16 Things Teachers Should Try in 2016

16 Things Teachers Should try in 2016….how’d I do? 

Earlier in the year, I found a list of things all teachers should try (found it here)…so I tried to do them.  Here is my how I did.

1- Google Cardboard: Didn’t get to this one yet…as an iPhone person, it’s tricky.  Hopefully at the start of the year.

2- Sketchnoting: YES.  I was at a meeting that discussed this concept and had a few chances to try it out.  While my artwork won’t win awards, it did help me retain the content more than I thought it would.

3- Blogging: YES.  While not blogging as much as I wanted to, I have managed to post a few posts and I look forward to expanding it next year.

4- Podcasting: Not Yet.  I listen to podcasts daily, but I have yet to start one of my own.  I hope to do this for next year.

5- Live Streaming: Not Yet.   A tricky one for me due to school policies, but I do hope to have an opportunity to show what our students can do in real time next year

6- Wearables: YES.  I have a FitBit Charge HR that I have loved.  I can see myself upgrading to a smartwatch in the future…much to my bank account’s chagrin.

7-  Start a YouTube Channel: YES.  I began one as a place to keep videos for our MS advisory meetings as well as tech tips.   I look forward to adding my own content soon!

8- Google Classroom: Not Yet.  While we are a GAFE School, we have no flipped the switch on Google Classroom.   I hope this is a possibility for 2016-2017.

9- Join a G+ Community: YES.  I am an avid consumer of my GAFE groups on G+.  The amount of information available is great and continues to grow on the forgotten social network

10- Gamily a Lesson/PD: Not Yet.  Hopefully, in the near future, I can start with something small like badges and move up from there.

11- Breakout EDU: YES.  Just went through one recently and I loved it.   I cannot wait to add this to my PD next year.

12- A Voxer Chat: Not yet.  Downloading this now…will try soon.  Is there a place to find chats?

13- Branding: Working on this.  My amazing cousin has designed a logo for me (you can see it on the top of the blog) and I am looking to add it to more of my expanding networks.

14- 3D Printing: YES.  Our district had 2 printers purchased this year and before they went to their homes, I had a chance to tinker with them.   What a revolutionary technology.

15- Let your students teach you: YES.  My advisory students lead the discussions of our weekly meetings and I learned a new thing each time.

16- Jar of Awesome: Not yet.  Looking forward to this in 2016-2017

 

Final tally

8 yes, 8 not yet…

Room to improve for sure, but a good start (my SLO will look great next year).

What do you think a teacher should try in 2016-2017?

Mr. Mazurek