contemplating a brave new classroom
Written by Celeste Kirsh
It’s another year of Cohorting and this year I’m blogging from the sidelines as I am taking on a new teaching role of my squishy baby boy. Thinking about a whole new batch of teachers embarking on this journey, I wanted to share some thoughts about the challenges joys of blogging. If you are like … Continue reading “How to get over yourself and write about your teaching already”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
We are now into week four of this History adventure and there have been some ups and downs…some moments of sheer brilliance and some moments of “what the heck was I thinking?” But like anything in the life of a teacher, you win some and you lose some. Here are some highlights from the last … Continue reading “First steps towards “wow””
Written by Celeste Kirsh
Can this be a reality? Or better yet… Should this be a reality? Truthfully, I don’t have the answer to either of those questions, but I did leave the second Face 2 Face with a clear direction for my action plan this year: how can I make Social Studies (specifically History) a novel, exciting, and entertaining … Continue reading “School as exciting as an amusement park?”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
It feels like just yesterday, but last week I hosted our first Hangout this year to help frame our thinking about action plans. It was great to have so many fresh faces and a few alumni to support the conversation about action plans. To be quite honest, I personally find this process excruciatingly difficult and I’ve … Continue reading “I got 99 problems (but design thinking ain’t one of them)”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
With registration starting up for the new year of Cohort 21 and our first Face to Face session beginning October 17th, a few teachers in my PLN have asked whether this PD experience would be a good fit for them. Seeing three revolutions of this learning cycle now, I hope this post can be a … Continue reading “Is Cohort 21 Right for You?”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
It’s that time of year again: with the start of the new school year around the corner, it’s impossible not to think about the launch of another season of Cohort 21. As one of the teachers lucky enough to have been part of this professional development experience from the first year, I’ve been fortunate to have … Continue reading “Five ways Cohort 21 has made me a better teacher”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
[youtube]https://youtu.be/YQWWSCzN6u8[/youtube] It’s hard to believe that another year of Cohort has come to a close…but I’m not even close to being done my journey of growth. That’s the thing about growth; it is always just there. I tried to make my summary of learning a touch shorter, but I just had too much to say and … Continue reading “Growth is always happening”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC_EkwOAbBY[/youtube] Amidst my journey of trying inspire my students to get closer to having a growth mindset, it actually didn’t even occur to me that it is also valuable to help inspire my fellow teachers to join in on the growth mindset bandwagon. The last project tuning protocol on April 2nd, while it wasn’t geared … Continue reading “The first few steps towards awesome: teachers showing their growth mindsets”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
I had the opportunity to present at Sterling Hall’s “Character Education Unconference” this past Monday March 24th, sharing our journey so far with Blogfolios. If you ever have the chance to share something from your classroom with a group of educators: DO IT! Being able to just sort through this process in preparation was enough … Continue reading “Blogfolio Next Steps”
Written by Celeste Kirsh
There are so many firsts in the beginning of a teaching career. These last five years (not the musical version, sadly) I’ve had so many awesome new experiences. This year, however, is the first time I’ve been able to take a second stab at a project. What a great way to put into practice what … Continue reading “Seeing growth with your own eyes”