#D2T16NYC Ending - #100DayProject - Day 073

Image Source: Driven2Teach

When this posts, I will be finishing up one of the most amazing professional development experiences of my career and heading home to my family. I am so grateful to have been able to take part in this experience with the Driven2Teach program and I promise I will be sharing some of my reflections with you, but I wanted to start my reflection story with the end.

If you want to fully learn something, you have to immerse yourself in it. Do you have to physically go somewhere to have that immersive experience? No, but it certainly doesn't hurt. But you don't have to physically be anywhere because you can allow yourself to fully commit to the latest learning. But being able to physically move yourself to the location you are learning about doesn't hurt the learning but instead increases it exponentially. 

What were my big takeaways from this experience? Relationships are crucial to the level of success you allow yourself to have. I came to this learning moment alone and yet I'm so excited to have been able to meet amazing teachers from across the great state of Utah. So I feel like coming alone was successful for me? Yes. Would I make that same decision to come alone without my grade-level team? Yes because it forced me to get to know the others in the group.

Another takeaway is you have to be willing to try new things and not get embarrassed by silliness. Life is messy and the sooner we realize that the better because it will help us open up and share. I spent time with people I didn't really know before Sunday and now we're great pals. I did certain activities that I may not have done before and really enjoyed them. Give new people and new things a chance because you never know what will change you.

The final takeaway is being prepared and willing to share your knowledge and skills with others around you. I always travel with an assortment of tech gadgets and yet I don't always use them. But I love the fact that I'm prepared and was able to, in fact, share my cables for all sorts of things happening with the group. I also carried a first aid kit the entire time because you don't want to be stranded. 

Be on the watch out for chances to learn from those things and people.

Sing Street - #100DayProject - Day 072

On Saturday night, I took a little time to myself and watched a movie I didn't think I'd get to see in the theaters, Sing Street. Right down the street from our hotel in Philidelphia, was a movie theater that showed some very small and more indy movies and that location was perfect for me. 

Above is the trailer for the movie so you have the basic idea of the storyline. I first heard about the movie a month or two ago and immediately fell in love all the songs that were available on YouTube and would watch them over and over again. Why did I want to watch it so badly? I'm not fully sure other than the fact that I too have been in bands and understand the desire to write and perform music. But I think it was also because I could feel a bit of what the lead character is going through, not completely, but a little. 

Without ruining the movie for you, because I want you to go see it, I wanted to write about one aspect, how we see the fellas in the band change throughout their musical journeys. As someone who has been in a number of bands, this is normal for bands and part of the fun. When the guys start out, they are just straight up copying some of their favorite bands and then as they find their own voices it's fun to see how they've changed. This is often how our students are as well. They start out their educational careers just going with the flow and wanting to do what their older siblings (or friends) have done. By the time they hit 4th and 5th they start to find their own voice and want to do things their own way. 

Just as every good film needs an antagonist, Sing Street doesn't fail to disappoint. I won't go into any more information about this "villain" but it made me question if I was the bad guy for my students' learning. Are we helping to encourage our students in their search for knowledge or are we the teacher who forces them to do the same old thing in the same old manner? One of the things I'm most excited about after watching this is that I now want to re-think my everything to make sure I'm able to give my full support to students for their own growth. It also reminds me I need to pick up a number of great 80s albums. 

Go forth and help your students learn and grow without excessive distractions. That and go and see Sing Street if it's available in your area. 

Friends - #100DayProject - Day 069

One of my favorite parts of my trip out east has been the chance to meet up with friends who live on the opposite side of the country from me. Over the last two days, I've been able to meet up with two different groups of friends who help me to be a better person and a better teacher.

Image Source: Marialice B.F.X. Curran

On Tuesday, I was able to visit the both Liberty and Ellis Islands as part of my #D2T16NYC trip as I've been running around New York City in the search for U.S. History. Beyond the life-changing experience of learning first-hand about immigration, I was able to reunite with two of my #DigCitSummitUK colleagues, Marialice Curran, and her son Curran Central. Even though I hadn't seen these amazing people since January, we've had many digital connections that have helped us keep our friendships current.

After learning together at Ellis Island, we were able to head back to Manhattan and visit with some of the Buncee team. If you're an educator and don't know about Buncee yet, listen up because you're gonna need to change that, soon! Buncee is a drag and drop tool that allows you to create amazing multimedia presentations that are fun and extremely educational. Your students will thank you for letting them play instead of working and yet, you get the last laugh because they are learning and creating beautiful art that helps them learn. I was able to meet with Marie Arturi, the CEO and founder of Buncee, along with part of her team at their New York offices and was amazed at their level of concern for their product and customer care. While at Buncee, Curran Central was able to interview Marie on Periscope, so go check out how amazing he is and remember, he's an ELEMENTARY STUDENT! Wow!

As much fun as we were having, it was hard to say goodbye, but it was okay because I knew I'd see these awesome pals again soon. Hopefully, it will be at the next #DigCitSummit, scheduled to take place at Twitter HQ on October, 28th! However, I wouldn't mind if it was sooner than later.

Chris, Me, and Stacey after a great meal.

Then today I was able to hop on a train to New Jersey to meet up with the one and only Chris Nesi of the #HouseOfEdTech podcast! Chris and I have been friends ever since I was lucky enough to be a guest on episode 22 of his show and I've enjoyed that friendship greatly! After exiting the train I didn't follow the instructions very well because I got lost, but never fail, Chris showed up along with a special surprise, another friend, Stacey Lindes, who I was also hoping to meet up with but wasn't sure if I'd get the chance. It was so fun to finally get to meet these amazing educators face-to-face and enjoy some time together. After breaking bread, we went for a great walk around New Brunswick, the designated meeting place, and just enjoyed one another's company. It was like I was hanging out with old high school friends and yet, we had never met in-person. Again, it goes to show the power of connecting digitally and creating bonds that are more than just words typed into a computer.

Even though I came across the country to study about U.S. History, I was able to do so much more, I was able to increase my relationships with two different groups of education friends I met online. Creating an even stronger bond amongst friends due to the chance to meet in-person and learn from one another is one of the most precious rewards I will take home with me. So even though you can create friendships online, friendships that are real, be sure to take any chance you get to increase their strength by meeting face-to-face if possible.

Thanks friends for allowing me to be a part of your lives and thanks for being a part of mine!

Note: Due to my crazy #D2T16NYC schedule, I missed yesterday's post, so I'm just gonna add another day to my total and continue on. I've combined the two posts because they had similar content and worked well together.

Alone - #100DayProject - Day 067

5th Avenue Apple Store and elevator.

Walking around the streets of New York City today I had some incredible experiences, which I will share more tomorrow. Even still, I wanted to discuss something that I wasn't totally prepared for, traveling with a bunch of new people who I didn't know. I came on my Driven2Teach experience alone while many others came with their grade-level teams, both options are okayed by the group, but coming as a team is recommended. However, I feel like I have come together with a bunch of other people and created a new team.

I came into this experience alone and wondered how it would go over. I tend to be what I've heard labeled Extroverted Introvert, someone who has many of the qualities of an introvert but can also thrive as an extrovert for short bursts. You enjoy the socialization, but then have to recharge before your next event. I enjoy being with groups and friends, but then I need to back it down and regroup.

Coming alone to this New York Driven2Teach experience has been great because I've been able to meet new people, work with them, learn with them, and then I took a little alone time to regroup and recharge. I split off from the group in order to visit the 5th Avenue Apple Store and see it in all its glory. It was amazing and I loved going and seeing what it was all about. But I really enjoyed the chance to then walk around the streets of New York solo and have a little me-time. After eating an excellent dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. at Times Square, I thought I'd share a little Periscope video of the place and check in with my PLN.

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Was it bad that I spent time alone tonight? Not at all! It was helpful for me, it was what I needed. Then I started to think about the students I would see at Recess all alone and how it would concern me. Why was I concerned? Is it bad for kids to be alone at Recess or do they have to spend every free minute (and sometimes the minutes that aren't free) with someone? No, they shouldn't have to have adults worried about them if they need a couple of minutes alone. Now, I can see a position to worry about if they are always alone, but an occasional solo-Recess is totally fine. We need to remember that when we start to worry.

So, should my fellow #D2T16NYC peeps be worried for me? Maybe, but not due to me taking some alone time as much as it should be that I'm gonna out-learn them!

Travelling - #100DayProject - Day 066

As I sit here in the Salt Lake City Airport, I'm getting very excited for my Driven2Teach trip this week. As I sit here with some of my fellow #D2T16NYC crew, we're having an absolute blast getting to know each other better and just waiting for our now delayed plane to show up so we can get this party started.

Image Source: Driven2Teach

One of the things we're discussing is packing and how we got all of our stuff with us for this week-long trip. I always try to travel with as little as possible, but I don't always make it. I was hoping to fit everything in a single carry-on and a backpack but ended up needing to check a bag. However, as a technology nerd, I think I end up packing too much tech (if that's even possible) and then I end up getting in trouble.

So, I want to know from you folks, how do you travel? Do you end up having too much stuff and need to check bags and also have carry-on bags? Or are you able to do the near impossible (at least in my book) but ever-my-goal and travel with one bag? Let me know in the comments so I can better figure this out.

If you want to follow along on this journey with me and my pals, be sure to follow the following hashtags:

• #D2T16
• #D2T16NYC
• #Lars3ebDoesNYC