Cue the fireworks and fanfare. July is here, which means that the midsummer hustle to finish overflowing bucket lists and lofty summer projects is upon us, and whether we are ready to face it or not, school is beginning to encroach on our summer fun. Back to school signs are lining local store aisles and advertisements for school supplies sales are littering mailboxes everywhere.
The buzz from ISTE first ignited my back-to-school prep toward the end of June. While I was #notatISTE this year, I carefully followed my personal learning network’s reactions to the full ISTE experience and individual sessions attended. The tweets that caught most of my attention included Google Suites' continual evolution and new strategies with familiar tools that can enhance the educational experience of students in any discipline. Countless links were shared, and there are still links and resources to explore from that conference.
As I take time to catch up on sleep from this past school year, I realize that 2018-19 was full of exciting challenges and lively days of running around the school, seeking ways to support colleagues and define the new role given to me. My goal for the upcoming academic year is to continue to build upon momentum previously created and hone my craft both as an instructor and as a teacher-leader. To achieve my goals, I will devote time this summer to the preparation process. Currently working toward creating a vision and developing clear objectives for the 2019-20 school year, I hope to make the forthcoming school year the best yet. While my progress seems to be more of a cyclical process rather than a linear path, I have taken the time to outline where I am at and where I hope the coming academic year will take me. Here's where I'm at:
Step one: Reflect.
Reflection is a constant and continual process. There's always an idea to revisit or reevaluate. Removed from the 2018-19 school year for a minute now has allowed me to reflect on my experiences, both a teacher and instructional coach, more objectively. In the classroom, I taught a new course that could benefit from a little modernization and stretched my creative juices as I explored art, architecture, literature, and music. Working on updating and personalizing each class I taught, including the new course, I revamped and revitalized assignments and asked students for their feedback along the way.
Additionally, I took some risks with video and podcast projects that seemed to challenge my students to rethink writing and communication. I made personalized and blended learning experiences a priority. I also made free reading and student choice a goal, too. While not every day was a momentous curricular experience, I honed my teaching craft as I unabashedly assumed a fail-big attitude. On the go big or go home scale, I'd sooner go big. Overall, the kids learned and grew as readers, writers, and speakers making it a successful year, but there's always room for improvement.
As a new instructional coach, I've had much to learn as I embarked on a "fake it until I make it" approach most of the school year. With only a short job description that included establishing relationships and completing other duties as assigned, I began to build resources to share with colleagues, created video tutorials to spark interest in educational technology, and visited as many classes as I could to observe what's working in classrooms in my school. My goal was to illustrate to my colleagues how much they shined and how talented they are. Teachers caught #FlipGridFever and used Pear Deck to enhance discussion experiences; they participated in PD challenges, and most surprisingly, watched my weekly videos. While the inaugural year in this role appeared to be a success, I still have high goals of furthering engagement with teachers, preparing the staff and students for the adaptation of a learning management system, and helping to implement educational strategies such as personalized and blended learning seamlessly and successfully.
This past year was personally a growing year as I took a break from coaching speech to enjoy my three young children and to focus on understanding my son's unique health needs. In some ways, I slowed down to establish better work-life harmony. Personal growth is equally as important, if not more important than professional growth as our well-being is such a critical part of being in relationship with others. Serving students' academic and emotional needs every day is draining, and the best teachers (or professionals in any field) know how to put on their metaphorical airbags first. I am still working on practicing self-care but strides were made.
Step two: Research.
After creating a thorough picture of where I stand professionally and personally through the reflection process, my time has been allocated toward tapping into my PLN and seeking new strategies to incorporate into next year's playlist.
Exciting updates are happening to Google Forms, the locked quiz feature may be working more effectively, and new design templates are giving Google Slides, Docs, and Sheets an updated look. Even Google Classroom will have more updates coming this fall that include new grade book and rubric creating features. These updates seem intriguing and can assist in improving course design for both teachers and students. All of these updates are outlined in the Google for Education Help Center or social media platforms (@GoogleForEdu on Twitter is my favorite follow for GSuites updates).
Reading an educational book or two is also a great way to gain some perspective. This summer, my professional texts of choice include: Writers Read Better: 50+ Paired Lessons that Turn Writing Craft Work into Powerful Genre Reading (Nonfiction) by M. Colleen Cruz and Talk to Me: Find the Right Words to Inspire, Encourage, and Get Things Done by Kim Bearden. I also have another book in my car stash on personalized learning but haven't cracked into it yet. Whether it is a book that a colleague has recommended or has come across the interwebs, reading academic-related books can spark motivation to incorporate a new idea in the classroom or if nothing else, affirm the great things that are already happening in the classroom.
If time is a constraint, setting aside five to ten minutes to browse a social media feed dedicated to education can be a way to glean a quick insight while on the go or waiting in line at a store. Scanning headlines is a great way to learn more about current educational research in short spurts. Twitter or Google can even lead to more extended rabbit hole reading expeditions. My favorite places to browse for a quick article to read is the Edutopia website, the ASCD website, and the MindShift blog.
Following a blog or podcast can also bring inspiration, especially for people who are traveling via car a great deal this summer. My favorite education podcasts are The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast by Jennifer Gonzales and the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast because they're short and full of quick, applicable nuggets of knowledge. Both teacher-casters are passionate, engaging, and also have great blogs. Another podcast I recently discovered is The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast. I only recently started listening to this podcast, but it is rich with additional information about GSuites. There are so many podcasts available, but finding a few to listen to while in the car has provided some fresh insights into the world of educational technology, teaching, and learning. Learning can happen anywhere; With podcasts, anyone can learn on the go.
Regardless of where one chooses to gain information or through what medium, fantastic educators are sharing their insights and are incredible resources to utilize.
Step three: Anticipate the need and cast a vision.
I am still actively working on this step in the process. I have started to create a calendar outline of the school year, reflecting on what I accomplished last year. Drafting a plan is time-consuming and cannot be completed in a single sitting. As soon as I have a coherent outline, I will share it with my building leadership to gain insights and anticipate the needs for the coming school year. Since my school is a Google for Education school, supporting my colleagues with updates and acclimating them to new aesthetics will consume a great deal of my attention at the beginning of the year. Also, reviewing and publicizing some of the great tools my school has subscriptions to including EdPuzzle, Pear Deck, and Padlet is crucial. Not only is my district investing in these tools, but they are also user-friendly ways to enhance the curricular experience for students. These tools can be used in countless ways, and unless they are publicized, teachers won't use them. Aside from the tools themselves, my school is moving toward blended and personalized learning, which means that teachers need to understand what educational philosophies look like in practice. A common language and expectations should be established, which is a goal my instructional coach colleagues from across the district that we will be working on towards the end of the summer. While I still work to do in this part of the process, the reflection and research completed in June have motivated me to dig in and plan for the upcoming fall semester.
Step four: Create conversations.
Collaboration with my colleagues and administration in my building are both places to start the conversation about what this coming school year will be. Preparing for a school year does not happen overnight; it is not a task to be crossed off on a to-do list. Getting ready for another year of learning is part of a much grander process that involves continual reflection, reevaluation, and conversations. Conversations are not just local endeavors either. One of the many reasons that I love Twitter is that it has allowed me to expand my conversations to a national platform in which I can share ideas and glean inspiration from so many experienced and talented teachers. My PLN is an ever-expanding group of teachers from my building, friends that I have met along the way, and people that I may never meet face-to-face am so grateful to have encountered in both small and significant ways. The more we discuss and share our ideas, the more we can learn from each other and move the educational world forward.
While I will undoubtedly treasure the last few weeks of summer, I am eager and hopeful for the fresh start that the beginning of an academic year promises. There is much to discover and significant growth to accomplish! Bring on 2019-2020.
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