Keeping up with the TECH

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/best-15-twitter-hashtags-for-teachers/

This link leads to a webpage that identifies useful #Hashtags for those of us exploring the world of Twitter. Twitter hashtags are quickly becoming a necessary tool in organizing the masses of information constantly bombarding us.

As teachers, we ask our students to learn by trying. For many of us more veteran educators, here is an opportunity to model behavior we want our students to adopt. With Twitter and other forms of information sharing that are reshaping how we function in the global society, teachers have an obligation to create opportunities for our students and to learn from our students when needed.

Personally, I worry about whether what I have to say is worth immediate and world-wide publication. Kids do not seem to worry about that. I believe that as long as we are open to criticism and able to use comments and viewpoints as growth opportunities, then the risk becomes a necessary one in order to advance and grow in our profession. We cannot afford to ignore tools that our clients are using already.

So, please take a look at this website and begin to gather and disperse information so we can better understand and utilize these wonderful new tools and the positive impact they can have on the field of education. If we do not control our path, others from outside our field will dictate it. We owe it to our students and our selves to risk a bit and push our own learning.

Mahalo to www.educatorstechnology.com for the information on their website.

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/best-15-twitter-hashtags-for-teachers/

Aloha from the 2012 Kukulu Kaiaulu conference hosted by Kamehameha Schools. Please check the attached link for information from this Technology based two day gathering. We have only just begun but the wealth of tools and info presented by Will Richardson in his keynote address is mind-numbing. Mahalo to Kamehameha Schools for putting this on and allowing educators from Hawaii to gather and embrace the challenge we face as educators in the 21st Century and in the most isolated, populated land mass in the world! I am sitting in a presentation about the growth of a school wide blogging initiative at Kamehameha Schools - Hawaii. Their elementary school has all teachers producing blogs regularly as a source of information and communication. This is a grassroots movement initiated by the teachers and school leadership. Their blogs are used as their newsletters and now a means of showing what is going on in class in real time. Their parents are beginning to appreciate the access they have to their children's education. I am wondering which of our Hawaii Catholic Schools are making use blogs? Please let me know how our Hawaii Catholic schools are using technology such as blogs to enhance our students learning experiences and engage them in the learning process. I will be tweeting updates at @4everaloha. Check it out.

Introducing....The HCS blogspot!!!

Aloha and welcome to our HCS blogspot!  This blog is for all Hawaii Catholic Schools teachers, staff, administrators and interested persons  and is intended to be a safe environment where information can be shared, debated, discussed and introduced that pertains to all things Hawaii Catholic Schools and particularly our implementation of our Systems for Success.

I will upload new posts as topics come up for discussion.  New posts will be related to our goals and objectives listed in our Systems for Success strategic plan and may include links to articles, websites and other material designed to foster discussion and dialogue.

This blog will also house links to pertinent information so that, as necessary, we can refer to specific documents in our conversations.  The HCS blogspot  is a respectful forum that gives us another arena to collaborate and communicate about the many challenges, opportunities, and exciting changes that are facing us as educators in Catholic institutions.

So how about we begin with this talking point:
"What are some ways that we as Catholic institutions of learning continue to effectively educate our   students for the 21st century world (one that we are not even sure of what it is going to look like) and infuse our Catholicity throughout our curriculum?"

I look forward to the ongoing opportunity to engage in meaningful and professional dialogue with our Hawaii Catholic Schools educators and people beyond our beautiful islands!

pj foehr

Links to pertinent documents:
Hawaii Catholic Schools System for Success documents
March 2012 Networking for Success Newsletter