Our district Tech Integrationist, Beth Campbell, set up a summer class that she called "Tech Cohorts." The purpose of this group was to talk about some of Courus' ideas, but then really dig in and get specific. Under Beth's guidance, the goal was to leave that meeting in June with a place to start this fall.
Using the "Eight Things to Look for in Today's Classroom", we were challenged to choose an area that we might be interested in pursuing. We did this individually first. And then we looked for other people who had a common interest. Those became our planning groups.
Being the librarian, I'm hoping to be involved in all of these groups at some point as we move forward. But my specific group chose to focus on "Collaborating Locally & Globally."
The next step was to discuss our "Why." In my cohort group, our why was a direct quote from Couros' book: "We learn twice by connecting and sharing with an audience." And we added that it makes for a richer experience with authentic feedback from that connection.
Our final steps were to brainstorm some potential ideas and units that we could see having a connection to our focus (in my case: Collaborating Locally and Globally) and what tech tools might be needed to help achieve this piece. With these ideas in hand, we left for the summer with a mission for the fall semester. And now it's time to begin!
Team Bridgeview:
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There is one group of teachers not shown (they kept hiding from my camera!)
