Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts

Takeaways from TCEA 2019

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After three solid days of "conferencing" in San Antonio, I am happy to be able to spend a bit of time reflecting, processing, and synthesizing a few things learned.

Curate

I think it's important to have a plan or system for how to collect and share conference resources with teammates, colleagues and others. Of course, the use of collaborative Google Docs or Slides is a go-to for many of us. I've recently started implementing outline mode in my digital note-taking, and I hope the headings and subheadings will make the massive document a bit easier to manage.

Of course, I had Tweetdeck going for TCEA, but our group also created a Twitter hashtag, #R10atTCEA. It wasn't used as much as I would have liked, but I loved that others in Region 10 contributed to this hashtag, too.

A new favorite curation tool is Wakelet, and just last month, they announced the feature of collaborative Wakelets, so I thought it would be fun to try out that tool with colleagues at the service center. (Here's a post from Matt Miller that shares more ideas to use collaborative collections.) We had 9 colleagues attend the conference, and several of us posted in our #R10atTCEA wakelet (and I hope others will continue adding to it next week.)

John Bimmerle, a TCEA area director, took curation and Wakelet to the next level, and I loved this idea! He facilitated Solution Circles throughout TCEA, and he created a collaborative Wakelet for every single session AND made them public so we can see all of the session ideas and notes!
I'm always a bit bummed when presenters don't share their slides/resources, but that only happened a couple of times during this conference. Something new that I would like to adapt is a "condensed" version of the slides. I attended a 3-hour workshop from Mandy Froehlich, and instead of sharing her entire slide deck, she gave us a condensed version of organized resources. She used the same template as her original slide deck, but included only slides of the key definitions and resources. Her presentation slides were colorful and more detailed, and this small deck was mostly grey. I thought this was a great idea because it allowed us to focus on her content, but when necessary, we could click links for activities or additional resources.

Connect

The conversations in the hallways are often the most valuable! For an introvert, it is always a push for me to strike up conversations with strangers, but that was a goal that I met this year. (I even had a conversation with two other educators while waiting in line to board the plane home.) Now that I've worked at the service center for 3.5 years, the conference felt like a mini-reunion, and I ran into former colleagues and people from districts all over Region 10.
One glaring takeaway: when facilitating an extended workshop and expect interactions (i.e. "turn-and-talk" activities) take time at the beginning of the presentation for introductions. I think I always remember to do that, but when it's absent during a session, I feel it's sorely needed.

I have now volunteered at several conferences, and I think this will be a must-do for me for all future events. Not only is it a way to connect with other educators, but I feel it's a very small way to give back to all of those who worked to put on this massive event! I had a great time greeting people at check-in, and helping in the Google teaching theater is always a learning experience.


During my sessions, I was also on the lookout for content that might be interesting for others in our group. By using Twitter, it was easy to tag colleagues when I found resources that might connect with their subject area (even if it wasn't applicable to me.)
And as a bonus to show how connections help me, I heard about Tony Vincent's "Random Reflection Generator" during a session and posted that on Twitter. Someone in my PLN shared the blog post from Tony about how to create the prompts, and he then shared the script he used to make his own! (Don save me so much time on my weekend coding project!)

And speaking of reflections...my third huge takeaway from TCEA...

Reflect

After several days of learning-overload, it's so important for me to process and reflect. One new thing I tried this year was to create a separate document for singular ideas and reflections. I kept one document of session content notes (resources, links, summaries, etc.) but when I experienced something that I wanted to use for my own work, I added that idea to a different document of "Random Ideas." When I saw an interesting way to format slides, start a session, survey question, or prompt, I added that to my other document. I hope this will be helpful with future work.

I'm also fortunate to work with a colleague who likes to "convention" like I do. After a full-day at the conference, I'm ready to get a super early dinner and then go back to the quiet of my room...and she wants exactly the same! Our dinners were very work related though, and we spent the majority of the time sharing ideas and information we experienced and discovered throughout the day.

I was also determined this year to find the good in every session or experience. In the past, I sometimes left sessions feeling like I just lost an hour of precious time, so this year, I was on the lookout for even the smallest takeaways. Armed with that mindset, I got something from every session. When I was completely unimpressed, I didn't feel guilty about sneaking out of the back...and my takeaway was to be extremely thoughtful to make certain my session description matches the content of my session.

My final thought and goal was to reflect and blog ASAP, and voila! (I've been home less than 24-hours, and I have this new post!) As a bonus, I attended a session with Lisa Johnson on Notable Note-Taking, and I've been a fan of her digital/analog notes, so I'm trying something I've admired in her work...my sketchnote of take-aways, along with a Thinglink.

 
Conference learning is powerful in so many ways! These days, I don't think I should expect (or want) to walk away from conferences with tools; instead, my head is full of ideas to try.

Always learning...
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X-tra Special Summer X-periences

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Many (many) months ago, I thought it might be a fun challenge to create blog post titles using the first letters of the alphabet, not knowing it would take so long to complete 26 posts. Now that I'm so close to finishing the pattern, 🤓I'm taking creative liberties with my spelling. But I did want to share what I learned from a few special summer experiences.

Don't forget about conference Poster Sessions and Playgrounds!

At this summer's ISTE conference, my colleague and I "presented" during the ISTE Administrator Playground, and it was so fun! I loved the opportunities to visit with people, share our work, and have face-to-face conversations. It wasn't nearly the pressure/prep of a full-scale presentation, and it was a fantastic way to network. We used our online book study example (I've mentioned The New Pillars in several posts) as a way to design professional learning to empower others. (Here's the document we shared.)
Ashley and I are ready to share at the ISTE Admin Playground!
Because we were presenting during one of the Playgrounds, I made a special point of attending as many of these types of "sessions" as possible. What I learned: Posters and Playgrounds may be one of my new favorite ways to conference! In the past, I did not participate too much with these types of sessions, but this summer, I was much more strategic about how I visited, and I loved this format.

With Poster sessions, you can wander around and do a bit of window shopping and eavesdropping, or you can find the 4-5 tables that truly interest you and have wonderful conversations with the table hosts. If you're strategic about your timing, you may also have the opportunity to engage in discussions with others and learn a lot in a short amount of time. OR if you're feeling introverted, or if it's too crowded, you may just smile, grab the information link, and move on. I will definitely check out future Playgrounds/Poster sessions at upcoming conferences, and I feel these types of sessions allow much more personal interactions...and because of the ability to have these up-close conversations, it brings me to the next extra-special experience...

Let others know you appreciate them.

At mega-events like ISTE, there are more opportunities for "fan-girl" moments when you see those you admire. So this year, I decided to actually share my appreciation and thanks to those I don't know IRL. And for the most part, people seemed genuinely happy and appreciative that I spoke to them. And because I found these educators during Poster/Playground sessions, we had time for more than a few seconds of conversation. 

I stopped a couple other people and just said, "Thanks for your work and what you share with educators," and that always resulted in hugs. Most people want to know that you appreciate their work, so my lesson is to tell them!

Step outside your comfort zone.

Several colleagues from my former district created EdChange Global, which is a 24-hour online learning experience. When they asked if I wanted to be on the organizing team, I agreed and helped plan the event. But the giant step outside of my comfort zone was to go to ECG "Headquarters" to help facilitate everything the day of the event. I flew to Scottsdale, AZ, for a quick weekend of work, and wow, what a learning experience. (Everyone said to visit Arizona in January, not July!) I had not spent much time with the people from my former district, I had never been to Arizona, and I only knew the location host from Zoom meetings and emails. 
The event was exhilarating (and exhausting.) Participating allowed me to connect with people from all over the globe and to expand my PLN. I discovered some best webinar practices. I helped connect others. I better understand the ins-and-outs of leadership and teams.

At about 20-hours into the event! 😴😴
The downside of this experience was that it occurred during the busiest part of my summer. It took about two weeks for me to be able to catch up on sleep and work. If the event is at the same time next year, I doubt if I will participate in the same manner, but I'm very glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried something new with a different group of educators.

Prepping for the closing session of EdChange Global
As a consultant, I spend my summer facilitating learning experiences for educators. Now that school is in session, I have a bit more time to think, reflect, and unwind. It was fun to remember these extra special summer moments and to consider how these experiences helped me learn and grow.

Always learning, even during hectic work times!
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Joy Bots!

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Don't you love it when you're inspired by a single sentence? I was scrolling through Twitter during a session lunch break, and this Tweet caught my eye:

Lilly works in a nearby district, and she has an awesome after school program called "Gadget Girls," where she works to encourage elementary girls with STEAM related projects. Her Tweet and the search for @botjoy inspired a fun summer creativity project, and I can't wait to share it with others!

The "bots" are actually hand-painted dominoes, and the idea is to pass along the bot to someone who needs a little physical reminder of joy, love, confidence, etc. The artist, Gary Hirsch, also leaves his Bots in the world for others to find, and he has instructions for how to "program" and activate your Bot on botjoy.com.

There are Joy Bots, which are programmed to bring you instant joy and outrageous compliments; Love Bots love you unconditionally, and there are Brave Bots, Idea Bots, Collaboration Bots...you name it! The project ideas on the website are perfect for school groups, community service projects, and others who want to create and share. In this video, Gary explains his project, and the only supplies you need are white dominos, oil-based markers, and a quick polyurethane coat for protection.


I am not an artist, but I keep reading about the importance of creating and making, so I love this idea as a #growthmindset project. I knew someone at work who would jump on this project too (and she is an artist!) so the first #R10bots have been deployed, and more will be activated soon. :)
One person at this meetup taught 5th grade, and she was so excited about the Bots! She plans to have her students create Bots and then write their stories. Others at our #CoffeeEDU loved the idea so much that we're meeting next week to create Bots together.

I gave away a few Bots during a recent session (for the winning team during a quick contest) and the teachers were thrilled! For the rest of the summer, I will be in and out of various classrooms, so I plan to leave a Bot and card as a thank you note for the use of a room.
Gary Hirsch's 2013 TED talk explains how the Bots were born, and his story is all about collaboration, so it's a wonderful message for everyone.


Have you heard about Joy Bots? Is this a project that your students or teachers would enjoy?

I'm inspired to create, and I'm always learning.
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Inspired by ISTE

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This week marks my 2-year anniversary at my "new" job, and I continue to learn, grow, and connect, thanks in part to opportunities provided by my work. Attending last week's ISTE conference was one awesome job perk, and what an incredible learning experience! I attended ISTE last year too, but this year, I tried to be better prepared.

Inspired by advice on Twitter and blogs, I created a few ISTE goals and even sketchnoted my priorities:

I feel I really succeeded at goal #1, and I've decided connections and collaboration will be a priority as I begin year 3 on my job. I know (especially) at tech-focused events, participants are often engrossed in their devices, so at this conference, I was determined to be intentional about striking up conversations, really listening to people, and looking for ways to connect with others. (Such a stretch for me, but it was only for 3 days!) Since ISTE was held in San Antonio, which was a tiny flight or a manageable drive from DFW, I kept running into people from our region, which was so fun! And when I started asking what people were learning and really listening to what they were looking for, I started making connections and started thinking about building bridges, like these...


The past several months, I worked to connect departments and to breach a few silos in the office. It's now time for me to move beyond the workplace and be on the lookout for building those bridges across the region. "You're rural district X and you're just getting into Google? Let me connect you with some leaders in a similar district Y, and they just finished their first year of implementation..." "You're starting a district-wide digital citizenship plan? Let me introduce you to Z who is doing the same thing!" With two years of meeting people and working with more districts and teams, making connections should be a priority!

Bottom line, it always goes back to building relationships, doesn't it?!

Always learning.
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