Skip to main content

Posts

The Ripple Effect of Teaching: Beyond the Traditional Classroom

By
  The Ripple Effect of Teachers Last week was a big one to face the facts of my recent medical condition. For those who do not know, in mid-2022 I was diagnosed with seronegative autoimmune encephalitis. On Wednesday of last week, a pair of Launch Medical and Health Care Strand students presented a personal narrative about my experience. Their presentation was a personal narrative combining a personal interview and research on the disease.  Although the slideshow doesn’t do their presentation justice, it will give you a general overview of the narrative. They covered many aspects of the condition from the factual to the personal narrative, and the lessons learned. They did a wonderful job of capturing a human story rather than listing a clinical definition. At the end of the week, Brookfield Central High School had our annual career day. I was lucky enough to have the ICU neurologist Dr. Gregory Rozanzky who handled my care while I was in the intensive care unit attend and present t
Post a Comment
Read more

Choosy Mos Choose Gifs

By
Do you ever feel really behind the times?  Well I just recently learned how to use Giphy Labs to make GIFs from YouTube clips.  I've mainly been using them to promote the upcoming EdCamp in our district.  But, I decided they'd be a quick way for me to reflect on some highlights from Part 2 of The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros as a part of the #IMMOOC Community . Looking forward to making more GIFs as I go.
Post a Comment
Read more

Space to Innovate

By
via GIPHY The first lightbulb moment for me when I read The Innovator's Mindset last summer the first insight that really hit me was the idea of an innovation as new and better.  As an educator, I've had the opportunity to iterate with my instruction.  But, I really loved seeing my learners innovate with some of their work this year. Six weeks ago, I began a new term with physics students.  Our first unit was on electricity.  Our learners we tasked to  build a series/parallel network circuit that performed a function. One group decided to build a boat. They eventually tested it out in a small pool we had in our classroom. The boat worked quite well and they had completed the task.  But, the learners still had ideas of how they could take their idea further.  With their new knowledge of circuits, they saw how they could increase the power delivered to the motors and increase the speed of the boat. Our next unit was linear motion.  Our unit design project for this u
Post a Comment
Read more

Problem Finders, Problem Solvers

By
The above quote comes from George Couros's Innovator's Mindset.  This is my second round with the #IMMOOC.  The greatest thing about the MOOC was that it provided me the space to reflect and connect with others using a common language and understanding. So, what change am I looking at now?  Over the past year, my administration has embraced the idea that professional development does not have to look the same for everyone. During our PD time, educators are often given the space to choose their own path and attend staff led sessions that meet their needs. This PD has been some of the best of my career.  It was with this in mind that, I choose to take a risk as a professional. In late 2016, I sent out an open invitation to staff in my district to see if any would be willing to come together to host an EdCamp in our district. I was amazed when over 25 peers asked to be a part of the team.  Even more impressive is that only a couple had actually attended an EdCamp.  So we
Post a Comment
Read more

Waves of Innovation in Elmbrook: Data Driven instruction

By
I was able to speak to the a PLC of science teachers from a middle school in our district today.  Sheri Gajria, Rebecca Murray , and Julie Wessel teach science at Wisconsin Hills Middle School in Brookfield, WI.  They truly exemplify the power that can be harnessed from a PLC. In our interview, they discussed how they do the following: 1) Assess each student to determine his/her level of proficiency based on a rubric 2) Pool student data across their classes 3) Use data to drive instruction to meet the needs of each learner 4) Use data to determine student grouping for targeted lessons In addition, Sheri and Julie (Rebecca was out the day of the interview) discuss challenges they've faced and how they know their model is working. The interview goes into more so please watch it.  There is so much to learn about what an effective PLC is and how educators can use formative data to drive instructional practices for each learner. I was amazed at the level this team is work
Post a Comment
Read more

Waves of Innovation in Elmbrook Part 2

By
As I continue interviews for my graduate school project involving innovation in learning environments within my school district ( find part 1 here ), I was able to talk with three amazing educators at Brookfield East High School .  Again, I'll be short on the introductions to the videos because I want you to watch them. Bill Kujawa was one of the first teachers in Elmbrook Schools to begin using technology as a lever for personalizing learning in the classroom. In this interview learn how he is able to personalize instruction in his classroom and the importance of skills based instruction for students.  Bill also speaks to how he can have students meet all the same learning targets as a traditional course but provide more context and deeper understanding.   Molly Mathia and Lindsay Sayles embarked on a unique journey 2 years ago when they decided to merge their English 9 and World History courses into a single year-long cohort. In this interview, they explain why
Post a Comment
Read more

Waves of Innovation in Elmbrook Part 1

By
As a part of a graduate project, I am looking at innovations in education within my school district, Elmbrook Schools. I am specifically focusing on those looking to provide learners with more ownership over their own learning (a.k.a. personalizing learning). I've completed 4 interviews so far.  I had no intention of sharing them via this blog.  But, I think the stories and insights of these educators really are important for all.  They were vulnerable in a way that shows their passion for what they are undertaking.  They want the best for all learners not simply students, but educators who may hear their words.  So, please take the time to listen to their stories.   In this video, Jeff Ortman a teacher in his 22nd year, discusses implementing strategies to give students ownership of their learning in his high school English classroom.  He discusses why he wanted to change his learning environment, his first steps to bring change, how choice and feedback are key to his cla
1 comment
Read more

Celebrating Learning with an Audience

By
On Wednesday January 18th, my physics class held its first iPhysics Expo. It was a night where students were given the opportunity to present their personal physics project with a public audience. The night was designed to be more conversational 1:1 interactions as opposed to a formal presentation.  Students were assigned a specific space in the cafeteria or Black Box Theater.  The attendees then approached a station and the student manning the station would explain their project.  Students were required to have a presentation aid and a poster at their station.   The presentation aids varied from student to student. The purpose of the aid was to assist in presentation. The included Sports equipment to demonstrate technique Graphs and data from experiments Physical products students built Computer programs students created A selfie studio Videos presented from chromebooks The poster could have been created physically or digitally. The purpose of the post
Post a Comment
Read more