Todd Alexander - W540

PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION:
Collaborating with Professional Peers
Icommunicatewithprofessionalpeerslocallyduringthefollowing:Professionaldevelopment,
staffmeetings,departmentmeetings,email,&withcommittees
.

ProfessionalDevelopment Mostofmyprofessionaldevelopmentcentersaround
technologydevelopmentinourschooldistrict.ONthe
technologyplanningcommitteeforthedistrict,Iserveas
oneofthehighschoolrepresentatives.Ourdiscussions
arefocusingonimplementinga1:1initiativeinourschool
districtwithinthenextthreeyears.Collaborationshave
beenincollaborativemeetingsafewtimeseach
semester.Thesediscussionscarryonviaemailwithone
another,monthlystaffmeetings(forallstafftobe
involved,andindepartmentalmeetings.
Staff/Department
Meetings

Staff/departmentalmeetingstakeplaceinperson.
However,information(agendas,forms,links,etc)is
sharedviaemailtohelpstaffbepreparedformeetings
andkeeptheconversationrollingafterthemeetingshave
adjourned.

EMail

OutlookEmailisusedtocommunicatewithoneanother
onadailybasis.Emailistheprimarymethodof
communicationotherthanfacetofacecontact.

Isharedthefollowing
evaluation/portfoliotools
withpeerstohelpenhancestudentlearning:
Sharethelatestevaluationtoolsandexplainhowtheycanenhancestudentlearning.Provide
proofthatyouhavedonethis.Includescreenshotsorlinks.
Ihaveusedoneportfolio/evaluationtoolsofar,andthatisintheuseofaclassroom
websiteorpersonalwebsitetoshowcasetheworkIhavedoneinmypersonalclasses
andtheworkdoneinmyclassroom.Websitesareveryeasytosetup(asinyoudont
necessarilyknowhowtodohtmlcodetocreatethem)andtheyserveasgreat
showcasesoftheworkstudents,teachers,administrators,etc.do.

Linkstomyexamples:
mralexander2013.wordpress.com
mralexandergeometry.weebly.com
mralexander2014.weebly.com

Isharedthefollowing
multimediatools

withpeerstohelpenhancestudentlearning:
Hereisa
link
tomyR505Multimediaclassportfoliowhereaplethoraofmultimedia
resourceswereused.

Herearesomeofmyfavorites:
Tackk
:Createwebpagesofinformationcouldbeusedinplaceofaposterproject.
Blendspace
:Createlessonsforstudentstocompleteontheirown(selfguided
learning)
GoogleForms
:Createonline/digitalassessmentsandcollaboration.
Padlet
:Onlinecollaborationwithcommentsanddigitalmedia(imagery,videos)
Zaption
:Useonlinevideos(Youtube)asassessmenttools(addquestionstoassess
knowledgegainedfromviewingthevideo)

Linktomyzaptionvideo:
http://zapt.io/t2ambk6c
Linktomycopyrightlawlessonviablendspace:
https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/oFbiGiQtmHMcVg/copyrightlaw
LinktomyEuclid:theFatherofGeometryminilessonviaaTackkboard:
https://tackk.com/0wq466

Isharedthefollowing
productivitytools
withpeerstohelpenhancestudentlearning:

TheproductivitytoolIsharedwastheChartKeepertool.IfyouhaveanAppleiPad,
thenyoucandownloadtheappandkeeptrackofstudentprogressthroughoutyour
classes.Firstoff,youcancreateseatingchartsforallofyourclassesandsetupthe
studentsinwhateverarrangementyouwish(accordingtoyourclassroomsetup,of
course).Youareabletocreateanindividualprofileforeachstudent.Thisapp
refreshesatthebeginningofeachday.Youtakeattendanceeachclass(recordwho
ispresent,tardy,orabsent).Itkeepstrackofthisuntilyouclearouttheinformationfor
thenexttermorschoolyear.Also,throughouteachclassperiodyoucankeeptrackof
studentprogressbygivingstudentsthumbsupforgooddeeds(hardworker,good
participation,etc.)orthumbsdownforpoordeeds(notworking,notfollowing
directions,etc).Youcanalsoflagstudentsforfollowuponanotherclasssession.
Youcanalsotakenotesonstudentprogressasidefromtheprescribedthumbsupor
downreasons.Itisagreatapptokeeptrackofparticipation,behaviorand
attendance.Inmyexperience,studentslikethatIusetheappbecauseitincentivizes
themtocompeteforthethumbsupmarkingsoneachschooldayincentivizingeach
othertodotheirbest.

Linktoapp:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chartkeeper/id624680230?mt=8
Screenshotofmyappisbelow:

Connecting with Educators Abroad

Iwouldgetajumpstartonthisoneatthebeginningofclass.Itmaytakeawhileto
connectwithsomeone.

Iamattemptingtomakecontactwitheducatorsabroad.Istarteddoingresearchand
cameacrossaneducatorinIsraelnamedHalaArrabywhotestifiedthatincorporating
technologyhashelpedtoincreaseclassroomengagementforherEnglishlanguagelearners.
Ihaveattemptedtocontacther,buthaveonlycomeupwitharticlesinwhichshewas
interviewedaboutherexperiencesintheclassroomwithusingtechnology.Herearesome
highlightsofherinputaboutusingtechnologyinherclasses:
Herstudentswereusedtousingclassicmethodsoflearning(worksheets,
questioningbytheteacher,summativeassessments,etc.).Whenintroducing
thetechnologyadvancements,thestudentsweremuchmoreinterestedthan
beforeinlearningtheEnglishlanguage.ShebeganbyusingYouTubeandan
interactivewhiteboard.
EncouragedtohavestudentsdogroupworkinlearningEnglish.Useof
interactiveonlinelearningtoolssuchas
Linoit
StickyNote/Multimedia
Collaborationtooland
Tricider
,anonlinequestion/answerdiscussionand
debateboard.

 Encouragesteacherstouseblogs.
Voki
isoneexampleanonlineblogtool
thatusesananimatedavatarandyourownvoiceratherthanthewrittenword.
Anothersuggestionis
VoiceThread
,anonlinecollaborationtoolwhereideas
canbesharedthroughwrittenword,spokenword,andvideo.

Throughsearchingforthiseducator,Icameacrossasmallhandfulofmeanstocontact
felloweducators.Istartedofflookingatwhocommentedonorpinnedthisarticlevia
Pinterest.ThisbroughtmetoaneducatorinBrazil(whoIamtryingtogetincontact).I
exploredher
Pinterestpins
(allmainlyinPortuguese,sothiswasaconundrum).Her
PinterestaccountlinkedtoaFacebookpage.FromFacebook,Iwasabletofindacouple
ofinternationaleducationalcommunitiesinwhichIattemptedtocontacteducatorsabroad.
SomeoftheseFacebookpagesincluded
EducatorsAbroad
,aprogramproviding
professionaldevelopmentthroughcrossculturalexperienceforeducatorsabroad.
AnothergrouponFacebookthathadmadesomecommentslikingtothearticlefromHala
Arrabywas
EducationScotland
.Theyoutlinecurriculumandoutcomegoalsforthe
studentsinScotland,UKontheir
website
.Ihaveattemptedtoreachthemandthe
membersofthisgroup.Finally,IfoundaglobalcommunityknownasePals.This
partnersclassroomsofsimilaragegroupsacrosstheglobe.Currently,Iamtryingtoget
incontactwithteachersinRussiaandinKenya.Iamwantingtocollaboratewiththem
withregardtousingtechnologyintheclassroomwhiletheyareattemptingtogeta
brotherorsisterclassroomtoaidincommunicatinginEnglish.

Sharethefollowing:
EvaluationTool

WeeblyPortfolio/Website
mralexander2014.weebly.com

MultimediaTool

Blendspacedigital/multimedialessons
www.blendspace.com

ProductivityTool

ChartKeeperbehavior/participationtool
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chartkee
per/id624680230?mt=8

FavoriteTechnologyTool

Blendspace,Padlet,Weebly,Google
Forms,GoogleDocs

BelowarethefollowingideasthatIwasabletogetfromprofessionalpeersinothercountries:
LinktoarticlefromHalaArraby:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/blog/israelwhyteachersshouldtraindigitaltechnology

LinkstoHalaArrabystechnologyresources:
Linoit
www.en.linoit.com
Tricider
www.tricider.com
Voki
www.voki.com
Voicethread
www.voicethread.com

COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS:

IcommunicatewithparentsabouttechnologythatIuseinclassby:
Shareexamplesofwaysyouusetechnologytocommunicatewithyourparents.Ifyoudo
notuseanyformsoftechnologytocommunicatewithparents,dosoforthisproject.
Examplescaninclude,emailorpostanewsletter,sendtextsthroughRemind101,post
informationonaclassroomwebsite,MyBigCampus,Edmodo,Twitter,Facebook,etc.
Insertscreenshotproofofthiscommunication.
Atthebeginningoftheyear,studentsarerequiredtosharemysyllabuswiththeir
parents.Parentsalsogetacopyofaletterhomewithmycontactinformationaswell
astheclassroomwebsite.Myclassroomwebsitehasinformationabouttheclassand
linkstousefulandhelpfulinformation.Italsohasalistoftopics/lessonsfortheweek
aswellasduedates.Parentscanusemywebsitetokeepcurrentwithwhatisgoing
onintheclass.Linktowebsite:
mralexandergeometry.weebly.com

Asforfutureuse,IhavesignedupforusingRemind101inthepastbuthavenot
activelyusedit.Afelloweducatoratmyschoolhasusedtheprogramandhasgood
thingstoreportaboutkeepingintouchwithparentsaswellashelpingtoensuredue
datesarekeptandfollowed.BelowisascreenshotofmyRemind101account.Ialso
willbesendingoutaflyerforthelastnineweekgradingperiodastohowtosignupfor
reportsviaRemind101.Iwillactivelyusethisfortheremainderoftheschoolyear.