CAUTION: This post is long...twelve months long. But by writing this, I realized some things that I need to do better at in 2020. I write to process information and reflect - reflection creates growth. As the year draws to a close, it is natural to reflect on events, see if goals were met, and set NEW goals for the upcoming year. My "one word" for 2018 was balance. I failed, in my opinion, so I vowed to try again in 2019. I added grow. As I re-read my blog posts from 2019, I smiled - so many happy moments were chronicled in this blog over the course of this year. I then challenged myself to think about what I didn't include. In addition to the routine meetings, professional learning delivered, badges issued, and monthly Twitter chats, each month always has some unique personal and professional events. Did I find balance? Did I grow? JANUARY - I presented with one of our school media coordinators at UNCW's CESTEM conference. The presentation, focused on Virtual Reality creation to connect the past to the present, shared work created by elementary and middle school students. Also this month, I shared about Augmented and Virtual Reality at the New Hanover County Reading Association's January meeting. My middle child also enlisted in the National Guard. FEBRUARY - This short month was consumed with final preparations for the NCTIES Student Showcase - student lists, coordinating with school groups across the state about their presentations and making name tags.....lots and lots of name tags! I also had a pre-conference session to run through with my co-presenter who lives 3,000 miles away. Also, this month included the details for the Middle School Battle of the Books competition at Cape Fear Community College. My middle child finished high school at the end of the first semester of his senior year and lacrosse season began for my youngest...and my wonderful family made an appointment for me at the spa for Valentine's Day. I guess they thought I needed it. MARCH - In addition to NCTIES and Battle of the Books (Middle school) - which were the same week - we began preparations for EdCampBeach. I also created a follow up survey to gather feedback from the NCTIES Student Showcase groups. This year we were in a different, bigger, space and we knew we could do a better job with some things next year. I also agreed to be the NCTIES 2020 co-chair. Took TWO trips to East Carolina University with the middle child to get final information for his freshman year before he left for Army basic training and AIT school April 1. - he was to return home two weeks before moving into his dorm so we needed to have our ducks in a row. While there for one of them, we picked up the oldest child's cap and gown. APRIL - Summer Institute preparations began. Schedule was made and I began working on the app for the event. Tried a different option (which I wrote about in June) from previous years. I spent a few days helping to set up and inventory a new school library. One of our schools that was displaced from their temporary location due to Hurricane Florence damage was moving into their new school after spring break. One of our island schools was also moving to it's temporary location in another new building so construction could begin early on its old location....in case we encountered another rough hurricane season. (Thankfully, we did not.) I began planning for the Summer Library Program, printing designs and requisitions, added and updated website content, planned promotions, and worked with the SLMCs that ran each site on the programs they would offer. This month ended with EdCampBeach at yet another new school in the northern end of the county. Meanwhile, on the home front, I was still battling with my own home repairs from Florence. My boys' room got drywall and a ceiling and the entire upstairs got fresh paint this month! MAY - This month, requisitions were submitted for the Summer Library program materials. Thanks to our Instructional Services department that contributes generously to this program, the SLMCs can order materials and pay for programs that occur at the sites they organize and run. I started an Adobe Spark Train the Trainer Program and facilitated a Metaverse Make and Take for educators in the district. Finished up the Summer Institute app. I also got carpet upstairs (Hurricane repairs, still) and my oldest graduated from East Carolina University. JUNE - This month, all of the hard work paid off. I delivered my final Adobe Spark training to complete my trainer certification - the session filled up in two hours after being posted in the PD system! Then I started the ISTE course on Computational Thinking. The Summer Library program began as soon as school was out. The Summer Institute was a success! Even though we had to reduce it to one day, plan around summer testing and the Read to Achieve camp, and forgo an opening keynote because of school calendar adjustments needed due to - you guessed it - Hurricane Florence, our tenth year brought our largest crowd yet! The family went to Fort Benning, Georgia to see our middle child graduate from basic training (and give him his high school diploma) and then I went to Philadelphia for ISTE and presented at the EdTech Coaches Playground there. JULY - This month was a little better. I finished the computational thinking course, I enrolled in another course and became a "Screencastify Genius" - then began working on my Apple Teacher certification. Created two new badges for the Be Awesome program: Screencastify and Adobe Spark. I visited and helped at our Summer Library sites. We moved the oldest home from his college apartment and went back to Fort Benning to bring our soldier home! I don't know about you, but reflecting is making me wonder how the heck I did all of these things....can I get another massage, please? AUGUST - August saw many Recordex trainings as our new schools have this interactive panel in all classroom spaces, and the iJourney begin with three of our schools as we explore the use of Apple Classroom. It was also the month of opening meetings and all of the joy and pain that goes into starting a new school year. Once again, I shared about digital teaching and learning in the district with our beginning teachers during their welcome and orientation sessions. I created a survey for all sixth grade students to identify how our elementary schools are using technology and preparing students for the digital learning tasks they will experience in middle school. I had an end of the season celebration with the SLMCs that led our Summer Library sites and finalized the expenses for the program to see how much money would need to be allocated for the program next summer. I helped arrange furniture in two new library spaces, moved the middle child into his dorm, and tennis season began for the youngest. Wait....the new school year started, but I never fully recovered from the previous one....what?! . SEPTEMBER - School visits began. We had seven media specialists leave since the middle of last school year: five retired and two moved away due to their spouses' and their jobs. Some of those happened in the middle of the school year, so this new school year meant training was needed for all of them on some district initiatives like CLASS Project - a partnership with our public library giving all employees and students access to materials with their ID numbers. NCTIES featured speakers were secured (the line-up is awesome!) and college lacrosse prospect day visits began for the youngest. OCTOBER - As I reflect, it looks like October was the lightest month this year! But it was filled with lots of school visits and iJourney planning and preparation for professional learning options to be offered in November - all of the stuff that helps keep me grounded in my why. I presented at the UNCW PDS day for teachers supporting interns this fall. The topic: Augment Instruction with MERGE cubes. I attended the fall NCTIES board meeting/work session to plan for the March conference. Also this month - lacrosse tournaments! I enjoy watching my daughter play a sport she is passionate about so each of these weekend trips makes my heart happy and I return to work refreshed. NOVEMBER - This month started with professional learning experiences. In the months when we do not have meetings, I offer professional learning opportunities for educators to choose from. I feel that the learning is more meaningful when they choose to attend - I actually get to see it impact students as attendees take back what they learn and build experiences for their students. I attended NCPAPA's Fall Instructional Symposium this year as an attendee - last year, I presented a session. On a personal note, this year I was excited about Christmas and decorating for the holidays. Last year, things were a mess at my house - and we didn't have nearly the level of damage that many others experienced during Hurricane Florence. This November, the siding was replaced and the very last repair was set for December, and my sense of hope was renewed! DECEMBER - I spent every afternoon this month with second graders and fourth graders. Between the iJourney activities and coding, December was hopping! It was also a meeting month. Remember that survey I mentioned back in August? This month, the SLMCs and ITFs dug into their data. It was eye-opening! Great conversations about what we assume students know when they get to middle school in regards to technology tools and how we can ensure their success. It gives me data to leverage as I work with elementary schools as well. I'm looking forward to the conversations and changes to existing practices that this data will inspire. So, as for balance, I did try to live up to that, but now I question the word balance - I feel as though my load, while more balanced between work and home than in 2018, was still missing personal balance. I need to do better with "me" time. I did read more books for pleasure this year - even if some work work related. I just finished another yesterday. As for grow - I certainly grew! Of course there were struggles and frustrations (which always leads to growth), but at the end of the year. I can see that the positives outweighed the negatives. I pursued new passions and gained skills and experiences. Most importantly, I made a difference in the lives of teachers and students. I think I can call 2019 a success.
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One of my goals this year is to move teachers and students from consuming content to creating it! I have been leading professional learning on creating 360° images for a few years now. I began with StorySpheres and its simple, straightforward interface, then progressed to RoundMe which allowed additional content layers. Then Google gave us Tour Creator. Now, each of these three tools does basically the same thing, but two things set Google's version apart from the others. 1) Google integration: All students in our district, K-12, have a Google account (email is only active 6-12 with parent consent) so using this with students is a breeze. It also makes the teacher creation of teaching materials easy. That leads me to my next points. 2) Tons of 360 images to choose from: When you open Tour Creator, you are given a map and a search bar - type in ANY location and drag the peg man to any indicator of 360° images on the map. Can't find just the right image? No problem! You can use Google Street View or you phone's camera to capture your own 360° images! Just upload them in this creation process and PRESTO! A customized learning experience can be created! I used this to upload 360° images from our community or from my travels which aren't extensive, but I am a history nerd lucky enough to live in a history rich town! 3) The creation LOOKS just like a Google Expedition: This means that the teacher can be the guide and take students on custom expeditions. Often, teachers say that they have to use two or three different Expeditions in order to meet their objectives for the lesson. Who has time for that?! Using the collection of images already crowd-sourced, you can make one complete tour with everything you need to share with learners AND it will be saved for use/modification later. The teachers that attended this training left ready to create their own...and have students do the same! Since this month seemed to be all about creating content, I also led professional learning this month on Book Creator - NOT the app. For years, I only heard about the app. Most schools used the free version. While it was within their budget, it was very limiting. Most schools do not have the money to spend on an app for each device for a tool that isn't used every day. I was pleased to learn that Book Creator online allowed for an affordable and easy to use option! And by affordable, I mean free. By easy to use, I was impressed that it also works within Safari on an iPad. Then, the option to have students join and create with a QR code? My heart was won!
Our district uses Reading and Writing Fundamentals and we are always looking for innovative ways for our young authors to share their work with an authentic audience. This tool enables that - the teacher manages the sharing! Participants in that workshop loved the versatility and ease of use with all of the features available in the free version. (Their basic not free version is VERY affordable for what you get, too.) We even went over logging out and how to manage using this webtool in a shared device environment. This is often overlooked as teachers hurriedly collect devices at the end of class. We discussed how this small action can - and should - become a habit. The participants left both of these sessions with something to take back and share and eager to use these tools with students. I can't wait to see what THEY create! I meet weekly with a Mastermind group. We formed this in the summer of 2017 after two of us read THIS blog post by Jennifer Gonzalez. This group of school and district leaders meets via Zoom every Friday morning. In the first few minutes we share some wins, then we discuss a common text and end with one of us taking the "hotseat" as we share a struggle we are facing in our role and seek input from the group - some amazing things have come out of this! But I digress. Let's go back to the common text.
This school year, we opted to listen to podcasts and reflect on them during our weekly meetings. One of our favorites so far this year is the Teaching Keating podcast by Weston and Molly Kieschnick. In each episode, they connect movies and television shows to teaching and leading educators. If you haven't checked out this podcast, you must! Now, podcasting is not new. Eleven years ago when I was the Instructional Technology Facilitator at a middle school, I was trying to get folks on board with this as a teaching tool. They were not ready. Over these past few years in my role as a Digital Teaching & Learning Specialist at the district level, I have seen an uptick in teachers not only seeking out podcasts for professional learning, but exploring this as a way for students to share what they have learned. It makes my heart happy! This month, I had two very different requests for podcast assistance. The first one was from a teacher. Her students were working on an advocacy unit and she was looking for a way for them to share their works of heart with an authentic audience. We discussed tools to use for creation and hosting as well as planning strategies for the students as they began their work. I can't wait to see how it goes! The second request came in the form of an exclamation from a group of middle school students as they wrapped up their time in the school's library. Once again, we discussed tools - they shared some that they had experience with and asked some great questions! While the topics of both podcasts are different, some of the tools and methods shared were the same. I'll save that discussion for its own post as I left each school with the option to choose the tool that best fit their purpose - that is how technology in education should always be communicated. I also encouraged the educators in the conversations to let the students drive some of this - they have skills and talents to share! I hope to have an update to this post soon with more details and links to their creations!
The last weeks of August were filled with opening meetings and back to school goodness. I think next year, I may NOT have a meeting on those crazy days of opening faculty meetings and back-to-school nights, and mornings as some schools chose to add this year. Even though those days are designated for professional learning it's not that easy. It's an algorithm that needs to be revised. I have added it to my "to champion" list.
But back to the meeting. In keeping with tradition, I had my Secondary Collaborative explore various tools that I embedded into our meeting. Today, the big ones were YoTeachapp, a back channel of sorts that can be used by teachers to collect questions and responses from students, and the Google Docs Add-on, Story Speaker. If you've read my previous posts on computational thinking, you'll know that I was/am a fan of Choose Your Own Adventure stories. Story Speaker, designed for use with Google Home, provides templates for creating original stories like this. What makes this cool for educational settings is that you don't need Google Home or Google Assistant, which is disabled by default in GAFE domains. You can play the text version (like the old TI-99 game, Adventure mentioned here) or use your microphone and speakers and interact with the story you create through Google Voice. Many possibilities! So, I took them through getting started and then let them explore in teams. Writing their own stories and sharing them with their peers as they were ready. I threw out the term "debug" when I asked them to test and revise their stories. I started to see lighbulbs over their heads. Then I heard the buzz of "it's like a program" ..... ...and I heard someone connect it to computational thinking, which was perfect! The next slide (my meeting pacing guide) outlined the connection between computational thinking and Story Speaker. More importantly, this reinforced that computational thinking CAN be integrated into language arts! As I read the meeting evaluations, this particular tool that was shared had the most positive feedback. I imagine that some of our middle schoolers will be crafting their own stories with Story Speaker this school year. I can't wait to read them! So as I studied the patterns of hostility in language around race, ethnicity, and culture differences over time, I also started to notice there were connections with the events that preceded the hostility. In every case it was the same basic pattern: Group A welcomes Group B. As Group B begins to gain power, respect, or wealth Group A begins to feel threatened and resorts to escalating aggression towards Group B. I scoured digital archives and found advertisements and posters against Chinese immigrants. I found newspaper clippings about Irish immigrants. I even included the passages from our North Carolina room. Then I snagged a recent Facebook post that was anti-immigrant. I took these brief passages and created what I dubbed Maddening Libs. I removed the words that referenced specific groups and challenged my test subjects to guess when each was written. It was eye-opening. I shared some political cartoons as well that fit well with this topic. We then turned our conversations to immigration, in particular as we began the abstraction phase of identifying the causes of this type of animosity towards groups of people. At this point, I connected this entire process to computational thinking. Algorithms are everywhere. You start to think differently as you learn about the structure of a problem. So I issued a challenge to those I was working with on this passion project: rewrite these algorithms to change the way we interact with one another to prevent negative outcomes. This was the first experience with connecting computational thinking to subjects outside of science, math, and coding. It will not be the last! I grew up in a home with computers...and parts of computers everywhere.
My dad was building computers before they could be commercially purchased. In the early 1980s, I played text based games like Adventure for hours on the first one he purchased: the TI-99. The phrase "computational thinking" was not a phrase I ever heard. I just knew that with logic, I could gather information that helped me solve problems with direct questioning. It should not be a surprise that I was also an avid reader of the Choose Your Own Adventure books that were published then. If/then situations intrigued me. The ability to go back and choose differently and change the outcome taught me the impact of variables. I received Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes for Christmas in 1993. The more I read, the more I noticed patterns in the storytelling style: an Algorithm of sorts that makes this author's works uniquely King. Only, in 1993, I didn't have that word on my English teacher radar. I just knew that I was thinking in patterns that helped me somewhat predict the outcomes of the stories. Fast forward to 2019 I stumbled upon the Google Computational Thinking course and put it on my summer learning list. Then an email from ISTE landed in my inbox about a FREE course on computational thinking through ISTE-U. I signed up - the idea of accountability partners and online conversations about my learning with virtual classmates was just what I needed! As I worked through the lessons, my mind wandered and I began to connect my early experiences with Adventure, Choose Your Own Adventure books, and even Stephen King. Then in the midst of the course, I went on a field trip with some middle school participants of one of our summer library program sites. We visited the North Carolina room at our downtown library. This particular visit was in conjunction with a novel that was on their reading list: Crow, by Barbara Wright. In this novel, the young main character recounts events in the days surrounding racially motivated violence in Wilmington, North Carolina - the town where we live. As I read the primary source documents and narratives of those that experienced this event, I began to notice patterns that connected these documents to issues this country - and others - are currently experiencing. I decided then that I wanted to make sure my final product involved my passions: history and language. So I began to decompose the issue of hostility in language around race, ethnicity, and culture differences over time and look for more patterns that would help me help learners identify the precursors to these issues - and hopefully prevent them. ...stay tuned for part two.
It's summertime, and the living is easy.
Not really when you are a twelve-month educator that works during the summer to plan and deliver professional learning for teachers - but you have to make time to rest. Self-care is important. I took a week off. My middle child was finishing his AIT school in Fort Benning, Georgia and we were headed to his graduation! So I scheduled my reminder tweets about the Summer Library Program, set up my out of office notification, and packed my laptop into the backpack - I planned on enjoying a webinar or two with my coffee by the pool while my family slept in since I am an early riser by nature. As luck would have it, I ended up cracking out the laptop as soon as we arrived due to an emergency request received while we were driving for something that I couldn't do from my phone. When I was finished, I noticed the laptop was almost dead, so I went to plug it in and.....
I couldn't find my charger!!!
I mean, most things I can do from my superphone, so I wasn't completely lost, but I took this as a sign that I needed to unplug and recharge MY batteries. So I took a deep breath, put my laptop away, tucked the work backpack into the closet with the suitcase, and played a card game with my family.
The next morning, instead of watching a webinar, I finished a book and enjoyed my morning coffee by the pool. It's summertime, and the living is easy....at least for a little while.
DISCLAIMER: No vacation hours were lost on this post. While thought about on vacation, it was not created until I returned home.
So a few months ago I heard about Glide - this super simple way to create an app from a Google Sheet. I made a note. This tool came up again in the ISTE EdTech Coaches PLN that I am part of...so I explored it a bit and then I had an idea! I do love all things Google...and I do love a good spreadsheet. I also had an app to make for our district's Summer Institute for Instructional Innovation. I also had a budget of $0. Last year, I used Awesome Table - perfectly functional, searchable by credit type, and easy. But I will admit - I was lured to Glide because it provided something more: visual pizzazz! So I dove in. I mean, I already had the spreadsheet with the data required to get started. Glide builds the apps from a spreadsheet with a little bit of creative scripting - which they provide! You just need to find the right functions for your app's purpose. Reason number 327 why I love a spreadsheet. So one morning, while I worked at home as carpet was being installed (thanks Hurricane Florence - repairs may actually be completed before the next hurricane hits our town) I started to play with Glide. I was super impressed with how easy it was! Spreadsheets are magical. I was also delighted with how speedy and just all around supportive their tech support was - I asked a ton of questions and they were so helpful. I could tell that they were passionate about their product. I created my own image files using Canva so that the images in my app were unique to the content I was sharing and the color scheme of our event. I also had the event team try it out. They felt it was easy to navigate and helped me identify glitches and helped me troubleshoot when it didn't work - and it didn't at times. But all I needed to do was make the edit on my end and the end user's experience was promptly up to date (with a refresh on their end, of course) One of my favorite things about working with new technology services is that they often add new features in those early stages - this was no different. Once I made the app, they added another feature so I tried it out. It ended up not working as I thought (it worked correctly, I might add - just didn't work for my purpose) and I was able to easily delete the info and my app was beautiful again! I am not going to lie: Creating this app made me feel like a rockstar. The end product not only was a useful tool for our attendees, it looked great! It also let me know how many people had used it! I needed that affirmation that my work was useful. It's good to know that my efforts were not in vain. Below are some screenshots of what I created with Glide. You can access the app here: https://nhcssi2019.glideapp.io
Feel free to take it for a spin! Better yet - get on over to Glide, log in with your Google account, and make your own app! It’s no secret that reading for pleasure and continuing to engage in learning activities during the summer months when school is out can have a powerful impact on students. Those effects can be seen in the subsequent school year and for many more to follow. Five years ago, after learning about how districts in other states were opening their school libraries during the summer, we decided to start our Summer Library Program. Some of our school librarians, with the commitment of support from their school administrators, volunteered to open their schools’ libraries to the New Hanover Schools community four times (per site) over the course of the summer. Each day - at each school - would be a unique experience designed by that school’s librarian. Students could check out books from any of the open locations - even if they were not a student at that school. Books came back, but most importantly - LEARNERS came back. You see, this program is about more than circulation statistics. At its core is the mission to create learners. There is no doubt that it does. The heart of this program is the school librarian. In their unique positions in the schools, their finger is on the pulse of student interest - they know what excites their learners! Each school librarian crafts a program that promotes literacy and STEM. These programs offer choice and variety therefore they appeal to the diverse interests of students. From story gardens and coding practice, to maker-space activities and visits from community partners, each program is a reflection of the insight of the school librarian. Week after week, THIS brings the learners back! When this program began, one of the first things we noticed was that parents of rising kindergartners were bringing their children to participate. Our librarians build relationships that help ease that transition to school for many young learners by creating a welcoming and safe place for our newest students. Last year, one of the students excitedly told me he had been coming to his school’s library since he was a preschooler - before he began Kindergarten there! This type of return patron can be found at many of our Summer Library Program sites. As part of this program, our librarians nurture those relationships that are essential to learning, and follow up with students who participated after school resumes. Due to this, we have noticed an upward trend in student achievement among students that attend our Summer Library Programs. At one site, when the K-3 Text Reading Comprehension (TRC) data comparing end of the year before to beginning and middle of the current year was reviewed, of the 33 students who came regularly to the summer library program, 31 one of them had significant gains in their reading performance. Our middle school program is unique. As the one site for that age group had great attendance, we have been fortunate to add an additional middle school program for this upcoming summer. Additionally, due to construction at the other site, we are revamping its design to best meet the needs of its attendees. Some are high school students that have been a part of the Summer Library Program since it began in 2015 and return each summer to continue learning while school is out. Here, we are expanding on NHCS’ existing partnership with New Hanover County Public Library and have joined with UNCW and the Randall Library to reach our students that are beginning to investigate future college and career paths. We are excited about what this summer holds. Last year set the bar high with the interactive programs and the record setting attendance. In fact, there were over 50 participants present on one day at one of our sites! This particular day combined reading materials about flight, a maker space rocket challenge, and a rocket launching event complete with data collection - and analysis of that data. It was a powerful learning experience. (I hear that this amazing activity may happen again this year.) As we wrap up the school year and enter the fifth summer of the New Hanover County Schools Summer Library Program, we need to acknowledge those that make this possible. This venture is supported by Instructional Services, the Technology department, the school principals at each site, the teachers that volunteer to help lead stations during the program, most importantly, our amazing school librarians who plan and organize their school’s events. These specialized educators are dedicated to creating and implementing engaging, high-quality, literacy-based programs for all students during the summer. They ensure that the love of reading and learning are at the forefront of everything they do and that all students - not just those that attend the Summer Library Program - are on the path towards academic success. For more information about what’s in store during this year’s NHCS Summer Library Program, visit bit.ly/nhcs_summerlibraries In my role at the district, I meet with three groups of educators: Secondary ITFs - Instructional Technology Facilitators, which are teachers on special assignment so to speak. They are skilled professionals that take on the role of digital learning coach at their schools. Sadly, our district counts these in the teacher allotment for each school so our elementary schools choose not to have them. This decision often adversely impacts the students transition into secondary school. Two of our four traditional high schools have done the same. And Middle school principals do not count them as priority positions during budget time so their postilions could disappear at any given time. SLMCs - School Library Media Coordinators, which are dedicated positions at each elementary school, middle school, and high school according to the documentation our district has. However, we do have a few schools, including our pre-K centers, that do NOT have professional school library media coordinators. These early learning centers are places where they are needed the most! Elementary DTLCs - Digital Teaching and Learning Contacts are appointed by their principals. These folks are from varied positions and after 8 years, have finally morphed into a group of dynamic educators that often seek out opportunities to bring digital learning strategies to their classrooms. Visionaries! As you can see, there are mountains I need to move to change perceptions of the importance of these educators. I meet with them quarterly and provide professional development on the months between meetings. They have the potential to impact instruction for every student. The end of April/first of May began "meeting month" - I especially LOVE planning these for my secondary collaborative! This collaborative was officially established last school year. It consists of the SLMCs and ITFs from all of our secondary schools - that have those positions. Before I took my current position, I was a middle school ITF. These REALLY are my people. Each meeting consists of sharing resources and ideas that can be taken back to their schools to share or on which they can lead professional learning for the teachers. I strive to always provide resources and even pre-packaged professional learning opportunities for them to take back and implement. While I LOVE each one, this meeting was one of my favorites!! That first picture in the collage above says it all - 3 post it notes, 2 googly eyes, and 1 Lego brick. I always try to keep them guessing. I think they've come to expect that. It brings me joy! They know I like to find strange ways to make them group up and share...it was an awesome morning! While the post it notes came into play at various times during the meeting, the googly eyes and the Legos were my faviorite! The first item to be used, photo on the top right, was the set of dice that I made for each group - Dollar Tree cubes, a glue stick, and some emojis that aligned with our role-alike sharing session. Often the same people always share. Sometimes, this turns into a gripe session. THIS time, I was determined it would be different! That's laughter you see in the image below the dice - belly laughing and clapping - it warms the soul! By having a timer, also from Dollar Tree, and giving each side of the die a distinct focus, it allowed for everyone to share their voice and for the variety of what was shared to include real problems of practice and celebrations - not just frustrations and complaints. This activity received positive feedback in the evaluations and WILL return when we resume meetings in August! I always bring in resources shared by these group members between meetings as a "shout out" of sorts - this month was no different. I highlighted some digital citizenship resources shared by one in their ranks with a gallery walk. Each station had a poster about commonly used (by kids) social media apps. Their mission - write reflections and vocabulary that we, as adults, need to be attuned to. Indicate what "red flags" we see. Then, after they had written their notes, I sent them on a gallery walk with their googly eyes. Thanks to glue dots, they stuck their eyes they picked up at check in on the app or apps that they felt we needed to "keep an eye out for" with our students. I'd say their eyes were opened by some of the apps shared during this session! The Lego bricks came in for grouping with another activity. I found these bricks in that bargain section Target has when you enter their stores. I'm convinced it is for educators....and I am thankful! I bought a bag in each color they had. I had been waiting for the opportunity to use them! But back to their purpose. After reading blog posts or listening to podcasts with a digital learning focus - lists were provided as inspiration, I had them reflect on post it notes first as they read/listened and then find their match based on the shape of their Lego to share. Then I had them re-group based on color. I loved seeing their faces when they finally realized what the Legos were for! Also on the agenda was exploring new apps/tools that could be used to support and enhance instruction back at their schools. We examined Brush Ninja, which needs no app on the iPad and makes it easy to use in our schools., and Google Jamboard for collaboration I encouraged them to try these tools - and I did not create a "perfect" lesson. I knew some of the pitfalls they would encounter - but there were some I did not....and I shared them that way. We learned together! My job - and any educators job - is NOT to have all the answers, but rather to encourage exploration. I feel compelled to add here that none of the folks in this group are new to education. Some are close to retirement. However, ALL are in this role because they see the value in pushing the boundaries and encouraging learners to explore the "what if" moments. Again, these are my people. I am thankful for them. Together, we will move mountains. |
AuthorJeannie Timken Archives
March 2023
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