Leadership

IDC4U - Interdisciplinary Studies

https://misslemieux.wixsite.com/jennifer

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." ~ Plato

The Why?

I love to find new ways to engage my students.
I wanted to be able to provide my students with an alternative setting to 'desks' as the course is very collaborative in nature.
I needed the accountability to take the time to to learn new ways to use technology to enhance the experiences of my students in an alternative setting.

Goals:

to provide a different space / learning environment that allowed for more collaboration
to introduce new ways to engage student learning through technology and transforming the classroom environment.
to use and apply the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) Model to have students produce work in the "Redefinition" stage.

Influences:

Well, I wouldn't be here in the first place if it wasn't for my colleague Melissa Oliver (@mrsoliveredu). Melissa is a technology wiz and the lead of this TLLP Project. Through her passion and encouragement, I joined her TLLP and am grateful for the opportunity!
Following these people on Twitter and reading their books / blogs helped reinforce my current practices and inspired me to try new ideas.

Teaching without a textbook in Leadership has never been that hard, seeing as none exists. I already teach 'outside the box' as my lesson topics are reinforced through play and experience. I feel as though my teaching practices already engage my students; however, we all have room to grow! It was interesting to read the perspectives of these individuals and to get connected with many others that are in their world using creative ideas and various technologies.

Actions taken:

I first had to come to terms with the SAMR Model. It took a little bit, but I eventually watched enough videos and saw sample lessons that it stuck. I now don't use technology without thinking about how it applies to SAMR first!

A little Twitter goes a long way....

Through following the above influences on Twitter, I learned about a PD Opportunity that was upcoming called The #Ditch Summit! I was intrigued by this and took the time to register and participate in this experience!
The #DitchSummit hosted by Matt Miller in December 2016 opened my eyes to various opportunities I did not know existed and further sparked my ideas for some of the activities to use for this project.
Through the #DitchSummit I was introduced to

The knowledge gained from them made be very excited and further inspired me to try new things!

I also did research about classroom set up and what options were for my classroom. What would be my best set up for a highly collaborative group? I decided on trapezoid tables, bean bag chairs, light covers, as a start!

What really happened in our Learning Space and when trying new Technology!

If links do not work, please see dropdown menu from the Leadership Tab at the top of the page.

My experience Transforming Spaces

My experience using Hyperdocs

My experience using Skype in the Classroom

My experience using Book Trailers

My Experience trying Genius Hour

Feedback

I would do it again and will continue to learn more ways to engage my students
My students embraced the new initiatives and ideas, however it's interesting that some comments related to trying the new initiatives were challenged as they weren't 'traditional desk and chair. These students have known or experienced desks and chairs for their entire school career.

Going forward

I will continue to be inspired by the work of others and adapt their ideas to what fits into my own.

My goal is to contribute more to the 'Twitter world' with ideas and feedback instead of just consume.