So, we've made it. We have finally captured new info, organized it into a meaningful system, and distilled it down to its essence. Now, what? All of this knowledge only matters if you apply it and use it in a new and creative way. It doesn't mean that it has to be put into a lesson or unit plan. But it does mean that you take all of the newfound knowledge and share it beyond the walls of your cranium.
Building Your Rainbow Connection
The Express stage in the CODE process facilitates the synthesis of newly acquired knowledge by drawing on various resources like readings, videos, and professional development sessions, leading to the creation of new ideas and applications, which can be organized into Intermediate Packets and shared to enrich others' learning experiences.
As your neurons start firing off and making connections with the newly acquired knowledge, you should look to pull in all of the resources that you've gathered. That is the benefit of the Building a Second Brain process; you don't have to start with a blank page. Draw on something you just read and combine it with notes from a YouTube video you caught last summer, and build on it with a PD session you just sat through. That's when you start to see the magic.
It can be challenging to switch from a consumer of information to a creator of new ideas. The things that you can create can range from an email shareout to colleagues, a new PD session to share at a conference, or infuse it into a new lesson plan.
To build your new applications in a meaningful way, consider creating them in Intermediate Packets (Tiago Forte, Forte Labs). Don't feel overwhelmed with needing to build out an entire project, Instead, build out a bucket of knowledge a chunk at a time. It will give you time to process and figure out how you can connect it to other applications, getting more juice for the squeeze.
Once you have built everything out, share it! Post it online, send that email, and self-celebrate your hard work! It's not bragging if you share; it's making the world a better place.
Chrome OS: Easy as Version 1-2-3
It's time for a new Chrome OS version! Let's cut through the boring bug fixes and performance enhancements and go straight to the new features.
Make Those Fingers Dance!
You can now customize keyboard shortcuts to make it easier to get to the features that you want!
From Chrome Unboxed:
Go to chrome://flags and search for #enable-shortcut-customization-app and #enable-shortcut-customization. After doing so, restart Chrome and go to your Settings > Device > Keyboard > View keyboard shortcuts (or just hit CTRL + SEARCH + S) and you'll now see a nifty little pencil beside every single ChromeOS keyboard shortcut combo. Click that pencil and you'll have the option to add your own shortcut combo.
And on top of that, you can also customize mouse buttons. So now, that mystery button on the side of that external mouse can now be used in Chrome to do what you want! Whether it's to turn off your microphone, go to the Overview screen, or take a screenshot, this is a way to be just a bit more productive on the go.
To get to it, go to Settings > Device > Mouse > Customize mouse buttons.
No Longer Mr. Roboto
Now, there are more natural sounding text-to-speech voices. There are 5 or 6 new voices that sounds worlds better than the previous voices did in ChromeOS. For students that rely on this feature (or teachers too), it can make your usage of a Chromebook so much more enjoyable.
River Deep, Mountain High
In the ever-confusing world of education buzzwords, "deeper learning" has teachers scratching their heads wondering if it's just another excuse for chaos in the classroom, but really, it's about concocting lessons so engaging and messy that students can't help but dive deep into real-world challenges, all while teachers juggle like circus performers, hoping for that 'aha' moment to justify the prep madness.
The new buzzword in education has become *deeper learning* in a way that has people wondering...what in the world is that?
Generally speaking, deeper learning is the ability to understand and address the complex elements of a subject or topic and to draw connections within and across contexts (Department of Education, Massachusetts). The learning that happens should match student grade-level work, with relevant and real-world contexts that allow students to build products that demonstrate mastery, student voice, and creativity, with a dash of critical thinking.
To embrace this type of learning, it is vital for teachers to become hyperfocused on desired outcomes for students. While from the outside, lessons can look messy and unconnected to standards, these highly effective learning environments are anything but. The design around standards and practices make sure that students are applying the skills and knowledge they need to know to prove mastery.
Why? Why undergo this change to traditional instructional practices? It's harder to pull off, it requires immense prep work, and strong classroom organization to insure chaos won't ensue. But the payoff is huge. Students will connect with school work in a new way. They will find ways to identify with their work, making it their own, and applying it ways that they find meaningful.
So, how can you make it happen in your classroom? Engage with your PLC to see how you can share the prep workload. Encourage outsiders to come observe your classroom structures and routines to find any cracks that could be exposed in a more open learning environment, and likewise ask to go watch a colleague who may have a different management style to prepare to be adaptable. Finally, designate time to intentionally build an instructional unit. All great things require time. And prepare for it to not be perfect the first time. That's okay! Sometimes, we have to model the growth mindset we want our students to have.