{"id":305,"date":"2018-01-07T21:55:58","date_gmt":"2018-01-07T21:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/derekdoucet\/?p=305"},"modified":"2018-01-07T21:59:01","modified_gmt":"2018-01-07T21:59:01","slug":"my-journey-as-a-cohort21-iterator-to-google-innovator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/derekdoucet\/2018\/01\/07\/my-journey-as-a-cohort21-iterator-to-google-innovator\/","title":{"rendered":"Love at First Sight: a Journey from Iterator to Innovator"},"content":{"rendered":"
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https:\/\/coffeemeetsbagel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/FirstSightFeatured.jpg<\/p><\/div>\n

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I fell in love at first sight… at first I didn’t think it was my type but the more I explored the deeper I fell, the more I tried to understand it, the more complex the relationship became, and when I didn’t pay it the attention it deserved, it often led to frustration and a feeling that I just wasn’t good enough. What I fell in love with was a problem back in October of 2012.<\/p>\n

It was the 1st year of Cohort21 and I was a participant. The problem was and continues to be one that is not easily resolved. For the life of me, I cannot understand how learners can spend 9 years in a foreign language class and still graduate without being competent users of that language. This is where my journey began. I tackled the problem early through the lens of personalized learning. I endeavoured to tackle the problem through flipped learning the grammar, giving students choice in what they engage with, and choice in the direction of their learning.<\/p>\n

In the interest of keeping your attention I’ll move forward quickly. The second year, I took a break from Cohort21 and continued to work on the problem. I made changes quickly and reflected constantly, I asked my students what worked and what didn’t, and that led to small victories such as personalized vocabulary lists based on words they wanted to know, based in authentic situations I put them in. We learned how to flirt in French, then used subjunctive tense to make excuses as to why we couldn’t see a movie with the person flirting.<\/p>\n

We read and commented online and that led to a few Google Hangouts with francophones – the most memorable with Phillipe Menkoue<\/a> from Cameroun who spoke to us about social media and teens at his school; here is his blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2014, I became a facilitator with Cohort21 and had a steep learning curve about design thinking thanks to @lmcbeth<\/a> whom I just missed the chance to work with at Greenwood as I left in June of 2010 and she started in September. I changed tacts on my action plan as I entered a new role as a Tech Integrator. I shifted my attention to Professional Development and Tech Integration through the lens of TPACK. What I learned along the way was that if it was good for students, it was good for teachers. Teachers wanted choice and personalized approach as well. My two action plans weren’t so different despite looking at different problems.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2016, my action plan is back to foreign language learning. I am looking at Performance-Based Assessment<\/a> and Real-Time Feedback<\/a> thanks to @ehitchcock<\/a> and his action plan.\u00a0@lmcbeth<\/a> gets accepted to #MTV16 for the Google Innovator Academy, after which she nominated me to apply. I applied to the Colorado Academy #COL16 but my idea wasn’t fully fleshed out. I threw my hat in the ring and was denied. My idea was based around the authenticity and choice involved for learning language in a natural way combined with rethinking the bricks and mortar and classroom setup of the schools. This idea took on several iteration and morphed into two separate ones. Currently it evolved into a game based VR adventure that would have students interact and engage with a type of artificial intelligence that would see them completing missions based in authentic situations. If successful, they would unlock the next missions and if not they would return to mission control and review the training required to complete the mission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n