January in the Rearview Mirror
The new year for me kicked off with a quick trip to New York City to visit our oldest son. The blustery weather reminded us how much we love living in Southern California, but seeing the city all lit up made up for wet frozen toes. It's weird thinking that this was my last official "Winter break". No more telling the kids "See you next year" to a room full of giggles. These "lasts" are bitter-sweet.
Kicking off the new semester kept me busy with Canvas support and I had the opportunity to partner up with Kevin Le (SAUSD Instructional Coach and AI enthusiast) to facilitate AI training with the staff at Monroe Elementary School. It's been fun visiting various schools in the district, shining a light on AI and its potential for both personal and professional productivity. While it's not good to name your favorite child, one of my favorite projects is that I get to facilitate monthly meetings with our district's AI & Innovation Site Leads. Each school has a designated representative who is as passionate about leveraging technology to improve teaching and learning as I am. They are a diverse group including classroom teachers, instructional coaches, a library/media tech, site administrators and others. This diversity or roles, experiences and perspectives leads to rich conversations as together we navigate the ever changing world of instructional technology and specifically artificial intelligence. Each month, representatives receive "turn key" resources they can share with their colleagues. If you have an activity you think I should share with these amazing educators, please share in the comments, or reach out to me. We are all better together.
Squeezed in between my full-time work, I had the pleasure of facilitating a training at a local private K12 school focused on generative AI. We played around with a few tools and really looked at how generative AI could impact instruction. It was fun seeing some of the (self-proclaimed) non-tech savvy teachers interact with ChatGPT and iterate on lessons, adding ideas and refining student-centered lessons. I also had the privilege of presenting at the ABC Ignite conference. The topic was: Reimagining Assessment in the age of AI. I shared how EduProtocols lesson frames can be used for both formative and summative assessments. If you’re curious about my thoughts, I will be presenting the session at the K-12 Deeper Learning summit in Anaheim, CA on February 28, 2025. If you attend the summit, please stop by to say hi!
Teaching is all about relationships. Relationships with students and relationships with colleagues. It is these relationships that energize me each day. I will definitely miss working with these amazing folks when I retire, but I am also looking forward to collaborating with all of the amazing people I have yet to meet.
