I Promised..

I promised myself and my friends out there who are not here at #ISTE11 that I would blog, tweet, and keep them in the loop with the events, learning, connecting happening at lightning speed here. This is one attempt, as I have been here since Saturday night and have barely had time to capture a coherent thought, never mind convert it to the written word!

Here are a few highlights so far, and I am sure many more posts will enter my conscious mind when I jump on that plane to come home tomorrow night. ( which, now at the time of this edit, is actually tonight.)

First, I've heard others say, "I've learned more in conversations with my PLN than I have in official conference sessions." For the most part, I must say, that's been true for me as well. Although I have attended a few sessions with "new learning," much of the resources I have already become acquainted with through my amazing PLN. Here's a picture of just one example of collaboration happening in the Blogger's Cafe, which is a big open space where people are connecting and sharing.

Kevin Honeycutt leading a great jam session!

My most favorite part of the conference has been meeting people that I have learned with, collaborated with, shared deep conversations with through Twitter, blogging, online conferences and Skype sessions. Here are a few photos of meeting these wonderful folks!

So thrilled to meet Jana @Mollybmom and Jennifer @Saskateach from Canada. They are wonderful ladies who share so much!

The wonderful Karen McMillan or McTeach, as I know her on Twitter, meeting up for the 2nd time ever! 

The fun and dynamic, Nick Provenzano, or @thenerdyteacher as I know him on Twitter!

The fabulous Paula Naugle, @plnaugle who is a gift to all of us in our PLN.

 The dynamic Angela Maiers, @angelamaiers with George Couros @gcouros and Dean Shareski @shareski

The talented John Spencer, @johntspencer who is such a great guy and fabulous writer!

The very kind and inspiring Ken Shelton, k_shelton, also from California!

So great to meet Cory Plough @mrplough07!

The warm and bubbly Shelly Terrell or @ShellTerrell who inspired me to use Twitter and blog more regularly!

Meeting these friends, and I do consider them real friends, has felt like coming home. After almost 2 years on Twitter, I have come to know people better than I know some of my every day, face to face colleagues.  There are so many wonderful folks I have met, and I know I will forget some in this list so forgive me in advance: Karen Janowski, Kyle Pace, Deven Black, Jerylene Nemanich, Paula White, Becky Fisher, Marybeth Hertz, Gerald Aungst, Ann Leaness, Katie Hellerman, Angela Watson, Amanda Dykes, Beth Still, Michelle Baldwin, Shannon Miller, Mike Ritzius, Ken Royal, Shawn Ram, Tom Whitby, Jeremy MacDonald, Jason Schrage, Susie Toso, Ronnie Burt, Kristina Peters, Colette Cassinelli, Jackie Gerstein, JoAnn Jacobs, Kevin Honeycutt, and the fabulous Elana Leoni and Betty Ray from Edutopia.

I was absolutely thrilled to chat with the fabulous administrators and leaders I have connected with on Twitter: Pam Moran, Lyn Hilt, Patrick Larkin, Dave Meister, George Couros, and others I may be forgetting at the moment!

George Couros @gcouros and Patrick Larkin @bhsprincipal

It is difficult to put into words how I feel today after sharing and learning with all of these people from around the world. Energized, inspired, and grateful are the feelings that pop to mind. How about you?

From the Virtual Conference Room to the Live Action: How I'll be Savoring ISTE11

I remember this time last year so vividly: scanning Twitter and reading all of the messages about the ISTE10 conference in Colorado. I can't forget feeling sorry for myself that I was not there meeting the people I often shared with and chatted with online.  I attended sessions and learned lots, discovering resources and new people to follow, but still felt a bit envious of those who were sharing the wonder of meeting face to face for the first time, but feeling like lifelong friends. I don't want to forget that experience, mostly because it will remind me how very fortunate I am to be attending the ISTE11 conference this year.

What will I do to make the most of my Philadelphia learning adventure, or as my Canadian friend, Jen, is calling it her, Techcellent Adventure?

• I will be open and present as much as possible. I anticipate, after my experience at ASCD11 this past March, that the convention center will be a bit overstimulating and intimidating at times. I will stay in the moment and enjoy the opportunities to share a conversation, meet a new friend, and learn something to bring back to my practice. 
• I will let go and have fun! Yes, I am there to learn, and that is what I will be doing, but who says a little "Double Dream Hands" flash mob is going to get in the way!  I'm also signed up for the EdTech Karaoke, which will be great fun. Let's see if I get up the nerve to actually sing ;-) 
• I will tweet and blog my learning: I really appreciated those who were there sharing live, in the moment last year. I have several friends, especially Lisa Dabbs and Greta Sandler, who will be with me in spirit. I want to be someone who gives graciously and shares the learning. We really never know when a tweet will inspire someone else to explore and discover. 
• I will take care of myself with exercise and sleep! I know that I am one of those people who has a hard time sleeping when I am away from  home. There's that little kid part of me who feels like she might, "miss something," if she goes to sleep too early. I doubt I will be going to sleep early but I will make it a point to get enough sleep to be ready to learn and meet new faces. I also plan to walk everywhere and hope, no plan!, to run at least 2 of the days I am there :-) Maybe I will find some #temt folks to run with!
• I will spend time brainstorming and debriefing with the 2 fabulous teacher colleagues that will accompany me. We will have a chance to bring ideas back and transform the learning of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at our school. What a gift this will be! 

Before I forget, thanks to all of the bloggers who have written helpful posts for us ISTE newbies. I especially appreciated this post by Steve Dembo: What Not to do at ISTE and many others that I am suddenly forgetting due to my excited state! 

 I can't wait to get to Philadelphia tomorrow. But first, there's a long to-do list waiting...so off I go! How will you make the most of your ISTE11 experience, whether live or in the virtual capacity? Please share :-) 

Fan of Someone's Work? Reach Out and Say So!

This morning I lounged in bed with my coffee while finishing up the book, Play, by Stuart Brown, M.D. on the ipad. I enjoyed the book so much (even reading it actually for the second time) that I wanted to learn more about the non-profit foundation founded by Dr. Brown, The National Institute for Play. One link led to another and I decided to find out if Dr. Brown would be lecturing locally in the near future.

 I filled out a form on his website with this message:

Hello,
I am wondering where I can find information about any public speaking engagements for Dr. Brown. I live in Santa Cruz, Ca and work in Menlo Park, CA so anywhere in N. California would be great.
I am a teacher and former therapist/social worker and write a blog : http://allkidscanflourish.blogspot.com
My mission is to help others understand some of the simple changes and choices we can make to help kids thrive and flourish. I am a huge fan of the book Play and all of your work.

Please send me any appearance info that is available! I would love to hear Dr. Brown speak.

Thanks so much,

Joan Young


Needless to say, I was delighted to discover the following email in my inbox, not even a half hour later! 


Hi, Joan-thanks for your interest in hearing me speak. I am about to head for a Brain and Learning symposium in Michigan, followed by a DC presentation. My summer is thereafter focused on writing, with my next presentation in Monterey over the Labor Day Weekend. Kristen Cozad schedules my itinerary, and she is currently on vacation , but will be available after July 5. I enjoyed your blog, and wish you well.

Cordially,

Stuart Brown




Sometimes we, (or maybe that should be, I)  get intimidated by others' status or  think that they won't have any interest in us, regular people doing common, but very important work. I am excited when an "expert" in the field whose mission is so closely related to mine takes the time to respond to my questions.  I do hope to meet Dr. Brown and hear him speak in the near future; as you may notice, I have a few past posts here, highlighting my belief in the importance of play.

This is the mission of the National Institute for Play, which, I think, lies at the core of what can so powerfully improve education and society:

The National Institute for Play believes that as play is woven into the fabric of social practices, we will dramatically transform our personal health, our relationships, the education we provide our children and the capacity of our corporations to innovate.


And with that, I ask you: How do you utilize the gift of play to enhance your life and the lives of those you touch every day? Please share your thoughts!

Look Them in the Eyes

My kids, all grown up!

**Note: As you read this post, please don't get the impression that I don't understand the importance of cultural differences with regard to eye contact and showing respect. I fully embrace the myriad of different ways that mindful attention can be given between people; as one of my commenters so eloquently reminded me, the point is to remember to be fully and genuinely present to show that you care for others.  

Don't get me wrong. I am attached to my tech devices: taking photos, checking email, texting friends and family, but I am growing painfully aware of the costs associated with non-stop information and consumption on our most valuable relationships: missing out on important face to face moments with our students, colleagues, and loved ones.

This year, in my first year teaching 4th grade, I was shocked at how often I would ask students to look at me to show they were listening to me.  This was not an outright sign of disrespect from them as much as it was a product of our culture. When I asked if they looked at each other while talking at home, many students exclaimed: "My parents are always looking at their phones!" I encouraged them to say, ever so politely, to their parents: "Please look at me, so I know you are really listening." I fervently checked my email over the following few days, certain that someone would be angry at my lesson to their children, but not one ever arrived. Maybe no one went home and asked..though I hope they did.  I continued to request that students look at each other as they shared ideas in the classroom. Eventually, it became a norm...well..at least some of the time!

Of course, I then became aware of my own behavior: when I was not looking at someone talking to me! I often caught myself multi-tasking when others talked to me, cleaning up or writing an email when another teacher came to my room to visit, or picking up papers while a student was asking me a question; I consciously made a point to stop and fully listen.  After all, if a huge percentage of communication is non-verbal, what am I missing by not using the incredible sense of vision that allows me to see the person's revealing facial expression and expressive body language?

So,  please, especially when interacting with children, look them in the eyes. ( or show them full presence in a way that makes sense in their culture)  For that matter, make it a habit with everyone.  Let them know you are fully listening. The rewards are certainly worth it!

Reflections on Change: Transition is Tough!

Here's me in my classroom before school started, looking bright-eyed and ready for the new challenge!

I haven't blogged much this year. I have been busy plodding along on the continuous curve of learning, having made a huge change this year: going from teaching kindergarten at a school where I taught for 5 years and felt like I knew everyone, to teaching 4th grade at a completely different school.  Learning a new curriculum, getting up to snuff on the traditions and culture of my new school, TEACHING        ( yes, that's my actual real job), and trying to keep up with commitments, such as tutoring kids I've worked with for years, planning a book with a member of my PLN, presenting at 2 conferences and still managing my personal life have been overwhelming at times.  And with that I offer a sincere apology to my family and friends as I have not been as present as I wish to be.

Needless to say, although I often feel like I am moving ahead two steps and falling back three, I do believe that I have grown immensely by stepping out of my comfort zone and taking on this new challenge. I must also say, that I have had some of my most satisfying moments of teaching, interacting with wonderful 4th graders at a critical point in their learning journeys.

 Here are some reflections about what helped me thrive and what I will do differently in the future!

Keep expectations realistic:  I am pretty darn sure that I expected myself to master everything this year: the curriculum, the traditions and culture of my school, the unique challenges of 4th graders, etc. Did I live up to my expectation? Um...no..I simply elevated my blood pressure! Although I am often one to coach others on this topic, I do not follow my own advice. In the future school year, I will have one or two attainable monthly objectives for myself so that I can see progress in key areas, instead of expecting mastery of all.

Don't be afraid to accept opportunities to stretch yourself! In the Fall of 2010, just as I was in the midst of the steepest part of my learning journey, I was off to present at a reading conference in southern California. There I met several of my awesome PLN members and was refueled by connecting with other passionate educators. Around that same time, I was asked by my wonderful friend, Lisa Dabbs to consider presenting with her at the March 2011ASCD conference in SF. Although my first reaction was one of self-doubt, citing that I was "too busy and overwhelmed," I took a few days to think about the opportunity I might be turning down. When else would I be invited to co-present at an international conference? I am so happy that I did! I got to meet even more of my wonderful PLN members as well as experience a boost in confidence and realization that I love connecting and sharing with educators from around the world! Here is a fun interview with Ken Royal, senior editor for Scholastic, that spontaneously happened at the conference.

Savor the moments: Don't get so caught up in the pressures of curriculum, grading, deadlines, that you forget who you are there for: your students. Especially now, at this busy end of the year time, I am going to school each day with a mantra of making the most of each moment by being present. Our relationships with students and how we interact with them make a HUGE difference in their perceptions about themselves as learners.

Make new friends: I must say that though I miss some friends at my old school, I work with a wonderful group of passionate, hard-working educators. I have especially enjoyed having a fellow "new teacher" next door and one downstairs in kindergarten. Somehow the experience of being new to an environment together sets the stage for deep bonds of understanding. I am so fortunate to have such supportive friends.
Finally, a big reminder about what I will do differently: take better care of me! Confession: I have not been as faithful to the goal of eating well and exercising regularly as I should be. Of course I have the endless list of excuses, but I WILL find a better way over the upcoming school year to spend a bit more time on taking care of me. I have had a few health issues creep up this year, and most are probably related to stress! I will reach out to my network of both online and face-to-face friends and get back on the bandwagon. Summer will provide the perfect opportunity to get back on the #TEMT ( Twitter Exercise Motivation Team) train.
I would love to hear your thoughts on how you manage transitions such as these. Please share!

But Wait..There's More! Gratitude for our PLN

After I posted last night about some of my learning from #ASCD11, I realized that I had not adequately thanked all who so graciously contributed to the presentation, Beyond the Classroom Walls, Connecting in a Globalized World.
First off, a great big thanks to my fabulous co-presenter, Lisa Dabbs, also a wonderful blogger at http://teachingwithsoul.com/, who worked tirelessly on telling our story in a beautiful slideshow. She also spent countless hours preparing a Livebinder resource for folks to utilize after our presentation.  Lisa and I live 400 miles away from each other and prepared together in many conversations over Skype! She, however, did most of the work, and I just can't express my gratitude in words. Lisa is one of those people everyone should have in their network.

Second, thank you to all of the folks who so generously took the time to tell their stories of connecting globally: Clive, Greta, Aviva, Jo and Phil, Colin, Alex, and Steve. These inspiring educators graciously spent time creating fabulous snippets of their work to highlight the incredible value of online relationships and learning opportunities.
If you follow me on Twitter, you can find them all there, sharing each day how they enliven their practice with online tools.
Finally, thank you to all of the wonderful members of our personal learning network, who came to our presentation, and/or supported us through tweets and messages of encouragement. It's not easy to stand up in a room of peers and talk for 90 minutes, but all of you helped by sharing the message that Lisa and I set out to convey.
Hopefully, I have not left anyone out here, but if I have, there will surely be more posts on the wonderful learning experience of ASCD11. Who would you like to thank today?

3 Big Ideas from ASCD11

The Wonderful Co-presenter and Friend: Lisa Dabbs

I love the hearts of SF!

My Very Favorite Session!

Meeting My Fabulous PLN: Lisa, Karen, and Angela!

I just returned from the ASCD11 preconference and conference in San Francisco and, I must say: my head is spinning!  Not only did I have the privilege of presenting, Beyond the Classroom Walls,  with my good friend, Lisa Dabbs, but I also got to meet, face to face, many of the educators in my PLN, personal learning network.
What were the most inspiring messages that I took back with me to my class today?

1. Find the bright spots. Chip Heath, the keynote speaker, talked about how we need to find the "bright spots" in any challenging situation such as education and learn from them. Examining and re-examining problems won't lead us to change. We must seek out those who have managed to overcome obstacles and thrive, and then find out how they have blossomed despite hardship. We must also learn how to motivate others through "heart" and emotion, and help "shape the path" so that our analytical brains will accept and see the possibility. Read more here.
2. Kids are always paying attention, to something but maybe (often?) not to us! Perhaps we haven't cultivated the "need to know" or "need to solve a problem" that we, as humans, all have. It's time that we captured the attention of our students through their brains; we must activate the amygdala through the senses, using novelty, curiosity, and signals that give the brain just the right level of stimulation. Dr. Judy Willis, in her wonderful session with Jay McTighe, showed us that students who were exposed to positive facial expressions on faces performed higher on cognitive/memory tasks than students exposed to angry facial exprssions.  When stimulated positively,  and not overstimulated through stress, the amygdala's connections to the frontal cortex can facilitate learning and executive functioning. 
3. Relationship is what facilitates the safe environment where kids can think critically and make powerful connections. Over and over, session after session, presenters talked about Carol Dweck's growth mindset, and how an environment that openly embraces and celebrates failure and effort facilitates the learning that leads to success and efficacy. I must say that relationships are also what helps strengthen us as educators. I connected with many of my wonderful online PLN members; it was like meeting old friends! Don't underestimate the synergy of passionate educators. 

What connections do you make as you read this post? Were you there at ASCD and have another view to share?