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Virginia Society for Technology in Education

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3 Things Virginia Elementary Teachers Might Not Know About The New Computer Science Standards

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There are new computer science standards for Virginia. Many teachers are nervous, but also excited to prepare students for the future. Below are a few takeaways from the recent presentation from CodeVA’s Rebecca Dovi which was posted on Youtube.

#1 The Need, and Virginia taking the lead!

It is really important to start with how Virginia has the highest number of jobs in computer science and cybersecurity in the U.S! Depending on the time of year there can be between 40,000-44,000 open computer science jobs, and 37,000-40,000 open cybersecurity jobs in Virginia. Wow!

#2 The strands for the new standards

Elementary teachers already have a lot to teach. The good news is that as the standards were developed into strands, the focus was to tie them into existing content that is taught in classrooms currently. An easy example is how Math teachers can incorporate instruction on programming loops when they are teaching about patterns.

#3 So how will all of this be implemented?

There will not be another standardized test! Whew! School divisions will have a number of choices. It is important to note that this is the first big change in terms of adding to public education since P.E. was added a century ago. That being said, you will see these standards implemented alongside of core instruction where they fit.

Don’t Fear!

Again, the standards for elementary are designed to go along with the core instruction that teachers are already trained to do. Coaches, like me, are thrilled to help teachers get started.

In addition, CodeVa, an educational non-profit, provides training and outreach to support computer science in Virginia. You can learn more about CodeVA by visiting their website.

Written by Tim Bakner. Tim is an Instructional Coach with Virginia Beach City Public Schools. He uses student-centered and teacher-centered approaches in instructional coaching to transform education in K-5. Tim has written curriculum for Virginia Beach City Public Schools, is recognized as a leader in his division for developing and providing teacher professional development, and is a frequent presenter at the VSTE Conference.

You can follow Tim on Twitter @timbakner or visit his website at timbakner.com

Ed Tech Magic for Real World Sci-Phy Learning

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"Yes!"

"Let's do it!"

"We want to try this!"

"I saw this cool thing on Twitter and I am going to try it with my kids tomorrow!"

Two students working on a science experimentThese answers are the phrases that every instructional coach craves to hear from the teachers in her school, especially when they are accompanied by passion for learning, contagious smiles, and positive attitude. Mr. Ryan Kurpiel and Mrs. Jenn Vedder are the educators who serve a healthy dose of their enthusiasm for learning every day to their students in their Sci-Phy (Science and Physical Education), Biology, and Health and Physical Education courses at Bayside High School in Virginia Beach, VA.

Jenn Vedder, a health and physical education teacher, and Ryan Kurpiel, a science teacher, are a dynamic team in their first year of co-teaching a course that combines biology and health and physical education curricula. The concept is rooted in the simple fact that teaching cross-curricular courses like this helps create more authentic and deeper learning experiences for students.

"As teachers, we are given the task of helping our students become 21st Century learners and to do that, we need to change the way we teach to meet our students' needs", explains Mrs. Vedder. Mrs. Vedder and Mr. Kurpiel have found what seems to be the perfect balance of tech-intensive projects and device-free learning.

Each lesson in their Sci-Phy class includes a carefully planned combination of individual and small group activities that Students gathering data on a cow at the farm.effectively incorporate student voice and choice. For example, Mrs. Vedder framed one of the projects with student choice options as a game of Fortnite with Google Slides. Talk about generating student interest! Mr. Kurpiel tasked the students with showing what they know about infectious diseases by designing a brochure with a publishing tool of their choice and incorporating the information into a patient and medical professionals interaction skit. The students were the main decision makers on the requirements of the project and excellent peer reviewers. The 9th graders recorded their CPR practice sessions and posted those videos on a shared Padlet for review. Another time, Mr. Kurpiel and Mrs. Vedder pushed the limits of the schoolís Wi-Fi when they took their students on a treasure hunt around the campus with virtual submission checkpoints through Actionbound App.

This lesson was a cross-curricular activity to prepare the students for the field trip to the local cattle farm. The focus for health curriculum was disaster preparedness. At the same time, the students showed mastery of objectives on orienteering for Advanced Placement Human Geography and lifesaving skills and the use of antiseptics vs. antibiotics for Biology. Often, the students are the experts in room and the teachers and the classmates are their grateful audience. How could anyone not get excited for a

Student demonstrating a yoga pose.

student-led lesson on yoga or a Taekwondo practice with a nationally ranked Taekwondo Black Belt? However, the list of examples of effective use of Google Apps for Education, FlipGrid, Padlet, MySimpleShow, Canva, Piktochart, Schoology, and

many more educational technology resources does not fully describe how much fun Mrs. Vedder's and Mr. Kurpiel's students have while learning and making important real-life connections with the community and each other.

The most inspiring part of these teachers' approach to their instruction is how much they plan for the needs of the whole child. Brain breaks, team building, social-emotional development, new community experiences and field trips do not always require technology, but they do certainly require teachers who work tirelessly and creatively for the well-being of their students. Moreover, the pride and joy that Mrs. Vedder and Mr. Kurpiel have for their students shine through in every one of their Google Photos albums, every newsletter, and every Tweet. It is quite hard to believe that both of these exceptional individuals are finishing their third year as full-time teachers! As an instructional technology specialist, I feel privileged and honored to witness such vibrant teaching with and without technology.

Mrs. Vedder generously shares her students' work on her website https://sites.google.com/vbschools.com/coachvhpe/sci-phy and via Twitter @CoachVedder_HPE. Mr. Kurpiel is also on Twitter @I_Teach_Life.

Written by Tatiana Kasyanik, an Instructional Technology Specialist at Bayside High School in Virginia Beach, VA. Tatiana can be found on Twitter @rus_eng_teacher.

Changing a Mindset to Shift the Paradigm in a 1:1 Environment

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What does it take to survive and thrive in a 1:1 classroom? Prior to my current role, I was a classroom teacher navigating my way through my division’s 1:1 iPad Pilot Initiative. I spent two years immersed in a 1:1 classroom environment working with both 3rd and 4th grade students. During that time, my colleagues and I experienced some of the pains of adopting new technology solutions in our combined efforts to bring deeper learning to students.

If you have ever had to manually update hundreds of devices, search for hours in the shared with me section of Google Drive, or totally revamp a lesson because a website or app wasn’t working, then you have felt theteacher with students sitting on the floor growing pains of adopting new tools. Anything new can be difficult, scary, or overwhelming, but if you shift your mindset to find ways that technology can make you more efficient and open up new doors of opportunities for your students, those fears and frustrations will subside.

As I started exploring ways that I could use technology to enhance students’ learning experiences, I quickly learned I was going to have to move past only thinking about efficiency. I realized that the potential impact these new resources of mobile devices, apps, and services provided me and my students would require going back to the drawing board. My lessons needed a re-design!

Our professional development at the time of this transition to 1:1 wasn’t only focused on how to use the new iPads or apps. We also explored as a team the meaning behind deeper learning, and what it would take to expose students to those types of learning experiences. We were tasked with re-thinking about the student perspective. What could their own interests add to our lessons? Were we allowing for extra time to explore things beyond the Standards of Learning? And how did our role get easier as the facilitator of learning when technology could help us better assess and monitor student progress?

teacher working with students on ozobot projectWhile I had learned about SAMR and how technology would offer the greatest benefit through lesson re-design, it was critical that my building principal understood that change was part of the new program. Luckily for me and my colleagues, she supported us with an an innovative mindset through this transition. We were encouraged to try new things, to learn from our students’ experiences using new resources, and to slowly integrate new apps to open up new possibilities and modalities of learning. As much as my students were learning that first year, so was I! Having the support to try new ideas, or to totally revamp what already had worked well, was an important lesson that sticks with me today.

In my role as a coach, I continue to reflect on that experience when helping other teachers revamp lessons and methods, and design for student-centered learning. I have to ask challenging questions and push teachers to rethink their design. Having been through this experience myself, I know that this shift in thinking takes time. However, without the help and support of invested leaders and coaches, designing for student success can be a difficult and arduous process.

Even with great support, understanding how the use of technology can transform and deepen students’ learning experiences can be difficult for a teacher to implement, especially when nothing else is slowingteacher working with student and tablet down. Through my experience working with teachers, I see great success in continuous and relevant professional development, modeling, and embedded coaching and teaching. Providing this level of support gives teachers the space and resources needed for a shift in mindset.

Looking back on that first year within a 1:1 program, I didn’t have all the answers. (I still don’t have all the answers.) Yet I believe I was successful during the transition because I had a positive mindset focused on preparing students for an ever changing global society. I quickly learned during that first year of my 1:1 experience that when you shift your mindset as a teacher and give students more opportunities to explore content more deeply, they will exceed your expectations every time!

If you want to learn more about my continued journey towards innovation and deeper learning follow me on Twitter @Mrs_Demas or check out my blog (http://kdemas.goochlandschools.org/).

Written by Krystle Demas, an Instructional Technology Coach for Randolph and Goochland Elementary Schools. She also serves as co-Mentor Coordinator for Goochland County Public Schools.
Formerly Krystle was an upper elementary classroom teacher and was a member of the Goochland Curriculum & Innovation Team.

5 Doable Digital Citizenship Goals for Teachers

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Easy ways to address cyberbullying, online privacy, and more in your teaching.

Internet safety, online privacy, cyberbullying, media balance, online relationships, news and media literacy -- digital citizenship topics tackle big questions. It can feel daunting to integrate lessons on these weighty topics into your already-packed classroom agendas. But does it have to be such a heavy lift?

It's true: Educators who can teach digital citizenship as a standalone unit can really dive deep into the dilemmas students face online. But digital citizenship can also simply be part of your classroom culture.

It can be baked into your daily routines, messages home to families, informal conversations in the halls, and more. Set a goal for yourself that feels achievable -- big or small. Here are a few ideas to get started:

1. Embrace teachable dig cit moments.

We've all encountered a situation in the classroom that required spontaneous, unplanned digital citizenship instruction: viral rumors blowing up students' social media feeds, drama or misunderstandings in an online discussion, or an instance of oversharing online that you happen to witness. No matter what content area you teach, don't shy away from addressing teachable moments related to digital citizenship when they arise. A little bit of guidance can go a long way in helping students think through the digital dilemmas they face.

2. Find the natural connections to already-planned lessons.

Whether it's a quick video refresher on copyright at the start of a research project or setting norms and protocols for online discussions, short digital citizenship skill-builders can enhance learning activities across a range of content areas.

3. Empower families with resources to tackle their biggest pain points.

Parents and caregivers are hungry for guidance on some of the media and technology challenges they face at home, from kids multitasking during homework to setting expectations for kids' first phones. Print a tip sheet to send home in young students' backpacks or add a section to your class website or newsletter for sharing helpful digital citizenship resources.

4. Talk to colleagues and administrators about the value of digital citizenship instruction.

Break the ice by sharing some copies of these quick-start lesson ideas in the teachers' lounge. When your colleagues are ready to go deeper, you can introduce them to the ISTE Standards for Students and Common Sense Education's Recognition Program.

5. Model responsible digital citizenship.

As always, strive to lead by example. Be mindful of your own digital footprint, educate yourself on the risks and benefits of sharing information online, be a critical news and media consumer, and strive for a healthy media balance. The more you can verbalize your thought process for students related to your own technology use, the better.

Written by Erin Wilkey Oh, Executive Director, Education Content and Distribution for Common Sense Edutation.

This article originally appeared on Common Sense Education and a version was published on the ISTE blog. We feel this information is very relevant to many VSTE members and it is reprinted here with permission.

Security and Privacy Webinar

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Are your students safe online? Are you a division leader with responsibilities related to privacy and security?

On March 25th, Brian Gibbs-Wilson, Chief Data Security Officer from Virginia Department of Education, and Tim Tillman, Director of Technology and Learning (CIO/CISO), Colonial Heights Public Schools, lead a webinar about cybersecurity and student data privacy. Panel participants included Jim Siegl, Fairfax County; Rachel Johnson, Loudoun County; and Louis McDonald, Fauquier County.

Watch the recording below to learn more about Virginia's Student Privacy Alliance, a collaboration of Virginia school divisions that share common concerns around student privacy, and how you can get involved.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has paid for every school division to join the Student Data Privacy Consortium, which is discussed extensively in the webinar. You can learn more and request an account by clicking here.