Hey All,
Don’t forget to fill out the SCH Professional Development Series survey. Thank you very much to those that have done so already!
It’s been a great year for me thus far, albeit a hectic one. I know I’ve been slacking with my Daytime posts; blogging can take a lot of time and effort, especially when I’m writing for a group of educators! With that said, I’m going to switch lanes a bit and try to blog more frequently, but with shorter posts. I’ll focus on what I’m doing, what I can do for you, and my always hopeful attempts at humor.
Last week Rahilla Zafar, who is, as you all know, involved in our CEL program, asked me to join her Entrepreneurship class. She hoped I might be able to help students develop an engaging product for a class project. I have to admit that entering a class of 9th graders was a bit intimidating. This was a startling reaction to me; I’d been the 9th grade boy who strutted around my high school as if I owned the campus (which I did, by the way!). I find it interesting that a group of 21st century ninth graders whom I would have approached twenty years ago, at the age of fourteen with complete confidence and swag (Forgive me for using this word. It’s one of my most detested now, but it’s what they use) can make me now feel nervous. My, how times have changed. At any rate, it was great to watch Rahilla engage these students with topics in which they were interested and invested, as I am as well. I’m over my nervous anxiety, and excited with the opportunity with which I’ve been presented to help these students create something that they will hopefully stand behind with pride.
I had a great meeting with an awesome teacher yesterday who shared with me that even after decades of teaching, her nerves still get the best of her at times; it’s comforting to know that even a veteran gets butterflies in the classroom. Her comment, along with time spent in Rahilla’s class and my involvement with the upcoming ninth grade trip to Washington, will serve me well in the development of the 10th grade gaming course that I’ll be facilitating in the spring. Check out the blog post I wrote on the US blog for more information on the class – Digital Game Design. Look for me in the back of your class in the upcoming weeks; I need to learn from the best!
I leave you with an inspiring video that I found in a post by Ross Crockett on the 21st Century Fluency Project Blog. The video is a great demonstration of kindness, creativity, and community building at Kansas State. How would you feel walking into this, your first day of school? I know my stress level would decrease a bit…
SCHift 2.0 coming soon!
Daytime 