Innovation 4 Everyone

Greetings! Last night I had the opportunity to host the #MexEdChat on Twitter. This time we were talking about "Blended Learning". I was not alone. My buddy Doug Frankish co-hosted with me. I have built a Storify archive of the conversation. Take a look. You'll find a lot of great resources, recommendations, and great people to follow! Tune in every other Monday at 9:00pm CST for a new #MexEdChat discussion. It's an awesome bilingual chat, in both English and Spanish, hosted by Google Educators. This group is out for the summer, but will be back in August with more chats. Follow the hashtag and stay tuned! Cheers! [ View the story "#MexEdChat on Blended Learning" on Storify ]

Hi! A couple of blog posts ago, I talked about the process my school was going through in  looking for a new LMS that would be suitable for all grade levels Nursery-12th. At that time, we were moving into phase 2 ready to test the two LMS finalists: Haiku Learning and Schoology . Fortunately, for this round, the testing group grew. We had new teachers join us, in addition to giving all the school administrators access to the platforms. All the different stakeholders were well represented. During the final days of phase 2, all pilot teachers were asked to submit a scored rubric evaluation of the LMS they each tested. Surveys were sent to parents and students. On a 5 point scale, Haiku Learning scored a whopping 4.66, compared to 3.33 for Schoology. During the last pilot group meeting, each LMS pilot leader had the opportunity to speak about the Pros and Cons of their system. Feedback collected from teachers, students, and parents was shared. Then, it was time to vote. ...

The school year might be almost over, but at ASFM the learning just keeps on going! As a way to socialize the concept of blended learning, teachers spent the last PD afternoon learning more about this educational model. The elementary staff was divided into 3 major groups. With the purpose to introduce an innovative approach to problem solving, each group went through the phases of the Design Thinking process. 1- Discovery The advent of a new school wide LMS for the next school year comes along with other transformations in school. Challenge: How can we redesign the Blended Learning experience at ASFM? 2- Interpretation Now it's time to gain empathy. Teachers paired up and took turns interviewing each other. How much of your teaching is f2f and how much is it online? How have you modified student learning? Focus question: What is your experience with blended learning, from a teacher's perspective? 3- Ideation During the Interpretation phase, teachers were told ...

Hi! We just concluded an amazing #ADEchat (Apple Distinguished Educator) on Twitter. So many amazing educators participated and offered a tremendous amount of resources. I have created a Storify of the complete conversation so you can take a look at it and "beg, borrow, or steal" any ideas, recommendations or resources you like. Tune in every Tuesday at 8:00pm CST for a new #ADEchat. Topics are always relevant and interesting. Cheers! ---- [ View the story "ADEchat "Online Safety"" on Storify ] ---- [ View the story "ADEchat "Online Safety"" on Storify ]

Greetings all! This school year we have been revising the tools used at our school. One very important tool is our Learning Management System (LMS). We currently have a large number of LMSs being used. Three of them are used more consistently: SchoolWorld (N-2), Edmodo (3-5), and EDU2.0 (6-12). The task to find one sole LMS that would accommodate to the needs of N-12 began around October. After thorough research performed by the LMS task force, four LMSs were up for testing:  Schoology ,  Haiku Learning ,  Canvas , and  NEO . Four groups of volunteering teachers were formed, one each to pilot each different LMS. Once the phase 1 deadline was met, we all met to discuss any feedback regarding each of the LMSs we had tested. After casting our votes, the choices were narrowed down to two. We are now beginning the second phase of the piloting program, testing the finalists: Schoology and Haiku Learning. I have been fortunate to be personally involved with these t...

What do you do if suddenly at school you are granted (almost) one full day for professional development? You run a conference! That's what happened to us.  These were exciting times for the Tech Integration Team. Just a few weeks ago, on February 20th, ASFM offered its first in-house conference. The name of the conference was inspired by the TI Team's belief statement: Live Curious, Go Beyond _______.  (You fill in the blank.) With only a month to get ready, we were faced with an enormous challenge. A great deal of planning and organization took place. All the details could easily be taken care of, but, who would run the sessions? We sent out a call for presenters form. Fortunately, we can always count on the amazing group of digital teachers. ALL of them jumped right on and registered as presenters. Even a few other teachers participated too.  Results: Presenters - 32 Attendees - 225 Sessions - 32 Learning talks - 6 For all the details, visit the Live C...

Hello everyone, At this time I would like to direct this post to all the Spanish speaking community. My friend Marybell Rodriguez and I will start an online program called "Minuto Edutec" . Minuto Edutec will offer weekly tips on how to use technology in your classroom. In 2 or 3 minutes you will see recommendations on how to integrate technology, how to promote a positive digital life, and other related topics. Each Friday we'll publish a new tip. Our goal is to share content in Spanish for teachers that are interested in integrating technology into their classrooms. By doing this, we hope teachers can generate meaningful experiences for their students. We start Friday, January 23, 2015.  Don't miss it! Every Friday! Follow us: Google +MinutoEdutec Twitter @MinutoEdutec URL  www.minutoedutec.com Heres' the video we created that explains better what our project is about. Cheers!