It's So...Fantas~TECH!

We Did A Thing! The NEW iPad.

noreply@blogger.com (Holli Scharinger) — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 13:21:00 +0000

We did a thing! Over the summer, my school purchased new iPads for our Kindergarten through 5th-grade classrooms, and a couple of iPad carts for our Middle School. Not only did our students get new devices, but each teacher received a new iPad. The significance of this purchase is that our 3rd-5th-grade teachers will be integrating this tool into their classroom environments for the very first time and our Middle School will be adding it to their repertoire of learning tools. For some teachers, the uncertainty of what this "thing" might bring to their classroom can be a source of nightmares.

For me, this "THING" is a DREAM! As a Tech Coach, I love going into a new school year with a vision and a goal. The purchase of new iPads gave me a very clear vision and goal. My vision for the iPad is to equip our students with a powerful learning tool and for our teachers to create immersive learning opportunities where students can create, collaborate, and broaden their thinking. My goal is for the teachers to feel comfortable with the iPad and with integrating it into their lessons. To accomplish this goal, professional development is at the top of my "must do" list for the year. I've started working toward this goal, even before the school year began, by offering 6 training sessions over the summer on "Becoming an iPad Pro". This training focused on the basics of the iPad and was geared towards learning about the tool and its capabilities. Key components of the iPad training included navigation, multitasking, sharing, accessibility and modification, and creation.

The summer training laid the foundation for our new devices, so in order to work towards the goal of equipping our students with a powerful learning tool and for our teachers to feel comfortable with integrating them into their classroom environment, professional development remains at the top of my "must do" list for the year. With a firm foundation of iPad basics, it's time to build upon that and move towards how to best integrate this device into the curriculum so that it truly becomes a powerful learning tool for our students and not just an expensive pencil. So now that the "first days of school" are behind us and as we begin to settle into our school year routine, I am rolling out additional opportunities for professional development. Starting the month of October and for the remainder of the school year, I will be hosting a Tuesday Tune-Up after school on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Teachers can show up with a lesson plan that they feel is in need of a "tune-up". This is a great opportunity for teachers, with iPads in their classrooms for the first time, to bring in a lesson that they are not quite sure what it might look like carried out on an iPad versus a laptop. Or they can bring in a flat lesson plan that could benefit from a tech tool tune-up in order to pump up the volume! Also, beginning in the month of October, I will be offering Come E.A.T. (Everything Apple Thursdays). The Thursday sessions will also take place after school on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. The purpose of Come E.A.T. is to provide an opportunity for teachers to dive deeper into learning more about the iPad by embarking on the Apple Teacher Program. My hope is that by creating these two professional development opportunities teachers will come with a hunger to learn, engage with the technology our school has invested in, and a desire to feel more confident using Apple products for teaching and learning. By the time that the end of the school year rolls around, I am optimistic that the teachers that participated will have been inspired to become lifelong learners and will create innovative learning opportunities for their students.

Tune-Up Tuesdays and Come E.A.T. will provide teachers with the chance to learn more about our new iPads and integrating them into their "every day" classroom environment. Beyond that, it will allow teachers the time to see effective lesson plans, plan and create new lesson plans, and collaborate with their peers. But let's be honest, both of these professional development opportunities take place after school and are optional for teachers. As a mother of three, I know how difficult it is to stay after work on your own time for professional learning. That's why it is important for me, as their Tech Coach, to make it a priority to make myself available to teachers during their scheduled work time. Last school year, I created an Order Up! Tech Coach Menu. The idea was to communicate to my peers what exactly it is that I can do to serve them on a daily basis, and to open up the door for some great conversation and collaboration opportunities for technology integration. I'm using my Order Up! Tech Coach Menu again this school year so that teachers can have yet another opportunity to see effective lessons, plan and create new lessons, collaborate with a peer, and grow professionally.

Nothing is more important than providing teachers with necessary, relevant professional development, especially when new technology tools and devices are placed at their fingertips. It's also imperative that teachers understand the vision and goal behind the new tools and devices. We know that "with knowledge comes power." My aspirations for this school year is that through the professional learning options that have been created, our teachers will feel empowered and confident in creating immersive learning opportunities for students. In turn, our students will be afforded meaningful moments to embrace the iPad as a powerful learning tool.

Ain't No Hyper Like HyperDoc Hyper!

noreply@blogger.com (Holli Scharinger) — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 00:28:00 +0000

Do you feel like you are fighting a losing battle by asking your students to sit quietly, while you give detailed instructions, explain everything, and telling them exactly how it's to be done? It's a pretty good chance that you are losing the battle. As teachers, we are competing with so many factors to vie for our students' attention in hopes of teaching them a thing or two. Stop banging your head against the brick wall! It doesn't have to be that way. Remember, we are doing our very best to raise 21st-century learners. We want them to be creative, collaborative, critical thinkers and great communicators. How do we do this? How do we foster these 21st-century skills in our distracted, hyper, eager, sweet, angelic students? I'll let you in on a little secret. Are you ready for this? STEP AWAY FROM THE GATE! You heard me! You are no longer the gatekeeper or the "sage on the stage." You are not the only act in town. You do not have to have all of the information and answers for your students. Hooray! This is GREAT news!

Our students simply need some inspiration. They are curious by nature, and we can foster this curiosity by providing them with opportunities to be curious. Let their curiosity grab their attention, and encourage them to use that curiosity for learning. You will soon see what amazing critical thinkers and problems solvers they are. Let your students be creators of information rather than consumers. Let them collaborate and communicate, as opposed to sitting passively and being spoon fed information.

Think about this scenario. What if, as a teacher, you could not talk? What if you literally did not have a voice? How would you be able to teach your students about nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives? How would you teach them about the quadratic equation, the Declaration of Independence, the Scientific Method, or health and nutrition? If you only had a laptop and a Google Doc, what could you put on it to engage, educate and inspire your students? On a day in which teachers and students alike tend to be a little unusually energetic, it's so fitting that we talk about a technology integration tool that is a little hyper in its own sense. This technology integration tool is a Google Doc. It's not just any old Google Doc, though. It's a HyperDoc!

HyperDocs are a great way to remove yourself from the "gatekeeper" role transition into more of a guide or facilitator role. It's a great tool for delivering instruction without having to say a word. Learning is engaging and student-centered. A well designed HyperDoc allows for students to tap into their 21st-century skills.

I do not have a class of my own, but I love to create HyperDocs for my peers to use in their classrooms. With Halloween right around the corner, I have created a Halloween Across The Curriculum HyperDoc to share with you. I'm hoping that it will be a fun, Halloween Day activity no matter the subject. Simply share the template with your students and have them share their document with you! I created this particular HyperDoc with the middle school student in mind. However, I think you can use it, as is, with some of the upper primary grade levels. You can always tweak it, too, to make it more grade level appropriate.

WOW! These HyperDoc digital lessons make me want to be a student all over again. It has me bouncing off the walls but in a positive way. What a super FUN, engaging, and active way to learn! We can go bonkers with HyperDocs!

Check out these HyperDoc Resources:

HyperDocs
What's the Hype With HyperDocs
Tips For Creating Your Own HyperDoc
HyperDoc Workshop
Transformative Learning With HyperDocs

Happy, Fantas~TECH Friday, y'all!

Students are the Sage on the Stage With the #Flipgrid Craze!

noreply@blogger.com (Holli Scharinger) — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 18:18:00 +0000

Over the summer, I joined a community of educators that desired to attend the ISTE 2017 in San Antonio, TX, but for various reasons were unable to make the trip. It's only the BIGGEST educational technology conference in the world, and the #FOMO was torturous and unbearable. The community that I became a part of was appropriately referred to as #NotAtISTE. The purpose of this community is so that those of us who could not attend could still learn from and participate in the conference remotely. A virtual conference goer of sorts! Long story short, I participated in many of the #NotAtISTE community's activities, games, and challenges, so that I could network with others and learn from those who were actually at the conference. The #NotAtISTE community gave away door prizes for members that accepted the challenges and got involved in the games and activities. Well, what do you know? I was a winner! Unbeknownst to me at the time, but my prize was ONLY one of the biggest, Edtech tool crazes in education. Flipgrid!

https://info.flipgrid.com/

Oblivious to the  Flipgrid hype, I gladly accepted my consolation prize of a classroom  Flipgrid subscription from the #NotAtISTE community and gifted it out to a fellow Technology teacher. I was grateful for my prize, don't get me wrong, but I do not have a classroom of students where I could put it to good use. Therefore, I graciously passed my subscription along to someone who could. Then, wholly moly, it seemed like every blog post I read and every podcast I listened to was about  Flipgrid! So, what did I do? I went to my fellow teacher that was the recipient of my classroom  Flipgrid subscription and said, "Call me an Indian giver, but I'm gonna need that back!" Even though he had already set up the subscription with his information for the account, he obliged, and sent me the information I needed to sign into his account. I was relieved to see that there were no hard feelings from my "giveth and taketh away" and got a good chuckle when he changed his account password to "indiangiver"!😂
Once I had my prize in hand, I was off to the races to see what this  Flipgrid craze was all about. One thing that immediately struck me about this tool was how effective it is in giving each and every student in a classroom a voice. No one is left out! You see,  Flipgrid is a video response platform that can be used for classroom discussions. It is a great venue for collaboration and tool for formative assessment. With  Flipgrid, teachers can assess what their students know and give them timely, relevant feedback. Students also have the ability to provide feedback for their peers. The more I dig into  Flipgrid I can see the value it brings to student-driven learning in the classroom. Teachers, are you ready to loosen the reins and let your students become the "sage on the stage" while you embrace being the "guide on the side"? If the idea of this excites you even just the slightest, then  Flipgrid is a great place to start. But, I encourage you to put your information literacy to work and evaluate your resource. I'm just a messenger! Check it out and see if it's actually something that would work for you.
What are some ways that you can use  Flipgrid with your students? Let me count the ways...

Pre-Assessments
Formative Assessments
Book Reviews/Book Talks
Reflection - I used my Flipgrid classroom subscription to create a "grid" topic for one of my peers, so that it could be utilized for reflection in a HyperDoc activity.
Discussion Boards
Entrance/Exit Tickets
Debates
Class Introductions
Advice Topics
Shout-outs
....infinity!

Here are some resources for you to use to validate your resource: 😉

Order Up! Tech Coach Menu

noreply@blogger.com (Holli Scharinger) — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 19:51:00 +0000

(Sing to the tune of "Be Our Guest")

Mes chers amis, it is with deepest pride

And greatest pleasure that I serve you this year

And now I invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair

As Tech Coach Holli proudly presents

Your menu!

Be my guest, be my guest

Put my service to the test

Bring your appetite for tech, chers

And I'll provide the rest

Appetizers, Desserts galore

Why, I only live to serve

Try the Entrees, they're delicious

You can trust me, don't be suspicious

Three-course meal, one by one
'Til you shout, "enough I'm done!"
Then I'll send you off to class to put it through the test
So don't just prop your feet up
Peruse the menu and Order Up!
Be my guest
Be my guest
Be my guest
Please, be my guest!

Bon appétit! This Tech Coach Menu has been in the works for quite some time now. As a Tech Coach, my job is not so "black and white". Some days I'm a "firewoman" running around put out flames. Other days I may be the copy repair woman, the DJ or VJ (video jockey), or part of the production crew. I love all these crazy things that I, never in my wildest, dreamed I would be doing. I'm a teacher for Pete's sake! Now, my teaching may be a little non-traditional in the fact that my students are my peers. Sure...I still dabble in educating our youth, but my greatest role that I take the most pride in is educating my co-workers on technology integration. My hope is that this handy, dandy Tech Coach menu will communicate to my peers what exactly it is that I can do to serve them on a daily basis. A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about helping my peers discover what it is that they do not know about technology integration. I'm hopeful that the Tech Coach Menu will be a tool that will get them to ask some questions of me and open up the door for some great conversations and opportunities for technology integration. That was my vision behind the Tech Coach Menu. A little rebranding of my title as Tech Coach, per se!

Now that I have created my Tech Coach Menu, I will do a little marketing to make sure my rebranding message is effectively communicated. To begin, I have created a page within our Learning Management System (LMS) appropriately titled "Instructional Technology". Every administrator, faculty, and staff member has access to this page. Here is where I will place my Tech Coach Menu for easy access. I have also conveniently added a link to my Tech Coach Reservation calendar. I used the Google Calendar appointment slot feature so that my peers can sign up for a time that is convenient for them. They can provide me with their menu choice in the description field of the appointment scheduler. Along with my menu and appointment calendar, I have included an RSS feed of my It's So...Fantas~TECH! blog, links to presentations, informational downloads, and other helpful instructional technology tools. I want my Instructional Technology page to be a "one-stop-shop" for all of their technology integration needs to make it useful and convenient for them. I hope the convenience of all of these tools will encourage my peers to take a minute to "Order Up!"

Next on my rebranding "to do" list is to create some sort of badging or incentive program for those that seek out my services for the purpose of technology integration. I'm still trying to envision what that will look like for me. I would love to hear from you. What ideas do you have or what are you currently doing in your schools? Please leave your comments below.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Holli Scharinger) — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 13:34:00 +0000

Well, I have good intentions! The beginning of a school year is always crazy for educators, but for some reason the start to this year has been beyond cray cray to say the least. Maybe it was the visit by the Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, to my school, or maybe it was Hurricane Irma. Whatever the case, I have failed to begin my "A Day in the Life of an iPad Pro" journaling. So, today, I'm rededicating myself to this journey for the purpose of collecting data as to whether or not the iPad Pro is a viable device for teachers and students at my school. Please feel free to comment with your iPad Pro experiences in your school(s) and classroom(s). I welcome your thoughts, suggestions, and feedback.
Today, I've been using my iPad Pro to put together a training for an upcoming Division meeting at my school. I am using the Google Slides app to build my presentation. The Google Slides app works well on the iPad Pro, just as if you were using the web version. However, it does not have all of the "bells and whistles" that are included in the web version. For instance, you can not perform an image search from within the app to include in your presentation. You can only insert an image from your device's camera roll or Photos app. The ability to search for an image while inside of the Google Slides app would definitely be a time saver, but it's definitely not a deal breaker. You can always search for an image using the Chrome browser in split screen mode and save it to your camera roll. That's the workaround!

Fixer Upper: New School Year Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Holli Scharinger) — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 19:54:00 +0000

Photo: http://musiccitychurch.com/portfolio/fixer-upper/

I'll take quotes for $500. " Ready or not, here it comes! On your mark, get set, GO! Let the journey begin!" What is...the beginning of the school year? (Ding, ding, ding) That is correct! It's the beginning of a new school school year! A new school year is somewhat like a "New Year". There are new school year resolutions of sorts for educators, their students, and their classrooms. I hope you had some quality planning and preparation time over the summer and have some new ideas in the works for yourself, your students, and your classroom.
Before I continue with my post, I have to stop and give props to my Head of Middle School for the Fixer Upper: New School Year Edition idea. She is using the "Fixer Upper" theme for our Middle School chapels this school year. What a perfect theme for a new school year as teachers resolve to "demolish" old methodologies and revive them with "fixer uppers". With that said, thank you, Mrs. Vernon! I hope you don't mind that I'm "borrowing" your fabulous theme for this post.
So, as a teacher, what is it that just hasn't been working for you in your classroom? What is the lesson that absolutely driving you crazy? What teaching methodology bothers you? What content is your least favorite to facilitate? What is it about your teaching methodologies, lesson planning, or projects/activities/assessments that needs a "fixer upper"? What is it that you want to DEMOLISH this school year? You probably have a few things running through your mind. You might even be asking yourself, "What can I do to make things work better for me?"
Sometimes, not always, technology is the piece that can serve as the "fixer upper". In my role, one of the things that I have found over the years with my peers is that "they don't know what they don't know" when it comes to integrating technology. Do you know what? That's is totally fine with me! Why? Because, if they "do know what they do know," then I would probably be out of a job! The most favorite part of my position is to offer up resources, tools, tips, tricks, and PD to help my peers discover what it is that they do not know about technology integration and how they can effectively incorporate it into their class lessons and activities.
Maybe you are a brand new teacher this year or maybe you're a veteran teacher just looking for a better way. Maybe you just "don't know what you don't know" about technology integration and how it can help "fix up" your school year. Well, let me share with you a resource that has undergone a little "fixer upper" of its own over the summer. This resource is the ISTE Standards for Educators (2017). ISTE is an acronym for the International Society for Technology in Education. The ISTE Standards for Educators (2017) were recently transformed in an effort to make sure they remain relevant as a resource to assist educators that are making decisions about their classrooms and technology integration. What I love about the ISTE Standards is that they are a blueprint and can be utilized as an important member of your "design team" in your classroom "fixer upper". The ISTE Standards for Educators (2017) is a great place to start to find answers to "what you don't know." As stated on the ISTE website, "The ISTE Standards for Educators define the digital age skills and pedagogical insights educators need to teach, work and learn." What a great tool for you toolbox! I hope you will consider using the standards to demolish the things about your classroom that drive you crazy or make you cringe, and use them to transform your classroom into something that works better for you and your students.

Once you've had an opportunity to dive into the ISTE Standards for Educators (2017), there's even more! Be sure to check out the ISTE Standards for Students (2016). The student standards will guide you in empowering your students and ensuring that learning is student-driven.
So, now...where do you begin with all of this? Know what it is that needs a "fixer upper" this school year. Then, begin wrapping your brain around the ISTE Standards for Educators (2017). Here are a few tools that can help you with this:

Enhance Your Educational Practice
with the ISTE Standards for Educators

Stretch Your EdTech Practice

From there, try to visualize how you can use these standards to transform the things that need to be "fixed up" this school year. Still need some help? Solicit help from your Tech Coach or peers. They are members of your "Transition Team"! Finally, begin the "fixer upper" process.
What do you plan to demolish this school year and revive with a fixer upper? Is it an instructional strategy, your classroom environment, a lesson plan? I would love for you to tell me in the comments of this blog post what your transformation(s) will be. If you need some design help, I would love for you to reach out. Happy #demoday, y'all!

Resource:

https://www.iste.org/standards/what-are-the-iste-standards

Lightning, Sprinting, Learning, and Death By PowerPoint...Yep, That About Sums It Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Holli Scharinger) — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 20:04:00 +0000

It has been a crazy, busy week at work for me. It all started with a lightning strike that was discovered on Monday morning. Since then, I have felt that somehow I've been trapped inside of Usain Bolt's body sprinting around campus. I sure could use a little jolt of something to survive my Friday! I'm certain it's been an equally insane week for you. The first weeks of school always bring about a feeling of organized chaos that leaves us completely and utterly exhausted. But, never fear...it's the weekend! It's your chance to be resuscitated after what can sometimes feel like a near death experience. Whew! Here's to you and the weekend!

Like many of you, one of the things that I do to decompress and de-stress is exercise. Sometimes when I exercise I listen to my workout music playlist and other times I listen to podcasts. Podcast are a great source of entertainment but also a very good tool for Professional Development. I think it's important, as an educator, to learn. If we ask this of our students, then we should be doing it ourselves. Life-long learning is so important to us as educators in order to remain relevant in our profession, learn best practices, and stay on the cutting edge of instruction. PD is often difficult for us to do with our busy schedules. Sure, we get PD through our school. But, let's be honest, it's not always timely or relevant to our needs. With that said, we need to take it upon ourselves to seek opportunities for relevant and timely PD. Your very own PD can come about via many avenues. There is social media and PLNs, webinars, blogs to read, videos to view, podcast to listen, and so much more! What I like about podcast is that I can multi-task. I can exercise, decompress and destress, and LEARN!

My weekly FanTECHulous Fridays normally come pretty easy for me. I feel like I always have something that I want to share and that you might find useful for your classroom technology integration needs. But, because of the marathon that I have been running this week, I really didn't have time to sit down and ponder the next tool, tip, and/or trick to share with you. So...as I reflect on my day today, here's what I have for you. I spent my day working on one HUMONGOUS PowerPoint presentation for a special event that will take place on campus tomorrow. As I worked, my mind kept taking me to this place called "Death By PowerPoint!" If you're not familiar with it, then let me indulge you.

Source: Life After Death by Powerpoint 2010 by Don McMillan

As I worked on this presentation, I was secretly hoping that lightning would strike campus again and take the power and the PowerPoint out! (Gasp!) I know...it was a horrifically, horrible thought. I share my FanTECHulous Fridays with everyone on campus; therefore, I know that the Administrators will be reading my post. (Well...at least I hope they read it.) I guess I will be finding out soon enough if they actually read my post or not. I will go ahead and apologize for my evil thoughts and ask for their forgiveness in advance. I'm sorry. (insert pouty lip here)

I have to admit that I have not used PowerPoint in quite sometime. I've been brainwashed by Google, LOL! Not really, I just truly love the G-Suite and especially love me some Google Slides. I love Google Slides for many reasons because it's so much more than just a presentation tool. Earlier this week when I was out for a run, I listened to a podcast entitled "Google Slides Can Do What?!?!" It shared some really unique ways that you can use Google Slides in your classrooms. Some of those ways were as follows:

Creating eBooks
Interactive/engaging activities
Magnetic Poetry
Choose your own adventures

This was an awesome PD opportunity for me and I learned a few things about how Google Slides can be utilized for more than just a presentation tool. I encourage you to click the link above and take a listen for yourself. Maybe, just maybe, you will be inspired to use Google Slides to create an engaging lesson for your students. Better yet, how about your students creating an engaging lesson for you! Who knows...maybe this will be the "Death of PowerPoint" for your future instruction!?!?

As I wrap up this post, I hope you all have a relaxing and rejuvenating weekend. Take some time to do something for yourself. Maybe that something is your very own PD! Listen to a podcast, learn from your social media PLN, watch a video, or read a blog post. If you don't know where to start, then here...try the Google Teacher Tribe podcast. Matt Miller and Kasey Bell are great educators to have as a part of your PLN and their podcasts are great tools for taking your PD into your own hands. Go ahead and give them a try. They never disappoint on a three-mile run!

Welcome Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Holli Scharinger) — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 18:14:00 +0000

"How was your summer, Holli?" It was dandy...just peachy! (insert sarcasm here) Boy, do I have a story about my summer to share with you! I recorded my story in a video diary just for you. Go ahead...take a look! See for yourself how my summer went.

There's no denying it. I've missed you! You were FAR away for FAR too long! I don't want to be by myself anymore! I have decided that I am not "me" without you. You and your students are my "why", my motivation, my passion, and my purpose here at HCES.
I missed you tremendously over the summer and I'm so glad to see you all back on campus. It's going to be a Fantas~TECH 2017-2018 school year! Check out the new Instructional Technology Group page in Blackbaud. My vision is for this to be your "one stop shop" for all of your technology integration needs. The group page may be a little skimpy right now but the number of resources will grow as the year goes on. I will continue my Fan-TECH-lous Friday tools, tips, and tricks again this year; however, it will be in the form of a blog post. The link to my blog is located on the Instructional Technology group page. You can elect to subscribe to my blog so that new posts made will come directly to your email. However, that is strictly up to you.
I wish you all a Fantas~TECH school year! Please remember that you and your students are my "why". Let me know how I can serve you this year. Now...let's go be AMAZING!