Above: Tony Stead (Email: tonystead@bigpond.com).

Tony Stead is an Australian educator who has taught in elementary schools and lectured at the University of Melbourne. He is the past president of the Melbourne Chapter of the Australian Reading Association and the author of many publications. His latest include Is That a Fact?: Teaching Nonfiction Writing and the video series Time For Nonfiction. which highlights his recent work with several teachers at the Manhattan New School.

What a fantastic opportunity! I'm now sitting here with a copy of both of Tony's books, and I'll be reading one of them this weekend.

The book you are about to read [Is That a Fact?] is destined to be the first, middle, and maybe even the last word on nonfiction writing for young, young children. It is certainly a text that you will return to over and over again as you do with a beloved cookbook.
Source: Tomie dePaola, Foreword of Is That a Fact? by Tony Stead

Over eighty- five percent of the reading and writing we do as adults is nonfiction, yet most of the reading and writing in K–3 classrooms is fiction or personal narrative. In Is That a Fact? Teaching Nonfiction Writing K-3, Tony Stead shows you how to open the door to the rich world of nonfiction writing that goes beyond "what I did" narratives and animal reports. And he convincingly demonstrates the importance of introducing nonfiction writing in the primary grades.

This morning--thanks to Jeanne Cantu (SAISD's Senior Coordinator for Reading/ELA) invitation for my team and I to come listen--I had the chance to listen to Australian Tony Stead share his thoughts about Teaching Non-Fiction. I also had the opportunity to chat with Roger Rosen, President of the Rosen Publishing Group. I took notes on everything they had to say. Rather than quote them here, I'm just going to share some of the high points. You can read the transcript of my notes online via the Share More! Wiki.

There are several options for listening, but you can get the full length podcast or listen to 2 separate parts.

Interview with Roger Rosen (6 megs)

Listen to Tony Stead's Presentation (22.6 megs)

Both Roger and Tony with a short intro from Miguel (24 megs)

Key Take-Aways:

1. We need to thrill our learners to be readers and writers.
2. To be successful in life, what kind of writing will help children in their life? If you're like me, you're writing persuasive writing.
3. In K-2 classrooms, 95% of writing experiences were with personal narrative and story
4. By 6th grade, children will have spent 84% of writer's workshop composing personal narratives, stories, and writing from prompts.
5. Kids wrote a brochure and dedicated it to everyone who is scared of bats. For the us, the use of technology to get online and find out about stuff. With every book, there's a web site. Kids went to batconservation.com. Bats Conservation said, "If you send us the information and produce it and send it to all 1000 of our members." Those kids were screaming with absolute joy. All day, all they want to do is write persuasive brochures. Our kids sit in those classrooms and do what they're told. They write and read without every understanding why.
6. How did you overcome barriers? Principals want people to teach to the test. How do you get them to take a leap of faith? Response: It was just one school to start with. Let's see what happens and then finding out you won't fail. Pilot the program. That's how the leap of faith happened. Denton ISD tracked the State test. We started with the interested group.
7. 73% of students read nonfiction at least 3 Reading Recovery levels below that of their fiction.
8. 15% of students read nonfiction 3 grade levels below their fiction.
9. By third grade, only 7% of students struggled with decoding nonfiction at their grade level. We teach decoding, how to get through text, but we spend little time helping them understand what the text is actually saying. ESL children can easily learn to decode but because it's a 2nd language, they don't have understanding of which words to use for concept. They can read at 28 level of Reading Recovery, but comprehension level of 4.
10. Students who were competent readers of nonfiction were also competent in reading fiction, but not vice versa.
11. Boys slow their reading down because they want to make meaning of non-fiction. They do what every child should do--they fight to read.
12. Children can read 3-4 levels above what they're benchmarked on topics they're interested in.
13. The way the TEKS are written, they are a big turn-off. They're not written in story format. Response: Tony qualified it by saying, "It's non-fiction that's not written in an non-engaging manner. If we go back to the old non-fiction--librarians hate me because I want to weed out from the 1950s to 1960s from science and social studies because it's out of date, non-engaging; need new fresh resources in there.
14. 96% of all read-alouds were with shared fiction. Kids aren't even hearing the language of non-fiction content until third grade.
15. This is about rethinking a strategy that teachers in the U.S. have been using for the last 10 year. This strategy is KWL. KWL Problem - I believe it's only effective for kids who already bring good background knowledge to the table. When you ask them what they know, that's all dependent on content understandings.
16. RAN Strategy...It's ok to approximate content knowledge. You don't have to be true.
17. A university lecturer came to visit me and I've been using the RAN at the university level. "This is the fabric for how we all think. Day 1, I asked my students...write an essay about how they think children learn to read. Over 6 weeks, they had to--in yellow--confirm what they knew, highlight in blue any misconceptions, write down any wonderings and at the end of the semester, they had to write down a new essay and share their wonderings and misconceptions and new facts.
18. When you ask about misconceptions in Science...I can live with a misconception about Pluto. But in Social Studies, biases and prejudices come up and I can't live with that.
19. We have to help kids take risks.

My Reflections

There are many connections between blogging and non-fiction writing. Aside from a publishing perspective, it's clear that students need to be reading current texts. Reading yesterday's information isn't going to cut it. Not only that, they also have to be engaged by visually appealing content. While much of that might very well be a book, it's obvious that mountains of non-fiction writing is already taking place online with blogs. Consider Mark Ahlness--a Seattle, WA teacher whose 3rd grade students are blogging AND using blogs as their source material for Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). Our students CAN produce non-fiction, and hear (via podcasts) and learn the language of non-fiction.

What do you think?

In writing, you are always composing, always working to make it better. Donald Graves writes (as cited in Atwell's In the Middle):

We'll spend a lifetime crafting our teaching in order to allow children to be the authors of their own texts.

This reminds me of Bolman and Deal's quote about the leader's responsibility, as written in Leading with Soul:

Leader's responsibility is to create conditions that promote authorship.

It's also that idea of CONSTANTLY writing, composing, and with the Read/Write web, publishing. These are powerful ideas for me, and the Read/Write Web tools that are available make it possible. When else could I have had access to panoply of resources? If I want to teach blogging, videos abound. If I want to teach podcasting, videos about how to do that and how to prepare educational podcasts by students (Bob Sprankle's Room 208 vodcast is precious) and/or teachers (e.g. Dorothy Burt's enhanced podcast at TeacherTube.com) are available. They are exactly what's needed.

In a world full of non-fiction, it's clear that personal voice adds a sense of depth (Is That a Fact? by Tony Stead) to writing. Tony cites Donald Graves in his book, Is that a fact? as saying:

Unfortunately, little nonfiction, beyond personal narrative, is practiced in classrooms. Children are content to tell their own stories, but the notion that someone can write about an idea and thereby affect the lives and thinking of others is rarely discussed.

For me, blogs provide the avenue to do this. It's such an obvious connection, I want to jump up and down in front of folks and share it with them. Tony offers the concept of baskets, including Title of Basket and Type of Non-Fiction that goes with that. He mentions that most of the non-fiction/fiction books in one classroom library--over 3000--were not appropriate. Here's what he writes:

3,000 books is a lot of material for one classroom. . .Margo [the teacher] told me that when she sorted her books she found that only 20 percent of them were nonfiction, and most of these were descriptive books about animals, only one aspect of nonfiction. What was more surprising was that of the relatively new nonfiction books she had, about 80 percent were at reading levels way above where the majority of her children were reading...Margo needed not only to purchase more nonfiction material but also to ensure that the texts chosen were matched to the needs and abilities of her children.

When I read Tony Stead's writing on types of non-fiction, I'm immediately drawn to the idea that, wouldn't it be great to classify student-generated writing in blogs by non-fiction areas? And, since audio is such a big part of oral comprehension for children reading non-fiction, wouldn't podcasts fit right in?

Eric Langhorst does a neat job of this with his Speaking of History Studycasts...

"One of the most effective uses of podcasts for my students was the creation of StudyCasts," Langhorst told Education World. "I began recording an audio review to help my students prepare for upcoming unit tests. With my portable MP3 player, I record an overview of the important material. I then transfer the audio, which lasts about 20 minutes, to my computer, and then upload the MP3 file to our classroom Web site. Students then are able to listen to the study review at home on their computers or download it to their personal MP3 players; they can review for the test anywhere."
Source: EducationWorld

While this is neat stuff, what about having students write the nonfiction and record their own podcasts for posting? Would that work? I know that book publishers are cringing, but there are so many writing non-fiction out here in the blogosphere, posting podcasts, it seems a "no-brainer" to harness that. But how to do it? Tags for non-fiction help, but we might have to use a standard. Why not use Tony's?

Contact info

• Roger Rosen's Email: rogerrosen@prodigy.net
• Tony Stead's Email: tonystead@bigpond.com

 
Above: Dr. Scott Mcleod and Principal Joanelda

On October, 20, 2007, Dr. Scott McLeod had the opportunity to address about 21 campus leaders--principals, assistant principals, campus technology representatives--in San Antonio, Texas at the iLead 2007. He had a powerful message to share that, while no doubt familiar to many of us in the edublogosphere, generated some concern among the audience. Two of the principals approached me afterwards, wondering at how they could get things going and sharing the frustration of obsolete technology, technology and the learning connections it enables being a low priority.

I invie you to listen to Dr. Scott McLeod (Dangerously Irrelevant).

Listen to Dr. Scott McLeod (11 megs)

Note that a Podomatic version--customized for Around the Corner--will soon be available.

The K-12 Online Conference kicked off this week and the keynote is online! I'm excited about it because it's going to do the following for me:

1. Allow me to see what classroom teachers are doing with the Read/Write Web

2. Share implementation ideas about using technology with children or adults that I just haven't had time to consider, much less put into practice

3. Stimulate conversation and Generate a dialogue in the edublogosphere that will undoubtedly yield, I hope, as many ideas as are shared.

4. Give me access to presentations I can use again and again when introducing folks to using the Read/Write Web in my school district.

Did you know that SAISD teachers, if they participate, can earn CPE hours? Find out more at http://k12onlinecredit.wikispaces.com/

More about the keynote:

For decades, education has been an easy institution to define. It consisted of a set of accepted literacy skills, a definable body of knowledge, and the pedagogies for teaching those skills to willing students who were arranged in straight rows. Today, for the first time in decades (in generations of teachers), we are facing the challenge of changing our notions about teaching and learning to adapt to a rapidly changing world. We are struggling to rethink what it is to be educated, to reinvent the classroom, and redefine what it is to be a teacher and a student. There is much that has changed, and for much of it, we have responded to by attempting to ignore, filter, or to block it out. This presentation, by 30+ year educator, author, and technologist, David Warlick, will explore some of these changes and challenges and arrange them as a set of converging conditions that might just help us to redefine and retool the 21st century classroom.

Presentation

Video
http://k12online.wm.edu/davidw.mp4

Audio
http://k12online.wm.edu/davidw.mp3

Supporting Links

2¢ Worth Blog Post: ‚ÄúExtending K12 Online Conference‚Äù

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2007/10/06/extending-k12-online-conference/

Over at Radio TICAL, there is an interview worth listening to on Podcasting for Administrators...

Podcasting for administrators! What better topic for the inaugural episode of Radio TICAL? Hear my interview with Donna Hackner, who shares her experience introducing Los Angeles area administrators to podcasting and how they and their teachers might use it in their schools. A TICAL cadre member, Donna has years of experience as a teacher and school administrator. Currently, she serves as an educational technology consultant for the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Listen to the Podcast

If you're interested in finding out how to podcast, you should sign up--via ePath--for one of the courses being offered June 1st, or at least, access all the workshop materials online.

I recently had the opportunity to sit in on a CEI Learning presentation. CEI Learning is a Reading intervention with reading and mathematics components. The presentation--organized by the Deputy Superintendent, Betty Burk and attended by Curriculum and Instruction Directors--was facilitated by Bonnie Leslie and Joann Price, CEI Learning President and Specialist, respectively. Copies of the powerpoint presentations, the audio of those presentations, hardware specifications and research are shared below. Of added benefit is feedback from Texas school districts using CEI Learning; those were obtained from a quick poll of my colleagues in the TCEA TEC-SIG organization, composed of technology integration directors/coordinators.

At the bottom of all this, I've also included some of my impressions from the meeting.

POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS, RESEARCH, AND HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS

• Bonnie's introductory presentation
• Joann's presentation on the actual products
• Hardware specifications
• Essential Learning Systems Research (PDF)

DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDINGS

Please note that the audio recordings start a few seconds after each speaker introduces themselves.

• Deputy Superintendent's Betty Burk's Introduction and Purpose
• Bonnie's presentation
• Joann's presentation

FEEDBACK FROM TEXAS TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION DIRECTORS
(Identifying district information has been replaced with the word DISTRICT to protect confidentiality of districts)

We use it here in DISTRICT currently for our ESL kids. It was originally installed for our dyslexic kids, but we have a new program for that. We are not going to renew it next year as it is like $2000 for us and we are going to use Rosetta Stone for our ESL kids. Setup is easy. We have it on a server and just install the clients on the lab computers.

----

We've used it for many years (since 2000). Our analysis shows that it does provide immediate success but when we compare those students who used it in first and second grade with a control group, we see them at the same level a year or two down the road. We continue to use it at one campus as we have some teachers who believe in it and the principal is not wanting to remove it.

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We have used it here at DISTRICT for a number of years...We retreated to the same model as used at DISTRICT, it would seem. Our teachers really like it and feel that the kids really benefit from it. I am still trying to find a way to make it work within Citrix so we would have XX number of users (limited to total # of licenses) able to use the program in any classroom at the teacher's discretion instead of being sent to a "special" room, with an aide.

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We use CEI here at DISTRICT, we have for years. They seem to have really good results with the program. We have one lab of 8-9 computers, very small district, set up that is used solely for CEI with 2 aides to run it. This year we went to using a network version of it and have very few problems, the company is helpful with problems though...It was a nightmare at times when they were stand-alone versions. From what I can see, the kids really benefit from the program. I think one of the main downfalls is that we only have room and time for so many kids to use the program. Each group of 9 is in there for about 45 min a day. It is pretty intense work for them, but works really good.

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We have been using CEI with struggling first grade students for about 5 years. We pair it with a number of other resources including Math Problem Solver and Destination Success. It has been very successful. The math specialists run the program. We have 30 licenses and are currenly using 20 of them because of staffing issues. The software is load directly from the CD to the machine. Students must sit on the same computer every day. The data is saved in the thaw space of each machine, not on the network.

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I used to be a trainer and service consultant for this company back in its infancy (1993-1994). I was VERY impressed with the results of the software. I only serviced their out of state accounts (nothing in Texas)which included California, Arizona, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Floria. We had a lot of success with the software with the schools in Florida and also with some homeless missions and the prison system.

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As far as CEI, We use ELS and CodeBreaker and the teachers like the program. We are happy with the results. As a techie I have had issues with CEI. It is easy to screw up the data during upgrades on their old software but they seem to have that fixed. Each application has its own data set for students. It would be easier to track their progress if we had one data set to assist us with vertical integration of our curriculum. I think this will be an issue for all of us if it is not already.

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DISTRICT has used it for a number of years at elementary campuses. I don't know much about the effectiveness other than that they've continued to use the product. I suspect from a conversation with our CEI person that the effectiveness depends on the person running the program, if that person uses it to full advantage or not.

----

We used it at the Elementary School for at-risk students for several years. W paid 3k a year for the software licenses for 20 workstations. They upgraded the software often requiring tech support. I am the technology coordinator for the district. I thought the product was good educationally but over priced and sorta of a pain technically. They upgraded the software and we had problems with the sound which is a main component of their product. The computers were 1 year old....sorta a case of pushing the software in front of what most school had hardware wise. The elementary principal elected not to pay the 3k for the product this year. We are putting it towards My Reading Coach and Lexia products.

MY FEEDBACK

Some of the questions that came to mind:

• With limited access to technology, how does this approach to using technology move the District from its current level of technology to the Texas Education Agency's School Technology and Readiness (STaR) Chart's target technology level?
• If this were to be evaluated using the Levels of Technology Implementation (LOTI), this product would rank a level 1-Awareness. This is described in this way: The use of computers is generally one step removed from the classroom teacher (e.g., it occurs in integrated learning system labs, special computer-based pull-out programs, computer literacy classes, and central word processing labs). Computer based applications have little or no relevance to the individual teacher's instructional program.
  
• It is a very focused application of technology for which little research--except that commisioned by the vendor, which unfortunately, makes it suspect--has been done. Does this meet the research requirements needed?

On an unrelated point, the CEI President stated that the Read180 was a worthwhile program. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Education commissioned research study determined that the Read180 program does not work. In fact, the researchers stated the following: Fourth grade reading products did not affect test scores by amounts that were statistically different from zero. Of course, it must be noted that CEI Learning's product was NOT included in this study.

It's difficult to offer specific feedback to CEI Learning's presentation. I'm not a reading expert. However, I welcome your feedback or insights on these types of products.

Last summer (2006), Dr. Maria Kaylor, Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw and my school district organized a series of digital storytelling academies. On Saturday (03/03/2007), I had the chance to attend the Storytelling Festival held at the University of Texas at San Antonio. This event--which was free to the public, especially K-12 educators--featured Tim Tingle as its keynote speaker, as well as a host of other presenters. Not only was I fortunate enough to chat with Tim Tingle, as well as record his keynote (and he was generous enough to grant permission to post as a podcast), I have several other great interviews to share with you.

At the March 3rd Storytelling Festival held at UTSA, two teachers--Sandra Garcia and Juliana Berry--shared what they had done as a result of the Academy one of them had attended. I was thoroughly excited and delighted about what they had to share, and I interviewed them regarding what they had learned as a result of their work with 5th grade students.

I urge you to listen to this if you ever doubted the power of digital storytelling to help students improve and be more engaged in their writing.

 Listen to Sandra and Julianna share about Digital Storytelling in 5th Grade at Smith ES

MORE INTERVIEWS
In addition to the interview with Sandra and Julianna, I also chatted with Tim Tingle. He shared a few words about the importance of reading, as did Doc Moore--fellow storyteller. I also found Dr. Courtney Crim's discussion of creativity and storytelling in K-16 education powerful. Click on their names (in bold) to listen to them.

At the tail end of February, I had a chance to chat with the Dr. Roxanne Henkin. One of the exciting aspects is that SAISD teachers can participate in the San Antonio Writing Project; cost is only $25 to apply for graduate school. Note that the deadline for application has been extended until April 1, 2007. More details are shared below.

A brief overview of the program:

The San Antonio Writing Project is part of the National Writing Project (NWP), the premier federally funded effort to improve student performance in writing, and has also been recognized for its excellent professional development model for teachers. Each of the over 185 writing project sites conducts an annual invitational summer institute for the most recognized and experienced teachers in local areas.

It is the goal of the San Antonio Writing Project, as well as the National Writing Project to inspire and motivate teachers to become highly skilled teachers of writing for all of their current and future students, especially English language learners. Leading the San Antonio Writing Project is Dr. Roxanne Henkin, associate professor of Literacy Education at The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Listen to my conversation with Dr. Roxanne Henkin as we explore the San Antonio Writing Project, as well as the use of technology to enhance it.

Related Links:

• San Antonio Writing Project
• Apply to Participate by April 1
• Find out more about the SAISD Instructional Technology Services' SCRIBE Initiative

Note: This podcast--made on a Windows computer--was created using free tools (e.g. Audacity) and royalty-free music available to all K-12 educators. Interested in learning more? Contact the Office of Instructional Technology Services at 527-1400 or via email at "mguhlin@saisd.net"

As I quickly walked in the Austin Convention Center on February 7th, I came across a gentleman sitting alone at a table. His visage was familiar to me since he had once been my Executive Director at the Education Service Center, Region 20, and now serves as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Chief Executive Officer.

If you're still worried about computer literacy, then you can officially consider having an anxiety attack...according to Knezek, we're moving beyond those productivity tools (e.g. word processing, spreadsheets, etc). He shares that this is...

...a shift away from a focus on "competency with [technology] tools" and toward a focus on the "skills required in a digital world to produce and innovate" using technology.

He's referring to revising the National Education Technology Standards--and be aware that these revisions will impact the Technology Applications:TEKS...but producing and innovating in a digital world is more than just about technology being in a box by itself. If you teach in a content area, there is tremendous pressure being brought to bear to do that with technology.

But what does that mean? How do you do that? If you're unsure, you will want to listen to this keynote address by Dr. David Warlick. He was speaking to the organization I am currently President of, the TCEA Technology Education Coordinators' Special Interest Group (TEC-SIG). Over 300 of the 800+ membership--all school technology directors and coordinators--were present, including a large contingent from the Texas Education Agency (TEA). While those folks had to pay to attend, you get to listen to the presentation for free!

Listen to David Warlick's Keynote address on The Millennials in Our Classrooms: Who Let These ExtraTerrestrials into My Classroom?

Note that you can see David's handouts online.

The TCEA 2007 Conference is taking place this week in Austin, Tx. Although we typically try to send campus technology representatives every other year, recent budget cuts the past two years have limited funding available for such professional learning opportunities. And yet, new technologies known as "Web 2.0" or the "Read/Write Web" are making it possible for you to get the benefit of many presentations...without leaving your campus or home. This blog entry includes some links to handouts and audio you can listen to...you can "pretend" you're in the audience! But make no mistake, there is no replacement for face to face conferences...there is a tangible excitement in the air.

The Office of Instructional Technology Services' team presented several sessions at the TCEA 2007 State Conference, as well as participated in a variety of ways. Be sure to listen to the audio! This entry addresses several key presentations that all decision-makers and leaders need to be aware of.

TEXAS CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICERS' (CTO) COUNCIL MEETING

Patti Holub and Miguel Guhlin attended the Texas CTO Council Meeting. This is a fledgling organization that is affiliated with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and is focused on advocating for political change at the federal and state levels. New officers were elected, and federal updates were provided. At the meeting, there were a variety of topics discussed.

I had the opportunity to make an audio recording of Anita Givens (shown above), Executive Director of Educational Technology and Instructional Materials (like textbooks), for the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Her presentation highlighted the importance of educating our children for the future.

Listen to Anita Givens' presentation

A few selected quotes from Anita's presentation include the following:

We can't ask for more than we got before...we want to restore the tech allotment to $115,000,000. We are now back at level funding. In the grand scheme, there is a long road ahead. It will be the end of May before we know what the funding is going to be. It's important to share why the investment in Ed-tech is SO important. You've prob heard from the national perspective, that there are some key things--global competiveness, investment increase in achievement in math and science, better prepared workforce, data-driven decision-making.

End of course tests are being developed as online tests. Whether we continue to put TAKS online, a combo of TAKS and end of course, or end of course, the primary delivery method will as an online test. One of the things we talk about is...it's fine to use the tech to do those things, but don't forget about the tech that has to be in the classroom for the instructional side. We know that people recognize the need for that.

Another piece of the puzzle known as ancillaries...items that the publisher provides as part of the textbook for "free." Lot of CDs come with these materials. Publishers were concerned about changing the adoption process since it was clear the legislature wanted more electronic content. So Proclamation 2004, there 14 electronic products that made the list, as well as the ancillary list. have any of you seen those materials? Do you know what's coming? No one else but math teachers have heard this. Some are providing software generated assessment tool, access to web sites, but some are providing online edition of print. Many of them have a student response system, a scanner, a laptop for the teacher, some have an LCD projector, and some have an interactive whiteboard, and some have all of those. Your math teachers may be selecting math materials and technology that will be introduced for free in schools. We need to be talking to our Math folks to find out what they are selecting. If your dept is not in close communication with Math Depts, you [tech dept] could be surprised.

Some of the points that jumped out at me that have an immediate impact on San Antonio ISD's future planning:

1. Technology will be entering our schools through online textbooks. Are we ready to use online, electronic textbooks and is the infrastructure there? As I consider the answer to that question, I'm glad that we are working on this initiative. Your support, as classroom teachers, is critical to the conversation we have to have about this.
2. Online testing is not the future...it's the present. Do our schools have the necessary equipment to get the job done? And, if we're using our computers for testing, do we have enough computers left over to use them as electronic materials required for textbooks?

There are more implications to Anita Givens' words...what are your thoughts? Leave a comment.

In the meantime, here's what Ms. Patti Holub, Executive Director in San Antonio ISD had to say, along with a few words fromMark Gabehart (CTO for Abilene ISD) and Greg Veal (CTO for Lewisville ISD).

Listen to reactions to Anita Givens' talk.

Each year the biggest 'thinkers' in the world converge on Monterey, California to share what they believe will be the biggest issues society and mankind will face in the coming years. This is the conference where Al Gore outlined his newest Global Warming theories to the world. This is the 'TED Conference.' (Technology, Entertainment, Design)

Listen to Sir Ken Robinson on Education. Awesome.

The Past: View the What If presentation (Sources | Powerpoint)

Imagine the Future: Take a moment to view/listen to this presentation entitled Did You Know?

Librarians can view the sources for the data in the presentation, and you can also just get a copy of the Powerpoint if you want to make modifications.

The State Board of Education recently adopted a rule in response to SB 815 that requires that schools teach all the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in both the foundation and enrichment curriculum areas. This requirement means that the Technology Applications TEKS that are provided for elementary grades (K-5) are no longer guidelines but are requirements. This means that in-service teachers at those grade levels must also have those Technology Applications skill levels in order to teach and reinforce the Technology Applications TEKS.
Source: Texas Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020

Find out what this means for your campus. Review the Technology Applications: TEKS Benchmarks and explore the K-8 SAISD-adopted, state approved curriculum. You can also listen to Anita Givens, State Director for Educational Technology, speak to the necessity.

• Listen to Part 1
• Listen to Part 2

What is going on in Washington? Anita Givens, Senior Director of Instructional Materials and Educational Technology at TEA, opened the meeting with a report from her recent visit to Washington D.C. Several agencies got together to discuss how to ensure that all students have the opportunity to be competitive in a global world. Technology was the underpinning of all conversations among representatives from ASCD, NCSL, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the USDOE, state educational technology directors, state legislators, superintendents, federal policymakers, and others.

What do students need to be competitive today? The consensus is that 21st Century skills is the answer (see www.21stcenturyskills.org). We know that more and more foreign countries send their students to the U.S., get high degrees in our universities, and run our businesses from their countries. Teacher quality has taken a different direction: the focus needs to be on teaching meaning and thinking skills rather than content.

In response to this situation, states need to increase technology literacy. The goal is for all students to be technology literate by the time they leave 8th grade but NCLB does not specify how this will be measured. Monitoring of student progress is the responsibility of each state but all have to report progress to the USDOE. Most states have a definition of technology literacy. We all have to approach this in a similar way. Assessment of 21st century skills needs to be done in context. We are very fortunate in Texas because we have adopted the Technology Applications instructional materials and they include assessments. Next fall TEA will ask districts to report on the status and will collect data.

Changes in the new plan include:

- The Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support strand will replace Administrative Support
- A technology allotment of $123 per student (now it's $27, lower than ever before)
- A technology support allotment of $35 per student
- A requirement for teacher competencies and certification
- The creation of a statewide broadband access (just like another utility)
- The need to restore the Texas Library Connection

The following audiocast is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for school principals and district administrators.

Has the following happened to you and you're not sure what to do?

• A student has spoofed you--created a web site as you--on a social networking site like MySpace?
• A student posts inappropriate content on a non-school supported/authorized web site?

If so, then you may want to listen to Dr. Scott McLeod's audio presentation, as well as view his Powerpoint presentation. He discusses six court cases that are relevant to student cyber-speech off campus in his presentation, Can Schools Regulate Cyberbullying, Harassment, and Social Networking?