Anne Davis: The Voice of Experience

Tech Enhanced Learning
Anne Davis is an amazing teacher and woman. Yesterday my students had the priviledge of spending 50 minutes with her chatting as though we were having tea around the kitchen table. Anne style is so natural and relaxed that she makes you feel like all of this is really doable. The students loved her.

I first met Anne through another precious Web friend, Darren Kurpatowa, who is a secondary math teacher in Canada. I met Darren through his blog. Anne and I also worked together during the K12Online Conference where she gave one of our keynote presentations. When I was putting together this course I asked Anne if she would be willing to speak at one of our Virtual Monday sessions and she graciously agreed. She shared her experiences about blogging with elementary students and as all of these students are starting to blog themselves, she gave some general tips for professional blogging as a teacher. If you would like to watch the archive of the session click here.

Virtual Mondays
The course is Tech Enhanced Learning and it is for preservice elementary teachers at the College of William and Mary where I serve as an Instructor.  I have the unruly task of teaching this course on Mondays and Wednesdays in 50 minute periods in a classroom with laptops that have to be taken out, set-up, and booted and then taken back down as part of the 50 minutes.  It has challenged me to be very concise in the information I choose to share and be quite creative in delivery.

On Monday, we meet in Elluminate.  In an attempt to model networking and illuminate the possibilities of collaborating with others from around the world, I have asked various guest teachers experts to meet with us on Mondays and share their ideas and enthusiasm for different 21st Century teaching strategies. You can view the lined up speakers on the wiki.

As a solution to being able to engage the students more with the concepts of the course I decided to meet f2f on Wednesdays and online on Mondays. In addition, we are using a class wiki and Tapped In to organize, collaborate, and build networks throughout the course.

F2F Wednesdays
On Wednesday, I typically arrive 45 minutes early to class and find most of the students there waiting! I use the time to answer questions and troubleshoot. It is so humbling and inspiring to see these students in their seats so soon before class. Then when everyone arrives at the official start time of the class, I teach like a wild person for 45/50 minutes  (to allow take down time of the laptops). It is very intense.

E-Mentoring
The students are also collaborating with many talented educators, another W&M class (secondary preservice) and other tech using educational stakeholders from around the world in our electronic mentorship experience in Tapped In. The conversations taking place there are lively to say the least.
The differing global perspectives are making this a learning experience for me as well. If you would like to be part of a virtual mentorship experience just comment here and let me know.

A big virtual thank you to the following mentors:

Secondary
Barbara Besal- Virginia
Chris Craft- SC
Vicki Davis- Georgia
Randy Fullington- Alabama
Joseph Papaleo- Australia
Bud Hunt- Colorado
Vinnie Vrotny- Illinois
Marsha Ratzel- Kansas
Crystal Wright- Alabama
Mark Clemente- Virginia
Art Lader- South Carolina

Elementary
Connie Stigler- Alabama
Jon Hanbury- Virginia
Paul Harrington- Wales
Lynn Holland- Alabama
Allanah King- New Zealand
John Holland- Virginia
Jeff Utech- China

Past Teacher - Or Edc Specialist
April Chamberlain-Alabama
Jonathan Messer-Virginia
Emily Kornblut-NY
Mark Wagner-California
Anne Davis- Georgia
Karen Janowski- Massachusetts
Aimee Smith- Alabama

Special Guest Preservice Teacher:
Christine Papaleo- Australia

Comments

[April Chamberlain]

Thank you so much for the opportunity to expand my global network! I can't wait for my Monday turn. I am very impressed with the connections and collaboration that is occurring through college classes that include teachers from all over the world to gain a better understanding of the educational field.

[Lynn Holland]

Thanks for letting me be a part of this exciting group! I am learning so much from the comments and replies. What a fabulous way to be in touch with folks with similar interests and at the same time learn from the wide range of experiences. The questions and comments from the students have gotten my mind whirling!

[Anne Davis]

Sheryl,

Thank you for your kind and gracious post. I am a bit overwhelmed. I loved every minute of the session yesterday. I plan to browse around some this week and learn some more and start participating as time permits. You are doing a super job with your students.

Best,
Anne

[Rachel Florek]

I am having a wonderful time in our Elluminate sessions! Hearing how other teachers and mentors use technology into their classrooms shows me that technology doesn't have to be a foreign concept: it's something that can be smoothly incoporated into lessons. For me, this has been a real eye-opener. Thank you for setting this up for us!

[Kim Thoresen]

I really enjoy having virtual classes on Elluminate each Monday. The presentations are well done and they allow me to really understand how to incorporate technology in the classroom. I loved how Anne is using blogs in her ESOL classroom, and it was nice to be able to look through the sites while she talked about the accomplishments her class has made. One downfall to the online class is that I get more distracted by the different websites. I noticed that while Anne was presenting I was trying to also focus on the blogs. Maybe multitasking on the web isn't soo bad, I just need to focus a bit more. Thanks for having us do Elluminate!

[Durff]

Wow! Anne's talk is great! I can't wait until Vickie's!

[Mark Clemente]

I have realy enjoyed the on-line mentorship program. Although I don't always post, I find the threads a great read. It is heartening to know that there are many thoughtful college students looking to make teaching a career. I am glad for the opportunity to assist and encourage them.

[Colleen Schneider]

Hi Sheryl,
I just starting the blog on the URL I gave you, so don't expect anything exciting!
I have really enjoyed the mentorship so far. I have received so many new ideas from the responses people have given me as well as from just reading other people's posts. I think the idea of a community of online collaborators is so great. The thing I like best about technology is the way it can help people connect and communicate; the electronic mentorship is one example of that opportunity. Thank you for giving us the chance to collaborate on a different level!

[Chris Michaels]

This experience has been great so far. Not only do we get to meet people from all of the world (both the geographic and the educational one) but we get to see how they incorporate different technologies into their classrooms. So far we've only had two Elluminate sessions but I've already gotten a huge number of ideas that can be put into use into the class. I can't wait to start teaching and actually getting to use all of what we're learning !!

[Lydia Murray]

Hi Sheryl,

I have definitely enjoyed the Elluminate sessions and our online mentorship. I think that begining teachers feel very overwhelmed (at least I do), and it warms my heart to know that there are caring teachers out there who understand and are willing to answer our questions. It is comforting, to say the least. To top it all off, we learn so much about teaching and life!

[Amy Chen]

These virtual classes are completely new to me and I am learning a lot and discovering a whole new world out there! Hopefully, we'll all be so familiar with this technology that you are introducing us to that we won't hesitate to use it in our own classes one day! Thanks for the experience!

[Angel]

Hi Sheryl,
The virtual Mondays have been new to me, but are definitely interesting and helpful. I think it's amazing that we can have access to so many people with so much knowledge that will help us with our careers. I'm sure many of these speakers will provide us with numerous concepts that we find useful in our own classrooms.It's nice to have so many people taking the time to mentor preservice teachers. It shows they really love what they do and want future teachers to take full advantage of everything available to them.

[Sarah]

I absolutely love this class. I love our F2F days and our virtual Mondays. I can't begin to explain how excited Elluminate makes me. It just amazes me so much that we have that capability and it is just like the presenter is in the room with us. There are so many features in that one program that allow us to basically do everything we would do in a normal classroom setting. The presenters we have had so far have been wonderful. They were both very knowledgeable and very personable. It really impresses me that they have taken the time to review or threads on tapped in and respond back to them. I have only been in this class for a couple of weeks and I have already been exposed to more than I am normally taught in an entire semester here. You are an amazing and very impressive teacher.

[Art Lader]

Very much enjoying the course and am very impressed with the discussions. Have to hold myself back a bit, though, because I find that I want to respond to about half the posts with some Moodle-based answer.

Guess I have to get out more! ;-)

-- Art

[Andrew Pass]

This project sounds really interesting. I'm not sure what the responsibilities are of a virtual mentor but I have experience with both elementary and secondary students. I'm currnetly teaching a fifth grade class. I'd love to get involved.

Andrew Pass
http://www.pass-ed.com/Living-Textbook.html

[Neil A. Rochelle]

Sheryl-
I'm envious. First as a former teacher I wish such courses were available to me in my preservice education. Second as an on/off adjunct faculty would love to be in a university that is moving forward with teaching the technology. As a superintendent, I can't tell you how thrilled I am to read about teachers being educated with respect to the read/write web and collaboration tools related to instruction. Your students sound so excited- your Virtual Mondays are awesome!!!
I do have a question........do you integrate instructional pedagogy as part of your course i.e. elementary curriculum content or is this course purely the technology end? O.K...more than one question....Is this a required course as part of the program or an elective?
Keep up the good work. By nature of what you're teaching, you are revolutionizing the way children will learn and that truly excites me.

[Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach]

I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments! I am pleased that everyone is finding value in both the mentoring experience and the design of the class. Thank you for taking the time to post your kind words here.

I wanted to answer a questions posed by Superintendent, Neil Rochelle--

I do have a question........do you integrate instructional pedagogy as part of your course i.e. elementary curriculum content or is this course purely the technology end? O.K...more than one question....Is this a required course as part of the program or an elective?

From day one I stress that technology is never taught in isolation -- that when I say computer... they should hear “communication and collaboration device”. When I say Web 2.0 tool… they should hear “connections and networking”. All of my assignments are tied back to the content area courses they are taking. I help them see how they can use something they are learning in my class to augment or enhance delivery of the content in the other classes.

The design of the course is such that they are exposed to lots of tools and obviously there is some discussion about how to use the tools but only in the context of the strategy I am teaching. For example, if we are talking about blogging I help them have ownership of blog methodology by using a blog as a teaching professional to connect with others, while pushing them to reflect on elementary content and brainstorming how blogging then could be used to deliver or enhance content.

I encourage them not to teach technology in isolation with their students. When we were talking about presentation tools such as PowerPoint they learned about PowerPoint as an instructional pedagogy. Then I provide lots of tools and tutorials that can help them get the "how to" technology end. I believe that teachers will learn to use the technology, in and of itself, when "just in time" learning motivates them. I equate learning technology use to how we learning a song. We learn both the melody and the words together... not first the words and then the music. Similarly, technology and content work the same way. Teach children how to "do" a wiki while they are using it to create a product to show mastery of content objectives.

As to your other question-- This course is required. They will have two others with a more direct field-based requirement before they graduate.
For example, the other class that is involved in the mentorship is a group of secondary preservice teachers who are with me for five weeks and then they will be student teaching. During the five weeks we construct an implementation project that teaches standard-based content using an inquiry approach with students constructing knowledge and mastery while using technology. We also look at obstacles and techniques of classroom management when using web-based instruction.

During their student teaching they will have access to highly accomplished teachers from around the globe to answer questions about the teaching process in general—the mentors are tech using mentors too so they can help with tech issues if and when they arise. But the focus of the e-mentoring component of both courses is teaching issues in general from a global perspective.

[Jon Messer]

Sheryl,

Thank you for the opportunity to "listen in" on the tremendous creativity, excitement and wisdom of the this group. The students and mentors are truly incredible individuals who deserve the best we can offer. The art of teaching has been complicated by public policy and other external factors so by helping expose preservice teachers with practicing educators, the chance of success in the classroom is heightened.

It is my hope that I will see education change for my children to fully represent the best in educational theory and practice. Too many teachers are caught in the political fray of the day and need avenues like the mentorship to help see the light at the end of the tunnel. The work is worthwhile and necessary so hear teachers reminding preservice teachers to keep the kids first gives me hope!

[Allanah]

I am not sure who is mentoring who in this programme???

As I read the questions in each post it challenges me to justify some of the technologies I use with the children that I teach. In doing so I cement in my own mind what I believe about learning and teaching in the 21st century. Being asked the 'Why' questions clarifies in my own mind what I am trying to do.

Using Elluminate as a sharing tool was something I never would have been able to do with Sheryl's invitation and I was totally amazed by its power to bring people together.

My own teaching practice is being enhanced by my contributions.

Thank you Sheryl for your invitation to join in this global collaborative project.

[Vicki Davis]

What an exciting opportunity! Thank you for letting me be a part. I look forward to talking to your class tomorrow!

[Lauren Price]

I've really enjoyed the mentorship online for the most part. I am a little hesitant to post on tapped in because I'm definitely one of the only science majors in a class of English majors. Elluminate, however, is great and I can see major potential for it in high school classrooms. Teachers often want to take their students on a field trip so their students can have the opportunity to hear someone important speak. Unfortunately, it is not possible to take students on 15 fieldtrips a year. Now, with Elluminate, they can listen from the comfort of the classroom. I really like the wiki page as well. It's really simple to use which is always a plus.

[Ilina Nikolova]

It seems to me that I've always been about five years behind and more than a little scared when it comes to technology. My favorite thing about this class has been how much it's taken my focus off my own inadequacies and made me excited about the many worlds that technology can open up. I am now much less likely to pull away from something new and frightening when it comes to technology, and I am much more likely to get out of my comfort zone and explore all the opportunities technology provides.
I only wish I were better equipped--this is all so foreign to me still.