Are PTC's A Thing Of The Past At The High School Level?

In recent years especially in the spring PTC attendance at my school has dwindled to a very small number of parents.  This has gotten to the point where teachers are asking if they are necessary and thusly be eliminated or can they be squeezed into 1 day.  With online grade books and with phone/email access to teachers are they really necessary? Please leave your comments below.

My MERIT Year

Early last year I found out that I was accepted to MERIT (Making Education Relevant and Interactive with Technology) at the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothills College in Los Altos, CA.  It was the best thing to happen to me professionally in my 25 years of teaching.  Even though I have been comfortable with technology MERIT gave me pause for thought, ideas and the courage to push my thinking about integrating technology in the classroom.  In the months and nearly a year since the cohort met together for the two weeks in July things have changed professionally for me and in my classroom and as a result in my school and district.  


The first changes that occurred is that my principal and then my superintendent recognized me as a technology leader in the district.  I have become a staff trainer for my school and to a lesser extent my district.  During this time I have flipped my classroom and as a result others in my building have done the same.  I also lead a flip PD for the staff in my building. I have adopted two specific applications that I use in my flip classroom and work with the developers on improving them and have them introduced to others in my district.  MERIT gave me the courage to do all of this especially the ability to make videos.  I have the ability to make the videos but I am very shy about putting my voice on "tape".  But thanks to a friend and MERIT I have overcome this.  


Also during this year I have made some very important contacts and resources via Twitter professionally and for flipping my classroom.  I have also been able to add to others professional development by presenting at several conferences this year in Michigan for Michigan State University and MACUL.  I have also become Assistant Director of MACUL's SIG-Professional Learning this year and I am running for MACUL's board of directors.  Michigan has been at the forefront of "teacher reform" by the GOP and we have been pretty beaten down by it.  I decided this year I can either Lead or Lament about what is going on and I have decided to lead by changing and improving the way things happen in my classroom, school and district as related to the "reforms".  Many of these "reforms" are related to integrating technology into the classroom or online.  Many of my colleagues have come to me to help them do this.  Finally, I am being recruited by another district to teach teachers while my district is considering creating a virtual school and I have been asked to lead this initiative.  Whether I stay or go all of these opportunities are a result of what I learned at MERIT and the confidence it gave me.

You Can Either Lament or Lead. I Choose To Lead.

I have been thinking about this for a while with all that has been going on with education.  I was inspired to create this short post by Brian Bennett's post today called I Can.  We have been "bunker" mode in our district for the last two years with funding cuts, layoffs, schedule changes, and all that comes along with that.  So mentally we (the faculty and staff of BCPS) have been beaten down mentally. We are finally coming out the dark tunnel and I have changed my focus. Thus, in the past year I have been trying to integrate technology into my classroom and have been frustrated by the state of student technology in our building.  I had been lamenting and complaining about it but never really thought about what I could do to make it better.  So this year I finally decided to stop lamenting and start leading.  I have been "flipping" my class and integrating technology but rather than complain about the technology I decided to work with what I have.  This means using applications that are web-based and using Google Apps for Education.  By doing this I am leveraging the browser, web, cloud tools and the cloud itself to integrate technology in the classroom.  By doing this we have fewer issues with the technology and more productivity.  This is not to say we still don't have issues but we work the problems and make them learning moments for the students.  So rather than lamenting we are leading and learning.  The students are picking up on this and going home and teaching their parents what works and what doesn't.  Finally, it is less stress to lead than lament (plus we just passed a bond for technology upgrades). 

Flip Day Four-Odds and Ends

As my flip progresses students are getting the hang of it and offering suggestions.  Imagine that students having a say in how they learn or how they are taught (sarcasm).  They are now asking do I have to check the website.  My response is you should be checking the website everyday.  They are taking to it pretty well.  But as I said yesterday there will be train wrecks but we can even learn from the wrecks.

Some of the comments from students pertain to the videos.  They do not want to see my face, I need to speak up and putting music in the background helps with the material.  I learned this from another flipper Krista Price of Oxford Community Schools (Check her resources out at www.kristaprice.com and www.youtube.com/kristadawnprice or on iTunesU at MiLearn).  Many students like that they can go to a central spot and find out what they missed when they were absent. 

I knew this going in but flipping involves a lot more work and planning.  However, what we do in class is taking on more meaning for the students.   Finally, I am finding flipping is reinvigorating my teacher and my students. 

Flip Day Three-Independent Group Work

Today was a day to see how the students could work together in a group with minimal instruction.  Chemistry classes were involved in creating graphics on how to solve either formula mass, molar mass or percent composition problems.  My first period class was somewhat at a loss on what to do when they are not directly being "spoon fed".  However, once they got going the all started to interact with their groups and got the exercise started and worked out.  After they were done many started to "decorate" their board.  I do not see this as a bad thing if they can put together the science with something they enjoy I feel that they will remember the science better when it comes time for an assessment.  My last chemistry class did a much better job than my first period but they are a more hands on group.

In forensic science to day students will be using calipers to measure the caliber of shell casings and spent bullets.  This again is an exercise where students need to work together to check each others work and learn how to use a new measuring tool.  Both classes did well after the "aren't you going to help us" phase.  The exciting part of this was as the students measured the different type of casing they started asking questions?  "What would you use this for?" "How did this get so distorted?" In a lecture type environment this would not have happened.  Now they have their hands on it and are able to look, touch and feel.  I would say the forensic science activity was a success.

Still after a week feeling positive about the changes but I am very aware that like in any method there will be those days that won't go so well.  But when that happens we assess, reflect and correct.

What K-12 Teacher Had The Biggest Affect On Your Life?

What K-12 teacher had the biggest affect on your life?  For me it was Dr. Ben Peyton Biology Teacher Westview High School Kankakee, IL.  He instilled an interest in Science and the world around in me.

Flip Day Two-Progress and Fixes

Today was one of those days.  We have a reduced schedule today to make room for Activity Day.  This was a reward for the students and staff donating over 3000 items of food for our district food bank program.  But on with the update.  Since we only had 35 minutes a class with many absent we still went on with the show.  Since doing the flip and using LiveBinders today's discussions, work etch were posted to the binder. 

However, students are already getting used to it and asked if they needed to check the LiveBinder for homework.  So they are training themselves too.

We have found an issue though.  It seems since I embed google apps in my LiveBinders IE does not like it.  Thus, I have told the students to either use Google Chrome (default browser at school) or Firefox. Not a big deal but a bug that can be eliminated for next year.

Today's positive and take away: Students making an effort to use the new tools and I am feeling better prepared and organized. 

I would like to acknowledge the help and support I am getting from my #flipclass PLN on Twitter.  Good people to follow too.  @bennettscience @ramusallam @chemicalsams @jonbergmann @jcorripo Thanks guys!