How the mini conference came to life…………...
A few weeks ago the term “tech sessions” was shared by our principal. He had said he wanted to have a few sessions take place during our upcoming Institute Day. The idea was great and so I ran with it.
This initiative was not only motivating but also gave me a "focus". I observed the staff closely and started finding tools the teachers knew about or were gravitating towards. One teacher was very knowledgeable about Haiku Assessments, another was experimenting with Google Draw, one was trying out PearDeck, another was experienced in Socrative Learning, another was an expert on Kahoot, etc. After some recruiting to lead a session, several people were interested and willing. I also recruited a few teachers to try a brand new tech tool or topic. The intention was to make them “the school expert” on the tool, with my support and help. This sparked appeal in many. There were also several teachers that had never "presented" before and were energized by the challenge and opportunity.
Before I knew it, we had 14 fully functioning “tech sessions”. The teachers leading the sessions were eager to prepare. Several put together presentations, while asking me to support/help by listening to their ideas and creations. Three days prior to the sessions, I had asked the principal to send out this Google Doc. Staff members signed up and the sessions were amazing! Teachers walked away with knowledge, excitement and exposure. Teachers had a sense of ownership. Not to mention, it was engaging and collaborative. The smartest person in the room was the room.
Several teachers were intrigued by what was happening in other classrooms. It was great for everyone to be exposed to the greatness of their colleagues. What was really cool about the entire event was that I received 3 phone calls right after the sessions. Teachers were requesting help on learning about a few of tech tools so they can push it into their classroom right away.
I looked at the calls for support as a sign of success.
Student Collaboration
As I was watching teachers experiment with different tech tools, the idea of needing examples of “greatness” appeared necessary. I felt we needed student examples showcasing the different forms of collaboration. As a result, teachers were asked to send me different student collaboration pieces. These pieces were then submitted to the student collaboration folder that was created in our Technology Resource Folder. The hope was to have the teachers view the examples and hopefully spark some ideas. It worked! Teachers began looking at the different student examples and were motivated to try different things in their classes. As mentioned in an earlier blog, the idea of these “focus topics” formulated while in ISTE and were now organically coming to life on their own. It was empowering!
Below are few examples of the some shared student collaboration
Text Evidence
Vocab Scramble
Teacher Collaboration
Chris and I have also been encouraging the teachers to collaborate together through Haiku pages and across teams. Some teachers have really embraced the idea and are beginning to have their students collaborate with one another. A set of 7th grade teachers came up with the idea of writing a picture book with Google Slides and sharing it with some 3rd grade classrooms. They are hoping the 3rd graders will comment on their books and then also add a slide. Virtual Book Buddies! Fun!
A few Social Studies teachers are connecting with other classrooms within the school while working on role playing as a member of a civilization group. They are questioning each other about the differences of the civilization through Google Hangout.
These are just a few examples of really cool things happening within the first few months of the implementation. I am excited to watch this collaboration grow stronger and then fall into the Global Connection focus topic. The sky is the limit with technology!
Final tidbit on collaboration - Find out what the teachers know or are willing to learn, coach them along the way and watch them shine!