{"id":26,"date":"2014-11-13T16:27:10","date_gmt":"2014-11-13T16:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/?p=26"},"modified":"2014-11-13T16:27:10","modified_gmt":"2014-11-13T16:27:10","slug":"collaborative-hangouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/2014\/11\/13\/collaborative-hangouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaborative Hangouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Google-Hangouts-logo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of my fears, starting out as a new member of a new cohort, was that the experience of Cohort 21 would emphasize the use of tools (apps, programs, hardware) at the expense authentic interactions between us as professionals and us and our students. \u00a0Now, a few weeks into the C21 experience, I’m taking a moment to reflect and to relax!<\/p>\n

Our first Face 2 Face session at the York School was about getting acquainted with the toolkit, and I was psyched to learn more about WordPress, Diigo, and some neat new tricks to make the most of Twitter. \u00a0But from that first meeting, this experience has been so much more than just technology and tools. \u00a0We’re so lucky in the independent school environment to have access to the space, time and hardware, and the emphasis on continually improving our teaching practice, that allows us to foster our professional learning networks. \u00a0I know this is also an essential ingredient of the Cohort 21 recipe.<\/p>\n

The aspect of C21 I was most excited (and nervous) for was the opportunity for real collaboration. \u00a0All of these thoughts were swirling through my head last week during my first Cohort 21 Hangout, led by Les McBeth,<\/a> on Google Hangouts. \u00a0(It was both on Hangouts and ON Hangouts, we gathered in front of our laptops to take part in a Google Hangout to learn about Google Hangouts.<\/a>) \u00a0As Les led us through the features and capabilities of Hangouts, and everyone shared questions and experiences, I was struck by the myriad possibilities for collaboration this tool allows.<\/p>\n

Here are a few ideas for us in the library at St. Clement’s:<\/p>\n

Author visits –\u00a0<\/strong>Logistically and financially, author visits can be quite difficult to arrange. \u00a0Last year we hosted authors from Ruth Ohi to Eric Walters and Anne Michaels, and I have seen how powerful and engaging these visits are for our girls at every age level. \u00a0An author visit on Hangouts could still foster these really meaningful experiences while removing many of the logistical and financial obstacles.<\/p>\n

Reading programs –\u00a0<\/strong>At SCS, we have a reading program called “Red Reads” that takes place each fall. \u00a0Similar in structure to Canada Reads, staff and students are encouraged to submit entries showing how their chosen book best exemplifies a theme, such as courage or compassion. \u00a0The entire school community votes on a shortlist of submissions and then reads the winning book together. \u00a0Next term we will also take part in the Ontario-wide reading program, Forest of Reading. \u00a0I’m really excited by the opportunity to Hangout with groups of students at different schools to chat about our top picks for Blue Spruce, and to make use of the archiving function of Hangouts to share live book reviews by students within the school. \u00a0This feature could also be used for submitting book reports, reader response and literature circles.<\/p>\n

Professional development –\u00a0<\/strong>The opportunities for collaborating with our PD are wide-ranging, but the first one that came to mind is communicating with my colleague librarians at other independent schools. \u00a0Often we are teams of only one or two and it can be really difficult to “keep in touch” over the course of a busy school year. \u00a0But we all face similar issues\u00a0in similar environments, and collaborating with my colleague librarians has given me some of the most rewarding experiences, not to mention valuable insights, of my professional life so far.<\/p>\n

Just some initial thoughts on collaborating with Google Hangouts<\/a>. \u00a0I’ll look forward to sharing what we’ve done at St. Clement’s, and hearing what you might be up to, at our Next Face 2 Face in a few weeks!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my fears, starting out as a new member of a new cohort, was that the experience of Cohort 21 would emphasize the use of tools (apps, programs, hardware) at the expense authentic interactions between us as professionals and us and our students. \u00a0Now, a few weeks into the C21 experience, I’m taking a … Continue reading “Collaborative Hangouts”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":27,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[7,9,10,8,6,11],"class_list":["post-26","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classroom-reflections","category-face-2-face-sessions","tag-author-visits","tag-collaboration","tag-google-hangouts","tag-literacy","tag-reading-programs","tag-toolkit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lauramustard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}