Learning 2.014 (Oct 2nd - 4th) is over and I will spend some time to record some important events and reflect on them. This year I participated in the conference as a Cohort Leader for the Tech Leaders/Coaches in Middle School. I was not alone though. Leading this cohort was also Steve Katz from Korea International School. Our goal was to create lasting networks which reached beyond our time together in Bangkok. During our cohort sessions we shared and collaborated on different topics of interest to us. We managed to put together a Google Document that captured some of these moments. All the contact information from the participants in this cohort can be seen here.
Some of the sessions that I went to were:
Thursday:
- Cohort: Tech-Leaders/Coaches - Middle-School
Friday:
- Extended Session: Shifting Your School: Creating a Community of Empowered Teachers - Kim Cofino
- Unconference: Minecraft server set-up and control
- Workshop: Professional Development That Works: Ongoing Professional Learning in the Fish Bowl - Steve Katz and Ben Summerton
- Cohort: Tech-Leaders/Coaches - Middle-School
Saturday:
- Extended Session: Understanding and Connecting to the Non-Traditional Student - Michael Boll
- Unconference: Smash Apps
- Workshop: Putting the Present in Presentations with 21st Century Style Presentations - Rab Patterson
- Cohort: Tech-Leaders/Coaches - Middle-School
- In a Nutshell: Creating Your Own Classroom Guide: RIP Textbooks - Jeff Utecht
So, what were my take aways?.
Thursday - Cohort: Tech-Leaders/Coaches - Middle-School
I really valued the different activities that we did together. The icebreaker One-Way and Two-Way Communication activity offered a chance to connect with others, although a small group. Probably not the most appropriate one to start the conference though.
We also had a chance to do a compass points (a thinking routine) activity in small groups to think and share some of our experiences and jot down some thoughts that relate to our roles as tech/coaches leaders. This really helped us start some conversations for the rest of the conference. We did 4 rotations of 5 minutes each to go through each point at our tables (20 minutes in total). Finally, we spent 10 minutes as a whole group discussing about some of the salient points.
On the final day, we started our session collecting information of our work and putting it in what we called the Tech Leaders/Coaches Chest. So this was a simple Google Form and Spreadsheet shared with all in the room.
Finally, as a whole group, we spent the rest of the time discussing about some of the items from the compass points protocol from the previous day and some other matters that we thought would be worthwhile for this cohort. Some of the most discussed themes were related to shifting the culture of school using data, investing pertinent models of professional development, and our roles and work dynamics as tech leaders/coaches.
Friday - Shifting Your School: Creating a Community of Empowered Teachers - Kim Cofino
Kim started by sharing her resources page and took us through various group activities that have been a result of her work in previous schools. We each had to read and then explain to others about our topics. My group was assigned the Strategies for Professional Development: Speed Geeking, Lesson Study, and Lab Site.
We also did an activity of concentric circles where we shared successes and challenges in our work. Finally we looked at the empathy map, where we jotted down some ideas that we could put into action in our schools.
We need administrator's support (the lone nut) to create change. We, tech leaders/coaches are the first followers. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. Watch this video: The Lone Nut + The First Follower = A Movement!
Friday - Unconference: Minecraft server setup and control:
On the second day, I had the opportunity to meet with some people interested in Minecraft. I learned about the importance of setting up a server with a Multiverse plugin. This can give an opportunity for students who want to be in a survival mode world, while others probably enjoying the creative mode world. I'll have to try it out.
I spoke to some of the teachers there about my struggle with allowing students to play PVP or factions. A server with a factions plugin installed plays quite differently than most any other server. In factions servers, players team up to dominate the map. This can lead to some epic fights, as well as much fun. However, players that are new or are simply uninformed can be quite befuddled by the different play-style. Anyway, some teachers talked about the fact that we teach kids about killing in chess, etc. For them it's okay that kids fight in Minecraft because it gives them a chance to experience concepts like war that are hard for them to understand. If we can teach them about war, let's also have them do the role play. The truth is that in Minecraft there is no blood nor horrible sounds. You simply respawn. It is vital though that the kids are never allowed to play the victim. We should never take the kid's power since we don't want to devalue their identity.
Another important feature to turn on are mobs. Mobs are living, moving game entities. Generally, mobs are affected by the environment in the same ways as the player: they are subject to physics, and they can be hurt by almost all the same things that harm the player: catching on fire, falling, drowning or suffocating, and of course, being attacked with weapons. However, some types have individual resistances or immunities.
We were lucky today to have Daniel come to support us. He proved to be very knowledgeable of Minecraft servers.
Friday - Workshop: Professional Development That Works: Ongoing Professional Learning in the Fish Bowl - Steve Katz and Ben Summerton:
In the afternoon of Friday, I went to see my buddy Steve Katz to learn more about the professional development model that Korea International School has put in place. They call it the Fish Bowl, home of EdTech Professional Development at KIS. The Fish Bowl is a great opportunity for students to see their teachers as learners. The room offers a prime real state, high traffic area, which is comfortable and equipped with a short throw projector.
EdTech is more a consulting/training center that caters for anyone in the entire school. All tech coaches attend all levels of the school. They are no longer assigned to a particular division. The elementary teacher left and all other coaches were in secondary. Another member was hired and incorporated into this autonomous team that reports directly to the school principal.
Teachers simply pick who they want to work with. Some coaches may have their particular skills and support the needs of teachers in their areas of expertise. It's important for them to have diversity in the team. However, consistency is an important criteria, since they have to make sure that they all teach the same things. EdTech also does in-class implementation by co-teaching and offering support on both technical or pedagogical needs. What ever training they receive, teachers walk out with something tangible to utilize in their classes.
In their schedule, their PD sessions are allocated to be offered at the following times: 8:20 - 9:00; 10:30 - 11:10; 12:35 - 1:15; and 2:05 - 2:45. EdTech offers one topic a week that lasts for 40 min. Every coach does 4 trainings in the week. This provides more than two hours of a week where each one can see more than 20 people. While one person presents, the other coaches are there to later provide feedback about the session.
Friday - Unconference: Minecraft server setup and control:
On the second day, I had the opportunity to meet with some people interested in Minecraft. I learned about the importance of setting up a server with a Multiverse plugin. This can give an opportunity for students who want to be in a survival mode world, while others probably enjoying the creative mode world. I'll have to try it out.
I spoke to some of the teachers there about my struggle with allowing students to play PVP or factions. A server with a factions plugin installed plays quite differently than most any other server. In factions servers, players team up to dominate the map. This can lead to some epic fights, as well as much fun. However, players that are new or are simply uninformed can be quite befuddled by the different play-style. Anyway, some teachers talked about the fact that we teach kids about killing in chess, etc. For them it's okay that kids fight in Minecraft because it gives them a chance to experience concepts like war that are hard for them to understand. If we can teach them about war, let's also have them do the role play. The truth is that in Minecraft there is no blood nor horrible sounds. You simply respawn. It is vital though that the kids are never allowed to play the victim. We should never take the kid's power since we don't want to devalue their identity.
Another important feature to turn on are mobs. Mobs are living, moving game entities. Generally, mobs are affected by the environment in the same ways as the player: they are subject to physics, and they can be hurt by almost all the same things that harm the player: catching on fire, falling, drowning or suffocating, and of course, being attacked with weapons. However, some types have individual resistances or immunities.
We were lucky today to have Daniel come to support us. He proved to be very knowledgeable of Minecraft servers.
Friday - Workshop: Professional Development That Works: Ongoing Professional Learning in the Fish Bowl - Steve Katz and Ben Summerton:
In the afternoon of Friday, I went to see my buddy Steve Katz to learn more about the professional development model that Korea International School has put in place. They call it the Fish Bowl, home of EdTech Professional Development at KIS. The Fish Bowl is a great opportunity for students to see their teachers as learners. The room offers a prime real state, high traffic area, which is comfortable and equipped with a short throw projector.
EdTech is more a consulting/training center that caters for anyone in the entire school. All tech coaches attend all levels of the school. They are no longer assigned to a particular division. The elementary teacher left and all other coaches were in secondary. Another member was hired and incorporated into this autonomous team that reports directly to the school principal.
Teachers simply pick who they want to work with. Some coaches may have their particular skills and support the needs of teachers in their areas of expertise. It's important for them to have diversity in the team. However, consistency is an important criteria, since they have to make sure that they all teach the same things. EdTech also does in-class implementation by co-teaching and offering support on both technical or pedagogical needs. What ever training they receive, teachers walk out with something tangible to utilize in their classes.
In their schedule, their PD sessions are allocated to be offered at the following times: 8:20 - 9:00; 10:30 - 11:10; 12:35 - 1:15; and 2:05 - 2:45. EdTech offers one topic a week that lasts for 40 min. Every coach does 4 trainings in the week. This provides more than two hours of a week where each one can see more than 20 people. While one person presents, the other coaches are there to later provide feedback about the session.
All the professional development at KIS is voluntary. They believe that PD ideally should take place during the school hours. EdTech also offers up to six weeks of training programs to parents. I guess the question to ask would be, how does EdTech know what training to offer. Well, they talk a lot with teachers and receive requests from parents as well. EdTech meets every week and the second item on their agenda is "what are we doing next?". Every week is a new topic. Another important aspect of their work is that time and location are always a routine.
Maybe it's time we can start doing our own Fish Bowls at ISB during the school day in the Greene Room. This is certainly a model that we can take a closer look at. By the way, KIS educators and share teaching and education ideas on Twitter. There is a #kispd 'group' where ideas can be gained and contributed by anyone.
More in my next article.
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