Sharing Your Experience

This week, I sent out the call for proposals for the February institute day. I am so excited that I have already received responses! But I am eagerly awaiting more -- YOURS in particular!

Let me offer a quick Q & A here:

What can I present? I don't do anything special in my class.
You don't have to do anything "special" at all! What do you do well? What are you really comfortable with? What do your students really respond to? What do your colleagues tell you they really like that you do? What have people asked you to share with them? THOSE are the things that are worthy of sharing at our institute day! What tool, site, app, etc. have you found really useful or that kids really respond to? That's worth sharing at our institute day! What lesson have you developed that is really engaging and meaningful for your students? That's worth sharing at our institute day!

I'm not very techy, so I can't present.
This institute day does not have to be all about technology! Think back to the great sessions last February from Laura DuBois talking about the principles in the book Teach Like a Pirate. Not techy! Or the highly informative session on poverty presented by our social workers? Not techy! Or the fun session to develop the 4 C's playing BreakoutEDU? Not techy! Is there a great education book you're read recently that the principles are worth sharing? Something you learned at at conference or from a grad class? Is there a philosophy you want to tell your co-workers about? These are all great ideas for breakout sessions!

I don't want to be a show-off.
Presenting a session at our February institute doesn't make you a show-off. It makes you a leader. The number one thing teachers say they like most about that institute day is that it highlights OUR teachers and focuses on OUR students. You couldn't ask for a more positive, personalized professional development day!

I get so nervous in front of crowds!
I get it! So do I! But the best thing about this institute day is that you are in a familiar and comfortable setting with people you know and who know you and who want to learn from you. You couldn't ask for a better environment to present in! Or ask a co-worker to present with you!

I want to present, but I'm not sure what to do!
Let me know and I can sit down with you and talk with you to help you discover something that would be great to share with everyone!

I'm ready to present! Where do I sign up?
Right here! I've been waiting for your response!

Hour of Code is Coming!

The Hour of Code is a world wide event designed to give students an opportunity to learn coding, or at least to experience it. The dates for this event are December 4 - 8 and Channahon School District 17 is taking part again! The goal is for all our students K - 8 to get an hour of coding experience over the course of that week. Currently, here is the plan for how to make that happen:

• At NBG, students will get to have some coding experiences in the IDEA Lab.
• At PP, Robyn will be scheduling times to come visit classes to facilitate coding activities with students.
• At TRS, I will be requesting time to come visit classrooms to facilitate coding activities.
• At CJHS, 7th grade students receive coding lessons each trimester through their computers arts rotation; 8th grade students will have coding lessons during their science class time.

For more information on coding and the Hour of Code event, click here to read the post I shared last year about this!

In the comments, please share your thoughts about our students getting the chance to be part of Hour of Code!

Technology Integration -- The 4 C's

Any discussion about integrating technology into teaching and learning should also include references to the 4 C's:

• Critical thinking
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Creativity

When you think about how we have introduced our G Suite for Education tools and the way the one-to-one program is supposed to work, you likely realize that there is a lot more you and your students can do that just do worksheets online or embed YouTube videos into a Google slide deck. Being one-to-one and having access to the G Suite tools lends itself seamlessly to developing lessons and learning experiences that incorporate the 4 C's listed above.

Take a few minutes to watch the video below that explains the 4 C's in detail -- explaining what is meant by each term as well as providing examples of what those look like.

Now here is a challenge for you: you've watched the video, you understand what the 4 C's are, and you're thinking about what you do in your classroom. Can you share in the comments section of this post one lesson you teach or an activity your kids do that uses the G Suite applications and addresses one or more of the 4 C's? This is a great way to share your ideas as well as get ideas from other people! I'll add one of my own as a comment on this post, too!

Digital Citizenship -- Digital Security

This post builds on the ideas shared in the article "Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship".

The last of the nine themes is digital security -- our own. Just like we take steps to keep our homes and property safe (lock our doors, lock car doors, install a security system), it's important to keep our online lives secure as well. We do that by making sure we have anti-virus software on our computers (AND making sure it is up-to-date), backing up our data and files, using surge protectors, or password protecting our home networks.

Chances are, our students don;t think much about those things since they're not the ones in charge of that. At home, their parents take care of it. At school, the technology department does it. That's why it's important for kids to understand that their access to the internet, their information, their technology, and their files are relatively safe BECAUSE there are things in place to protect them. How can we reinforce this understanding to our students? Here are some ideas:

• At the start of the year, talk to kids about how their Chromebooks differ from a regular laptop and the difference between saving files and data to the cloud (like it happens in a Google account) or to a hard drive (like files saved on a computer).
• When students' access to a site is blocked here at school and they get frustrated, use it as a teachable moment, explaining to the kids how the firewall prevents things like viruses from entering our network as well as preventing students (and teachers) from accidentally clicking on something that could harm our files or our school network. The firewall is our friend :-)

Just like real-life safety can be a bit of a hassle (like if you've ever locked your keys in your car or locked yourself out of your house), online security can be a bit of a hassle, too (it takes time to run updates of anti-virus software or do a backup of data, it's a pain when you forget the password to your home network). But without those protective measures in place, we leave ourselves vulnerable to far greater inconveniences -- like losing all our files or having to buy a whole new computer!

Want to learn more about some of the worst viruses ever? Check out this fascinating video!