September Challenge from @AdobeforEdu #AdobeEduCreative

Hello everyone! I'm excited to share the September Challenge from Adobe for Education. This is a fun little project that showcases the power of GenAI. You are going to instruct GenAI in Adobe Express to create a bobblehead version of yourself using the template connected to the link below. 

I will be using this with my students for our first class exploring Adobe Express. It is a fun way to get to know students and to give them a chance to play around with GenAI in Adobe Express before I assign other work over the course of the trimester. 

Start by following this link, adobe.ly/4dQfz7e, and make one for yourself to showcase to the students. 

Here is what I created!

Be Brave #EdChat

I wanted to share a simple post at the start of the school year. This simple post has a very simple message, 

There is so much fear out there for teachers in the classroom. They are afraid to be who they really are. They are afraid to take that risk and do that lesson that they think can make important connections for their students. There is fear to ask admin permission to try something new for the school. The world is a scary place and schools are reflecting that scariness more and more each year. It would be easy to sit and hide for the school year, but standing up and being brave can make a world of difference. Being Brave will look different for everyone. We shouldn't judge the small or large acts of bravery that teachers will show during the course of the year. Instead, we should applaud them for trying. Even if it fails, they got up and tried. I have this quote from Teddy Roosevelt in my room that really sums up my feelings on this, 

Credit: Me Made with Adobe Express

I hope everyone can find the way to Be Brave and do that thing or those things that can make the classroom or school a little better for everyone. 

Hugs and High Fives, 

NP

Unsolicited Back to School Advice #EdChat

Unsolicited Back to School Advice

Created with DALL-E

It is that time of year again where teachers all over the country are getting ready to head back to their classrooms. Some are heading to their very first classroom. It can be a scary time for new and veteran teachers. There might be new admin in place, a new curriculum, might be rolling out, or a host of other things that can up the anxiety level. With all of that in mind, I thought I would share some unsolicited advice that might help any teacher get through the back to school butterflies. 

1. Focus on what you can control

The most important thing when it comes to back to school jitters is focusing on what you can control. You cannot control the new admin, or the new procedures in place for dealing with tardy students, or the broken stall in the bathroom from last year that is still not fixed despite multiple work orders having been submitted. You can control the way your classroom looks, the welcoming environment that students feel when they walk through the doorway. You can control the bulletin boards, and flexible seating. You can control how you greet the students at the door for each class. There are so many things you cannot control that can drive anxiety levels, up, but, there are so many thinks you do control in your classroom that help create an amazing learning experience for your students. Focusing on those will help kick the year off in the right direction. 

2. Note important school dates on your calendar

Hopefully your school releases a calendar that has all of the important dates marked. These should be school breaks, PD days, testing dates, etc. Mark these down in your calendar or plan-book (Do people still use teacher planners?) so you are not surprised later on when a lesson needs to be cut short or interrupted by a week of testing. This is also nice if you plan to take some of your personal days and you need to plan around school events. Make sure to check your school policy on using personal/sick days. If you are in a school that has a use them or lose them policy, keep that in mind throughout the year. Mental health is important and you need to make sure you use your days to support physical AND mental health issues. If you can help yourself, how will you be able to help others? Mark all of the important dates in your calendar so you will not be shocked later in the year. 

3. If your new, find out who does what and write it down

Being new to a building is tough for lots of reasons. You are hit over the head with the new teacher training and you can easily be overwhelmed with all of the new information being tossed your way. If you are not give a list of names with phone numbers, emails, and jobs, it is important to create your own. You should create a quick cheat sheet that has the name, numbers, and emails of the people in charge of various parts of the school. Administrators, office assistants, maintenance, school counselor, school nurse, etc. Anybody that you might need to call quickly or email. Most importantly, ask a veteran teacher how to get certain things done. Sometimes there are proper channels of getting things done and there are ways to get things done quickly. You only learn these things through experience, so connect with those who have it so you can learn it. I learned that one of the office assistants loved pumpernickel bagels. Whenever I got bagels for class or for the department, I would get one for her and drop it off at her desk. My forms were always processed quickly when dropped off throughout the year. Sometimes a little grease can get the wheels moving. I learned that from a veteran teacher after a couple of years. 

4. If you are a returning veteran teacher, keep an eye out for the newbies

There are going to be some bright eyed teachers stepping into the building for the first time with lots of crazy ideas of what teaching is going to look like for them. It is important to adopt these younglings and help guide them through the process so they do not burn out and you are forced to start the hiring process all over again. Provide them with the wisdom you wish you received as a new teacher or did receive thanks to an awesome veteran teacher. You might be thinking, "Am I a veteran teacher" and the answer is probably yes. It seems to have happened over night, but you are a veteran teacher now. I usually say if you can make it past the 5 year mark, you finally understand that you don't know everything and can start to learn and share with those around you. Find those teachers that need the support and help them be successful. 

5. Focus on growth

The last thing I want to share is the value of embracing the mistakes you are going to make. They are going to happen and you need to be ok with that. More specifically, learn from the mistakes and look to be better next time. Connect with a veteran teacher and talk about the mistake. Focus on growth this year. Whether you are new or a returning vet, by focusing on growth, you can be better. That is what we want for our students, so we should model that for ourselves. Every single teacher is on their own personal journey that makes them who they are in the classroom and as a person. If everyone is focused on growth and helping those around us with their growth, we can all be better in ways that make the entire school better for everyone. 

I know you did not ask for this advice and there are plenty of other things I could share with you, but I wanted to keep this short and sweet and let you explore the different ways to manage the back to school butterflies. Teaching can be tough, but it has an amazing community that is ready to support any teacher looking for help. Never be afraid to say, "I don't know" as long as it is followed up with, "but let's find out". You've got this, so go an make the 2024/2025 school year the best one yet.  

When Are You No Longer Innovative? #EdChat

I've been thinking about the concept of innovation and being innovative as an educator. At times, I think I have been innovative in different approaches to teaching and helping students learn. Whether that is through large projects like 20 Time that led to hosting TEDx Events or The Epic Romeo and Juliet Project or smaller changes to my every day instruction like increased wait time and how I ask questions. These big or little changes can have an impact on the students in class and pushes me to continually evolve as an educator. Despite these changes, and others over the years, I started to wonder at what point does an innovative strategy cross into the realm of traditional and no longer innovative. 

Right now, there is great work being done around brain science and what it can do to help teachers. An article from ASCD, Every Educator Needs to Know How The Brain Learns, does a wonderful job explaining the why of brain science for teachers. SEL is also very important in the classroom. I would argue that teachers have been concerned about Social Emotional Learning long before it was a buzzword in education. Where those teachers innovative in the fact that they were addressing something that was not considered mainstream yet? Once it became mainstream, is it no longer innovative?

Using a television in the classroom was considered extremely innovative at one time. Reading Rainbow and Sesame Street were considered so far ahead of their time. Using television, and visual media in general, was considered cutting edge. Those two programs were instrumental in educating tens of thousands of children around the country. It was innovative and impactful. Would you still call those programs innovative today? (Note: This dyslexic child learned to read because of LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow. Watching that cart with the TV wheel into class gave me so much hope that I would be able to read and be awesome like the kids featured on the show. I was able to meet Mr. Burton in person years ago and thank him with tears in my eyes. I know I wasn't the first or the last person to do that.)

June 2014 ISTE Conference

I have fully embraced Project Based Learning and Maker Education as a way to engage students in the learning process. I want to help students be creators and not just consumers of content. Project Based Learning has been around for a very l long time. Is it really still innovative to allow students to explore topics that are meaningful to them and let them learn through the process of discovery? I don't have the answer to that, but if PBL and MakerEd have transitioned into the realm of traditional pedagogy, does that mean it is time to find the next innovative approach?

I think the scary thing with being innovative as a teacher is the fact that failure is part of the process. Lessons are going to be bad or simply not work out. Being innovative is not easy and it is not something everyone is comfortable being in the classroom. It takes educators who are in the right environment to try the new ideas and see how they go. They document and share and hopefully their innovative idea grows and expands to classrooms all over. However, it is not easy. I imagine so many innovative ideas shrivel on the vine because education is not set up to support innovative teaching. 

As a teacher who advocates for teachers to try the big crazy idea, yells from the rooftop that mental health needs to be talked about for teachers and students, that wants nothing more to find a way to support and nurture other educators looking to take their innovative idea to the next level, I want all educators out there to think about how they can be supportive of innovation in the classroom. Innovation will constantly evolve as technology and research provides more options and answers. My goal moving forward is to continue to support innovative practices, raise up voices that are trying to make education better for everyone, and not give up on finding the best thing for teachers and students, I just hope that every teacher feels that they have the option to try that idea because it could be the one that changes a generation of learners.