Reflexiones del 1er Google Teacher Academy en Latinoamérica.

El pasado 16 y 17 de octubre tuve el honor de participar en el 1er  Google Teacher Academy en español que se llevó a cabo en la Cd México en las oficinas de Google.

Quedé tan inspirado que decidí comenzar ya mismo  a promover el cambio invitando a todo profesor a tomar riesgos, hacer cosas "locas" e innovar sus prácticas cotidianas con la firme convicción de que podemos transformar vidas con nuestro ejemplo. Todos los "Lead Learners" y profesores  certificados de Google que conocí estos dos días son excepcionales educadores de Kinder hasta la Preparatoria con una pasión por el uso de herramientas innovadoras para mejorar la enseñanza y el aprendizaje, así como líderes creativos y embajadores del cambio. Son expertos reconocidos y ampliamente admirados por su compromiso con altas expectativas para los estudiantes, el aprendizaje permanente y la colaboración. 

Fue un honor ser elegido para asistir a la Academia de Maestros Google México. Los 38 participantes seleccionados para asistir a esta academia recibimos experiencia práctica con los productos y tecnologías de Google, aprendimos acerca de las estrategias de enseñanza innovadoras, y recibimos recursos invaluables para compartir con otros educadores K-12 en regiones locales y más allá. 

#gtamx

Lo mejor que me llevé de este evento, no fueron las Chrome Extensions o las mejores Google Apps en educación, si no las ideas inspiradoras para promover un verdadero cambio positivo en la educación de México. Quedé muy motivado con el video de Caine's Arcade, donde el mensaje es muy claro y contundente: con imaginación, creatividad, una pizca de locura y un poco de tecnología podemos juntos hacer grandes cambios en nuestra comunidad, para eso hay que pensar en grande.  

En este GTA en México tuvimos la gran fortuna de compartir experiencias con profesores expertos de otras nacionalidades como Guatemala, Argentina, Venezuela y los Estados Unidos. El programa de certificación de Google  se lanzó en 2006 con la primera Academia celebrada en la sede de Google en Mountain View. El programa se ha llevado a cabo desde varias academias en los Estados Unidos, Canada,  Australia, Reino Unido, India, etc., La Academia de Maestros Google es una organización sin fines de lucro de educación, y es un lugar ideal para liderar a los educadores a fomentar el uso de nuevas tecnologías en el aula.

How Do I Get Into Education Technology

Guest post by Deborah Chang

When I first started teaching fifth grade science at KIPP Academy in Houston, Texas, I had no idea that I would end up parlaying that experience into my current role as a consultant to education technology companies. I was simply a teacher on a mission to do right by my students, and that drive just happened to coincide with an inclination towards figuring out how to use technology to solve problems.

Looking back, however, I realize that I took some steps that other teachers who are interested in getting into technology can absolutely replicate. I also took quite a few missteps that I hope I can help others avoid. So here's a guide on how teachers can get into education technology, written in partnership with four other educator-entrepreneurs who have found their own unique way to combine their love for education with their love for technology.

Step 1: Understand Your Strengths

Education technology companies need educators. Not only do you bring expertise in teaching pedagogy and educational content, you also serve as the voice of the ultimate end users -- teachers and students. As a teacher, you have an intuitive sense of what works and what doesn't. If you can turn this intuition into an ability to articulate teacher and student needs, then you're worth your weight in gold.

Furthermore, as a teacher, you have honed a particular set of leadership skills that makes you invaluable within education technology companies. As you explore potential roles, understand that your experience managing students and leading your class has most likely resulted in transferrable skills such as the ability to create a strong company culture, to plan purposefully, and to execute successfully.

Step 2: Understand Your Potential Areas of Growth

While you bring many strengths as an educator, you may also be missing some knowledge and skills that would help you add value to an education technology company, especially if your entire professional experience thus far has been in the classroom.

As you consider transitioning into education technology, consider growing your skills and knowledge in the following areas.

Technical

Education technology companies, particularly early stage ones, need people who can build the product. If you're very technically inclined, you may find it enjoyable to learn and hone skills as a developer or a designer. You don't need to be a developer or designer, however, to be valuable, so long as you're able to clearly express how the product could be built to solve the problem your company is trying to solve. Technologists use industry jargon that is as important as, while being different from, the language that educators use to describe their craft. Being able to translate between education needs and technological needs is crucial. In addition, education technology companies are constantly making decisions concerning what features to prioritize and build given limited time and limited resources. You need to understand the design and development process in order to contribute meaningfully to this decision making process.

Business

How do you build a budget? Market a product? Sell to schools? Determine whether a good idea is aligned with your company's overall strategy? There's a lot of room at edtech companies for people who know how to do this, and more, and in order to understand education technology, you need to understand the business side as well. As a teacher, be curious about how money at your school is being allocated, why your school makes the purchases it makes, and how the purchasing process work. Explore different education technology products and take notice of how they're being marketed and sold to schools and teachers. Attend conferences and stop by the trade booths and chat with the vendors. You may find that you enjoy the business side of education technology through these experiences.

Operational

How do you create strong internal systems and processes that make work effective and efficient? Support a new school or district implementing your product? Plan and execute an event flawlessly? As a teacher, you can demonstrate your operational abilities by planning events at your school, deliberately tweaking your classroom or school procedures to be more effective, and supporting other teachers in implementing education technology. This skillset makes you very effective in operations, account management, or customer service at an education technology company.

Cultural

As a teacher, you most likely spent the majority of your day as the only adult in the room. You also had complete autonomy as the leader of your classroom. However, within a company, you need to collaborate extensively within a team. You're also not the boss, unless you've started your own company, which means you need to learn how to negotiate, set, and meet manager expectations. Furthermore, work at an education company is often more fluid than work in the classroom. You will need to adjust the way you prioritize your work, structure your time, and make decisions amidst ambiguity in order to be successful in a startup company.

Context

If you've only ever taught in one school, grade level, subject, or geographical location, you may be missing the broader context of education. Make an effort to gain different perspectives by collaborating with teachers who teach in very different situations. Read up on education policy and politics. Talk with school administrators and district-level professionals to learn how to see things from their perspective. Understand that your personal experience could potentially make you blind to the limits of your expertise.

Step 3: Just Start

The opportunities to become involved in education technology as a teacher are virtually unlimited, especially because education technology companies need teacher contributions at every stage of their development process.

Teachers Who Are Just Starting To Use Education Technology:

Identify a pain point in your classroom and try to solve it. Implement a solution, reflect on how well it did or did not work, and give extensive product feedback to the development team. After you've comfortably integrated one technology solution, add a new product that solves a different product. The more you try to solve problems using technology, the more comfortable you will get with technology and the more you're able to articulate what works and what doesn't. Finally, giving extensive product feedback is a great starting point because it helps you learn about the development process, practice expressing your product ideas, and often leads to opportunities such as beta testing new features and joining advisory boards.

Twitter for Educators

Why would educators use Twitter?

a) Share resources with other educators.

b) Participate in real-time online Professional Development.

c) Get updates from other educational organizations.

d) Communicate with parents. 

1st. Focusing on personal interest gives us the following reasons why Twitter is a great tool among educators.

• Teachers can follow leading educationalists and professors to gather information about teaching techniques.
• It will enable them to stay updated about on goings of the world and developments in their field and elsewhere.
• Study material can be availed by following eminent personalities.
• Self-learning and education can be done for improving the quality of teaching.

2nd.  It is a great help for planning

• Collaborating with other teachers , parents, students. If one finds similar interests with other academic, Twitter can be used to work together on research ideas, classroom solutions, and other topics.
• Twitter can be used to review lessons and remind students what is going to be covered in class that day or the next.  Teachers say tweeting a few quick review questions and some good Web sites add depth to their lessons. In turn, students can tweet their own questions and observations.
• Collaborating with other classrooms in the same school, district, or another country. Why work alone when you can connect with other college classrooms? That’s just what many college classes are doing these days.
• Sharing some of your lesson plans. Educators and academics can come together to share and collaborate on lesson plans quite easily using Twitter.
• One can create their own classroom hash tag. One way to keep classroom tweets organized is by having a shared hash tag that all students use. (Visit this List of Twitter Hashtags in Education)

3rd.  Teachers can help their students benefit a lot by using Twitter

• Twitter is a great way to keep your students thinking after class. A quick provocative question about a social studies lesson, for example, that will keep their brains active.
• Twitter helps students crystallize thoughts, focus attention, and make connections that weren’t possible a few years ago.
• Teachers can help their students to connect to a wider audience by linking students of other countries. Employing Twitter to facilitate discussion and collaboration between students in their classrooms and their counterparts in different countries can be beneficial in several ways. (You may want to refer our article on Twitter Uses in Elementary classroom. )
• Teachers can share their experiences with students in a more friendly way of teaching and learning.
• Host reading discussions. Holding a reading discussion over Twitter gives everyone a chance to chime in, even shy students who might not otherwise speak up.
• Without sharing phone numbers teachers can Tweet links to additional reading material, announcements and reminders.
• Twitter allows for personalization of learning according to the student’s ability and interest.
• Teachers can quickly provide students with multimedia source links (YouTube, Pinterest) through tweets.
• Teachers can help students in exploring their knowledge. Twitter helps students improve their research skills.

Therefore Twitter can be a teacher’s new best friend which would help at all times during one’s career be it personal enhancement or professional.

15 Great Simulations to Gamify Your Class

Guest post by Jacqui

I’ve been spending every spare moment editing the upcoming 7th Grade Technology Curriculum Textbook (click to be notified when it’s available–projected: June 2013). One unit I’ve fallen in love with is ‘Gamification of Education’. I haven’t spent a lot of time on that topic and am now over-the-top about its possibilities.

If you’re into gamifying your classes, you understand.

Here are 15 websites I’ve found that do an excellent job of using games to promote critical thinking, problem solving skills, and learning:

• Bridge Builder—learn how to design and test bridges
• Coffee Shop—run a coffee shop business
• Electrocity—how does electricity contribute to the growth of communities
• iCivics—experience what it means to be part of a democracy
• Lemonade Stand—run a lemonade stand business
• Life (Insurance)—manage your life and see why insurance is important
• Making History: The Great War—WWI strategy game
• MidWorld Online—learn French or Spanish while completing conquests
• Minecraft (links to MinecraftEdu—fee required)
• Mission US--students role play the American Revolution or the Civil War
• Past/Present—life as an American immigrant in the early 1900’s
• Science simulations—lots of choices at 7^th grade level
• Second Life—simulates just about anything if you can find it
• SimCity—learn how to run a city
• SimTower—learn how to run a skyscraper as a business

Suggestions for using Bridge Builder:

• Students can build highly detailed bridges, landscapes and environments.
• There are forty levels, so students won’t ‘finish’. They’ll blog about ‘learning’.
• Critical thinking is encouraged because the game is not just about building, but designing and testing.
• Expect to use basic physics and engineering

Suggestions on using Coffee Shop and Lemonade Stand:

• Preview both. Pick one.
• Create marketing materials—business cards, fliers, websites (leave these decisions to students)–using tech skills already learned. Students can use installed programs like Word or Publisher, or online widgets like Big Huge Labs. They decide what is needed to promote their business.
• Play simulation.
• Track business using Excel.
• Evaluate data using Excel charts and graphs.

Suggestions for using Electrocity:

• This game provides much insight into critical thinking and problem solving in the use/abuse of electricity, in the balance of good and evil experienced in serving the needs of people and the environment.
• Not difficult to learn, but requires preparation. It’s fast-moving so will keep the attention of non-gamers.

Suggestions for using iCivics:

• Founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to educate through games on topics of civics, democracy, government. For example, in We the Jury, students must decide a tough case while learning what jurors discuss in the deliberation room. They choose from different civil cases, analyze evidence, weigh testimony, and use the right arguments to reach a fair and impartial verdict.
• Have students do a pre-blog about their knowledge on whichever civics topic they pick. When finished with the simulations, blog about what they learned that is different.

Suggestions for using Life (Insurance):

• Life insurance isn’t a topic most students are knowledgable about so blog reflections on this simulation should be especially interesting
• If students get done quickly, select another related simulation

Suggestions for using Making History:

• places student in the role of national leader with the power to choose their own path and alter the course of history.
• Students learn not just history, but International trade, religious and cultural strife, military campaigns, diplomatic negotiations

Suggestions for using MidWorld Online:

• Perfect for students who struggle with a foreign language
• As they play the game, have them translate their blogs to the French or Spanish they are learning

Suggestions for using Mission US:

• There are two games—Crown or Colony about the American Revolution and Flight to Freedom about the Civil War. Each takes 1-2 classes. Both are easy to use and understand
• There are many reflection tools provided to encourage deeper thinking by students. Have students include these answers in their blog posts

Suggestions for using Past/Present:

• designed to impart decision-making and critical thinking skills in the study of American history.
• interactive 3-D “virtual world” in which student “becomes” a fictional character caught up in the big issues of the early 1900s
• designed to appeal to gamers as well as novices

Suggestions for using Science simulations:

• lots of choices at 7^th grade level. These aren’t as long as other simulations, but can be tightly focused on a topic. Have them use that facility as they share their goals and expectations
• You can reasonably expect students to complete several of these in the time allotted for this unit. Have students select those that are connected thematically.
• This is a good choice for non-gamers. They will have more time to reach a comfort level with the concept of ‘gamification’.

Suggestions on using Second Life:

• a scavenger hunt of times that fulfill educational tasks students assign to themselves
• an exploration of Greek/Roman architecture
• explore five places being studied in their classes (art museums, Sistene Chapel, inside of a computer)
• using a ‘sandbox’ to create a 3D object, test it and share it
• walk in someone else’s shoes, maybe someone with a debilitating illness like schizophrenia

Suggestions for using SimTower:

• Find a free download site (this page links to Abandonia)
• Students can play this game endlessly. As they play, note what events and factors facilitate business growth and/or failure

Suggestions for using SimCity:

• Find a free download site or buy the update—newly-aligned with ed standards
• Students can play this game endlessly. As they play, note what events and factors facilitate business growth and/or failure
• Encourages collaboration, time management and systems thinking

7 Hábitos de los Docentes que Utilizan las TICs con Éxito

7 Hábitos de los docentes que usan las TIC con éxito¿Por qué a unos docentes la implantación de las TIC les funciona mejor que a otros? ¿Qué hace que algunos/as tengan tanto éxito? ¿Cuáles son sus hábitos y su forma de ver las nuevas tecnologías?  

1. Siempre empiezan por el "por qué"

La tecnología por la tecnología es peligrosa. Los profesores que usan realmente bien la tecnología siempre tienen un motivo para utilizar las herramientas, optimizando el aprendizaje de su alumnado o recurriendo a ellas para ayudarles con la programación didáctica.

2. Son maleables y adaptables

La tecnología está en constante cambio y el entorno del aula puede tornarse diferente de una manera radical en algo menos de dos años. Entender el marco general es la clave.

3. Abrazan el cambio

La mayoría de los docentes que usan la tecnología hoy son innovadores y adoptantes tempranos. Recibir el cambio sin rechazo y lucha es fundamental y es lo único que puede proporcionarnos un progreso real.

4. Comparten, comparten y siguen compartiendo

Las nuevas tecnologías han abierto la puerta para la colaboración fuera de las paredes de los centros educativos. Un profesor en la Cd. México puede colaborar con una profesora en Dallas, Texas. El conocimiento es poder, pero, además, es gratuito (y así ha de ser). Los amantes de las TIC comparten sus buenas prácticas y todos y todas nos beneficiamos.

5. Piensan en ganar-ganar-ganar

Las tecnologías no sirven para nada si no se lleva a cabo una labor constructiva desde las administraciones, familias y profesorado... y por parte de las y los estudiantes. Primero - y lo más importante - no hay nada mejor que tener un equipo directivo en el centro que reciban con entusiasmo las TIC. En segundo lugar, es importantísimo que mostremos a las familias el valor de la tecnología. En tercer lugar, como profesores y profesoras, debemos creer verdaderamente que todos nuestros esfuerzos tienen un impacto real en el aprendizaje del alumnado.

6. Piensan en futuro y van dos pasos por delante

¿Cómo puede ser que vayas a presentaciones sobre desarrollo profesional docente relacionados con las TIC sabiendo que muchos de tus compañeros y compañeras no aceptan los cambios? Los y las docentes que usan la tecnología de un modo efectivo intentan conocer las respuestas a cada pregunta que se les pueda plantear, adelantes, tener ejemplos concretos para mostrar el éxito de sus innovaciones.

7. Activamente cuidadosos y cuidadosas

Son los típicos que no pueden dormir por las noches porque están emocionados ante una innovación concreta, un nuevo plan para su programación didáctica, maneras de enganchar y conectar a sus estudiantes... ¡Preguntándose cómo se las ingeniarán para inspirar a las alumnas y alumnos! No solo son cuidadosos/as, sino también activamente cuidadosos/as: abrazan las TIC no para hacer su trabajo más fácil, sino que porque, además, les asegura una mejor práctica docente.

26 Tips for Teaching with Google Apps

This guide will teach you to be as tech-savvy as your students.  It is meant to acquaint you with Google Apps’ major features and is loaded with best practices and lots of helpful, actionable tips to optimize your investment in Google Apps and improve your students’ learning experience.  It’s appropriate for school IT admins, teachers, principals, and anyone else interested in learning more about Google Apps for education.

Gmail

Using Gmail, you can easily send messages to students & parents.  But you can also combine other Google Apps tools with Gmail to get more out of it.

Tip #1 – Use Google Translate to convert emails to & from non-English speaking parents or between your students and international pen pals.*

*Google Translate is not a tool for learning another language, but can help cut the language barrier between people who speak different languages.

Calendar

Calendar helps keep track of events in an organized way and is accessible to anyone from the desktop or a mobile device.  You can use Calendar in the routine way – for activities, homework assignments, and your class schedule.  You can also use it to set up shared resource calendars for laptops or the library room.

Tip #2 – Instead of running around the building to find out who has the projector you need, check the master projector Calendar right from your desktop.

Tip #3 – Set up pacing guides for your students, allowing parents to remotely schedule parent/ teacher meetings, or developing standards mapping.

Docs

Google Docs can do everything Word (or any other word processing program) can, but it also allows you to share created documents with anyone else on the system you choose.  Group teaching and close communication with students becomes easier with Docs, as does collaboration among students.

Tip #4 – Takes notes at your next school meeting and share them with the other attendees.

Tip #5 – Develop and share collaborative lesson plans with other teachers. Any change made by one of the teachers is instantly available to all the others.

Tip #6 – Develop quizzes and quickly analyze and summarize data from the results.

Tip #7 – Encourage students to work on group projects using Google Docs, so that each student can independently provide their contribution and instantly integrate it into the whole.

Tip #8 - Use shared Docs for student writing assignments to provide quick feedback to help guide them during the process.

Spreadsheets

Google Spreadsheets doesn’t reinvent the Excel wheel. The beauty of it is the same as the other Google Apps components: the ability to virtually share your work with anyone with access to the system.

Tip #9 – Set up a simple Spreadsheet for scheduling parent/teacher conferences (if you decide not to use that feature in Calendar). It’s preferred over the traditional paper version because parents can access the sheet from their Gmail account, see what slots are available, and select the best time for their meeting.

Tip #10 – Use Spreadsheets to track homework assignments, create student-driven vocabulary flashcards, or perhaps even to help students document their science experiments.

Presentations

Google Presentations can be just as impressive as PowerPoint, but again, becomes even more powerful because more than one user can access it.  The phenomenon of fumbling through multiple PowerPoint versions is eliminated.

Tip #11 – For group presentations, have students use Google Presentations so they can create their own slides for their portion of the assignment, then instantly integrate them into the master presentation.

Hangouts

The power of remote access is particularly evident in Google Hangouts, where you can connect with anyone remotely in real-time.

Tip #12 – To give your students a different perspective on the topic you’re covering, invite a guest lecturer to present via Hangouts.

Tip #13 – For particularly busy parents, conduct parent/teacher conferences over Hangouts.

Forms

This tool allows you to quickly create a survey or form that can be sent to parents and students to fill out online. You won’t have to tabulate results; all the answers are immediately collected in a Google Spreadsheet that can then be shared. Forms can be sent outside your school domain, so you’re not limited to just colleagues inside the school. And the result of any forms project are neatly summarized with charts, graphs, bells, whistles and statistics about all your responses.

Tip #14 – Give a pre-assessment test to your students at the beginning of the year to get an idea of the knowledge level of your class. Then do another assessment at the end of each marking period to see how much progress they’ve made.

Tip #15 – Do a quick survey on your students’ interests and try to tie them into your daily work lessons.

Tip #16 – Encourage your students to read more by setting up a form where they can submit their reading records. For example, they can track how many minutes they read each week.

Tip #17 – Create quizzes with Forms and then automatically grade them by using an Apps script like Flubaroo. (more on scripts below)

Sites

Sites is a powerful teaching tool where you can build interactive websites for students to share information and collaborate on documents, videos, schedules, and more.

Tip #18 – Create a Site for your class, including a class calendar with special events and homework assignments. You can add videos and other presentations that tie in with your lesson plans.

Tip #19 – Create a curriculum portal that contains lesson plans and other resources that tie into your day-to-day teaching plan.

Tip #20 – Create e-portfolios for each student. This will allow them to show off their work and develop it from year to year.

Tip #21 – Assign a group project where students need to use Sites to create and consolidate their work.

Groups

Google Groups are online forums and email-based groups that encourage community conversation and discussion among peers.

Tip #22 – Create a Group for your entire class, so students can discuss lessons and materials outside of class.

Tip #23 – Create classroom placement Groups so you can distribute different levels of materials and resources appropriate to each student’s needs.

Tip #24 – Create a Group for your students’ parents so they can easily communicate with each other and share updates and news.

Scripts

This JavaScript Cloud scripting tool enables developers to build more apps to supercharge the functionality of Google Apps for education. There are hundreds of scripts you can use to make your life easier or to enhance the learning experience of the students.

Here are a few:

• Doctopus – This is a document management script to use for student projects. It allows you to auto-generate, pre-share, and manage grading and feedback on group and individual projects.

• Flubaroo – This script allows you to automatically grade multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank assignments using Forms. It also computes average assignment scores, average score per question, and highlights low scoring questions.

• gClassFolders – Based on Spreadsheets, this add-on creates class folders for students and teachers.

Blogger

Blogger allows you to create free blogs, through which students who enjoy blogging can better engage with the subject matter. They can post opinions and questions, and share posts from other students.

Tip #25 – Encourage improved writing skills by having your students use Blogger, but be sure to prohibit text speak like “brb” and “Cu2moro”.

Moderator

Google Moderator allows you to create a series of discussions, and have people submit questions, ideas or suggestions, then vote on various ideas.

Tip #26 – Use Moderator to encourage students to think about their daily lessons and read each other’s thoughts on the material. Then have them vote on the best responses, and continue the conversation in class.

Conclusion

Google Apps for Education is an incredible platform that is revolutionizing the way teachers teach and students learn. Using the power of interactive, cloud-based technology, school administrators and teachers can now connect with students in an enhanced way.

Social media, online games and the internet dominate student lives outside the classroom. Google Apps for Education allows you to bring that environment into the classroom and make the students’ educational experience more relevant and better mirror their day-to-day lives. It’s a giant leap forward for those who choose to take advantage. Go for it and good luck!

To learn more, check out Mastering Google For the Classroom

10 Commandments of Innovative Teaching

Guest post by  A. J. Juliani

As a new teacher I remember getting into my classroom for the first time. I set up the space like classrooms I had seen before and enjoyed; I got my lesson plans in order; packed the filing cabinets with resources; started to make copies of overhead slides; put together an area for reading and stacked the shelves with books I had picked up in college or from my parents house.

Then the students arrived, and all my plans went out the window. I realized very quickly that the type of teaching I had been exposed to and grew up with, and the type of teaching taught at many undergrad programs…was quickly becoming a past practice. That’s not to say many of the pedagogical and instructional strategies I learned don’t stick with me today (the good ones always will) but these students were different learners than I was…and at the time I was only 22 years old.

After teaching in a nice classroom of my own at the middle school I jumped up to the high school ranks and became a “floating” teacher. We had recently joined the “Classrooms of the Future” movement and every teacher in our district received a Macbook. Many teachers had a cart of 30 Macbooks in their classroom, and every room had a SmartBoard installed. I taught in four separate classrooms and learned to digitally organize my classroom and instruction.

Flash forward eight years and the classrooms look very different in my same school district. In the two years since my district began our 1:1 laptop initiative our classrooms have evolved once more. New technology, new standards, and new content. Throughout this process I have tried my best to stay on top of where education is headed and what are the emerging “next” practices. Now when I talk to teachers in my district and around the country, I try to focus on the key elements of innovative teaching. With technology, standards, and content continually changing…these “innovative commandments” give teachers a starting point regardless of their situation.

1. Innovative teachers must offer choice

Commandment #1 might be the most important. I spent a lot of time as a teacher figuring out new ways to inspire and motivate my students. Sometimes it worked, but often I would fail to reach all of them. Then one day I gave my students choice. Not some “fake choice” assignment where they could pick one topic out of a box of topics…but REAL choice. You know what happened? Students were inspired and motivated to learn by themselves…and by each other. And they did a much better job at inspiring then I ever could. Choice gives students the ability to go above and beyond our curricular limitations…try to give as much choice as possible and watch your students innovate.

2. Innovative teaching allows for failure

Maybe this one should be re-labled “provide growth opportunities”. We learn best after failing. In fact, you should start promoting epic failures in your classroom. Give a round of applause when students fail because now the learning can really begin. This doesn’t work too well with tests…but with projects it is great! If you create a culture where failure is not only accepted, but embraced…your students will not be afraid to challenge themselves.

3. Mentorship comes in all forms

Remember when learning was hard? It took time to find an answer. You had to search the library, ask the right teacher, or find some type of adult of expert who had knowledge and ask for guidance. Today’s learners can find out what a professor at MIT thinks about the future of robots…and we have to be ok that his/her answer if most likely much better than ours ever would be. In the same fashion we have to model to our students where to find the “right answers” to their questions. Their learning mentor could be Google, Siri, YouTube, Udemy, Quora etc. These sites and platforms can connect our learners to better information than we ever had, it would be a shame for us not to show them how to best use it!

4. Technology with a purpose

I recently had a teacher ask me what I thought about Prezi. I told them I really liked it for some uses and then asked them what they were going to use it for… They responded that their students needed to do a presentation and Prezi seemed like a cool new format to present. I agreed. When I dug deeper on the assignment it was short 1-2 minute presentation on a recent medical discovery. While I agreed that Prezi was an awesome tool for presentations…it didn’t make sense for the students to spend time learning a whole new platform and putting together a presentation in Prezi (it takes a while) for this topic.

I suggested them using Haiku Deck because it was super-simple, easy to use, and they could create on any device. Students could then get to their presentation material quicker, and allow for some deeper tasks in the future. My point was use technology with a purpose. And understand which tool (technology) is right for which job (assignment or project). In order to do this you must be informed on what options are out there…or ask a colleague that knows. Don’t waste your time, or your students time by using techn for tech’s sake.

5. Build something together

You know what is so much better than one student working passionately on something they care about? Students collaborative together to build something that matters…to them…and the world (more on that later). How often do you let your students collaborate? I’m not talking about “Think, Pair, Share”. I mean real collaboration where they work through problems together and come up with solutions, and test those solutions, and then debate whether or not they can improve upon that solution… Give them a chance to build something together, and they’ll learn much more than they could learn by themselves.

6. From local to global

When I first did the Flat Classroom Project my students realized that they are not alone in their “learning”. And they also learned that students all around the world were just like them. They struggled to learn, and had to work hard to create. My students were no longer naive about their place in a global education system and we had many discussions about what it would be like to not only compete with these students for college spots and job positions, but also work with them in college and in the workforce. At the same time, you can’t forget to have a focus on your local community. When we do project with our local watershed, or run community fundraisers its about a bigger cause. Teachers need to tie “innovation” with both local and global experiences, because both allow students to interact with the real world.

7. Standards are guidelines, you are the architect

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe made a great point when they said:  ”The standards are like the building code. Architects and builders must attend to them but they are not the purpose of the design. The house to be built or renovated is designed to meet the needs of the client in a functional and pleasing manner – while also meeting the building code along the way.”

Don’t let new standards get in the way of innovative teaching. That is a lazy excuse. Instead, use standards as a starting “code” for creative lessons and projects that promote design thinking and innovative learning experiences.

8. Be a learner first and model it

I’ve had a number of great coaches in my life, but my one football coach will always stand out. He wasn’t our head coach but worked specifically with the offense. He sticks out in my mind because he looked at the game differently. He would see things in film and relate them to a game he watched on TV. He would bring in new ideas that he came back with from clinics and camps and other coaches playbooks. He never stopped learning. And we could see it as players. He was never satisfied. He demonstrated what a growth mindset looks like to a learner. I was his student, but he inspired me because he was relentless in learning. We in turn wanted to watch film and break down other defenses because of his modeling. Remember, it is what you do…not what you say…that speaks volumes to your students.

9. Flexible with high expectations

My students like to say I challenge them. My players that I coach say the same thing. And I admit that I have high expectations for myself, our team, our students, and our school. But with high expectations often comes lack of flexibility. Innovation doesn’t happen without either of these. Have high expectations for your students and they will rise to meet a challenge, but also to have the flexibility to go with what is working and change paths if need be. It is a fine line to walk as learners, but keep an open mind about what is possible, and anything really can happen.

10. A challenge that is fun

I really shouldn’t have waited till #10 to mention the word fun! Learning needs to be fun. The process may have its ups and downs, and it should be challenging. However, it should have moments of pure fun and enjoyment. One of my favorite quotes is by the late professor and author Randy Pausch of the Last Lecture. Randy says, “If you can’t learn and have fun at the same time, then I’m not sure you have a good understanding of either.” As human beings we enjoy a challenge. It’s a different kind of fun then going to Disney World, but I’d argue that it may also be a better type of fun. Let your students work hard and have fun in their learning experiences. They’ll thank you for it.

I’m sure I left a few things off this list that would be considered innovative teaching. Let me know in the comments and add your thoughts to the discussion!