Goals for the Year (30 Day Blogging Challenge: Day 1)

   by  Sweet Dreamz Design 

Even though I am not working under a contract right now (I worked under a one-year contract last year), and I don't currently have my own classroom, I have decided to embrace the 30-Day Blogging Challenge for Teachers.  Although I was hesitant at first, feeling a bit like an outsider without a school to call my own, I want and need to feel connected to other educators.

Furthermore, I remain passionate about teaching and hopeful that a position matching my qualifications will open up in the near future. So, while I continue subbing and working on my Educational Technology Endorsement, away from the frenetic pace that most of my friends are currently operating within, I think that it's fitting that I make the most of this gift of time by taking on this blogging challenge.

The prompt for September 1,  2014 asks that I write my goals for the school year, inviting me to be as specific or abstract as I want to be,

My Goals for This Year (I need to articulate my action steps).

1.  Take steps outside of my comfort zone to increase my confidence in presenting to large groups of colleagues and other adults.  I get very nervous when all eyes are on me.  One way that I may tackle this is by organizing and teaching a workshop for educators about copyright and Creative Commons.  Update:  I did it!

2.  Learn how to program my LilyPad Arduino in order to integrate programmed LEDs into my art projects. One way I plan to address this is by taking a workshop on Arduino at Vermont Fest 2014.  Update:  I did it!

3.  Become a Google Certified Educator.  Without distraction or procrastination, I need to commit to a few days of review and just do it.  Update:  I did it!

4.  Learn more about IVECA, perhaps by participating in a training session.

5.  Find ways to remain connected to other educators.  I plan to do this by participating in Twitter chats and volunteering at the Generator, in Burlington.

Code Camp

Yesterday at Code Camp, we learned how to create 3D spheres and boxes.  Using Processing2, we learned how to translate, rotate, and change the scale of our grid!

Here is what I created!

Today, we had time to build upon what we've been learning.  I feel like I am finally get the hang out this.

We also learned how to use Processing2 to create our our Andy Warhol inspired photograph!

Code Camp: Art Strand

I am participating in the Tarrant Institute's summer Code Camp at the University of Vermont this week.  We are using a programming language called Processing to create interactive works of art.

Here is the first sketch that I created yesterday!  I am most proud of the pattern that I created with the squares.  I also like that when the big, blue "breathing" circles come together, as they increase in size, that they look a bit like a monster with bulging eyes.

When I got home, I changed the code from this first sketch to create two more pieces of art (see below)!

Today, at our second day of camp, I learned how to make shapes rotate, as well as changing in size!

Invent to Learn Picture Notes

Invent to Learn

I recently read Invent to Learn as a requirement for the Create Make Learn course that I participated in this summer.


I enjoyed the reading so much that I decided to take picture notes, using the Grafio app ($8.99), rather than taking written notes.


After taking notes for each chapter, I used PicCollage (free) to organize them.

I think that combining these tools with Audioboo would be a great way for students to reflect upon their learning.

Jitterbug Robotics!

On our last day at the Create Make Learn conference in Burlington, Vermont, several of us were fortunate to have the opportunity to create little robotic jitterbugs.  Our jitterbugs were powered with craft motors connected to AA batteries.  The circular platform of my robot is made from a CD, its propeller is made from a glue stick, and its base has been constructed from four up-cycled film canisters.

Although constructing the jitterbug was great fun, there was quite a lot of problem solving and experimentation involved in constructing it.

While mounting the battery and motor to the underside made the jitterbug more aesthetically pleasing, I soon figured out that the electrical tape holding the battery to the motor was not strong enough to maintain a strong connection.  I also learned through trial error that the my propeller needed to be slightly off-center, without touching the floor, in order for my jitterbug to move around, rather than jumping up and down in one spot.

This project required me to apply the following practices, as outlined by the Next Generation Science Standards.

1.  Asking questions and defining problems

2.  Developing and using models

3.  Planning and carrying out investigations

Green Screen with the DoInk App

During my second day at the CreateMakeLearn.org conference in Burlington (July 15-18), I got to experiment with a Green Screen under the expert guidance of  Dr. Wes Fryer and Doug Dunbebin of RETN.

I used the DoInk green screen and DoInk animation apps to create this example.

This video is not a finished project, but it is the first time that I've created a green screen video.

I'm excited about the way that DoInk allows you to add animations as an additional layer!

Shift Happens: The Power of Video

I just finished taking a powerful course through RETN and Southern New Hampshire University titled "From Idea to Impact:  Harnessing the Use of Video in your Classroom."

Because I am camera shy and prefer to work behind the scenes, this course was a huge opportunity for growth.  It stretched me, made me think deeply, and challenged me in ways that few other courses have. My approach to teaching and assessment has shifted as a result of this class.  I cannot recommend it enough.

During the course of one packed week, eight of us worked under the guidance of award-winning instructors and video professionals.  We learned how to work in teams to storyboard, shoot, edit, and distribute a relevant, high-quality video production by planning and executing projects from idea to impact.

As we grappled with what it means to use, practice, and assess 21st century skills with our students, we created, collaborated, communicated, and solved problems in ways that most of us had never done before. At the start, we experienced the pressures of wanting our projects to be the best they could be.  We over-thoughts things.  We worried.  We feared judgement and failure.  We grumbled at the limits of time that repeatedly interrupted us in the middle of meaningful work.

These feelings had been engineered:  we were supposed to feel inadequate, frustrated, harried, scattered, and nervous...just like many of our students do when the focus is on grades.

Then something shifted.  We accepted the fact that failure is vital to growth.  We understood that artistic process is at the heart of deep and meaningful learning.  We brainstormed, researched, drafted, received feedback, and revised revised revised.  We looked back reflectively on where we'd started and were grateful for the opportunity to feel proud of how far we'd come together.

While this is my final product, it was the PROCESS of experiencing collaboration in a new way that will make me a more compassionate and effective teacher.