Redefinition and Motivating Teachers

Who thinks of going on a bike ride in the middle of December, 2 days before Christmas? BikeWitMike is the answer! PE teacher from +Freedom Middle School decided he wanted to create Virtual Reality bike ride experiences that will influence his students and his community. His first video was published in October which recorded students and staff riding throughout Berwyn using a Go Pro Camera and some iMovie making skills. His students watch the Virtual Reality experience during PE class on stationary bikes, working out to the intensity of this interval training video. (Check out the boys' and girls' responses after their workout.) Mike started a Twitter handle to share his experiences and to encourage his movement. (Read More)

This examples falls on the Redefinition level of the SAMR model because Mike used the technology to allow for "new tasks previously inconceivable." Simply recording the bike ride with a Go Pro and making it into an iMovie falls at Modification. Taking it a step further and posting his video on YouTube and sharing it out via Twitter to collaborate with a broader community is where this movie allows for new tasks. Nike, Tips for Hero's, Donors Choose, Map My Ride and many more have caught eye and are connecting with Mike by favoriting and retweeting what he is sharing on social media.

After the video, Mike wanted more, he immediately started planning follow up bike rides and started to brainstorm how he can spread his influence further. Mike created a Donors Choose project to get 3 bikes for students in our low income school district. He wants more students to join him on bike rides and he plans to have students create videos saying WHY they should receive the bike and WHAT they will do with it to affect the community. His goal is to have his Twitter followers vote on the best video.
"This project will help students to become more active and live a healthy lifestyle. It will also help bring the community, students, and school closer together." 
When Mike and I were collaborating last week about our next ride, he said how about we reach out to the Morton Arboretum and the Brookfield Zoo to ride next? We can use the video footage for workouts AND to teach students about these local beautiful trails. The Arboretum said, come on out to ride! Mike didn't want to wait until spring, when the weather turned warmer. He is ready to continue his #bikewitmike movement and create his next interval video. So off we went... Instructional Coach +Ramona Towner picked me up at 6:50 in the morning to meet Mike at the Morton Arboretum. Mike was ready with his Map My Ride App and Go Pro Camera. We biked 2 trails on each side of the Arboretum, 9 miles all together. I really enjoy bike riding, but I came out this December morning because Mike has inspired me. I know he will work on editing an hour's worth of footage during his time off this Winter Break. I know his second video will be influencing students and teachers throughout Berwyn and WAY beyond. Oh, and I also ride for the exercise!

All these tasks (YouTube, Twitter, Donors Choose, 2nd bike ride, etc) were previously inconceivable without the technology. One Go Pro Camera & a MacBook Air has completely motivated this teacher, to change the world, one bike ride at a time. Follow #BikeWitMike on Twitter, consider donating to his Donors Choose project, or better yet get inspired and join us on his next ride!

#bikewitbike Part 2!

Congratulations to @BikewitMike who has completed his Virtual Reality training video!




A recent story I am exceptionally proud about is a continuation of my #bikewitmike #berwyn #apple blog post. You can now follow @BitWitMike on Twitter and check out his completed "D100 Virtual Reality Bicycle Interval Training Video." Here are a few quotes explaining why Mr. Belcaster spent hours on his training video. “Through this I wanted to gain community, togetherness, and involvement." “Overall I created this Virtual Reality Interval training video for the students… I want students to know that I care about their needs and wants, and also how interested I am their city.”

Look out for future posts about #bikewitmike and his above the line, inspiring movement!

EdCamp, Apple, Brenthaven, Oh My!

Have you ever had one of those weeks where there are SO many exciting things to blog about, yet before you can even start to blog something else amazing happens that you want to blog about? ... And then it happens again... all in the same week?

Tuesday, November 4: iLearn EdCamp Institute Day

The heading says it all, right? South Berwyn School District 100 has come so far over the past 5 years. We're transforming the way we teach and the way we learn, and I believe Professional Development has almost everything to do with the change. (Thank you +Marilyn McManus/@D100PD Director of Professional Development and your PD team.)

Marilyn meets with a ruthless team (we all have our own ideas!) to plan & coordinate our Institute Days. We literally sit around the new learning space at Pershing and brainstorm ideas. We focus on what our teachers' needs are and then how we can meet those needs. "What if we hosted our own version of an "EdCamp?" Teachers can choose their own pathways of what they want to learn about on that day. This is exactly what we did, with some slight modifications. +Jonathan Palles is our EdCamp expert in D100, so we had him introduce the day and explain to staff what an EdCamp was and what was expected of them. Check out #ilearnbsd100 for tweets about the day and our Professional Development webpage for more info.

Wednesday, November 5: Innovative Classrooms: An exclusive event for Apple Distinguished Schools and Apple Distinguished Programs 

Apple hosted an event downtown Chicago for Apple Distinguished Schools and Programs to connect, collaborate, and learn from one another. We had the absolute privilege of listening to Dr. William Rankin, probably one of the smartest educators I have heard speak.

@rankinw & @ShannonSoger

Have you ever heard the phrase, "What happened to the traditional way of teaching? I turned out just fine and I didn't have a laptop or iPad in school." Well, Dr. Rankin says if we want to go back to "traditional times," then we'd actually have no books (as he showed an image during the medieval times). He shared that everyday kids are carrying around production studios (ie iPhones) in their pockets. However, we are teaching kids content they need to memorize or comprehend for the "test". It takes 10 years of constant repetition in order to remember something forever. These facts students are memorizing are most likely being forgotten  So, why are we teaching facts that kids can just Google? He talked about using devices at higher levels. These included experiences where students will remember what they learned because the lessons had value to them and because students had to create something. Dr. Rankin sparked our minds and encouraged educators to transform the future of learning.

D100 ALT, iCoaches, & Admins

The remainder of the day consisted of breakout sessions and small group content creation. I led a session on The Impact of SAMR in an Apple Distinguished Program with ALT teacher +Kristin Richey. (Prior to the event +Jordan Garrett +Mary Havis +Michelle Thorne, +Christina Betz, +Sarah Larson, +Todd Bittorf +Ramona Towner +Sue Butler and +Lindsey Lahr created the Keynote together in iCloud.) 
Apple connected everyone along with resources from the day by sharing a private iTunes U Course. At the end of my session I challenged attendees to get our group of Distinguished Schools and Programs to continue to collaborate, but at the Redefinition level by walking the objective up a Blender Ladder. We concluded with continuing the collaboration with a broader audience to connect, share and reflect on... Twitter!

Wednesday, November 5: Brenthaven Education Webinars: Above the Line Teaching and Learning 

Being a presenter for a webinar is not an easy task! I'm constantly talking in front of groups of people, I enjoy presenting, and I get nervous each time I present. BUT, speaking to a laptop and not seeing your audience was quite the challenge! During the Webinar I talk about the transformation of teaching and learning that I've seen throughout District 100. Examples are shared from each category of the Apple Education Recognition Program: Visionary Leadership, Innovative Learning and Teaching, Flexible Learning Environment, Compelling Evidence of Success, and Ongoing Professional Learning. The overall message is that 1:1 is a journey and SAMR is a journey, but it's important to constantly be pushing students, staff, and administrators above the line.  If you're interested in hearing specific examples, please watch the Webinar hosted by Brenthaven.

We actually ran out of time at the end of the webinar for questions, so Brenthaven send me the list of the questions. Rather then emailing the answers back I recorded myself in GarageBand answering the questions and Brenthaven sent them to all registered attendees.  #abovetheline

It's exciting to think about my broad range of influence from our District 100 staff, to educational leaders from Apple Distinguished Schools and Programs across Chicagoland, to educators on the webinar from 15 states that I will likely never meet.

Take your PLN Above the Line w/ a Twitter Chat!

I reluctantly joined Twitter in November 2011, which thank you +Raul Babolea for pushing me to get on! Similar to the typical tweeter just starting out, I didn't know what I was doing nor did I understand the "point" of writing a tweet. "What's with all the hashtags? My "Timeline" sure looks different than Facebook." I thought the myself.

I started following educators (or every tweeter my colleagues followed), sifting though tweets and composing some of my own tweets. I was using twitter as a Substitution to reading online articles or emails. My first tweet was when I was in Portland ME at Leveraging Leaning: The iPad in Primary Grades event where I first met Dr. Ruben Puentedura.  I don't know who my audience was as I didn't include a hashtag or an @. The only people that probably saw the tweet were my few followers & colleagues I was with at the time. However, it was a start and thankfully twitter allows you to go back and see your #firsttweet!

About a year later, I started using images in my tweets, after Scott Meech requested to see a t-shirt I was tweeting about. Oddly enough the tweet referenced #SAMR. I had taken twitter from the Substitution level up to the Augmentation level by adding pictures, links, and reaching out to educators (still mostly I had met) on Twitter. 

@smeech pic.twitter.com/Vzce03nH

— Shannon Soger (@ShannonSoger) November 5, 2012

My learning went above the line when I started using twitter at educational conferences like #iste2013 #ice14 #iplza14 #iste2014 & #ettsummit14. I used twitter to connect with educators that were going to the same conferences, attended their sessions, connected with them in person at the conference, encouraged others to follow them, and continued to connect with these tweeters after the conference. +Sue Gorman and I met at Apple Academy, I attended one of her #iste2013 sessions, and the following summer we were presenting together at #iplza14.

@SouthBerwyn100 Add these ISTE ignite presenters to your PLN! #iste2013 pic.twitter.com/5aCftMNBEi

— Shannon Soger (@ShannonSoger) June 23, 2013

It was such an honor to present w you @sjgorman! Hands on, Pedagogy, & Classroom Examples in 1 PD! #iplza14 pic.twitter.com/lUwLsmdUP6

— Shannon Soger (@ShannonSoger) June 19, 2014

The above experiences brought my twitter presence to Modification.  My teaching and learning was significantly redesigned. On twitter, I was reaching out to educators, staying connected, planning conference proposals, and learning about other conferences from my followers. I would not have attended #iplza14 (let alone presented) if it weren't for +Sue Gorman & my PLN.

How did I bring my twitter usage to redefinition? Last night, I co-moderated my first twitter chat, #cmsk12chat with +Ashley Hurley on the topic-  Best Practices with #SAMR & #TPACK. Why is a twitter chat redefinition? First of all I met Ashley at #iste14 in the break room preparing for my poster session, "Above the Line Teaching & Learning." We were both trying to finish our presentations, but quickly distracted each other by "teacher talking" and sharing a few resources. #SAMR caught her eye, and I was talking about the Blended Ladder. We stayed in touch after ISTE, shared a few tweets, and #FF. Thanks Ashley! About a month ago Ashley DM'd me asking to co-moderate a twitter chat. I told her I had never even participated in a twitter chat from start to finish, but I wanted to give it a try! Ashley shared a Google Doc to familiarize myself how to be a moderator, line up the questions, etc.

On the day of the #cmsk12chat we collaborated via Google Messenger, assigned roles, and were ready to get started! During the chat we met teachers, technology integrationists, professors, researchers, and administrators from all parts of IL & NC, as well as someone from Oregon. We also connected with educators from TX, WI, and Canada whom I had met at previous conferences. Even #TPACK researcher +Matthew Koehler popped in and retweeted some tweets. Without the technology, we could not have had this amazing 1 hour discussion with educators from across the midwest. We learned from each other, shared experiences, and are now following each other through other social medias. On top of all that, it was FUN! I was beaming with energy when the chat ended, and I look forward to participating in more chats in the future. #abovetheline #twitterchats

@rr7lv @MathNeil @ashleyhhurley @CateTolnai I've learned more from these chats that any school-based PD. #cmsk12chat
— Megan Mehta (@megan_mehta) September 11, 2014

Please read the Storify from the #SAMR & #TPACK chat on 9/10/14 if you're interested!

iPadpalooza Austin, TX!

My #iplza14 Story, via iMovie Trailer

Team Apptivators was ready for the Appmazing Race Challenge at +iPadpalooza! Our team included +Sue Gorman +Jenny Grabiec +Kyle Pearce & +Shannon Soger. (We met virtually before the conference, divided up tasks when we arrived, and worked as a team to submit the final video by Noon the last day.) Apptivators ended in 4th place, but the overall experience was incredible! 

Here's a link to the Connect Challenge: New friend Thinglink, +Kasey Bell and the Share Challenge: Our final video on YouTube.

+Sue Gorman & I did a hands-on session "Aurasma is the New QR Code." Over 100 people joined the session, including +Kevin Honeycutt, +Meghan Zigmond, @SAtechnoChic, and @mathycathy! 

Please check out our presentation slides at http://bit.ly/ARiplza14

Finally, here is my first attempt at a Storify! I hope you enjoy my reflection!

If you've read this far, I'd like to conclude with calling iPadpalooza and above the line event. I'm referring to it as an event because it didn't resemble the look or the feel of a conference. iPadpalooza brought significant task redesign (redefinition). Yes, the conference couldn't not have taken place without iPads, but to me it was so much more. Since my experience, I've continued to collaborate with educators I've met via social media. Further, many hours and a few states away, @mrhooker and I met via Google Hangout to brainstorm ideas for a similar event in @SouthBerwyn100.

That being said, save the date for another one-of-a-kind conference with the South Berwyn spin on it... May 8 & May 9, 2015... iEngage: Syncing our Learning! #redefinition

What's Next? Transforming the Future of Learning- SAMR Reflection

I had the lucky opportunity of attending Apple's What's Next? Transforming the Future of Learning event in Chicago these past 2 days. There were about 70 educators across 8 states, 20 Apple employees, and researchers Dr. Ruben Puentedura and Dr. Damien Bebell. The South Berwyn team included Superintendent Dr. Stan Fields, Elementary Principal Jeremy Majeski, Middle School Assistant Principal Lindsey Lahr, and Instructional Director Shannon Soger, myself.

SAMR Reflections:

I have been learning about Dr. Ruben Puentedura's SAMR model for almost 4 years. I've listened to presentations at Apple Academy in Cupertino, CA, during district hosted Apple Profesional Development, at conferences from various educators like +Sue Gorman, +Caroline Haebig, & +Jennifer Magiera, and from reading through a plethora of digital materials via bloggers & tweeters like +Lisa Johnson, +Susan Oxnevad, +Carl Hooker, and many more! I've taken +Mark Anderson's SAMR flow chart and integrated into assessing teachers' lessons to see where they land on the model. My colleagues would consider me "pretty well-rounded" or slightly obsessed when it comes to talking SAMR.

Shannon Soger, Dr. Ruben Puentedura, Lindsey Lahr

4/2/14, Apple Executive Briefing Center, Chicago, IL

HOWEVER, nothing can compare to hearing +Ruben Puentedura talk SAMR himself. Ruben is a brillant man; you can hear his intellectuality in just a few minutes of him speaking. He's very personable, cracks jokes during his presentation, and can really connect with educators. He walks you through his slides, and elaborates in an easy to understand manner. (Although my brain hurt from concentrating so hard, trying to soak up every bit of his knowledge.)

I'm going to summarize what I learned at each level. When we use the SAMR model, we can't forget about the technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge behind the task, or TPACK. (http://tpack.org) Often times you hear, "I'm blogging with my students, that's redefinition." It's not just about the technology; what is the pedagogy and content knowledge behind the task of blogging? Why did the teacher choose to use blogging? What are students blogging about?

Substitution- This is NOT a "bad" level to be at. I'm still making gains in my classroom if I'm having students read facts (the content) from a digital PDF (the technology), recording notes, and summarizing them in Pages (the pedagogy). This is setting the stage to further move above the line.

Augmentation- "I made an iBook that has the vocabulary words linked within the book from students' notes in Pages. That's augmentation." NOT. How have you set the stage for this? What directions were students given? By having the glossary available, students aren't naturally going to click each word to see its meaning.

Instead, set the stage by telling students, "As you read this class iBook, (the content) you will come across some glossary terms that each of you wrote. Be sure to tap the vocabulary word, read the definition, and look at the image to determine if the word makes sense in that context. (The pedagogy is to understand the meaning of the vocabulary.) Highlight each vocabulary word, and add a sticky note (within iBooks, the technology) explaining your thoughts."

Modification- After students read the class iBook (the content), allow them to choose their "favorite chapter," the chapter that sparked their interest. (The pedagogy is to have students retell a story in their own words.) Next, have students create a digital story using GarageBand (the technology) to record their voice, making edits where needed. Give them the option to add music or images by bringing their voice recordings into an iMovie. Finally, upload all digital stories to a website.

Redefinition- (Hopefully you didn't just skip to this section first, because a task at the redefinition level is one that comes out of all previous tasks in the SAMR ladder.) Choose a website (the technology) that allows for continuous feedback and have students listen to the digital stories (the content) and provide digital feedback. Be sure to model how to give feedback (the pedagogy). "Good job" doesn't cut it.

The site shouldn't remain stagnate after feedback is given and received in 1 post. Most likely, this continuous feedback will allow significant task redesign (redefinition). A student might say, "Jose wrote that my audio recording was hard to hear because my background music was too loud. Can I create a visual to enhance my digital story? I'd like to make a Wordle, so when you look at the picture you can tell my story was about the Siberian Tiger."  (The task has changed; students are now revising, evaluating, and creating new digital stories.)

Redefinition continued- It's common for you see social collaboration at the redefinition level, but it is NOT necessary in determining a lesson as redefinition. For help, ask these questions Ruben includes in his SAMR: A Leadership Perspective presentation slides.

What is the new task? (Revising/Editing digital stories)
Will any portion of the original task be retained? (The content from writing stories in the Pages document was retained)
How is the new task uniquely made possible by the new technology? (Students were able to revise/edit/create a new digital story because of the student feedback provided on the website.)
How does it contribute to my design? (Pieces of the new task all came from previous technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge.)

Finally, I learned about the "EdTech Quintet." I've seen the image in Ruben's slides, but can now make more meaning out it it. This will help in assessing SAMR ladders.

The quintet includes Social (twitter, wikis, discussions), Mobility (anytime, anyplace, resources in the cloud), Visualization (mapping, wordles, timelines), Storytelling (iMovie, Comic Life), and Gaming (continuous feedback). If your SAMR ladder includes the EdTech Quinet, most likely it'll be above the line.

I would love to hear feedback from my SAMR reflection. Thank you!

iLearn PD in D100

Professional Development should be by teachers, for teachers as +Raul Babolea once said. +South Berwyn 100 has done just that.

Today's 1.20 iLearn Institute Day was one of the most rewarding days I've been a part of in my 9 1/2 years in d100. We started the day with a welcome from Dr. Stan Fields, Superintendent of South Berwyn. Next +Jim Calabrese took us back in time to our August Institute Day. We were all reved up and excited for those students who were about to walk into our classroom doors. He reminded us the reason WHY we were here today, for the students.

We then moved on to an incredible set of presentations given by D100 students who are now D100 employees. +Bill Jacklin, +Brittany Baldassano, +Joshua Cole, +Melissa Kwiatkowski, +Michael Belcaster, and +Zach Pros. These teachers shared their stories of what their lives looked like growing up in Berwyn, which school(s) they went to, and how they got here today. Each presenter brought up 1-2 teachers who made a difference in their lives years ago, and who are still working in d100. Tears were shed by all, and I will forever be changed. We never know just what kind of impact we're leaving on students. I hope that one day all teachers will have an experience like I had today.

After eyes dried out, we split our 300 staff members into 2 groups- elementary and middle school. There were 6 Ignite presenters for each group. We originally came up with the Ignite idea from the 2013 ISTE Conference. Watch the Conference Welcome & Opening Ignite Session & you'll want to try this in your district too! The presenters prepared 2 slides via Google Presentation prior to today. They were then each given 3 mintes to share a particular app they were using in hopes of igniting their colleagues. Be sure to view these incredible South Berwyn Ignite Presentations.

One would think that day would be over from here, but the learning just started! Presenters rushed to their assigned classrooms and learners followed. Teachers attended 3 breakout sessions of their choice (everyone signed up for their sessions before Winter Break). If you weren't able to attend a specific breakout session, you had access to ALL the presenter resources. iCoach +Jordan Garrett put together a Presenter Bio Interactive that linked to presenters PLN's and resources.

After the breakout sessions teachers went back to their buildings for lunch, reflection, and other agenda items. At +Freedom Middle School teachers walked a lesson "up the line," and posted that lesson on the District Google + page. Colleagues can now comment on each other's lesson, helping with the reflective assignment.

EVERY aspect of today's Institute Day was by +South Berwyn 100 employees. From the planning, to the logistics, the set up, sign up, evaluation, inspirational speakers, the presenters, the learners, and the photographers/videographers. We are incredible. We are changing lives. We are transforming teaching and learning. We are +South Berwyn 100 and I couldn't be prouder to say I work here.

Scoop. it! SAMR

In preparing for a SAMR presentation at our elementary schools I've curated some of my favorite SAMR resources via a SAMR Scoop It Topic. Please check it out!