My Top 5 iPad Apps for the Classroom Series: Notability

Image Credit: http://www.gingerlabs.com 

The use of iPads in schools has grown tremendously over the past few years. It seems like every week you hear of a new school or district starting a new to 1 to 1 iPad program. With that in mind, I thought it would be a helpful to share some of the insights I have gained since the launch of my school's 1 to 1 iPad program two years ago. One question that constantly comes up when discussing iPads in schools involves what apps are best for the classroom. With the endless number of apps available, this can be a very daunting question.

A key point that helps sort through this mess involves a focus on apps that allow creation. Oftentimes, teachers get bogged down with trying to find apps that support and deliver content; however, these apps seldom require much in the way of higher order thinking skills as they typically involve simple drill and practice tasks. Education Week has an excellent blog post from February 2013 that sums up this issue very nicely... All the Good Apps Fit on One Screen. As mentioned by the author, a focus on creation apps can be very liberating for a teacher as it eliminates the need to stay up-to-date with the endless number of content focused apps available. Additionally, creation apps possess much greater potential to positively impact learning and the development of 21st Century Skills such as creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking.

With all that being said, I have put together a list of the top 5 apps I would recommend for anyone using iPads in the classroom. First on the list is Notability. At its core, Notability is a robust note taking app designed with students in mind. Although there are many outstanding note taking apps available for the iPad, Notability is ideal for students for a variety of reasons. Below are some of the most important features that make it stand out among other note taking apps:

• Simple and intuitive to use for students of all ages including elementary age kids
• Organization structure that students easily understand
• Automatic backup capability to a variety of cloud storage services (very important for students)
• Provides the ability to type or hand write notes = great feature for students completing work in subjects such as science and math where equations are much easier to hand write
• Lectures can be recorded and notes automatically sync with the recorded audio
• PDF and MS Office documents can be imported into Notability and annotated
• A variety of multimedia content can be embedded into notes
• Keyword search capability within notes 

Check out the following tutorial video created by two of our middle school students reviewing the key features available within Notability. The version of the app displayed in this video is not the most current one but you will still gain a solid understanding of what the app can do.

*Video courtesy of @teacherweiss 

To purchase Notability or view more details about the app, check it out on the app store here: Notability

While Notability is certainly not the only great note taking app available, it is my personal favorite for use in an academic setting. Students at our school have been using it with great success for over two years and the developers of the app continue to make it better and better. For those of you with experience using Notability, feel free to share any additional insights that may be helpful for individuals wanting to check it out. In the next post, we will look at the word processing app, Pages, created by Apple.

Reflections from Our First Edcamp

creative commons licensed (BY) flickr photo by kjarrett: http://flickr.com/photos/kjarrett/6922311428

Back in October of the current school year, I had the privilege of attending Edcamp Dallas which was my first experience with an Edcamp style professional development event. Up until that point, I had heard a lot of great things about Edcamps but had not yet experienced one myself. After participating in Edcamp Dallas, I was instantly sold. I have to admit, that the idea of attending a conference where none of the sessions are pre-planned and anyone can present made me a bit skeptical; however, I quickly realized that this form of professional development is highly effective, engaging and productive for everyone involved. I was thoroughly impressed with the enthusiasm and eagerness to share by all of the conference participants and the unique format was a refreshing change of pace from a traditional conference. Upon leaving, I immediately decided that I wanted bring this experience to the staff I work with at my school.

After months of patiently waiting and planning, we finally got the opportunity to run our very own Edcamp this past March. With only a half-day of time to work with, we offered four, thirty-minute sessions with five different sectional offerings within each session. After the final session, we all came together for a "slam session" and faculty prize raffle. The most significant challenge we had to overcome in our planning was the limited time to work with. At a normal Edcamp, the sessions are decided the day of the event; however, there was not time to do this in our particular situation. To work around this challenge, we created a shared session schedule using Google Sheets that any of our staff could use to input their name and session idea into during the time slot of their choosing. This sheet was sent out about 48 hours before the event and the response was outstanding. There were no problems filling all of the session slots and we even needed to add another room to the schedule to accommodate all of the presentation ideas.

Given that the majority of our staff had never even heard of an Edcamp before this, I was a bit nervous going in regarding how this new form of professional development would be received. Would we have enough teachers volunteer to be presenters? Would the sessions be productive and relevant to our staff? Would our teachers find the time productive since the Edcamp format was totally new to them? Ultimately, these concerns were found to be a non-issue as the event proceeded without a hitch and was a highly productive time of learning and sharing for all. Never before had I seen our faculty so engaged and enthusiastic during a professional development in-service time. It was incredibly encouraging to see to see our teachers leading rich discussions with their peers and openly sharing ideas and best practices from their classrooms.

  

The success of this event was confirmed in the feedback I received in a follow-up survey. The most notable responses were as follows:

• 98% of the staff agreed or strongly agreed that the Edcamp format was a productive use of professional development time.
• 98% of the staff agreed or strongly agreed that the topics shared were relevant and helpful.
• 100% of the staff agreed or strongly agreed that they value the ability to choose from a variety of sessions led by their peers (83% answered strongly agree on this one).
• 98% of the staff agreed or strongly agreed that they would prefer to use the Edcamp format for future professional development days. 

For those of you who have participated in Edcamp events before, I am sure these observations are no surprise to you. If you are yet to experience an Edcamp for yourself, I highly recommend attending one ASAP as it will change the way you look at professional development. To find an Edcamp near you, check the following site:

Edcamp Calendar

I wish you all the best as we continue seeking ways to change teaching and learning for the better. God Bless!

The Power of Autonomy & Choice

cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo by Ken Whytock: http://flickr.com/photos/7815007@N07/7804984824/

As I reflect back on the current school year, it has been incredible to see some of the amazing things our teachers are doing in the classroom in terms of how technology is being used to enhance teaching and learning. While our teachers have always done a great job in the classroom, this year has brought on a new level of creativity and innovation that is exciting for the future of our school. In trying to identify the primary contributor to this explosion of growth, the one thing that jumps out at me is a targeted effort to provide our teachers with more autonomy and choice in their professional development.

Giving our teachers more freedom to choose the professional development options they want to engage in and the option to implement those ideas in ways that work best in their classroom has proven to be a catalyst for positive change. In the past, many of our professional development meetings involved everyone meeting together in one place to discuss or learn about a single tool or topic. While this approach has its place at times, it was limited in that it did not allow teachers any freedom to explore and learn about things that they were most interested in and found relevant to their particular classroom. In recognizing the limitations of this approach, I knew we had to make some changes.

With that mind, we began to offer our teachers a menu of options for each of our regularly scheduled professional development meetings. Rather than just coming to hear me share something, several of our teachers began volunteering to share tools and ideas that they were particularly passionate about giving us the option of offering a variety of session topics during our staff professional development days. This practice has since been expanded to allow teachers to come up with their own professional development options such as leading their own meeting, participating in a webinar, Twitter chat or attending a local seminar/workshop, etc. To manage the organization of all these options, we use Google Forms to have teachers register for the session they want to attend or communicate the PD activity they intend to complete on their own. The ultimate result of all this is that our teachers are collaborating and generating some great new ideas that far exceed anything I imagined.

Providing our teachers with more autonomy and choice in their professional growth has been just the thing that was needed to spark the wave of creativity and innovation that we are seeing across our campus. The following is just a small sampling of some of the outstanding student and teacher ideas that have been implemented in our classrooms as a result of our revised approach to professional development.

Science Giants - 8th Grade science website including student blogs and student-created tutorial videos

The View from 1082 - 8th grade English website dedicated to student blogs reflecting on the ideas generated through 20% time

Mrs. Peterson's Class - 4th grade website including links to student blogs and other innovative activities taking place in the classroom

Mole Day Music Video - created in high school chemistry

Anti-Bullying Video - created by middle school students as part of a project based learning unit on bullying

Shakespeare Made Simple - tutorial video created by high school students to help other students better understand Shakespeare

Slope-Intercept Form - tutorial video created by an 8th grade math student to teach the slope-intercept form math concept

It's Not About You

cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo by Iowa Digital Library: http://flickr.com/photos/uiowa/8408787732/

I have been privileged to serve in the field of education for over thirteen years now and have worked alongside many dynamite educators during this time in both public and private schools. Between teaching, coaching and my current administrative role, I have observed a wide variety of both effective and ineffective professional practices. Throughout my experiences, I have often wondered why many teachers, coaches and administrators do the things they do in terms of professional practice. While there is certainly no single right way to do things, especially when it comes to education, there are definitely practices that are more effective than others. 

More specifically, the typical American classroom involves a teacher-centered learning environment where information is imparted from the teacher to the students in a lecture, drill and test format. This method has been used in our country for well over a century (see image above) and continues to be the prevailing instructional model used in both K-12 and university classrooms. The question I find myself asking more and more in my role as Director of Innovative Teaching and Learning is WHY? Why is it so difficult for so many teachers, administrators and schools in this country to change? Why are student-centered instructional models not being accepted more readily? Why are we not more eager try things that will better prepare our students for the demands of the 21st Century?

Before offering my insights on this issue, I fully acknowledge that there are a multitude of factors that make it very difficult for educators to implement meaningful changes in the classroom. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, there are numerous educators all across this country who are successful in motivating, inspiring and helping students to achieve much deeper levels of learning in spite of their circumstances. I am sure we can all recall at least one teacher who fits this description and made a lasting impact on our own life. This begs the question, what are these individuals doing differently? 

In my experience and observations, one distinct commonality among all highly effective educators (including coaches and administrators) is an unwavering commitment to finding and implementing the BEST methods for developing the individuals under their care regardless of the circumstances they are in. Before this mindset can be embraced though, one must come to the realization that it is not about you. The things we do in the classroom should not be dictated by what we are most comfortable with, what is easiest for us to implement or what we feel is best. Rather, classroom instruction should be governed by the methods and practices that have shown to be MOST EFFECTIVE for preparing children with the skills and knowledge they need for success in the 21st Century. 

Ultimately, we must be vigilant in learning and implementing the best methods and tools for educating our students. While this may call for us doing things that are difficult, unfamiliar and outside our comfort zone, the most innovative and successful educators embrace this challenge daily. The key is a selfless attitude and passion for finding the most effective teaching and learning practices. In closing, the next time you find yourself reluctant or opposed to trying something new, remember...it's not about you!

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." ~Philippians 2:3-4

What REALLY Motivates Us

 

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracy_olson/

A book that I have had on my reading list for a long time and just recently got around to reading is Drive by Daniel Pink. I have heard a ton of good things about this book and was not disappointed after reading it myself. Drive provides a fascinating look at what current research reveals about what truly motivates individuals in the 21st Century. Without spoiling the book for those of you who have not yet read it, the book dispels the myth that people are primarily motivated by "carrot and stick" external rewards such as money. Rather, contemporary research has revealed that people are most effectively motivated intrinsically by providing these three essential elements:  autonomy, mastery and purpose (Pink, 2009).

Contrary to conventional wisdom,  the use of external rewards to motivate individuals to better performance is surprisingly ineffective, especially when it comes to non-routine tasks that involve creativity. Not only do external rewards fail to boost performance, they can actually diminish it. Although the book primarily focuses on the implication this research has on business, the principles discussed are applicable to just about anyone serving in some form of leadership capacity including parents (Pink, 2009).

Taking a moment to ponder this, it is amazing how often external rewards are still utilized in an attempt to motivate individuals to better performance. This is especially true in my field of education and coaching. External rewards and punishments have been a mainstay in the American education system for years despite their apparent lack of effectiveness. If we are being truly honest, our education system overall has done a poor job of providing opportunities for autonomy, mastery and purpose in our classrooms. I cannot help but wonder what our schools would look like if we intentionally focused on these three areas with all students.

If you are a teacher administrator, coach or parent, I encourage you to carefully consider whether external rewards and punishments are the focus of your motivation strategies with the individuals under your leadership. If so, is this approach really maximizing their abilities and potential? Would those same individuals be better motivated to perform their best if you focused on providing opportunities for autonomy, mastery and purpose? 

Based on years of practical experience reinforced by the evidence presented in Drive, I firmly believe that an approach which focuses on building intrinsic motivation is the right one. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, I highly recommend reading Drive for yourself. It is an interesting read and a book that will help you make informed decisions on how to best motivate the people who look to you for leadership.

Please feel free to share any comments or ideas you have on motivational best practices.

Reference

Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.