March 20, 2017
I think I have stumbled upon what will be my EdTech Internship for this program. I just finished up a paper for Dr. Marcovitz and my ultimate goal was Personalized Professional Development (PPD). I need to talk to Rob, but I think I could incorporate this at MSJ to help teachers obtain better PD. The goal would be 1:1 sessions, small groups, and online tutorials teachers could complete. I should talk to Kelly, too, to make sure this is a good idea for an Internship.
-DMD
April 9, 2017
Rob said the idea sounded good, and to just write up all the details for submission. A little busy now with fourth quarter business at school, but I’ll get this done over the summer, and I should be ready to start on it at the beginning of next year.
-DMD
May 1, 2017
I met with Brian Murphy and Chuck Belzner, the two chairs of the Communications Technology Committee, of which I am a member, and talked about the possibility of building the Digital Citizenship curriculum, as well as running a teacher training session for my internship. We had been emailing back and forth after our last committee meeting, so it wasn’t a shock to them. They are on board, and Brian has urged me to move forward with him as the main contact for the project. After meeting with a company about creating a digital citizenship curriculum for our school, at a prohibitive cost, it seems like the school definitely wants to do something in-house.
- EKS
August 27, 2017
Getting frustrated with PPD. It feels right, but at the same time, it doesn’t. I need to get started on this. Proposals are due by December and I need to quit wasting time. Ed’s having some issues with his Digital Citizenship idea. Maybe he’d want to team up on this. That could make it more enjoyable; more bodies on this would allow for more learning, creation of tutorials, etc.
-DMD
August 22, 2017
We are just starting back up at school and Brian emailed the committee to let us know that we are being disbanded because of the overlap with a newly formed technology committee that Administration is starting. It doesn’t seem like there will be any teachers working on it based on Brian’s email. This puts me in an awkward position. I sent an email to Brian and Chuck about my internship, still waiting to hear back what happens to me.
- EKS
September 26, 2017
It took awhile to get an answer, but according to Brian, after consulting with Administration, I am to move forward with the internship, but he can’t really give me any more information. He did say that Dave will be inviting me to join the newly formed technology committee, along with Rob Peace and Mike Papa. It doesn’t really deal so much with school usage, as it does with issues that comes up it seems. But for now, I am to move forward.
- EKS
October 10, 2017
Well, that’s over. After a student essentially launched a DoS attack on the school using a school computer, I was told by Dave in the technology committee meeting that my digital citizenship internship is off. He feels that the issue is now a school issue, and that the school needs to find a way to teach the aspects of digital citizenship, and that they will be taking care of it. I may be “involved,” but it is out of my hands now. Back to the drawing board.
- EKS
November 2, 2017
So this Dr. Hunter class has me all confused. Proposal is due in a month, and now she and some of the class, whose opinions I care about, are telling me I should proceed with my Equity Issues idea for my proposal. It IS an offshoot of PPD, but it’s more like an Edcamp. It would be a concentrated day of learning with a festive attitude where teachers could be exposed to a lot of great tools, experiment with them, talk to students about what they want, and have a little party at the end. Everyone seemed to love the idea, but it’s so different from PPD that I’m not sure what to do. Rob asked the other day about where the Internship was headed, so I need to get into gear and get this done! Ed’s Digital Citizenship idea is definitely scrapped, so he could use a partner. Maybe this is the direction.
-DMD
November 4, 2017
Responding to Dave’s post - I was definitely one of those people that was in awe of Dave’s presentation in Dr. Hunter’s class. A day of learning marked by an entirely different atmosphere. Dr. Hunter was thrilled with his enthusiasm for the day, and so was I. I said to him when he sat back down, “This is what you should be doing for your internship!” I know he was invested in the personalized PD, but I thought this could great if he was willing, and I would love to be a part of it!
- EKS
December 15, 2017
So the deadline for the Internship Proposal is in a few days, but Ed and I have decided to move forward with what we’re calling EdFest. We have Rob’s approval and support, and we’ll be conducting it in the summer, depending on what other PD options are available. We’ll spend the Spring planning and organizing, and I think we will be able to get other teachers involved with the planning and execution of the day. Fingers crossed. We should at least be able to get Ryan and a few of the other tech-oriented folks to lend a hand. It’s great to finally have a solidified plan; now to get to work!
-DMD
January 18, 2018
Took some time off post-proposal to enjoy the holidays and relax a bit. Today, we knocked out the first of our EdFest objectives, sending out a survey to teachers asking how they use tech in the classroom. I’m not sure what I’m expecting back. I know Ryan and some others will have a lot of use in the classroom, but what about Reds and the other ultra-vets? Will they want to learn anything? Do they care? Interested in getting the results back soon. Student survey will be up after we get back the teacher data.
-DMD
I’m glad to see some positive verbal responses to our email survey from teachers I’ve talked to. I previously sent out a technology survey to the teachers for the AIMS work I was doing, so it is always interesting to see what teachers have to say. What I found from the previous survey was there were a lot of teachers comfortable with the iPads, and using digital resources, and there were a healthy amount of teachers that were still apprehensive about the whole thing, or drastically against the iPads in school.
- EKS
January 24, 2018
We’ve received back 35 of the surveys, which is a good start. The results are a little disappointing. Most teachers use iPads to take attendance and post assignments and grades. Some use G Suite for collaboration. I’m not seeing a lot of higher-end use. A few mentions of podcasts and screencasts; a lot of desires for more time to spend learning tech. That’s a good sign for EdFest, I hope. Maybe they’ll want to come out and learn.
-DMD
February 1, 2018
Student surveys went out today to Ed's classes and mine. We thought that would be a large enough sample, with students of all ages and grade levels. This survey was a little different. Instead of asking how they used tech, we asked how they would like to use tech in the classroom, to compare their desires with how the teachers actually use tech in their classes. I’m not the biggest fan of data, so this part has been a bit of a pain, but hopefully it will lead to a great experience this summer. Ed says he has a great student who might be able to speak to teachers at EdFest, so we’ll have to see how available he is this Summer.
-DMD
As mentioned previously, this is the second large-scale survey that I conducted of the students related to technology at St. Joe. The first one was a much more broad survey of student attitudes, and perceptions for the AIMS accreditation process. In this case, we have tried to keep it simple in our questions to the students. Dave and I tried to tried to vary our pool of students, so that there wouldn’t be any overlap between our two surveys. I feel like I was much more selective than Dave was, as I didn’t send it to all of my students. I have a few in mind that I want to follow up with about speaking to the teachers, but I’ve got to avoid the usual suspects.
- EKS
April 7, 2018
Where the heck is all this time going? Ed and I have met a few times, but school has been bulldozing us. We’ve changed the concept of EdFest a bit. We’re removing some of the Edcamp-like features. We’re not doing giveaways and prizes; we don’t want to feel like it’s all about the bribes or swag. We want to focus on the learning. I’ve already contacted a few reps, so we’ll have to figure out what to do if we do receive anything. We can maybe give stuff out in individual sessions. Based on the first teacher survey we’re creating another to ask what specific types of tech teachers would like to learn about. We thought instead of a Big Board where we create sessions the day of, we should have an idea of what teachers want beforehand so we can prepare to teach them. If there are any questions or if things come up day of, we can scramble and find something to work. I feel like there will be a lot of scrambling between now and then.
We have our date, though! That’s exciting! July 20. It’s a Friday, and I’ll be finished with Summer Session the day before; no rest for the weary, but it works for everyone, so we’re sticking with it!
-DMD
April 30, 2018
Talked with Denise today to schedule the Library and 417 for EdFest. Those spaces should give us plenty of breakout room for the day. We’re looking at three sessions of three presentations each, for nine total. These will come after the intro session and the student keynote. Jacob S. can do the keynote, and he is very techy and well-spoken and should be the perfect student to speak in front of the crowd...if it is a crowd. Promotion and invitations will begin soon, and I can’t wait to see how many people will come. I’m a bit worried about vacations and people not checking emails during the summer, but it’s the time we have to work with, so we’ll see.
-DMD
Jake is a junior in one of my Theology classes. He has been a great student this year, and is extremely active in discussions. He also brings his laptop to school every day instead of his school-issued iPad. When I approached him about helping out for the Edfest, he was genuinely interested. Jake is a good student, not exceptional, and he usually keeps a lower profile, so I thought it would great to hear his perspective instead of the students that administration always picks to speak to teachers. I told him that I would get together with him to discuss his role at Edfest. I know, just from experience, that teachers love to hear student perspectives in a setting like we are going to have.
- EKS
May 11, 2018
Sent out invites and promos and already have seven teachers signed up! In just a day! This is looking good. Ed and I thought we’d have to talk to Joe in the cafeteria about food, but then we said, why not make this a REAL party and have a crab feast! So Ed and I will be putting out the funds for that, which was unexpected. Maybe we can get reimbursed by our departments or the school. Still, I think it’s an important part of the party atmosphere and will get a few people who may not have come to actually experience the day. Money grows on trees, right?
Also, I need to finish up the YouTube playlist we’re creating so teachers will have an online library of tutorials so they can revisit the tools they explore at EdFest and can be introduced to tools whose sessions they can’t attend at EdFest to continue their learning. We’ve found a lot of good tutorials, but I think we’ll need to create a few specific ones to meet the teachers’ needs.
-DMD
Crabs! Dave and I were reminiscing about the old crab feast that St. Joe used to hold during October every year for teachers and their families. It was such an amazing experience, but unfortunately, it was canceled about 10 years ago. While we were talking about that, Dave said, why don’t we have crabs at Edfest?! Sure, what better way to lure participants than with real food they love! We weren’t sure who was going to pay for it, and in hindsight, I think we were being a bit naive about cost. But it was definitely a great incentive to have!
- EKS
May 27, 2018
Google Form sent out with options for teachers to choose from for sessions and a place to suggest sessions they would like to see. We’ll choose the top sessions and get planning on introducing teachers to these tools and some sample lessons we can conduct so they can experiment with us. Curious to see what they want to learn and how much Ed and I will have to learn ourselves before helping them!
-DMD
June 1, 2018
OK, sessions are done! Yay! We’re focusing on Anchor, Screencastify, Microsoft tools, Twitter for PLN building, Flipgrid/Recap, and Ryan is going to conduct sessions on prepping for online and blended learning with your classes. Everything people wanted! One participant is looking for help with voice comments/replies to student papers, and Ed thinks his Microsoft session will work for that, with OneNote. Hope that works for that teacher. Spoke with Rob and he ok’d all the preparations thus far. I’ll just need keys and open doors for EdFest, but we’re looking good at the moment. Up to just over 10 people who have committed so far. I thought we’d have more, but we have some time for me to try to get more people.
-DMD
June 2, 2018
I figured out who that one participant is, just from previous conversations that I have had with him, and I think I found a way to accommodate him. Before I could commit to it, I had to check with Mike Papa about whether or not all students have a Microsoft account. Sure enough, after he called me back a few days later, all students this year will have a Microsoft 365 account. This means that OneNote could be the perfect option for the teacher in mind. I’ve long been a fan of OneNote, but the students have been so heavily connected to Google, that it just didn’t make sense in the past. However, after doing more exploring on my own, I found there is a great notebook and homework option in OneNote where teachers can leave audio recordings for student work right on the notebook. I know it is another platform, but it could definitely work. I’ll have to do more research and work on OneNote so I’m prepared, but I still have time.
- EKS
July 10, 2018
Summer Session has kept me busy, so I’m glad most of EdFest planning is finished. We’re up to 17 people now; not as many as I had hoped, but they’re all really excited to learn. Jacob S. is still on board and ready to go, so now we just have to order the crabs, make sure the rooms are set up day of, and pray to the gods above that there are no tech issues the day of EdFest, which, for MSJ, is asking quite a lot. Miracles can happen, though!
-DMD
July 20, 2018
That day went by so quickly! Today Dave and I ran EdFest, and I feel like it was a great success. Based on the verbal feedback we received from the teachers, they really appreciated it. So many teachers came up to me to tell me how amazing Jake did as the student leader. They loved what he had to say! They loved his honesty, and in many cases, he challenged teachers to do better when it comes to holding students accountable. He told them about his own struggles with technology, the distraction that it serves, but at the same time implored teachers to use technology tools more, especially Google Classroom. I think in some ways, hearing that come from a student was just what some of the teachers needed to hear! I’ve led professional development experiences before, but this was so different to be doing something that I organized, along with Dave. EdFest was something we put together, and orchestrated, to allow us to showcase our passions. It wasn’t just something the school wanted us to do, it was what we wanted and what we thought would be beneficial for the teachers. I’m looking forward to the evaluations from the teachers who attended as well.
- EKS
We did it. It’s done. EdFest was today and, based on comments and evaluations, it was a success! The teachers were so appreciative of everything and asked amazing questions and seemed really interested in learning and applying what we helped them learn to their classes next year. It was an exhausting day, especially since I just finished up EdChangeGlobal with Pattie and Irene, but I feel satisfied. We managed to do what we set out to do. Ed and I did our own evals, a little different from the ones Rob wasn’t us to complete, so we’ll get some more info on how we did and what we could do better. Was it perfect? No. I have tons of ideas to try something again and make it better. Part of our proposal was that this wasn’t ending today, but would continue throughout next year with follow-ups. Rob really wants us to maintain the training and the support, and I’m ready for that. In my final reflections, I’ll go over more of my big-picture thoughts, but this is it for the journal entries!
-DMD
Reflections & Next Steps
As always, I am my own worst critic. Looking over my entries from the past almost-year. I am a bit disappointed. I could have worked harder, I could have done more, yet the day was an overwhelming success. We received comments like, “This is the mest PD I’ve ever attended,” and people tweeted out their pleasure with the day. I know I’m being overly harsh with myself, but I’d like to review the overall experience here.
First, the process of getting to the idea of EdFest was pretty amazing to me. Beginning as my Tech Planning Paper in Dr. Marcovitz’s class and transforming through Dr. Hunter’s class to become its final form is interesting to look back on. I took time to develop the idea, and I believe it reached its best possible form as it did. In that, I am not disappointed. Especially in Dr. Hunter’s class, the use of convergent and divergent thinking lead me to a really fun learning experience, and I think this showed in the final result.
Second, people we engaged in EdFest. They came ready to learn, they peppered Jacob with terrific questions that he fielded well, and they didn’t just sit and take learning; they experimented, they conversed with each other, and they thought about tech in their classrooms. Allison even promoted a great idea for PD during the school year. As she explained it, she wanted time during each professional day where 2-3 teachers presented their best lesson to all the other teachers, to show what could be done in the classroom. This is a fantastic idea and a wonderful way to extend what we did at EdFest, and she and I plan to discuss that possibility with Rob.
Third, we could have promoted EdFest better. We sent emails, we created flyers and posters, but I wonder if it was enough. Could we have attracted more people with more, without it bordering on harassment? I’m just not sure, but I worry that we could have. Did I do enough politicking? Could I have personally approached more people and invited them, extolling the virtues of the day? Probably. I didn’t want to be pushy, but I care so much about the topic of tech in the classroom that I should have advocated more for it. I wish we could have eclipsed twenty or thirty people. And maybe we can next time. I need to remember to advertise better and more.
Fourth, I learned we have the support at MSJ to continue with PD like EdFest. We were given freedom to run this day the way we wanted, and from Rob to Denise to Dan in Plant Management, we had support from everyone! We need to rely on this support more and take advantage of it to showcase what our teachers are doing. I was actually surprised by how easy it was to work with administration, and I hope to have learned a few lessons from this.
Fifth, we need to implement more creative methods of PD throughout the year. We can’t just wait for a big day like EdFest. We can try Allison’s idea at PD days. We could do Tech Tuesdays, which seem to be popular throughout schools, and introduce one tech tool or one solution every Tuesday throughout the year. I could create an email or a flyer for teachers, create screencasts, or answer teacher questions on Tuesdays. But the participants of EdFest were really into it, and I think they would be open to more creative, useful methods of PD in the future.
Sixth, I need to manage my time better. Creating a day like EdFest while still in a grad program, while still teaching, while taking on the creation of a microcredential course for Loyola, while agreeing to teach Summer Session at MSJ was foolhardy, at best. The next time I undertake something of this magnitude, I need to make sure my schedule is a bit more open. That way, I won’t be as hard on myself for what I can’t get to. I’ll have more time to innovate. I’ll have more time to experiment and advertise. I’ll have more time to enjoy the process instead of feeling like I just need to get it finished. And that step would have been an important one on which to focus for a day that was enjoyable like EdFest.
Finally, I am grateful. I am grateful to my friend and partner Ed Schultheis for putting up with me through this process. I am grateful to Rob in administration. I am grateful to the teachers who supported Ed and me in this venture. And I am grateful to Irene, our supervisor, who was always there with ideas and support if I got stuck. This process taught me not only about technology, but to trust in the kindness and support of people who want me to succeed and do my best work. That lesson is one for which I am ultimately grateful and which I will not forget.