LOA Diaries -Ed Tech

Almost as soon as I got the gig at Edmodo, I, along with my cohort of iPad Academy

4/5 of the Original iPaddians

members received an email from our former fearless leader, +Kirby Fell. He had moved down to a school district in the central coast area of California as the Chief Technical Officer of Orcutt School District  where he joined our former superintendent, Dr. Debra Blow. We were invited to kick off their iPad Academy, all 5 of us, with a one day training at their district office. We would have done it for free but they were even going to pay us! We stayed at our colleague, Lorena's, second home near Paso Robles, and made a fun weekend of it. It was great to share our experiences with a receptive and enthusiastic group of educators, quite different than the reception we'd received in our own district when we first started out on our iPad adventure four years ago. As my friend and colleague, +sheila monger was quoted in The Orcutt Pioneer, "It was an honor to work with the Orcutt teachers...It takes a brave educator to take the initiative and risk to learn so much so quickly...each one ...will take back an idea that will immediately and positively impact their students' educational experience."

One of the benefits of not being tied to a classroom is the ability to attend conferences, workshops and classes just because they interest me. Of course, the downside is, I have to pay for them, but often such activities targeted to the education community are free or at least reasonably priced.  Within the span of a week I attended Looking at Learning, Common Sense Education Teacher Institute at +Twitter headquarters in SF, and the SVEF iHub Pitch Games.  

Looking at Learning was hosted by and at the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College. After a lovely catered dinner, with wine made from founder Gay Krause's own grapes, there were three TED style talks to inspire and ignite educators. +Diane Main  presented her ideas on using gaming to goive students more control in the classroom. +Kyle Brumbaugh spoke about constructive friction. During his presentation his wife, +Elizabeth Calhoon, tweeted out from Dallas how she wished she was there to see him speak, so in less than 3 minutes I learned how to Periscope and she was able to watch her husband's presentation, and even catch a glimpse of her mom in the audience. The last presentation was +Esther Wojcicki sharing her teaching adventure with James Franco, first as her student years ago and more recently as her co-teacher, inspiring us to go for the moonshot in education.

+Common Sense Education teacher institute on digital citizenship was held at Twitter HQ in SF. If I thought +Edmodo has great perks, Twitter is over the top! They treated us very well and again the presentations and activities were inspiring and informative. The institute was all day on a Friday, something I could not justify if I were in the classroom. It was a great opportunity to network and learn from not just the presenters but my table mates. Plus it was a beautiful day if the city. What caught me off guard was, driving I'm into the city I realized it was the exact route, exit and intersection where I used to drop off Jim in those years when we commuted to work together. The memory took my breath away and I wiped away tears as I entered Twitter's lobby. Even on a beautiful day, focused on edtech. I can still be overcome with grief. 

About two weeks after school started I was approached by a former colleague and invited to participate as a teacher team in SVEF iHub. I explained that I wasn't in a classroom and she invited me to be on the short list selection committee. They met on a Tuesday at lunchtime at some Palo Alto office building, again, something I could never do if I was teaching. We were evaluating up and coming Ed tech companies who would then compete shark tank style, in Pitch Games. The winners would go on to work with selected teacher teams who would use their products in real life classrooms. The Pitch games themselves were fascinating. I'd been asked by Arati to be the Twitter moderator, a role I completely enjoyed. They even asked me to join in the judging process to add insights gained from monitoring the Twitter feed. 

I attended MERIT at the Krause Center for Innovation (KCI) in 2009 and have kept in touch with Maestro +Steven McGriff, professor-in-residence, ever since. We run into each other at various edtech events and I am always so impressed with his positive energy and outlook. He really is a breath of fresh air.  He's talked about me coming on board to teach for KCI but due to my schedule and dealing with my husband's illness and death, the timing has never been right.  After attending Looking at Learning, Twitter and iHub in the span of a week, and seeing some faces in common at each event, I was approached by Kyle Brumhaugh, who is now also working at KCI with Steve. He asked if I'd be interested in teaching a few of the sessions at an upcoming mini-MERIT program.  Of course I would! So finally, is will be a part of this amazing program from the delivery side. I am so honored to be asked and thrilled that the time is finally right!

Last week I was honored to teach two (of 5) days for a mini-MERIT program at local school district. It was a great experience to work with teachers so eager to learn. Mini-MERIT is a very hands-on, minds-on learning for teachers, TOSAs and administrators to develop knowledge and technical skill as well as work on real-life projects they will take back into their schools. I am hoping I will get to do more of these. I felt like I was making a difference, and the very part time, flexible nature of it fits my needs right now. 

Since I started working in education in 2005 I strive to integrate my experience and skills from my hi-tech career within the education system. It has been so exciting and rewarding to not only get to do so on a grand, fun scale, but also have time to share what I know, and learn from, like minded professionals. In addition, I am allowing myself time to personally learn, grow, grieve and redefine my life.

And it is only November!

LOA Diaries: What part of Leave and Absence don't I Understand?

When I had first requested leave, I told our Asst. Sup. of Human Resources (HR) I'd be willing to do part time work. In early October I was approached with two opportunities within Cambrian, in addition to my BTSA coaching. Both are totally in line with the kind of work I like to do, so, of course, I said yes, and my mother asked my to clarify my definition of part time. 

Steindorf

One of the reasons I decided no to retire, but just take a LOA is the fact that next year Cambrian is opening a new k-8 school, Steindorf STEAM School. I've been on the teacher steering committee for the past two years and was hoping to keep my fingers in the pie. I was invited to attend the first planning meeting this year and was happy to make time to attend.  A couple of weeks later I was approached by Steindorf's principal, +Kristi Schwiebert and asked, since I had some time on my hands, if I could help with the website and communications for Steindorf.  It is by no means a guarantee of an offer to teach there, but it's a great opportunity to stay involved with this exciting project. 

Film Club

I was with Kristi at the DO (district office) being trained on the intricacies of Schoolwires, our website platform, by our new Director of instructional Technology, +Dr. William Jenkins . I'd been on the hiring committee and was happy that's he accepted our offer.  Will complimented me on the work I did facilitating last years' Digital Media Academy. Then he asked if I would be interested in leading the transition of the work from a teacher focused academy to student focused Film Clubs. He also suggested I might be tapped to lead some sessions at Cambrian University, our new voluntary teacher tech training program. How could I say no? I love this stuff!

More Coaching

Then just this week I was asked if I could coach two more teachers, new long term subs, through assessments, report cards and conferences...Just. Say. No. But since I need to do the same thing for my new teachers...

I am not at all complaining about the opportunities presenting themselves to me. In fact, I am thrilled. They afford me the opportunity to keep my skills fresh, stay in contact with people i enjoy working with and provide me with a little extra spending money. Perhaps my new title should be Teacher-At-Large. When I decided to "not work" this year, I was so worried about having too much time in my mind, now I'm not sure I'm getting enough time to just sit and be.

LOA Diaries: Edmodo, an introduction

I've used an educational software product, +Edmodo , for about 5 years. Edmodo is kind of a private, safe and secure Facebook for education (though they prefer I not make that comparison, for people who don't use Edmodo, I find it helps). Edmodo is the largest social learning network used for connecting, communicating and collaborating with colleagues and students. When Jim or I would complain about the bureaucratic, slow moving workings of our educational system, he would say I should go back into business and 'work somewhere like Edmodo.' I belong to an amazing group of educators, Edmodo Support Ambassadors and Certified Trainers. I'd posted to the group that I was taking a year leave (LOA) from teaching. Understandably, people who didn't know my full story said 'how lucky' I was. What they couldn't know is I'd gladly work the rest of my life if it would have meant my husband would've beaten his cancer.

About a week after I took the BTSA coaching job, I received a message on Edmodo from +Kevyn Klein, Director of Customer Success and Advocacy. She had seen that I was not teaching and they were in need of some temporary help managing their on-site trainings. I drove up to San Mateo to talk about their needs and ended up starting my training that day and signing a contract the next morning. As I got ready for work the next morning, I could just see Jim smiling with pride and maybe a bit of, 'I told you so!'



I go into the office one or two days a week and work a few hours Tuesday through Friday from home. San Mateo is about 25 miles away, but in commute traffic can take a mind numbing, stop and go hour or more. I've started taking the train on the days I go in, which gives me back two hours a day to walk (to and from the train), meditate, call far away family and friends and write - all things I wanted to do when I took my leave of absence. Edmodo's amazing IT team, +Allison Laureano  and +Sam Swink , set me up with a MacBook Air and my own conference number so that I can easily work from home.

As I was describing to my parents the work I do at Edmodo, I realized I had come full circle.  My first job out of college was at Tymnet, where I started in 1982 as a receptionist in the training and support department and was soon coordinating trainings, much of what I do now! Of course the tools are fancier and more technologically advanced, and yes, the pay is better, but a circle nonetheless.

It is really interesting to get an insider’s perspective of a company whose product I've used for so long. I expect a number of updates to follow!

LOA Diaries: BTSA

About two weeks before school started I received a call from the district HR department asking if I'd consider being a coach for new teachers. A BTSA Supporting Teacher. BTSA stands for Beginning Teacher Support and Induction.  It's a great program designed to help teachers navigate the first two years of teaching. I had an amazing mentor, +Kristi Schwiebert who I'm lucky to still have as a colleague and friend. 

I did my research and determined it would generally take one day a week which was about how much time I wanted to commit. I felt it would show good faith to a district that had treated me well when I needed it most. I said yes and the following Monday attended training and on Tiesday met two of the three teachers I'd be supporting. I meet with them individually once a week and have complete flexibility in my schedule except for required monthly meetings.

I have found the work to be incredibly rewarding. The teachers' enthusiasm is infectious and they are eager to learn and grow as educators. I get to spend some time with students as well. I support a kindergarten, fifth grade and middle school teacher in our small k-8 district. I knew I was making a difference when I arrived on campus last week and one of my participating teachers threw open her arms, greeted me with a big hug and whispered with relief, "you're here!"

3 Little Words

Some words are benign enough, it is....It. A non-specific pronoun.  Is. A form of the verb to be.  But put them together and add one more word, and you have a sentence. In the case of news delivered by my husband's doctor, the sentence sucked the air out of the room, my ears stopped working and I think maybe even my heart stopped pumping blood through my body for a half second when he spoke those words, "It is cancer."  Those simple little two words, matched with the most malignant, changed my life. Forever.

That was just over two years ago that I heard those words, such a short time, yet a lifetime.

Thinking about those three words, made me wonder about other times when just three words had changed my life so much. Some were hard to hear, others filled my heart with wonder and joy. All have brought me to this day.

Congratulations on Graduating I thought that meant I was done with school, though later I returned to earn two masters degrees, but it did mean it was time to get serious, be an adult, get a real job. And I did. I had a successful career, traveling the world, earning obscene amounts of money and always serious, saving for retirement.  

I love you The most precious words ever heard. Whether from a parent, a friend, a lover or a child, nothing changes a mood faster that hearing those words.  I remember once, almost 30 years ago, after a particularly bad day at work, stopping by my parents' house on my way home from work. As I climbed back into my car, my four year old niece, who'd been in the back playing, ran to the front porch and yelled at the top of her lungs, I love you! My whole day brightened at the sound of those words.

Be my wife At 37 I'd pretty much given up on the idea of marriage, yet it was a pleasant surprise to be proposed to by a man I really did love and want to spend the rest of my life with. I had no idea I would only get to spend the rest of his life with him.

Good Morning, Teacher After 20 years in high tech, I retired the day before my 40th birthday. After messing around for a few years, I decided to use my experience and passion to teach children. That first day in my own classroom started changes to my life in ways I'd never dreamed. I've never regretted the decision. I still love hearing those words!  

What three words changed your life?