#DBC50Summer

#DBC50Summer 20/50: Instant Relevance

/ Alicia Ray / 4 Comments

If I had a dime for every time I heard “When am I ever going to use this?”… well, I’d have more money than I have right now. The sad truth is that there are some lessons students are required to sit through and when asked that question, I won’t lie to them. They will likely never use it unless they go into a specified career field. I’ve never used it in day-to-day life. While this is the case for some pieces of our curriculum, there are far more concepts they will use regularly. It is our job as teachers to make those lessons relevant for students, so they aren’t even asking that question. It should be clear when they will use it in real life! And that’s what book 20 in the Dave Burgess Consulting line up is all about.  Instant Relevance by Denis Sheeran is an incredibly small book with an incredibly powerful message. Stop right now and grab your own copy! It’s worth it!

instantrelevance

Throughout this book, Denis shows us example after example of how to take every day experiences and integrate them immediately into your lessons. He speaks to how you must have a relationship built with students, so you will know which experiences will connect to your students. If you talk about the Super Bowl commercials to a room of students who don’t enjoy football, the lesson loses effectiveness. It is important to know your audience, and in this case, that is your students. Know them! Discover their interests, their passions. This will enable you to find connections and make learning relevant to them.

True to DBC form, “Instant” has two meanings here. It does, in fact, take the dictionary definition and apply it to education. It is also an acronym (I know, right? Impressive).  The Captain sure does love his acronyms… both in his own book and the books he publishes apparently! I’d love to know how long it took to make the connection between Denis’s ideas and the acronym INSTANT. Not sure how to make learning relevant? Just follow the acronym!

I: Infusing who you are in what you do

N: Natural flow – follow the question

S: Sudden changes to your surroundings

T: Television and pop culture

A: Awareness of your surroundings

N: National events and crazes

T: Two or more content areas

Not only is this book informative and conversational, it’s also hilarious. I totally want to meet Denis Sheeran. He made me laugh more times than I can count with his sarcasm throughout the book! I appreciate a good dose of sarcasm, that’s for sure! Denis is a math educator and many of his stories from this book relate to math lessons. However, this is not a math book! He has many other examples of relevance across content areas.

It’s not about using his examples, it’s about using his example! He wasn’t afraid to look outside education for educational content.

There are multiple quotes that popped out to me, but I’ll only share a few here.

  • “…as teachers we need to infuse our lives into our work…don’t leave these things at the door when you walk into your classroom; bring them with you. By doing so, you’ll be bringing in the unexpected possibilities and connections your students need.”
  • “Sharing stories in class opens the door, even floodgates, for our students to learn about us and become comfortable talking about their own life experiences…When you tap into your students’ lives, your class immediately becomes relevant.”
  • “Too often we place the lesson plan’s importance over the value of our students’ experience…guide our students to understanding – not for them into compliance.”
  • “There is no better way to describe the teacher-student relationship…than the words: “Meet me at my best. Then we can go together.”
  • “Instead of sidelining the topics captivating my students’ attention in favor of ones they struggle to stay awake through, I prefer to use them to instruct and connect.”

Do you notice a connection? These quotes were taken from throughout the book. The connection here is the connection. That is my implementation. I work hard to make connections with each of my students. I strive to be “that teacher” for them. I want to always notice the students who need a little extra love that day and know the stories of those around me. I want them to know my stories as well. Without making an authentic connection, it is difficult to make learning real for them. Therefore, my implementation will be to continue to connect with my students. I will continue to know them by name (focusing on learning my 6th graders’ names faster), saying hello every morning, and making the media center a safe haven for every student in the school. It is only by forming these relationships that I can meet them at their best, share the topics that are interesting to them, infuse our lives into the learning, and guide them through understanding their curriculum. Not only will I do this for my students, but also for the teachers in my building. I look forward to learning their stories, so I can make learning relevant for them as well.

Like I said, this little book is so powerful! Like Shakespeare says in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “though she be but little, she is fierce.” Instant Relevance is a FIERCE book! One that I recommend you get now! Go ahead… I’ll wait.

The Flipgrid is available here with the password DBCSummer. Think of a lesson that was relevant for your students. Tell about that lesson; what did you do and how did your students respond? The idea for a global book study through flipgrid comes from my sweet friend, and incredible educator, Andrea Paulakovich. Go follow her on Twitter & follow her #DBC50Summer journey on her blog here. Be bold – be the first person to post your thoughts! Others will follow!

Check out Denis’s website here! His blog posts are just as awesome as his book! You’ll see his humor clearly! Multiple podcasts can be found along the side of his website. Be sure to check out the Instant Relevance podcast here! You can also follow the community on Twitter using the hashtag #MakeItReal. Join the chat using the same hashtag on Wednesday nights at 9:30 EST. Denis also has another book out called Hacking Mathematics. Check it out as well!

This is so hard to believe… we’ve finished Book 20! That means it’s time for another #DBC50Summer Recap! Watch for that post in the next day or two. In the meanwhile, check out Summer Recap 1 for information on the first ten books, and my #DBC50Summer interlude about discovering my #EDUpassions.

*Also, Denis? If you’re reading this… let your students know that I went back and removed one space after every paragraph. That’s a LOT of wasted paper, right? Although, this likely won’t be printed. At least, I hope not. But still…on principle, I went with the one space rule. (It may have hurt a little, but it’s just the sacrifice we must make for students.)

#DBC50Summer 19/50: 50 Things to Go Further with Google Classroom

/ Alicia Ray / 6 Comments

Well, folks… they did it again.  The dynamic duo of Alice Keeler and Libbi Miller, EdD teamed up to bring us another Google Classroom book. Believe it or not, this one is even better than the first (I know, I know – I thought there was no way, too).  Are you ready to see what this one is all about?  Book 19 from the Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc line up is 50 Things to Go Further with Google Classroom by Alice Keeler and Libbi Miller, EdD.

50thingsfurther

I’ve been asked if it is an extension of the first Google Classroom book. I’ve heard it said, “I don’t need that one; I’ve got the first one.” To that I say, “Uh, yeah… you do.”

You see, this book and the first are nothing alike, other than the “50 Things” bit, the format, and the integration of Google Classroom.  Beyond that, this book has much more “meat on the bones”.  The first book was terrific, don’t doubt that for a minute!  It is where I direct educators who want to know more about Google Classroom as a tool and how to get started.  THIS book is where I direct educators who want to use Google Classroom to engage and empower students.  50 Things Further is unique in that every single way to use Google Classroom Alice & Libbi discuss how it relates to a student-centered approach. I love, love, love that they aren’t just telling you how awesome Google Classroom is as a tool, but are sharing the incredible things your students can do by using Google Classroom!

Many times we (this is a real “we,” as in, I’m 100% guilty of this, too) become so enamored by the new “shiny” tool that we lose sight of why we are using it.

If the tech doesn’t serve a purpose, if it doesn’t make the lesson more efficient, more interactive, more… just more… then WHY would we use it?  Don’t let the tech drive the lesson, but let the lesson drive the tech.

Alice & Libbi get this better than anyone I’ve seen.  The students drive their reasons for using Google Classroom.  They show how the tech makes starting class, transitions, procedures, directions, giving feedback, grading (ugh, current soapbox item for me, but that’s another post for another day), collaboration, and connections more efficient.  They give evidence of how Google Classroom makes student learning stick by giving the power to the students.

Some of my favorites from this book:

  • Numbering assignments in Google Classroom – #001, #093, #182, etc. Makes it easier to find assignments through keyboard shortcuts, faster to tell students which assignment is missing, and organizes the Google Classroom folders!
  • Use Google Classroom in conjunction with a website or Learning Management System (LMS).  Many teachers in my district are using Google Classroom to manage day-to-day lessons in their classroom while putting grades, lesson plans, communication with parents, etc. in our LMS.  This is proving to work very well together with the LMS serving as communication and Google Classroom serving as organization.
  • Using hashtags in comments! I REALLY love this idea!  George Couros, author of The Innovator’s Mindset, shared in a workshop I attended that we should hashtag our Google Drive.  That idea worked wonders for me in the organization of Google Drive, and this idea from Alice & Libbi will be just as functional, I believe!
  • Peer editing – I love that students can peer edit within Google Classroom.  Because it is a closed environment and protects students from people outside the classroom, I can safely put student work here and accountability partners in class can edit and revise one another’s work!
  • Yearlong journals – giving students a space to reflect is so important!  I learned from The Writing on the Classroom Wall by Steve Wyborney that reflective writing is one of the most powerful practices in which we can engage ourselves and our students. Giving students a writing journal template allows them a safe space to collect and transcribe their own thoughts.
  • Providing challenges and not assignments is one of my very favorite ideas to come from this book!  I love that the authors suggest giving a challenge with complex questions so students can show their thinking, rather than a detailed description which would create 100 of the exact same assignments turned in.

With these amazing ideas in mind, my implementation plan is quite simple!  I already use Google Classroom in the media setting.  I intend to use the hashtag in comments and numbering assignments tips from this book.  I will also implement a writing journal for each of my students.  This will be a space for them to reflect on books they have read.  At the beginning of every media class, they will be responsible for accessing Google Classroom and spending 5 minutes reflecting on one of the books they will be returning.  This reflection may take any form they’d like, but they must write and it must be about a book they are returning.  It is my hope that this will encourage students to read, keeping them accountable, but also freeing them to write about it as they’d like without the standard “write a summary” prompt.  I’m so thankful that I didn’t have someone telling me what to do with #DBC50Summer as I have finished reading each book, and I have taken so much more out of this experience than I likely would have if this was a prescribed reflection.  Don’t you think the same is true for our children’s reading?

The Flipgrid for 50 Things To Go Further With Google Classroom is located here, with the password DBCSummer.  A big thank you to Andrea Paulakovich for the amazing idea to include a space for global collaboration and continued learning as a book study for ALL of the DBC books!  Access her #DBC50Summer here!  Alice & Libbi have set us up for success by providing an updated tour of Google Classroom at 50thingsbook.com. You can also access Alice’s Google Classroom page here, her website/blog here, and find the templates and add-ons mentioned in the book here!  As I mentioned in the first Google Classroom book, these are rabbit holes.  Proceed with caution; you will NOT want to leave all the awesome that is provided on those websites!  I also highly recommend following Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler) as she is constantly tweeting tips and tricks for teachers AND students about using GAfE (Google Apps for Education)!

The 20th book in the DBC line up is finally here!  OH MY GOODNESS!!! I am honestly in shock that we’ve reached this point in the #DBC50Summer journey!  The 20th book is one of my favorites; it’s a short book packed with all kinds of “relevance” (wait for it…) – written by Denis Sheeran, Instant Relevance (see what I did there…) is a MUST-HAVE for any educator’s collection!  Blog coming soon!

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Did you get your copy of 50 Things to Go Further with Google Classroom yet?  What are you waiting for?  You want this!

#DBC50Summer 18/50: The Writing on the Classroom Wall

/ Alicia Ray / 5 Comments

With the exception of the #DBC50Summer: Discovering my #EDUpassions post, I have not blogged in nearly a week.  There’s a perfectly good reason for this…

Book 18 in the Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc line up is The Writing on the Classroom Wall by Steve Wyborney.  In this book, Steve challenges us to literally put our thoughts and passions, what we deeply believe, on our walls (yes, our physical wall space in our classroom/office/hall/etc) and share with anyone and everyone what those beliefs are… yeah, that’s some kind of scary, I’ve got to admit!  And yes… I was stalling.

twotcw

I was so hesitant about this book.  I have carried it around in my book bag all week!  I spent the majority of the week in western North Carolina working with a group of phenomenal educators from across the state, facilitating workshops in an NCCAT session called Teaching Generation Z: Active and Digital Learning.  I went to my room early each night while others stayed up playing games (I love to play games!) so I could read.  I would open it, read a few pages, then realize I didn’t have the slightest clue as to what I’d just read.  Finally, I realized that I needed some “book reading prep” time, and I realized I needed to decipher my own passions before I could really delve into this book.  So last night, after an inspiring NCTIES Board Meeting I sequestered myself in my room and used the brackets approach from Launch to nail down my educational passions.  I was satisfied with the Final Four, and still feel as though they are indicative of my strongest beliefs in education.

So tonight… I knew I had to read what Steve had to say.  No more avoiding it.  I’ve got to be honest here…it was insanely challenging to read the entire thing.  Now don’t go thinking it wasn’t a “good book” because it was! It just pushed my thinking in ways I wasn’t ready for tonight. I mean, I had even prepared for reading this particular book in advance with my in-depth research to discover my own passions!  That wasn’t enough.  Steve brought his A-Game in this book!

First of all, this guy has a way with words.  He is truly a wordsmith, an artist really… the way he writes makes you slow down and appreciate what he’s trying to say.  He’s very metaphorical, so prepare to buckle down and focus while reading this one.  It’s so worth it!  Lord help us when he started talking about reflective writing.  Specifically he states

Reflective writing is a powerful process that provides opportunities to personally, deeply wrestle with thoughts and ideas that are struggling to become more fully formed. -Steve Wyborney

In that very moment, I desperately needed a Madea “hallelujer” gif to adequately express my agreement.  Blogging my reflections on each of the DBC books with a plan for implementing has allowed me to go deeper with the book than I imagined I could.  Steve also mentions (Big Idea 20 – the book is set up by sharing the big ideas that he placed on the walls of his classroom, the discussion he had with his students, and how the idea grew) the idea of designing a path for others to follow your learning after you discover something new.  Knowing, when I started blogging, that these would be publicly available, it made me pay more attention to what and how I was learning.  Steve says, “I am determined to find my learning by giving it away…it is often in the sharing of my journey that I learn the most.” Yes, yes, and yes!

In fact… there are so many quotes throughout this book that are tweetable nuggets of knowledge that I just started creating some simple quote graphics on Canva.  Check out a few of them below.

This book is really geared toward any educator who wants to dive deeper into their educational beliefs.  If you want to really think through your WHY, this book will certainly bring that out.  It was challenging to read, not because of the quality of the writing (that was phenomenal), but because of the gravity of the message.  It really stretches your thinking and makes you examine your own “Big Ideas” about education, and how you can share it with your learners.

I’m going to do something I rarely do.  I am going to take the book at “face value” with my implementation plan.  Steve challenges readers at the end of the book to post at least one Big Idea on their wall through these steps.  This is my takeaway.  This is how I will implement The Writing on the Classroom Wall... exactly in the way Steve suggests at the end of the book.  Here are HIS steps for implementing TWOTCW!  Grab a copy of the book for yourself and join me!

  1. Select an important idea.
  2. Post it on your classroom wall.
  3. Explain to your learners what the Big Idea means to you.
  4. Be prepared to let the idea impact you personally! (whew)
  5. Seek opportunities to feature the idea.
  6. Grow your set of Big Ideas.
  7. Share your Big Ideas.

Check back in the fall for a follow-up about how this adventure goes.  I’m a bit scared to dive into this one, but knowing that it will benefit my students AND me makes it worth it.  My takeaway from Teach Like A Pirate was a quote from Dave Burgess who said, “It’s not supposed to be easy; it’s supposed to be worth it!” This implementation will not be easy for me. It seems so simple, but until you’ve read this book you can’t know how personal and powerful this “seemingly simple” action will be.  I do trust that it will be worth it, though.  So I’m going to do it.

To follow along with the community, use the hashtag #TWOTCW and visit Steve’s website.  His website is full of excellent activities for math, too!  Here is a book trailer for The Writing on the Classroom Wall.  I also highly encourage you to use the space on Flipgrid to reflect and share your response to TWOTCW with the world.  As always, the password is DBCSummer.  If no one has responded yet, take a risk and be the first! This digital space is meant to serve as a global book study for those with an affinity for any DBC book.  Andrea Paulakovich had this incredible idea & I recommend following her (she’s amazing) and her #DBC50Summer journey!

Next up on #DBC50Summer is the first “sequel” book.  The authors of Book 6, 50 Things You Can Do With Google Classroom, Alice Keeler and Dr. Libbi Miller are back with 50 Things to Go Further With Google Classroom!  Grab yours and prepare to see the practical, student-centered applications of Google Classroom! So excited to share Book 19 with you soon!

Edited April 5, 2019 to add post to implementation! See how I implemented The Writing on the Classroom Wall here!