Summer's reflections

Presenting on iPads for NJEA 

When last summer dwindled to a close, I vowed that the summer of 2013 would be different. I told myself I would rest my toes in the sand more, soak in the slow more and just coast down the sunshine river. Well, mission unaccomplished..a bit. Here are some of the highlights I am taking with me as summer ends and the new school year creeps.

Wee trip. I started this summer with a trip to Scotland to see an old friend. I crossed important tasks off my bucket list including learning how to solder. This was accomplished at Scotland's first Maklab in the trusted hands of their incredible instructors. The highlight was seeing first hand that the Maker Movement is global. It was only a month before my trip that I stood in a similar Maker Space in Philadelphia. Makers are passionate to the core people about what they build and the process of the make. Role models from every dimension.

Mix in 3/4 cup of PD. Over the last two months I was on the sending and receiving end of a good share of professional development. I am close to being SMART board certified and on my way to other certifications. With all PD there are valuable highs and lows that I see as tools for future PD opportunities. Most notably, I am extremely proud to be a planning member of EdCamp STEAM. We had meaningful contributions from participants and I learned a lot about team work; how to be a better team member, leader and teacher.  I wanted to go to each session on the board and win each prize raffled. Ideas for next year are already flowing.

Collaboration, Communication & Problem Solving. I had an opportunity to visit Google this summer. The 'awe' value just never ends here. In many ways visiting Google ran parallel with my late summer visit to the Drexel ExCITE center. Three attributes resonate most from my day at Google: collaboration, communication and problem solving. These are qualities that Google looks for most in its employees and these values are supported in the physical space of Googlers and Drexel's ExCITE center. Readings on Edutopia and the books Invent to Learn and The Third Teacher echo the same messages of the relationship between constructivist principles and learning spaces that result in collaborative, communicative and problem solving, intellectual citizens. I find myself repeatedly intrigued by the question, "What can be done to aide schools in seeing the relationship between physical space and curriculum?"

Wide or Deep. For the last several years I feel like I've been compiling information like some sort of hoarding rabbit. Except I don't keep a dirty root filled burrow, I keep a Google Form and a small home library. My brain is at rest when it is inhaling information. I am most attracted to readings on cognitive studies that revolve around problem based learning. Over the years, I have scratched the surface of a wide variety of subjects in education and have reached that point where I am connecting them into one nice deep bundle. Autonomous learning technologies and physical space design all tie in with problem based learning. Forming thinkers, appreciating multiple intelligences, promoting collaboration and encouraging students to rise to their best instead of adequate. My personal learning goal for this upcoming year is to dive deeper into this topic, continue to tether the lines between the resources I have gathered and push myself to be better versed and confident. This will be my custom designed graduate course and the rate per credit is very affordable.

Thank you to each person who made this summer a perfect blend of  thinking, relaxation, sleeping in, staying in shape, family and friends. Of course I am already saying I will relax more next summer. I'm sure you can guess how that ends.

To next summer.