GAFE Keynote Day 2: Once upon our time Part 1

Once upon our time by Lindsey Wesner

Lindsey began by telling us her story. She talked about how she wanted to travel and be a teacher. She talked about how she loved school and all was going really well until they (the school) decided to introduce computers. This clever girl was then faced with a problem that she didn't know much about computers. She used her smarts and sat next to some who did for the test. 

She became a teacher in a world where chalkboards and worksheets were the norm. Then she became faced with the same problem she had faced as a child technology and this time she was the teacher and there was no other child to sit next to.  

One day she faced a problem, the biggest problem, while not really. Her dogs ears would get wet in it's water bowl, until she gave the dog a different bowl. 

This taught her to Question! Just because we have alway done it one way doesn't mean it is right. She said to herself BE BRAVE! and set a goal to try one new thing each day. She said "if I am honest about this bravery, most day I was just pretending". 

This lead to Magic:

• Students tackling real world problems.
• Students not wanting to leave the class
• Students being passionate

To do this she had to be outside her comfort zone and yes this is uncomfortable. But we have to put ourselves there to be at the intersection between, Education, Technology and Passion. 

Innovation is change that unlocks new value- Jamie Notter

If she stand at this point of conflict and we don't change we miss out on value. 

So what is your story:

• What are your battle? 
• How will our continue story?
• How are you unlocking new value? 

In this age of technology and specifically social media we document our lives on a daily basis. So what would happen if we give our students meaning experience and document these. How can we leverage this culture of digital documentation? 

Lindsey had a task for her learners to the task to create a viral video to show relationships. These teenage boys created  movie that almost brought me to tears. She said that these kids definitely had a story to tell.

Listening to Lindsey talking made me think how am I pushing the big positive stories of my classroom. 

We all have stories and these are worth telling!