I'm the techie nerd...we all know this and I've made peace with it. So what, then, am I supposed to find relevant in all this talk about how to facilitate authentic learning in the classroom? I don't have a classroom...I have a desk and lots of cords.
Well, color me surprised and pull my foot out of my mouth! After the first day I was a tad disheartened to find that the "technology strands" being offered were little more than jazzed up PowerPoint how-to courses. Or at least that's what I thought.
I attended an evening strand titled "60 Tools in 60 Minutes" that was to introduce 60 web tools to be used in the classroom. It was STUPENDOUS! Not only did I pick up a few new sites to share with classroom teachers, many of the sites were familiar and completely validated the direction we are headed at Austin! If you want to access the list, take a gander at http://brianhousand.com (scroll down until you reach the Confratute banner, and click on 2010).
Today I had the chance (along with David) to attend Day 2 of "101 Ways to Use Renzulli Learning", which is the website element of our SEM. When we had our training in the Spring with the Renzulli rep, Debbie, she told us to watch for the launch of the new and improved teacher site. Ladies and Gents..."new and improved" doesn't do it justice.
The new teacher site is not only easier to navigate, it has more resources and elements than anything I've ever seen. If I was excited for the classroom teachers before, I may weep at all that is offered here. Seriously. There may be tears.
In addition to a new literacy component that allows teachers to find lists of books based on interests (the whole point of Renzulli), and have authentic assessments with any activity based on open-ended questions, teachers now have the option to group students into Collaborative groups that allows the students in the group to communicate online (like a chat) with ONLY those students in their group. Teachers can moderate all, some, or none of the comments at any time. If a teacher is idle for more than 1 week, the group chat goes into "sleep mode" so that the students are not able to continue without supervision. I can't wait to share ideas with teachers on how to utilize this element!
I still have a nagging feeling that the participants at Confratute deserve more than just PowerPoints on crack, but I am SO excited about all the thought and planning that has gone into making Renzulli Learning easy (it took literally 49 seconds to create and differentiate a lesson in the class today) and teacher-friendly.
My friends, a new day is dawning at Austin Elementary...and yes, it's going to be LEGENDARY.
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I can hear the excitement in all of your postings about your learning adventure at Confratute and I can't help but smile. What a wonderful, engaging learning environment Austin will become when this energy, knowledge and excitement is transferred to Austin upon your return. Wow! Can't wait to read more about your experiences. Lian Loop for CGA
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