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Thank You for 20 Years.

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After 20 years of teaching at Brookfield Central, I am saying goodbye. Although I spent the majority of that time in the physics classroom alongside my learners. That changed for my last 18 weeks. I ended up in a place similar to where I started, teaching chemistry and biology. So, rather than dealing with juniors and seniors at the end of their high school careers, I was in classrooms with freshmen and sophomores still trying to find their place. At the same time, I was learning and teaching a set curriculum I hadn't taught in over a decade. So, we were learning. But, of course, I already knew the content.  The point of this post is to take a step back, take in, and share the gratitude from the last students I had in my 20 years at Brookfield Central High School through the cards and notes they made for me on my last day with them.  I don't take many yay me moments. But after 20 years, I think I'll soak this one in.
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IMMOOC WeMOOC Takeawyas

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Over the past couple of months it has been my pleasure to be a part of the Innovator's Mindset MOOC (massive online open course).  I was able to participate in the last episode of the live MOOC hangout which will be turned into a podcast.



Below are blog posts on takeaways from the book when I read it this summer:
Part 1: What Is an Innovator's Mindset?
Part 2: Create a Culture of Innovation
Part 3: Release the Kraken
Part 4: Putting Mindset Into Action

I just wanted to share some of my brief takeaways for the online community experience.

There are so many talented people out there. I was amazed to read all of the brilliant blog reflections of my fellow #IMMOOC members. It was great to see all the different perspectives and paths people took from a similar prompt. Those posts shed new light on my own reading of the book.

There are so many risk takers out there. To hear what others were trying out for the first time was awesome. It really served as an extra push to try something new.

There are so many different ways to express yourself using low tech or high tech. Looking at the reflections I was able to see they ran the gambit from high tech green screen videos to beautiful sketch notes.  You don't need much to be reflective only time and honesty. So, we can't make excuses.

Staying connected gives me great new ideas. We can innovate within our box to great effect. But, the only way we can get new ideas is by looking outside the window of our box. 

Staying connected helps me feel supported.  Being part of the #IMMOOC community helped me feel like I wasn't alone and that someone was out there listening to me and understanding my struggles. The views, likes, retweets, replies, and comments helped me realize I wasn't just talking to myself. Of course the primary purpose of this blog is reflection.  But, together our voices may are seeking to create some forward motion. 

It's great to be in a book group where people read the book. I'm a pretty serious student.  I was the one who had always done the reading.  So, it was amazing to see a group of like minded individuals pulls quotes and commenting on the same things I was thinking or bringing up points I hadn't considered.

Innovation is not a thought it's an action.  In the end it was seeing what people in the group were doing that had the biggest impact on me. It's a lot easier to take risks in the mind.  Only when the thing is done does it have the possibility of changing the learner's experience. 

I really loved being a part of the #IMMOOC.  I look forward to our next steps and new voices.

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