10 Customer Service Tenets for #EdTech Coaches | #30DBB - Day 15

This is day 15 of "The 30 Day Blog Binge." Learn more

I walked into a nationally known car care chain this morning with a 9:30 appointment for an oil change. Upon arriving, it was explained to me that they would get to my car around noon. Huh? When I inquired about the point of even making an appointment, I was given an explanation that likened my current hassle to the mechanic setting an appointment with his doctor at 3:00 but not being seen until 4:00. Again: huh?

Although I appreciate this mechanics' medical metaphors (and he may want to consider switching physicians), in 99 out of 100 places where I set a 9:30 appointment, the understanding is that I'll get in somewhere around 9:30. I told him to cancel the 'appointment' and headed to a different oil change location, where they got me in immediately. Without an appointment.

While this could easily devolve into a customer service rant, I instead choose to be reflective and think about what my customer service is like as an edtech coach. What are the tenets that should guide me in the way I serve teachers so they don't feel the level of customer service frustration I feel right now? Here are the 10 guiding principles I've come up with from my experience working with teachers.

1. Honor teachers' time
   
   When working with teachers, everything needs to have a purpose and a time limit. Whether it's a one-on-one coaching meeting, small group training, or a larger professional development setting, clear objectives and a set time are a must. It's amazing how far it goes to let a teacher know you'll meet for 10 minutes, focus on one coaching idea, and then wrap it up with 2 minutes to spare. Big win.


2. Listen carefully
   
   In his book It's Not About the Coffee, former Starbucks president Howard Behar says "You'll be amazed at the power of silence. Pay attention to how people fill it...Keep your ears open, your eyes open, and your mouth not flapping." As a coach, it can be easy to think our role is to dispense information and solve problems. Actually, our goal is to help teachers identify and solve their own problems and only step in when necessary. Listening carefully is a requirement to making that happen.


3. Respond thoughtfully
   
   I am a habitual "first-responder," and not in the EMT/fireperson meaning of the term. I'm typically the first one to respond to a question, which means I haven't always thought it all the way through. It's a growth area for me. Responding thoughtfully to a teacher means considering what they mean instead of just what they say.
   
   For example, if a teacher asks for an online tool for assessment, could they be better served by an old school whiteboard and dry-erase marker? It's quite possible. Considering the teacher's context and intended outcomes before offering an idea provides much more useful, actionable recommendations.
   
   
4. Deliver on promises
   
   Abt Electronics, one of George Whalin's Retail Superstars, has a one page Customer Service Policy Handbook. What's the maxim that governs all their interactions with their customers? "The Answer is Always Yes to Any Reasonable Request." And when I, the coach, say "Yes" to something, I had doggone well better follow through.
   
   If our goal is create Raving Fans of our teachers who trust us with their instructional lives, Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles point out that "...consistency is the key to delivering Raving Fan Service...Consistency will overcome resistance, but in the meantime, [customers] are watching like a hawk for you to mess up."
   
   Now, I wouldn't necessarily take the same negative view of teachers that they're "watching like a hawk" for us to mess up, but if we're honest, we know educators have been burned before by unfulfilled promises from those in leadership positions. It's imperative that when we promise, we deliver, no matter how small the task may seem.


5. Anticipate needs
   
   Teachers don't always know everything they'll need when they start integrating technology in the classroom. It's our job to offer "lagniappe" (lan-yap): the little something extra. It's the idea behind the Baker's Dozen, the 13th donut in the box when you only ordered twelve.
   
   We have to clear the way in advance by creating logins, checking WiFi connections, making sure devices are accessible, and anything else that greases the wheels to get a teacher integrating in a meaningful way. It's that anticipation that can mean the difference between a failed lesson and an exceptional edtech experience.
   
   
6. Be honest about what you don't know...
   
   Yes, we're supposed to be experts, but it's impossible to know everything about every digital tool, pedagogical strategy, and content area. One thing my blended learning partner has taught me this year is the importance of consulting with experts to make sure we're giving the best information possible. When a teacher asks something you don't know, be honest, then give them a time period in which you'll get back to them with an answer (see #4). If you do that consistently, you can start turning the things you don't know it opportunities to build trust with the teachers you coach.


7. ...but know as much as you can
   
   Okay, so we can't be experts at everything, but we are responsible for knowing our craft. There's no excuse to not be constantly learning and keeping current on what's out there. As an edtech coach, we have a responsibility to all the domains of TPACK. We need to be up-to-date on technology, pedagogy, and content, as well as management strategies for classrooms full of devices. Teachers won't learn from people they perceive as incompetent, so we're serving them poorly if we're not always growing. It's fine to not know everything, it's unacceptable to stop educating ourselves.
   
   
   
8. Have a good attitude
   
   There's really nothing else to write about this. Have a good attitude when working with teachers. No matter what. All the time. No excuses. Period. The end.


9. Think long-term
   
   Customer service is a matter of creating processes over time that make supporting teachers more efficient and effective. Back to Raving Fans again: "All good customer service is a result of nifty systems." And it's an ongoing process to create ever-improving systems of support.
   
   Do teachers know how to contact you? Can they get professional development on demand on their schedule? How convenient is it to set up a coaching appointment? Do they see you in their building enough to talk to you informally? Do teachers receive recognition for the difficult work they're doing of integrating technology in meaningful ways? Even if you can answer in the affirmative to all these questions, continue to consider how you can improve the systems currently in place.
   
   
10. Actively seek constructive feedback
    
    We ask the teachers we coach to be perpetually receptive to receiving feedback on how they can improve. As coaches, we must do the same to increase the effectiveness of our service. We can do that by building relationships with our teachers where they will respond honestly when we ask them what they need more (or less) of from us. Even if we think we're offering the best support in the world, if we're perceived as a know-it-all, inconsistent, or smothering by our teachers, it's not good customer service.
    
    The difficult thing is to actively seek out the painful feedback necessary in order to improve. But if we're not inquiring of our teachers, it's usually not information that will be volunteered freely. It's up to us to ask.

Resources
Inspiration for some of these tenets came from the sources below, as well as the books mentioned in the post.

The 10 Principles of Brilliant Customer Service
15 Principles for Complete Customer Service
7 Customer Service Principles That Can Change Your Business
Principles of Good Customer Service
6 Very Effective Principles to Improve Your Customer Service and Make Your Clients Happy

#30DBB

12 Reasons SeeSaw is My Top Elementary #Edtech Tool | #30DBB - Day 14

This is day 14 of "The Thirty Day Blog Binge." Learn more

When it comes to technology in the elementary classroom, I'm becoming more and more convinced that SeeSaw is the place every elementary teacher should begin. I'm working with two teams of PreK teachers to pilot the app in our district, and the things they're reporting back are amazing: four- and five-year-olds chronicling their work, building e-portfolios, and effortlessly strengthening school-home connections by using the SeeSaw Parent app.

If four-year-olds can do it, so can you.

All you need is one device (an iPad is preferable, but anything with a browser will work) to get SeeSaw-ing in your classroom. Here are my top 12 reasons to start with SeeSaw.

1. It's free!
   
   SeeSaw is completely free for teachers to create up to 10 classes. SeeSaw makes their money by campuses choosing to adopt SeeSaw for all their students or if a parent signs up for the Premium version (which isn't required). As a classroom teacher, though, you won't be charged a dime.


2. Easy class management
   
   Even if you only have one device in your classroom, juggling classes is  a walk in the park. With iPads, students tap "I'm a Student" and scan their class QR code you can post anywhere in your room. With Chromebooks or laptops, they just use a text code to log in to their class.


3. A clean interface
   
   When it's time to capture student work, it's a very simple process: tap the green plus button, choose a form of media, record it, and select the students' name. The work is automatically added to the student's portfolio, waiting your approval.


4. Simple teacher approval process
   
   Students capture their work, but before it ever reaches their portfolio, it has to be approved by you. And approval is simple: log in as yourself, then either do a mass approval of all submitted work or individually approve or reject student work.


5. Teacher or student control
   
   Ultimately, you want students capturing their own work, but if you need to rapid-fire capture and upload, sign in to the iPad app as a teacher. Now, if your students are presenting and you want to take videos of them, once you record, just tap their name and it will be automatically added to their portfolio without requiring your approval again.


6. Capture multiple media or link to digital creations
   
   SeeSaw lets students take pictures, record video, make whiteboard drawings with voiceover, upload anything from the iPad's Camera Roll, type a note/journal entry, or add a link to anything they've created or found online. The Camera Roll feature is especially awesome, because as you branch out and start using other iPad apps, any app that outputs photo or video can be included in a student portfolio. It's a slick way to be able to gather all your students' work neatly in one place and make SeeSaw your central hub for students to submit digital work.


7. View by class feed, student, or capture date
   
   There will be times you want to see your entire classes' work, times where you want to only see one student (think parent conferences), and other times you choose to see everything captured on a particular date. Big, clear icons let you quickly toggle between those three views, making it easy to see work however you need to see it.


8. Free classroom blogging
   
   Much to the chagrin of educators, a certain classroom blogging service for children that started charging this year. But like a superhero swooping in to the rescue, SeeSaw added blogging to the free services they offer. Students can add anything they've recorded to the public class blog (with your approval), and they can upload Notes as more traditional blog posts. Additionally, as a teacher it only takes one click to add work to the blog.
   
   Your class blog can be completely public, or it can be password protected. Seesaw also only includes first names with student work, making sure to maintain the privacy of your young learners.


9. Real-life digital citizenship experience
   
   Within your class settings, students can be allowed to comment on each others' work. In a world where online interaction is becoming more frequent than face-to-face, kids need to practice giving feedback in a constructive and positive way. If we don't give them a chance to practice citizenship in a safe environment, they're going to have no idea how to do it when they leave us. SeeSaw lets them explore what it means to be denizens of an online community in a place where mistakes can be corrected.


10. The SeeSaw Parent app
    
    Getting parents involved with SeeSaw is easy: download the pre-filled PDFs, each with a unique QR code, and send them home. Parents download the SeeSaw Parent app, set up an account, scan the code, and have instant access to their students' work. Any time new work is approved by the teacher, parents get a notification. No lost papers, no excuses, no more "What did you do at school today?" It's all in the palm of their hand.


11. The ability to download student work
    
    When students upload work to SeeSaw, it can be downloaded without restriction by teachers and parents. This means that videos, photos and more can be kept forever. This says a lot to me about SeeSaw's intentions to keep the platform student-centric: they could easily have created a proprietary file format that's inaccessible without an upgrade, but they've kept it delightfully, thoughtfully open.


12. An LMS for the primary grades
    
    In more and more schools, students are being introduced to working from an LMS as early as 3rd or 4th grade. SeeSaw can function as an LMS with training wheels for the primary set. Teachers can add links to videos, playlists, a BlendSpace or anything else, and assign it to everyone in the class. The students then open up SeeSaw and have their assignment for the day.
    
    I was talking to a 2nd grade teacher in another district recently, and she's started assigning work this way even when she's going to be out of the building. Students know to log in, get their assignment, and start posting their work in the app. Wherever the teacher is, she pulls out her phone and starts giving feedback through SeeSaw's commenting feature. She said that parents will even jump in the conversation during the day. Autonomy, self-pacing, accountability...it's like the Holy Grail of 21st Century learning environments. And these are 8-year-olds. 

SeeSaw is one of the best tools for organizing, sharing and creating student work. It makes a process that used to require collecting endless stacks of paper into a streamlined workflow that will quickly become a part of your classroom routine. If you're an elementary teacher who's just getting started with edtech, you should make it a point to get started with SeeSaw.

Do You Have These Four Learning Spaces In Your Classroom?| #30DBB - Day 10

This is day 10 of "The 30 Day Blog Binge." Learn more

As I sat with a committee tasked with selecting potential desks, chairs, storage and more for our district's two new elementary schools, one of the sales reps brought up Thornburg's Learning Zones. In the midst of discussing casters, gliders, laminate and solid-core desktops, this perked me up a bit, but alas, it was just a tease. There was to be no in-depth discussion of what these Learning Zones meant for instruction or technology. The rep was just pointing out that they existed and the company knew about them.

That, of course, got me wondering about dear Dr. Thornburg and his "Primordial Metaphors for Learning in the 21st Century." As I did some research, I came to realize the incredible potential these zones (Campfire, Watering Hole, Cave, Life) hold for thinking about instruction, as well as the role edtech can play in each of them. The role of technology can either enhance the variety and diversity of these classroom learning zones, or it can inhibit their effectiveness. Let's look at how.*

The Campfire

What it is...
Just as the ancients gathered around the campfire to transmit tradition through story, so the classroom must have a Campfire area. This is where the teacher engages the students both emotionally and cognitively, passing on knowledge in a more hierarchical way: from the elder to the younger.

How tech can help...
Edtech can redefine what it means to hear a story. YouTube, when used thoughtfully, can expand a students' Campfire to the other side of the world. Tools like Nepris, which connect students to professionals in STEM careers, allows us to redefine the "elders" who are telling the stories. Now, instead of students being limited to only the teacher at the Campfire, they have access to successful people who look and sound like them. Include the ability to connect through Skype, Hangouts, and Zoom, and we can bring storytellers who would be otherwise unreachable into the sacred community of our classroom.

How tech can hinder...
At the Campfire, technology is a hindrance when it becomes the dominant mode of discourse. Teachers can easily outsource their privilege to teach their students about life through stories, and instead turn the whole group dynamic into 30 individuals with headphones watching a screen. Just because all your students ares sitting together does not mean Campfire communication is happening. When students become a bunch of individual screenwatchers, something significant is lost. The group dynamic of the Campfire teaches students how to listen and be a part of the community, and it's an integral part of life to receive information as part of the larger group.

The Watering Hole

What it is...
The Watering Hole is where we exchange information with one another. In the classroom, this equates to students sharing peer-to-peer. Not only does this hone communication skills, it also allows participants to be "both teacher and learner at the same time."

How tech can help...
Technology provides students with ways to collaborate like never before. They can share images and video, gather resources and provide them to the entire group through a Padlet wall, and comment on each other's virtual work. Keeping a backchannel open encourages more informal interaction between students and lets the more introverted share with their peers. Also, the ability to expand their discourse to peers in far off places expands the variety of voices at the Watering Hole so they don't just hear from students in their own culture.

How tech can hinder...
In their everyday lives, our students stand next to each other and hold text conversations without ever speaking. Technology in the classroom can make this problem worse by keeping students from developing face-to-face communication skills. There's an opportunity cost when we have students collaborate with tech: we can easily start giving up the time they need to learn how to make eye contact, speak clearly, and start picking up on the nonverbal cues that make up a majority of our communication with each other.

The Cave

What it is...
Thornburg points out that learners sometimes need to isolate themselves "to gain special insights." As any introvert can tell you, some of us need to isolate ourselves just to function like normal human beings. In our Cave classroom spaces, students are allowed to internalize learning by reflecting on what it means to them, away from the collective and as an individual.

How tech can help...
The open door provided by technology allows students to find time to themselves where they can research and pursue their curiosity on their own, at their own pace. Students who have questions but are easily overwhelmed at the Campfire or Watering Hole now have a way to reap the benefits of the community's knowledge in the peace of the Cave. Creating curated lists of links and resources provides teachers with the peace of mind that the students who's in the Cave researching an idea is safe in their online searching.

How tech can hinder...
Edtech risks wiping out the Cave entirely. Instead of giving them a space to think and escape, too often they'll drag a device with them and find too much appealing eye-candy (even "educational" eye-candy) which keeps them from getting in a truly meditative place. If students can't be alone with their thoughts in a classroom, then where is it ever going to happen? (For further musings on the thoughtful and contemplative use of technology, try this post.)

Life

What it is...
The Life space is where knowledge is applied. This is where students are given the chance to try things out for themselves and see what happens, because without the trying, students don't know what they don't know. It's in the attempt that they realize something is "missing from [their] knowledge." There's also a motivational factor here: when we know we're going to have to do something with what we've learned, we're far more engaged in the process.

How tech can help...
Edtech as a tool for evaluation and reflection lets students see what skills they still need to work on as they try their skills out in the Life space. Tools like 3D printers, CAD software, and other design tools lets students explore creating on a small-scale before they execute them full-scale. The ability to rapidly prototype, iterate, and refine ideas is one of the great benefits of having technology accessible to our students.

How tech can hinder...
The ease with which edtech lets us assign students endless, "adaptive" practice exercises can encourage teachers to forgo the messiness of Life. It's simpler to let students work with online drills then it is to drag out the necessary tools to let students try what they've learned hands-on. The sterile, one-click ease of assigning digital worksheets can quickly overwhelm the desire to get knee-deep in real-life muck.


As with everything else in education, the teacher is the key. The teacher must first create the spaces, but then must act as a gatekeeper. Discernment is the key when deciding when to welcome tech into our zones of learning. Consider carefully.

*If you'd like some exceptional visuals on what each of these spaces can look like, I highly recommend this webinar from Demco on the future of K-12 libraries.

#30DBB

The Top 10 #Edtech Videos on Our YouTube Channel | #30DBB - Day 9

This is day 9 of 'The 30 Day Blog Binge." Learn more

As a resource for teachers, my blended learning partner and I set up a YouTube channel at the beginning of the year. As we approach 7,000 views, I thought it would be useful to gather the top 10 most-watched videos together in one place.

Geek in the House: Two Minute Tech - GoNoodle
A 2:30 overview on how to sign up for GoNoodle, the free site with with "brain break" and movement activities for your classroom.

Piktochart - Publish and Turn In Through Google Classroom

How to use Piktochart, a free infographic creator, to publish and submit using Google Classroom.

Google Classroom - Change Theme and Profile Picture

How to customize your Classroom.

Google Classroom + Storyboard That

Using Storyboard That for creative projects and submitting work through Google Classroom.

Socrative - Quick Question and Exit Ticket

Use Socrative without creating a quiz by launching a Quick Question or Exit Ticket.

Google Classroom + Vocaroo

Using Vocaroo to make free audio recordings, then submitting the link through Google Classroom.

Geek in the House: Two Minute Tech - Watchkin

Using Watchkin to clean up YouTube videos for safe classroom viewing.

Google Classroom + Coggle

Create easy mindmaps with Coggle, and turn in using Classroom.

Autocrat Certificates - Creating a Conditional Merge

Autocrat, the Google Forms add-on, allows you to create a mail merge that will only run when a certain condition is met in the spreadsheet. Here's how.

Google Classroom + Movenote

Movenote lets you narrate and present on anything you have in your Drive. Students can create a presentation, then submit the link through Google Classroom.

55 #Edtech Tools I STILL Can't Believe Are Free | #30DBB Day 8

This is day 8 of "The 30 Day Blog Binge." Learn more

I was told a few days ago that my partner and I have money written into our department's budget for blended learning. As I processed this information, I realized something: I have no idea how to spend money.

To be in the classroom is to be frugal. Teachers do everything on a shoestring, finding the best free tool to do whatever we need to do. It's a way of thinking that is ingrained in me far deeper than I realized.

With that in mind, I started compiling a list of all the free tools I'd used or trained on during my decade-plus time in education. It's amazing the high-quality tools that are available to educators for absolutely free. Some will be familiar, so may not. Some are completely free, soup-to-nuts. Others have such a robust free version that you'll never need to upgrade. Then there are those who provide a free version for educators that gives you full access to what the rest of the world has to pay for.

I've coded each one according to elementary or secondary and the content area it best supports: reading, math, science, social studies, computer science or engineering (R, M, Sci, SS, CompSci, E). For those multi-purpose tools, I'll simply tag them as "All." This list is by no means exhaustive, nor is it in any particular order. They're just the tools I've grown to love and rely on. Enjoy!

1. Epic for Educators (elementary | all | eBooks)
   
   Epic makes their massive eBook library free to educators for classroom use. Sign up for a free educator account, then you can set up 36 free student accounts. Log-in using the iPad or Android app (or a browser), and students select their profile on the device. The "Netflix of Children's eBooks" then starts providing content geared toward the student's interests.


2. Nearpod (elementary & secondary | all | presentation)
   
   Nearpod can truly revolutionize the way you present information to your students. Move from static PowerPoints at the front of the room to interactive presentations on each student device. Build in polls, quizzes, open-ended questions, and now even virtual field trips. Additionally, the Nearpod library has a ridiculous amount of free presentations you can add to your own library and edit freely.


3. Doceri (elementary & secondary | all | flipped videos)
   
   This iPad app got me started on the road to creating flipped lessons. One of the things I love the most is that you can record all your strokes and writing in advance, then play it back and record yourself talking over it. With super-simple upload to YouTube, the things I did in my STEM lab would not have been possible without Doceri.
   
   The paid side of the app lets you download a client to your desktop and project whatever you're writing in the Doceri app onto your screen. This lets you move anywhere in the room and still control what's on the board. It's also pretty cool to hand your iPad off to a student and let them show their work. That part of Doceri is $30, but to me, it was worth it.


4. TodaysMeet (elementary & secondary | all | backchannel)
   
   Open up a backchannel, chatroom-style discussion in your classroom. This keeps kids on point as they watch a video, or allows your introverts to participate freely in classroom conversations. You can also save a transcript of the classroom discussion for assessment or future reference.


5. SeeSaw (elementary | all | eportfolio)
   
   Conceivably, you could use SeeSaw with secondary students, I just think the interface leans more toward elementary. SeeSaw is one of the most incredible apps I've ever seen. Available as an app for iOS, Android and now Chrome, SeeSaw gives students the power to record their work and save it in their eportfolio. Once an assignment has been photographed, recorded, or uploaded, any parent who has signed up also gets a notification in the SeeSaw parent app. The ease of use and setup is what drew me to SeeSaw, and we currently have two schools in our district piloting it with PreK teachers. If a 4-year-old can use the app without help, it's good for any grade level.
   
   Additionally, SeeSaw just added a blogging feature, making it almost the perfect all-in-one app for the elementary classroom. If they could throw in some Google Drive integration and a behavior management feature (a la Class Dojo), they could probably rule the world.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Weebly (elementary & secondary | all | website builder)
   
   This drag-and-drop site builder is what introduced me to web design. Their free version offers a limited number of pages, but if you're simply trying to create a place to store class resources or post work, it's more than enough. The Weebly for Education account allows you to create student accounts under your own name, so for a small fee ($40/year) your students can have their own sites, blogs, etc. But if you're just creating something for you or your students are old enough to create their own accounts, the free version is plenty.


7. Quizlet (elementary & secondary | all | flashcards)
   
   In most disciplines, the vocabulary is the discipline. It's really hard to discuss math and science concepts without the correct terminology, so simple flashcard decks from Quizlet go a long way to building a students domain-specific lexicon.


8. Socrative (elementary & secondary | all | assessment)
   
   Anytime I use Socrative, I still get the "I can't believe this thing is free" thought in the back of my mind. Create quizzes using images, multiple choice, true/false, or open-ended questions, then just give your students your Socrative room number. When they join, they put in their name and take the quiz. You get a real-time dashboard with student results, along with a huge selection of downloadable reports in Excel, Drive or PDF formats.
   
   If you don't have time to prepare a quiz, just launch a Quick Question or Exit Ticket and Socrative will do the work for you. I used Socrative to gather student data for action research as I worked on my Master's degree, and the amount of time it saved me with data disaggregation cannot be overstated. It's simply amazing.


9. Plickers (elementary & secondary | all | assessment)
   
   For the teacher who only has an iPad or smartphone, Plickers should be at the top of your list. Print out free student QR codes, distribute them to the class, then ask a question. Students hold up their Plickers ("paper clickers") with the answer they chose facing up. Scan it with your phone and get instant feedback on who gets it and who still needs more help.
   
   Plickers also recently added "Scoresheet," which lets you put in a date range and see individual reports on student performance for that time period. It also gives you an item analysis by question so you can get an idea of overall trends in your class.


10. Kahoot! (elementary & secondary | all | review & assessment)
    
    With Kahoot!, students earn points as they answer quickly and correctly. Put in the questions you want to ask (or find another quiz that fits your criteria), launch the game, and have students join on any device using a unique PIN. After each question, students are shown the leaderboard and know their position. Now with "Ghost Mode," students can play against themselves and try to beat their best score. A tricky little way to keep kids studying...well played, Kahoot people, well played...
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. LessonPaths (elementary & secondary | all | learning playlists)
    
    LessonPaths lets you pull in any resources to create a learning playlist for your students. If you would like to have them watch a YouTube video, read an online article, and review with a web-based quiz, all you have to do is add each link to create a new step in your playlist. Share the link with your students and they simply click the big green "Next" button at the top of the screen to go the next resource. Perfect for the classroom that's exploring blended learning, LessonPaths is a simple way to curate resources and make them linear for your students.


12. BlendSpace (elementary & secondary | all | learning playlists)
    
    BlendSpace is a more robust version of LessonPaths. It allows you to search for resources from within the app, then drag-and-drop it into your playlist. With Blendspace, you can add PDFs, images, Google Drive files, PowerPoints, YouTube videos, links and more to create a list of resources for your students. Perfect for differentiating instruction and blending/flipping the classroom, BlendSpace also now lets you integrate. Since being acquired by TES Global in 2014, you can easily add TES resources to your playlist.


13. Code.org (elementary & secondary | M, Sci, CompSci | coding)
    
    If you're not familiar with Code.org, please make it a point to introduce yourself. The originators of the "Hour of Code," this entirely free resource is organized around modules that allow students to start coding. Even if you, the teacher, have no coding experience, Code.org's block-based coding language (similar to Scratch) gives hints, help, and video tutorials every step of the way. No devices? No problem. Code.org also offers "unplugged" activities to get kids thinking like software engineers.


14. SketchUp (upper elementary & secondary | M, E | design)
    
    As an educator, you can receive a free, fully-functional version of SketchUp simply for being you. If you're exploring ways to design and create, SketchUp is one of the easiest tools around. Create 2D and 3D drawings, go quickly through design ideas, and access a huge library of 3D models that you can use. There are great connections with geometry, even if you only use the teacher version as a whole class. Get students thinking about how engineers and architects really work by demonstrating concepts through SketchUp.


15. Autodesk (secondary | M, E | design)
    
    Autodesk makes a huge amount of its software available for free to both teachers and students. You can download featured suites of products or individual titles. Tools like AutoCAD, Fusion 360, 3ds Max and much more are available for educators and those they serve. It's amazing that Autodesk provides these tools for free, and their uses are only limited by your imagination.
    
    
    


16. Animoto (elementary & secondary | all | video)
    
    So yes, the basic version of Animoto is free to everyone. But as a teacher, you're also eligible for an upgrade that gives you a full seven-minutes of video (as opposed to 30 seconds) on your account. Animoto can be used by students to create short commercials, demonstrate a concept, summarize a story, or provide the background for a story they're reading in class. With a good-sized library of images and music, getting creative is straightforward and easy to begin.


17. Realtime Board (elementary & secondary | all | collaboration)
    
    Create collaborative whiteboards, timelines, organizational charts, mind maps, project management hubs and more using Realtime Board's intuitive, easy-to-use interface. Teachers and students are eligible for free Premium accounts, which gives you unlimited boards and collaborators, as well as exporting, backup and extended support. Realtime Board is an excellent tool for students to get themselves organized by keeping track of due dates, files and more.


18. Read&Write for Google Chrome (elementary & secondary | all | assistive technology)
    
    The premium version of Read&Write is free for teachers. Read&Write is a text-to-speech app that integrates into the Chrome browser. It provides support for students with reading disabilities, and also allows them to access regular and picture dictionaries as well as take screenshots to be read to them, all from within their browser. It's integration with Google Docs as well as it's note-taking abilities make it an exceptional tool to give students the extra confidence they need to navigate text in a digital world.


19. Diigo (elementary & secondary | all | social bookmarking)
    
    Diigo allows you to save bookmarks and easily share them with others. With the Diigo Educator account, you can create student accounts for an entire class (without email addresses), set them up as a Diigo group, then start sharing bookmarks and annotated websites with them. When it comes to collaborative research and resource sharing, Diigo makes it easy to get everyone on the same page.


20. Symbaloo (elementary & secondary | all | social bookmarking)
    
    Even though SymbalooEDU does have a premium version, the free one should provide you with everything you need. Symbaloo's super-cool tiling layout makes it easy to gather bookmarks, organize them, then share the link to your page with your students. You can set up differentiated lessons and resources, organize by topic, or create a homepage for your class with all your resources in one place. Symbaloo is available across devices so you always have all your bookmarks in one place.
    
    
    


21. Google Apps for Education (elementary & secondary | all | collaboration)
    
    In the vein of "Wow, how is this free?", it would be a terrible sin to leave GAFE off the list. With a little work from your technology department, your district can be set up with a free domain with unlimited storage on Google Drive and access to Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawing and, of course, Google Classroom. Yes, you can use a personal Gmail account to do some things with your students, but you've never known ease-of-use and sharing like what Google has developed with their EDU offerings. If your district doesn't have it yet, be the voice of change. It'll be worth your time.


22. LucidChart (secondary | all | mindmapping)
    
    A diagramming web app, LucidChart allows multiple users to collaborate on exceptionally intricate mindmaps, graphic organizers, and other ways of showing relationships between ideas. With the teacher version, you get team management, as well as increased storage per team. LucidChart makes collaborating on ideas easy and makes connections clear.
    
    Update: Dave Grow from LucidChart let me know that LucidPress, their super-easy, collaborative, drag-and-drop design software is also free for educators. Thanks, Dave!



@NKeithBlend Thanks Nicholas for including Lucidchart! By the way, have you checked out Lucidpress too? Also free for EDU.

— Dave Grow (@dmgrow) March 8, 2016



23. Coggle (elementary & secondary | all | mindmapping)
    
    Coggle is an entirely free, Google Drive integrated mindmapping tool that, once you get learn the initial interface, makes producing awesome looking webs and maps easy. Use it in science class to show connections between idea, math class to classify vocabulary, social studies for timelines of events, and reading for plot development and sequencing events. Coggle gives you the ability to make your thinking visual.


24. Thinglink (elementary & secondary | all | interactive images)
    
    An innovative way to add text, images, movies and more to your pictures, Thinglink lets students connect their learning in one place, then share their images for others to learn from. Thinglink has almost endless possibilities, and the free Thinglink Education option lets you quickly create student accounts, organize them into classes, and creates a secure environment for them to work in. This version lets you create 1 classroom with 100 students.


25. Canvas & Schoology (elementary & secondary | all | LMS)
    
    The end game of these free offerings is, of course, to get your district to fully buy into and purchase an LMS. But consider the fact that you can sign up for your own for FREE. That means you get all the full-fledged features of a robust LMS, plus access to their community of lessons, plans and ideas, without having to fork over a single, hard-earned dime. Pretty amazing when you think about it...
    
    
    


26. Classmill & Cloudschool (elementary & secondary | all | LMS-"lite")
    
    But sometimes you don't need everything that the big guns are offering up. That's why I love options like Classmill and Cloudschool. If you only need to make one or two online courses, or you're experimenting with flipped and blended professional development, creating a course on one of these two workhorses is a great way to get started. They're incredibly easy to use, and the ability add text, video, images and more make them ideal for creating simple courses or housing resources.


27. MackinVIA (elementary & secondary | Library | electronic resource management)
    
    I actually just learned about this today from Tina Berumen, the media specialist at Cannon Elementary in GCISD. MackinVIA is a free platform for managing all your district's ebooks and digital media in one place. You can create groups that pull together resources for student research, as well as link to any external resource you think should be included in the collection. Also, the fact that content is accessible from any device through the MackinVIA app makes it perfect for any style of technology deployment. And if you purchase digital content from Mackin, it's automatically added, tagged and ready to go. In the age of evolving libraries, a central hub like this seems to have become a necessity.


28. Geogebra (secondary | M | dynamic math platform)
    
    With interactivity for geometry, algebra, statistics and calculus, GeoGebra allows you to all sorts of crazy things math and then dynamically alter them afterwards. Think of it like a science lab for math nerds. GeoGeobra Tube hosts over a million resources, and the multitude of apps makes it easy to run on pretty much any device. If you're looking to teach math differently, GeoGebra is the place to start.


29. Desmos (secondary | M | graphic calculator)
    
    Remember graphic calculators? While they still have their uses, Desmos packages almost all of their features and more into a handy web app (also available on iOS and Android). Like GeoGebra, the ability to manipulate data and visualize the results is an incredible way to help students start thinking like mathematicians. As early as 6th grade, where standards call for students to differentiate between multiplicative and additive relationships, Desmos can be used for tinkering, exploring and making sense of math.


30. NewsELA (elementary & secondary | R | differentiated expository text)
    
    With approximately a bazillion articles, each at 5 different reading levels, NewsELA brings a wealth of differentiated resources to your fingertips. Search by topic, text set, grade level, reading standard and more, then assign the text to your class. Even if you're simply looking for differentiated texts to print and use in small groups, this is an incredible resource for reaching your readers where they are.





31. Remind (elementary & secondary | all | messaging)
    
    Formerly Remind101, Remind falls into the category of "How did I ever live without this?" By enabling parents and students to sign up for free text messages and emails from you, you're able to vastly increase your school-home communication without ever giving out private information. Remind's Chat function now allows two-way, safe communication between teachers and students. All history is logged and stored, and nothing can be erased. Rumor has it that Remind is working on a schoolwide version with a data dashboard for administrators, so that could be an interesting addition coming soon.


32. ClassDojo (elementary | all | behavior & messaging)
    
    With lovable little monsters, it's difficult not to love ClassDojo. Encouraging students to earn green points through class participation, ClassDojo sends weekly updates to connected parents on the progress of their student's in-class behavior. ClassDojo allows you to send two-way messages or broadcast announcements, as well as share photos and attachments of what's going on in class. I know a multitude of teachers who say they simply couldn't function without ClassDojo in their lives.


33. EdPuzzle (elementary & secondary | all | flipped video)
    
    Make any online video your lesson by using EdPuzzle. Log in, find a video that matches your standard, then add voice notes and assessment questions. From the teacher dashboard, view student responses and track their progress no matter where they're watching. EdPuzzle's apps make it ideal for BYOD learning environments as well. Keep students accountable for their flipped learning with an easy-to-create lesson using EdPuzzle.


34. HSTRY (secondary | SS | multimedia timeline maker)
    
    HSTRY gives you and your students a simple, click-to-add interface to create amazing looking timelines. Once you create a class, you can assign timelines that you've created for your students to view. Then, assign students timelines to create as they embed images, text, audio, YouTube videos and "Did You Know?" questions in their work. You're able to view student work easily, so grading and assessment is just about as easy as it can be. Teachers are also using HSTRY for flipped lessons, resource repositories, and curated collections of content for the students they teach. There's a bit of learning curve at first, but it will definitely be worth your time in the end.


35. Padlet (elementary & secondary | all | collaborative wall)
    
     Send your students to Padlet, tell them to double-click, and watch them start posting their thoughts. Padlet allows students to add links, videos, images and more. Create a collaborative Word Wall for a unit of study, or post images from a field trip and share the link with parents. Using Padlet's new iPad app makes it even easier for students to get mobile and explore the world outside their classroom, then organize their findings in Padlet. When you're done, export the wall as a PDF so you have copies of everyone's responses and posts.
    
    
    


36. Text2MindMap (elementary & secondary | R, SS | graphic organizer)
    
    What does an outline really mean? When students use Text2MindMap to visualize the relationships between headings and subheadings, they start to see how things are truly connected. Simply type an outline on the left hand side of the T2MM screen, then click "Draw MindMap." A graphic organizer is instantly created on the right, showing hierarchies and conceptual connections. It's easy to download your graphic organizer as a PDF or image, and then submit using a tool like Google Classroom.


37. Scribble Maps (secondary | R, Sci, SS | mapping)
    
    With Scribble Maps, students can write on and annotate Google Maps. Whether it's showing trade routes, mapping migration patterns, or tracking the path a hero takes through a novel, Scribble Maps is the perfect tool for visualizing movement across the globe. Stick pins in important places, take distance measurements, and add images to locations. Scribble Maps has a ton of possibilities for exploring geography in an interesting way, and helping students develop an understanding of maps beyond their GPS app.


38. GeoGuessr (secondary | SS | geography)
    
    Drop students in the world and challenge them to figure out where they are. Using Google's StreetViews, players in this game have to use the clues around them to discover where in the world they are. When they make a guess, the closer they are, the more points they earn. GeoGuessr is an awesome way to introduce a Social Studies unit, and teachers can use it's partner GeoSettr to create custom map games for students to play. Be careful, though, it'll bring out the competitive side of even your most mild-mannered students...


39. MakeBeliefsComix (elementary & secondary | all | comic strip maker)
    
    There are many comic strip generators in the world, but MBC has always been my go to. It's simplicity of use and sharing makes it perfect for younger students, but it has enough variety to keep older kids interested as well. MBC can be used to help students visualize ideas, create discussions between historical characters, and provide the real-life setting for a math problem.


40. Virtual Manipulatives (elementary | M | manipulatives)
    
    Back in the day, teachers used overheads with transparent plastic Base-10 blocks to help students develop their understanding of place value and other concepts. With the overheads gone, it can be difficult to model for students exactly what you want them to be doing with the toy-looking objects that have just been set in front of them. This set of virtual manipulatives is an elementary teacher's dream come true. Full of backgrounds and manipulatives, teachers have quick access to ten frames, two-color counters, Base-10 blocks, algebra tiles, geoboards and much, MUCH more. Having this accessible makes life much easier when it's time to have students show their math.
    
    
    


41. Screencastomatic (elementary & secondary | all | screen recorder)
    
    I have never used any tool more in my life than Screencastomatic. With a quick download, you can record whatever is on your screen, upload it to SOM's hosting or a YouTube channel, and share it with students. The free version gives you 5 minutes, but if you want more time and more editing options, you can get 3 years for $30. When you compare it to screen recording suites like Camtasia that runs in the hundreds of dollars, SOM is incredibly robust for the price.


42. SmallPDF (elementary & secondary | all | PDF manipulator)
    
    We have to deal with PDFs whether we like it or not. SmallPDF gives you access to 14 different ways to split, merge, tweak, convert, lock or rotate your PDFs. If you don't already, you will need this tool in the future. I'd keep it handy.


43. PhET (secondary | M, S | interactives & simulations)
    
    Give students a deep understanding of scientific phenomenon using the incredible interactives from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Whether it's building their own atom, exploring the energy of a skate park, or investigating friction at a molecular level, PhET lets students do things they may not have been able to do before. And now with many interactive in HTML5 (instead of the devil's programming language, Flash), most PhET interactives will work on any device with a web browser.


44. Khan Academy (elementary & secondary | M, S, SS | tutorial videos)
    
    Everyone knows about them, so I won't spend a lot of time describing KA here. But if you just stop for a moment and reflect on what Khan Academy has done, it's completely amazing. Being able to provide high-quality instructional resources for free to the wired world is something on a scale that has never been done before. This incredible resource can't be left out of any "I can't believe this is free!" discussion.


45. Math Resource Sites: 3rd-5th, 6th (elementary | M | resources)
    
    If you teach 3rd-6th grade math, you need to check these out. For full disclosure, they're sites I created for the math teachers in our district, so they're organized by Texas standards, but they're still aligned with most national ones. Search for tutorial videos, resources, activities and lesson plans all grouped by standard, and cut your lesson planning time down to a minimum. It's worth taking a few minutes and looking around.
    
    
    


46. Watchkin/Viewpure/SafeShare (elementary & secondary | all | YouTube purification)
    
    Every teacher knows the tragedy of pulling up an innocent video on YouTube, only to be shocked and horrified by the ads, comments, pre-roll commercial or suggested videos that surround it. These three tools remove all that, making it safe to use YouTube in your classroom again. As a side note, if YouTube is blocked in your district, sometimes one of these will get around that for you...


47. Open eBooks (elementary & secondary | R | free eBooks)
    
    If you are a teacher in a Title 1 school or a teacher of Special Education students in any school, the Open eBooks app (a partnership with 10 publishers, First Book and the White House) has made an incredible library of books available to your students for free. Here's a video on how to sign up from start to finish, but the essence of it is that you get class codes for each one of your students and when they download the Open eBooks app, all they do is enter the code to start reading. This is an amazing step toward making high quality reading material available to underprivileged students, and definitely should be incorporated into all qualifying classrooms.


48. PicMonkey\BeFunky (elementary & secondary | all | photo editing)
    
    Photo editing, collages, and tasteful effects used to be limited to the qualified few with darkrooms, then the ones with superpowerful computers. Now, these web-based tools make it easy for anyone to create using images. Simply upload, then explore effects, overlays, text options and more. Get students creating pictures that represent a story, or adding their own commentary to photos of current events. These tools make it easy to look like a pro.


49. MoveNote (elementary & secondary | all | presentation)
    
    (Update: MoveNote is no longer free. Boo. But it's still worth taking at least a passing glance at to see if your students would benefit from the paid version.) MoveNote is beautiful because of its simplicity. Take anything from your Google Drive or computer, upload it, then record yourself presenting. Share a link with someone or submit it through Google Classroom, and you can communicate with anyone, anywhere. MoveNote is great for getting students to explain their thinking and though process, as well as work on those oh-so-important soft skills like speaking clearly and slowly when presenting.


50. DarkCopy (elementary & secondary | R | distraction-free writing)
    
    Sometimes you just need a distraction-free place to write. No ads, no titles, no overwhelming toolbars full of options - just a blank screen. Part of the Zenware movement, DarkCopy is simply a calm place to write. When students blog or journal, using DarkCopy and then copy/pasting into whatever format they'll use to turn in can be a great way to get them to focus on the words instead of changing fonts, colors and formatting. 

#30DBB

How My Flooded Washing Machine Makes Me a Better #Edtech Coach | #30DBB - Day 6

This is day 6 of "The 30 Day Blog Binge." Learn more

Instead of helping my friend Knikole today at Edcamp TABSE, I'm sitting here waiting for a nice man named Daniel to come fix my washing machine. As my wife ran out the door at 11 o'clock last night to pick up some urgent pharmacy supplies for our kids (another story), she stepped into an inch-deep puddle covering the floor of our laundry room. As I took a half-awake excursion behind our washer and dryer, I watched my Saturday Edcamp attendance plans slowly sink into a swamp of brackish water and lonely socks. Sigh. Life happens.

I don't know anything about washing machines, which is on par with my knowledge of pretty much anything household related. The last time someone convinced me a repair was an "easy fix," I tried to self-service my shower. Overtightening a pipe led to an unstoppable Niagara, which then led a plumber named Keith to hack a hole in my living room wall and charge me $850 for the privilege. I am not a handyman.

This washing machine situation makes me reflect, oddly enough, on the teachers I coach, particularly the ones who aren't interested in adopting technology in their classroom. "What's wrong with these people?" is my typical gripe, as I smugly exchange glances with the district's early adopters, confident that our techie clique knows the future and that we've gotten there before everyone else.

But technology is these reluctant teachers' broken washing machine. Made up of mysterious inner workings and mystical combinations of things to push, turn, and pull, teaching with a device overwhelms them like my flooded laundry room does me.

It leads me to think: how would I feel if Daniel told me that, no matter how much I love, provide, and care for my wife and kids, I must learn home appliance repair to be a "21st Century Husband?" Knowing myself and my dire lack of mechanical ability, I'd probably just call it in right there. But don't I send a similar message to teachers that no matter how many years of experience they've had loving, teaching, cajoling, leading, and inspiring students, if they're not technologically proficient, they're incomplete? And since they have little confidence in their technology capacity, they do what I would do in the washer situation: give up.

From Washing Machine to Coaching Takeaways

What's the answer to help the reluctant teacher? In my experience, it seems to consist of small wins, smooth implementation, and instructional validation.

With small wins, I have to realize that it's okay for a teacher to start with substitution with the goal of moving up the ladder. I can get better at being a handyman, but I probably shouldn't start with adding on a playroom. Tech integration should be scaffolded for teachers like we would for students. Starting small builds confidence for tackling future pursuits.

Smooth implementation is about removing every obstacle from a teacher so they have a seamless shift to using technology with their students. Whether it's creating student log-ins, recording tutorial videos, co-writing lesson plans, or working on better integration of the technology and curriculum, any roadblock has to be removed. In the washing machine analogy, Daniel could smooth the road by providing the correct manuals opened to the right page, pointing me to some YouTube videos, and giving me his cell number for when something goes terribly wrong.

Finally, instructional validation is making sure I'm careful to explain that what teachers have been doing all these years isn't wrong. It's worked for some of the kids we've had in the past. We're just facing an entirely different future where deliberate, well-thought-out technology use now has to be a core part of our pedagogy. Daniel could do this by reminding me that the time I built the birdhouse in 6th grade is an excellent starting place, we're just going to build on those skills as we move up to appliance repair. The birdhouse was good then, but now I have a family to provide for. My skills and capacity have to increase to match the level of responsibility.

So as I sit and wait for Daniel the Repairman (tick-tock, buddy...oh, there's the doorbell. That was weird...), I should take this time to work on my empathy for reluctant teachers. Because if Daniel walked into my classroom, handed me a washing machine, and told me it was they key to my students' future, I'm not exactly sure how I'd respond either.

Contemplative Computing (and Why It Matters for #Edtech)

On a recent wandering through my local library (remember those?), I stumbled on Alex Soojung-Kim Pang's book "The Distraction Addiction." I'm drawn to authors who challenge the prevailing wisdom on media and technology (see also McLuhan, Postman, and Lanier), so I added it to my stack of books. I'm glad I did.

Pang, whose resume includes a PhD in the history of science, time as a Microsoft Research Fellow and a visiting scholar at Stanford and Oxford, steps outside of the rushing stream of data and dinging notifications that make up our daily lives and provides a much-needed perspective on technology he refers to as "contemplative computing."

In his own words:

There are many examples Pang uses to emphasize the connection between technology use and its unnoticed effects on us. From "email apnea" (like sleep apnea, but where you unconsciously hold your breath when checking email) to the mental strain that comes from trying to keep up with unbounded streams of real time information, the link between our digital intake and mental health are becoming clearer. Knowing that, we must become more conscientious consumers of technology and media.

In this vein, we also have to ask what our constant assault of social media is doing to our state of mind: is it an endless fountain of knowledge, or does it drive us to distraction, breaking our time into uselessly small chunks, and stopping us from doing deeply creative work? Everyone answers this differently, but Pang's point is that we need to be more intentional about our online engagement than we are right now.

One immediate impact of "The Distraction Addiction" was that it caused me to reflect on my compulsive Twitter checking. I started questioning the feeling that I might be missing something life-changing if I'm not looking at my feed, and I began wondering if this is the best way to think deeply, enjoy my family, and live fully in the present moment. I've begun to realize that my current social media habits impact me more negatively than I would like to admit. I've already made some small changes to my social media rhythm, and I'm contemplating the best strategy going forward. I don't have the answer yet, but the point is that at least I've started thinking instead of just blindly doing.

Beyond Pang, there are others who question the consequences of our daily digital deluge. In Cal Newport's superb article on creativity, he cites Nobel-prize winning physicist Richard Feynman and author Neil Stephenson as advocates for large blocks of protected time in order to do "deep work." Stephenson cites these blocks of time as the reason he doesn't engage in social media conversations. He says he works to organize his life "in such a way that he can get lots of long, consecutive, uninterrupted time chunks...." For Feynman, performing such feats as furthering the field of quantum electrodynamics and predicting the future of nanotechnology required removing all distractions, creating time to think deeply and produce meaningful results.

And it's not just the frontiers of physics that require distraction-free time for deep, creative thought. In his book Drive, Daniel H. Pink points out that only 30 percent of job growth now comes from what he refers to as "algorithmic" work: work for which there is "a set of established instructions down a single pathway to one conclusion." By contrast, 70 percent of job growth comes from "heuristic" work: work in which you have to experiment with possibilities and devise a novel solution. 

For most of us in educational technology, we fall into the "heuristic" category, where the challenges we face require focused time to develop creative solutions. But our interactions with technology often create exactly the opposite: fragmented days, full of shallow, ineffective task-switching with no time for extended reflection. It's because of the need to create space for deeper thought that Pang calls us to start contemplatively considering how we interact with the digital world.

It's not only in our own lives that we need to think about the personal impact of our technology use. As educators, it's also our responsibility to think about how we'll help students develop sustained habits of contemplative computing. There are three ideas we should start with.

First, we need to teach our students that they are humans, not computers. And as humans, they require a significant amount of processing time. Pang quotes futurist Anthony Townsend: "Minds, organizations, cities, entire societies all need time to integrate and process ideas. If you think you have to constantly, instantly react, rest and contemplation and deliberation--the ability to think about what you're doing--disappears." 

I wonder what happens when we constantly have students tied to digital tools, or we replace human interaction with isolated, online activity. Because of the breakneck speed of our test-happy education system, this often replaces taking time to reflect and think, away from backlit illumination, 140 character snippets, and self-destructing photographs. I'm as guilty of this digital immersion and rapid pacing as anybody, so I wonder how we balance our over-tested digital natives' love of screens with a protected space to sit a while, wonder, and process. They need time to think robustly about what the things they're learning actually mean in relation to their world.

Secondly, we need to teach students that when they do use technology, it should be to produce high-quality work that stems from reflection, thought and planning. In his book You Are Not a Gadget, Jaron Lanier offers some ideas about resurrecting personhood in the world of Web 2.0. One idea he offers is "posting a video once in a while that took you one hundred times more time to create than it takes to view." Think about what a difference it would make if our students started following just that one principle.

If we can lead our students to produce thoughtful, reflective work, we've directed them toward the calmer waters of contemplative computing. We've also brought them a step closer to making sure that what they offer the digital world has substance and value, and isn't just a reflex where they produce high-volume, low-quality content simply because they can.

Finally, we should consider modeling digital Sabbaths in our classroom. When districts invest in technology, there's a great deal of pressure to make sure it's used as often as possible. The people with the purse strings want to make sure the expense is justified. But is this the best way to determine when to use technology and when to leave it in the cart? Instead, we need teachers and administrators who say that every day doesn't have to be lit by the glow of a screen because there are other, and often better, ways to learn.

When we show students that we are intentionally cutting our Ethernet umbilical cord for the day, we can start to have genuine conversations about how technology is affecting their quality of life outside of the classroom. Hopefully, students will start to adopt the idea of a regular, technology-free space in their own lives.

Pang calls us to explore the effects of our technology use on our quality of life, whether or not our pursuit of constant connection aligns with our deepest goals, and how profoundly the quality of our work is impacted in a world of constantly accessible distraction. Contemplative computing needs to become our mindset, a filter to use as we evaluate new technology, whether it's for personal or classroom use. 

Pang closes out his book by saying "Connection is inevitable. Distraction is a choice." These seven words are worth contemplating as we evaluate our own technology use. Additionally, they're worth teaching students as we help them navigate their media-soaked reality. To make our students thoughtful producers instead of mindless consumers, contemplative computing needs to become a cornerstone of our edtech implementation, and Pang is a strong voice to lead the way.

12 Reflections on #EdTech Leadership

I moved from classroom teacher to district-level campus support in May of 2015, and in July, my current partner came on board. In our positions as Blended Learning Specialists (brand new positions in our district), we've been responsible for the logistics of our 1:1 pilot, conducting trainings, writing grants, planning and modeling lessons, co-teaching, coordinating big events, and all the other random time-sapping things that come with being a district specialist.

I've been forced to reflect on, rethink, and relearn things that I've been doing for the last 11 years that either no longer work in their current form or now don't work at all. Taking time to put on paper what I've learned about leadership, mistakes, and myself is important, so here, in no particular order, are my 12 reflections on learning to lead in edtech.

1. My network is just as important as my knowledge.
   I am an introvert by nature. When I go to conferences, I sit by myself, take notes, then run out the door right as the session finishes. When I come back from a workshop, I start sentences by saying "Guess what I learned at..." By contrast, my partner actively seeks out new people to meet and talk to (shudder) and leverages what they know to enhance what she's doing. When she comes back from a workshop, she starts sentences with "Guess who I met at...?"
   
   I'm starting to see the value of blending the two approaches. In fact, I even intentionally talked to random strangers (gasp!) at iNACOL this year. I'm realizing that if I don't have a robust network, I'm going to end up doing a lot of work that someone, somewhere has already done. And networking isn't just about personal benefit either. It's about knowing the strengths and knowledge other people have so I can help them reach their goals too.
   
   So I'm working on my networking, and I'm starting by looking for things I have that I can offer to others and help them solve their problems. I doubt I'll ever be as good at it as my partner is, but I can learn a lot from seeing how she does it and adapting it to my personality. 


2. Effective leadership includes effective partnerships.
   When I was in the classroom, it wasn't really essential to learn to work with others. Yes, I was a part of a team, but when I went back into my classroom and closed the door, I could teach the way I wanted to. In leadership, that way of thinking no longer works.
   
   When there are two of you in the same role, leadership includes shared decision making. I learned this the hard way when I replied to an email on behalf of myself and my partner and spoke for both of us. Oops. She was very polite about it, but the message was clear that I needed to consult with her first before I committed both of us to anything. And she was right. I was still operating in the unilateral mindset I had when it was just me in my classroom.
   
   I'm seeing now that when we function as partners, amazing things happen. From the Google Expeditions visit to the Blended Learning grant we just submitted, her perspective and insights have been invaluable. When she pushes my ideas or probes my thinking, it helps me to find errors before they're too big to fix. I appreciate that she's willing to do that, and she's taught me a lot about respecting the opinions and experience of others. A good partner goes a long way toward doing great things.


3. I have to shift from tactical to strategic thinking.
   I was a short design-loop, fast failing, rapid prototyper when it came to ideas in my classroom. I'd roll out something new first period, and by third period, it wouldn't even be recognizable. And if it didn't work like I thought it would, I just learned from it, tossed it out, and moved on to something else.
   
   That type of tactical thinking served me well then. But now, I have to think far more strategically than I ever have before. The work I'm doing as a leader affects too many people for me to fling out half an idea and ask people to act on it. I need to step back and think long-term about time, resources and the place of my plan in the entire system before I even consider rolling it out.
   
   Ultimately, I need to leverage both kinds of thinking: strategic and systems-oriented with tactical and operational. In order to counteract my natural propensity for rapid-fire decision making, I've started forcing myself to take a step back and examine an idea from the desired outcome backwards before I start to think about how to do it. Novel idea, right? Which brings me to my next point...


4. Objectives and metrics come first, then planning and implementation.
   This sounds a lot like number three, but it's worth mentioning separately. When we were first planning for our 1:1 pilot, we had a pretty short time frame, so our goal was just to get devices in classrooms. Once that happened, then we worked on nailing down what exactly we wanted students and teachers to accomplish and how we were going to measure it. And although it's worked out alright, clearly this is backwards from the way we should have been thinking.
   
   For every project or plan, now I realize I need to know two things before I get started: the instructional objectives and the metrics we're going to use to assess them. It seems obvious, but it goes back to thinking strategically: my natural bent is to jump straight to thinking about what we're going to do and how we're going to do it, when I really need to think first about why we're doing it at all.
   
   Going through the Raising Blended Learners grant process really helped me with that. They had us start with an academic SMART goal first, and technology is kept out of the process until the very end. Now I'm trying to approach everything else the same way. For example, as we work on revamping edtech professional learning in our district, we're developing a profile of specific skills graduates should have when they leave us first. From there, we can identify what a student should able to do at each grade level to get there, then plan for what skills teachers need to make that happen. Objectives first, then planning.  


5. Technology simply enhances what a teacher already is.
   Anyone who thinks that putting technology in a classroom will magically improve teacher quality is an idiot. Technology magnifies whatever traits a teacher already has. If they're lecture-driven, they will turn a student's device into a way to get their lecture onto 30 screens instead of just one big one at the front of the room. If the teacher is looking for ways to give responsibility to their students, technology simply becomes the conduit to a world of knowledge so that the teacher can start facilitating instead of monopolizing attention for themselves.
   
   
   
   
   This is something I knew in theory, but now as a coach and trainer, I realize how true it really is. There has to be a mindset shift before technology is added to the mix. I've been very impressed by the teachers I've worked with who were traditional lecturers, but this year have taken great strides to teach their students to think for themselves. It's tough to change what you've always done, but they've shown great willingness to do things in a new way for the sake of their students.


6. Teacher choice is essential to teacher buy-in.
   No one wants things done to them, and that includes plans initiated from above. If people feel powerless, they aren't going to fully commit themselves to an idea they have no control over. That's why we've tried to give teachers choices in the tools they use and how they use them in their classroom.
   
   Teachers are professionals, and they need to be treated as such. As coaches, we've tried to partner with our teachers and offer them choices, and it's had very positive results. The teachers who fully buy-in have created some amazing things we never would have thought of. And they've done so by combining their knowledge with what we've taught them about ways to integrate technology. If we had just prescribed exactly how to use the tech, those ideas never would have happened. They might have been compliant, but they never would have been creative.


7. Professional learning is not a one-time event.
   This is one idea that was clear to me from the beginning. Getting teachers to where they're comfortable letting their students use technology is a big step. By being in classrooms, modeling instruction, being on call 24-7, and essentially living the highs and lows right along with teachers, they feel safe to try out new things. If we had simply done a workshop at the beginning of the year and stopped, we wouldn't have the same level of teacher initiative in the pilot that we have now.
   
   If professional learning is going to be ongoing, it requires understanding what individual teachers need. The process of triaging teachers into groups based on ability has helped me think about what level of support they need. Some teachers need intensive, in-class support and guidance. Other teachers just need some time to discuss lessons and activities and they're comfortable implementing on their own. Then there are a few teachers who just need me to point them toward digital resources then they really don't need me after that. Grouping teachers this way has helped me spend my limited time effectively, but I think I can be even more intentional about the process as I move into the next half of the year.


8. Assume positive intent.
   In leadership, you have to deal with a lot of different people. I heard someone say this phrase earlier in the year and it stuck with me. If something can be interpreted for good or for ill, I should assume positive intent. It saves a lot of needless personal offense and keeps me from damaging relationships when they may have simply sent a poorly worded email or text.


9. If it feeds my ego, it probably won't scale.
   I can enlarge my ego and make myself feel irreplaceable by forcing people to come to me for everything they need, whether it's new ideas or reset passwords. But I'm realizing that structure is unsustainable and unscalable. The more I can send teachers to others who can provide what they need, the more I make it possible for creative classroom technology use to grow without me at the center. Ultimately, that's the goal.
   
   I'm still working on figuring out how to make this happen, but I'd love to see a decentralized network of teachers pushing creative technology use in our district. This type of network would let them create and share resources and ideas, as well as push each other to try new things with their students. It may not make me feel special, but that's not the point. The point is teacher-driven, scalable, sustainable growth no matter who comes and goes at the district level.


10. Manage By Wandering Around (MBWA)
    I learn more in 10 minutes of walking through classrooms than I do sending out 10 emails asking what teachers need. When something goes wrong or teachers need something, they typically just have to think on their feet and work around it to keep the lesson going. By the end of the day, they've either forgotten about what happened or have too much to do to let me know what's going on.
    
    But when I'm in classrooms on a regular basis, a thirty-second side conversation helps me know that someone's audio isn't working, the camera on a Chromebook has gone out, or that a bilingual teacher would like Google Translate on her students' devices. Being available and around is the best way to get the pulse of a project from the trenches.


11. It's too easy to forget what it's like to be a teacher.
    I'm concerned that I'll forget how difficult it is to be a teacher. I try to get around that by MBWA, but it's not the same. Modeling lessons in classrooms helps some, but they're not my students with my routines and the stress that comes with managing a hodgepodge of distinct personalities day in and day out.
    
    I think about it every day, and I'm not sure what the solution is. But I know that if I forget what it's like to teach, I'll start weighing teachers down with irrelevancies instead of supporting them as they are doing the real work. And if that happens, I've failed the people I'm supposed to be serving.


12. Edtech leadership is less about apps and tools than it is about philosophy, psychology, motivation, and support.
    I spent all summer learning about digital tools, made sure I became a GAFE expert, and bookmarked my way to a toolbox full of Web 2.0 goodness. And those things are important. But now I see the need to have (1) a detailed philosophy of how technology should be used in the classroom, (2) an understanding of what's developmentally appropriate for students of certain ages, (3) knowledge of how to motivate professionals to change longstanding practices, and (4) awareness of the research on supporting teacher growth.
    
    All these things underpin a more robust way of thinking about the roles of teachers and students in our classrooms. They also support the hard work of planning for how to get them to where that vision is realized. So while tools are essential, deep thinking is fundamental because it dictates the framework for how the tools will be used.

After seven months, this is where I am, and I feel like I'm just starting to know what questions I need to be asking. The current lesson I'm learning is to enjoy the journey and the people I meet as I'm on it. In the classroom, I focused on my work at the expense of relationships with my co-workers and colleagues. That was a mistake, and I regret it.

I'm trying to remember to take the time to get to know the people around me and find out what makes them tick. If I can understand that, I can learn something from them. If I can learn from them, then I'll have another list like this in June (another seven months), full of the lessons they've taught me about continuing to learn to lead.