Why am I writing this personal entry? Well, it is not an attempt to gain any sympathy. It attempts to show what is possible if a clear intention and goal serve the learner's needs. In May of 2022 just near the end of another fantastic school year, I do not remember what happened. But, I was unable to finish the school year and was unable to teach the following year. Why? On May 21st, 2022, I fell down a flight of 16 stairs (luckily carpeted) from the 2nd to 1st story of our home. I was found at the bottom of the stairs. I was found foaming at the mouth. This would lead to a 2-month hospital stay which included an induced coma because my seizures would not stop, several rounds of lumbar punctures, and relearning basic physical movements like something as simple as being able to roll in the hospital bed. Simply put, when I was admitted to the hospital, I was diagnosed as being “critically ill.” Please take a moment and read those words: critically ill. They are not terms...
Well this week was my 2nd time attending the ISTE conference. This year I was able to attend a bunch of wonderful sessions. I even presented. I’d like to that the time to share out the resources from my sessions and the sessions I attended. I’d like to thank the people who were most directly responsible for me attending ISTE. Barbara Bray for inviting me to present as a part of her sessions. Dana Monogue the director of teaching and learning in my district when the opportunity arose for finding resources to support my journey. Dana is now the superintendent of another great Wisconsin school district. Finally, the innovative work done in my classroom is done in partnership with my co-teacher Andelee Espinosa.
Learner Agency
Learner Voice and Learner Choice are two major components to providing Learner Agency in the classroom. Too often, voice and choice are seen as a single aspect. In our session, Barbara Bray, Kerry Gallagher, and I teased out key aspects of and examples for incorporating voice and choice into the classroom. One other key ingredient often overlooked in putting students at the center of their own learning is Joy and Play. Barbara ensured that attendees got a chance to have some time to play by creating their own human machine.The Power of Stories Using Digital Tools
Providing learners space to tell their stories is key to a learner centered classroom. But, empowering educators to tell their own stories provides opportunities for personal growth and opportunities to build a community of educators who learn from each other. Barbara Bray collected a wonderful group of educators featured on her podcast for a poster session sharing out they work they have done.
It was wonderful seeing all of these amazing educators. Many I was meeting for the first time.
You can check out all of Barbara’s podcast episodes here or search for Rethinking Learning on your podcatcher of choice.
ISTE 1-in-3 Sessions — Round 1
A final presentation I gave was as part of a session called 1-in-3. In this session, a group of presenters step onto the stage to present a single idea in 3 minutes.
It was an interesting experience and a bit of a risk for me. My focus was on expanding the use of Google Slides for learner expression over Google Docs. You can watch a screencast I did in preparation for the session below.
Beyond the Slideshow: Unleashing Student Creativity With Google Slides
The first session I attended was lead by the fantastic Eric Curts. He is so mild mannered but full of amazing knowledge and information of EdTech tools. Ron Swanson is to woodworking as Eric Curts is to EdTech.
This session focused on a host of different things you can do with slides beyond simple presentations. Eric focused on 7 different ways to go beyond with Google Slides
- Manipulatives
- Collabordependent
- Interactive
- Animated
- Nonlinear
- Video Activities
- Narrative
Honestly if you aren’t using Google Slides in your classroom for creation, you are missing out on an amazing free collaboration tool that can create a wide variety of multimedia products!
Check our resources for all of Eric’s ISTE sessions here.
Cultivate Kindness with Technology Integration
It is so easy at a technology to lose touch with the human element. That’s why it was great to see the use of technology to go beyond content and cultivate kindness in learners. Tamara Letter’s book A Passion for Kindness is one which I read and loved last year. Her session was a great reminder that everything we do in our schools from standards to social skills is implicitly tied to kindness. The issue is that many of us, me included, take this fact for granted and need to find ways to make it explicit.Check out here presentation below with all the amazing resources!
#StopMotionSlides
Jake Miller is the amazingly upbeat host of the podcast Educational Duct Tape.
He is the master of creating Educational GIFs. In this session, he gave a tutorial on using Google Slides to create Stop Motion Animation.
I highly recommend going to his page for the session to get all the materials for the session.
If you want to get a flavor for the session, the presentation is embedded below.
In this hands-on session we had time to create our own animation. Find my simple creation below.
The Learning Mixologist - Shaken and Infused Never Stirred.
Kasey Bell has been a tremendous resource for me in implementing EdTech solutions into my classroom with the goal of creation. In this session, she teamed up with Holly Clark to do more than just suggest a handful of tech tools to use in the classroom. Kasey and Holly have designed a framework to infuse technology in the classroom with the goal of addressing classroom standards or goals.
What I appreciate about the framework is that it also guides implementation at multiple levels based on learner expertise: Beginner, Experienced, & BAM!
Get access to the full presentation with the why, what, and how of the Learning Mixologist here!
Also, get a peek at all of Kasey’s presentations from ISTE 2019 here.
Don't Ditch that Tech! Using Technology to Upgrade to a Differentiated Classroom
Although I didn’t get an opportunity to attend this session with Matt Miller, Nate Ridgeway, and Angelia Ridgeway. I did read the book and wrote a reflection here. In true super fan form, I waited outside after the session and was lucky enough to get the authors and get them to sign my Kindle! Thanks for taking the pics, Karly :)
Below you’ll see an infographic from the session. But, check out this PDF with Live Links.
Create with Chromebooks
The Google Playground was a wonderful place to learn from some amazing Google Teachers & Innovators. Jen Giffen had a station in which she featured some of creation tools I had never heard of before.Jen also shared out some wonderful resources for designing headers for a multitude of different purposes. Again, check out the live links in this slide!
If you haven’t listened to Jen’s podcast with Kim Pollishuke, Shukes and Giff: The Podcast, it is a must listen for tech tips but also the great banter!
Sketchnoting on a Chromebook
Another great Google Playground session I sat in on was with the amazing artist Sylvia Duckworth. Her session highlighted how to create simple but versatile icons. Sylvia channeled Bob Ross but in a way that participants could actually replicate the creations! I was amazed at how zen it was to create these illustrations.
Practical & Innovative Ways to Infuse ISTE Standards in the Classroom
The final session I attended was really the heart of what ISTE is all about. It focused on the ISTE standards for students and how to build them into the classroom. The session was presented by Chris Aviles, Kasey Bell, Matt Miller, and Wanda Terral. The slidedeck below is full of so many great resources and examples it is almost like a book itself.I can’t hope to do justice summarizing the presentation. But a personal highlight, was Kasey sharing out the portfolios learners make in our physics classroom!
ISTE wrapped up less than a week ago and I am still processing all of this information. I hope to be able to dig into it soon and use it to help guide the next iteration of my learning environment this fall. There may not have been much reflection in this post, but that will come in time as I step back from the overwhelming sensation of endless possibilities I have right now.
There was also a bunch of new information about Flipgrid that is definitely going to affect my classroom this fall. But I'll save reflection on those for a little later...
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