My summers have changed over the years from the one before kids supplied with endless me time and no schedule to follow to the exhausting ones when my daughters were young to the ones now full of activity, play and jam packed memories.
My summers as an educator have been equally as different. Some have been spent full of creating, making new lessons, building new units, others have been quiet with little time spent on anything school, still others have been spent packed full of summer projects and working with peers on projects.
None of those summers have been quite like this one.
I had no goals going into this summer, no projects to work on, no summer projects to work on, no extra meetings to attend and yet as I look back on my summer, never before have I collected, soaked up, +Evernote 'd, pinned, talked to other educators, collaborated and learned SO MUCH!
From...
Information flowed in on +Twitter and +Google+ supplying me with links, pictures, ideas, news and resources to
Pinterest decorated my screen with resources, activities and strategies to
+Google+ Communities offered me an opportunity to share what I had learned with others and see what others were trying to
+Google Hangouts Hangouts transported me to a world of online education as I watched, participated, shared, was inspired and learned from the +The EdReach Network to
I even went to +Edmodocon in my pajamas. I listened to amazing teachers share their tools, techniques, strategies, ideas via live video and tweeted ideas I liked, how they inspired me and "talked" to teachers from around the country about it ...
As I head back into the classroom I am more inspired and filled then ever before.
I am inspired to take more risks, push more limits, bring even more awesomeness out of my students and share even more about what students can do with technology. I am filled with ideas, eager to try them as they dangle and wait teasing me....try me, try me.
I am just so excited that I am filled with an energy and eagerness that I just can't help but stand up from my seat, make a fist, pump it and shout from the top of my lung..."Lets Do This!!!!"
My "Lets Do This" List for 2013-2014
(ideas, strategies, tools I can wait to try)
- Use +Subtext to differentiate and improve accessibility
- Use +Flipboard to make projects, to collect, share and organize information
- Improve my students use of +Edmodo
- Create an +Edmodo group to share classroom going ons with parents that ALL parents are a member of
- Make +SymbalooEDU our classroom app
- Use +SymbalooEDU to organize information (videos) to share with students
- Utilize some of the new apps in +Edmodo to optimize it as a tool for us
- Add to my library of Portable Lessons
- Improve my student communication with +Google Hangouts
- Hold 3-4 "Technology for Parents" Sessions this school year
- Pair up with 1-2 staff members this year: show them the awesomeness of some of these tools, help them see how they can use them in their classrooms and work with them to implement them in their classrooms
- Develop/Find consistent tool that is available for daily drill and practice of basic skills my students need consistent practice
- Implement 20% Time (Genius Hour) in my Language Arts class
- Continue to be an almost completely paperless classroom
- Increase and improve communication with the teaching assistants I work with through simple to use, efficient technology (not sure what that is yet?!)
What are we waiting for!
Bring it 2013 School Year...
