This is part 2of the blog post series: Building an online Professional Development Hub for your School Building a Professional Development Hub for your School- Part 1: Why? Building a Professional Development Hub for your School- Part 2: Characteristics Building a Professional Development Hub for your School- Part 3: Challenges Building a Professional Development Hub for your School- Part 4: Steps Characteristics of an Online PD Hub for Schools. A hub is: shared Sharing of resources is the beginning, sharing of successes and failures in our professional practices to receive feedback is the next. documented By documenting (taking the time to writing down  reflecting on teaching and learning) and sharing the documentation provides evidence of a process and created artifacts. searchable The documentation is not scattered, nor available to just a few members of the school community, but is collected in one place that is searchable for all for future evidence and connections. archived Resources, artifacts and reflection of learning do not disappear after a project, a book study, a webinar or a workshop is over, but are being archived for later retrieval to be searched, built upon and connected to future professional development learning. open for feedback Sharing openly and transparently online (even on a closed school PD hub) adds the component of being able to receive feedback for your contributions from other members of the hub. The feedback cycle becomes an important component in the school PD hub for motivation, continuously extending your thinking and work. an aid in the process of writing and reflection Every teacher is a writing teacher. Every teacher strives to help their students reflect on their learning. John Dewey said: "We don’t learn from experiences, but from reflecting on the experience".  Teachers have little opportunity or take the time to continue to write and reflect on their own. A PD hub gives teachers the platform and the "excuse" to practice and hone their writing and reflection skills to then be able to take these skills and translate them into their classroom and teaching. Take a look at the other sections of the series: Building an online Professional Development Hub for your School Building a Professional Development Hub for your School- Part 1: Why? Building a Professional Development Hub for your School- Part 2: Characteristics Building a Professional Development Hub for your School- Part 3: Challenges Building a Professional Development Hub for your School- Part 4: Steps

The GIN (Global Issues Network) conference brought together an amazing group of young people, all united in their desire to change the world for the better and collaboratively find solutions to the world’s problems. The Global Issues Network (GIN) empowers young people to collaborate locally, regionally and globally to create solutions for global issues. Each year, thousands of students worldwide engage in GIN-related activities. I had the opportunity to work directly with students during two breakout sessions about the use of Social Media (Thank you Lisa Goochee for your support and participation) Students had been researching, planning and working together on a solution under a chosen topic listed in the twenty global problems identified by Jean-François Rischard in his book High Noon: Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them (2002). They had created video trailers showcasing their projects and prepared presentations to share with their fellow GIN conference attendees from International schools all over Central and South America. How could these students: reach an audience beyond the conference attendees? strategically build a network to connect with other students interested in global issues? disseminate their challenges, solutions and ideas to receive feedback and gain support? make contact with NGOs, experts in their field of interest or potential funding partners? continue working with other teams and schools to continue to grow their projects beyond the physical dates of a face to face conference? The answer: Building a social media network. While there are many different social media platforms that anyone can use to build a network in order to affect social change, the basic idea behind the potential of connecting, collaborating, communicating, crowdsourcing or crowdfunding is similar to all platforms. Create a "storefront", a profile or bio to let others know who you are and what you stand for Build a network by strategically choosing people/organizations/companies to follow Encourage the "right" people to follow you back Contribute quality content Participate in conversations (give feedback, ask questions, add perspectives, add value) Build a brand (document your work, share , interact, inspire, present, showcase, etc.) Grow, weed and maintain your network I challenged the group of teens in my session to take another look at a Twitter . Most had an account, but we encouraged the ones who did not to create one. How could they use the account to connect and promote their project? How could social media help them build a positive digital footprint and become part of their portfolio? How could they build a network of peers and experts? The rest of the session was hands-on. create a Twitter account (if you didn’t have one) choose a username create a profile description Tweet1:INFORM: share something with follow GIN attendees (use the hashtag) Tweet2: CONNECT: mention a keynote speaker (give feedback, ask a question, connect….) Tweet3:REFLECT: share your aha moment harvest usernames of other GIN attendees to add to your network Here are a few examples of students sharing a tweet with their network. Who else is teaching social media skills, techniques and strategies for students to start building their own learning/professional network? How are we supporting students to harness the power of social media? How do we encourage students to add their voices about the issues they are passionate about to the conversation? Can you share your strategies as a teacher with the rest of us? [View the story "GIN Conference: Student Voices" on Storify]

The concept of amplified education is fascinating! The Free Dictionary defines the verb "amplify" as: To make larger or more powerful; increase. To add to, as by illustrations; make complete. When I think of amplifying teaching and learning, I think of: being able to reach a global audience (instead of the audience of one) collaborating with potentially thousands of people collecting authentic data (through crowdsourcing) learning with people from around the world (impossible without the use of technology) having a voice (instead of having to rely on a middle man to give me permission, decide if I should be heard or not) having access to information beyond my own research capabilities and time (learning how to search people in addition to information alone) moving from using technology as a substitute to redefining teaching and learning I am excited to be able to "amplify" my thoughts (pun intended) by "making learning larger", "increase" the perspectives and best practices… work on adding puzzle pieces of teaching reflections from my learning network. Together with Andrea Hernandez (USA), Chic Foote (New Zealand) and Silvana Scarso (Brazil), we will practice what we preach and amplify teaching and learning via a Twitter Chat, sparking a conversation and moving forward to define amplified teaching and learning share resources support each other learn with others crowdsource examples of best practices in professional development and from the classroom practice amplification skills Interested? Join us for our first #amplifiEDU Twitter Chat on Wednesday, September 9th, 2015 at 8 pm EST Amplified Education-Join us for the first #amplifiEDU Twitter Chat on Wednesday, Sept 9 at 8 pm ESTClick To Tweet Our topic will be: Set the Tone for the New School Year : Amplify Learning (in honor of the Northern Hemisphere returning to school) #amplifiEDU Twitter Chat: Set the Tone for the New School Year : Amplify Learning -Wednesday, 9/9…Click To Tweet    We have prepared 5 questions and 2 challenges If you have never participated in a Twitter chat, why not give it a try? We promise we won’t bite and make it worth your while. Amplified Education-Join us for the first @amplifiEDU Twitter Chat on Wednesday, Sept 9 at 8 pm ESTClick To Tweet You can check out the following resources to wrap your mind around Twitter Chats: Participate in a Twitter Chat by Sue Waters How to join a Twitter Chat by Vicki Davis Participating in a Twitter Chat by Alice Keeler 5 Tips for Managing a Fast Paced Twitter Chat by Craig Kemp

Steve Hargadon invited me to participate in the Teacher Entrepreneurship Week and asked for an interview to talk about my perspective. With a tagline for Teacher entrepreneurship: Realizing and understanding that the middle man is gone! , I was on board. In 4 days he recorded and curated interviews with almost 40 educators. Four evenings of interviews, broadcast live on Google Hangouts on Air / YouTube. Steve Hargadon guides us through the world of teachers as agents of creation and change. THE LINEUP: Adam Bellow | Alice Keeler | Angela Maiers | Anne Mirtschin | Barbara Bray | Ben Wilkoff | Bernard Bull | Bill Ferriter | Chris Sloan | Curtis Bonk | Dan Meyer | David Warlick | Dean Shareski | Erin Klein | Esther Wojcicki | Gary Stager | Jon Corippo | Julie Lindsay | Karen Fasimpaur | Lee Kolbert | Lisa Nielsen | Lucy Gray | Matt Harris, Ed.D | Mike Lawrence | Nicholas Provenzano | Nicole Tucker-Smith | Paul Allison | Ramsay Musallam | Richard Byrne | Rushton Hurley | Shabbi Luthra | Shelly Sanchez Terrell | Silvia Tolisano | Steven Anderson | Suzie Boss | Sylvia Martinez | Tom Whitby | Vicki Davis | Will RichardsonSee all the recordings here.  

This post if meant to be seen through the lens of Looking and Documenting FOR Learning from the perspective of administrators or staff in charge of supporting teachers’ professional development and ongoing learning. I worked with teachers and administrators this past week at the Bavarian International School in Munich, Germany. Rachel Jackson, teacher librarian (mostly on Twitter) & Kim House, Technology Coordinator (mostly in a TodaysMeet backchannel) did an incredible job in documenting the work over our 3 days together. Not only did they document what they "heard", but also curated resources supporting the conversation topic as well as made specific connections to their school’s culture, questions and concerns previous professional development individual and collective teachers’ mind and skill sets Kim & Rachel were an invaluable asset to document in the backchannel, giving the school a chance to unpack the documentation to look for learning and use as a stepping stone of what’s next at their school. How can you use the documentation of professional development as a tool to LOOK FOR LEARNING?Click To Tweet How can you use the documentation of professional development as a tool to LOOK FOR LEARNING? [<a href="//storify.com/langwitches/looking-for-learning" target="_blank">View the story "Looking For Learning" on Storify</a>]  

Interested in working with me? Consider hiring me as a consultant to coach your administration and staff to develop shareable content for your school. There is a difference between Social Media IN schools and Social Media FOR schools. There is a difference between Social Media IN schools and Social Media FOR schools.Click To Tweet While social media in schools deals primarily with policies around how to use (or not use) social media in the classroom with students, social media for schools is about storytelling and getting their stakeholders (teachers, students, administrators, parents, community) to spread these stories. In the best case scenarios, social media IN schools is focused on: developing best practices HOW to use social media to support teaching and learning connect, communicate and collaborate through social media to an authentic global audience In worst case scenario, social media IN schools is focused on: preventing the use by students regulating the use of social media by teachers not allow access to prevent network security issues, institutional transparency, cyberbullying, etc. This post does not focus on any of these issues, but on the potential of using social media FOR schools. Telling the story of schools serves several purposes: curation (find, filter, organize, connect and present) information for their stakeholders adding value to a conversation, topic, theme, initiative with quality content sharing of best practices in teaching and learning making quality content visible to and shareable with others creating connections and a network of schools to advance education documenting institutional memory Column Five states in the video, The Value of Visualization, Your message is only as good as your ability to share it Your message is only as good as your ability to share itClick To Tweet The quote above begs the question, how schools are leveraging the power of sharing their message via social media and grow their ability to develop shareable content to contribute to a global educational community? Let’s look at developing shareable content for schools through an academic lens and in terms of branding schools globally as a learning community. Let’s consider the why, who, what and characteristics of developing shareable content. WHY SHARE? According to The New York Times Customer Insight Group, there are 5 reasons why people share. How do these reasons relate to the reasons why schools might be sharing? Feel connected Share school and team spirit and belonging through different venues.  How are stakeholders connected to teaching and learning at the school? Who is involved in initiatives and projects? Who is part of the school community? Define themselves What do we, as a school, stand for, support, believe in? How do we fit in the community? What is our mission? What are our goals as a school community? What are we accepting as demonstration of our core values? Entertain Schools share images, videos and other media to provide enjoyment and give an insight to school life, capture teaching and learning as well as share products of student and teacher creativity.  Support a Cause Schools spread initiatives and calls to action, encouraging support for variety of causes. Build & Cement relationships Schools are building, growing and cementing relationships with community members, local and global businesses, current and past students, families, faculty, experts, consultants and global educators. WHO & WHAT TO SHARE? Students share own learning Students document their learning journey through the use of digital portfolios that are visible and accessible to an authentic global audience. Teachers share own learning Teachers experience reflective, metacognitive, connected learning through the use of their own professional learning portfolio professional development Teachers collaborate and contribute to a school’s professional development blog to document and share their professional development experiences ( conferences attended, online learning, professional readings, etc.) student learning Teachers capture evidence of learning (and its process) to inform further teaching. Teachers also share student work and learning to connect globally with experts and peers to amplify learning. Administrators share own learning Administrators are models of life long learners for their faculty and students. Through curation of resources and reflection of their own learning in progress, they make their commitment visible to others. teacher learning Administrators share bright spots of teaching, learning and innovation at their schools with a global audience school initiatives What are the goals of moving a school initiative forward? How will you achieve buy-in from stakeholders? How will you share information about background, supportive resources, progress, successes, etc.? lead storyteller Administrators should be the lead storytellers of their school. Lead storytellers do not leave what is being said about the school to others. They choose, what and how the story of their school community is told.  Community shares school experiences The best marketing tool for any brand is when others share their (positive) experiences with their own network. This type of endorsement is worth more than if it were coming from the brand itself. events taking advantage of multiple "points of view" and documenters ,  gives the audience an amplified perspective and "coverage" of any event. CHARACTERISTICS OF SHAREABLE CONTENT The content created should exhibit the following characteristics: Title: must be capturing We only have a split second to catch the attention of our audience in the age of information overload. The title should capture the potential viewer’s interest and encourage to share with their own network (word of mouth or/and online network) Think… "5 Ways to Avoid the Back to School Blues" or "Hurrah, The School is on Fire" Content: relevant, timely, useful The content must by relevant to the potential audience. Is it relevant to tweet out the school’s lunch menu? (Depends on the audience… students, faculty, parent community… possibly… a global audience… most likely not). Think…  Looking to make global connections for your students to participate in a project about the 2016 Olympics? Make sure the content does not get disseminated a few days before the start of the games, but allow time to form these connections. Disseminate content, useful to others, to teach and learn about the Olympics the months before the upcoming games. Accompanying Images and Videos (and other visual content) Our brain processes visual content at a much faster rate than text alone. Statistics support that your audience will be more likely to click on a post if it contains a visual versus text alone. Think… infographics, Memes, short video clips, how-to-guides, high quality photography Added Value Shareable content usually provides some sort of added value to potential audiences to encourage re-sharing. Simple copying or repackaging of material created by others (might also infringe on copyright) does not support building of a creative, innovative school brand. Find ways to add value for others by curating and filtering information, adding perspectives to issues, make connections to thoughts, ideas and  concepts visible to others. Think…" Carol Dweck’s Growth versus Fixed Mindset is sweeping the educational arena around the world, we are sharing with you how our faculty is applying her work in the classroom…." Appeal to Emotions (joy, fear, surprise, self-esteem effection, trust, hope, pleasure, uncertainty, amusement)  Nothing can be stronger than provoking emotions in your audience to encourage them to share your content with others. What matters most to your audience: their children, their teaching job and career? their education? Career readiness? Safety? Create content that appeal to any of these emotions) Think… fostering loyalty and driving school advocacy. How about about holding a contest for alumni to contribute photos of their years spent at your school or create an infographic about your school’s alumni college success or a video following a recent graduate to a feeder school? Easily shareable Make it  as easy as possible for your content to be shared, streamline the process as much as possible for your audience. Make your content available on different platforms to encourage the users of these platforms to share with their network. Think… Have social media share buttons embedded in your posts (Tweet this, Pin This, Like Us on Facebook, etc.). Best if you can make one-click sharing available. Defines people We share with others the things that define us? Take a deep look at what defines your school and its community? Is it academics? Is it Sports? A combination? Is your school known for innovation? Show your audience a version of themselves, a way they define themselves or as they want to be seen by others and they’ll be more likely to pass it along to their network. Think… content that demonstrates leadership in innovation among competitor schools. Content that supports the vision of the school employing top  educators of the region. Illustrates thought leadership We live in a moment in history, where change happens at lightning speed. Traditional pedagogy, tried and proven to be effective for decades, suddenly is proving to not prepare students with the necessary skills and literacies for their future. Every school, every administrator and every teacher is presented with opportunities for action research in any area of educational interest. By choosing to explore these opportunities further, we all are becoming pioneers redefining and transforming teaching and learning. Think… Capture and document the learning process your school is undertaking as you implement digital portfolios. Adapt, Remix and Improve Stand on the shoulders of your network. Learn from others, adapt, remix and improve on their work. Become part of an ecosystem to collaborate and improve education. The different puzzle pieces making up the ecosystem feel first hand how contributing makes each component function better. Take a closer look at Creative Commons work from other educators and schools and create content to add value, share examples or perspective. Think…sharing means amplification Insight to real world stakeholders live in Share content with your audience that demonstrates to them, you have an insight into their real world. Do you want students/parents/teachers to help tell the story of your school, create content that gives them insight into their own world and they will help you spread the word. Think…content that illustrates how to survive pre-teen and teenage years. Create content that guides your students through the selection of high school courses. Illustrate how to manage homework load. Interested in having Silvia work with your school to develop a social media strategy? Contact her to discuss consulting options.

While my last blog post was focused on developing shareable content FOR schools via social media, I have taken a step back to look at the bigger picture and the different components schools need to consider and gain fluency in order to best harvest the power of social media for them. awareness of the difference between social media IN schools and FOR schools social media strategy for schools social media platforms and tools: characteristics, capabilities, type of content suited for particular platform, image/video sizes characteristics of shareable content   Interested in having me work with you, your school, administrators, teachers and students? We will unpack the power of social media for telling your school’s story, brand yourself as an educator to support your school’s brand and create a social media strategy for your organization or professional brand. Contact me to get started! Download Social Media FOR Schools infographic for free (pdf) While social media in schools deals primarily with policies around how to use (or not use) social media in the classroom with students, social media for schools is about storytelling and getting their stakeholders (teachers, students, administrators, parents, community) to spread these stories.

Announcing the second #amplifiEDU Twitter Chat for this upcoming Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 8 pm EST!   Our topic of discussion will be: Becoming More Connected!- The 7 Degrees of Connectedness. Your moderators: Silvana Scarso (Brazil), Chic Foote (New Zealand), Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano (USA) & Andrea Hernandez (USA) Join Us #amplifiEDU Twitter Chat, Wednesday, Sept.30 @ 8 pm EST- Becoming more connected- The 7…Click To Tweet   The topic is based on Rodd Lucier‘s blog post Seven Degrees of Connectedness, which in turn was amplified when I created an infographic of the same name. Looking forward to seeing you and perhaps stepping out of your comfort zone to amplify your own connectedness by going beyond being a lurker! Our Questions for the Twitter Chat: Q1: Look at the 7 Levels of Connectedness infographic & self-assess. Please share where you think you are as a connected learner. Q2: What does it take to become more connected? What has brought you to your current level of connectedness? Q3: What are the rewards of being connected? Q4: What discourages you from connecting? Q5: Can you find a tweet to connect with? Take the time to reply to someone else. Q6: What is ONE THING you will do to amplify your level connectedness or your area of influence?

I spent an intense day with administrators (Heads of School, Directors of communication, admission) at the AASSA (Association of American Schools in South America) Social Media Institute discussing social media FOR schools (not social media IN schools). You can find the documentation including resources and examples in this post. Description: Gone are the days of having to discuss the existence and importance of a social media presence for schools. Faculty, students, parents, stakeholders, potential families and employees,  and a people-network, vital to your organization, are expecting interaction, curated information and just in time news updates. Who is the lead storyteller at your school? Social Media has changed the way we communicate, curate, archive and disseminate information. Schools no longer push out content as a one sided conversation. Who is overseeing what, when and how something is being said about your school? How do schools harness the power of social media and embed authentic, collaborative, and networked communication, learning and marketing? The day was divided into 4 sessions Social Media 101: Introduction to Social Media concept. Review the social landscape of the year 2015. What does an integrated and interconnected network mean for your school? What can social media do for your school in terms of learning, marketing, outreach, faculty recruiting, retention and professional development? Social Media Platforms and Tools: Look at the "current" social media platforms. We will highlight the nuances of each. Which social media platform is best suited for a specific purpose? How do you streamline various platforms? What types of media or information is being shared? Strategic Social Media Planning: Develop a social media strategy for your school. Know your constituents and know the kinds of content they want and need. How do you curate resources customized to their needs? How do you connect via social media your faculty to experts and colleagues to collaborative grow and learn as professionals? How do you grow your social media presence and network? What do you want the world to know about your school? What is your school’s digital footprint? What does your online brand communicate about the school? Social Media Hands-on:  Work on your own professional social media presence. Experience the power of social networking. Learn to create engaging content (photos, videos, questions, mission driven, etc). Experiment with social media writing genres, #hashtags, visual design tools, digital storytelling and strategically grow your network. Here is the accompanying slidedeck to the workshop for your to review, share and use, as your school is starting or continuing their journey into social media.     My first question was to find out HOW schools were ALREADY using social media. I asked participants to share via a Today’s Meet backchannel. I realized that there is a difference in responses between WHERE (as in social media platform) the school "is on" (much easier to respond to)  and HOW a school is using social media.   I also asked attendees to share their social media comfort level, as well as their school’s and personal (as in professional educator) social media presence by filling out a google form. Here is the landscape of participating AASSA schools social media presence School Websites: American School of Brasilia Escola Campo Alegre The Columbus School Albert Einstein Colegio Maya Pan American School of Bahia International School of Panama Colegio Jorge Washington Colegio Internacional de Carabobo Colegio Interamericano Pan American School Associacion Escuelas Lincoln Interamerican Academy Carol Morgan School American School of Rio de Janeiro Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt Colegio Menor San Francisco de Quito Chapel School Colegio American de Quito Academia Cotopaxi, American International School Uruguayan American School Escola Americana de Belo Horizonte Escola Americana do Recife Georgetown International Academy Below you will find the social media presence participants shared… a perfect opportunity to view, notice, consider and be inspired how social media is used for branding (personal/professional and as a school), as well as being able to "harvest" feeds and usernames to build and grow your own network. Blogs: Barry Déquanne (Head of School American School of Brasilia) Nicholaas Moster ( Middle School Principal, Carol Morgan School) Twitter: AASSA Member Schools (AASSA curated Twitter List) International Educators (AASSA curated Twitter List) International Administrators (AASSA curated Twitter List) Twitter Hashtags: #AELPD #gradedpd #CDSlearning Facebook Pages: Colegio Menor Campus Samborondon Colegio Menor Campus Quito International School of Panama Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala Escola American da Bahia Colegio Roosevelt Alumni Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro Pan American School of Porto Alegre International School of Panama Alumni American School of Brasilia Academia Cotopaxi & Imagine Education Colegio Alberto Einstein Colegio Jorge Washington Uruguayan American School Colegio Maya Guatemala Georgetown International Academy Escola Americana Belo Horizonte Carol Morgan School Interamerican Academy Instagram: Colegio Menor- Quito Colegio Menor - Samborondón ISP Arts Escola Americana de Belo Horizonte Colegio Jorge Washington American School of Brasilia Pinterest: Barry Dequanne Academia Cotopaxi YouTube: The Colegio Maya Carol Morgan School Colegio Roosevelt Colegio Jorge Washington American School of Panama Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro LinkedIn: American School of Brasilia Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala Academia Cotopaxi Escola Americana de Belo Horizonte Carol Morgan School Toby Travis Roberta Coelho Barry Dequanne Social media FOR schools is about storytelling. We are also telling the story of ourselves as life long learners, as educators, as professionals. In order to make our stories more visual, we took a look at how we can incorporate the cultural phenomenon of the selfies to put ourselves into the stories, a way to document that we were part of an event, of a learning experience or a process. For some participants, it was the first time taking a selfie.  By taking a look at what the questions or concerns are, schools will have a great starting point to continue (and share) conversations back at their schools Participants were also challenged to think about the story of their school. In a world, were potential readers and viewers make a decision if they will read, listen, view or watch what you are sharing, the skills to be able to summarize, be brief  and visual are highly valued. How would they tell the story in 15 seconds! Watch a few examples in the video below. Social Media FOR Schools: Your School’s Story in 15 Seconds or Less from AASSA on Vimeo. The backchannel on Today’s Meet continued to prove a valuable platform as it was used to share: connection requests further resources questions  around conversations to be continued examples mentioned in conversations Discussions around POLICY seemed to be a priority. I encouraged participants to take a look at these two policy examples and consider the difference  between Acceptable Use Policy and Responsible Use Policy Take a look at further resources below with list of questions to guide developing a policy. How to Create Social Media Guidelines for your School by Steve Anderson Digital Citizenship Education in Saskatchewan Schools by Dr. Alec Couros & Dr. Katia Hildebrandt Recommended reading list for Social Media FOR Schools: Show your Work by Austin Kleon The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki & Peg Fitzpatrick The Power of Branding by Tony Sinaris & Joseph Sanfelippo Digital Leadership by Eric Sheninger The Power of Visual Storytelling by Ekaterina Walter & Jessica Gioglio While newbies practiced to summarize, curate or connect their resources, thoughts and ideas in 140 characters on paper… others, with a Twitter account already, were encouraged to participate by using the #AASSA hashtag to document, take notes and share out. [View the story "AASSA Social Media Institute" on Storify] Interested in continuing the conversation about social media FOR schools? Share HOW you are using social media for your school in the comment, use the #socialmedia4schools or #AASSA (For International schools) hashtag.

The 3rd #amplifiEDU Twitter Chat has been scheduled. Mark your calendars and join us! October 14, 2015 - 8 pm EST! Our topic of discussion will be: Documenting FOR Learning. Mark your calendars for the #amplifiEDU Chat. October 14, 2015 - 8 pm EST! Our topic of discussion:…Click To Tweet Your moderators: Silvana Scarso (Brazil), Chic Foote (New Zealand), Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano (USA) & Andrea Hernandez (USA) and Katrin Barlsen (Argentina) While we will be digging deeper into the topic, Documenting FOR Learning, by following the Q1/A1 chat format (see questions below), we will continue to practice what we preach and use this opportunity to AMPLIFY teaching and learning. Last Twitter chat was documented through the lens of a Twitter Newbie through a screencast of the chat- Becoming More Connected, commentated and individual components of the chat unpacked (structure, format, mentions, hashtags, etc.) pointed out and the speed of the conversation slowed down  for newbies to be able to follow, become aware and even potentially participate. This upcoming #amplifiEDU Twitter chat will be documented through the lens of CURATION. Using different documentation techniques, we will make thinking, learning and perspectives around the topic of documentation FOR learning visible. You will be able to catch the product of that documentation (and all future documentations around amplified education) by subscribing to the amplifiEDucation blog, by following the @amplifiEDU user  or the #amplifiEDU hashtag on Twitter. Questions: Q1: Why documenting FOR learning? Q2: What can you document? Q3: How do you get into the habit of a "documenter"? Q4: What will you accept as evidence of learning? Q5: Have you taken the time to connect and respond. Q6: What will you DO with the documentation? Q7: How do you become metacognitive about documentation?  

This post is part of C.M Rubin’s monthly series in the Huffington post: The Global Search for Education: Our Top 12 Global Teacher Blogs. This month we are answering the following prompt: Can Social Media Have a Role to Play in Managing a Successful Classroom? As in previous posts in the series, I am examining the prompt from a semantic point of view and ask myself immediately: What do we consider " managing a successful classroom" (and even what does it successful mean)? I also stumbled immediately over the word "CAN" and cringed when I wondered if it could say "Should" or "Must"?  Semantics aside and out with an easy and short response: YES, social media can play a role in a successful classroom. Maybe a better question would be: Why is Social Media not playing a larger role in managing successful classrooms? Social Media is one venue (of many) to LEARN… why should it not play a role in our schools? Our students are gravitating (on their own) to Social Media for learning on their own terms outside of schools… why should we not take advantage of that for their learning in schools? Learning for the 22nd century increasingly means being social and connected… why should we not take advantage of the platform to support that kind of social and connected learning ? Social Media adds so many layers of depth to traditional learning strategies to include modern/now literacies… why would we not want to expose, facilitate and support our students in becoming literate in the area of global, network, media, information literacies and digital citizenship? Communication has changed in the world around us. It is more visual, it is more concise, it is shareable, it is exponential in terms of the reach of our communication…how is this reflected in our current curriculum and pedagogies? (to quote Heidi Hayes Jacobs: "What year are we preparing our students for?") Information has changed our lives. The way we have access to it, the way we filter it, the way we consume it, the way we need to evaluate it, the way we produce it, the way we disseminate it. Social Media plays an integral part in the way information flows in our daily lives… why would we not give the learners in our classroom the opportunity to play, experiment, touch, mold, nurture, take apart, put together, create, disseminate, connect and learn to live and thrive in a world of exponential growth of information? Why are we not preparing our students with the critical skill of searching, not just information, but people trough our human networks. The lines between our lives and "digital lives" are blurring at an accelerating speed, just as the difference between citizenship and "digital citizenship" is becoming hazier… why would we not embed authentic learning opportunities in our classroom to foster positive citizenship (analog and digital)? The world is shrinking. Connecting, communicating and collaborating with people from around the world, due to technology, is sometimes easier than the same task involving people from the same geographic location… how can we not give our students the opportunities to broaden their geographic and cultural horizons by interacting beyond their culture, language and perspective Take a look at some of my documentation over the past years from the trenches of Social Media in the Classroom: Transfer of Modern Skills, Literacies, Fluency & Independence 4th Grade Style CSI Twitter- Crime Scene Investigation Tweeting with Elementary School Kids Guide to Twitter in the K-8 Classroom Twitter HOTS & Establishing a Twitter Routine in the Classroom The Middle Man is Gone: You Have a Voice Assessment in the Modern Classroom: Part One: Twitter Assessment in the Modern Classroom: Part Two- Taxonomy of a Skype Conversation Assessment in the Modern Classroom: Part Three- Blog Writing

The #amplifiEDU Twitter chat from September 30th, was documented through the lens of a Twitter Newbie through a screencast of the chat- Becoming More Connected, commentated and individual components of the chat. On October 14th, the 3rd #ampliefiEDU Twitter Chat was held with the topic of Documenting FOR Learning. Amplifying learning sometimes means looking at information, filtering, evaluating that information and re-mixing that information, possibly through a different medium, to make that information more visible and accessible to a larger audience. Different people, documenting through their own lens of CURATION can tell the story of that information from different perspectives. Using different documentation techniques, we can make thinking, learning and perspectives around the topic of documentation FOR learning visible. Twitter Storify Archive (by choosing to archive the Twitter Chat, also filtering non-pertinent information), we are curating and amplifying the chat, making it available for future use, amplifying the audience asynchronously,  beyond the ones who were present at the actual time of the chat) Sprouting new Ideas by Melina Seifert (Melina shares a bilingual post (English & Spanish) and further amplifying her learning by making it accessible to non-English speakers) Curating People by Andrea Hernandez (Andrea creates and infographic and uses the time invested in creating that infographic as part of her learning and thinking process versus seeing the infographic image file as an end product) Below you will see an infographic as I shifted through all responses to the 6 main questions posed during the chat and grouped them visually together for a better, more organized overview of participants’ responses

I facilitated a workshop at Miami Device this past week. Most conference sessions feel rushed with only 45-60 minutes to share, but thanks to Felix Jacomino‘s  the genius mind behind the conference, scheduled my 10 Tips to Get Started with Sketchnoting workshop for 2 hours!  It gave us the opportunity to DO what we were talking about. Participants were able to practice sketching the content of the workshop as they were learning about sketchnoting! We walked, step by step, through building a sketch by remembering these 10 tips: Remembering that you don’t have to be an artist to use sketchnoting as note taking or to make your thinking visible Skethnoting is about ideas, connections, thinking, about the process , visualizing and organizing your thinking What can be sketchnoted? Books, TED Talks, Lectures, Articles, Brainstorming sessions, Presentations, Birthday Cards or blog posts Different types of structures: linear, columns, freehand, timelines Elements: connections, icons & bullets, containers, typography, people & objects Listening Tips Practice objects, increase your visual gallery Sketchnoting for: process ideation, note taking, mindmapping, reflection Tools Share: Although sketchnotes are supposed to make primarily sense to you alone, sharing them via social media allows others to learn from your perspective and your visible thinking 10 Tips to Get Started with Sketchnoting Click To Tweet Enjoy some of the participants’ sketchnotes of the workshops (for some the first attempt)By Jeannette Kostka Along the way participants received the assignment to practice their skills by building their visual vocabulary.  What are some concepts that you are passionate about, that you would, most likely, be trying to make your thinking visible? How would you be able to represent these concepts?     Participants were encouraged to practice throughout the rest of the conference their sketchnoting, in order to be meta-cognitively aware of their own thinking process as they were taking visual notes? Sketchnoting another session at Miami Device by Tammy Neill Sketchnoting: 10 Tips to get Started from Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

There are different ways to hold a conversation. I am using several  platforms/methods to hold a conversation with the faculty of the Shore, Church of England Grammar School from Sydney, Australia. Our topic is documenting FOR and AS learning. We are somewhat "flipping" my school site visit (scheduled for next June) and are using several of the below mentioned platforms/methods and resources to start the conversation around documenting for learning, build common vocabulary and understanding and plan for our face to face time together. I invite you to join the conversation by reading, commenting and sharing your thoughts and work if you are interested in documenting for/as learning! We can hold a conversation face to face, although we are limited to talking with people who are physically in the same room and present at the same time to hold that conversation. We can hold a conversation through text exchange via letters, emails, text messaging groups, collaborative documents, chat rooms, backchannel platforms or on a blog via comments. We can hold a conversation via audio, such as a telephone call or web based/mobile audio calls. We can hold conversations via a video conference platform with people who are not able to be in the same physical location, but can connect at the same time to see each other’s facial expression. We can hold a conversation via a Twitter #Hashtag with people from around the world interested in discussing the same topic as you are. You might not necessarily know these participants, nor are previously connected with them via your social media network. You might be holding this conversation synchronously (typically in a Twitter chat format) or asynchronously over time, connecting the tweets with a predetermined hashtag. #shoreplf… [View the story "Documenting FOR Learning" on Storify] Stay tuned for the documentation of the on-site visit. A Conversation about Documenting FOR/ AS Learning...Click To Tweet  

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I recently had the opportunity to be part of a teacher conference with the theme of Looking for Learning through the Lens of Growth Mindset. edJEWcon Chicago took place in November 2015 on the campus of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago. Around 300 educators convened from six Jewish day schools from the Chicago area. edJEWcon was conceived out of the necessity to upgrade professional development opportunities for educators in Jewish Day Schools. We knew that isolated PD workshops did not work… We knew that learning in isolation did not work… We knew that we needed to give teachers the time to experience and live through the same type of learning that we wanted them to bring into their classrooms for their students… We also knew that John Dewey was right when he said, "we don’t learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on the experience". Hence edJEWcon’s mantra was born… LEARN-REFLECT-SHARE How could we embed the conference theme and mantra as part the conference day?      The essential questions of the day were: What does growth mindset mean for us as adults? What do teachers need as part of school culture in order to do the work of cultivating growth mindset? What resources are administrators using to create cultures of growth mindset in schools? The Learning Intentions were set to be: Learning how to learn in the 21st century Looking for Learning (in ourselves) Strengthening a Growth Mindset as an Adult Learner We kept close to these learning intentions in the belief, that educators had to experience the type of learning, they hoped to see in their students. How could we give teachers the opportunity to experience documenting FOR and AS learning? Learning to tell the story of their learning, but also learning to become aware and being able to articulate a narrative of where are we going as learners and as a school community? The keynote(s) we shared that morning were reliant on the participants’ willingness to be learners, to be pushed just a little out of their comfort zone Seth Sandler explains the three rings quite nicely: First Ring: Comfort Zone The comfort zone is where many of us operate. It’s the location of the skills and abilities we’ve acquired. While the comfort zone is by definition the most ‘comfortable’, we can’t make progress or build skills in the comfort zone since it consists of the abilities we can already do easily. 2nd Ring: Learning Zone—- Magic Happens One can only make progress by choosing activities in the learning zone. The skills and abilities that are just out of reach are in the learning zone; they’re neither so far away that we panic nor close enough where they’re too easy. 3rd Ring: Panic Zone If you’ve ever become so anxious you can no longer think, you’ve probably run into the panic zone.  Activities in the panic zone are so tough that we don’t even know how to approach them. The overall feeling of the panic zone is that you are uncomfortable and possibly discouraged. Like the comfort zone, we can’t make progress in the panic zone. We knew, we could expect participants to be overwhelmed with content, technology, platforms, ideas, resources, etc., but we wanted them to be aware of these feelings. Aware of HOW learners feel… everyday… in their classrooms….in their schools….as part of the reality of the 21st century… Did being aware of these feelings mean that they also were aware of the messages and signals that their brain might already be sending them: I don’t know how to do that! This is too much! I am not good with tech stuff! This is too hard! I am going to retire in a few years, this is not my problem anymore! What if I can’t do this? Or on the flip side, some might not feeling overwhelmed regarding the learning intentions we had set?… but felt  more like: I got this I already know this I have been teaching for many many years, I know what I am doing How does this apply to me? I want to know how I can instill a growth mindset in my students, growth mindset has nothing to do with me! We took another look at the characteristics of a fixed versus a growth mindset and applied them to ourselves. Where do we fall? On this side? On that side? A little bit on both sides?   No matter how much the teachers already knew about Carol Dweck and her growth mindset theory, we asked them to practice characteristics of that very growth mindset and that to look at the CHANGE around us that are impacting education and at the exponential  and constant speed things are changing. We asked them to look at themselves and at the CHANGE FOR LEARNERS that was required in the 21st century in order to prepare students for the 22nd century. Eduardo Briceño cleared up some common confusions about Growth Mindset in an article in MindShift- How we will learn. Carol Dweck herself revisits her own theory of Growth Mindset and warns the misuse of her theory, when she sees: educators who claimed to have a growth mindset, but whose words and actions didn’t reflect it. We reminded teachers that a growth mindset is NOT about attending this one day conference nor letting everyone know that one already have a growth mindset, but about continuous improvement or as Carol Dweck says: the path to a growth mindset is a journey, not a proclamation. What if each and every one of us, would ask ourselves not What if I can’t do it? but What if I CAN do it?   How would our learning as a community be different today? What if everyone would think: What if I can learn and contribute? What if I can share? The answers below were contributed to a Today’s Meet backchannel platform: We asked teachers to start where they were. We asked them to: Don’t just look… observe Don’t just hear… connect Don’t just think… reflect Don’t just have your body present… but have your mind present! While the keynote(s) shared many different approaches of new pedagogies involving technology, it was not about technology. We asked teachers to LOOK FOR LEARNING and not for the tool or the platform. How easy is it to dismiss a paradigm shift in LEARNING, if lumped together under the umbrella of "tech stuff"! We did not just want to talk about different types of learning, we wanted participants to experience it as well. There is not better way to teach than to show, not only tell… Teachers, not only talked about Growth Mindset and took a closer look at an infographic/ThingLink titled "The Educator and the Growth Mindset", we  also skyped Dr. Jackie Gerstein, creator of the infographic and ThingLink and directly asked her questions. Listen in to the skype call, brought to you (in case you were not present during the presentation) by the power of "documentation". I have worked with the concept of documenting FOR and AS learning and written extensively about the topic on the Langwitches blog. The concept operates under the assumption that looking for learning with the idea of : being aware of what learning looks like? how we can capture learning? how we can make thinking and learning visible? how can we reflect on the learning as par the process of learning? sharing the learning , not as an add-on, but as part of a moral imperative We asked to document our learning throughout the day in different ways, from video recording, images, sketchnotes, backchanneling to post-it notes. edJEWcon believes in Alan November’s words "Collaboration and sharing knowledge are highly prized skills". This concept of collaborating and sharing beyond one’s own classroom or school building might in itself be  already a BIG PUSH outside of some comfort zone…but this is precisely where we needed to demonstrate (not just talk about) our own growth mindset. The benefit and process of marking our thinking visible has been researched and shared by Harvards Project Zero and written about by Ron Ritchart in his books Make thinking Visible and Creating Cultures of Thinking. I am adding another layer to the equation by making the DOCUMENTATION over time an important ingredient in the process of learning. Documenting embeds the process (not just a final product), a reflective component and feedback! Carol Dweck, in an article, where she revisits her Growth Mindset theory, points out that students need to learn and try new strategies and seek input from others when they’re stuck. As we are all, administrators, teachers and students, embark on a journey of documentation  FOR and AS learning, we need to bring awareness to, create common vocabulary and decide what we will consider as evidence of growth. Stephen Downes in a post titled " A few Words about ePortfolios" reminds us that  Increasingly in the future, students will be responsible for managing their own online learning records and creative products… they will need to manage these resources, index  them and enable access to them. We need to keep Stephen’s words in mind, as we are documenting. If we do not have a platform, nor a strategic plan how we will archive, manage and connect our online learning records, we are setting us up for trouble. edJEWcon has created a platform and a learning community to support the development of documentation FOR and AS learning in form of shared documentation and reflection of a professional learning process as educators in Jewish Day Schools. Blogfolios, defined by Andrea Hernandez as Portfolios give students a chance to develop metacognition, set goals and internalize what "good work" looks like. Blogs offer a platform for creativity, communication, connection and the practice of digital citizenship. "Blog-folios" are the best of both worlds- using a blogging platform to develop writing skills, provide opportunities to connect with an authentic audience and increase reflective practices. Abraham Harold Maslow was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He encourages us to remember that: In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety. We invite you to step forward into growth by participating, reading, writing, contributing, reflecting, documenting AND sharing on edJEWcon.org in order to grow a community of learners from Jewish Day Schools. Taking the leap of looking at Growth Mindset for students, we encouraged attendees to examine themselves in terms of their own Growth Mindset as life long learners. How does a school look like who embodies the characteristics of the Growth Mindset theory? From the keynote(s) which set the tone,  we transitioned into a Collective Wisdom session. Participants were divided into different groups and had the opportunity to discuss and document their conversation.   The first guiding question was What motives you to persevere when learning something new or difficult? Participants were asked to answer in 140 characters or less and share their answers on a post it note (click image to be able to read contributions). A second guiding question for the collective wisdom discussion was posed: This time, we asked participants to create an image or sketch their discussion.   How can you create learning environments that foster growth mindset? Participants were asked to use a backchannel to share their answers to the third guiding question: What quotes about growth mindset resonate with you? What tools and resources have you used to help your students build growth mindsets? The third part of the day was planned as a "Deep Dive" by sharing the artifacts that were created during keynote and the collective wisdom sessions, reflecting publicly on the blog and and giving/receiving feedback in form of comments. As Murphy’s Law  states: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong", participants were not able to log into their blog accounts on edJEWcon in the afternoon. What an opportunity to apply a growth mindset and not throw in the towel due to obstacles or mistakes? The Deep Dive session was quickly re-arranged into a face to face Speed-Geek Sessions with grade-level sharing session of best practices. Catch  glimpse of a few seconds video of the conversation that took place during the Deep Dive. If you made it this far in reading this blog post, my question to you is about the value of documentation? What are the advantages for the reader….? I know the time, effort, reflection and learning that went into putting this post together… in itself enough value… , but what about you as a reader? Someone who was there and is taking advantage of my perspective… Someone who was there and is adding my documentation to their documentation… Someone who was there and was in one or the other keynote, session or group,  missing the conversation that occurred in another. Someone who was NOT there… what are you taking away from the documentation?  

PODCASTING can't get easier than this. After reading a great post by NIK PEACHEY I decided to give it a try. First, I downloaded the audioboo app to my iphone.Then, I went to my audioboo account and changed the settings to synch my audioboos with my posterous blog. (You can also synch your audioboo with your facebook and twitter)To make the recording, I used my iphone (audioboo app), published my recording, attached an image to it, wrote a description and VOILÁ , it was automatically published in my posterous blog.HOW TO USE THIS WITH STUDENTSrecord students reading dialogues and then with a simple click publish it in a class blog. record yourself reading a text and then add comprehension questions to your posterous post.record yourself reading a text for your students as a dictation to be done at home.record your students interviewing each other.record interviews when you go to workshops / conferences and automatically share them in twitter.If you don't have an iphone, the same can be done using an ipad or recording directly in the audioboo website.AUDIOBOO   +  POSTEROUS

These are some of the sites I came across this week via my PLN in twitter and facebook: Anithings is a brand new children's creativity tool. It enables animated stories to be created simply and quickly, allowing children's creativity to run wild.http://www.anithings.com/  Write a personal journal via e-mail.http://ohlife.com/ Turn what people post on social media into compelling stories. You collect the best photos, video, tweets and more to publish them as simple, beautiful stories that can be embedded anywhere.http://storify.com/ Take a note right away wherever you are, create reminders, arrange your pictures and movies as you like, share ideas with group members, use stickies to share files.http://en.linoit.com/Should I say ..... or .......?Great for discovering the right collocation.http://phras.in/Cloze test creator - paste a text and then select what you want omitted. http://l.georges.online.fr/tools/cloze.htmlType in a text and have it phonetically transcribed.http://www.photransedit.com/Online/Text2Phonetics.aspx

While browsing through my diigo bookmarks looking for an article this morning, I had the chance to watch this amazing presentation by Michelle Pacansky-Brock.Your Hybrid Classroom: Will You Change Your Paradigm? social media, 21st century skills, web2.0 View more presentations from Michelle Pacansky-Brock

This a BEAUTIFUL site suggested in a tweet by @evab2001. http://www.maxmydream.comYou can write your dream in a 140 characters and then see it animated.What I liked about it? The idea of making you think of your dream, the beautiful background music, the  imaginative way of representing our dreams, EVERYTHING.After typing in your dream, you can share it via Twitter, facebook or even embed it, like I did just below:My dream was: I wish one day all nations would be united in peace, helping each other overcome their difficulties and learn to respect their differences.HOW CAN WE USE THIS SITE WITH STUDENTS?have students talk in pairs about their dreams for the world or fot themselves, then ask them to write about their dream in a maximum of 140 characters. They use the site and share the link or embed their dream in a class blog below the original dream they wrote. You can also have students write their dreams show the video to sts in class, and have sts guess from the images what the original words were.*** If the music disturbs you while reading the blog, click on the SOUND ICON to turn it off.

I was showing some apps I have in my iphone to a friend of mine today when she asked me what apps she could download to her iphone to help her revise English.After checking out various posts, these are the ones I'd like to recommend so far:VOCABAHEAD - A word a day$0.99LEVEL:  Advanced Learners  VOCABAHEAD - SAT VocabularyThere's a FREE version Fun and intuitive way to learn hundreds of new words using humorous illustrations with audio. You have a list of words to learn from, with examples and drawings.WORDGLIDE FREE Watch words glide through your screen, some words may pause and show their definition, you can hear the word and add it to your favourites by tapping on +Watch an overviewGENGO Language Audio Flashcards  (also in English)$5.99 1. You learn the words/ sound with flashcards with images.2. You test your knowledge by playing a game where you have to click on the image according to the word you hear.I have this application in French and use it every day.Really recommend it.LEVEL: Beginner - Pre-Intermediate LEARNING ENGLISH with the New York Times$2.99 Improve your reading, listening and vocabulary. If you have already used Quizlet to make your own flashcards with words and definitions, you can use the following site to have access to your flashcard sets.FREEhttp://www.fcfree.com/ 

GROCKIT is an interesting tool  which allows teachers to create questions and answers for any youtube video. Each question can be added to the right spot of the video and the activity can then be shared with your students via a link or sent to twitter or facebook. Unfortunately , I believe it's not possible to embed the activity. I've learned about it via David Kapuler.How to create your activity:Create your free account.Select the video from youtube and copy the URL.Go to  https://grockit.com/answers/ and paste the video URL.To the left of the video thumbnail image, click MODERATE A PRIVATE Q & A.Click on the play button below the video and pause when you want to insert a question. Repeat the procedure, play video, pause, type question and click SUBMIT.Click SHARE to grab the URL to share it with students.https://grockit.com/r/dcb 

Do you like playing with your webcam taking different pictures?WEBCAM TOYS lets you use your webcam to take photos with 60 different effects. I had a great time trying it out. No need to download anything or to create an account. Just, click and SMILE.This is the slideshow I've put together to show some of the effects available. What can we use this for?Use photos to personalize your teaching material.Use fun photos for your profiles.Use it to take pictures of students making different facial expressions to teach FEELINGS.Or JUST HAVE FUN !!!!!!

Bags packed and thrilled to be visiting Liverpool for the first time, attending IATEFL and meeting so many wonderful teachers I've had contact with via web. I wanted to test an app I learned about for easy blogging with the Ipad, BLOGSY. Let's see if it delivers what it promises. While in the UK for the IATEFL conference, I'll be trying to post as often as I can using my iPad, so I was looking for something practical which allows me to add several features to the posts. From what I've noticed, while writing your blog post you have access to you iPad images, Flickr, picasa, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo . This is a list of HOW-TO videos to get started. http://blogsyapp.com/  Posted with Blogsy