Teach Beyond the Buzzwords

For the last few Januarys, I have been lucky enough to attend the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC). This was my fourth year attending, and thanks to my colleague, Jenny O'Sullivan , who pushed me to submit proposals with her, it was my third year as a presenter. Each time I present it feels like the first time, yet I am getting more and more comfortable doing it. This year’s presentation was a big one for me. I was able to present my first 2-hour workshop. These sessions cost extra money for attendees to attend so the pressure was on. We presented our Green Screen + AR session, and this time we walked everyone through the process of duplicating our First Grade Garden project. Overall it went well, but I am looking forward to our next opportunity to present it. There are definitely things we will tweak to make the presentation better. I think my favorite part of presenting this topic is the reaction we get when we show the final "product." When we ...

Are you ready for this? My school/district sent my ENTIRE elementary school up to NYC for the Reunion Conference at Columbia University's Teacher College. That's right - ALL OF US! We spent a long weekend learning and reflecting. It is so powerful to sit with your colleagues after a day of observing and learning. Want teacher "buy-in" for a new way of teaching? This is the way to go about it. Teach us. Let us see it in action with stellar examples and a realistic environment. Majority of our teachers were able to experience this special PD trip. Now on to the learning... What a trip! It is amazing the power of seeing best practices in action when you are learning something new. Our visit to PS11 in NYC, a Teacher College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) Workshop Showcase School, reaffirmed some of the things first grade is doing in the classroom, while shining a light on those areas needing improvement. The visit set us up with even more “look fors...