Productive Struggle

What a great morning today has been! (I'm only being half sarcastic there). My son woke up not feeling the very best, but off to school he went, as did I. I've been working with our counseling department to transfer their website over to the fabulous new Google Sites (can I even still call it new? It's been out for a while now!)

Anyway, one of the things we were trying to do is embed their Twitter feed on the website. Not having a direct way to do that, I consulted my best friend, Google. I stumbled upon this video and this article when researching how to create a widget that would work. 

Now for the purpose of this post. "Productive Struggle" is a term I have seen recently on a few of my favorite educational websites. I completely understand what the reference means and experienced this hardcore this morning. The video I found this morning truly made it look simple as 1-2-3. Thinking I could follow the instructions without consulting the video again, I started on my copy-paste-a-thon without thinking twice. I got to the end, and my widget didn't work at all, not in test mode or on the site. 

So, I consulted the article again, and after a few attempts, I realized I hadn't named my index appropriately. So I changed that and saved everything. It worked when I ran the test mode (YEAH!), but not when I embedded it on the site (BOOO!). 

So, I consulted the article a few times more and saved the script a new way, which WORKED!!! I was so excited that after many failed attempts, my efforts paid off. What a great feeling! I had to go share with my colleague I was so excited. 

This feeling is what I want for my students and teachers. I want them to try and try and try again, until it works and they feel accomplished. I'm not going to lie, it was frustrating. I feel fairly comfortable taking risks to further my knowledge when it comes to technology. I'll follow an HTML script, even though I don't necessarily understand everything I'm reading or doing. So that frustration happened on the third or fourth attempt at creating this widget. We have to have a bit of grit and perseverance when learning something new. Otherwise, we might not be successful. 

I am reminded of a phrase from my favorite Country radio morning show, Bobby Bones. "Fight. Grind. Repeat." That is what this new buzzword "productive struggle" is all about. Not giving up when the struggle is real. Fighting to find a way to make "it" work. Then, doing that all over again with the next new learning. 

Google Cardboard for the win!

I'm fortunate to work at a school that has so many tools for students to use. One of those fabulous tech tools is Google Cardboard. I haven't had a lot of experience with virtual reality but took a few minutes to explore today. WHOA!!!! The possibilities with this tool are amazing. We have a group of history teachers who have them reserved in the next week, and I'm going to have to pop in that lesson to hear what the students have to say about it. I'm in that first stage of awe right now, and can't wait to see how we can literally and figuratively expand our horizons with Google Cardboard.

Collaborate!

Two heads are better than one. This morning I was fortunate to work with my Blended Learning guru colleague, Tracy, in a 5th-grade Bilingual class. The teacher invited us to teach the collaborative tool, Google Slides, in preparation for an assignment in a few weeks. The students were working on creating a postcard showcasing their hometown. Most had never used Slides before, and all had used Docs before.

Tracy had created a how-to video for each of the parts that they needed to follow in order to create their portion of the assignment. Most of the students were able to watch the video and then proceed with the task at hand. A few students needed a little more individualized instruction from their video learning. Since I was not the one delivering instruction, I was able to meet the needs of those students who had questions.

Some students wanted to go down a path searching for the address of the famous person they were inviting to their town! I was able to quickly redirect them to the task at hand. We did split the partners into specific roles, but I could see where students would be able to select that for themselves in a few projects.

After our first round of students, we quickly debriefed and tried a small adjustment to the flow of our instruction which went much better the second time around. We are well on our path to creating independent learners and thinkers. #geauxteageaux #blendedyall

Energy!

On a recent visit to Sonic for lunch (ignore my goals post from the beginning of the year), I was greeted with my lunch with a singing delivery. I had heard the Sonic employee greeting another customer before he got to me. This guy approached his work with exuberance and joie de vivre. What could be seen as an everyday task of delivering food to cars was elevated to another level. So much so that I want to go back there!! 

We often don't have many choices in our work. This is one area I can strive to always keep at a high level! There are days where I could let my lack of sleep or level of stress affect my overall attitude and approach to my work. However, my choice to approach my work with a positive attitude will continue to make any place I work a good place to be! 

Enjoy the energy from the fish market! It's infectious :) 

Measuring Effectiveness

I am all about data. I love to analyze, organize and synthesize information. When asked about how do I measure my effectiveness, I immediately think about the criteria in which my work is measured. Some would say the number of times I am requested for help. Some would say the ability for someone to use what we have worked on without me would be effective.

Without a standard criteria of what makes me effective, I'll create my own. I will measure my effectiveness in a few different ways. After a visit with a teacher, I will follow up with them to see how the work we did is going. If they are able to complete the work without any other assistance, I would consider that effective. If they have more questions because what we did has caused them to think deeper about the subject, I would also consider that effective.

We do collect data on the number of times that we are requested by teachers as well as the data we put in for those times where we aren't requested officially. I have not been very dutiful in putting those "other" times in my log. I have collaborated with my colleague to try a new strategy for documenting my time.

As we have been reassigned to campuses, I have made it a point to make it out to each campus for a visit with the Instructional Coaches, the librarian and the Principal, if they are available. That face time is crucial to improving collaboration. I have seen a few more teachers because I have been available on their campus. The most common saying is "Oh! I'm glad you're here! I had a question for you!"

Ultimately, there isn't one method that will measure effectiveness. It will be the overall picture of the data presented.

Memories that last!

This past Monday, I was walking my colleague, Eric, through the halls of HHS, discussing plans that had been made for various teachers. As we walked around Eric was warmly greeted by so many former students. Every single one of them stood in disbelief that he was walking around their high school and you could see many fond memories of being in his middle school class come rushing back to these kids. Their smiles were as big as his, and my heart was happy!

That connection that we have with our students is truly what makes a difference in their lives. Students might not remember all of the content that we teach, or ever know about the hours that we pour into making our lessons the best they can be. But they certainly remember how they felt in our class every day.

I am blessed to work with such an amazing Digital Learning team. I am looking forward to reconnecting with some more of my own former students and learning about the great things they have accomplished thus far!

Shrink the Change!

In the Don Johnston Snap and Read training today, we talked about how difficult change can be for people. We watched a video that totally resonated with me. It talked about "shrinking the change". Dan Heath gives an example about cleaning the house and talked about taking a 5 minute timer to the worst room in the house and pick up as much as possible in the 5 minutes. The reality is once you start with cleaning, you probably won't stop when the timer goes off. The hardest part is not continuing but rather getting the motivation to get started.

I'm looking forward to the opportunities Snap and Read will bring our students and teachers. The list is growing!!

Instructional Coaching Philosophy

Today at our meeting we were asked to write about our Instructional Coaching Philosophy. I believe that learning is a mindset. I really connected with Carol Dweck's work on Mindsets and the ability of the brain to grow itself. I think that people have a certain confidence level about their abilities when it comes to learning, and that can either help or hinder growth in that area.

As a volleyball coach, we practice the skills we need to be successful, use video to see how we are performing, and then adjust our plans based on the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents. I see Instructional Coaching to be very similar. We start with the needs of the students in the classroom, incorporate different strategies to help students learn, and then adjust our plans based on the needs.

As Instructional Coaches, I truly believe we need to walk the walk. If we expect teachers to be using technology in the classroom, then we need to be using that same technology in our presentations. If we want teachers to be incorporating small groups and differentiating for the various levels of knowledge in the classroom, then we need to be doing the same in our training as well.

2017 Goals

At the start of every school year, I establish goals for myself. This year, in addition to the ones I will set, our Digital Learning team has a few goals as a group. The first of these team goals is to reflect on our practice and share that reflection publicly. As usual, our styles are shining through in our choice of reflection mediums. Some are blogging and some are "storifying" their Twitter reflections for the week, but all are reflecting and sharing.

Our second team goal is to work with more teachers utilizing the coaching cycle. I did a lot of consulting last year with teachers on the use of technology in their classroom. We are looking to follow up a little more than a consultant would, by gathering various pieces of data to help further progress being made in our classrooms.

As far as my personal goals, the first has absolutely nothing to do with my work itself, but rather with my health! My goal is to bring my lunch to school at least 4 out of the 5 days every week. The only reason I even mention this particular goal is to help keep me accountable for being successful!

My second goal would be to share my love of Educational Technology, specifically Google, with teachers in hopes that the tools provided to us through G-Suite for Education would help modify and redefine the opportunities our students have in our classrooms.

eeeeekkk!

This is my 18th year in education. That sounds like a really long time. I still get so excited for the beginning of school. So much planning goes into great things happening the first few weeks of school, as well as the weeks that follow those first few. The foundation that is set at the very beginning of the year carries throughout the year and can be referenced at any point in time.

My favorite discussions to have with my students at the beginning of the year include two videos and the beginning of a transformation of thought - which includes the capacity of a brain to grow and change. Just because you haven't been "good" at something doesn't mean you can't practice and improve your skills in that area. The brain is amazing.

Enjoy these two, and I would love to hear your feedback on how they relate to the classroom. One of my favorite sayings in my math classroom was "It appears you're stuck on an escalator" which would immediately help a kid realize the answer to their problem is right in front of their eyes. They just have to reframe their thinking to see it!

Stuck on an Escalator Video 

Backwards Bike Video

Change.

We started back to school this week, with great anticipation of what the 2017-18 school year will bring for our teachers and our students. Inevitably, lots of change is happening in our district right now. We currently have an interim superintendent, and will have a new superintendent once our committee finds the right candidate to lead our district in the future. We have hired and are continuing to hire many new teachers to lead our classrooms and ignite the flame of learning in their students.

During the week before students arrive back on campus, we will host our second annual teacher conference where teachers and administrators will participate in 6 different professional learning sessions, either refreshing their knowledge on a favorite topic or participating in new learning. Either way, we will be modeling the characteristics of lifelong learning that we hope *all* of our students walk out of our doors doing.

While attending these sessions, we have to remember that learning requires change. A change in thinking, doing or believing. That's the uncomfortable part. It feels weird at first to do something different from before. However, if it doesn't feel weird, then you probably aren't making a change.

I look forward to this year of change. We will work hard. We will add new tools to our toolbox. We will fail and we will be successful. We will look back on this year in June and marvel at all of our accomplishments. Then we will rest for a few weeks and do it all over again :)

"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing that you made the effort to become the best you are capable of becoming." - John Wooden

Ask 3 before me strategy

When reading today for my Level 2 Google Certification, I found this poster! What a great way to incorporate the tools that students use on a daily basis.

Ask 3 b4 me poster

Text Evidence

When doing some 8th hour learning today, I came across a graphic organizer I really like! It talks about using text evidence from what you are reading to support your thinking (using the copy and paste feature). Then the other side of the organizer asks students to share their thinking (copy and pasting from their brain)! For those that know me, that phrase got a loud laugh!

Thanks for sharing,  Graphic Organizer Created by Sarah Landis http://pusdliteracyblog.blogspot.com/

Discovery Education

One of my favorite teaching resources has always been Discovery Education! The company is constantly sharing great ways to engage students in dialogue about the videos and images they see. My most recent discovery is the AEIOU strategy.

A - Adjective - List a word or two that describes something you saw or learned.
E - Emotion - Describe how a particular part of the segment made you feel.
I - Interesting - Write something you found interesting about the content/topic.
O - Oh! - Describe something that caused you to say Oh!
U - Um? - Write a question about something you learned or want to learn more about!

This helps students to focus their thinking when they are watching an instructional video! Thanks Discovery Education!