ISTE….. It’s amazing, it’s empowering, it’s overwhelming, and it’s motivating. There is so much learning going on at this conference that it’s hard to even know where to begin. But begin we did!
It’s been somewhat of a dream for me to be able to attend ISTE. Here you meet and listen to the best of the best in the Ed tech fields. Everyone is willing to share, collaborate, and help in anyway they can. It's refreshing for me to attend a conference where I hear so much new apps, resources, and ideas.
For my first day takeaways, I want to share a tweet from Kevin Honeycutt. “If MAKER, STEM and STEAM mean buying kits that kids assemble, what you're really doing are 3-D worksheets. #letkidsinvent #letkidslead” This is the most important thing to note as we move our classroom teaching forward. Mistakes are to be embraced and the students need to take ownership of their own learning. When it comes to STEM or PBL, there are some key things that students should be able to do. These items are completing a project, collecting and analyzing data, innovative thinking and inventiveness, engaging in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources and use of digital-age resources. Some of our students who do not excel in testing, reading, levels, etc. will excel in these areas.
Some other key takeaways were that students need to be at the center of the learning and the teacher as a guide. The teacher doesn't need to be the expert in the class. Students can research an answer, rely on each other or seek guidance. While learning is happening we must be cognizant to not be asking what did you do but instead askwhat did you learn.
Relevancy is something I already knew was important but every session I attended really drove that home. Other educators shared their experience about how adding relevancy to their lessons created more engagement and buy-in from the students. Something as simple as inventing something that could solve a small problem in the classroom to fixing the water fountain in the hall that hasn't been working. There are so many skills and standards met within these lessons that sometimes are not thought of.
The first day of ISTE was also a day of announcements. ISTE itself launched their new standards. I was quick to buy a copy and can't wait to delve in. I did notice they added a standard on empowering students which is very exciting. Google also announced that it has released its Expeditions app to Android and iOS is soon to come. I loved having Google Expeditions visit my school and to be able to add this to our learning commons will be a huge benefit. We are opening the doors to the world!
Sara: “The amount of learning taking place is unbelievable. The passion that is being shared about students and the power of technology is unbelieveable. The biggest thing I have taken away is my role in a STEM, STEAM classroom: I supply the tools and then let my kids create. They are in charge of their learning.”
I'm so looking forward to two more days of great learning opportunities!
No comments:
Post a Comment