Twitter Chat for Cycle #6

The chat has been archived at Storify.

Stories were discussed, and whose story is missing in how history and spaces are presented.

The idea of equity and access was discussed.  History isn't accessible to all and not in the same way.

We thought about what to do while out in the natural spaces (and what is allowed and what is discouraged).

 It has be thinking in new directions (outdoors) for technology class options!

Cycle #6 - Get Out!

It's summer.  It's July and it is sunny and hot.  These are the type of instructions we like to get!

 ... for Make Cycle 6, we want you  …. to get out of the house.That’s right. Power down that laptop, grab your sneakers or walking shoes, and head on out into the Great Outdoors and continue to explore the public spaces that surround you. You may need to bring a camera or mobile device with you, so we acknowledge that you might not be completely technologically untethered.

The final Make Cycle for 2015, facilitated by the US National Park Service, is designed to encourage you to head outside to your local park, or greenway, or bike path, or museum, or library, or street corner, or wherever the public you are part of comes together, #FindYourPark and document that public space for this week’s Make Cycle. The focus for this cycle is on the cultural, historical and/or environmental spaces of our communities. 

A great idea!  As usual, I would like to tie this activity to my own work at school.  This is something I struggle with - how do I get students outside of the classroom when what I teach is technology?!

Some resources I found, shared in the Cycle #6 Twitter Chat, and would like to explore:

Thinking of spaces...

I found this picture on Pinterest.  It comes with the following observation:  

"Loved this figure in the entrance area of a school I visited today. Made from scrap resources by the children and just indicating that 'we do really interesting things in here'.  Does your entrance area reflect your pedagogy?"

This has me thinking about how the public spaces in our schools reflect what is happening there (including my own education spaces).  Take a look around your spaces - what do you see and what does it say about what happens there?  Anything you would change?  When was the last time you sat there as a user of the space (a student maybe) and looked through that lens?

Cycle #5 - Stories and Spaces

It's all about stories this week as we think about public spaces!

For this make cycle, we invite you to create a digital story about a public space – physical or digital – that holds an important meaning to you or your community.

Because my educational role is all about technology, I turn to Storybird to reflect on my role as Internet Sherpa through the huge online public space.

Click HERE to access the story.  It's worth looking at (and it's short), go ahead - I'll wait.

So, what did you think?  What are the characteristics of a responsible Internet Sherpa? 

Cycle #4 - Systems

The task this week (Cycle #4) is all about systems according to the CLMOOC website.  Instructions include:

This week we will expand our thinking about systems and will attempt to tackle some of the ambiguity associated with complex systems. First, let’s begin with a simple definition. According to the dictionary, a system is “a group of interacting, interrelated, interdependent elements forming a complex whole.” There are many types of systems: human, behavioral, natural, technological, mechanical, mathematical, political, social, financial, transit, etc.

For this make cycle, we invite you to document, analyze and reflect on the variety of systems that influence your life personally and/or professionally. Use your creativity to document an existing system, access your ingenuity to improve an existing system or use your imagination to develop a unique new system and design a novel way to explain it. 

This took quite a bit of reflecting on my own part and I really wanted to try out a Museum template utilized by another participant (in her great Obscure Joys & Sorrows). 

I went and grabbed the template and although I didn't do as much customization, I got the general idea.

My system... the student brain.  A very complex system that every educator would love to understand.  My piece here does not do it justice, but it begins a journey for me.  I love the idea of presenting this topic as a workshop to staff with the museum as a "take away" for them.  Instead of a list of resources, they can explore some of the highlights by wandering around the museum.

North Slob (my new band)

I am fascinated by a fellow participant's post that included instructions for students to create an album cover for a fictitious band.  Walking through the steps on my own, this is my creation.

"Alternative Rock band North Slob is back on top with their signature sound.  The laid-back vocals and earthy tones ease listeners into this collection of stress-free sound."

It would be interesting to put together instructions that included vocabulary words, ideas about digital citizenship, or something else to bring an educational element to the activity for students.  The activity itself gives some wonderful creative license to students that is fun and entertaining.  Having a collection of their work could be displayed for the entire school to view.

F5F for Cycle #4

I have not had the chance to choose my #F5F each Friday, but after the Cycle #4 Twitter chat it was clear I needed to put one together.  Taking the opportunity to explore another resource (emaze), I assembled this presentation.  Click HERE to view it.

The conversation included ideas about light as a system, tides as a system, play (and how important it is to learning) as a system.  This got me thinking about the student brain.

Cycle #3 - Level Up - Game Design

For Cycle #3:

Let’s dive deeper into the ways in which we analyze, deconstruct and change complex systems. What are the variables in our every day and cosmic equation? How can we tackle complex local and global issues, which may be quick to identify but hard to solve? By using a different lens to analyze a situation, can we create discussion and empower action?

I also like the idea of using this with students, especially if they write their own questions.  I love that videos can be embedded - that creates a whole new level of quiz question!  I could have roving reporters (like Jeopardy) that make quick videos around the school for quiz questions!

We are a GAFE school and I wanted to utilize something that would be easily accessible by all.  Richard Byrne had written a post about Flippity some time ago - I took this opportunity to try it out.  I thought that this could be a neat opener for a staff meeting at the beginning of the year (I would choose different questions) - something light and fun to get us going as a team.

Click HERE to play the game.

#donowmanifesto

The #donowmanifesto for this week:

Here is this week's Do Now prompt!
Can artist manifestos create social change?http://blogs.kqed.org/education/2015/07/08/artist-manifestos-social-change/
This week's Make Cycle theme is centered around games and game design. As game designers, we are also artists. Almost all game companies have a vision or mission when creating a new game. Making a profit is obviously important for any company - but there are other political or social goals that may be embedded within their efforts. How could a manifesto create this change? 
Create your own manifesto that expresses your views and beliefs on this topic. 
Share using the #clmooc  and #DoNowManifesto  tags.

... brings me to Symbolic Frame from B&? - creating... inspire hope...

I love the challenges that get me thinking, that have me diving further into my brain to connect thoughts and ideas!  In a graduate course, we are talking about how the naming of a class can affect attitudes towards what happens there and who attends.  Would you rather be in the "remedial reading" class or the "creative reading" class?  The symbolic frame created by just a few words is powerful.  With this in mind, I created my own manifesto:

It stems from my love of chaos theory:

cha·os the·o·ry
noun
the branch of mathematics that deals with complex systems whose behavior is highly sensitive to slight changes in conditions, so that small alterations can give rise to strikingly great consequences.
I believe it is important to know that from chaos, amazing things can rise.
I believe that each of us, no matter how small, can have big effects on the world (think butterfly effect).
I believe that sometimes we need to just jump into the deep end of the pool and start swimming for change.

And includes quotes from Friedrich Nietzsche, Alan Watts, and Deepak Chopra.

I believe that the only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.  As we initiate change in our education spaces, I wish to challenge staff and students to think about their own manifestos.  I would like the Makerspace Faciliatators to brainstorm one specifically for that environment as well.

#silentsunday

One of my favorite challenges throughout this process is the #silentsunday one.  It's very simple and very compelling all at the same time.  Post one image from the week with no commentary.  It's fascinating how many people respond to this challenge and post an image.  Also fascinating is how many are compelled to include commentary!

My #silentsunday images for the first 2 cycles:

I would love to have a similar challenge to students.  Perhaps to staff as well.  A weekly theme would be provided based on curriculum or school activity (peace, kindness, the number 3) and everyone would be challenged to add an image to a main collection.  No commentary allowed with the posting.  The discussions that happen for each image "story starter" have the potential to be interesting.

Continuing the reMEDIAtion

Next, I participated in the #donowdance challenge:

Here is the second Do Now post for CLMOOC 2015.
What's your favorite dance move? If you don't have one, you can make one! Capture your moves and share. If you can't capture it through video, describe what your dance would be or looks like. ‪#‎donowdance‬ ‪#‎clmooc‬

To continue my reMEDIAtion, I wanted to explore using video.  Again, utilizing my phone and the default apps, I decided to use a video from my daughter's dance recital.  After a few edits and filters, this is the final result.

In reflection, this is great for me to remember that my students need time to just mess around with tech sometimes before starting a big project.  They can find plenty of bells & whistles on their own, personalize a quick product, and be ready to tackle something larger.  It's worth the time and effort to just let them play it out sometimes.

Finally, just for fun, I made my reMEDIATEd contribution to the #cowremix challenge.  A picture of a cow was posted for the CLMOOC community and we were challenged to remix it.  My remix looks deceptively simple.  However, it was a lot of work as I researched photo editing apps for the iPad, downloaded and tried several.  The final result is a combination of more than one app being utilized for the final result (referred to as app smashing).

So what did I get out of all of this?  A reminder that:

• It's OK to let students play with the tools before starting an activity.
• Look to use the default tools available as the paid "fancy" versions may not be needed.
• Personalizing something is powerful and can make a student feel ownership to the product, the idea, the learning.
• A little humor can go a long way.
• Find activities that require some grit, some perseverance on the student's part.  Let them dig into it and be creative along the way.
• An activity that provides a type of prompt (like the cow picture) can give a student a safe place to start.  Creating from scratch can be intimidating.

Cycle #2 - Remediation

The instructions for this cycle included the following from the CLMOOC website:

For this Make Cycle, we invite you to consider how the media we compose within (like print, sound, still and moving image, or objects) influence how we communicate and interpret.  In this Make Cycle, we will mediate and re-mediate and reflect on how the affordances of different media impact our choices, processes, and meanings.

I wanted to reMEDIAte in a manner that is accessible for students, so I grabbed my phone.  We had just gone to the fireworks in Portsmouth, NH - we took our 2 teenagers staying with us through an international Peace program, so I was viewing the fireworks display through very patriotic eyes.  I'm sure there is a great poem in there.  I also have an idea for a video, but those ideas are for another day.  Here are my photos reMEDIAted on my phone.

Original photo on left. Edited one on right reminds me of a deep sea creature!

Original photo on left. Edited one on right.

Mashup of several edited photos.

I was surprised at how many options the default photo editor had on my phone.  It was fun to make changes to the original photos and create something that was very personal.  This could be a very approachable activity for students.  They could alter photos to fit the mood of a short story, for example.  

Participation in Challenges

The #CLMOOC experience includes regular challenges as well as some spontaneous ones that come about from others going through the process.  It can be a little chaotic, but I can participate in as many or as few as I please.  Each one brings me thoughts, ideas, and reflections on my own students (more on that in a later post).

Some that I have participated in are:

#untro

The theme this week is Unmaking Introductions. Let’s consider the ways we name, present, and represent ourselves and the boundaries or memberships those introductions create.
How do we name ourselves in different contexts—personally? professionally? online? 
What happens when those contexts converge? 
How might we take apart our introductions to answer some of these questions? 
What will happen when we put them back together again to share them in CLMOOC?

I am going to admit that I wanted something easy right now.  For me, the description of Make #1 was complicated, so I wanted an easy interpretation (I'll try something else in a couple of days).

So here is my Unmake intro.  I used http://portwiture.com and entered in my Twitter handle.  It came up with this lovely visual.  It created an intro that I never would have thought of on my own.  I like the "unmade me" :)

"Portwiture grabs photography from Flickr that matches the content of your most recent Twitter updates. The result is a serendipitous visual representation of your Twitter profile."

Collective Spotify Playlist

From a participant:  "...playlist of music that defines us could be another way of connecting. Think about ONE SONG that defines you right now, in the past, in the future. Perhaps the lyrics speak to you. Perhaps it's a song that helped you through a tough time. The We Are #CLMOOCplaylist is collaborative."

My contribution, keeping in the Maker spirit of the project, is If I Had a Hammer by Peter, Paul, and Mary.

#F5F (Find Five Fridays)

Find five people you have connected with.

Comic from:  Mimi & Eunice

#DoNowObject

What object or material best represents you?

Interesting question... "Select an everyday object or material as your personal symbol. What object or material did you choose, and what might it signify about you? "
I chose STEEL. My father was a sheet metal worker and STEEL was the first material that came to mind when reading the initial question. So I looked up the properties of steel and found: Strength, Toughness, Ductility (how flexible you are before cracking under pressure), Weldability (combine & form harmonious, effective whole), and Durability. Yep, the material I identify with is steel!

#GrowthMindset Memes

C. Dweck Mindset based

#abundance

A weekly photography challenge, this week was abundance.

My contribution:  An abundance of squares over my head marking the delineation between life on the deck and the freedom of the skies.

Oblique Joys & Sorrows

Here is the game.  "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for."  So sayeth Koenig on his site.  Maybe there is a hole in our own language and this is a place to talk about these feelings."

Twitter Chat ONE #CLMOOC

I planned to lurk and that worked great for a bit.  However, there were so many interesting thoughts and ideas coming out of this chat that I decided to just jump in.  Again, I keep an eye to my own learning environments as I move through the #CLMOOC experience.

By the end of the chat, I needed some serious reflection time to sit (ala Pooh Bear) to think, think, think.  Some of the items I took to ponder:

• How can we shake up the traditional introductions to have more depth, more interest, more engagement?  CLMOOC used the #untro, yet I think my students need something a little less obscure.
• Is it better for students to be brought into creative (design thinking) gradually or thrown right into the "deep end of the pool"?
• Do students feel excluded or is there an inequity when some know how to approach a problem before others?  How can our classrooms ensure all are comfortable trying, failing, succeeding, learning?
• What about students who meet a challenge with thinking that is solidly "in the box"?  How to get them (can we) thinking along different avenues to find solutions?
• Can we build in better moments to pause and reflect?  How best to do this in a Makerspace, for example?

This was great as I am really thinking about how to approach the new Makerspace next year to ensure it truly engages the students.  I'm looking forward to sharing these questions with my co-workers!

The Storify for the chat is available HERE.

Warrior Knights of Digital Citizenship

My first make for the Make Bank in the CLMOOC:  Warrior Knights of Digital Citizenship.

After participating in the introductions, it was suggested that I put my images into the Make Bank.  I chose the shield and put an idea for a lesson plan with it as I am usually trying to tie everything back to my learning environment.

Introductions

To begin the CLMOOC experience, I completed some tasks:

• I introduced myself on the G+ community and included my 1st makes of the summer, a personalized coat of arms and a CLMOOC meme.
• I added my pin to the CLMOOC map.

My 1st makes of the summer!  Hi everyone - I'm Christina, you can find me on Twitter as @MrsDi. I am the Director of Technology at a K-8 independent school in southeastern New Hampshire.  We are putting together a Makerspace for next year (very exciting) and I am looking for ideas, resources, and collaborations to help make it work!  

REFLECTION

It may feel silly at first making these types of items, a meme and a coat of arms, but it gets the brain working and creating.  It gets me looking online for resources and finding new tools available for creation.  As I work through a task like this, there is always a part of me that is thinking about how to use it with students (if at all).  Creating a personalized coat of arms could be used in history and reading studies easily, however I wish to think outside of the box.  How about having students create a coat of arms based on who they are as digital citizens?  As for the meme, students could make memes based on idioms, on science lab rules, etc.  I believe that letting students personalize a product helps engage and motivate them.  So yes, it was a bit silly as an adult working on these products, but it was engaging.  Combining that with some curriculum will be interesting!

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Resources:

Make Your Coat of Arms

Spell with Flickr

Canva

Advanced Applications of Instructional Technology

Summer 2015!  It has officially begun as the last day of school for staff was yesterday!

For me, this summer includes my last 2 graduate courses as I complete my 2nd Masters degree.  As a Johns Hopkins University student, I am working on Seminar in Teacher Leadership and Advanced Applications of Instructional Technology (AAIT).  For the latter, I am tasked with completing a program experience outside of the AAIT structure.  My choice is CLMOOC 2015.

CLMOOC = Connected Learning Massive Open Online Collaboration

CLMOOC “is a collaborative, knowledge-building and sharing experience open to anyone interested in making, playing, and learning together about the educational framework known as Connected Learning. CLMOOC provides educators of all types with an opportunity to play with new tools, make projects and friends, and share projects and reflections with colleagues across the country and around the world.”

I am challenged in the undertaking of creating a school Makerspace for the upcoming school year. This includes the design of the space, engaging staff and students with the materials, and ensuring that the activities are effectively integrated throughout the curriculum.  The CLMOOC experience will provide the opportunity to interact and learn with others facing the same challenges.  Additionally, I will have the opportunity to learn from experts in the field.

• I am very interested in the Maker mindset and engaging students with these projects.  This is not something I am directly studying in my graduate classes and I welcome the opportunity to pursue the topic.
• A Makerspace can utilize constructivism, project-based learning, collaborative learning, and inquiry-based learning as part of the pedagogical process.  The CLMOOC is based on a collaborative approach with a reflective stance for those taking the course.  It will provide opportunities to what pedagogies are most effective within a Makerspace environment.
• The CLMOOC is based on 6 weeks of “Make Cycles” which are units of different study topics.  These cycles are technology based, providing opportunities to learn/sharpen technology skills in a collaborative environment.
• I am the Chair of a Technology Committee that is helping with our Makerspace construction.  Some of the members will be taking the CLMOOC with me.  This will provide new opportunities for me to expand my technology leadership skills as we work through the course together with the Makerspace as a common goal.

Follow my CLMOOC adventures as I post regular updates here on this blog.