That's sketchnoting? YES!

For the past few years, I have been super excited to see educators and other adults talking about the power of visual notetaking! This was definitely important for me as a student (even though not all my teachers cared for my drawings on notes). Allowing learners, whether in grade school, university or in the workplace, to add drawings to their work helps them harness the power of dual coding theory and the picture superiority effect, the magic of sketchnoting's power. So, when someone says "That's a sketchnote?" it's music to my ears. I love to help clear up the confusion so that we can get more learners using visuals to AMPLIFY their learning.

I want you to consider this analogy to writing. Is a shopping list WRITING? Yes! Is a single sentence WRITING? Yes! Is a paragraph WRITING? Yes! A book? YES, of course! Sometimes people in the sketchnote community, or those who are interested in giving sketchnoting a try, only look at the really pretty, final products that some sketchnoters share online. Yes, those nicely polished, completed graphics are sketchnotes. Compare those to a "published book". BUT, don't underestimate the less polished uses of sketchnotes that REALLY help the doodler retain or demonstrate learning. Some are created quickly and barely legible, like a shopping list. Some are more planned and have some structure, like an essay. All have value.

Just like the smaller elements of writing that come together to make up various forms of writing, sketchnoting has smaller elements that you can use together or separately. The question is "What do I need right now?" So, if you're a sketchnoter, or are interested in trying out this amazing learning tool for yourself or with students, remember that a sketchnote comes in many forms. It takes a lot of practice to get your doodles to be second nature.

Give it a try! Not sure how. Get help from YouTube or on Twitter. Practice. Share. Please share with me if you try this for yourself or with your class, or BOTH! You won't be sorry! Here are a few sketchnoting resources I've put together: https://sites.google.com/view/heresmyspill/passthesketchnote/sketchnoting-resources

Thanks for reading! Now go sketch something! 😀

Tending the Fire

This winter has been really cold. I do not like to be cold. So, here in Georgia where it stayed so cold for so long, we built a lot of fires to keep our home nice and warm. The cold didn't bother me as much when the fire was blazing. I could go about my business getting things done around the house. But, when I got really cold (remember, I do not like to be cold) I could stand right in front of the fire and get really toasty. Then I could sit close by and enjoy the view and the warmth.

BUT, the fire must be "tended". That's what we say in the South. If no one tends the fire, keeps it stoked and refueled with more firewood, then it will eventually go out. There will be some warmth if you get really close, but it won't be pretty to look at and will go out soon.

I can't help but compare this to our passion as educators. Teachers need a fire, a.k.a. passion, in order to be the most effective in the classroom. You can teach without passion, but I wouldn't want to be a student in that classroom. Just sayin'. So, assuming you have a passion for teaching, how do we tend to those passions? Without passion, the demands of being an educator these days can be overwhelming. So many demands and needs in the classroom can really take their toll. Passion needs to be tended to help us stay above the weightiness of our profession. 

The passion I have for education fuels my curiosity to continually learn, make the most of my interactions with students, and to give as much as I can to my community. Helping others is fulfilling, but it can distract you from tending the fire. The fire needs attention. One of the best things I've discovered is that I can lean on others to tend the fire, to keep it going. That's why I love being connected with other passionate educators. There's so much support and inspiration to be found in those people down the hall or around the world. They help you tend your fire when they share, connect, and support you. And you can help someone else in that way, too.

Reach out to others and share. Be a fire tender. Help out a colleague, be inspired by others, and make a difference in your school. It works out great for both sides. Twitter is where I connect the most with those who can help me stay passionate about my job. And there are people in my own school district who help tend my fire, too. So, to all those that help to tend the fire that is my passion for education, THANKS FOR SHARING, CONNECTING, and SUPPORTING! You make a positive difference to educators, which impacts students in an incredible way! 

Keep that fire tended! 

Monica

Reflecting on the 1st #PassTheSketchnote for World Sketchnote Day 2018

#PassTheSketchnote happened on January 11, 2018. Why that date? How did this even happen? What is #PassTheSketchnote? 

The website and community called Sketchnote Army, created by Mike Rhode, declared January 11th World Sketchnote Day a couple of years ago. I had no idea that was a thing! Carrie Baughcum shared a post about it on Instagram, which inspired this thought:  "We should pass around a sketchnote and have people add to it all day!" So, we sent out a Google form to gather names of those who were interested. Carrie posted it on Twitter and we watched (totally amazed) as the interest grew and grew!

The basic plan was for teams of about 5 people from all over the world to contribute to one sketch, and PASS it to next person on the team. With 117 participants, we had about 20 teams, some doing digital sketches and some using paper. Twitter was our "playground". You can click on the following link to see some of the images posted to Twitter for this super fun event: #PassTheSketchnote Images. I loved seeing the images of the sketches as they were in progress and then was WOWed as they were completed.

Did I say how much fun this was? The world came together to draw and share a passion for a pastime that we have been told for so long was only for children. "YAY" is all I can say about the fact that this is NOT true! I'm sure there will be deeper reflections on this topic in the future.

http://daveburgess.com/teach-like-a-pirate-sketchnotes/

This day was already set to be AMAZING, but then DAVE BURGESS posted a blog featuring my Teach Like a Pirate sketchnotes, Carrie's YouTube sketchnote channel, Matt Miller's (Ditch That Textbook) pirate hooks sketchnote, and Julie Woodard's lovely Lead Like a Pirate sketchnote.

I am beyond thrilled that all of this could even happen. Fun fact: Carrie and I have never met! I Twitter-Know her. Isn't this world amazing that we can connect with other people that share our passions, even if they live in Chicago and you're down in Georgia! You don't have to be isolated! That's from Teach Like A Pirate, too! It's an awesome book. Here's some info on the book if you don't already know what it's all about. http://daveburgess.com/teach-like-a-pirate/

Sketchnoting isn't about art, it's about ideas. So next time you need to learn something you should give it a try!

***Watch Carrie's wrap-up video for this awesome day! Youtube video link

Have a great day! Do something positive. 🙂

Monica
@mospillman on Twitter

Our Unplugged Hour of Code

The Hour of Code will be part of Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 4-10, 2017). Hour of Code is one of the great things that will go on that week to promote computer science in education. There's a part of computer science education that doesn't require a computer at all! Some call it "unplugged" computer science. I call it FUN!

I am a Star Wars fan. That's an understatement, but not important to this post. 😀 I take that back! The "P" in "Teach Like a Pirate" stands for PASSION. When our passions and our teaching come together it's a recipe for a great lesson! ☠j

Because of my love of Star Wars I wanted to focus on the fun BB-8 coding activities that are at https://code.org/starwars (we coded with the "block" version, not "Java Script"). Before the students ever touched the Chromebooks we had to get our minds thinking about how we would be able to CODE BB-8's moves to make it to the next level so we played a game to get our brains thinking about coding. The game helped us work on that thinking. It consisted of a board that resembles the scene in the online coding game (a desert) and some cut out game pieces. I put a grid over the desert image so that there were specific squares for making moves.

Have fun coding! I think there's so much fun we can have as we build the thinking that students need for computer science! 🤖

-Monica Spillman (@mospillman on Twitter)

Useful links:

https://code.org http://csunplugged.org/        https://www.madewithcode.com/projects/

https://csedweek.org/ https://csfirst.withgoogle.com/en/home