#notatiste17 People To Know

Connected Educators Learn and Share in their PLN

Today’s #notatiste17 challenge is “Who is one person you continually learn from online?” If you are a connected educator, you couldn’t answer that with one person! If you are entering the connected world, you’re in for quite a ride of sharing and learning in various “neighborhoods” of the internet. Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook, for example, all have different ways to connect: groups, hashtags, collections. Connected Educators, connected learners, engage face2face and online.

One of My Favorite Neighborhoods

Tthe CLmooc community [Twitter, Google Plus] provides endless connections and creative, critical conversations.
CLmooc means Connected Learning Massive Open Online Community, although I call it


CLmooc G+ community is filled with conversation and creations from several summers and more. Follow @clmooc and the  #clmooc Twitter Hashtag.

You will find us discussing #digciz, analyzing research, connecting with postcards, and creating and collaborating together.

Some #digciz thoughts:

It’s a wonderful community whose “events” are now planned by volunteers, and every one is welcome!

Google Suite Help

Whenever I have a question about how to effectively use Google Classroom / Suite, my goto is Alice Keeler [Twitter @alicekeeler].

Recently she wrote a great post about email dos and don’ts, especially:

Use a PDF or Web-based
Do NOT attach Word documents or any other program specific files. Assume your audience is diverse with their tech and may or may not have Office. Using a Google Doc set to “Anyone with the link can view” opens in a browser with no sign in required so that will work. Create a webpage instead of a Word attachment that does not require any logging in or special software. If you have to attach something, use a PDF since it’s universal to any device. It’s still better to provide something web-based than a PDF in my opinion since it doesn’t have to be downloaded.

I’ve received Microsoft Publisher documents that I can’t open and Word documents that don’t perfectly translate with Pages or Google Docs. Her advice is important.

Or Assessment Strategies [including a model of how to crowdsource ideas]. Google Documents / Slides / Sheets allow complete collaboration to develop ideas and plans. This is an example of how to use sheets for gathering lots of information from anyone.

Educator With Passion

And, of course, a wealth of resources for the “whole child as maker” exists at the blog of Jackie Gerstein  [Twitter @jackiegerstein. Here’s an excellent article on how kids are learning today:

These informal learning opportunities have taken an astronomical metaphorical leap due to social networking and ease of access of interest-based information via online means.

And here is information on the design process / universal design for learning, if you are considering a more passion-based, maker-space, student-centered classroom:

We hope the Design Thinking and UDL planning tool we developed helps you guide the design of learning activities that focus on STEM and STEAM and brings makerspaces into your classrooms.

In Depth Learning Blog

And one of my dear friends, who is presenting at ISTE, whom I have never met is Tracy Watanabe [Twitter @tracywatanabe]. Her work is so clear, applicable, and in-depth. Here is a post about Deeper Thinking and Depth of Knowledge

DOK Level 3 requires the question or task to have more than one acceptable answer. This is a shift for teachers to ask these questions and design these tasks, and it’s a shift for students because they are used to answering and waiting to see if they were “right”.

She followed that up with another post, after she found her charts floating around the internet:

This flowchart was created to help teachers in my former district categorize their own questions by DOK level, to look for patterns and trends, in order to set goals regarding their quest for deeper thinking. It was a flowchart that worked with many question patterns we commonly saw, but was not intended to be definitive.

Because she knows, as do Jackie, Alice, and CLmooc: life isn’t that simple.

So reach out and learn in your favorite neighborhood.

2 Comments

on “#notatiste17 People To Know
2 Comments on “#notatiste17 People To Know
  1. Dear Sheri,

    You are so spot-on about the impact of PLN and being a connected educator. There is so much to contribute and glean, thus, I’ve found my best learning has come from engaging with my PLN. As a connected educator, I deeply understand the impact of digital literacies as a requirement in teaching others to be literate individuals. I think this #AwesomeSauce Tweet from Alice Keeler pretty much sums it up:
    You can't apply for a job at home Depot without knowing how to use the computer. It's not a choice to make kids tech literate. #ISTE17— Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler) June 26, 2017

    Like you, I value Alice Keeler and Jackie Gerstein as part of my PLN. In addition, I’d add Sue Wyatt and Scott McLeod to my list. Sue does so much to increase authentic audience via blogging for students and educators. Both she and Scott McLeod inspire me. I gain so much from following Scott, and thoroughly enjoy how he unabashedly challenges his audience with various perspectives.

    As I welcome the challenges from my PLN, I followed the rabbit-hole in this post and found myself mesmerized by #CLMOOC. I loved the various themes, mediums, and challenges in creativity. Thinking about root words, pictures, as connected with vocabulary really resonated with me, and I tip my hat to your creative example of conliberarium!

    I know I would enjoy engaging with #CLMOOC, however the words of Brene Brown are stirring in the back of my head about setting boundaries as an act of self-love, which translates in Tracylogo as Remember, you can’t be involved in everything.

    Sheri, you are such a dear friend and member of my PLN. You encourage me, gently challenge me, and offer possibilities I haven’t considered yet, and as a result, I grow.

    Thank you for including me in your post, it is truly an honor.

    Kind regards,
    Tracy

    • Thanks Tracy. I know I have so many PLN to thank. I agree that Scott McCleod and Sue Wyatt are two of those, as well as Larry Ferlazzo and Sue Waters.All my #CLmooc friends are awesome, caring, and thoughtful. Follow them for engaging conversations and tons of ideas. Just dip in every now and then — I know we can’t do it all! Take Care, friend– “see” you on July 11!

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