Transfer of Skills

My goal as a technology coach is that when I share a tech tool with teachers, and model that tool with their students, and create lessons with the tool that teachers can then (hopefully) take the tech tool and begin using it on their own. Transfer of skills.

As a technology teacher, when I push in for tech with the kids, my hope is that the technology skills we explore transfer into their daily learning. This is most prominent when we're coding - problem solving, perseverance, breaking problems into smaller chunks to solve, debugging (looking for errors) are all coding skills we practice. The hope is that students take those experiences and feelings (the feeling of being successful in breaking a problem into smaller chunks) into their reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. Transfer of skills.

There is also a reverse of that. When kids are learning strategies for reading unknown words, or tricks for writing with juicy words, or tools to help with subtraction, the hope is that those things learned transfer to when we're exploring different tech tools.

Recently, I was filled with warm fuzzies as I watched this transfer of skills happen twice in one week! And at opposite ends of the building, too!

8th graders have a big unit every December called Campaign for a Cause where they research different local causes and try to persuade their classmates to vote for their cause. This unit involves watching and creating PSAs. The 8th grade team was blown away by the transfer of skills this year in the PSA making. The kids took ideas directly from the PSAs they watched and embedded them into the created PSAs. Taking that one step further, the winning Cause created a second video that also followed what they had learned, further solidifying the learning.

Boddle is a favorite activity to play in our lower grades. Last week in 1st grade, without prompting, students got out their number racks and dry erase boards so they could use the strategies they have learned during math to help them succeed in their favorite math game. The kids are learning to transfer skills young, taking what they learn in one area and using it in another, as a way to achieve success!

Transfer of skills.

Tech Tip!

At the beginning of a calendar year, it is known that lots of people like to set resolutions, things they want to do differently in the coming year.

And then, usually within a month, all those resolutions break. Or at least this used to be my story. Now I just don't make resolutions anymore.

Instead, I stick with one, life-long goal: Be a better version of me than I was in the past.

Some days feel like definite backslides. Other days it feels like I'm miles ahead of where I was.  Most days, though, I try to smile more than frown, be kind not critical, and always presume positive intentions.

Comic Credit: Aaron Bacall

For teachers, it is super easy to focus on the single negative event from the day, especially in days that are packed with more than a regular human can handle. My therapist once suggested that before bed, try to think of three positive moments from the day. Don't dwell on the single piece of criticism or the negative interaction from the day. 

I'll admit that it was (and still can be) a very challenging task. In a day full of smiles, the one frown can pierce my gut like a sword, and sit there for days. It's so easy to perseverate, even though I know it doesn't help at all, instead, giving me perpetual stomach issues.

This Week's Tip: try to find three positive moments in your day, and hold on to those for dear life. 

What's Your Why?

I love teaching.

I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. In fact, when I was in fourth grade, I wrote a poem about becoming an art teacher (my 9-year-old self thought highly of her art skills!). More than a decade later, as I was in my pre-student teaching work, I went back and volunteered for my fourth grade teacher (who was now a first grade teacher) and she pulled out that poem. It was a very powerful, affirming moment!

Anyway. Like I said, I love teaching. I love watching kids grow, watching lightbulbs go on and fireworks explode. I love the opportunity to be creative in my teaching, and encourage creativity in students.  As a tech coordinator, I focus more on teaching adults, and though the learners may be older, the lightbulbs and fireworks still make my heart sing.  It brings a whole new level to teaching, and it feels more like empowering others to uncover their talents and abilities.

The pandemic has changed a lot, and even more for teachers and schools in general.  A few weeks ago, I was in an education discussion on social media and someone posed the question "what's your why?" 

My first thought was, why would anyone in this day and age choose to go into education?  I mean, when I joined the world of education, teachers had a lot more respect, had a lot more flexibility, and overall, had a lot more support.  Now, education (like most of the world) is short staffed, but unlike the rest of the world, more and more gets piled on the plates of schools and educators, and nothing is taken off.  Teachers and educators are leaving the field in droves, more than ever before.

My second thought was that I can't see myself doing anything else.  I love teaching.  I love working with people, especially children.  I love the dialogue that happens in discovering new things, trying new skills, and exploring new topics.  I love being a part of a school community- I look forward to seeing my colleagues, sharing celebrations with them, watching their families grow.  I love being challenged to try new things myself, to look at things from a different perspective, and to step out of my comfort zone.

In short, teaching makes me feel like I am making a difference in the world.  

And that sense pushes me to keep going, even though things are rough in the world of education, I know I'm impacting those in my school, and hopefully, the community (and world?) at large.  It makes my heart happy to watch other people learn and grow.  It even makes the grey hairs and sleepless nights almost tolerable.  Almost.

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FanGirl Friday: Nicholas Provenzano

Ever heard of Genius Hour?  Or 20-Time?  In a nutshell, it's the concept of giving students one day a week to work on any project of their choosing...  Such a novel idea - giving kids time, in school, to learn something they wanted to learn?  Wow.  Enter Nicholas Provenzano's 20-Time projects.  Projects his high school students experienced for a year.  The experience these kids had... made me wish I was a student in Mr. Provenzano's class!  If you have a little bit of time, you have to watch the culminating TEDx talks the kids did.  It will be well worth it.

Also known as The Nerdy Teacher, Nick is an incredible educator, innovator, and person.  In his blogs, Nick shares himself with such authenticity, it's hard not to be inspired. One of his posts that really landed with me was one about asking for help.  For some people, it's easy.  For others?  For me?  Ehhh, no.

Always love connecting
with Nick at MACUL!

The post that touched my heart?  This one.  As someone who has battled depression and anxiety and whatever since my early teens, I've always kept that part of me hidden, like a dark secret.  After reading Nick's post, I realized that I am not alone.  Shortly after reading the post, I spoke out publicly (read: FB world) about my depression for the first time.  And I haven't hidden it since.

In addition to being an incredible person, and educator, Nick is one of the founders of #EdCampDetroit (which is coming up in May if you want to register!)  He's also an author (check out his books!)  Lots of fun stuff on Nick's twitter feed, too!

Twitter. Yes, Twitter.

Tweets.  They are NOT just for birds, at least not anymore!  

Source

Like anything new, the Twittosphere can be a bit overwhelming.  I mean, my Twitter account lay dormant for a good two years before I actually posted anything.   Kinda like sitting in the back row of conferences and workshops, which is where I sat my first few years when I attended education trainings.

My Twitter time began as a stalker lurker.  I followed people who were interesting - authors, educators, app creators - and just watched.  I learned a lot while watching.  Apps to try, websites to visit, books to read.  After a while, I started retweeting things that others posted - apps I actually tried, websites I now used in class, and books I read.

From there, conversations began - I started posting questions and requests my students or I had, and looked forward to responses from my newly formed professional learning network of peeps.  We actually did a very cool project where the kids collected data via surveys shared on Twitter, and we used that data for a multitude of things in class!

The next step was joining in on Twitter Chats.  Remember AOL?  Instant messaging?  Instant messaging was a highly motivating factor in my learning to type.  I digress.  A Twitter Chat is kind of like an AIM chatroom.  Full of people sharing a common interest.  Full of wisdom (wanted or not).  Full of energy (my favorite part!)  And yes, they can be fast moving.  But the good news is that you can use the tag form the chat to read the archives so you can find what you might have missed during the chat!

List of chats

Looking for some incredible on-your-own-time professional development?   I highly recommend a Twitter Chat. (Thank you to those who organize the site and host the chats!) There are chat topics that cover everything imaginable in the education world.  Chats for music educators and principals, PBL and Cultures of Thinking, IB and GAFE, and a variety of regional chats hosted across the globe.  Most chats happen in the evening, and are a meaningful way to grow your teaching and learning.  As the chats have a set start and end time, and most even have a topic or agenda with questions for the chat, you've got a decent chance of using the chat toward the on-your-own-time professional development hours most schools now require.

Many thanks to V. Hurst for the Video!

If you'd like to spend a little time diving into how to start on Twitter, and how I found it to be useful in the classroom, please check out my video presentation on Twitter, that I shared with my district a few years back.  I'm happy to answer any questions, too!

Well?  What are you waiting for?!  Go spend some time Twitter stalking learning!