always learning

Over the last few weeks I’ve been putting my tech skills to work planning our trips during the summer holidays. You see, I have this obsession with finding the perfect beach. You know the one: powdery white sand, crystal clear blue water, swaying palm trees, no one else around; and, of course, the perfect hotel to match: small, boutique-style, spa treatments galore, tasty food, and no hideous strip of chain hotel monstrosities looming above.

Amazingly, I found this perfect place in Malaysia (Redang Island) on our first vacation when we moved there in 2005. Unfortunately, it’s a little too inconvenient to get there from Bangkok and part of the “perfect beach” experience is only having to undergo one flight (maximum) to get there. Plus, I figured Thailand, the land of beautiful beaches, must have something even better!

Normally, I would ask around at school for tips from my colleagues that have been living in Thailand for many years, but all I got was the same old, same old: Koh Samui, Phuket, Koh Samet, Koh Chang. Not that those places aren’t beautiful, but I really wanted something different, something only the local resident would know, yet of course, would meet my needs as an emerging “fancy pants” (as my husband would say).

Now, I realize I shouldn’t really spill the beans here on how I’m doing my super tech savvy undercover exploration of stunning Thai islands, but I figured, despite this being slightly off-topic for this blog, you guys are the only ones who would really understand how cool this little web 2.0 planning experience really was.

So, here’s what I did:

1. I knew I wanted to stay in Thailand, but I wanted to make sure it was one of those perfect beaches (not like some of the other places we have stayed, where the websites looks stunning, but when you get there it’s really nothing special). So, I figured the best place to start was a search of “real people’s” photos: Flickr.

2. I remembered that a friend of mine had recommended a specific beach in Phuket, but I couldn’t remember which one, so I searched on Flickr for “white sand beach Phuket.” A beach that looked suitable was the very last picture of the first page of search results.

3. Once I clicked on that image, the picture description told me that it was taken on “Koh Racha Yai island [which] is located 30 minutes south by boat from Phuket, Thailand.” Aha! This was the kind of place I was looking for, close but not too close, easy to get to, but still isolated.

4. With my new found destination in mind, I headed to my old and trusty friend, TripAdvisor to see what hotels were listed on this island.

5. The top rated hotel looked pretty spectacular, so I checked out their website, and then of course went back to Flickr for more realistic photos and found this picture with this description: “Racha Resort is a luxurious 5-star resort built in 2004 after Tsunami.” Plus, there was even a comment from another Flickr user enthusing about this island and hotel with even more pictures posted! Yes, this was exactly what I was looking for!

6. Just to get all the facts, I opened up Google Earth, and checked out the beach from above (well, I guess from space, technically) and all the embedded images around the island, thanks to Panoramio.

7. Seeing as all the evidence points to an especially stunning, and quite private, beach on a lovely tropical island, I booked our flight and hotel right away.

Now all that’s left is to actually take the trip!

How do you use your techie skills to plan the perfect holiday?

Last week, our ISB21 Team had a long discussion about posting student pictures online. We’ve been extremely fortunate to have quite a few of our teachers embrace web 2.0 tools, especially our school-provided FlickrPro account.

We have teachers at almost every grade level regularly posting pictures for our parents. We know they love having a window into the classroom on a regular basis, but we haven’t determined specific guidelines for teachers about which pictures can be posted and which can’t.

So, during our meeting, I posed the following question on Twitter:

We had tons of responses back (thank you!):

It is great to see the different ways that so many schools deal with such a common issue (yet another reason to love Twitter). Now that we have some ideas, I think it’s worth discussing whether we need to standardize our expectations for posting student photos online.

Right now we have teachers on both ends of the spectrum: some posting pretty much every single thing that happens in their classroom to others never posting pictures that show student faces. I’m guessing that can be confusing for students when moving from one teacher to the next.

In order to model safe behavior for our students, and help build understanding of what is appropriate to share online, I think it’s important that we have a standard set for the whole school. This will also help us be clear in our expectations for teachers, and allow us to embed the guidelines in our AUP for all grade levels.

Another benefit of actually creating and implementing a set of guidelines would be starting a conversation about sharing images online with our colleagues. Personally, I’m pretty shocked at some of the pictures I see teachers (and other professionals) post on their Facebook (and other photo sharing) accounts. I think this will provide an opportunity not just to model appropriate behavior for the students, but also to help teachers build their own understanding of what should (and should not) be public information. In my opinion, starting that conversation is part of my job.

Whatever we decide, I hope it will be simple and easy for teachers to follow, but also not so restrictive that classroom and field-trip experiences can’t be shared publicly online. Here’s what I’m thinking right now:

These guidelines would become part of our AUP, and parents and students will sign off on the policy at the beginning of the school year after a lesson and discussion about the content of the AUP with students. Signatures would be acknowledging that the following guidelines are acceptable to both parents and students:

1. Classroom and field-trip experiences may be published in public spaces online (for example our school Flickr account).
2. When student images are posted, only first names or nicknames will be referenced.
3. No identifying characteristics about students (beyond first names or nicknames) will be published in public spaces online.
4. Work produced for education purposes may be published in public spaces in order to encourage global collaboration among students and teachers.
5. Comments on student work will be moderated by the teacher to ensure only appropriate information is shared and received.
6. Online safety and appropriate behavior will be emphasized whenever sharing student work online. Online spaces will be treated as classroom spaces.

What do you think? Does that cover the basics? Is this easy enough for teachers to follow without stress? Are we modeling appropriate and safe online behavior?

In January, I shared a list of international school teachers (those teaching outside of their home country in a school catering to expatriate families) on Twitter (or blogging). In the last few months, even more teachers have added themselves to the Google Form, so I thought I would do a recap with all of the names currently on the spreadsheet, organized by country.

If you’re not on the list yet and you’re teaching outside of your home country in a school for expatriate children, please feel free to add yourself! I’ll do another recap soon!

Note: I linked the names of teachers to their blogs (if listed) and their Twitter @username to their profiles (if listed):

Asia

China

• Jonathan Chambers, @jchambers, Shanghai American School
• Thomas Galvez, @tgalvez, International School of Beijing
• Mark Roper, Island School Hong Kong
• Micah Sittig, @msittig, SMIC Private School
• Mikey McKillip, @atomikey, Shanghai Community International School
• Amanda DeCardy, @adecardy, Shanghai American School
• Jeff Plaman, @jplaman, International School of Beijing
• Jeff Dungan, @jdungan, Shanghai American School
• Sheldon Bradshaw, @sbradshaw, Western Academy of Beijing
• Mike DeNeef, @coachdeneef, Shanghai Community International School
• Beth Gourley, @beahgo, International School of Tianjin
• Jennifer Chapman, @jenniferchapman, Concordia International School Shanghai
• Paul McMahon, @lsa_paul, Learning Solutions (Consultancy)
• Colleen Williams, @colwill, Shanghai American School
• David Gran, @dsgran, Shanghai American School
• Colin Gallagher, @colingally, The ISF Academy Hong Kong
• Simon Power, @spower, Shanghai American School
• Heather Davis, @greenisle13, Yew Chung International School of Beijing
• Bruce Roadside, @b_roadside, Beijing City International School
• Jon Nordmeyer, @nordmeyerj, Shanghai American School
• Sarah Toa, Shanghai American School
• Colin Aitken, @caitken, International School of Beijing
• Robert Hulse, @shalombringer, Concordia International School Shanghai
• Ryan Skardal, @skardalien, American International School Hong Kong
• dcnavis, @dcnavis85, Hong Kong International School
  

Korea

• Greg Israel, @israelgreg, Korea International School
• Jason Crewe, @jcrewe, Busan Foreign School

Vietnam

• Clint Hamada, @chamada, United Nations International School Hanoi
• Michelle Matias, @michellelmatias, United Nations International School Hanoi
• Adrienne Michetti, @amichetti, United Nations International School Hanoi
• Michael Wagstaff, @mike_wagstaff, United Nations International School Hanoi
• Sean Tangey, @stangey, United Nations International School Hanoi

Japan

• Genki Unno, @genkiu, Yokahama International School
• Brian Lockwood, @brianlockwood, Yokahama International School
• Rhonda Carrier, @rhondacarrier, Canadian Academy
• Christine U, @kurisuteen, Yokahama International School
• Josh Raub, @x5josh5x, The American School in Japan
• Jeff Lewis, @jefflewis9, Seisen International School Tokyo

Thailand

• Heather Vlach, @hvlach, International School Bangkok
• Sara Best, @saraebest, International School Bangkok
• Jon Russell, @jonrussell, Pibulwitthayalai School
• Dennis Harter, @dharter, International School Bangkok
• David Wees, @davidwees, Ruamrudee International School
• Jeff Utecht, @jutecht, International School Bangkok
• Steven Hall, @hitechhall, Ruamrudee International School
• Chrissy Hellyer, @nzchrissy, International School Bangkok
• Ben Winter, @bewi, Bangkok Patana School
• Jay Priebe, @jay_priebe, New International School Thailand
• Vu Lam, @vulam, International School Bangkok
• Michael Peach, @the_giant_peach, International School Bangkok

Singapore

• Keri-Lee Beasley, @klandmiles, United World College Southeast Asia
• Katie Day, @librarianedge, United World College Southeast Asia
• Susan Sedro, @ssedro, Singapore American School
• Ben Grundy, @bgrundy, Canadian International School
• Carrie Wilton, @carriewilton, Canadian International School
• Wayne Burnett, @waynebu, German European School Singapore

Malaysia

• Ian Pittman, @ipittman, The Alice Smith School
• Bron Narsiman, @bron_narsiman, International School of Kuala Lumpur
• Mark Marshall, @markmarshall6, International School of Kuala Lumpur
• K.Gwaltney, @KB2121, Dalat International School Penang

India

• Katie Christo, @katiechristo, American International School Chennai
• Ann Krembs, @DearLibrariAnn, American School of Bombay
• Melisa Enderle, @melissaenderle, American International School of Chennai

Indonesia

• Jose Luis Mejia, @jlmejia, Jakarta International School
• Jan Anderson, @janiceanderson, International School of Riau

Taiwan

• Leanne Rainbow, @rainbowl, Taipei American School

The Philippines

• Jennifer Smith, @jensmith8675309, International School Manila

Middle East/Central Asia

Qatar

• Jabiz Raisdana, @intrepidteacher, Compass International School
• Julie Lindsay, @julielindsay, Qatar Academy
• Ellie Bowe, @EllieBowe, Qatar Academy
• Mike Boulanger, @mikeboulanger, Qatar Academy
• Lauralynn Stefureak, @LauralynnLouise, Qatar Academy

Oman

• Eleanor Haynes, @MrsEHaynes, The American International School of Muscat

Khazakhstan

• James Lerch, @jclerch, Quality Schools International

Morocco

• David Carpenter, @davidcarp, Casablanca American School

Latin America

Mexico

• Angelesb, @angelesb, Escuela Secundaria General 5

Brazil

• Carla Arena, @carlaarena, Casa Thomas Jefferson
• Barbara Dieu, Lycée Pasteur

Argentina

• Weda, @theshortestfuse, Lincoln American International School

Peru

• Gerardo Lazaro, @glazaro, St. George’s College

Europe

Spain

• Nancy vonWahlde, @nancyvonw, American School of Madrid

Switzerland

• Kathy Epps, @k_eepps, International School of Geneva – Campus des Nations
• Will Kirkwood, @wkirkwood, Zurich International School

Austria

• Chris Rolfe, @cmrolfe, American International School Vienna

Serbia

• Jennie Scott-McKenzie, @jennieteacher, International School of Belgrade

Looking at this list, it’s interesting to see where most of the teachers are working. Can we make the assumption that those schools are the ones that are really moving forward with technology? Or is this list more representative of schools in Asia because that’s where I’m currently working?

Either way, if you’re considering going overseas, or just moving on to a new school, these are the people that can give you the greatest insight into life in a new country and working at a new school. There’s nothing better than actually knowing people at the schools you’re interested in to make an informed decision about where to go.

Please spread the word! I know there are many more international school teachers on Twitter and blogging!

One of the quotes from the panel session at the Hong Kong Summit has really stuck with me:

We look at technology as a tool, but our students look at it as an environment.
(Btw, if anyone can remember who said it, I would love to know!).

I often say that technology is just a tool to use when it meets our needs (like a pencil), but hearing this sentence made me re-evaluate my own perceptions. After all, what is a tool?

• something I use when it suits me
• something I control
• something I don’t need or want around me at all times – only when it’s necessary
• something small, manipulated by it’s user

Maybe we use this phrasing because it’s less intimidating, because teachers can see the direct comparison or evolution between a pencil and technology, because it helps us feel like we already know what to do with it (the technology, that is).

OK, so then what’s an environment?

• something that’s all around us, in use all time
• something we can not directly manipulate or control
• something necessary to live, and ubiquitous, like air
• something we are immersed in, even if we’re not specifically thinking about it or intentionally “using” it

That’s a big difference. What does this say about the different ways that students and adults might be perceiving the world around them? What does this mean for education?

Maybe it would help to think about other things that probably started off as strange new tools, but now are inescapable parts of our daily environment, for example: the alphabet, books, electricity, running tap water, etc. These tools are behind everything that we do, they are part of the fabric of our lives.

Although these tools started as something new and different, we can not simply choose to use them in one situation, but not in another. A math teacher wouldn’t say we don’t need to use the alphabet in this class because it’s math. An English teacher wouldn’t say we don’t need to know how to switch on the lights, because this is English, not science. So why do so many of us still think of technology that way?

As Greg Whitby pointed out during the same panel session: “You never send a changed individual back to an unchanged environment.” I think Greg was referring to teachers, but now I’m wondering: what if our students are the one’s who’ve changed? And what if our schools are the unchanged environment?

What do you think?

I am incredibly honored (and quite flattered) to be part of an amazing line-up of speakers at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School (MICDS) this summer, thanks to Elizabeth Helfant and Patrick Woessner. Plus, as if it wasn’t exciting enough to be billed on the same event as Will, Karl, Alec, Darren, Dean, Chris, Jeff and Matt, my session is scheduled the day after Kevin’s so we get to meet up for dinner before he flies out!

In reflecting back to the SUNY course I taught with Jeff earlier this year; the faculty meetings Tara, Jeff and I have facilitated this year; my 2 trips to Qatar to consult at QA over the past two years (thanks to Julie); my recent visit to TIS (thanks to Leanne); and the various conferences I’ve attended over the past few years; there are a few things I want to make sure I do in my workshop:

• Ensure that the session is participant-driven and focused on actually producing something that can be used in the classroom in August.
• Provide lots of time for discussion, reflection, and metacognition by asking participants to work in small groups.
• Create groups based on participant need – either ability groups (self-determined) or curricular/grade level groups.
• Focus on the practical, remembering that the how is just as important as the why. Break the session down into stages (the way I would in my classroom) so that participants can work through the entire planning and creation of a global project.
• Model quality curriculum planning and authentic technology integration by using the Understanding by Design method and following the MYP Technology Design Cycle while using a selection of digital tools that teachers might want to apply in their own project.

Here’s how I’m thinking I might organize the day:

9:00 – 9:15: Warm-up, get to know participants and their experience with this type of project. Use pre-assessment survey to determine teams and grouping.

Clearly state the goal that participants will develop and plan a global project to be used in August, based on their curricular needs following the UbD process and using the technology design cycle.

9:15 – 10:30: Share a revised version of the Connecting Classrooms Across Continents presentation which builds understanding of the value of global collaboration, focuses on practical tips on how to develop a global project, and shares examples from a selection of classrooms and grade levels.

The rest of the day is structured hands-on work time following the MYP Technology Design Cycle, with opportunities for participants to work in groups, but come back to the larger whole at the beginning of each stage of the cycle for tips, strategies and introductions to the various tools needed.

10:30 – 11:30: Investigate: Start with a round robin or “final word” activity (in groups) with an article that really highlights the benefits of global collaborations. Then, provide participants with a wiki with links to authentic global collaborations to explore to get some ideas/inspiration. Next, have teams brainstorm (maybe using inspiration or one of the web-based mind mapping tools) a global project that would enhance a current unit in their curriculum.

Lunch

12:00 – 1:00: Plan: Start with an intro or overview of the UbD process (depending on what participants already know) to help design the project with the end in mind. Begin to build a unit planner using the same wiki, with template provided.

1:00 – 2:00 Create: Create the “home base” for the project – a wiki, Ning, blog, whatever. Demo some tools teachers might want to use to learn some tricks for how to use whichever tool is best for the task. Begin connecting with other teachers that might be interested in participating around the world through sharing on a Ning or Twitter (or anything else that we can think of). Focus on actually creating the online space that students will use in August.

2:00 – 2:30: Evaluate: Share projects with the larger group, reflect on process so far & what needs to go next

2:30 – 3:00: Feedback survey for me, links to all projects on the wiki, any final questions answered.

What do you think? Would you want to attend a session like this? What else would you do to make it a positive experience for the participants?