#ISSedu Twitter Chat: Hopes and Dreams 2019
What are your hopes and dreams for this new school year? On Tuesday, September 10, a network of international educators came together to kick off the first #ISSedu Twitter Chat of the year. The hour of conversation and encouragement was a great way to get to know the ISS network, swap resources, articulate goals for the 2019-20 school year, and just have a great time together.
There were so many wonderful contributions, conversation threads, and encouragement. Enjoy a small window into the chat highlights here! The questions are still open, as well as the related padlet for collecting shared resources helpful at the start of this school year.
Q1: Where in the world are you, and what do you teach?
We started things off with a simple introductory question and heard answers from around the world. Educators and leaders from Dubai, Aruba, Peru, Brazil, US, Jordan, Cambodia, South Korea, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Bahrain jumped in. Gotta love this international education community! From there, we dove into the school year highlights and goals:
Q2: Share a fun or meaningful experience you had during staff orientation. What are you taking forward from it into this year?
A2) Too many to choose from! But if I had to pick ONE, it was the day we got to explore Vietnamese culture led by our local staff. A friend captured this pic of @clos_gm & I… it says it all! @ssischool #ssischool #wearessis #issedu #twitterchat pic.twitter.com/vLoUt8F0QD
— Ceci Gomez-Galvez (@cecigomez_g) September 10, 2019
A2: our whole secondary staff decided to work together on the 17 SDG’s and make an expo at the end of the semester. The plan had been born during a meeting and is now twice a week on the schedule for all secondary schoolers. Even the colleagues are not tech-savy at all #issedu
— Pieter Verduijn (@pieter_verduijn) September 10, 2019
Q2: we included our TAs in more events and it was fantastic for morale. #yiswow #issedu
— RGMontgomery (@RGMontgomery) September 10, 2019
A2 Maybe it wasn't directly a part of orientation, but a big group of use went out to the local brewery at the end of the last day. A great way to spend some time w/ new colleagues & enjoy our city #issedu
— Ryan Harwood (@rharwood17) September 10, 2019
A2: As part of a digital scavenger hunt, I reflected on how my lived experiences shaped me into the teacher that I am today. I‘ll definitely never stop promoting self-reflection as a powerful tool for personal growth! #Self-reflectionMatters #issedu #isaruba
— Excellence (@Excelle71713408) September 10, 2019
Q3: What new initiative, idea, or curriculum are you hoping to explore this school year?
I want to practice what I preach. @pieter_verduijn & I have led a lot of #STEAM / #Makered camps but we always said we want the activities to be infused into the curriculum. Hopefully you’ll see a lot of 3D models, science exp. & engineering coming from my class!#issedu #isaruba https://t.co/RyGkMJim7k
— Tess Monte (@TheresaMonte) September 10, 2019
A3: Launching @DataWiseHarvard with a few pilot co-planning teams to be the foundation of our PLCs. We're getting all the tools (ie @tableau) & processes in place so we can scale up the following year. Steep learning curve for #dataviz and #collaboration but worth it. #issedu pic.twitter.com/JZn474kaI3
— Matt Kelsey (@mbkkelsey) September 10, 2019
A3 So excited about launching #IGNITEday flexible schedule, passion projects, student-directed learning, in-depth inquiry, electives, intramural…it’s going to be so much fun! #ISSedu
— Kasey Burns (@KaseyDB) September 10, 2019
A3 I'm excited to explore design tech. It's a new course for our MS and I'm super excited to develop a project based class. Been inspired by this too https://t.co/cdgnWPBRUN #issedu
— Ryan Harwood (@rharwood17) September 10, 2019
Q3 – We have launched Unified Classroom as our communication and assessment system, and moved to standards referenced grading K-12. This has been very exciting, but also includes lots of education for Ts, Ss, and Ps! #iscbrazil #ISSedu
— Ryan Persaud, M.Ed. (@RyanPersaud23) September 10, 2019
A3: To bring more #OutdoorLearning to my Ss! This has always been my passion! I know our school would like to see more of that I plan to focus on #outdoor #learning spaces, #gardens and #wildlife #nature exposure #issedu
— Kevin O’Shea (Teacher Guy) 🇨🇦🇯🇵🇨🇳 (@MadForMaple) September 10, 2019
A3: #Datavisualization for learning. Schools take in so. much. data. Yet there is rarely anyone on staff trained to visualize it for making informed decisions. #issedu
— Dale Plotzki (@dale_rickardo) September 10, 2019
A3: I am interested in further exploring how to redesign my curricula using #SDGs as the “umbrella” and also return to flexible paced learning. #issedu #rvisionaries
— Callie BushMiller (@learnboldly) September 10, 2019
A3: Looking for creative ways to engage teachers in MakerEd and be sure to utilize 5E models to create engaging and great flowing lesson. #ISSedu
— Yosef Tewolde (@YosefTewolde) September 10, 2019
Q4: Give a hand to another educator in the chat. Look through the responses to Q3. What resources would you recommend they check out?
You can find resources and recommendations on the ISS padlet. And feel free to add your own, it’s still open! https://iss.education/padlet9-19
Q5: How do you plan to connect with the community beyond your school walls this year?
A5 Joining educational Twitter chats, meeting educators in conferences @PHASEglobal ,an outdoor learning Workshop held @ISPPCambodia this weekend…Also through tournaments that bring our students together to play & meet other international students in & outside Cambodia #ISSEdu
— @leticarino (@leticarino) September 10, 2019
A5: Continuing an #issedu collaboration with @adecardy @rcormack @edwBruce to offer Saturday Certificate Sessions four times this year where Ts can work through self-paced modules to get #edtech certs. May open to other schools if we think the idea will scale. pic.twitter.com/hpVDBQZMeD
— Matt Kelsey (@mbkkelsey) September 10, 2019
A5: Excited about leaning into service learning and continuing to build and strengthen relationships with a local seniors’ community. And PD! Face to face and virtual – love it all! #ISSedu
— Cynthia Louise (@mizzcindylou) September 10, 2019
A5: Our kiddos have done a killer job of nurturing student-led and developed service learning opportunities. I want to be more involved and in-the-know, so I committed to visiting every group’s service site this year. half of them already calendared. #ISSedu
— Anthony Poullard (@thepoullard) September 10, 2019
Q6: How can we as #issedu educators continue to collaborate this year? Recs of projects/people/initiatives to watch also are welcome!
We need to share – constantly. We all work too hard & for all the right reasons. The more we share great resources & assessments & lessons, the stronger we become as a whole #ISSedu https://t.co/DbGdZttne9
— Dr. Dana Specker Watts (@teachwatts) September 10, 2019
A6: Watch these other #ISSedu schools. Full of people who love to share and collaborate >> #ISAruba #PulaoProud #YISwow #ISDwow #SISrocks #iNCIC #DAISrocks #DAISeagles #CISinspires #AmbatovyISrocks
— john burns (@j0hnburns) September 10, 2019
A6 What about enabling #challenges ? A @Flipgrid challenge will be awesome! At @ColegioFDR we started last year w #twitter challenges & we surely had a blast #ISSedu #FDRrocks #pln pic.twitter.com/flv67EHNWG
— Daniela Silva 👩🏽💻💡 (@iLearnDSilva) September 10, 2019
Q7: Let’s think big picture! What are your hopes for your students this year? Dreams for yourself as an educator?
A7: I want to collaborate more internationally and see what others are doing. (I want to visit one of the level 5’s) Also….I really hope that this year 1 of the students will come with a super awesome realistic solution for one of the #globalgoals. #issedu
— Pieter Verduijn (@pieter_verduijn) September 10, 2019
A7. That our kids are resilient, adaptable, and confident to address anything. #ISSedu
— Anthony Poullard (@thepoullard) September 10, 2019
A7: Sustainable shifts in practice personalized for needs rather than scaled for compliance #ISSedu
— Tara Waudby (@tarawaudby) September 10, 2019
A7: THINKING BIG: I hope our #RVISionaries students run the school! Ss are leading their learning the the learning of others. Ss are reaching out to the community and taking action. That Ss come to us with new learning. #issedu
— Jessica Davis (@JessBlueDavis) September 10, 2019
A7: My goal is to develop an academic journal specifically designed for international educators to publish & showcase the fabulous work of our schools & educators #ISSedu
— Dana S Watts (@teachwatts) September 10, 2019
A7 : I hope my students can take the knowledge and skills we teach will help them make a far better world than what we leave them. #issedu #daisrocks pic.twitter.com/lurqaGx3J8
— Benjamin Newton (@bjnewton_edu) September 10, 2019
A7 ½ Big picture for @level5bahrain is to spark creativity and innovation in the #mena through some amazing learning experiences. Excite to engage both international schools and public school educators to make a huge impact on educational growth! #ISSedu
— Luke Meinen (@luke_meinen_) September 10, 2019
A7 I would like for learners to help us make this world a better place for all. To develop their learning profile attributes, support each other & own their learning. Have a healthy lifestyle, inspire others by sharing their passions, failures & successes #ISSedu
— @leticarino (@leticarino) September 10, 2019