NCDLCN and The Super 7

Earlier this week I had the extreme pleasure to learn and share with many amazing educators who are all members of the third North Carolina Digital Leadership Coaching Network- #ncdlcn.  We met in Asheville, NC for two fun-filled days of connecting, sharing, and learning. 

I participated in NCDLCN two years ago and was selected this year as a mentor for a small group of Instructional Technology Facilitators from around the state. I loved meeting and collaborating with everyone and especially with the Super 7 Group. Their passion for teaching and purposeful integration of digital tools and resources was evident in every conversation.  I learned something from each of these awesome educators as they shared knowledge and experiences from their combined 100 years in education.  

Super 7 Group Logo and Motto

Here are 8 takeaways from my time with NCDLCN this week.

• Relearning- "Before you can relearn, you must unlearn."
  
  

  

  Relearning- Yeah, not as easy as it sounds since I didn't unlearn first.

• Play- Do it! Plan activities that include purposeful play for your learners.

Check out our #mannequinchallenge as we demo play in action... well, not really in action. 

• Questions- Often the questions are more important that the answers. And... it's ok if you don't have all the answers.

• Coding- If you haven't tried it and used it in your classroom, you should. We used problem solving, science concepts (force, speed, motion), math concepts (angles, sequencing), cause and effect, collaboration, and communication to get Sphero to its destination. Check out our success video here. If you don't have a Sphero, check out Blockly Games or this blog post for some other ideas.

• PLNs- Growing your Personal/Professional Learning Network is so important!  Connect with people who are passionate about the things you are passionate about. Share, learn, laugh! 

Super 7

• Change- Be the change you want to see.  Change will happen. Being part of it is more fun than just "hanging on" for the ride.

• Challenge- Here's one to consider...

"Don’t just think about how to do (the same) things differently....
But... How to do DIFFERENT things!"

~Dean Phillips & Jeff Crews

• "If you stay ready, you don't have to get ready."  ~Abbey Futrell

"Never stop learning because life never stops teaching."

~unknown