#FF - Laura Gilchrist

Here it is, another Friday and Twitter is full of the hashtag:  #FF.  For those of you uninitiated Twitterers out there, that stands for Follow Friday.  In other words, Twitter users will use that hashtag in their tweets followed by the Twitter handles (usernames) of others that they deem worthy of gaining additional followers.

That's all well and good because I've blindly done the same thing myself.  I've mentioned others to follow and also gained people to follow from such tweets.  However, as in life, just because I like to follow someone doesn't necessarily mean that the Twitterverse will as well.

So, now when I issue #FF's, I would like to take the time to use this blog to explain WHY I recommend you follow these people--stuff that takes longer than 140 characters.

This week, my #FF shout out goes to Laura Gilchrist (@LauraGilchrist4).  She teaches 6th grade science and social studies in the same school district in Kansas City where I teach.  She's one of the ones that actually introduced me to the concept of being a connected educator.  In her 19th year of middle level education, she is the very definition of a lifelong learner.

Her blog, Shiny Happy Teachers, is truly one of the best ones around.  She skillfully incorporates lessons she has learned while teaching along with the technology and other ideas she has gleaned from social media as well as other respected educators.

Check out the other things she does as well...she is one of our school district's teachers who is test driving a set of classroom Ipad Minis in order to give feedback to central office about the ups and downs of the endeavor before it goes district-wide.  Laura also is on the pilot team for our district's venture into the workshop model.  Cris Tovani and Sam Bennett have consulted with our district and already did a great deal of large group professional development about the model with a number of teachers.  However, Cris and Sam wanted to directly work with a streamlined group of 30 teachers in the district in order to coach them through their subject area efforts in the model.  Laura, of course, is one of those.

She also is a HUGE contributing member of the Edcamp movement.  She attends a number of Edcamps in the area and is a co-organizer of #EdCampKC in November here in town.  In fact, she also participated in the first #EdCampHome last month as well.  She's a major presence on social media as well, including Twitter, Pinterest, Google + and Instagram.  She assists in moderating our state Twitter educational chat, #moedchat.  She leads a great deal of professional development regarding getting more educators in our district involved on Twitter.  I know she does a lot of other things that I don't even know about, so I'm sure this testimonial is incomplete.  Regardless, one thing I've learned from the experiences I've had with her, is that she is definitely willing to take risks and learn from her successes and mistakes.  She's the epitome of a continuous learner and practices what she preaches.

Outside of education, she is big into photography and will post much of her work online on the above mentioned social media sites.  Lastly, she has a love affair with puns.  One thing to know about her is that she isn't a cross-eyed teacher who couldn't control her pupils (was that one OK, Laura?).  In addition, no matter how hard she pushes the envelope, it remains stationery (how about that?).

Anyway, on a personal level, Laura has been the expert on being a connected educator in our district.  I have gained a great deal of knowledge from her about technology in education, as well as trying to become a better teacher through all sorts of informal professional development (like blogs and Twitter). In my mind, she is an educational rock star, and I hold her in the highest regard.

So, that's why I follow Laura Gilchrist, and so should you.

#FF - Barbara Madden

Here it is, another Friday and Twitter is full of the hashtag:  #FF.  For those of you uninitiated Twitterers out there, that stands for Follow Friday.  In other words, Twitter users will use that hashtag in their tweets followed by the Twitter handles (usernames) of others that they deem worthy of gaining additional followers.

That's all well and good because I've blindly done the same thing myself.  I've mentioned others to follow and also gained people to follow from such tweets.  However, as in life, just because I like to follow someone doesn't necessarily mean that the Twitterverse will as well.

So, now when I issue #FF's, I would like to take the time to use this blog to explain WHY I recommend you follow these people--stuff that takes longer than 140 characters.

So, my first #FF blog is devoted to a highly connected geometry teacher in Kansas City by the name of Barbara Madden.  Her twitter handle is @barbarawmadden, and she writes a spicy meatball of a blog called "that MADDENing teacher" where she not only covers education, but touches on social issues, tells a personal tale and throws out an occasional recipe or two.

I don't know her entire biography, but I do know Barbara was born in Italy, shortly thereafter came to the United States and was raised in the South before setting up shop in Kansas City.  She started teaching in her 20's but took a break to stay home to raise her four children before returning to the classroom about a decade ago.  Since then, she has jumped head first into the technology age becoming a networking force on Twitter and other social media.  She is working on her Ed.D. dissertation from Saint Louis University.  Her blog even touts the fact that "old teachers can learn new things!"  Plus, she is obsessed with the TV show, Duck Dynasty.  How can you argue with any of that?

My first Barbara Madden encounter was on Twitter where I saw her tweet about math (first red flag), then, when I clicked on her Twitter bio and found out she was in my school district (next red flag), I instantly started following her.  Right now, Twitter is still kind of slow on the uptake in our district, so I will follow anybody who is a fellow employee--birds of a feather, stick together, right?

Just by reading her tweets I could tell that Barbara was passionate (and opinionated) about our chosen profession, and I liked her Twitter personality.  It wasn't until I actually met her in person where my suspicions were nailed down completely.

We were at the Missouri Association of Secondary School Administrators (MASSP) Aspiring Leaders Conference where we recognized each other (I'm sure from our flattering Twitter bio avatars) and exchanged pleasantries.  I said, "Oh Barbara, it's great to finally meet you!"  I don't recall EXACTLY, but Barbara's response was something like, "Hi Ken, you're going to be my date for the dinner after the conference." It wasn't a request, from what I remember, it was a statement of fact.

And that's how Barbara rolls.  She calls things out like she sees them and comes on strong.  For instance, when she recently met our district's new instructional coordinator, who also has a significant presence on Twitter, she said to him that his avatar looks better than he does in person!  Ouch!

The best part, though, is that once you get to know her, she has a heart of gold.  I've never been in her classroom, but I can only imagine what the engagement and learning level is like in there...it must be off the charts.  Her personality along with her abilities to incorporate real life learning opportunities and making adjustments in the classroom on the fly, combined with her social media presence must make her room a very cool and inviting place.

So, that's why I follow Barbara Madden, and you should, too.

Abstract Blogging...Time To Play Catch Up

“I do a lot of painting.  Abstract painting.  No brush.  No canvas.  I just think about it.”    

     - Steven Wright

I started this blog last spring with the hopes of furthering myself in the educational world.  When my school year ended on May 31, I was so excited about reading, learning and blogging about new ways to help students learn!  It was going to be a non-stop blitz until school started up again in August!

Well, August has arrived, and I have yet to blog this summer.  Where did that time go?

Now, mind you, I have been reading and learning A LOT!  However, what I haven't taken the time to do is to reflect and write about what I've been reading and learning.  So, instead of blogging a number of times on each area of new learning that has taken place, I am now forced to create a last minute summary here before life turns insanely crazy next week when teachers in my district report back to school.

That seems like a pretty daunting task, but then I think about Steven Wright's quote above.  I have actually blogged quite a bit this summer--the only problem is that it has only taken place in my own mind.  I guess that's not too bad as long as my ability to recall events is sound...also the other advantage by the cumulative blog is that I can now make connections between events that I wouldn't have been able to make if I had blogged a play-by-play.

So, here goes nothing:

1.  For the first time, I was able to meet with some colleagues in my school district at coffee shops and Panera Bread restaurants a few times to have a show and tell about what we are reading and doing to get ready for next year.  We made a Vine (a six second video - https://vine.co/v/blYm9tBmWPU) showing our excitement during one of the sessions.  Another colleague and I logged into Google+ and horned in on a video call somehow just to see if we could do it.  For a few minutes we talked with a couple of people in San Antonio at the ISTE conference.  From an informal level of professional development, it was great fun!

2.  I teach in a Missouri public school district with four high schools, which is considered pretty large by our standards.  Our superintendent is very highly regarded and has a great deal of influence locally and at the state levels.  Therefore, it's very hard to catch him in one spot for too long, much less have a private conversation.

So, I wasn't sure what to expect when, in mid-June, I requested an appointment to speak with him.  He not only accepted my appointment to discuss various aspects of leadership, but I was able to have his attention for TWO hours!  In fact, he shooed away a television news crew wanting an interview so we could continue our discussion.

I asked him about many aspects of leadership, and how he reacted to various situations he's been presented with since taking over the district.  There are many people tugging at him from all sides.  Of course, there's learned behavior and reactions he has been able to pick up over the years that has assisted him greatly with making the best decisions for the district's children, as well as successfully handling the public relations that go along with those decisions.  I learned a great deal about leadership, along with confidence, power and patience, and how those aspects work together in order to head up a large public school district.  It was a tremendous opportunity that I will be forever grateful.

3.  Phil Jackson is the 11-time NBA world champion coach of the Bulls and Lakers whose latest book is titled "Eleven Rings--The Soul of Success."  While on family vacation in the Bahamas, I was able to read the book and reflect on Jackson's teachings.  My big takeaways from the book deal with leadership and trying not to overcontrol situations.  Give up control and trust the moment are continual lessons he illustrates over and over again.  In addition, he's a huge advocate of exercises that quiet a cluttered mind.  Being mindful when the pressure is on is the key to performing at critical junctures.  Overall, it was a terrific read as long as you understand the leadership parallels that exist between Jackson's world of high priced NBA superstars and the world I know best in a middle school classroom.

4.  I was fortunate enough in mid-July to take part in something called EdCampHome, and it was an incredible experience!  The EdCamp movement is a new, less formal, but more personalized way to approach professional development.  EdCamps are held at many places nationwide where people would show up without any agenda whatsoever.  Participants would create topic areas on site and then attend these sessions where discussion about a given topic would take center stage and the learning would organically evolve.  People sitting in these sessions would tweet or blog or broadcast them to engage others outside of the EdCamp in order to gain additional perspective or expert opinion on the topics at hand.

Well, EdCampHome took this concept to another level.  Using Google Hangouts (which I had never attempted before), people could sit in the confines of their own homes and take part in sessions that were created on the spot.  It really was quite something to see it all come together.  I don't have enough room here to fully explain it, but all of the Hangouts were video archived and can be seen at www.edcamphome.org - it was really was an amazing experience that I hope more people will be fortunate enough to take part in someday.

5.  One of my partners in #educrime, Laura Gilchrist (@LauraGilchrist4) who teaches in another middle school in my district turned me on to something called the EduTour.  Nick Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) and Tim Gwynn (@tgwynn) are teachers in Michigan and North Carolina, respectively.  They have had quite an online presence in terms of providing professional development, so I've already been somewhat in tune with their insanity.  But they wanted to take it up a notch by putting their wheels on the ground and driving from Indiana (the site of a conference they were both attending) to California stopping in cities along the way to talk with other like-minded educators.  Thus, the EduTour was born.

So, I sneaked out of a family camping trip for a couple of hours to join Nick, Tim and about 20 others at one of these stops in a bar/restaurant in downtown Kansas City.  It was great meeting Nick, but unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to engage very much with Tim.  The conversation that I sneaked in on with Nick was about Evernote and also about effective teacher evaluations.  Although it was a short visit, it was enough to want to learn more about the topics we discussed and to network with some of the current rock stars in education.  Check out their other adventures along the way at www.edutour2013.com.

6.  Our district has a week-long Summer Academy where we actually get paid to attend professional development sessions that we normally wouldn't have time for during the school year.  This year, most of my sessions were ones that our district "strongly suggested" that I attend.  Even though I was somewhat strong armed into these math-related courses, I really did enjoy picking up some new techniques and management strategies.

When I was a basketball and volleyball coach, we would frequently attend coaching clinics.  The mantra of those clinics was that if you are able to learn just one thing that you could fully implement into your program, then the time spent was worth it.  Well, the same thing applies here.  I do believe there are items that I learned that I will put into my repertoire this year--success!  Our district is moving towards the workshop model, so much of my focus will be spent on real-life situations, collaboration, engagement and the proper incorporation of technology in my classroom.

7.  Well, I wish I could say that was all, but there was so much learning that occurred from reading tweets, journals and articles, that I can't even quantify those opportunities.  I was able to participate in a number of online Twitter chats (like #moedchat, #satchat, #sunchat, #edchat, etc.) and meet and discuss current educational topics with educators from as far away as Sri Lanka and Australia.  Also, I'm not done reading yet.  I still have yet to finish, "The Art of Non-Conformity," by Chris Guillebeau, "Teach Like A Pirate," by Dave Burgess and I just ordered a book called "Minds on Mathematics:  Using Math Workshop To Develop Deep Understanding in Grades 4-8," by Wendy Ward Hoffer.  In addition, I have a whole handwritten sheet of paper devoted to the ideas, ramblings and scribbles that fleetingly went through my head over the course of the summer that I want to try in my room beginning this fall.

I think that about covers it.  I still wish that I was able to blog on all these events separately, but I think the big lesson I learned here is that education (even my own personal education) is rarely pretty.  As much as I would love to take each individual experience and boil it down to its component parts and file it away properly, that won't happen as long as there are human beings involved.  Teaching and learning is a messy proposition.  Oftentimes, most of the notes that I so eloquently take on a book or at a conference are not going to be feasibly used in the classroom on a daily basis.  So, instead, what I take into the classroom are the memories that come to me off the top of my head.  That's what this blog was all about...the summative knowledge that I gained from these experiences cumulatively.

Man...and I thought I took the summers off...