The document summarizes five essential steps for redefining classroom instruction with technology: 1) Break down existing frameworks to rebuild with new tools, 2) Redefine goals and ensure technology helps achieve them, 3) Get more app functionality by focusing on student creation over content, 4) Embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and improve, and 5) Continually reflect and evolve practices for student needs. The example provided recounts a teacher successfully transforming her classroom with iPads by following these steps.

1. CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF ALBANY
ter
l te ch Newslet
In structiona
Volume 11 Issue 6
February 2012
W h at a r e yo u d o i n g o n T u e s day ?
Support group has sorted projects folks where support group Inside this issue:
been buzzing along just need help with. is held.
Black History Month 2
all semester. We Redefining Instruction 3
have worked exten- You are free to join You can email her at
Biomimicry 4
sively on the Smart- us at any time. You
board. We had folks can determine what spa-
who worked on their you want to work ben@albany.k12.ny.us
classroom wikis. One and how you want
group is using their to pursue it. We
wiki as an electronic have the tools and
portfolio. We have the help you need.
videos that docu-
ment student work Just let us know you
and how they are are coming as we al-
progressing. ways have food. Just
drop us an email.
We have the usual Sandy is located at
projects such as web Abrookin now in
pages and other as- Room A09 which is
Virtual Field trips
It is not often that we has access to virtual coming field trip to Ellis
find a great site field trips. There are Island and archived ones
worth saying it’s upcoming ones as with RL Stine.
worth putting in the well as archived
time on. events. They are http://www.scholastic.com/
worth taking a look livewebcasts/webcast_tips.htm?
eml=TNL/e/20120131///
However, Scholastic at. There is an up- February_Update///

2. PAGE 2 INSTRUCTIONAL TECH NEWSLETTER
Black History Month 2012
Once again we have http:// Smithsonian
collected a list of sites to www.africanamericanhistorymo
nth.gov/ Always a favorite site with
use this month with ac-
amazing resources. Very much
tivities for your students.
Scholastic worth the time to visit.
They run the gambit of
topics and reading lev- Always a good site for teaching http://
els. resources. This month they www.smithsonianeducation.or
have 13 ways to celebrate Black g/educators/resource_library/
Every year there is a
History Month that crosses sub- afri-
theme for Black History
ject areas. can_american_resources.html
Month. The 2012
theme for African Ameri- http://www.scholastic.com/ Reading Rockets
can History Month is teachers/article/13-ways-
"Black Women in Ameri- celebrate-black-history-month A site that lists books, authors
can: Culture and Histo- and activities to use in the class-
ry." Center for Civic Education room.
Biographies This site has lesson plans all http://
done for teachers to use. www.readingrockets.org/
For Black History Month calendar/blackhistory/
2012, the Maynard Insti- http://www.civiced.org/
tute for Journalism Edu- blackhistorymonth/?
cation website cele- gclid=COWR1M_Pjq4CFSIRNAo
brates 28 individuals. dZBp6iQ
http://mije.org/features/ Teacher Vision
black-history-month-
This used to be a favorite site un-
2012?gclid=CKbj-
til they started charging a sub-
fnMjq4CFYgRNAodjXLL
scription fee. However, you can
hA
still get five downloads for free.
Most Comprehensive
http://
Often there will be a site www.teachervision.fen.com/
that we tag” if you only black-history-month/teacher-
have time to visit one resources/6602.html
site, visit this one.” This
is it.

3. VOLUME 11 ISSUE 6 PAGE 3
Redefining Instruction With Technology: Five Essential Steps
By Jennie Magiera
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/01/25/tln_magiera1.html?print=1
This month’s article reminded me a great deal of all the things we learned during our SCALE project last
year. But, here is food for thought as we add more technology.
In the fall of 2010, I was awarded a grant that brought 32 iPads to my classroom. I had high hopes that this
would revolutionize teaching and learning in my class. These devices would help me to create a magical, col-
laborative learning environment that met all my students’ individual needs. These seemed like lofty goals —
but they all came true. Eventually. First, I had to learn a hard lesson: Just bringing new technology in your
classroom and working it into day-to-day routines isn’t enough.
The iPads arrived two days before my students, and I quickly made plans to integrate them into our curricu-
lum. Despite my high hopes, the next two months were less than successful. A casual observer would have
witnessed a sea of students glued to glistening tablets, but the effects were superficial. The iPads were not
helping my students make substantial progress toward self-efficacy, academic achievement, or social-
emotional growth. Around the end of September, I took a step back—it was time to evaluate and reflect on
what was happening.
The problem, I began to realize, was my own understanding of how the iPads should be utilized in the class-
room. I had seen them as a supplement to my pre-existing curriculum, trying to fit them into the structure of
what I’d always done. This was the wrong approach: To truly change how my classroom worked, I needed a
technology-based redefinition of my practice.
Here are five lessons I’ve learned about redefining classroom instruction with technology —whether iPads or
other tools.
Break down to rebuild. As terrifying as it may sound, the first step is to take a proverbial sledgehammer to
your existing classroom framework. This realization was a turning point for me. I would have to be willing to
depart from what I had "always done" or "always taught." I needed to review my program with the power of
my new tools in mind. By setting aside my pre-conceived notions of how my classroom "should" look, sound,
and feel, I was able to transform my practice from the ground up.
Redefine with a goal in mind. When rethinking your curriculum and classroom, identify the goals you have
for yourself and your students. I focused on two important goals: increased differentiation and robust, effi-
cient assessment. Next, I asked myself, "Can the iPads help me reach those goals?" Realizing that they
could, I redesigned my classroom practice around the goals, with iPads as the infrastructure. Here are a few
examples:
• I created interactive video mini-lessons to increase differentiation.
• I used online student surveys and audio/visual apps such as Toontastic to allow my students to voice their
emotions, curiosities, and academic goals in private.

4. CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF ALBANY
Biomimicry
A teacher was looking for information on biomimicry.
Biomimicry is the examination and mimicry of natural
systems by engineers, scientists and inventors The ex-
ample probably most familiar to most people is the how
Community Technology Initiative nature inspired the creation of Velcro. There is an en-
tire area of study that looks to solve problems through
If you would like to contact us: the use of this method.
Sandy Paben
441‐5605 (cell) Ask Nature
Spaben@albany.k12.ny.us
http://www.asknature.org/article/view/
Emer Geraghty what_is_biomimicry
605-1229
egeraghty@albany.k12.ny.us What is Biomimicry?
What can engineers learn from nature?
http://webhelp.albany.k12.ny.us/ http://biomimicryinstitute.org/about-us/what-is-
Instructional biomimicry.html
PAX Scientific
Examples and Case Studies to http://
look and study science.howstuffworks.com/
environmental/life/evolution/
http://www.paxscientific.com/ biomimicry.htm
tech_bio.html
Bioneers
San Diego Zoo A new term that deals with us-
This is always a good site for ing the biology of the environ-
resources. ment to solve problems.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/ http://www.bioneers.org/
conservation/biomimicry/
biomimicry/what_is_biomimicry TED Talks
A great site in general, but this
is a great interview.
How Stuff Works
A good site that starts with the http://www.ted.com/talks/
basics. ja-
nine_benyus_biomimicry_in_a
ction.html

5. • To redefine assessment and differentiation, I employed websites such as Google Docs and Edmodo to cre-
ate a faster feedback loop. These sites utilize color coding, instantaneous feedback, and automatic student
grouping to allow me to immediately analyze data. I can enact same-day differentiation—no need to spend
an evening reviewing paper-and-pencil exit tickets.
Get more app for your money. I also asked myself the question: "What can I do with these devices that
would be impossible to do without them?" In other words, I was hoping to create new teaching methods ra-
ther than just replacing old ones. I moved away from content apps, such as Rocket Math or Math Ninja,
which are very engaging but only address a handful of standards. Once a student has mastered the relevant
standard(s), such apps only serve as practice—and the data I can collect from them is limited.
Instead, I focused on student-creation apps. Moving beyond replacing paper math games with flashy math
apps, students are now creating their own math videos, writing math blogs, and conducting challenge -based
-learning math projects. For example, the app Educreations allows students to record notations on a virtual
whiteboard along with their narration, generating a multimedia lesson or problem explanation. This app can
be used to address standards in all subjects and engages students at the highest level of Bloom's Taxono-
my: creation. Other versatile creation apps and programs include Toontastic, iMovie, Garage Band, Paper-
Port Notes, Kabaam, Popplet, and Aurasma Lite.
Embrace failure. Last year gave me an invaluable lesson in celebrating failure. When the iPad integration
didn’t go as I’d initially hoped, I had the rich experience of reflecting and restarting. I teach my students to
evaluate their own incorrect math strategies to better appreciate the beauty of one that works. Similarly, I
had to fail—and take a good long look at that failure—to truly understand why what I'm doing now works. To
be honest, I know that I still have a lot of room for improvement. I'm sure I have more failure in my near
future and I can’t wait.
So if you begin to implement a new app in your classroom and it falls flat, react by asking yourself what
you’ve learned. Welcome your students into this culture of learning from adversity. By creating a safe, open
environment and by being clear that this endeavor is as foreign to you as it is to them, you encourage risk
taking—and greater achievements.
Enjoy the results, reflect towards the future. After redefining my classroom, the iPads were out all day,
every day. They were being pushed to their limit so that my students could be pushed to theirs. This effort
paid off: 10 times as many of my students scored at the 90th percentile or above on the 2011 state test as
compared to the 2010 state test. I saw students become active agents in their own learning —because they
now had choices about the methods that worked best for them. Kids who’d professed to hate school were
now eager to engage in the classroom. One student wrote in her daily reflection, "[iPads] make me want to
come to school every day because I know that Ms. Magiera has a lesson just for me."
These "wins" were a source of euphoria for me as an educator, but I also know that there is more to do,
more to learn, more to try. Our classrooms must grow and evolve to meet the fluctuating needs of our stu-
dents and take advantage of the ever-changing array of technological tools.
Someone recently asked me, "What do you predict the classroom of the future will look like?" I had to say, if
I could predict what's in the future classroom, I’d be sorely disappointed. I love being surprised by new de-
velopments in technology and pedagogy. Classroom redefinition is an ongoing process, and I can’t wait to
discover what tomorrow brings.