Dispositions Matter in Coaching

http://flic.kr/p/fiVy66

Have you heard the story of the twins, one an optimist and the other a pessimist? The pessimistic twin’s
room was filled with every toy imaginable while the optimistic twin’s room was filled with horse manure. Their individual dispositions suggest how each responded to their situation. The pessimistic disposition found fault and complaints with all of the toys. On the other hand, the optimistic disposition saw hope of a pony in all of that manure!

According to Wikipedia, Dispositions are a habit, a preparation, a state of readiness, or a tendency to act in a specified way. Similarly, Wiktionary defines dispositions as a tendency or inclination under given circumstances.

But, it is not just what perspective you bring to a situation, but it is also the preparation you have made. Imagine a runner, hoping to enter the next marathon. Hoping will not get the runner very far in a marathon. Training and commitment will also be needed to accomplish that goal. Clearly, how you prepare yourself or approach a situation makes a significant difference in your experience and outcome. So, what outcomes do we hope for when coaching other teachers? According to Mary E. Dietz and James D. Rath in Dispositions in Teacher Education,

Coaching is defined as showing “people how to transform or stretch their visions, values, and abilities (Hargrove, 1995); “helping an individual or team produce a desired result through increasing awareness and ability to solve problems” (Milwaukee Public Schools, 2004, p. 10); and “providing deliberate support to clarify and achieve goals” (Bloom et al., 2005, p.7).

Then, what dispositions and what preparation would a coach need in order to accomplish those outcomes? I would suggest six dispositions that are critical to accomplish the outcome of self-directed learning to solve problems and achieve goals: Establish Trust, Active and Mindful Listener, Open to Possibilities and Welcoming the Unexpected, Self-Awareness, Self-Reflection and Self-Directed Action, and Direct Communication.  I will explore each one more in depth in future posts. Stay tuned!

10 Back to School Resources for iPads

• 14 New iPad Books for Kids « Imagination Soup | Fun Learning and Play Activities forKids
• Chart: Top 100 iPad Rollouts by Enterprises & Schools (Updated Sept. 2, 2012) | ZDNet
• Reading Rainbow: Take a Look | iPad.AppStorm
• Notebook For iPad - A First Look - YouTube
• 5 Awesome Examples of how Students Can Use iBooks Author for Learning
• Appealing Apps for Educators: The Back to School Edition - iPhone app article - Lucy Gray | Appolicious ™ iPhone and iPad App Directory
• The Top 17 Free Digital Storytelling Apps for The iPad
• Doodlecast Pro for iPad on the iTunes App Store
• Free Technology for Teachers: 7 Mobile Apps Students Can Use to Never Lose Handwritten Notes Again
• Best Practices for Deploying iPads in Schools | MindShift

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

BACK TO SCHOOL  

There are so many things to do and think about as we prepare to head back to school...

• Who are my students? What are their interests and passions? What will I do to reach and connect with each of them?
• How can I build community in your classroom?
• What kind of classroom management will I use to support that community?
• How will I set up my classroom to support community?
• What will I do differently to infuse 21st century skills and thinking into the curriculum?
• What learning goal have I set for myself this year and how will I sustain my learning throughout the year?
• What new curriculum do I need to learn and what supports can I use to implement it?
• Who are my new team members and how will be connect, learn, and work together?
• What will I do with my students on the first day of school?

The "to do" list and list of questions almost seems endless. Below are some link with some great ideas that may just spark your imagination and jump start your thinking as you head into the beginning of school.

Building Community

• Books that Build Community 

Personal Learning Community

• Nine Useful Lists for Educators

First Day

• 8 First Day of School Activities
• 21st Century Icebreakers: 10 Ways to Get to Know Your Students with Technology

Classroom Management

• Teacher Survival Kit for Classroom Management: 10+ Tips and Resources

21st Century Skills and Thinking

• How to Turn Your Classroom into an Idea Factory
• Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works

PETE&C Back Channel

Dianne created a CoverItLive session for ALL of the PETE&C sessions she attended. You will see the comments and thoughts from numerous people who also attended the session either live or virtually. Check it out!

10 Ways to Lead from the Outside

Resources found at: http://tommcgee.wikispaces.com

Video clip on Leadership from Scrubs
Ralph Nader- I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to create more leaders not followers.

Leadership is about capacity: the capacity of leaders to listen and observe
Thomas Sergiovanni- what makes sense and what is worth doing
Successful community building depends in large measure, on each individual school defining for itself its own life and creating itself...

Inside-Out Strategy
Administrators model is - teachers will see that is important
Have a meeting and set up a back channel for the teachers to get involved in a dialogue

Transformation Leadership
Be the change you want to see in the world- Ghandi

#1 Water Cooler Conversations

• faculty rooms
• lunchrooms
• mailboxes
• hallways
• email

#2 email

#3 Listservs & Network

#4 Wikis

#5 Blogging

#6 Microblogging
Video: Twitter in 60 seconds

#7 Nings
Smartboard Revolution Ning
Moodlers Online Ning

#8 Social Bookmarking

#9 Podcasting

#10 Skype

Act 48 Code: IL072353

Telling Stories Visually

Presentation and handouts available at: http://gordonworley.com

Movie Trailer: Temple Grandin: Innovator, author, activist, autistic

Think like a photographer
Gladwell- Outliers

• 10,000 rule- you need to spend 10,000 hours on doing something to get really good at it.

Use a process
Pre-write= Planning
First Draft = Preproduction
Revision= Production
Proofreading= Post production
Final Copy= Publishing

Have a plan, but always be open to new ideas.

Stories about Places

• Name six things about the place
• Find out 6 more facts about the place
• Now decide what photos you will take.

Shoot what Drives You

• Your interest
• Your passion
• Your heart
• You need to be in your Element
• Where is the pay check coming from?

Think about the image you want to shoot- before you click the shutter button

• composition
• capturing emotion
• field of view
• one photo or multiple photos
• camera placement
• compose multiple images together to get one using overlays and transparencies

Photo Essay
Shots

• Establishing shot- where are you
• portrait shot - tells you something about a person (even if it not a shot of a person)
• closeup- attracts people's attention
• light objects attract attention more than dark objects
• warm colors before cool colors
• in focus - out of focus
• isolated items before cluttered items
• strong contrast before weak contrast
• oblique lines before horizontal or vertical lines
• live before inanimate objects
• objects we recognize before objects we don't recognize

Story Starters or Themes

• love
• revenge
• truth
• justice
• lack of love
• loneliness
• betrayal
• self-destruction
• death
• resurrection

Capturing Time

• freeze it
• slow vs. fast shutter speed
• night image
• objects that look old and weathered

Lines
Shapes
Texture

Principles of Design
Emphasis
Balance
Harmony- repeating patters
Variety
Repetition
Rhythm
Proportion
Unity

Act 48 code: HL302400

Staff Development: Winning Trust and Ambition

Engagement is crucial for all learners.

Staff development is continuous.
Includes how teachers and administrators communicate on a daily, continual basis.

• Send a thank you note.

Rejuvenation = Motivation

www.PETEClugar.wikispaces.com - survey

Act 48 code: GL312330

iPods in the Classroom

Click here to find the session resources.

Set up all of he iPods all at one time. Using iTunes, load and name each ipod. Then select all of the apps and then load them on all of the ipods.
et up Apps for Education, evernote, etc on computers at school to familarize students with them before using iPods.

What Apps?

• They use Evernote as an app for notetaking.
• They use Evernote and Google Docs for collaborative docs. You can download a google Doc to see it, but changes need to be synced online on a computer.
• Equiz- Can take practice quizzes- science, social studies, - applicable to many of the subjects.
• Periodic Table
• Graphing Calculator
• Microphone App- purchased microphones from Amazon- MiniMic
• Conversion
  
• Edmodo Group CXT747
• Use the mic to run Skype
• Animoto for education
• My eTextbooks
• imindmap
• SAT math prep
  

How do you purchase apps ?

• District will cut checks to buy iTune gift cards.
• Use district credit cards
• Cut a purchase order

What about student work on the ipods?

• Is it cleared?
• Students upload all of their content.
• Not a problem to have voice notes, evernote notes on ipods.
• Attach files to Edmodo.
  

3 A's: Access, Analyze, Apply

Act 48 Code: VL062199

Comic Creation and 21st Century Peofessional Development

How can comics provide an avenue for providing professional development?

Quite often we are teaching teachers, but not teaching them the way we want them to teach.
The goal was to use a different model to have teachers learn about technology, think deeply about content and become engaged.
This was based on a graduate level technology course. Many of the comics were created by teachers who didn't want to be there.

Why comics creation?

• Builds visual literacy
  
• Sustains interaction with content
• Enhance motivation
• Has potential for dual controversy
• Values multiple perspectives
• Appeals to males

It allows:

• a forum to voice concerns
• honest observations
• safer- non-threating environment that allows for expression, questioning

When you are trying to get teachers to break out of the model of teaching they way they do, you need a way in through the strong barrier that already exists. Decker, 2007, identifies a "Comic Pedagogy" which identifies these elements about comics:

• Sustains the question until the learning has a place of understanding
• Attends to complexity and discourages the search for the simple
• Embraces a 'punch line'- the counter-intuitive option

PD Structure with Comics

1. Choose a comic making tool
2. Partner on content
3. Start with a single panel prompt
4. Introduce an "in-service question"
5. Then try a multi-panel comic

Comic Builders
Comiqs- Online pc version of Comic Life
Bitstrips - school account available
Pixton
Make Beliefs Comics
Blabberize
Zwinky
Voki


Act 48 code: AL052162

Sir Ken Robinson: Finding Your Passion Changes Everything

Is Curiosity Valued in Your Classroom?

Image via Wikipedia

I was just reading and viewing a video on Angela Maier's blog about curiosity. I've been thinking alot lately about the qualities that need to be fostered to nurture curiosity in our schools. The toddler who incessantly asks his parents questions. The small child who asks why. Where have these voices gone in our classrooms? There are days when I think we are so focused on programs, structures, and schedules that we have stamped out all opportunities for creativity to blossom.
Yet, we are challenged to help our students be 21st century learners who can think critically, think creatively, solve problems and collaborate. If we are do this, we must rethink the culture of our classrooms. How do you nurture curiosity in your classroom? What do you think needs to change?

Administrative Support for PLP

Social Networking Tools

Powerful Learning Practice

Freedom Writers- Erin Gruwell

Thoughts and Ideas to Engage your Imagination and Hope for Change

• Everyone has a journey and what is inportant is to first discover where it started and then figure out where it is going.
• Teach to me not to the test.
• Don't take away your students' hope.
• Writing makes you immortal.
• Look for the promise, potential and hope in your students.
• Envision you students in their lives.
• It's about teaching to a kid, not teaching to a test.
• Education was the only way to equal an unfair playing field.
• If you teach one, they will teach another.
• 
  
• 
  

STEM is Not a Four Letter Word

WHY STEM?
STEM Ed coalition stated that the demand for scientists is going to increase in four fold in the coming years.

STEM literacy refers to an individuals ability to apply his understand of the world around him as appliem to STEM subjects. STEM learning is fundamental to the 21st century workforce.
think holistically process analytically proficient in estimation analysis and systems thinking and dynamics demonstrate expertise in computer based systems and be life long learners.

STEM Pathway Initiative- Portsmouth, Virginia

Identified 3 high demand industries that are clearly articulated through the VA science SOL- biotechnology geospatial techology and modling simulation-robotics. Created an elementary through high school pull-out program in these areas of need in the local area. Embedded in each program is teamwork, desision making, teamwrk, communication, problem solving, reasoning,applied math.

Elementary- All classes attend these four day pull-out programs.

Grade 4 Space Base Atlas- student created Atlas
Using Tom Snyder's Neighborhood Map Machine Software, esri/arcVoyger, Garmin GPS units, Laptop, Promethean

Grade 5 Enviro Camp
Using GLOBE data collection to study atmosphere, water sheds, oyster study
Using globe.gov, WMM, digital still camera, QX-3 digital microscopes

Grade 6 AeroBase
Building and launching of model rockets using Microsoft Flight Simulator- the rocketry program was based on the program from the Department of Defense (NASA materials) and adapted it for VA standards.

Middle School - Beginning in middle school, students must apply to attend.

Grades 7 Biobase
Students can apply for Biobase- biotech foundation
Expose students to biotechnology particularly forensics by focusing on a mystery that needs to be solved using Gel Electrophoresis, PCR, spectrophotometer, GPS, esri arcGIS, cameraz, Plotter Pointer, Digital Microscope

Grade 8 Robo Base
Focus Modeling and Simulation Students are set up with the problem of opering remotely on a sick astronaut and are challenged to build a model and then use Scratch to simulate its action whiledeveloping team building and decision making Using Lego mindstorm NXT robots, robolab programming software, scratch programming software.

Currently are writing a high school program that will give them a four year pathway of courses to follow.

Sylvia Martinez: Professional Development 30 Years Later

Thirty years ago ISTE convened NECC with the same questions. What can we do to get people to use We need professinal development to help them get there.
What is the wall where teachers learn and where teacher teach? In workshops, in books, webinars, and yet what actually transfer ovet the wall into the classroom?
Community of Practice Research
The classrom is not a community of practice - how can we change that?
Tech Support
It is not just fixing hardware (all of it email, caeras, computers, and more) Fixing takes away from the time needed to learn. If you are fixing a problem, it is too late. Tech departments are now trying to mix tech support and tech integrators. Tech support is based on controlling and managing the hardware. Tech integrators are asking people to be resk takers, innovators, users of new programs and hardware. If they are working then there should probably be an upswing in the need for tech support.
Models of Professional Development
Using students as practitioners of technology. Teach students how to provide technology support for teachers. Why? Situated in their own classroom, models collaborative learning, allows students to play an important role provides support for technology use outside of formal professional development. Look at GenYES as the example.
The assumption that there is not enough is incorrect.
National Center for educational statistics 2000: Teachers said ther they were going
Stanford research Institiute 2002: 80% failure rate- teachers leaving professional development were leaving unable to implement the learning in their classrooms.
It is not lack of professional development but that the professional development is not working.

Internationally
Professional Development time internationally happens in the classrooms hours per day. They have a PLN ready to access within their schol.
Online professional development Schlager and Fusco reported that participants were more focused in discussing with their global friends, yet it was not going back to practice in the classroom.
Seymour Pappert - Teachers teach the way they were taught until they SEE something different. Tachers need the kind of activity where they are learning at the same time as the kids and with the kids. The culture of going away to learn something until you are perfect at it and then you can use it in the classrom
Classroom-embedded Professional Development
We need professional developmen in our own classroom, modeled in other classrooms, peer-mentoring/coaching, reverse-mentoring, with experts all around.
It requres a Paradigm Shift- We have to talk about professional development to make it open, celebrate mistakes, collaborative, just-in-time, practice, process, constuctivist, inside the classroom.
Looking at the podcast video of CJ- He shows you all of the skills and the know how of how-to do a podcast. If you have a CJ (and everyone does) then why aren't we using them to teach and help teachers learn to use technology in their teaching.

GenYES
A club of students headed by a lead teacher. The students are paired with teachers to create specific classroom lessons. The student and teachers plan, design and create. Students also learn collaborative skills to help them interact with their teachers. The research showed that 80-90% of the teachers who worked with the GenYES students said they would change the way they teach in the future. Who can say no to kids wanting to help out?
TechYES
Teachers helping teachers get things done in their classroom. We don't all need to know everything. We can get help from each other. Develop experts in specific areas who will help others.
Constructivist Professional Development
Walking the walk in your professional development is key. It takes time. You can't magic wand this into your classroom or district. Change desn't come with a checklist, it comes with hard work.
Elements
Authentic involvement
Trust/responsibiity
Real benefits for students
Adult guidance
Challenge and growth
Cycle of learner empowerment Begins with Empowerment- doing something authentic, and then follows with engagement, independence, responsibility, and trust.

Bob Kolvoord on Google Spatial Technologies

Ever notice how people sit in rooms? We have the west coast (with outlets) and the east coast- a little more populated with quite a space/ocean in between.

The Case for Spatial Thinking
Recent national academy report learning to think spatially identified the need to help our students with this skill.
Spatial thinking is an ability to visualize and interpret location, distance, direction relationships, movement and change over space. (Sinton, 2009) We think in space all the time in our daily activities- where we are going, want to put things, find our way. We also think about space (science and geography) plate tectonics, cultural regions. We think with space (representations) periodic table of the elements
Issues and Areas
Key issues our students are facing- environmental issues- global climate change, global competition and the economy, transportation, sustainability , terrorism, nuclear war, water use and almost all of them rely on spatial geography. The two areas we rely on to teach those skills are earth and space science and geography that have minimal emphasis.
An Important Distinction
The ability to Visualize - show you stuff and Analyze- critically thinking about the data

Google Earth
You can go to a particular place and choose your view- bird's eye view or street view. Somewhere the ages of 10 and 12 students will develop the ability to conceptualize the bird's eye view. You can also stream real time data such as earthquake activity. Great way to visualize the patterns of earthquakes. But is doesn't allow you the ability to analyze them- count the number, compare the intensity. Offers the opportunity to go into the past, taking historical documents and laying them in their place. Allows you to make your own maps and trips. More and more things in the future are going to be location based with the ability to use GPS and the ability to find you and beam you information.
GIS- Geographic Information Systems
AEJEE - entry point into the GIS world- available and free for the Mac and PC with a growing catalog of activities.
ArcGIS is the professional tool which facilitates in-depth work available on the PC only. VA has a state-wide license.

Example - Elementary level activity
It is about making maps to ask and answer questions.
GIS is where the world of maps meets the world of databases. You can select a field to use to display on the map- such as the median age of each state population. Then ask a question- which states are younger? A hypothesis is formulated and then the map is displayed. According to the data- Utah is the one state comparatively with the lowest median age. Then we can ask further- why is that happening? You can put this software in front of fourth graders and they can make it hum. The challenge is getting them to think about what it means.
Example - Creating Maps with Lines of Longitude and Latitude
They can construct a map themselves putting the lines on the map themselves. The students can query the map- which cities have longitides greater than 0? Using spatial displays to think about space.
Example: Explore data about watersheds
GIS is about making layered maps. You can change the order of layers- turn them on and off starting with simpler maps. It is like rock, paper and scissors. What layers can do is cover other layers. Layer of water sheds covers the entire US while the layer of drainage systems can go on top allowing the watershed layer to still be visible.
Example with Election Results
Example Use of energy and production
Students are asked to analyze energy production and consumption- in 1984 the US was the largest oil producer in the world but we were also the largest consumers using 50% of what we producers. . Using the map layers, we can see that in the last 20years, our production has dropped when our use is 300% more than our production.

It's all about-
Building maps, understanding ther place in the world and asking questions about it.

GIS takes the map from Google Earth and allows you to sort, count, do statistics, makemeaning about the data, look for patterns.