Day 2 and 3 of High Schools New Face

O.K., I'll admit it. I'm getting old! Day 2 was so full of information and the evenings went into the wee hours of the morn. I was exhausted! My head was also swimming with so many ideas heard throughout the day, I was concentrating more on how I could bring these ideas to Iroquois that blogging took a back seat. Day 2 was as information (and overwhelming) as Day 1 with Sheryl. The volume of new information and tools was incredible. Several people that attended last year's conference were concerned that they might not be exposed to too many new ideas....Wrong!! Sheryl had the unique ability to continue to stretch those that attended last year and may have been more experienced with Web 2.0 tools. Most interesting for me were the on-line tools available to develop and sustain a learning community as well as the on-line collaboration tools. I have had some experience with these tools but never used them to their full capacity.
At lunch we were entertained with several songs performed by Iroquois' own select concert choir. Mr. Gastle as usually made sure that these gifted students were well prepared and the talent our students display is nothing short of amazing. As usual, they made me feel so proud to be serving such an outstanding district.
The evening entertainment was yet another example that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. If you have not heard "Flame", go out and but a CD. This group certainly knew how put on a performance and warm the hearts of everyone there. The band has 9 members. You may be asking what makes them so unique. Each individual is challenged in some way: physically, cognitively or both. I hope to bring these very talented people to our school. They are an inspiration for everyone who has a dream but thinks they have too many obstacles to achieve them. The members of Flame certainly prove that determination along with the right skills makes the seemingly impossible, possible.
The morning of Day 3 concluded our time with Sheryl, learning more tools and actually using them. An on-line community was formed for attendees on Tappedin and is sure to keep those interested in continuing their learning and collaboration connected. The afternoon gave us an opportunity to work with the team from our school to develop an action plan for implementation at our district. We also had the opportunity to meet as a region to discuss how the momentum and initiatives could be sustained as well as what our BOCES can do to support our efforts.
Once again, the Joint Management Team organized a phenomenal conference. The energy and excitement I heard from so many individuals gives real hope to those of us that know teaching and learning in the 21st Century will be different than that of previous generations.

Day 1 of the Connecting Cohort with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach at High Schools New Face Conference

For those of you that are new to Web 2.0, you may not have heard of Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. She is incredibly knowledgeable and writes extensively about the integration of technology and Web 2.0 tools. Sheryl is professor at William and Mary College. Sheryl is committed to 21st Century learners and how to help educators move to 21st Century “teaching”. I discovered her blog and instantly we were connected. The fact that I was a superintendent interesting and using Web 2.0 in my daily work as well as attempting to have our high school teachers integrate the tools she included me as a “virtual mentor” for a pre-service course she teaches to college students on the way to becoming teachers. I was able to engage with her students, be a resource for ideas and issues they experienced as they were student teaching. We’ve had many interactions since then although we met face-to-face for the first time yesterday. Sheryl invited me to call in using SKYPE about my use of Web 2.0 at a conference she presented at in New Zealand this spring. It is incredible the contacts you make in the virtual world. Just by looking at the map on my blogroll (http:changinghighschools.blogspot.com), you can see how many people from every corner of the world have visited by blog. Often these people will comment on my blog, call me by SKYPE or e-mailed me to set up a time for an interview that would be recorded into the podcast.

Each participant was given an iPod Shuffle for the conference. This was a donation from Apple. The Shuffle can also be used as a 1 gig hard-drive. You need to have iTunes loaded on the computer you will use your Shuffle. Shuffles don’t like to use more than one computer. iTunes on a school computer is “safe”. iTunes has parental controls that can be set to make sure students don’t get exposed to the “radio” or other locations undesirable for students.

Adam Frey is a great resource. 100,000 free wikispaces are available for wikis without any advertising on it.

Sheryl has set up a wiki for the conference.
http://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com/

If you go to "Resources" you can find a link for wikispaces and many other tools.

Sheryl spoke about our changing world and how we are going to prepare student. Some key bytes:

Knowledge is divergent, not linear

Have you used the new WWW? The new WWW: Whatever, Wherever, Whenever.

iPod + podcasting= Anytime Learning

What about kids using iPods in School?

What about using cell phones?

“This is not business as usual, it’s business as unusual!”

What do you need to know when most of recorded knowledge is a mouse click away?

How do we prepare students for the jobs that don’t exist yet...using technologies that have not been invented yet…?

What does it due to the body of knowledge when everyone is a producer and knowledge isn’t static anymore?

How do we balance safety and access in order to allow the use of Web 2.0 technology.

Are you ready for the 21st Century? IT’S HERE!! We’re 7 years into it!

Web 3.0 is here. Take Web 2.0 and the technical aspects and learn from an Avatar such as in Second Life.

It is estimated that 1.5 exabytes of unique information will be generated this year.

What is 21st Century Learning? (It is so much more than technology)Some say;
The ability to establish ambiguity
Being your own reference librarian
Being able to network with people that have the resources you need


4 Areas that include 21st Century Learning
Digital Age Literacy
Inventive Thinking
Effective Communication
High Productivity

We need to give students a skill set so they are marketable and not competing with jobs that are outsourced?

There are 4 other Iroquois folks here at the conference attending other cohorts. Pat Aroune is here in the connecting cohort. Mr. Kenney, Mr. Esslinger and Mr. Lysiak are also here. I'm anxious to hear what they have learned in their first session.

First Evening at High School's New Face Conference

Talk about changes in the 21st century.......

This evening was an opportunity for planners and presenters for this year's High Schools New Face Conference to get together for dinner and socializing before the conference begins tomorrow. After dinner there was a campfire for folks to get together and chat. As we are fortunate to have someone as talented as Monte Shelby here, Monte brings his guitar to play and sing a little around the campfire. A little girl asks her dad about a far away country. How does Dad answer her question? Retrieve every bit of information he can remember? Tell her they'll go to the library next week and get a book out about the country?

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...



How many of us had our Dad bring us out to a picnic bench with his laptop and showed us anything in front of a campfire?
This is just one example of how kids learn in the 21st Century and why we need to change how students are educated. This will be an exciting three days!

High Schools New Face Conference 2007

It was just about one year ago that Western New York educators came together for High Schools New Face Conference in Ellicottville, New York. It was at this conference that I was first introduced to Web 2.0 technology from Will Richardson. The conference energized me and the team I brought from Iroquois and changed the way I thought about technology and how we educate or students. The world of blogging, wikis, on-line collaboration and social bookmarking changed how I use technology, gather and share information.
Tuesday, July 17th, educators from around the region will come together again to expand upon the ideas and information shared last year and for some, it will be there first time. It is sure to be a memorable experience for all. There will be four cohorts this year: Personalizing, Engaging, Connecting and Leading 21st Century Learners. This year, I will have the pleasure of co-facilitating sessions with Bonnie Smith designed to bring the leaders in the region together. The sessions will help leaders focus on the 21st Century learner, determine what new information that would like to acquire at this year's conference and develop an action plan they can return to their schools with and begin to make change. The sesions will also provide time for colleagues to network with others in the region.
Many new blogs will be created by the participants. Dealing with a variety of topics. A blog has been posted for the Leaders Cohort. It can be viewed at hsnf.wordpress.com
As a result of last year's conference, many teachers began to look at technology in a different way and how we have traditionally educated our students. The tools used made learning more interesting, more active on the part of students and broadened the depth of knowledge students were exposed to. I never anticipated the level of interest on the part of our faculty or how many teachers began to use the web in different ways. A grass-roots effort truly blossomed. I anxiously await the conversations and planning for making a significant difference in how our students view high school and learning.