Anyway, back to today's event. Flash back to February when I took the plunge into the realm of professional development beyond my own district and presented at the METC Conference. WOW! Besides all of the great sessions that I attended and connections I made, there was one thing that floored me beyond belief. I found myself during BOTH keynote presentations Tweeting @ the speakers to check out my session because my students are doing exactly what they are showcasing in their motivational montages. Having Gwyneth Jones (aka the Daring Librarian) give me props and feeling confident enough to save a seat with Jamie Casap's (GAFE guru) name on it....well, was validating to say the least. Topped off by sharing my students' accomplishments to a packed crowd and throw in my eMINTS trainer and all- time-professional-hero sitting on the floor herself to listen to me and cheer me on afterwards was a high that I rode out for days afterwards. I had always THOUGHT that I was really doing some "cool" things with my kids, but I never realized how much my fellow Midwest colleagues craved stories of struggles, perseverance and eventual triumph like mine. The few weeks that followed allowed me time to fine tune my presentation before giving it again at the eMINTS National Conference to a much smaller, albeit equally enthusiastic, crowd. It was there that I met some friends from a very tiny town in Southern Missouri who wanted to come see my kids in action for their eMINTS program required peer visit. They were middle school teachers, but could not fathom having even their 8th graders "do" what my kids "do" every day. Of course, I was honored and delighted to set up their visit....and that brings me back to today when we welcomed them into our classroom community.
Being somewhat of a strategic procrastinator, I did not want to prepare much ahead of time for their visit nor did I want to put on a dog and pony show. So, last night I sat down and decided that I would practice what I preach and let the kids be in charge of the learning in our room. I brainstormed as many "techie" things that I knew excited my kids (and might impress our guests) and created this Room 13 Scavenger Hunt for them to complete during their time with us. I explained that I would have to carry on business as usual and meet with my small reading groups while the rest of the students independently (or in pairs) completed the tasks I'd laid out for them on our Padlet. The guests were welcomed to wander and interview students about the items on the Scavenger Hunt. I encouraged them to probe further into any topic or allow the kids to lead them to any tangent they so felt inclined to listen to.
The
result
was
priceless!
My kids ended up feeling like a million bucks as they later shared with me how "amazed" the "really really tall one" was with how quickly they accessed the plethora of online resources and projects they'd done. My 8 year old students told me over and over that their guests had told them, "My 8th graders couldn't do that!" I reiterated to them that all of their hard work, perseverance, problem solving and overcoming frustration in the face of challenges and the more than occasional technology glitch WERE indeed something special and should be a huge source of pride for them. However, I reassured them, their stellar performance would NOT get them out of their math homework for that evening. :)
I reveled in the deep professional conversations with those teachers about the value of community building, cooperative learning, integrated units of study and effective use of technology to enhance learning and foster 21st century skills and how they CAN "do" this with their eighth graders in their very comparatively small school community. While they were amazed that my third grade cohort is bigger than their entire K-8 school, I was awestruck by the possibilities these four like minded teachers could have with their small class sizes and 1:1 ratio. They claimed they wanted to miss traffic heading home on their 90 minute drive, but I imagine I may have given them more than an earful. :)
This day was a perfect reinforcement to me, as professional, that I AM on the right track and doing great things. After a bitterly disappointing career advancement situation, I was left to wonder if I should just hunker down and maintain the status quo...and take up knitting with all of the spare time I found. I realized today that doing so was not in the cards for me. Rather, I will push on....and hopefully blog a little more often about it. Again, this post has gotten far longer than I'd intended, so in a nutshell I'll summarize how all of the projects explored today showed off the amazingness that has kept me so busy these last months:
- We helped 300+ students in Africa connect to the world and gave their teachers the tools needed to do it responsibly. We learned how rewarding it is to help others in need and how powerful a handful of determined little kids can be to equalize access to technology for children worldwide.
- We realized that the world is not always a peaceful place and shared compassion to those in zones of war via Kidblog.
- We came to understand that writing is a means of sharing ideas, feelings and getting things done. Not just something your teacher makes you do.
- We heard first hand that not everyone is just like us. Well, they are....in alot of ways, but it is their differences that we should respect and learn from the most.
- We learned that robotics and electrical engineering are really fun and that having to practice some online standardized testing isn't THAT bad when STEM is the reward for working hard.
- We saw that teachers experience frustration and are expected to use teamwork, flexibility and perseverance just like they expect their students to do to solve problems and make learning happen for all.
Sincerely,
Eleanna