The Partners in Learning 2012 Global Forum is an annual program which this year attracted over 250,000 teachers from around the world through a rigorous application process seeking innovative and effective uses of technology in K-12 classrooms. It culminated with roughly 115 teachers attending the Global Forum in Prague last week. The winning U.S. educators came through the US Forum held this summer in Redmond, WA (see earlier post).

It was an honor to have been present to acknowledge and celebrate these awards along with meeting other amazing educators from around the world (see official press release featuring all of the winners and this release highlighting the U.S. winners).

All of the Forum projects can be found on the Partners in Learning Network, along with short videos and other supporting materials the teachers have provided. There are direct links to each project below (while you’re there, poke around for some free software and classroom resources) and join a community of these educators here to learn more about projects from around the world.

Here are short summaries of each of the winning U.S. projects: 

Category: Collaboration

Pauline Roberts (@pr05bps) & Rick Joseph (@rjoseph852)

Birmingham Covington School (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan)

Project: Doing Business in Birmingham

Doing Business in Birmingham is a Sciracy project. Sciracy aims to promote scientific literacy, or the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. Students learn to ask, find, or determine answers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences, and to describe, explain, and articulate their thoughts about the world around them. Students synthesize their learning and challenge themselves to generate creative solutions to real world problems. After learning about sustainability in business, students took to the streets of downtown Birmingham to assess the sustainability of businesses in their local community. Armed with informational flyers and brochures the students had created, they visited over ninety establishments to interview and educate local business owners.

Category: Cutting Edge Use of Technology

Robin Lowell (@teacherinthebox) & Sherry Hahn

Washington State School for the Blind (Vancouver, Washington)

Project: Accessible Distance Learning of Mathematics for Blind and Visually Impaired High School Students

Mathematics is a challenging subject for blind and visually impaired (BVI) students because it requires specialized instruction to meet their unique accessibility needs. Access to specialized instruction is extremely limited due primarily to a shortage of Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI) qualified to teach mathematics. At the Washington State School for the Blind, we have developed a unique and effective program built on Microsoft Lync that provides specialized mathematics instruction to BVI students anywhere. Our mathematics TVI uses video conferencing to instruct her classes to any student with a Lync client and an internet connection. Specialized instruction is possible because Lync works seamlessly with assistive technologies such as Braille Displays and screen readers; which enables lecture, whiteboard, and other class materials to be delivered in accessible formats (e.g. Braille, large print, and/or audio). For 1:1 instruction, the students can easily share their work, ask for help, or submit classwork to the teacher using desktop sharing, instant messaging, and file transfer. (Here’s a short post I did earlier on this project).

Category: Educator's Choice

Todd LaVogue (@ToddLaVogue)

Roosevelt Community Middle School (West Palm Beach, Florida)

Project: What’s Up Egypt?

In order to help his students gain a better understanding of life in ancient Egypt, Todd LaVogue had his students create a TV show about ancient Egypt. Using Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer and video editing software, his students researched and created a Today show style news program with news, weather, sports, cooking, lifestyle, historical, music segments. Students were able to compare and contrast ancient Egypt with today's society very well. In the end, they had a better understanding of what it would have been like to have lived during that time. (Here’s a guest post I hosted from Mr. LaVogue) 

You can also learn some fun facts about these teachers on the Partners in Learning Facebook page in the new Educator Spotlight app.

Please join me in congratulating these educators for their truly global achievement.

Rob

See related posts:

• Guest post: The 21st century science project
• Guest post: On A Mission to Stop Bullying with the Canastota Apprentice
• Finalists for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
• Students Impact Change in Times of Crisis
• Educator Combines Biology and Gaming with Kinect to Engage Students and the Community
• Delivering Success through Technology for Students with Disabilities

Tonight will be the Gala Dinner at the Prague Castle where 18 global winners will be announced (watch this blog for details) and continue to follow #PiLGF for the real-time updates.

It is humbling and inspiring to see teachers from around the world come together to share ideas and a similar desire and passion to improve education for students around the globe.

Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 Global Forum - Prague VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Regards,

Rob (aka @TeachTec)

16 educators will advance to Prague, Czech Republic to represent the United States at the Microsoft Partners in Learning Global Forum this week (Nov. 28 – Dec. 1). They will be joining 500 teachers, school and government education leaders from 80 countries. Each of these teachers have advanced through regional events held throughout the year to represent their respective countries at this unique global education event.

These U.S. educators were named top among their peers during the US Forum held this summer in Redmond, WA (see earlier post for bkgrd) and represent a mix of K-12 schools, grade levels and subject-matter, all using technology in creative ways to impact student-learning, including creative uses of gaming and learning, thoughtful applications of distance-learning to engage visually-impaired students, projects focused on community outreach, video creation, and teachers extending learning beyond their classrooms and beyond the continent!

Here are summaries of each of their projects and you can find more project details, including supporting classroom materials and short videos on the Partners in Learning Network (links to each project are below).

Here’s a short video to introduce you to Team USA and their projects, but if you really want to get to know them, here’s a “Call Me Maybe” video shot this summer at the US Forum : )  -- follow their progress at #PiLGF and of course @TeachTec will be there reporting live!

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E6xZLX7uMQ&feature=share]

Collaboration

1st place - Jamie Ewing (@mrewingteach), Mount View Elementary (Seattle, Washington)

Project: Science in the Sky and Our Backyards: A Virtual Science Fair

Students begin by exploring Earth Systems and brainstorm in small groups to create earth systems based science experiments. While designing each experiment, student groups build all the tools necessary to complete science experiments. Finished experiments will be presented in a virtual world instead of the normal science fair model. 5th grade students will build videos using Movie Maker or digital presentations in PowerPoint stored on a Windows Live SkyDrive so that they can bring their ideas to other school around the globe. Students will build video game presentations in Scratch that are interactive as well as informative. Once data is collected and experiments are finished, groups will bring their findings to the local community in the form of an ecology project to help take our findings and use them to build a better community. Community interactions will be in person but also using Skype to connect our students to community leaders.  (Here’s a guest post from Mr. Ewing with some more details).

Runner-up - Julie Hembree (@Mrs_Hembree), AG Bell Elementary (Kirkland, Washington)

Project: Kid Lit Movies: Book Trailers for Young Readers

How do you connect kids with great books? In our library, its with movies, thanks to our student-created book trailers! These videos are exciting visual previews of books. In three 4th grade library classes, teams selected a favorite book, storyboarded the content using Microsoft OneNote, and then created book trailers with Windows Live Movie Maker. These movies are used as digital advertising in our library. They are embedded on our school library blog, and on SchoolTube for a wide range of student and public access. In addition, we generated QR codes for their movies and placed them on the books themselves and on other high profile locations around the school, linking the physical book to its digital counterpart. In the process students improved their evaluative and analytical skills, while creating an engaging product designed to sell awesome books to their peers.

Extended Learning Beyond the Classroom

1st place - Pauline Roberts (@pr05bps) & Rick Joseph, Birmingham Covington School (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan)

Project: Doing Business in Birmingham

Doing Business in Birmingham is a Sciracy project. Sciracy aims to promote scientific literacy, or the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. Students learn to ask, find, or determine answers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences, and to describe, explain, and articulate their thoughts about the world around them. Students synthesize their learning and challenge themselves to generate creative solutions to real world problems. After learning about sustainability in business, students took to the streets of downtown Birmingham to assess the sustainability of businesses in their local community. Armed with informational flyers and brochures the students had created, they visited over ninety establishments to interview and educate local business owners.

Runner-up: Tie

Joli Barker, Slaughter Elementary (McKinney, Texas)

Project: XBOX 360: the iConnect Project

Using Kodu gaming, gaming vernacular and concepts, 2nd grade students utilized ePals, Edmodo, Skype, and Microsoft Office, PhotoStory, Skype, and Xbox 360 to participate in a global literary book study and multimedia festival. The class connected with over 8 classrooms across the world who read the Magic Tree House books with us and participated in creating multimedia reports and Kodu games to extend and express their learning. When the book series took us to a new country, the classroom from which the book was set "hosted" the Q&A for that book via Skype. The overall result was an extraordinary literary experience that transcended reading comprehension into a cultural study and a global connection that far surpassed the original goal.

and

Sarah Collins (@sssminnow) & Jo Spark (@jo_spark), Moody Elementary (Moody, Texas)

Project: Cans for the P.L.A.N.

Cans for the P.L.A.N. is a campaign designed by 3rd graders to make the world cleaner and help fund campus technology. Determined to raise money to purchase document cameras, clickers, and/or tablets, third grade students started the P.L.A.N. (Proceeds for Learning And New technology). The goal was to collect enough aluminum cans each semester to purchase a new piece of equipment for a classroom. Students divided into five teams for the campaign. Team Presentation created a PowerPoint and presented Cans for the P.L.A.N. to classrooms of students on our campus. Team Advertise and Team Logo used Microsoft Word and Paint to create flyers that were distributed around our school and community. Team Video wrote a commercial to explain and promote Cans for the P.L.A.N. Finally, Team Data developed an Excel spreadsheet to track can collection and money raised. This is an ongoing program, and we plan to make our first purchase this spring.

Knowledge Building & Critical Thinking

1st place - Jennifer Bevill, LSU Laboratory School (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

Project: Peace Project

The Peace Project focuses on global collaboration between a high school in Japan and Louisiana. Interactions using SkyDrive, Skype, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, Bing, and video/audio editing software are used to engage students regarding international understanding, tolerance, conflict and resolution, and to develop 21st century digital and communication skills that can be used in college and the workforce. Students work collaboratively to create digital media projects in order to communicate with the other school about specific historical events, literature written from different perspectives, traditional art, sustainable living, and everyday culture of interest to students. After learning about the other culture students create a project to address a common issue; an example is producing a PSA on Bullying in Schools. The project has been so inspiring that students in their second year of participation initiated a trip to Japan to meet our Japanese friends in person.

Runner-up - Cheryl Arnett (@c_arnett) & Melany Neton, Sunset Elementary School (Craig, Colorado)

Project: Let's Go To Disneyland!

First and second graders researched, planned, and traveled to Disneyland, using an Xbox 360 Kinect. The project was organized on a OneNote Web document in SkyDrive in a series of student-determined tasks to be completed by collaborative teams. Tasks included locating Disneyland on a map, deciding when and how to travel, where to stay, what to take, calculating the cost, and how long they would need to save for the trip. Learning addressed educational standards including math, literacy, geography, collaboration, research, and personal financial literacy, as well as ISTE standards in critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making, research, and information fluency. Following the research and planning, students used the Kinect game Disneyland Adventures to take the virtual trip, giving the children a chance to explore the theme park using their bodies to navigate. Students kept a journal of their imaginative experience and created brochures and post cards to send to family and friends. (Here’s a guest post from Ms. Arnett sharing some more on their project.)

Cutting Edge Use of Technology

1st place - Robin Lowell (@teacherinthebox) & Sherry Hahn, Washington State School for the Blind (Vancouver, Washington)

Project: Accessible Distance Learning of Mathematics for Blind and Visually Impaired High School Students

Mathematics is a challenging subject for blind and visually impaired (BVI) students because it requires specialized instruction to meet their unique accessibility needs. Access to specialized instruction is extremely limited due primarily to a shortage of Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI) qualified to teach mathematics. At the Washington State School for the Blind, we have developed a unique and effective program built on Microsoft Lync that provides specialized mathematics instruction to BVI students anywhere. Our mathematics TVI uses video conferencing to instruct her classes to any student with a Lync client and an internet connection. Specialized instruction is possible because Lync works seamlessly with assistive technologies such as Braille Displays and screen readers; which enables lecture, whiteboard, and other class materials to be delivered in accessible formats (e.g. Braille, large print, and/or audio). For 1:1 instruction, the students can easily share their work, ask for help, or submit classwork to the teacher using desktop sharing, instant messaging, and file transfer. (Here’s a short post I did earlier on this project).

Runner-up - June Teisan (@jlteisan) & Alexandra Beels (@AlexandraBeels), Harper Woods Secondary School (Harper Woods, Michigan)

Project: Student Water Initiative in Michigan AKA "The SWIiM Team"

Freshwater resources are crucial to survival across the globe, and the challenge is to equip the next generation of environmental stewards. Our Student Water Initiative in Michigan ("SWIiM Team") at Harper Woods Middle School is a year-long grant-funded project that immerses a cadre of urban 7th graders in a host of technology-rich, activity-based STEM studies out on the Great Lakes to foster environmental awareness and build stewardship skills. Central to the work of our student-scientists is BOB, our homemade Basic Observation Buoy, being deployed with a suite of water quality sensors that gather a unique 24/7 data stream. Developed with multiple partner organizations, the SWIiM Team project offers critical connections to expert mentors, robust resources, place-based experiential learning, and authentic audiences for reporting student research --- all vital components for engaging and equipping our urban, minority learners who are under-represented in the STEM fields.

Educator as Innovator and Change Agent

Gregg Witkin (@divergregg), Boynton Continuation High School (San Jose, CA)

Project: Finding Your Voice

Students work with a selection of technology to create youth media that has a purpose for social change. Students are able to create documentary films, animations, music videos graphics and/or audio stories, but with the caveat that it must be about a topic that is both important to them and a vehicle for social change. Students used Bing for research and developed their stories in Microsoft Word, organized their time in Excel and presented their ideas in PowerPoint.

Educator's Choice

Todd LaVogue (@ToddLaVogue) - Roosevelt Community Middle School (West Palm Beach, Florida)

Project: What’s Up Egypt?

In order to help his students gain a better understanding of life in ancient Egypt, Todd LaVogue had his students create a TV show about ancient Egypt. Using Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer and video editing software, his students researched and created a Today show style news program with news, weather, sports, cooking, lifestyle, historical, music segments. Students were able to compare and contrast ancient Egypt with today's society very well. In the end, they had a better understanding of what it would have been like to have lived during that time. (Here’s a guest post from Mr. LaVogue)

You can also learn more about these teachers on the Partners in Learning Facebook page, in the new Educator Spotlight app and the Partners in Learning Global Forum app – find out what makes them tick!

We hope you follow their progress at #PiLGF and support “Team USA” and the other amazing educators from around the world.

Regards,

Rob

See related posts:

• Guest post: The 21st century science project
• Guest post: On A Mission to Stop Bullying with the Canastota Apprentice
• Finalists for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
• Students Impact Change in Times of Crisis
• Educator Combines Biology and Gaming with Kinect to Engage Students and the Community
• Delivering Success through Technology for Students with Disabilities

Imagine the look on the face of a six-year-old child entering a classroom and discovering an Xbox 360 Kinect gaming system!

Their curiosity and excitement quickly turn to inspiration and motivation when the games are used for learning. Early interactions with Kinect games in my classroom offered opportunities to practice basic math and listening skills. Each game holds a multitude of possibilities for academic lessons. One particular game, Disneyland Adventures, provided a basis for an amazing unit of learning for first and second grade students.  (To see the full project and supporting classroom resources, check it out on the Partners in Learning Network).

Using the Kinect game as a final virtual destination, young children worked in collaborative groups to plan a vacation of their dreams. Working on SkyDrive One Note Documents, the teams researched and planned their trips. Using actual online travel and vacation sites, they located Disneyland on a map, compared transportation options, researched hotels, and explored the rides in the park. Working well beyond math skills typically expected of first and second graders, the children calculated costs of driving versus flying. They had to negotiate and make decisions in their group as they considered not only the travel variables, but also how the length of their stay and hotel choice would affect the costs associated with their final plans.

The virtual trip on the Kinect sparked their young imaginations and the trip to Disneyland become quite real in their minds. The students not only planned, but wrote journal entries of their experiences and created post cards to send to their families and friends.

Listen to their reflections in this video clip:

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIYQ-MBbwbo&feature=share&list=UUH3e6gUw2XjKRnN1vd5bgrg]

Our project reinforces two important points in education. The first is that children are never too young to begin learning 21st century skills. Six and seven year old children easily and enthusiastically tackled a challenging problem, applying critical thinking and collaboration skills as they learned to work together and built knowledge beyond their years with passion and purpose. The second is the importance of play and imagination in learning. By tapping into their dreams and creative nature, the project became successful beyond our expectations. The students couldn’t wait to learn. They truly understand that the difference between a dream and a goal is a plan.

Kinect offers a new dimension to learning. Our experiences are still growing as we have incorporated Avatar Kinect into our lessons this year. The possibilities for communication and creation are many! Never underestimate the potential of young children. If they are given the opportunity to explore, create, and build knowledge using technology with access to the world at six, think what they can be doing at sixteen!

Cheryl Arnett @c_arnett

Sunset Elementary School

Craig, Colorado, USA

See related posts:

• Guest post: The 21st century science project
• Guest post: On A Mission to Stop Bullying with the Canastota Apprentice
• Finalists for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
• Students Impact Change in Times of Crisis
• Educator Combines Biology and Gaming with Kinect to Engage Students and the Community
• Delivering Success through Technology for Students with Disabilities

What SHOULD it look like with 21st Century Learning? DIGITAL!

eLABs: Science in the Cloud takes students there and beyond. Spending valuable time doing amazing science work only to end up cutting out construction paper and gluing it on cardboard is atrocious in this age of technology!

Students begin by exploring the state standards in student friendly language for Earth Systems/Ecology and then ‘Mind Storming’ in small teams to create science experiments based on these standards. Teams design their experiment using the Scientific Method as their guide. It’s important that teams work together to assign roles in the team making sure that each member shares in the responsibilities of setting up that experiment and collecting data. Finished experiments will be presented in a virtual world instead of the normal tri-fold ‘science fair’ model.

But the fun (and learning!) has only started.

The two most important words for eLABs? Science + Blogs.

Science blogs are set up for experiment. Teams will blog about their experiment, what they are observing day to day, and report about their final results. But since running science experiments doesn’t leave time to see what other teams are doing, students interact with other blogs ask questions or make comments. Students can use social media to find scientists, biologist, ecologists, gardeners…well you get the picture…to find experts to match up with projects and teams to ask questions, make comments, and get involved. THIS BLEW MY STUDENTS MINDS! To find out that people outside the classroom were interested, really interested, in their work was powerful. As one of my students said, “It made me feel smart!”

Downtime? The very nature of science experiments creates a lot of down time. This part of the project is where things start to make sense and connections are made. Each member creates a PowerPoint presentation and a Scratch programmed animated presentation. Use PowerPoint to create an instructional ‘video’ that each group up-loads to our class website to share with the world. The presentation is only about running the experiment not findings so that other people could take the information and try it themselves (here are some tutorials for using PowerPoint in the classroom).

The Scratch project is a programmed animated video that shows each students (animated as a scientist avatar) walking the viewer through their entire experiment, even testing the viewer at the end. These projects are then uploaded to the Scratch website to be judged.

To finish the whole project off, teams take their findings and design an ecology-based project that they could bring to their community as a way to help the community’s environment and improve their surroundings. Community interactions will be in blog form or with Skype, if possible, to connect our students to community leaders.

While each of these projects plays an important part to the whole process for my students they are not set in stone. Putting together the pieces that can be easily manageable is the key to eLABs success. The interactions within blogging are the most powerful piece. It allows students to express things that they might not do so in the classroom. Blogging allows students to have conversations with other students and beyond. I use EduBlogs as it is a safe, manageable blog service that is free. If the blogging seems daunting (I had 12 going all at once), try having only one and post questions that students can then go on and write reflections.

Young students could benefit with using Skype for the Classroom which allows you to bring the scientist into the classroom. Scratch is a powerful tool but will take a little practice. Try video science presentations. The ideas for a digital eLAB science experience are endless.

The power of this project is not the science but the experiences the student create in science and collaborating with each other to share their science ides. The power is in the engagement that social media brings to broaden the learning from all corners of the globe (my students collected information from as far away as Luxemburg). eLABs puts the power in the hands of the students and THAT is power!

Jamie Ewing @mrewingteach

5th grade teacher

Mount View Elementary, Seattle, WA

See related posts:

• Guest post: On A Mission to Stop Bullying with the Canastota Apprentice
• Guest post: “Don’t be afraid to be awesome today”
• Finalists for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
• Students Impact Change in Times of Crisis
• Educator Combines Biology and Gaming with Kinect to Engage Students and the Community
• Delivering Success through Technology for Students with Disabilities

My name is Todd LaVogue. For the past three years I taught sixth and eighth grade history teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in West Palm Beach, Florida.

I enter each unit of study with the idea of taking something the students know and enjoy and combining it with the material mandated by the state that should be taught during the unit. My students, in turn, create television shows, plays, public service announcements and music videos within our unit of study.

In one of our more recent projects, my students researched and created an ancient Egypt Today show-style news program with news, weather, sports, cooking, lifestyle, historical and music segments. For example, the weather segment discussed the annual flooding of the Nile and how that was essential to life in ancient Egypt through the depositing of silt on the banks, fertilizing crops.

We accomplished this by infusing technology into the curriculum. Using a flip video camera, a digital camera, video editing software and tools like Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer and Windows Movie Maker my students were able to compare and contrast ancient Egypt with today’s society very well. In the end, they had a better understanding of what it would have been like to have lived during that time.

Some of my students are homeless, others are gang members. Over 80% of my students qualify for free and/or reduced lunch. A vast majority of my students have more important issues to worry about than what took place in Egypt 4,000 years ago. A vast majority do not enter my classroom with enough prior knowledge to scaffold learning. It is important I engage students in a way that involves and inspires them in the learning process. Innovative uses of technology, combined with what they know and like have been my hook to involvement and inspiration. My students are engaged in learning. When this happens, classroom management takes care of itself.

We were able to combine other content areas during the making of our television show. We took and field trip to a local television station to discover the number of jobs and people necessary to make a television show. We learned about the various technology used in the making of one show. We were given writing, filming and editing advice by the television staff. We also needed sets and costumes. We took another field trip to a reuse facility where we collected supplies for our sets and costumes. We discovered the importance of recycling and reusing materials in the process. Both field trips took less than two hours each, limiting lost instructional time.

After the field trip, I had the students divide into groups that interested them in the production of a show. The groups were: on-camera, film team, writers, editors, lighting, set design, cue cards and wardrobe. We also selected a production team that would decide on segments, segment order and overall look of show.

We viewed the state benchmarks and brainstormed the best way to meet the state requirements through the use of technology. We researched, wrote, edited, rehearsed and designed each segment to meet benchmarks. This may seem like a lot of work to accomplish. Since the students had already divided into departments that most interested them, each department worked on their responsibility. One department did not want to disappoint the other departments so the quality of work increased as the production continued. We previewed each segment before the production department gave final approval.

Once you complete a couple of these projects, it gets easier as well. Students enter my class knowing what is going to happen because someone they know has taken my class. Once students see examples of completed student projects, it’s easier to get them focused on their own.

I left the Microsoft Partners in Learning US Forum a much better educator. It was the best professional development I have ever received. I look forward to representing the United at Partners in Learning Global Forum in Prague, Czech Republic. I am anxious to learn from teachers around the world.

The link below to the Partners in Learning Network site includes a details on my project including a short video, timelines, rubrics and other resources to help you do something similar:

http://www.pil-network.com/Resources/LearningActivities/Details/6d30a9a3-17f2-4d82-9e54-7ff896e5f39b

Todd LaVogue   @ToddLaVogue

Magnet Coordinator

Roosevelt Middle School

West Palm Beach, FL

See related posts:

• Guest post: On A Mission to Stop Bullying with the Canastota Apprentice
• Guest post: “Don’t be afraid to be awesome today”
• Finalists for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
• Students Impact Change in Times of Crisis
• Educator Combines Biology and Gaming with Kinect to Engage Students and the Community
• Delivering Success through Technology for Students with Disabilities

A new year of opportunity has begun at Canastota High School and I am ready to embark on “season four” of The Canastota Apprentice.

The Canastota Apprentice is an experiential learning program that is modeled after the show The Apprentice with Donald Trump. Student teams are assigned tasks weekly and are judged by teachers, administrators and local business leaders. Only one student wins the title of The Canastota Apprentice and that student is afforded the unique prospect to work with me on development of the next season. I am proud to say that this program has received a great deal of attention including a nod from The Donald himself with the sage advice “work hard!”

One of the most popular tasks was to develop an anti-bullying campaign. The teams were charged with the task to develop a video and message aimed to stopping bullying in our school. This year, teams Alpha and Incredibles designed engaging videos showing what “not to do” and how to react to bullying in a kind manner. The final task culminated in the ultimate two contestants, Isaac Smith and Audrey Soper, designing an anti-bullying organization with membership. Isaac was deemed the winner with the development of his powerful organization “Fight the Good Fight.”

Miss Ragan working with Isaac Smith

As week three unfolds, I am working with my current Apprentice Isaac, a junior at CHS, to write this guest blog for post. Isaac defied the odds last year as he won task after task weekly to ultimately become my apprentice. Isaac and I have become a team of teacher and student aiming to make a difference in the high school.                                                                                                      

Isaac and Audrey presenting their program

Our newest challenge comes from our Vice Principal and Principal to continue to develop an anti-bullying program, created by students for students. It is my opinion that when cohorts present a concept to the student body, it gives the idea validity.

The Canastota Apprentice candidates observed this phenomenon last year as they presented an anti-bullying program to grades 7-12. My business students teamed up with FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) and the Digital Photography class to create a presentation with substance from our community. The program resonated with students as members of our student body delivered it to classes.

Isaac wrote the following regarding The Canastota Apprentice and our efforts:

“As a finalist for The Canastota Apprentice, I had a task to create an anti-bullying organization and reach out to the students of Canastota High School. The Fight the Good Fight Movement was my invention and the concept was to stop bullying from ever happening by going to the source. My plan was to show a documentary about the United States Bullying Epidemic, thereby showing the damage that the bullies were doing. The Documentary “Bully” was recently changed from a R rating to PG-13 rating to allow the young population to see the things they don’t see after the harsh words leave their lips.

I had a meeting with Vice Principal, Mr. William LaClair, in which we discussed several things to take all of the great ideas we had last year and expand on them. On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 there will be a presentation on bullying and later on in the school year we will be having the guest speaker, Layman Hicks, come and talk to the students of Canastota High School. Another item discussed in the meeting is getting grades 4-6 involved to prevent bullying early on in our school.

This week, the high school students will be signing a pledge to not bully and the pledges will be posted on the bulletin boards around the school with a banner in the front lobby.”

Isaac Smith, 2012 Canastota Apprentice

Isaac has earned the title of leader through his actions. I am impressed at his commitment to the program and to work with leaders outside of our school to spread his positive message.

In July, I had the amazing opportunity to present The Canastota Apprentice at The Microsoft Partners in Learning US Forum. It was an eye-opening experience as I was positioned in the role of the presenter, and now I was judged. It was the precise role-reversal for me as the educator to feel the energy and desire to present successfully.

I was mindful of the difficult nature of a competitive event and reflected in awe at what my students accomplish as they compete in my classroom yearly. I decided to write students a personal business letter detailing how each participant was “with me” at the Microsoft Partners in Learning US Forum as I spoke of their accomplishments.

When students are given a challenge, they are more than willing to rise to it and go above and beyond their comfort zone. I look forward to “Season Four” of The Canastota Apprentice and to the opportunities that lie ahead for my classroom.

Patricia Ragan  @PatriciaRagan1
Business Teacher, Canastota High School, Canastota, New York

See related posts:

• Guest post: “Don’t be afraid to be awesome today”
• 100 Educators to Share Innovative Classroom Practices
• Finalists for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
• Students Impact Change in Times of Crisis
• Educator Combines Biology and Gaming with Kinect to Engage Students and the Community
• Delivering Success through Technology for Students with Disabilities

I was so excited to be able to return to the Microsoft Partners in Leaning US Forum in beautiful Redmond, Washington this summer. After such an amazing experience in 2011, I knew I wanted to return. For me, the best part of the forums has been meeting with, sharing and collaborating with so many passionate and creative educators. Last summer, I did not have a Twitter account and thought QR Codes were for grocery store items only. After attending the 2011 conference, I worked to incorporate social media technology in my lessons, extended learning beyond my classroom walls with Twitter and found fun ways to utilize QR Codes and voice thread in many projects, including the one selected for the 2012 forum (includes tips for teachers, may require a log-in to Partners in Learning Network or see the video overview here).

Like last year, after returning from the forum, I couldn’t wait to share what I had learned. I spent several hours with one of my administrators talking about the projects I had seen and the incredible professional development I received. My administrator was so intrigued by our lively discussion of Alan November’s book, that she canceled a previously scheduled appointment and told me that what we were discussing was both “more interesting” and “more important” than her meeting. After discussing his book at length, she immediately downloaded a copy, sent an email to our entire faculty encouraging them to read it and later purchased several copies to pass around our staff. I suggested taking the chapter entitled “Student as Researcher” and turning it into a lesson plan that could be shared with all of the writing and English classes in our high school. She agreed and I have been working on the lesson plan that we hope to make sure that every student in our school receives this coming school year.

Recently, a colleague and I put on a 2 day AP US History summer camp. Our goal was to review all of the topics and skills covered in the first year of AP US History with those students who were continuing with the second year of the AP course. Inspired by the emphasis on gaming that I saw in the many projects this summer, my partner and I designed a two day review camp that was entirely games based. We played password, used BrainPOP, made student raps on the reform movement of the late 1800s (Thanks Jake Scott!), created a fashion show game and even managed to make S’mores with a game that rewarded students as they moved through a maze of review questions with the pieces to make a S’more! The students loved all of the games and had so much fun. We knew it was a success because we had a packed house of high school students who voluntarily gave up some of their last days of summer vacation to review topics in US History! (at right, Kim and collaborating teacher with her students at AP U.S. History Camp)

With the start of another school year, I am committed more than ever to providing my students with authentic and purposeful learning opportunities. As Anthony Salcito spoke so eloquently at the forum, we are at an incredible moment in education. We can choose to be intimidated and overwhelmed or we can embrace the opportunity that the fall provides to each of us in this profession. We can embrace the opportunity to be better, work harder, collaborate more, extend learning beyond our classroom walls, think globally and create authentic and purposeful learning environments for our students.

I know that the 2012 forum alums and the Microsoft Partners in Learning team will seize this opportunity. Our responsibility is to make sure that all of our colleagues, administrators, parents and students do the same. Happy Fall! Carpe Diem!

Kim Leegan  @KimberlyALeegan

Social Studies Teacher, Union Catholic Regional High School, Scotch Plains, NJ

See related posts:

• Guest post: “Don’t be afraid to be awesome today”
• 100 Educators to Share Innovative Classroom Practices
• Finalists for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
• Students Impact Change in Times of Crisis
• Educator Combines Biology and Gaming with Kinect to Engage Students and the Community
• Delivering Success through Technology for Students with Disabilities

Recently, while at the Microsoft Partners in Learning US Forum event in Redmond, I had the good fortune of spending a few days with teachers that love their jobs. These teachers, without exception, are those individuals who think outside the box, they think “what if” then go on to challenge themselves and their students to find the answer. They try new things and push limits; they have the courage to propose new ideas and the conviction to follow through. They teach with passion, inspiring their students and peers alike.

How do you develop into a passionate, innovative educator? What class do you need take? What degree do you need to earn? How much time must you devote?

The answer is very personal. I can’t begin to map a generic route to success as a teacher/learner. What I do know is that surrounding yourself with passionate people is a great start. Enthusiasm is indeed contagious. Open your mind to new ideas. Embrace differences, listen to stories, share and learn with a group. Continue to reflect, evaluate and revise your teaching. Model the behavior you’d like to see in your students.

Attend as many professional development events as time, distance and finances will allow. Become an expert at finding opportunities for learning, such as Edcamps, TEDx & Tweetups. Take advantage of online communities like Microsoft Partners in Learning Network, Twitter chats, blogs, and webinars.

Use social media to stay in touch with other teachers. Develop a Twitter Personal Learning Network (PLN) and talk to people. Sometimes it’s that simple, a face-to-face conversation. Skype and Blackboard Collaborate are great ways to connect face-to-face with educators all over the world.

Welcome the opportunity to learn from and with anyone. The point is, not how you connect, but that you do connect. Often, it’s the moments when you step outside your comfort zone, outside a group of known individuals, that you learn the most.

Don’t wait for motivation, actively seek inspiration. Blogs like Anthony Salcito’s Daily Adventures blog can help start your day, not just with inspiration, but affirmation that the world is full of excellent teachers.

Post note:

I was not one of the educators chosen to be a finalist at the US Forum. Was I disappointed? Well, an all expense paid trip to Prague would have been awesome. However, once I walked around the exhibition floor and really looked at the projects other educators had displayed, I knew I had to be honest with myself. I had work to do. I didn’t let myself get discouraged, rather I am more motivated than ever. Not only do I want to apply again, but also I now have a new community of teachers to look to for inspiration, honest feedback and support. Teachers are wonderful that way.

To all the finalists at the 2012 US Forum, you rock! Your passion and enthusiasm came shinning through. Your students are blessed. Congratulations on well-deserved honors. I wish you all the best in Prague. It was a pleasure spending time with you and I hope you’ll stay in touch. I will be looking to you for inspiration. See you on the Partners in Learning Network.

Kim Sivick (@ksivick)

Technology Coordinator, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, Philadelphia, PA

See related posts:

• Also by @ksivick: Guest post: “Don’t be afraid to be awesome today”
• 100 Educators to Share Innovative Classroom Practices
• Finalists for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
• Students Impact Change in Times of Crisis
• Educator Combines Biology and Gaming with Kinect to Engage Students and the Community
• Delivering Success through Technology for Students with Disabilities

Last night at the Gala Awards celebration we announced 16 educators from California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Texas, and Washington states that were the finalists from this fantastic celebration of teaching. 100 educators from 25 states participated in the Forum in Seattle suffering through the rigors of a judging panel representing a cross-section of education leadership from across the United States (see a complete list of the judges and an overview of the process in this early post).

Below are summaries of each of the projects that will represent the United States at the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 Global Forum in Prague, Czech Republic this November, perhaps best described (given the moment) as an Olympics of Teachers.

I will do my best to blog on these projects in greater detail in the weeks to come, but this gives you the flavor of the innovative, creative and passionate approach each of these individuals takes to their profession.

Collaboration

1st place - Jamie Ewing, Mount View Elementary (Seattle, Washington)

Project: Science in the Sky and Our Backyards: A Virtual Science Fair

Students begin by exploring Earth Systems and brainstorm in small groups to create earth systems based science experiments. While designing each experiment, student groups build all the tools necessary to complete science experiments. Finished experiments will be presented in a virtual world instead of the normal science fair model. 5th grade students will build videos using Movie Maker or digital presentations in PowerPoint stored on a Windows Live SkyDrive so that they can bring their ideas to other school around the globe. Students will build video game presentations in Scratch that are interactive as well as informative. Once data is collected and experiments are finished, groups will bring their findings to the local community in the form of an ecology project to help take our findings and use them to build a better community. Community interactions will be in person but also using Skype to connect our students to community leaders.

Runner-up - Julie Hembree, AG Bell Elementary (Kirkland, Washington)

Project: Kid Lit Movies: Book Trailers for Young Readers

How do you connect kids with great books? In our library, its with movies, thanks to our student-created book trailers! These videos are exciting visual previews of books. In three 4th grade library classes, teams selected a favorite book, storyboarded the content using Microsoft OneNote, and then created book trailers with Windows Live Movie Maker. These movies are used as digital advertising in our library. They are embedded on our school library blog, and on SchoolTube for a wide range of student and public access. In addition, we generated QR codes for their movies and placed them on the books themselves and on other high profile locations around the school, linking the physical book to its digital counterpart. In the process students improved their evaluative and analytical skills, while creating an engaging product designed to sell awesome books to their peers.

Extended Learning Beyond the Classroom

1st place - Pauline Roberts & Rick Joseph, Birmingham Covington School (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan)

Project: Doing Business in Birmingham

Doing Business in Birmingham is a Sciracy project. Sciracy aims to promote scientific literacy, or the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. Students learn to ask, find, or determine answers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences, and to describe, explain, and articulate their thoughts about the world around them. Students synthesize their learning and challenge themselves to generate creative solutions to real world problems. After learning about sustainability in business, students took to the streets of downtown Birmingham to assess the sustainability of businesses in their local community. Armed with informational flyers and brochures the students had created, they visited over ninety establishments to interview and educate local business owners.

Runner-up: Tie 

Joli Barker, Slaughter Elementary (McKinney, Texas)

Project: XBOX 360: the iConnect Project

Using Kodu gaming, gaming vernacular and concepts, 2nd grade students utilized ePals, Edmodo, Skype, and Microsoft Office, PhotoStory, Skype, and Xbox 360 to participate in a global literary book study and multimedia festival. The class connected with over 8 classrooms across the world who read the Magic Tree House books with us and participated in creating multimedia reports and Kodu games to extend and express their learning. When the book series took us to a new country, the classroom from which the book was set "hosted" the Q&A for that book via Skype. The overall result was an extraordinary literary experience that transcended reading comprehension into a cultural study and a global connection that far surpassed the original goal.

and

Sarah Collins & Jo Spark, Moody Elementary (Moody, Texas)

Project: Cans for the P.L.A.N.

Cans for the P.L.A.N. is a campaign designed by 3rd graders to make the world cleaner and help fund campus technology. Determined to raise money to purchase document cameras, clickers, and/or tablets, third grade students started the P.L.A.N. (Proceeds for Learning And New technology). The goal was to collect enough aluminum cans each semester to purchase a new piece of equipment for a classroom. Students divided into five teams for the campaign. Team Presentation created a PowerPoint and presented Cans for the P.L.A.N. to classrooms of students on our campus. Team Advertise and Team Logo used Microsoft Word and Paint to create flyers that were distributed around our school and community. Team Video wrote a commercial to explain and promote Cans for the P.L.A.N. Finally, Team Data developed an Excel spreadsheet to track can collection and money raised. This is an ongoing program, and we plan to make our first purchase this spring.

Knowledge Building & Critical Thinking

1st place -  Jennifer Bevill, LSU Laboratory School (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

Project: Peace Project

The Peace Project focuses on global collaboration between a high school in Japan and Louisiana. Interactions using SkyDrive, Skype, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, Bing, and video/audio editing software are used to engage students regarding international understanding, tolerance, conflict and resolution, and to develop 21st century digital and communication skills that can be used in college and the workforce. Students work collaboratively to create digital media projects in order to communicate with the other school about specific historical events, literature written from different perspectives, traditional art, sustainable living, and everyday culture of interest to students. After learning about the other culture students create a project to address a common issue; an example is producing a PSA on Bullying in Schools. The project has been so inspiring that students in their second year of participation initiated a trip to Japan to meet our Japanese friends in person.

Runner-up - Cheryl Arnett & Melany Neton, Sunset Elementary School (Craig, Colorado)

Project: Let's Go To Disneyland!

First and second graders researched, planned, and traveled to Disneyland, using an Xbox 360 Kinect. The project was organized on a OneNote Web document in SkyDrive in a series of student-determined tasks to be completed by collaborative teams. Tasks included locating Disneyland on a map, deciding when and how to travel, where to stay, what to take, calculating the cost, and how long they would need to save for the trip. Learning addressed educational standards including math, literacy, geography, collaboration, research, and personal financial literacy, as well as ISTE standards in critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making, research, and information fluency. Following the research and planning, students used the Kinect game Disneyland Adventures to take the virtual trip, giving the children a chance to explore the theme park using their bodies to navigate. Students kept a journal of their imaginative experience and created brochures and post cards to send to family and friends.

Cutting Edge Use of Technology

1st place - Robin Lowell & Sherry Hahn, Washington State School for the Blind (Vancouver, Washington)

Project: Accessible Distance Learning of Mathematics for Blind and Visually Impaired High School Students

Mathematics is a challenging subject for blind and visually impaired (BVI) students because it requires specialized instruction to meet their unique accessibility needs. Access to specialized instruction is extremely limited due primarily to a shortage of Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI) qualified to teach mathematics. At the Washington State School for the Blind, we have developed a unique and effective program built on Microsoft Lync that provides specialized mathematics instruction to BVI students anywhere. Our mathematics TVI uses video conferencing to instruct her classes to any student with a Lync client and an internet connection. Specialized instruction is possible because Lync works seamlessly with assistive technologies such as Braille Displays and screen readers; which enables lecture, whiteboard, and other class materials to be delivered in accessible formats (e.g. Braille, large print, and/or audio). For 1:1 instruction, the students can easily share their work, ask for help, or submit classwork to the teacher using desktop sharing, instant messaging, and file transfer.

Runner-up - June Teisan & Alexandra Beels, Harper Woods Secondary School (Harper Woods, Michigan)

Project: Student Water Initiative in Michigan AKA "The SWIiM Team"

Freshwater resources are crucial to survival across the globe, and the challenge is to equip the next generation of environmental stewards. Our Student Water Initiative in Michigan ("SWIiM Team") at Harper Woods Middle School is a year-long grant-funded project that immerses a cadre of urban 7th graders in a host of technology-rich, activity-based STEM studies out on the Great Lakes to foster environmental awareness and build stewardship skills. Central to the work of our student-scientists is BOB, our homemade Basic Observation Buoy, being deployed with a suite of water quality sensors that gather a unique 24/7 data stream. Developed with multiple partner organizations, the SWIiM Team project offers critical connections to expert mentors, robust resources, place-based experiential learning, and authentic audiences for reporting student research --- all vital components for engaging and equipping our urban, minority learners who are under-represented in the STEM fields.

Educator as Innovator and Change Agent

Gregg Witkin, Boynton Continuation High School (San Jose, CA)

Project: Finding Your Voice

Students work with a selection of technology to create youth media that has a purpose for social change. Students are able to create documentary films, animations, music videos graphics and/or audio stories, but with the caveat that it must be about a topic that is both important to them and a vehicle for social change. Students used Bing for research and developed their stories in Microsoft Word, organized their time in Excel and presented their ideas in PowerPoint.

Educator's Choice

Todd LaVogue - Roosevelt Community Middle School (West Palm Beach, Florida)

Project: What’s Up Egypt?

In order to help his students gain a better understanding of life in ancient Egypt, Todd LaVogue had his students create a TV show about ancient Egypt. Using Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer and video editing software, his students researched and created a Today show style news program with news, weather, sports, cooking, lifestyle, historical, music segments. Students were able to compare and contrast ancient Egypt with today's society very well. In the end, they had a better understanding of what it would have been like to have lived during that time.

If you would like to see a curated selection of pictures from the Forum, check out our Facebook page and to see the full “uncut” selection of pics go here.

But, of course, what’s an event without “the video” – some highlights from the past two+ days in Seattle:

Keep watching this blog as I hope to gather some guest posts from the above educators – #PiLUS to keep an eye out!

Regards,

Rob

See related posts:

• 100 Educators to Share Innovative Classroom Practices
• Finalists for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
• Students Impact Change in Times of Crisis
• Educator Combines Biology and Gaming with Kinect to Engage Students and the Community
• Delivering Success through Technology for Students with Disabilities