Here are the resources for my cellphone use plan:

cell phone use articles:

1.  "School Safety: Cell Phones and Text Messaging in Schools." 2002. 25 Jul. 2013 <http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/cell_phones.html>

2.  "Mobile phones and schools. | Pew Internet & American Life Project." 2010. 24 Jul. 2013 <http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones/Chapter-4/Mobile-phones-and-schools.aspx>

3. From Mind/Shift:

To Ban or Not to Ban: Schools Weigh Cell Phone Policies

4. Is It Safe to Allow Cell Phones in Schools?  by Kenneth S. Trump

Thursday reflection

Reflection 7/25/13
This week has gone fast.
The amount of information that has flashed before my eyes during this week is incredible.
There are so many pieces I want to be sure to revisit. I hope they don't fade away into the whirlwind of the new school-year.
I ran into a colleague this afternoon. She has been on vacation (and I was jealous,) but she was thinking this last week about many of the same things that we talked about in class: flipping school, meeting kids' needs rather than standardized testing needs, incorporating the "fun stuff" into her teaching. Weird, huh?
So, was her vacation more like work, or was our class more like a vacation?
My favorite thing today was imagining having kids to animate a famous quote using the white board and video. I suppose they'd remember the quote for the rest of their lives.

7/24/13 Reflection

7/24/13
My first response to G's presentation is "Wow!"
He makes it clear that there is so much out there for us to use, it's overwhelming.
I need to to take a sabbatical to have enough time to learn it all.
I want to take my tech teacher over to Raleigh Hills to see how it all works. She does some pretty amazing things, and I think what G is doing will blow her mind.

I had set up Google /Docs a couple of years ago to be able to work with an itinerant School Psych, and I  was shocked to see I had several things in my Drive!

I think my re-exposure to this system answers my question about whether my principal and I can have ongoing communication about discipline and staffing issues without having to schedule daily face-time. We can share a document that can be an on-going conversation - and a reference if we need to document an interaction at the same time.

Between Google capabilities, diigolet tools, TED talks with Jane Mcgonigal and Sugata Mitra, and playing with iMovie, my "free time" is occupied for the next several weeks!

Notes/Reflection

Here are some notes from today:

7/23/13

In online education, the teachers are more like learning coaches. They sit side-by-side with their students to enable learning.

 There are significantly more opportunities to speak meaningfully by using technology.

 Look into Doodle – a calendar-sharing program.

Schoology?

 Use Google docs as a way to further the PLC discussions. Responses to book-group readings? Continuing conversation around specific interventions?

 Could our admin staff use GoogleGroups as an ongoing communication system?

Is it possible to make the comment/summary part of my discipline excel-file a hyperink to googledocs?

 Notability – a note-taking app

 Where can one find information on valuable apps for classroom use? I become aware of them, too often, because someone wants to make money. They may or may not be worthwhile, and I don’t have the time or money to buy and then evaluate them. Isn’t there an effort being made by someone, somewhere that can sort through these myriad programs.

For free                                              For benefit                                         For profit

We need to analyze software with a new lens: For benefit to kids.

WWW = whatever, whenever, where ever -provided you have world-wide web access

 There is power in video. We, as educators, need to make use of it.

I loved learning the iMovie Application!

I'm afraid I will lose many hours of otherwise-used time playing around with this in the future!

Reflection:

I looked over my list of ideas I made yesterday for my final project :-( I'm still not sure of my direction. 

It's very important that we develop a protocol for appropriate use of personal devices at school. But, I want to have some serious feedback from 4th through 8th grade teachers before I make any impactful decisions. It's more important to build capacity and have the staff come up with the ideas to solve the problems than to decide for myself what needs to be done and tell them to do it. So, I'll put that idea on hold.

I could develop a skill (or a number of skills), like we did today with iMovie, that would benefit my work. Google Groups for the admin team? Hyperlink from the discipline log to notes from meetings and records of contacts with parents/police/agencies? 

Finding meaningful repositories/reviews of "for benefit" apps that I might use and/or make available to staff members? It's so important that the purpose and use of these apps remaining focused on what truly benefits kids. As we talked about a couple of weeks ago; If it doesn't lead to our students becoming life-long learners, it isn't helpful. 

Here is my first video:

Response 1

I believe that metaphor can be a powerful tool in defining our purpose and directing our efforts toward a more-appropriate philosophy. The reference to the industrial metaphor vs the agricultural metaphor for education was inspiring to me.
Is teaching and learning more about bringing everyone to the same, measurable standards or is it about maximizing every child's potential?

I believe the agricultural metaphor is more appropriate than the industrial model to describe education. A farmer must consider his local circumstance and nurture the growth of his efforts. Attempts to standardize farming and maximize production have often resulted in worn-out soil, pesticide-consequences, imbalances in ecosystems, and worse. Fewer consequences have been seen when agricultural efforts have been made in collaboration with the natural world.

The industrial metaphor wants everything to be standardized and measurable, regardless of circumstances, individual needs, and resources.

Beach staff 2008