SAS iPD - Individualized Professional Development

Reason for iPD

Our Ed Tech Team is always exploring ways to offer meaningful professional development for faculty and staff, and to facilitate our institutional commitment of the integration of technology. We received excellent feedback after hosting our last two Google Summits, so we successfully negotiated the use one of our calendared ‘late starts’ for our own mini summit. Our mini summit was an opportunity to acknowledge the wealth of talent within our school, and provide a forum to share what is going on within each division.

It was harder to find a good name for our mini summit than it was to find willing presenters! We recognized that one type of PD did not suit everyone’s needs - people want individualized professional development - so we had a name… iPD: Individualized Professional Development.

We ended up organizing an event that was the size of a conference. There were 60 sessions on offer, involving 54 presenters from all divisions, including Central Administration, and over five hundred participants. With such a wide variety of sessions we could provide participants with choice. It was a true team effort and its success was due to the wonderful team of faculty and staff that contributed.

Involvement of our Community

The organization of iPD was a community effort. The entire K-12 SAS Educational Technology team initially started the idea of this professional development within their regular meetings. Taking the idea to all division administrators and getting their support for using the late start time was an easy task. Vanessa Spiers and Amos Ong, from the Communications office helped to market and communicate out the event. To promote iPD, Amos designed a poster to show the variety of the iPD offerings.

Seeking out presenters was effortless. Staff and faculty, from all divisions stepped forward to lead workshops on things they do in the classroom and with students to support learning through the use of technology. These presenters helped to make iPD a huge success. Their preparation in designing and delivering the workshop experiences inspired the attendees to improve their own practices. From participant feedback, 93% of the faculty and staff responded that they learned something with 90% saying that they will apply what they learned. Faculty and staff members are recognizing the expertise within our own school and iPD has helped to build a community of learners. The success of this event could not have been possible without the involvement of numerous community members.

Reflections

iPD is about learning. And learn we did. The biggest piece of consistent feedback we received after the iPD event was that people want more of this type of professional development. iPD was a two hour event, but people are asking for two days next time. Teachers and staff would like more time built into the iPD schedule to allow for play and reflection on how this new learning will change teaching. Many people used time during PLC meetings after iPD to share what they learned with their colleagues.

Comments from iPD participants include:

It was BY FAR the BEST PD I think we have had. I was able to take what I had learned and use it that very morning. I am able to share it with my colleagues, and they are benefiting from it as well. THANK YOU for all of the hard work and preparation that went in to it. The presenters were well informed, passionate, and we were able to play and experiment and, therefore, to learn. AWESOME!  

iPD highlighted our own talented and amazing teachers, plus it was a great community building event. One suggestion - let's do it for a full day and celebrate with some wine and cheese at the end!

One per year. Most useful PD I've had at SAS in 9 years outside of doing my Masters in Education. Many thanks to the Tech Team.

It was a great use of time. The choice was amazing and speaks to the talent and professionalism of our faculty.

Excellent. Time well spent. Excellent learning experience. Please have more.

I'm already looking forward to the next iPD!

The learning did not just happen for the participants. In preparing for iPD, presenters learned through reflection on their practice. Presenters and participants alike appreciated getting to know about things happening outside their divisions. This comment from a presenter summarizes it best.

Presenting "blog commenting" really helped me be self reflective about what we are doing, which will feed back into better teaching of these skills. Also, it was great to be able to talk to the teachers who attended our session and get a better sense of what other teachers are doing school wide in this area. This was a great experience. 

As an Educational Technology Team, we learned by helping each other organize iPD and developing solutions for signing up and sending reminders. We also learned a lot about the teaching and learning happening across divisions. If you would like a peek into that teaching and learning, look at our complete list of sessions including links to resources.

Google+ HashTag Winners

Google+ is a new communication medium this year at SAS. The Google+ competition gave faculty and staff a reason to get posting on Google+ and also added an element of fun.

Here are our winners…

Best Selfie goes to Laura Schuster for this little gem. She got bonus Geek Points and quite a few +1s as well.

Winning the Most +1s and Interactions Prize  was Nancy Von Wahlde! This post got people talking. Not only did it have some great comments and +1s but it was also reshared by other people. Technology allows us to Communicate and Collaborate and this was a perfect post for that! Great job, Nancy and the entire crew in the pic!

Winning the Most Inspired Post was Kelly Mcfadzen! We loved that she was motivated by the learning from Jill Carpenter's session, even though she didn't attend.

Authors: Robyn Lynch, Dianna Pratt, and Heather Dowd

HS Demo Slam Presentations - April 30

Special Thanks to Eric B, Kris K, Virginia S, Jean R, Dan S., John J. for showing your stuff!

HS Demo Slam in Faculty Meeting

HS faculty learned from their colleagues in the last faculty meeting. Have a look at the presentation below to see some of the technology demonstrated. Special thanks to Rick S., Anne-Marie R., Clay B., Martin W., Kris K., Simon B. and Lance M.!

Using VoiceThread for Language Learning

For students studying a foreign language, knowing how, when and why to say what to whom is their ultimate goal. One way they achieve this in the language class is through 3 modes of communication - interpersonal, interpretive and presentational. Voicethread has come into the HS Language learning classes to help students with these goals as well as master 21st Century skills of communication. What is VoiceThread? As defined from the Voicethread Website  "A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). A VoiceThread can be shared with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too." If you would like more information about this tool visit http://ed.voicethread.com/support/resources/websites/ SAS has subscriptions available. You need to contact your Technology Coordinator if you are interested. It is also available on the iPad

Ways that HS Language students are using Voicethread:
In beginning Spanish classes the students have created a Voicethread called Quien es? In their Voicethread students speak about who they are, their favorite clothes, hobbies, family and travel. This meets the presentational mode of communication especially when they share this with others for viewing. The students then interact with each others Voicethreads through comments and then this moves into the interpersonal communication. The ability to listen, read and respond in Voicethreads will demonstrate the 3rd mode of communication - interpretive.



In higher level Chinese classes,  students interact in class discussions about different topics through Voicethread. One example is the topic of Chinese medicine. Students research the topics and provide information to the class via a thread. They present their opinions and respond to each other demonstrating all 3 of the modes of communication.



By using Voicethread for language communication skills students are using the different modes of communication. As they present, share, listen and respond they are strengthening the skills needed to become a better foreign language speaker. These are just a few examples of how some HS teachers are using Voicethread. Please comment and share any other ideas of how you might be using Voicethread.

The SAS Vision for Technology

There has been a lot of "buzz" around the use of technology this school year at SAS. From iPad use in Grade 1 to student blogs in HS Chemistry, there is exciting, dynamic and innovative learning happening across the school. Last year a Strategic Plan for Educational Technology was developed to articulate the schools' goals and direction. Below is an excerpt from the plan that highlights some of our overarching goals.

Technology serves as a dynamic tool for learning that optimizes  productivity, connectivity, collaboration and creativity. One of the aims of the educational technology plan is to bring to life our technology vision and to connect our plan to our existing mission, vision and learning principles. The key areas of the SAS Vision for technology are identified below with more specific explanation as to what each area means in the SAS context.

When technology is integrated into the teaching and learning environment in meaningful and purposeful ways the following new learning opportunities will be created:

Productivity	Improved 21st century skills in the context of core subjects and knowledge areas. Enhanced engagement and achievement in all academic and core subject areas. Engaged and Responsible Citizens (SAS DSLO)
Connectivity	Increased connection of core subject and curricular areas to real world opportunities and experiences. Increased opportunities for  students and teachers to connect and communicate with other students, educators and experts around the globe. Effective Communicators (SAS DSLO)
Collaboration	Increased opportunities for collaboration and communication inside and outside of school and classrooms. Improved collaboration and communication skills using 21st century tools and learning environments. Exemplary Character with the Ability to Work Independently and Collaboratively (SAS DSLO)
Creativity	Encourage and promote creativity and innovation by integrating digital tools in a 21st century learning environment. Promote a variety of forms of expression that utilize digital tools and platforms best suited to individuals learning styles Critical and Creative Thinkers (SAS DSLO)

Throughout the year we will use this blog to try to showcase examples around the school that exemplify our vision for technology and learning.

I'm not texting. I'm tweeting!

"I saw you texting during the keynote speech." A couple of teachers whispered this to me as if I had been naughty. I just smiled.

We had just listened to a fantastic opening session by Dr. Austin Buffum, an expert in the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process. Of course, to many people it did look like I was busily sending text messages to one of my friends. Of course, that is exactly not what I was doing. I was tweeting!

There is an important difference between texting and tweeting. Texting is a private message between two people. A tweet, on the other hand, is a public message that is broadcast out to whomever follows you and has an interest in what you are saying. You have 140 characters to get across a short, sweet point that is tweetworthy.

Many people do not yet see the point of tweeting. "Why would I care what someone eats, or if Ashton Kutcher is having coffee." I agree! For me, however, it is the most valuable professional development tool in my bag of tricks. Who you follow, what you contribute and the conversations that you have are the secrets to the effective use of Twitter.

The list of people I follow is mostly comprised of other educational technology coordinators, coaches, administrators and techy teachers. We all share something in common...the desire to share and a passion for good teaching. Most of us tweet out photos, quips, links, experiences, struggles and celebrations. These tweeps are my Personal Learning Network (PLN) and we all grow from what we share, even though most of us have never met.

So what was I doing during Dr. Buffum's opening address? I was having a rich conversation with other members of the audience who were also tweeting, such as Heather Dowd, Tim Stuart, Anthony Selley, Shaun Kirkwood, John Gaskell and Jemma Hooykaas. We shared the bits that resonated with us and recorded the experience as it happened. This is the way I take notes now during many conferences. Several more SAS faculty in the room were following along with what we were saying, lurking and learning. We used the #sasedu hashtag to tag our school-related tweets and #atplc when referring to PLCs.

Not only were people in the room learning from each other, there were thousands of other Twitter users reading what we were sharing. Kerri-Lee Beasley, a Digital Literacy Coach at UWC was following along. She tweeted:

The power of Twitter comes from the connections we make. It takes time to build up a good list of people to follow and you have to contribute to the conversation to get people to follow you. Once the ball starts rolling, however, it can be one of the most professionally rewarding things you can do.

If you really want to see what I was doing with my nose in my phone and my thumbs frantically tapping away? Check out my Storify round-up of the Twitter action from Day 1: http://storify.com/jayatwood/plc-institute-sas. The next time you see someone on their phone during a workshop ask them, "Were you tweeting?!"

Navigating our blog

These are the labels for our blog posts.