Langwitches Blog Silvia Tolisano

"I am still amazed at the amount of educators, who believe that Twitter holds NO VALUE for their professional learning. Many hold on to the belief that Twitter is a waste of time, used to follow celebrities, listen to gossip and bad hair day complaints. If YOU were able to get past that initial Twitter reputation, diving into the Twittersphere can be scary, OVERWHELMING and participating in this global conversation platform does not necessarily come naturally to everybody."

"There is no question that I am a visual learner. Not only do visuals created by others help me make context and content clearer to me, but visuals also play a pivotal role in the process of thinking about, wrapping my mind around, developing, connecting, and making my work visible in order to share with others. I have experimented with infographics, sketchnotes, slides, and hybrid visuals. I use tools such as: Piktochart Canva Paper by fiftythree Keynote Here are the Top 10 Visuals & Infographics on Langwitches."

"Documentation OF/FOR/AS Learning has many objectives, goals, levels, and components. My work is concentrating on making pedagogical documentation visible and shareable to amplify teaching and learning. I believe that using technology, as a tool, to be able to share best practices, to make thinking and learning visible to ourselves and others, is the key to transform teaching and learning..."

"I recently had the opportunity to be part of a teacher conference with the theme of Looking for Learning through the Lens of Growth Mindset."

"There are different ways to hold a conversation. I am using several platforms/methods to hold a conversation with the faculty of the Shore, Church of England Grammar School from Sydney, Australia. Our topic is documenting FOR and AS learning. We are somewhat "flipping" my school site visit (scheduled for next June) and are using several of the below mentioned platforms/methods and resources to start the conversation around documenting for learning, build common vocabulary and understanding and plan for our face to face time together."

"10 Tips to Get Started with Sketchnoting Workshop - I facilitated a workshop at Miami Device this past week. Most conference sessions feel rushed with only 45-60 minutes to share, but thanks to Felix Jacomino's the genius mind behind the conference, scheduled my 10 Tips to Get Started with Sketchnoting workshop for 2 hours! It gave us the opportunity to DO what we were talking about. Participants were able to practice sketching the content of the workshop as they were learning about sketchnoting! We walked, step by step, through building a sketch by remembering 10 tips:"

"The #amplifiEDU Twitter chat from September 30th, was documented through the lens of a Twitter Newbie through a screencast of the chat- Becoming More Connected, commentated and individual components of the chat. On October 14th, the 3rd #ampliefiEDU Twitter Chat was held with the topic of Documenting FOR Learning. Amplifying learning sometimes means looking at information, filtering, evaluating that information and re-mixing that information, possibly through a different medium, to make that information more visible and accessible to a larger audience. Different people, documenting through their own lens of CURATION can tell the story of that information from different perspectives."

"This post is part of C.M Rubin's monthly series in the Huffington post: The Global Search for Education: Our Top 12 Global Teacher Blogs. This month we are answering the following prompt: Can Social Media Have a Role to Play in Managing a Successful Classroom? As in previous posts in the series, I am examining the prompt from a semantic point of view and ask myself immediately: What do we consider " managing a successful classroom" (and even what does it successful mean)? I also stumbled immediately over the word "CAN" and cringed when I wondered if it could say "Should" or "Must"? Semantics aside and out with an easy and short response: YES, social media can play a role in a successful classroom."

"Your moderators: Silvana Scarso (Brazil), Chic Foote (New Zealand), Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano (USA) & Andrea Hernandez (USA) and Katrin Barlsen (Argentina) While we will be digging deeper into the topic, Documenting FOR Learning, by following the Q1/A1 chat format (see questions below), we will continue to practice what we preach and use this opportunity to AMPLIFY teaching and learning."

"I spent an intense day with administrators (Heads of School, Directors of communication, admission) at the AASSA (Association of American Schools in South America) Social Media Institute discussing social media FOR schools (not social media IN schools). You can find the documentation including resources and examples in this post."

"While my last blog post was focused on developing shareable content FOR schools via social media, I have taken a step back to look at the bigger picture and the different components schools need to consider and gain fluency in order to best harvest the power of social media for them. awareness of the difference between social media IN schools and FOR schools social media strategy for schools social media platforms and tools: characteristics, capabilities, type of content suited for particular platform, image/video sizes characteristics of shareable content"

"There is a difference between Social Media IN schools and Social Media FOR schools. There is a difference between Social Media IN schools and Social Media FOR schools. While social media in schools deals primarily with policies around how to use (or not use) social media in the classroom with students, social media for schools is about storytelling and getting their stakeholders (teachers, students, administrators, parents, community) to spread these stories."

"his post if meant to be seen through the lens of Looking and Documenting FOR Learning from the perspective of administrators or staff in charge of supporting teachers' professional development and ongoing learning. I worked with teachers and administrators this past week at the Bavarian International School in Munich, Germany. Rachel Jackson, teacher librarian (mostly on Twitter) & Kim House, Technology Coordinator (mostly in a TodaysMeet backchannel) did an incredible job in documenting the work over our 3 days together."

"The concept of amplified education is fascinating! The Free Dictionary defines the verb "amplify" as: To make larger or more powerful; increase. To add to, as by illustrations; make complete."

"Steve Hargadon invited me to participate in the Teacher Entrepreneurship Week and asked for an interview to talk about my perspective. With a tagline for Teacher entrepreneurship: Realizing and understanding that the middle man is gone! , I was on board."

"Do you know what the most common electronic device that college student's possess? According to Joshua Bolkan, a multimedia editor for Campus Technology and The Journal, "85% of college students own laptops while smartphones come in second at 65%". If technology is becoming a common practice among our students, what are we doing as professors to incorporate it into our classrooms? How can students use technology to reflect on their work? How can instructors use technology as a supplement in reading and writing courses? How can technology be used to deepen our student's critical thinking skills? These are questions we should be asking ourselves in a world where technology is paving the way to learning. "

"I was lucky to have shared my childhood bedroom for a few years with my grandmother, when she had come to live with us after an illness. At bedtime, she would tell me stories of her parents and three brothers and growing up in East Prussia, fleeing to the West after WW2 and the things that occupied her mind. I was hooked on storytelling. The fascination grew when technology became available and opened up possibilities that were just not possible before. I would give anything to have been able to record my grandmother's stories and have shared them with my own children years later."

"Note taking is a big topic among educators. How do we teach it to our students? What are the best methods? Is digital note taking worse than taking your notes on a piece of paper? I am a big advocate to "if I want to teach it, I have to experience it". Below, you will find my documentation of note taking methods I have used (at conferences) over the years (2003-2015). From solitary notes on paper to digital sketchnotes shared on Twitter and this blog."

"As a reader of my blog, you have followed my journey into exploring Sketchnoting since April 2014. I have come a long way by studying and learning from other sketchnoters: their techniques, their tools, their thinking process, their signature people, objects and metaphors."

"The world is changing in exponential ways due to technology. Education is not an exception. Consumers are turning into producers. Kindergarteners are turning into authors with a worldwide audience. Middle Schoolers are emerging as critical thinkers and authentic problem solvers. High Schoolers are applying to colleges with real world work as part of their portfolios. Teachers become self-directed and connected worldwide for their professional development. This exciting evolution does not leave Business Managers or the school's support staff behind, as they are an integral part of all constituents' needs."