Connected Educator Month 2014

Connected Educator Month is upon us, and we have big plans with our partners again this year. We think it’s important to consider how far we have come since last October and recognize that connectedness extends beyond one month of the year. Connectedness also extends beyond our classrooms, schools, and districts. We have more Kentucky teachers and administrators connecting with one another online, engaging in conversations, supporting and learning from one another.

Kentucky is known nationally for our ability to bring in multiple stakeholders and also for our longstanding practice of having numerous partners collaborating. Connected Educator Month provides us a chance to highlight the collaboration. At the end of last year’s Connected Educator Month, The Fund, KDE, and Hope Street Group collaboratively blogged about the experience and how we met our objectives. Some of our reflection was focused on the tools and platforms we used to connect, but more importantly, we focused on the impact these connections have on students.

For 2014, we will continue the emphasis of connecting to improve student learning, and we will also emphasize the importance of considering how community leaders, business leaders, and education leaders work together to impact students.

Each day in October, we will highlight one connected educator, and we will also provide a few suggestions each day for how you can participate in connected educator month. Stay tuned and get connected!

Want to participate? Consider:

• Following our blog daily where we will highlight a different educator each day in October
• Attending our Innovate: Education Summit on October 21

Kentucky Connected Educator Day 19

Thom Coffee
Instructional Supervisor

Eminence Independent Schools

In what way(s) are you a connected educator?

I regularly use multiple forms of technology to connect with educators and thinkers both across the country and internationally.  I often collaborate with educators and leaders via Google Hangout, Skype and FaceTime.  I use Twitter to connect with educators, authors, leaders and thinkers around the world.  I frequently participate in Twitter chats as a way to converse with and connect with educators who have similar interests and passions.  Additionally, I stay connected with educators around the world by reading the blogs of my favorite education thinkers.


How does being connected impact your practice?

Technology has allowed me to widen my network.  No longer are we limited by geography.  I have been able to converse and collaborate with people that I otherwise would not have been able to.
Additionally, we have used technology to connect with folks around the country for professional development and collaboration.  I have been able to bring in educators who I have met and connected with through social media to collaborate with our staff in Eminence.  Connecting with others through technology has allowed us to expand our teaching candidate pool as well.  We advertise openings on social networks, and I have conducted several interviews over the past few years with candidates in other areas of the country who would normally not be able to come in for an interview.  Perhaps the biggest impact has been in the wealth of information out there that has challenged my thinking and made me question everything about the practice of teaching.


How does being connected impact you as a professional?

Profoundly.  I have been able to connect with individuals who, like me, see the need to push the boundaries of public education.  I firmly believe schools need to be reinvented to meet the needs of the 21st century learner.  Being able to connect with people who are leading the way in other districts, states and countries has been an invaluable resource as we innovate in Eminence, Kentucky.  I more connected to those at universities pushing the boundaries of our thoughts and those in the districts and schools that are carrying out innovative ideas.  It is certainly reassuring to know that others are actively pursuing creating a different education for kids.  At the same time, it is valuable to bounce ideas off of people that will lend a critical ear and provide feedback. Sure, we can accomplish all of that with technology to connect us, but technology has been an accelerant to the fire in my work in Eminence.



What advice or resources would you recommend to colleagues interested in becoming connected?

Getting started can seem difficult or be intimidating at first.  There is such a wide variety of tools out there and a great number of people to connect to.  My biggest piece of advice is to start somewhere. When I hear people say they don’t have time to be on Twitter or to Skype/GoogleHangout etc., I have to laugh a little.  Were there people who said, “I don’t have time to us a telephone, so I’ll stick with the pony express?"  Start by forming a small network using one tool that you really like.  Lurk for a while and test out the water.  Talk to connected friends and find a blog or two that you find informative.  Set up an RSS feed and soon you will have a wealth of news geared to your interests waiting for you every morning.

BIO:  Mr. Thom Coffee serves as the Instructional Supervisor and an E-magineer for Eminence Independent Schools in Eminence, KY where he has helped to launch the School on F.I.R.E. (Framework of Innovation for Reinventing Education).  The model was recognized as one of the country’s most innovative ideas, winning the Peak Award from KSBA and the Magna Award at the National School Board Conference in April 2013.  Prior to joining the team in Eminence Coffee was an award-winning teacher in Shelby County Public Schools and a Highly Skilled Educator with the Kentucky Department of Education.
Twitter: @thomcoffee  #schoolonfire
Blog: www.schoolonfire.com
Google Plus: Thom Coffee

The New "Buzz" Word

The New “Buzz” Word

By: Karen Handlos

Innovation seems to be the new “buzz” word in education. How can teachers become more innovative in their practices so that students are truly learning their content and translating it into practice beyond the classroom?

According to the U.S. Department of Education, innovation is the spark of insight that leads a scientist or inventor to investigate an issue or phenomenon. Innovation is driven by a commitment to excellence and continuous improvement. Innovation is based on curiosity, the willingness to take risks, and experimenting to test assumptions. Innovation is based on questioning and challenging the status quo. It is also based on recognizing opportunity and taking advantage of it (www.ed.gov).

Innovation can be displayed in many forms. For some it may mean incorporating the use of technology into student learning, creating schedules that maximize student learning time as well as teacher collaboration time, performance tasks created by and for students, various classroom configurations, multiples measures of student assessments, students that are highly engaged in learning; making and applying real-world connections and so on.

Within a classroom it is important for innovation to start with knowledge of the students with whom teachers are working. The knowledge grows into pedagogical techniques and strategies that “hook” students into their learning, meets and challenges students where they are, and creates avenues for them to want to learn more and do more.

Students also need to understand the “why” to their learning; its importance and relevance to the real-world. When they do they begin to connect with their learning and apply it to their lives. They become actively engaged within the learning process and they begin to critically think and question their learning. They create a desire to not just know the content but to make relevance of it, retain it and use it to solve new problems and create new solutions.

"Immerse your students. Let them see it, feel it, engage with it, create something with it, and learn to love it. Find hands-on experiences that bring together their imagination, your passion, their passion, and their learning. Students don’t mind hard work if they connect with it." -Doug Bergman 2011

As the new school year is underway, think about ways to shift the learning in your classroom this year; from a culture of compliance to one of questioning, dialogue, and inquiry.