Getting Back to Normal...Sort Of

This week things will be getting back to normal in our building, but what is normal?  Things certainly won't be as they were a month ago; before iPads.  So I guess part of the next few weeks will be dedicated to us figuring out the "new normal."  Once again I want to praise and thank all of you.  You continue to impress me with your discoveries and the great choices you are all making.  Just remember-this is a learning experience for all of us.  We are still trying to figure out the "rules" or boundaries for these new devices.  You will need to be flexible and patient.

Moving on to our project for this week; your "1:1 iPad Timelines."  I will be attending my class on Monday and Tuesday.  You may see me in the building, but unfortunately I will not be in our lab.  Mr. Carme will be supporting your learning on these days.  Please do a great job for him and show him your best effective effort strategies!  Last week you were given the 1:1 iPad Timeline document.  You will need this to know what events to place on your timelines.  You will also want to take a look at the rubric for this project.  There is a copy of it in your "Workstation Resources" folder.  Please take this out and go through it before you start your work on this project.  This is the rubric you all created and it will be used to assess your final project.  During our second class last week you selected the tool you would be using for this project.  Some of you chose a tool from the list of suggestions.  If you were absent last week, you will need to take a look at the document, rubric, and list of suggested tools and catch up on this project.  If you do not understand what to do, please check in with a classmate to help you.  Please work hard as I expect this project to be completed by the end of class two this week.  I will be asking some of you if I can share your timelines with some of our stakeholders.

 **Very important:  If you are creating a new account; please be sure to read the forms (sign up) carefully.  If there is a line for username separate from the email address please be sure to use your first name, but not your full last name.  Use the first initial of your last name.  If you need to add something because a username has already been taken, try adding a "19" after your initial.  Write this information down somewhere and if you have time add it to your school sites table.  You will also need to check the setting of your account and make sure your timeline is "private."  You do not want your work in a public gallery because you will be mentioning Cape Cod and Barnstable Public Schools in some of your events.  If you have any questions about these settings I will be able to answer them during class two this week.

If you should finish this project before the end of class; I would like you to work on a new blog post for the homepage of your blog.  Remember to use your guidelines and have a classmate edit your post before publishing!!  Have a great class!

What Will Your Verse Be?

This week we will be embarking on a historical journey together.  The class of 2019 will go down in history in our school system as being the first class in which every student was given a device, an iPad, to use to advance and personalize their learning.  We will start our "work" this week by watching, "What Will Your Verse Be?", one of Apple's latest productions.  I cannot wait to hear your thoughts, not only about the video, but more importantly about how you envision using iPads all day long in school.  Just imagine every morning as you are preparing for your classes, you will grab your materials out of your lockers and then you'll grab your, yes your, iPad off the cart.  Now I am sure you have many questions.  Some of those will be answered during our discussions this week. You need to understand there may not be answers for all of your questions right now.  You will be reviewing and then signing the newly developed "Student Commitment Letter," and leaving your final thoughts on the back board of our lab. In addition to this discussion and sharing of expectations, you will also be creating your "professional or school" Apple ID.  

Wikipedia defines "beta" as "In computing, the term "beta" is used as (usually) the last release in the software release life cycle."  So I guess we can say our school is rolling out the "beta" version of 1:1 iPad use. With that said, there may be questions for which there currently are not answers.  You will be playing an enormous role in this process.  We will be learning right alongside with you.  So how will you use your iPad to improve and personalize your learning?  What will be your new learning "verse"?

During class two this week you will be creating your "professional/school" Apple ID. Before getting started with this process, I need you to enroll in the VPP (volume purchasing program). This membership will allow us to send you Apps. It is going to be very important for you to carefully type in your information. If you make a mistake in your email address, you will never receive the invitation. We will check you Gmail accounts next week to acceptance this invitation. Please complete the VPP Invitation Form. I will be walking you through creating your professional/school Apple ID accounts.

Passion....

Welcome Back!  I know you have so many things on your mind today, and I hope one of them is wondering what we will be doing in technology this year.  We will start our class off by watching “A Day Made of Glass.”  This will give you a peek in to what the near future holds for us.  It is pretty cool stuff!  I will share the basic outline for our course and then ask you to switch gears.  I am going to ask you to think about your “passions.”  “What does passion have to do with technology?” you ask.  If you had asked Steve Jobs this question, I am sure his answer would have been lengthy.  Passion and learning are definitely connected.  If you are passionate about a topic, you are more enthusiastic in regard to learning more about it.  We will take a look at the clip, “TheAuthentic Swing” from the movie Bagger Vance.  You may not have seen this movie, but I think you will recognize the actor. You will then be given a note card and asked to list at least 3 of your passions.  Remember, these do not have to be school related, but do have to be school appropriate.  You will finish class by creating a word cloud  with your personal definition of passion, the things which you are passionate about, and your name.  Please use this google doc, Passion Assignment, to prepare the text for your WORDLE.  These WORDLES will be hung around the classroom.  I plan on using your passions when designing my lessons for the year.  You will be using your passions when we start blogging.  I want you to be passionate about what we are doing in class this year!

Frustrating and Exciting!

There are so many things I should be doing at this moment, but needed to share this with all of you!! We have been working on uploading our podcasts to our blogs. Such a simple sounding task I know; but as always with technology there have been glitches. I am continually telling my students I am learning right along with them; hence the name of my blog, but today was able to model that for them. Students discovered our media player was displaying their first and last names; something we discourage for our 7th graders. I didn’t have the solution, so asked my entire class to stop what they were doing at that moment and search the “Tindeck” site for answers. I also shot off a quick email to Tindeck asking for advice. Jenn timidly raised her hand and shared her discovery. We could edit our tracks and change the name of the artist, thus solving our problem. Much to my surprise, I received an almost immediate response from Tindeck, who unknowing to me is based in Australia. They didn’t have the resolve, but were willing to see if they could go in to accounts and make corrections to user names. I replied with the student resolve. Thinking that would be the end of my communication with Tindeck, I didn’t pay much attention to my email. Well, I was wrong. That was not the end of my communication. Tindeck was interested in how we were using their site (this is actually when I found out they were located in Australia). So what started off as a very frustrating lesson, turned in to one of the better and more exciting couple of classes I’ve had in a long time.
It is interesting how quickly the world becomes so small and connected. Just one of life’s great “teachable moments”!!!