Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

 Can't get enough of Jojo Moyes?  Paris for One is a delightful tidbit that's sure to please while you wait for another full length novel from Jojo.  

I'm a fan of Jojo Moyes; I've read just about all of her novels.  What I like most is her ability to write a completely different novel each time--contemporary, historical, gut wrenching boo-hoo love stories, and complex relationships that can make a happy ending seem like a monumental task--but worth the effort.  

This collection of short stories starts off with the story Paris for One, and it's the longest of the stories.  Nell is a meek young lady who decides to treat herself and her loser boyfriend Pete to a weekend in Paris.  It's her first trip out of England, and she's a bit nervous.  Pete texts her that he just can't join her, so she decides to board the train to Paris and go on without him, hoping he'll join her the next day.  Yes, you can guess what happens next.  Nell's weekend in Paris becomes a life changing, pivotal time where she learns to step out of her comfort zone and maybe, perhaps, find a reason to come back to Paris.  You'll find yourself cheering Nell on and while the story has a predictable ending, it's still a satisfying short story.  

Other stories in the collection are shorter.  Between the Tweets finds a former TV presenter battling to save his reputation against a woman claiming an affair; A Bird in the Hand has a woman at a dinner party running into a past love and his new wife; Holdups  is a funny little story about a robber and a sales clerk in the jewelry store who is locked in a back office.  There are more stories, and every one is very different.  But all deal with love, disappointment, and examining relationships both new and old.  

A big thank you to Viking/Penguin for a review copy.  

Rating:  7/10 for a delightful short story collection examining the ups and downs of love and our never ending quest to find it.  

Available in hardcover, e-book, and audio book. 

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5 necessities to successfully begin building professional learning communities in schools

There is overwhelming evidence in support of developing professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools to improve teacher collaboration that has a positive impact on student learning. Yet, for a number of schools that have embarked on a journey to embed PLCs, the process often stalls or collapses for a variety of reasons, despite good intentions.

To implement PLCs in schools, a number of things need to be in place, prior conditions, to enable the necessary changes in teacher behaviour that PLCs require to be successful and become a vital part of a school’s culture. Below are 5 essential understandings that schools need when commencing a PLC initiative:

Assemble a guiding coalition for PLCs.

Schools need to identify a team responsible for leading the development of PLCs. This team needs to be able to model the attributes of a PLC in their collaborative work, so that it sets the tone for others to follow. It should include members of the school leadership team in demonstrating a serious and ongoing commitment to establishing PLCs as part of a school’s culture. Furthermore, PLCs are not an initiative, or a project, they are a sustained way of collaborating in our schools, which become part of a school’s culture over time.

Read and read some more.

We can be too quick to dive into ‘doing PLCs’. It is important that a team reads extensively on the subject. A great way to do this is to undertake a book study, giving voices to all members of the team regarding their hopes and fears for moving towards clearer collaborative structures through the work of PLCs. One of the key benefits of reading together is that you can model elements of a PLC by conducting a book study. Furthermore, it is vital that the guiding coalition have a very clear understanding of what a PLC is and what it is not. Many schools claim to be ‘doing PLCs’ but when you see what they have in practice and compare that to what is written in much of the literature, they are completely different, as are the results for improving student learning.

Lose the term ‘PLC’, or be very strong in your definition.

This is a somewhat controversial suggestion but given the various experiences that teachers have had with PLCs and the different interpretations, losing the key term and acronym may be worthwhile. As schools change personnel, teachers bring different experiences to the table, which can very much muddy the waters of implementing PLCs as part of the culture. Comments from teachers may create confusion and resistance that schools do not require: Comments such as, “I did PLCs in my last school and they did not work,” or, “I did PLCs in my last school and this is what we did, it is so much easier than what you are asking for,” may adversely affect implementation. Therefore, through wider reading, it is necessary to gain a steadfast definition of what PLCs are and look like, so that there is clear direction, or avoid the term altogether if the negativity or misunderstanding associated with the term may hinder progress.

Change the culture in small groups before moving to a wider audience.

Small, incremental changes will lead to greater success in the long run, especially when re-shaping culture. Existing habits are hard to break, so careful planning is required. If leaders are identified for leading the work of PLCs, then give plenty of time for these PLC leaders to work together as a group and immerse themselves in the culture of a PLC before, setting them loose to begin with others. It is vital that PLC leaders first have the opportunity to see and feel what a PLC is like in practice, from working with protocols and norms, through to inquiring into student and teacher work and analyzing what needs to change to improve learning outcomes for students. Additionally, significant investment is imperative in coaching PLC leaders in having hard conversations with teachers who are resistant to the new way of working. If these hard conversations get passed back to the school leadership team, it undermines the process of creating PLCs capable of engaging in open and honest dialogue where the strengths of each teacher are valued.

Plan for regular time to be given to the work of PLCs.

This involves thinking beyond a few months or a year. As mentioned before, PLCs are a way of working, they are a culture, they are not initiatives or projects with start and end dates. The culture of PLCs has to be long-lasting. If a school is not invested in the long-term, then PLCs will not work and other so-called ‘priorities’ must not shunt aside the work of PLCs. When we speak of regular time, the commitment to PLCs must be frequent, with meetings at least bi-weekly. We are creatures of habit, if we do not have the chance to practice the behaviours that are so eagerly sought, then the culture cannot change. Culture is the acceptance of behavioural norms and a school’s culture is largely defined by the way in which teachers work together.

The implementation of PLCs in schools is serious work and there are no short cuts, as we are talking about shifting school culture. There are no quick wins and the work has to be deliberate, purposeful and remain front and center on any agenda for PLCs to be successful. We do not, just ‘get there’ with PLCs, as they are a way of working that needs to be constantly valued with a preference for teamwork, which does not come naturally for many of us. Creating PLC’s is hard, challenging work that has huge rewards for both teachers and students if schools pay attention to careful planning and perseverance.

Connect with me @richard_bruford

Originally posted on the the Ed Leader blog

 

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Hawthorne by Pennyfarthing

Pennyfarthing Homes brings a stunning new development to Vancouver’s West side. This amazing development will consist of 1-3 bedroom residences ranging from 680 sq ft to 1,433 sq ft over 7 storeys.

The Hawthorne is situated next to the lovely Queen Elizabeth park and just a short walk along Cambie will bring you to the Oakridge mall where you will satisfy all you shopping and dinning needs.

Pricing has not yet been determined.  Please register and join our VIP list to be one of the first to receive information

 

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Create Moody Photography with Cocktails

This post is sponsored by Adobe. All views and opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for continuing to support the brands that make My Baking Addiction possible.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a delightful Cucumber Gin Fizz, as part of a collaboration with Adobe where I also shared some of my top photography tips. I am by no means a photography expert, but food photography is something that I’m incredibly passionate about, so I’m loving this opportunity to share some of my favorite tips and gear with you.

One of my favorite parts about food photograph, and food blogging in general, is that I’m always learning something new. Whether it’s new editing software, camera equipment, or just taking on seasonal shifts in natural light, I feel like I’m always pushing myself to capture better images.

I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I can shoot a recipe in under 10 minutes and be perfectly content with the outcome, but sometimes things don’t go as smoothly.

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5 Terms We Need to Rethink in Education

I was inspired by this Medium post from Bryan Alexander , going through some terms on “Educational Technology”, that may be misconstrued or used incorrectly.  This was one of my favourites:

Blended learning, n. The practice of combining digital and analog teaching. Also referred to as “teaching”, “learning”, and “the real world”.

Yes!!!!  We don’t pull out books and say, “let’s do some book learning.”  It’s just learning.

That being said, the term “educational technology” is one that I have not used much.  When I look at that term, thoughts of technologies being developed specifically for education are what come to mind.  I struggle with this, and I always tell people that no employers will ever ask to see a student’s Edmodo account.  They don’t know it exists, and it is made solely out for education, and really nowhere else.  We need to start with the learning, and move backwards from there.

I see a difference between “educational technology”, and technology that could be used within education (and more importantly for learning).  The former is often designed to do “school” in a digital manner; the latter is often looking at learning first and focusing on how technology can enhance or amplify learning.  Are we focused on technology for learning, or learning with technology?  Better yet, are we focused on powerful learning?

I might have some personal ill-feelings towards the words “educational technology”, as that term was often in my title, and it meant to a lot of people “help me fix stuff on my computer”.  This was why I was adamant that my last title in education was “Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning“. The focus was on new and better ways of teaching and learning, with or without technology.

With that being said, I wanted to take my own crack at some terms I hear often in education, identify what many people hear, and what I hope it means.  This is in no means a “dictionary” of terms in education, but just some terms that I think are important.

Here are some of the most often disputed terms that I have been thinking about:

Risk-Taking

What a lot of people hear – Doing something crazy or dangerous with kids!

What I hope it means – Moving from something “known”, to an “unknown” in pursuit of doing something better for and with students.

Change

What a lot of people hear – “You are doing it wrong. We need to fix something that you are doing, or sometimes, even you.”

What I hope it means – Focusing on growth and our own development.  Seeking opportunities instead of obstacles. One of my favourite quotes on growth:

“If we create a culture where every teacher believes they need to improve, not because they are not good enough but because they can be even better, there is no limit to what we can achieve.” —Dylan Wiliam

Innovation

What a lot of people hear – Doing cool things with technology in the classroom and leadership.

What I hope it means – From my book, “The Innovator’s Mindset“, I used the following;

“… innovation as a way of thinking that creates something new and better. Innovation can come from either “invention” (something totally new) or “iteration” (a change of something that already exists), but if it does not meet the idea of “new and better,” it is not innovative.”

Collaboration

What a lot of people hear – Talking, working, learning, and creating something together, face-to-face.

What I hope it means – Talking, working, learning, and creating something together, in different spaces, offline, online, synchronously, and asynchronously.

21st Century Learning (Education, Teaching, etc.)

What a lot of people hear – “Ugh…I hate everything 21st Century blah blah blah…we are already 16 years in!”

What I hope it means – That with huge access to information and one another, we have to really think about what learning can look like for our students, compared to what we experienced.  Yes, we are 16 years in, but we have 84 years to go. It is important that we are constantly looking at the times we live in, and ensure school is not only keeping up, but hopefully leading the way in some areas.

I asked this question on Twitter as well (please click the tweets to see the responses of others):

What’s a word or term you hear in education that you believe is not being used correctly? Prepping for a blog post.

— George Couros (@gcouros) October 30, 2016

I noticed that “rigor” was used often, but not “rigour”, which probably means it’s used more in an American context

What would your terms or words be? I would love for you to share the terms, and your challenges to them, and what your redefinition would be (don’t just say they are dumb!). I think that “buzzwords” are not just words used often in any field, but are words that are often used that lose the power of their original meaning.  Terms that have great meaning can lose their appeal, not because they are wrong, but the way we are using them is ineffective.

• October 18, 2012 Let’s Figure This Out
• October 28, 2012 Learner Focused
• April 7, 2013 Innovation in Isolation
• May 6, 2012 21st Century Learning…blah blah blah
• September 14, 2013 Audience, Texting, and Literacy

Source: George Couros

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5 Terms We Need to Rethink in Education

I was inspired by this Medium post from Bryan Alexander , going through some terms on “Educational Technology”, that may be misconstrued or used incorrectly.  This was one of my favourites:

Blended learning, n. The practice of combining digital and analog teaching. Also referred to as “teaching”, “learning”, and “the real world”.

Yes!!!!  We don’t pull out books and say, “let’s do some book learning.”  It’s just learning.

That being said, the term “educational technology” is one that I have not used much.  When I look at that term, thoughts of technologies being developed specifically for education are what come to mind.  I struggle with this, and I always tell people that no employers will ever ask to see a student’s Edmodo account.  They don’t know it exists, and it is made solely out for education, and really nowhere else.  We need to start with the learning, and move backwards from there.

I see a difference between “educational technology”, and technology that could be used within education (and more importantly for learning).  The former is often designed to do “school” in a digital manner; the latter is often looking at learning first and focusing on how technology can enhance or amplify learning.  Are we focused on technology for learning, or learning with technology?  Better yet, are we focused on powerful learning?

I might have some personal ill-feelings towards the words “educational technology”, as that term was often in my title, and it meant to a lot of people “help me fix stuff on my computer”.  This was why I was adamant that my last title in education was “Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning“. The focus was on new and better ways of teaching and learning, with or without technology.

With that being said, I wanted to take my own crack at some terms I hear often in education, identify what many people hear, and what I hope it means.  This is in no means a “dictionary” of terms in education, but just some terms that I think are important.

Here are some of the most often disputed terms that I have been thinking about:

Risk-Taking

What a lot of people hear – Doing something crazy or dangerous with kids!

What I hope it means – Moving from something “known”, to an “unknown” in pursuit of doing something better for and with students.

Change

What a lot of people hear – “You are doing it wrong. We need to fix something that you are doing, or sometimes, even you.”

What I hope it means – Focusing on growth and our own development.  Seeking opportunities instead of obstacles. One of my favourite quotes on growth:

“If we create a culture where every teacher believes they need to improve, not because they are not good enough but because they can be even better, there is no limit to what we can achieve.” —Dylan Wiliam

Innovation

What a lot of people hear – Doing cool things with technology in the classroom and leadership.

What I hope it means – From my book, “The Innovator’s Mindset“, I used the following;

“… innovation as a way of thinking that creates something new and better. Innovation can come from either “invention” (something totally new) or “iteration” (a change of something that already exists), but if it does not meet the idea of “new and better,” it is not innovative.”

Collaboration

What a lot of people hear – Talking, working, learning, and creating something together, face-to-face.

What I hope it means – Talking, working, learning, and creating something together, in different spaces, offline, online, synchronously, and asynchronously.

21st Century Learning (Education, Teaching, etc.)

What a lot of people hear – “Ugh…I hate everything 21st Century blah blah blah…we are already 16 years in!”

What I hope it means – That with huge access to information and one another, we have to really think about what learning can look like for our students, compared to what we experienced.  Yes, we are 16 years in, but we have 84 years to go. It is important that we are constantly looking at the times we live in, and ensure school is not only keeping up, but hopefully leading the way in some areas.

I asked this question on Twitter as well (please click the tweets to see the responses of others):

What’s a word or term you hear in education that you believe is not being used correctly? Prepping for a blog post.

— George Couros (@gcouros) October 30, 2016

I noticed that “rigor” was used often, but not “rigour”, which probably means it’s used more in an American context

What would your terms or words be? I would love for you to share the terms, and your challenges to them, and what your redefinition would be (don’t just say they are dumb!). I think that “buzzwords” are not just words used often in any field, but are words that are often used that lose the power of their original meaning.  Terms that have great meaning can lose their appeal, not because they are wrong, but the way we are using them is ineffective.

• October 18, 2012 Let’s Figure This Out
• October 28, 2012 Learner Focused
• April 7, 2013 Innovation in Isolation
• May 6, 2012 21st Century Learning…blah blah blah
• September 14, 2013 Audience, Texting, and Literacy

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On “Teacher Discretion”

Many schools are BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for students.  Simply put, students are able to bring in their own laptops, iPads, phones, etc., into their classrooms.

Oftentimes though, this based on “teacher discretion”.  If the teacher is not comfortable with students bringing in devices, they will have to leave them out of the classroom or they will have those little “cell phone hotels”, where students can place the phone into a sleeve pocket when they walk into a classroom.

So let’s talk about “teacher discretion”…Would we be okay with the idea that a teacher is in a classroom where the school is BYOD, and we forced them to use the device, and “teacher discretion” wouldn’t allow students to use pen and paper?  I am not sure that this would be a positive phone call from a parent to a school.  Forcing students to NOT use pen and paper is also not helpful.

What people might assume right away is that this is questioning teacher autonomy, which it isn’t.  What I want people to focus on is are we making decisions based on what we are comfortable with, and is that trumping what a student needs?  The notion of “teacher discretion” should not be based on a device, but focused on how these devices can make a positive impact on students, and not making standardized assumptions on what technology is able to do for students. Personally I know that I would feel lost in my learning if I did not have access to my laptop and phone.  This is not because I would use it all  of the time, but that I would have access all of the time.

Technology should personalize, not standardize. We need to focus on students as individuals and what each one needs to be successful in their own learning.   Being fair is ensuring that all students get what they need to be successful; this is what “teacher discretion” should be based on.  We need to move backwards from there.

• December 7, 2013 Inequity and BYOD
• January 31, 2013 BYOD: A Bare Minimum
• September 13, 2015 It’s Not About “All of the Time”, but About Having Access
• May 21, 2014 A conversation starter…
• December 30, 2015 Before You Buy That Laptop For Everyone…

Source: George Couros

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Caramel Apples

Caramel Apples are a sweet treat everyone loves this time of year. Make them extra special with a spiced twist.

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Karo® Syrup as a Bake a Little Extra Blog Ambassador. Thank you for continuing to support the brands that make My Baking Addiction possible.

Oh man. Caramel apples. What. a. treat. Every time there’s a fair during the fall, these babies show up, and make my freakin’ day.

I love, love, love caramel apples so much. It’s kind of silly how much. When we go to Disney World, I love checking out all their super cool creations, especially the adorable ones with Oreos for Mickey ears.

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On “Teacher Discretion”

Many schools that are BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for students.  Simply put, students are able to bring in their own laptops, iPads, phones, etc., into their classrooms.

Oftentimes though, this based on “teacher discretion”.  If the teacher is not comfortable with students bringing in devices, they will have to leave them out of the classroom or they will have those little “cell phone hotels”, where students can place the phone into a sleeve pocket when they walk into a classroom.

So let’s talk about “teacher discretion”…Would we be okay with the idea that a teacher is in a classroom where the school is BYOD, and we forced them to use the device, and “teacher discretion” wouldn’t allow students to use pen and paper?  I am not sure that this would be a positive phone call from a parent to a school.  Forcing students to NOT use pen and paper is also not helpful.

What people might assume right away is that this is questioning teacher autonomy, which it isn’t.  What I want people to focus on is are we making decisions based on what we are comfortable with, and is that trumping what a student needs?  The notion of “teacher discretion” should not be based on a device, but focused on how these devices can make a positive impact on students, and not making standardized assumptions on what technology is able to do for students. Personally I know that I would feel lost in my learning if I did not have access to my laptop and phone.  This is not because I would use it all  of the time, but that I would have access all of the time.

Technology should personalize, not standardize. We need to focus on students as individuals and what each one needs to be successful in their own learning.   Being fair is ensuring that all students get what they need to be successful; this is what “teacher discretion” should be based on.  We need to move backwards from there.

• December 7, 2013 Inequity and BYOD
• January 31, 2013 BYOD: A Bare Minimum
• September 13, 2015 It’s Not About “All of the Time”, but About Having Access
• May 21, 2014 A conversation starter…
• December 30, 2015 Before You Buy That Laptop For Everyone…

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On “Teacher Discretion”

Many schools that are BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for students.  Simply put, students are able to bring in their own laptops, iPads, phones, etc., into their classrooms.

Oftentimes though, this based on “teacher discretion”.  If the teacher is not comfortable with students bringing in devices, they will have to leave them out of the classroom or they will have those little “cell phone hotels”, where students can place the phone into a sleeve pocket when they walk into a classroom.

So let’s talk about “teacher discretion”…Would we be okay with the idea that a teacher is in a classroom where the school is BYOD, and we forced them to use the device, and “teacher discretion” wouldn’t allow students to use pen and paper?  I am not sure that this would be a positive phone call from a parent to a school.  Forcing students to NOT use pen and paper is also not helpful.

What people might assume right away is that this is questioning teacher autonomy, which it isn’t.  What I want people to focus on is are we making decisions based on what we are comfortable with, and is that trumping what a student needs?  The notion of “teacher discretion” should not be based on a device, but focused on how these devices can make a positive impact on students, and not making standardized assumptions on what technology is able to do for students. Personally I know that I would feel lost in my learning if I did not have access to my laptop and phone.  This is not because I would use it all  of the time, but that I would have access all of the time.

Technology should personalize, not standardize. We need to focus on students as individuals and what each one needs to be successful in their own learning.   Being fair is ensuring that all students get what they need to be successful; this is what “teacher discretion” should be based on.  We need to move backwards from there.

• December 7, 2013 Inequity and BYOD
• January 31, 2013 BYOD: A Bare Minimum
• September 13, 2015 It’s Not About “All of the Time”, but About Having Access
• May 21, 2014 A conversation starter…
• December 30, 2015 Before You Buy That Laptop For Everyone…

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Upcoming Reviews for November...A Little Romance, a Little Paranormal, a Little Fiction and Special November Postings

I am having a hard time grasping the fact that November is just around the corner.  October flew by (it helped being on vacation for 2 weeks!) and I'm hurrying to read some spooky reads this month.  Those spooky reads will spill over into November, but they'll be followed by some fun Christmas reads.  There's nothing I love more than reading Christmas romances.  

But before I can transition to Christmas, I've got a bit on my TBR list to read and review.  I'm getting excited thinking about my annual top ten favorite reads of the year, coming at the end of December.  There's still plenty of time to find more gems in my reading pile.  

My reading for November is a bit of a mix, but I think it's a good balance.  Recommends from friends, publisher reviews, and books I've picked out all come together to make an interesting melange.  And that's the great thing about books, right?  They take you anywhere you want to go.  

Besides my reviews, I'm going to do something special in November.  I've got a big birthday this month:  the big 5-0.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one.  But to help ease myself into another decade, I've decided to post throughout November my favorite 50 reads.  I'll have a post every week with at least 10 of my favorite books.  Some I've reviewed, others are from years past before I started my blog.  It will be fun for me to look back at how my reading has evolved (or not) over the years.  So stay tuned for that!  

Here are the books I'll be reviewing for November:

The sequel, The Fifth Petal, is out in January

A favorite author's tale of a haunted house

Mystery and reincarnation

Highly recommended by friends!

A mystery that's getting tons of buzz

A day that change's Henry's life

Jojo Moyes!  Short stories sure to please

I'm hard at work doubling down on my reading!  Read all night?  Don't have to twist my arm.  Now if I could only figure out how to read while I work out...

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Contessa at Queen Elizabeth Park – Spacious Cambie Corridor Presale Luxury Condos

Pure West Property Investment in partnership with GBL Architects is proud to bring you their new Luxury Development Contessa located in the very popular cambie corridor. This stunning development will feature a six-storey mid-rise building which will include 18 1-bedroom, 19 2-bedroom, and eight 3-bedroom condominiums. Sizes will range from 608 to 1,177 sq ft. There will also be 3 lane way townhouses. Located on the corner of West 37th enjoy the stunning views of Queen Elizabeth park and withing close proximity you will also have great shopping and dining options.

Be apart of an Amazing community and register now for more information and pricing.

 

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One More Reason to Use Social Media in Your School

In an earlier post, I shared 7 Reasons To Use Social Media In Your School. The post outlines some of the biggest reasons to use social media as an educator. Never before have people been able to connect, share, and learn from one another the way we do now. Email is becoming less prevalent while social media platforms are becoming stronger even for professional communications. I've been thinking about one other reason to use social media, but before I get to that, I want to share 8 ideas your might want to try to incorporate social media into the life of your school. I included links to lots of examples and resources in this post. I hope you find them helpful.

1. Tell your story

More and more schools are using Twitter or Facebook, and even Instagram and SnapChat to share positive moments and student successes. Social media is a great way to connect with your community and showcase the great things happening in your school.

2. Share information

Social media can be a great way to share your monthly newsletter or an upcoming event, like parent open house or the school musical. Canva is a great tool to create social media images to use to promote different events.

3. Student takes over the school Twitter for a day or even a week

We've done this a handful of times, and it's been a fun thing to do. We just ask a responsible student if they would like to tweet out their day through the school account. We make some announcements leading up to it and give them some ideas of things to tweet about. It's a good way to encourage student voice and build trust with students. 

4. Snow day chat

Last year we didn't have many snow days at all. In fact, it was an extremely mild winter. But two years ago, we had a really fun snow day chat with lots of students and teachers participating. We joked around some, but we also discussed some important topics like helping friends overcome challenges. Just because we're not at school doesn't mean we can't connect and learn. And students joined in just for the experience. Of course, it probably didn't hurt that I said school would be canceled again the next day if we had 100 participants. :)

5. Teachers tweet out from other teachers' classrooms

We did instructional rounds using Twitter to share out the great stuff happening in classrooms. Teachers were invited to visit other classrooms on their conference period. The idea was to tweet out the great things happening and really lift each other up and make learning visible. If a teacher preferred not to have visitors, they just posted a note outside of their classroom. 

6. Social media kindness campaign

Last year our Character Council partnered with several other CharacterPlus schools to do a social media campaign to promote kindness and acceptance. The students in the group wrote positive messages on sticky notes and placed them on every desk in the school. When students arrived at school, everyone had a positive message. Students were asked to tweet out the messages using #StartsWithUs.

7.Twitter scavenger hunt

We had a couple of Twitter scavenger hunts, one for faculty and one for incoming freshmen. They are great team builders, but you can also use them to accomplish tasks in a fun way. For instance, one of the faculty challenges involved learning about different Twitter chats.

8. Play games

Sometimes we use Twitter to give away prizes or play games during Spirit Week or any other time we want to spice things up. We had a mystery teacher game where we tweeted out clues about a teacher and students had to guess who it was.

The opportunities for using Twitter or other social media platforms are really endless. It's a great way to build community, generate school spirit, and promote creativity and whimsy.

But I also wanted to share one more important reason to use social media with your students. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I believe in sharing what students are learning on social media for this reason: I believe what students are learning is important enough to share with the world. It matters. 

Students deserve to have their learning celebrated. Tell your students the quality work they produce deserves to be shared beyond the school walls. It's a great message to emphasize that learning isn't just for the classroom. It should be shared widely.

Question: What ways are you using social media in your classroom or school? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below or respond on Facebook or Twitter.

        

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• Technology Is An Every Day Thing
• If We Fail to Adapt, Our Students Lose
• 10 Signs Twitter PD Might Not Be Your Thing

 

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Developing Innovators and Entrepreneurs

Your students go through the process of coming up with a great idea…It could quite possibly be the beginning of a business, a medical breakthrough, or maybe even change the world. But an idea can’t change the world unless people know about it.

Is this something we explicitly teach in schools?

Recently working with some amazingly thoughtful and forward thinking educators, we talked about simplifying a “passion project” that students were working on.  Here were the four steps we came up with for their process:

1. Identify Your Question (Problem Finding)
2. Design Your Solution
3. Present Your Idea
4. Continue the Conversation

I was definitely influenced by the awesome book, “Launch”, by AJ Juliani and John Spencer (must read book if you are looking at design thinking). The one component that I thought about was once people see your idea, how do they continuously connect with it?  Dave Burgess often talks about this in depth when he focuses on building community, not simply “selling an idea”.

We also have to realize that there is a dynamic where traditional “marketing” is changing as well. As we were talking about students creating commercials (which I did in school and loved), we talked about a little subtle element that people need to pay attention to; the first five seconds.  The first five seconds are crucial, as so much advertising is moving online, and the “skip ad” button gives you a countdown to capture someone’s attention.  In the article, “The First 5 Seconds: Creating YouTube Ads that Breakthrough in a Skippable World“, they talk about how this is something that advertisers need to pay attention to:

Online video ad formats like YouTube TrueView ads have created a paradox for marketers. They remove traditional 30-second time constraints, giving brands more time to tell their stories. But introducing a “skip” button after five short seconds also means that advertisers have to create more engaging stories that not only grab their audience’s attention, but hold it, too.

Is it time to start creating ads with the “skip” button in mind? Today, all ads are skippable—whether it’s a function of the format or not. People have been honing their skipping skills for a while. Think about it: Viewers experimented with fast-forwarding on their VCRs, improved their skills with DVRs, and now are mastering ad choice on the web. Even if there’s no option to fast-forward or skip, consumers can always pick up a smartphone, switch tabs, or find other ways to hit a metaphoric skip button.

Understanding theses little changes in the world like this are imperative.  How do you make a resume stick out when so many resumes look the same? How important are digital portfolios for students to get jobs?  If a student was googled, what would they find about them?  How do they develop networks in areas of interest?

These skills are important for kids today that live in a global economy and have to get ideas out in a world that is inundated with noise.  Are we developing students to no only have the ideas, but to get their ideas out their in the world?

• July 24, 2016 11 Books To Further an #InnovatorsMindset
• January 17, 2015 3 Things Students Should Have Before They Leave High School
• April 17, 2013 3 Important Trends That We Should Focus On in Schools
• July 9, 2015 Blogging for Staff Professional Learning
• January 3, 2014 More Than A “Blog”

Source: George Couros

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One More Reason to Use Social Media in Your School

In an earlier post, I shared 7 Reasons To Use Social Media In Your School. The post outlines some of the biggest reasons to use social media as an educator. Never before have people been able to connect, share, and learn from one another the way we do now. Email is becoming less prevalent while social media platforms are becoming stronger even for professional communications. I've been thinking about one other reason to use social media, but before I get to that, I want to share 8 ideas your might want to try to incorporate social media into the life of your school. I included links to lots of examples and resources in this post. I hope you find them helpful.

1. Tell your story

More and more schools are using Twitter or Facebook, and even Instagram and SnapChat to share positive moments and student successes. Social media is a great way to connect with your community and showcase the great things happening in your school.

2. Share information

Social media can be a great way to share your monthly newsletter or an upcoming event, like parent open house or the school musical. Canva is a great tool to create social media images to use to promote different events.

3. Student takes over the school Twitter for a day or even a week

We've done this a handful of times, and it's been a fun thing to do. We just ask a responsible student if they would like to tweet out their day through the school account. We make some announcements leading up to it and give them some ideas of things to tweet about. It's a good way to encourage student voice and build trust with students. 

4. Snow day chat

Last year we didn't have many snow days at all. In fact, it was an extremely mild winter. But two years ago, we had a really fun snow day chat with lots of students and teachers participating. We joked around some, but we also discussed some important topics like helping friends overcome challenges. Just because we're not at school doesn't mean we can't connect and learn. And students joined in just for the experience. Of course, it probably didn't hurt that I said school would be canceled again the next day if we had 100 participants. :)

5. Teachers tweet out from other teachers' classrooms

We did instructional rounds using Twitter to share out the great stuff happening in classrooms. Teachers were invited to visit other classrooms on their conference period. The idea was to tweet out the great things happening and really lift each other up and make learning visible. If a teacher preferred not to have visitors, they just posted a note outside of their classroom. 

6. Social media kindness campaign

Last year our Character Council partnered with several other CharacterPlus schools to do a social media campaign to promote kindness and acceptance. The students in the group wrote positive messages on sticky notes and placed them on every desk in the school. When students arrived at school, everyone had a positive message. Students were asked to tweet out the messages using #StartsWithUs.

7.Twitter scavenger hunt

We had a couple of Twitter scavenger hunts, one for faculty and one for incoming freshmen. They are great team builders, but you can also use them to accomplish tasks in a fun way. For instance, one of the faculty challenges involved learning about different Twitter chats.

8. Play games

Sometimes we use Twitter to give away prizes or play games during Spirit Week or any other time we want to spice things up. We had a mystery teacher game where we tweeted out clues about a teacher and students had to guess who it was.

The opportunities for using Twitter or other social media platforms are really endless. It's a great way to build community, generate school spirit, and promote creativity and whimsy.

But I also wanted to share one more important reason to use social media with your students. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I believe in sharing what students are learning on social media for this reason: I believe what students are learning is important enough to share with the world. It matters. 

Students deserve to have their learning celebrated. Tell your students the quality work they produce deserves to be shared beyond the school walls. It's a great message to emphasize that learning isn't just for the classroom. It should be shared widely.

Question: What ways are you using social media in your classroom or school? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below or respond on Facebook or Twitter.

        

Comments

• Comments

Related Stories

• Technology Is An Every Day Thing
• If We Fail to Adapt, Our Students Lose
• 10 Signs Twitter PD Might Not Be Your Thing

 

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2e28Yec