Item 1 & 2 in 16 Things Teachers should try in 2016

I recently read a blog post by ShakeUpLearning about the 16 things that educators should be trying this year. It is always interesting to me to see what people think is the next great thing in education and to try to predict where I need to be ready to help teachers go in their teaching. I decided to take some time to see how many of these things I am already doing, and what I needed to give a chance. 

Item 1: Google Cardboard. 

    Google Cardboard is something that I am familiar with. We had the opportunity last year to be a pilot site for Google Expeditions and had 500 students use cardboard in the same day! It was awesome. Now that Google expeditions kits are coming to the market place it is my goal to purchase one for our district as a resource that teachers can access to give their students as close to an authentic experience in places that we would never have had the opportunity to access. 

Item 2: Sketchnoting

    Oh great! I was on item two of the list and don't even know what the words mean. Ok...to Google I go. I discovered that Sketchnoting is this idea that you can draw/doodle/graphic organizer your notes along the way. This infographic from seeyourwords.com explains the basics of what you are attempting to do, and Leigh Cassell's share of Sylvia Reosenthal's sktechnote about sketchnoting helped as well. 

    With my new found understanding of sketchnoting in mind, I set off to sketchnote my blog this week. Here is the result:

Reflection on the experience:

• I spent too much time doodling the in between designs
• This took me far longer than if I just would have typed about my week
• It doesn't look the way I wanted it to
• Maybe I should keep a piece of paper on my desk throughout the week and Sketchnote as I go
• I bet I could sketchnote better in a Google Drawing. 

My goal is to make it through the 16 things to try in 2016 by the end of 2016 (even though she may have meant this school year) Sketchnoting is one that I will have to keep working on before I am ready to really check it off the list.