Getting Your Tweet On

Inservice Day One: I was still reeling from having to wake up at an ungodly hour and processing the fact that my blessed summer was over. I skipped out on the mandatory "Eat Lunch With Someone Else So You Can Get To Know Him/Her" lunch and quietly at my sandwich at my desk while cranking out some last minute work... and it happened.

My principal popped into my office and gave me a job.  (She does this frequently. I need to find myself a hidden office she can't pop into.)  I was given a new task -- teach Twitter to my colleagues tomorrow, and I had a half hour to do it. #Ishouldagonetolunch

Many connected teachers have learned in recent years that Twitter is a great source for personalized and FREE professional development. It's wonderful to connect with other educators whom we wouldn't otherwise meet and learn from. Granted, there are other avenues of collaboration, but Twitter is so convenient, I was thrilled with the chance to teach it the next day!

Inservice Day Two: There was a general buzz among the faculty as they contemplated getting on Twitter.  Some were excited. Some insisted they wouldn't do it. Some were apprehensive. That's OK. Twitter isn't for everyone, but at least we were giving them the option.

Does your school block social media sites? I was assured Twitter would be unblocked for my session...but it wasn't.  I was hoping for a hassle-free start. For some, an immediate roadblock all the excuse some people need to skip out on a new technology.  Anyhow, we found our individual ways around the filter and got rolling on Twitter.

I had a half hour to wax eloquent on Twitter, which is about half a day less than I would have liked. Fortunately, I had other Twitter users in the room who helped me out as we got some people signed up and answers tons of questions.  We talked about why Twitter is a good thing, who to follow, and a cursory introduction to hashtags. We had a half dozen or so teachers take the plunge.  Many teachers didn't join up, but at least they got to see it in action.  One teacher stated, "I'm just glad I know what a hashtag is. My kids won't tell me when I ask them!"

Later that day... I went home and saw my overflowing pile of zucchini and squash waiting to be eaten and sent this tweet.

Free zuke or squash for first #mvcaoh employee to retweet this. #gardennerd #shamelessbribe pic.twitter.com/q47OTGtAGQ
— Craig Dunlap (@Cncdky) August 19, 2014

The winner was our first grade teacher, who happened to be showing her college-aged daughter her new Twitter account.  "Oh! Zucchini! How do I retweet?"

The next night, I did the same thing with my pumpkins.

Who wants a homegrown pumpkin? 1st #mvcaoh employee to retweet can have one of these orange beauties. pic.twitter.com/W47qEBXEOX
— Craig Dunlap (@Cncdky) August 21, 2014

Of course, this was just a way to get people excited to use Twitter, but the real thrill came later in the week. 

Thursday morning.  Our preschool director emailed me about using iPads in her class.  She just received four iPads for preschool and wanted help getting started.  The best line from her email? "You'll be happy to know that I have been researching the topic on Twitter!"   

And THAT was the whole goal of the exercise. I'm pretty excited! Not only did I get rid of some of my excess produce, but we have some teachers beginning to collaborate outside our building.  This is gonna be good!

Book Review: The Circle

Title: The Circle
Author: Dave Eggers

I have only been doing book reviews on non-fiction, but this novel was compelling enough for me to do a quickie synopsis here. I couldn't put it down.

Review:
Ever wonder what it's like to work at one of those big tech companies?  You've heard about the sprawling campuses with up-to-date facilities, free amenities to employees, and general happiness amok among the workers -- a regular utopia of employment.  This is what greeted Mae when she arrived for her first day of work at The Circle (a fictional tech giant that reminded me a lot of Google, at least at first).

While Mae's first priority is her work in Customer Experience, she is quickly called on the carpet for not sharing more on social media, both within the company and with the public in general.  As I read I wanted to scream, "SOME THINGS ARE JUST PERSONAL!" However, the argument quickly came back in my face, "Nothing should be personal. There is no need to keep secrets."

No more spoilers. However, this book raises some interesting questions about the potentially scary road we are traveling down with technology. What should we choose to share online? Who should own information that is online? Who should be allowed to have access to this information?  Can we really trust these people to "do no evil"?

Applications for Education:
The most obvious thing here is to be careful.  Always evaluate what you share, who you share it with, and to separate yourself from technology once in a while.  And pass that message along to your students.

I'd love to hear what you think of the book. Drop me a line and give me your thoughts!

Book Review: Brain Rules

Title: Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School
Author: John Medina
Review:

Should classrooms come complete with treadmills?
Should the school day include nap time?
Should students have the same class three times in the same day to optimize content review?
Should I spray the walls of my classroom with Brute?
Should I delete any PowerPoint presentation I see with words on it?
Should our core content classes be taught in single gender classes?

John Medina is a molecular biologist who is intimately aware of decades of brain research.  More importantly, he is able to take that information and put it into laymen's terms that everyone can understand (most of the time).  Knowing how the brain works (what helps and hinders learning) can help us teach students effectively.

Medina's ideas based on this research are interesting to say the least. Some of them are simple to implement. Others would takes some major idea wrangling to get accomplished.  The bottom line is this book shows us everything we've been doing wrong in education for years and years.

You can read more about the book (and its companions) at www.brainrules.net.

Final Innovation Project

Yesterday was my last Tools for Tech class with my middle schoolers.  Since this class won't be happening next year, it may be my last Innovation Project for a while.  I was really proud of these projects.  The kids put in a lot of hard work and turned in some awesome final products.  Please check them out and let me know what you think.

Connor showed us how to earn staffs in Black Ops 2.



Jacob and Cooper created their own MineCraft world and player versus player game. Watch their split screen video as they play against each other!


Daniel, Matthew, and Waite created a video story in which you decide the course of the story.


Kate continued her Revolutionary War Blog from last quarter.
Justin figured out how to fix his Empire State Building on MineCraft, but he didn't share his presentation with the world. Bummer!
Dominic created a web site about Dominque Wilkins.
Drew and Sam created a castle in MineCraft that has a disco room! Sadly, they didn't make their presentation available to share.

Tourism Projects: What is there to do out there?

Here's a fun way to end the semester with my middle school students. I give them a list of the top ten most populated cities in the world and let them pick one.

Their task is to pretend they are travel agents, trying to show us all the great things they can do in that city.  With only about a week to put something together, it's a frantic pace to find the best of the city -- hotels, restaurants, stuff for kids, and such -- and put together a presentation for us.  Not only do they need to create something technological, but there is a non-techie requirement too.  (That mostly took on the form of food, which is always a great idea when I'm in the mix.)

Here are three of the projects that rolled in for us.  I love how these web sites look -- almost like someone took a visual design class when I wasn't looking.

Delhi, India
Mumbai, India
Shanghai, China

Tech ABC

What are the ABCs of Technology? Here are the alphabets my students came up with.


Waite
Connor
Daniel

Drew:


Dom:

Wrapping Up 20 Years: Advice From an Old Guy

The final curtain went down on our family's first ever dance recital.  Hands hurt from clapping, eyes were moist, and there was an excited buzz about the auditorium. I'd like to tell you that my daughter was the star of the show, but she was merely on stage for about four minutes of a two hour long performance.  However, there were quite a few familiar faces up there with some roles a bit more major than my little one.

"He acts like he doesn't know us when he sees us in public, but I secretly think he likes it when I say hi to him," I explained to my mother-in-law later in the lobby about one such performer. "He was the kinda the class clown back when he was in our classes. But he found drama and everything changed." After a moment of quiet contemplation, I added, "If I knew then what I know now, I would have been a much better teacher 15 or 20 years ago."

Tomorrow is the final school day of my 20th year of teaching. In this year, I have had a blast reconnecting with many of those kids who were dragged kicking and screaming under my tutelage. I've laughed at great memories, been quietly surprised by others, and have grieved missed opportunities.  I wish you heard all the stories, and I still have hopes that some will be told through the summer.

Hats off to the roughly 1000 kids who I have had the blessing to call "one of my kids!" You have made my job a true joy.*

Wrapping this series up, I have some advice to those of you who are still youngins... and maybe to some of you old curmudgeons like me. 

That student is more than what you see in the moment. That behavior you see, that paper you just graded...they are just small (and sometimes inaccurate) pieces of the entire puzzle.

Here's what I learned through these conversations:

• Find that hidden love of drama (or science or writing or coding) in a kid and try to pull that out.
• Get to know that child beyond his ability to spell or multiply double digits.
• Think outside the box. Don't just create a bigger box than the teacher down the hall. Spend so much time outside the box that you sometimes forget where you put the box.
• Don't get me wrong. Teach those rote skills too because they are the building blocks for something more spectacular.
• Your relationship with that student does not end when you wish her a wonderful summer. Some might say that is merely the beginning. 
• If you don't mind me quoting the Bible, here is a great verse to ponder. "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." (1 Corinthians 13:1) Your greatest lesson will be just a clanging cymbal if the kid in the seat doesn't feel your love.

Thanks for following my 20th year journey! It's been an amazing adventure!



*Before I get too sentimental, let me add this footnote. Not every moment has been a true joy. Some of students/parents/colleagues have made my life miserable in the moment.  I figure it's been a fair trade since I've probably added some misery to your life too. In general, the first 20 years of my career have been awesome and I'm hoping the next 20 are even better.