Collaborative Technologies

Last night, on our way to a staff holiday party, one of my colleagues and I were discussing the problem of teaching in isolation.  It is, we decided, nearly (if not completely) impossible to teach on an island.  Being an educator is just one of those jobs that requires you to have friends, colleagues, and administrators who are there for you if you plan to be successful.  Of course, we all know that there are schools out there, for one reason or another, where some teachers have few if any friends or supportive colleagues and administrators.  How do those teachers do it? 

One fix to that situation is using collaborative technology.  Now, I am fortunate to be in a school with people I consider my friends, co-workers who help each other, and an administrator who is incredibly supportive.  However, I still turn to technology for further help.  I have become a huge fan of using Twitter to connect with other teachers.  Twitter is where I find a lot of the articles and research that help me in my classroom.  It's also a place to get advice from teachers, literally, all over the world.  I am following and being followed by teachers in Spain and Germany - something I "nerded out" over when it happened.  If you're on twitter, look me up - my handle is @bmcd25.

I also use a site called ProTeacher Community.  This site is a collection of forums, lessons, and even chat rooms just for teachers.  The forums are where I spend most of my time.  These are split by grade and subject.  This site does require a membership, but it is free to join.  Members can ask for and receive lesson plans, ideas, and activities on anything.  I have found so many lessons ideas on here I can't begin to describe just one.  A favorite, though, has been all the task cards people make.  There are forums including task cards on all most anything, and I use them all the time during center time in my classroom.

I am excited to start teaching students to use collaborative technology as well.  It has made me a better teacher, and I know an understanding of this technology will help my students be better at whatever they choose to do in the future.  My first attempt at this will be using Google Docs.  I chose this because it is free and user-friendly.  Also, I have used Google Docs extensively, so I understand it well enough to teach them how to use it.

While I have never used Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest in my classroom, I have created lessons and activities inspired by them.  Last year I had students created a paper and pencil "Pinterest page" about the main idea and details of a story we read.  The main idea was the board theme, and the details were the pins.  We also created Facebook profiles for characters in stories. 

This year, my next-door colleague and I created a Twitter-like feed between our classrooms using a bulletin board, felt, and word bubbles.  We created word bubbles that were color-coded for each classroom, laminated them and put velcro on the back.  We call our word bubbles "clucks" instead of tweets because our mascot is a rooster.  Students "cluck" to the other classroom by writing on a word bubble with an expo marker and sticking it to the board.  We even have "clucks" and markers available in the hallway for other teachers and students to use.  The kids love the interaction on our "Words from the Birds" board.  While these paper and pencil activities are not necessarily using collaborative technology, they still offer students engaging ways of sharing their learning.