What Social Media (and Professional Learning) Should Be About

I'm currently at my 15th ISTE. Many things have changed in education and technology over the last fifteen years. In 2000, social media did not have a presence in our lives. People walked around, attended sessions, looked each other in the eye, and spoke to one another....because that was the primary way to make connections. Quite a few years ago, I was standing in line at a convention center Starbucks with my students when the teacher behind us, Linda Cooper, struck up a conversation about why my students were at ISTE. That conversation grew into what was my first collaborative effort with my students and students in another geographic location. She and I built a relationship that greatly benefited all of our students. Our dialogue, sharing, and connecting opened up my mind to new directions to grow in my teaching practice.

Several years later, Web 2.0 and social media came onto the scene.  I joined in and began tweeting and posting. Like many others, I became excited by the number of followers I had or who chose to follow me. It took two years before I realized that wasn't where the true value of social media was found; it was in making connections, building true relationships, and giving back to others in our digital/social media community...the very same thing that Linda and I had done years before. That was when my professional growth escalated exponentially.

I was able to find answers to questions that I had about how to meet the needs of one of my students. I could find different ways to turn the learning and our classroom over to my students. I could form partnerships to connect my students with their global peers. Because of the relationships that I built, my students were able to find their voices, build connections with global peers, and make a difference in the world. 

Because we are connected regularly through social media, building these relationships, we get to know one another. Friendships built on mutual respect develop. On my flight to ISTE, I had a young woman sit beside me who noticed my ISTE app. She asked me if I was headed to the conference. She (a second year teacher) and her two colleagues (first year teachers) were heading to their first ISTE. Her passion and enthusiasm were contagious. She asked so many questions about ISTE and teaching. As she began taking notes, I realized that this is one reason why we go to conferences (and engage in social media)...to make these connections. 

There are people who are all along the professional learning continuum. Some are ahead of us in their journey. Others may be just beginning. However we connect, whether face-to-face or digitally, we need to strive to share our learning with others. 

So as we continue the next two days at ISTE, I want to challenge myself and challenge you to look for someone who you can share with, connect with, and grow with. This will not only benefit our practice, but also the learning of our students. And our students' learning is what it is all ultimately about. 

Concerned Teacher...thoughts from ISTE13

Everything is Bigger in Texas.

ISTE is "my conference." If I don't go to any other conference during the year, I always block out time to be there. This year was my twelfth year...eleven of those I have presented. Yes, ISTE is bigger than life; I guess what they say about everything being bigger in Texas is true at ISTE too. However, as I begin to process and contemplate on my experiences over the last few days, I have to say that I am concerned.  I am concerned that as educators, we have lost sight of what really matters. This conference is not a technology conference; it's an EDUCATIONAL technology conference. It concerns me that many of my fellow educators have lost sight of that distinction.

With so many options at ISTE, it is difficult to select the right events, sessions, and activities. The word I heard most often was "overwhelming." Today, our students are diverse individuals with unique needs. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution. As educators, we must have a plethora of options. Using my previous ISTE experience, I looked for sessions that would deepen my understanding as a teacher. I want to continue to grow and learn new ways to provide my students with the best possible learning opportunities.  I want to sharpen my teaching practice. After all, this is an educational conference...we're all educators.

As I attended session after session, I became a bit disheartened. In almost every session, the entire focus was on tools and apps. Very few student examples of work were shown. The work that was used as examples, although fun to watch, held very little merit. After a day and a half of this, I sent out this tweet:

I am a concerned teacher. Where is the high level of engagement? Where are the learning activities that are promoting higher level thinking and problem-solving? How are students connecting their learning to their lives? Where is the creation of something new to share with an authentic audience? And collaboration...maybe I have a different definition than many others. I believe collaboration is when students each contribute something unique to a project. 

I began to wonder if I had unrealistic expectations. If so, I realized that I would not have very many to attend my session, "Are you integrating or innovating with technology?," because in my session there is a heavy focus on best practices and the role that technology has within our classrooms and schools. Yes, I share tools and apps; yes, I share student examples. But these tools and examples are used to support how we as teachers need to change our thinking and our practice in order to empower students. The conversation we had during this hour I found exhilarating. Many of the people who attended (it ended up being a closed session with people being turned away) expressed similar concerns to mine. They also had been looking for substance that they could take back to their schools and districts.

Of course, there is a place for the "60-tools-in-60-minutes" type of sessions as we do need to know what is out there, but it doesn't need to stop there. As Vicki Davis tweeted, we must "transcend hype and share practical ways that give us hope to reach all kids." We need to remember to keep our focus and become discriminating in our teaching practice. Dressing up a pig doesn't change the fact that it's a pig. Likewise, all the bells, whistles, and animations does not take the place of true learning and teaching. After all, it is not about the tools....it's about the learning...and our students are counting on us.

P.S. I'm positive there were other sessions out there offering fantastic models, practices, and ideas. I'm sorry I didn't find you this year. Please realize that I'm writing from my own experiences. Thank you ~J

ISTE: Changing Lives Forever

I've just returned home from my eleventh ISTE. My experience at ISTE is probably much different than most of the other 20,000+ people who attend because, for the last ten years, I have attended with my ten and eleven year old students. They have been invited to present a Student Showcase. I get the rare opportunity to see the wonderful, hectic, sometimes chaotic learning machine that is ISTE through the eyes of my students. I get to see what their perceptions are of other educators' opinion on what should be going on in today's classroom. Surprisingly enough, they are extremely tuned into what is worthwhile and what is pure "fluff." Each year, my students choose to spend less and less time in the exhibit hall and hotel pool and more and more time in formal sessions and speaking to people informally between sessions, on the conference bus, and impromptu networking sessions. They speak passionately about their learning and the technology that supports it.If you are willing to listen and converse with them (you'd probably be shocked by how many attendees don't and are downright rude to them) you will see that they have very powerful voices...each distinct one from the other.

As I'm reflecting on this year's experience, I have one even that keeping circling back to the front of my mind. I want to share that story with you here.

If you attended my students' presentation, you know that it is 100% their work. They prepare what they are going to say to attendees, they've designed the take-home souvenir (instead of a hand-out), and they've designed the display. Of course, everything that they are sharing is also 100% created and published by them as well. We usually get a very good crowd that visits us and the kids don't get to come up for air for over two hours.

This year, I had one student with me that we'll call Trent. Trent is a quiet guy with a great sense of humor. Through our student-directed classroom, he has become an extremely strong leader often setting aside his work momentarily to help a peer in need. He encourages others when they feel like success is out of their grasp. He is an amazing individual who doesn't pull any punches when you want the truth.

Each of my students simultaneously run their own little presentation with groups of educators throughout our allotted time. We really need one computer per student, but we weren't able to travel with that many computers this year. Trent asked if he could use our iPad,"I know it won't show many of the awesome projects that we did, but I know I can explain it well enough that they will get a good idea of what I'm talking about.That way everyone else can keep using the laptops." Pretty selfless for an eleven year old, huh?

As my students present I stand back, field any questions they feel they can't answer fully and provide any support that they need. They've told me that if I stand too close it makes them nervous...so I keep a small distance. I could overhear Trent speaking with a small group and doing a beautiful job. They had so many questions that he was able to field effortlessly. That small group dwindled down to one teacher. She continued to pepper him with questions and take notes furiously. Trent took his time to explain all the tools, helped her write down steps, and even helped her spell out the tool's name if she asked.

She thanked him after about thirty minutes and went on her way smiling. Trent looked up at me with a huge grin, "Mrs. Ramsay, I just changed that woman's life forever. She'll never teach the same again. And isn't that what all of this is all about anyway?" Before I could answer, he turned and started his next presentation with another group who had just walked up.

WOW! Trent understands the importance of going to a conference; he knows it's not just about getting, but about giving back; it's about sharing a piece of yourself. It really is about changing lives forever.

As educators it is so important that we take the time to let our students have these experiences. They need to share what they are learning with others of all ages and geographic locations. They need to know that what they are doing can positively impact more than just themselves. They need the opportunity to share their perspective in the field of education and beyond. As I've said many times, they are the reason we are constantly learning and growing. Let's not underestimate our learners, but give them the opportunities to change people's lives forever.