I wish I knew, perhaps with more certainty, that grandma's old adages really do apply to today's techy world. Sometimes when you feel that you are behind in the techy world, remind yourself that there are many more who feel like you. Things change so quickly it might be impossible to keep up with it all. Like Grandma said, there's always tomorrow. All in good time.

Lead Teacher Network

The most important advice I would give to someone participating in the student portal network is to be patient (with yourself as you learn about using the technology, with the staff at your school as they adopt it, with the kids as they figure out digital citizenship, etc.)!

Also - pick and choose your apps for what works for you. You do not have to use every app, because they won't all be useful to all teachers all the time.

Thoughts.....

Areas of Strength:

*The 10 Techie Things was great information to take away and implement

*The set up gave lots of time to talk to peers and converse on how to use the material in our classes

Areas for Growth:

*More exemplars for all divisions

*More ideas on how division 1 (specifically grade 1 and 2) could use this that would be beneficial

*If schools are not on the portal these sessions are not as beneficial

*Sitting in division would be more beneficial for discussion

Reflections of Year 1

For those who want to know how to do things better;

• it would be important that participants have access to the Portal to test drive it with at least their own classrooms, versus having training now and access next year
• being able to attend inservices interspersed with using it in schools is a good way to manage learning yourself and then teaching others
• it would be more helpful for Div. 1 & 2 teachers to have their own PD inservices so its more pertinent, useful and adaptable to their division level.
• some more explicit instruction or demonstration of how to use new features e.g. Aviary tools
• there needs to be time to 'learn through play' for participants but we appreciate tutorials to share with staff and students, that are ready to use and for use review, when needed.
• team planning and teaching between classroom teachers or with a teacher-librarian, allows you at the school level to work in partnership, rather than in isolation in implementing Portal features.
• teaching students ahead of classroom teachers through direct instruction leads to students requesting their teachers to use the Portal.
• Template sharing/building together started to build resources we can all adapt or modify for our own usage e.g. Digital Citizenship Plan
• Start with higher grades and work downward, or by matching Div. 2 students to train Div. 1 students in usage of Portal was helpful in building comfort and capacity of students and teachers alike.
• 'Just-in-time' support to teachers who are trying to use the Portal is necessary; access to Portal Tech leaders, lead teacher time in schools and technology resources helps teachers and students to make use of the Portal.

Looking forward, we need to examine which Web 2.0 tools we can integrate within the Portal or web based software we can use within the Portal, as well as developing training 2 minute tutorials for staff/students when they need to learn how to use features of the Portal.

Digital Citizenship vs Lock It Down

Time to Learn All this Stuff

Share vs Microsoft Office