Ladies and Gentlemen, ISTE 2013 kicks off this Sunday.
Last year around this time I made a list of ISTE12 To-Do's. The purpose was to challenge myself and others to make the most of this and other professional conferences. And to do so, I create a checklist of adventurous deeds that are guaranteed to create lasting memories and meaningful experiences.
Here's a recap:
1. Meet someone new each day.And not just a shoegazer shy "hello". Nah. We want the real thing here. Learn names. Exchange Twitter handles. Give high fives. Bonus points awarded for each following contact you have with said persons. There might just be another @JenniferLaGarde out there waiting to make your acquaintance.
2. Leave your hotel room. I know you'll be tired. Lots of walking. Lots of brain stimulation and excitement and bright lights and new gadgets. But this is San Antonio! You can't just go back to the hotel room and sleep. There are tons and tons of social events that will ultimately be the things you leave San Antonio talking about. And many of said events have open bars, making the socializing that much easier. Come on, chap. You can watch the Walking Dead another night.
3. Venture into the unknown. Ah! A vague task... clever, right?! To accomplish, you'll have to try out something totally new that you've never tried before. And you'll have to do it with heart and genuine interest. What's that? You say Google is holding demonstrations every 15 minutes? Sign me up! Tech4Learning has a new product they'd like to share? Definitely worth our time. Random Unknown Company needs an ear and has some flashy swag? You never know... you may even like what it is they're sharing!
4. Put yourself out there.You do great things. You are humbled by the other even greater things people are sharing. But don't mistake this to mean you don't have something to offer. A little too much "We're not worthy" is uncomfortable for everyone. Confidence, on the other hand, gets people's attention. And why shouldn't it? Those things you did to support those students were awesome!
But wait! There's more!
Here are a new new to-do's I'm adding to the plate for this year's ISTE conference.
5. Bring a companion. There's a lot to experience at a professional conference. Having someone to accompany your adventure is an opportunity sorely missed. What if you encounter other-worldy danger? A rift in the time-space continuum? An intruder masquerading treacherous plans? A puzzling logical conundrum? But seriously... what if you hear something that challenges the way you approach instruction? ...or you need someone to talk to about the inspiring ideas overheard at a recent session? Traveling with a companion means shared experiences, shared joy, share wins. If it's good enough for the Doctor, it's certainly good enough for me.
My companion. No doubt.
6. Break the ice. Being the first to say "hello" is a pain. What if the person thinks you're weird? What if he or she isn't interested in saying "hi"? What if things go awkward and then you keep running into the person over and over and over. Humiliation (or even the threat of humiliation) can be a bit crippling. Luckily, the people that attend professional conferences are just like you! They are there to learn, to meet new people, and have fun exploring ideas and tools related to their interests. You've nothing to fear and everything to gain. Instead of saying hi, why not just invite them to play an iOs game? You could play Spaceteam and end up making friends for life! Who knows?!
7. Nerd out. Much in the vein of putting yourself out there, ISTE is a chance to let your inner nerd shine. Geek out over the tech you love. Don't be shy over the web tools that make your heart flutter. That very tool that your prize above all others could be the rosetta stone that connects you to the people who will become your most prized PLN over the coming years. Being yourself and being true to your interests goes a very long way.
8. Join a tribe. Geek tribe. isteBFF. LevelUpBC. EduBros. Become part of the conference culture by participating in the groups who form, expand, and celebrate over the course of ISTE. These tribes are comprised of like-minded individuals and don't have to be professionally focused. Joining up is informal and the focus is on fun and friendship. Wearing fake mustaches, celebrating new friendships, geeking out over tech, and connecting with other gamers are a few of the ways I grew closer to others at ISTE last year. Those experiences, often taking placing virtually (via Twitter) and during off-hours (in between sessions and over dinner or drinks) are ones not to be missed.
Where ever you're headed this summer, have fun and be safe. And if you're headed to ISTE or ALA, I look forward to sharing some amazing experiences with you and the hundreds of other educators!
The Platform: iPhone (iOS 5.0 or later), iPod Touch, iPad (coming soon to Android) The Price: FREE
The Goods: Headed to ISTE or ALA this summer? It's time for an instant icebreaker!
A couple people suggested I check out Spaceteam, but it wasn't until playing that I could truly appreciate the genius behind the game. To play Spaceteam you need to be around some friends. You all need to be on iPhones or iPads (though the app will soon be released for Android devices). You need to be connected to the same WiFi. And you have to be close enough to give directions akin to "Activate the beveled nanobuzzers!" 2-4 players are required to start a game of Spaceteam and, once started, it's a noisy, frantic experience that isn't right for everyone... but then again, not everyone's right for saving a spaceship and its crew from intergalactic turmoil. Each team member is given a unique control panel and each team member receives specific directions that must be accomplished to maintain the integrity of the ship. Active or deactivate switches. Increase or decrease levels on sliders. Warn the team of incoming asteroids. However, the directions received are for the team. A team member usually has the switch, slider, or button that corresponds with your direction, so it's important to give the directions to the team. ...And listen for directions the teammates call out. ...Aaaand repair your panel when parts start to fall off or get covered in slime.
Here's a visual:
It's insane and fun and will make you a little anxious and will make you laugh a whole lot. And, to me, those are all really good things!
Now, imagine if we played Spaceteam at the beginning of the school year as a team-building exercise. Or when we attended a professional conference such as ISTE or ALA as a way of breaking the ice and meeting others who share a common interest. Or what if we just used it with kids to help them improve their communication skills? I think you're starting to see why being on a Spaceteam seems like a really big win... and its happening through gaming!
Gameplay Images:
Sometimes just reading the direction is the challenge.
...And then your control panel begins to fall apart.
If you read this blog regularly, chances are you've heard mention of the book I'm writing with my friend and colleague Meghan Hearn. We began working together nearly three years ago to the day when our colleagues saw the work each of us was doing with using the Nintendo Wii as a math tool in each of our schools. After meeting up it was apparent that the universe had bigger plans for us.
Now, some 36 months later and after logging hundreds of hours behind laptop screens, exchanging chapter drafts over a Google Doc, presenting at county, state, national, and virtual conferences, the end goal is in our sights.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Teaching Math with the Wii, a guidebook and resource for educators of students in grades K-7 exploring the use of the Nintendo Wii as an instructional tool in the math classroom. The print book is available for pre-order through the ISTE store (visit here) at a very reasonable price of $17.95 (discounted to $12.57 for ISTE members).
It's slated for an October 2013 release and galley copies will be available to browse at the 2013 ISTE Conference in San Antonio.
I'm thankful to have had your support and the support of others like you over the course of our book-writing adventure. I hope you'll take a minute to preview the work Meg and I have put into this resource and maybe even consider purchasing it for your school. But more importantly, I hope it will get you to consider how your instruction could be enhanced, infused, and otherwise inspired through gaming and game-based learning. It's an exciting world and we're honored to have a small stake in the conversation.
New to gaming? Check out the webinar Meg and I delivered at the TL Virtual Cafe in January of 2012 for some background on how the Wii can transform your math classroom. (Click here.)
It's been three years since the release of The Adventures of Super3, and this time Danielle and Annette are bringing in the big guns. Big6, that is.
Friends and fellow Howard County Public Schools teacher librarians Danielle DuPuis and Annette Nelson are celebrating the release of Big6, Large and In Charge. I've invited them onto the blog to introduce us to Big6, talk information literacy, and give us an inside peek to their excellent new resource. They've also generously offered to give away a copy of Big6, Large and In Charge! Complete the survey following the interview with the authors for your chance to win!
Now, as you know, I'm a huge fan of yours and of your fabulous Super3 resource book. I think every teacher librarian of students PreK thru Grade 2 should own a copy. I've personally taught every lesson in the book from cover to cover and couldn't speak highly enough about it. Imagine my excitement when you shared that you were working on a Big6 book next! So, I've got a couple of questions if you don't mind.
ATTENTION Readers!
Listen to the interview here or proceed below to read the transcript.
1. What was your inspiration or motive for personifying Big6 as the cool, information literate character we meet in Big6, Large and In Charge? Annette: I would have to say Sesame Street is where we get this idea from because we both grew up with it.
Danielle: Absolutely! I think we modeled him after our fun Super3 and we got the idea for Super3 from Sesame Street.
A: And I think specifically back to the little segment they did with Lionel Richie and him singing "U Really Got a Hold on Me"with this big, gigantic letter U. And so I think of a huge, big 6 when I think of Big6.
2. In your opinion, what role does information literacy play in the academic success of the 21st century learner?
A: I think we both feel that...
D: "What role doesn't it play?"
A: Right! Exactly! Kids these days are going to get their information from the internet. Some books, but most likely they're going to go right to the internet. To us, if they're going to go right to the internet then they definitely have to have all the basics of What's a good source?, What's a trusted source?, How can they cite those sources carefully so that teachers and people who are viewing their work can find out if they're accurate or not. They need all of those skills.
3. How long have you both been using Big6 in your library classrooms? D: We've been using Big6 in our media instruction since we heard Bob Berkowitz come and speak to HCPSS media specialists in 2005! We were hooked from the get-go.
4. While the units in Big6, Large and In Charge can be taught by a classroom teacher or teacher librarian, you emphasize the value of collaboration throughout this book. What are some ways you found work best when approaching a teacher about collaborating on a project such as the ones included in Big6, Large and In Charge?
A: I think that I have to say I've never met an elementary or middle or even high school teacher who doesn't feel like they have too much to do and too much to teach in the school year. So I feel like if you go to them and you say, "Hey! I know that you have these objectives to cover. And I have these objectives to cover. If we worked on a project together, I can help take away some of the stuff that you have to do. And that helps me because that's what my job is a media specialist and that way you have less to do." And almost always they are super excited about that idea, so they jump right on. Definitely going to somebody that you know you work well with and you'll do a good job with [is important]. Starting small.
D: I think they get excited too because they see how excited the kids get over the characters, like with the Super3 and now with the Big6. When the kids get excited, it's even more exciting and more fun to teach.
A: And certainly all the projects we have in the book... most of them, we feel, are pretty motivating and fun to do, so then therefore the kids get really into it, which helps classroom management and teaching. And then you can use that for other projects down the line and don't have to limit yourself to just the Big6 things in the book. We can do other cool projects together. That's always fun.
5. Your units each begin with a comic wherein a character is struggling to complete a task or assignment and Big6 appears and offers help. Has the reaction by students this age (roughly 8 and up) to the character of Big6 been positive? (3:56)
A: Yes. We unfortunately did not have the drawings for the comics for the kids when I was test teaching the lessons, but I would read the actual comics without the pictures to the kids and they loved it. They thought it was super duper fun. And they were really interested to see what the actual pictures looked like.It was very fun. The kids had a good time. They liked Big6 a lot.
6. What's been your favorite (or a memorable) experience you've had using these lessons with students.
A: One time when I did the penguin lesson with the kids...
[see Big6 & The Troubled Teacher 5th grade unit in book in which a teacher tells some second graders that she knows some penguins that live in Antarctica. The second grades are so interested in the penguins that they write the penguins postcards with questions about Antarctica. Big6 helps the troubled teacher and her 5th graders locate information on penguins. The information is shared through letters which, after being written, are frozen in a block of ice (safely protected in a plastic bag) before being returned to the second graders]
(cntd.) ...and we were delivering the letters to the second graders, the plastic bag that I had the letters in broke and the letters got all wet and froze into a solid block of ice. And I got to the kids and said, "We're delivering all of these letters for these penguins I brought you back," and I couldn't separate the letters to give to the children and they were pretty disappointed. And then one of the second graders said, "Why don't you put them in the microwave?" And I said, "great idea!", so I was running into the teacher's lounge and microwaved this huge stack of letters and that way I could hand them some sopping wet letters instead of frozen ones. That was pretty fun.
D:Sorry Scientist (3rd grade) is definitely one of my all-time favorite lessons. The Alka-Seltzer tablets [used in] making the little rockets... the kids love that. And actually, Annette and I made a video to go along with that quite a number of years ago with Dr. Bookenstein and it was a pretty funny video. We'll have to post that at some point. We went through all the steps of the Big6 in one 10-minute video and had two characters: Dr. Bookenstein and Igor. And having the little explosion at the end was fun. But anyway, we took that and improved on it for the Sorry Scientist [unit]. The explosions at the end that the kids get to make with the Alka-Seltzer tablets and the Coke canisters is definitely one of the most memorable Media experiences ever.
A: Didn't you have a rocket go up to the ceiling?
D: Yes! I did have one go up to the ceiling and that was when our ceilings were very, very high in that portion of the media center, so the kids were all excited! I remember teachers were coming in to take a look to see what all the excitement was in the media center. We were having so much fun.
A: And we've never had anybody lose an eye! [laughs]
D: No, never! We always use safety precautions.
7. If Big6 were cast in a movie, who would be your dream actor or actress to play the part?
A: I got a good answer for this!
D: Now, Annette and I have not discussed what our answers are gonna be, and I'm guessing we probably have two different answers. On the count of three lets say our answers together. 1, 2, 3...
A: Zach Galfianakis D: Robin Williams
[laughter]
A: Robin Williams is good, though! That's definitely a good one!
D: I love Robin Williams! Actually, I want him to play Big6 and Super3 because I know he could pull
it off!
A: You are absolutely right, but I do love Zach Galifianakis, too. I think he would do a good job. Or the guy who does The Tick (Patrick Warburton). He would be good, I think.
Patrick Warburton (aka "The guy who does The Tick.)
8. Where can teachers go to learn more about the Big6?
D:Big6.com. A: Bob Berkowitz and Mike Eisenberg are the guys who actually created the process of the Big6 and they have a website where you can [learn] more about that. And I'm sure there's tons of other stuff online.
9. Is there anything else you think we should know about the Big6?
The Big6 Process.
A: I think that definitely one of my pet peeves about it is when people try to change the name of the steps, because the whole point is that the steps are always name the same (referred to in the same way).
Something else, too, is that it doesn't always have to be a linear process. I know a lot of times it isn't when you're actually using it in real life. You might define your task and then do information seeking strategies, and then you might go back to another task or you might go to synthesis or location and access. It's not always one after the other.
D: Those are my two pet peeves, too.
A: And I think just have a good time. It doesn't always have to be some huge, involved project. Now, the [units] in the book are long, lengthy [activities], but...
D: You don't always have to focus on every step in every lesson. You can just do a lesson where you're doing the location and access portion or maybe you already have some of the things put together and you're just going to do the synthesis together.
A: A lot of times when I was doing stuff in the media center with other teachers and we were collaborating I would just take information seeking strategies, location and access, and use of information and just do those three, and then pass off everything else to [the collaborating teachers].
Contact Danielle and Annette online: Danielle:L4Librarian (Twitter); L4Librarian.com;ddupuis@l4librarian.com
Enter to win a copy of Big6, Large and In Charge (a $76 value!).
Have you ever had a friend who was, perhaps, just a little too confident in his or her ability to do something? And did that friend ever get a little braggy at the slightest chance to compete with you? And did you ever get so fed up with said bragginess that you planned a not-so-nice trick on your friend to teach said friend a lesson?
Nah! Not you. Now who would ever do something like that?
Cheetah Can't Lose
by Bob Shea
Published February 19, 2013 by Balzer + Bray (978-0061730832)
The Story: Cheetah's the kind of friend that loves to remind you just how good he is at winning. And he always does win against his little cat friends because he's "big and fast" and they're "little and cats". But hold on. Do I detect a wicked glimmer in your eyes? The little cats might not win at first, but they've got the big race in the bag for sure.
What He Loves: It appears that what toddler boy loves is, in fact, any Bob Shea book. Bob Shea is a master of kid-appeal illustrations. Cheetah Can't Lose does everything right in that aspect. Seuss-like illustrations (Cheetah reminds me a lot of a character in Ten Apples Up on Top). Bright and textured colors. Large, center stage characters. We actually talked a lot about bragging when we read Cheetah Can't Lose and, sure enough, whenever an illustration depicted Cheetah boasting to the cats, toddler boy was quick to call him out. What I Love: I love that the story is so atypical. I mean, really. We read an awful lot of books with braggy characters and characters who suffer the wrath of what goes around comes around, but this is the first I can think of with braggart forgiveness. It's honestly quite refreshing. I think of some of my students who just love to tell me about whatever it is they're doing or how good they are at whatever task. They often get teased a lot by the class (wow... we seem to have trained them good for this response, huh?), but what if the kid really honestly doesn't know that he or she is doing anything wrong? And that's where Cheetah Can't Lose shines.
Still... those pie-in-face moments should definitely be treasured.
Ladies and Gentlemen, ISTE 2013 kicks off this Sunday.
