EDUCruise

EDUCruise

My husband Bob (@TagAlongBob) came up with the idea.

We shared it with close friends, and came up with these parameters:

• Can't call it "EdCruise," because it sounds too much like a person, so it needs to be "EDUCruise."
• Instead of the typical chocolates, we'd be enjoying cold shrimp and sushi for snacks
• Tuna salad sandwiches for lunch - aw, heck - it's our dream - Lobster or Crab for lunch!
• We won't need to reserve a place to meet afterwards for entertainment...
• Sunning on the deck
• Swimming pool
• Jacuzzis
• Beverages
• The perfect time would be winter break! On a Monday through Friday...

We thought this would be the perfect idea for Dave Burgess Consulting to design - Dave and Shelley are the PIRATES!! Everyone would get a teeny pirate flag, as we probably wouldn't want to hoist one on the main deck. The rest of the time would be sharing ideas and shattering the status quo! Of course, all the authors would get a free ticket + 1 for themselves and a guest...

Now, because we only shared it with close friends, and I didn't go right to Dave and Shelley, someone else has gotten the idea...

Kudos to the EdTechTeam!

I wish they'd've (oh, how I love multiple contractions!) called me! Then this would be happening during winter break instead of summertime!

To find out more about this particular "Summit at Sea," click here. To ask Dave and Shelley to put on one over winter break, click here. And to add more ideas so the EdTechTeam and DBC can add to their own EDUcruise, add comments to this post - We'd love to learn from your creativity!

Explore Like a Pirate

Michael Matera, a great EdCamp adventurer and cohort, finished his book about gamification. I have told him - repeatedly - in person, no less - that I could NOT attend one of his gamification sessions at edcamps until I was READY to implement it in my classroom. I knew, just from the type of teacher he is, that his wealth of resources and his passion for doing this in the classroom would push me over the edge and into the high seas. If I was not ready to practice my swimming all summer (planning for an extensive year-long game), I would NOT attend one of his sessions. (I did attend a TINY session at USM Summer Spark last summer - right after seeing Dave Burgess in action!)

Well... I guess he was done with me not attending his sessions.
He sent me his book!

I have read the book, marked it up, asked questions, added sticky notes, and dog-eared the pages.

Now what?!

My brain is reeling.

I'm steeped in students grading themselves this year, and still on the Genius Hour bandwagon, of course. I'm still trying to figure things out with these two HUGE ideas. And now? Now I want to offer experience points (XPs) to my students for doing side quests. I want to have a big jar of water in the room with a small target at the bottom so kids can drop pennies in. I want to have teams in the class. I want to have more...... fun.

My kids are always up for trying new things. (I think that's why we're pretty loud - we're still figuring things out.) I believe I can incorporate my first efforts when we read The Outsiders at the end of the year. I've already switched those plans to work the Whole Novels way. I know what we're doing for that unit. Just think about it - the Greasers against the Socs... Girls against the boys. I could do it up right. I have enough time to plan (??), and we could end the school year with something they'll really remember. Stay gold?? Hmmm... Golden sunsets? Blue Mustangs? There's a lot I could do here... I hope to see Michael at EdCamp Madison this February so I can pick his brain, and then again in April at EdCamp Chicago so I can update him with my progress and get tips!

Until then, I think I'll get that big jar and some pennies ready... Or should I pack the golf ball, putter, and cup? You don't have a clue why I would? Time to pick up Explore Like a Pirate... Not too intrigued - yet? Time to join the weekly Twitter chat #XPlap on Wednesday nights at 7pm CST to catch the sparks so you can ignite those ideas.

And, no. I don't get paid to review books. Michael is a caring, innovative teacher who loves to share his ideas - in person, and now in paperback.

"The Talk" - About Grades

Six full school days in... Today was the day my last class and I had "the talk!"

I pumped it up yesterday, TLAP style...
     "Tomorrow we're going to have.... (this part whispered-->) the talk!" Of course, they wondered if this was really health class, and I had to let them know that it was about the "g" word = grading!

I had plans. After 3/4 of class was through, I was going to have my 9/10 block fill out this survey first, then we'd project some answers and start the conversation that way. I was also going to record our conversation. I totally forgot those two things (I suppose I was a bit excited). I started, instead, by showing them how our class website was linked to their grading website (Edline), and all the goodies that are on our website. When we got to the "rubrics" tab, I skipped the rest until we got to the "FaR" tab. This, I said, was solely for their class. My eyes lit up, and I started excitement coursed through my veins.

-----

     "Did any of your parents tell you how this class would be different?"
     ONE child raised her hand. She simply said, "Grading will be different."
     "How?"
     "We're going to grade ourselves."
     "What?" was heard many times over, and my smile spread.

After hearing this, and settling down, they were really ready to listen.

     "I don't have all the answers yet, but I've been thinking of you all summer long. I asked for permission from Mr. Kaye last school year, and he had some great questions, and made me think more. We knew there'd be some obstacles, but I've been working all summer to try and make this work for us. Do you want to know why?"

A resounding "Yes!" from students

"Because... what happens when you get a grade on something?"

"You throw it away," said one scholar at the front. YES.

-----

And so the conversation begins.

I am so happy we are staring the conversation. Here are some questions I can remember students asking...

     "Can I give myself an F?" (That won't happen. I won't let it.)
     "How can I prove I should get an A?"
     "What if we lie?"
     "Can I just TELL you what I should get and show you proof?" (Yes - in a five-minute video.)
     "Can we tell other kids?" (YES!! Let's get the conversation started!)

And here is the transcript from my quick interviews afterwards. I simply asked, "What do you think of the idea of you grading yourself?" (Check out our latest posts on Instagram or Twitter to hear their voices!)

* I think it will be fun, 'cuz I can give myself good grades. I'll make sure I'm honest with myself.
* It's cool, but I think some people won't be honest.
* I don't really know how it's gonna work, but as long as you have to prove that you deserve a letter, I guess it's just more work for you.
* I think it's an interesting way to do school, or English Language Arts. I guess it will be fun but more challenging at the same time.
* I have no clue, 'cuz I'm not very good at grading myself, but I hope I grade myself good so I get good grades!
* I think that it will be very different and cool.
* It'll be fun, but I'm also kind of scared.
* I think it will be cool, but scary.
* I think it's interesting.
* I think it's going to be very fun, and very interesting, too, because probably no one's gonna give themselves an F, so no one's gonna fail the class, or not even a D, so I think it'll be interesting.
* I think it's nice.
* I think it will be interesting and a new, fun way to do grading.
* I think it's cool because like everybody gets like relaxed, and just read, and just like be calm.
* It's cool.
* It's good. Okay. Not the best, but good.
* I think it'll be fun.

I'm looking forward to more conversations!

Flipping Your English Class to Reach All Learners

I just finished my first book about flipping - this one by Troy Cockrum.

Flipping Your English Class to Reach All Learners is a quick read. Troy begins with the WHY - why should anyone consider flipping (parts of, even) their English classes? My two favorite reasons - flipping helps your class become student-centered, and it helps you develop better relationships with your students. This is a result of more one-on-one conferencing with students, which is the reason I love Genius Hour and the reason I want to give more feedback, and fewer grades. I was sold before I even purchased the book because of these simple reasons.

What IS flipping? One simple way to put it - flipping is “moving the direct instruction from the public space to the private space.” (Bergmann, p10) The simple things you teach can be shared with students on their own time, and not take up time in class. These short lessons or ideas must be accessible to all students - at ANY time. This way, students can access the information whenever they like - especially great if they become confused and need a refresher.


Troy writes about WHY flipping works, and then goes into the different TYPES of flipping. Many people are familiar with the "watch the video at home and come back to school and do activities" type of flipping, but that's just not it. He explains the

Traditional Flip
Writing Workshop Flip
Explore-Flip-Apply
Flip-Mastery
Peer Instruction Flip

...and because this book was published in 2014, there are probably different iterations of these out in the fast-paced teaching world now! (My next "flipping" book is Flipping 2.0.)

There are then four chapters of sample lessons, showing the different types of flips, and going through the different portions of ELA - writing, language (grammar and vocabulary), reading, speaking & listening. Here are lessons you can put into your curriculum easily - especially the ones that include links to actual videos used. I think half the battle of flipping is creating your own videos, because you just can't find the right ones on the Internet. (I went to the site Troy created for his students - Engliteo.com - and it was not working for him. He now has a playlist of student-created videos here. YES!!) I am aware that the best videos probably come from our own, as we use our own voices at the very least, to make that personal connection with the students. However... if I want to try flipping without the stress, it will be nice to have some videos ready-made for beginners. Troy has let me know of a few others - Instructional Videos for Students and Teacher Instructional Videos are two more playlists he has put together! (Soon after I posted this, another tweet directed me to WatchKnowLearn... Free educational videos - organized!)

I did fold over the tabs on five specific lessons I would like to try. I'll have to search for the best videos first, however, and that takes some time. Three of these lessons come from the "Speaking & Listening" chapter. I have been thinking a ton about how we teach speaking and listening since Sandy Otto's presentation at USMSpark - she kept referencing Erik Palmer's book Well Spoken: Teaching speaking to all students, and she impressed upon us that we need to teach those small skills specifically - eye contact, gestures, etc. I do believe I could take some of Erik's ideas and flip them...

In chapter nine, I thought of an idea for giving feedback - what do you think? What if, while viewing a student's Google Doc, you highlighted a spot where you'd like to leave a "somewhat longer" comment than just a sentence or two? Highlight it, then go to Croak.it. Leave a 30-second voice message. Copy the url, and put THAT in the comment that goes along with the highlight!? That way, your comment stays with the document (a problem Troy had with using Explain Everything and Google forms), and students can hear your actual voice and intonation!

A useful chapter is chapter ten - tips on how to make engaging videos. I had thought of many of these tips, but never all at once. It's good to have these on hand when you're planning your videos. Have a checklist and go through to see which of these 13 you can include. (Doing this reminds me - I need to do the same for Dave Burgess's tips in Teach Like a Pirate on "pimping" lessons!)

After reading his tips, I went straight to my class website to check out the ONE video I made last year regarding Genius Hour. I created it because I had four students absent the day I introduced Genius Hour, and I needed to get the information to them. I thought I was doing a great job - getting a 40-minute lesson into one 16-minute video. One of Troy's tips stuck with me, though - try to make your video only as long as the grade of your students... I have 7th graders. My videos need to be 7 minutes or shorter in order to keep their attention. I know this is just a guideline, but even I was getting antsy watching my own video again! I took the time - right at that moment - to create a shorter video. I took the portion explaining the Habitudes, and created this video using MoveNote. (Thank you, Patti Strukel! I will forever be grateful for that tidbit!) I also included a survey for students when they are finished! This video does not have a lot of the interaction, and no pictures, but it is "done," which right now is better than "perfect." It has my photo, my gestures, my voice. It is for my students, so it doesn't matter if anyone else enjoys it or not (it would be nice, but it's not a concern of mine). My message is there, my energy is there, and it is in the seven-minute range! ;)

Ideas regarding flipped classroom get me excited and anxious. I am excited because I have the tools (I even have Camtasia - I won it at an EdCamp!) and the "how to," but I'm anxious because, knowing me, I will think of the lessons AFTER I teach them in the classroom. Sigh.

The last chapter gives answers to FAQs and more resources for all of us - thank you, Troy - This will be another of those resources that will stick in my head while I plan during the year...

Want to know more about flipping your classroom? Troy also has a playlist of videos/podcasts ABOUT flipping! Flipping is just another piece of the classroom puzzle. I love having so many tools in the toolbox to fit the needs of our learners!

University School of Milwaukee - Summer Spark 2015

The inaugural Summer Spark Conference - what a BLAST!

I consider myself very very fortunate to be asked to present at University School of Milwaukee's Summer Spark this week on June 15-16.

I was fortunate because...

• I was able to hear from the pirate himself - Dave Burgess! I just don't know how he kept up that stamina for TWO HOURS STRAIGHT! 
• I am FUELED up for another year of teaching already! Being in the same room as Dave Burgess when he speaks from his SOUL will do that to a person!

  

  Yes, I brought my own sword to Milwaukee... Didn't need to get it through security, since we drove!

• I was able to meet passionate educators such as Heidi Jones, Sandy Otto, Chuck Taft, Tom Mussoline, Pam Nosbusch, Kenny Bosch, Matt Miller, William Piper, Sarah Simac, and Josh Gauthier. Heidi was the ABSOLUTE most excited & effervescent teacher I met!
• I was able to reconnect (however briefly) with Brian Durst, Adam Moreno, Michael Matera, Pernille Ripp, Andrea Payan, Brad Dunning, Jason Bretzmann, Jay Posick, Andrea Kornowski, Ben Brazeau, and Tom Whitford.
• I was able to meet COUNTLESS other passionate educators, who sometimes lurk on Twitter, are pretty new to Twitter, or not yet on Twitter. Connections ABOUND! I can't find my list of my new connections today, but I have already added them to my "met face-to-face" list so I can continue sharing ideas and learning from them.
• I was able to present on Genius Hour - nudging those who are not sold on the idea (yet). It just so happened that the ladies attending were already sold on the idea, so we just troubleshooted issues that could arise.



Heidi, Me, and Sandy

• I absolutely loved the "panel discussion" we had regarding Genius Hour - the four of us (April, Tyler, Tom and I) were asked some pretty tough questions that I loved helping to answer.

I attended some pretty amazing sessions, as well!

• Jason Bretzmann shared some amazing tools for connecting with students. I think I wanted to go to his other session on flipped /personalizing the learning, but signing up for the wrong one helped me win his book! (Next time, Jason... next time!) He also gave me a great idea to use the next time I present (which was today at my own district!) - Give the audience the link to the "handout," so they can copy and edit their own notes easily - with all the links provided! That way you won't have to worry about someone "borrowing" your slides without your permission...
• Sandy Otto shared very practical ways to help students speak in front of one another. Because of this session, I'm already planning on activities that help students practice the skills needed, instead of just expecting them to know!
• Adam Moreno's session on purpose-driven learning was his "swan song" at USM - and it was one I need to hear (again). 
• Michael Matera & Jason Strains shared their Super Google Forms they use to connect to parents and group students. W-O-W. I really felt we should have passed around the hat for tip money for the work those two have done and so readily shared. This is what Lucy Gray called "professional generosity." Because of their generosity, I'm ready to plug in new students' names and get rolling connecting to parents right away!
• Michael Matera's mini games session was full of energy. Look out, kids - we've got some fun review games for when we have a few minutes left in the period!

An "aha moment..."
I was able to realize something through a discussion during the "ELA pow-wow" session... We have teachers at our schools not on Twitter because they just don't know. They just can't know what we know about how it has changed our teaching lives. I had an "aha moment" while talking with Sandy Otto - she was just as frustrated as I am for working with teachers who are set in their ways and not open to new ideas.  I used to say that teachers will join Twitter "when they're ready," just like WE did. Something else dawned on me - they just don't know otherwise. Their eyes have not been opened - yet. I compared it to my first marriage: I didn't know how a marriage - or love - could be. If I could have seen what it could be - what I have now - it would not have lasted the eleven years it did. AND... and I would not be the same person I am today. I needed those eleven years so I could grow, learn, and see now what love really is - what it CAN be. Driving home with Hubby (MAJOR kudos to him for coming with on this trip, even though it was his BIRTHDAY!), he let me know that even if Dave Burgess did come to our district, some teachers would think that what he's talking about can't apply to them. Again... they're not ready for it. My next questions are - when WILL they be ready? How many students will go through how many classes of teachers who are okay with mediocrity?

That's not for me to figure out. I will focus on what I can do. I want to be the PURPLE COW! (Dave Burgess channeling Seth Godin...) It's not okay to be mediocre anymore - I need to be remarkable!
What can I do to help children love coming to school?
What can I do to help children get the most out of my lessons - about life and about the content?

I'll be starting the school year off with a bang once again this next year.

I'll be IMMERSED in the lesson - the LIFE lesson along with the lesson for the curriculum.

Thank you, USM Summer Spark - you have once again ignited the fire in this girl!

TLAP Definition from Jason Bretzmann on Vimeo.

Juggling

I started our day today... juggling. Yup!

I was thinking of how to review and reflect upon our Caine's Arcade Cardboard Challenge without it being boring. Last year I required a student blog post on the day, and I graded it, of course. This year, since our blogs are authentic, I'll suggest a reflection post, but won't require one. So how to start a lively discussion...? Juggling! For each topic, I juggled as I spoke, and they were entranced - they were listening, at least!

After a quick talk about how ONE young boy started a chain reaction, I spoke in "threes."

Here are the three topics I wanted to cover:
     --> what I learned
     --> what students learned
     --> what we could change, add, or omit to make it better next year.

I started with what we could change.
     I had them brainstorm in pairs first, then one person from each pair would come up to the board to write their best suggestion. I took a picture to archive each class's suggestions, so I could add their ideas to this post, and actually remember to USE them next year.

Here are their suggestions:
     - More time in class to prepare
     - Charge money for games to donate to fight cancer
     - Have more time to plan it out
     - Every game should raise money for a special/good cause
     - Compliment people's artwork
     - Put it on the announcements
     - Look on the bright side of things and go that extra step to help make others happy
     - Advertise it
     - Add prizes to motivate people to play
     - Use class-based currency
     - Show Caine's Arcade one more time
     - Make the challenge a competition
     - Supply more cardboard
     - Have a cardboard restaurant
     - Have a social network page to promote the event

Next I told them about what I learned (see prior post). Here's the recap:
     - I need to help students be more prepared for the day.
     - Students used the Genius "habitudes" the entire time. At this point, I asked them what habitudes they used, and when, and we threw one of the balls around to get responses - of course they ALL wanted to share then.
     - I can stand back, say "create," and students will create wonderful products.

And then it was their turn. I split up "what students learned" into three more categories:
     --> students who came unprepared (24% of students in my three classes)
     --> students who worked on their projects during class (the majority)
     --> students who came with their project already finished, or close to it (16%)
I made it a point to say that students in each group learned many things, but they may be very different from students in the other two groups.

Those students were then able to choose from three ways to share:
     --> written down bullet points transformed into individual blog posts
     --> written down bullet points transformed into a mini-paper of sorts
     --> written down bullet points transformed into a quickly-produced & recorded speech

Here is a sampling of what they said:
     Something I learned while doing the cardboard challenge was perseverance. Me and Erin were trying to make a Skeeball game, but that didn't work. But we didn't give up on it. We just made a "modified version." If we gave up, we wouldn't have made our game that Nick loved. Perseverance is important because you can't just give up on things in life, you have to keep working at them. 

     If we put our heads together and use our imagination then we can create things we never thought of doing before. We all brought materials to make our creation. We all supported each other by supporting others' ideas. We all helped out and it was fun. Other students played our game and when they figured out how to win at the game, a smile crossed their faces. 

     We learned how to recycle objects and use them for other things.

     We learned how to run our own mini-booth, or business.

     We learned that being prepared can be beneficial to our learning.

     If you are ever unprepared, you have to use what you can find or get help from friends. Also you have to make sure you have at least one idea.

     Including people who don't have supplies or a group will help get your work finished faster, it'll make the person feel happy and wanted, and it'll make you feel proud that you did something nice for someone else.

     People can be fun and creative.

     Building stuff with friends is more fun than by yourself.

     The first thing I learned from the Cardboard Challenge was that when working with other people, good teamwork and compromising are very important. Good teamwork is important because that way the whole group contributes and everyone works together to complete a good piece of work while in a group. Compromising is also very important while working because that way everyone's thought are contributed to the project and there is no arguing, just good suggestions. Another important thing I learned from the Cardboard Challenge was that you need to you creativity when creating something. If you're creative, your piece will be more unique and interesting. Something else I learned from the cardboard Challenge was never give up. If something doesn't work, try again. If it still doesn't work try something knew to accomplish the same meaning. One more thing I learned from the Cardboard Challenge was that you need to set a goal for yourself and come prepared. By setting a goal, you can strive for it and look forward to reaching for it. And if you come prepared, you have a better chance of reaching your goal. The last important thing I learned from the Cardboard Challenge was that you need to have fun and explore what you can achieve! Having fun means take risks and see what you can do! 

     ...we learned about passion, courage, curiosity, perseverance, etc. The most important one is imagination. We got to go out and explore other things. We also got to express our selfs. This is very important. 

     We did this to learn about expressing our genius and learning how to create using our resources.

I will add more to this post as they come in so I can keep a record of all the things students realized they learned.

Here is my presentation:

Deciding to juggle today was inspired by Dave Burgess's Teach Like a Pirate book. I put a teaser on the board the day before, letting students know we were going to have a "guest juggler" in class the next day! When I started juggling today, I said, "I never said the guest juggler was a SKILLED juggler...!" ;-)