TLC in the News

Our TLC work has gotten a lot of good press this year.  First, with our use of iPads in the Early Childhood program; then with hosting EdCamp Maine; and now our TLC work specifically was highlighted in this recent news story from Channel 6:



Click here for the full story from WCSH. Both of our TLC groups have worked hard to advance the use of technology in our classrooms.  Even though we never seem to have enough time to accomplish what we want, everyone involved has contributed in some way - having thoughtful conversations, taking chances in changing curriculum, challenging their students to do more, taking time to learn something new, and so much more.  Thanks TLC for bringing the conversation to a new level and making the school more aware of the exciting opportunities available to us.

Teach21 Sumer Conference in NYC

This is an unsolicited advert for the Teach21 Conference at The School at Columbia.  I have not been paid for my testimonial.  

For a third year in a row the cohort of tech-savvy proponents of progressive pedagogy from The School at Columbia are offering a stupendous professional development institute.  The institute is organized into single and multi-day workshops that span the range of disciplines and ages.  The focus is not wholly on technology in the classroom, rather the organizing principle is as the name suggests, 21st Century teaching.  Technology is at the heart of the institute, but its multitudinous limbs and organs include: collaboration, essay writing, fitness, assessment design, social networking, co-teaching, design, cultural awareness, and something called "algebraic thinking"-- which sounds scary.   I cannot imagine a day spent thinking algebraically, but the workshops I have attended continue to positively shape my work.  

Two two-day workshops stick in my mind; I most remember the GoogleDocs workshop from 2011 and the Personal Essay workshop from 2012.  Here is why they stick, and I hope you are ready for this revelation: time.  I was allowed (given even!) the time to sit in a room with two Google certified experts and learn all about the Google Apps and then more even more time to explore and create.  My Googlexpertise expanded exponentially (I think I'm using that word correctly) in those two days and a year later I went back to grow my writing chops.  Eve Becker walked us through a speed version of her unit on personal essay writing. With Eve, I was forced to take time to draft and shape my own personal essays.  She insisted that we dig deeply and then write honestly.  As is typical when I'm challenged, I resisted.  I couldn't figure out why I was so cranky though.  After much internal Sturm und Drang, I realized I was just scared to write -- that is when I started writing.  I saw the position of my own students who may be resistant or cranky when offered a challenge and that empathy and the skills Eve presented are going to be a lifelong lesson. This two-day workshop was the kind of whirlwind where you spin, spin, and end up dizzy but in better shape rather than battered.  

Highlights of these weeklong institutes are the daily keynote speakers.  Sitting in a cozy library with three dozen teachers listening to Howard Gardner chat amiably for an hour about his writing process will continue to be my "happy place" during stressy times.  The invited speakers are as varied as the workshops offered and last summer we heard chef Bill Telepan proselytize the power of produce in children's diets.  Not a topic any of us would have argued against, I assure you.   

All of these wonderful things are ready for you at Teach21.  I plan to go back this summer for workshops on conferring with students, co-teaching, and a refresher on GoogleApps.  I hope you'll consider coming along.  Follow them on Twitter for updates and info: @teach21c 

[Ah!  I forgot about the food!  Breakfast and lunch are included every day and they are well done.] 

TLC TGIF

Wow what a day we had! Five members of the TLC took off and spent the day holed up in a conference room at SMCC laughing, discussing, "crying", and working through some of the ideas that we have been in the back of our minds all fall. We talked extensively about scribe blogging for our classes and we all are going to try it come January. We explored the idea of a flip classroom and even discovered a new app that we are all nervously excited about called educreations. Check it out at educreations.com. We finally had the opportunity to sink our teeth into some of the stuff that we have been talking about for weeks. At the end of the day we started to tap into new apps and just play. Our courageous leader supplied the iTunes cards to help us feel free to try new apps and we only broke to grab a yummy bite to eat from 158 - a local spot across the street! Thanks to everyone involved but to the greater TLC gang and to Page!!!

EdCampME!

It's official - there will be an EdCampME (Maine) this March and Waynflete will be hosting!  Our TLC (Technology & Learning Cohort) came up with the idea after a bunch of us attended EdCampKeene in August.  We all enjoyed the "camp" and came back thinking that it would be a great thing to put on at Waynflete.  That enthusiasm did not die so we began laying some groundwork to bring EdCampME to Waynflete.

I had several initial conversations with the Head of School and Director of Finance and Operations and they both gave me the go ahead to find a date.  Finding an open date was a little tricky as our facilities are used a lot on the weekends for Admission events, athletics, and arts.  I found a few options in March which is a good month overall because it is between sport seasons, it is just before the "end of the year" craziness begins, and stress levels seem to be in check.

After a few more conversations, I found a date that would work and got full approval for a weekend in March and reserved the space.  Before I left for the weekend, I decided to post the date on the main EdCamp website and reserve a website wiki - EdCampME.wikispaces.com.  (Seem to make it even more official). On Saturday morning I woke up and checked my twitter feed and found that the "edcamp guy" (@dancallahan) had tweeted that he was looking forward to EdCampME in March (yay - instant press). Then he followed up that tweet a little later telling me to check in with @jaimesteward who (along with @alicebarr) was also planning an EdCampME. I checked the edcamp site and sure enough, she had put an entry in for EdCamp Maine for March 17th.  What are the chances?

So I tweeted @jaimesteward and @alicebarr to see what they had planned and asked if they wanted to team up. They said they were working on reserving a space. We all thought it would be silly to have two edcamps so we teamed up.  Not only that, but in the course of the twitter conversation we had about 3 or 4 other Maine educators volunteer to help us - yay Maine.  Here's the shortened twitter conversation:

Now we have 10 teachers from Waynflete plus an additional 5 or 6 educators from the whole state working together to plan this EdCamp for March 31st.  Now the fun begins.  To get things started I created a Google Doc to share with everyone to begin brainstorming some ideas for the day.  Once we get the big picture down, we can begin to assign jobs.

We don't have the details worked out yet but stay tuned to twitter (#edcampme) and to our website (http://edcampme.wikispaces.com) for more information on:

EdCampME

Saturday, March 31

Waynflete School, Portland ME

We hope you can join us!