Summer Book Study #launchbook Week 1

I decided to participate in a Facebook group (The Educator's Book Club) summer reading of LAUNCH and figured I'd use this an opportunity to reflect on my blog.  So this is more for me than for whoever is reading it, but it keeps me accountable. However, this is an area I struggle with so if you have any advice specific to the courses I teach, feel free to comment!

Week 1 Reflection Questions:

1. We are all creative somehow. Thinking of yourself as a person first and a teacher second, how are you creative? How might you be able to bring that into the classroom?
2. Have you ever "launched" in the classroom? If so, how?
3. Before we dive into Launch, what is design thinking to you?
4. "Behind each of these challenges is an opportunity to innovate." What challenges do you have at work that prevent you from being creative in the classroom?

It's funny. Since I am a "computer teacher" and teach photography, Photoshop, and design, people think I'm super creative. I feel totally opposite! I struggle to come up with fun things to do in the classroom and know students despise trying too hard, forced cooperative learning, and probably my silly singing and memes. I like Pinterest, but can't create all those cool things (my attempts are terrible). I can't cook. So, I guess I'm still working on this one. As a person, my creative outlet is often music, singing, and exercising... not sure that's creative. I did try cardio drumming once and even made a YouTube demo! lol

I think I've "launched" before. Last year, my Web Design 2 students created a website for a local business. But, though they all created one, it wasn't actually used by the business, so I am not sure it counted. I'd like to do more business integration. At my old school, we did a DTP project once where I had students create new menus for a local business and the business judged them. That was cool.

As for design thinking... eh, I don't know. I'll research that some more.

And the challenges I feel I face most are that my students, since I teach in a computer lab, tend to want to "live in their own world" or cubicle syndrome. If I gave them the chance, most would prefer to work alone, with earbuds in, and that would be that. So, I implement rules/strategies to get them to at least seek input from others more. I'm still working on it.


Final thoughts...

I always fall down some crazy rabbit hole when I read that ends up with me looking up related YouTube videos. It's true. In my research, I ran across this great TED talk called The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers by organization psychologist Adam Grant (who you have to follow @AdamMGrant and now I want to read his book). He talks about what he terms "Originals" and creativity (and procrastinators, which is certainly ME, versus PREcrastinators).  My "aha" moments from his speech included this:

To be original, you don't have to be first. You just have to be different and better. It's much easier to improve someone else's idea than to create something new from scratch.

I loved this graphic he shared-->

The greatest originals are those who fail the most because they are the ones who try the most.

Being quick to start and slow to finish can boost your creativity.

Oh, and by the way, he supported my use of Google Chrome as my browser choice. YASSSS. #saynotothedefault #morecreative

Anyway, go watch his video. Maybe it didn't really relate to this first chapter, but it led me here. :)

CORE Academy @Southeast Day 2 Recap #semocore

This morning was AWESOME. First, we started off with George Couros (@gcouros) speaking on Innovation. His presentation was incredibly engaging. Much like when I give keynote speeches, he talks fast! But, his integration of fast moving visuals, video clips, and his passion really made it so great to watch.

As always, I had out my paper and pen to make notes (I still old school prefer to write and then type up later) and scribbled away. As he became a new dad in August, he shared some of his life story with us and talked about how his child was born with internet access, YouTube, all kinds of technology as a given. Like breath. I think we often forget that. Kiddos come to school and are told to put away their critical connection to the world. He said that we live in a "culture of don't" and students are frequently just told what not to do. But, none of us are as engaging as YouTube and if given a choice between you and a great YouTube video, you may not be able to compete with that. But, if you have a good relationship, you will have a better result. I totally agree... I try really hard to build positive relations with my students. I'm sure I fail many times, but it's a priority for me.  Oh, and one more big takeaway--he said that social media (like Twitter) is literacy now and students need to learn how to use it or be considered illiterate (and adults too). I agree! (as a business teacher, it is difficult to teach some of this with so much blocked at school and it's a big part of business nowadays)

I digress, but man, it would be amazing to teach under the leadership of this guy!

Then, I attended his breakout session, which turned into an open forum. We had to ask questions in an online form, and he picked mine to answer (I'm not sure how thrilled I was about that... lol). I questioned him on how to better deal with cell phones in the classroom. I teach in a lab and trying to find the fine line between 'you can use your phone' and 'put it up' is difficult for me. I wanted some advice on how to better deal with it. I've asked my daughter, who is 15, about her feelings.. .and of course, I know that if "students are engaged they will tune in" but I also know they are teenagers and they experience great FOMO so phones can easily distract (and many are not mature enough to self-regulate). I had already planned to loosen up my policy for the next school year, but I just needed some help. His advice was basically to set the bar--tell them what you expect (you know they will be on SnapChat or Instagram, etc.) and that it is fine to use their technology for what they feel is suitable. But, that only works as long as their WORK meets a specific standard. So, if you are able to listen to me, learn the content, apply it... it's fine. If it's a distraction FOR YOU, then it's something we need to work on.

Well, I'm going to try! I hope it works. I suppose George can expect a report from me in August or September with how this works out! (and, let me tell you, I am terrified starting loose that I will be stuck the whole semester if they don't respond well to this, but I am going to give it a shot! Oh, and I am a "Desktop" person btw. Follow up: After the session, I found this interesting blog post about phones. Check it out.

Lunch was up next and we had students share technology things happening in their schools. It was a pleasure to hear them--I knew most of them since I am from around this area, but it's so nice to see students talking about the things they enjoy at school! One of my Advisory students even presented. How cool!

Finally, I attended Revolutionary Teaching with Josh Stumpenhorst. He was pretty honest about things. The math teachers in the room got a little upset with his statement that "I probably could have stopped after 4th grade math and been okay." But, the point was that from a content standpoint, a majority of what students learn in school, they will never use again.  A few phrases from him:
"School sucks for kids."
"You can't force a kid to do something they don't want to do."

He said that motivation is critical. And if we agree that most of what we teach students they won't use again, how do we teach it to them? There is a difference between motivating for compliance and motivating for learning. He said grades don't motivate students to learn (they motivate smart ones to comply) but positive feedback does (think social media likes). He talked about autonomy, homework, and other factors that help or hinder learning. His presentation was intended to ruffle some feathers (and it did ruffle some!) but it was a good reminder to review how you teach and why you do things the way you do them.

To end the day, I gave my own presentation on Multimedia tools. Check it out!



It was a fabulous conference and so energizing! If you didn't go this year, you have to go next year! :) Mark your calendar for June 19 & 20, 2018.

CORE Academy @Southeast Day 1 Recap #semocore

I am a professional development junkie so of course I am spending a day of PD on the first day of summer! :)

My morning started off by dropping off my youngest at volleyball camp and then heading to get my Route 44 Diet Dr. Pepper before arriving at Southeast Missouri State University for the conference. After opening remarks and greetings, we had our keynote speaker who was FABULOUS-- Ron Clark!  Man, I would love to go to see his school and the enthusiasm that must exist there. He talked about how education should be "young, fun, sexy and hot" and not stale and boring. I loved when he talked about not being afraid to try things. "One day, they're gonna fix your hair and put you in a box" so use your time without fear. My three favorite takeaways, though--

1--If you are in a school or classroom where people aren't enthused, then you just have to be excited enough for everybody. Even when you're not really. :)

2--No one wants to hear you complain. He asked for people to raise their hand if they liked hearing complaining. No hands. We tolerate complaining. Don't be someone that people just tolerate.

3--We are all pushing a bus (your school). There are runners, joggers, walkers, and riders. The complainers are walkers. The runners work to improve things, regardless of recognition. Be a runner. They keep the bus moving.

As I am writing this reflection, my speaker for this session just answered her phone.. hubby calls during a presentation. Classic. Oh, technology!

Then, we had lunch. I went outside because it was freezing.

Afternoon sessions I selected included:

A-- Google, Starbucks and Optimus Prime. This was GREAT. Greg Lawrence is a fabulous presenter full of knowledge about Google and so much more. He spent a good deal of time highlighting Google Keep features (did you know you can record a note and it will transcribe it?? COOL) and mentioned various other Google tools. I like how Google Keep can be used on your phone to record audio and then you can open it and download the audio file on the PC. Check out his presentation. Five stars!

B--Future Driven Learning.  Rough start for this presenter... his keyboard wouldn't work and we had some issues getting started (not his fault!). But, it was a solid presentation. David Geurin is super active on Twitter, so it was neat to hear him speak in person. He talked about making sure we are preparing students for the future and that our schools are "time machines" and not "time capsules." He gave me a few cool ideas--he sends a Smore newsletter out to parents with a video. I think I'll do this for school this fall. He also talked about having a Grandparent Help Desk night where students were there to answer tech questions for senior citizens. That would be a great idea for my students to try. I might look into it.

C--Burning the Learning at Both Ends. Julie Gambill is a junior high teacher who really doesn't like basketball (ha!).  She teaches English and uses Macs, so she talked about iMovie (and I'm not an Apple person) but mostly she shared some video project examples her LA kiddos did. You can tell she really loves her students. She mentioned a Six Word Story (inspired by Don Goble) that I might use in my Multimedia class this fall.

I'm looking forward to more learning tomorrow! Hope your summer is going well and that you are LEARNING something!