EdcampOCLA is happening this Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at Arovista Elementary School in Brea, California. As an organizer of EdcampOCLA,  let me share with you today, why you need to take charge of your professional growth as a teacher and get to an Edcamp!

What are Edcamps?

Edcamp is a free un-conference for teachers and educators. You can lead a session or come to the camp to listen and share! Take a minute and watch this video by Edcamp Keene.

The EdCamp model is based on the international un-conference model, BarCamp: an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment.

Since Edcamps are derived from this model, Edcamps all over the U.S. and the world, follow the same basic guidelines. Sessions are not planned or scheduled until the morning of the event using a scheduling board. Each Edcamp has used this board in a different way.

Why should you get involved with EdCamps?

The idea of Edcamps is unique and exciting! As an educator with a long history of commitment to professional development, I’m excited to see this opportunity for educators to come together, to learn and grow in a setting where attendees drive the conference and serve as presenters.Teacher driven, teacher led…this is the exciting part of Edcamps. All participants, regardless of their role in education, are actively engaged in discussions.

When I was a classroom teacher it was so easy to get pulled in so many directions and get caught up in so many projects. I was always volunteering to be on this committee and to chair that important group, that it was easy to get lost to what really mattered: teaching my students. Has that ever happened to you?

Part of that comes from the fact that I’m inherently a high energy person, sometimes driven to distraction! No…really I am. And part of that comes from the fact that I’m constantly looking to re-invent myself, and my work, because, deep down inside, I’m a creative person. You’d probably not really think that about me, if you met me. I don’t have a funky style of  dress, I don’t know how to paint, draw, or make amazing hand-made creations that I can sell on Etsy. But are those things what really defines a person as creative?

One Little Word. An Idea that Sparked a Resolution.

January is a time of new beginnings.  At least it always has been for me.  In this time, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to harness this energy that I have, to be focused in the work that I do, and I came upon this project.

This One Little Word project got me thinking that if I could make a commitment to pick a word for the year that defined my work, it would support me to stay focused on the things that matter in my work. It would guide me to concentrate and grow, instead of being all over the map. It would also help me to support others to do the same.

The more I thought about what my word would be and all the words that educators might pick to describe their work such as organized, professional, structured…the more I thought that those words didn’t work. I wanted to choose a word that would inspire me, lift me up and make me smile every time I thought about it.

So I thought about all the projects and people I’ve known in my career as a teacher and a principal. I thought about what I remembered that defined those projects and people who I really enjoyed and admired. What was the essence of those experiences? Then it hit me: Creative.

I began to reflect on those opportunities that I had to do creative projects and be around creative people. I remembered that those were the times that I was the most successful, content, and happy.  The project might have been to create something seemingly mundane like design a new schedule, rubric, report card or workshop. But during those times, working with those creative teachers, I was truly challenged to create something new from something old, and I loved it! I was inspired to work with others, hear their perspectives and see the project come to life.

I want to wake-up every morning knowing that I have a new opportunity to CREATE. Maybe it’s a blog post, a new chapter in my book or a photograph. Maybe it’s a workshop, a journal entry or my new goal: an e-course for educators. Whatever it is, I want to hold that word close to my heart and be a “ripple in the pond” for other educators.

In my work, I never want to be the kind of educator who grows stagnant and stops learning. I want to consistently push myself now (as a consultant), just as I did as a teacher, to think big thoughts for myself, have big dreams and Create!

So will you join me? Will you take this time to re-focus your work for 2012? Come back to the thing that really resonates for you?

Will you choose One Little Word? Mine is CREATE. What’s yours?

I’m fascinated now with the tremendously creative people who are photographers and writers. I’m intrigued with the way that they blog, share ideas and photograph life. I’m also intrigued with how so many of them offer e-courses in how to “dive deep into our creative & emotional selves.”

One that I’ve recently connected to is Susannah Conway. I’m looking forward to taking one of her e-courses called UNRAVELLING: WAYS OF SEEING MY SELF.

I think it would be amazing if more educators offered these kinds of courses, in an intimate setting, for teachers both experienced and new, who could come together and work side by side in developing a deeper, “soulful” side of the teaching experience. I’m going to begin working on developing just this kind of e-course for educators. One that would seek to develop the more intimate side of ourselves that we need to discover to be more fully committed to our craft.

Susannah Conway shared this video today with her subscribers, and I was SO moved that I had to watch it about 3 times. Then I knew that I had to share it today, here, with all of you.

(You can read more about Ira Glass here http://www.pri.org/this-american-life.html)

Does this resonate with you? How at first our teaching feels terrible, but then one day it grows into this amazing, energizing experience? Or maybe you’ve started a blog and you just can’t stay inspired to keep writing? Been there, done that, kept going.

My message to you today is this: in the midst of your work, as you may be feeling that you are falling short…do the work, keep moving through the struggle and…don’t quit.

Be Inspired, today.

It’s been so exciting to wrap up 2011 and jump into 2012 with energy and enthusiasm!

I’m looking forward to more blogging, more projects and more opportunity to share my passion to Inspire, Mentor, Equip and Teach educators to grab on to their goals for their work, lean in and  let nothing stop them from being amazing!

Going forward…I’m very fortunate to now be blogging in more than one space, so forgive me for the lack of posts. I will be back on it, as of today. Smile

One of the great spaces that I’m now blogging at, along with my work at Edutopia,  is Inspired Teacher. I’m honored to join this team of passionate educators, led by Laura Parker who is a Former teacher of middle school kids, current home educator, resident of Thailand and Founder and Editor of Inspired Teacher. Laura has the kind of zest for living that I share and a passion to bring inspiration to teachers everywhere.

In an effort to make Inspired Teacher a practical site to really encourage educators in more than theory-only, we are launching a new weekly feature there called, Teaching Tip Tuesday. I’d love for you to head over to Inspired Teacher, and share your teacher tip with our readers! In the process, you will not only be “paying it forward”, but you will have the opportunity to win a lovely gift from  My Blue Snowflake’s Page of Charms for Teachers.

I’d also love it if you’d share the link with teachers at your school site and community.The link is: http://www.inspiredteacher.net/2012/01/teaching-tips-tuesdays/

Hope this day finds you happy and healthy. Looking forward to connecting again soon!

Photo:Suus Wansink,CC by-NC2.0 via flickr 

Regardless of where you are in your life or career right now, there is at least one thing or one person you can be grateful for. This is not a revelation by any means but rather a declaration that we all need to stop, consider and make.

Today on this Tuesday before Thanksgiving 2011, I want to declare my gratefulness and gratitude to eleven very special people in my life. People for whom my life and work would not be as fulfilling as it is, were it not for their care and support.

11 of my Finest Friends

1. My Husband Randy. I’m grateful that he’s my best friend, loves me, is faithful to me (it’s a second time around for both of us) and has supported me through many, recent, life changes. Love you, Honey!

2 & 3. My sons Jason and Aaron. I’m grateful that they value me as a person, share their lives with me, actually listen to what I share and give amazing feedback. Although they are my sons, in many ways they are also becoming good friends. They both inspire me daily, to be a better Mom!

4. My friend Betty Ray. Betty Ray is Edutopia‘s senior blog editor and community manager. Betty is an amazing, caring, yet humble person. I’m grateful that she believes in me and the passion I have for my work, takes time to talk with me and genuinely cares about me. Big Hugs to you, Betty!

5 & 6. My friends Joan Young and Megan Palevich. Two talented women with tremendous educational gifts. I’m grateful to them both for joining me in my passion to support and mentor new and pre-service teachers. Not only in New Teacher Chat, but in some wonderful past and soon to be, upcoming projects.

7. My friend Shelly Terrell. It was in the fall of 2009 when I didn’t yet have a presence on twitter that saw her tweet about a recent blog post. I responded to the blog post and left a lengthy comment. We struck up a friendship and she soon mentored me in all things Twitter! We’ve since collaborated on several wonderful projects, one of which is The 30 Goals Challenge. I’m grateful to Shelly for that and so much more! Interesting foot note: Shelly and I have never met in person…amazing right? I call her my virtual sister…Smile.

8. My friend Steven Anderson. I first met Steven through Shelly in #edchat. Then in March 2011, I met Steven in person at ASCD2011, in San Franciso. What a pleasure to connect with a twitter friend and to find that they are even more inspiring in person! I’m grateful to Steven for the genuine support he gives me in my work with new teachers and the objective ear that he’s always willing to lend.

9. My friend Greta Sandler. I met Greta on Twitter as I’ve been blessed to do with so many recent friendships. She is vivacious, enthusiastic and lovely. I’m grateful to her for the on-going discussions we can have, about many subjects, even though we might not chat for weeks at a time. Greta is another friend I’ve not met in person, but one who has unselfishly supported some of my most recent projects.

10. My friend Dean Mantz. Dean reached out to me, on Twitter early in 2011 and we connected, professionally, on many levels. He’s been a tremendous support to me in my work with New Teacher Chat and supported me to present in a Knowledge Sharing Place Webinar. Dean and I have not met in person, but I’m grateful that he consistently seeks me out to share and collaborate. We are hoping for a fun, collaborative project in 2012!

11. My friend Angela Maiers. Angela is as open and honest as they come! I had not known and thing about her, until we met on Twitter. Then in March 2011 at ASCD we actually met in person. She is lovely, energetic and resonates an amazing positive energy. She has graciously invited me to join her in projects, introduced me to wonderful new social platforms,and participated with me in New Teacher Chat. I’m grateful to her for her willingness to share her gifts and talents that have inspired me to grow in my work.

Me, Karen McMillan, & Angela at ASCD11

Gratitude Matters

In the end…gratitude doesn’t come from how many friends you have, or what they do for you, but rather the value these friends bring to your life. You may not talk to them daily, see them weekly, but you know that they are there. They may not even know, how much they mean to you. But…with an email, tweet or Skype call you can connect to your friends and tell them you care and count on them to support you. Whether you are standing up for the rights of the afflicted in your community, the needs of students in your classroom, or the need you have to be supported…even on the worst day…you know that you can reach out!

At this Thanksgiving time, I share my gratefulness and gratitude to these eleven wonderful friends today. Friends who have been there to listen, stand with me and support me.

I share this in the hope that, no matter your current situation, you will take a moment to reflect on those very special people in your life, who make it that much better and brighter and show them you care.

And…I leave you with this question: Who are you grateful for?

]]> http://teachingwithsoul.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/gratefulness-and-gratitude-for-friendships/feed/ 15 teachingwithsoul Gratitude Beloved_Lisa&Randy-7 Jason an Aaron photo photo (3) photo (2) photo (3) photo (2) photo (4) CDW_DeanMantz_KS Me and Angela http://teachingwithsoul.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/cooking-up-thanksgiving-lesson-ideas-for-new-teachers/ http://teachingwithsoul.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/cooking-up-thanksgiving-lesson-ideas-for-new-teachers/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:00:53 +0000 teachingwithsoul http://teachingwithsoul.wordpress.com/?p=1911 Continue reading →]]>

Hi All!

In my work with new teachers, it’s so important to me to provide them with practical, supportive ideas that they can quickly apply to their work with students.

As the Thanksgiving Holiday is fast approaching,I want to share some ideas for Thanksgiving Themed lessons.

Here is list of great resources from the web that I cooked up, just for this season. There are tons more, I’m sure!

Here’s just a few really fun ones to help you get started:

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving day Comic

Harvest Festivals from Around the World

Thanksgiving Lesson Plan

Thanksgiving Activities

Lesson Plans Page for Thanksgiving

Enchanted Learning-Thanksgiving

A-Z Thanksgiving Theme Lessons

Teacher Vision Thanksgiving Resources

Would love to have you share a comment, if you try any links, and use them in your classroom or pre-service lesson planning.

Hoping this time of Thanksgiving will inspire you to ”cook up” some wonderful teaching and learning with your students!

Photo:Jennifer13, “Leaf Turkey”, 11/23/06, CC by-NC2.0 via flickr 

Photo: Piero Serra, Thanksgiving, Orcas Island, 11/29/04, CC by-NC-SA 2.0 via flickr

]]> http://teachingwithsoul.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/cooking-up-thanksgiving-lesson-ideas-for-new-teachers/feed/ 0 teachingwithsoul 1816575_a980356b49 http://teachingwithsoul.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/mentoring-mondays20-tidbits-for-new-teachers-at-ocra2011-ntchat-edchat/ http://teachingwithsoul.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/mentoring-mondays20-tidbits-for-new-teachers-at-ocra2011-ntchat-edchat/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:15:49 +0000 teachingwithsoul http://teachingwithsoul.wordpress.com/?p=1880 Continue reading →]]> Mentoring Happens!

On Saturday October 29, 2011 I had the incredible opportunity to spend the day at the Orange County Reading Association’s  Annual Fall Conference. This was the 48th year that this event was held and the setting was at Concordia University in Irvine California.

I also had the honor to present for this event, sharing with the wonderful team of OCRA coordinators and more importantly the attendees, new and pre-service teachers, who filled my room to capacity in the two 50 min presentation slots I was assigned.

For this conference, I choose to create a Prezi that I based on one of my recent well received posts on Edutopia.org to celebrate their 20th year anniversary called 20 Tidbits for New Teachers. It was also featured at the Huffington Post.

It was great to see eager and excited future educators, interested in the ideas that I shared. They were particularly fascinated by the idea of the use of Web 2.0 tools to support their instructional work with students and the use of Social Media to support their professional development. Most in my sessions had not had the opportunity to begin to use many Web 2.0 tools or Social Media supports such as Twitter, a blog, or Ning group. They were missing opportunities to collaborate and said as much. The beauty of this, brief, mentoring time together was that the majority of attendees shared with me that they left my session inspired to collaborate more, try new tools and be come active in Social Media networks!

I’m hopeful that as time passes, I will be contacted by participants who will want to be mentored to go further in their work with these tools. I’m hopeful that they will want to connect as they develop themselves not just professionally but also personally as they begin to seek their passion:teaching.

Below is a link to my session Prezi presentation and a  link to the Google Doc handout http://goo.gl/ZqidJ that I shared with attendees.

I want to thank the incredible OCRA conference coordinating team and particularly Julie Niles Petersen for the dedication and hard work in organizing this wonderful conference.

Mentoring does matter! What have you done today, to support or mentor a colleague?

http://prezi.com/alroruns1mpi/20-tidbits-for-new-teachers/

Mentoring Matters

A mentoring commitment is not easy, but mentoring matters. It takes hard work by the mentor and mentee, but it’s work that I believe is worth the effort. The mentoring relationship matters to the teachers participating because it’s a tremendous valuable support to their personal and professional development. I also believe that the mentoring relationship matters and is equally as important to the children, our students, because they are the benefactors of better teaching and learning that are a result of this mentoring collaborative.

The Teacher Mentoring Project

Today on Mentoring Mondays, I’m going to highlight a project that I began in January 2011 with the encouragement of Shelly Terrell. This project came out of a discussion we had, preparing for the Reform Symposium for New Teachers.

The discussion that I shared with the Reform Symposium team was that, new teachers attend a conference, even a virtual one, and get excited about trying out new ideas. However, with  time constraints, other commitments, and first year burdens…new teachers are more likely not to carry the newly learned implementation forward. This is especially true, if there is a lack of support, or supportive colleague who could guide or collaborate in the work.

This is where a mentor can step in, ideally at the school site. But, what if that’s not an option? What if there are no good matches for the new teacher on campus, or experienced teachers just aren’t available? What about a virtual mentor? One who could chat, Skype,”Hang-out” or email with a new teacher? Enter The Teacher Mentoring Project.

The Teacher Mentoring Project is a group on the EduPLN.com Ning. The purpose of the group is to work to collaborate and find best practices and to mentor and support teachers in K-12 and higher education institutes of learning worldwide for online and offline learning. The design of this group, shared on the site, is as follows:

A joint project between the Educator’s PLN Ning and the Reform Symposium E-Conference. We have invited over 100 schools and teaching programs to take part in this project.

1. Google Doc with Mentor information (view only) All information on this G-doc is open to those who have the link so please be sure you have shared what you are comfortable with being public.
2. If you are a teacher looking to mentor another please fill out this form Info Sheet for Mentor Program:interested mentors. )Your info will then be placed on public doc #1 by Lisa Dabbs.)
3. If you are a teacher looking for a mentor, WELCOME! We are so happy to have you here! Check out the doc in #1 to find a mentor!

To find a mentor:

1. Search the Google Doc (same as  #1 above) Google Doc with Mentor Information (view only)
2. Find the member in this group or on the Educator’s PLN Member list by doing a search entering the person’s name and then you can email them through the ning. You could also try contacting them through the information on the document.
3. We will have a meeting every other month to talk exchange experiences, provide goals for the next meeting, and more!
4. You are more than welcome to have more than one mentor!

Thanks!

Since our launch in January 2011 the  group has blossomed into a support team of now 157 educators, virtual mentors, ready willing and able to mentor and support new teachers, or a not so new teacher. And the group continues to grow! I curate the group and keep track of membership and mentoring relationships that are building. I had plans to meet virtually to get feedback about how our group is working. To date, I haven’t been able to get this off the ground so it’s still in a planning stage. However, I have received feedback from new teachers via Twitter and email, who have connected with mentors through this project, who are grateful to be able to receive the virtual support that they aren’t able to get on their school campus.

As I wrap up this post, I invite you to visit The Teacher Mentoring Project at the Educators PLN Ning site.

If you are a new teacher that has wanted to connect with a mentor, I hope you will click on the link in #1 (Google Doc with Mentor info) and give it a try. If you are an experienced teacher who’d like to be a part of this wonderful collaborative, sign up on this info doc http://goo.gl/BwvWL and I’ll be sure to add your name to the list!

My on-going goal, for Monday’s on my blog is to bring reflections or as in this case information for educators both new and experienced of how the mentoring relationship supported (or supports) their teaching, here, on Mentoring Mondays.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What can we do everyday as educators, to give mentoring support?

Thanks for stopping by!

As part of Edutopia.org’s  Summer Professional Development Series, I was honored to facilitate a workshop on Web 2.0 tools for new teachers. Over the five-week workshop, participants learned about one new tool a week, by visiting my blog on Edutopia, did some practice lessons with the tool and then developed their own samples.

The samples of their work with the tool were then placed on a portfolio page on the New Teacher Boot Camp wiki .

Each week, we met on Twitter for #ntchat on Wednesdays at 8pm ET/5pm PT to discuss the tool and share our experiences and ideas.

I’m continuing to share the posts that were part of the boot camp on Edutopia, here on my blog. This will be a great opportunity, as the school year gets started for many of you, to dive in to these tools and use them with your students!

Welcome to the  fifth and final week of New Teacher Fall Re-Boot Camp: Using Blogs. Today we’re going to be exploring blogging. Not only for students, but for educators as well.

This wrap-up comes at a great time, as we reflect on the Why I Write National Day of Writing #whyiwrite  initiative that was celebrated yesterday, Thursday, October 20,2011. Read below to get started…

What is a Blog?

A blog (a blend of the term “web log”) is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are maintained by an individual, in our case a teacher or student, who writes a post, or regular entry, sharing a commentary, description of an event, or other audio-visual material such as a video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments on the blog and it is this interactivity that frequently distinguishes them from other static websites. Blog sites can combine text, images, and links to other blogs. They can also provide web pages and media related to the topic being shared. There are many blogging platforms such as WordPress, Blogger and Edublogs to name a few, that are amazing for teachers to use professionally and with students.

My blog at TeachingWithSoul.com

Introducing Greta Sandler

Greta is an ESL teacher in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Join me in reading her approach to using blogging in the classroom. Here is a short interview I did with her about her approach to using blogs in the classroom with students.

http://wetoku.com/player/vod/20097

Writing for an Audience: Blog Examples

Blogging is a wonderful way to motivate our students to write. Students can share their stories, thoughts and reflections on their blogs. Writing for a real and global audience makes blogging an engaging and meaningful experience. Blogging has made a difference for my students. Their writing and reading skills have improved significantly. Additionally, blogging has also inspired them to learn and explore about other web tools and technology. Thanks to blogging, many of my students have been able to find their voices and gain self-confidence.

Below is an example of a student who wrote this adventure story, drew the image map and figured out how to embed it herself. You can read the whole story here.

Student Story Blog

Next we have a an example of a student sharing his thoughts on blogging.

Student Sharing His Thoughts

Expanding Our Classroom Walls

Blogging is also a fantastic way to bring parents and our entire school community into our classrooms. Students can blog about special events and share important news. Kids can even add videos and publish their own work.

Next is a post by a student who wrote about a Skype call experience.

Reflection on Skype

Below is an inspiring comment left by a parent sharing her thoughts about our blog.

Parent Comment

Bringing the World in

Commenting and reading other blogs will empower our students to build meaningful connections with people from all over the world. These connections will help them develop better critical thinking skills, as well as raise their global awareness. Students can take part in blogging challenges and global projects. Moreover, kids can collaborate with other classrooms through their blogs. Getting comments is important, but it’s also beneficial to get our students to read other blogs and comment on them too.

Comments4kids is an excellent resource to find other student blogs and get more comments on your students’ work.

Below is our blogging buddies map. It has been an incredible opportunity to learn about other countries and cultures. We marked every place we got comments from.

Blogging Buddies Map

Useful Links and Resources

• Sharing Good News Greta Sandler’s student blogs (2010). (Select “Any Time” from the second Recent Posts drop-down.
• Blogging with Students – LiveBinder
• Bring the World in – Blogging with Your Students (Online Presentation – Recording, Slides & Resources)
• Blog4Edu Student Blogging Resources
• Student Blogging Challenge
• Comments4kids

Thanks so much to Greta for the great idea of how a new teacher could begin to explore using blogs in the classroom!

About Greta Sandler

Greta Sandler is an ESL teacher. She teaches fifth grade at a K-12 school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is passionate about teaching and technology. She loves to create meaningful learning opportunities for her students by combining her two passions. She is the co-creator of Blog4Edu and she is also part of the #elemchat team. You can check out her blog About a Teacher and you can also find her on Twitter (@gret.)