The People in My Neighborhood at ISTE

Day one of ISTE, which was actually basically a pre-camp day is over. As with so many events that are chock full of activity, it's hard to believe that it's only been one day. I easily surpassed my 10 000 step goal on my new Fit Bit and participated in some incredible sessions and discussions.

Most importantly, however, I connected with people I've been working with online and others who I met for the first time today.

Jenni Magiera, an educator who I really admire, suggested in an article to create a "Dance Card" and have only three spaces on it. In those three spaces, list the three most important things you learned each day. I love this idea and used it during the HackEd15 un-conference today.

Here are a few of the most important things I learned:

1. When you are using PBL, be purposeful, ask yourself if what you are doing is project oriented or project based. BIE 8 Essential Elements, TRUCADOT, Classroom Observation Template
2. Supporting students on social media: When you decline to create or curate a culture in your spaces, you’re responsible for what spawns in the vacuum. - Alexander, 2014
3. The teachers who are here are already converted into integrating technology into effective classroom practices. How do we go back and give the less proficient educators assistance and make them have agency?

Every day, I'll share my learning on Google Docs. Today's learning is captured here.

So, you've read this far and you're wondering, who are the People in Your Neighbourhood, Shauna? As always, I've taken a circuitous route to getting where I'm going, but I'd like to share with you some of the amazing connections I made today and the lessons I learned.

Lesson #1: Wave Your Weird Flag

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I love Doug Robertson's book "He's the Weird Teacher" and have been so happy to connect with other members of his ever growing Weird Army. I love people who push boundaries, aren't afraid to be themselves and stand out in a crowd. More teachers from #WeirdEd have arrived tonight and I look forward to meeting them tomorrow, but I got to meet some totally unique and exciting educators today.
I was thrilled to connect with an energetic and inspiring Matt Fratt when I plunked down next to him for the three-storey HackEd group photo. We didn't even pose, we were so busy chatting. We shared a lovely lunch - or rather, we shared a lovely line up for lunch when Matt had to run, thinking he was running a session after we stood in line for an hour for cheesesteaks! Matt led an incredible, interactive session after lunch and we created a ridiculous short film. By being fearless and weird, we had a blast!

Lesson #2: Be Aggressively Friendly

After learning that this is a trait that Disney Cast Members are expected to have, I reflected on the way I behave in new situations. Although I feel nervous, I always try to be approachable and friendly. Disney uses the term, "aggressively friendly", which I love. Push yourself to be friendly and personable, even if it feels awkward. Oftentimes, you'll win someone over. Sometimes you don't. Aggressive friendliness helped me connect with Brenda Druecker, who I am pretty sure is a kindred spirit. I also managed to make a friend with our totally overworked server at an after-party and get wonderful service.
Recognize, acknowledge and show your excitement when you see someone you've worked with in the past. I was thrilled to hang out with

Lesson #3: Back Off

Sometimes the people you interact with online seem different in person. You may have the expectation that you'll be fast friends and it just doesn't work like that. It doesn't mean you'll never be friends, but sometimes you just can't speed up the process of getting to know each other in person, now matter how much you felt like you knew someone online.
If the person you are talking to checks over your shoulder constantly, looking for someone else to talk to, take the hint. I had to do this several times today. Clearly, connections were not as natural as I had hoped and I let things be. I'll try again later!
People are here to meet up with their tribes, their people, and aren't always interested in welcoming someone unknown into their group. For some people, it just takes time.

Lesson #4: Sometimes Things Just Click

Today, the Voxer group I've been talking with for months headed to Rosa's Pizza to enjoy inexpensive, fresh pizza and buy slices for needy folks in town. It was terrific. The hugs, laughs and selfies (and #turnies) came quickly and naturally. I feel so happy to know these people.
At Rosa's, I approached a trio who were there at the same time and asked if they were participating in ISTE. They were educators and administrators from Pittsburg who were full of interesting stories and shared my sense of humour. A great instant connection occurred. I look forward to continuing to get to know them.

Lesson #5: Go Up and Say Hello

I spend a tremendous amount of time (entirely too much) online, reading blogs, participating in Twitter chats, listening to podcasts, watching videos, etc. and the same edulebrities (yep, that's education + celebrity!) pop up time and time again. Thought leaders emerge and are embraced by huge masses of educators and I, myself, have been so incredibly inspired by so many.
Seeing, hearing, watching and reading the thoughts of certain people makes it feel like you know them, but they are still surrounded by the magical aura of celebrity.
If you know me in my non-educator life, you know that I have no shame and will always approach well known or famous people, chat with them, take photos and interact.
I am the same with edulebrities. If I have learned a ton from you and admire you like crazy, I am going to come up to you and say hello and thank you.
Today, I got to meet personal heroes including Ginger Lewman, Kevin Honeycutt, Pernille Ripp and Angela Maiers. They were all as delightful as I could have hoped. Even if they weren't, I was proud of myself for going over and saying hello. I think that people deserve to know the difference they've made in my life and my career.

Lesson #6: Embrace the Super Connectors

Rodney Turner is a Super Connector, and he knows it. He is so easy and fun to talk to and finds ways to connect educators to one another. He is happy to take the time to sit and talk with a new connection and then find ways to enhance your experience. If you're lucky enough to know a Super Connector, take advantage of their connections. Through Rodney, I met Sue Levine, who captivated me with her stories, made me laugh, think and reflect. I've already told Rodney that we need to have a daily sit down with Sue.
Ashley Hurley brought tons of us together to eat pizza and help those in need through her Rosa's Pizza Meet-Up tonight, she even made sure to document the moment.
If you're lucky enough to know a Super Connector, or a few of them, cherish the things they do for you. They're as close as education comes to Fairy Godmothers!

Lesson #7: When in Doubt, Hug it Out

I've seen people questioning whether to hug or handshake when meeting. I try to remember to ask before intruding on someone's space, but I gave a lot of hugs today. Four hugs a day, that's the minimum, right? Even though you may have never met this person, if you've connected with them daily, weekly or monthly, or they've made a significant contribution to your life, a hug never hurts.
Once you've had a chance to meet someone new, why not seal that new friendship with a hug?

Lesson #8: Be Yourself, Even if That Means You're Psych-Oprah
I can seem a little bit intense, I know. I love to meet and talk to passionate people. I want to know what makes them tick. A friend described this characteristic as Psych-Oprah. That's not psychologist + Oprah or psychologist + Oprah, it's psycho + Oprah. It's a reference to my questioning technique. Exciting people excite me. I love busy brains. If you feel like I'm giving you the third degree, it's because I'm super interested in what and how you think. I love humans. I love peculiarities. If I sniff out what makes you unique, I want to learn more.
Even though this is part of what makes me weird, I can't stop. People fascinate me. Fascinating people thrill me. I can't help but bring out the Psych-Oprah if what you're saying is compelling. My interruptions to seek details or clarification just show my intense interest.

Lesson #9: Your Avatar Should Match Your Current Look
On Voxer, I used a picture of me that shows me with straight hair. On Twitter, I'm pulling faces with Jim Carrey. On Facebook, NPH is photobombing me. On LinkedIn, I'm sitting at my desk in my classroom, with curly, unruly hair on display. LinkedIn has my most accurate picture. The others are ones I adore, but make me less recognizable to those who only know me online.
I've decieded to change my Voxer photo daily during ISTE to match how I look each day. I can't let go of Jim or NPH and those pictures showcase my quirkiness and joy and I can't think of better, more happy-making representations of me right now.
If you want your PLN to know who you are, at a glance, make sure that your social media avatars are current, accurate and showcase something awesome about you. Mine are conversations starters, for sure, but not necessarily my day-to-day look.

Lesson #10: Say Thank You
People have a lot of options of things to do and people to see at a huge conference like this. When you really connect with someone and get to share a meal, a drink, a walk or a conversation with them, that's a privilege. I strongly believe that taking the time to appreciate others is never wasted. A thoughtful comment, a call-back joke, an idea to extend someone else's learning, an introduction to new people or a huge hug shows gratitude and, hopefully, will be remembered.

30-Day Blogging Challenge: Day 26: Resources

Day 26: What are your three favourite go-to sites for help/tips/resources in your teaching?

The volume of information and ideas for teachers is overwhelming. There are great books, videos, websites, courses, conferences and people to learn from. I spend a lot of time online sharing my ideas and resources and learning from others. Picking three sites wasn't actually that hard, as each of the three I describe below are filled with unlimited ideas and inspiration.

TED Talks - When I need inspiration, not just in teaching, but in life, TED Talks are always there. The ideas worth spreading that are shared certainly open up my mind creatively. When I heard of a principal that ends interviews with the question, "What is your favourite TED Talk?", I thought, that is someone I'd like to work for!

EduAllStar podcasts - Passionate educators talking about their craft never cease to inspire me. It feels like you're sitting down for a chat with an amazing mentor. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, these interviews always empower me.

Twitter - If you're not on twitter, you should be. Play a bit, give it some time and start to interact. I'll never look back. I don't know what I did before I became connected. I have met so many amazing people, been directed to so many incredible ideas, blogs and resources. By selecting great people to follow, twitter curates all the info out there on the web and customizes it just for me. The resources I get are incredible. The connections even better.

30-Day Blogging Challenge: Day 22

Day 22: What does your PLN look like, and what does it do for your teaching? 

My PLN, online and in person, continues to grow. There are people who I have never met that I learn from regularly, but I don't think they'd have a clue who I am. There are people who I chat with online and hope to someday get to chat with in person. There are people who I work on big projects with. There are people who are in my building each and every day.

People Who I've Never Met and Would Have No Idea Who I Am:
I was a part of #SummerLS hosted by Todd Nelsoney this summer, and enjoyed virtually learning with and from educators from all over the world. I hadn't been listening to EduAllStars, Todd's podcast, before this challenge. It ended up being a big part of my professional development this summer, introducing me to the ideas of amazing educators like Angela Maiers and Kevin Honeycutt.

People I Chat With Online and Hope to Meet Someday: 
I have been getting more involved in Twitter over the past few years and really enjoy edchats, especially Dave Burgess' #tlap, Doug Robertson's #weirded and Jonathan Kegler's #nbtchat. Spending an hour online sharing ideas, discussing education and learning from inspirational, passionate, devoted educators has become something I'm totally addicted to. I have gotten so many "TODAY" and "SOMEDAY" ideas that I use in my classroom from my PLN on Twitter.
This summer, I started an online community called Comment Consortium. Educators read one another's blog posts and engage in conversation about what we're learning. I have met or know a few members in person (Amy Bowker, Aviva Dunsiger, Sue Scott, Rola Tibshirani and Tiiu Tsao). Others, I hope to meet someday (Sandy Otto, Ann Pimentel, Sean Robinson, Heather Theijsmeijer, Maria Verwey, Elisa Waingort, Brynn Morgan Williams and Victoria Woelders)
Robin McLaren from California and I met on Skype in the Classroom and worked together for the past two years, collaboratively planning and connecting our students.
Heidi James and I chat a lot on Twitter, and I'm so happy she's back in the classroom after a long BC teacher's strike. I'm trying to push her into blogging so I can peek into her classroom daily!

Connections I've Made Online that Have Led to Friendships:
It cracks Captain Handsome up when I meet my "Internet friends" for the first time.
Dean Shareski let me mentor some of his university students and then, when he was in Ottawa running a conference, we got to meet in person and I got to present.
Pam and Toby Jones are a super cool married couple who I met through emails and then, with whom, I attended a GAFE conference in Montreal.

People in Ottawa:
In Ottawa, there are terrific educators doing mind-blowing things and I'm thrilled to be building my in-person PLN. I love working with people from the Public and Catholic boards, as well as educators at other institutions in the city. I worked with an incredible team for Playdate Ottawa, who we called the "Task Force". Amy Bowker, Bill Corcoran, Jeffrey Humphries, Julie Joanisse, Jennifer King, Nick Lafrance, Karen McEvoy, Rola Tibshirani, Tiiu Tsao and (new mom) Megan Valois were a pleasure and inspiration to work with. I miss our regular collaboration and look forward to planning with them again in the future.
Tomorrow, I'm finally kicking off a project that has been a dream for me for a while. Amazing educators are coming together to talk about the future of education at our first Think Tank meeting. I'm really looking forward to seeing incredible thinkers come together and collaborate.

People in My Building and my Daily Real-Life Life:
I work with terrific people. I love being challenged, supported and pushed by my colleagues, Gillian Penman, Tiiu Tsao and Natalie Shorkey, among others.


I use my PLN to give me energy, ideas and inspiration; to support, witness, validate and support me and to bounce ideas off of. I love that, not only have our classroom walls come down, but so have our staff room walls. I can collaborate in real time (or asynchronously) with people who I admire and respect from all over the world. It's pretty amazing and I know I would feel much more isolated without the people listed above (and others as well!). One of the (many, many) reasons I love the Internet is for the people I have access to on a daily basis. Going back to not being a Connected Educator would be so lonely and isolating.

If you aren't connected and building a PLN, you're missing out on SO. MUCH. Dip your toes in. See what you learn!

30-Day Blogging Challenge: Day 1: My Goals

A principal who I really admire and who had a huge impact on my summer through his #SummerLS challenge and EduAllStars podcast (but I've yet to meet in person), Todd Nesloney, tweeted out a link to a 30-day blogging challenge. Despite the fact that I have an alphabetical list of at least 30 posts I'd like to write, I feel like this would be a good way to keep me on track. Plus, once I write one post, I'm always inspired to write another.

Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge for Teachers

Day 1:
Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or abstract as you'd like to be.

I'm going to have to be specific. I have a LOT of goals and have spent a lot of time this summer reflecting on what they are. For ease of organizing my thoughts, I've split them into sections: Values in my Grade 3/4 Classroom (goals for my students and I); Professional Goals (things I'm going to work on as a teacher)

Values in my Grade 3/4 Classroom - EPCOT

Be Brave
Overall, my goal for the school year (for myself and my students) is "Be Brave". Day 1 in the classroom (tomorrow!), that will be our only expectation. As we form as a team, my students and I will work together to co-create roles, responsibilities and expectations.

I ADD EGGS
Last year, my grade 5/6 Rainbow Eggheads and I lived by the recipe for success: ADD EGGS. Initially, I created this recipe, but my students completely bought into it and owned it. They could reflect effectively on their choices, the choices of others and how to improve by using the language in ADD EGGS.

Last summer, I wrote a list of qualities I want to help develop in my students, qualities I'd like them to leave my classroom understanding and practicing every day. I came up with ADD EGGS - accountability, dynamism, drive, engagement, grateful, generous and supportive.
The Rainbow Eggheads lived these values last year. They could rhyme of the acronym easily and came up with "The Rainbow Rule" ("Be an ADD EGG, not a BAD EGG" - they even decided what BAD stood for)! In their end of year Ignite presentations, most of them referred to ADD EGGS and what a difference it made to their learning.

After lots of reflection (and discussion with my trusted colleague, Tiiu), I've decided to KISS (Keep It Simple, Silly) and share ADD EGGS with my incoming class. However, there is one quality that is missing from ADD EGGS, so this year, the acronym is changed to "I ADD EGGS" (I've added innovation to fit with another big class goal this year).

Imagineering and Blue Sky Thinking
Throughout my life, I've been inspired by Walt Disney, and lately, I've been reading a lot about his life, his innovations and his legacy. I can't help but think about how well his philosophies and his message tie into my dream classroom and teaching methods.

This year, my students and I will use Walt Disney (the person, not the brand) as a model. The way he, among other things: listened to all ideas while seeking the best way to do things; looked towards the future; learned from and embraced the past; told stories; thought about creating memorable and educational experiences; questioned everything and was open to change, will be essential to the way I think about teaching this year.

I will encourage my students to embrace Blue Sky Thinking by thinking big, following their dreams and believing in themselves.

We will think of ourselves as Imagineers as we use imagination to engineer our learning.

EPCOT
Because of my interest in all things Disney, I am inspired by Walt's vision for EPCOT (an experimental city, that, after his death, was repurposed as a theme park - my favourite as a child!). It breaks my heart that his vision never saw the light of day, but, learning from his passion and purpose, I thought about what I think a classroom should be.

I think a classroom should be a place where everyone can try new things, share successes with others and embrace change. Teachers should be futurists as we are preparing our students for a future we can't possibly predict. With that in mind, I've called my new class blog and twitter account EPCOTclass. In this case, EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype CLASSROOM of Tomorrow. The name and vision will help to keep me on track with all of the ideas, values and dreams listed above.

Goals for my BEd Students

Bringing Language to Life for Life
I'm thrilled (and nervous!) to be teaching my first BEd class (Language Instruction in the Primary and Junior Years) this term. I have outlined goals for my students and I as "Big Ideas" in our week 1 slideshow. What I am really aiming to do is ignite (or kindle!) a passion for teaching (Language in particular) in the pre-service teachers who I will have the pleasure of working with.

I've subtitled my course "Bringing Language to Life for Life" and look forward to working with the students in class, on Twitter and through blogs to do exactly that, bring Language to life.

I want my students to leave my class better prepared for and more confident to teach Language to students of all ages. Because of that goal, I have worked very hard to create a comprehensive course and ensure that all assignments are authentic and applicable to the classroom.

Professional Goals

Balance and Wellness
This year, our admin is committed to helping staff find balance in our lives and ensure our wellness. I'm excited to see what this looks like.

Over the summer, I've tried to work on balance, something that has always been a challenge for me. In order to really understand what it looks like, I've created a list of my roles and set goals for the amount of time to spend on each during a day. Since late July, I've been tracking those. It's been enlightening for me to see how my goals align with what I actually do. Also, I see that I only have 24 hours in a day and have to set priorities, one of which is myself as a worthwhile human being. I'm going to work hard to remember that during the year. I will make it a priority to do happy-making things. I'll even work hard to make sure that some of those have nothing to do with my job!

Ongoing Feedback Communicated to Students and Families
In the survey I shared with Room 209 families last year, parents told me to learn to say no (they recognized that I tried to do too much!) and that they'd like to get more ongoing feedback about their children.

Tiiu and I created an Annual Learning Plan for students, which will be a working document that is shared with students and families (an individual one for each student) and developed throughout the year. The link I shared is absolutely a work in progress and I am planning to meet with each family early in the year to set goals and make plans.

Developing my PLN
People call it different things, but I think of my PLN as my Professional Learning Network and I am lucky to include lots of people I know in real life and online in it. I love to collaborate with other educators to bring interesting experiences into my classroom. I will continue to do this through twitter chats, planning and collaborating via Skype and the Google Drive.

An element I am adding this year is to work with inspirational, passionate educators in formal and informal settings. I have started an Educational Think Tank (with Amy Bowker) and the Comment Consortium. Because of getting to work regularly with amazing people, I know will continue to be challenged and pushed me.

Sharing My Learning
I'll be presenting at some upcoming conferences this fall and love to share what I have learned and what I am passionate about with other educators.

By committing to the Comment Consortium and this 30-day blogging challenge, I will regularly share my process with others. More importantly though, I will actually be creating instead of just consuming and I will really take the time to reflect on my practice.

Alternative Education
I teach at an alternative public school and we operate based on a series of tenets that make us different from other sites. A group of us met regularly last year and discussed our school philosophy to celebrate our successes and build upon them for the future.

The idea for Tree Families was born from this collaboration. Each staff member and student in the school will be placed in a "Family" represented by an Ontario tree for their entire time at our school. Families will meet regularly to work together on character education, anti-bullying initiatives and develop skills. We are starting Tree Families next week and I look forward to seeing how they help to build a real sense of ownership and community in our school.

Overall Goal

You Matter
After listening to and reading Angela Maiers this summer, i am thinking in terms of her movement, "You Matter". All of my other goals can be boiled down into this one. Each of us is a genius and it is our duty to share that genius with the world.

By reframing my thinking and remembering that I am significant, I can meet my professional (and personal goals) and let go of issues in a non-judgemental way, using them to move forward and make life better for myself and others. To remind all my students that they matter and help them find their passions and "follow their heartbreaks", I can help them achieve their goals.


It's a good thing this prompt encouraged me to be as specific as I like! As always, I had a lot to say!

Thanks to those of you who got all the way to the end of the post.

What are your goals for this school year? How are you committed to meeting them? What small and large actions are you taking to achieve them?

#NBTchat in Oz

I love Twitter chats. With no school right now, I actually have time to really focus on them. For the uninitiated, there are literally dozens of chats hosted by teachers and provide you with personalized professional development each and every week. I've been looking over the list of edchats and joining ones that I think sound interesting.

Tonight, I joined #NBTchat (No Box Thinking Chat) and it was the BEST Twitter chat I've been a part of to date. Amazing creativity, enthusiastic sharing and every moment was interesting. As usual, it was hard to keep up with the stream of tweets, but I loved it so much that I popped over to Storify and made a record of my favourite tweets.

I loved that the moderator, Dr. Sharon Young approached the chat in a novel way. Each question asked the participants to relate No Box Thinking (as in, you're not only outside the box, you've gotten rid of the box entirely) to characters from The Wizard of Oz. There was a 30 minute pre-chat that teased at the theme as well.

If you don't participate in Twitter chats yet, I cannot recommend them highly enough. Find one that appeals to you and give it a go! They're the best way to build your PLN.