We’re back for the next installment of the blog and I’m coming in under the Tuesday wire, but I’m glad I was able to get it done. Having the video and blog aspect together is a great way to keep me motivated and posting. Thanks for checking in here on the blog and don’t forget to watch the video.
The first set of Snaps comes from the C3TC 2017 Conference that I got to participate in thanks to EdTechTeam. As I said in the vlog, I started my journey with EdTechTeam and really the road to being the coach I am now, years ago as an attendee at a summit. I attended an event in Napa, California and came back inspired to continue learning and sharing with others. That process eventually gave me the confidence to become a local presenter and technology coach for my district. One day an EdTechTeam employee approached me about working for them at an event and since then, I’ve been presenting for them almost on a monthly basis. What I love about working with EdTechTeam is these events are the ultimate iron sharpens iron situation. I’m always surrounded by so many phenomenal people, that I can’t help but learn from them. Whether it’s their presentation delivery, content or innovative ideas. I always return home from working energized and bucket full, and this event was no different. I was so lucky to be able to learn a lot about working with iPads, Seesaw, and Flipgrid. What was also great about this event was just seeing the other presenters. These events are like a family reunion, and this was no different.
A lot of what’s been going on in the department lately has been preparing for teachers to come back to work and August PD day. What you saw in the vlog, though was a bit different. This preparation was specifically for our Elementary Grade Level Leads and Technology Mentors. This is the first time a training of this scale has been undertaken and for the unified purpose of empowering grade level leaders with the skills to enhance their PLC. It was great to see teachers from so many schools across the district get the same information about important subjects like the new California dyslexia guidelines (AB1369), technology integration and adult learning theory. I’m hoping we continue events like this and we get to continue to be involved. One counter point about this, however, is I only got to be involved with the elementary training. Due to miscommunications and schedule conflicts, I wasn’t able to be apart of the secondary event. The good news is the footage from the Elementary PD wrap up is from a self-created inter-department PLC for staff developers. I have hope that meetings in this PLC will help foster collaboration in our district and closed the gap between the multiple departments and staff that provide professional development for teachers.
I think some of the other fun gems from the footage are simple presenter tips that I can pass on to others.
- Have teachers sit by grade level or content area, especially when sites are mixed. Help push people towards collaboration and give them the opportunity to work in groups so hopefully, this can continue beyond this specific training.
- When you can, tag team a PD with another presenter you trust. Having a colleague from my department there to help share the load, saved my voice and provided additional perspectives to our learners.
- If your learners need to respond in an app, have them read something useful, like the California ELA/ELD Framework, important article or useful in district document.
- Specifically, with technology remind teachers it’s embedded in the standards or in other district initiatives.
- When attendees are walking in, play music, but not just any music, play stuff people can sing along to. I’m enjoying the Songs to Raise Your Kids to playlist on Google Play right now.
- If you’re filming sections of your PD and your participants don’t want to be on camera, film the slide they are responding to, that way you get their awesome comments but respect their privacy.
Also, just like the in the vlog, I’m curious what’s your favorite back to school thing to do? Leave your thoughts in the comments and I’ll see you in two weeks for the next installment.
No comments:
Post a Comment