Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash
THE END IS THE BEGINNING
It doesn’t seem possible that Course 2 is coming to an end already, or summer is right around the corner, but here we are. Truth be told, I was not really excited about the overview for this particular course because it’s centered around the ISTE Standard with which I felt least familiar. But as I stand on the other side of it, I realize what value it’s brought to me and my role as an educator and coach. Each week presented relevant, engaging content that challenged me and helped equip me for the next step in my EdTech journey. Even though this project represents the end of Course 2, in many ways it is just the beginning, and I’m looking forward to applying my newfound understandings, information, and perspective in the upcoming school year.
RELEVANT PD FOR THE MODERN EDUCATOR
I think Matt and I may have been the only people in the Cohort to choose the Professional Development project option. We seem to align in our views about sharing all of the great information and resources gained from this course as an impactful way of meeting the end goals. Additionally, we recognize the value of empowering educators to be transformative leaders in their classrooms. By getting the information and ideas to teachers, we can move toward achieving these standards with a shared and distributed model. Thankfully, I am given a lot of autonomy and the platform to organize professional development workshops for teachers both in staff meetings and during staff in-service days. When I presented the idea to the academic leadership team, they were fully supportive and carved out time at all remaining staff meetings for the year to let me facilitate the sessions planned in COETAIL.
The content and sessions mirror a lot of what we’ve learned throughout Course 2, but I think it will be a completely new experience because it’s an application of the work we’ve done online. Sometimes it can feel like there’s nobody to share these things with unless it’s on social media or through these blog posts. And while those are hugely impactful, adding the social component of a room full of educators changes everything and brings about new ideas, revelations and ideas. As I sat down to organize the sessions I was planning, I had a long think about past PD I’ve taken part in, either as a participant or a leader. I thought about the way I design engaging lessons for students and the considerations I need to make for learning style, interest, and topic knowledge. I thought about the relevance of this course’s application to my (and every other educator) classroom. This led me to some of the thinking routines and visible thinking strategies that make meetings and lessons more interesting. It also gave me the chance to geek out with my new iPad and Apple Pencil and work on my latest animation in Keynote. Here’s a look at the sketchnote I made.
Brainstorm of Visible Thinking Routines
I consulted these thinking routines as I was planning the sessions as a way to make them more interactive and thought-focused. So much of the content in these sessions require time to sit and think. To digest the big ideas. To consider their impact on you. To reflect on how quickly things are changing in the world we live in. To contemplate where the future will take us and how we can be ready. To highlight some of the challenges we’re up against. To explore the opportunities available to us and our students. To connect ideas, emotions and people. So that’s what I tried to capture in these sessions. Please let me know what you think, and stay tuned for more posts about how it went!
