A colleague attended a conference recently as did a few other people on staff. I'm quite certain that all participants got a lot out of their experience. But the exciting thing is that the one colleague decided to share her experience by forwarding an email with some examples and the prezi attached.
Being the info junkie that I am, I immediately watched the prezi, looked at all the attachments, and started thinking about the classes with whom I could try some of these literacy activities.
But it got me questioning...
Why isn't that the norm? Why don't colleagues who go to conferences and workshops, ask permission of the presenter, and then share widely and willingly? It's something I try to do, but I can't help but notice that it doesn't happen very often. I'd like to presume good intentions, so perhaps the reason is that the participant feels like they couldn't do the presentation justice. To which I'd say... isn't a little bit of sharing, even if it's not perfect, better than nothing?
Thanks for sharing Kelly.  :-)

Sometimes... actually most times, I'm mulling a LOT of ideas over in my head. They percolate usually for months and predictably they sometimes mash together in an AHA moment that seems to excite me more than the people to whom I end up babbling. The picture below was a mash catalyst recently so I thought I'd share those  thoughts here since it's the summation of my thinking lately.

I think, if I did a better job of flipping the iceberg, and making both colleagues and students aware of what goes into success, they'd start to understand what is needed to be successful.
Hidden in the bottom of that iceberg are Habits of Mind, the research on grit, the 10 000 hours of practice, Michael Jordan's failure, my favourite no (a great math warm up routine if you haven't seen it) and lots of other wisdom and research pointing to how to be successful. But I've realized that I don't do a good job flipping that iceberg and making those factors and character traits visible. When I asked a few people what the duck quote below meant, they said it meant "Don't let people see how hard you're working." While I agree with the "Stay calm" part, I realize that if the quote means hide your effort that is the opposite of what I need to do. In the past, when I worked really hard on something and eventually met with success because I'd put in crazy hours, and battled through failures, and restarted multiple times and given up other opportunities in order to pursue what I was working on, I'd just shrug my shoulders and smile and let people believe I was just lucky or naturally talented. I actually don't HAVE any natural talents - but I've got lots of mental calluses and blisters. My New Year's Resolution is to Flip the Iceberg; to let students and colleagues see my sweat, and to talk about the steps that lead to my success. Don't worry. I'm not going to turn into a whiney baby, but I am going to make my process a lot more transparent. My motto for 2016 is Flip the Iceberg.
​What do you do to flip the iceberg? How do you model your process? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks Sylvia Duckworth as always for the inspirational sketch and to whomever tweeted it out. 

When teachers ask me "How can I use the iPads with my class?" I cringe a little. I haven't yet done a good job of helping teachers to understand that technology should be used if it offers some advantage that wouldn't normally be available, but shouldn't be used just so they can say they used technology with their class.
The advantage might be a cost saving measure such as sketchnoting using Sketchbook because you don't have colored pencils for everyone and you know that the use of color is important when making visual notes.
The advantage might be the ease of storage and retrieval such as using Padlet instead of sticky notes on chart paper where the adhesive dries out and the sticky notes fall off by the next day.
The advantage might be simply saving time by using a Gizmo for a math lesson because by the time you distribute the actual manipulatives the class is half over.
Even when working at the substitution level of SAMR, which is where my three examples fall, I would hope that teachers seek a purpose deeper than novelty and using the tech for the sake of using technology.
I'll keep trying but in the meantime, please don't ask me how you can use the iPads. Tell me what expectations you're hoping to work on, and I'll help you plan ways to get there. In most cases, technology will be a natural partner in our journey because it offers an advantage that you can't get any other way.

I LOVE Twitter. Mostly because it's like a waterfall of PD. I reach my hand into the waterfall, pull out the few droplets I can handle that day, use them sometimes immediately, and then, when I'm ready, reach in for more. I haven't contributed a lot to that endless supply of ideas and opinions and plans and products because most of the time, I just feel that what's already out there is so much better than anything I could do.
Case in point is this infographic on personalizing learning by Mia MacMeekin from http://anethicalisland.wordpress.com
I think it is a highly useful reminder of what you can do when trying to help a student personalize their learning.

I was in a car accident a few years ago, which wasn't my fault and which, happily I walked away from, but the insurance agent wrote off my car. I went alone to the yard where my car was kept to clear out my belongings. As soon as I saw her sitting there, I started to bawl and I could hardly see what I was pulling from the trunk. My car had taken me so many places that it was like losing a friend. I thought that I wouldn't experience something like that again.

About a month ago, my laptop started displaying "patches" of gray pixels on the opening screen and then would freeze on start up. I took it in for a check up, the salesman reset the graphics card and that seemed to fix the problem. Of course he counselled me that the computer was "old" and that should his "fix" not fix the problem, they no longer carried the part I needed and I'd be best to buy a new computer. When I got home and started her up, the problem was still there. Without a doubt, my computer was done. The tears started to flow down my face. I have all my data backed up so it wasn't the loss of work that was causing my grief. It was again the loss of, dare I say, a friend. That laptop has been part of celebrations (she's created end of term slide shows for years, and a wedding movie). She's been a major part and force behind many of my most significant achievements. She's been there while I struggled with ideas and relationships and countless other moments involving sound, pictures or text.

Right now, she's sitting in my bedroom, and I can't bring myself to dispose of her. I know it's crazy, but I'm actually mourning her loss. I can't even begin to think about her replacement.

I did watch the Joaquin Phoenix movie, Her, where he has a relationship with his operating system, and thought it was ridiculous, but now, given how sad I am, I'm rethinking my whole relationship with my laptop.

There is no denying that iPads or other tablets can engage a group of students who normally might not be inclined to embrace certain activities. But should they be used for that purpose?!?

It saddens and frustrates me to realize that in some classrooms, iPads have become the new silent reading. Some teachers put an iPad into the hands of a student and then sit back and in some cases do their marking or check their Facebook page.

It's awkward if teachers haven't asked for my help or planned the project with me because I don't feel like I have the right to intervene, but at the same time, I see the potential of the technology being wasted, and know that the teacher who wanted to use those iPads for something involving modification or redefinition (the SAMR model), can't because they've been signed out for Internet research.

The easiest way to guard against the misuse of technology is to continually ask, "Why am I having students use a tablet?"

If your only answer is "to keep them engaged" or "to keep them busy and quiet", rethink your use of that technology.

I feel like I haven't done a good job in guiding and encouraging my colleagues to always be asking why when they sign out the iPads, but I'm going to try to do that more often in the new year.