Inspiration from #IETA16

My head is still swimming from all the education awesomeness I experienced at my first Idaho Education Technology Association (IETA) Conference. Between the sessions, exhibit hall, and networking, it was one of the best conferences I've attended. Rather than leaving with a mile-long wishlist of technology, I have ideas that I can use in my classroom and share with my colleagues.

I was lucky enough to attend along with my wonderful wife, Sarah Windisch. Since we're both always looking for ways to improve our schools and classrooms, the learning never stopped. We're still talking about all of the things we're inspired to try out.

Monday opened with Darren Hudgins' keynote presentation "The Merchant of Someday." He highlighted just how rapidly access to information and communication is changing the world.

#IETA16 kicks off with @dhudgins's keynote. Interesting stat from last night. pic.twitter.com/jjJfkrKcPD

— Kelly Kermode (@coachk) February 8, 2016

Although the world has changed immensely in the last few years, schools have been much slower to adapt. He challenged us to use our vision of someday to guide us as we sell learning to our students. It definitely set the right tone to kick off a technology conference.

Here are my random thoughts from @dhudgins keynote at #IETA16 The Merchant of Someday! #madewithpaper pic.twitter.com/v7681Xo2RA

— Janet Avery (@averyteach) February 8, 2016

I also got to learn about Hyperdocs from Lisa Highfill on Monday. The basic idea of Hyperdocs is to create an all-in-one digital document that gives students the instructions and resources to explore and learn on their own. Then students can share the basic information with each other online leaving your class discussion time for making meaningful connections and digging deeper. This was my biggest takeaway from the conference. I'm putting this right to work in my classroom for third grade literature circles. I also loved hearing about Lisa's Teachers Give Teachers Twitter account. It's basically a repository for re-tweeted free resources from other teachers. It's a great concept, and I hope it really takes off in Idaho.

The #IDedchat crew got together Monday night. Discovery Education hosted a nice reception for the group and it was fun to spend some time with my usually virtual PLN.

#IDedchat group meeting up at #IETA16 @DiscoveryEd pic.twitter.com/Nofi5PDWOL

— Em Wirth (@EmMurn) February 9, 2016

My favorite Tuesday session was almost another keynote as Rushton Hurley talked about making memorable projects. He encouraged us to get students asking interesting questions.

How many times do we ask students to make their work interesting? Set the bar high. @rushtonh #IETA16

— Penni Aufderheide (@piccolopenni) February 9, 2016

When students are interested, they're willing to produce excellent work. In addition, constructing a memorable project sets the stage for greater student learning.

Ts Reflect on your classroom. How can you make it memorable? #IETA16 pic.twitter.com/fs2GffXj6N

— Heidi Paullus (@heidipaullus) February 9, 2016

The rest of the second day was full of great ideas, too, but the highlight was the IETA Teacher of the Year award. It went to a fourth grade teacher from my district who has done some amazing things with technology in her classroom. I always look forward to learning with her at our district technology meetings. Congratulations, Kelli Ogle!

There were so many things at IETA that I want to bring back to my classroom. It will definitely keep me trying new ideas through the rest of this school year and beyond. And I'll keep you updated as I continue to experiment and refine...

For more #IETA16 learning, check out Janet Avery's Storify of Day 1 and Day 2.

Inspiration from #NCCE2015

Image from blog.ncce.org

I've been home from the NCCE-Northwest Council for Computer Education conference for two weeks, and my head is still spinning with all of the educational awesomeness I encountered there. It was my first time at a big education conference, and I did my best to take it all in. I attended 14 sessions and workshops and kept up with countless more via Twitter. I walked every aisle of the exhibit hall, and spent all of my free time connecting with inspiring educators from around the country.

New Tech Ideas
Collaboration is the big idea in education right now. I learned strategies for managing collaborative work in Google Drive including having students experiment with collaborative documents by starting with a spreadsheet with their own assigned rows (thanks Nikki Robertson). Cheryl Steighner hosted a terrific session about Google in elementary schools. One of her ideas is to have a collaborative story that students can add to over time. She has one story that students have continued even two years after leaving her classroom! Throughout my time in Portland, I heard about countless apps, websites, and tools that I will be exploring for months to come.

Connections
As great as the official sessions and workshops were, the best part of attending NCCE was connecting with other educators. There were quite a few sessions about how important it is to build a personal learning network (PLN) through Twitter or another social learning platform. I am a full-fledged Twitter evangelist, and my time at NCCE proved why. Everywhere I went, I ran into people I already knew. We were able to jump in and discuss because we already knew each other's backgrounds. I added many more educators to my PLN so I could continue to learn from them after NCCE.

Here we are live tweeting! #IDedchat pic.twitter.com/IVAaG6iQhB
— Janet Avery (@averyteach) March 19, 2015

Excuse the random
photo, but the mens'
rooms in the Portland
Convention Center have
amazing artwork!

One highlight of connecting at NCCE was Wednesday's #IDedchat. We met at a swanky, 30th story bar in downtown Portland to discuss professional development. It was a little strange staring at our phones to chat online when we were in such a beautiful place with great company, but being together created a more festive atmosphere for the chat. Plus, most of us arrived early to share dinner and chat.

I also got to have a wonderful lunch with Cheryl Steighner to discuss tubas and elementary education, and I spent a night on the town with some of my colleagues from Coeur d'Alene (Kelli Ogle and Kiersten Kerr are the only ones on Twitter) and Nikki Robertson from Alabama. I also got to chat with one of the most inspiring bloggers I know, Steve Wyborney, in the exhibit hall. Those informal learning moments were the best of the conference!

Now it's time to put what I've learned in to action. On Monday, I'm hosting a Monday Morning Appy Hour at my school to share some of the iPad apps I learned, and I'm working many of the other ideas I learned into upcoming lessons. It also sparked a desire to attend (and possibly present at) other big conferences. We'll just have to see where that leads, and I'll keep you updated as I continue to experiment and refine...

Authentic audiences #slowchated March 9 - 15, 2015

Image from Wikimedia Commons

I took great pride in my work for elective classes in high school: often more than I did for my academically required courses. I played tuba in multiple bands, acted in most of our school plays, competed in speech and debate, and wrote for the school newspaper. Now, of course, the fact that I chose my electives was a motivator, but the biggest difference between those classes and my others was the audience. I knew that my work would be on display for my peers and the larger community, not just the teacher. I practiced and practiced the tuba solo in the Holst Suite because I knew how many people would be listening. I carefully revised and edited every submission I wrote for the Timberwolf Times because all of my friends and teachers would read my work. I did fine on the papers that I wrote for my teachers' eyes only, but I rarely put the same type of effort into those assignments.

Coursework in the arts and many electives has always given students an authentic audience, while work in other classes is done solely for the instructor. Why? Personally, it wasn't something I thought about much until recently. In the past, I had my students imagine an audience for their writing, but we rarely wrote for a real audience. This year, I'm starting to give my students real audiences for presenting their work. I've seen how sharing their work with a broader audience motivates and inspires many of my students. Still, I know I can do more and I want to hear your ideas.

These are the questions I have in mind, but they are subject to change as you contribute ideas throughout the week.   

Q1 What makes an audience "authentic"?

Q2 How do your students create for authentic audiences?

Q3 How much audience participation do you want? How do you encourage or discourage it?

Q4 What is something you already do that could be enhanced with an authentic audience?

Q5 Where do you find an audience?

Q6 What is your "dream audience" for student work?

I'm eager to discuss this with you on #slowchated and I hope that you will take full advantage of the slow chat format. We have a whole week to find and post links, photos, and blog posts. Best of all, we have an authentic audience in each other, and audience participation is required. Ask questions, challenge assumptions, and learn from one another!

Inspiration from Edcamp Idaho

This has been a tough post to write, I really don't know how to describe my experience at the first Edcamp Idaho.  My son (almost 4 years old) helped me. He said I should write:

Camp was fun! Everything there was so much fun!

His words pretty much cover it, but I'll try to elaborate. When I first heard about it, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to go. Although it was my state Edcamp, it was a long way away. I took the plunge and made the 11 hour drive to be there.

Photo by Simon Miller

The night before the event, quite a few #IDedchat participants met for a Tweetup at a local restaurant. My main goal for the trip was to meet members of my personal learning network face to face and this would be my first opportunity. It was a little surreal meeting people I had never met before, yet they knew me by name before we even said hi. We were able to chat, share some food, and play bocce. If there is ever an inter-state edchat bocce competition, I wouldn't bet against the Idaho team (as long as I wasn't playing - my bocce game still needs some work).

Everyone was excited to be there to share ideas, and they were all unbelievably helpful and friendly. Being at the other end of the state, I only knew one other person there. Simon Miller is a technology coordinator from Kellogg, Idaho who I first met at a Google Apps for Education Festival this winter. He helped arrange accommodations for me in Hailey. I also met my host for the night, Dave Guymon. He just moved to Hailey to take a job with their school district and graciously offered a place for Simon and I to stay the night (and he cooked us a hearty breakfast before our day of learning). Tim Rocco was kind enough to supply us with sleeping bags for the night. In addition to the effort those three put into making sure I had somewhere to sleep, everyone else at dinner instantly made me feel at ease and comfortable. I met four more members of my PLN: Tami Rigby, Marita Diffenbaugh, Janet Avery, and Chad Avery. There were plenty of teachers who weren't on Twitter (yet) who joined in our conversations that night.

Edcamp Idaho session board photo by Janet Avery

Since I was staying with some of the organizers, I was one of the first to arrive at Wood River High School in the morning. I met Maggie Stump, who has been an active participant in our Teach Like a Pirate book study, right away. Excited educators kept streaming in and voting for the day's topics. One of the great things about edcamp is that all of the sessions are completely participant created and driven. For Edcamp Idaho, most of the session ideas were proposed ahead of time and participants were able to place stickers on the topics they wanted included in the day's agenda. When the session board was posted, there were 36 sessions to choose from with topics ranging from encouraging students to read non-fiction to learning how to use specific technology resources.

My first session was Teach Like a PIRATE. Although only a handful of teachers in the room read the book, we had a great discussion on the importance of rapport and a lot of ideas shared for transforming classrooms. I went to sessions on favorite classroom apps and using Discovery Education, but my favorite session of the day was "Things That Suck." That session presented us with controversial education topics and everyone in the room physically arranged themselves in order from strong agreement to strong disagreement and then we debated. I found that I was frequently in the middle, but there were many passionate arguments for and against merit pay, high-stakes testing, and homework. I was surprised by the diversity of opinions in the room.

Hanging out with other edcampers - photo by Marita Diffenbaugh

Edcamp Idaho was everything I hoped it would be and more. With over 100 teachers in attendance and 36 sessions, I'm still sorting out everything I learned. I have a huge list of apps to check out, some resources to investigate for project-based learning, and ideas for getting my students started with Google Apps. I even won a year subscription to Nearpod! But by far the most valuable part of Edcamp Idaho are the connections I made. As great as building my Twitter PLN has been, meeting face to face is amazing. I guess the best way to wrap it all up is by saying: Camp was fun! Everything there was so much fun!

Twitter rescued me

I'll come right out and say it. I was burnt out. Somewhere along the way, I lost that spark that made me a teacher. There are so many reasons why it happened: The constant battle with the state legislature for adequate funding and fair treatment. The isolating feeling of being the only male teacher in my school. The sudden shift to new standards. So many little things that just made it harder and harder to be enthused about my work.

I knew that I wasn't doing my best teaching anymore. I was ashamed. I felt like a failure knowing that my attitude could prevent some of my kids from having the best fifth grade year possible. It seemed as though I had no one to turn to. I was uncomfortable talking to teachers who always seemed to be doing great because I didn't want them to know how I was feeling. If I talked to other teachers who were having a rough year, it became a festival of complaint. All of that just made my burnout worse and worse.

Illustration by Sarah Windisch (@slwindisch)

In February, a college friend of mine mentioned how much he enjoyed his state edchat. I had a Twitter account I never used, so I thought I would check things out. In a few minutes I discovered an upcoming Google Apps for Education Festival in my area. I secured a last-minute registration for the GAfE Festival, knowing that I needed something to inspire me. I gained some new ideas from the sessions at the festival, but the most valuable experience came after the event. The organizers invited everyone to meet later that night at a local pub for an after-party. That night, I connected with teachers throughout the West who were doing amazing things. In addition, they talked about how much they learn from Twitter.

Later that week, I made sure to participate in #IDedchat on Twitter. The topic was ideas for successfully implementing the Common Core Standards. I shared a few things that I had done, but mostly I learned that teachers from all over the state were coming up with ideas to implement the new standards even though they were struggling with the same problems of little training and insufficient materials that I was facing.

Over the next few weeks, I continued to participate with #IDedchat, but I also dropped in on #MTedchat, #NorCalChat, #SlowChatEd, #WyoEdChat, #nt2t and #WeirdEd. With each edchat, I met more teachers who were finding success in the face of obstacles and added them to my personal learning network.

I never mentioned my burnout to my PLN. It was my secret shame. But as I connected with more and more teachers, my enthusiasm and passion for teaching rekindled. I was trying new ideas like MysterySkype and Genius Hour with my students. I began sharing what I learned on Twitter and at the GAfE festival with my colleagues at school. Soon, new opportunities came my way: I was asked to be my building technology leader (an extra duty I had wanted for a long time), my principal approached me about teaching our school's advanced learning program for the coming year, I got to lead a session at EdCamp Spokane, and I facilitated a summer book study on Google+. In addition, I started blogging about my own experience as a teacher and even wrote a guest post for a summer Blog-a-thon. It was easy to forget that I had ever faced burnout.

My flame for teaching is burning the brightest it ever has! So, why bother sharing my story of burnout? Teaching is a tough job, and when someone faces the type of stress that comes with the job, burnout is always possible. Burnout carries such a stigma that I felt terribly ashamed for reaching that point. I was scared of how my colleagues in my own system would react if I admitted how much I was struggling. Yet, it was only after I connected with other teachers that I was able to overcome burnout. As teachers, we need to break the stigma associated with burnout and connect with our colleagues. I'm thankful that I found Twitter and some great professional development to light my fire, but the key was connecting with other educators and learning new ideas. We can do this in our own schools and districts. Please, reach out to the other teachers around you, especially those who are having a rough year. Be a sympathetic listener as they share struggles and ideas. You might be the light that rekindles a flame!

P is for passion

Image from a presentation by Christy Hilbun

The #IDedchat study of Teach Like a PIRATE has begun. And the P in PIRATE stands for passion, an essential element for any good teacher. Author Dave Burgess asks readers to answer three questions about passion. I decided to post my answers here.

"Within your subject matter, what are you passionate about teaching?"
When I was teaching fifth grade, this would have been an easy answer: U.S. History! I love our country's early history: the crazy adventures of the first European explorers, the hardships of colonization, the passion that ignited the revolutionary war, and my all-time favorite topic: the three branches of government. Next fall, when I am officially an advanced learning teacher, those aren't technically within my subject matter. Instead, I'll be teaching reading and math switch groups for third, fourth, and fifth graders.
My passions in reading and math aren't as easy to define. I'm passionate about good storytelling and the ability to get lost in a great book. I'm passionate about learning through non-fiction. I'm passionate about connecting mathematics to real life. I want my students to fall in love with reading for pleasure and reading to learn. In math, I want them to see mathematics as a language for communication and problem solving. If I can weave those into every class, the passion will be there.

"Within your profession, but not specific to your subject matter, what are you passionate about?"
Lifelong learning is definitely a passion! When I was in school, I wasn't a good student, but I was a good learner. I would take an idea and run with it, puzzling though multiple solutions or seeking out books to learn more. My greatest goal as a teacher is to create lifelong learners. I want my students to have the tools to learn and discover about anything they want or need to know.

"Completely outside your profession, what are you passionate about?"
I love my family! I want to spend quality time with them and have fun. Music is a big part of my life. I play the tuba whenever I get a chance, but listening to music is one of my favorite activities. I grew up loving my grandpa's big band records. I still love the music of his era, but I've branched out to have very eclectic tastes: I'll listen to anything! Food is always on my mind. I enjoy cooking just as much as eating.  I studied the Titanic disaster in-depth throughout high school and college, and I still add to my library of books and articles about the ill-fated maiden voyage. And I can't get enough of surprising and obscure facts: I'm constantly reading articles from mental_floss and sharing all of the crazy things I learn with anyone who will listen.

Now that I've identified my passions, it's time to bring them into my classroom. I'm looking forward to learning how to do that in the rest of Teach Like a PIRATE. And I'll keep you updated as I continue to experiment and refine...


If you would like to join the #IDedchat study of Teach Like a PIRATE, let me know in the comment section or by contacting me on Twitter @teacherwithtuba We just got started, and would be happy to build a larger group!

Tweetchat triumph

Tonight I followed two edchats simultaneously. I joined #WeirdEd talking about "The Whole Wide World" and #NDedchat discussing "Connections" It was my first attempt at dual chatting and I had a bit of beginners' luck! This is my Tweetchat Triumph:

A2: Mystery Skype was amazing for my students. Seeing US schools that were different than our town. #WeirdEd #ndedchat
— Jim Windisch (@teacherwithtuba) July 3, 2014

What made this so great? It answered the second question from #WeirdEd

#WeirdEd Q2 How can we/do you expand our student’s surroundings beyond the borders of their town?
— Doug Robertson (@TheWeirdTeacher) July 3, 2014

and #NDedchat AT THE SAME TIME!

Q2: What is the most meaningful connection you have made that has impacted your students? #ndedchat
— EduTech of ND (@EduTechND) July 3, 2014

I was feeling pretty good after that one! However, all that awesome broke the Interwebs. I lost my connection to the world wide web about ten minutes later and missed the end of both chats.

Summer reading

Summer vacation just started and like most teachers, I'm already thinking about next year.  After 11 years of teaching fifth grade, I'm switching jobs. When I return in the fall, I'll be the Advanced Learning teacher at my school. I'll be teaching the high math and reading switch groups for third, fourth, and fifth grade. I'm looking forward to it, but it will be a big change. To prepare, I've made myself quite a list of summer reading. I'd love to share ideas from these books with anyone else who is reading them this summer and hear ideas from those of you who have made these books a part of your practice. So, in no particular order, here is my summer reading list:

The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller

Every year it seems like I have more and more reluctant readers - students who are capable, but just don't choose to read. The Idaho Core Standards definitely require more of our readers than our previous standards. With those changes and our school dropping Accelerated Reader next year, I hope this book will give me some new ideas for my reading switch groups.

Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess

When I first joined Twitter, this was the book that kept popping up in my feed.  I downloaded it before my spring break vacation, but I haven't found the time to read it yet. At last week's #idedchat, the book came up and I hastily put together a book study group for the summer. I'll post details about the book club as we figure it out.

Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

This is another book that the teachers I admire most on Twitter frequently reference. In my new position, I am switching from having a somewhat flexible schedule with my students to 50 minute blocks with a group.  I need a plan that will give me the most impact with my short time. I'm hoping to find some ideas here.

He's the Weird Teacher by Doug Robertson

I am always amazed by what a fun and friendly community of teachers I have found on Twitter. And one of my favorite Twitter events is Wednesday night's #WeirdEd chat. We've discussed how being weird in the classroom builds relationships, how education relates to Pixar movies, and had a very serious exploration of violence and safety in schools.  Doug Robertson is the ringleader of this wonderful chat, so I want to read his book. Plus, I've overheard students say the title of this book when talking about me. If my kids want me to read it, so be it!

Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci

This was my principal's teacher appreciation gift to the staff. I've heard quite a bit about Carol Dweck's book, Mindset, and the power of moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. I generally have a growth mindset, but I don't know how to impart that to my students. Maybe I'll find a plan here.

In addition to my professional reading, I hope to read some kid lit as well.  Now that I'll be working with younger students, I'm looking for suggestions of quality books that would be appropriate for good third grade readers.  Still, I have a few books in mind to read that should be of interest to my fourth and fifth grade students:

• The Titanic Trilogy by Gordon Korman
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• The One and Only Ivan  by Katherine Applegate

Now that my list is in writing, I need to follow through! Please let me know if you have any other kid lit suggestions or insights into the professional books I'm reading. I'm sure I'll post some reflections and ideas for how I'll apply these new ideas to the upcoming school year after reading. And I'll keep you updated as I continue to experiment and refine...

Images from Amazon.com

The exhilaration of sharing

Last week was an amazing one for me! On Monday, Edutopia tweeted a link to my "letter to me on my first day of teaching." Then it was re-tweeted and re-tweeted. Over 500 people read my work by the time I checked in at lunch. By the end of the week, it had over 1,000 page views. I haven't had that many people read something I wrote since my local newspaper published my winning Arbor Day sentence in 1st grade! Sharing with that many other educators was amazing!

I dropped in on #idedchat later in the week and when the topic of holding kids accountable when working in groups came up, I linked to a self-assessment I created earlier this year. I hoped this form that I had found so useful would help someone else.

Another Idaho teacher was looking for pros and cons of different devices for a 1:1 initiative. I shared the Google doc my school has been using to organize our data about device choices with him (and the rest of my Twitter PLN). At least five people added on to the information I already collected. Some of the comments were absolutely invaluable for our analysis. The simple act of sharing improved upon my work!

Since I started my career in education, I always admired those teachers who were constantly sharing their work. I was impressed by their kindness and concern for others. Now I see that they benefited from sharing as well: sharing is exhilarating!

To better share with my fellow educators, I've created a page of classroom resources. There are only a couple things there now, but I'll add more soon. I hope that you can find something there that is helpful to you. And I'll keep you updated as I experiment and refine...