Since I am a public educator, I am grateful to have my summers "off." And like any public educator, I know that "off" really means that I'm working off and on throughout June, July, and August, but I am just not as pressured, necessarily, to meet any deadlines--except the ones I create for myself. I'm one of those people who thrives on keeping busy, so I enjoy summer as a chance to explore and learn and develop myself professionally and personally.
With my new role as a school library information specialist in the fall, I can't help but spend quite a bit of time at my public library to soak up ideas. They recently completed a renovation that includes what I'd like to see in my learning commons: flexible and comfortable seating, open space, great lighting, hands-on and interactive activities, and cool colors. It's no wonder that I see kids, including my own, dash into the library and make a beeline right for Forge (the makerspace) or the renovated kids' section. They clearly are excited to spend time there. And who am I kidding? I'm giddy to go there, too! I can't say that my library when I was growing up ever made me this excited. Sure, I loved picking out books or going to a story time, but modern libraries are just so cool now.
As a result, it was a bit disheartening today when my boys and I were just about to leave, energized from our visit that included Ollie, checking out Make magazines, and discussing 3d printing, when we saw what appeared to be a day camp group turn the corner, full of smiles and happy chatter and making that familiar beeline to the children's department, only to be scolded by their counselor. Sternly, she said, "We are in a library. We must be quiet!" I couldn't help but be stopped in my tracks. I felt bad for the kids. There they were completely thrilled for their visit to the library only to be told that their enthusiasm was inappropriate and must stop.
Hold up. Don't we want kids to be excited about learning? Don't we want them to spend time in their library, learning new ideas, reading books, and trying out new technology? It seems to me that we have reached a point when there are two strands of thinking about libraries. Some still hold on to the fact that they are these sacred warehouses of books where everyone must be quiet and sit in uncomfortable wooden chairs that are lined up in rows. A more recent philosophy is focused on the patron and 21st century skills, making the space comfortable, fun, and interactive. So what does this mean? It means that libraries are noisy. Libraries are messy. Libraries are fun. This is exactly why I'm so thrilled for my new role because there is just so much more out there. So much potential. So much to learn! I'm just as excited as the kids entering the space, and, like them, have a hard time containing it!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Monday, July 13, 2015
Learning and Leading at EdCamp
Since as far back as I can remember, I have been one of those people who just can't get enough of learning about the world around me. I was the kid who was excited for the first day of school, who loved visiting museums in downtown Chicago, and who even made my little brother play school with me when we weren't actually attending one. It's no surprise, then, that I decided to become an educator. For someone like me, it's truly a dream come true to spend my days learning and growing. Today I spent my day learning and leading at #EdCampLdr, an unconventional conference, or "unconference", with several locations around our nation all on the same day. EdCamp allows education leaders to come together and share ideas in an informal setting. There are no planned or pre-scheduled presentations--just come with an idea and be ready to discuss it. The responsibilities of attendees for a session are simple: lead or contribute. If you don't feel you can do either, you are welcome to get up and check out a different session. I was fortunate to attend several sessions today that invigorated me--especially as I think about my new role in the fall.
Session 1: Redesigning Learning Spaces
This session focused on learning space design. I found that a great deal of it coincided with my May visit to Steelcase University in Grand Rapids, Michigan--an experience I HIGHLY recommend to anyone in education. As a team of teachers and administrators, our group created what we considered to be the ideal learning space. Using triangulation of learning and the X-formation of moveable tables and desks, we created a space that was flexible, collaborative, and student-centered:
One take-away for me from this session is we don't have to wait for a big budget to redesign our space. We can move furniture into formations that best meet our students' needs. We can declutter our space and remove items no longer needed. (This was certainly I was forced to do leaving the classroom and moving to the Learning Commons; I was shocked by how little I actually needed!) Lastly, we can think about what we put on our walls and consider students' perspectives about the classroom, and ask them what they would like in their learning space! I know I can't wait to get into my Learning Commons in August and move a few things around. I also plan to explore one of the websites that was suggested to us: Classroom Cribs.
Session 2: Digital Badging for Professional Development
This session was led by both Marcie Faust and Jeff Zoul, innovative, amazing administrators from our district office. The focus here was examining PD and tying it to obtaining badges along with perks for so many points/badges along the way. With education moving as rapidly as it is, it's important for school districts to provide opportunities for teachers to learn and grow. I feel fortunate to work in a district that current uses something called Deerfield College. Anyone can sign up to teach a Deerfield College class. There are several optional classes held each month from 3:45-5:00, and it's a great opportunity to share your expertise or learn from a colleague. Badges will take this experience to a whole new level. To learn more about what badges are, check out this informative video on YouTube. It's clear to me that the badging system will create a sort of digital portfolio for teachers where each badge will represent a skill he/she has. The badging system also plays on the fact that we, as humans, love those extrinsic motivators. It was scratch 'n sniff stickers on my papers as an elementary student and now it's digital badges as an adult! Who doesn't like to be recognized for their hard work?
Session 3: #Edudrone Challenge
Drones and droids? Yes, please! This session gave us the chance to examine several drones and droids and consider how they could be used in the classroom. It was one of the coolest conference sessions I've ever attended because we were given the chance to play! Who doesn't like to play with these cool remote-controlled tech toys?
And I even had a chance to fly one!
We also checked Sphero, a super cool little sphere that can do all sorts of neat tricks!
After playing, we got down to business. There were many cool suggestions for the use of these tools. For the droids, we considered the video capabilities as a real plus; this would allow users to create a great video of a school to show to incoming students or a video that surveys the school property to set up geocaching. For the Spheros, it was recommended to create a golf course, where students have to code the droid to make it in under par. It also could be used to create shapes or to do some fun math work--an obstacle course/race where students would collect all of the finish times in order to figure out mean, mode, and range.
I know two more things on my growing wish list!
Session 4: Encouraging Blogging
The title of this blog entry is "Learning and Leading at EdCamp", so this is the part where I stepped up to lead. Alongside the brilliant and inspiring Maria Galanis, an instructional coach at my school, we led a session about encouraging teachers to blog. The purpose was to try to overcome the hurdle of the fear and hesitancy that some teachers feel in regards to blogging. Our hope was that by getting more teachers to blog and reflect, they would see the power of this tool and be more inclined to use it with their students. We certainly didn't have all of the answers coming into our session and used it as an opportunity to have a roundtable discussion.
In the end, there were two major take-aways for me. Since teachers hesitate to blog, perhaps we start with micro-blogging, otherwise known as Twitter. If teachers become more comfortable jotting down quick thoughts and links, they would be more willing to graduate to full-fledged blogging. When ready for the next step, perhaps we don't dive in head-first. Perhaps they buddy up to co-author a blog or we start something like Leyden HS or like Bettendorf did, which gives ownership to everyone in the school; in these blogs, all members of a school community (teachers, administrators, parents, students, support staff, janitors, etc.) share the responsibility of a blog through assigned/self-selected dates. This approach gives everyone a voice and helps remove some of the fear of blogging--all while showing an authentic audience, the world, what great things are happening within a school!
I know now that Maria and I can't wait to have a Twitter party at school (the second at our school actually) and discuss the idea of a Shepard 360 blog, where we get all different viewpoints of the amazing things happening at our school!
A final thought...
Wow, what a busy day it was at #EdCampLdr! I highly recommend that any educator or administrator attend an edcamp when you have the opportunity; you won't regret it! It was fun to connect with friends and colleagues from my district--past and present. It was amazing to learn about some of the engaging activities teachers are using in their classrooms. And it was such an inspiring experience--one that truly left me thinking about the upcoming school year and what sort of changes I hope to evoke in my Learning Commons and in my school. I can't wait to get started!
Session 1: Redesigning Learning Spaces
This session focused on learning space design. I found that a great deal of it coincided with my May visit to Steelcase University in Grand Rapids, Michigan--an experience I HIGHLY recommend to anyone in education. As a team of teachers and administrators, our group created what we considered to be the ideal learning space. Using triangulation of learning and the X-formation of moveable tables and desks, we created a space that was flexible, collaborative, and student-centered:
One take-away for me from this session is we don't have to wait for a big budget to redesign our space. We can move furniture into formations that best meet our students' needs. We can declutter our space and remove items no longer needed. (This was certainly I was forced to do leaving the classroom and moving to the Learning Commons; I was shocked by how little I actually needed!) Lastly, we can think about what we put on our walls and consider students' perspectives about the classroom, and ask them what they would like in their learning space! I know I can't wait to get into my Learning Commons in August and move a few things around. I also plan to explore one of the websites that was suggested to us: Classroom Cribs.
Session 2: Digital Badging for Professional Development
This session was led by both Marcie Faust and Jeff Zoul, innovative, amazing administrators from our district office. The focus here was examining PD and tying it to obtaining badges along with perks for so many points/badges along the way. With education moving as rapidly as it is, it's important for school districts to provide opportunities for teachers to learn and grow. I feel fortunate to work in a district that current uses something called Deerfield College. Anyone can sign up to teach a Deerfield College class. There are several optional classes held each month from 3:45-5:00, and it's a great opportunity to share your expertise or learn from a colleague. Badges will take this experience to a whole new level. To learn more about what badges are, check out this informative video on YouTube. It's clear to me that the badging system will create a sort of digital portfolio for teachers where each badge will represent a skill he/she has. The badging system also plays on the fact that we, as humans, love those extrinsic motivators. It was scratch 'n sniff stickers on my papers as an elementary student and now it's digital badges as an adult! Who doesn't like to be recognized for their hard work?
Session 3: #Edudrone Challenge
Drones and droids? Yes, please! This session gave us the chance to examine several drones and droids and consider how they could be used in the classroom. It was one of the coolest conference sessions I've ever attended because we were given the chance to play! Who doesn't like to play with these cool remote-controlled tech toys?
And I even had a chance to fly one!
(Thanks to Maria Galanis for providing this video of my first flight!)
We also checked Sphero, a super cool little sphere that can do all sorts of neat tricks!
After playing, we got down to business. There were many cool suggestions for the use of these tools. For the droids, we considered the video capabilities as a real plus; this would allow users to create a great video of a school to show to incoming students or a video that surveys the school property to set up geocaching. For the Spheros, it was recommended to create a golf course, where students have to code the droid to make it in under par. It also could be used to create shapes or to do some fun math work--an obstacle course/race where students would collect all of the finish times in order to figure out mean, mode, and range.
I know two more things on my growing wish list!
Session 4: Encouraging Blogging
The title of this blog entry is "Learning and Leading at EdCamp", so this is the part where I stepped up to lead. Alongside the brilliant and inspiring Maria Galanis, an instructional coach at my school, we led a session about encouraging teachers to blog. The purpose was to try to overcome the hurdle of the fear and hesitancy that some teachers feel in regards to blogging. Our hope was that by getting more teachers to blog and reflect, they would see the power of this tool and be more inclined to use it with their students. We certainly didn't have all of the answers coming into our session and used it as an opportunity to have a roundtable discussion.
In the end, there were two major take-aways for me. Since teachers hesitate to blog, perhaps we start with micro-blogging, otherwise known as Twitter. If teachers become more comfortable jotting down quick thoughts and links, they would be more willing to graduate to full-fledged blogging. When ready for the next step, perhaps we don't dive in head-first. Perhaps they buddy up to co-author a blog or we start something like Leyden HS or like Bettendorf did, which gives ownership to everyone in the school; in these blogs, all members of a school community (teachers, administrators, parents, students, support staff, janitors, etc.) share the responsibility of a blog through assigned/self-selected dates. This approach gives everyone a voice and helps remove some of the fear of blogging--all while showing an authentic audience, the world, what great things are happening within a school!
I know now that Maria and I can't wait to have a Twitter party at school (the second at our school actually) and discuss the idea of a Shepard 360 blog, where we get all different viewpoints of the amazing things happening at our school!
A final thought...
Wow, what a busy day it was at #EdCampLdr! I highly recommend that any educator or administrator attend an edcamp when you have the opportunity; you won't regret it! It was fun to connect with friends and colleagues from my district--past and present. It was amazing to learn about some of the engaging activities teachers are using in their classrooms. And it was such an inspiring experience--one that truly left me thinking about the upcoming school year and what sort of changes I hope to evoke in my Learning Commons and in my school. I can't wait to get started!
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Lego Brickworld: Inspiration for Making
Over Father's Day Weekend, my husband was a trooper to take part of "his" weekend to spend with his geeked-out wife and two sons at the Lego Brickworld expo in Schaumburg, Illinois. As an an older sister to a Lego fanatic, I have grown up with a deep respect for all things Lego--except for that awful moment when you step on a Lego in bare feet! We visited the expo as a treat for our kids, who love this toy immensely, growing up first with Duplos and then graduating to the regular bricks. I immediately discovered that this experience wasn't going to be just about my boys; it clearly was going to be a way for me to collect ideas and inspiration for my makerspace.
When we stepped into the expo, it was something akin to Charlie walking into the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory--visually dazzling, buzzing, alive. My jaw dropped, and I couldn't help but feel excited as well as a bit overwhelmed. My family and I walked from table to table, each new innovative creation inspiring and amazing us--so many small details taken into account even in the largest of displays. There was also something there for everyone; even if you weren't a fan of Legos, you left with a new-found respect for this toy. What I also found interesting is the expo was much like a Maker Faire with an emphasis on Legos. There were people from all different walks of life and skill levels there to share what they had created with the world. Since I was there with my sons, who have finally reached the age when they will put aside the booklet for a kit and just build something from their imaginations, we saw this as an opportunity to get ideas, seek advice, and think about possibly showcasing some of their work at this expo in the future. (My older son asks me if he can do this just about every day now.)
As much as I can try to describe what I saw, it's much better to share it through photos. Of course there is no way to really truly capture the experience in photos either, but you'll see some of the cool things I observed while visiting the Brickworld expo. All of these, as well as many others, have become true inspirations for me as I think about the Maker Movement and designing the makerspace in my learning commons.
When we stepped into the expo, it was something akin to Charlie walking into the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory--visually dazzling, buzzing, alive. My jaw dropped, and I couldn't help but feel excited as well as a bit overwhelmed. My family and I walked from table to table, each new innovative creation inspiring and amazing us--so many small details taken into account even in the largest of displays. There was also something there for everyone; even if you weren't a fan of Legos, you left with a new-found respect for this toy. What I also found interesting is the expo was much like a Maker Faire with an emphasis on Legos. There were people from all different walks of life and skill levels there to share what they had created with the world. Since I was there with my sons, who have finally reached the age when they will put aside the booklet for a kit and just build something from their imaginations, we saw this as an opportunity to get ideas, seek advice, and think about possibly showcasing some of their work at this expo in the future. (My older son asks me if he can do this just about every day now.)
As much as I can try to describe what I saw, it's much better to share it through photos. Of course there is no way to really truly capture the experience in photos either, but you'll see some of the cool things I observed while visiting the Brickworld expo. All of these, as well as many others, have become true inspirations for me as I think about the Maker Movement and designing the makerspace in my learning commons.
There were many large cityscapes.
A QR Code made out of Legos--and it worked of course! Super neat.
Lego Wall--How fun to leave your mark or create graffiti using Legos!
Lego flowers
Lego art--I would love several of these hanging from my learning commons' ceiling.
Paying homage to the popular '80s cartoon, The Smurfs!
A childhood classic: Where the Wild Things Are
Storybooks come to life with Lego characters
Lego art
Lego patterns
Lego mosaics
Lego Pop Art
As a Chicagoan, I love this one since it's a favorite of mine at the Art Institute and part of one of my favorite scenes in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Since attending this expo, my kids have been playing with their Legos daily, and I can't help but tinker a bit as well--especially with the idea of creating mosaics and QR codes! I'm excited to find ways to bring Legos into my learning commons and help kids get charged up just as my family and I did at Brickworld.
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