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Book Recommendation: Power Up by Diana Neebe and Jen Roberts

An audio entry using AudioBoom!

Image Source: Stenhouse Publishers

While on vacation, I've been smiling, highlighting, and nodding in agreement while reading Diana Neebe and Jen Roberts' new book, Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning, published by one of my favorites, Stenhouse Publishers. I've added a brief audio review of the book below, and will return to add more information later after finishing the book. I plan to use it as a key source for Professional Development next year!

TECH is Diana Neebe and Jen Roberts innovative interpretation of the
SAMR Model created by Ruben R. Puentedura, Ph.D.

Figure 1.5 Power Up

Resources:

Power Up Study Guide

Plug in Power Up Website

Follow them on Twitter:
Diana Neebe: @dneebe
Jen Roberts: @jenroberts1
Hashtag: #PowerUpEd

Note and a bit of a disclaimer:
I first met Jen Roberts in March 2015 when I attended her session on Blogging at the Google in Education Summit on March 21-22, 2015 following the annual CUE 2015 Conference in Palm Springs, CA. I was inspired by her Lit and Tech Blog, overall body of work, and started to follow her on Twitter. When I ran into her again at EdSurge Summit in LA, I knew that I was doing the right kind of PD, since she was there! While virtually attending the ISTE conference (ISTELive), up popped a Periscope, and I was able to attend Diana and Jen's session on Power Up via Jen's Phone. I was immediately hooked! While taking a class this summer, I asked Jen to Guest Post on this blog, to which she kindly agreed. You can see her post here. Thanks Jen and Diana for your #professionalgenerosity !

This is not my blog? ...I'm okay with that.

Hi, I’m Jen Roberts. Judy asked me to write a guest post on her blog and that’s why I am here. But where is here? Well, on the web, I guess, a space brought to us by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Sometime in the early nineties, while I was negotiating my first years as a college student, Berners-Lee was building the first web pages. Wikipedia explains it better, but basically he was the first to make the Hypertext Transfer Protocol work. You know how all our web addresses start with http? That’s him. This gives us the world wide web, the ability to get to websites, the means for adding links into text, creating hypertext, and of course millions of cat videos.

So why are we here? Now that we know, sort of, where here is. Berners-Lee had an idea about that too. He sees the web as a collaborative space, where everyone can share their information and ideas. We are here, basically, because we have something to say and the web gives us a free and public space to say it.
And so we blog because we can, because twenty five years ago if you had something to say you could write a letter to the editor, hold up a sign, print a pamphlet or even try to get a book published, but if you wanted to reach a global audience you had to do something outrageous enough to break into the mainstream media. We blog because we know that within a few hours a blog post can reach thousands of people, who may or may not agree with us, but who are likely at least interested enough to read our words. We blog because it gives us voice. We blog because we have something to share, rant about, or reflect on, or for educators it is often something to teach. 
I’ve looked through Judy’s blog, here at the beginning of her blogging journey she is writing about her plans, the things she wants to learn more about, the books she wants to read this summer. It is her way of publicly announcing her goals, perhaps in an effort to keep herself focused on what they are. I’ve been blogging for more than a few years now at LitandTech.com about my classroom, the things I’ve learned, apps I like and how I used them in the classroom, reflections on educational models, books I’ve read, things I think work for my PLC and my students, and whatever seems important to me at the time. It is really wonderful when a teacher asks me about how I do something and I can not only answer the question, but link him or her to a post with more specifics. Like when someone asked me, “What is a Google Form good for in the classroom anyway?” It took me three posts to cover all the things I use them for. When I have a good idea and it works for my students I want to share it. The most popular post on my blog right now is How I use Socrative for Writing Instruction.

"A blog is not a puppy."

“I don’t have time to write a blog,” is a pretty common statement from folks when I mention blogging. It’s also a pretty lame excuse for not sharing what you know and learn as you move through the world. A blog is not a puppy. It won’t wake you up and demand you write every morning. I blog when I feel like it, when I have something to say, a question to answer, or hey, a guest post to write. And, look it worked, you’re reading this. Now what do you have to say?

Jen Roberts is the co-author of Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning with Diana Neebe. She blogs at Litandtech.com and also at PlugInPowerUp.com. The short list of other things Jen does is not so short. Just go follow her on Twitter. You'll be glad you did.

Beginning Blogger c/o Boise State EdTech 537

During the Summer of 2015, I am embarking on a journey, to the universe of blogging. While I have put my toe into blogging before, just by starting this site, I believe that this will be my opportunity to dive deep...and explore hidden treasures. These may be caves of learning or dead-ends, that I abandon. Welcome to the journey. Onward to greet you in the blog-o-sphere!