New Management

• June
• 18

After 11 wonderful years at St. Johnsbury Academy, I am transitioning to a new job in Easthampton, MA, chairing the math department at the Williston Northampton School.

Questions about technology integration at St. Johnsbury Academy should now be directed to Jeff Burroughs (jburroughs@stjacademy.org).

Tech Stories: April 2013

• May
• 9

Here’s the next round of tech use stories from around the Academy campus.

The next collection of tech stories will begin in the fall of 2013. You can read the last three rounds of tech stories right here (round 1), here (round 2), and here (round 3).

Jerry Prevost, Culinary Arts

How do you use technology in your classroom?

The bulk of the Intro to Culinary class is hands on work in the kitchen on a daily basis. The students journal every day on what they have done. This semester I have gone totally paper free with the students journaling using google docs. It is awesome not only because of the green aspect of not using paper, but mostly because of the feedback that I can give the students on their journals. Also, using my hand held device, I can monitor the progress of the journal writing and give verbal feedback on a daily basis. I am also taking pictures of the kids in action and sending them along to Merle, John, and Joe and they have posted them on the web with the weekly updates and also the big screen in the colby first floor hallway.

One challenge has been that sometimes I am unable to download the google docs when I want to show the students where they are at.

I am most proud of the fact that I am actually going paperless!

The main way my students have been impacted is that they are more accountable because they get better and more constant feedback.

Adam Ortman, Social Studies

How do you use technology in your classroom?

Technology has turned this generation of students into natural performers. They spend a great deal of their time out of school (and, okay, in school) honing their online presence, and their iPads have become their own portable PR kit. In Humanities, where every student has an iPad, we often try to capitalize on students’ natural affinity for displaying themselves through technology. iMovie has offered an effective and fun way to combine student learning with this student penchant for self-display. Recently, during a unit on Ancient China, I was teaching a lesson on Confucianism and Daoism. Sensing that the two concepts were a bit ungrounded for the students, I quickly divided them into groups of four and had each group designate a cameraperson who would film an imagined scene between a teacher and two students — one a “Confucian” student, and the other a “Daoist” student. Students immediately came alive. When it was obvious that they would have to display their work to the rest of the class, students discussed the key differences between a “Confucian” and a “Daoist” approach to education. Then they had to figure out the best way to stage a scene displaying these two belief systems, practicing with several “takes” until they had gotten the teacher-student interactions just right. Once students had created and edited their videos, they emailed them to me, and the entire class watched them, eager to consider which groups had done the best job in presenting the two Chinese belief systems.

While a version of this activity could have taken place without technology — students could have simply performed the teacher-student interactions in front of the class — iMovie provided an opportunity for the students to practice until they got it right. By working on a product that the group could then own, the overall excitement of the activity increased. With some control over the final product, students were more willing to share and then analyze each others’ work. Overall, the activity took about 30 minutes, and by the end, each student had a chance to teach and be taught, acting out the lesson while having a lot of fun in the process.

Tech Grant: April 2013

• May
• 9

A $250 tech grant has been awarded!

Annie Sproston will be using her grant to purchase a site license for “10 Quick Questions Pro” which she will use as a as a simple formative assessment tool.

Annie’s Proposal:

How would you spend the $250?

I’d like to purchase a license for 10 quick questions. Basic information is online right here.

How would you use/apply the items/training you outlined above?

I’m interested in using 10 quick questions as a simple formative assessment tool.

It is software that allows the teacher to choose a topic, then select the type of questions wanted. 10 questions are shown on the screen (which can be projected), these can either be given at timed intervals (anything under 1 minute) or you can manually progress through each of the questions.

I believe, though I have never done this, that you can add to the data base once you have purchased it. This would be something I would be interested in trying to do, since the software is based on a British curriculum, there are elements I could add to cover our curriculum.

I understand I will be teaching algebra 1 and 2 next year. This software would be ideal for these (and other) classes. In my experience this has been a superb tool for formative assessment. The students who have used it with me previously have found it to be a fun yet often challenging way to learn and at the same time lets both of us know how they (the students) are doing.

I would be very interested in working with other members of the Mathematics team who were interested in learning about and using this wonderful tool.

This software could also be used successfully in the review process or remediation work.

There is a free version, but every 4 or so minutes the screen is frozen when a registration pop up (not sure if its called a pop up but it does pop up?!) appears and you have to wait a minute for it to disappear – a little distracting if you are trying to encourage the students to work on the task. The free version is also older and no longer being maintained by the company.

YDKWYDK – Episode 5

• May
• 2

The fifth episode of “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know” is now online.

In this episode I talk about:

Collaboration with Google Forms
Visual Google Docs (Murally)
“Word Processor” for math
Graphing Calc App (Graphikal)
Presefy Lets You Control Presentations With Your Phone, No Software Required
Draft Is The Best Word Processor You Can Write With Today
Evernote vs. Google Keep: Which Does More?
RIP: Google Reader meets its inevitable end
Prezi Adds Audio To Presentation Platform And Surpasses 20 Million User Mark
What Is Java, Is It Insecure, and Should I Use It?
Best computers you can build for $300, $600, and $1,200

4/24 Update

• April
• 24

Here are a few updates from the world of tech integration:

1) The next round of tech grant applications are now being accepted: http://stjlabs.com/tech-grants/

2) The next round of tech stories are now being collected: http://stjlabs.com/tech-stories/

The deadline for this round of both programs is 3pm on Friday, 5/3.

This time around I will be awarding up to three people up to $250 each for the tech grant ideas, and randomly selecting 3 people that submit tech stories to receive a $25 gift certificate of their choice from an area business.

Two new articles are online:

Technology and Art Making by Kim Darling
iPads & Pre-algebra: Creativity Counts by Karen Pontti

iPads & Pre-algebra:Creativity Counts

• April
• 7

With the introduction of the iPads to the freshmen class this year, I have adjusted my pre-algebra curriculum to include full immersion of the iPad.  Students take notes in notability, practice sample problems in Educreations, and develop presentations using KeyNote.  They continue to have access to daily assignments and information that is posted on our Edmodo site.  Within the pre-algebra class,  I have even explored several apps that allow for further practice and reinforcement of concepts.  A favorite of the students is called, “ratio rumble.” At the beginning of the semester, I had the students create a “math & me” collage using PicStitch. The students were then able to share their collages using the projector.  It was a quick opportunity for me to assess their current comfort level with mathematical concepts and also allowed me to see how adept they were at manipulating and using a new app. Recently, some students created iMovie’s as a means to introduce various concepts of geometry.  Certainly, the creativity is endless.  I find though, I spend a lot of time adjusting and modifying my curriculum to include the iPads and while I do love the ease and productivity, I still enjoy devising hands/on projects that allow students to be creative without the use of technology.  I find instruction still needs to be a balancing act of multiple modalities.  Additionally, it is imperative that I find opportunities for students to still collaborative and consult face to face, without their noses buried in their iPads.  So while creativity counts…it is still important that the creativity comes through technology combined with group projects.

Students in pre-algebra class playing “ratio rumble” for ratio reinforcement. Pure concentration.

Technology and Art Making

• April
• 7

I’m sitting in an airport cafe, typing on a laptop. Almost every person of the 100 or so people in my vicinity is either connected to a digital device or has one sitting on the table near them. My students’ lives are so entangled with their devices that, it seems to me, that even when they reluctantly tuck them away in a pocket or backpack, the knowledge that all they have to do is get to the end of the class or the end of the school day and they will be able to experience the emotional rush brought on by whatever social messages have made their way through the maze of zeros and ones to their screen or voicemail seems to distance them further and further from the world of visual proximity and touch. The world of the physical seems to be dropping over the horizon. Body language is becoming a lost language, leading, I think, to the dangerous misinterpretation of many messages.  Also, students seem to be increasingly unwilling and unable to focus on whatever is happening in their immediate proximity – whether it is a conversation or classroom or studio learning.  One of my more reflective students, when questioned about her digital socializing, described it as an addiction.

For the past two years I’ve been the Academy’s Art Department representative on a committee dedicated to encouraging the innovative use of technology in the classroom. At first, this was an exciting challenge, and it meshed nicely with my interest in experimental video and animation. The months have passed, and technology in the classroom is, for many teachers, not such a new concept anymore.  I look hard for positive aspects of the current technology-infused way of life to outweigh the negative impact – but I’m not finding them.  Consequently, I’m moving my studio classes back toward being technology free.  I do occasionally project, or show on my iMac screen, a few historical images to illustrate a particular principle or help create an historical context, but I find that even that is a questionable practice, since looking at a digital facsimile of a drawing on a screen is a totally different thing than experiencing a drawing in “real life” – and I think, that many of my students don’t have the background knowledge to find importance and meaning in that difference.

I see my place – within this whirlwind world of digital information, instant gratification and limited attention span – to be that of providing an alternative way of experiencing the world.  In my classes students link analysis, conceptualization and communication to non-complex materials and kinesthetic practices.  They use their hands to make marks with charcoal instead of pushing buttons on a complex piece of equipment made by somebody else.   They mix ground earth and oil together to make paint – then use extended periods of focused attention to fine-tune the analytical, expressive and motor skills necessary for effective visual communication.  While building a studio community of learners focused on a joint pursuit is harder than it was a few years ago, once students understand that there is a richness of experience available to them if they allow that digital world to disappear for awhile, they become productive and happy learning to draw and paint from life – but I still have to keep my eyes open for the occasional cell phone camera out in front of somebody’s face because it’s EASIER to take a picture of a hand a copy it from the phone than it is to use your own eyes, brain and imagination to really DRAW a hand.

Password Help

• February
• 19

From 2/20 to 3/10 I will be out of the country and unable to provide technical assistance  During that time frame, please connect with the following people for technical support:

Portal help: Mr. Haskins (mhaskins@stjacademy.org)

STJLabs help: Mrs. Scavitto (dscavitto@stjacademy.org)

- Mr. Seamon

Tech Grant: January 2013

• February
• 4

Two $250 tech grants have been awarded!

Linda Wooster will be using her grant to receive training in how to use WordPress to build a library website and Grace Egbert will be putting her funds towards purchasing a Canon Rebel T3i DSLR camera.

Linda’s Proposal:

How would you spend the $250?

To register for this 30-hr eCourse to learn how to create a library website using WordPress.

This top-quality course is offered by my professional organization (the American Library Association). I’ve used WordPress previously to create a blog for a school trip, but a web site is more involved and I think it would be cost-effective to take the course rather than learn how to do this via trial and error. Although there is just one license for this price ($250), we could share the information and it would provide library staff training for at least three interested library staff members, as well as allow us to better assist Capstone students who are interested in creating websites using WordPress.

How would you use/apply the items/training you outlined above?

I would like the library staff as a team to create a website to be hosted by stjlabs that can serve as an alternative library site and prototype of what we would have as the official site in the future. The library staff needs the ability to quickly add and delete information to make the library website more usable. We want the library web site to be responsive to current projects and new library resources as they become available. WordPress is an open source, content management system which provides flexibility. Our current web site is static and out-of-date. The procedure to request minor changes is cumbersome.

Here’s an example of a Vermont high school’s website created using WordPress which is I think is effective.

How would your students be impacted by the successful implementation of your grant proposal?

Easier access to Academy library information, resources and services.

Grace’s Proposal:

How would you spend the $250?

I would use the $250 toward purchasing a digital SLR camera, specifically the Canon Rebel T3i. This camera can take professional quality photographs and videos, at a relatively low price point.

How would you use/apply the items/training you outlined above?

I would primarily use this camera in the Media Studies and Production course I teach. The students themselves would use this camera for the photo and video production assignments that are a major part of this course.

I would also use this camera to document the 2016 freshman class (in their natural environments) for the “Freshman Memories” video/slideshow Chris Dussault has asked me to produce for the end of the year.

How would your students be impacted by the successful implementation of your grant proposal?

When students have access to high quality tools, they are able to take pride in creating higher quality work. This camera, with its many light settings (including a manual option) gives the students more potential for creativity and control. Furthermore, this camera is closer to the kind of tool they might use in a college or professional (art/journalism/documentary-making) setting.

I have already allowed the students in my Media class to use my own personal SLR camera as a supplement to the iPads and video cameras (the ones used for Capstone). The work they produce with an SLR camera is simply more beautiful and more dynamic.

Having this kind of beautiful work shown on “The Student” website (effectively the online student newspaper) will also impact the website’s audience: the entire student body.

For examples of work made with this kind of camera, please see the photos by Alicia Plambeck and Dan Byford here and the short video (made as an in-class activity), “The Last Sunny Day in St. J” (play in HD).

In contrast, please see the recent video-promotion for the website the same students made with iPad cameras. With lesser technology, students are still able to manifest their ideas, but the product is ultimately less compelling. The limitations of sound, lighting, etc. are apparent.

If students had access to a Canon Rebel T3i, we could have two (my own plus the school-owned camera) for in-class activities. Since I don’t feel comfortable lending my own camera out (on weekends or overnight), students could potentially check this school-owned camera out to work on their own project assignments.

YDKWYDK – Episode 4

• January
• 29

The fourth episode of “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know” is now online.

In this episode I talk about:

1) Students and faculty can reset their own portal passwords as long as they can access their STJLabs email account.
2) How to link to full screen youtube videos
3) How to create iOS device home screen icons for websites
4) How to get email notifications when someone fills out your Google Forms.
5) How to get 50% of SnagIt, an screen recording program.
6) How to run a paperless classroom using Google Docs.
7) Google Slides gets offline editing, begins rolling out today
8) Free, Open-Source Digital Textbook Provider, Boundless, Releases Its Content Under Creative Commons
9) Ten pimped-out projects for the Raspberry Pi
10) With $4.1M In New Funding, MasteryConnect Wants To Give Teachers A Better Way To Track Student Progress
11) HelloSign Adds Plugin To Sign Documents In Gmail
12) Readdle’s Documents iPad app lets you view and copy files between virtually any cloud service
13) Finish Is A Simple Way For Teens To Manage Their Angst-Ridden, Homework-Riddled Lives