Thursday, December 21, 2006

Show notes for the December 21st episode of Teacher Bytes:

Boo Ring, manager of the Bluffton Branch of AAA Travel, discusses the AAA Travel High School Challenge. This contest is an effort by AAA to increase student literacy in geography and generate interest in travel industry careers. Ms. Ring also discusses how to plan now for summer vacations. There are some holiday surprises as well.


Click here to get your own player.



Links:
AAA
AAA Carolinas
AAA Travel High School Challenge

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

The Dark Side of Web 2.0

We could go on and on about perceived problems with social websites such as MySpace.com but last week I discovered a website which really disturbs me and shows a darker side of Web 2.0. The site is www.whosarat.com and its purpose is to identify undercover law enforcement officers, police informants, and witnesses who cooperate with the law enforcement officers.

I am not going to debate the merits of 1st Amendment free speech in this particular case but I would hope people who wish to interact with the web would show more restraint and not singlehandedly aattempt to bring down our society which is based on people showing respect for law and order. Many times criminal elements will attempt to find out who may have turned them in to the police to pressure witnesses or informants not to testify in court or worse, outright kill these people to send a message. Already in some segments of our society cooperating with law enforcement is considered the wrong thing to do. Popular culture have demonstrated a willingness to tell audiences not to snitch or face consequences which are justly deserved. Unfortunately these segments of society view law enforcement as the enemy and criminals as heroes.

The author of the website is a radio disc jockey who was busted on federal drug charges and is on house arrest awaiting trial. I have heard people who have been arrested for drugs lash out at what they perceive are harsh laws which serve no purpose. Another debate about drug laws could last until doomsday but the fact remains, it is still the law! This short-sighted person forgets that our society can only maintain order by the willingness its members to respect the laws passed by a governing body. Once citizens stop respecting laws then society breaks down. Unfortunately, what happens is people will turn to anyone who will restore order, usually at the cost of civil liberties. This is how some totalitarian governments got started.

Hopefully, the author of Whosarat.com will come to their senses and voluntarily take the site down. However, this Pandora's Box has been opened and it will be hard to reign in those who will follow in these footsteps and produce similar websites with graver consequences. I also hope this person or one of his loved ones does not fall victim to a violent crime which may never be solved because witnesses and informants are afraid they will be on Whosarat.com.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

What did I learn from my experience at the South Carolina Regional NWEA Conference? First, MAP test data does give good data on how well students are doing in school. Second, MAP test data shows teachers and administrators what students need to work on to achieve more in school. While MAP test data is good for individual students, it could have a potential of overwhelming teachers. Individual student growth plans are a good idea but putting those plans into practice could overwhelm the one tool in the classroom which will not be added, a classroom teacher.

So how do decision makers help out teachers? One way many schools have taken is RIT Band Classes. This means grouping students into classes based on RIT score levels. Teachers will be working with children of similar abilities and deficiencies. This would help tailor lesson plans to promote academic growth. Another means would have prepackaged lesson plans and activities prepared for teachers to use with students of different RIT Ranges.

Technology can help teachers work with kids of different RIT Ranges. Services such as Compass Learning provide lessons and activities on computers. The problem with this solution is the lack of technology infrastructure. More computers are needed in individual classrooms so some students can work on individual lessons while teachers can work with smaller groups or individual students. One educational tool with great potential is the use of gaming. Gaming allows students to learn at his or her own pace. Students must learn or master a skill to accomplish a task before moving on to the next task. If you don't believe it, just watch kids play games on Play Station or X-Box. Another benefit to gaming is how students will collaborate to solve problems or share information to help each other achieve the next level. Again this would be a great benefit to teachers who could use help in working with students. Also, this teaches students to become life-long learners, a skill that will be needed in the workplace of today.

Unless computers can get into classrooms, this opportunity to increase student achievement will be lost and the task will become harder.
Yesterday was the second and final day of the South Carolina NWEA Conference in Hilton Head Island. I attended two breakout sessions to round out my conference experience. The first breakout was on Academic Audits done by Sandra Chavez. The second was about NWEA's Knowledge Academy or its online instructional tool to help clients implement MAP testing and later use data the tests yield to make informed educational decisions.

Beaufor County was the first school district to use Academic Audit in helping boost academic achievment of students. Academic Audit is based on the research of Dr. Lauri Bassi of McBassi & Company. Dr. Bassi's theory is that investments in human capital will produce meaninful returns on that investments. Too many organizations look at labor and the training of labor as a cost that reduces bottom line profits. However, Dr. Bassi demonstrated that organizations that invest in continued training of employees and reducing the barriers that hinder employee productivity, while reducing profits in the short term, will increase productivity and organizational profits. For a school district, student achievement is considered the profit of such an organization. Surveys are conducted on how well employees believe they can perform their job at various schools. The data is then grouped and shared with school principals and district administrators. With the data, leaders can work on making changes that allow increased productivity and eventually increased student achievement. As a side note, I have used Dr. Bassi's work in my economics classes. In my opinion she has rewritten the factors of production for the new service/information based economy of the 21st Century.

The second breakout session was about NWEA's Knowledge Academy. Knowledge Academy are mostly online tutorials to help client schools conduct MAP testing then use the data the tests generate. This is a great idea but unfortunately it is also, unwittingly, a well kept secret at NWEA. A recommendation I made was to make links to Knowledge Academy more prominate on the Association's website, www.nwea.org. Hopefully, they will take this suggestion and run with it. Such information would have helped me greatly when I was trying to set up and run MAP testing back in August and September of 2006.
Yesterday was the second and final day of the South Carolina NWEA Conference in Hilton Head Island. I attended two breakout sessions to round out my conference experience. The first breakout was on Academic Audits done by Sandra Chavez. The second was about NWEA's Knowledge Academy or its online instructional tool to help clients implement MAP testing and later use data the tests yield to make informed educational decisions.

Beaufor County was the first school district to use Academic Audit in helping boost academic achievment of students. Academic Audit is based on the research of Dr. Lauri Bassi of McBassi & Company. Dr. Bassi's theory is that investments in human capital will produce meaninful returns on that investments. Too many organizations look at labor and the training of labor as a cost that reduces bottom line profits. However, Dr. Bassi demonstrated that organizations that invest in continued training of employees and reducing the barriers that hinder employee productivity, while reducing profits in the short term, will increase productivity and organizational profits. For a school district, student achievement is considered the profit of such an organization. Surveys are conducted on how well employees believe they can perform their job at various schools. The data is then grouped and shared with school principals and district administrators. With the data, leaders can work on making changes that allow increased productivity and eventually increased student achievement. As a side note, I have used Dr. Bassi's work in my economics classes. In my opinion she has rewritten the factors of production for the new service/information based economy of the 21st Century.

The second breakout session was about NWEA's Knowledge Academy. Knowledge Academy are mostly online tutorials to help client schools conduct MAP testing then use the data the tests generate. This is a great idea but unfortunately it is also, unwittingly, a well kept secret at NWEA. A recommendation I made was to make links to Knowledge Academy more prominate on the Association's website, www.nwea.org. Hopefully, they will take this suggestion and run with it. Such information would have helped me greatly when I was trying to set up and run MAP testing back in August and September of 2006.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Intel to package tools for collaboration

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Think of it as Wikipedia for the workplace. Intel Corp., the world's largest computer chip maker, now wants to provide businesses with software to create blogging, wiki and news feed services to connect employees on collaborative projects.

Here is an article I viewed the other day about how Intel is going to offer a suite of Web 2.0 tools geared toward small and large businesses. The idea is for employees to connect and work on projects collaboratively. This is further proof that more and more applications are moving towards the web and businesses are using the interactive web to increase productivity. Students in our schools should be shown how Web 2.0 tools are used in a working environment to produce real results and not these tools shut off because something offensive might be posted. By shutting out bloging, wiki, podcast, and photo sites such as Flickr or Photobucket we are actually building a wall around ourselves and choose not to see what our students are actually doing, without supervision. We need to work with students to show them how to use Web 2.0 tools responsibly as well as productively.
Today I attended the first day of the South Carolina Regional NWEA Conference in Hilton Head Island. The day started with a breakfast meeting with my principal and our reigning teacher of the year, a self described Mad Scientist. She may be mad but she is an excellent teacher. We poured over the breakout session offerings and determined who should go where during the day. Naturally, it did not work.

My first session about using Compass Learning in relation to MAP test data. Compass learning is an interesting product because it creates lessons for students based on what RIT scores the student achieved. While a noble product, I have two problems with it. First, we just don't have the infrastructure to support it. For it to be most effective I estimate each math and language classrooms would need at least 5 computers each with students, with means, would have to work at home for it to work effectively. Second, since we don't have the infrastructure, we can't justify the cost it would be to implement Compass Learning.

The second breakout session was almost an answer to a prayer. NWEA Vice President Michael Patterson demoed a beta version of a new reporting system. I really hope it will allow people to search for data easier than the current report system. The current report website makes it difficult to find data needed to make decisions. At least NWEA is admitting there is a problem and is working on a solution. The only thing that concerns me is why it is taking so long to roll it out. I understand NWEA wants the system to work but it should not take a committee of school districts across the country to work on it. Oh well! It takes Microsoft forever to release new versions of it software and operating systems after they are announced to. Maybe its a Northwest thing.

The final breakout session was how Myrtle Beach Intermediate School uses Descartes data to boost instruction. One of the things I saw that was interesting was how the data could be used to determine teacher assignments based on how well students do on MAP tests. Also, they would identify how some groups could have done better if a little more emphasis had been placed in the right place. Finally, it showed how teachers who use data effectively could help students achieve higher test scores.

The day ended with me interviewing Tim Blaine, Regional Manager for NWEA, for an episode of Teacher Bytes. It was a good interview and Tim did a great job. I am going to hold off on publishing the cast until I know if I can get NWEA President Alan Olson to be on the show. After talking with Mr. Olson's assistant, Debbie, I hope we can get together. Debbie was a big help along with Tim in helping me with the podcast and I am grateful for their efforts.

Tomorrow will be the third and last day of the conference and I am about to plan the breakout sessions I hope to attend. One session I certainly plan on attending is the Human Capital Scorecard. The main presenter in this session is Dr. Laurie Bassi of McBassi & Company. I participated in a workshop with her when Bluffton High first opened up and I was impressed with her work on getting organizations to develop human capital as an investment. She graciously allowed me to use some of her writings in my Pre-AP Economics class I taught at Bluffton High.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Thoughts from the field.

Recently I had an interesting situation happen at McCracken which highlight how things are changing in technology.

One language arts teacher who has trouble meeting technology objectives recently complained that she would like to integrate technology in teaching the writing process but either it never works or she can never get computer lab time when she requests it. This teacher tells me she must have word processors and printers to give students feedback on paper. Another language arts teacher asked me for lab time so her class could work on the writing process. However, she wanted advice and help on creating blogs for her students to do their writing. Her hope was for other people to write responses to her students giving constructive criticism on what they wrote.

Unfortunately, there was no computer lab time available. I did ask both teachers if they had polled their respective students on how many had computers with Internet access at home. The first told me she did not have to ask but that she knew most of her students did not have access. The second teacher admitted she had not but asked her students for a show of hands of who had computer access. Over three-quarters of the class rose their hands. She also asked how many had done any blogging on the Internet and over half the class rose their hands this time.

So we had a situation in which two teachers with the same lesson plan and each wanting access to our computer labs but were unable to get it. One teacher did not even want to consider another alternative but only wanted to complain the technology did not work. The second teacher was willing to amend her lesson plan to use the technology resources available. Students with Internet access at home would work at home. Those who did not have Internet access at home would take turns at the computer in class. All the teacher had to do was extend the deadline date.

The moral of this story is for those teachers who see the technology as a means to an end instead of end of a means will successfully integrate technology in the classroom. Also, they will teach their students how to be resourceful in accomplishing a task. Unfortunately, teachers who only use technology for the sake of saying they use technology and then when things are not perfect complain the technology does not work are doing students a disservice.
I guess it is time I create some show notes to go along with the podcasts.

Show Notes for Eposide 5: DELC

Here is the website for South Carolina ETV: http://www.scetv.org/
Here is the website for Distance Education Learning Centers in the SCETV network with a great video on how DELC's operate: http://www.myetv.org/education/delc/index.cfm
Here is the website for the Beaufort County DELC: http://www.myetv.org/education/delc/beaufort/index.cfm

Rob Lewis's Office phone #843-525-4239
Rob Lewis's e-mail: rlewis@scetv.org

Monday, October 30, 2006

For those of you waiting for the Halloween Special, I am sorry to say that it did not happen as planned. The people I was hoping to interview work for a bureaucratic institution and had to go up the chain of command to get permission to appear on the show. Also, they may not have known what a podcast really is. As Robert Burns wrote: "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray."

Getting back to lost messages, I had the pleasure of talking with Jill Weinberger, Communications Director for the Beaufort County School District. Jill wanted to talk podcasts and I was trying to talk Web 2.0. Unfortunately, the message got hopelessly garbled. I feel that Jill came away from the interview less than satisfied with the answers to her questions. It was my fault. I am trying to integrate podcasts, blogs, wikis, and discussions boards in small pieces at McCracken but I did not follow my own practices when talking with people outside the school. For me, Web 2.0 is an exciting tool for educators to use when they are comfortable with it but I tried to tell the world too much too soon.

According to Wikipedia, a podcast is a multimedia file distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on mobile devices and personal computer. Though podcasters' web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a podcast is distinguished from other digital audio formats by its ability to be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading feed formats such as RSS or Atom. By-the-way, the New Oxford American Dictionary declared podcasting as the word of the year in 2005. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasts)

Now ends the theory of podcasts. What can someone actually do with it? That would depend on the creativity of the person producing a podcast. Teacher Bytes started out as a podcasting class project that I have kept going. I figured if it worked for Federal Express, then it might work for me. Also, if I am going to recommend podcasting to teachers to use with students then I should be willing to do a podcast as well. Doing a podcast on teachers' concerns worked well for me. At the school level, I have seen and heard podcasts done by principals telling audiences what is going on at their schools. Students have produced podcasts giving updates on happenings in their school. Teachers and students have collaborated to produce podcasts that explain various concepts as a lesson extension or projects that demonstrates learning. One of my favorite podcasts, Geek!ed!, is a group of district techies getting together and discussing various technologies and how it affects their schools and education in general. Again, the message is there are many possibilities for podcast use.

Over the last few weeks, I have worked with teachers at McCracken on how to use various technologies in their lessons. It is my primary job and one that I love. You can hear various podcasts on the school's podcast site Bulldog Barks. The easiest way to find it is to do a search on iTunes. It is also found at the McCracken Middle School website which can be found starting at www.beaufort.k12.sc.us. Once you find your podcasts, make sure you subscribe to them so you can hear them when they come out and you won't have to keep going back to the site to find them. That is a story for another day.

If you are near Bluffton, SC and wish for me to talk more about podcasting, please let me know. If it can be arranged with my work schedule I am always accommodating because ideas on helping our children succeed should not be kept secret.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

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102506_09041.jpgThis is the group of people who were with me during IG Pro training at the BTRC at the Academies of Career Excellence. 10/25/06
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originally uploaded by jwoodring.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

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originally uploaded by jwoodring.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Today I will be giving a presentation to parents about Web 2.0 and how that will help create 21st Century Learners at H.E. McCracken. I started out by creating a Power Point and thought I would do the Power Points handouts option when printing. Then it hit me, create a wiki. I saw David Warlick use a wiki to provide what he called "online handouts". So I decided to create online handouts using a wiki.

To start with, I created a new wiki page at my site at www.PBWiki.com. The first thing I wanted to do was upload the Power Point so people could review the slides at their leisure if they wanted to. Then I thought I would add some links to some web sites that would be helpful. Next, I give brief explanations about various Web 2.0 tools with a link for more information. By the time I was done with the wiki, it had seven sections and the wiki looked more like an essay done by someone who did not know what the MLA Handbook for Writing is for.

However, I liked what I saw. Here was a basic research essay with annotations but not referenced the correct way. This, I believe is even better because the references were links to respective web pages that had information I was searching work. If you want to check out an article I referenced then all you have to do is click on the link. Another thing I like about the wiki is I can put it down for awhile then take it back up when new information is availible. I have already updated one section twice with information from articles published today. Now the best thing about a wiki is of course you can invite others to participate in the process. Some readers may have more information or better expertise on certain parts of you wiki. All they have to do is go into the edit screen and post the changes. I have done a technology plan by wiki with a committee having rights to make changes. However, right now I think I will keep this wiki all to myself.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

This is the second time that I have tried to post to this new blog. I am hoping to recreate the trick that David Warlick did in his Web 2.0 session at the South Carolina Ed Tech Conference in Myrtle Beach.We will see what happens.

On to other stuff. This is going to be blog for Teacher Bytes, a podcast about issues concerning educators in Beaufort County, South Carolina. I am also sure that the topics will cover issues relating to all educators everywhere.