Ditch Summit 2020 - Days 1-3

Dear Teacher, 

My professional goal for 2020-2021 school year, was to become better at integrating and using technology specifically in the remote/blended setting. I am pretty good with technology but it is an area that I want to improve in. 

Each month I have been taking a different class and decided this one the one for December. I am so happy and have learned so much in the first few days!  

Please note... The sketch notes below were created by Jen Giffen.

Day 1 - Dr. Desiree Alexander

The 2020 Educator Survivor Guide

As with all things 2020, we start off with a focus on self care. This is something I have spent a lot of time working on this year. Self care is not selfish has become a personal mantra. The idea you must put on your own oxygen mask before someone else's is a reality I have had to learn. 

Today's topic took us beyond self-care and gave us 4 essential things they must do to thrive in education today. 

1) Self care ---> either you take care of you or someone else will be taking care of you while you recover. 
2) Tech --> remote learning is forcing us to learn to use technology. Pick a few and leave the rest. 
3) Instruction and Classroom Management --> necessary for success even in an online world. 
4) Leadership --> you are a leader even if you don't have a title.

One of the big take-aways for me was the fact that having the camera on is not a sign of engagement but of compliance. Compliance has been a big thing in 2020. We must comply with mask mandates, closures, and so much more. BUT compliance doesn't mean I am engaged. It means I am aware of the rules and following them. 

Day 2 - Esther Park

​How to Create Authentic Student Interactions

Building a meaningful relationship with my students in an online world has been one of my biggest worries of the year. I base so much of what I teach and how I teach off of these relationships, that it has kept me up at night thinking I am not doing enough. 

Ms. Park focused on 3 types of interactions:

1) Student to Student
2) Student to Content
3) Student to Teacher

My favorite part of today was learning about color coding parts of a group project. GENIUS! I would have never of come up with that but yet it fits in so well with my teaching style. I can see using this online (as she demonstrated) or in person. 

Day 3 - Paula Martinez

Your Guide to Amazing Google Slides and PowerPoint Templates

​Have you heard of Slidesmania? I found this gem of a website early this year and love it! She makes free presentations and have made online teaching so much easier!

Today, I found out she lives in Spain with her family and started creating these for fun. Then started helping her daughter's teacher and it grew from there. 

Having the chance to hear from a Google Slides master is priceless! I have gotten pretty good at using Google Slides (and all things G Suite) but I know there has to be a better way. Especially to solve the problem of students accidentally deleting things. AND THERE IS!

Students work on the templates but Teachers work on the masters. WHAT? Yes!!! You can build your entire presentation on the master template side of things and then when presenting or sharing with students they work on the template. Just like when you imbed your background it locks in place. This makes deleting it accidentally impossible. It can be done still but it has to now be done on purpose. 

​This is just the thing I needed to know!

More To Come

So much learning and this is just the tip of the iceberg! Share what you have learned below or on social media using the hashtag #ditchsummit 

Wanna join in? Join me at DitchSummit.com. 

Talk to you soon!
​Misty