Waiting for the Summer Solstice

As I ready for the Summer Solstice, thoughts of how to spend the perfect summer pop into my head. For educators, summer always means a time to recharge our batteries while engaging in passions that may have been kept on the sidelines during the school year. 

Truth be said, summer unfolds each year as a portal to new possibilities. We can savor each moment that comes before us or plan endlessly to create a "perfect summer." A better plan for me this year, is to look for options in small moments. The small moment below, captured at the beach, reminds me of the importance of reflecting as a tool to recharge my batteries. 

Inspired by Jone's posting of William Carlos Williams' poem, Summer Song, I decided to write the following poem while waiting for the summer months to begin. You can read this poem and connect with Poetry Friday writers at Jone's site, Check it Out. Jone is this week's host.

I WATCH IN AWE:

ITS FLIGHT,

A SIMPLE MOVEMENT

CIRCLING THE HORIZON-

A SWEEP OF THE SKY

LIKE A DANCER 

IMMERSED IN MOTION-

WINGS OUTSTRETCHED

GLIDING ACROSS

THE GLISTENING SEA,

A WANDERING WARRIOR

DIVING BEAK TO SAND

BOLDLY SCAVENGERING 

FOR SUSTAINANCE.

I SIT IN SILENCE:

REFLECTING,

A SINGULAR PROCESS

INTERSECTING LIFE,

A FLOW OF THOUGHTS

LIKE WATERS

CASCADING TOGETHER

TOWARD AN OUTLET-

WATCHING THE MOVEMENT

STUDYING THE LANDSCAPE,

DEEPLY ENGAGED

WHILE WAITING EAGERLY

FOR THE ALLURING CALL

OF THE SUMMER SONG

TO RECHARGE LIFE.

LIKE THE WANDERING WARRIOR

LOOKING FOR FOOD,

I SCAN SUN-DRENCHED SHORES

READY TO CAPTURE

THE ESSENCE OF RENEWAL.

Moving our Learning Forward Via a Virtual Showcase of Teaching and Learning

In the midst of end-of-year wrap-ups, it is important to pause and reflect upon our journey as educators.

This school year connected educators in New York State and New Jersey, along with others across the states, have engaged in many activities that exemplify a commitment to teaching and learning. We have willingly shared our growth and learning during educational online chats throughout the year. Now, at the close of the school year, it is time to celebrate our journeys. 

Tonight, June 16, 2014, at 8:30 pm EST, the moderators of #NYEDChat and #njed will blur state lines and remove classroom and office walls to let learning shine. Because we are committed to fostering collaboration and growth, the moderators invite you to post your best practice, important learning, blog post, image, and or poetic expression in the comment section of this blog post. This can be done prior to, during, or after our combo state chat  that will be found under the hashtag #NYEDChat. As educators share their story of success a virtual Showcase of Teaching and Learning will emerge. From comment to comment, tweet to tweet, new learning will be showcased and shared across the states. 

Joining together as a consolidated body of committed educators, we launch this site to allow educators to unveil their best learning. From countless classrooms and offices a collection of learning possibilities showing commitment to the prospects of what education can offer to students will spring. 

In a previous blog, From Connectivity Flows Possibilities, I spoke of the value of engaging colleagues in the virtual world of Twitter chats. This blog site, hosting a virtual Showcase of Teaching and Learning, will serve as an open space for those who wish to celebrate the positives of the 2013-14 school year. Our virtual Showcase of Teaching and Learning will be evidence of what exemplary learning experiences can provide as we continue to raise the bar for ourselves and our learners.

As we build this collaborative Showcase of Teaching and Learning, it is our hope that others will follow our lead. In doing so, we, as connected educators, will blur regional and state lines to share our best practices or experiences that will affect our students’ futures.  

Together We Are One!

From Connectivity Flows Possibilities

Connected educators know the value of engaging with colleagues in the virtual world of Twitter chats where there are no walls to learning. At any time during the day, colleague to colleague conversations can be found across the states and globe. These hour long educational chats are generated by a sense of passion and afford teachers and leaders the opportunity to learn, gather information, and become a part of a global community of those committed to impacting teaching and learning. Twitter has provided an avenue to become connected seven days a week and in doing so has expanded the professional world of educators. 

From inside the world of connected educators, I created this poem that speaks of the value of connectivity for personal and professional growth. It is a bird's eye view of a connected conversation meant for those on the fringe of entering the world of virtual learning or an involved connected educator. Enjoy the read and join the conversation that occurs daily. 

Catherine Johnson is hosting Poetry Friday this week so please join the Poetry Friday community at Catherine's site to read the latest submissions. I am honored to be a part of this collaborative venture. 

Tri-State Connectivity Promoting Collaboration

The key to interstate collaboration is to cultivate 

a culture of listening, learning, and empowerment. 

@danieldmccabe

Tuesday night's #NJNYCOL was born out of collaborative union of three state chats, #njed (New Jersey), #NYEDChat (New York State), and #COLchat (Culture of Learning from Michigan), and ten moderators. What started with two quick messages from Billy Krakower of #njed and Michele Corbat of #COLchat to me and several weeks of collaboration between our three lead moderators and moderating teams turned into a history making event. Much to the delight of the moderators, the first Tri-state chat was a Twitter success. Midway through the chat, Billy Krakower tweeted that #NJNYCOL was trending on Twitter while @trendinaliaUS provided tweeters with backup data on the success of our chat. "64 users and 102 tweets (41 RTs) in 17 seconds made #NJNYCOL a trending topic in the United States. 102,219 people could have seen #NJNYCOL since its first mention until it became a trending topic."

From a moderator's vantage point, accountable talk and quick conversations centering around six questions focused learning. Passionate educators around the country and Canada joined in to#NJNYCOL to converse and connect making the new tri-state chat a fast-paced, amazing venture in collaborative learning that set a high bar and exceeded expectations. The fun began with a tagging activity as select educators from across the states were asked to join the rapid conversation that was creating a buzz in the Twittersphere. Tweetdeck was alive with connectivity and collaboration as 770 tweets paraded across the screen and were storified at the end of the night by Billy Krakower. Excitement at being part of a new collaboration across states was expressed by a myriad of active participants whose positive spirit was grounded in a collective growth mindset. 

Following each other is a beginning. Tweeting together is progress.  

Learning together is success. 
@venspired

Question 1 opened the chat with an interesting statement from Michele Corbat.  "A virtual collaborative learning culture includes sharing ideas, feedback, and pushing thinking. Most importantly: relationships develop." What started as a statement turned into a reality. During the NJNYCOL conversation, ideas about ways to impact teaching and learning were shared openly and relationships developed in turn. Replies to Q1 set the foundation for a collaborative threaded conversation about a virtual learning collaborative learning culture that "removes physical location as a restraint" (@Sgaglione) and looks beyond boundaries and fixed ideas to provide "non-judgmental and supportive" (@DRich0696) "24/7 source of learning with virtual collaboration," (@JayBilly2) "funneling all best practice into one platform" (@DaSirotiak) and "...using everyone's knowledge and perspective for a common goal." (@robert_kalman) Following this was a conversation about how collaboration across states build cultures of learning. "Working together is about building capacity, momentum, and best practices. Learning is not only across the states. It's universal." (@DJr Schug)

Question 3 allowed educators to provide interesting collaborative projects that would  build a culture of learning across the country.  Some ideas floated were:

• Run virtual debates @AngelinaShy & @elissamalespina
• Students collaborating across the states-Imagine what students can do if they work with people they don't know @AJBianco
• Mystery Skypes for elementary students @Sgaglione 
• Edmodo for a book discussion or a Facebook discussion @brennanamy
• Tri-state Edcamps @syndesn2
• Youth participatory action research that lets students investigate their communities together and analyze and interpret the data @MissCas22
• Talks with Teachers Challenges that nurture the soul and provide PD @TalksWTeachers
• Virtual Gallery Walk via Skype or Facetime @DRich0696
• Using Voxer to connect with other educators 
• Multi-media project about how NJNYCOL educators are connected using Vine videos @mssackstein 
• Students blogging on Kidblog @thereadingzone
• Collaborative iBook with one class from every state & country in the world contributing @theipodteacher
• Showcase of Teaching and Learning for educators to share their best practices through photos and links - June 16, 2014 8:30 pm hosted by #nyedchat & #njed - All educators across globe are welcomed to participate for an active shared learning experience.
• #COLchat invites all to join them in Michigan on June 29, 2014 for @COLchat2Action with keynote @gcouros Smore

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As connected educators, we know that collaboration is important in education. "When educators are connected and collaborating, everyone wins!" (@rickrowe) On June 3, 2014, #NJNYCOL proved that "sharing with people from different backgrounds enriched the teaching tapestry." (@jeffreyderdad). As I walked away from the collaborative venture, I was on a new found high, as were many other educators. What better way to understand the magic of connectivity than this retweet: "I have a little fire lit under me now...PD at my fingertips...literally...thank you for tonight." @CarrieLueker1 

"The future is bright in our field as long as we are committed to collaboration." (@snydesn2) 
Collaboration Counts

(As evidenced by the First Tri-state chat, #NJNYCOL)

May our tri-state journey continue to fuel the collaborative spirit across state lines with the hopes of improving teaching and accelerating learning. 

As the School Year Draws to an End Reflection Matters

School is nearing an end and summer is around the bend. So I decided to take a stroll down memory lane to highlight my first year of teaching when long hair and mini-skirts were in vogue. My first experience started in Albany at the Albany High School Annex with senior high, disenfranchised readers. The work was challenging but so rewarding. I started immediately after my Master's Degree was completed and that meant I only had six months to engage students whose lives were filled with social, emotional, and academic difficulties in the art of reading. I hope that this poem helps you reflect upon your early days of teaching and how you have grown as a learner and practitioner. 

Readers Take Flight

Faces of youth,

"Kotter-like" students beyond their years,

Move through the hallways of my mind.

I number each of them in my etch book of time

As I recall first words,

Backstories of solitary lives

Without maps to guide their journeys,

Tribulations, and small triumphs.

In the corners of yesterday, I see their faces

Peering behind books. I savor the memories-

Makeshift first classroom,

Third floor annex-adjacent to cafeteria,

Sweaty smells, crowded seating,

Children in adolescent frames,

Disheveled, tuned out.

Sitting before me, waiting for guidance.

Traveling together on a rocky but steady path

We grew a learner’s haven.

As trust evolved,

Content explored.

Their minds expanded,

Swaddled in words from books

That lined the walls

And cradled the learning.

Then, as quickly as I came into their lives,

I left. June brought the year to an end. 

The string that bound our learning lives unraveled.

I watched each of them take flight.

Into the summer winds, they soared

As floating balloons dancing in the sky.

I sighed, hoping that one day they would become

The readers I groomed them to be.

This poem has been submitted to the Poetry Friday Round-up found at Carols' Corner this week. In the comment section, there will be messages from a variety of writers linking you to their poems. At the top of the blog page, is a quote by Kate DiCamillo that speaks to the issue of reading as a gift. 

"Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or a duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift."

May your Friday be filled with the pleasure of reading.