Sunday, July 19, 2020

Exciting Times, All Things Considered

There is no question that the past few months have been hectic. Schools shutting down all over the world forced educators to teach remotely, states canceled extracurricular activities for students, graduations were held virtually or by drive-through, and professional development has become even more important with the uncertainty of what the next school year is going to look like. Unfortunately, there isn't an end in sight, regardless of calls from many within the federal and state governments to fully open schools, even as numbers of COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing.  But this isn't a piece designed to debated whether schools should open or not (I am 100% fully in the continuation of remote learning camp until numbers have decreased dramatically).  This is a look at some exciting things that are happening in education instead!

As a result of the closures, states canceled standardized tests. Many colleges and universities eliminated requirements for tests like the ACT and SAT for admission. And some states are already exploring canceling testing for the 2020-2021 school year as well. Testing has been a powder keg issue for many years on its effectiveness and necessity. And guess what? The world did not implode when it was canceled this year, nor will it if testing is canceled again this year! It's time for standardized testing to fade away and while it is horrific and unfortunate that it took a pandemic for the demise to begin, this will be one of the lasting positive impacts if testing is indeed eliminated from our schools.  

Because of the necessity of learning various tools for flipped, blended, and distance learning, I have noticed more and more people sharing their work on social media.  Everywhere you turn and every hashtag you search results in a ton of amazing resources from hard-working educators, from short videos, blogs, podcasts, graphics, and more.  And my perception is that more people are actively seeking out learning materials. As a result, I have seen more activity from Google Educator Groups (Nevada's group is relaunching in August, more on this in a moment), Facebook educator groups have been popping up for educators to share and ask questions, and various companies have been hosting more webinars, chats, and other activities for educators to learn about and become better versed in their products. 

There has also been some exciting things happening for me more directly. For educators in the State of Nevada, two huge developments are coming to fruition after weeks of preparation, the Nevada Digital Learning Collaborative, and the Nevada Google Educators Group. And for me, a book study on my book, To The Edge: Successes & Failures Through Risk-Taking.  

Look for The Battle Born Digital Learning Podcast wherever you
listen to podcasts! The podcast is sponsored by the Nevada Department
of Education and the Nevada Digital Learning Collaborative. 
The former consists of educators around the state that is working to prepare a variety of materials for educators, students, and families to highlight digital learning. I am fortunate enough to have been selected as a member of this team. My role in the NVDLC is to work with other educators on the marketing and communicating aspect of the organization.  To market the work of the NVDLC, I have teamed up with the Nevada Department of Education and a longtime colleague, Maggie Cox, to create The Battle Born Digital Learning Podcast!.  The show will be posted on the first and third Mondays of each month and will highlight the work of educators from all over the state.  I am really excited for the show to take off.  As of this writing, it is available on Anchor, but will soon be available on all other podcast apps like Apple, Spotify, Pocketcasts and Stitcher.  

The Nevada Google Educators Group has been around for a few years, but there hasn't been much activity. I was recently contacted about my interest in relaunching the group to help make it relevant and a place for educators to turn to for questions and to share resources and to be a part of the leadership team for the group. There is a multitude of ways to connect with the group on the Facebook group, Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube, and their website. You don't need to be an educator in Nevada to be a part of the group or access materials, all are welcome! The relaunch will be streamed on YouTube Live on Monday, August 3 at 6:00 PM Pacific, so watch the group's social media feeds, subscribe to the YouTube channel and visit the website for more information!

With the school year approaching and the unknown of what it is going to look like or what educators are going to face, now is a great time to take some risks in the classroom. Starting on Saturday, August 1, I will be leading a study of my book. My goal is to inspire others to embrace risk, learn from risk, and take the consequences of risk, good and bad, in stride.  The book study will take place on Voxer. If you are unfamiliar with Voxer, it is a messaging app that allows users to leave text and voice messages. It is available on iOS, Android, and there is also a desktop version.  If you are interested in participating in the study, fill out my book study form and I will be in communication with you to send you the details. If you do not have a copy of my book, it is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in paperback, Kindle, and Nook.  I am very excited to host this study and hope that you can join! 

Even though the world seems to be burning, there are lots of great things happening that need to be highlighted. I hope that you can find something positive and are making the best of a tough situation. Please share them out so we can all connect through positivity!

Until next time... 

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