Diary of a Digital Learning Coach

Picture me in 50's gear as I "sing" the next line, Grease style... Summer learnin', you'll have a blast, Summer learnin', coming up so fa-a-ast. DISCLAIMER: It is the end of the year, and yes, I am feeling extra nerdy.    As we count down the days to a much needed break, I decided this blog would be devoted to celebrating that special moment of the summer where we actually have time to breathe  focus on learning new things.   Without further ado, here are some ways you can build your skills, focus on next year's goals, and in some cases, earn some flex hours. DLC PL Offerings Our DLC team is offering some great Professional Learning this summer, in person AND as virtual courses.  We'd love to have great participation from our Coppell ISD peeps.  View our Thinglink with Eduphoria links to sign up HERE . Image created by Leigh Ann Howard in Canva Outside of CISD Opportunities There are some great opportunities outside of Cop

Happy Tuesday, Blog Readers! We are inching toward the end of the year so I will make this TMST post short.  I attended a the R10 Tech Conference yesterday and I made a quick storify of the conference hashtag.  Yes, that's right, you get to learn from me AND my PLN in this post! A Storify is just a collection of social media posts, pictures, and links that are curated into one place!  It can be great for telling the "story" of a CBL or UBD, as a way to reflect upon your learning for summative conferences, or as an end of the year reflection activity! [ View the story "#R10Tech Conference" on Storify ] How do you share out learning from conferences and PL? 

My favorite partner in learning and I were at it again last night.  Just a quick reminder that learning together is better...even when your learning buddy is younger than you. Video created in Apple Clips.  Drawing Machine made with Little Bits Steam Kit. Stay vulnerable, friends.  You might just surprise yourself with what learning you find.

For years, we as educators have been talking about connected classrooms.  Over the years, many classes I have worked with have connected with experts, used tools that allow for online collaboration and joined projects that involve learning with others outside of their classroom walls. But how do we make sure those connections promote deeper thinking? I've been thinking about this question a lot lately. To me, a connected classroom starts with a connected educator.  Connected educators are inspired by connected coaches.  As I reflect upon the types of connections made by myself and modeled to the educators with which I coach, I realized something. It's a step to put yourself out there, and I took that step by starting this blog. But connection isn't just putting yourself out there, it is the conversation between thinkers, the shared work of collaborators, the process of problem solving with someone and more. That's why I decided it was time for me to show you

Some days as a DLC I am reminded that my job is pretty fun.  Tinkering with new things helps me learn and being the learning nerd I am, that makes me pretty happy.   The other day,  I took some time to explore a new app from Apple, Clips .  Clips lets you create movies using a series of video, transition and subtitle clips.  It makes movie creation a little more fun, while being super easy too.   Things I love about Clips : no login needed start and stop recording seamlessly filters to make videos more interesting subtitles automatically added when recording - great for ELL's and emergent readers easy title slide editing import media or record from the app music options that don't distract share to camera roll or open in other apps What would #dlcoachalli do with Clips ? Make nerdy example videos for introducing content (like on my blog!) Have learners explain the steps in a process, create a procedural text video or reflection of learning Use photos a