2021 One Word I Can Do

I've seen so many people share their one word for 2021. It has taken me a bit longer and like so many things in my life, last year has shaped my one word. I've done some reflecting while also looking forward. It dawned on me that as difficult as last year was, I ALSO saw so many bright spots - so much good. I am tired of hearing about all of the things we "can't" do and the complaining about what we've "lost" ... so, in 2021, I am choosing to focus my attention on all of the blessings in my life. And that is my word - BLESSINGS.

Now, before I go too much further, I am well aware that I cannot ignore the things we can't do or that we've lost. I will be sad and upset about them. And there will be times I will be down right angry or hurt. That's just part of being human. At the same time, I know that I am very blessed in my life and I want to make sure I do not loose sight of that. There is a lot of negativity happening and I want to make sure that I also see - and highlight - the good that is happening, too. 

I have been journaling every day for the past year and I've made an adjustment to incorporate my one word. Rather than write down things I'm grateful for, I've adjusted that section to be where I write out my blessings. Topping my list everyday is my family & our health. These are two of the greatest blessings I have. The rest of my list will vary from day to day, but some of my top blessings recently are having a job (and a job that I love), music, a good team, warm days in the winter time, the ability to connect with educators near & far, my girls able to attend school face-to-face, quiet time in the morning, and so on.

This year, I want to focus on the blessings around me; give blessings to others; and to BE a blessing.   

Through my blog, I try to BE a blessing to all of you by sharing my adventures and activities I am lucky enough to be part of. I also hope that I can inspire you to look to the positives. 

One final note - on Monday, Feb 8 at 6 pm, I will be appearing on Kim Mattina's podcast - The Suite Talk. I will be sharing about using Google Sheets in the classroom. (Hint: it won't be limited to spread sheets! And yep .... templates will be included!)

I'd love to hear from you! You can leave a comment below - reach out on Twitter & Facebook - or even email me at sarah@techyoucando.com

 

Innovation You Can Do

Have you had an idea of something to do or try but you are stumped with how to go about moving forward? I've been there so many times and I've seen so many educators in the same boat. Today, I want to share a framework for anyone who would like to move forward with an idea but aren't really sure where or how to start.

First, a little background. I was honored to attend the Google Innovator Academy in October of 2019. The goal of the academy is to produce a project that helps others. I focused on the idea that teachers have many ideas of ways to improve education but we struggle with execution. Time, energy, and direction are the hurdles. And often, it's overwhelming to try to tackle anything more while teaching full-time.

BUT I truly believe we, teachers, hold the keys to improving education.

With that in mind, my Innovator project is a framework to help you through the process of starting with an idea, to growing and changing and enhancing the idea, to ultimately what the designer sees as a "launch". No two projects are alike or will take the same path, so the framework is meant to guide the designer, rather than dictate a specific path. Ideally, the designer will team up with someone else to work on their idea. Having someone to lean on, ask questions of, bounce ideas off of, and to support can make a huge difference. Too many ideas are sidelined because the designer becomes stuck or lost or overwhelmed.

I'm grateful to three colleagues who've utilized my framework to further an idea they've had. One of these has gone through to a launch, the other two have been put on hold due to COVID. That's another piece to this - the projects won't be lost. We decided to put them on pause and we can pick it back up when we are ready and have the appropriate time and energy to put into it.

The one project that has gone through to launch has inspired me to spiral off of it to start work on a similar project that I will also use with the framework.

I am sharing the framework with you today. I've called it "Innovation You Can Do." This framework can be used both 100% digitally OR it can be printed on paper. Of the 3 projects I've been part of, all have preferred it on paper. We wanted to jot our notes during our meetings as well as in between our meetings.

Would you like your own copy of this workbook? Here's a link to the template version. Hands down, I feel the "Idea Investigation" page is the foundation. I hope if you see it having potential use for you that you DO use it. I do plan on doing a few solo projects where the "Idea Investigation" is the only piece I will use. I know this page will force me to go through the process of solidifying my idea by turning it over and thinking it through.

I'd love feedback - whether you use this framework or not. Is there something I can improve? Do you have an idea or a project you want to use it with? Feel free! Let me know if I can help or be part of it. 

Do you have a comment about this framework? Feel free to leave it below ⤵

Or Tweet at me @kiefersj 

Or email me sarah@techyoucando.com 

Or connect with me on Facebook - Sarah Kiefer

So many ideas have value ... but if you don't give them the space to grow, you'll never know!

Dear Educators, You Can!

Dear Educators,

I've been trying to write this for 3 weeks. As with most everything in 2020, plans changed. I should already have had 2 weeks of school under my belt by now, but my first day is this coming Thursday. My oldest daughter still has a week of summer vacation before starting high school. I should have spent the majority of this weekend at a soccer tournament. I don't think I have the right words, but I need to get this out. I know I can.

This reality has a new feeling ... I hesitate to call this "normal" ... I don't want this to BE normal. This reality has new and different challenges. I've shed tears and I know more will come. I've been angry and felt defeated. COVID-19 has rocked me. What started out as a 3 week pause, turned into a full remote learning for the entire fourth quarter. Then summer was extended as guidelines changed and precautions were outlined and new safety measures were developed.

With everything, I know I have a choice. I have a choice with my words and my actions. I may not like my choices, but they are there for me to make the best of. I'm not perfect and I won't always make the right choice. 

We say the same thing to our daughters here at home. My youngest two girls started school this past week. Face-to-face, five days a week. They have to have their temperatures taken before entering school. They wear masks. They mostly sit in their desks. Specials teachers come to their rooms. They sit on dots spaced out in the cafeteria. And when we explained the "rules" for school, they smiled and accepted them. They don't like wearing masks, but they wanted to go back to school. I cried when we dropped them off ... HAPPY tears! After 5 months, they were back in school.

I don't want this to be "normal" ... but I have accepted this is what we have to do right now. And I want to face this head on and do the best I can. 

I listened to one of my favorite podcasts this morning on my post-run cool down. The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros. It was 10 minutes long and he talked about giving grace to others and yourself. He said it well when he said it's easy to give others grace but often, it's tough to give it to ourselves. That is so very true! Give your students grace; give their parents grace; give your colleagues grace; give your administrators grace; and give YOURSELF grace. You can.

As this school year starts, I don't know truly what to expect. I hope I meet the challenges head on. I hope I ask for and seek help when I need it. I hope that my daughters have a good year. I hope that we all stay healthy. I hope we use this forced change to improve everything we do. I hope that we will look back on this school year and say, with confidence, we did it!

Stay connected ... I'd love to hear your comments below. Tweet at me ... @kiefersj. Need some help? Feel free to email me ... sarah@techyoucando.com .

Sarah

Templates You Can Do ... like Alyssa!

I am thrilled to share this today! It's a bright spot in all of the strange and difficult times we've been through the past couple of months. To start, you might know I have a co-created website - Templates for Teachers - with Beth Kingsley. We shared it nearly two years ago and have worked to add to it. About a month ago, we shifted it over to a new site and have enjoyed it even more! I can't believe it's been a month since we shared out the new site. We've published a handful more templates as we continue to move them over & we'd love for you to check them out.

Beth's and my goal with Templates for Teachers is that we create for our classes and we share the templates on our site for anyone to take. You are welcome to use them as they are, or modify them to your own needs. Our previous site only allowed us to actually share the templates. Our new site allows us to also share ideas on how to use them with younger or older students. You can also use the filtering to help you view similar templates or types of templates.

I received an email from a good friend of mine, Alyssa, on April 29. She shared a Google Slide with me and included a note telling me she'd found a template on our site & modified it to fit her class. It's stories like this that are bright spots in the midst of these strange times. 

Here is Alyssa's story - Beth created the "Mother's Day Gazette" for her 3rd graders as a project for Mother's Day last year. (This is an amazing template and they turned out super awesome!) Alyssa was browsing our site and saw it. Alyssa is a 7th & 8th grade Social Studies teacher, mind you. When she saw the gazette, she saw it as a way for her 7th grade students to demonstrate their learning of the Renaissance with a scrapbook. 

Whaaaaaaat??? Do you see a Renaissance scrapbook from the Mother's Day Gazette? I didn't, but Alyssa did! And she is graciously allowing me to share it on our Templates for Teachers website - to quickly find it, click on the label "Alyssa Bruck" on the far right side of the site! You have to check it out - BOTH are amazing! And it's truly a dream come true for me to see a colleague (& friend!) to take one of our templates and modify it to fit her needs in such a creative way!

Alyssa has since followed up the scrapbook with THREE more Renaissance themed templates! (These are also featured on our Templates site) And then this week - just when I was struggling with focus on school work, yet ANOTHER email from Alyssa appeared. I opened it to find a Civil War Choice Board she created & is using with her students during these last weeks of remote learning. Kudos to you, Alyssa! I was blown away! Truly! And to think ... all of this happening during our time of remote learning!?!

This just goes to demonstrate we all have room to grow and we all have our struggles. But when we pull together, we can do more than we thought possible. I count myself lucky to work with both Beth & Alyssa, and I count myself lucky to be able to share it with you. 

Do you have questions or comments? I'd love to hear from you! Please comment below - connect on Twitter (@kiefersj) - or email me directly (sarah@techyoucando.com).

Finally, I have a few exciting things to share:

* I was honored to be a guest on the GEG Ohio April meeting. I shared about the apps I've created with Slides & Glide Apps. You can check out the recording here (April meeting YouTube link) - be sure to fill out the fill out the form to earn PD credit!

* I am going to present a more detailed session about building apps with my #NYC19 Google Innovator Coach, Dr. Desiree Alexander, on her FREE webinar series. This will be Sat, May 30 @ 12 pm EST (11 am CST). You can find more info & the sign up link at edalex.net/appbuild .

* I will also be presenting "6 Steps to Organize Your Google Drive" on June 2 at 1 pm EST (12 pm CST) for the GEG Louisiana. The leader is fellow #NYC19 Google Innovator, Wiley Brazier! You can sign up on the GEG Louisiana website. 

A Look Back and Planning Forward ... I Can Do

Today is my final post for the year & I want to look back on 2019 and share plans and ideas for next year.

2019 was a good year for me. A really good year. I love my job. I can't say it enough. I do. And I know I'm very lucky to be able to say that. I've worked with teachers and students on many different projects and I look forward to continuing in 2020.

I also set a pretty major goal for myself in 2019 - to become a Google Certified Innovator. I applied in 2018, but didn't make it. I was devastated (just ask my husband). I knew I needed to submit a much higher quality application the next time, and worked on my application throughout the first half of the year. I have to give a huge shout-out to Becky Tompkins - she reviewed my application and gave me great feedback. I couldn't have done it without her. Over the summer, I focused on, what was for me, the most daunting piece of the application - the video. After realizing a cartoon video wasn't really "for me," I called on my youngest daughter to help with the creation of a screen-recorded Google Slides. She took pictures of me - I used the website Remove.bg to remove the background. (She did such a wonderful job!) I also used Bensound.com for background music. I was thrilled with the way it turned out. This time, I knew I submitted the best application I could have. On August 13, I spent the day checking email and Twitter ... until about 9 pm when my husband showed me the tweet announcing the NYC cohort with my name on it!!! YAY!!! What an incredible feeling and experience! I'll share more on this later, but I want to give a quick shout out to my sister - Angie - for being my travel buddy on this adventure.

2020 is going to be another good year for me. I have my Google Innovator project to work on and bring to life. I have been assigned an awesome mentor - Adi Aharon - and I look forward to working with her. I have the added bonus of support from my curriculum director - Becky Tompkins - as I continue on this journey. My project focuses on helping teachers achieve the goals they set for themselves. Look for more to come!

I also look forward to adding to Templates for Teachers, the site Beth Kingsley & I co-created. We share out templates we've created for other teachers to use (& modify if desired). So far, we have 76! They are all made with Google, so it's super easy to make your own copy. 

Another project on my radar has to do with one of my other passions - the 8th grade Washington, DC trip I co-coordinate with Alyssa Bruck. Two years ago, I created an "app" for our trip. I used Google Slides. I made version 2.0 for last years trip and I have already started on version 3.0 for the November 2020 trip. Super excited about this!!!

I plan to continue sharing here on this blog. Ideally, I will post on Sundays, but  sometimes (like this one) I'm not able to. I also will continue to share out on my companion blog, TYCD: Resources. I'd love for you to check it out! On this blog, I share resources I've come across that I feel have some value. I keep it short & sweet and focus on the link, the audience, suggested content, targeted grade level, along with a short review. This is typically a Tuesday posting. And on Thursdays, I've been selecting a previous blog (from either one) and sharing that out, too. I've called it "#ThrowbackThursday"'s. If what I share is helpful for you, I encourage you to subscribe - to both blogs, so you will not miss a posting. I also share each blog out on Google+, Twitter, Wakelet, Pinterest, and Facebook.

Finally - I want to thank you, readers. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your comments. Thank you for your support. I hope 2019 was a good year for you and that 2020 will be an even better year! As I re-read through this, I notice a common theme. I'm not doing it all on my own. My family, my friends, my colleagues, and you are there with me every step of the way. I hope I am there with you, too.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if I can support you:

• email ↬ sarah@techyoucando.com
• Twitter ↬ @kiefersj
• comment below ↴

Reflection ... and a Look Ahead ... You Can Do

I had an unexpected conversation last week that led to some great thinking and sharing. In order to explain, I'll need my "soapbox" ... in honor of Jake Miller of the Educational Duct Tape podcast.

I was returning a repaired Chromebook to a 4th grade classroom at the end of the day and I ended up chatting with the teacher for a bit. I had just spent time with two of her classes. We had been cleaning up their Google Drives in preparation for them to move to our middle school this fall. (This is a great opportunity to teach them some digital organization: the 2 views of Drive, how to keep/remove "Quick Access", make folders, delete/move items, etc ... but that's a topic for another blog.)

I asked the teacher if there was anything else she would like to cover or anything she wished we could do. She mentioned her wish that students couldn't change their backgrounds. I paused for a minute before responding. [This isn't the first time I've encountered this wish.] And I simply asked, "Why?"

She proceeded to tell me how students spend a lot of time changing the backgrounds and some aren't super appropriate. She also feels it's just a time sucker. I agreed - because it can be a time sucker - and having knowledge of the Google Admin Console, I know full well we can restrict this. I met her eye and told her this was in fact possible. She looked slightly surprised, so I quickly continued. 

Ahem .... enter ..... my soapbox ......

We live in a digital world and in our district, we are 1:1 with Chromebooks from 1st through 12th grade. (We even have a mix of iPads and Chromebooks in our kindergarten classrooms.) We provide them with digital accounts and access to various programs to enhance their learning. We want, no - we expect our students to use them. We want them to create using them. We also expect the students take care of the devices. And we know full well, that long after they stop coming in our doors, they will be employed in a job that can almost be guaranteed to use a device of some kind. 

So this leads me to the following ...

Should we restrict everything? 

If not, how much do we restrict?

Is this in their best interest? Or ours?

Is this a good philosophy to utilize? 

Do we do this to maximize learning time and minimize distractions?

OR . . . do we use this as another teaching and learning opportunity? 

We would never expect a 1st grader to read and understand a book written by Shakespeare or solve complex physics problems. In that same thinking, we can't expect them to understand how to do (or not do) things on a device until we scaffold and teach them and provide time and opportunity to practice.

I proposed to her the following idea ... We want them to want to take care of their Chromebook. So, what if, next year, they allowed students to change their backgrounds? [Imagine her surprise! ... but let me continue ...] I reminded her students spend a LOT of time on their Chromebooks and we want them to feel some type of ownership over them. I suggested she decide a time frame she (ideally, along with her team) is good with, and set aside time to allow students to change their background during that time. It doesn't have to be long, 5 min per month is plenty! I offered to be available to help with this. 

And when the time comes, remind them THIS is the time to change backgrounds. Therefore, if they change backgrounds at other times, it's not ok and they can handle that the same as when students don't follow other rules.

I also told her she has every right to deem backgrounds appropriate and inappropriate. In fact, this is a conversation I hope they have with their students. Often! I went on to challenge her to stop and think about it. I said I was willing to bet the vast majority of  the backgrounds ARE school appropriate. (She agreed.) And just like anything else, if a student has an inappropriate background, she can instruct them to change it and if they change it to an inappropriate one again, treat it like any other discipline infraction. (I even suggested that if a student violates this too much, change their background to a very generic one and then if they are caught with anything else, additional discipline will be incurred.)

The final thought I shared was this. If she has these conversations now this hopefully can translate into a long-lasting positive impact on them as they grow up. I said the likelihood of her 4th graders choosing something SUPER inappropriate was small, and she can use this as a teachable moment. We can't talk to our students enough about what is and is not appropriate in this digital age.

Now, as I step down off my soap box, I hope I have shared a little nugget for you to ponder. Will YOU be the teacher who dares to talk with your students about appropriate and inappropriate digital actions? Will YOU be the teacher who allows students to make small mistakes and learn from them before they are huge mistakes with REAL and strong consequences? Will YOU be the teacher who decides one conversation isn't enough?

Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Small Things I Want to Do and You Can Do, too!

Last week, I had the privilege of visiting the Hilliard City School district near Columbus, OH. I made the journey with a small group from my own district. I chose to focus on the elementary options of the visit since that is the grade level I work at. (Others in my group got to see the amazing things at the middle and high school level.) 

I'd like to share some of the things the 2 elementaries are doing. I visited JW Reason Elementary and Brown Elementary. Kudos to BOTH principals! Both were very energetic and passionate about their jobs and roles in moving their staff and students forward. Kudos to all the staff at both for the awesome things I saw going on! You should all be proud!

So many of these are things are low-tech, and high impact.

🔻FOLDER OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM ↬ easy access to a folder containing students who shouldn't be photographed. I could see this working in any school. Going a step further, teachers could include other specific info (just be careful with HIPPA). I could see it being the "go-to" for fire or safety drills and hanging in a spot in the classroom near the door.

🔻GOALS OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM ↬ each student's photo was hanging outside the classroom with a speech bubble that can be written on with dry erase over and over. Even the teacher was included! What a great visual on what each person is working towards. Some were school related, but not necessarily.

🔻DISTRICT UNITED PLAN, YET BUILDING UNIQUE ↬ everywhere I went, it was clear Hilliard had bought into a program called the R-factor. I heard a lot about it. And the message clear and united. But each of the principals made it clear they were allowed their own twist to it. The underlying message is the same ... but the implementation was specific and unique to the building. It was also great to hear from the 2 tech guys who split their time between 2 buildings - this is my role as well! They both shared they could use the same vocab in each building.

Balance You Can Do

I don't know about you, but I'm constantly hearing and thinking about balance. Work-life balance. Paper-digital balance. And so on ...

In my opinion, balance is a tricky word. Does it mean 50/50? Does it mean favoring one thing over another? Is it bad if you don't have balance?

As a working wife & mom, I struggle with balancing home & work. When I'm at work, I'm still a mom. When I'm home, I am still an employee. In either place - in BOTH places - I'm an individual and a learner. I don't try to separate out these all these pieces of my life ... I may focus on each at different times or in different ways, but altogether, they make me ... me.

Recently, I worked with two different groups of educators and as I drove home fairly late at night, the word "BALANCE" kept bouncing around in my head. Education was the topic for both groups, but in different ways. Reflecting on both discussions, I see the need for balance - or, striving for balance.

I get asked and think quite a bit about "How much screen time?" ... "Can I/Should I print?" ... "How young is too young on devices?" ... "When do you give kids devices?" ... "How do I keep my kids safe?" ... "How much should be print versus digital work?" ... and so on.

The questions above are all tough questions ... and ones that you can't really find "cut and dry" answers to. I always answer very honestly. Each child is different ... each home structure is different ... each classroom is different ... each game/app/website is different. There's no recipe to the perfect digital structure. So balance for each person, each home, each classroom, will be different. And that's okay!

When learning, keep learning the goal and use paper and/or digital resources as they fit the goal. The latest, or fanciest, or the "coolest" tool won't always give you the best results. And the "coolest" pen won't give you the best looking handwriting, either, right? It's all in how you use it. With fun, keep in mind boundaries. I am a firm believer that kids flourish within boundaries. 

To stretch you a little more ... sometimes balance will mean putting yourself out there. In order to achieve a better balance, you may have to change the scales a bit. I reflect back a handful of years when my district went 1:1 with Chromebooks. Want to upset the balance of a building/district? Introduce a take-home Chromebook program for your middle school & high schoolers! It very much upset our "balance" ... but NOW? Wow! The difference is astounding. Heaven forbid the wifi go out and we not be able to access the internet! These hunks of plastic roughly the size of a sheet of paper changed the way we "balance" education in our district. And every year, the balance looks a little different. 

I think balance is an elusive goal and I have no magical formula as to how to achieve it. And on that note, I'm not convinced balance is what I'm looking for. I think I'm looking to give each piece of my life it's proper due, and focus on each piece as needed.

If you are struggling with the "balance" in your life ... think of it this way: a cookie here and there most likely won't be detrimental to your health, and neither will using devices here and there. In fact, a cookie might provide the right "motivation" to finish the veggies on the dinner plate and so a device might just add that little bit of "sweetness" to a lesson to make it better. [On the flip side, if all you eat is cookies all day everyday, your health may not be so good - being on a device all day every day isn't a good situation either.]

#IMMOOC4 Week 1: Innovation in Education

I'm veering off my usual blog style today ... I joined round #4 of the #IMMOOC book study. Interested? You can still join! (website) [I am a little late with week 1's blog post ... better late than never!]

Here goes!

EMPOWER (by: John Spencer & AJ Juliani)
Week 1: AJ & John ask us to consider what students are “DOING” during our 400 daily available minutes. Why do we need to begin by considering the expenditure of time?

Time is and always has been very precious and it's the one thing that we will never get more of, no matter what we do. As a teacher, we need to remember that our students are only with us for a set amount of time and then they move on so we HAVE TO MAKE IT COUNT. I taught 7th & 8th grade Social Studies and I only had each class for 42 minutes. Bells rang to start and stop class and I HAD to make those 42 minutes mean something to my students. I also was very aware that my students had 6, maybe 7 other classes, extra-curriculars, and home responsibilities. The "competition" with time inspired me ... it pushed me to become more efficient, but also trimmed the "fat".

My little pie wedge of time was extremely precious to me. I wanted my students to know that I wanted the best for them, so I gave them the best of me.

AJ & John ask us to invest a large part of our day “to inspire creativity and innovation.” Describe one thing you are doing to make this a daily priority.

I am not in the classroom anymore - I am fortunate enough to be a Technology 
Integration Specialist in the same district I taught in for 14 years.

I 💖 my job.
I 💖 the people I work with.
I 💖 the way I am challenged.
I 💖 the opportunities I have every day at work.

You Can Do ... Anything!

I've structured my blog around the theme of being able to "do" technology.  Today, I want to share a bit about the human side of technology. This is where the power in technology comes - the people.

I am excited to share that my district is embarking on a digital book study next week.  The prep work has been going on for some time and WE DID IT! We have over 50 registered!

"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

The book is an AMAZING one ... George Couros' "The Innovator's Mindset". The whole theme is right on his cover - "Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity". It's an inspiring and reaffirming read which I know will resonate with my colleagues. [And if this sounds like something you might like - don't question it ... get it! Read it! Don't hesitate!]

"Innovation is not about the stuff; it is a way of thinking." 

- George Couros

Now, technology has played a HUGE role in this - the planning, the roll out, the organization, and the sustainability of it. We built a website, are utilizing a badging system built off of a Google Sheet (thanks to Daniel Sharpe's BadgeU!), incorporating our LMS platform Schoology, sprinkling in Google Forms, Mentimeter, Twitter, Padlet & Flipgrid.  That's a LOT of tech, come to think of it, that we plan to do ... that we WILL do.  And it's all tech you can do, too!

"What we model is what we get."

- Jimmy Casas

A team of people put this all together ... a team of people bounced ideas off each other ... a team of people supported, encouraged, questioned, pushed & pushed back.  And if I can brag a little, it's a team of people that I am thrilled & honored to be a part of!