February Newsletter
2/24
Learning and Leading the culture of IKEA
Educators around the globe are looking into other sectors to better understand how to create something special in our schools and classrooms. Come learn how IKEA makes your experience special and how you can bring that back to your school/classroom.
2/26 - 27
Lee's Summit R-7 Schools would like to invite teachers and administrators to CONNECTMidwest. Participants will experience two full days of interactive, highly relevant professional learning opportunities
2/28 - 3/1
Embracing Diversity and Inclusion conference at Webster University a "Free-mium" conference with BOLD speakers, great insight and inspiring ideas.
3/1
Improv Skills for Educators
Come learn new Improv games, strategies and activities to build community with your colleagues and students! Improv is so much more than comedy. It's learning about discomfort, agreeing and running with an idea, it's truly listening to another person, it's empathy and putting yourself in another person's shoes. You know what else? It's FUN! It'll make you laugh, it'll change how you interact with students.
A multitude of learning around VR and AR and its impact on society to come. Register for this FREE event and check out all the learning
3/6
The New Normal: Reframing Diversity in Tech and Entrepreneurship
You can't innovate without diversity. Period. Yet most proposed solutions to increasing diversity in tech and entrepreneurship falls short. SO what's the solution? Kathryn Finney will address the very real, technological and historic barriers to increasing diversity in an ever-growing sector of tech and entrepreneurship and how companies from start-ups to non-profits can directly address those barriers in creating a "New Normal"
3/10
Learning Space Design Scavenger Hunt
Great design is often elusive, especially to those (like me) who struggle with good design. Learn, discover, grow, and shift your mindset in order to expand your possibilities. Together let's uncover the experiences we want our students to have. When we better understand the experiences we want our students to have we can then design your amazing space. Learn how to bring your instruction to life and find amazing resources to revitalize your space.
3/17
Seeds of Joy
You're met Jill Stratton right here at South. If you enjoyed her, learn even more about bringing JOY into your life. Bringing together evidenced-based research and a lively blend of music, personal stories, and reflection, this workshop is more of a mini-retreat for heart and soul. Come if you're curious, skeptical, hungry, or hopeful and leave with "seeds of joy" and strategies for increasing and sustaining happiness this spring and beyond.
3/31
Chromecamp
Chromecamp is an “unconference,” a free, non-commercial gathering of passionate educators who share an interest in a particular topic – in this case, the Chrome (the browser and OS) and the entire Google Ecosystem. Attendees volunteer to run sessions – conversations, not presentations – on specific topics related to this theme (or not – sessions can also be about social media or other educational concepts, but the emphasis is on Chrome and Google.)
4/14
The Missouri Botanical Garden has an awesome event focused on sustainability just for your school and your students. Check it out!
Resources
Simple steps to starting PBL in your class.
A List of Excellent Student Design Projects for Middle School Creativity
28 question stems to foster critical thinking (TOTALLY TIES TO TEI STANDARD 4)
Need a summer job? Check out the Global Hack position attached.
6 non-education books educators read
Local resource to find out resources across our region. Lit Around the Lou
Great Add-ons for Google Slides
VIDEO: Individualizing assignments in google classroom (great way to differentiate assignments for students.)
6 steps to make your next book study the best one yet
Grants to fund learning in and out of your classroom.
6 Excellent Google Mapping Tools to Develop Students Geo-Literacy
5 Downloadable Vocabulary Activities that Make Words Stick
Articles
Great things happen when you're bored: 5 fascinating things I learned by making myself bored
PLEASE TAKE YOUR HOOD OFF and other microaggressions all teachers commit
Who couldn't use better (or more) sleep? Learn how to fall asleep quicker
The Japanese use of the word "Space" might change how you view the world.
So as future jobs continue to shift, what does it mean for those that struggle academically that working in a grocery store may be a thing of the past? Amazon Go
Teachers as Learners: Moving from Unintentional to Engaged to Empowered - Reminded me, we are either constantly refining our practice around the needs of our students and the world THEY are entering or we are saying their needs are irrelevant.
Twitter is Like Going to the Grocery Store - “Not every idea you encounter on Twitter will go in your shopping cart.” Check out the “10 signs you might be ready to learn using Twitter.”
“If the learning in the classroom is all about what the teacher does, and less about what the students create, then what is the long-term impact that this will have on our students?” How can students take content knowledge learned and create something new with it? Read More.
Sad news about what kids are doing on their 1:1 chromebooks across the world. YIKES!
11th graders poem rocks the world, what could our kids write that shapes their world?
50 blog ideas for educators. Do you blog? Do your students? Why not?
When working alongside our colleagues, if we remember the principles of adult behavior we may have better friends, better colleagues and deeper engagement.
The importance of Deep Fun. Having fun at work is far more than just ping-pong tables, although those are cool too.
The Key Trait that Einstein, Jobs and Divinci had in common. HINT: It's not content knowledge.