Attack of the Sitting DeadI attended a session by Steve Dembo and Adam Bellow at ISTE called Attack of the Sitting Dead. They discussed the day in the life of students. What do you think that might entail? You guess it lots and lots of sitting! This is more prevalent in the MS and HS setting where teachers see different groups for short amounts of time and don't see what students do the rest of the day. There have been blog posts circulating about teachers and admins following students throughout their day and seeing what students experience. I want to do this to help me understand the problem and better address what we can do to change our teaching to get kids moving and active. Back to the Sitting Dead session. The two amazing presenters identified the issue, gave some comedic relief, I have to say these two are very entertaining and provided ideas for change. Well let's go beyond that - they didn't just provide ideas they provided us opportunities to experience the activities. I know I won't be able to include all of the activities, but there were a couple that stood out. 1. The snowball fight- they had us write something on a paper crumble it up and then throw it at someone else I mean across the room. We were then instructed to pick up the paper, look at what was written and discuss with someone standing near us. Notice in this activity we were standing, throwing, moving to partner up. After discussing with the first person we crumpled up the paper and threw it again to repeat the process. I think they asked us something like what we dislike about PD, or what we would change about PD, and this sparked some good conversation. 2. The Walk About - I don't remember if this is what they called it, but that is what we did. They posed another question or topic and had us walk around bloggers cafe discussing the topic with the people around us. I went into the session not knowing anyone and grouped up with people I had never met. I like this activity because it takes an activity we normally do- think pair share, elbow partners, or other group discussion strategy, and forces movement. In your school you could have students walk around a prescribed path through the hallways and when they return to class they should be ready to share. For younger students this could be walk around within the classroom to help maintain their focus. Q1 How do you avoid the walking dead in your classroom or PD sessions? How do you incorporate movement? Q2 How do you generate discussion in your classroom - meaningful discussion not just answering questions? Q3 What are you going to commit to changing in your practice to provide movement and activity for students throughout their day? The Apocalypse has occurred!We have seen the threat of World War III depicted in movies for decades. Red Dawn has shown us the vision of both a Russian attack or in the revamped version North Korea. And of course the threat of the Zombie Apocalypse is more and more popular than ever. So what do these dooms day scenarios have in common? They all result in the loss of technology and communication tools that we have come to rely on. They force people to rethink what they have been doing in order to survive. I work with technology everyday and it is integral in my job, in fact it is part of my job title - Technology Integrator. Without technology I would just be an integrator, but an integrator of what? Hopefully of the ideas of Teach Like a Pirate, best practices that engage kids with or without technology. So the challenge in this section is to engage students without the use of technology. Q4 How would the lack of technology impact your PD learning and your classroom practice? How would you continue to engage ss? Q5 Take a unit or lesson that you infuse technology - your best example- and how would you have to re-envision that to still be awesome without tech? Q6 The power comes back on- what would be the first tech tool or tech activity you would go to? Why? Thanksgiving!Last week was Thanksgiving and we didn't have a chat- I hope you enjoyed time with family and friends. I normally by this time of year have done a Shareapalooza chat - yes I realized at this moment I have been remiss. So here is a chance to share about some of the awesomeness happening.
Q7. What is one example of a great lesson, activity or learning experience you have seen or been a part of this year? Q8. What is something you are thankful for right now? This could be personal or professional - Q9. Relationship building- what is one or some example(s) of positive relationships you have forged this year? The student who said thank you and beyond!
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