Disagreements

Mid-August means my Facebook newsfeed and pinterest boards are filled to capacity with back to school activities and articles on teaching.

Normally I skim these articles, but this {one} about what to not do on the first day of school. I re-read several times.  It rattled around in my brain and I struggled with some of the information presented.

I struggled because I fundamentally disagreed with some of the points being made.  That disagreement made me question if my teaching philosophy was skewed and my priorities were off.  However, after far longer than I'd care to admit, I came to the decision that those points in the article were not ones I'd accept.

So what did I have such a strong reaction to?  

These apparent "no no's" of the first day(s) of school:

"Discuss Class Rules"

It's not the first thing we do, but it is discussed.  We make our classroom norms together with a gallery walk and anchor charts.   We read some picture books on class norms and create our expectations together.  I think having defined schedules and expectations helps students feel comfortable because they know what the boundaries are.  Plus we create them together, so they feel an immediate sense of ownership.

"Assign Seats"

I make it clear to my munchkins that we will switch seats (and class jobs) often.  However, I don't want the first impression in fifth grade to be a popularity contest and students scrambling to sit by friends, leaving others out.  I'd rather everyone has an assigned seat because that helps cut down on anxiety.  Everyone belongs.  Everyone has a safe space.  Everyone is included.

"Make students introduce themselves"

I don't make students stand up and share their life stories, but they do have to introduce themselves to their table teams.  One of the activities we did at DENSI was finding things in common with our team.  We had to find 10 statements that were true for all our members of our team.  I think I'll cut it to five, but I want students to have conversations about what they have in common.  

I'll also have them do "Find Someone Who" over the first few days of school to help them bond with one another.  

"Assign homework"

Their homework on the first day is filling out their agendas correctly and having their families go over the welcome packet.  They also do silly "math about me" and "me as a reader" interest surveys so I can gain more information about them in a not so creepy way.  They've got homework, but it's fun.  They need to get back into the routine of school and that involves (meaningful) homework. 

I agree with other portions of the article (make sure you smile, greet all students) but these four "no no's" were actually must do's for me.

Fellow teachers, what are your thoughts?!

Exciting Changes

It's almost the start of another school year and I'm excited.  I'm ridiculously, optimistically, enthusiastically excited about this school year.

 Yes, the school district's budget is awful and I'm still upset about taking a pay cut, but there's not really anything I can do about it so there's no point to dwell on it.  As teachers, we've made our disapproval pretty clear! So it's time to move forward.

I have an amazing school that prioritizes people first.  We take our jobs seriously, but have lots of fun while working hard!  This culture of support and fun spills over into our classrooms and I think that's important.  I enjoy going to work.  I want to be there.  I enjoy the people I work with. 

It's an awesome feeling.

So now let's zoom in on what top ten things are contributing to my excitement:

1) Long Range Plans

We have long range plans done before the school year has started.  I feel like I have direction and a sense of purpose.  Last year, we didn't have plans and as a natural result, some activities ran too long and we hit major crunch time in March.  Our long range plans, which we know are flexible, have all our standards addressed by the beginning of April.  That leaves eight weeks of flexibility for testing, reteaching, and shifting things around due to school events (field trips, assemblies, etc).  

2) My Planner

Continuing with the excitement of long range plans, I have already sketched out the year in my teacher planner and created my online planning calendar.  

I have my first week's plans done and many of the copies already made.  Mrs. H and I are going to go over the plans on the way to day two of our math training on Monday, then head to school after to do some more planning.

3) Balance.  

With a new puppy at home, I'm not staying late each day.  I will go in early because that's when I work best, but I am leaving each day as soon as the parking lot is clear.  I've voiced it to others to keep me accountable, but I am going to leave on time to spend time with B and our fur babies. 

I've picked one night a week to work on things from home (whatever night B has class), but that's it.  I'll be more proactive in planning and keep my door closed more in the morning so I can get my work done.  I'll just ask my coworkers to respect closed door means work time while open door means I'm willing to chat.

I've got an upcoming trip to Arizona planned in October for my mom's birthday (and buying a new computer because this laptop is eight. EIGHT. This laptop is a third grader.)  

I've got fun girls nights planned.  We've got date nights to look forward to.  Friends have new babies that I get to snuggle, then hand back when the crying starts.  I've got a full calendar and there are fun social events planned!

4) Sunshine committee.

At the end of last year, I started talking to Mrs. S more at work.  She was always friendly, but she intimidated me.  Not only is she like a walking Amazon (six feet of gorgeousness) but also appears to have every aspect of her life together.  She crafts, has three young kids that are all involved in sports.  Not only does she show up to their games, but she makes their jerseys and does their make up (for dance, not for her son's football team).  Plus teaches, is quite good at it, and runs Sunshine committee.  It's a little intimidating!

However, she's also possibly one of the nicest people at my school.  I asked how I could help with Sunshine events next year without stepping on her toes.  She welcomed my ideas with open arms and we started talking.  Turns out, she lives maybe ten minutes from me.  She loves crafting, organizing, wine, and girl time as much as I do!

We've hung out over the summer under the attempt to plan Sunshine events (didn't happen) and she's become more than a colleague, she's a friend.

So next year, I get to have craft and wine parties with a friend.  It will be for school events, so it's legitimate procrastination.

5) DENSI 2015

I'm still in my glorious post DENSI bubble of happiness.  I signed up as an ambassador for my district, so I'll be hosting some PD in the coming months.  I'm still going through my notes and blogging about the amazing sessions I attended.  There are so many things I want to try, but I'm not going to overwhelm myself.  Two of the things I'm most excited about are notebook sketching and mystery skype.

6) Notebook Sketching

Also known as {embracing the doodling}, I'm excited to add more creativity into note taking with my students.  I know it will take some modeling but I'm eager to embrace something new.

Learn more about it {here}.


7) Mystery Skype

Our adventures with the map have been well documented.

The map is blank and ready for the next round of students.  However, this year we are stepping it up.  Last year we made powerpoint slides for each state, but didn't give students enough practice time identifying states and capitals on the map.  (That was quite obvious with the end of the year assessment.)  

This year, we're adding mystery skype.  Thanks in a large part to my tribe, the DEN, I am connected to educators in every other state.  We're going to call other classrooms and have students try to guess where each other are from, using geography clues.

For example:

1) Does your state border an ocean?
2) Are you closer to Mexico or Canada?
3) Are you east or west of the Mississippi River?

It will require some flexibility (time zones) but I think it will be a great learning opportunity for my students.

8) Engage NY

Last year, math was frustrating to plan.  We were pulling mostly from Engage NY's lessons, but didn't follow their pacing guide.  As a result, many of the lessons had to be tweaked.  After switching up planning roles, Engage NY was abandoned because it was too time consuming.  I didn't agree with the change, but I must remind myself of this:

This year, it was decided by my admin that all grade levels would be using this.  There are no excuses.  We've also split up the copying load so everyone has a role for each unit.  I think that it's important for all of us to be involved with the planning of all subjects.

9) Novels

I've picked the novels I want to do with students and am fairly positive I already have enough copies!  We'll start the year with The Lightning Thief, move into Esperanza Rising, and finish the year with Number the Stars.  It's a tad ambitious to do three novels, but I think we can do it.  All of the fifth grade reading literature standards can be taught with these novels and I think it's important to have students involved in longer, more complex texts.

10) Support

I'm not alone. I have a supportive grade level.  I have a great school.  I have teacher friends in other districts.  I have a (future) family member who is now licensed to sub, so I don't foresee having to worry about finding someone to watch my kids if I'm out of the classroom for the day.  I have my DEN tribe and know that I can reach out, virtually, for support and be overwhelmingly comforted by the advice of others.

I have a wonderfully supportive fiancee.  He's even willing to help me sharpen hundreds of pencils next week (because that's love).  People have shown their true colors recently and while that was a painful moment, I'd choose to focus on the overwhelming support and loving messages I've received from others.  

I'm in the midst of planning my wedding (no major developments) and enjoying this engagement period.  I've received lots of advice, some welcomed and some not, but it's nice to see people (for the most part) supportive of my choice to spend forever with that goober B of mine.  However, I want to remind them all that I was on student council, I was an RA, I'm a teacher, and I'm a ridiculously type A person.  I like logistics. I've got this wedding planning handled!

Monday brings day two of a math training and classroom prep.  Tuesday brings finalizing my room.  Wednesday marks the official start of training and next Monday will be my first day with students.  Right now, my roster is sitting at 31 and that's where I hope it stays!

There will be moments of darkness and periods of doubt.  I'm glad I've got support to turn to.  This year will be the best yet.  Thanks for being a part of it.

Embracing the Doodle

One of the break out sessions from DENSI 2015 was on doodling as a strategy for note taking and I had the opportunity to try it out yesterday at my {math training}.

Before attending this training, I was skeptical.  I love note taking, but was worried students might be drawing and zoning out instead of doodling as a way to itemize what was important.  

Tracy, a fellow DEN member, shared two books on visual literacy that are pending in my Amazon cart.  

She mentioned that children start out as visual learners (pictures) and those pictures slowly fade away.  The argument is made (both by her and in a TED talk) about bringing back these doodles.

She shared that there are three distinct benefits:
1) Power:  Students feel in control with their doodles and take ownership over their notes.  I'd even have them share their doodles with one another.

2) Performance:  Connections are made between the brain's hemispheres during doodling, thus storing information in long term memory and leading to higher recall and understanding, which leads to higher performance.

3) Pleasure: It's fun to doodle.

(Example of a doodle from a TED talk)

For setting this up in the classroom, she focuses on stressing that this isn't drawing, it's doodling (so there is less pressure).

Here is her ice breaker to introduce doodling:

1) A pair of students share one piece of paper that is folded in half.
2) One student begins the drawing on the folded line by adding a simple shape.
3) For two minutes, students do not speak but build off of the picture.
4) After the timer, students share their work with their table team.

We'll be doing this activity during the first week of school!  Not only does it aid in team building, but also retention, helps students focus, and builds creative problem solving.  I'll also use it to discuss strengths and challenges, focusing on the next time it's done, it will be more comfortable because learning is a process.

She said the timer is set for two minutes, but not displayed to students.  Students should focus on each other, not how much time is left.

I gave doodling a try at my math training and enjoyed it. I am excited to give this a try with my students.  I think we'll start with doodling in pencil, then slowly add colored pencils as well.  Since my students share classroom supplies, I don't want the doodling to become a fight over specific colors. 

This is one of the new changes I'm trying this school year.  

What new strategies are you trying?

Try it Tuesday: In Kahoots with learning

I'm all about gallery walks and collaborative learning.  I've blogged about using cups as a response strategy and having students solve problems together for math review.  

However, I'm excited to take this to the next level with kahoot! 



I signed up for a free account and will create quizzes for my students.  They'll answer with the iPads and as a table group.  All they'll do is go to kahoot.it and log in with the code I give them (that I generate to go along with a specific set of questions.) 

It looks like this:

There is literally no way for them to mess it up other than typing in the code wrong.

From there, we'll make teams (usually the table teams since they're Kagan structured anyway).  From there, the game begins!  The quicker they answer will lead to more points for their team.    

Here's what a sample question looks like:

I'm also excited about using this to build metacognition for my students.  I can have them create questions for the class.  I can have them answer if the questions were too easy or too hard, and have them give feedback to me and to others.

In the fifteen minutes or so we played with kahoot, my brain began buzzing with possibilities.  This could be great for inspiring students to create really thoughtful, deep questions for one another about what they're learning.  They'll get to take charge of their own learning.

Will you be in kahoots with me this year to try something new to get your students excited about learning? 

Why?

From the start, DENSI 2015 is purposefully filled with intentional activities, sessions, and conversations meant to hone our craft as educators.  

One of the opening sessions focused on passion projects, which is similar to Ted Talks, but this time focuses on DEN Speaks.

One of the opening questions was simply this:

Why do you teach? 

The room immediately exploded into conversations, some with tears, about making a difference in students' lives.  Teachers from all over the country (as well as Canada and the UK) shared stories about that one student who was particularly difficult, but they were able connect with and positively impact.

For once, I didn't join the conversation.  I simply sat back and soaked in the inspiration, the joy, the passion of teaching.  I took the time to listen to others and not just wait for my turn to speak. Sitting at the table with teachers who have been changing lives for longer than I've been alive was a very humbling experience.

That is what it should feel like when I'm surrounded by other teachers.  I don't want to be in a cloud of negativity, I want to be inspired by the passion in others.

So let's continue that conversation: Why do you teach?

The answer is yes.

I love my tribe.

I love that they understand the great loves of my life.  

Especially my love of Shark Week.

In sixth grade in ELP (extended learning program, Arizona's version of GATE/TAGS), we did an entire year on oceans.  My research project was on Megalodon.  We dissected a shark and yes, I took part of it home.  My mom wasn't pleased when she found it in my room several weeks later.  (Sorry mom!)

I did discover that I'm not a fan of cold water diving...or sand, which put a damper on my dreams of being a marine biologist.  I obviously took another career path and couldn't be more pleased with my choice to become a teacher.  (Okay, there are moments of doubt but they usually coincide with ridiculous amounts of grading or difficult situations.)

That being said, I love Shark Week.  I understand the critiques that it contributes to fear mongering and appreciate that Discovery has taken that into consideration with recent programming choices.  

I rocked some shark week nails for most of July.  

I tweeted, frequently, about wanting a Shark Week chum bucket while at DENSI.

So when not one, but three people sent me messages about this blanket within an hour, I couldn't feel more loved:

Thank you tribe for knowing the way to my heart.  The answer is yes, this is an amazing blanket that I would love to own.

July goals revisited

Apparently July is ending soon, so I thought I'd revisit my July goals post.  The original post is in italics while my updated thoughts are in bold.

So let's set some goals for July:
1) I will keep my wedding prep talk to a minimum.  B's brother and fiance are getting married next month and we're both in the wedding party.  I don't want to steal their thunder.  

Yeah....I got a little carried away with the planning.  Sorry readers...I'll refrain from posting more for a bit.  I've tried to keep it to the blog and with my mom.  I did get my dress for their wedding and am helping with some craft project on Thursday morning. 

2) Finish The Blood of Olympus. I'm on chapter 14 and don't plan on doing much more the rest of the day.  Plus this will be my plane reading.

So my plane reading became napping.  I'm on chapter 32 (of 50?).  I plan to knock out a few more chapters tomorrow.  I'd be farther along if I didn't have my helper...

We've been doing lots of belly rubs!  Waffles has been amazingly helpful at blogging, reading, and crafting.  Her fur sisters have been equally helpful at aggressively smelling things and knocking sharpies to the ground for Waffles to play with.

My goal is to finish it before I go back to school...and before his next novel comes out!  The main character shares a last name with Annabeth and this is based on Norse gods.  My heart is happy.

 

3) Learn, a lot.  I'm off to DENSI 2015 tomorrow evening and super excited to reconnect with others.  I'm the only representative from my whole state...so no pressure there!

I learned so much! Now I just need to stop being a slacker and share what I learned.

4) Help a friend earn some great rewards with her online Jamberry party.  We are having lots of fun with our nail wraps and I love that I can have gorgeous nails without a trip to the salon for way cheaper! It's a win-win all around!  I previously posted, I'm currently rocking a Shark Week themed jamicure.
Favorite Jamicures:

Oh yeah, I did that glittery pink and silver ombre look at home in 20 minutes flat while watching television.  Bam!
 

Her party is finishing up on Wednesday.  We've had fun and I've learned a few things. I don't think the next online party will go as long because there isn't the sense of urgency when it's open for three weeks.  Now I know better. 
 
5) Finish watching season 2 of Arrow.  We've got just a few episodes left, but it's Shark Week and that obviously takes priority!

DONE!  We've got a new season of Ink Master to enjoy next.

6) Catch up with family and old friends.  We're seeing one of my oldest friends and his girlfriend tomorrow for dinner.  I get to spend next weekend in DC with my bestie.  I'll get to talk to my mom soon (she's gallivanting in Europe and having the time of her life!)

DONE!  I've had some recent painful moments where I've realized that the friendships I treasured just aren't the same because people change.  That's been a rough lesson to learn this month.  I feel like this is a lesson I keep learning over and over again because I have a hard time giving up on people.  But I've also had some great times with the wonderful people in my life, many of them my new friends  from my new school.  Thanks tribe for being awesome.

7) Finish up some minor craft projects that I've started.  I donated a bunch of old items to a friend for her church's garage sale, so it's nice to purge items that I no longer need.  I'm in the process of organizing the garage and cleaning out our guest room (since it will quickly be taken over by wedding prep craft projects).

Done...ish.  One paint project is currently drying.  Others are being finalized this evening (I am binge watching Netflix without shame) or tomorrow after my eye doctor check up.  Our guest room has three distinct piles: work, Jamberry, and wedding.  The school pile is the largest. 


August will be consumed with their wedding, math training, and returning to work to conquer year seven in the classroom.

I've got five or six small wedding projects (mostly for the engagement party) to work on next month.  I'm excited about my math training.  

I'm also excited for this free learning opportunity: 

It's an online PD on August 4th and I'll get teaching materials in the mail after completing the course.  I didn't have the opportunity to attend this at DENSI, so I'm pleased it's offered again.  To clarify, I'm not excited about the content.  I think the content is beyond important and I am excited to learn strategies for discussing this dark period in history with my students.  I plan to use Number the Stars as one of our grade level read alouds and want to do a better job front loading the novel with the historical context.

Last year we read Esperanza Rising and building in the historical context about the Dust Bowl made a world of difference with my students.  

What are your goals?  Did you achieve them? If not, (no judgment) what's your revised plan for success?

Prioritizing (updated)

One of the most practical pieces of advice I read in a bridal magazine was to make a list of must have's, would like's, and can pass.  I made my list and had B to the same.  

Not surprisingly, our lists were quite similar.

My must have's include a pretty dress (within my budget), good food, an open bar, good photography, and a photo booth of some sort.  (We haven't decided if we'll be renting a photo booth or doing a DIY version.)

His must have's are the same, minus the dress and with the addition of having his friends and family there. 

I'd like to do a candy/dessert bar that could double as the wedding favors.  We don't really want to do beer koozie, bottle openers, or shot glasses (no offense friends who have done them) because they've been at every wedding we've been at recently.  He's not in love with this idea, so there will be more discussions until we can find something we both like as a wedding favor.

I started thinking about items that are in a traditional wedding ceremony and what the "typical" must-haves are...and I don't really like all of them.

An elaborate cake isn't really a priority.  We'll have some sort of cake and I'm sure it will have silly cake toppers, but I'd rather go the cupcake route.  We can have a few options and they're easier to eat.

I'm thinking some sort of display like this:

(I don't like the cake, colors, or cupcake designs...just the display).

I have no interest in a fancy aisle runner, much less a personalized one.  Ones I looked at were upwards of sixty dollars and let's be honest, there's no way to reuse that long piece of fabric that just got walked on.  

My favorite aisle runner? Chalk.  (Of course, venue & weather permitting)

Hearts:

Forever starts here:

Still as cute, but washes off in the rain.  Plus way more personality than the traditional aisle runner.

Another idea I'm indifferent about? A professional DJ.

One of the gems from DENSI 2015 was festify.  Basically someone will run the computer (festify pulls songs from spotify) and guests can vote on their phones as to what song comes up next.  The DJ (friend) can override the song choices and guests can be involved in a fun new way.  Plus none of our friends have used this before!  Fingers crossed it's still a free app when it's wedding season.

Things we've cut:

A unity candle and worse, the sand art version.  

We have two very inquisitive cats and a teething puppy.  We plan to have children.  This just get broken and make a very large mess.

Programs:

We're getting married in the off season to not only save money but so it won't be ridiculously hot outside (again, you're welcome guests!).  I toyed with the idea of programs that could double as fans, but if the temperature is in the 70 degree range, that won't be needed.  Truly very few people save programs so I don't think they'd be missed.  

Instead, I'll be crafting something like this:

(Thanks Buzzfeed for the image...and the {article})

I've found a smaller chalkboard version at Marshall's, so it shouldn't be too tricky.  Worst case scenario is I can buy a wood frame or old mirror and some chalk board paint to recreate this.

And for those that really like programs, they can take a picture and have it printed.

Disposable Cameras & Wedding Hashtags

My guests all have smart phones.  We've heard good things about Wedpics, which is a free app that we'll ask our guests to download.  Also, I don't know what is with the wedding hashtags for twitter & instagram, but I think we'll be skipping that.

Recently married folks, what were must have's?  What are things you skipped?

DENSI 2015 Overview

I'll start off with saying that I believe all professional development should be like DENSI.  It was a purposefully crafted week that allowed for whole group sessions, hands-on exploration, discussion, collaboration, and smaller break-out sessions that were dictated by teacher's choices (unconference).  

Here was the overview:

Sunday

We took arrived at American University and I was already exhausted.  I left Las Vegas at 12:30 am, landed in Philly around 8 am, then landed in DC at 11.  DENSI doesn't start until 3, but my suite mate was awesome and picked me up from the airport and let me drop my bags off in my room.  She had been there since Friday because she is on the Leadership Council.  I then found two newbies from Chicago and we went off in search of food.  We must have found the DENSI hotspot because I saw my roommate there (along with a good three dozen other hungry teachers).  After lunch (and gelato), we headed back to officially begin DENSI.

After getting our lanyards and fighting for the elevator, we took our press photos, unpacked, and had dinner.  DE brought in food trucks and then we did a gift swap and scavenger hunt.  Part of our packing instructions were to bring a gift that represented our home town, so I brought a mug, playing cards, and a poker chip key chain for my mystery person.  I got some peanuts from Virginia (lucky B!) and my person was super friendly.  We also got our DENSI swag, which included a Shark Week hat (I love Shark Week) and a selfie stick.

We then had our opening session, went over the schedule, and had some guest speakers.  We broke off into our smaller team meetings.  Since all of our team was female, we named ourselves the Estro-DEN.  One of the ladies on my team was also my suite mate, so that was a fun coincidence.

Monday

We spent the morning site seeing and the afternoon on our own.  I chose to spend the afternoon in the Natural History museum, including an accidental nap during an Imax movie on oceans.  (To be fair, it was a very soothing and calming movie.)

We saw the Thomas Jefferson, FDR, Martin Luther King Jr, Lincoln, Vietnam, and Korean war monuments.  We drove by Embassy row, the Washington monument, and the White House.

Snapshots from Monday:

(Inside and outside of the Jefferson Memorial)

Dr. King

(Fun fact: His position means he's staring at Lincoln's monument, where he gave his I have a Dream Speech)

President FDR's memorial

(We were told not to sit on his lap. I'm disturbed that the tour guide deemed it necessary to tell us that in the first place.)

Washington's monument 

(Fun fact, you can see the different layers because of construction issues about 1/3 of the way up!)

Korean War Memorial

President Lincoln (Notice the hands are A and L in American Sign Language)

(Added to the Lincoln memorial steps to honor Dr. King)

The White House

After site seeing and dinner, my roommie and I crashed.  We'd been up for a while and both were on West Coast time, so the 6 am alarm seemed very early.

Tuesday

I immediately began to hate my alarm clock.  We had to get to the dining hall early to compete for food with hundreds of enthusiastic children.  I'm pretty sure the future leaders of America (or a similar spin off) were there, so there were lots of sixteen year olds in business attire trying to navigate the campus in heels.  We didn't even bother attempting Starbucks when we saw the line out the door. 

On the bright side, this was a site we saw every morning:

(As a Nevadan, I enjoyed the greenery.)

After breakfast was our morning session, then break out mini-sessions (which I'll reflect upon later) with lunch in between.  I took notes on my pink memo pad, which is ironic considering I'm at a tech conference, but that's how I process information the best.

(On a completely unrelated note, I also process learning best when I have Starbucks and chocolate...)

I attended: PBL in the media rich classroom (project/problem based learning), doodling in the classroom (as a means of note taking), showing what you know (projects), and library and digital resources (to share with my librarian).  All my sessions were amazing.

Dinner followed, then the DENmazing race (the Amazing Race, Discovery Style).  My team was not competitive (hence the name the Frolicking Unicorns) but we had a great time.  As an added bonus, I found some new team builder games to use next year with Sunshine committee.

We had to jog through the hoops and then crawl through the tunnel before throwing a football through another hoop at the end of the station.  There were at least eight different embarrassing games.  

After the DENmazing race, we did an escape room.  This was my first time participating in one and it was awesome.  It was 1985 themed and our team escaped the room the fastest.  We had to work together to solve clues and figure out puzzles to enter different rooms within the escape room (there were six rooms total, so I guess it was the escape suite).  

Wednesday

Again, the alarm clock came too soon as did the fight for the omelet line with the children.  The day was again broken into smaller mini-sessions.  

I attended: Coding (which I definitely need to investigate more), app smashing (combining different apps into a project), portable presentations (a good dozen things to use besides Prezi), and took the last session off to process everything I'd learned so far.

I also had some time with the DENSI gnome. 

He is not to be left alone and enjoys meeting all the DENSI participants.

We then did another team builder that focused on mini-debates that could be used in the classroom, had a team meeting, (had a post-dinner nap), and then had a DENovator (craft) fair.  I made a shark week coaster (because obviously), a few other small craft projects, and had a great time chatting with others.  

I don't know how, but I want to do something like this for our wedding.  The craft wheels in my mind are spinning!

I also snagged this iron-on to use on a future project:

Next time I attend, I'll definitely plan a craft to share :)

Thursday

Thursday is both my favorite and least favorite day of DENSI.

It's my favorite because it's unconference day, which means the sessions are all created based on what we as educators want.  It's loosely structured and meant to allow for glorious amounts of collaboration.  

I attended information on utilizing twitter and instagram in the classroom (teaching_with_avice if you choose to follow), classroom dojo, mystery skyping, and more.  There was so much wonderful information that I can't wait to share (both here and with my school).

Thursday evening brought our history-themed closing session.  Being the only delegate from my state, it was a little sad to see all the group themed costumes and not have anyone to collaborate with.  I represented the West with Annie Oakley because I already owned all of my costume components.  Some of the other states went as cave women, Egyptian pharaohs, and history bees (yes, bees).

Friday 

We cleaned our room, headed to breakfast, and then to our tear-filled final session.  I headed to the airport to meet Erika and then began our best friend filled weekend.  

I returned home late Monday evening and have been slowly processing the week since then.  I'm a little frustrated in my delay at getting out DENSI notes, but I've also had eye doc appointments and the puppy is interested in chewing on everything but her toys, so she requires constant vigilance.  Good thing she's cute.

Stay tuned for more in depth session notes!

DENSI 2015 Take Aways

After much reflection (and reading others' blogs), here are some of my take-aways from DENSI 2015:

1) People matter.  

One of my favorite things about the DEN is that it's truly more than a digitally connected group of educators.  It's a family. It's a tribe.

I know that if I'm stuck on a concept or just need a little inspiration (DENspiration) after a tough day, they will be there.  One of our tribe members, Lindsay Foster, has a daily twitter image or message to inspire creativity and spread the love.  She challenged herself to spread positive vibes and I whole heartily embrace this.  In education, it's ridiculously easy to fall into a negative attitude because there's so much that is out of our control.  So I'd rather surround myself with happy vibes and that love for teaching was overwhelmingly evident at DENSI.

I can reach out on Edmodo, twitter, facebook, or texting when I need advice from my tribe.  This doesn't mean my work family isn't amazing (because they are) but sometimes it's nice to get other perspectives.  My tribe offers that.  From the first moment I walked on campus, I started to recognize people from DENSI 2013 or from the facebook group.  Everyone is welcoming, everyone is positive, everyone genuinely operates with the mindset that everyone should be successful.

I met people that recognized me from my TpT store picture and had previously purchased products, which was a surreal experience.  We ended up discovering this over the less-than-appetizing cafeteria breakfasts.  The friend requests are still coming in and my PLN (professional learning network) is ever-expanding.  It's nice to know I've got people in my corner.

2) Work-Life Balance.

If there's one thing to know about DENSI events, it's the importance of #napchat.  Nap chats fit perfectly with my love of naps.  Sleep is valued.  Taking care of yourself is encouraged.

DENSI focused on putting fun and joy back into the classroom.  Our jobs matter.  But home life and social life matters too.  There was time for learning at DENSI, but there was also lots of time for connecting to others.  I don't think Kate and I got to bed before midnight any day of the week because we were up chatting with others...oops!   Again, people matter.  

Last night, while B had softball, I went over to a friend's for dinner.  Several of my pals inquired as to where he was, which was appreciated.  He was not only missed by me, but my friends as well. I ended up staying for many hours after because I was having such rich, meaningful conversations with others.  The evening did include Cards against Humanity, at which point those meaningful conversations fizzled into ridiculously inappropriate ones.   

This year, one of my personal goals is to be better at the work-life balance.  I've already shared with two of my lovely grade level ladies that I need to leave by 4.  Most of this is to get home to let Waffles out, but I want to make sure I have my evenings for me.  I'll set aside one night to work late from home (whichever night B has class) but I want my nights free for our family time. 

3) Leadership matters.

I'm fortunate enough to work for two amazing administrators who aren't afraid to get a little bit silly when leading by example.

Beyond my admin, the leadership of the DEN is awesome.  The DEN (Discovery Educator Network) isn't as strong in my district as I'd like, so I'm excited to be in conversations about strengthening it to build community.  When educators in my district hear "Discovery Education", they tend to think of the benchmark assessments and the frustration that usually accompanies standardized testing.  I'm hoping to help change that conversation.

4) Have fun and be yourself.

I'm a creative person.  I like having my classroom be a slightly loud, slightly messy, melting pot of learning.  I take risks and sometimes lessons flop.  That's okay.  I learn from them and move on.  I have fun in my classroom and that's okay. 

My classroom is a reflection of me.  My classroom is a reflection of my students.  My classroom is a reflection of our learning journey. 

When you're excited about what you're doing, that enthusiasm rubs off on your students.  That's a good thing.

5) Share.

Often times, we get so wrapped up within the walls of our own classroom that we forget to connect with others.  We forget to share the great things that are happening.  We don't recognize the greatness in ourselves and feel inadequate when compared to others.

This has to stop.  There are exciting things happening in classrooms and they need to be shared and celebrated. 

We need to share with each other and learn from each other.  Part of my hesitation with sharing is that I don't want to feel like I'm doing someone else's work for them.  Truth be told, I've worked with some lazy educators over the years.  My definition of lazy has shifted because I acknowledge the importance of a work-life balance.  I didn't always appreciate that in my early years and would be unfairly critical to others who left on time to see their families.  I didn't think they put enough effort into their classrooms, but looking back, that wasn't my place to judge. 

Luckily, my tribe is filled with hard working educators who want to share their ideas with others.  

6) Take the time to laugh.

Not everything at DENSI went perfectly.  It rained when we saw the monuments.  I went eight straight days without soda.  I survived on grilled cheese and omelets.  There was ridiculous jack hammering during our trainings (not to worry, it was dealt with). Worst of all? The sheets. I had two flat sheets that did not fit the dorm bed.  I ended up in a cocoon-like ball each night and just slept on the slippery, rubber mattress.  

Could I control any of this? No.

So I chose laughter and rolled with it. 

7) Don't stop learning.

I haven't dived into my pages of notes yet, but I'm so excited to try new things in my classroom.  I obviously need to buy a green table cloth to try greenscreening and videos in my classroom.  I'm excited to incorporate mystery Skype into our geography lessons.  Doodling with note taking will be a new adventure this year.  

If I expect my students to be life-long learners, I should model that myself. 

Thank you, DENSI and my tribe, for helping me feel excited about this upcoming year.