Linn-Mar's Fish Bowl

Every day we are more connected than ever.  Social media, twenty-four hour a day news channels, on-line newspapers, blogs, Twitter, Instagram, Periscope, and Facebook fill our in-boxes, and phones with oodles of information.  This can be convenient, amazing, overwhelming, and terrifying all in the same breathe.  If you are someone who embraces technology or fears technology, I encourage you to visit with Dana Lampe, Linn- Mar High School Technology Integration Coach.

Dana Lampe can usually be found in Linn-Mar High School’s media center, or The Fish Bowl.  What is the Fish Bowl?  The Fish Bowl is for all teachers wanting to learn more about using technology in their classes. The sessions are short, 30 minutes, in hopes that you will be able to take a little bit of time out of your week to improve your technology skills. 

Dana is extremely comfortable with not only researching and learning any and every technology tool for students to use, but also, tools, apps, and technology for teachers to use in direct instruction, to not only make the content more relevant, but also to help them manage student assessment, and feedback. 

Dana is truly a life-long learner.  I have observed her share technology training with teacher leaders, and high school staff.  Dana’s recent project, The Fish Bowl, came from the Korean International School.  Using an online conference call program called Zoom, Dana, and several colleagues in her UNI Technology Course: Leading Change through Instructional Technology, were able to connect with the folks who started a Fish Bowl in 2014 at the Korean International School.

Dana was inspired to be a change agent in the use of technology at Linn-Mar High School.  She gets her ideas from her building tech committee, and ideas that staff has requested, as well as blogs she follows.

To see what’s on the docket at The Fish Bowl this week click here

Technology Integration Coaches Rock Teacher Leadership

“The principal goal of education is to create men and woman who are capable of doing new things, not repeating what other generations have done.”

~Jean Piaget

Linn-Mar's Technology Integration Coaches presenting to teacher leaders at a recent meeting.

Linn-Mar has five coaches specifically tagged to integrate technology into teacher’s classrooms.  These five individuals work with teachers in grades PK-12^th.  Dana Lampe is assigned to the High School.  Todd Lane collaborates with Excelsior Middle School and Oak Ridge Middle School.  At the elementary we have three coaches:  Karla Koenen, Ryan Gotto, and Jessica Zimmerman.  They cover all seven elementary schools.

Recently, our coaches traveled to Des Moines, Iowa to the ITEC Conference.  They brought back a myriad of ways for teachers to integrate technology and technology tools into daily instruction and curriculum.  The impact their presentation will have on direct instruction and student engagement is prodigious.

Today we had the opportunity to observe the TICS (Technology Integration Coaches) present their learning to fellow teacher leaders.  The TICS provided information on how to navigate the tools as well as practical application for teachers to use in classrooms.  

Green Screens, Sway, Office Snip. App Smashing, ScreenCastify, and Coding were all hot topics of discussion from the TICS presentation.  All of these topics are timely as educators strive to foster more creative thinking in our students.  We know we want them to do more than just spit back information.

If you are classroom teacher at Linn-Mar, and are interested in increasing student engagement, book an appointment with your building TIC.  You’ll be so glad you did. 

To contact our Technology Integration Coaches Click Here

The Building Blocks of Research

On a brisk, Friday afternoon, one might imagine students in a classroom watching the clock tick the final 90 minutes of the day away.  I can think of many Hollywood movies that this happens.  At Linn-Mar High School this is NOT the case.  On a recent visit to Jeanne Turner's AP Psych class,  I was schooled on the scientific method, operational definitions, and several facets of psychological research.

Before the lesson even started, students were engaged in meaningful conversation discussing the previous night's homework.  As they shared their "a-has," Ms. Turner worked the classroom checking for understanding and answered questions.  The verbal feedback Ms. Turner offered pushed students to think beyond the surface.  Ms. Turner provided students with the opportunity to learn that hearing the word "no" is not a bad thing.  You can get valuable feedback and information from the wrong answer.

Students completed several tasks during the 90 minute block of learning.  Students were asked to identify, discuss, and know the differences between confirmation bias, overconfidence, operational definitions, replication, and controlled variables.  Students learned the importance of seeing evidence, not just anecdotal information.  They were given some clues on how to have healthy skepticism.

My favorite task of the day was the Lego Activity.  During this portion of the lesson students had ten minutes to work in groups to create a structure from a bag of random Legos.  They also had to provide exact directions of how to create the structure for another group to replicate.   Most groups built their structures first and then created directions.  As groups finished their structures, Ms. Turner photographed the creation and posted the photos on Twitter.  Groups rotated, and tried to follow directions to replicate the structure.  Groups had 5 minutes to follow the directions.  As groups checked their work on Twitter, they debriefed with reflection questions.  They self-assessed their ability to replicate the structure, and how the task tied into currently discussed research topics.

Again, the conversations students were have at 3:00 on a Friday afternoon were astounding.  What they found was that specific directions were vital to exact replication of the structures.  The operational directions that they stumbled on during yesterday's homework, were resolved.  They needed operational definitions in their directions.  Ms. Turner gave students the building blocks of research to help them complete the Lego Activity.

Not only, did Ms. Turner engage students on a Friday afternoon, she took time after class to visit with me, ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON.  She answered my questions, and helped me think of how I can use similar learning strategies with students and teachers.  As I reflected on my observation of Ms. Turner's class, I wished I could time-travel back ten years and re-write my thesis statement for my Master's degree.

Linn-Mar is lucky to have Jeanne Turner along with 34 additional model teachers with whom staff, students, and administrators can collaborate.  If you haven't had a chance to schedule a model teacher visit I highly encourage you to visit our model teacher website and get one schedule today.


Click here to visit our Linn-Mar Model Teacher website.

Coaching with Coaches

Technology Integration Coach, Karla Koenen, co-teaches with Kim Sheehan, utilizing a SMARTBOARD at Wilkins Elementary.  Mentor Coach, Carol Kesl, observes Kim as a new teacher.

Last year the Linn-Mar district spent eight days in Cognitive Coaching^SM training with Chrysann McBride from Thinking Collaborative. This training provided our full time coaches, and principals with tools, language, and questioning to help them work with teachers, students, and staff.  The intent of cognitive coaching training is to produce self-directed persons with the cognitive capacity both independently and as members of a community.  Research indicates that teaching is a complex intellectual activity and that teachers who think at higher levels produce students who are higher achieving, more cooperative, and better problem solvers.

These eight days impacted our district so much that our two program coordinators took Advanced Cognitive Coaching^SM training during the summer of 2015 in Minnesota.  Erin Watts and Debra Barry are the TLC Program Coordinators.  They are both in the process of becoming agency trainers, to help them train the Linn-Mar District.  Chrysann McBride from Thinking Collaborative is helping train them over the course of the 2015-20017 school years.   

Last year was spent on get all positions up in the air and running, as well as training for teacher leaders.  At the end of the year survey data revealed some coaching happening, but the coordinators knew they wanted more.  The focus of year two is to keep building capacity, increase use of district-wide model teachers, and provide teachers with support and tools to impact teaching and learning for them and students. 

Erin and Debra have been observing coaches in their craft, and having reflective conversations with instructional coaches, mentor coaches, and technology integration coaches.  The learning has been beneficial to both the coaches, and Erin and Debra.  The conversations are an opportunity to practice paraphrasing, mediative questions, and work through coaching maps.  As we embed these skills into our daily practice, we are helping each other to produce new thinking and become self-managing, self-monitoring, and self-modifying individuals.  We truly all hold the capacity within to problem solve.  We sometimes get stuck and just need the right question to get our brains thinking from a different perspective.  Each month Erin and Debra will observe and coach with the full time release coaches.  They have currently divided the list of coaches in half to observe and coach and will switch groups at the semester. 

Debra has just completed co-training Days 1-4 of Cognitive Coaching^{SM with} Chrysann McBride.  Twenty-six Linn-Mar teachers, coaches, and administrators participated in the training.  It was exciting for Debra, Erin, and Chrysann to see a second group go through the training.  It will be even greater to see the impact on the teachers, classrooms, and schools, as more and more staff participate in trainings.

Tina Oberbroeckling and Marta Pumroy coaching during Days 1 and 2 of CC.

Four more days of training are planned for spring, so Erin can begin her co-training.  And Days 5-8 of Cognitive Coaching^SM training will be set for next year.  The coordinators are excited to see the impact coaching will have on Linn-Mar's program year two.

If your school would like to participate in Cognitive Coaching^SM 

at Linn-Mar Register here