I've come a long way, as three years ago at my first TIES conference, I started my Twitter account. The long way is not to suggest that now I'm a Twitter all star, but I've come a long way in my interactions with people at conferences like this (and on Twitter). The reason I started my Twitter handle (@staffination) was because everyone else at TIES was on their devices, and it seemed (to me) that no one was really engaging with each other in person. It was my first tech conference and I didn't know the protocol-- that it was okay to walk and tweet at the same time. That it was commonplace to have two or three devices going while you're listening, engaging and learning. That the prime spots in breakout sessions are near outlets so you can charge, tweet and take notes and not skip a beat. That it was okay to walk around with a QR code around your neck that identified your name, role and school system-- that it wasn't in fact (as I had interpreted) yet another way for men to reject me. Sidenote: I panicked about some strange man coming up to me, and instead of talking to me face to face, he'd scan my QR coded nametag and decide "nah... that's not the type of gal I'm looking for."
Since then, I've attended the ISTE conference twice and TIES twice more. I've found that at these gatherings, I'm surround by like minded geeks who are willing to take risks and try new things in their classrooms like I am. That they are people who value the pedagogy more than the device, and experiences over standardized lessons or tests. I've found a wealth of information and ideas that I've stolen and applied in my classroom, and friendships that I continue over Twitter and in person whenever possible. It's refreshing professional development, and a highlight of my year to meet up at these tech-geek gatherings and stretch my brain when I can.
I'm not sure what was different about this year, but I decided to submit to be a presenter at TIES. I filled out applications for two different poster sessions, each to share what I'd been doing in my classroom this year. Funny that when I submitted my proposals, I'd done neither activity in class- they were just ideas. I had seen other examples of what teachers had shared, and I felt that my ideas were interesting enough to not only execute in class, but to share with others. Both proposals were accepted, now I just had to walk through the process with my students.
Both of the topics I presented on (using TED-Ed and the Genius Hour/Google 20% Project) brought the students to different ways of learning. They engaged the students in asking and answering questions they had never experienced before. They had to put up with obstacles right and left, with a teacher who wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, with flexible deadlines as sometimes things just flat out failed, and with an end result that has yet to be modeled by the teacher or understood by the students.
Prior to this year, I'd merely been a sponge to soak in new things. I'd found out though, that many of the presentations I'd seen involved pieces of things I'd tried or read about and considered trying in my class. Why not give it a whirl and see if other people value what I have to say? Well, it turns out that they do-- at least some do :)
I had a great time sharing what my students are doing, the successes and challenges of every step of the way. There were great questions from the people I engaged with, both that caused me to question my own approach and mentally make changes for the next year. I (hope) I gave other teachers tools to start taking similar risks in their own rooms, to give it a whirl and see where it takes their students. I worked to explain things that other teachers may have heard about, and that I had slightly more experience with, thus making it accessible for them to experiment with or at least think about. It was loads of fun.
This post is not so much to laud my own practices as these ideas and approaches were all stolen and adapted from other people's stuff. It IS meant to encourage you to share what you're doing with your peers and others who could take your lead and try something new. It is meant for all teachers, even the quiet girl in the corner hiding behind her newly downloaded Twitter app that she doesn't even know how to use, to find value in what you're doing in your classroom. If you have something you think is cool and has worked with your students, share it with other people. If you have taken an innovative approach to pedagogy and worked hard to engage students in what you are doing, let others know how it worked (or didn't) in your classroom and school. We need to know that it doesn't take a tech conference to learn from each other, and to support one another in trying new things.
And for the record, I just got the word that I'll be sharing a poster at ISTE 2014. I have indeed come a long way, baby. Where are you going?
Photo credit: Rachel Gorton :)
FYI:
The resources I shared about using TED-Ed to flip your class:
http://bit.ly/1dnEvOo
The resources I shared for our version of the Google 20% Project / Genius Hour:
http://bit.ly/1cBrSgZ
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