Weighing the Pros & Cons

/ Catherine Cabiness-Atkinson, Ed.D. / Leave a comment

With the large amount of tech workshops offered during SuperWeek, I had several teachers ask me if they should use Edmodo or GoogleDocs. It took me back at first because I didn’t know where to start. These are different technology tools…

But I needed to figure out how to best explain how each tool serves its own purpose.  And since I’m a visual learner, I figured that I would use one of my new favorite tools (Paper 53) to help compare the two.  Thus…here are my thoughts (so far).

Tech PD Marathon, Done.

/ Catherine Cabiness-Atkinson, Ed.D. / Leave a comment
Today marked the end of a marathon technology professional development week (for me)…with one more day for a couple of our teams.  Eight technology sessions ranging from Google Basics all the way to Power of the LMS, done…with one specific session devoted to Digital Literacy in the History Classroom (my personal fave).  The technology team (@ggusd712tech) at my district worked for two weeks during the summer, planning, revising, talking, rehashing all of the things that we thought would make a successful PD workshop for teachers eager to learn how to effectively and efficiently integrate technology into their classroom.
The range of attendees were from complete newbies to experienced tech-users.  It was my goal that teachers would leave our session with at least one thing they could apply to their classroom.  The feedback (both on the eval/GoogleForm and F2F) was positive.  So I think we may have hit our mark there!  =D
Now the true test will be…will the teachers be able to integrate one new technology tool?  The other test?  Can our district provide on-going PD to support their learning?  I will be anxiously awaiting the results…
I hope that these sessions start the crucial conversations that teachers and administrators need to have in order for us to move more fully into the 21st century learning environment…because we need those conversations and 1:1 access for every student.  It’s not too much to ask, is it?  

Meaningful PD

/ Catherine Cabiness-Atkinson, Ed.D. / Leave a comment

I’ve had the pleasure of working with a group of teachers in my district planning professional development for technology integration into the classroom.  I’ve loved listening to them passionately explain the highs and lows of utilizing technology with their students.  Because I’ve been there.  I’ve never left.

Where I find passion is sharing my love for technology with fellow educators.  Heck, I’ll share it with anyone who’ll listen.  I’m constantly amazed at the myriad of tech tools and uses that appear on a daily basis on my Twitter feed.  Truth be told, it’s hard to keep up.  But I keep myself focused by making sure that I’m mastering just a few tools and tinkering with the rest.  😉

I cannot pinpoint the exact year that I started using technology with my students in a meaningful way…but I’ll never go back.  And now I see my role moving more into professional development.  I’ve been doing professional development workshops since 1998.  So I’ve been around the block a few times.  I think I have an idea of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to professional development…because I’ve been on both sides of the table.

As a participant, I want something that I can walk away with.  I don’t need to be “talked at”…I want my professional development to be meaningful and engaging.  I want it to be fluid and I want it differentiated.  I don’t think I’m asking for much.  It’s what our students expect of us on a daily basis, so I don’t think it’s a stretch to expect that from our own colleagues when it comes to presentations.

I think what I’m trying to say is that the teachers who attend PD need to be thought of with the same mindset as we would our students.  Respect their time, engage them, meet them where they are, scaffold the process…in other words, make the whole experience meaningful.