Full Circle: Find the Spark

When you take time to catch up on tweets missed over the long weekend and you come across this... Thank you to our Parents & Students in the McMurrich Junior Public School community (@McMurrichParent). Truly honoured and humbled.

What happens when a teacher believes in you... finds your spark and guides you by letting it shine in all areas of learning?

Weird to have one's name appear in the local newspaper showing appreciation. This has only ever happened one other time... back in high school when OAC (Grade 13) was around the Principal nominated me for my achievements. Please note that my academic experiences turned around in Grade 11 when I meet a team of talented Art teachers, Ms Jalsevic, Mr D'Arcy & Ms D'Arcy (no relation) who each had a SpecEd background. They recognized my struggles as a student with LD and helped me take my spark as a young artist and apply it in other academic areas. With this I transferred from the Basic to General to Advanced stream. I had to work twice as hard to move forward after each fail, appreciate small strides and get ready for the next day.

Thank you to all teachers who never give up in finding the spark in every student and letting them shine!!!

It's official! I'm a Google for Education, Certified Innovator #TOR16

It's official! I'm a Google for Education, Certified Innovator #TOR16

Bringing this here from my FaceBook account ...
Day 2 of #TOR16 #GoogleEI Innovator Academy

It was full steam ahead as Coaches were ready to guide us through a variety of Sprints & Sparks today! If ever given the opportunity to go on a Google tour… GO! It’s fun, colourful, dynamic & you meet more great people along the way.

Construction not Instruction projected across the screen as Afzal Shaikh discussed the legacy Seymour Papert has left behind and ahead of us. We are challenged to use #LittleBits and build a machine to communicate a message for others to piece together, within teams and collecting missing pieces from within the cohort.

This is followed by Wendy Gorton who revisits the Design Thinking model and Prototyping thus gently launching us into visually testing our idea. Steps of prototyping: Storyboard, Rapid prototyping, Get feedback, Integrate feedback and Iterate. Time was limited but precious. The room was abuzz with energy, an almost calm-before-the-storm when we would have the opportunity to later share & pitch our projects to each other.

Aaron Brindle in Public Affairs for Google Canada shared his 20% using google.ca/mymaps to map out communities from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada to Surui Territory, Brazil by creating a cultural map to share within the community.

Culturally responsive pedagogy was the focus shared by Sandra Chow emphasizing considerations from various perspectives to better understand impact of the project on others. Suggested resources to check out include The Missing Voice in Tech by Rafranz Davis, The Culture Map by Erin Meyer, geert-hofstede.com and Harvard Project Zero - Visible Thinking.

The Talent Myth: A relationship between talent and success debate is ongoing… well, let Sylvia Duckworth guide you in demystifying nature vs nurture. Sylvia’s The Iceberg Illusion: Success is an Iceberg sketchnote sums up what people see and don’t see when they encounter someone who is successful. A recommended read is Bounce by Matthew Syed which highlights 3 conditions necessary to achieve excellence or success:
-Intrinsic motivation
-Unusual circumstances
-Deliberate practice
A new book coming soon but for now definitely check out sketchnotes created by Sylvia on her flicker site: flicker.com/sylviaduckworth

Les McBeth sets us up to prep our prototype ready to display and receive feedback from #TOR16 educators:
-This is a repeatable process
-Keep focussed on your USER
-Innovation is an attitude
I have my collection of post-it notes ready to reflect upon over the next few weeks to further ‘zoom in & zoom out’ of my project.

Share and support each other, asking questions, connecting with our coaches and soon to be partnered mentors, Michelle Armstrong encourages all of us to continue to touch base in Hangouts and Google+. Save the date for the next #PubPD maplesyrupedu/pubpd twitter chat October 27th focussed on Student Leadership.

Becky Evans & Wendy Gorton engage us in whole group reflections prior to sharing our pitch: the essence of our project. A moving moment for many of us as several projects went thru several iterations (discovery-interpret-ideation-experimentation-evolution).

How else to better end the Google Innovator Academy then coming together in our teams, as we Graduate to the tune that best captures our team energy! One by one we were called upon the stage to receive our certificate! Yes, my name was announced correctly and yes, I am still smiling (cheeks are sore) because this endeavour, this journey is far from over… I can’t wait for what the next 12 months brings!!!

 

 

Make no mistake... I could never have reached this far without the support and encouragement from TDSB  Coaches & Digital Lead Learners Julie Millan, Andrew Schmitt, Kevin Bradbeer & Sandra Chow

Boom.. Snap.. Clap.. Innovate!

Day 1 of #TOR16 #GoogleEI Innovator Academy

Today we focussed on our project thru various lenses with the foundation that it:
-should drive change in education
-should be replicable and or accessible
-should fall under one of Google’s Pillars of Innovation (check out Sylvia Duckworth #sketchnote below)

Several guests lead us through Sprints with an emphasis on the bigger picture, focus on the user and life/work balance. Liz Anderson, Mark Wagner, Wendy Gorton, Donnie Piercey and Jeffrey Humphries each leading the way to moonshot thinking!

Each team was introduced: The 7 Wanderers was us and we launched into our group cheer (Boom.. Snap.. Clap..) and handshake (baseball hand signals).

Les McBeth guided us through the Design Thinking model to tease out ideas, considerations and ideation. Rafranz Davis immersed us in discussion of Your Signature Story emphasizing how our life experiences change us and how do we use that to drive positive change. Sandra Chow reminds us that while working on your project…. Zoom In & Zoom Out. Figure out how to wrap our head around the big picture. Sylvia Duckworth modelled #sketchnoting benefits to capture the message using images via drawing on devices. Becky Evans shared the importance of optimism & reenforcing a positive work / school culture.

I thank all the educators from the #TOR16 cohort who shared a Spark today. I only wished there was time to visit each of the sessions. I know I had a great time sharing the fun I am having with students when creating paper circuits.

The sharing, feedback, making various iterations to our project ideas to fine tune, focus on the user and the big picture was challenging! Connecting with educators who had similar projects while meeting with others who offered a fresh perspective/questions was definitely rewarding... They really pushed the kind of thinking that is needed when considering viewpoints, identifying a problem & ways to solve it.

You can only imaging how awesome this day was like in person and the anticipation of waiting for what the next day would bring!

Kensington Market, a School Tour & Innovator Academy BreakoutEDU

First, I would like to thank Larissa for organizing a warm welcome meet-up in Kensington Market for #TOR16 educators who arrived earlier in Toronto for the Innovator Academy. For me, it was a blast from the past being surrounded by many unique shops, restaurants and cafes. Several #TOR16 educators joined us, taking in the sights, purchasing souvenirs at Blue Banana and enjoying a hearty lunch at Urban Herbivore. From there we made out way to Larissa's school Lord Lansdowns Jr/Sr Public School where she gave us a tour, highlighting its history and transformation to a K-6 French Immersion School. 

An unseasonably warm, beautiful day was just what we needed as a small group we made our way through Chinatown a few teachers picked up Bubble Tea, taking photos of Toronto's Moose in the City statues, passing by the AGO before making our way towards Google Headquarters at 111 Richmond St.

As we entered the building it quickly became a photo-op with every Google signage on the wall and poster of the Innovator Academy! Everyone was excited, introductions and hugs going all around.

Pre-Day 1 of #TOR16 #GoogleEI Innovator Academy 

It would be an understatement to say that this afternoon and evening was great.... I had the honour to meet face-to-face #twitter PLN that have been mentors unbeknownst to them: Rafranz Davis, Sylvia Duckworth, Sandra Chow, Michelle Armstrong and Jeffrey Humphries.

I also had the opportunity to connect face-to-face with educators from around the world sharing their inspiring journey as educators and life-long learners/adventurers. 

As introductions began the #TOR16Canucks cohort surprised everyone with some entertainment to the tune of Canadian Dance Moves... followed by Poutine flavoured potato chips, Canadian temporary tattoos, stickers and #TOR16 buttons!!!

The BreakoutEDU sessions to connect, build relationships and teamwork were as challenging as they were insightful. Thank you to my team for sharing your stories with us. It was truly awesome being part of the #TOR16 cohort on this day and I couldn't wait to see what the next day would bring! 

Thank you to the #Google team Becky Evans, Michelle Armstrong, Mark Wagner & Wendy Gorton for the warm welcome and support!

Let's Go Back a Bit

Before I share my reflections about the Google for Education Innovator Academy, let me focus on how I got here…

As a life-long learner I always seek my own professional development. My “go-to” over the past few years has been my PLN on Twitter. There, sharing is short and focussed, while discussion is honest and based on teacher experiences and/or opinions. I seek out who to connect with for further information, support on a new idea or transforming an old one.

As the school year started to wind down, there was new discussion and a sense of excitement about educators preparing to take the Google Certification Level 1 and Level 2. It was great reading how supportive teachers were in sharing tips and strategies to prepare for the online modules and assessment.   So I decided that this would be a great way to ease out of the hustle & bustle of the school year and ease into summer vacation.

For the first two weeks of July, I navigated through the training modules at my own pace, reviewing sections as needed and completing quizzes before each unit assessment. By the end of the second week I registered for the online exam feeling pretty good about myself. Once I received the email that the Performance Based Exam was ready for me to take, I gave myself a day to just breathe before beginning.

So, I set myself up in the kitchen and sent my boys to their own spaces so that I could have some quiet time to take the exam. Of course, they (both teens) interrupted me a few times, all of a sudden forgetting how to fend for themselves… needing snack, a moment of my time and my favourite “whatcha doing?”. Once I had them settled into something away from my space I sat down again only to find the WiFi icon looking for networks! UGH! I waited patiently but felt like I was unable to complete one of the tasks as well as I had hoped. So, I moved on. After two and a half hours, clicked submit and I was spent. A few minutes later I received a message indicating: Examination Unsuccessful. I felt defeated. So I let it go for several weeks… focussing on my boys and summer time.

Then, in mid-August out-of-the-blue my boys asked me about the Google Certification exam. I told them I didn’t pass after much preparation and feeling good about it at the time. They responded with “so, you took it again and then what?” and I replied with a “no, I didn’t”. Their response, “mom, this is going to be a teachable moment from us to you”. Oh, how the tables have turned as they reminded me about getting back up and following through. So, I did. I sought out feedback from other teachers online and came across “How to Pass Google Certification Exams” by Sylvia Duckworth. Feeling revitalized I reviewed each of the Level 1 units as suggested and passed the exam. The following week I took my time and went through each aspect of the Level 2 unit lessons, reviewed quizzes and unit tests before taking and passing Level 2.

**NOTE: this time I had the boys at home very busy while completing the examination. NO one watching Netflix or playing any online games.

Another item checked off my summer bucket list: Google Level 2 Certified Educator :) pic.twitter.com/SGMUwGlJcI

— Zelia (@ZeliaMCT) August 26, 2016

Shortly after this I shared my success on Twitter showing off my new digital badges! Then I started receiving DM messages from educators suggesting I look into the Google for Education Certified Innovator application especially with it being right here in Toronto! Now, I have been in awe of the many amazing educators who have had the opportunity to collaborate within this cohort. What the heck would I have to offer? Then my co-teaching partner mentioned that one thing most teachers in our Family of Schools have been visiting or requesting to visit our class has been our Business Day venture. This only seemed like a natural progression of sharing our project further beyond our classroom walls. So… within a few days, I completed the application, my Vision Deck and Vision Video… I shared it with several teachers who I trust would be honest in their feedback and based on their feedback I made several iterations prior to my submission on the eve of the deadline.

The next few days were filled with gut wrenching anticipation. Then announcement time came and went. As educators started sharing their excitement on Twitter that they were invited to the Innovator Academy. Feeling disheartened all I could do was focus on the excitement of others... after all they will be the educators I would be following over the next few months to learn more about and be inspired by their projects. Then I saw messages stating... check your spam box. What? A glimmer of hope. Could a message be waiting in my spam box? Well... there it was, waiting for me to accept the invitation to attend the Innovator Academy. AWESOME!

 From here, I can't even begin to explain how amazing it has been as we #TOR16 #GoogleEI cohort began to collaborate, make connections and build relationships leading up to the Academy dates. Maybe, another time.

My Blog: For Me & Education Enthusiasts :)

Let me start off first by stating that I have had students blog about their learning journey, reading strategies and mathematical insights. I even have a class blog which acts as a daily communication tool for students and parents/guardians giving them a window into our class activities, photos and much more. However, I have never blogged myself.

Over the past year I have been encouraged by educators who I hold in great esteem but have hesitated. Dr. Camille Rutherford (@crutherford) approached me after an Ignite Talk, EdSurge 2015 where Sandra Chow (@watnunu) and I co-presented. And then again just this weekend by Sylvia Duckworth (@sylviaduckworth) who coached myself and many educators during the Google for Education Innovator Academy in Toronto this month (more to come about that awesome experience).  Dr. Camille Rutherford and Sylvia Duckworth highlighted the same video to me, a video clip I share with my students each year, throughout the year for inspiration: "Obvious to you, Amazing to Others" by Derek Sivers.

So, why the hesitation? I don't know... other than I thought enough of what I do was being communicated through my students stories about their own learning journey. But that's their story. Then, after reflecting about the learning in past few days I thought about Rafranz Davis (@RafranzDavis) who coached at the Google for Education Innovator Academy in Toronto strongly encouraging us to tell our own story; not someone else.

So, here it is... time to step up, reflect and share my story. If not for anyone else other than myself, my children and education enthusiasts!