Don’t ask me how I found this, you know me, always wandering about in one of my PLNs being exposed to great stuff.  Adobe Education Exchange is a service by … Continue reading →

I have, on and off, been looking for a platform to create clean, crisp, flipped lessons to cover the first three levels of Bloom’s taxonomy (know, understand, apply) without having to create a entire website.  It hasn’t been an easy search, but, I think I may have finally found something I can use this year. … Continue reading →

Nine years ago, I had a very interesting freshman class in a small charter school with approximately 100 high schoolers. 30 kids in the class, 7 desk top computers, prescribed online lessons through a reputable program I liked, a nice textbook… and free reign to do what I damned well pleased.  It was heaven, except … Continue reading →

I have piloted various products as I’ve flipped my class over the years, all with varied success.  What I am looking for is a way to create a flex book of the learning I want my students to experience.  I want this flex book to be easily accessible by students and parents.  I want the … Continue reading →

Some teacher friends and I have been on Facebook the last few days reflecting on our summer break and our children out there.  The topic eventually turned to those children who won’t be in classes this year.  Those children are dead. In urban settings as well as suburban and rural settings all across this country, … Continue reading →

Its time to get back to the grind.  I’ve considered my online learning space, how it is set up, what I want students and parents to be able to access in that space and how accessible it is to anyone entering it. I went into my classroom last week and grumbled to myself quietly as … Continue reading →

The never ending discussion on why children in the United States aren’t as "smart" as children in other countries has been rehashed a thousand times.  Its been looked at from all angles.  Blame has been placed at the feet of half a dozen entities.  Everyone has tackled the issue, been asked about it, except…. the … Continue reading →

First full week of school finished! I’m exhausted; you know, that "first week of school, dammit why do I do this to myself every year, I need to get on with my life, ugh" kind of exhausted. It was a good week. After several years of students who were forced to bring their personal issues … Continue reading →

Our district technology e-coach is counting down the days til her maternity leave (congrats Alisha!) and in the meantime, life must go on at the 22 schools she lovingly provides excellent tech support.  My building has received the account information for our students and we’re ready to help them set up their Google accounts!  One … Continue reading →

SCIENCE TEACHER ALERT!!!!! I am a big fan of adding video/audio media to lessons in the classroom.  This summer, I learned how to create learning stations that mix up the types of ways content on a particular topic could be presented and add things to learning in a way that is entertaining, thought provoking and … Continue reading →

I had a rather frustrating conversation with a friend this past week.  What was presented (after the fact) as a compliment on my skills and abilities as a teacher (I was sent a link about a science related event) was, according to this person, misinterpreted by me as an insult, as I responded to their … Continue reading →

This is the first post in what will organically grow into some sort of blogging monster, on my first year as a GClassroom user.  Enjoy the ride. I survived the first day with no visible bruises.   ___________________________________________ I decided back during the summer to use Classroom as my LMS this year after years of … Continue reading →

To refresh your memory:  Adventures in Google Classroom Land: The Beginning And now… 11:53am, 9.24.15 As I write this, I’m sitting in my 5th period class, frustrated.  Not because the assignment is falling apart, but because the students can’t get to the assignment so I can watch it fall apart. Week 2 of the great … Continue reading →

Our community of students (104 children) is reading The Giver together.  Twice a week, during advisory, each of the 5 teachers in the community read one chapter of the book and then discuss it with the class. Once every 2 weeks, the reading teacher reads an additional chapter in her class and discusses it.  She also … Continue reading →

Last time in Adventures: The First Assignment, Oh My! ~~~~~~~~ I had an epiphany over the weekend.  I figured out how to get my Versal lesson to open and play on the Chromebooks! I double checked the lesson settings, removing all privacy settings and made it completely public.  I then double checked everything on Classroom, … Continue reading →

Parent/Student conference season has arrived.  The one time of the year where teachers strive to empower students to see the big picture, students are empowered to work hard and learn and parents feel empowered to sabotage the whole experience. The biggest argument (excuse) for the lack of learning that parents like to use is not enough … Continue reading →

Last week in Adventures… ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The most amazing thing happened this week.  Except for the minor inconvenience of having to log into Versal every single time someone wanted to work on the lesson, nothing went wrong.  Students came into the classroom, opened up Chromebooks, logged in and quietly got to work; all before the bell … Continue reading →

I don’t recall if I’ve reviewed this app before or not.  If so, this would be considered an update.  If not, I have no idea what I was waiting to tell you! So, as my Adventure in Google Classroomland continues, I became frustrated with my students’ lack of interest/desire/motivation to learn and practice using their … Continue reading →

  Last time in Adventures… ~~~~~~~~ I attended the annual #iceindiana conference in Noblesville Friday.  Its the annual gathering of teachers around the state interested in technology in the classroom.  All the sessions are lead by teachers or former teachers who are now working in professional development and/or edtech in some other capacity.  This is … Continue reading →

During Fall Break, I promised myself I’d read one professional book and one novel. For my professional book,  I chose to read something I’d purchased a while ago, Hacking Education: 10 Quick Fixes for Every School, by Mark Barnes and Jennifer Gonzalez. The authors speak on the idea of not waiting for that great initiative … Continue reading →

 Remember way back at the beginning of this adventure I said I think I might be creating a monster?  It started breathing Tuesday Morning.   Let me back up. Two weeks ago, I was asked to run our weekly Monday professional development session where all the teachers gather during one of their two preps and … Continue reading →

Rubrics are an important part of the learning and assessment process.  They help keep everyone on the same page as far as what is expected as an end product in any scenario.  Until now, I’ve always created a rubric in a Google Doc, added it separately to the assignment and scored it manually.  Lots of … Continue reading →

Today’s workforce is ever-changing. Gone are the male-dominated, culturally homogenous views and traditionalism of the pre-digital age. Today diversity and inclusion is getting increasingly important for business success. In an increasingly global corporate environment, the new diverse workforce consists of both genders and a mix of old and new generations, different cultural and religious backgrounds. As a consequence of this diversity, we are now seeing different approaches to learning and the need to improve communication skills to sustain a new multicultural and global workplace. The pressure is now on organizations to deliver dynamic, flexible and agile methods of training to suit their staff’s varying levels of skill, age and learning speed. Organizations need to understand that learning begins with a culture of inclusion. By taking the time to understand the latest learning tools available, organizations can create an overarching attitude of learning, which adapts to the needs of their changing workforce. For some time, the days of pure classroom training, with one teacher and students confined to a room, with the rigidity of attending class at a set time every week, is no longer enough to meet individual and organizational needs. E-learning has addressed some of the demands of delivering fast and cost effective training - however the focus for business is more and more on communication nowadays, and how that can be effectively taught with diversity in mind. Our 2011 survey ‘Speexx Languages and Business Audit’, which questioned 103 senior L&D managers, HR managers and Business education staff across the globe, revealed 71 per cent of organizations believe they will be delivering more blended learning content within the next two years. The way staff are trained is expected to change by 2014. Our survey showed that 71 per cent of respondents stated that "blended learning" - a mix of e-learning, mobile learning and virtual learning - will be the primary method of delivering training. In the meantime classroom training will dramatically fall to only 17 per cent (from 44 per cent). Furthermore one out of five organizations expect that "social and informal learning" will play a greater role in staff development too. The dp survey also indicated that 74 per cent of businesses said that English and Chinese were viewed as the most important two languages to learn. With the advance of technology and new media, the possibilities are exciting for organizations willing to embrace new ways of learning. Individuals and organizations now have greater flexibility on how linguistic skills are delivered and effective results can be achieved regardless of skill, nationality or age. Effective business communication within a diverse and changing workforce can be successfully achieved with the perfect blend of advanced learning technology and teacher-led activities. Due to the streamlined and standardized nature of blended learning, senior managers are able to use the results to monitor the skill levels of their staff and identify any hidden champions that can fill any productivity gaps created in an organization’s foreign subsidiary. In this way, communication skills training and development becomes essential to an organization’s succession planning. In a rapidly changing workforce, language skills provide the key to communicating with clients as well as with colleagues across borders and operating more efficiently and profitably. Organizations who want to gain a competitive advantage will need to upskill staff in order to be better placed to reach out to new target markets and build lasting strategic relationships. Does workforce diversity and the need to empower communication across boarders matter to your organization? Get the whole picture, all survey data and neat tables with our whitepaper "Online communication skills training for a diverse global workforce". The post Online communication skills training for a diverse global workforce appeared first on speexx exchange.

In our recent whitepaper "Online communication skills training for a diverse global workforce" we looked at the challenges organizations face when going global without a proper communication skills strategy. Here are five steps that we consider crucial for developing a communication-empowered organization: Assess communications The first step in the learning phase is to conduct a thorough assessment of staff communication skills across the board. This comes in the form of an organization-wide foreign language skills test, as well as a self-assessment. In our experience, most organizations are surprised to see low results. This reveals the fact that their staff are actually not up to the challenge of businesses dealings within a global workforce. Identify communications The next step is to identify the levels of communication within the organization. Questions to ask are: Who are the key people within the organization? Where is the talent? What is the best way to address and manage their skills? Improve communications L&D and HR managers need to work together with technology to plan how to improve the language and communication skills within the organization without wasting time or affecting the workflow. Set yourself apart An organization with a blended learning solution will achieve far more effective results than those who simply purchase a library of resources, through which the students must sift. A streamlined and blended learning approach includes a skills gap analysis, i.e. identifying who needs training, when they need it, what it will take to achieve results and how long it will take. Achieve success Success can be easily visible once the organization realises there is less staff turnover. Leadership development, career development, talent management and staff satisfaction all stem from having not only the requisite technical skills, but soft skills such as communication and multilinguism. Ultimately, success lies in an organization’s ability to provide staff with the requisite resources to achieve those goals. Language and business communication skills provide the key to communicating with clients and colleagues across borders. They are also vital for organizations operating within multiple jurisdictions. An organization with an inclusive work culture that embraces diversity and effectively integrates multilingual workers will ultimately open its doors to better business. The task now for organizations is to take time to find the right measures to develop a perfect blend of learning within their company, encourage staff to use and to develop the skills they have already acquired and offer language training in ways that are both motivating and compatible with the needs of the workplace. What do you think, are there more than five steps? The post Improving Corporate Communications in 5 Steps appeared first on speexx exchange.