Tag: the innovator’s mindset

Week 2 Highlights from #IMMOOC2 Participants
Published March 9, 2017 by

Week 2 Highlights from #IMMOOC2 Participants

This is a compilation of some highlights in our second week of Innovator’s Mindset MOOC Round 2 #IMMOOC2. To join the conversation, check out IMMOOC.Org,  #IMMOOC on Twitter, or join us on Facebook.

In Chapter 2 George states that the innovator’s mindset takes on the growth mindset. An example would be  taking a “step further by focusing on using one’s ability to learn to play the piano to create music.” In education, he says we “must focus on creating something with the knowledge that’s been acquired.” He insists that this process requires resiliency, grit and the freedom to fail.

YouTube Live Episode 2 with George Couros, Katie Martin, and special guest, Sarah Thomas.

Share! Share! Share!

How do we get a culture of innovation in our schools?

The overarching theme in Live Episode 2 was the value of collaborating and sharing allowing us to be innovative. Sarah tells us to “Share! Share! Share!” The more we share the more input we get from others to refine and “shine like a diamond”. She saw the need for something new and better and launched Edumatch in 2014. She also found a need for people to grow in developing their “moonshot thinking” and created an actionable plan through “Designing with Passion”.

George adds that we will find more value following a hashtag that matches our interests rather than just searching for people on Twitter. It is through “competitive collaborative” support and pressure from one another that allows for innovative practices. He tells us that a foundation of trust, risk-taking and a culture of growth helps to launch innovative practices.  Katie tells us that an innovative culture requires trust, space, support, modeling and accountability.

Reach for our Inner Fight Club!

How do we promote a culture where everyone is willing to take a risk?

Katie Martin reminds us that those with the best ideas aren’t necessarily coming from those that raise their hands first or are the loudest to be heard. What are we doing to allow the more introvert to share their innovative ideas? How are we breaking down barriers for them? Sarah brings on the great analogy with the movie, Fight Club, when she says that we have to project our confident alter ego to get stuff done; reach for our inner Fight Club.

Everything is in Beta Mode!

Innovation is about taking risks. Sarah reminds us that there are different types of risks and we must jump in “feet first” with our “moonshot” thinking rather than “head first”, but risks need to happen in order to keep moving forward. George tells us that innovation is not about creating something new, but doing something with what we created.

How do we know that our innovative idea is working? Sarah tells us the importance of documenting the journey as the best way to know how our “moonshot” idea is working. It is innovative if it is having an impact on students.

Here is a summary of the Live Episode 2 by Julie Johnson:

Examples of innovation by #IMMOOC2 participants

The highlights in the blogs for this week included reflections, ideas and examples which can help us move forward in the innovative process.

Amy Busby reflects on how to take innovation from pockets to the norm.

So another question I ask myself is what experiences are we providing for teachers to allow them to learn and explore and collaborate with others in their profession? If we feel it is important, we must make time for it. We as leaders get bogged down in the compliance aspect of education as well. There are rules, requirements, policies, and assessments that can’t be ignored. But even with all of those expectations, we must model the innovation we want to see.

My hope is that one of the new adventures we started in our district, Montgomery Master Teachers, is encouraging that type of innovation. The teachers are encouraged to share their ideas with each other through a district Yammer page. We’ve had some take off with this collaboration and others who have been slow to get on board. There have been some great moments where the teachers have shared ideas they’ve done in class and borrowed from each other. They are currently doing a book study together and using Yammer to share their ideas and discuss the book together. So far, this has been a great tool. I look forward to seeing where the teachers take their learning.

Jeff Court sees innovation all around him as a principal who wants to “lead with passion, push the status quo, and support the work that keeps student learning at the fore front of my thoughts and actions”.

I have had the pleasure of witnessing a number of innovative practices occurring over the last year in our K-12 school with 325 students. I have witnessed teachers utilize SeeSaw as a self reflection tool and document learning for parents to witness their grade 2 students growth. I have engaged in creating high school courses that will empower grade 11 and 12 students to create, cover and mashup music that they love. High school students helping to develop a hot lunch program that now serves approximately 130 students a day. This program is literally students helping feed students. Elementary teachers that have stepped outside of their comfort zone to create flexible learning environments to meet the diverse needs of all of their students. Instruction, assessment and feedback for students has to change to meet the needs of all students in these new classroom environments. Each of these scenarios are great examples of teachers that have reflected on the needs of students and were willing to take a risk to create something new and better. Based on their professional journey, they are innovators that I will continue to support their efforts to create better opportunities for students.

Understanding those we serve

As we move forward in this Innovative Mindset practice it is important that we are impacting those we serve.

Keri Snowden adds a question we need to be asking ourselves as we make move forward with innovative practices and doing what is best for students.

What evidence of learning do we see in this student’s creation?
For several years I have believed in the power of looking at student work in shifting a teacher’s focus from what they are doing to what their students are doing. This shift is important because I have known many teachers who think only about what and how they are teaching, how their day is going, how hard they are working, how busy and stressed they are, how frustrating or amazing their students  can be. I have argued that looking at student work is what is needed to deepen PLC conversations and refocus teacher energy on the student experience. After all, it’s the student learning that is the purpose of our work.
Now I feel the need to revise my mantra from “looking at student work” to “looking at student creations.” In a creation, a teacher would see not just facts or algorithms regurgitated onto a page, instead she would see synthesis, prioritization, and communication about a topic or concept. This tells us so much more about a student’s strengths and weaknesses, his “soft skills,” his depth of understanding, and his ability to share it with others.
Susan Aplin looks at what we are experiencing in #IMMOOC2 and asks these three questions to see how we can provide the same experiences for our students.

When I sit back and think about it, this type of learning is amazing.  Learning from 3 different people who were in 3 different places  – awesome.  Learning at a time that was convenient for me – even better.  Getting to hear directly from experts – priceless.

This connection to experts and to people physically out of reach is now available to everyone with internet.  Learning like this is not just for teachers and other professionals, but also for our students.  Are we helping our students find new learning opportunities and ways to connect with experts?

George said, “Everyone has something to say.  Everyone.”  This came as a part of discussion about introverts.  I enjoyed hearing Sarah explain how she is an introvert (like me!), but she has found new ways to share.  Katie continued by pointing out that technology creates opportunities for our introverted and/or quieter students. It gives ALL students voices in (and out) of the classroom….

…We HAVE to make these opportunities available to all of our students.  Are we giving students ways to ask questions, ways to share ideas, ways to reflect and to grow?  

When Katie said, “If you don’t know your kids and what they need, the innovations are frivolous,” she helped remind us that innovation is meaningless without connections and relationships.  George also talked about how time spent talking to a teacher is time he will get back tenfold because of the relationship he’s developing.  This applies to everyone in our school buildings – students, teachers, administrators, etc.

New ideas might be “fun” or “interesting” to people who like to try new things (like many of us in #IMMOOC), but we all must remember that if they don’t connect with our students and improve learning, then we need to rethink them.  Are we keeping our students and their goals in mind when trying new things?  Do we take time to get to know our students and teachers as people?

 

Characteristics of Innovator’s Mindset

We have talked a lot about these 8 characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset this week. Which one did you talk about the most?

Robin Young reminds us how being networked makes us better in the end rather than being on an island.

Networking has been crucial to my development as an Instructional Technology Specialist.  Recently the 8th grade math teachers wanted me to present ideas for integrating technology into their classes.  This is an area that I have struggled with for a while since my background is in history.  I turned to social media for ideas.   I posted on twitter and on a Google+ community that I belonged to and asked for ideas.  Within a day I had enough ideas and several concrete examples that in the end I was very proud of the final product and the math teachers were happy with their training.  If I had been isolated I would have drug out the same old ideas and tried to sell them again.  Instead I was able to deliver some good ideas that have continued the conversation between us about technology integration.  In fact I agreed today to help develop a minecraft review session for them.    We are also in talks about trying out a BreakoutEdu game soon.    Opportunities that would not have existed without my network of amazing folks.

Joe Robison challenges us to think about  what we are asking students to do with the information they are obtaining.

The question of what students can do with the information they are obtaining is something we need to begin asking ourselves as educators.  As my paradigm has changed over time, and the more I have developed a growth mindset, my philosophy about my students and the information they learn has changed.  I had to ask myself, “why am I presenting this information to students?”  If the answer was only to pass a test, either mine or a standardized one, then I realized I was doing my students a disservice.   If all we are measuring is memorization and compliance, then we are not preparing our students to be future ready.  It is important that we allow our students to use the information they are obtaining in practical ways.  At the end of every unit or topic, I have started asking students to identify a problem they can solve with their new knowledge.  This practice has become so much a part of what we do, that students now go into each lesson looking through the lens of problem solving.  The process has now become one of students continually looking for problems to solve as they are introduced to new concepts.  This concept is crucial to developing an innovative mindset in the classroom.  As a teacher, your job is not to find problems for students to solve, but rather to create an environment where students look for problems to solve.  This mentality is critical to not only having an innovative classroom, but also to fostering an innovative mindset in your students.

Week 2 #IMMOOC Twitter Chat

The theme this week revolved around WHY we all need the innovator’s mindset? Here are just a few of the top TWEETS from the #IMMOOC chat during this second week.

George created a synopsis of this week’s #IMMOOC chat using Twitter Moments in this link.

 

 

Katie Martin was able to provide the whole Week 2 #IMMOOC  Chat into two Storify links provided here for your review.

[View the story “#IMMOOC Twitter Chat 3/8–Part 1 Questions 1-3” on Storify]
[View the story “#IMMOOC Twitter Chat 3/8 Part 2– Questions 3-6” on Storify]

 

Examples of Participant Created Images of Favorite Quotes

This Storify link showcases some IMMOOC2 participant creations this week. These creations highlight phrases that had an impact on us. What seems to be the overarching theme that inspired us the most this week?

[View the story “Favorite Quotes of #IMMOOC2 Participants Week 2” on Storify]

I leave you with an inspiring clip, “What Are You Waiting For” mentioned by AJ Bianco in his blog,  “Do Something Amazing”.

“We need to move from a known to an unknown that is possibly better.” – George Couros

We are better together and in the end the students are the winners,

Valerie

#IMMOOC2 #InnovatorsMindsetMOOC Blog Prompts highlights Participant Posts Uncategorized

#IMMOOC #IMMOOC2 #InnovatorsMindset George Couros katie martin sarah thomas the innovator's mindset Valerie Zemaitis week 2 highlights

Published February 5, 2017 by

#IMMOOC 2 Starting February 27, 2017! #InnovatorsMindset

Due to the popularity of the first “Innovator’s Mindset” MOOC (MOOC stands for “Massive Open Online Course”), we are running this free course again (you will just need a copy of the book to participate).  The approximate dates will be from February 27, 2017, until April 3, 2017 and here are some of the logistics of this free course.

Focused on the book, “The Innovator’s Mindset“, participants will join a global book study (the last group had over 2000 people sign up…check out the last schedule if you are interested), where they will not only have the chance to read the book together but also create and share their own learning with a global community through their own blog and social media accounts.  Weekly, we will have a Google Hangout discussing the book with special guests, as well as taking in participant questions while providing prompts for your blog.  The biggest benefit of this course is what you create, so you determine how much you want to create versus how much you consume.  The power of this process is not just in the book, but the ability to share and further your own learning through a global network.

To join here is what you need to do:

  1. Buy a copy of “The Innovator’s Mindset“. We will have a “selfie challenge” coming soon so get your book as soon as you can so you can win a prize for our draw.
  2. Sign up for the course (also listed below).
  3. Get your blog ready to go! (I suggest either edublogs.org or wordpress.com)
  4. Share that you are joining to the #IMMOOC hashtag on Twitter and share this link for others to sign up.
  5. Join the Facebook group.

Once you sign up, you will start getting updates as more information comes out including guests, blog prompts, and google hangout dates.  All of the information will come directly to your email.

We look forward to learning from you and having an awesome experience with new IMMOOC participants, while other IMMOOC alumni join us from the first round!

Join #IMMOOC!

* indicates required




#IMMOOC2 #InnovatorsMindsetMOOC

#IMMOOC George Couros katie martin the innovator's mindset

Week 4 #IMMOOC Highlights from Participants
Published October 14, 2016 by

Week 4 #IMMOOC Highlights from Participants

This week we had the pleasure of hearing from the passionate Kara Welty. Some may have even heard from her twice since we got to do two versions due to some technical difficulties. Check out both versions here. The focus of this week was on Part 3- Unleashing Talent.  This is one of my favorite sections in the book because it focuses on empowering learners, both educators and students. 

8-things-to-look-for-in-todays-classroom-badura

One of the major themes of the week is building on strengths.  Sheila Vick  shares,

Strengths based leadership makes so much sense to me. People naturally want to discuss and do what they feel successful at. When I look at what I do in my role as a student services teacher, I always start with what my students are good at and move on from there. As mentioned this week, this helps to build confidence and competence, but also builds a positive relationship where they feel valued, appreciated and can trust that it is safe to throw themselves out there and take risks. For these reasons, I think we must tap into strengths and passions first.

In addition to knowing and building on the strengths of the learners, Melissa LaShure challenges traditional lesson plans and articulates how she has shifted from lesson plans to learning plans.

Let’s step into the shoes of our students and start seeing the world from their perspective. Think back and remember all of the things you enjoyed doing as a kid. Then ask yourself, how can I incorporate that into a “learning plan”? Stop lesson planning to death, just to get kids to pass a test, instead get innovative and create learning plans that provide students will real life application and turn them into lifelong learners.

Below is a picture of just a few of my thoughts on what a learning plan is versus a lesson plan. This is not the be all, end all by any means, so feel free to take from it and add to it.

screen-shot-2016-10-13-at-9-53-21-pm

 

To create these powerful learning experiences, Celaina Huckeba, reflects on the importance of taking risks and meeting the needs of the individual learners in each unique context:

Instead of just reading books on what’s most effective in education, I want to rely on more ways of encouraging students and teachers to question ideas and to try new things. Teachers and students should be finding out what works and experimenting. If something doesn’t work, then that’s okay. We can keep going. I do believe in research in that it can lead us down a path of growing, learning, changing, innovating.  But I don’t buy into the idea of one size fits all or one person’s research (or one person compiling research) is what’s best for all kids in all classrooms.

Rachel Burkett highlights the importance of educators not only being life-long learners, but modeling and sharing their process as well:

It seems like it’s time for educators to show and model to the students that we are learners too, that we never get too old to learn something, and that we *gasp* fail and make mistakes. We are not invincible and we are not perfect. We are all human, and we all struggle from time to time. It’s only natural. A teacher does not have to stay on the pedestal to earn a student’s respect and admiration. There are other ways to do so, and it all starts with being a lifelong learner.

Professional learning for educators must model the experiences that we want students to have in the classrooms. I love Allison K.’s ideas about Innovative Professional Learning.  

screen-shot-2016-10-13-at-7-46-59-pm

Thank you for all of you who continue to connect and share all of your ideas and learning from this week.  This is an amazing community and I love seeing the ideas and the passion each week.

Keep sharing, connecting, and inspiring!

Best,

Katie

highlights

#IMMOOC #InnovatorsMindset George Couros innovation in education kara welty katie martin the innovator's mindset

Published October 4, 2016 by

Special Guest @Kara_Welty will join #IMMOOC on Sunday, October 9

UPDATED: Please note that the YouTube Live Session with Kara Welty has changed:

We are pleased to announce that Kara Welty will join us for our YouTube Live session on Saturday, October 8, at 4pm PST (7pm EST) , Sunday October 9, at 130 pm PST (430 pm EST), As always, the session will be recorded so don’t worry if you miss it!

Here is a little bit more more about Kara from her website(karawelty.com):

I currently serve as a Mentor Teacher and Technology Integrationist leading innovative teaching and learning. I have a myriad of leadership experience, which includes roles such as: New Teacher District Facilitator, the Chair of the ELA Department, and Curriculum Writing Leader. I am also a national speaker, writer, blogger, and webinar creator. This May, I graduated with my Educational Administration degree which includes Elementary and Secondary Administration Certification.

Kara is an amazing leader and innovator, so we are looking forward to her joining the show!

To-Do’s

  1. Watch last week’s show with Kaleb Rashad (or listen to the podcast on Soundcloud or iTunes).
  2. We encourage all participants to blog a weekly reflection and share a Twitter video (the ones posted have been awesome so far!)
  3. You can also subscribe to the podcast which has the same information.
  4. We want to answer your questions on the podcast, so please submit them before Saturday, October 8.
  5. Finish your blog posts for the week and twitter reflection video by Thursday morning to have a chance to be shared on the immooc.org blog.

Moving Forward

One challenge I have given this week is to create some memes based on the book.  Some of the creations that I have seen have been awesome and some are absolutely hilarious. Check them out below!

Remember…this is YOUR experience. Do not wait for us to give you ideas of what to do…We are loving how people are creating their own learning and opportunities.

Keep inspiring, keep innovating, and continue to be amazing.

Have an awesome week!

George

Hangout Announcement

innovation in education kara welty katie martin meme challenge the innovator's mindset

Published September 27, 2016 by

Special Guest @KalebRashad will join #IMMOOC on Saturday, October 1

We are pleased to announce that Kaleb Rashad will join us for our YouTube Live session on Saturday, October 1, at 4pm PST (7pm EST).  As always, the session will be recorded so don’t worry if you miss it!

Here is a little bit more more about Kaleb:

Kaleb is the director of the Gary & Jerri-Ann Jacobs @hightechhigh (OG)!! | We are first and foremost an equity project. | We believe that passion matters in work and life. We think school should be a place where you find out what you’re good at doing, what you love to do, and what the world needs.

As a school, we exist to be EXCELLENT to each other & do BADASS work.

My belief in #HumanCenteredDesign is deeply rooted in my dissertation research on relational trust and I believe that #HumanCenteredDesign can be used to AMPLIFY our sense of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. 

As you might be able to tell, Kaleb is extremely passionate and forward-thinking. We are looking forward to hearing from him.

To-Do’s

  1. Watch last week’s show with Shawn Clark and Brady Venables (or listen to the podcast on Soundcloud or iTunes).
  2. We encourage all participants to blog a weekly reflection and share a Twitter video (the ones posted have been awesome so far!)
  3. You can also subscribe to the podcast which has the same information.
  4. We want to answer your questions on the podcast, so please submit them before Saturday, October 1.
  5. Finish your blog posts for the week and twitter reflection video by Thursday morning to have a chance to be shared on the immooc.org blog.

Moving Forward

We have really appreciated the sharing that is happening, and the human connection being created by the Twitter reflections.  Here is an example of one from Tisha Richmond:

What impact would this have if you do this type of reflection in your own school? What would this look like if teachers did this instead of a classroom newsletter including students?

The hope is that some of the things that are happening in this process will not only make an impact on you long term, but also give you some strategies to bring innovation to life in your own context.

Keep being amazing and thanks for all that you are sharing. Have a great week!

George

 

screen-shot-2016-06-05-at-5-37-08-pm

P.S. Below are the “Selfie-Contest Winners”…You will be contacted soon to collect your prize. Thank you to Dave Burgess Consulting and Edublogs for the support!

Kelly Onyskiw Greg Lumb Debbie Harris Jessica Webster
Sam Shelly Pierson Kathy Standefrr James Russell
Lisa Esse Maureen Ferrel Irene Orozco Maria Stavropoulos
Jacie Maslyk Jamie Leach Celaina Huckeba Deneen Sawchuk
Nikki Davidson David Simpson Tamara DeFord Laura Jennaro
Alice Vigors Tracie Trey Wright Audrey Thurston
Chari Distler Kathy Brosch Joanne Fuchs Karen Compton
Tisha Richmond Valerie Ruiz Sherry Hall Becky Glenton
Sally Sternberg Traci Logue Jen Resch Lauren Paddick
Christy Cate Scott Ringkamp Paul McGuire Glenda Brown

Hangout Announcement

#IMMOOC innovative in education Kaleb Rashad katie martin the innovator's mindset

Published September 24, 2016 by

#IMMOOC Live Episode 2 – (Shawn Clark and Brady Venables) and Week’s Blog Prompts

If you are interested in joining #IMMOOC live (September 24th at 10am EST), check out the show below (it will also be recorded if you do not see the live broadcast).

For Week 2, we hope you can do the following:

  1. Read Part 1 of the book (pages 15-62)
  2. Do a 30 second Twitter video reflection on what resonates and share to the #IMMOOC hashtag.  (Here is an example of what this can look like.)
  3. Comment on 3 other participant blog posts.
  4. Blog/Podcast/Video/Your Choice based on your thoughts of the Introduction, or use the following blog prompts to help you (Please feel free to use the images provided in your own posts):

Blog Prompts (Week 2)

In Chapter 1, innovation is defined as a way of thinking that creates something new and better. What are some examples that you consider innovative?  How is it new and better than what previously existed?Image result for innovators mindset

Review the “Critical Questions for Educators” in Chapter 2.  Why are these important to understand those we serve in education?  What other questions would you ask?

How do you embody the characteristics of an Innovator’s Mindset?

 

 

Moving Forward

Please keep sharing to the #IMMOOC hashtag as well as the Facebook Group when you are done.

We look forward to reading your reflections, and highlighting some of them on the Thursday post.

Thank you again for being a part of this journey!  It has been amazing to see what people have been sharing.  Continue to do so!

George

Blog Prompts Hangouts

brady venables innovative leadership Innovative teaching and learning shawn clark the innovator's mindset

Published September 9, 2016 by

Using Inoreader to Follow Blogs for #IMMOOC

With about 700 people signed up for the #IMMOOC, there is definitely the threat of information overload! To help find what others are writing, I use the site inoreader.com to aggregate any posts coming from participants. Instead of trying to keep up with 700 different spaces, I will have all of them come to me. The ability to curate information is a skill critical to not only this process, but education and innovation itself.

Here is a short tutorial to help you with the process.

#InnovatorsMindsetMOOC

#IMMOOC innovation in education Innovative teaching and learning inoreader rss feed the innovator's mindset