When Professional Deveolpment becomes Personal

Have you ever had those times when professional development that you offer, just seems rote, scripted and not all that engaging? It centers around a tech tool and how to use it but not on the why? Over the past year I have been putting together a PD in my mind...one about Educational Mindshift, Best Practices, Technology Integration and PBL. All of these are passions of mine, but they are only a few....today was the day that my vision for this PD was realized, they day that is could share my "heart" as a coach and instructional leader. The experience of leading a PD in which I believed with my heart and soul was so fulfilling I am still on cloud nine! Did everything go off without a hitch? Nope. Technology was lagging, not all staff saw value in each piece of the PD, but some are slow to shift. This one central experience comes three years after I took the leap into this position of ITS. To say that change happens slow would be an understatement. I do believe that I am in this position for a reason, to facilitate learning for all, teachers and students, administrators and professional support staff. So this is one of the first pages in my book this year. Some might see it as boring, but I have too much Awesome to spread to stop here;)

Slowly Shifting...

Christina

Gamification, is it really the answer?

With all this talk about Gamification in the classroom... I thought I would bring the notion up at home. I asked my Freshman if she would like to win/earn badges for completing assignments or for doing well on quizes as a way for her teachers to recognize her and maybe even have it reflected on some sort of a leader board. The response I received from her and my husband surprised me.

What she she said was "no way." You see, she is Highly internally motivated to do well! She is also quiet and a teacher pleaser in class, thus she falls through the cracks in school when it comes to teachers recognizing her... So much so that the kids that earned the brag tags in intermediate school were the ones that, in her opinion, would get in trouble and did something good such as holding a door open and would then earn a brag tag. This past year, she earned 100 on her EOC Algebra test, the only one in her grade level to do so and someone else earned the math award when it came to the end of year awards. Now one could say that the scores came in after the certificates were already made, the point is, she was overlooked. This has been the story of her academic career. My husband also chimed in and said that his experience is one where he has in the past been awarded merit badges at work do to his excellence in sales. He has in fact been the leader in sales at his location for the past 5 years. Somewhere along the way, his sales became an expectation and others began receiving the award and recognition even though he has top sales. So they wouldn't feel bad..why is this? Perhaps we are missing the mark when it comes to badges, awards and recognition. They are afterall external rewards. As we know and research suggests, external rewards do not effectively translate to internal motivation? What are your thoughts?  A badge to the first person to comment!

Lounging Around

Today I attended the Educators Lounge event in Dallas. It was held a an old theater called, The Lakewood. It was amazing!!! It took all but a moment to catch the cool vibe this venue held. I attended with my conference bestie, @cwatts27, who is not only a blast to be around, but also shares with me a passion for life-long learning!

The afternoon consisted of @thenerdytecher, sharing his message that students are silently begging us to challenge them. I see that everyday throughout the school building and I hope to challenge other educators to reach out to students, know them and build relationships with them! I heard @8amber8 speak about how important it is to be a connected leader in education. My take aways from Amber are, sharing is caring, focus on the verbs not the nouns and that campus VISION should permeate all aspects of your campus! That's good stuff, right??? And @tomwhitby shared that it is not the devices but the relationships that will be most meaningful. He also said that it is our "moral obligation" to share with other educators. Love this too!!!!

At this point it was time for a break before meeting back up and hearing from 2 local educators and how they are making a difference in their educational world.

We heard from Travis Allen, @ischooladvocate, who is a college student sharing the message of growing up in a digital world and not knowing a time without technology. Amazing to think about;) He shared, If You don't change, You'll never change Anything!!! I couldn't agree more. Be the change and LEAD THE WAY!!!   Next on list of greatness was @ArvinCBRoss. An amazing college student paving the way for youth mentorship and sharing the message that there is a creative genius inside all of us. His inspirational talk surely left me wanting to hear more about his journey.

And finally, @web20classroom, who shared his message that we need to think differently. No longer can we bury our head in the sand, we must stand up and do what's right for kids, and that educators must share with other educators. 

At this point the presentation piece of the day was over and Christie and I got a chance to share our 2 bits about the day... Thanks Christie for pushing me to get in front of the camera and #bebrave. The most amazing part was the networking at the end of the day... We lounged around with great folks and got to know @ArvinCBRoss...heard his story of overcoming adversity and how he is a mentor for youth today. He is definitely on my "Ones to Watch" list!!!

I learned a lot and have many great take aways! 

Would I attend another Educators Lounge? Absolutely!!!!

Have I inspired you enough to attend one? I do hope so;)

Just Lounge'N Around,

Christina

Connection #3 Why I Choose to be a Teacher Leader #SAVMP

I feel funny in ways saying teacher leader. Being the leader implies that there are some that must follow. In fact, here is a great video in what it takes to be a leader.  I think inspirer would be a better term. 

Yes, I work on being a Teacher Inspirer everyday. Somedays, I am better at it than others. I would define an inspirer as one whom:

1. Helps others find and develop their Passion

2. Discover their WHY

3. Embraces Innovation

4. Consistently Coaching 

5. A Relective Practitioner

6. Responsive Listener

7. A Multiplier

While this list is not exhaustive, it is what I aspire to be! My hope for all schools is that they are places the students and teachers alike learn and grow. Where climate and culture are healthy and strong. In schools with a community of learners (and teachers are learners too!) which embrace risk taking and innovation. I yearn for schools that let go of the boundaries of the walls and are open to authentic interactions with peers and experts around the globe. I desire to be a part of effecting such change. 

As an ITS, being no longer in the classroom and not yet in an admin role, my question to myself is, which way do I go? Do I head in the direction of campus admin or continue on my journey in the EdTech realm? I'll be honest, I see more opportunities to grow in admin, but my passion is technology in education. My love is children.

WonderN which way to go and knowing this #SAVMP experience will lead me on a pathway I can't even imagine!

Onward on this Journey,

Christina

Image can be found @ aeblaauw.wordpress.com

Connection #2 Failure is Always an Option

My goal this year is to become better at Failing. I mean, I'm already good at it. Over the course of this year I have failed so many times its hard to count...I'll describe a few below.

1. I started a new job and while that is totally an EPIC win, my classroom grew from 22, 5 and 6 year olds to 2 campuses of teaching staff. This was a daunting task of building relationships, in a new district, which was just implementing CSCOPE. Teachers were so overwhelmed, it was all I could do to suggest a new tech tool. But this year it will be better, an opportunity to try again and fail better.

2. I ran for School Board in my kids school district. I put up signs, I talked to the locals about it, even created a FB page....but that wasn't enough. I didn't know enough folks and in the end, placed 3rd in the election, out of 3. HA Fail! As if that wasn't enough, when one of the existing school board members decided to step down a month after the election, I received a phone call from the Superintendent, a very nice man and has my support on any given day, whom asked me if I would be interested in filling the vacancy. But there was a catch, the gentleman that placed 2nd had also agreed. The board would make the final call. Not in my favor, Another Failure. If I would have never tried, I would have never failed, TWICE;)

3. The Friday of Memorial Day weekend, May 24th, a day I will never forget. My son and I were driving home from going to the market, exited the highway onto the service road, and Bam!, just like that, in an instant, we were involved in a head on collision. It was the other gentleman's fault for failure to yield to oncoming traffic. My son was ok, thankfully, and a friend of ours saw the accident scene and stopped to help...for that I will be forever grateful. The point is, this was another fail. Yes it was out of my control, but for the next month I was in recovery mode, having suffered from a concussion. I couldn't focus at home or work and was convinced that I was never going to feel quit right...

The point to this post is that if we never try, we will never fail. And as David Guymon, the author of If You Can't Fail It Doesn't Count, points out, "Challenges make more sense once they have happened."

And they do, of course the do;). These failures, albeit one was out of my control, drive my passion and fuel my fire to Fail and #FailSoHard that all I can do is dust myself off and try again and try better and with more purpose than before! 

Nobody likes to Fail, but isn't it necessary for us to grow?

The implications in education resonate for me as well..

1) Is it so bad when a student fails a test? Try a portfolio to measure growth instead.

2) Is it so bad when a lesson fails? Reflect and grow with your PLC or PLN.

3) Is it so bad when a tech lesson fails? Learn from it, don't give up.

We fail our students when we don't solve problems as a class, when we don't use wait time, when we use paper pencil instead of hands on, when we teach to a test. 

We fail our students when we are not mindful to reflect on a daily basis, when we don't connect with fellow educators and we don't allow our learners to connect with other classes around the globe.

Now is the time to do as Samuel Beckett suggests and 

Try Again and Fail Better

Not afraid of FailiN cuz it happens a little (or a lot) every day,

Christina

Connection #1

I'm an introvert...there I said it. A quiet personality, slow to warm some would say. A fervent observer, watching others, learning social norms and blending in...Yes this describes me. I don't feel I stand out in any one way or another and was taught to speak when spoken to and that children are to be seen and not heard. That was my upbringing and a record that plays in my brain to this day.

But I am not an introvert when speaking about my passion, education. I am a former SPED and Kindergarten teacher and currently an Instructional Technologist. I love technology and its ceaseless ability to connect us to others. In a crazy way it allows me to connect with others, especially via Twitter and have conversations that I would have a hard time doing face to face (an area for me to work on, I know). 

So tonight I am making this connection, and creating a new habit, blogging. If I have learned anything this Summer through my experiences at #ISTE13, Twitter and #Edcampfwtx, it is the power of connecting with other like minded educators in meaningful ways. 

If I can't do it face to face this a a good way to start!

Quietly,

Christina