, because a lot of educators are Type A perfectionist kind of people (I know I am!). However, perfection creates A LOT of pressure. So, pick one area of your life that you can live with imperfection when things get rough. For me, it's my house. It is messy and chaotic which I don't like, but I can live with it when I have to.

Surround yourself with good people
Friends, co-workers, and family can make or break you. If you're struggling, try to distance yourself from the ones adding to your stress. Make time to have fun and laugh with those that love you and understand how hard you're working at life. I am VERY lucky to have great, supportive friends, co-workers, and family.

Prioritize
I don't just mean your to-do list (although that helps too), but also what's most important to you. My own children are at the top of my list. I'm about to have 3 college age daughters, and I make a point to spend as much time with them as I can. So, instead of working on the mountain of laundry that is growing by the day, I make it a priority to sit on the couch with them and talk and laugh and enjoy a show or movie together. Laundry can wait. Moments like that cannot.

It might sound weird after all of that, but October is actually my favorite month of the year. The weather is beautiful, and the trees are so pretty. Volleyball, hockey and football seasons start, and this year the Cubs are doing great in the post season! So, even though this is when it gets hard, try to carve out some time to enjoy what's happening around you.

An Article Review of Digital Badging in K-12 Education

Digital Badging for K-12 Students

This article examines the use of digital badging for K-12 students. It explains that digital badging is evidence of learning and/or skills inside or outside of a traditional learning environment, such as a public school. The article explains that this is a growing interest among the K-12 education community, as it provides an alternative to the traditional college path. Given the struggle most recent college graduates face finding a job, digital badging would allow job candidates to demonstrate specific skill sets that are backed up with tangible evidence as opposed to a general degree in a particular subject area. The article suggests that a potential roadblock might be standardization for badging requirements. Without some kind of standard requirements to earn a badge, the badging system will lack the credibility necessary to give badging a prominent place in the job market.

The idea of digital badging holds interest for me on many levels, but in particular, in teacher professional development. My district has launched a digital badging program that teachers can participate in through our internal professional development classes. I think this will be a successful approach to professional development, as it gives teachers a way to focus in on their own specific areas of interest. It will allow them to become “experts” in that area, and they will then be able to provide support to other teachers who are struggling. I think it will gain more momentum if badging can be aligned with professional licensing renewal requirements. Like badging for students, I see standardization of badge requirements becoming an issue in teacher professional development. A minimum set of requirements will need to be put in place, and there will need to be qualified evaluators to review the portfolios of evidence based activities. There are many details to be worked out, but I do see digital badging having a permanent place in education in one form or another.

Waters, J. K. (2013). Digital Badges. T H E Journal, 40(5), 14.

An Article Review of How and Why Educators Use Twitter

How and Why Educators Use Twitter: A Survey of the Field

This article summarizes an attempt to quantify and analyze the use of Twitter by K-16 teachers, because current research on the use of Twitter is based primarily in higher education.

Researchers gave an online survey to 755 respondents who were educators representing several grades, content areas, ages, and experience. The survey included 10 items regarding Twitter usage by the respondents. The results reflected that Twitter was primarily used for professional development. The main reason educators sought professional development through Twitter was to combat isolation and to find community around common themes. Even though educators used Twitter overwhelmingly for professional development, they used it far less in the classroom and for communication. Last, the researchers found that the sample of respondents did not represent the typical age group of Twitter users in the general population (18-30), but rather an older age group (31-50).

I immediately could identify with this article, because it reflects my use of Twitter. My initial experiences with Twitter were timid and unsure, but as I expanded my professional learning network and more actively participated in chats and following hashtags I quickly realized the amazing opportunities for learning and to share resources to use in my classroom. I also agreed with the general positive attitudes and climate that Twitter has to offer. While some educators stated that they were limited by the restricted access to Twitter in their districts, I am fortunate that I don’t face that barrier. I have been very happy with some of the ways I’ve been able to implement Twitter with my first graders. I strongly feel that social media is the future of professional development. It gives teachers choice, connection, and convenience in growing as professionals.

Carpenter, J. P., & Krutka, D. G. (2014). How and Why Educators Use Twitter: A Survey of the Field. Journal Of Research On Technology In Education, 46(4), 414-434. doi:10.1080/15391523.2014.925701

An Article Review on Twitter in the Classroom

Tweeting in the Classroom

This article summarizes the use of Twitter in a high school civics classroom during the 2012 presidential election. Students were given a specific hashtag that tied their tweets to the class, in addition to, two additional hashtags that were public and used by a much wider audience. The purpose of the more public hashtags was to make the students part of a more global conversation. The article went on to discuss the advantages and limitations of using Twitter in the classroom. The advantages were that students were participating in real time events, such as, debates. It also encourages students who are more reluctant to participate face-to-face to participate more freely using a medium that they are more comfortable with. It also exposed them to a more diverse group of learners when they were able to connect to two other classes in other states. Some of the limitations were the lack of teacher control of inappropriate comments. While there were no direct attacks on other students, there were comments made that were inflammatory and served no purpose in an academic conversation. Access can also be a limitation that teachers may encounter. Many school districts block or limit access to social media making it difficult to integrate Twitter into the curriculum. The article concluded with the argument that the benefits outweigh the limitations when using Twitter in the classroom. Making global connections and allowing students to participate in real time enrich the learning experience.

While this article focuses on the high school and middle school use of Twitter, I have seen first hand the positive implications of using Twitter in the primary grades. My students have participated in global events including solving grade level appropriate math tasks and sharing their answers on Twitter, as well as, writing math tasks to share. They are participating in live streaming events benefitting from experiences that they would not otherwise be able to attend. They are learning about places and classrooms well outside the physical walls of their own classroom. There is also ample opportunity for digital citizenship lessons on the appropriate and safe use of social media. As the article stated, social media is here to stay, so rather than fight to keep it out of the classroom we should be using it to our advantage as a tool for learning.

Journell, W., Ayers, C. A., & Walker Beeson, M. (2014). Tweeting in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(5), 63.

Overcoming My Fear of Screencasting

I'm am certainly no tech expert, but I do know my way around the basics which means I often get tech related questions from my teaching colleagues. Since going back to grad school for my Ed Tech endorsement, I've been learning so much that I wanted to share all of the great ways to integrate and use tech with the teachers in my building. I decided to start Tuesday Tech Tips. I emailed the staff and told them my plans, and I asked them to sign up to receive the emails every Tuesday. I was surprised to see that 20+ teachers signed up, including some teachers from other buildings/districts that were referred by my colleagues.

I have always liked video tutorials related to tech. I am a visual learner, so seeing someone perform steps helps me tremendously. Also, I like the ability to pause and rewind video especially when learning something complicated. I wanted to utilize screencasting in my Tuesday Tech Tips, but I was a little intimidated by what I thought was going to be a complicated process. I also tend to be a perfectionist, and I thought I'd never get the recording "just right." But, hey, tech is all about diving in and stepping out of your comfort zone, so I decided to just go for it!

I researched the various screencasting tools and decided on Screencast-O-Matic. I found it to be very straightforward and user-friendly. I chose to create a YouTube channel to upload the videos to. I've had very positive feedback from staff about the emails and videos! Each time I make one, I get more comfortable with the process. So, if you have something you've wanted to do using screencasting, I encourage you to give it shot! If you want to see what I've been able to do, check out my YouTube channel using this link https://goo.gl/th9Zmx

Thinking About Open Education Resources (OERs)

My experience with Open Education Resources (OERs) is limited, but my take on it is that they are the future of education. If you're not familiar, OERs are openly licensed educational materials that educators can use to provide quality instruction. The idea is that educators and non-profit organizations can create resources that are organized in a database for other educators to search and use. This signals a shift away from traditional textbook and curriculum purchases.

I see several advantages to this movement. The first being a tremendous financial savings. I would like to see the cost savings applied to educational technology infrastructure and devices. Another advantage is that the materials will not be limited by publishing costs and timelines driven by for profit companies. The information can be kept current and up-to-date. Lastly, it allows educators to design instruction that fits their teaching style and their students' needs. This is the biggest and most significant change we could see from OERs. It can sometimes be difficult to differentiate when using canned curriculum. If teachers have OERs available to them, they would have several options for extension and enrichment, as well as, modified resources for at risk and special ed students.

I do fear that there could be a few pitfalls to the OER movement. The first being the accuracy of the resources. Like anything else found online, you have to make sure that the information is accurate and appropriate. Another concern I have, like so many other educators, is time. The time it will take to search for and implement the resources could be extensive. It's easy to get lost in the database and lose focus. The few OERs I've looked at seem to have powerful search features and filters which will hopefully prevent a significant loss of time.

I am going to devote some time to exploring OERs to see how they might fit into my instruction. If you're interested in learning more, check out http://ioer.ilsharedlearning.org/ and https://www.oercommons.org/

epic! Updates

I am excited to share with you that I was selected to be an epic! Master Teacher, and that means I will be bringing updates on the epic! app and website! If you haven't heard of epic! you need to check it out. It is an e-book library with over 25,000 titles for children 12 and under. It is free for educators and available for home use for $7.99 per month. It covers several genres and includes audio books and books that can be read aloud. They recently added educational videos which were a hit with my first graders! The students can earn badges as incentives, and teachers can access individual reading logs for students. Now, on to a new feature...

Teachers can now create collections of books and assign them to students! You can access this feature in the search tab. Once you find a book that you want to add to a collection click "Add to" and select collection. You can create a collection, add notes/directions to students and name it, or select an existing collection to add the book to. You can view your collections under the "My Library" tab. Click the name of the collection to assign to students. This has so many possibilities! You could name collections to correspond to guided reading groups, certain comprehension skills, or research projects!

Let me know how you might use this new feature! Follow epic! on Twitter @EpicKidsBooks or on the web at www.getepic.com. To read an article review about using picture e-books in K-6 I did for grad class, click here.