When Tech Connects - Breakout EDU Sketchnote

Technology connects us and brings us closer no matter where we are. Just another reason why I treasure being a connected learner. Because of technology and being connected, I was lucky enough to collaborate with one of my favorite educators, Sylvia Duckworth. Sylvia's sketchnote drawings are an inspiration to many educators all around the world. You can see all of Sylvia's beautiful artwork via her Flickr page. For more insight on sketchnotes, she has created this incredible Sketchnoting for Beginners presentation. The amazing collection of sketchnotes that Sylvia has range from so many different topics floating around the world of education. 

I was curious if Sylvia had made a sketchnote on Breakout EDU. This school year, I was fortunate to introduce Breakout EDU in my district and with the support of my team, Nikki and Andrea, it has taken off not only in our school, but in other schools across the district as well. It's an exciting time! So, I reached out to Sylvia through Twitter and asked her if she had made a sketchnote on Breakout EDU yet, since it's something so many educators are extremely passionate about right now. She hadn't yet, so we worked together and came up with reasons to play Breakout EDU. After coming up with reasons, Sylvia worked her magic and created her work-of-art sketchnote. All of this happened because of our connection on Twitter and the ease of collaborating using a shared Google Document. When tech connects, so much is possible. I'm in Chicago and Sylvia is in Toronto and that didn't stop us from connecting, collaborating, and creating something pretty awesome. That's the power of connection. 

In what ways do you think being connected has made a difference for you? I'd love to hear.

Here is the sketchnote for 10 Reasons to Play Breakout EDU:

Hosting A Twitter Party At Your School

Yesterday my colleague, Jen Adams and I, hosted a Twitter party for our staff. Our inspiration came from a blog post that Jennifer Hogan wrote about hosting a Twitter party at her own school. With winter break nearing us, we thought what a great way to kick it off by having something fun and educational at the same time. Maybe our teachers may want to dabble in it over their time-off, if they wanted to. We invited newbies and seasoned Twitter vets to join us. 

Our goal for our Twitter party was to do a little professional development with our teachers on Twitter, because we find so much value in using it in education. It ended up being that, and more though. It ended up being about teachers having a chance to be with one another, having friendly conversations, AND at the same time learning. We loved what we saw. 

Twitter in education is something that has so much value in so many ways; building a PLN to learn and share ideas and resources with other like-minded people, sharing what’s happening in your class and school (#engagesms #engage109), exploring hashtags to connect to a wealth of topic-specific information, joining chats to have real-time conversations on topics that you are interested in to contribute and learn more about (#educoach, #iledchat, #iaedchat, #geniushous, #sblchat, etc.), and making some quality connections with people. There are so many things I'm sure I've missed something. Having a fun, light-hearted party was a perfect way to gather with our teachers and learn at the same time.

We sent this invite to all staff: 

The party took place in a section of our school's library where there were some tables and smart board. We chose four one-hour time slots, so that all teachers had a chance to stop by when it was convenient for them. Our library director and library assistant were so gracious for letting us host our party there. So, we had a few decorations, snacks (cookies, brownies, crackers, cheese) and a "Twitter Challenge" the teachers took, so we had prizes for that (Starbucks or Target gift cards with some chocolates). For each session, after teachers completed the Twitter challenge, we put their name in a bag and if their name was picked, they won the prize! 

When the guests arrived, we had them pick up four handouts:

• Twitter Challenge
• How Teachers Can Stop Being Scared Of Twitter
• Who To Follow On Twitter Suggestions
• Twitter Cheatsheet 

Jen and I worked one-on-one with the teachers, as well as presented some basic how-to’s about Twitter. Teachers worked through the Twitter Challenge, had conversations with each other, and had fun! The overall experience was so positive and well-received. We found it to be a great way for us all to connect and learn together.

More Resources: 

• Rules For Twitter via Alice Keeler 
• Twitter Party Invite 
• Weekly Education Twitter Chats

5 Stages of a Twitter User -- Weekly Twitter Chats

Learning through Twitter will become a part of your life (like breathing).

Twitter has become one of my favorite PLN's for education. Connecting with other amazing educators, learning from each other, and getting inspired by each other, has never been so easy. It really is a whole new world of learning. Beyond following amazing educators and learning from each other, each week there are opportunities to join chats on Twitter. These chats are moderated by different individuals, focus on a different topic, and they run for an hour. If you're using Twitter or the Twitter app on your computer, phone, or tablet, you search (# discover) the specific #hashtag for the specific chat (chat list below). You can also use something like Tweetdeck to customize columns for the chat #hashtag. Then you can view the questions posted by the moderator, share your answers to the questions, and read everyone's responses as well. Using Twitter chats for learning is an exciting way to have educational discussions, and you put professional development in your own hands. I can bet that after joining a chat, you will take away something useful from it, whether it makes you think about something a little bit more, makes you want to try something new, or get inspired about something that interested you.

Below is a great list of all the Twitter chats going on all week long! Choose what and when you want to learn. The benefits from joining the chats with so many educators from all over, who are interested in the same topic that you are as well -- are endless!

Weekly Twitter Chats List