#dcsdtransforms episode 39: ‘Tis but a bit!

Hello and welcome back for another episode of #dcsdtransforms! This week, we have a really cool tool called Toonytool (visit it at Tooytool.com). The cover art this week’s episode was done by Rhett in about 3 minutes using Toonytool. Check it out – it’s easy and the students will love it! The teacher shout out goes to Brittany Adams at HHS for some really great things she is doing with flipped learning! And of course you don’t want to miss our upcoming events and reminders for you, our loyal listeners!

#dcsdtransforms episode 38: Carla is a Google Certified Innovator!

Greetings and salutations, loyal listeners!  First, we apologize for skipping a week – the hurricane here really threw us off with lack of power and internet and being out of school for 7 days.  But never fear!  We have come back with a SUPER special episode for you this week.  One of our very own has become a Google Certified Innovator!  So we have that celebrity in the studio (aka, conference room 6) to share her thoughts on this outstanding accomplishment and program.  Who is this Titan of Teaching?  This Enormity of Education?  This Caped Crusader of the Classroom?  Well, it is none other than our very own, CARLA JEFFERSON!!!!  Please don’t be put off by the length of this podcast – it is 30 minutes well spent hearing about Carla’s experience in Toronto as a Google Certified Innovator.  There are currently less than 1500 in the world!  Carla will also share her thoughts with regard to what this means for DCSD.  Please join us this week, and as always, thanks for listening!

Sweet Innovation – My Google Innovator Experience

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The Big Daddy of Google for Education – Google Certified Innovator.  An elite group of educators who have a passion for innovative teaching and learning.  And now a title that I can proudly add to my resume.

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It’s so hard to believe that just 2 days ago I was in the room full of amazingly brilliant people who are just as passionate about transforming teaching and learning.  People who I now call my friends….my family.

Google Innovator #TOR16 Cohort

Google Innovator #TOR16 Cohort

 

What IS a Google Innovator?

Google for Education Innovators are ambassadors for change and empower other educators and students.  They want to change the world of education by tackling complex opportunities to develop new-to-the-world solutions and already foster a thriving innovation culture within their own classrooms, schools and organizations. (via the Google for Education EduTraining Center)

As part of the program,  Certified Innovators receive 12 months of ongoing support for an Innovation Project that you’re passionate about, participation in an Innovation Academy, rich programming and ongoing opportunities for growth and collaboration, and access to a global community of other Innovators. The goal of the Innovation Academy is to build community and trust, create connections with Coaches and Advisors, get inspired by Googley culture, and prepare to complete their Innovation Project within 12 months. The foundation of the Innovator Program are the tenets of Transform, Advocate, and Grow.

At the Academy

The Academy is designed as a workshop to inspire and build capacity for Innovators, while giving us the opportunity to spend a great deal of time delving into our projects. 

My project focused around this question:

How might we create an easily searchable space for classrooms and kids to list, find, and connect with each other through their blogs.

Check out my application here and my Vision Video and Slide Deck below:

Day 1

I arrived into Toronto around noon.  Luckily, I was not alone (my mom was seriously worried about that) as #TOR16 Coach, Donnie Piercey and #TOR16 colleague David Lockhart were on the flight with me.  We met up with #TOR16 coach, Rafranz Davis and #TOR16 colleague James Allen, took the train to Union Station, and had a 10 minute walk to the hotel.

After we checked in, we were able to experience the famous Canadian dish, poutine, and then prepared for our opening session.

We were welcomed by the amazing organizers, Becky Evans and Justin LeCap in addition our coaches and the many Canadians who were a part of our cohort.

We were then broken into groups and by the end of the night we had to come up with a team name, chant, and theme song for graduation.  We decided on the name GSweet7.  Rafranz was our coach and this is the group we completed in the challenges with.

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GSweet7 #TOR16

Our graduation theme song was Macklamore and Ryan Lewis’s “Can’t Hold Us”.

Before we arrived to the academy, we’d received mini BreakoutEDU boxes that the group needed to collaborate with in order to figure out our next steps.  After that we had to create our own Breakout to be used to introduce ourselves to our group.

Days 2 & 3:  Sparks & Sprints

The Innovation Academy was framed by a series of Sparks and Sprints. I’m going to highlight the other two days of my experience through these two concepts.

Sparks were the sessions designed to build capacity, influence development of new projects, and otherwise “spark“ a new thought or idea.

Throughout the two days, we were treated to short sparks by our outstanding coaches: Michelle Armstrong, Sandra Chow, Rafranz Davis, Sylvia Duckworth,  Jeffrey HumphriesDonnie Piercey, Afzal Shaikh – in addition to Google employees Liz Anderson (Google EDU), Prachie Banthia (Product Manager, G Suite for Education), Aaron Brindle (Head of Public Affairs, Google Canada), Becky Evans (Global Program Manager), Wendy Gorton (Program Manager), and Mark Wagner (CEO of EdTechTeam).

We created a light bulb with the use of a mason jar, pencil lead, batteries, tape, electric connectors, and a toilet paper roll.  We learned (kinda….well not really) how to juggle with Donnie.  Rafranz guided us along as we created our signature story. Sylvia gave us a mini Sketchnoting Bootcamp while Sandra talked to us about perspective and focus.  Afzal allowed us to use his students’ littleBits kits in order to complete a mini maker challenge.  Mark talked to us about passion while Michelle, Becky, Wendy, and Justin kept everything moving smoothly along.

Each of the Sparks gave us something to think about ourselves as innovators and some really neat collaborative activities. As a matter of fact, I’m very excited to implement a few of these ideas with my DCSD Digital Transformation Academy!

In addition, we even had a Spark Camp where members of our cohort shared.  I shared how music and movement helps to engage learners.

Spark Camp #TOR16

Spark Camp #TOR16

 

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Sprints were 30-minute intense and flexible work periods sprinkled throughout the two days. These work periods are specifically designed for us to push our projects forward.

We were so fortunate to have the amazing Les McBeth with us to help with the mapping out of our vision projects.   We used the IDEO’s Design Thinking for Educators as the philosophical foundation to guide us through shipping our project.

Next Steps

Now I continue the work.  I will choose a mentor who will assist me on my journey along with my coach.  I will work to make my vision a reality. It is my goal to begin the process with teachers in my district, staring with my academy, and then growing from there.  I’m looking forward to the journey ahead!

Until the next time,

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#dcsdtransforms episode 37: Carla and Rhett eat a carolina reaper pepper (ok, not really)

Hey Everyone!  Welcome to another episode of #dcsdtransforms.  In this episode, we do NOT eat a carolina reaper live on air.  In fact, this is the 37th episode in a row where we have not done that.  But we do have some awesome edtech for you.  Our shout out this week goes to Casey Sanders and all the cool things she is doing with her young students!  The tool this week is a web resource for teaching children with Autism.  With the new statistics out this year (1:68 children born with ASD), inevitably, regular ed teacher will have a student on the spectrum every year. Click here to check this site out to give you some tools for helping children with Autism.