Summer and Moving Forward

Summer is officially here.  I've packed my physical classroom at school and my mini classroom at home.  I spent the weekend reading for me and possible a nap or two in the sun.  I planted flowers, dipped my feet in the blow up back yard pool and did some reading to see if a vacation would be/could be safe.

I did some blog reading and loved this post from my friend Mary Lee Hahn - Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Goals.  As distance learning came to an end for me I started thinking about the what next even with unknowns and was making plans similar to Mary Lee's.  I started gathering books to feel prepared for what's next.  These are books I'm going to explore and are new to me.

These are books I'm going to visit - 

Taming the Wild Text - Pam Allyn and Monica Burns
Deeper Learning with QR Codes and Augmented Reality - Monica Burns
#FormativeTech - Monica Burns
40 Ways to inject Creativity into Your Classroom with Adobe Spark - Ben Forta and Monica Burns
Tasks Before Apps -  Monica Burns
The InterACTIVE Class - Joe and Kristin Merrill
Read the World - Kristin Ziemke and Katie Muhtaris

I'm going to revisit -

Digital Reading - Bill Bass and Franki Sibberson

Amplify - Katie Muhtaris and Kristin Ziemke

When distance learning came my way I was using Seesaw and spent the first couple of weeks diving in, learning more and became a Seesaw Ambassador.  I couldn't have done distance learning without this deep dive.  I have plans to earn my Flipgrid Certified Educator Level 1, 2, and 3 and my Google Educator Certification Level 1 and Level 2.  I'm also on an interested in Book Creator Educator ambassador/training list.  These three are tools we used and I know with more learning we could be more effective with.  

I was also going to attend Discovery Educations DENSI experience in Chicago this summer and instead they are offering a three day virtual summer institute that I signed up to attend and am grateful they adjusted their plans.

I'm also saving to update my iPad and explore this new tool.

Yes, putting these ideas in print and out of my head seems like a lot and I know planning and preparing helps me with the unknown and new that is going to be ahead for us.  I share this here in hopes you will follow my journey and encourage me along the way.  I'm going to stop and savor summer - I'm headed to my vegetable gardens right now to plant some seeds, weed, and check in on what's already planted.  My yoga studio is reopening and I'm going to brave that space safely.  It's important we all take time to nurture us in and out of the classroom.