Thursday, August 29, 2013

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

PTSC on Twitter!

Have you found PTSC on Twitter?  You can search for #ptsc to see recent posts or even follow me by searching for Stacey Schmidt or @DrStaceySchmidt.  I'm working to tweet regularly about lots of different topics--sports scores, photos of great things happening in our schools, interesting articles, things I am learning, and resources for parents and teachers.  Check it out!

New Phone Numbers for PTSC Buildings

We have new phone numbers that went live on Monday (July 22, 2013). We have a variety of numbers from which to choose and you can call any of the three numbers for the building and it will ring that building. Go to the PTSC website to find a chart of the list of numbers. You may pick a number that is a local call for you. We would like them to use the local phone number that is free for them to call as we have to pay for the toll free number and may eventually phase that out. New phones are now in place—and we are hoping for a smooth transition! We are making this transition to reduce our phone cost and also to improve the reliability of our phone system. By adding numbers, we are hoping that there will be a number that is local for you to call the building no matter where you live. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Common Core Checklist

Thanks to Stephanie Truitt who sent me a link to this great resource!  If you are looking for an easy way to track the Common Core Standards that you have taught--this is for you.  It is broken down by grade level and subject area.  Check it out here:  http://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/2012/08/18/common-core-checklists/

Monday, May 6, 2013

Technology In Education: A Brief Introduction by Ruben Puentedura

We are moving to a 1:1 environment incorporating the use of iPads at Boone Grove High School for the 2013-2014 school year.  I love how Ruben Puentedura outlines some of the basic ideas of moving to technology integration and the power that it harnesses.  Good stuff!


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Diving into the world of Facebook...

Today I did it.  I took the leap.  I'd been safe with my blog and with Twitter, but today it happened.  I created the official Facebook page for the Porter Township School Corporation.  Check it out at https://www.facebook.com/ptsc.k12.in.us.  One step further into the depths of the digital world!

Monday, March 11, 2013

IDOE eLearning Book Club: The Connected Educator

Jump on board to the latest eLearning book club from the Indiana Department of Education and eLearning and join other Indiana educators learning and reflecting together.  It has just started--so now is your chance!

http://elearningbookclub.blogspot.com/2013/03/spring-2013-inelearn-book-group.html

Friday, March 8, 2013

Indiana Department of Education eLearning

Here's a great post about how schools are reducing the amount of paper headed home and getting trapped in the bottom of a student's backpack--never to see the light of day until it is too late!  Many districts are now posting advertisements and informational brochures online--but these are some creative thinkers looking at ways to use technology to reach families with great information.  Check out this video!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

How Many Plates are you Spinning?

How many plates do you have spinning in the air right now?  Do you feel like this?


Just watching the video makes me feel stressed out!

As a first year Superintendent, I often feel like this is what it looks like in my office (or maybe in my head!) at any given moment.  There are many things to balance, juggle, and try to keep moving in the right direction.  On top of that--in this information age--it's challenging to keep up with the speed at which things like technology are developing, identify trends, and make great decisions based on what you know that minute.

As our district is looking at moving to 1:1, we know it's not about the device, it's about how these tools will change the way instruction is delivered and positively impact student achievement and engagement.  It's exciting to think of harnessing even that small amount of energy and propelling ourselves forward.  I'm ready--are you?

And...perhaps there is an app to help me keep those plates spinning!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

iBooks Author

Disclaimer:  I am a huge fan of Apple.  And the Green Bay Packers, but that part isn't relevant to today's post!

I have been learning more about iBooks Author and the power it holds for digital content creation.  This app allows the user to create books that can be used on the iPad.

But these aren't the typical textbooks you and I grew up reading.  These have video, audio, interactive graphics and diagrams--all embedded in one spot and revolutionizing how we interact with knew knowledge.  On top of that, iBook Author allows the user to find great resources and centralize them all in one location--the book you are creating.

If you've used iBook Author already--you might have to come help me learn.  I'm off to iTunes U to find a book, subscribe to it, and learn for myself how to get moving using iBook Author!

*And no, this post wasn't sponsored by Apple...although that sounds like a great idea...

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Learning Management Systems

Has your district explored use of Learning Management Systems?  There are quite a few out there for differing price  points.  We are exploring what will be best as we look at implementing 1:1 at our high school.


I’ve been to quite a few 1:1 seminars lately and I have a lot of great information to share.  As you know, it’s not really about the device—it’s about how going 1:1 will change instruction and student learning (although it sure is fun to look at devices!).  It has been interesting to see what others around the state of Indiana are adopting (both device and Learning Management System or LMS).  It’s also interesting to see how districts are funding their initiatives.  In just a few short years I would imagine everyone will be 1:1 and conversations like these will focus on how teachers are creating content rather than how to jump in!


This week I’d like to share some interesting Learning Management Systems.  As we have already jumped in to use Moodle, the most natural progression may be for us to determine how to continue to use Moodle for our 1:1 initiative.  Many districts are using Moodle.  However, many districts are using other resources—sometimes on their own and sometimes in combination with Moodle.  The good news is that many of these are free!  I’ve listed the top ones I’ve been hearing about below.  These are free (although advanced user interface or district enterprise licensing sometimes adds a fee) and you can create an account today to start exploring (most of them also have some type of overview video, too).  My Big Campus seems to be the biggest player in Indiana.  However, listening to some teachers from Chicago last week I learned about Schoology—and these teachers think it’s the latest and greatest providing analytics that “are just sick” (that made me feel old when they said that!).  According to them, Schoology is pulling ahead of Edmodo nationally in popularity…

Anyway—check it out.  Feel free to share these links with your colleagues.  I’m excited to continue exploration down this path as the potential is limitless—and VERY exciting!

We'd love to hear comments about your experiences, too!

Learning Management Systems (LMS)
My Big Campus:  http://www.mybigcampus.com/

Monday, February 11, 2013

NBC Learn

Have you checked out NBC Learn yet?  If not, take a moment to watch this webinar!

NBC Learns

Friday, February 8, 2013

Huffington Post: Center For American Progress Proposes Preschool-For-All Plan

I read an interesting article today--and I thought it may interest many of you, too.

The only comment I will make is that I believe it is important first to have states like Indiana require students to attend kindergarten.  The next logical step is for states like Indiana to fully fund full day kindergarten.

After those two items are complete in states like Indiana--then we should tackle the preschool challenge.

Huffington Post:  Center For American Progress Proposes Preschool-For-All Plan

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Building Resilience

Building Resilience--sounds way better than my first title, "Letting Kids Fail".  Really, the two go hand in hand.  In order to build resilience, kids have to bump into difficult situations in life.

In my reading this week, I stumbled across this graphic from the book Reducing the Risk, Increasing the Promise: Strategies for Student Success by Sherrel Bergmann and Judith Allen Brough.   My disclaimer is that I have not read the book--but I did find this chart interesting as it gave actionable ideas for how to build these skills in students.  It ties into an article I read yesterday about parenting and the importance of letting your child fail (which of course snowballed into lots of other reading--I will put those links at the bottom!).  I think my mind has been tossing that idea around that children need to learn how to fail and learn from mistakes--and so when I saw this graphic highlighting the importance of building resilience--it all fit together.  Hopefully it will for you, too!




Want to read the articles I read about letting kids fail?  Here are some that I came across:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emily-bennington/helicopter-parents_b_873368.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eva-glettner/failure_b_1952075.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peggy-drexler/why-its-important-to-let_b_1848687.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/why-parents-need-to-let-their-children-fail/272603/

http://www.empoweringparents.com/The-Benefits-of-Natural-Consequences.php




Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Genius Hour/20% Time/ShipIt Day

I've blogged about this idea before, and I seem to keep bumping into the concept in my reading.  Have you heard of Genius Hour or Google's 20% Time or Atlassian's ShipIt Day?  These are all basically the same concept--each with it's own interpretation or branding.  

My learning in this area came first from hearing of Atlassian's ShipIt Day (although I think it used to be called Fedex day) where employees were given a day quarterly to develop an idea of their own.  It's like a day to be creative--and get paid for doing it!  It was an intriguing concept to me, but I hadn't really seen it applied to the school setting.


Then I read about Genius Hour.  Author Dan Pink (one of my favorite authors so how could it be bad!) wrote about Jen Schefner who had developed an idea to spend 60 minutes per week, whenever the employee desires, to develop ideas or sharpen skills.  This led teacher Denise Krebs to work to create a Genius Hour for herself.  The idea snowballed into creating Genius Hours for students.  


As is typical now--once you start reading about an idea you find yourself stumbling on lots of people implementing the same type of thing in the classroom setting.  To learn more about what other teachers are doing, you may want to check out:


http://geniushour.wikispaces.com/


http://www.danpink.com/2011/05/what-your-business-can-learn-from-a-6th-grade-classroom


http://stumpteacher.blogspot.com/2011/03/innovation-day-2011.html


http://henriksenlearning.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/100-minutes-of-genius/


http://www.pernilleripp.com/2011/12/hour-of-wonder.html

http://educationismylife.com/the-20-project-like-google-in-my-class/

http://www.iteachithink.com/2012/07/give-your-students-20-time-to-do.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-von-jan/unstructured-classroom_b_1024404.html

The crazy thing is that this is the list of links I found in about 2 minutes...there is much more out there to learn if you want to try this in your classroom, during a prep period, or maybe even in the superintendent's office...



Monday, January 28, 2013

Award Winning Books...

I attribute my love of reading (all types of books!) to my Mom and Dad.  They both love to read (and can still be caught with a great book in hand and a big smile on their faces), modeled reading to me as a child, and made it a priority to take me to the library regularly to check out arm-fulls of books.

Some of my favorite books were books that won the Caldecott or the Newbery book awards.  The American Library Association today released the 2013 award winners--and you may want to check them out!  Also, if you have not yet read these books with your children, now is the time to look at the list, head to the library--and share the job of reading a great book together.  Help your child learn to love to read for a lifetime!

Friday, January 25, 2013

Is Your Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

Lately I've been noticing more and more how many view life through the mindset of the glass being half full.  While that one Facebook post that takes a negative view of whatever happened that day might just signal a bad day--perhaps it is bigger than that and speaks to who we are becoming as a society.

I know from personal experience that when I get into that rut of negativity it seems like everything around me seems to be bad.  The funny thing is that usually it's not that bad--it's just how I'm choosing to view it!  Thankfully for one reason or another I've been able to reset and refocus my perception which allows me to move in a more positive direction.

But what if society doesn't reset the way it thinks?  What if taking a negative view of everything becomes our new normal?

I, for one, do not want to see that happen.  I'm not sure what that means for you--but for the next month I'm going to make a conscious effort (and plan to make this a forever habit) to try to stop myself in my tracks when I start to allow negativity to control my thoughts.

I'm choosing now that this negative speech and thought is not who I want to be.  I don't want to tear down--I want to build up and encourage.  Perhaps I'm just one person--or perhaps you will join me in this quest toward positive thinking and speech.  This is who I want to be--who I am--and the community in which I want to work and live!  Let's join together to make this happen!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Reflections on Leadership--Would You Rather Be Liked or Effective (article by Allison Vaillancourt)

As you've gathered if you are a regular reader of this blog--I love to read.  Today's post is from an article I read by Allison M. Vaillancourt on leadership.  She takes on the age old question of whether or not leaders can be liked and respected--or if a leader must choose one.

This caught my attention as my dissertation was on the journey of female leaders to the role of the superintendent.  What I found was that these leaders were highly relational, and used this relational leadership to drive how they led the district.  For them, the question wasn't which to pick--relationships or respect.  Instead they built relationships and knowledge of the district, students, staff, and community to help them be more effective leaders.

In the article "Would You Rather Be Liked or Effective" Allison Vaillancourt writes:

"Leaders who see value in being both liked and effective appreciate the importance of helping others see the need for change, attending to individual and group dynamics, honoring cultural traditions, and creating optimism about the future rather than fear of what might happen if others don't go along.  Importantly, the most successful leaders appreciate the value of creating a reservoir of goodwill, building solid relationships, and providing they are worth following.  These individuals appreciate the limitations of going solo and tend to get a lot done because of, not despite, the trust-based relationships they have established."

I see a lot of similarities between what this author thinks and what I found in my research.  Interesting...

So what does that mean for me?  Well, as a first year Superintendent, I have spent the first six months getting to know students, staff, and parents.  I've been working to learn by watching and listening and to become part of the culture of this great school district.  As now I turn toward looking at the future and planning strategic next steps, it will be important to rally the team with me as we begin to plan next steps.  

Make sure you click here to read the entire article--it is worth your time!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Make the Difference in the Life of a Child

Here's a great chance to enjoy great food and help provide scholarships to children in need at Hilltop Neighborhood House.

Great cause, great food--here's your chance to make a difference in the life of a child today!


If you would like tickets (or want information on how to be a sponsor of this event), you can contact me at stacey.schmidt@ptsc.k12.in.us.



Legislative Forum and Update--Porter County


THE PORTER COUNTY RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

INVITES YOU TO A

LEGISLATIVE FORUM AND UPDATE -
MEET YOUR LEGISLATORS

Saturday, January 26, 2013
Bailly Elementary School
800 S. 5th St.
Chesterton, IN 46304

Registration 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. (CST)

Each attendee may submit a written question at registration.

Forum and Update 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.
Moderator: Former legislator, Ralph Ayres


All members of the Indiana General Assembly who represent any part of Porter County have been invited to participate.


THE FORUM IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC


If you want more information, contact
Dennis Norman – (219) 759-2332 or tanqman@hotmail.com
or
Barbara Stroud – (219) 926-4962  

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Do You Have a "Time Famine"?

Today's post falls into the category of "things that make me go hmmmmm".   First I'd like to say I thought it was a clever way this Ph.D. candidate put her research out to the masses.

Once I began to watch, I realized that I often do feel like I suffer from a "time famine" having to pack lots of things in my day into the 18 or 19 hours I'm awake.  In fact, I'm betting the words "time famine" are going to pop out of my mouth often now!  I know this researcher has spent months of her life living and breathing this idea--so I'm going to take some time (hahaha) to let this idea soak in!


Monday, January 21, 2013

How Do I Build Creativity in Children/Students?

As you can see from my other blog posts, I'm a fan of building creativity in the school and in the home environment.  I'm also a fan of learning through inquiry.  Sometimes it's hard to think about how to do that.  Here are some articles that I have found recently that might help you explore some ideas!

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/raising_happiness/post/7_ways_to_foster_creativity_in_your_kids

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-kashdan/six-ways-for-parents-to-c_b_249031.html

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/curiosity/ten-ways-cultivate-curiosity-kids.html




Thursday, January 17, 2013

PARCC Math Item Samplers--A must see

Have you been looking through the PARCC prototypes?  If not, here is a great link for the math items.  Use the navigation in the left column to pick the grade level.

http://www.ccsstoolbox.com/parcc/PARCCPrototype_main.html


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Amanda Ripley: Ask the kids

OK...I'm going the wrong way with video length--but this one is very interesting for those interested in comparing US education to the international playing field.  This caught my attention as I've been spending time lately reading about education in Finland...


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

BRAIN POWER: From Neurons to Networks

This is about 10 minutes long--but awesome.  Take a break and take a look!

(And Jeanie, if you are reading this--all the talk of how the brain works will always make me think of you.  Thanks for teaching me--and lots of kids--about this!)

Monday, January 14, 2013

Social Networking for Educators

I consider myself fairly technologically literate and one who keeps up on the latest and greatest happenings.  As I prepare my blog posts--it inevitably results in me adding more blogs to my reader feed.  I love to keep current on what's happening in the world of education.

I stumbled across this article about the Top 18 Social Networking Websites for Teachers and was SHOCKED at how few of them I've used.  Turns out I'm not quite as hip as I think, hey!  Check them out!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Estimation Tool

Do you ever get tired of teaching concepts the way you always have?  Check out this interesting website that puts a different spin on estimation--and more importantly building number sense!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Writing Prompts

Ever looking for a different way to create your own writing prompts that will stimulate student thought?  Check out this easy to use tool!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

My Obsession with Quotes Expands!

If you have been to my office you know I love quotes.  Lately I've been seeing people that are combining graphics with quotes--and I'm even more fascinated.  You can find lots of them here, but here are a couple I really liked that I pulled out of the pool!

Masterlearners

Goodenough


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Do Classrooms Build Curiosity?

Here's an interesting article (just one in a series of articles on curiosity--I also liked this one!) that questions if our classrooms encourage curiosity that is natural in kids.  Interesting thoughts to ponder!  Happy Tuesday!

Monday, January 7, 2013

You Don't Want to Miss...

There are some great events coming up through the office of eLearning and the Indiana Department of Education.

Check these out:


Upcoming Events from the IDOE Office of eLearning - January is a busy month in the Office of eLearning. Please plan on joining any or maybe even all of these webinars. Click on any of the webinar titles to register for that webinar.

·         Tuesday, January 15, 4 p.m. EDT – Flipping the Classroom  – Three classroom teachers (elementary, middle school math, and high school science) will be discussing their flipping experiences: why they decided to flip, what software they are using to create their videos (or where they are locating videos), successes, and challenges. There will also be opportunities to ask the presenters questions and to have discussions with other educators on the call. Each webinar attendee will earn one PGP point.
·         Wednesday, January 16, 4 p.m. EDT – Celebrate Digital Learning – Once again, Indiana will go beyond Digital Learning Day and sponsor Digital Learning Month. Beginning February 1, you are invited to participate in any or all of our three Digital Learning Month events. You can learn more about our Digital Learning Day plans and how to represent our state in our Indiana DLD webinar .
·         Tuesday, January 22, 4 p.m. EDT – Indiana Curriculum Connection  – Join us for this webinar to learn about the Learning.com  resources available to Indiana educators in the Learning Connection.
·         Tuesday, January 29, 4 p.m. EDT – NBC Learn  – Looking to engage students and provide authentic, relevant content that is aligned to the standards? Join the Office of eLearning as we explore NBC Learn, a resource available to all Indiana educators and students. NBC Learn offers unique collections of video resources, primary sources, historic footage, images, mini documentaries and text resources designed for use in the K-12 classroom. 
Here's an interesting article on automated scoring for essays on standardized tests:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-farley/lies-damn-lies-and-statis_b_1574711.html

Here's another interesting take on that article:
http://dianeravitch.net/2012/11/15/should-computers-grade-essays/

Friday, January 4, 2013

Welcome to 2013!

At times keeping up with this blog can be daunting!  However, I've had some free time to catch up on my blog feed and there are some things that I've got to share with you!

Today's installment comes from our friends in the world of Mathematics.  Check out this interesting take on graphing stories.