What #GarthinSiouxFalls has reminded me about teaching...

I've not blogged in a long time. I've thought about it, and have a list of ideas. 

So why @garthbrooks as a reason to start a new post? It's because it has reminded me all the important lessons of #TLAP, #PLAP, #InnovatorsMindset, #ShiftThis and many more of the awesome teaching books I've read the past two years. 

First - a connection to personal experience. #GarthinSiouxFalls was last in the area when I was in High School. Mom and I froze outside the #HyVee in Spencer, IA, waiting and waiting to hear first, that the tickets were on sale. Second... that there would be a show that still had tickets. The anticipation was set. Mom, my sister, and I all went to the concert - nose bleed section, but still amazing - my first real concert! (I still have- and use - the binoculars mom got me. Poor dad, had to stay home and take care of the livestock.)

Second - anticipation. I often lead students with a cliff-hanger statement for the weekend about what we are doing the next week. It's amazing how often students will walk in Monday excited about what it might be. The anticipation of getting tickets is very much the same. I set everything up early, and totally did a count down to try and get tickets. 


Third - things happen. As in life... Now, I am a major #Garth fan. I've got all the CDs (yes, those classic things), I've also got the digital forms - I do keep up with the times. I even have the #ChrisGaines CD (which I do like). That said, life changes - it's been twenty years. I'm a teacher, I've grown up. My parents are retired, my sister is married and a nurse. I've got my own family. I adjust with the times - I can't remember the last time I've physically used a CD. I can say when I've used my streaming apps / saved digital music and podcasts. I didn't score tickets, life will move on, roll with it and learn from it. 

Finally - rewards are sweeter when not expecting it. I just learned #GarthinSiouxFalls is going to announce more shows on Monday - so, I'm hoping that will work. If so AWESOME, if not that's ok, too. I'll mope, but then I'll pick myself up and move on. Additionally, the time waiting for tickets to start being sold was an awesome stroll down memory lane - one that I enjoyed taking! 

So the main takeaway: I want to build the anticipation for students to want to be in my room. We will adjust as needed, and I've got to remember to celebrate the awesome things that happen every day in our room. 

PS - I'm still hoping for tickets, so I might be missing school for a day to drive to the concert! 

#SDEA Representative Assembly

So, this weekend I traveled to the SDEA Representative Assembly.
I wasn't dreading it, but I wasn't super excited.

I've learned to embrace the opportunities  - I'm glad I came.
First, I've gotten to bond with co-workers and see some tweeps.

Second, it's been interesting to see the backside of the organization. I've been involved in my local, but now I get the "BIGGER" picture of what SDEA and even NEA stand for. I've seen how passionate educators around the state are, and challenges different regions / schools of the state are facing.

Third, I got to hear some exquisite speeches. Many of these speeches focused on change - and what I took away was that the change is going to happen. We can either lead it for the good of our kids, or we can sit back and react after it is already done. The best part, be a coyote - they adapt, they respond, they go above.

This conference has helped me remove myself from just my classroom to go to the bigger picture: what should be done for our kids nationally!

I want to thank Pam Wells for dragging me along - but now I wonder where to start.

Relaunch

Today, I relaunched my economics Hyperdoc​ project. It seemed to go WAY better and I got to have some very interesting conversations with students about what they might want to do. I was shocked, some know exactly what they want -- I wish I had that figured out in Seventh grade!

The Sixth grade students are finishing a unit on Rome. I took the time to show them Khan and gave them class time to watch a video. That was cool, but what really got me was that they want to use Khan to learn all sorts of new things - coding, work on math, ect. I had to warn them not to use up data on their phone plans!!!

The Eigth Grade had time to finish up their Hyperdoc project for Nationalism and Sectionalism. I'm​ going to have so many ways to travel A-Z. However, I do have some students analyzing political cartoons and others looking at stereotypes from across the USA. I'm excited about this, because one student is even conducting interviews to include in the project!

Today was a day that reminds me why I love this profession!

#BackatIT

I've got to start blogging again, so here it goes.

I spent a good chunk of my weekend creating a #hyperdoc on economics from scratch. I was excited. I thought my students would love it! (Who wouldn't want to find out about their future economic choices?)

ANNNDDDD - it flopped. Students didn't seem into it today. It might just be me, but they really struggled. Most have no idea what they might want to do, and those that do feel that they don't need to dig into it more.

So, tomorrow we relaunch. I need to make them see the relevance of it. I've not come up with how, but I have reached out to my PLN to make it happen!