Written by It’s been a whirlwind fall term and I love taking time away from my everyday responsibilities to check in with the Cohort 21 blogs, to see and learn from what others are posting. I have only commented on a small portion of the posts, but I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve read! I hope that more people start regularly using the blogs after our 2nd face-to-face. I think it will be a more natural communication venue once we’ve spent more time together in person. I got some really good feedback for a challenge I was working through, and my students’ learning greatly benefited from the Cohort’s suggestions.
Somehow between now and Saturday I’m going to do the 90-minute Design Thinking crash course, based on Marcie Lewis’s post that has me intrigued!
My initial exploration of Twitter has been overwhelming in a good way – does that make sense? I never regret the time I spend following various threads, but what I start out looking for on Twitter often leads to the discovery of 8 other things, then 20 more, and… where did the time go?! I’m still mainly using Twitter as a follower and a re-tweeter at this point.
What I want to get out of Saturday’s session:
-Discussion with purpose to get to know what others are doing in their schools to promote 21st century learning, what they’ve read about/pursued in their own time, etc.
-More great tips on using technology from Justin and Garth
-I’d love to hear about how people are sharing what they’ve learned with their independent schools.
-I’ve been playing around with this idea of planning a unit of study where my students choose a topic to study in French and I act as their coach, helping to put together individual plans/goals to work towards an authentic performance task. I’d love to share my ideas with the group and get some feedback, and was thrilled to read Derek Doucet’s post about constructivist learning (aha! There’s an actual term for what I’ve been thinking about!)
See you Saturday.
Thanks for a great, and inspiring post Jen. It is through people like you that make Cohort 21 what it is: an exciting opportunity indeed!
However, we have to be conscious of not being overwhelmed. Your comment about Twitter certainly rings true for me. So as not to be overwhelmed by all the sharing/ideas/etc… I utilize tools like “Favouriting” (basically it is a place holder – something I’ll come back to later), “Email” (anything that is immediately relevant, current I Email to myself so that I can use it in the near future.
Also, I would strongly recommend using an App like tweet-deck. It allows you to create Twitter feeds all from one “dashboard”. I’ll work with you on Saturday to help you set that up!
I too have really enjoyed the blog, and feel that there is a growing community; however, I think your right that after this weekend blogging will be more natural as we further define our areas of focus, and peers that can support and challenge us on our journey!
thanks,
garth.
Great post! We will be addressing much of what you are hoping to get out of the second F2F. We have been doing alot with http://www.voicethread.com recently with our French department. Happy to share.