Alan November and TASA Conference

When 200+ educational leaders from the state meet to design a process change, I ponder the following:

• Will Twitter change the way educators view professional development?
• Can Flipped Classrooms elevated the level of student questioning in the classroom?
• How can Social Bookmarking sites like Diigo or Evernote benefit educators?

These were some of the topics discussed at the Spring TASA conference with Alan November.

Twitter
I have used Twitter for almost a year, and I can say honestly that is the greatest thing since sliced bread. As I have become a fan, I have tried to convince every educator I can to join in this social media medium. Some have stated that they don't use Facebook and such nonsense. But Twitter is not Facebook I argue, Twitter is more; and then I try to explain #hashtags. For those of you who need to try, ask those around you who use Twitter. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Here is a YouTube video that explains Twitter in plain english. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o For me personally, I enjoy searching through the tweets, finding postings that interest me, and clicking on the related links. I then reflect and have discussions with my team. Professional development that fits me...

Flipped Classrooms
When I first heard about flipping the classroom I almost kicked myself. Something so simple and I had never thought about using the strategy when I was a teacher. It's really nothing more that preteaching a topic (but students do the preteaching at home) and then spending classtime discussing and using more Socratic methodology. Visit this site for more info http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/03/26/flipped-learning-a-response-to-five-common-criticisms/ You could use Khan Academy as a resource or even Itunes U.

Diigo
Diigo is a powerful research tool and a knowledge-sharing community. I use it. My wife uses it. My 4th grader daughter uses it. You can create Groups, insert your RSS feeds, take voice notes, insert pictures, and lots more. I mosty use it for catagorizing my readings, notes, and paperwork. You can sync Diigo to your desktop, ipad, and smart phone. Here is the link http://www.diigo.com/.

Well, that will conclude my first blog. It was short and hopefully informative. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Andy

Allen November and TASA Blog