EdCamp Coachella

Although EdCamp Coachella was a week ago, I still wanted to write my reflections and experiences with the event to offer up any takeaways that might help others. If you want to check out some of the highlights from the event, I definitely encourage you to checkout the hashtag #EdCampCoachella on Twitter.

To start off, I want to thank Eduardo Rivera (@EdTechEddie), Ruby Rivera (@MrsRubyRivera), Karen Foerch (@kfoerch), Jessica Pack (@Packwoman208), Bhavini Patel (@Msbpatel), Ursula Fabiano (@MissUrsy), and Cyndi Furr (@FurrCyn) for allowing me to be a part of the planning committee. We were determined to bring a tri-district event to the Coachella Valley and I think we were successful! We began planning through Google Hangouts at the end of July. We listed out some tasks and divided them among the team. These consisted of venue, sponsorships, prizes, swag, and of course the official EdCamp Coachella shirts and sunglasses (after all we were definitely going for the Coachella theme haha). This was my first time being on a planning committee for an event like this so it was definitely a learning experience for me. After a lot of hard work, a couple of months, and a series of follow up Google Hangouts calls we were ready!

EdCamp Coachella took place last Saturday October 21st. We had over 90 educators register and about 40 showed up which was a nice intimate group so tons of learning was definitely going to take place! Every attendee received a pair of official EdCamp green and black sunglasses and breakfast

(sponsored by the Coachella Valley Teachers Association; thanks guys!!). As people were eating, a slide deck of some of the EdCamp rules were on display so people knew what the heck they were getting into. A couple of veterans put up some sessions and pretty soon people were getting the hang of it and the board filled up fast.

During session 1, I wanted to make sure I got some pictures and a little bit of each session so I bounced back and forth between the three rooms. Some of the rest of us were doing the same thing so our Twitter feed was getting populated with some really good content! One of the heavily attended sessions in the morning was Classcraft. If you haven’t heard of Classcraft then you definitely should check it out! It’s a gamified classroom management program that allows students to earn XP points and level ups as they complete assignments and tasks in your class in sort of a World of Warcraft or Dungeons and Dragons vibe. It’s super cool especially for upper elementary, middle school, or high school. Definitely a great way to keep kids engaged so why not mix your world and theirs! During Session 1, Seesaw Ambassador Jennifer Dean (@Miss_Dean) was showing how to app smash a couple of apps with Seesaw. One of my favorites was mixing in Chatterpix to let students put their own creative spin on reflections and assignments. Just an FYI, Seesaw is a great tool for building in student portfolios at the elementary level and higher, and Chatterpix lets you put a mouth and voice on any picture. Tons of fun!

For Session 2, I didn’t get into any other sessions because I was co-facilitating a Twitter session with Cyndi Furr. There were many different levels of Twitter users in the room so it was a blast! We started off with some of the basics about what it means to “Like” a tweet, retweet vs quote tweet, and how to update some of your profile information. It was heavily emphasized that it’s important that you are strategic with who you follow because that determines the type of content in your feed. After a little bit of an overview, we started talking about hashtags and specifically #EdCampCoachella (which is why it was good that some of us were tweeting during the first session, a strategic move on our part to facilitate a Twitter session in one of the middle to late sessions of the day.) The participants were able to see how Twitter can be used as a way to share what’s happening around them and to share ideas they might have around different topics. After checking out the hashtag, we jumped straight into a live Twitter chat! I posed questions asking them what they learned so far at the EdCamp, who they’ve been able to network with, and what they hope to implement right away. They got the hang of the Q1/A1 format and were tweeting away! It was an awesome session, and being a Twitter addict myself, it’s always nice to open the door for others to meet new people and find resources that are going to help them in the classroom.

During Session 3, I joined the Google Classroom session. Many of the teachers who attended from my district were in this session so I wanted to make sure I was there for support. Cyndi Furr, an EdTech TOSA from DSUSD, facilitated the session and showed the attendees some of the basics for getting started with Google Classroom. Participants learned differences between announcements, assignments, and questions, as well as how to create a “copy” for students when assigning work. At one point, I mentioned how with iPads there is the ability to annotate Google Docs and PDFs within the app so that you don’t have to use a 3rd party application, so the conversation started to switch and we were able to share how this was done. This is the beauty of the “unconference” format because the conversations and learning take a very organic transformation depending on the needs of the people in the room.

After the third session, we all met back in the great room for lunch, recap, and prizes. Lunch was provided by the Palm Springs Teachers Association (another huge thank you to PSTA for sponsoring lunch!). As people ate lunch, a Flipgrid (www.flipgrid.com/569d86) was put up so that people could reflect. Flipgrid is a great tool for having students/adults create short videos for reflection or sharing ideas. Check it out and catch the #FlipgridFever. After reflections, we had several vendor sponsors provide free subscriptions and other items including a Samsung Tablet (thank you Desert Sands Teacher Association!), so we had several winners and some even grabbed the widely sought-after EdCamp Coachella T-shirt! We ended around 1pm, and the organizing committee cleaned up and went to debrief at the Yard House!

Overall, it was a blast! I’m glad to have been a part of the planning committee and to see how much work goes on behind the scenes. We’ve been asked to do another one at some point this year so we will see! One person even asked for quarterly events which might take a toll on the planning committee so we will have to recruit some more people to the team so we can take shifts haha. I want to thank all of those who came out on a Saturday morning. It’s never easy to take time out of your day off and from your families, but I know when it comes to an EdCamp it is at least somewhat worth it because the amount of learning is amazing! The connections forged at these events last throughout the rest of the school year and beyond. If you weren’t able to make it, and/or can’t get enough of this style of professional learning, then I seriously encourage you to join Twitter. I can’t say it enough, but Twitter has completely changed my career and my educational philosophy and I think anyone can benefit. Give it a shot and follow me (this isn’t supposed to be a shameless plug) and we can learn together!

Thanks for reading and until next time, enjoy the journey!

-Eddie

SGVCUE 2017 Innovation Celebration Recap

This past Saturday, October 14th was the San Gabriel Valley CUE Innovation Celebration Tech Fest (#SGVCUE2017). The event was held at Bassett Union High School and had over 700 attendees! This is huge for a CUE affiliate mini-conference. I went back and forth with myself over whether or not I wanted to make the drive over from the Coachella Valley and when I Google Mapped it, I knew that I definitely had to go so I registered at the eleventh hour (literally, the registration was about to close an hour before I hit submit and paid by credit card).

Is it Ann Kozma or Melissa
McCarthy?...hmmm

My day began at 3:30am when the alarm went off, so I got ready and hit the road by 4:30. The Saturday morning drive was peaceful and uneventful (in terms of SoCal traffic), and my head kept spinning with how much fun I knew I was going to have. I had some sessions in mind and also Twitter friends that I knew I was going to connect with. I was excited to be able to chat with Mike Jephcott (@TechMikeBUSD) and Tom Covington (@TechTomBUSD) since I listen to their podcast TOSAs Talking Tech (@TosasTalkinTech) religiously on my way to and from work. Jason Seliskar (@JasonSeliskar) and April Buege (@AprilBuege) are on the SGVCUE board, so I knew I’d bump into them at the event. Actually, I don’t believe that I had ever met April in person so that was a treat as well! Ann Kozma (@annkozma723) was the keynote, and she absolutely killed it by making people burst into laughter then bringing tears to everyone’s eyes as she explained how we needed to stop and pay attention to the world around us. With tragedies and disasters happening all around us, it is important to put these things into perspective when working with our kids. At the end of the day, I finally got to have my Ann Kozma selfie; which is crazy because her and I have chatted multiple times, but we’ve never taken that selfie! Judy Blakeney (@judyblakeney) was also in attendance, along with the two Veronicas (Godino and Gonzalez) from IACUE (@MsVgodinez, @veronicajusd). Oh, and how can I forget Kyle Anderson (@AndersonEdTech) and Heidi Carr (@carr_8) from CUE Nevada! It is always a blast to be around these two because they both bring ideas and great energy. I could seriously go on forever, and I’m sure I left some people out (I’m sorry), but it was a blast to connect with PLN friends at the event. Can I just say how awesome Twitter is...seriously, if you aren’t on it...you need to be!

Alright let’s get on with the sessions! I attended four sessions and they were all really good. For my first session, I learned about how to set up your student video broadcast studio. We learned about different equipment and programs that you can use. It went way beyond my usual iPhone and iMovie setup I usually do for simple video creation (or Adobe Spark Video as an even simpler setup).

Mike and Tom, the Bassett Boys, from
TOSAs Talking Tech

In Session 2, I went with Mike and Tom to learn all about podcasting in the classroom. They had a super comprehensive presentation that really went behind the scenes of what they deal with all of the time and how they produce their show (which really has become big time by the way...Brian Briggs is right). I even got started with the Chorus App for simple podcast hosting and recorded my first podcast with their Manic Minute Script they shared. I can’t wait to dig into the Chorus App more and get more comfortable with hearing my own voice as I record some of my own shows to share out.

For Session 3, I learned about Assistive Technologies and different components/tools that can be used to support students with special needs. There are several tools available for a variety of disabilities. One key reiteration, however, was that we really need to look at the accessibility features within the technology tools we use, because there are many powerful feature sets within the day-to-day technology we use in the classroom.

Finally, for Session 4, I went to an awesome session with Judy Blakeney and Tricia Hyun on the power of using Strengths-Based Learning practices in your classroom. Every individual has strengths and it is important to incorporate those strengths into our interactions with them. It is these collective strengths that allow us to accomplish all sorts of tasks. This is especially true in the classroom with students. The Strengths-Based Google Site has several resources as well as student portfolio projects that truly are amazing. I highly encourage you to check out the page.

There were so many takeaways from the day. I think two of mine include the power of podcasting

and using Chorus to get started. It really is easy to record a podcast so I’m encouraged to keep playing. Also, I have yet to catch #FlipgridFever, so I totally started catching the bug on Saturday. I set up my Grid, and decided that I want to create multiple topics that teachers and students can post to in order to generate lesson ideas for other educators, so here it is. Feel free to post to any of the topics so that other educators can learn as well. I’m hoping to grow this Grid into a conduit of knowledge that can flow among other teachers and leaders. Keep checking back for ideas as well.

Overall, the event was amazing! I connected with several friends and got excited about a couple of apps I want to continue to explore. I won a raffle prize, which never happens. Thanks to Dave Burgess (@burgessdave) for donating a Learn Like a Pirate book that I was the lucky person to receive. In addition to the connections and raffle prize, it was also a good day for me as a CUE affiliate president because I’m hoping to get started with our first affiliate event later this Spring. I hope that we can one day grow to the success that SGVCUE has with their event.

Well, I think I rambled on enough. I want to leave you with a message on the importance of supporting your local CUE affiliate. Get involved, be active, and definitely attend these events. There are tons of great learning opportunities so take advantage of them.

Thanks for reading and until next time, enjoy the journey!

-Eddie

Informal and Formal Leadership...Better yet...Leadership!

Everyone can be a leader. Leadership comes in all shapes and sizes, and there are times when everyone has an opportunity to step up and be a leader. This can occur within your church, your child's soccer team, at your local animal shelter, and even at school. Leadership is about finding your passion and helping others discover theirs. It is about understanding the need to step up and guide others so that an impact can be made for the betterment of those around you.

I remember in my administrator program a discussion we had early on about Informal and Formal Leadership. My professor was discussing the many different way people take on leadership roles around campus. He was mentioning that you have your formal leaders and your informal leaders.

Formal leaders have titles of principal, assistant principal, director, coordinator, department chair, PLC lead, coach, etc. They don't necessarily have to be an administrator, but there is usually some sort of distinction because of certifications or accomplishments that have led them to those positions.

Informal leaders do not necessarily have a title and are held in high regard by their peers. These individuals are go-to people on campus that everyone goes to and asks for advice. They might be your veteran teacher who shows the ropes to the newer teachers, the teacher who has the ear of the principal, or even someone who understands technology and shows others.

There is a place for all sorts of leadership within a school campus and it should be embraced within the school culture. There is no doubt that I wouldn't be where I am at because of the formal and informal leadership roles I have had along the way. What it started with, however, was the belief that I could help others regardless of whether or not I was in a formal position to do so. Who says you need a title to give advice to a colleague new to the profession, demonstrate a cool new app that will make someone's life a little easier, help out in the after school program, step up and be a role model for your academy students. We all have the potential to lead everyday! Don't be be afraid to find your passion and use it to lead and inspire others.

Thanks for reading and until next time, enjoy the journey!

-Eddie

Maximize Your Commute and Listen to Podcasts!

I love learning and expanding my knowledge-base in a variety of topics. I do this through Twitter and communicating with others through tweets and chats, I read blog articles and books, and lately I've found another medium for growing professionally and intellectually...podcasts.

Podcasts are audio recordings of discussions around different topics. Some podcasts talk about education, history, psychology, and even...other podcasts. I access my podcasts on all of my Apple devices and listen to them when working around the house, while driving, while working, and any other time that I can. Podcasts have now become a part of my morning and afternoon commute as I've found music and talk radio to become a bit stale. Although podcasts are a form of talk radio, I can chose the topics I want to listen to so that I can maximize my time while driving by learning and growing. The amount of learning I receive from listening to podcasts has definitely impacted me in a positive way. I listen to motivating TED talks, history lessons, leadership tips and experiences, and how technology can impact education.

Here a couple of podcasts I've added to my library as I've gotten started.

TosasTalkingTech:

TosasTalkingTech (@TosasTalkinTech) is a podcast produced by two EdTech TOSAs in Bassett Union School District in Southern California: Tom Covington (@TechTomBUSD) and Michael Jephcott (@TechMikeBUSD). To date of this post, they have 47 episodes recorded over the past two years and they talk about education related topics, and more specifically ways you can use technology in education. These two have an awesome dynamic with one another and it's like you are part of a conversation while driving down the road. What's great about this particular podcast is that I interact with Tom and Mike through Twitter and I've met them in real life a couple of times, so it another way to stay connected with the work they are doing. As an EdTech Coordinator in my district, I'm constantly learning new tips and tricks that I can apply to my role.

TED Talks EDU:

This podcast has all kinds of awesome TED Talks from educators around the world. Talks center around a variety of topics from leadership to classroom teaching strategies to higher level educational philosophies and philanthropic work. One of the recent ones I listened to (and one I forgot how great it was) was Sal Khan’s talk on why mastery learning should be a larger focus in schools. Sal Khan (@salkhanacademy) is the founder of Khan Academy and he shares how mastery learning is more engaging for students and how it is a better measure of student achievement and success. There are tons of great talks in this one. Follow TED Edu on Twitter: @TED_ED

TED Talks Daily:

Like TED EDU, this also contains several TED Talks from a variety of topics not necessarily focused on education. This is a good channel when you want to get away from education field related topics. One of my new favorite Talks is from Tim Urban as he shares what goes on inside the mind of a procrastinator, which I am. Very humorous talk and there are many great ones on this channel. Follow TED Talks on Twitter: @TEDTalks

NPR TED Radio Hour:

By now you're probably thinking, “Ok Eddie, chill with the TED Talks” but this one is different because Guy Raz (@guyraz) does a great job interviewing and asking interesting questions with the actual TED presenters. Each episode has a certain topic with multiple TED Talks centering around that topic. Each Talk and interview has its unique piece they bring to the overall conversation.

Stuff You Missed in History Class:

Although I was a math teacher and not history teacher, I'm still a history buff who enjoys learning new things. This podcast is another good listen for when you're wanting to break away from the education talks. The hosts, Tracy Wilson and Holly Frey, bring unique stories about different events and figures in history. The other day I was learning about Count St, Germain and how he actually had Europe’s elite class believing that he was immortal during the 1700s. Who knew!

Better Leaders, Better Schools:

Daniel Sunshine Bauer (@alienearbud) has a really good podcast about school leadership called Better Leaders, Better Schools. He brings on campus and district leaders from around the country and interviews them as they share tips and strategies that have contributed to their success. There are tons of great philosophical thoughts shared as well as best practices that can be implemented right away whether you serve in a formal leadership capacity or an informal one.

These are just some of the podcasts I listen to. Feel free to explore topics that meet your interests. These interests can be work related or non work related as it is important to have balance. You can listen to podcasts on any device whether you have Apple or Android. For Apple users, the Podcasts app can get you most everything you need. For Android, you can download podcasts from the Google Play Store or use Stitcher. There are also several podcasts on Spotify as well.

Remember to always reflect and expand your horizons as an educator because this is what will keep us all fresh and up to date for our students. What better way to grow and learn than when sitting in the car on your commute. Check out some podcasts and start your own growth process.

Thanks for reading and until next time, enjoy the journey!

-Eddie

P.S. Share your favorite podcasts in the comments below so we can all learn together!

#BetterTogether and the Power of a #PLN - #TOSAchat

8/17/17

This is one part of what I imagine will be multiple posts in the future about the importance of collaboration and working together, and how a Professional Learning Network can help you grow professionally.

The #BetterTogether hashtag is used a lot on Twitter to demonstrate that by working together we can achieve more and we can develop even stronger ideas. I learned about the power of collaboration even within my PLC on campus early in my teaching career. When I first started teaching, I was going through it alone and struggling like most “young” teachers do when they first start in the field. Only when I started working with my colleagues and sharing ideas did I realize that the job becomes a lot easier when you have others to bounce ideas off of and share strategies with. As an EdTech Coordinator in Coachella Valley USD, our TOSA team and I are constantly working together and developing ways to better serve our teachers with integrating technology. We collaboratively build webpages on our department website through Google Sites, collaboratively create presentations for workshops through Keynote and iCloud Drive, and our Google Drive Folder is getting ridiculously full of ideas and finished products. These are all examples of how things are #BetterTogether. When I started using Twitter about 4 years ago, I began building my Professional Learning Network (#PLN) which took the idea of a PLC to a whole different level because I am learning from so many other teachers, administrators, and even private sector leaders, and I just grew professionally because of this network.

One of the webs of my PLN that I have really learned a lot from is the #TOSAchat PLN on Twitter. TOSAchat is an EdChat that takes place every Monday night at 8pm; just use #TOSAchat to join. The group consists mostly of TOSAs (Teachers on Special Assignment), Instructional Coaches, Specialists, but also includes classroom teachers and administrators. Each week a topic with 6 questions is posed to the group and we chat and share ideas for about an hour through Twitter. It really is an amazing way to learn. Most of the time the conversation carries on through the hashtag throughout the week as people post additional resources and questions to the group to help them in their position.

This past Monday (8/14/17) marked the 2nd Anniversary of the chat group, so a big shout out to Karly Moura (@KarlyMoura), Kelly Martin (@kmartintahoe), Ben Cogswell (@cogswell_ben), and Joe Young (@Jyoung1219) for starting the weekly chat group. You guys have really started a movement! To mark the second anniversary, one of the questions asked for ideas of how to grow the chat group to allow for even more collaboration and resources besides the Twitter chat group and the Voxer group. It was mentioned that a Facebook Page could be helpful for those learning and growing within the Facebook space so voila...some of us stepped up and created a TOSAchat Facebook page!

Just this week alone, we have already started sharing resources and creating a weekly slowchat question for engagement. This inaugural week's slowchat question already has 16 comments and the page already has 66 Likes in less than 72 hours of Page creation!

This is one example of how we truly are #BetterTogether. When an idea is thrown out there, get behind it and make it happen! We all have so much to contribute and to give. This blog post is one of my first major blog posts that I have ever published and for me is a why to take a risk and get some of my ideas out there for hopefully the betterment of others. I want to continue to take risks this year, try new things, and I know that I am not alone so the journey will be a little bit easier. Know that you are not alone either! I encourage you to grow your PLN and try new things because when we work together and share ideas, we all benefit, and most importantly the people we serve around us benefit.

Thank you for reading and please connect with me on Twitter so that we can keep the learning going. Have a great journey!

Eddie Simoneau

@Simonometry

The World of Simonometry…

The World of Simonometry…

When I was in the high school classroom, my primary goal was to build the relationships with my students that would allow me to eventually educate them in a variety of subjects, not just my content area. Through teaching my students a little about life in addition to Geometry, my students started to refer to my class as “Simonometry” rather than Geometry because I would always sprinkle in little life lessons that were affecting them that particular day (i.e. parents fighting, applying for college, breakup with boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.).

My name is Eddie Simoneau and I am the Educational Technology Coordinator for Coachella Valley Unified School District. Prior to my current role, I’ve served as EdTech TOSA and a high school Math Teacher before that. I enjoy helping others and using technology to do that when possible. The thing is we all have ideas to share for the betterment of others. All educators at one point or another have tweaked lessons and ideas that someone else created. This is the beauty, art, and skill of being an effective educator. Sharing is necessary and ultimately why I embraced the term Simonometry (or “fill-in-the-blank” -ometry as we all have something to contribute) when my students coined the phrase several years ago. We all have something to learn from one another. The question is….what are you sharing?

Follow me on Twitter @Simonometry and let’s keep the learning going!