Shout Out! Scattering Summer Kindness

A few days ago, I saw this tweet and thought about playing Summer Twitter Bingo...

Summer Twitter Bingo starts on Monday! Who’s ready to scatter kindness in this world?

Snap a photo completing one of the kind acts listed on our board and include the hashtags #passionforkindness and #hcpspln. How many ways can you get a #KindnessBingo?#tlap #edchat pic.twitter.com/JCiiuqhAvo

— Tamara Letter (@tamaraletter) June 14, 2019

The first square I wanted to check off is "writing a note of appreciation to someone".  The someone I'd like to write an appreciation letter for is Eric Curts!  Eric is generously sharing ideas, links and learning and constantly inspiring me and others.  Here is my letter:

Dear Eric,
Thank you for always inspiring me and others with your ideas, links and learning.  You are so great about creating and sharing your ideas with the world.  The world has become a much brighter place because of the kindness and citizenship you exude on your blog Control Alt Achieve and on Twitter and other tech avenues.  I am so grateful that I met you through different conference venues in the Northeast Ohio area.  Thank you for being you.
Gratefully,

 

Amy Rudd

Who would you consider giving a shout out to?  Spread some seeds of kindness today...

I Promise School Year 1-Lights Out

I heard it over and over:  “I can’t believe it’s the last day!” “I don’t want it to end.” and “I don’t want to go home.”

I saw tears streaming from children’s eyes as they said goodbye when the buses rolled down the lane toward the street.  They were hanging out the windows waving.  The buses were honking...we were waving back, choking back the tears...

Many smiled, some sobbed few were hysterical...it was a beautiful summer send off-one I’ll always remember as we ended our inaugural year at the I Promise School.

I feel so blessed to be a part of this opportunity to connect with pupils, people and partner organizations at our school.  There’s no place like home.  Our lights are now out for the summertime but we’ll be back home soon.

OETC 2019 Nuggets of Newness

OETC 2019 was an amazing experience.  I learned so much from colleagues, coworkers, and speakers during the event.  I loved reflecting and reviewing all of the nuggets of newness I mined during the conference.  There were so many amazing sessions as well as inviting vendors in the exhibit hall.  This year, I created a google doc to display all of the learning links that I wanted remember.  So, here, in no particular order, I have shared the most important information acquired during the conference.

To open links in the Google Doc, try right clicking on it and selecting, "Open in New Tab". 

A Byte about Pear Deck

Last Friday, I joined in being trained with other "inspearational" educators to become a Pear Deck Regional Coach!  I was overjoyed to be a part of the group and learn more about the "Peardagogy" from the Pear Deck trainers.  It's now official-I'm a regional coach and I'm happy to #sharethepear.  

During our training, we read articles to learn more detail about the philosophy of the company.  One of the articles I found inspirational included the details highlighted in the picture I shared here:

Source https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/opinion/sunday/are-college-lectures-unfair.html

Active learning is one of the key reasons I know using Pear Deck is valuable and can make an impact on the students with whom teachers work every day.

If you have not yet used Pear Deck, check out this sample deck I made to share.  Kids love how Pear Deck works and as a teacher, you will too!  Each time a teacher publishes a deck with the "Google Slides Add-on", a random 5 letter code will generate and allow students to join via a web enabled device.  The teacher can then use the dashboard feature to monitor student responses and give immediate feedback as students participate in the lesson.

The product allows for all students to have an active role in participating throughout the lesson.  After the lesson ends, teachers can give additional feedback to students via the "takeaways" that are published and stored in the student's google drive.  The takeaways serve as a digital note sheet that collected their answers from the lesson.  This could be used as a study guide for future assessments.

Are you excited to see this in action?  If you are interested in learning more about Pear Deck, click here.  

An Open Letter to LeBron and the LeBron James Family Foundation

Dear LeBron and The LeBron James Family Foundation,

(my 23rd post on this blog, ironically) Everyone across the world can agree, your Impact is beyond measure!  From the support hugs for Akron's students to trees in Topanga State Park, the amazing things you and your team do daily are inspiring people for life!  I am one of them.

I was first inspired by watching you grow up in Akron, hearing about your stories from the Central Hower High School office and watching highlights from St. VM.  Everyone knew you'd be great, but how great, no one knew for sure...

I then watched you grow as a player for the CAVS!  Our hometown team deserved to have a hometown hero like you-a kid from Akron.

I started hearing more about the foundation as Michelle spoke to our instructional coach group about learning from mistakes and growing up and going away...and coming home too.  I learned more about how you are #morethananathlete with all the philanthropy you and your team are making happen every. single. day.  I don't think there's an award big enough to give you all for the lives you've touched and impacted in special ways throughout your career.

As I started working on the curriculum team for the I Promise School, I learned even more through visits to the LJFF Suite-which is very sweet.  I became even more inspired by the work our team and your team would do to launch the I Promise School...

And that brings me to the staff and student promises.  Our staff and our students take these seriously.  One of  the parts I personally took serious is the message to take time and take care of myself.

I became inspired to focus on being more active.  I have been going to the rec center, meeting with a trainer and working out on a more regular basis.  As a result, I have worked on clean eating and setting goals on becoming more fit.  I think about pushing through the pain as I work out and have gained incredible respect for all the working out you must be doing to stay on top of your game.

I can't thank you enough for all of the support you and the family foundation have provided to me, our staff and most importantly, our students as we move through our first year at the I Promise School.  I am personally and professionally grateful to you in such a heartfelt way I am practically in tears as I write this post.  I truly feel blessed to be a member of the I Promise School Family.

I promise to keep running even when it seems like my tank might be empty.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going...

Gratefully,

Amy Rudd