This is my first post in a series of posts for the "#CBCSD Blogging Challenge" in our district. 

The Challenge: During the month of November, teachers, administrators, counselors, superintendents, curriculum directors, janitors, activities directors, coaches... everyone, is invited to participate in a blogging challenge. We want to create a culture in Council Bluffs that emphasizes and honors being reflective and sharing. And, we want to use the tools at our disposal to model for our students and our community what a modern reflective professional, thinker, and life-long learner looks like.


I am in my 6th full year of teaching at Thomas Jefferson in Council Bluffs, IA. I student-taught in the fall of 2008 at Underwood High School, then subbed for about a semester (a majority of that time as a long-term at TJ). It was a busy year. But boy, I had no idea what was coming for my first year as a teacher on my own. 

This was me (far right, polo) on my last day of student teaching an Eng 9 class at Underwood HS. Photo by my co-op teacher Shelley Brown.

But, as the saying goes (I'm paraphrasing because I don't actually remember the wording): Teaching is the one profession that gets easier as you go. The first few years are the hardest, and then you find your stride. That is, unless everything changes after those first few years. So, to make things easier for my first-year teaching self, here are 10 pieces of advice:

1. Hang on. No really. It will go really, really fast. Try to get as much information as you can. But don't fret on things you may have missed.

2. Plan, then over plan. It helps to know where you're going.

3. Work with other teachers. Even out-of-content teachers. I was really lucky to have a wonderful co-op teacher help me getting started with what teaching was like. Then I was able to be paired with the perfect teacher at TJ on 9th grade team (it's you Haney!) and she showed me the ropes of content and organization. Then, throughout the years, other teachers have shown me how to manage my classroom even more efficiently than I did.

4. Get to know every administrative assistant and custodian as soon as possible. The nurse is also good to know. But these people keep the building alive. They have a tough job, so get to know them. They will help you and you will help them.

5. Reflect. It doesn't matter how you reflect. You could do a blog, Tweet nightly, *gasp* write in a journal. Reflect on how your day went right, and wrong, and what you can do to be better. This will also help you do #2 better.

6. Work with parents. I wish I did more of this in the beginning. It would be easier for me now. Not that I don't work well with parents, but I don't have my time managed accordingly for parental contact.

7. Keep a calendar. I started doing this way too late. I now have my Google calendar synced with my iPhone. I (try to) keep school work separate from personal stuff (like putting a dentist appointment in my school calendar), but sometimes they overlap. It's worth the time investment to learn the calendar.

8. Put in the work. Every job I've ever had, from dish washer to radio DJ, I've started from the bottom of the totem pole. It's worth it to do all of the work, because it will create a more well-rounded person.

9. Don't be afraid. Of students. Of administrators. Of Parents. They're all just people. If you act professionally, responsibly, and respectfully you will be heard and treated fairly. And don't be afraid of learning! Continually change. Be fluid. Don't become static, and don't settle.

Twin Day for Homecoming Week 2014. 

10. Enjoy it. Teaching really is a wonderful job. Don't get caught up in all of the paperwork or politics. You're there to help students realize their potential. It's a great and wonderful profession.

Oh, and as a bonus. You get to be goofy, sometimes, too.

This post was written throughout the school day - as time permitted - and at the beginning of our trimester conference that started at 4pm. 

A little background: I feel the relationship between a teacher and student is the premier goal and vital in the success to the student's growth. With that, it doesn't mean a teacher has to be the friend, but there has to be a mutual respect and understanding in order to facilitate that learning process.

Hopefully, I'm able to get my students to push themselves in a way that has nothing to do with pure journalism, but as a learner in general because of the relationship I've built as a teacher. The negative connotation that "management" seems to bring is that I should make kids do what I want, make them learn, if they don't then I need to manage them by modifying behavior.

A good foundation keeps a building standing longer.

Side note (again, often in this blog): right at this very moment, one of my foreign exchange students is using Face-Time to talk with her dad about school and classes in general. 

Guten tag Herr Thron!

It's through our relationship that I know talking to her dad means more to her at this moment than helping to edit the yearbook page for corrections (get this: English spelling and punctuation). It's been three weeks since she's talked to him (let alone Face-Time).

This is where the old term "Classroom Management" may come into question. Isn't that a distraction to the classroom? Yes and no. This particular class is an elective, yearbook. Because of this, students are working at different places and times. I often refer to my journalism classes not as "regular school" but jobs. Students have something specific to do; it's all (attention: buzzwords coming) authentic and differentiated. So the opportunity arose, and my yearbook students took a photo of my student and her father on Face-Time to go into the yearbook (opportunity seized): photo titled, "Reconnecting."

She is very happy to "see" her father.

As educators, we know that Abraham Maslow (1968) suggested that in order for students to become productive learners, they must have their basic needs met first (the hierarchy of learning) through five steps leading to self-actualization. *If you didn't know that, you will. I'd say my student's 20 minutes with her father counts in the "Belonging" category.

In 2007, as I was getting my Post-Baccalaureate teaching certification, one of my tasks was to write a 10-page paper. *I truly despise requiring a superficial number of pages for papers I assign. So I don't assign number of pages, we just use the rubric to makes sure content requirements are fulfilled. I suggested that, "to build a relationship is to build trust and confidence while pushing the student to become more successful than they may think possible." *Yes, it's weird citing my own paper. Also, After re-reading the whole paper, I was very naive  I have learned more in the past year of being a teacher than I ever did going through pedagogy classes.

If we get to know our students, as more than just test scores or seating charts, we can then know how to push them to get their best. And don't forget, it's not just you knowing them - it's getting the students to know you. My students in particular, are very adept to technology. As a 1:1 school, I don't take a lot of time to teach the tool any more, and that is a great benefit because that allows me more time to get to know my students, and vice versa.

Today was also one of my favorite lessons for my Introduction to Journalism students, a personal profile story about me. I'm not (completely) narcissistic, but this task allows me to assess information gathering from students, and I know the background information they find without needing to double check it. And, for the most part, I know if kids are misquoting their source.

But in reality, it gives the students a chance to ask me any question they want, find personal information on me (through my wife's blog or this one), and see photos of me when I was their age. I'm not afraid or ashamed of anything that's online of me (I leave a relatively good digital footprint). And it's the first step of the kids seeing that I am more than just a teacher. It's the first step of building a relationship. Now that I've been teaching for five years, and I've had my kids throughout Intro and into the advanced classes, I'm able to connect with them, and they with me.

My students are more able to connect technologically as well, and I believe this is why we need to change the term classroom management to classroom relationships. Students can contact me through school-based accounts via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and school email. In fact, when I'm at home sick (i.e. yesterday), I'm still able to give tasks, answer questions, and help with different aspects of the classroom as if I haven't left (although, I don't always prefer it).

It's important to be able to connect enough to have a student walk in to conferences, after being away from high school for four years, and tell you how good he's doing with his new job at a theater and how he remembers your class in particular because you were "so hard because you made me do work." This literally just happened (I feel very lucky as I'm writing this post to have all of these things just happen).

Oh, and apparently I am currently the profile photo for four of my senior's twitter pages. The narcissist in me is okay with that.

Today I stayed home sick from school. Somedays, you just need to rest.

Of course, I didn't. But, as my good friend Devin (@dschoening) reminded me:

@swift360 By the way, being home sick is a perfect excuse to get one of those five blog posts done... #justsayin
— Devin Schoening (@dschoening) December 4, 2013

And NUMBER ONE.

This post is dedicated to the (almost obvious, but sometimes it's so ingrained in us we forget) tech tools teachers use everyday... or should.

1) Twitter - Perfect for connecting to other like-minded educators, and creating PLNs and social networks. But my favorite use of Twitter, finding new ways to do things through the ideas of others (check out the #madewithpaper tag, and imagine).

2) Email - I know this is pretty obvious, but email has become my number one tool for contacting parents. Not because I don't like calling (I mean, I don't mind it and all), but for my kids, it's hard to get ahold of parents by phone because it may be turned off. But most of my parents have an email address.

3) Facebook - If Facebook is blocked by your district, see what you can do to undo that. Another great tool for connecting with parents. Some of our districts' younger grades have class sites where parents can see progress of classes, and again, make that connection with teachers.

4) SoundCloud - I actually had a teacher today (yes, while I was home sick) ask me if SoundCloud is a tool a teacher could use to record text from a book for a special-needs student to listen back through while at home. They had their school issued Google Chromebook and an internet connection, so I pushed this first.

5)  Wix - One of my new favorites. While my school is partnered with Google on many things (and it's a wonderful partnership), we are able to try new things as well. I actually heard of Wix from a teacher in another building, and he's been using it for years. It's a free website building site. You can upgrade (at a cost) for more personalization, but for his students' photography and video portfolios, it's perfect... and simple. I just recently upgraded my class website: www.cbjacketjournalism.com.

6) YouTube - Another of the more popular sites to block by districts, YouTube is worth fighting for. There are many branches of this site you could use as well, like YouTube for Education. You could also use filters such as splicd.com to get only the part of the video you need.

7) TED.ed - A video site for educators that help "flip a lesson." In general, TED Talks inspire me to be better at life, and these are specific for education and lessons. Sometimes I just watch these for no other reason that I am hooked on watching them.

8) Paper.li - In Paper.li, you can create a "playlist" of sorts of content you want to read about. The site gathers the information you tell it to (based off of tags and terms, tweets, and other content filtering methods) to create a personalized paper for you... and you can share it.

Of course, I have an EdTech365 Paper.li to share with you.

9) Blogger.com - A Google tool I use with my students. I always start my Intro to Journalism class with having the students create a blog. Then, I ask them students to answer questions (to get them writing, and used to writing in it). Eventually, I stop making them use it.

A little Pavlov-ian, I believe. *Ring Ring

10) 3D Printing - I have recently been tinkering with this since I learned it was possible through my Grad class. Not just possible, but relatively accessible! Our district has a printer, and UN-Omaha has one. Right now, other than a select few students (and teachers) it's not utilized by the masses. But, UNO offers students the ability to print what they create relatively cheaply.

Because of this, I am learning about blender.com right now to create some 3D artifacts: namely some flags for our microphones!

The potential for students to use these to create models, tools, or ANYTHING THEY CAN IMAGINE is awesome.

My #paperface is #madewithpaper (by fiftythree.com)

edit: I am using Paper (an app by fiftythree.com for iPad) a ton lately, and I would be sad if I didn't add it as a special bonus. There are many educational ways to use it... it is just like paper. But, it just fun to use as well. I'm hooked. 
What tools do you use every day that didn't make this list? Just add in the comments below!

Oh, and Devin, I got this done before 10pm, so I was productive today.

So a lot of things were supposed to happen with this blog over the past few weeks:

1) a continuation of weekly Web2.0 usage with my Beginning Journalism class (WTFT)
2) Grad School mumblings
3) my normal teaching duties
4) and anything EdTech or school related

So, that lasted about two weeks. Then real life happened. Every educator knows this. But, I had a student-teacher last year, so I anticipated how much "free" time I might have for the blogging and such.

My wife says I'm very thinned-out. And while I do exercise, I'm pretty sure she means I wear a lot of hats.

In the wake of WTFT, I want to simply what I might focus on. With one of my hats being that of Yearbook Adviser, I am organized in a way only I can decipher. So here's a quick rehash of the first weeks of school:

Week 1: Complete. Blur.

Week 2: Blurry, but I remember blogging. And grad class (STEM Seminar) started. Amazing things we're doing in there right now.

Week 3:  Amazing things are happening in my school. I get distracted by the good. I don't blog. But I started something new (for me):

I'm trying something new, not always school related: at least one Thank You note a week. #StayPositiveMyFriends pic.twitter.com/f1P6llaGFB
— Rob Lindquist (@swift360) September 11, 2013

Week 4: Homecoming Week. I got a pie in my face. My school is working hard in a lot of areas to improve on already positively trending areas.

Week 5: STEM Seminar is still amazing. Some great, innovative thinkers. I really hope I can extract some of that knowledge. Sometimes a grad class can just be something to do to move on the pay scale. This is truly beneficial.

Week 6: Yes, I'm teaching still. And yes, it's still kind of a blur. In my 5th year, I'm able to slow down and not get so distrac

Week 7: I presented at the Green Hills AEA 21st Century Learners Conf. I had a great time, and I learned more than what I spoke about. I hope to continue doing similar things in the future. I'm not pictured because I took these photos. So here is what I saw:

Effective Use of Video in the Classroom presentation.

Week 8: There are so many deadlines in the courses I teach, and we are constantly "working" in "real world" situations. I love deadlines.

Week 9: Today. I blogged. And I also asked a student to step up and be a more visible leader in one of my classrooms. Her response made me proud:

"Thanks. And yes that's okay. I like stepping up in class, it's an honor. 

You're welcome."

That was it, simple and easy.

And remember, this is me simplifying it. I look forward to #ModelTech restarting next week, and the group really implementing what we talk about.

I also look forward to being more innovative, creative, and consistant with my blog. Set the bar high, ya know?

In my current Grad course, we were asked to write a "Belief Statement" on why we teach. At first, I thought I could struggle. It's for a project we're doing as a final. It is an Intro to Tech Tools class (and I don't think I'm an Intro student), so we will be adding video and such.

The class has two weeks to go.

I started thinking. And in five minutes, I wrote. It was wonderful. I just starting typing.

In the comments, and possibly for another project, tell me why you teach.

I am going to put the whole text below, but here is the video I created (my professor hasn't seen it yet edit: my prof has now seen it):

I decided to become a teacher because I have experience that will benefit young people. Let me present that information from a different angle: I became a teacher because I was stuck in a job I didn’t like, taking a break and reading the newspaper, and saw an advertisement that said, “Are you stuck in a job you don’t like? Have you always wanted to be a teacher?” And I thought, “yes.” So I dove in.

And when I dive in, it’s full-steam ahead. I’m passionate. I care. I’m loyal. And I truly believe that every child can learn, and every child hopes to become better than their parents. And that’s a good thing. So I want to lead them. I want them to become involved in the world. I want them to become engrossed in their lives. I want them to be passionate.

What can I do? The same thing that every educator in the world can do. Teach. Advise. Mold. It’s a little bit of a power-trip to know that I can mentally push a student so hard that they become angry at me, only to become so thankful that they’ve been pushed that they break down at graduation and write me a letter more fluent and more thoughtful than any “History of British Literature” essay paper that was ever written during the 180 days-a-year I see her. And I can do it 30 times over.

And so I teach. I show students the dirt path, but I don’t pave the road. In the “real world” workers have to be able to be jacks and jills of-all-trade, even if all they do is as mundane and ineffective as memorizing something solely for getting it right on a test, the workers have to be able to relate and live socially. And I can help them learn those skills. What people forget is school is the real world. It’s 12 years of your life where you become who you are. It’s not a throw-away time that doesn’t matter. It matters.

A lot of what I’ve been saying is about me. But realize, none of this is about me. It is about the student. It is about the kid. The child. The learner. It’s about educators and administrators and faculty and parents that want to be involved in the growth of a seed into a flower. It’s not about graduating, it’s about growing. It’s not about getting to the next level, it’s about being prepared to learn for the rest of your life.

So why did I decide to teach? Because somebody decided to teach me 25 years ago. And that person decided to be passionate about it, and it resonated with me. And I wanted to do better than my parents. And I wanted to be better FOR Chambers, Lowe, Klocke, Tilton, Clarke, and Faris, Troutman, Bowman, and Hughes.

That’s why I teach. And that is my belief.

I'm baaaack! Well, school's is back in session (179 contact days to go - but who is counting?) and I am totally ready to rock and roll. The reason for the delay between posts was the flurry of preparation... or something like that. The beginning of the year enthusiasm is awesome; so many new things to try, so many ideas to roll with, and things to look forward to, and....

And I have a student teacher! That's not even the kicker:

He's here all year!

I am excited about this for two reasons. One -  I will get one thing most teachers need more of: time. Well, not yet, but I will (or so I'm told). And two - he comes from a journalism background geared more in Public Relations and Advertising; not my strong suit.

It will be an exciting year: lots of new ideas, lots of teaching moments, and even better, lots of good kids!

You've heard that right? Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Why work so hard on something that's already done? When I cook, I try to keep this mantra in mind - why would I make a homemade pizza if I can order one?

When I was student-teaching, my co-op teacher told me this. And don't get me wrong, I loved her for it. I needed to learn the basics before I tried something advanced. But as I am in the early stages of my educational technology career, I want to reinvent it. Or maybe a better term is re-imagine. 

The evolution of the wheel.

No matter what you think, the wheel has changed. How would our cars look with stone tires? The wheel has gone through an evolution, and it looks like within the last 10 years or so,  education has been doing the same (NCLB anyone?).  Add to that the explosion of technology in the classroom, it's time to re-imagine the wheel. 

10 years ago, I didn't care. I was just graduating high school and thought I would be the next ESPN Sportscaster of the Year.  I wanted to do whatever it took, by whatever means my teachers told me, to get through and move to the next steps. Just get me on TV. I wanted people to hear what I was saying. And I did this because it was easy. I got the Journalism degree, worked in a TV station, moved on to a radio station, and eventually burned out. All within about four years. I was doing enough to get paid, but I felt like I should be doing more. I was in a rut. I was tired of doing the same thing. 

Enter teaching. I lucked out. I felt that this was my way to make a difference (side note: I think I am). After two years of teaching freshmen English, my "dream job" opened up. Now I'm entering my 2nd year teaching journalism (print and electronic media). In order to be happy, I re-imagined how I could better serve people. Now people listen to me... and I think a few are even learning!

The flipped-classroom, one-to-one classrooms (whether bring your own device or a common device), and grading scale modifications (from As and Fs to a 4.0 scale) are all examples of how we are already moving forward and away from the old "one-size-fits-all" thinking. 

But we have to get over the hump. My grad class professor mentioned that he feels that education is the one field where we don't always abide by the research for what is working. He likened it to a surgeon who has heard of this new technique for doing a surgery that has proven to be more efficient, and have a lower mortality risk, but wants to continue because he/she is more comfortable doing it the way it has always been done. 

The Dyson fans. No blades and "cooler" air; figuratively and literally. 

I am excited to be a part of the change. And I hope that someday I can do more than just relay information, but contribute to the growth. I love education, and I love technology; and I really think that the image of the "wheel" will be like that of the Dyson fan, something completely revolutionary. 

What do you think? Do you agree with my professor? Are we changing? And is it for the better? Let me know!

The final project for my second grad class at UNOmaha this term was a website. The design was supposed to be something along the lines of "if you had to teach teachers about technology, what would you put?" and "you need these required internet-infused items" mash. The final project is as stands, but I think I will be tweaking bits and pieces to use at my district as well (if not move parts of this to another site). If the latter is the case, then this is still free for the using.

Comment with tips within the site (or here) if you'd like. Let me know what works, what doesn't, and what you'd like to see a little bit more of.

CB Technology Resources

There are journal reviews, links to sites for teachers, students, Web 2.0, and compilation sites. Really, there is great EdTech stuff all brought together from my classmates (and refined by me).

Speaking of - I had the opportunity to edit information on Flipped Classrooms that my class compiled, and Dr. Topp (of my grad class fame) has created an iBook (for iPads) that should be published within the month. Once that is done, I will make sure to post it here!

Finally: I want to leave you with a post on Twitter I made today (sorry for the narcissism) from Dr. Topp:

@swift360: Education is one field where we don't always follow and abide by new research. Some like things the way they were; & that needs to change.

http://blog.web20classroom.org/2012/07/flippingits-not-just-for-classroom.html

I read the article above as a part of my grad class (Internet use in the Classroom) just as an aside.  At first I thought it was going to be a general "Flipped-Classroom is awesome" post. As I continued (and as the title of this post suggests) it starts with the flipped faculty meeting.

What an idea - teachers getting the information they need before the mandatory meeting, then being able to communicate/deliberate with other teachers in order better their own practice. I love this idea in general - but - I may have formed my idea too quickly.

As I thought about it a little more, I was concerned with when teachers would be able to get the outside, needed information (whether podcast, video, email, etc.) when there is planning, grading, and extra-curricular activities already embedded into a teacher's day. With PD's allotted time needed for development, how can we ask teachers to take away from either groups of time?

But I guess this is the problem for the flipped classroom as well. I know I'm a novice in this area, as I have only been just introduced to the topic recently, but taking the "good" student's time away outside of the classroom could be a detriment, right?

In my school, homework is an option. It doesn't necessarily have to be done (although, in theory, in order to complete tasks that are weighted more, you would need to complete the homework in a satisfactory way). I have a feeling that some of my students won't do the outside work, because of time of course, and thus the period would be used to get that needed information.

But teachers have all of the time in the world, so that wouldn't be a problem right?

So I am a huge Cubs fan. Yup, one of "those guys" that cheers for a team destined to lose (I am an Iowa State grad as well, there is a theme). So as it rains outside, and my daughter naps, I subject myself to the Cubs vs. Phillies. I used to do the fantasy baseball, but I got so caught up in numbers, I stopped enjoying the game. I have been two years clean of fantasy baseball (although I still play fantasy football). But the numbers are my point.

Baseball scouts are kind of like teachers not embracing tech; but they still bring the human element. 

Baseball has always been about numbers: BA, RBI, ERA, OBP, OBP + Slug, Fielding %, and the like. But scouts (old men who go out and "see" how a player plays) are becoming the way of the past. I read Moneyball, by Michael Lewis, when it first came out (well before the movie, which I thoroughly enjoyed). I understand that there are some very intricate numbers and formulas for objectively figuring out who will be a good player (sabermetrics). And I love getting caught up in that, but it doesn't have to be one way or the other.

So I thought about education. How are we using the tools, the numbers, and the information we're given to make "the game" better? Add the technology: the one thing baseball may be missing, and I think we are giving the students the right tools to make the most of their learning experience. Can we make it better? Absolutely. We need the human element to make the technology useful - make the numbers mean something. If we give students tools, teach them the right way to take advantage of them, then we are doing more good for our future (for lack of a better adjective).

Len and Bob (the Cubs' television announcers) are introducing sabermetric stats throughout the season (Stats Sundays), and today introduced and explained BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play). One idea per week will eventually change the knowledge base of the audience. And in the end, isn't that what we're doing as educators?

~Rob