ISTE 2015

This June I traveled to Philadelphia to present at ISTE. My session was, "Teachers and Students Communicating with Families Using Technology." Presenting at an international tech conference was a tremendous experience. Participating in other sessions was also amazing. Here are my top 4 take aways from ISTE 2015...(If I didn't restrict myself to 4, this blog post would never end!)

1. Twitter Challenge - Love, love, love this idea! First I should add that I love Twitter as a professional development tool. Living in Northern Wisconsin, it sometimes feels isolated. Twitter has allowed me to meet great people, learn from ideas and articles, collaborate - the list goes on and on! During our monthly Tech Talks, I have held many sessions on Twitters and its benefits. However, we still have staff that are hesitant and do not yet see Twitter's value. This Twitter Challenge is designed to get people using Twitter comfortably while exploring what it is all about. The goal is that through these tasks, people will see and experience the great professional development opportunities and connections that Twitter has to offer.

1. Add a profile and cover photo to your Twitter account.
2. Complete your “Bio” information on your Twitter Profile.
3. Send a tweet with your name, grade level, and the hashtag #erespride.
4. Reply to someone who used #erespride in a tweet yesterday & share why you love ERES. #erespride
5. Follow 5 new people from ERES.
6. Take a break, it’s Saturday!
7. Follow 5 new people in your subject area/grade level that you do not know.
8. Favorite (click on the star) a tweet.
9. Get familiar with edu Twitter chats & hashtags: http://goo.gl/pdY3
10. Tweet a photo - picture with your favorite quote or saying, your classroom, vacation spot, etc. #erespride
11. Observe or participate in a Twitter chat (anytime this week). #erespride
12. Tweet one new tech tool or way that you will use technology in your classroom this school year. #erespride
13. What are you reading or learning? Tweet a link to a blog post, article, or book. #erespride
14. Quote a tweet (click retweet and select edit or quote) and why you chose to retweet it or think it was an important/awesome message. #erespride
15. Tweet something about your Twitter challenge experience. Perception changed? Knowledge gained? Ideas shared? #erespride

2. Freedom to Fail - This was an amazing session put on my Andrew Miller. After thinking about the session, I realized that much of it is so simple and should be common sense. Notice the "should" in that sentence... Last year, I realized that many of my students had learned helplessness, and it was my fault. Just like my own kids at home, sometimes it's easier to just hand them what they need instead of teaching them how to get it for themselves. This session was just what I needed! Some key points that I took away and will be referring back to often (for myself and to teach my students!):

• Success is not a straight line.
• Scientists don't run experiments guaranteeing they will be successful, they run them to gain knowledge.
• Be open to outcomes that may not have been anticipated in the process.
• Fear of failure causes anxiety.
• Judy Willis, brain based researcher in education says, "Kids won't learn because they are scared."
• Less teaching, more feedback.
• Failure Factors:
• School Culture - trust and relationships are most important. It students trust you, they will take the risk with you. Don't only post exemplary work, post all of the work that led up to the final product.
• Assessment Practices - Feedback must be timely, specific, understandable and actionable. Teachers do not have to provide lots of in depth feedback on every formative assessment. Make the feedback put the cognitive load back on the kids, so that they learn from their failures. Feedback should cause thinking, don't do the thinking for the kids. Was it a mistake (you know it but you made a boo boo) or an error (implies a gap, they don't understand something, they need more instruction).
• Curriculum Assignments - Do an analysis of curriculum. How does curriculum need to be structured to allow failure? What do the work and assignments look like? Is there differentiation?
• Instructional Strategies - Teachers should learn to ask questions for, not about learning. Teach and model which questions to ask to get kids thinking on their own.
• Facilitate conversations about failure with kids. Demystify it and make it not scary.
• Teach kids how to ask good questions. Questions should be honored. Questions are important - after you fail, you have to know where to go next.
• HIGH EXPECTATIONS - we have to mean it and believe that all kids will get there.
• Model making mistakes.

3. Coding - In passing (in person and via social media) I have a basic understanding of what coding is, but no understanding of how to do it and especially how to teach it. ISTE sparked my curiosity about what coding is and why it is important. While a couple of 30 minute sessions gave me a brief overview of coding and its importance, they also provided me with resources to learn more. Code.org was mentioned multiple places at ISTE. Upon my return home, I decided to check it out. Code.org offers FREE professional development for teachers (and anyone else who choses to learn coding!). There is a 1-3 hour online option and also one day workshops. Unfortunately, the closest workshop was 4.5 hours away and the Saturday after school starts. I did some investigating, contacted code.org trainers (listed on their website) and have a wonderful trainer coming to our school district to train our staff! We are currently working with our administration to finalize details, but I am very excited about this opportunity! I personally would like to learn more about coding, then use the code.org free curriculum to teach my 3rd graders during our "Power Hour" time slot.

4. Google PD - More FREE, online professional development! Google has revamped their professional development and offers different levels of training for those interested in becoming Google Certified. I would like to pursue these certifications to learn more about all of the tools Google has to offer, as well as to share this information with colleagues during our monthly Tech Talks and teach my students.