ISTE 2012 Presenter Profiles: Mark Lada

Randy Micallef (left) & Mark Lada (right)

Mark Lada is a 6^th grade science teacher at Sarah Banks Middle School in Wixom, Michigan. Since his school district started a laptop program about 14 years ago, Mark has become very involved with developing the tech program at his school. Through his involvement in the tech program, he got introduced to Camtasia Studio and hasn’t stopped making video tutorials to enhance his students’ learning experience since.

The Flipped Tool Kit: How To Get Started Flipping
Teachers are tasked with many responsibilities. Delivering instruction, dealing with absences, helping struggling students and answering parents’ questions can make time management seem impossible.

In this session, Mark will walk you through how he has used tools from the flipped tool kit to help address these issues and discuss how you can use these tools to make your classroom life easier.

Watch this presentation:
Monday: 11:30AM, 3:00PM
Tuesday: 11:30AM, 4:30PM
Wednesday: 9:30AM, 1:00PM
[Download full schedule]

An interview with Mark:

How does the flipped model help teachers with time management?
I don’t have to repeat myself. When I go over a topic in class, I try to do it in 3 formats. And then once I’ve done that, I move on. So those kids who haven’t completely mastered the concept need a way to be reached outside the classroom. Programs like Camtasia and Snagit allow me to make short, quick tutorials that I can reach those kids with. My colleague Randy Micallef and I work together to make these things happen.

How does the flipped tool kit improve the teacher-parent relationship?
Camtasia, for example, is very versatile in that it isn’t specifically designed for a math program or an English program; it’s designed to display whatever it is you want to share with your audience. So this helps me with parent-teacher communication. Explaining something to a parent over the phone is a bit challenging, especially if it’s a concept they don’t understand. But if I send them a screen shot or short video of my explanation of the concept, it’s a lot clearer and easier for them. They really appreciate that.

Another thing it helps with is when we have curriculum nights at school where parents sit in on their children’s classes for 30 minutes at a time. There’s a lot of information that’s given to parents at these events so by compiling that information into videos, parents can go back and refer to them as needed.

What challenges have you faced while trying to implement the flipped classroom model? How did you resolve those problems?
I used to spend hours editing and putting background music and flashy effects on my videos. It was getting overwhelming. Then I realized that the students aren’t watching my videos for special effects; they’re watching for content. If you keep in mind my goal is to deliver content clearly, not win an academy award for the video then you’re fine.

If you could have one super power as an educator, what would it be?
I would like to be able to read minds just so I could pick up on those instances when kids are staring at me and nodding that they understand, but they’re really thinking what is he talking about?

So what’s next for Sarah Banks?
We want to encourage our students to bring their own devices to school if they have them and feel free to use them in their own learning. Our ultimate goal is to get technology in every kid’s hand.

Connect with Mark: