#D100bloggerPD: Hacking Education: Introduction

I'm moving these links up to the top of my post now that the study has started so you can access them easier and follow along with our study. As each new one is posted, I'll hyperlink it here!

Pershing Principal Blog: Hack 1- Meet Me in the Cloud

Responsive Literacy: Hack 2- Pineapple Charts

Ginny from Hiawatha: Hack 3- Teacher Quiet Zones

Cool Cat Teacher: Hack 4- Track Records

Miss G Does 5th: Hack 5- Student Tech Gurus

Literacy Loving Gals: Hack 6- Marigold Committees

Learn, Teach, Grow: Hack 7- The In-Class Flip

Big Time Literacy: Hack 8- The Book Nook

Miss Kaczmarek’s Classroom: Hack 9- The Glass Classroom

Reading and Owl of the Above: Hack 10- The 360 Spreadsheet  

If you have visited my blog before, you have probably seen the many posts that I made (or linked) as part of the #D100bloggerPD crew. My teacher-twin Colleen and I brought this idea of "blogger professional development" to our district at the beginning of this year. Colleen (check out her amazing blog here), as part of the Reading Strategies Crew past summer, put on an amazing blog book study of Jennifer Serravallo's The Reading Strategies Book, which I was thrilled to participate in. I love the idea/professional growth potential so much that I talked to Colleen about bringing it to our district, and poof, #D100bloggerPD was born! Since then we have done blog book studies on (1) Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller (2) A "What Inspires You?" Series and (3) Move Your Bus by Ron Clark. Having just wrapped up the Move Your Bus study, we are now ready to launch our next blog book study on Hacking Education: 10 Quick Fixes for Every School (Hack Learning Series) (Volume 1)  by Mark Barnes and Jennifer Gonzalez.  

If you've never seen or been part of a blog book study before (whether a participant or audience member), it's really quite simple. Here's what to expect.  Notice the schedule that I opened this post with. You see all 10 hacks (plus this introduction) planned out twice a week over a 5 week period of time.  All the members of this book study are fellow colleagues in Berwyn South School District 100- a town right outside of Chicago, Il. There are 10 total participants and we will all be reading and reflecting on one hack each from Hacking Education.  

Still unsure? Here is an amazing Periscope/katch.me video by Jennifer Gonzalez as she explains, in her own funny way, what this #D100bloggerPD adventure is all about! Can I just say- to hear someone as smart and awesome as Jennifer Gonzalez call you out by name in a periscope- it's pretty much the coolest thing....ever! Thanks again, Jennifer!

Now back to the plan. The date listed on the schedule is the date the new reflection will be posted- and the name listed in the schedule is the blog where the post will appear. To make that even easier, if you keep this post handy- I will continuously link every new post at the bottom of the page. Also, each post will link to the next person who is set to post. For example, at the end of this post, I will link to Marilyn over at Pershing Principal Blog for her reflection on Hack 1. Then she will link to Leah at Responsive Literacy, and so on and so forth.  Another way to keep track of this study (and any others) is to follow the #D100bloggerPD hashtag on Twitter. Anytime a member of our crew posts, they will always use this hashtag to keep our followers and fellow learners informed. 

Now that we’ve gotten the logistics out of the way- let’s get into the book! To kick off this study, I am doing a brief reflection on the introduction of the book.

 The introduction serves as a set up for the purpose of the rest of the book- introducing why we need to hack education and ultimately providing the answers or guidance along the path to hacking education. I love how the authors point out that they are not taking ownership of these hacks- just that they have compiled them, sometimes improved on them, and otherwise are promoting them in order to get these hacks into the hands of the right people- the teachers who need them the most! This rings so true for me- the world of education is so tough already- it's difficult and stressful and challenging- so why not help each other? Why, as the saying goes, reinvent the wheel every time you need to create something? In the last couple years, thanks to the internet and websites like Pinterest and Teachers Pay teachers, we have been introduced to a wide world of resources to help teachers save time and lean on each other in a time of need. And that's not even taking into account the cool things I find on Twitter! Hello, Social Media!

 I can't tell you how many times I've quickly looked up something on Pinterest to get a fun idea- or checked out my PLN on twitter to get more #edtech ideas to use in my paperless classroom. Once I check out these sites, find a tiny "seed idea", I take it into my own brain and morph it into something I need. All I'm saying is that every idea doesn't have to be freshly minted by me for it to be awesome. Share with each other. Learn from one another. Grow with each other. The educational climate is ever-changing and evolving- let's not go at it alone.

This idea of taking ideas and making them into something you can use is also something talked about in discussing how to use this Hacking Education book. The authors write about the idea of "iteration" as you can see in the quote to the right. Not everything in the book (or life, for that matter) is going to be a one size fits all solution for your classroom.  That's the important part about knowing your classroom. You probably won't be able to just take a hack out of the book and start using it in your classroom right away. You'll need to see it with an editing eye and make it appropriate for use in your classroom or setting. This is what will make the hack valuable. Not to mention, this is what will make the hack have longevity in your classroom. If you don't make the experience personalized to you and your students, it's not likely to work or make a difference. But if you make the change/hack fit your needs, it's more likely to be successful and have that transformative power you're seeking.

I came across one of my new favorite quotes as I read about iterations in the introduction.

 I love this because it helps me remember that education is always evolving- but that we don't have to forget the past. I recently resurrected an idea that I used my very first year of teaching to try and help my current students with deeper thinking. Now, even though I've only been teaching for 8 years, this idea seemed so old and outdated that I couldn't possibly use it again. However, when I began to think of my current needs, I saw this quote and thought perhaps I could dig that old idea back up and work with it. And alas, it's working out amazing! All it took was a little creative editing and revising of my previous idea and now it's "fresh" again! So now I am renewed in my thinking and my students are benefiting from my new outlook. It's truly a win-win for all involved!

 This is what I am most excited for as we go forward in the Hacking Education book- the idea that I can take the hacks that I am about to read about, apply them to my own classroom, and transform my teaching because of it.  And as a little more inspiration in the right direction, I'm going to end my reflection with this quote:

That's all for now! Be sure to check out Marilyn's post at Pershing Principal Blog on Monday, 3/7 for her reflection on the first Hack: Meet Me in the Cloud. And in the meantime, I’ve linked each blog that will be featured in this study- you can check them out now- and later, once they have posted their Hack reflection, I’ll also link that as well! 

Pershing Principal Blog: Hack 1- Meet Me in the Cloud

Responsive Literacy: Hack 2- Pineapple Charts

Ginny from Hiawatha: Hack 3- Teacher Quiet Zones

Cool Cat Teacher: Hack 4- Track Records

Miss G Does 5th: Hack 5- Student Tech Gurus

Literacy Loving Gals: Hack 6- Marigold Committees

Learn, Teach, Grow: Hack 7- The In-Class Flip

Big Time Literacy: Hack 8- The Book Nook

Miss Kaczmarek’s Classroom: Hack 9- The Glass Classroom

Reading and Owl of the Above: Hack 10- The 360 Spreadsheet   

Please, if you have any questions, comments, etc., please do not hesitate to leave a comment! All of us in the #D100bloggerPD crew love to hear from our readers!

Also- if you'd like to follow along with us on this study- be sure to pick up your copy of Hacking Education: 10 Quick Fixes for Every School (Hack Learning Series) (Volume 1) ! I got mine through Amazon- gotta love free two day shipping!! I look forward to reading and learning with all of you!

*If you want to be sure you don't miss a post from me in the future- check on the upper right side of my blog and you'll see a "bloglovin" button- just click that, subscribe to my blog, and you'll be updated in the future anytime I create a new post! It's the best way to guarantee you won't miss a thing! And if you're not already following me on Twitter- be sure to check out @MrsKRichey and join my PLN!