A learning tool, not a toy... or both

Can a toy be a learning tool?  Can a learning tool be a toy?

Today, I brought my son's Sphero BB8 droid to the district office.  My purpose... to drive it around to start a conversation.  Many people asked about it and said that it was cute.  Then I got to talk about how a robot can be a learning tool.  What would a student do with it?  Program.  Code.  Learn math. Create.

My hope is to get Principals interested so they will bring it back to their sites to get teachers interested.  My hunch is the kids already are interested.

And now, hopefully, when the purchase request comes across the desk around our district office, we will know the possibilities and what it could be for.  Or at least to come and play with my droid.

#cuerockstar conference high

You know that feeling when you go to a conference, get reenergized and come back with all these amazing ideas?  I would say the CUE Admin Rockstar conference is like that but on steroids.  It's not just so many good ideas, but I feel changed.  Not so much changed, but the push to be the person I want to be.  The push to pursue all the things I knew I liked, but were not necessarily my focus.

So, as I approach Monday, I am energized, excited and enthused to go back to work.  The challenge will be how to keep the energy and enthusiasm when the day to day realities are there (hello LCAP template).  

My takeaways from CUE Admin Rockstar:

• tell your story via social media
• social media as the best PLN
• Google forms as a timesaver
• 1:1 is out of date- it's not that you have 1:1, it's what you do with 1:1
• and it may be 3:1 (sometimes you need an iPad, others a Chromebook, others a laptop, others an iPodetc...) let's teach kids a variety of tools and let them go
• Digital writing is blogging and podcasting.
• Give kids the tools.  Don't wait to train the teachers.
• Go. Do. Be awesome.

Thanks CUE!

Use The Force #cuerockstar

I'm finishing up my two day #CUERockstar Admin weekend at Skywalker Ranch, so it's fitting that I sum up the conference with this commercial and reflection.

My Superintendent charged us with anchoring to one word- my word is #believe.  This little guy in this commercial believes so strongly in the force, he is not to be deterred.  And when his belief pays off with the car starting, he is amazed.  Imagine what he will do next.  The power of the force is all around us.

Do you believe this much in what you do/create/build/learn?  As I anchor to my word #believe, I think about what I believe in.  Learning.  Leading.  Changing.  Transforming.  All for kids.

What do you believe in?