21st Century Cohort 1.0 Graduation!

The first BVSD 21st Century Cohort (1.0) launched December 11th, 2012, beginning a three-year journey of learning, leading and inspiration. On March 9th, 2016, this group of dedicated educators experienced the culmination of their learning throughout their time as Cohort 1.0 with a graduation ceremony celebrating their leadership and successes.

Cohort 1.0 teachers captured their three-year journey in online portfolios. During this graduation ceremony, each teacher shared a reflection through student work and final videos showcasing his or her own learning, growth and leadership while in the cohort.

Check out some of these incredible products below!

• Angevine Middle School teachers and students reflect on the impact of the cohort at their school 

• New Vista Teachers enlist the help of students to tell their stories and how technology impacts the students See the video on their online portfolio!
• Centennial Middle School teacher, Josh Feiger, shares an action research plan evaluating the engaging power of peer writing review using online resources.
• Broomfield High School teacher, Kay Davidson, explains how her time in the cohort impacted her instruction, students and their entire school as they moved 1:Web in her reflection video

See all of our cohort teachers’ amazing portfolios online!

Throughout this evening, Cohort 1.0 teachers shared how this learning and work impacted their lives beyond the classroom--five teachers shared that they began postgraduate work in educational technology (or related field) in extending their education! Many have presented at conferences locally and regionally, and some even nationally. Their willingness to share their learning is what has made this group special and will continue to impact their students, staff and schools beyond their work in the cohort.

As part of this work in the cohort, BVSD teacher librarians shared a support and leadership role in their schools and with these teachers. You can read and see more of their own reflections of their time in the cohort here!

Thank you to the teachers and librarians of Cohort 1.0; for your leadership, vision, passion, and excitement. You continue to influence your students, schools, BVSD and the work of the Sucess Effect, future-ready schools and innovation!

Colorado Playground @ISTE2016

Part of the excitement for ISTE 2016 is the opportunity for the Colorado educational community to share ideas and experiences through the Innovative Education Colorado (InnEdCO) ISTE Playground.

Image from ISTE2014 Playground

An ISTE playground is a place to explore experiential environments and "play" with interactive technologies and ideas that enhance creativity and learning.

These playgrounds are collaborative, experiential and engaging opportunities for participants to connect and explore!

See the Makers Playground from ISTE 2015:

The Colorado Playground is entitled: Innovative Education Playground “Taking transformational learning to new heights across Colorado”.

Interested in presenting at the Colorado playground? Please complete this short application - By April 1, 2016. We know that many of you have incredible ideas, resources and energy and have transformed your classrooms--this is an opportunity for you to share that experience with others!

Consider submitting a demonstration table or stage presentation to engage attendees in innovative teaching and learning opportunities. Join educators from around the globe in sharing and learning at ISTE2016!

 

ISTE is Coming to Denver

The International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) is bringing its high-energy, content-packed conference to Denver this summer!  On June 26-29, Colorado is fortunate to host this nationally renowned conference and have the opportunity to connect with educators and experts from around the world.

Want more information about what ISTE is? Check out ISTE 2015 highlights and the BVSD Ed Tech ‘What is ISTE’ blog.

Why Should I Attend?

“Be a change agent. Differentiate your learning. Think creativity. Learn differently.”

ISTE conferences provide an electric atmosphere, with inspirational keynotes and session choices for every educator to find the right learning at the right time. It’s a great chance to visit face to face with the people you follow on twitter or read their Ed Tech blogs.

Some session options include;

• ‘Bring Your Own Device’ session; (one ticketed event per day)
• Interactive lecture - engage and ask your own questions
• ‘playground’ experience with hands-on activities and conversations.

With over 900 sessions to choose from, you will surely find a topic that will further your quest for knowledge to innovate. Go to the ISTE Denver 2016 Program Guide for more details.

Along with the powerful learning sessions and opportunities to meet other passionate leaders, ISTE hosts an Expo hall featuring more than 500 companies demonstrating their products and ready to answer questions about their tools that can impact the classroom learning environment.

Forming Friendships and Staying Connected

Oh the connections you will make! Through session attendance, you will meet leaders and colleagues across the country. The learning goes beyond the sessions; ISTE is setting up a network for attendees to stay connected before, during and after the event. Last, sign up for event notices in ISTE’s ‘stay connected’ links!

Can’t attend ISTE this year? 

Never fear! Stay in touch through social media tools such as Twitter; follow ISTE @isteconnects. You can also search for the hashtag #ISTE2016 to connect with others as they converse about the ISTE experience.

Last, sign up for event notices in ISTE’s ‘stay connected’ links!

How Do I Sign Up?

Register on the ISTE attendees page; use our BVSD group code to secure the super-early bird pricing of $309(members)/$434(non-members) regardless of when you register! To get the BVSD group code contact elene.medicraft@bvsd.org or a member of the Ed Tech team. Teachers have found funding assistance through their school or PTA groups, and you can find funding ideas from ISTE here.

The BVSD Leadership Cohort

The BVSD Leadership Cohort, a group of district and building leaders, gathered for the first time on November 29th to explore digital leadership and innovation.

During our November time together, we facilitated experiences that included:

A Walk Through Time: We divided into groups based on decade of graduation, and while this provided a few laughs, it also helped set the stage for where we’ve been.

Group Discussion: We read the introduction to the book Teaching Digital Natives by Marc Prensky and participants identified the statements that they agreed with, disagreed or hesitated to accept as well as their “all-in” statements--meaning they completely believed in that idea.

Vision-Casting: Utilizing the work of the BVSD Success Effect, Innovation Guidelines (in draft form) and Future Ready Schools, participants divided into groups based on levels (elementary, middle, secondary and district) and created a statement of needs in order to support the innovation and success effect visions.

Finally, participants reflected on their hopes and visions for the future of this time together:

Our upcoming professional development day is Friday, January 15th, from 8:30-11:30am at Southern Hills Middle School.

During this time, participants will reflect back on our first day together and discuss engaging with the community within the school/district and beyond. This connection and collaboration is important for leaders as they build their personal learning network of support and expertise.

The goal of this professional development is to provide time for BVSD leaders to think about how digital leadership is a necessity to the fulfillment of the BVSD Success Effect and the commitment of our district to be future-ready.

Breaking Down the Four Walls of the Classroom: How Future Ready Digital Tools are Changing Student Learning Experiences! Part Two

Last week, we shared how the elementary teachers are doing this--now, it’s time to explore ways that secondary students are experiencing this engaging learning!

Middle School: Ingrid Parker

Ingrid Parker’s middle school band students are immersed in a balanced world of music and technology. Angevine Wildcat band members can access classroom standards, essential questions, assignments and assessments from Ms. Parker’s classroom website.

Students in Bobcat Concert Band (8th grade) and Lynx Concert Band (7th grade) contribute every week to a class blog allowing them to collaborate on their growth. Students receive guidance on their at-home practice while creating a digital and face to face community of learners. Check out more Student Products from these engaged middle schoolers.

Ms. Parker has been using technology with students not only to collaborate but also to measure student success. By collecting quantitative data through Google forms that students use to self-assess their competency level, positive growth was evident. Student learning was impacted across all seven skill areas being assessed, for example in the area of “accompaniment and bass line composition” the growth reported was 50.6%.  

11th Grade:  Revolutionizing Writing Instruction with Digital Tools

Sarah Zerwin feels that writing instruction and opportunities have expanded for students through the power of tools found within Google Apps for Education. The English department at Fairview High School has developed a 9-12 standards-based e-portfolio for students using a Google Site template which provides an avenue for students to publish their work throughout their four years of high school as well as reflect on how their writing has improved during that time. There is even a place for students to post epic fails and how these failures empowered them to learn! Sarah also uses forms to collect meaningful data on student learning that assists her and students with reflection on learning. This example is where students declare the score they hope to achieve on a piece of writing and the work they are going to do to achieve this score.

Students in her writing class also use a Google Doc to collect the feedback they're getting from her and each other through writing workshops. In the video linked below, a student reflects on how this helps them as a writer:

These documents contain their personal reflections for how they will utilize the feedback they’ve received on writing. By focusing on feedback instead of grades, Sarah is able to enhance writing instruction and opportunity--the various digital tools help her to manage that. Because of the immediate feedback and organic nature of drafting in Google Docs, students are able to understand and reflect in ways they have not been able to before.

In The Hands of Students

We share these stories to demonstrate a few of the amazing teachers in BVSD who are leveraging digital tools with students to allow for a deeper, more authentic learning experiences than would have not been possible without this access.

Our students see technology not as a subject to learn but as a foundation. It underlies everything that they do. Therefore “Technology has an important place in our vision, because it has an important place in our future. But it does not dominate the vision; rather it supports it” (Marc Prensky, From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom)

Coming soon is a blog from our CIO, Andrew Moore, regarding how technology is playing a pivotal role in teacher evaluations, students learning standards, the BVSD Success Effect and implementation of the strategic plan!

Breaking Down the Four Walls of the Classroom: How Future Ready Digital Tools are Changing Student Learning Experiences! Part One

Our students have access to learning in ways the students of generations past have not--the world is at their fingertips and learning can happen anytime and anywhere. Students are now required to demonstrate mastery in technology standards embedded in all content areas and grade levels. . How digital tools are used in the classroom is also a part of teacher evaluation standards within the BVSD Educator Effectiveness rubric. A breakdown of these standards can be found within the grade level and curriculum essential documents on the BVSD Curriculum website.

Through the BVSD Success Effect, there is an expectation that our students are receiving equitable and meaningful learning experiences in the classroom that meet state, national and global standards of learning. The power of technology for enhancing these experiences, as well as providing parent and community partnerships beyond the four walls of the classroom, is a necessity for our students. We’ve shared in our blog before how students are publishing their work; now, we’d like to share the meaningful learning experiences that come with these publishing opportunities for students.

This blog will be in two parts:

Part One: Learning in the Elementary Classroom

Part Two: Learning in the Secondary Classroom (coming soon! December 2016)

Kindergarten: Giving a Voice to Students Through Blogging!

Loran Lattes, teacher librarian at Whittier Elementary, was recently inspired by a session on blogging for kindergartners that she attended at the Google for Education Summit in October. When she got back to her school, she partnered with kindergarten teacher Megan Proctor to pilot the program, and now it has become a regular part of Megan’s classroom.

Kindergartners in Megan’s class use a tool called EasyBlogger to take pictures and videos, then add their own reflections through voice recording. It’s a fun and effective way to get kids to share their stories as they develop in their writing and reading skills. Parents enjoy the classroom connections by seeing their own child’s creations. As connected to the Success Effect with Family and Community partnerships, these blogs share their learning allowing student to make connections with their parent “community”.

Megan is utilizing kindergarten blogging as a way of empowering student voices in her class to be able to describe the people places and events around them, as well as providing an engaging way for sharing their learning.

Megan reports that this format makes students excited to share their learning. Many ELL (English Language Learner) students and shy students have blossomed to be more engaged and confident in their learning through this format. Also, parents have reached out to express their support and give a big thumbs-up for how their students are excited to share their learning!

4th Grade: Talk to an Astronaut! Researching with Real Results

Beth Ellis, 4th grade teacher at  Bear Creek Elementary School, regularly seeks out real-world connections for her students as they learn. This year, her class had the unique opportunity to participate in a live video conference, along with other students from across the country, with Dr. Kjell Lindgren, an astronaut currently living and working on the International Space Station.

This video hangout integrated with the 4th graders’ space unit and a language arts unit on interviewing skills, adding a unique collaboration not possible without technology and a teacher who values the power of making connections.

To prepare for the interview with Dr. Lindgren, students used their research skills to learn about the lives and work of astronauts. Students learned there are some questions anyone can find the answer to, such as, “What do you eat in space?” whereas more complex, higher-order questions can only be answered by an expert in the field. They spent weeks researching, writing and critiquing their questions before they submitted questions to the moderator. An example of a question they created was, “In your training to be a doctor or astronaut, did you have any problems that you had to overcome that made you want to give up and quit? If so, how did you overcome them?” This question, and others like it, were meaningful to both the learning of the students and the experience shared by the astronaut.

Part of students’ work during the science unit was to research space topics and then create a presentation where they shared information, images, and ideas regarding their topic. These students found the value in sharing their learning with the world, much like the astronaut they met online. 

Students were motivated by this project. Knowing they were going to interact with an astronaut miles and miles up in space proved to be much more powerful than interviewing a teacher-selected guest speaker, as they had done in the past. The learning that resulted from this project will help them in their future research projects and their understanding of the access they have to our digitally connected world!

Look for Part Two of this blog coming soon! Secondary Classroom Focus!

Rocky Mountain Summit featuring Google Apps for Education: Learning Together!

Only a few short weeks ago, the Google Apps for Education Colorado Summit and over 500 educators came to Monarch High School. It was an incredible weekend of learning, fun and leading by the EdTechTeam, educators from around the state and beyond! For our BVSD educators, this summit provided direct support for developing talent, a key priority of the BVSD Success Effect.

The weekend included keynote speakers James Sanders, Mark Garrison & Kasey Bell as well as a series of workshop sessions geared towards meaningful instructional practice when using Google and other internet tools with students, by students and for students.

Many BVSD educators presented, including Jeff Sanders, who shared how his students have a genius hour, or 20% time, during class each week to work on passion projects. At the end of the year, students created presentations that shared how these projects impacted their learning.  Some of the projects included

• Creating a 3X3 Basketball Tournament to raise money for Boulder Homeless Youth
• Self-Publishing a Novel, now sold on Amazon!
• Becoming a Certified Yoga Instructor and conducted Yoga Classes for students
• Creating a Blog reviewing movies, books and more that the entire school community could use to get ideas for reading

His session, among the many others, helped educators think differently about what students could do in their classes to increase meaningful learning!

Educators left the conference feeling empowered by their learning and looking forward to going back to their classrooms and buildings to utilize their new expertise to empower and engage students at a new level. Even more exciting, many attendees were first-timers!

During the conference, participants shared their enthusiasm and learning through Twitter, utilizing the hashtag #gafesummit to connect.

Using a script called TwitterBot, one attendee collected all tweets from the summit as a way to capture the experience of the learning through this archive of tweets!

By connecting online, the learning continues well beyond the conference. Check out how first-time tweeter, BVSD teacher librarian JoLynn Scott, connected with fellow BVSD librarians at this summit! They later decided to make plans to share their learning to their schools and staffs.

The learning from this summit is captured not only through twitter, but in all of the presentation materials available online, too! Check these out and join us for more professional development throughout the year on the BVSD Ed Tech website.