#EdCampLongmont Bites

What a great day at #EdCampLongmont! As with any conference (or unconference), there are so many takeaways, so I'm just including little bits here:

• It takes a lot to put an event like this together. I showed up at 6:45am to help set up, and there were several others already there! That is impressive for a Saturday morning!
• BreakoutEDU continues to be fun, and the conversation is shifting more to how we can use it as a creation tool for students!

• I love helping people figure out how to use Twitter professionally - it's made such a difference in my life, I'm happy to pay it forward! I also loved some of the PD Bingo going on in #svvsd, and want to steal this idea in my own district!

• I completed my first demo slam, and it wasn't quite as scary as I thought!

• Connecting with friends can be just as valuable as attending a session. I felt so encouraged by some of the one-on-one conversations which helped me gain a deeper understanding of how different districts work!

• My day ended with some awesome art teachers who were willing to share their wisdom with me! It struck me how important it is to just listen. Our teachers are amazing, and experts in their areas! We can learn so much from just listening to them. I'm so grateful for the expertise & ideas from my new friends!
• Oh yeah...I also won a Google Home. Can't go wrong with free swag! Thank you to everyone who donated!

And there you go...another great #EdCampLongmont! I have to say, providing breakfast & lunch & FREE childcare is amazing - makes it so much easier for teachers to attend. I am walking away feeling energized & excited about the great work we all do in education - what better compliment is there than that?

Summit Summary - Colorado Springs 2018

Once again, I find myself sitting down to write a summary after a wonderful #EdTechTeam summit experience! Check out previous blog posts here:
Colorado 2016 | The first Ed Tech conference I ever attended!
Colorado 2017 | My first time presenting - thoughts from before, during, & after
Aspen 2018 | Continuing to learn and grow as a learner and a presenter

Each time I attend, I struggle to summarize my experience, so here are some big themes:

I love reflecting on my own growth as a presenter.

One of the best parts of this summit was presenting with my brother :-). I love that we are both in education, and it is so cool to be able to collaborate on things like this! His attendance at the 2015 Colorado Summit is what sparked my interest in attending & getting into ed tech in general, and look at where that's ended up! I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share this experience with family and initiate my bro into the world of leading PD at the same time (and I have to say, he is awesome)!

Biggest personal win: I was much more confident and not as nervous as I have been in the past! That's not to say that there were no nerves, but I am growing more comfortable with it all. I even tried two new sessions this summit, and felt pretty good about them (which isn't always the case - I'm my own worst critic at times). I was able to enjoy myself not only during the presentations, but also before and after, because I wasn't worrying as much about everything.

I always learn new things.

No matter how many professional development events I go to, I always learn something new. I learn new ways to use tools, I learn hacks I hadn't known about previously, I learn about the new tools on the market, and I learn how to be a better presenter by watching those around me. And, as I overheard somebody say before we started the second morning, this is good professional development! It includes choice for the participants, isn't just "sit-n-get", and it is about relevant topics. As a person who leads a lot of PD, I appreciate the times when I am able to be a learner.

In the end, it always comes back to the people.

This is not a new revelation for me, but it comes back every time. I was excited to meet some PLN friends face-to-face for the first time, and make new friends F2F that are now a part of my PLN! You know when you find "your people", and it just clicks? I felt that way these past couple of days. I appreciate the positivity, the energy, and also the honesty of those who attended. We are not trying to brush over the hardships, but we are all there because we truly care, and we want to make education better for every single kid.

I also have to give special shoutouts to my old/new friend Lisa who took the time to chat with me and give me amazing advice during lunch one day, to Pam for initiating a Twitter DM conversation a few days before the event so it felt like we were old friends by the time we finally met, and to Jess for continually encouraging me and nudging me out of my comfort zone. That is not an exhaustive list, but it's these personal interactions that I remember the most, and they make the conference for me!

What's next?

Well, I'm not sure, but I'm excited to continue presenting, learning, and forming relationships wherever I go! And, of course, I can't let this opportunity go by without putting in a plug for the next #EdTechTeam Colorado Summit, coming in November! I hope to see many of you there!

#ISTE18: It's All About the Relationships!

This year, I was so excited to go to my first ISTE conference! After stalking the #notatISTE hashtag for a few years, it was amazing to finally be there!

I thought about writing a recap, but a picture tells a thousand words, so I'd rather just share my sketchnote of the conference. Each little sketch represents a memory of my time in Chicago! Looking back, I notice a lot of food on here...yep, food = good memories...maybe a little too much ;-).

As I look back, the thing that I will remember the most is all of the friendships & relationships. I loved sitting down next to new people (or, more accurately, standing in line) and being able to strike up a conversation, because we were all connected by our love of education! Even more meaningful were the people I got to have more in-depth conversations with, because this isn't the first time we've connected. From my amazing teammates to the Breakout EDU crew to #sunchatbloggers to other people I've connected with online, it filled my heart to spend time with so many amazing people!

My mind and heart are full. Thank you, #ISTE18!

Aspen 2018 Summit Reflections

Last weekend, I was happily in Aspen, CO, attending the #EdTechTeam Summit! Here are a handful of my key takeaways:

1. It is so important to spend time with people who are positive, hopeful, and optimistic about education! This was my #1 takeaway! The current climate, both nationally and locally, has not been overly positive about teaching, education, and especially the role of technology in education. I know that not everyone feels this way, but sometimes it seems like it - and it wasn't until I had the chance to step out of it to realize how far I had gotten sucked into the negativity. I walked away from the summit feeling refreshed and re-energized for my job!
   
   

   

   Adults enjoy having fun too - #makered is always a hit!

   
   
2. Reaching out, relationally, is awesome. I attended the Colorado Summit in November, and it was huge! While that was really fun, the sheer number of people there meant that running into the same person twice was far less likely! Additionally, it was in my district, so I knew a ton of people there. At this (much smaller) summit, I feel like I really had the opportunity to reach out and have some good conversations with others. I always love hearing how things are going in different parts of the state and country, because it gets me out of my own little world, and I learn so much!
   
   

   

   It wouldn't be a summit without some #BreakoutEDU fun!
   

   
   

3. Share, share away! One of my favorite things about summits is how willing everyone is to share their materials and resources. Sometimes, I get discouraged when other educators are hesitant to share what they have created - we are all teaching kids, right? I've never wanted to force anyone else to reinvent the wheel if I have already done the work! Seeing people freely share and encourage others to steal, copy, iterate, and improve upon resources was like a breath of fresh air.
   
   

   

   Fresh air like my pre-summit walks both mornings -
   how could I not spend some time outside in this beautiful place?
   

   
   
4. It's nice to be a learner. In my role as an Ed Tech Specialist, I lead a lot of PD...and I love it! But I can't remember the last time I attended an event purely as a learner. I did present a couple of sessions at this summit, but I didn't feel the pressure of "being in charge". I didn't have to make sure all of the logistics were taken care of, look around the room to make sure everyone had a seat, check on the food, find the custodian, take pictures, be "on call", or think about setup/cleanup. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy hosting PD, but it was downright relaxing to be able to just attend the event and not have to worry about the other details! Thanks to all of the Aspen crew who did do this - I know how much work it is!
   
   

   

   Our beautiful facility for the summit!
   

   
   

I am so grateful for the weekend - I didn't know it at the time, but it was exactly what I needed! As usual, #EdTechTeam Summits do not disappoint. Bonus: it gave me some great inspiration for my #GoogleEI application! I may have come home physically tired (a 4-hour drive will do that to you), but mentally & emotionally, it was so worth it!

It was awesome to spend time with my friend & coworker
(& driving companion) @staceyduval5!

Embedding a Digital Platform BreakoutEDU Game on a Google Site

Since the release of the BreakoutEDU platform, I have been in several conversations about how to use the digital game creation tool. The locks look slick, and the mechanism for entering combinations is great! However, one of the downsides I have heard is that the platform design can take out the challenge of figuring out which clue goes to which lock.

My solution to that? Continue to build my games on a Google Site, and embed the locks page onto there! That way, the clues can still be hidden all around, and the platform just takes the place of a Google Form as the lock box.

I've gotten some requests to post a follow-up to my original screencast (Creating Digital Games on the BreakoutEDU Platform) about how to embed them. Your wish is my command! This screencast shows the steps to embed an already-created digital platform game into a new Google Site.

It is also possible to embed videos into the classic Google Sites, but it's a bit less intuitive. Feel free to reach out if you are needing help in that area!

Have you created a digital game? Feel free to share in the comments - let's learn & play together!

Going Digital with the BreakoutEDU Platform

BreakoutEDU has a new platform: 👍
You can now create digital games on their site: 👏

...but wait, how do you do that?

I'm not an expert, but I made a quick screencast to show what the new digital game creation tool looks like. You do need platform access to create games, but digital games are always free to play. 

Warning: The "game" I am creating is about the most boring game known to mankind. I think there is a lot of potential to be super creative with these games - play around and enjoy! And please share, I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Gratitude: How #Edtechteam Summits & #BreakoutEDU Changed My Life!

As we prepare for the #edtechteam summit this weekend, I've found myself reflecting on the path that has brought me to my position as an ed tech specialist. In many ways, my journey started two years ago with a summit that I didn't attend.

Wait, what?

Two years ago, my brother, who is a math/computer science teacher, attended a GAFE (Google Apps for Education) Summit hosted by my district. Here I was, barely even aware that it was happening, yet my brother drove an hour and a half to attend. We met up for breakfast one day because he was in the area, but that was about the extent of that.

A few weeks later, we were both home for Thanksgiving break, and he set up this cool thing that he had heard about at the summit: a BreakoutEDU box. My sister, dad, & I all played Time Warp, and we had a blast! I liked the idea of using it in the classroom, but didn't really see it as realistic for music...or for the number of students I had in each class. It became a fun idea, tucked away in the back of my mind, that maybe I could pull out if I ever found myself in a situation that would fit.

Fast forward two years. 

My mind continued to stew on the idea of BreakoutEDU, and that summer, seeing the digital versions really drew me in. Creating my own games led me to get on Twitter, to develop a PLN, to begin this blog, and to dive into the ed tech world. From there, I started gamifying my classes, implementing genius hour projects, experiencing a pseudo-1:1 environment by hogging regularly checking out a Chromebook cart, getting more involved in my district's ed tech initiatives through applying for a cohort, and eventually landing in my current job as an ed tech specialist.

As I reflect, I can't help but feel grateful to so many people who influenced my journey without even knowing it. I'm thankful for the Ed Tech Team & the people in my district who brought the summit to Boulder, CO. I'm thankful to the BreakoutEDU folks for creating an engaging opportunity that was my first glimpse of why I should attend conferences like this. I'm thankful to my brother for sharing his learning! I'm thankful to the people who started BreakoutEDU Digital, which was my gateway drug to the world of PLNs & connecting with a global community. And I'm thankful for all of those who encouraged me along the way and let me step out, explore, and grow, even when that included some wins and some failures.

"Big things often have small beginnings."

BreakoutEDU: An Update

Have you heard? BreakoutEDU now has an updated game platform & new digital game creation tool! When it all came out this week, I had to be really disciplined to focus on work because I just wanted to play with it!

Let me start by saying that, yes, this new platform does cost money ($60/year, although there is a discount going right now). The subscription comes with many things, but the part I am going to focus on today is the part that made me want to play: the new BreakoutEDU Digital Game Creation tool! I've written several digital games and housed them on Google Sites. It works well, but there can be some downsides to using a Google Form as the lockbox. This new tool solves a lot of those issues and looks awesome!

I don't want to give away too much, but it is very user-friendly and walks through the major steps needed to create a game! The five lock types (number, letter, directional, color, & shape) give an expanded array of options for clues & codes. The layout is simple & sleek, and the "share" feature makes it easy to copy a link or embed your "digital lockbox" on any site.

One of the things I struggled with when first looking at this tool was the fact that it is not as customizable as a Google Site in terms of layout, formatting, etc. Often, I use those features to hide clues in my game. The embed feature solved my problem, though - I could still create a site with all of my clues & formatting, and then just embed the digital lockbox straight onto the website!

Here's another honest moment: I love the new tool, but it doesn't do everything want it to...YET! The BreakoutEDU team has always had amazing customer service, and this week is no exception. I know they are looking at the feedback, responding, and continuing to improve their product because I've seen their responses through email (I've sent a couple of questions their way) and the Facebook group. I can't wait to see how they continue to build and refine this tool in the future.

Want to experience it for yourself? Check out a Thanksgiving-themed game I moved over to the new platform and have fun playing!

bit.ly/yehbreakoutcpp