Sunday 27 September 2015

#sparKtalK5 Tackling Overwhelm

An sparKtalK5 vlog post to share; I wish it was an update on Learning Plans, but alas, it is not. Just tackling my looming overwhelm this week. Really appreciate the support I've been getting both via this blog and via text/email from friends who are teachers. Please keep it coming as it really does help!

And, just to be clear, the tears were indeed my own and I did, in fact, recover before students arrived. Boo-hoo-ing at work is really not something that happens for me, so this was a big deal. Onward!

Monday 21 September 2015

sparKtalK5

Incidental learning embraced me these last couple of weeks. At times, it's squeezed me so hard, it's taken my breath away. Or maybe that has just been my anxiety creeping in. This new venture has me overwhelmed.

First things first: my vlog has required a name change. I may have mentioned that certain tech doesn't like formatting the "<" symbol. I have learned that there are ways around this, but to keep it simple, I'm just going to re-brand. It's still early, right? So, out with the old ("talk<5") and in with the new... new name, new hashtag, but same location:
#sparKtalK5

I hope my vlog posts will spark your interest, start conversation, and help me to build a community of connected learners. I'm jumping in the deep end this fall, definitely feeling in WAY over my head, as I try to navigate, support, and nurture a personalized learning environment with the learners in my (new-to-me) multi-age classroom. All ideas, suggestions, questions, comments, feedback, and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

I have so many questions and it's been challenging to even prioritize them--how to set up our space, how to connect learners in 5 different grades to the curriculum, how to assess and track learning, and how to use the GAFE tools available to me. Then there's FreshGrade and Khan Academy. Our days have been full of hands-on, interactive and collaborative learning activities as we try to establish ourselves as a community of learners, build trust, and get to know one another. However, I know we need to start dipping our toes in to the pool of inquiry and personalization.  Where to even start??

Here is this weekend's post (video'd a week ago) outlining my "what-so what-now what" for the week.

Monday 14 September 2015

sparKtalK5 Vlog Intro

   
 So, there's this Master's project I'm working on and it's kind of timely because I just started a brand-new position in my school district. First things first: the position. I'm teaching in an alternative education program that brings together students in grades 3-8 who are looking for an alternative to the regular school format. It's meant to be a flexible learning environment where learners can focus on passion driven curriculum that encompasses an inquiry approach. 
     Coming from a SpEd background, I'm diving in to this having very limited exposure to inquiry learning, multi-age groupings, and personalized learning, never mind the fact that I haven't had my own full group of kids--a "class" as it's commonly known--in a very long time. I'm feeling like I'm going to need a lot of help. I'm calling on my personal learning network and professional peers to please support me and allow me access to your expertise, ideas and experiences as I move through this educational journey.
     I'm going to be posting (at the very least) weekly vlog posts to share out my "What" (as in what's been going on), "So What" (what I need, what I want, what I don't know, what I need help with, etc), and "Now What" (my action plan if I've been able to formulate one, but the "now what" may need to come through the collaborative cycle). What I need from others is your comments, your thoughts, your ideas, your experiences, your questions, your sharing, your suggestions, your CONTRIBUTIONS to my blog. I want to engage with you and learn with you/from you. Please tune in, follow the #talk<5 on Twitter (and me, @spedlearner) while I bravely soldier ahead in what feels like a very scary venture.