Technology is advancing so quickly that we are not preparing kids for the jobs of today, but for jobs that don’t even exist yet. We can not anticipate the workplace skills that they will need to function in this ever changing world. So how do we prepare them for the future? I believe the answer is in the 5 Cs of an Innovative Environment, by Julie Woodard. Students need to learn how to be creative, think critically, collaborate, communicate, and function as a part of a community. With these issues in mind Hanover County and the Hanover Education Foundation are sponsoring the first ever HCPS Inspire Conference in August. These soft skills were also the focus of Google’s most recent research on successful teams. They learned that there were 5 key dynamics associated with success; psychological safety, dependability, structure and clarity, meaning, and impact. It is this type of environment that I seek to provide for my students.
As an REB winner this year, I had the opportunity to reflect on educational issues and trends and determine what experiences would help me become a leader and innovator in my school. Our elementary school opened an Innovation Studio in the Fall of 2017, thanks to the Hanover Education Foundation. All the resources and technology are at our fingertips, but will we as educators be ready to optimize our new classroom? In a recent training, I learned about Scrum. Scrum is a framework for completing complex projects. It began as a process used by software developers and values focus, courage, openness, commitment, and respect. I was inspired by the Scrum strategy and I can see incredible potential to increase productivity and teamwork in our elementary students. Making connections between education and business and learning how we as elementary teachers can optimize our newly acquired Innovation Studio has become my passion. I knew that I wanted to be a leader in our educational community and I knew I had so much to learn. Winning the REB award allows me to participate in all of the following professional development activities. The Future Festival, Scrum Training, the Silicon Valley businesses, the Research Triangle, and ISTE can provide incredible insights. Richmond offers Scrum Master training with Scrum certification for the business community, which I will be attending in May. Training for educators does not yet exist; therefore I am hoping to be one of the first to create professional development experiences for elementary education. The Future Festival has been described as the “world’s best innovation conference.” The Future Festival highlights the most successful businesses in all categories, presents next year’s trends, presents “disruptive ideas”, and hosts famous innovative workshops. A wide range of companies attend. This conference is the perfect place for me to access businesses and learn about the future trends in multiple industries. Networking will allow me to meet and discuss how they promote innovation and productivity in their companies. The Future Festival will serve as inspiration and networking. I will be posting pictures, tweeting, and blogging about my experience. Silicon Valley is at the cutting edge of technology and engineering. Google, Apple, Lockheed Martin, Facebook, and Tesla are located there and Space X is only a train ride away. The practices of Silicon Valley companies can provide insights for all schools in our county. I hope to make a simple podcast of the interviews at each location. The podcast would be inspired by the Genius Dialogues which are a set of interviews with MacArthur Grant winners. Each company will answer a similar set of questions and the listener will not only learn about the company but about the innovators that work there. I will be asking about innovative environments, collaboration, goal setting, task completion, and how they foster an efficient, healthy environment. The Research Triangle in North Carolina participates in an initiative called US2020 STEM. A variety of opportunities exist for companies and schools to partner to increase STEM education. The Industry Summit is the perfect opportunity to learn about a community model that is successfully linking businesses and schools. Learning about the STEM in the Park events will help me apply some of the insights I learn at the conference and in Silicon Valley. Lastly, The International Society for Technology in Education is on the forefront of innovation. Learning about strategies and new technologies and applying the insights I gain throughout these experiences will lead my educational community into the future. By connecting successful business practices to educational practices we can foster innovative thinking, collaboration, communication, and problem solving in our students. Comments are closed.
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Author“Challenge me! Inspire me! Listen to me!” This is the message in their eyes. I see myself in so many of the students I serve, because I was not easily inspired as a young learner. Now, as an inspired educator, I hope to motivate students to find joy in learning and to take pride in being part of a community of learners. Archives
March 2018
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