Week 6 - Communication to Build Community

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Permalink Reply by Tammy Gilley on February 22, 2010 at 2:10pm

These are some examples of how some of the tools are being used in my district.

The TRC teachers have developed a 6th grade wiki to communicate with their parents. One strength of this wiki is it is available to parents, but a weakness is that it is very general. It doesn't include specific page assignments because teachers often change lesson plans for various reasons.
http://prosperity6thgrade.wikispaces.com/
I developed this blog as part of our TRC book study. Each member of the book study in turn developed their own blog. Members blog then communicate their thoughts by responding to other members. The strength of completing a book study through blogging is we don't all have to be together. However, a weakness includes members blog at the last minute. Therefore, you sometimes have to go back to the blog the night before an assignment is due to respond.
http://team6technologybookstudy.blogspot.com/
I also developed a class blog last year to share with parents and highlight student work.
http://tammy-blogaboutit.blogspot.com/
Mr. Doerkson, our principal and assessment coordinator for the district, has made a very informative Moodle course on how to access assessment information that teachers need. He has used snapz pro which allows him to record his voice; as well as show visual cues. It is helpful because teachers can listen to directions as many times as necessary. In addition, it helps him be more productive because he does not need to keep replying to the same questions over and over again. It is very similar to a podcast. Sorry, I can't give you a link to this one.


One 21st century leader that I enjoy following is Alan November. I follow his website: http://novemberlearning.com/?option=com_content&task=view&i...
I often listen to his podcast which is a strength for me more so then reading the website all the time.
Another leader I like to follow is Vicky Davis at http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ She has excellent ideas and resources.

Permalink Reply by Jenny Gridley on February 25, 2010 at 1:16pm

1) Share a Web link to a school leader using Web 2.0 technologies to build community and identify strengths and challenges with this strategy of communication.

I really like Principals Page Michael Smith, superintendent in Oakland, Illinois. He maintains a website and blog for school administration. On the site he posts forms, letters, and surveys for others to replicate or alter. He also offers advice and incite on the world around him. He has a great take on the world and some great resources for administrators. I also like that he is modeling to his staff what he would like to see them doing instead of just expecting those types of activities in his district. He is also creating a personal learning community on his site and with his blog for himself and other administrators.

Permalink Reply by Jill R. Pfannenstiel on February 26, 2010 at 6:43pm

A school leader that uses a lot of technologies is Cyndi Danner-Kuhn. She is at the college and provides a lot of good resources for us. She has created a website for the TRC team at our school with different resources for us to use. She updates it all the time with new things.
http://cyndidannerkuhn.info/CDK/Presentations/Entries/2010/1/29_TRC...
I am looking forward to creating a wiki for the classroom with the help of our facilitator. I have not used this before and am very excited, but nervous to get it started. It will help communication with parents as well as administrators in the district. I think it would be beneficial for our school to use some more of the Web. 2.0 tools that we are not taking advantage of right now. I feel that our district if very behind in technology. We don't use a lot of technology that is spoken about in this chapter. There are so many opportunities that our district does not take advantage of for communication with parents that I would personally like to take advantage of in my classroom but it's the time factor. I will find time to do these things, because I feel the parents and students could benefit dramatically.

Permalink Reply by Thomas Schmitz on February 27, 2010 at 2:18pm

1) Share a Web link to a school leader using Web 2.0 technologies to build community and identify strengths and challenges with this strategy of communication.

Clearwater is the main service center used by USD 263 (http://www.sckesc.org/Services/Technology/default.aspx ). I was able to participate in a technology facilitator support group hosted by Tori Bohannon. This was a sensational resource for collaboration, knowledge and ideas. The only challenge is the district cost for this experience.

2) Explain a few strategies you use to direct change that supports 21st century skills for administrators, teachers, and students.

I see this as a significant obstacle for USD 263. Teachers have felt overwhelmed with the amount of hardware and software being introduced, and they have been disappointed with the limited amount of long term professional development. The creation of two new technology integration specialist positions last year has had a positive impact. Our middle school has begun administering a free technology assessment (based on NET-S) (http://www.InfoSourceLearning.com) to help determine eighth grade computer competency. All district employees also completed this assessment last year. Available data is shared. Teachers are encouraged to participate in technology related opportunities (Smart Fest at USD 259- http://technology.usd259.org/index.htm, T + L Conference- http://www.nsba.org/tl/, TARP-Twotrees Advisory Review Panel-http://www.twotrees.com/, TRC grant, etc.). Mulvane is transitioning away from a focus on hardware linked to vast single-shot exposure overload to supported awareness and strong integration of technology.

Permalink Reply by Kari Hinkle on February 28, 2010 at 6:34pm

Our 5th grade TRC teacher developed a wiki for her students when they were studying Native Americans. The students could go to the Native American wiki where Mrs. Kim Kroupa posted web links that the students could use for their research. My son, a 5th grader in Mrs. Kroupa's class, liked the wiki and the freedom he had to go to the web link he needed. Our TRC facilitator also developed a wiki when our TRC team had to present at a district inservice. We each talked about our own links, but then our colleagues were free to explore the wiki on their own time and find what worked for them professionally.

While reading about blogs, wikis, and podcasts I kept thinking about the monthly newsletter I send home to parents. It is not 21st century, by any means. I type up what has been happening in our classroom for the past month, what we are studying in subject areas, and important upcoming events and then print the number of copies I need to send home. I kept thinking maybe it would be better to do a blog, put my newsletter on a wiki, or better yet do a podcast. I still have a few families who do not have internet access and would still require the hard copy of the newsletter. I have to wonder if I would receive more feedback, questions, or concerns by doing a blog, wiki, or podcast than I do now with my paper copy. It is something I am pondering trying in the last nine weeks of school. I say pondering because I am nervous about trying something different to reach the parents of my students.

Permalink Reply by Mary Lawrenz on March 1, 2010 at 11:29pm

Whoo Hoo, Kari! Here's another great idea :) Let's get assessments behind us and then look out spring! We're going to be trying some fun stuff!

Permalink Reply by Stacy Aschenbrenner on February 28, 2010 at 9:11pm

Like Jill said, Cyndi Danner-Kuhn has been a great resource as a school leader for the TRC program in Manhattan. Here are two different links for her.
(http://www.classroom20.com/profile/cyndidannerkuhn
http://www.cyndidannerkuhn.info/CDK/Home.html)
She has help build community among the TRC teachers, as well as some of the teachers hosting pre-service teachers, and those pre-service teachers.

Another school leader using Web 2.0 technologies to build community is Kevin Honeycutt. (http://www.classroom20.com/profile/kevinh)

The strengths of using Web 2.0 technologies are the fact that you can do so many things with them. For the most part, they are easy to set up and use. And…..you and your students are able to communicate in a variety of ways. One of the challenges of using Web 2.0 technologies to communicate is always going to be the accessibility of your audience. You can set up the greatest wikis and have the kids blog, etc…, but if you have a large population of your parents without Internet access, it is a challenge.

My TRC teachers are willing and able to set up a wiki. One of our challenges right now has been time. I hope as we start to put state testing behind us, we can set up some wikis and use them until the end of the year, as well as, get some set up and ready to go for next year.

Permalink Reply by joyce frederiksen on February 28, 2010 at 11:00pm

Since I am not in a specific building I wanted to share how SWP uses web 2.9 tools to get information out to many teachers and districts. One of our newest is our blog site with handouts from workshops that consultants are presenting. Not only does this save paper but it also allows many educators to have access to several researched based trainings they may not get to attend.
http://swprsc.fatcow.com/handouts/

Permalink Reply by Jona Neufeld on March 1, 2010 at 12:03am

One of my past teaching partners is now a technology coordinator for the Buhler School district. I miss teaching with her due to the fact that she was always there to light a fire or roll around an idea or two with me. Sometimes we would throw things back and forth for hours before we would have our activity just like we wanted it. We even had times when we would redo our presentations the night before we gave them. Mary is so creative and is always looking for, or dreaming up new ways to teach with technology. As part of her new position she has also explored new ways to communicate with her teachers as well as keep in touch with all of us. I love the way she sends us links to her wiki's or jumps on iChat so that she never feels to far away. One of my favorite wiki's she has put together is her recent Christmas project wiki so that teachers can learn to use many of the web 2.0 tools while enjoying the Christmas Season.
You can check Mary out at http://christmascountdown.wikispaces.com/

Permalink Reply by Mary Lawrenz on March 1, 2010 at 11:27pm

Our White City TRC team loved Mary's Christmas Countdown! After Tammy shared it with us, we used some of our TRC time in December to explore the resources that Mary shared. She is amazing! We appreciated her work on that wiki and would so enjoy the opportunity to work with her :)

Permalink Reply by Kari Hinkle on March 7, 2010 at 10:09pm

As Mary said our White City TRC truly enjoyed the Christmas Countdown wikispaces. One of our TRC teachers started using Wall Wishers with her 5th graders. I found many tools on her Christmas Countdown that I still need to explore and use. She is truly fantastic.

Permalink Reply by Casey Wise on March 8, 2010 at 11:28am

What a great resource for the TRC teams out there. We are using it to share the concept of Wikisaces with our teachers and demonstrate its uses. We also use the tools she shares quite a bit. WHat a great resource!

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