Why Napkin Communications?

How do you communicate?

You might be wondering why Kathie gave our blog the title of Napkin Communications, so I thought I would give you a quick bit of background.

If you have ever attended a conference that is inspiring and stimulates your thinking, you know that it is necessary to get your thoughts down on paper. Often it is simply a word, or a question, or even a comment, but where do you write it? You don't have a notebook, no laptop, and you are probably not efficient on your PDA, but you have to get the information down. So you do what I am sure everyone has done at least once in their life. You grab a paper napkin from the table and start writing. You might fold it and stick it in your pocket for later, or you might pass it to your neighbor for a response.

Well, the latter was the situation at a recent conference. Napkins were being used everywhere to share ideas and gather responses. We recognized the silliness of the napkins as part of our communications, and Kathie used it to our advantage. On the bottom of one our napkin notes she signed it Napkin Communications.com. This was the perfect name for our communications and she has now taken it a step further and applied the name to our blog.

So take advantage of your blank napkin and communicate with your peers. This is a place for inspiration, thoughts, ideas and questions. Just jot it down with your keyboard and communicate!

Happy Communicating!

Why Create a BLOG for Alternative Education

I am currently serving as a Library Teacher in the Alternative Education Program for the Anaheim Union High School District. I have created this Blog in response to attending the 21st Century LEARNERS Symposium sponsored by CTAP Region 11 Los Angeles County on October 19, 2007. It is my hope that this Blog will first serve as a starting place for our newly formed Technology Task Force, and soon blossom into a technology and teaching collaboration for our entire program.

21st Century LEARNERS Symposium

On Friday, October 19th, 2007, eleven other staff members and I attended the 21st Century LEARNERS Symposium hosted by CTAP region 11, Los Angeles County. This group was composed of most of the members of our newly formed Technology Task Force. We started the day with registration and a cruise around the vendor's tables. We all found each other inside the great hall and crowded around a table for 10 to listen to the Key Note Speaker (Alan November) who was both funny and inspiring. He brought humor and sadness with his stories about his son’s educational experience. Authentic activities and assessment was the theme that played out throughout his talk. At the conclusion of the Key Note we split up to attend the 1st breakout session.

I attended Alan Novembers “Teaching Zack to Think” where Alan demonstrated several great tools to support Information Literacy Skills for 21st Century Learners. As a librarian I was in heaven. For those GOOGLEites who think that the only solution to finding information is to GOOGLE something Mr. November showed us how to use ALTA VISTA. He also reviewed how to find the source of a website for its authority. Other great web sites discussed in his presentation can be found on my delicious account.

We met up again for a box lunch and discussion on our first breakout sessions. Cheryl Lemke, the luncheon speaker shared her ideas on technology as well as a great resource in TED. For the last session of the day I attended the “Leadership Training with McREL”. The session primarily focused on presenting two other workshops sponsored by McREL a research-based professional development group. What I liked about their message was that they are a non-profit research-based professional development group who’s goal is to make other groups (schools, districts, . . .) self-sustaining. They work to help groups obtain the skills necessary to for education and technology to be sustainable without their assistance. Matt Kuhn, a presenter and author shared with us the newly published book: Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works base on the same principles as Robert J. Marzano’s book Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (ASCD) with a technology emphasis.

The day ended with a raffle drawing where one of my colleagues and I both won a $100.00 American Express gift card. All in all a very good day - isn’t it always when you can say you have learned something new!