“If we want to create a culture of innovation, we must first focus on furthering our own learning and growth.”  George Courus

So here I am, writing my first blog -which shouldn’t be that hard for me because I always have lots to say 🙂  But here I am the night before our next session, trying to put into words what this whole “innovation mindset” opportunity has done for me so far.

First off, I was thrilled to have been chosen to be one of the leaders with a colleague and friend from my school 🙂 I didn’t know much about it until I got the book and started reading. I was hooked right away, as it was just the kind of new direction I was looking for. I had been feeling that I was missing something in my teaching and in my classroom and I was searching for something different to bring to my learners. So this opportunity came at the perfect time for me.

Relationships, relationships, relationships are definitely something I have always felt are so important to develop with my learners and the people I work with.  I realize now that is a good start, but I need to now use that to my advantage to empower them. The part about engagement and empowerment was an “aha moment” for me.  I was spending too much time trying to engage them instead of giving them the reins to be empowered.  That being said I saw what empowerment can really do just last week 🙂

I had been putting off using ipads in my classroom as I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to use them in my classroom. But last week I decided to sign out our ipads from the library (we share 4 between 3 classrooms).  I still wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with them but I wasn’t waiting any longer to jump in.  I have to say I was blown away with what my students came up with, with not much help from me:)

I have one learner in my class who is probably one of the most energetic, creative kids I have ever met. He builds all kinds of cool things with whatever he finds in the classroom. He is obsessed with coding and Lego and he comes up with the most imaginative stories … but he has extreme difficulty writing anything down on paper. I have to come up with other ways to assess his learning and he isn’t always cooperative.  So he saw the ipads on my desk and ask if he could use one. I asked him what he wanted to use it for. He said he wanted to make a video with his classmate. I said sure … make a video.

Well … he made a video all right. I few of them, and even one for me because it was my birthday. He used the Stikbot app and had these little Stikbot figures and it  was so amazing.  At that moment “I got it” as I watched him so proud of his work and how eager he was to show myself and all his peers. (I also showed numerous teachers in the staffroom over lunch hour the cool things my kids came up with, because I was proud of them too).

So I am rambling here, but it was a really great day in my classroom for students to feel empowered. I have known him since grade 2 and he is now in grade 6 and he has come so far 🙂  There were other learners that did some great work on the ipads as well, on apps they had never used before too. Math videos about patterning using explain everything and an iMovie thriller. The energy in the room was so positive and contagious. I wish I would have had more ipads to go around.

Well my students have definitely inspired me to keep learning more about technology and not to be afraid to just jump in and learn together. They are teaching me so much!

I am exciting for this journey, and it has only just begun. Thank you for this opportunity. I am looking forward to learning and growing and sharing with my colleagues.

As for twitter … still a work in progress 🙂

Michele Hallson

Grade 6 at Sister MacNamara

Cluster 1965