#connected educators

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another Positive Post Friday!

Fridays mark the end of the work week. Fridays mark the start of the weekend. Fridays should end the week on a positive note. Therefore, I’m going to share 5 positive things that happened this week:

1. Today I am at a training for NWEA-MAP. We are ready to learn more about effective uses of the program. It really makes the training better when you have colleagues with you who are excited and love to share and discuss.

2. I met with more teachers who are part of my Connected Educator team this week. Both of them were interested in blogging and ready to learn how to share their stories. I really cannot wait to see where this professional development leads.

3. This week began participation in #IMMOOC, which is this massive book study group reading and responding to George Couros’ Innovator’s Mindset. Each week begins with a Youtube Live video, required reading, and possible ways to respond to the material, including quick video reflection. I was a little late in getting started, so I didn’t get my stuff finished until Wednesday night. I can’t wait to read more blogs and see what others thought.

4. I hosted #wvedchat’s biweekly chat this week and had a blast. I got a lot of comments and remarks about the topic. It was very fast paced, but oh so worth it. I love being able to host things like that.

5. I spent two days this week helping a MS student during Genius Hour with his project. He did his on video games and wanted to make his own game. His teacher contacted me and asked for help. He and I have been discussing his plans, as well as working on Gamestar Mechanic. He’s excited and eager ot figure out the program!

Your turn: Share your Positive Post Friday.

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another Positive Post Friday!

Fridays mark the end of the work week. Fridays mark the start of the weekend. Fridays should end the week on a positive note. Therefore, I’m going to share 5 positive things that happened this week:

1. I had an interesting encounter with some 6th grade boys this week. I walk into the school usually around the same time as the students. They were behind me. I had my jacket, backpack, and lunchbox. They came up beside me and asked if my name was Javier. I had to inform them that I was their ITRT named Miss B... the look on their faces was priceless!

2. I have been working on design staff development courses using Google Classroom. This week I finished up designing my course for Seesaw, the digital portfolio website, and for Google Forms. Three courses designed now.

3. I have been working on building up a crew for my Connected Educator PD. I have 10 people, and this week I surveyed them, designed my templates for both Twitter and blogging, and had my first meeting with one of the teachers. It was great and I feel like I can definitely do this. I figure I’ll do better as I do more sessions with folks.

4. I worked with a SPED teacher this week to plan some lessons on digital citizenship for his students. We are starting with communication and learning how to send a proper email. He wants his kids to be able to communicate with their peers and professionals and I will do my first lesson with his kids on Tuesday.

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another Positive Post Friday!

Fridays mark the end of the work week. Fridays mark the start of the weekend. Fridays should end the week on a positive note. Therefore, I’m going to share 5 positive things that happened this week:

1. I have scheduled my first professional development sessions that I’ll be teaching this month. I am starting with Kahoot and Google Forms. I already have people signed up too!

2. I sent out an email about getting teachers on board with becoming connected educators. I have around 10 set to learn about blogging and Twitter. I’m going to do it as a 1:1 training, rather than whole group so I can easily tailor the material to the staff member.

3. I spent today working on my training materials for Google Forms. I decided to go with doing tutorial videos and my usual Google Classroom setup. I got most of the screencasting completed, and have just a few more videos to create for it. Hopefully I will be finished next week.

4. #wvedchat is working on getting better at its schedule and moderating teams, so we have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10 AM. It should be interesting and hopefully a big step in the right direction for building up this edchat.

5. Not educational, but exciting nonetheless! Digimon Tri is getting a special 1 day limited screening on September 15 in 300 select theaters. I got lucky enough to see that one was ten minutes away from me. I’m excited to see the English version for sure!

Your turn: Share your Positive Post Friday.

Quick Key Mobile™ is an app for iPhone and iPad that turns those devices into optical scanners, to grade paper assessments in a flash. The free app is available on the Quick Key Homepage 

We started News and Notes to update everyone on all the exciting things that are going on in education in general. We want to keep you abreast of great blogs, interesting discussions, and new developments we discover from members of our PLN. 

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The Power of the PLN!

The Twitterverse has changed my life!  Each day I come across committed educators who make a difference in classrooms everyday. Additionally, they find the time to share their perspective and practice with teachers around the world. I am committed to using the Quick Key Blog to highlight these educators. Keep an eye on my twitter feed for the hashtag #teachermade to follow the contributions of these amazing frontline educators. I connected with Bobbi Capwell through Quick Key, she brings a well rounded perspective from a frontline educator. I was honored that she included me in one of her blog posts about her PLN, and I recommend you follow her blog with all deliberate speed. You rock Bobbi!

From Bobbi Capwell's Blog:

Things I do now that I have a PLN

It is funny how your perception changes once you start really communicating with the people you follow on any Social Media. These folks I am talking about are some of the most incredibly brilliant and creative people in the world. My PLN reminds me of the Nursery Rhyme with the Butcher, Baker and Candlestick maker- I have Educational Consultants, Educators of all subjects and ages, Preachers, Musicians, Chefs, Programmers, and Authors. What a support system it has become! I thought this would be a great way to express what I have learned from them. Sometimes, it might be a quick status, tweet or a direct message that means something to me or that makes me think “I want to learn more about that” or “How Cool! I could share that with my teachers!”

Spring into using video to engage learners. More in the #edtech resource roundup:

With April a day away and a sunny, 70-degree forecast, today’s edtech resource roundup has the optimism of spring. (more…)

I've been hearing about PLNs (Personal Learning Networks) for a while, but really struggled with how to form one. How do I find other people who share my interests and that are willing to talk to me?  

I think I've been kind of building one without realizing it was what I was doing, but I wanted to become a little more systematic about it.

And then I heard about Connected Educator Month. There are several sites with activities to help you connect with others and to build your PLN. It seems that a lot of activities are focused on K-12, but there's enough out there for us postsecondary folks that I think I can benefit.

I've started an Annotary folder to collect websites and articles related to my connected educators and PLN exploration this month. Feel free to contribute!

Connected Educators is the online home of the Connected Online Communities of Practice (COCP) project. In collaboration with a wide range of educational organizations and educators, COCP is increasing the quality, accessibility, and connectedness of existing and emerging online communities of practice.

On this site you can:

Comment on the draft report and briefs. We will be continually improving these publications, and we welcome your ideas.

Join one of our communities, including ourEducation Online Community Managers Network.

Add your community–or communities you like–to the Directory of Education Communities.

Comment on the ideas, rate them, and add your own.

Propose a guest blog post on innovations for a highly connected profession.