Backchanneling

Today I was reading about how to "Backchannel" in a classroom. When a teacher backchannels, they uses a site such as Twitter or Today's Meet to show a discussion in the front of the classroom while the teacher continues to talk. Students can vote up any notable contributions to the classroom discussion to make the contribution more noticeable. Once the teacher is done speaking, they can look at the comments being made and discuss any questions that were asked or address statements that stick out.

The first thing that I thought about when reading about this classroom strategy is how great it would be to use for my classroom. Many students already have Twitters, this strategy meets them where they are at. I know that in my classroom, students can get heated in classroom discussion and talk over each other. This takes away the ability to do that verbally.

Students also can ask questions anonymously so that they do not have to feel judged to ask a question. The first thing I thought was about one of the downsides of backchanneling.

"Anonymous postings might open the door to disruptive, frivolous, or rude comments, and cautious participants might be driven from the discussion by grandstanders or bullies, particularly where backchannel conversations are controlled by audience members and limited to a few invited participants."

With that in mind, I can only imagine that inappropriate things would be placed on the group chat. To battle that, one would have to definitely have a plan in place of how to catch and discipline such actions.

However, this anonymous feature may have many bright sides to it as well. Many students are not able to grasp subjects as quick as their peers. 

"Long after [a student's] classmates grasped a concept, he would light up in acknowledgement and then become crestfallen as he had no way to share his revelation."

Yet, with this strategy, a student could always get their voice heard without being talked over! As a Social Studies teacher, what stood out was the ability for students to get a point across and not yell over each other. Many debates end up with only a few people talking and others trying to opt out. This tool brings every student into the classroom in an innovative way. Students are even able to find resources to back up their argument. This is important because in my classroom debates, students would have to write down facts on a piece of paper so they could be prepared when it was their turn to talk. Many times those "facts" were not facts at all. They were allegations that the students had just made up and there was no way to fact check. This tool make all of that extremely easy!

References



7 things you should know about backchannel communication. (2010, February). Educate. Retrieved from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

The Backchannel: Giving Every Student a Voice in the Blended Mobile Classroom. (2014). Retrieved July 20, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/backchannel-student-voice-blended-classroom-beth-holland

Connected Educational Leader

One of the most important activities we do as educational leaders is to share information with other leaders. For this blog post, I decided to take a look at "Working at the Edge" by Randy Ziegenfuss. I chose this specific educational leader because he works in Salisbury Township School District. This is near where I grew up, so I am familiar with the area.


In Ziegenfuss' most recent blog post he discusses many "How might..." questions that deal with technology. Some of the questions that he attempts to answer are:

How might learning with technology look different if every educator (teachers and leaders) held a bold but fluid vision for learning with technology?

How might learning with technology look different if every school and school system had a leader that promoted the vision and removed barriers to its enactment?

How might learning with technology look different if our professional learning reflected the vision for learning in the classroom?

He asks the first question, in my opinion, because many teachers are wary of new technologies and changing their ways as teachers. Many teachers think "I've been teaching this way my whole life and it's been successful, Why do you want me to change?" The second question is discussed because there are many educational leaders that are also stuck in their ways. If they do not model what is new, they are missing out are new teaching opportunities. He asks the third question because it is easier to teach something if you were taught that way as well. More creativity by educational leaders will lead to more creativity for teachers.

As a leader, you must always be questioning your process and reading up on the processes of others. That is why I think that these questions are very important and must be asked. The writer does a great job of breaking down important questions and answering them to the best of his ability. To see this speific blog post for yourself, please use the link below.

　
http://workingattheedge.org/

What Teacher Exemplifies a Visionary Leader According to ISTE Standards?

When tasked with a prompt such as this, I became stumped. The reason for this is because the school that I belong to is a newer program that is behind the times when it comes to technology. We still have regular white boards and textbooks. It is a classroom that Sheninger warns against because it has not changed with the times. So because of this, blame cannot be shifted to the teachers nor the adminstrators. Budget constrants are a real factor in this type of school.

The problem causes me to really dig into my memory and remember teachers that I subbed for/with many years ago. One teacher, had a smart board which she had each student take their picture from absent (on one side of the board) to here (on the other side of the board). Throughout the class, students were chosen to answer different questions by using the smart board answers. When they were put in groups, the teacher also was able to use the smart board to show them what groups they were in. If they had questions about a test or activity, they could always use the teachers website to find out the answers or ask questions. Because of all of this I feel as if she was making Empowered Learners. She was able to inspire and engage students to become active members in the classroom. Below is an example of a tech tool called "Empower" that could help this teacher further achieve her goal.

I feel as if my visionary leadership characteristics are lacking. The reason for this is because of budget constraints, as I stated earlier. However, after my first class in Technology and Communication, I decided to reach out to my current building principal to use some of the technologies that I had learned about. He seemed as if he liked the idea and would love his staff to strive to become visionary leaders. So hopefully we can continue to make great strides toward being Visionary Leaders.

Introduction

Hello! My name is Caleb Delp. I am currently a Social Studies teacher at Camelot Academy in the Olney section of Philadelphia. I have been there for the past two years and I am looking to move up in rank in the school. The school that I work at is going to expand and take in more students next year which means more positions will be opening up. I enjoy the freedoms of being in an urban school as well as the support that I am given by my peers.

My overall philosophy has a lot to do with listening and talking to the students that we service. In my classroom I often had many classroom talk activities which guided the learning in the classroom. If students feel as if they are part of the learning, they are more likely to engage and more likely to learn. My role is to always be firm, fair and consistent. Many students in the demographic of the school do not have home lives that are firm, fair and consistent. It is very important to become one of the most consistent objects in the student's life.  This blog will provide insight into the process of becoming an educational leader in a relatively early stage in my career.