You Can Only Grow as Big as Your Container

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our ability to think and work creatively is heavily influenced by our workplace….the size of the container. District size doesn’t matter. What matters is group norms and culture. We can’t always control that in our work environments, but we can expand our container by connecting with expansive thinkers.

Intentionally choosing expansive thinkers as thought partners has been the defining element in my professional life. One way I’ve expanded my container is through work with a global team of educators. We only know what we know, and if we limit ourselves to our own district, we are often just reaffirming what we already think. Our global team was asked to keynote at the recent Global Education Conference.

How big is your container? Mine is as big as the world.

 

Classroom 2.0 LIVE!

What an honor to be chosen as the Featured Teacher for Classroom 2.0 LIVE! If you are interested in Project-based Learning or 21st Century Learning, here is the recording.  Here’s the Livebinder link to all of the projects and resources mentioned in the presentation.

Make sure you visit the Classroom 2.0 LIVE site and check the calendar for upcoming events and archives. They are always a great resource for cutting edge education ideas and resources.

Personalize Learning ™ Guest Post

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2013

Guest Post: Donna Román about Starting out School Year

Donna Adams Román is a 5th grade teacher at Mill Creek School in Geneva, Illinois, blogger, trainer, and presenter committed to providing rich learning opportunities for her learners and professional learning network. She is a recent recipient of ISTE’s first place SIGOL Online Learning Award. Donna is active in Professional Development online and in her district, CoSN, ISTE, Flat Classroom®, and iEARN (International Education Resource Network). We met Donna at ISTE 2013 with Lisa Parisi, a 5th grade teacher in Long Island, New York.

Welcome Donna! Her first guest post with us is a cross-post of the September 20th post from her blog “Map without Borders” about starting out this school year.

Month one: hold on, here we go!

– See more at: http://www.personalizelearning.com/2013/10/guest-post-donna-roman.html#sthash.xx0dkSFQ.dpuf

Voicethread Simply Speaking

VoiceThread Simply Speaking from VoiceThread on Vimeo.

ISTE 2013, I Can’t Wait to Meet You! Let Me Count the Ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read the Full post HERE on the ISTE Connections Blog

 

 

Through the Eyes of an Eagle, by Grade 2

I just have to share this amazing video by our partner school, Mr. Matt McGuire’s Grade 2 class at Kingsclear Consolidated School in New Brunswick, Canada. This song was written, performed and recorded by the class as a culmination of our Eagle Eye to the World Project. It will make your day!

A Must See for all in Education

Our Global Education Conference Proposal

Using Data to Make Sense of the World

Link to Global Education Submission

Your Name and Title: Donna Roman, CUSD 304, Matt McGuire, Kingsclear Consolidated Schools, NB, Canada , George Petmezas, CUSD 304, Illinois USA, Ruth Hou, Wen Ya School, Taiwan

Countries from Which You Will Present: USA, Canada, Taiwan

Language in which you will present: English

Target Audience: Elementary Teachers, Administrators

Short Session Description:

An interdisciplinary project using monthly data collection by schools in eight various locations around the world; we discuss topics in relationship to the data to better understand our world.

Full Session Description:

Using location data, (temperature, daylight, precipitation), and topic discussions, (such as: landforms, plants, animals, food, celebrations, jobs and transportation), eight schools from around the world are collaboratively exploring:

1. What contributes to differences around the world and how?

2. How does our judgment of differences contribute to misunderstanding?

3. How can knowing the context of cultural difference help us understand each other better?

4. How does collecting and analyzing data help us understand this?

Website Associated with Your Session: http://data2makesenseofworld.wikispaces.com/

The Four C’s: Making 21st Century Education Happen