Friday, July 11, 2014

Challenge Week 2

So in the last update I sent out to everyone, I updated you on some numbers of people who are now working together to complete these challenges!  

I am super pumped and proud to say that in just SEVEN days, over 800 people from over 40 states and from Canada, Venezuela, Chile, Japan, China, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, and Ecuador are now learning together!  How amazing is that??? Again, this is the power of connecting and learning.  This is what using social media can do!  Just imagine how those numbers will continue to spread as the word gets out!

As you complete challenges and learn to tweet, remember to include the #SummerLS hashtag in your tweets, so that we can all see the tweets going out!

Ok, so here’s your challenge for this week...it’s a two-parter.

Part 1:
Throughout the summer, I’m going to utilize people in my PLN (Personal Learning Network) to help bring you challenges.  The challenges will not always be “techy” but always be about bettering you professionally.  This week’s challenge comes from my friend Brad Gustafson.  Brad is a principal in Minnesota and he made this great video to walk you through this week’s challenge!  You can watch it HERE.

Last week I had you set up a twitter account, if you hadn’t already.  This week, I want to hopefully help you continue to find the value in connection.  Listed below are 19 people I HUGELY respect in the Education world, who are also active on Twitter.  Your challenge this week is to connect with one (or more!) of these people and ask them a question.  Here are some examples!
1.  What is a book you’d recommend me reading over the summer?
2.  What is a great blog I should be reading?  Or a great blog post?
3.  Or simply just ask them any ole question! (favorite sites, favorite tools, how to connect with parents, favorite slush from Sonic, anything!)

Here are some I recommend connecting with who have all agreed to be primed and ready for your Question Tweets (but you can choose ANYONE you find on Twitter; just connect!) **KEEP IN MIND: there may be a lot of tweets going out to these people and they may not see yours right away, so don't get offended if someone doesn't respond quickly :-)

Erin Klein @KleinErin - Teacher in Michigan
Brad Gustafson @GustafsonBrad - Principal in Minnesota
Drew Minock @TechMinock - Former Teacher, Augmented Reality Evangelist for @DAQRI
Brad Waid @TechBradWaid - Former Teacher, Augmented Reality Evangelist for @DAQRI
Andrea Keller @akbusybee - Tech Specialist in Texas
Terri Eichholz @terrieichholz - K-5 GT Teacher in Texas
Evan Scherr  @EvanScherr - Assistant Director of Technology in Frankfurt, Germany
Ben Gilpin @benjamingilpin - Principal in Southern Michigan
Pernille Ripp @pernilleripp - 5th Grade Teacher in Wisconsin
Jimmy Casas @casas_jimmy - Principal in Iowa
Daisy Dyer Duerr @daisydyerduerr - Principal in Arkansas
Tony Sinanis @tonysinanis - Principal In New York
Todd Nesloney @TechNinjaTodd - Principal in Texas
Jennifer LaGarde @jenniferlagarde - Librarian in North Carolina
Amber Teamann @8Amber8 - Assistant Principal in Texas
Joe Sanfelippo @Joesanfelippofc - Superintendent in Wisconsin
Michael Medvinsky @mwmedvinksy - Music Educator in Michigan
AJ Juliani @ajjuliani - Author and Educator in Pennsylvania
Tom Murray @thomascmurray - State and District Digital Learning Director in Pennsylvania

After connecting with a few people, asking them a question, and then getting a response, go fill out this quick Google Form (I’ll piece together some of the responses from this Google Form and share in next week’s Challenge Email).

And then here’s Part 2:

Continuing with my theme of “connection”....one of my favorite tools to use to keep in contact with parents, students, and staff is Remind101.  Remind101 is a FREE service that allows you to text parents and students without ever needing their phone numbers, and they never need yours!  Best of all it’s a ONE-WAY communication tool!  I absolutely love Remind101.  It’s also an App that you can download to your phone and send messages directly from your device!  You can watch the quick video I made (HERE) about how to setup and use your Remind101 account today! If you're in a country outside of the US (besides Canada) you do NOT need to participate in this challenge due to overseas text costs!

How do you complete this challenge?  Well first you go and set up your own Remind101 account and group!

Then…..

If you’re a Navasota Intermediate teacher you can click the link below this sentence, type in your phone number, then the code they give you, and you’re good!


If you’re participating in these challenges and you’re NOT with Navasota Intermediate you can click the link below this sentence, type in your phone number, then the code they text you, and you’re good!


The way I will know if you complete this challenge or not is by seeing if you signed up for the Remind101 groups listed above!

Thanks for being awesome and choosing to continue your learning this summer!  I’m learning along side you and am completing the challenges myself!!  If you have any questions please reach out!  

(If you want to send this out and new people want to sign up, they can fill out the Google Form HERE and I will add their email to the list.)

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