We're "Microblogging!"

We're "microblogging" from Room 5!  We used our iPads today to write and send tweets on Twitter.  How cool! Check it out!

My 2010 EduBlog Award Noms

The 2010 Edublog Awards Nominations -

This is the first time I am trying this... to nominate people for Edublog Awards...

It's hard because I believe that competition in education should be kept to a minimum.  Shouldn't we all just be out to help each other?  But, in the blogging world, I don't think you ever write to win an award.  I think you write to reflect, to share, to vent, to collaborate...

And, it's always nice to get recognized for doing something well.

Here are my 2010 noms-

Best individual blog - What Ed Said

Best individual tweeter - Aviva Dunsiger- @Grade1

Best group blog - Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning

Best resource sharing blog - Free Technology for Teachers

Most influential blog post - Special Educators- Do We Do Too Much?

Best teacher blog - Teacher Tom

Best librarian / library blog - Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites

Best school administrator blog - Taste of Tech

Best educational wiki - 21st Century Concepts

Best educational use of a social network - @techieteacher Jeremy Brown

Best use of a PLN - @tgwynn Tim Gwynn

Reflections of Summer Vacation 2010

It's the night before school and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a...

Well, that's a lie.

The washing machine is running on overtime as my sister (a HS guidance counselor) and I are trying to do loads of laundry.  The dishwasher is buzzing because, well, you can't start the school year with a dirty kitchen.  The dog is on edge because he knows something is about to change.  The fridge is full of healthy lunch choices (because I vowed to stay away from the school lunch line this year).  The toenail polish is freshly drying and the meditation DVD is set and ready for a few hours from now.

It's the night before a new school year; my 8th school year as a teacher.

And I'm excited.  Or anxious.  Or excited and anxious...

I've been trying to reflect on what I've actually done this summer; laying in the sun, cleaning out the garage, reading fiction novels, doing yard work, watching reality TV shows, attending the Reform Symposium from the comfort of my own bed, visiting friends in Marblehead, walking for the Easter Seals Zoo Walk in July, walking in the Buddy Walk sponsored by the Upside of Downs of Greater Cleveland, playing with the dog, eating ice cream, building my PLN, consistently writing blog posts, learning loads of new technology that will fit nicely into my classroom, reading blogs, articles, and books about technology, web 2.0 tools, and special needs, exploring new teaching and assessment strategies, and trying to relax.

Here are my top 5 highlights from the summer of 2010:

1. I started to build a PLN.  This personal learning network is helping me to learn new things every single day.  I read their blogs.  I read their tweets.  I participate in discussions with them on Nings like the "Educator's PLN."  They are from all over the country and even the world.  And they are bringing new ideas to education every single day.  This year, on the days when I feel like my ideas are ridiculous and my beliefs about education are in the minority, I can sign on to Twitter or read these blogs, and know that I am not alone.  I can share ideas, borrow ideas, think through new strategies, and be part of a group that helps me grow.  I am so thankful to have found this world, these people, these blogs, these ideas...

2. The class swim party I had at my house was awesome.  I invited some students from past years, along with my class for the 2010-2011 school year.  In all, 10 of my students, past and present came, along with 9 of their siblings and at least 10 parents.  Our key club helpers also came, along with two of our special education aides.  My sister could not believe how many people were here!  We had so much fun!  The kids were so happy to swim and thought it was exciting to be at the "teacher's" house.  The parents got to chat, meet one another again, network with each other, see the other students, and catch up.  The new parents got to see how our classroom works and how supportive everyone is.  The principal even showed up!  It was a great night!

3.  I read two fantastic books this summer (I actually read 3, but only 2 were fantastic.)  House Rules by Jodi Picoult is one of the best books I've ever had the privilege of reading.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson was also a great book, much different than my usual read, and I can't wait for the movie!  I also wrote a blog post about House Rules...

4. I taught my dog to swim. (Well, it couldn't all be school related or intellectual, could it?)

5.  Thanks to the PLN that I've been working on, I've found some awesome blogs to read that inspire me.  First, the blog written by "Teacher Tom" is just incredible.  This man has ideas that I couldn't even dream about.  Imagine how he empowers students!  Another blog, "Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning" has helped take my lesson plans for this school year to a whole new level.  While I've read hundreds of blogs this summer and added at least 20 to my Google Reader, two more worth mentioning here are "What Ed Said" and "Connected Principals."  I, finally, got my boss to read the "Connected Principals" and he even thanked me for it (although he did note that he reads only 1/10th of the blogs that I actually tell him about).

So, I didn't take any grand vacations or any wild road trips this year, but I did gain a whole lot of knowledge.

I did, indeed, spend a lot of the summer working... My plan was to keep learning and working all summer so that I won't feel so stressed during the school year...

And if this plan works, it will all be worth it.

Maybe it was all worth it anyways...

Sharing My Toys...

While I have started this blog to reach out to the professional community and attempt to build a Personal (and/or Professional) Learning Network, I had started a blog about a year ago to improve communication with the parents of the students in my class with moderate to intensive special needs (autism, Down syndrome, cognitive disabilities, genetic disorders like 2q37 Deletion syndrome, hearing impairments, etc.).  My students currently range in age from 5 to 9, grades Kindergarten through Third.  I have been able to share articles, information, reminders, photos, and more with this Classroom Blog.  I'd like to share it here:

Miss Kolis' Room 5 Blog

While I feel that our classroom blog improved parent/grandparent communication, I was also searching out an easier way to communicate websites to my students and special education aides without continuously programming them into each computer's bookmarks, writing them in the lesson plans, posting them on notes near the doorway, etc., etc.  In order to do this, I created a homepage where our students access links (on the left side of the page) and our aides access links (on the right side of the page). I'd like to share that here:

Room 5 Homepage

Lastly, I created a page of links for a series of technology classes that I taught to our district's (Brecksville-Broadview Heights City Schools in Brecksville, OH) teachers this summer.  I'd like to share that as well:

Teaching (and Differentiating) with Technology 2010

Please use these links as you like!

Can You Help Me With a PLN?

So I'm really getting into this whole notion of having a PLN (Personal Learning Network).  Having a PLN almost seems like a necessity now that I am truly understanding and learning and reading about it.  I was already using Twitter, Facebook, Glogster, Wordpress (http://staff.bbhcsd.org/kolism), this blog, and other tools, so why not reach out to some people and offer suggestions while taking some advice in the process?

I am pretty sure I was already doing this by following larger organizations like Autism Speaks (@autismspeaks), Mayer-Johnson (@MayerJohnson) and the Upside of Downs of Greater Cleveland (@USODNEO) on Twitter and Facebook and then reading the articles that were posted.  I was doing all the learning, but not contributing much.

What I learned is that, I can follow regular people who tweet and retweet their own blogs.  I can tweet my blog too, and hope that someone will find my messages worthy of retweeting as well.  I can keep learning about the digital tools that we can use and ask for advice and it's okay.

You see, in our district, asking other teachers for help is a weakness.  You never show this weakness.  Collaboration is almost nonexistent.  Sure, we are united for common causes.  We always pull together for charity and philanthropy.  We are friends outside of school.  We are cheerleaders for each other when something great happens.  But when it comes to your class or your students, we are closed door.  They are MY kids or YOUR kids.  It is MY room and YOUR room.  It is MY program and YOUR program.  There is certainly a minority of people who TRY to collaborate, but it is not commonly accepted.

And so, this notion of networking to become better is what I crave.  I crave this network of "strangers" to help me with ideas, to nurture what I can share with them, to understand that I can offer something without trying to boast or be any better than them.  I am so passionate about this work and want to know people who truly feel the same and want to share it.

So, here is my search for a PLN.  I'm on Twitter (@Room5Friends AND @morgank18).  I'm trying to friend lots of people and organizations.  I'm trying to stalk others' "followers" to see who I can follow with similar interests.  I joined The Educator's PLN Ning.  I invited teachers from my school and district to do the same.  And... now what?

So what are my interests?  I LOVE teaching special ed., I love kids with autism, with Down syndrome, with genetic disorders, and all kinds of special needs.  I love trying to integrate technology into the classroom.  I love trying to figure out how to integrate web 2.0 tools with special needs kids.  I love attacking 21st Century Skills for kids with special needs.  How can we get them to problem solve?  How can we get them to critical think?  (while still working on functional living skills and basic reading skills and math skills...)  I LOVE this work. (Oh yeah, and I like long walks on the beach, candle light dinners, etc., etc.)...

And again... now what?

Teaching (and Differentiating) with Technology 2010

Last week I taught a technology class for teachers in our district called "Teaching (and Differentiating) with Technology 2010."  While I was discouraged by the low attendance of these FREEEEEEEEEE classes, I was also encouraged that maybe the few people that attended might begin playing with and using the technologies that we worked on.  Also, one administrator came, so I was really encouraged by that!

Seems to me that, in a district where we boast about our high test scores and student successes, more teachers, administrators, and staff members would be interested in learning about tools that would help them become more efficient, effective teachers.

Regardless, here's a run down of the classes that we offered:

1. Blogging and Homepages (Setting up your own blog through WordPress or your own Homepage using Protopage).  What are the benefits of using a blog or homepage?  What are the differences?  Step by step set up.

2. A Re-Introduction to the SMARTboard (After 3 years of having SMARTboards in our classrooms, you'd think we've have the Basics down by now.  This was the most highly attended class.)

3.  Social Media for Education (By far, I was most excited about teaching this class.  6 people came.)

4.  Beyond the Basics: SMARTboard Tips and Tricks

5.  Flip Cameras (Even teaching this class seems silly because they are so easy and self explanatory, right?)

6.  Digital Storytelling

7.  Google Apps (Oh how I wish more people had attended this!)

8.  Where do you find this stuff?  Web Exploration time (I showed the 5 people that came how to use Wordle, then spent the next hour re-teaching Twitter and explaining our new email.)

9.  BoardMaker Plus v.6 (Mostly for Special Ed. teachers/ Intervention Specialists, but some reg. ed. folks showed too, thank goodness!)

10.  Grant Writing for your Technology Needs

10 Things Special Ed. Teachers Should Be Able To Do...

After reading the post What Teachers Should Be Able To Do on the "What Ed Said" blog tonight, I got to thinking...

If I made a list of 10 things that every special ed. teacher should be able to do, it would go something like this:

10. Write a legally defensible IEP using the IEP writing software provided by his/her district. (i.e. When learning the new software, do not ask, out loud, how to log in to the computer.)

9.  Give a reasonable learning objective for every activity planned throughout the course of the school day.  (Sure, you might see my student playing Wii Bowling once a month, but I have at least 5 objectives tying to his IEP objectives, developmental stages, and academic content standards that explain why.)

8.  Proofread an IEP written by someone else and ask questions/provide suggestions/find errors.

7.  Explain and/or demonstrate how he/she stays up to date or gets the latest research or information on best practices in special education.  (Can you say PLN?)

6.  Describe how your students can use at least one new piece of technology in making life/communication/ social skills/ social situations/ academics easier.

5.  Relay the relevant background information and likes/dislikes of each student on your caseload without having to look it up.

4.  Describe, demonstrate, or provide evidence of the research based strategies/ interventions/ methods used in your classroom.

3.  Describe or demonstrate assessment and data collection for each student on the caseload.

2.  Create student schedules, special education aide schedules, therapy schedules, and a personal daily schedule from the school master schedule keeping in mind the exact minutes of pull out or inclusion each student has listed on his/her IEP.  Execute and tweak that schedule.

1. Communicate with parents!  Blog, twitter, daily reports, Friday folders, progress reports, notes home, phone calls, emails, etc., etc., etc...

But yikes, this list could go on and on and on and on....

Shake What the District Gave You

On Friday I was charged with the task of "telling others about what you do in your classroom, and then telling them about the ways you've gotten extra money for your classroom." 

Hmph.  And I'm supposed to turn that into a presentation and give it to a group of my peers?  Awesome.

The presentation was Friday morning and my presentation turned into something named "Shake What the District Gave You."  The title was supposed to be funny.  Before the presentation, other teachers actually asked me what the title meant.  Crap.  Couple that with a question asked by one of our teachers, "So, how did you get picked to give this presentation?"

Then the keynote speaker was all motivating and awesome, so I wasn't quite sure how I would follow that.

I'd given presentations before but not to a group of teachers from my own district...

So, here's what I talked about.  Plain and simple.  Look at all the stuff the district gives us for free and here are my favorite of all the technology "tools" we have-

(And all the links are on my other blog page- Miss Kolis' Room 5 Blog- http://staff.bbhcsd.org/kolism- you can go there, find March 5th Tech Inservice Waiver Day in the right hand column, and get all the links...)

1. http://www.delicious.com/-  Delicious is a social networking tool that the district suggests we use.  If we all used it, we could all be connected through websites and "share our toys."  Delicious takes all your "favorites" or your "bookmarks" and puts them in one place on the web.  Delicious also allows you to tag your websites so you can sort them for yourself.  You can also share them with other users.  I learned how to use this over the summer of '09, and I think it was a little behind the times then... When I asked if I had "sold" anyone on Delicious, I saw 3 heads nod.

2. http://www.twitter.com/-  Twitter in education is still pretty new, especially in our district.  And sure, we all hear it, "who wants to share what they are doing in 140 characters or less anyways?"  And, "I don't need anyone to know that much about my life..."  But what if you can connect to organizations that you do care about, read 140 characters, and see if you want to read the article they are pushing.  That's the part I like about Twitter in the classroom.  I can read updates from Autism Speaks and from ModelMeKids and from the EDPressSec. And, I can tell the parents of my students what we did that day in 140 characters.  And some of them do care.  Cool.  I might've sold 1 person on this.

3.  Blogging.  As you can read, blogging is my favorite new hobby.  And the parents love it.  And other educators can use it.  And it gives me a written record of what I did in my classroom that week.  Before my blog, I was mediocre at Parent Communication.  Before that, I was horrible at Parent Communication. Blogging has single handedly changed my world of communication.  And to think that, when I started college in 1999, teacher websites were just coming on the scene.  And the majority of teachers in our district DO NOT have a blog or webpage.  Btw, we use Word Press for Blogging through the school... and I obviously use Blogger.  These seem the most simple to me.  And simple is good for teachers who need more hours in the day.

4.  Last, I talked about BoardMaker Plus and the whole family of BoardMaker software.  I think the company of Mayer-Johnson could hire me.  I dream about working for them because I already promote their products.  I showed the high tech (inserting BoardMaker software into SMART Notebook software and making interactive boards and books) uses of BoardMaker, but I also showed the low tech side (file folder games, visual schedules, mini-schedules).  Plus I found the best site to pair with BoardMaker called AdaptedLearning.com.  I'm not sure how I survived without it.  (I heard about it by following Mayer-Johnson on twitter!)

5.  I, then, concluded my presentation with discussion about HOW to get the things you want IF the district doesn't provide them.  My first suggestion- Ask someone.  My second suggestion- Ask someone else.  My third suggestion- Write a grant.  It't not as hard as you think.  I shared easy grants to write and offered myself and my former work to all of the members of the audience.

All in all, I'm not sure that I sold anyone on anything.  But, I succeeded in the fact that I made it through the presentations without embarrassing myself terribly.

I also did that with the help of the keynote speaker.  He was 100% himself in his presentation to over 300 teachers.  And so I thought, I can be myself.  And be comfortable in myself.  And say what I say.  And do what I do.

So I did.

Now, go Shake What the District Gave You.