Dreaming Big! Students Can Remember logins

In a perfect world, Chromebooks could be prepared and rolled out to students on a yearly basis ready on the first day of school. This idea is my dream. Though, perhaps not a realistic dream. As more and more schools begin to purchase devices for their students and intervention platforms to remediate or advance, schools have the need for students to access easily all of their platforms with one sign on. It has been estimated that 25% of class time is wasted simply trying to help students sign on to a platform.

Many companies are promising this service for a fee. Districts have limited funds and often the administration is truly unaware of exactly how difficult this process can be for teachers. As an example, in our ELA classrooms, our students regularly access the following digital platforms

Google-(including Gmail, Blogger, Classroom, and Drive)
Database
@PearsonRealize and Pearson EssayScorer
i-Ready @curriculumassoc
@ReadTheory
@NoRedInk
@Quizlet

We have also tried @ThinkCerca, @SpiralEducation, and many other platforms this year.

So what is a teacher to do? Some keep a notecard file on their desk with every login for every student. I suggest that we teach the students to be responsible.  Each student should keep a Google folder with all of their logins and passwords. Students can then add to the list as needed.  The Google Doc can contain the link with the name of the platform, along with the username and password. Students can easily share this Google Doc with their parents and teachers. Ideally, the students choose login with Google whenever possible.

I don't long for the days when I only had to worry about pencil and paper. Just as in those days, we need to empower our students to be responsible for their materials. Their current materials just happen to include usernames and passwords.

My Christmas Wish- "We can make it better for everyone"

George Lucas's 2012 article in @Edutopia  is very relevant to the @AR_TPN, Arkansas Teacher Practice Networks. There is no more important job than supporting our colleagues in our diverse state. Our mandate is to touch 10,000 teachers through our efforts over the course of the Gates Education Grant. Fantastic idea. Lucas said, "There is no other job more important than education. It is the foundation of our democracy. By seizing on what's working, and recreating those successes from one classroom to the next, we can make it better for everyone." My Christmas wish is that we "make it better for everyone" through the collective power of our teacher leaders. We can and should.

Touch
Our "touch" will be both high and light. We will touch our colleagues through face to face meetings and through digital platforms to reach a larger audience. I know that I use Twitter to reach my Global Professional Learning Network, PLN. I have watched as my colleagues personally felt validated through their participation in Twitter chats and could count it for professional development. We can and should reach out and touch our colleagues with our knowledge.

Foundation of Democracy
Teachers have an important mandate to educate the voices of the future. By "seizing on what's working, and recreating those successes" according to Lucas "we can make it better for everyone." Democracy is involving everyone. The Arkansas Teacher Practice Networks organization will attempt to seize on what is working and help spread this information within our networks to empower our colleagues to educate better the voices of the future. We can and should empower and educate.

Better for Everyone
The teacher leaders were able to spend two days dwelling on the possibility of their personal power. We hope to harness to power of our collective and various digital platforms. It is time for our teacher leaders to step up and share their knowledge for Arkansas teachers through +Twitter  +Instagram Google+ +Blogger  +YouTube  +Pintrest and other digital platforms like Teachers.do. 

My Christmas wish is simple "make it better for everyone."  Thank you to @GeorgeLucas and +Edutopia for this insightful and still relevant idea. We can and should do this. 

Resources
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/importance-of-education-george-lucas
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/US-Program/College-Ready-Education
http://tpn.wested.org/
http://www.apsrc.net/

Suzanne Rogers, M.Ed
https://about.me/Rogers_Suzanne

I am a parent of two college cubs, an AP English teacher, ELA Coach and PD facilitator.

I've taught 1st grade, MS, and HS in public, private, and charter schools in 3 states.

Google Summit in Arkansas

   
I AM Thankful for

     The Google in Education Arkansas Summit took place this weekend on the Conway High School campus. Wow! Just Wow! The pure joy of being part of a PLN is in the connection. This weekend, I saw just a couple of Tweets talking about #GIESummit in Arkansas. I literally said "OH MY Goodness! How could I have missed this amazing opportunity?"  So, I quickly responded to a Tweeter @davidjhinson from Hendrix College,  +Hendrix College to ask if I could register late and still attend. David was kind enough to ask the Google staff, if it was even doable. The answer was yes!

     Thankful to be allowed to attend a Google Summit, I thought nothing of ponying up the money for such an  amazing opportunity in our state. (Thanks to Dan Taylor for helping with the registration process.) This morning, I drove up to Conway and sat in on the lovely Keynote, "What's on the Horizon" by +Lisa Thumann, @lthumann.  Each session I attended built upon previous knowledge. The presenters were Google teachers/trainers familiar with the burning brains of educators. They kindly repeated steps and helped us along the way.
   
     I continue to be convinced that the education sector must simply unleash their students.
We must allow our students the freedom of research, creation, and yes, even expression. Our students walk our halls with powerful computing devices hidden/or not hidden in their pockets and backpacks.
Why stand in their way? Why must they hide or not use their powerful devices. The reality is that they are using them regardless of school rules. A quick scan of the users of Snapchat, Twitter, Vine, Instagram, and other sharing services clearly proves that the students are using these during the school day. Why not engage our students' nimble fingers in the work of education, instead?

     Many educators are fearful of technology. Will Smith's character in After Earth said, "Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real. But fear is a choice.” Educators need to understand the potential danger with students globally interacting with technology. But, they need not be stymied by fear.  Arkansas teachers should be very thankful for Google and the leadership of the CPSD for bringing a Google Summit to Arkansas!  The good news is that CPSD has already agreed to host the event next year! Plan ahead to attend!

Don't feel left out! Feel free to peruse the program and presentations!
#GIESummit in Arkansas Program
http://arkansas.appsevents.com/program
Published Arkansas Summit Resources
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkQHmg_Ko-WzdElacTNXOWJNRGNoQmNabkZyWDNOOVE




http://rogerssuzannem.blogspot.com/2013/11/google-summit-in-arkansas.html