Hello World aka the First Vlog

Welcome! As you can see blogging hasn't been my strong suit. So to build in the more reflective piece of the Vlog and going to come here and do a write up of each episode.

One important thing I reveal in the first episode is my struggle with my personal feelings about my job last year. I'm happy to report that I feel cautiously optimistic about this school year but I'll get more into that when we get to the section of the Vlog with the staff meeting pictures. If you're interested in learning more about last year, click here.

First up in the Snap footage was a short bit from Raspberry Picademy.   This was an amazing two-day learning experience hosted by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Part of the academy was an emphasis on physical computing and not just exposing students to computer based coding. It's really about digital making and getting students hands on components to create with hardware and code. I'm currently working on creating a digital ink name tag with a Pi that I’m hoping to debut at the Silver State Technology Conference in September. As a former high school English teacher the one thing I struggle with when in comes to Pis is how to successfully integrate them into the curriculum in a way that is authentic and not just an extra. I can see these work great in science, makerspaces and of course computer science, but I still struggling with the humanities connection. It’s something I hope to continue to explore as I continue to meet and collaborate with other Pi users both in and outside of education. If you’re using Raspberry Pis, I’d love to know what you’re doing with your students.

Another cool professional development I attended this summer was the California Google Geo Teachers Institute. It was such a fun time to be able to attend the Institute because Google Earth for the web had just launched along with the new Google Earth Education website. It was great to get to dive deep into the suite of Geo Tools because it wasn’t something I had ever really looked at before. I had dabbled with My Maps but it was great to get to explore tour builder and some of the geeky sides of mapping with KML files and ODKs. I’m excited to work with the History staff developer in my district to see where we can integrate these tools into our district curriculum to share the stories of place and time. Hopefully, I’ll have more to report on that late. Oh and this event finally gave me the push to purchase a Theta 360s. I can’t wait for it to come in so I can start sharing pictures of my world.

Although it was a half day event the California Teachers Summit was a great event. I really liked that the structure of the event was the same regardless of the satellite location. It was so nice to connect with teachers from the region and chat about topics that are important to us. One of the things I realized while at the conference was the importance of not just connecting and working with other teachers, but letting out local and state government know what we need to be supported. I encourage you to check out 5 Calls to see who your representatives are and let them know that protecting public school funding is important to you.

The LEAPS event was a week long conference for students in public service or law enforcement career pathways to come together to learn more about professions in the field and to practice 21st-century skills. I was only part of it for a day, but I helped students learn basic web design principals and create a web page with Google Sites. They were using them to promote a Shark Tank style presentation. It was a quick 3-hour experience, but it it was fun to interact with students. I’d like to take the content from this presentation and adapt it into something I can do again with more students or adults at conferences.

I spent some time prepping things for Breakout Edu this year. We’re going to continue with our district lending library but we had to replace some locks that died during the year. Normal wear and tear, but hopefully this year our lock graveyard won’t be as full. One thing I’ve learned is it’s important to change the locks as few times as possible to avoid accidentally messing it up. This is especially true for the speed lock. For the upcoming year, there will be either a card or the printed directions with the lock codes inside each box. The other thing we are going to do is not let people take locks out of other kits. We’ll have extra locks on hand if a game requires extra, but the locks in box A will only ever be with A from now on. I think when people went into other boxes to borrow locks when they put them back, they forgot to say what the code was so it was easy to get things confused.

Last but not least there were some Snaps from an all day department meeting. In the meeting, we went over our department vision and goals for the year along with our assigned projects. It was nice to have a clear mission from our department leadership. I’m one of those people that needs to have a clear purpose for what I do to see it as valuable. So this was a welcome meeting. When we got to the sticky notes part, I got a bit worried, there are 7 sticky notes that belong just to me, one of which actually has five sub stickies. Then there are 7 sticky notes that are shared between myself and another technology coach. It’s a bit daunting. I’m excited in many ways because many of these things put me in direct contact with teachers, but I just want to do it well. I don’t like to not put forth my best effort so time management will be big this year.

Our district has invested in the idea of the Gallup Strengths and we talked quite a bit about that at our department meeting too. I’m hoping that will help me with the workload for the year. My top five strengths are relator, command, significance, activator and deliberative. We spent time learning about our strengths and the strengths of other on the team. It seems like this won’t be a one and done type thing so I’m excited to how this progresses and I’m personally excited to use this as an opportunity to grow. The strength I’m going to focus on first is deliberative because one of the qualities of a deliberative person I don’t have it thinking more before I speak

Overall I think all of this is a great start to the year and I’m excited to get going. Fingers crossed I can keep up the vlogging and reflecting to see how all of this turns out. If you go back on the blog I’m sure you’ll see many failed attempts to keep this updated, but I’m hoping I don’t fall into bad habits.

If you have ideas for future vlogs or have feedback feel free to let me know and don’t forget to get connected!

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My #ISTE2016 Nugget

I’ve never been to ISTE before. This was my first trip to ‘the room where it happens’ and it didn’t disappoint. I arrived on Saturday morning and within five minutes of stepping into the conference center, I heard people geeking out about tech tools, hashtags, and backpacks. I was right where I needed to be.

Prior to the trip friends were asking why I’d make the trek all the way to Denver and the answer was simple, the people. My goal for ISTE this year was catching up and meeting people. Every time I go to a conference I learn just as much, if not more, from the people in attendance. This conference was no different.

I was fortunate to connect with so many people from the internet that I could not contain my happiness. Not only did I get to reunite with my Google Innovator #MTV16 family, but I got to meet the many of the amazing #COL16 cohort. Then there was the #tosachat, #connectedtl, and #personalizedPD friends. Then it was great to connect with leaders from EdTechTeam, BreakoutEDU, and CUE.

Throughout every conversation, I noticed one theme. We all are struggling; some of us need help with getting leadership on board, gamification, robots, pushing beyond the S of SAMR, or getting our friends connected to a PLN. But what I love about the educational technology community is we don’t give up and we share. No one had the answer, but we all were willing to share where we are in the process.

So, when asked what’s my one nugget from ISTE it isn’t a tool, app, device, or program. It doesn't let perfect get in the way of progress.

I'm a Google for Education Innovator

In January of 2014, I went to my first EdTechTeam Summit featuring Google Apps for Education. Molly Schroder presented a keynote about Living in Beta, and she showed a video about Google’s project X.

I was hooked. I wanted to run back to my district and spread the word of iteration and moonshot thinking, and in some ways I did. Yet, like any post-conference experience, there were the moments of extreme exhilaration and loneliness. Lucky for me, I had found my tribe of like-minded people and they were and are only ever 140 characters away.

Since 2014 I’ve integrated technology into classrooms, and coached other teachers to do the same, but I wanted more. I wanted to reach beyond the boundaries of my school district and social media friends to learn from and help others. To accomplish this, I started going to more summits but this time, I was presenting not just participating.

Then a window of opportunity opened, the application for the Google Certified Innovator Program opened. But like all good things, nothing happens overnight. For weeks I contemplated, read and reread the application, yet each time I didn’t start typing. I felt like I was not good enough, or smart enough, or googly enough. Lucky for me, I have an amazing husband and PLN that convinced me to apply. I furiously designed a t-shirt, learning space, created a video, and wrote about my potential innovation project to help more teachers access coaches to help them with anything education related. When I hit submit I believed in my work and vision, but did not think I would be chosen. Then weeks later, while sitting in a meeting, the congratulations email arrived. I lost every sense of decorum and yelped. Despite my imposter syndrome I made it, just like my tribe thought I would.

While I waited for the academy to begin I began to connect with my fellow future innovators via Google Hangouts, Voxer, Google+ and Twitter. I was so happy to see that not only did I get in, but so did my coworker along with eight of my friends. Our first team building exercise happened before we even arrived thanks to the hard work of the BreakoutEDU team. We solved their puzzles and then we started to create our own game with a partner from the cohort.

Then the travel day finally arrived. My fellow Innovators and I arrived in Mountain View California for the academy. Some of us arrived early and explored San Francisco but we all met up at the hotel to get ready for the journey ahead. We all rode together on a bus from the hotel and it was immediately a party. There were hugs, cheers, and a great atmosphere. When we arrived at the Google campus we were all smiles. For some, it was the first time meeting in real life and for others it was the first time they had seen someone in months, it was a family reunion of sorts.

Image credit +Kevin Brookhouser 

During the first night, we got to know each other by playing our created BreakoutEDU games. After we broke out of our creations, we played a Google-themed game that will be made available to the community soon. Then we found our team for the rest of the academy and had some awesome Google food. In our team, we were tasked with creating a team name, cheer and to pick a team song. We were also introduced to the tenets of the Innovator Program, Transform, Advocate, and Grow. Everything we did in some way, shape, or form connected to one or more of these tenets.

Day 2 was our first full day at the Google Partner Plex and our introduction to Sparks and Sprints. Sparks are motivational, inspirational talks, or prompts for personal inquiry from Google Innovators and Googlers. Sprints were accelerated work times to begin working on our Innovator Project. What I found really helpful during the academy was we were allowed to abandon the idea from our original application. While I liked my idea, I was extremely worried about district red tape. In addition, we were told we could team up with other people to expand or combine an idea. There were plenty of opportunities for reflection, communication and of course fun. In addition, we were able to participate in a HyperCamp. If a demo slam and an EdCamp had a baby this would be it. Innovators were able to present something they are excited about and then they had a station in the room where others could come visit and learn.

I think one of my favorite Sparks on day one was from Mark Wagner because he took the idea of Moonshot thinking and made explicit connections to education. An idea that once seemed like a far-off vision because something tangible I could take home and use to effect change. When a meaningful problem, an innovative solution, and the appropriate technology come together a Moonshot for education is born. Over the two-day academy we all explored our Innovation idea and with our Coach, we looked at ways we could take our idea to the Moonshot level.

Image credit +Sandra Chow 

Day 3 involved more Sparks and Sprints but what I found most useful was the extended time to work and expand on our innovator projects. There were prompts we could use to guide our process as we worked. The end of the day included a gallery walk so we would provide constructive criticism to our peers. It was great to see what people accomplished during the two days and see what people had to say about what we completed.

The academy culminated with a Google Hangout On Air live Innovator Academy Graduation. Other Google Innovators from around the world were able to log on and celebrate with us. When our names were called, they played our team theme song and we had our graduation photo taken. After, we took our official class photo and celebrate with a glass or two of champagne.

Image credit +Mark Hammons 

It was an amazing three days. There are so many stories, inside jokes, selfies, and new friends. Usually after such an amazing event like this, I would be sad because it was over but really the adventure has only just begun. We have projects to work on so the conversations and positive energy is going to stay strong. Now that the academy is over, I hope I can bring the experience from the Innovator Academy back to my school district and that our Innovator projects can not only help my teachers but those around the world. While at the academy, I learned our struggles in the classroom are not our own, they are universal. It will take new ideas and bravery to move forward, ultimately doing what is going to be best for our students. 💡