Issue: 8.21

June 3, 2014

Edthena

Reflection, improvement and plans for a whole new start are gifts of ending a school year and beginning a new one. As most of us are closing out the 2013-2014 school year, summer offers an amazing opportunity to reflect on our practice. The Professional Learning Network (PLN) culture has definitely helped teachers to collaborate on planning and opens the door to trusting colleagues to be partners in the education process rather than competitors. We are all in the business of educating all students in our schools and the best gift we can give our students is to hone our skills with collegial support. There are so many ways to help each other: developing Learning Labs where we invite others into our rooms to observe and critique for success, plan lessons together, deliver them and discuss the differences. This week in "tuesdays" I would like to share the potential for the most profound impact that can be made if we are willing to really put our practice on the table.

A creative website

Edthena is an online social network that affords video coaching anytime and from anywhere. Edthena was born from in-the-trenches experiences of teachers seeking support at the right times. The founders, Adam Geller and David Weldon believe that technology can and should play a part in affective positive change in the educational system. Helping teachers to become great teachers is the motivation. Edthena brings observation and feedback online through recorded videos and specialized collaboration tools for coaches and colleagues.

An encouragement

It is hard to watch myself on a video while teaching a lesson. It's definitely not the way I picture the lesson in my mind, but if I am honest, I will make immediate improvements if I could actually see myself through the eyes of my students. Being recorded is the #1 gift you can give yourself if you are serious about becoming a teacher of excellence. Video allows teachers to observe themselves and have access to the same information as the observer. Video also allows multiple people, including the teacher, to interact with the same evidence. In Edthena, all observers have interactive tools for comments and suggestions with the design for improvement. I know how difficult it may be to move to recording a video of your teaching practice, but even if your school doesn't consider Ethena as the means to observe through video, I want to highly encourage you to create a video of your teaching practice next year. It will definitely make you a better teacher.

How do you do that?

How can Ethena be used to improve teaching? It takes all the elements of teaching and coaching and packages them into a beautiful interactive interface. We are beginning to use Edthena on our Discovery Education Professional Development team and its potential is huge. The steps are quite simple.

Ethena is definitely worth studying over the summer and bringing to the appropriate district or school level personnel who valuable teacher leadership and professional growth.

What is "tuesdays with Karen"?

"tuesdays with Karen" is a weekly newsletter/blog designed to encourage, equip and empower teachers to be creative with educational technology. Please add your technology comments to my

"tuesdays with Karen" blog.

As always, I am
Ubiquitously yours,
Karen

Karen C. Seddon
www.ecubedcreative.com
tuesdayswithkaren.blogspot.com
tuesdayswithkaren@gmail.com
http://the16-9movement.blogspot.com/
www.one16pray.com
www.aw180days.com
seddonk - Skype

In This Issue

A creative website

An encouragment

A proverb

"Teaching creates all other professions."

Author Unknown

An image to share

Karen is being recorded while coaching.

Favorite websites ...

Edthena
Edutopia
New Vista for Learning
TenMarks
Canva
GoogleScienceFair
TpT
Magic Educator
Curriculum 21
Spotlight on Strategies
Infographics Kit
Education Portal
Narrable
Hastings iBook
Answer Garden
MLK, Jr. video
Top Teaching
Kathy Shrock - iPad
Google Science Fair
New Teacher Central
Conchita Espinosa
SOS - Spotlight on Stragegies
Visuwords
Blendspace
Symbaloo
The Teaching Channel
Discovery Education
Yummy Math
Schoology
Project RED
QR Code Treasure Hunt
Blooms Taxonomy
Pay It Forward Foundation
Pecha Kucha
Remind101
Bammy Awards
File Pigeon
Haiku Deck
Power2Teach
Answer Garden
Fair Use Evaluator
CBL
Reach Out & Read
Digital Learning Day
Kathy Schrock
PhotoPeach
Google's Cultural Institute
Screen O'Matic
Rock Our Word
KenKen
Media Literacy Clearinghouse
Read, Write, Think
Tech4Learning
Student Voice
iAppinar
Paper blogging
John Kyrk's Biology
Multiple Intelligence Test
CA Media Festival
US Census map
Skype in the Classroom
Talk to Me

IZZIT

Splashtop
Rock-It speakers
Scale of the Universe
iPad Livebinder
Bibme

Boom Writer

Edmodo
Search-Cube
Not On the Test

The King Center
FIZZ

Calculation Nation

The Open University

Common Craft - QR codes 7 Billion