VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

UnisonEDU

Language: A Step Toward Inclusivity

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Written by VSTE Board Member & UnisonEDU founder, Patrick Hausammann. Connect with him at @PHausEDU.com on Bluesky & @PHausEDU on X.

Few things in life can affect or move us more than a great story. The story keeps us held in suspense or riveted in anticipation as we listen or read the events unfolding. When a story is a great one, the pages seem to fly by as you consume the literary genius as quickly as you can, placing yourself in the story as you go. By the end, you’ve lived the events with the character, you’ve felt all the possible feelings, and you’ve reached the resolution. Even if you wished the ending to be different, you’ve loved, felt, and experienced the story. 

Now picture the same story but as you read it you’re filled with a sense of loss, disconnection, and even anger. The story still flows well and you can easily tell it’s well crafted, however, you know quickly it’s not by someone you like or that thought of you. You’re unable to place yourself in the story but you keep going in hopes you’re included, perhaps just on the next page or coming spoken word. Alas, you arrive at the end just as frustrated as you were towards the beginning. You’ve not lived events through the characters nor have you felt anything but the negative feelings that arose early on. You hope the memory of the story will soon fade but know it will likely stay around a while due to the strength of emotion you feel.

Such polar opposite reactions are present every single day in classrooms, workplaces, and even homes around the world. There are many elements of equity and inclusivity that contribute to the stark contrast of the two experiences. Some of these include bias, racism, prejudice, homophobia, sexism, genderism, ableism, and ageism. In a story, elements of these can be found in numerous parts from an author, however, one of the most prominent is often the language used.

Hopefully, one big question you have at this point in the post is, what can I do to be more inclusive and not alienate anyone that reads or hears my stories, writing, etc.? Below are the first two steps I would recommend to begin your journey. It is my sincere hope that they continue a wave of progress that can be seen in numerous large technology companies and beyond. They should also help in expanding your reading and social networks further allowing you to continue your journey past this entry level.

  1. Educated Commitment
  • Don’t try to be more inclusive in your language without also learning more and examining your own biases and past interactions. There are few things worse than performative measures taken to mask a true self that will undoubtedly surface and carve a swath of loss, disconnection, and anger in many readers while fueling the perpetuation of negative biases in others. A false facade will be uncovered by those it will hurt the most. Think and learn first. Apologize for the past wherever hurt has been caused. Follow the great Maya Angelou’s model, “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” Ken Shelton (https://kennethshelton.net/) in collaboration with Microsoft created an online learning pathway, “Anti-racism journey for educators with students,” that would be a great place to start your journey. It can be accessed here: https://education.microsoft.com/en-us/learningPath/8ec7f261
  1. Role Specific Research

Now that you’ve begun your journey to being more inclusive in your language and have committed to ongoing education and growth, be sure to share as you progress. Your share may just be the words another needs to read or hear to start their journey. Be an active ally and upstander calling out and educating those that practice exclusion, racism, and more when you recognize it. Together we can make a true difference and progress towards a world where everyone can live the events with the character representative of themselves and feel all the possible feelings from the story and not the exclusion they embody.

 

Bonus Resource: Anti-Racist Language Guide from the University of Arizona

 

Two Things That Can Make or Break a Tech Coach

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Written by UnisonEDU founder and VSTE Board member, Patrick Hausammann. Connect with him at @PHausEDU on Twitter.

1. Empathy

The one thing that has made the biggest impact in building and maintaining relationships with teachers in my ed tech coaching role has been staying empathetic. My constant standby is to remember where I started out with ed tech and proceed from there. Always remembering that you once knew nearly nothing about the topics and how hard you’ve worked to become an expert can help you to relate to teachers at nearly any stage of technology integration.

There should never be a time when teachers feel a question they’ve asked is stupid, silly, or beneath you to answer. Each question should be fully listened to, clarified if needed, and investigated fully (as needed), and responded to with respect. When possible, be fully transparent and honest about how you discovered the answer and learned how to do the things you’re asked about. If you don’t know an answer or just discovered it, share that openly and thank the teacher for pushing you to continue learning and discovering.

I can assure you that starting at a high level with everyone, never differentiating, and not recapping the basics are all great ways to damage relationships and ensure you’re reaching and connecting with a small percentage of those you seek to assist.

Instead, begin every planning session you employ with an empathetic mindset reflecting on those you’ll be meeting with. 

Where is their expertise?

What have they requested?

What goals do they seek to achieve?

Finally, what scaffolds can you implement to help them each step of the way?

2. Credibility (knowledge & experience)

The second (and equally as important) element that can make or break an ed tech coach is credibility in the form of having both the knowledge and expertise to excel at technology integration and training. It is incredibly valuable if this experience is grounded in classroom teaching and learning. It can be hard for some teachers to relate to and find you credible if you’ve never taught and managed a classroom of your own. If you haven’t had this experience, you should advocate for taking over a teacher’s classroom for lessons and co-teaching as often as possible. Both of these teaching opportunities can cement your teaching experience and credibility for teachers.

In addition to having actual teaching experience, you should be the lifelong learner you implore your teachers to be. Your colleagues should know that you constantly seek opportunities to learn more to be able to better support their needs. Your knowledge and drive to continue learning should take you to learning connected to tech tools, technology integration, and best practices of teaching, learning, grading, and more. When teachers can clearly see that you’re not just a tech person, but a teacher as well (even primarily), your words and recommendations will be heeded much quicker and with more acceptance.

Using BookCreator to organize for Your Classes and Parents

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Written by UnisonEDU member, Denyse Phelps. Connect with her at @LavenderOwl24 on Twitter.

I came across BookCreator at a conference for librarians during a workshop.  Once I attended, my mind just went on overload because there are so many things you can do with this program. Create original books, student created books, presentations, and projects, but I really believe this would be a great way to organize for your students and your parents.  BookCreator allows you to make each book you need with a cover to match. It even has templates if you prefer.  So, you could do lesson books, enrichment books, study guides, reference guides for certain concepts like in math, organize your class schedule, important paperwork, field trip paperwork, collection of student work and the list goes on and on. These are books that will be on your class virtual bookshelf and easily accessible.

Here are three ways you can use BookCreator.  One will be for your classes, the other will be for your parents and the third one will be for you.  

  1. Use BookCreator to organize your lessons that you want students to have choices with, add enrichment activities, and extend learning. Students can also make books that show skills they learned and share with all students in your class to study for upcoming quizzes and tests. Everyone gets to learn, create and share in order to prepare! 
  2. Use BookCreator for your parents as a guide to keep them informed about lessons, information for upcoming tests, how your classroom works, expectations for students and parents, it is a great way for your parents to learn about you, classroom special events and so much more.  It is a great place to organize and house all your school or class newsletters too. It could be a place where all important information is housed like a classroom manual.  Parents could also see the books their children have made as well. These books can even be printed out as keepsakes! 
  3. Finally– you can use the program to keep important dates together in one book, take notes at faculty meetings, or just have fun and create books for your classes to read.

Don’t wait, go check out BookCreator.  Make a free account or pay for one that has even more bells and whistles.  Start learning how to make interactive books to extend learning and understanding in your classrooms.  Plus, it is FUN!

What’s  A Meme Got To Do With It?

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Written by UnisonEDU founder, Patrick Hausammann. Connect with him at @PHausEDU on Twitter.

In my years within education, very few things have helped me connect with students as quickly and well as humor. Humor has the great dual benefit of creating both a sense of safety and connection at the same time as it helps boost retention. Think back… when you’ve laughed (I mean really laughed), did you have any concerns for your safety at that moment? Did you worry about not fitting in or being connected to those you were with? Do you have a tendency to remember things more that are tied to funny moments or to things that are just part of a normal day?

Humor and laughter are a big part of positive memories for many people and students. Why not use it in the classroom when we can? Here are some great resources to check out to build upon the thoughts and ideas that may be swirling around after your reading of the introduction: 

One great way I’ve meaningfully incorporated humor into my classes over the years (in addition to only the best dad jokes), is the use of memes. Memes work because they’re quick & relatable. They present the content in an easily digestible way that allows students to show mastery of their learning and teachers to quickly gauge students' understanding. The added bonus of humor makes the activity both more enjoyable and more memorable.

Meme: One does not simply invade Russia in winter.
Meme: If you cut my class I will look for you. I will find you.

Meme’s are also great within the classroom because they are simple to create and take little time to do so. Even if used only as an exit or entrance ticket, they can prove to be a worthwhile addition. I also found them valuable as study tools, note enhancers, and concept reinforcers. The slide deck linked below will provide you with the links throughout this post, some more meme examples, a templates & resources for meme creation, and numerous examples of meme use throughout education. 

Slide image for the presentation "What's a meme got to do with it".

 

https://bit.ly/phaus-smemes

 

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Sketchnoting

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While it's a form of notetaking that has been around for a little while now, some may not be aware of sketchnoting as applied to student use. This method of notetaking helps to summarize thoughts in a unique way. Originally posted in September of 2020, author Chad Fisher provides his take on this for use with students. Connect with him on Twitter at @Chad_the_ITC.

Sketchnoting is something that has been around for a little while now. This method of taking notes is a little different than your typical outlines and takes a lot more thought in the planning of your drawings. But that can be the beauty of sketchnoting. You really have to conceptualize what you're hearing and make sense of it in order to place it into some type of drawing that can make sense to you.

Last year I was asked to come into a classroom and talk about some possible digital options that students could use for creating sketchnotes. One option that I thought of is called Autodraw. This online tool is part of Google's experimental labs and has been in use for several years now and isn't the only tool online that students can use. Autodraw is a little different from other drawing applications though in that users don't have to have the best of drawing skills in order to make or draw things. You just need to start drawing something and the app will make suggestions as to what it is that you're trying to draw. You just select the closest object to what you wanted and it takes the place of what you were drawing. It's not always 100% accurate but I was surprised at how well it actually worked.

A Sketchnote by Sylvia Duckworth ( https://sylviaduckworth.com/) from https://www.edtechteam.com/blog/2018/08/eduslam-how-to-sketchnote/

The Autodraw app lends itself very well to sketchnoting but doesn't only need to be used with notetaking. Drawings created in the application can be downloaded and then reused in whatever way that is needed or required. So if there's a reason why you need students to draw online consider this as a good option for those who feel they lack the necessary drawing skills.

With the current lack of participation by many students who may be working virtually, Sketchnoting may be one avenue to think about to get students more involved. Yes. Not all students may enjoy working with this notetaking technique but some may. Why not at least give it a try? Even if students don't use the online method and instead use old fashioned paper and pencil they may get more out of listening to their teachers doing online presentations or videos.