Rethinking a school year

For the first time in several years, I will not be entirely working on one campus. It's bittersweet in that I'm saying goodbye to one and giving another my full attention. With that full attention comes decisions on what to do.

During a training I was giving this week, a teacher  mentioned her frustrations after attending a training of another instructor who was "too excited." I asked her to elaborate and she explained that, because the instructor was so excited about the subject, it led to a training that was not linear or had no guiding line. In other words, the training was scattered. I'm certainly one to get "too excited."

So, in thinking about the teacher's comments, I'm also thinking of ways to contain excitement as I think about this school year and all of the changes I want to make. How do I facilitate change in a way that is clear and defined? How can I channel my excitement into a rational plan?

I'm ready to create student tech program where high school students mentor middle school and elementary kids, help fix help tickets, and provide training across the district. I'm ready to sponsor girls' coding clubs. I'm ready to implement extensive PD. And, I'm ready to take the campus by storm. But, is my campus ready? Am I ready to have a clear plan for my campus?

So, unlike my previous years, I am planning out ways to make my plans an integral part of me - to show them as not something extra or something new I'm just wanting to try, but something I'm confident in and something I'm comfortable with.

Building your e-Portfolio with Google Maps? Yes!

It was during a session at the Google Geo Teachers Institute where Sean Askey, creator of Google's Tour Builder, where I had an epiphany. We were tasked with creating a practice tour with Google Tour Builder. At the time, I thought I'd make one about my road to Googleness.

But, as I was creating my tour - chronicling my road from a high school English teacher at Hallsville High School to a tech director to an instructional technologist, I thought: why does this just have to be my journey? Both literally and figuratively, the Google Tour Builder is a map of a story, a map of a particular location's historical changes, and even a map of a person's life. In other words it is a tour of where they have have been, what they have done, and where they are going.

Typically, I see ePortfolios as Websites. I am still a big supporter of Websites, but do ePortfolios all have to be the same? For those students who are spacial thinkers or who have been on that journey, a Google Tour may be the perfect solution.

To access Tour Builder, students only need a Google account (this is not part of the Google Apps for Edu suite). From there, they can build tours. At each location, they can add links (think about links to audio using Vocaroo, or links to Google docs & other Google products, links to videos, and more!). They can also easily browse for images and videos to upload. They can turn on historical imagery, overlay Google Earth files, and more.

So, are you ready to get started on your tour?!

My Best Reading: The Official Google Blog

If I were to  pick one reading source for newcomers to Google, I'd pick the Official Google Blog.Some of the best reading I get each day comes from the Official Google Blog that I get via my email. I filter the blogs into a Google Blog label in my Gmail and return to it during my lunchtime reads.

Where do you find the Official Google Blog?
Go to http://googleblog.blogspot.com/ each day or....

Add it to your email feed for daily reading.

Click on the Feed button:

Then, sign up with your email:

What can you learn?
I frequently share the "Ninja Secrets of Google's Projects" to educators around the world. And, often, they are blown away by the depth of resources available from Google Dev Art to Building with Chrome. However, I attribute my knowledge of all of those resources to the Official Google Blog. Additionally, the information shared daily is great discussion material for students. For instance, check out this article on popular searches related to the World Cup.

My recommendation:
Send it to your email, filter it into a folder and read it when you get a chance. You will be up-to-date on the latest Googleness and you'll have plenty of info to fuel classroom discussions for your entire school year. 

ISTE 2014 - One year later, my 5 takeaways

ISTE 2014 – One year later, my five takeaways

Since ISTE 2013, many changes have happened. I became a Google Certified Teacher, co-founded the RRISD Google Ninja Academy, created the first competitive robotics team at my school, organized student tech slams, developed EdCamps, and many more things I don’t have space to list.

However, those all have one thing in common – things I have done. What about the things others have done? Though I know these things I’ve done have impacted others, I can’t say they were the direct focus. So, as I leave ISTE 2014, I have started a new challenge for myself – to focus not on doing more things, but to focus on the impact each action has. This is where I believe there is a huge hole in Education. As people asked for my Twitter handle and my followers increased, I couldn’t help but think about the many teachers not on Twitter who are making impacts or who have yet to be challenged. As my co-worker, Krista Tyler, said in her “5 mistakes as an EdTech Coach,” avoid the “Me Monster.” Avoid focusing on your actions as a coach and focus on the others – the teachers and the students.

So, takeaway #1 from ISTE 2014 is to switch my focus to not on actions that pad your resume, but on the less glamorous actions – the ones that need to happen to truly change education.

Takeaway #2 from ISTE 2014 – is to get more teachers and STUDENTS to conferences. Though I was excited to see some students, I was disappointed to see a hole in students. In fact, I went to two of the Ignite sessions, but was highly disappointed by Ignite session 4, which focused on developers giving “sales pitches.” Next year, I would like to see these developers sessions changed to focus on students – students giving Ignite talks. As I mentioned after Playdate Austin, the most learning I have done at a conference came from students. Simply put – we need more students.

Takeaway #3 from ISTE2014 – money distribution. I couldn’t help but notice the amount of money thrown into the Expo center and to making things “beautiful.” I’d like to ISTE take back the EdCamp model that focuses on learning and not on the extras. These extras could very well be student and teacher passes to ISTE. Having more students and more teachers – the ones who don’t come to conferences of this stature – yields more learning and more educational impact and change.

Takeaway #4 from ISTE2014 – Iron Chef. I LOVED this idea for a session. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I’m taking the model back to PD. What was so different? I had to work at a session. Many times, I attend sessions and I am able to email and tweet the entire time. There is something to being able to tweet, but in the end, are you able to focus on learning? Or, are you focused on promoting? In the Iron Chef format, learners form groups. Then, they choose a meal – student projects, apps, or funding. From there, they are giving ingredients - % of special needs, and ISTE NETS-S standards. They are given about a day or so to formulate a presentation and plan for carrying out their meal. On the final day, judges vote on the meal that best meets the criteria. By partaking in this format, I collaborated with a group, networked, and learned from those in my group – not a designated presenter, but those whose voices aren’t always heard. I left wanting more of these sessions, but also disappointed by the small number of people who actually attended. Why was this not well attended? Do others not know about these sessions or are others afraid of being responsible for their learning?

Takeway #5 from ISTE 2014 – presenting. In presenting nearly six times at ISTE, I realized a few things. One – we need more student and teacher presenters. Two – we need more action coming from sessions. In some sessions, high theory was discussed, but what action came out of it? Three – we need to divert the focus away from tools and shift it to the processes. I know those sessions that focus on products and tools bring in the crowds and we all like them. However, they do not yield the educational change we need to see. In fact, tools will change routinely. The processes for how to find tools that best yield our outcomes are what we need to see. How can we shift this? How can we, as educators, shift this focus? This is, perhaps, my greatest takeaway.

So, in preparing for this coming school year, I want to bring the focus back to the classrooms and shift the focus away from the shiny new apps and app smackdowns and bring it to the processes and how to embed any tool into those processes. Who’s with me?

What were your takeaways?