Changes...Ch. 1 of #IMMOOC

Change is HARD!

Right? I mean if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. But also, as the old saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

After reading the Introduction and Chapter 1 of The Innovator's Mindset for #IMMOOC, I've decided to address blog prompt number 2:

“Change is an opportunity to do something amazing.”  How are you embracing change to spur innovation in your own context?

This year is my 5th year of teaching overall and my 3rd year teaching 4th grade at the same elementary school I attended as a student. I couldn't have been more excited about teaching in my hometown and at my childhood elementary school. It is a Title 1, K-6 elementary school in a small rural area with a total student population around 800. Just over 50% of these students are free & reduced lunch.

I was excited not only to teach in my hometown, but also because I learned during the interview that the school had adopted Google Apps for Education and was beginning to roll out their 1:1 technology plan. I was pumped to learn about all the new and exciting things that are now going on at school that I was going to get to be a part of as a teacher.

However, that excitement quickly diminished as I got in and set up my new classroom and the school year started. That is when I realized, nothing, NOTHING, about the school has changed since I was a student there 20 or so years ago! Well, except for the fact that the 6th grade was now departmentalized instead of setup like a traditional elementary classroom and maybe the paint color on the walls.

(Ok, to be fair there are some amazing teachers here in our school building and there was and still are some pockets of innovation going on. But overall my initial feeling when I arrived was that our successful little school had become happy in the complacent little bubble it was in and completely unaware of the changes going on around it.)

Fast forward to now, I can say that changes are slowly happening. I am embracing change with the use of the technology that we now have at our school. And although technology isn't a synonym of innovation, just as George mentions, "Technology can be crucial in the development of innovative organization." 

With the use of technology, I am really trying to be mindful and rethink traditional ways of teaching. Constantly questioning what I do and why I do it to help inspire innovation. 

Some more specific examples of how I feel like I am embracing change to spur innovation include:

• The use of a Google Doc as my classroom agenda. Instead of a traditional write in book, students have an doc saved to their Chromebook that they use to see what assignments & activities that we did in class. This doc is shared w/ parents, links are added to digital assignments, and absent students know to look at if to see what they missed.
• I volunteered to be a member of my school's FLI team. A group of teacher leaders with a representative from each grade level which meets with our administration to focus on improving our school. This has given me more of a voice to challenge the status quo and ask thought provoking questions about what we are doing in our classrooms. 
• I have connected and collaborated with teachers through Twitter to help design learning experiences and realizing that through this medium, I can always learn something new and better.
• Ultimately I am trying to make sure to think differently. I've been told that teachers traditionally end up teaching the way they were taught. I am trying my hardest to not do this, cause for the most part the way I was taught doesn't fit with what students and school need in 2017.  

As I wrap this up, I immediately noticed that most of the ways I "spur on innovation" is though my way of thinking and to try and influence others to do the same. I know this thinking will lead to more action, changes,  and opportunities to do amazing things. I am once again excited to be apart of the innovation that is beginning to happen at my school.

I would love to have your feedback by leaving a comment below or connect with me on Twitter @SEANJFAHEY

When it all started...

It was the summer of 2015. The State of Indiana Department of eLearning was sponsoring another summer's worth of eLearning conferences at local schools throughout the state. Knowing that my 4th grade students would be coming to me in August when school starts with brand new Chromebooks, I decided to attend one of the local conferences in Scottsburg, IN called Digipalooza. That is when I first heard George Couros speak. He was the day 1 keynote speaker. To be honest, I had no idea who he was other than reading the little bio provided in the conference information.

WOW! His keynote was a roller coaster of emotions: laughter, tears, joy, and inspiration just to name a few. Then came the little jabs of knowledge that all educators need to hear.

Change is an opportunity to do something great!

Schools become irrelevant to students when they don't look anything like the real world.

50 years from today relationships will still be the most important thing we do in our schools.

Would you want to spend the whole day learning in YOUR OWN classroom? 

If you only teach the curriculum, you've failed the students.

To innovate, disrupt your routine. 

After George's keynote that conference was buzzing with energy. I was deeply inspired and was ready to be innovative with my classroom & teaching. The one quote that has stuck with me the most was "Change is an opportunity to do something great!" I knew that with this technology that my students and I now had in our possession I couldn't and shouldn't be teaching the same way. It was time to do things different and better.

Since that time I have tried to transform and innovate in my classroom (some with and with out the use of technology). Somethings were a success and some were failures. I still want to be better. I want to improve & have an Innovator's Mindset. I want to have a complete overhaul of what I know and understand as great relevant teaching. For the sake of the current and future students in my classroom & my fellow educators at my school, I want to help be an agent of change and do things that are better and different. So I have decided to join the Innovator's Mindset Massive Open Online Course.  (You can checkout the Twitter hashtag, #IMMOOC for more information.)

I'm ready for #IMMOOC that begins next week!

Are you joining #IMMOOC? I would love hear why and what has you inspired by George Couros' book The Innovator's Mindset.

My plan is to use this blog as a journal to share and reflect what I am learning through my journey. I would love to have your feedback during this experience . Leave a comment if you'd like or connect with me on twitter, @SEANJFAHEY.