My Head is Ready to Explode!!

The last four days have been so great, I had the opportunity to meet and interact with some truly amazing people that have taught me, challenged me and most of all inspired me. It all began on Saturday on when I attended DENappaloza Raleigh, sponsored by the WCPSS ITLMS dept. Saturday PD invokes dread in the minds of many teachers, but this is the second Discovery Education event I have attended on a Saturday, and again it did not disappoint. I met and attended sessions with educators who are doing exciting things and they are willing to share their resources plus they provide their contact info, so you can follow up and ask questions. Our day began with a keynote presentation by  Dr. Lodge McCammon a former WCPSS teacher, who is also a professional musician and guru on innovative teaching ideas. During his hour long presentation, we were on our feet for at least 40 minutes, singing, dancing, and creating, not once did I feel tired, bored or want to sit down. It has been a long time since I took Biology, but after singing 46 Pairs  a few times, I'm pretty sure I could explain the basis of mitosis to you if I needed to. His presentation was an excellent example of why our kids should not be expected to "sit and get" for an entire class period. We moved onto break out sessions and everyone of them provided at least one WOW moment for me.

So my brain was already pretty full of ideas and new information when I got home on Saturday, but I had little time to process and organize it, because Monday and Tuesday I had the pleasure to attend and present at the WCPSS Convergence Conference. The ITLMS department does this conference each Fall and Spring, and it is two days of non-stop learning. This year's theme was Wonder-Connect-Going Places, and it was the perfect description of what happened during my time with so many talented teachers, Media Specialists, ITF's and Administrators. Our opening session include a presentation by Peter and Paul Reynolds of Fablevision, "a company dedicated to helping all learners develop their true potential", and isn't that what we should all be striving to do everyday. I attended sessions on how to improve my collaboration with teachers, providing meaningful PD, Google tools (if you know me, you know I can NEVER get enough Google), and the Four C's, collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking, each presentation sent my brain into overdrive as I imagined ways I would use what I was learning. I love presenting at these conferences, because I share my knowledge, but I also gain so much from my audience as they share ways they can use the tools in the classroom, which allows me to add to my toolbox.

In addition to attending well prepared sessions, I also got to meet new colleagues, and reconnect with others, and best of all share what we are all doing in our schools. Someone recently shared with me the term "stealing awesomeness" and I love it. That is what I am doing when I attend these events, and I hope I am providing others with the some ideas they want to steal. There are innovative projects and lessons being carried out in classrooms all around Wake County, and beyond, and most of us love to share our ideas and see others replicate and improve them, we need to do more of that.

Needless to say my brain is now overflowing with new ideas, tools, information, and things I need to explore more, and that is why I feel like my head is about to explode. As I begin to process all that I learned I will be sharing it with you and I hope you will take what I provide and be inspired.

Update on my New Year's Challenge

It has been a few weeks since I posted my personal challenge for the rest of this school year. I have posted paper copies of  "21 Things Every 21st Century Teacher Should do This Year" where I see them everyday, and it has helped to keep me focused on my goal. I am very visual so this has been really helpful, I also highlight those that I complete, or outline those that I am working on. So far, to be honest, I have only completed 2 of the activities, but I am working on or exploring quite a few others. So while, I wish I was completing at least one a week, I am pretty happy that I am making progress in the right direction.

One I have completed is "Participate in a Twitter Chat". This was much easier than I expected and I learned some tips that will make future chats even better. I have a Twitter account and I generally follow teachers with a technology focus, many of the same people write my favorite blogs. I would be classified as a "lurker" on Twitter, but I recommend it as a great way to get familiar with this social media outlet. I was familiar with the concept of Twitter Chats, but wondered how I would keep up with the posts, and be able to pick them out from the all the other posts that would appear in my feed. What I decided to do was open a search for the hashtag we were using for the chat. In my search window I only had the posts related to the chat. I did have to refresh every so often because I found that sometimes the posts didn't come up automatically. I did admit it was my first chat and other participants were quick to share resources that make following a Twitter Chat easier, such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuite, which I will be checking out for my next chat. The chat follows a simple format, the moderator presents a question like this Q1......., and if you are responding you preface your answer with A1......, this made it easy to follow along. This format also means you don't have to rush to respond, and you always know what question others are responding to. Overall I really enjoyed the experience and I found some new people I want to follow, and I have even gained some new followers myself. I am slowly moving away from being a lurker which is another way I will build my personal PLN, and gain skills and knowledge that will help me complete more of the 21 activities.

Another activity I have worked on is Appsmashing, I am working with 4th and 5th grade teachers to create a literacy activity that combines QR codes (my personal favorite), Google Docs, and a variety of web based tools. I will share more about that soon. Have a great week and step out of your comfort zone and try something new, it's fun and will spark your imagination.

New Semester - New Challenge

It has been quite a while since I posted here, which means I failed miserable at my goal for 2014. This is not to say I did not have some great topics to post about. While I was out running my mind would be full of great ideas and I could practically write a whole post in my head, the same thing would happen when I'd wake up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep. Unfortunately, in the light of day those ideas would never make it into print. I have not given up, I am going to try harder and plan at least one specific time each week to post.

I love what I do as a Technology Facilitator, and in the past year I have learned and shared so much with my colleagues. Each time I work with a teacher I always walk away feeling that I have learned more than I taught. I also have found that for every new technology I discover, there are 3-4 more that I need to explore. I love how quickly the field of education is evolving with new technology, and learning from colleagues both locally and virtually is exciting and fun for me. The challenge I face every week is how to bring all these great ideas to life in the classrooms. A few months ago I came across this graphic 21 Things Every 21st Century Teacher Should do this Year, it was created by Sean Junkins, and based on an article by Carl Hooker at HookED on INNOVATION.

Looking at my calendar today I realized I have 21 weeks until the end of the school year, (including Spring Break), perfect for challenging myself to completing all the activities on the list. Some of them I know will be easier than others, but my goal is to make a true effort to attempt all 21 activities. Since I do not have my own classroom, I may have to modify some activities to work for me, but I plan to do the majority of them in classrooms of my colleagues. The best part of this challenge is that, as I grow and try new things, the teachers I work with will be growing and trying new things with my support and encouragement, which is what I want to do everyday.

As I review the list I know some activities will be much easier for me to complete than others, and some will take me way out of my comfort zone. The article by Carl Hooker includes great ideas for each activity and I will be referring back to it often. Most of the activities and technologies I am familiar with, and some I have been wanting to try, so this will push me to actually do it.

I know that as excited as I am to get started on this challenge, I will inevitably start procrastinating, and get caught up in deciding where I should start. For me the first step is always the hardest. So I have printed out the list to post on my desk, tape to the front of my agenda book, and post at home near my calendar, I may even make it the lock screen on my iPad. With all the constant reminders, I hope I can stay focused and meet my goal by June 11th. In addition my adventures should give me plenty of new ideas and topics to post about.