Information overload and flying teachers

PBL, 21st century skills, Genius Hour, tech tools galore--today was the culmination of the best week and a half of professional development I have ever had. I somehow found myself relating the process of making wreaths to drugs--in front of other professionals--while projecting a slide illustrating the Pinterest logo. The week before that, I found myself flying through the air tethered to eight other people, walking across a human ladder, and doing kart wheels in the middle of the street at night...all in the name of STUDENTS!!

I'll start with the "tame" one. This week I spent my time at our district's 21C Learning Symposium for this year's 21c grant recipients. While at times I felt overwhelmed with all of the information and new tools, I genuinely grew a lot as a teacher. I had to get outside of my control-freak box more than a few times and let myself feel utterly lost in how to do project base learning. But, tonight, as I reflect on my week, I feel more excited than ever to get back in the classroom and have students solve real world problems by using the content of my classes. This way of teaching sounds like a no-brainer, especially considering that even I learn and retain info better when I have a purpose for using it!!

Here are some of the best tools we discussed and used this week:

•Today's Meet

•Padlet

•Symbaloo

•Google docs and Google forms 

There are so many more tools and I'm sure I'm leaving great ones out, but his week really packed in so much information that my brain almost exploded on more than one occasion. 

Now, to the crazy one. Let me start by saying that this was the only PD I have ever been to where there was no agenda, activewear was required, and sunscreen was advised. The Success 1.0 (Keystone) teachers went to a workshop in order to learn what our class was going to be all about...it's a new class at our school and we are (all but one) learning the standards together. 

What we found was that this class IS relationships. We were introduced to so many trust-builders, ice breakers, team builders, and collaborative games that will help us facilitate real world relationships and task completion. 

Now, for your real question: how and why was I flying through the air tethered to eight other people? This was an element that was a part of a high ropes course this teacher had BUILT. A student had designed the element after completing the course, demonstrating immense confidence and skill in this realm. Basically, what happens is 8 people--reindeer--hook up to one end of a cable. I'm hooked to the other. The cable is connected to a pulley (or some mechanism which I do not have a name for) that hangs from a cable that is suspended high off the ground at a perpendicular angle to the one I'm hooked to. The reindeer take off running and, as they do, I jog a bit too, and am quickly catapulted into the air, possibly flipping over the cable. It was pretty amazing. Crazy. Scary. Really, there is no lack of words to describe the feeling. But the really funny part was when I started jogging forward and screaming in anticipation, but my reindeer hadn't taken off yet. I almost ran into a tree before realizing that I was still on the ground!!! If only someone had it on video...

Honestly, after experiencing both workshops, I can actually see lots of connections. Keystone will help students use real world skills to build relationships, learn how to communicate with others, think critically, and collaborate to create things (BTW, these are your 21st century skills). PBL is content based, but requires real world application of the content, forcing student inquiry and the 4 Cs in order to master the standards. PBL is Keystone with content. 

For once, at least a few pieces of the education puzzle make sense to me. Finally. After a bachelors degree, a masters degree, student internship, and four years of teaching, this job is finally making some sense.