This week I am hosting some guest bloggers. This entry is from Jerry Schneider who shares a couple of good examples of using a “flex-time PD model.”
In an effort to make professional development more flexible and adaptable to the needs of our teachers, our school district is trying something new. Teachers in our school district are able to earn PD hours during the school day that can be applied to the flex-time PD hours. For example, if a classroom teacher spends time planning a project with the library media specialist or instructional technology coach on ways to increase the level of rigor by integrating technology, the planning hours go toward the flex-time PD hours. We have dubbed this as “shoulder partner time” where we are sitting “shoulder to shoulder working together to reach a common good for our students.”
Other examples for flexible PD time include curriculum development with fellow teachers outside of the school day or learning about new web tools from the library media specialist or instructional technology coach during teacher prep periods. Those teachers that fulfill their PD flex-time obligation are able to take the scheduled PD off since they have fulfilled their PD hour requirements. The combination of credit for PD time and collaborative time to learn new software or develop new curriculum/lessons has meant teachers seek out the library media specialist and instructional technology coach often.
The shoulder partner time model helps our teachers who are constantly looking for ways to integrate current technology apps into their curriculum. In meeting with one of our Latin teachers, we discussed ways for students to use technology when evaluating a historical quotation. She decided to do a #PassageSnap adapted from Tara Martin’s “#BookSnaps with Seesaw.”
The concept was based on SnapChat, an app that takes any picture, video, or message you send to followers and makes them available to the receivers for only a short time before it becomes inaccessible. Users can mark up or annotate the message with text, drawing, emojis, images, filters, etc. Since SnapChat is often blocked in schools, Martin used Seesaw to create a #BookSnap, where students promote their books with those same enhancements available on SnapChat using Seesaw.
Instead of using Seesaw, I decided to try using Google Drawing for the #PassageSnap. Students were given a specific Latin quote, and the students were to use those same enhancements available on SnapChat on Google Drawing and Google Docs. The Latin teacher shared with the students through Google Classroom a Google Doc with the instructions and rubric for assessment. The students then added a page break and inserted a Google Drawing onto the Google Doc. They were to define different words of the Latin quote on Drawing using text, drawing, emojis, images, etc. When completed, the students were able to turn in the Google Doc using the Turn In feature of Google Classroom either in the Google Doc or in Google Classroom. The students went above and beyond the teacher’s expectations; she was in awe of the creativity and originality of the students. She said she will be doing this again in the near future. As educators, we need to allow our students to demonstrate their depth of understanding using student-created projects.
One of our freshmen English/Language Arts teacher came to me asking about a mapping tool where students could map out a journey. My suggestion was to use Google’s Tour Creator incorporating Google Street View. Tour Creator uses the Google Street View to drop pins (stops on a trip that shows the view from the street view in the past 1-5 years) along a planned route. The E/LA teacher wanted the students to create their own map of the stops of Odysseus from the novel The Odyssey. Along with views of the stops on the journey, students were able to record audio narration of the journey, using the PLD’s Voice Recorder, and upload to the location of the stop on the journey so students could hear about the significance of this particular stop. Students would then share the link to their tours with the teacher and the rest of the class. Many of the projects were extremely detailed and very well done. This is the fun part of my job…seeing what can students create when given the tools and the time to create something that shows what they know.
About Jerry
For the past three years, Jerry Schneider has worked between a high school and middle school in Fargo, North Dakota, as an instructional technology coach. Prior to that, he worked as the instructional technology coach at the high school level for five years full-time and one year split as a business education classroom teacher and instructional technology coach.
For his first 17 years in education, Jerry was a business education/software applications teacher. He is a Google Certified Levels 1 and 2 Educator, earned Google Certified Trainer status, is a certified online instructor through Florida Virtual High School, and is an adjunct instructor at North Dakota State University where he teaches online Google Certified Levels 1 and 2 Educator courses. Jerry is a member of ISTE and the NDATL (North Dakota Association of Technology Leaders).
As part of his Personal Learning Network (PLN) Jerry frequents Twitter, Google+ Communities, Spigot, Feedly, and Diigo as he feels it is important to stay up to date on new features in web tools, software, and hardware as well as finding and evaluating new products. He blogs at https://fnhtechnologycoach.edublogs.org and enjoys following technology companies, bloggers, administrators, and educators on Twitter https://twitter.com/FNH_Tech_Coach.
