The Eighth Floor

I Don't Care About Smelly Old Budget Cuts!

admin@eighthfloor.org (Anonymous) — Thu, 7 Apr 2016 10:55:00 -0500

Okay, so I have gotten a little behind on my blog posts. Dont's judge!

Unfortunately, blog posts are the least of what I don’t have time for these days. It is scary how easily your time can be hijacked by budget cuts.

Regardless of heinous, smelly budget cuts, I still have to figure out how to keep my professional development fresh so I can keep your professional development fresh. So, I carved out a little time yesterday evening to watch a webinar from Alan November, produced by Its Learning. He is brilliant at drilling right down to the crux of the matter. (I wanted to say “crux of the biscuit” and my husband would have been so proud!)

For me, good professional development makes me think about what I do and how I can do it better. In the interest of time, I am going to bullet point this webinar for you. I am curious if anything stands out for you? Anything angers you? Anything motivates you? Me, I get excited and inspired by these ideas. Not true for everyone.

Teach students to assess their own work (grades?)
The barrier to using technology is learning to shift control from the teacher to the student
Purpose is the best motivator
Assess/measure work based on the value of the work – what difference does this work make?
Choose one thing to do well this year
Better to have several students around one computer than to have a 1:1 situation. Learning is social
Use technology to SAVE instructor time
Student should be creating and giving instruction/tutorials
Writing is more important than ever – but it’s not the same kind of writing we currently think is important
Connect globally - the four walled classroom is dead
Classmates can have more impact/influence on each other’s learning than

one really great teacher
Before the early 20^th Century there were not really grades in school. Everyone learned together and from each other.
Big Shift! – Stop spoon-feeding teachers and stop spoon-feeding students. It kills awe and wonder and a sense of purpose.
Teachers are working much harder in the classroom than the students are. And, who is supposed to be learning here?
Teachers need to talk less and listen more – listen more to individual students - how else can you personalize learning?
Professional development needs to be about helping teachers learn how to shift control and responsibility to the students
A learning management system or any such technology should work as a hub of activity and interaction
Help students learn to give peer-feedback and self-assess
Involve students in instructor professional development – there is always a role for students
Teach students to scan for problems in the world and come up with solutions
When students self-assess, they tend to push themselves further, beyond

their perceived limits or expectations
Gamification – there is no failure, only success, because you do it until you get it right

Don't let budget cuts change your mind about why you do what you do. You ARE making a difference.

Just sharin’
Lee Anne

Introvert or Extrovert? Is that the question?

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 15:45:00 -0500

When I take the Myers-Briggs tests, I generally come out a pretty solid E – for extrovert. But I have to be honest, I have always questioned that. I think I am both an introvert AND an extrovert. It all depends on what I am doing.

I have been reading a book that is making me think a little differently about this whole introvert vs. extrovert thing. The book is Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Have you read it?

Teacher – total extrovert

Learner – pretty strong introvert

Group work – gosh. It depends on the group.

Group work and collaboration are such important skills to have. Because. Right?

Most introverts don’t “take” to group work. It’s true. For them, solitude is critical to creativity. However, our classrooms are more or less designed in a way that makes everyone participate in some sort of traditional group work at some point. Our culture values the characteristics of an extrovert more, and thus we design our learning environments to achieve that.

I am wondering. Can you think of a way to level the playing field for both kinds of learners? How might you integrate technology to do that?

Here is a survey I am giving to a group of teachers tomorrow on this exact topic. If you have a minute, play along!

Survery: http://goo.gl/forms/eeTeYrzY3T
Results: https://goo.gl/XMcSNL

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

A Woven Web of Technology Integration . . . ?

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Wed, 9 Sep 2015 15:52:00 -0500

It took three years to make it happen, but it finally happened. We have turned our Atrium classroom into a collaborative web of learning. It is a tangled web we’ve woven. I say that, but it is seriously cool.

We have created nine “pods” where four people can work in individual groups Primarily, we wanted the TVs at each pod to be able to display what that group is working on. An added functionality is at any time, the TV screen at each pod can display the instructor’s computer or any other student’s in the room.

It’s not magic. We have to poke on some buttons every time we want to change displays, but all in all, it works pretty smoothly once you get the hang of it.

There is going to be a learning curve for us and our participants, but that’s okay. We are already working out what we need to do to make that more of a bump than a curve.

Personally, I think the biggest challenge is going to be ours as instructors in this environment. The possibilities are endless. This configuration promotes more active and engaged learning. It also allows for more personalized/small group instruction. Exactly what we wanted!!

However, as educators, I am sure you guys know what that means - lots of work. We need to get busy figuring out how we can change how we run our classrooms and how we can put participants in the driver’s seat more.

We’d love to hear any ideas, tips, or suggestions. No. Really. We would.

Just sharin’
Lee Anne

Summer 2015 Enrollment is Open at The Eighth Floor

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 12:05:00 -0500

Enrollment is open for summer. We have some great stuff going on during June and July.

________________________

Eighth Floor Open World - Reignite the Passion.  Wednesday June 17th. This is an all-day conference full of workshops, pop-up topic discussions, prizes, refreshments, and you.

Open World is designed for all of our consortium members. Regardless of what or who you teach, there will be opportunities for you to reignite the passion for both you and your students.

For more details visit
http://eighthfloor.org/special.html#op or https://sites.google.com/site/8thflooropenworld/

We Need Workshop Presenters!
Would you like to present at the Eighth Floor Open World? We were hoping you would! Deadline for proposals is June 4rd. If you have questions, just let us know.  (Proposal Form)

______________________________________

NOW WHAT?

Our summer workshop this year is a special treat. We will be partnering with the the Tulsa Zoo to offer a two-week blended learning opportunity. We will meet both online and face-to-face, July 20-30, 2015. For details visit http://eighthfloor.org/special.html#now

______________________________________

SOL Training!
Synchronous Online Learning . . . Training.
Our NOT boring version of the boring webinar! Our sessions have "SOL" Just sayin'. We will have several scheduled throughout the summer, for those that want to do their learning from home.
Check the details: http://eighthfloor.org/special.html#SOL
______________________________________

I certainly don't want to leave out our schedule of established online, blended, and F2F classes.
http://eighthfloor.org/schedule.html

Questions? http://eighthfloor.org/contact.html

We are looking forward to learning with you this summer.
Thanks! Lee Anne

A Tale of Two Semesters

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Wed, 1 Apr 2015 17:15:00 -0500

http://puppies.about.com/od/BehaviorProblems/a/Tail-Wagging-How-To-Speak-Dog.htm

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, . . . . “ – Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities

Since the holidays, it has certainly seemed like the tale of two semesters for us at The Eighth Floor, both perfect and problematic all at once. Between snow days and the flu and the coming of spring allergies and storms, we have managed to fit in a few classes unaffected disaster.

We have had more hurdles than usual. There were several weeks when I was starting to wonder if we would ever get more than one or two days of classes going without having to reschedule everything. On top of the weather issues, we have worked around conferences, our own mini flu epidemic, weather – you get the idea. Complication. Frustration. Life.

On the other side of that, however, are the teachers. It may be that every class I have taught this semester has been remarkable. Not a clunker in the bunch! No, I don’t mean because I am just that awesome – I mean the people coming to our classes are just THAT AWESOME. I have met some great new teachers, new to us and/or new to teaching. We also have a solid core of people who take every class we offer – love these people! My classes have been full of educators who are ready to do the work. Some of my very best classes have been a perfect reflection of what The Eighth Floor does best – bring together teachers, kindergarten through college, who listen to each other and help each other.

I may have worked harder at my job this semester, but I have appreciated it the most.

I am tightening up the summer schedule – just taking a little break with this blog post. I am looking forward to another fast, furious, and fun summer. And thanks, but I'll skip the "worst of times" next semester.

Hope to see you in class, soon!
Lee Anne

Essential Questions . . . Essentially

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Tue, 6 Jan 2015 11:38:00 -0600

I want to spend my days a little less frantically.

J.J. keeping calm on the deck at the lake. My inspiration.

I hope to direct my intentions towards that end with a fresh year, fresh semester, fresh realization that I am pooped – not making any resolutions. And, I would like to sleep more! So instead of drilling down on a checklist of stuff I gotta do, NOW, I have started my semester trying to step back and take a big picture look at what we are doing here.

I think I have been overly focused on trying to keep up with the educational trends and trying to keep things fresh and new with blood dripping off the edge. That’s ridiculous. Not even possible. In that fog I have forgotten to keep exploring the important questions with the people who take our classes, the essential questions.

They are good questions.

Why is it so problematic, so much of a struggle to integrate technology into the curriculum, the classroom, education in general?
Given that technology is a square peg we are trying to fit in the round hole of our students’ learning, should we even be making this effort – is this worth the change necessary or is it just another buzzy trend? WHY?
What will have to change for technology to have the impact we think it should?

I have some sage responses to these questions – you bet I do. But that’s not how this works. That’s now how any of this works! (Great commercial)

How might you respond to these questions?

Just thinkin’
Lee Anne

Millennial Narcissism? I think not.

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 15:31:00 -0600

I love my students, but gosh. I am so frustrated right now.

Are your students prepared for class? What does “prepared for class” mean when you say it? Does that mean the instructor has prepared everything for the students for class or the students have come prepared to participate in class? Whose job is it, this students being prepared to participate in class business? I thought it was a combined effort – I do my part and they do their part. I am starting to figure out that I am just plain stupid wrong. I’m expected to do all the work here.

Over the past few years I have grown increasingly frustrated with student participation in class. I’ve never had trouble with good class discussion. So, I have been thinking they are just unwilling. Unwilling to do the work. Unwilling to put themselves out there. Unwilling to care. You get the idea. Unwilling.

This semester has been the worst. Why? I really want to know. I have been thinking about this quite a bit. This can’t be a simple case of millennial narcissism. Why do they not take notes? Why do they not read or watch videos before class? Why do they not feel any obligation to participate in their success?

I ask a question and they stare at me. They don’t even bother to look down at their notebooks to avoid eye contact. Guess why? They don’t have any! What is this note taking you speak of? -- I can see them thinking it.

At one point it had become so ridiculous I just gave up. After a series of questions about a video we had JUST watched (because they did not watch it on their own as was assigned) and nothing but blinking eyes looking back, I asked how many in the room were breathing. Blink. Blink. I then asked how many were no longer breathing. On that one I got three blinks. I think I confused them with math or philosophy or whatever.

So, I have been trying to do some reading, been trying to figure this out. I know that I am going to have to change my approach, as I doubt they will change theirs. Honestly, I have tried a variety of approaches. Nada. I am wondering if this isn’t the end of class discussion as we know it. This is a blended class. We have tried online and F2F discussion. They are mildly better at the online approach, for obvious reasons.

Here’s the deal. I am starting to think they are just not ABLE to participate. If they can’t memorize it, then they don’t understand what learning is. If I haven’t provided a work sheet or study sheet, they don’t know what notes are. But by golly, they BELIEVE they will be successful.

I don’t want to sound like I am beating these hopeful people up. I love my students. I really do. I think they are wonderful people, and I want nothing more than to be a guide to their success. No sarcasm intended. I just feel like I am not getting them there. I also feel like every few years I have to lower my expectations one more notch.

http://thewritingshopaholic.wordpress.com/tag/narcissism/

What am I missing?????? I can find all kinds of articles about millennial narcissism and helicopter parents and a grand sense of entitlement, but I think there is more to this. Do you?

Just ventin’
Lee Anne

Is Information in Danger of Losing Its Value?

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 14:15:00 -0500

from Tiger Bookstore Blog

I tell ya, I love how the universe can be “just in time” just for me every once in a while. This morning am sitting in my office thinking about a conversation with my students last night, and along comes this post from TeachThought: Teaching Google Natives to Value Information. It found me. Really. The author discusses so many of my frustrations - not sure that's the word I want to use.

In class we were talking about memory. How do you remember information for a test? How do you know to memorize information that you need in order to learn more information. These are first semester freshmen – just to let know – they know everything already, so I often wonder why I am even there. The start of the conversation was on test taking, but then we wandered into the whole availability of information and how we can just “Google” what we need to know.

They argued that they that don’t need to memorize; they have access to all the information they need. I said, think how annoying it would be to have to look up the times table every time you wanted to do some sort of math. Many of them said they have to pull out their phone calculators to do simple math, anyway. (Seriously!?)

So, you see where this is all going. (To hell in a hand basket?) We know “things” are changing. It’s okay. I am good with it – and part of it, for that matter. But I wonder if we shouldn't start paying a little more attention. The article makes this point:

“. . . the easier something is to access, the less it is valued. It still may be useful, but the process of seeking information—one so full of learning potential in and of itself—is replaced by smarter keyword searches, and improvement by Google of their own search engine algorithm.”

If we know how to search better, we can find anything we want to know. I have huge, huge concerns about credibility and relevance. Huge. Helping students develop the nose for credibility and the skill for evaluation is not easy. We can give them all the check sheets and examples we want.

I still feel there is value in just knowing some things, even things I can look up easily and be pretty sure the information is right.

I do like author's list at the end: 10 Strategies to Encourage Digital Natives to Value Information. Good list.

Just thinkin’
Lee Anne

BTW - I am teaching "Better Internet Searching" tomorrow from 4:30 - 6:30 pm. Still room!

District Requests - Having Classes Your Way!

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 14:32:00 -0500

For more information: http://eighthfloor.org/http://eighthfloor.org/

Enter the Infographic

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 10:20:00 -0500

http://content.easybib.com/educators/
downloads/infographics/#.U8_OqfldV8E

We see them everywhere, infographics. They are a tool that uses visual design, text, and research (we hope) to organize ideas, sell something, teach something, basically communicate. They blend words and pictures. Remember picture books? Remember Powerpoint, Excel graphs? Infographics (and tools like them) are a digital, online iteration of this kind of communication.

I like them. I like the challenge of trying to "write" in a new environment, one that employs all my 21st Century skills, such as they are. I like the opportunity to communicate and stimulate with colors and shapes.

It's fun. But as cool as they look, their deliberate simplicity is deceptive. Have you tried to create one? I have. I've tried hard. I'd rather write an essay.

When I first started playing with infographics, the tools were complicated and clunky - unless you were prepared to pay for the next level up. The next level up was, of course, where all the "front-page" templates were. Templates make things much easier. They make your work look on the screen how it looks in your mind. I was not prepared to give up. I kind of let the whole infographic universe stew for a while. While it was stewing, new tools came along, techniques became more defined . . . I found ways for this to make sense in a classroom with students at any level.

So NOW, I am ready to do a class on infographics in the fall. I've dabbled a bit as part of my research and learning process. You may have caught the SOL Training I did last spring on Infographics or the workshop session I did at Eighth Floor Open World this summer. They were fun, and I have learned a little more about the technology and technique each time.

More and more I come across someone who writes well about this medium. For example, this post in Edutopia, Inventing Infographics: Visual LIteracy Meets Written Content. I come across insights and application like these and I get excited to teach my students something new, something more relevant.

Come play with me this fall! We'll play with colors and pictures and words and create things that are remarkably sophisticated!

Just sharin'
Lee Anne

What does it take to be a Quadblogger?

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 11:24:00 -0500

Quadblogger? What is this quadblogging you speak of? I ran across this term in an

Edublogs email. I had to know more. It's a great idea.

Having a class blog is a great idea, but what fun is it if you don't have an authentic audience? This makes that happen.

First of all, there is a site: http://www.quadblogging.com/.

"Since its conception more and more teachers from across the globe have used Quadblogging to gain a genuine audience for their learners. Whether you are a Nursery teacher in Nigeria or an University Lecturer in Uruguay, Quadblogging will Quad you and your learners up with three other classes matching your preferences selected in the sign up process."

It looks to be mostly English speaking countries, but I haven't dug in too far on that.
Here is a teachers blog post about her experience: Quadblogging How To
Here's an article from Edutopia QuadBlogging Connects Student Writers with Global Audiences

Is anyone doing this?

Just Wonderin'
Lee Anne

Like Walt Whitman Always Said, YOLO!

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 11:29:00 -0500

Yesterday we dipped our toe in the “conference” waters. We held our first Eighth Floor Open World. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. We are already making plans for next summer.

The pupose of Open World is to help educators reignite their passion for teaching and learning. At most colleges, universities, and K-12 schools, summers are a little slower and quieter. Many of the people who attended can use this time to attend professional development events such as this. Others were just taking a much needed break from a still busy schedule. Regardless, there was definitely passion. Educators amaze me. They never stop learning and doing more for their students. The passion is always there.

For me, Scott, Linda, and Katy, that’s what yesterday was about for us – doing more for OUR students. Summers for us are crazy busy. Classes are full and days are long and we absolutely love it. Spending our summers with educators like these is what reignites our passion.

My favorite moment from yesterday: “Like Walt Whitman always said, YOLO!”

Great video - treat yourself for a minute.

I hope we see you at Open World next year!
Lee Anne

SummerTime~FunTime~EighthFloorTime

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 12:34:00 -0500

Enrollment is open for summer. We have some great stuff going on during June and July.

________________________

Eighth Floor Open World - Reignite the Passion. Wednesday June 18th. This is an all-day conference full of workshops, pop-up learning, SOL Trainings, vendors, and you. For more details visit http://eighthfloor.org/special.html#op or https://sites.google.com/site/8thflooropenworld/

Open World is designed for all of our consortium members. Regardless of what or who you teach, there will be opportunities for you to reignite the passion for both you and your students.

Would you like to present at the Eighth Floor Open World? We were hoping you would! Deadline for proposals is June 3rd. If you have questions, just let us know. (Proposal Form)

______________________________________

NOW WHAT?

Our summer workshop this year is a special treat. We will be partnering with the Woody Guthrie Center to offer a two-week blended learning opportunity. We will meet both online and face-to-face, July 21-30, 2014. For details visit http://eighthfloor.org/special.html#now

______________________________________

SOL Training!
Synchronous Online Learning . . . Training.
Our NOT boring version of the boring webinar! Our sessions have "SOL" Just sayin'. We will have several scheduled throughout the summer, but also look for our SOL Training during Open World - for those that want to reignite the passion from home. Check the details: http://eighthfloor.org/special.html#SOL
______________________________________

What are the rules for using your smartphone in a social setting

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:39:00 -0500

What are the rules for using your smartphone in a social setting? Actually, a better question might be, what do you WANT the rules to be because apparently there are not currently any. I do find it a little annoying when I go out for a meal or a social gathering and sit and watch someone else check their phone and/or carry on a text conversation with someone else – or several someone elses. What’s the point of being in the same place if everyone’s attention is on someone not there?

Beth Turner shared this article on Facebook. It really struck an annoyed little nerve I seem to have. What To Do With Your Smartphone While You’re Having Dinner

“There is apparently a name for device usage while in places others might consider it rude: electronic displays of insensitivity, or EDI. And when author Joseph Grenny surveyed more than 2,000 of his newsletter recipients for a study, "Digital Divisiveness," they said these kinds of displays are getting worse. VentureBeat sums it up:”

So, EDI? Did you know there is a name for this behavior? I’ve always felt there should be.

Just sayin’
Lee Anne

What are the Cool Kids Already Enrolling in for Spring?

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Tue, 7 Jan 2014 10:14:00 -0600

Yep. It's back to the grind. No more dancing sugar plumbs. No more, "one more snow day - geez it's so cold." Put on your mittens and get on to work.

Let's focus on the good news. The days are getting longer. The temps are getting warmer. And, the best news of all . . . enrollment is open for spring classes on the Eighth Floor. Actually, enrollment was open before the holiday break, but it was hard to focus on with all those dancing sugar plumbs.

So I was looking at what people are already enrolling in. I guess in more modern terms I should say, I was looking at what was trending on the enrollment site. Here's what the cool kids are doing at the moment.

Online Learning Series
Blended Learning - Is there a model for you?
Anything to do with Excel (Geez - when did that get sexy again?)
All of our SOL Trainings - those are so much fun for us. We hope you are liking them
Technology in the Common Core
Twitter
Google the Next Step

Of course, those are not our only classes. We have TONS more - go see - http://eighthfloor.org/schedule.html

We have a whole new crop of SOL Trainings. For those of you who are not cool or groovy like us, (snicker) that means Synchronous Online Learning . . . Trainings. Check out the whole list. http://eighthfloor.org/special.html#SOL.

If you have questions about the classes or enrollment, just ask. We know a lot of stuff, and what we don't know, we will make up. 918-828-5341 Just sayin'.

Hope to see you in a class or two this semester!
Lee Anne

If you are still hoping for sugar plumbs, here ya go -- SUGAR PLUMBS!

Teaching Writing . . . Online: Are we teaching old rules for a new game?

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 16:57:00 -0600

http://www.peanuts.com/

I've been thinking about this a lot. Writing for an online environment is just different than writing for “paper.” Don’t you think? Let me say more!

I have been wondering if I am doing students a disservice by insisting on rules that may not apply anymore to many of our newer writing environments – namely, anything that is online. Some examples might be, discussion forums, blogs, wikis, Twitter, any social media really. You get the idea. Can we continue to ignore the internet?

Here’s another thought for all teachers. Writing is a highly universal activity. As much as we know that modeling is important to learning, are we modeling the best writing behavior/skills?

I really want to know what you think. Are we willing to let go of the scholarly rules for a more mixed media world? I agree that right now it may be easy to define a proper time and place for each. But how long will THAT last?

Here are some of the points I want your thoughts on:

Are bullet points okay in a graded discussion forum?
Are emoticons okay in a graded discussion forum?
How do you feel about hyperlinks?
How do you feel about hyperlinks instead of a formal Works Cited?
What about the more conversational style of online; is that okay for a grade?
Can you have an online voice and a paper voice? It’s kind of like inside and outside voices.
What about the use of first and second person?
Do we need a five space indent?
The internet is meant to be interactive. Are your online assignments addressing that?
Is it okay to include video or images as part of your argument, instead of text or to take the place of quotations, summaries, paraphrasing?
What if they really did write to their supposed audience and not their teacher?
Aren't we making some rather misguided assumptions about other readers? Do they care about a classic, five paragraph essay? Is that communicating in the 21st Century?

There are a number of issues that fall under the whole idea that reading online is just different from reading print:

Screen size, lighting, being able to focus
Are you familiar with the “F” pattern? No. That is not a new online swear word. It’s the eye pattern for how we read a screen, not a “Z” pattern for a book or magazine.
Walls of words seem more like barriers than invitations to learning or conversation. Kind of like this blog post!
How do you feel about blocking rather than paragraphing?
Could you teach the inverted pyramid style verses the class five paragraph essay? The reader could quit reading at any time - click on a hyperlink or just get bored.
Do we have time to change all our rubrics? I guess the more important question is does anyone have a rubric for using emoticons I can borrow?

I know. I hear you. What does all this chatter have to do with the pursuit of excellent communication and writing skills? Most online writing is about persuading (and entertaining) a particular audience to make money. What if you took the last three words off that last sentence? What’chu got now?

I am doing a short class on writing in online environments next semester, so I've been thinking about all this lately. I am curious where you land, or if it is even on your radar.

Just thinkin'
Lee Anne

What Does Woody Guthrie Have To Do With The Eighth Floor?

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 10:56:00 -0500

Yesterday afternoon Linda, Katy, Scott, and I were invited to visit the Woody Guthrie Center downtown. WOW! What a treat. I am sorry I didn’t to do this before. I have attended many events at Guthrie Green – a good friend puts on a Sunday afternoon music series, Horton Records presents the Tulsa Sound. Perhaps you have heard of it. Just sayin’. Anyway, so it’s not like I am never downtown. Moreover, it’s not like I haven’t been right across the street many, many times. I honestly didn't even realize it was right there. Did you? Have you been?

Deana McCloud is the Executive Director of the center. Some of you may remember that Deana use to teach at The Eighth Floor. She gave us a tour of the facility and in the process shared her passion for the center and Woody Guthrie’s legacy. This facility is something else, too. Funded by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, this museum is the latest and greatest in presentation, preservation, technology, and resources. Additionally, the museum was built with education in mind. Deana and the Education Manager are both former teachers. They have created lesson plans aligned to the common core and are building a variety of workshop series.

One such workshop series is in partnership with Horton Records. Check out this Saturday’s workshop on Ownership, Licensing, and Publishing. The next one is on Sept 29^th with Paul Benjaman and Wink Burcham, Songwriting Tips and Tricks. You don’t want to miss this one – two amazingly talented sons of Oklahoma.

Additionally, you will find short performances mixed with discussions, a partnership with Tulsa County Library, “One Book One Tulsa,” another partnership with the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers at OSU Tulsa, and just so much more.

The Eighth Floor will also be partnering with the museum as part of our workshop series, “Now What? . . . Mastering Technology Skills for Teaching and Learning. We are still in the creative stages, but plan to do a blended workshop where the F2F time takes place at the Woody Guthrie Center. Projects will revolve around the center – imagine the possibilities – writing, music, history, art, pretty much anything, really! Our workshop last summer, Project Classroom, was a great success and so much fun. This is going to be even better.

As a special treat to our Advisory committee, Deana has offered to host our January Advisory Committee meeting at the museum. How cool is that!

So, yeah. You need to check this out. Read a little about Woody, and see why this is such a shining jewel right here in the middle of T-Town.

Just Sharin’
Lee Anne

Last Fall . . .CLASSES ARE AVAILABLE FOR ENROLLMENT

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 11:15:00 -0500

It's true. Enrollment is open and there is a spot for you.

Here's what you need to know:

If your school is a member of The Eighth Floor consortium, you can enroll
If you work at that school - whatever your position, you are welcome
You can enroll in as many classes as you would like
You can take classes more than once if you want to
You will get a certificate of attendance for each class you attend
We have online and face-to-face classes
You are going to have fun AND learn something new
Link to the PDF http://eighthfloor.org/SchedulePDF/FALL13_8thFloor_16pgs.pdf

Stuff of Note!

SOL Training - (synchronous online learning) All new for the fall semester - The Eighth Floor's much cooler version of a webinar. Less than an hour of hands-free learning and relaxing. Better than a massage, I've heard people say. No? Prove me wrong.

Who is Jamie McKenzie?
21st Century Teacher
Digital Citizenship
LiveBinderss and the Classroom Teacher
Google+ You
Wikispaces Classroom
Trends and Stuff and Things that Make You Go "Ahhh . . . !"

For details, visit our SOL Training Wikispace: http://soltraining.wikispaces.com/home. You will also find archives of past SOL performances.

Other New Classes This Fall

Blended Learning - Is there a model for you? (fully online)

Blended learning is all about mixing different learning environments. We will look at some of the different options or models for combining online and face-to-face content delivery. No approach is one-size-fits-all, and the beauty in that is the ability to differentiate and help students personalize learning. How do you think blended learning might look in your classroom?
This class meets fully online. (8 hours)
November 12 – 19, 2013

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-World environment whose elements are supplemented by sensory input such as sound, video, and graphics. Using a tool called Aruasma we are going to construct our own augmented world and take a look at many of the ways we can use this in the classroom.

Sept 18 W 4:30 – 6:30 pm

Nov 14 TH 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Dec 4 W 2:00 – 4:00 pm

Special Offering

Jamie McKenzie will offer two classes:

Lifting the Bar for the Core Standards - Sept 24, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Questioning 101 - Equipping Everyone with Great Questioning Skills - Sept 25, 8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Visit our website for more information http://eighthfloor.org/

Online Teaching and Learning Series

Fall is a great time to take this blended course. This class meets online and F2F. If you are thinking about teaching online, either fully or in a blended format, you will benefit from this class. If you have questions about the Online Series, contact Lee Anne Morris at lee.anne.morris@tulsacc.edu.

If you have questions about enrollment, please contact katy.hoppa@tulsatech.edu.

Hope to see you in class this fall!
Lee Anne

Look! A Squirrel!

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Wed, 7 Aug 2013 09:43:00 -0500

Please welcome guest blogger, Janice Airhart

Sorry, but I couldn’t resist. If you haven’t seen the 2009 animated film Up, you’re probably thinking I’m crazy about now. If you have, then you’ll recall that the evil dog pack hates squirrels; they just can’t resist chasing them. At a critical point in the story, Dug (the good dog) distracts his nemesis from tracking down his human friends by pointing out an imaginary squirrel. It throws the whole pack off the trail.

While I generally have a healthy ability to focus on tasks, I admit to being easily distracted by technology. Like Dug’s nemesis, I can be thrown off my trail by bright and shiny online toys: links to more blog posts or articles, web sites recommended by a friend, fellow blogger, or Tweeter, free account setup for an educational web 2.0 tool, another educator’s Pinterest board, and so on. Sorry to say, I sometimes find myself chasing digital squirrels.

In an effort to reign in my addiction to chasing web links (seriously, they wouldn’t be there if you weren’t supposed to click them, right?), I enrolled this summer in the Eighth Floor class, What Now? Mastering Technology Skills for Teaching and Learning. Doesn’t that sound like a power trip? Who doesn’t want to “master” technology?

The first week of the class was entirely online on the Eighth Floor Moodle site (See? They already had us navigating the world of learning management platforms—very clever!). The seven other class members and I watched the posted videos, read articles, completed activities, and interacted through class forums. As we carried on our virtual discussions and shared goals, I discovered a process for first identifying learning objectives then creating a structure for the technology that supported them. By the end of the week, I’d drafted a lesson plan for a problem-based learning unit. But wait; there’s more!

In the second week of class, we met face-to-face for three days in a workshop atmosphere. Each of us worked on our individual projects, and while we all had different goals, spending that much time together figuring out how to use various programs and tools sparked everyone’s creativity. I was genuinely energized and inspired by the other teachers.

The beauty of the course was that the eight of us had as much individual or small group instruction as we needed to complete our projects, no matter what tools we needed to support them. Some of us wanted to learn about curating sites like Diigo and Delicious, so Linda gave us a mini-lesson. Some wanted to produce video, and Scott introduced WeVideo. Want to blog? Lee Anne’s the go-to instructor. Ed Hodge could help with logo design and assorted other essentials. And if something wasn’t working the way you wanted, someone could help you troubleshoot. I now have a fully developed project plan for use this fall. In my opinion, this is the best kind of professional development. Not only did I learn something, I produced something. How great is that?

To cap off the course, on Wednesday we presented our projects via a webinar that’s available on the Eighth Floor Wiki site. Check it out, if you have the time. I think you’ll agree that the quality of the projects is phenomenal. Click here to watch the webinar video, but don’t forget to come back when you’re done. You can’t spend all day chasing squirrels.

Janice Airhart teaches science and English at the Margaret Hudson Program/Broken Arrow Public Schools, and is a Freshman Composition adjunct instructor for Tulsa Community College. She blogs at http://learningisthereward.com.

Pop-Up Learning – Wave of the Future?

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 14:55:00 -0500

You guys have seen the pop-up shops, right, especially around the holidays. These are great little establishments that pop-up on the side of the street or at a park or in small lobby fronts or wherever crowds may gather. These are artist or business owners that are literally taking it to the people.

So, follow me on this, what about pop-up learning? Pop-up teacher professional development? What if The Eighth Floor were to pop-up just when you needed it? Learning with an entrepreneurial flavor. Are you curious?

I know! This all seems like crazy talk, but honestly, I can envision it. I think it would be worthwhile AND fun.

You can thank Samantha Reid and Edutopia for putting these goofy little ideas in my head. Check out this short article: Five Future Trends That Will Impact the Learning Ecosystem

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/5-shifts-regenerating-learning-ecosystem-andrea-saveri

Here’s a vocabulary list to help you pick the more interesting ideas – can you figure out what they mean?

FabLab – Did you know we have one in Tulsa? We are quite lucky
Learning Entrepreneurial Style
High Fidelity Learning Environments
CYOS – Create Your Own School
Talent Clouds (love this!!!)
Classroom/Student Projects that solve problems and change communities.

Are you at all intrigues by anything in this article? I can’t stop thinking about it.

Just thinkin’
Lee Anne

Summertime.YourTime.FunTime

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:48:00 -0500

Summer time is your time for learning fun. All year long it’s about the students – student learning this, student engagement that. Am I right or am I right? Now it’s your time. Let us worry about the learning and engagement. All you need to do is enroll.

Here’s what we have going on this summer

For a full list of Eighth Floor classes, visit our website, http://eighthfloor.org/schedule.html .

For a print version of our schedule, http://eighthfloor.org/SchedulePDF/SUMMER13_8thFloor_16pgs.pdf .

Stuff of Note!

SOL Training – The Eighth Floor's much cooler version of a webinar. Less than an hour of hands free learning fun:

Digital Collections
Google Accounts – How They Work and Why You Need One
Web 2.0 Tools for Engaging and Collaboration
Evaluating Web Resources
Trends in Technology in Education in The Classroom
Promethean Topics
21^st Century Classroom Project Presentation – Project Classroom
Smart Topics #1
Smart Topics #2
Things That Make You Go “Aahhhh”
More info: http://eighthfloor.org/special.html#SOL

Now What? . . . Mastering Technology Skills for Teaching and Learning

Featured program this summer is Project Classroom

This is a two week, blended course designed for educators who have taken classes at The Eighth Floor or already have some technology skills and are ready for classroom integration. Your goal is to employ technology in a way that benefits student learning and/or your professional development. Week #1 is fully online. Week #2 if face-to-face.

For more on this program: http://eighthfloor.org/special.html#now.

Other NEW classes include

QR Codes for the Classroom
Publisher 2010: Making a Calendar
InDesign CS5: Making Calendars
Promethean Level 3
Promethean Marathon

Online Teaching and Learning Series

Summer is a great time to take this more extended blended course. If you are thinking about teaching online, either fully or in a blended format, you will benefit from this class. If you have questions about the Online Series, contact Lee Anne Morris at lee.anne.morris@tulsacc.edu

Regular Online Courses

Don’t forget we have a handful of regular courses in a short, fully online format:

Social Networking Tools for Educators
Cyber Bullying
Differentiated Instruction and the Technology Classroom
Time Management Tools for Educators
Crash Course in Copyright
Grant Writing 2

If you have questions about enrollment, please contact katy.hoppa@tulsatech.edu.

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

Rhizonomy and Learning 3.0

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:55:00 -0500

I learned a new word today! Actually, I still wrapping my head around it and what it could mean for teaching, learning, the classroom, educator professional development, my job . . . you get the idea. The word that could be changing my life is Rhizonomy. It is so new it's not even in Wikipedia yet. Imagine that.

Steven Wheeler

I am discovering that this is what is behind the idea of learning analytics (see previous post) . I think we are all familiar with the idea of a taxonomy - organizing, classifying information. A term that came along with the web, and more specifically Web 2.0, is folksonomy. A folksonomy falls out from a collective or collaborative method of classifying information on the web. It's more organic, in a way. You may have heard the term used in relation to the practice of tagging information on the web. Tagging is a way of developing a shared understanding or use of something. Am I being too vague?

Okay, so, think . . .

Taxonomy = Learning 1.0
Folksonomy = Learning 2.0
Rhizonomy = Learning 3.0

Shared from Steve Wheeler's blog post on Next Generation Learning

Rhizonomy = Learning 3.0? What does that mean? I found a blog post that may help us with this: Next Generation Learning by Steve Wheeler. I like this paragraph:

Learning 3.0 will be user and machine generated, and will in all respects be represented in what I will call 'rhizonomies'. The rhizonomic organisation of content will emerge from chaotic, multi-dimensional and multi-nodal organisation of content, giving rise to an infinite number of possibilities and choices for learners. As learners choose their own self determined routes through the content, so context will change and new nodes and connections will be created in what will become a massive, dynamic, synthetic 'hive mind'. Here I do not refer to any strong artificial intelligence model of computation, but rather a description of the manner in which networked, intelligent systems respond to the needs of individual learners within vast, ever expanding communities of practice. Each learner will become a nexus of knowledge, and a node of content production. Extending the rhizome metaphor further, learners will act as the reproduction mechanisms that sustain the growth of the semantic web, but will also in turn be nurtured by it. Learning 3.0 will be a facet of an ongoing, limitless symbiotic relationship between human and machine.

I kind of like the idea that not only do we sustain the growth of the web as users, but we also become nurtured by it.

Do you think this is possible?

Just Wonderin'
Lee Anne

What’s Your Geek IQ – Eighth Floor Quiz

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:26:00 -0500

Here's your chance to find out your Geek Quotient. Are you a perfect candidate for Eighth Floor Classes?

Who invented the internet?

Ward Cunningham
Al Gore
Seriously? Check Wikipedia, you dweeb
A company called the Pony Interpress

When you book a hotel, you are most concerned about . . .

The breakfast buffet
Sites and restaurants in the area
Free WiFi
The closest public transport

If you were a technology device, which would you be?

PC/Mac
iPad
Cellphone - Android, of course
Laptop

When you set the table for dinner, how do you arrange the utensils around your plate?

Spoon, fork, knife
Fork, knife, spoon, cellphone
Knife, spoon, fork, cellphone never leaves your hand
Phones aren’t allowed at the table

Your best friend just got a brand new iPhone 3. You . . .

Show her your old flip phone and tell her you are worried people will listen in on your calls with a phone like hers.
Are impressed she is starting to catch on to the whole “phone thing.”
Tweet – Instagram – Facebook about it because that’s just too funny.
You compare it to your original iPhone and think about updating

Your best friend just got a new iPad. What app do you recommend first?

eHarmony – JDate – Match.com– it’s a toss up
FlipBook
Your favorite JailBreak or QR code
Angry Birds

When you share a document with someone, your preferred technique is . . .

Print it out for them
Email
DropBox or Google Drive – just depends
One of those sticks you put in the hole - what are they called again?

When you can’t figure out how to do something in a program or application, you

Just give up – you don’t have time for this.
Ask the techie type person at work
Click on the help button or Google/YouTube the information
You phone the application at home.

You use your phone most for . . .

Phone calls
Checking your Facebook
My phone makes calls?
The clock – it’s huge and you don’t have to put your reading glasses on to tell time.

How many Eighth Floor classes have you taken in the last few year

0
1-5
6 or above
I sign up but never show up – so I am now afraid to show my face there.

Add up your points!

For each #1 answer give yourself 1 point

For each #2 answer give yourself 2 points

For each #3 answer give yourself 3 points

For each #4 answer give yourself 0 points.

0-9 points - Egghead

Technology is just not your thing, is it. You never hear from your kids or younger relatives because you don’t know if your phone can text. You keep deleting your contacts from your computer and you don’t know how you to it. You better be enrolled in several Eighth Floor classes. You need us!

10 – 19 points - Dweeb/Nerd

It’s not all bad – you have some game. Your kids have made sure of that. You can conduct a little business, but beyond that it’s a phone and it’s made for calling people. After all, when was the last time you saw an actual payphone? You use your computer at work, but only for those things that must happen on the computer. Oh, and also to check your Facebook and Pintrest, of course! You need to take your sprouting technology skills and help them grow by taking classes at The Eighth Floor

20-30 points - Techie/Super Geek

Look out Lewis Skolnick and Gilbert Lowell! There’s nothing nerdy about you, and you feel no need for revenge. Technology just dances for you. Your only drawback is that you have no tolerance for eggheads and just don’t get dweebs. You also know too much about technology to suffer integrating it into your classroom. You need to take classes at The Eighth Floor to get over your own self. Just sayin’.

Ten Apps for the Classroom iPad Cart

admin@eighthfloor.org (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:46:00 -0600

Shawn Beard is our next guest blogger. Shawn has taught for The Eighth Floor for a number of years.

Shawn Beard, M.Ed.
Virtual School Director
Sand Springs Virtual Academy

Sand Springs Public Schools

Recently, our school purchased iPad Carts for use in our schools. The idea was to provide iPads for use in the classroom, but purchasing them on a large scale was too much. So, by providing a cart for each building, the cart could be checked out by teachers to use as a mobile computing classroom. iPads provide the ability to access apps for practice, web 2.0 resources, and sites for classroom research.

Being an iPad user, as I investigated different apps I already had an idea of what I would want on the iPads. But as these were going to be used by different teachers on a larger scale, the thought process was a little different.

Here are a few apps that I found to be crucial the the classroom iPad Cart:

Educreations - Like having an interactive whiteboard (IWB) on your iPad, this app, when used with a HDMI cable or Apple TV, allows you to use tools familiar to IWB users. Features include a pen tool, ability to erase, add pictures, text, and most of all, the ability to record. By being able to record what you present, you can save it for later, and even share your presentation with others.

Puffin Free - iPads aren't Flash friendly, so if you're going to show certain web content that is built on Flash, it can be difficult when using the Safari browser. This app (available for free with ads, and for a price to remove ads) gives users the ability to view and interact with Flash content.

Free Graphing Calculator - Math teachers will appreciate the ability to use the iPad as a graphing calculator. There are several free calculators available, this is just one of them.

iTunesU - The iPad will prompt new users to download this app and it is well worth it. With the ability to download free course content from K-12 institutions, as well as colleges and Universities, this app gives teachers the ability to connect students with content covering thousands of subject areas. Professional Development courses are available through iTunesU too!

iBooks - This app may not seem like a teaching tool to some, but many teachers have found that the ability to bookmark, highlight, and add notes to the margins makes the use of this app very handy. For English classes, teachers can download epub files for classic novels from sites such as http://www.gutenberg.org/. eTextbooks can be purchased from many educational textbook publishers, through the iBooks store.

Bubble Sheet - Join Mastery Connect for free and use this app to deliver assessments using bubble sheet style questions.

Socrative - Download Socrative Teacher and Socrative Student and use the iPad as a Student Response System. Create your own assessment questions and deploy them over classroom WiFi.

PenUltimate - This note taking tool allows students to take notes in their own "fingerwriting". Keep notebooks by subject area - all for free.

Dropbox - download this cloud storage app and create a classroom account that will allow students to upload/store assignments in the cloud.

iWork - This bundle of apps from Apple may cost a little ($9.99 for each app; less on the Volume Purchase Program if you buy more than 10), but its worth it. Keynote is a presentation tool similar to PowerPoint that allows you to create and view slideshows. Pages is a word processing app that allows you to create documents. Numbers is a spreadsheet app.

Obviously this is not an all encompassing list of everything you would need, but it is a great place to start. The capabilities of tablets in the classroom are so great that you will discover more as you use them. The camera and built-in microphone make iPads great for creating audio and video projects as well. As you become more advanced in using them, investigate and explore the web for more options. And enjoy!

Lose Weight without Even Trying

admin@eighthfloor.org (Lee Anne Morris) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:06:00 -0600

Renowned scientists have found a previously unfound cure for obesity. Hitherto, it was thought to be a cure, but now it is proven to be a more globally effective antidote to a festering plague. No personal effort what-so-ever is required.

You clicked on it? Seriously? It’s okay, it’s okay. You just shared your human side. Man, what I wouldn't give for a previously hitherto unfound cure – not gonna lie.

I have been working on the beginning blogging class I am teaching tonight – looking for some new stuff. I like to keep things a little fresh, ya know. What I have noticed is the blogging movement is really picking up speed lately. Not just what I see online, but I see it in our enrollments. Why? I have my theories, but what do I know?

I am all for blogging and can think of a million reasons why I would do this both professionally and personally. On top of that, I don’t know what I would do if the people I am learning from quit blogging. Yikes! Would I have to read musty books on what would then be stale information? (Please don’t translate that into a distain for books – I LOVE BOOKS! --- but there are times when blogs are more appropriate.)

I’m sincerely curious what people are looking for when they start blogging? I’m pretty sure it’s not a previously unfound cure that was hitherto global. An infinitive or two would be helpful for me. Is it to learn, to teach, to promote, to create, to meet Common Core standards, to lose weight by blogging . . . to what?

Just Wonderin’
Lee Anne

p.s. There are still some spots left in the Getting Started with Blogs class. Just sayin’