My Favorite Ted Talk

Recently, we have been interviewing for various positions for the summer and at a high school.

A popular question that we ask during interviews is, "What is your favorite TED Talk and why?" (Don't tell my boss that I just gave away one of his best interviewing questions!)

This is a great question and it is one that is hard for many to answer.



It seems as if Sir Ken Robinson is quite popular in his TED Talk...(but people tend to forget his name in an interview).

However, my favorite TED Talk is from Debbie Sterling who is the creator of "GoldieBlox."

I first heard about GoldieBlox almost two years ago as I was preparing to give a presentation on recruiting girls in STEM. If you haven't heard of GoldieBlox, you have to check it out. Yes, its a toy--but it is more than "just a doll." The "dolls" can solve different challenges and they help girls learn about engineering and build their spatial skills.

Debbie has a great story. If you watch her TED Talk you can tell that she is smart, and that life as a female engineer has been challenging. It seems as if her mom even tried to dissuade her from becoming an engineer. She had professors who told her should couldn't, but tells the story of one of her male friends who helped her study and encouraged her to persevere--and she does!

I love this TED Talk for so many reasons. One, I would love for my daughter (she is 3) to become an engineer and I will work to empower and encourage her to build her "spatial reasoning skills" that she will need if she does pursue engineering. Two, it was a high school teacher who actually encouraged Debbie Sterling to become an engineer (I heart teachers!)!  Debbie had no idea what she wanted to study when she graduated from high school. Three, Debbie talks about the misconceptions that students (especially girls) have about STEM and engineers--that they aren't just nerds who wear ties, or guys like Mark Zuckerberg who wear hoodies.

What do you think? Have you heard of GoldieBlox before?

What is your favorite TED Talk?

National Library Week

This week is National Library Week!

The Digital Learning Team has been working hard to celebrate our librarians and to show how much we appreciate them!

My goal is to make it to all eleven of my campuses and bring soda cans with the following tag on them:

I have a hard time doing "cutesy" things, so this was a bit of a stretch. So far, the librarians I have seen have really enjoyed them and appreciate the gesture. 

We also have a Twitter Chat this week, where we are hoping to honor librarians and generate some exciting discussion on "Future-Ready Libraries."  

How is your campus or district honoring your librarians? I would love to hear some great ideas! 

What you won't learn at SXSWedu

If you go to SXSWedu hoping to learn lots of new tech tools and hear from educators who are in the field of education—you may be disappointed. I am not saying that there aren’t educators at SXSWedu, but it is a different feel and a different kind of conference.

However, that is what makes SXSWedu refreshing. It is almost like an “unconference” within the structure of a conference.

You can attend sessions/panels/hear from big names/attend keynotes/watch films/sign up for mentoring sessions. There is some opportunity for making—trying out 3D printers, building robots and a few random apps and websites—but that is not the focus of SXSWedu. (If that is more your style, you should go to TCEA. Or go to both!)  

What you can do at SXSWedu is plentiful. 

You can expand your learning. You can tweet. You can attend sessions based on topics that interest you. You can hear from futurists: and hear the vision and predictions about how education will change. 

From the Keynote speech on Wednesday morning, from Jane McGonigal. "I am making the future." 

You can also hear from entrepreneurs and people who are pushing their own products. (Which sounds a lot more negative than it is. I feel like you can learn a lot from an entrepreneur.)

You can network with people from other states and countries. You can have discussions about hot topics in education. 

Truly, to me SXSWedu is indicative of what Austin is really about.

Another person I loved hearing from was Lizzie Velasquez. She has an amazing story and is a great speaker on bullying! 

When you think about what Austin represents, not only is the city in Texas—but it is a city that is known for music, the tech industry, the University of Texas, bluebonnets, “Keeping Austin Weird,” breakfast tacos, and food trailers.  (I am sure there is more, but I digress.)

And, for me as an educator, when I leave SXSWedu, I leave with a sense and a hope that education is changing. I feel like our kids deserve it. 

A little "Thanks" goes a long way

Thank you.

Those two words were ones that I rarely heard as a teacher.

I am not talking from parents or students, but in ten years of teaching I never received a thank you note from a principal. I can honestly say that the word, “Thank you,” may have come out of my principals mouth a handful of times. (And, I worked at several schools—so this is not just limited to one principal.)

However, in my new job as a digital learning coach, I get to hear “thank you” quite a bit.

Just yesterday a librarian emailed me and told me I was her “hero.” Last week, I got a really nice thank you email from a teacher that I helped teach her class iMovie.

But, I hadn’t really thought about the words “thank you,” until today when I was talking to two of my coworkers.

We, teachers don’t need gifts. (Sure, Starbucks gift cards are nice…) But, a thank you note goes a long way.

So, as a principal—when was the last time you told your teachers thank you? When was the last time you wrote one of your staff members a thank you note? If you have never done it…start now!

As a parent—when was the last time you thanked your child’s teacher? Don’t wait until teacher appreciation week (If you don't know when that is...I am not judging you.) Just, thank them today!

As an instructional coach—when was the last time you thanked someone for the great things you get to see them do in their classroom? 

March is a tough time to be a teacher, and a little thank you goes a long way!

Thank YOU for reading my blog post.

Dear Teacher: You are good enough!

Dear Teacher,

You are good enough. Repeat, “ I am GOOD ENOUGH.”

Too many times, teachers don’t think that their ideas are good enough.

I say this because our district puts on a “Technology-themed conference,” called Fusion. In reaching out to people to get them to present—several have said, “my ideas aren’t good enough.” Or, “I don’t have anything good to present on.”

But, each and every day I go into teachers classrooms and visit schools, I see amazing things on Twitter, I talk to my colleagues…I believe that good things are happening in our district and in classrooms everywhere.

We haven’t confirmed anything on our end, but in reviewing the applications for Fusion—I am so impressed. It makes me wonder when/where teachers started thinking that their ideas are “not good enough.”

Because, that could not be farther from the truth.

Teacher, you are amazing. Seriously. You deal with things that no adult should have to deal with. You are disrespected, you are knocked down, you are told to be superheroes. You are over scheduled, over planned, over graded, and over administered. (Interpret that however you want.)

You have amazing ideas. You know your kids better than most. You can tell who a child is by their handwriting. You spend more time with your students than their own parents do.  You create engaging lessons. You can adapt a lesson “on the fly.”

You love. You learn. And, you keep going.

You are good enough.

Now, you need to share your ideas with others. Don’t be afraid to come out of your classroom and out of your comfort zone. Because, you are good enough.

Blog, read a book, write a book, Tweet, take pictures, make a movie.

Show how amazing you are.

Signed, 

A former teacher 

(Re) Finding your Inspiration at TCEA

This was my second year to attend TCEA. Last year, I attended as a Project Lead the Way teacher. This year, I attended as a Digital Learning Coach.

I felt that I took away much more this year--and would I like to think it was because my “job” depended on it.

As a Digital Learning Coach, I get emails or talk to teachers each day--looking for ideas to do ____________ or an app that can _________________.

I left TCEA inspired to do more.

I was lucky enough to hear from three people that really stood out to me.

1. Angela Maiers (@angelamaiers)--she has so much passion. She spoke in the Digital Lounge which was an open space. I was lucky enough to get a spot on the stairs, where I was able to soak in her message. She gave us t-shirts and encouraged us to “find our genius.” She did a great activity with students and educators where she had us listen to each other for a minute. After the minute was up, we relayed back to our partner what we saw as their genius. Then, we added these verbs to their t-shirts. At the end of her presentation, she had the students read "The You Matter Manifesto." (What a difference this would make if you had your students read this manifesto in class!)

2. Leslie Fisher (@lesliefisher)--she is hilarious. I seriously would love to be friends with Leslie Fisher. She has a witty sense of humor, and has so many great resources. Some of my favorites were: Bloomz and Appear.in. (I am actually going to show a teacher Appear.in today because she wants to do a videoconference with a Senator from Michigan on the Flint Water Crisis.) Leslie presented many different sessions at TCEA, and definitely needed a bigger room each time.

3. George Couros (@gcouros)--he was so inspiring. I secretly loved his boy band music at the start of his presentation. Then, he showed some amazing videos that made you laugh and cry at the same time. One of my favorites was this adorable video where a father sent emails to his daughter, Sophie.

Yes, all three of these folks are pretty “famous” if you are on Twitter. But, what I found was that all three of them had the great qualities that really encompass a good presenter. 

From Angela, Leslie and George, I am able to conclude, the best presenters are those who can show passion, be humorous and inspire others--you will leave people “ready to take on the world.”

And that is how I left TCEA. I was definitely (re)inspired.

How to Host a Successful Hour of Code

This week I have had the opportunity to go into several classrooms to take pictures and promote Hour of Code in our district. Hour of Code is a worldwide movement to get more kids interested in computer programming and coding. Almost every school in the district is participating and it has been very cool to go back and visit classrooms.

Here are my top 5 tips for having a successful Hour of Code:

1. Emphasize to your students that they are not JUST playing games. They are coding and learning the "how" behind gaming. Coding is everywhere and it is a great career.
2. Preview the tutorials yourself. It is easy to just send your students to the Hour of Code website, but you must know what is age appropriate for your kids. You don't have to be an expert on every tutorial, but if you have a little bit of knowledge you can steer them in the right direction.
3. Treat Hour of Code like a regular lesson. Ask the kids what they know about coding. I enjoy talking about the lack of women in STEM. I recommend that teachers show a video to get the kids engaged in what Hour of Code is. (This video has been very popular in the classrooms I have visited this week.) After the video, plan what tutorials you will allow your students to learn.

After the tutorials, wrap up your lesson. (Yes, they learned something!) You can have students discuss what they learned about coding, or you could make up a Google Form as an exit ticket. 

4. Monitor your class. Walk around. Encourage them when they get stuck. One teacher told students to remember to have a "growth mindset." (They have been discussing growth mindsets on their campus all year.) I always like it when students leave with their brain hurting--just a little. 

5. Don't make Hour of Code one hour. Let students know they can work on the tutorials at home. Also, let them know they can code with other websites and platforms--Apple has some coding activities, Google,  Scratch from MIT...everyone is getting into coding.