I learn from a lot of people, both online and in person, and one person that really sticks out is Dean Shareski. Dean talks a lot about “sharing,” and during the K-12 Online Conference, I watched his incredible presentation on Sharing: The Moral Imperative.

I thought about this presentation a lot this week, as I saw in numerous ways, the value of sharing. A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about how sharing my class’ Today’sMeet Reading Buddy Activity through a tweet led to an amazing connection with @mthornton78, @pammoran, and @irasocol. This week, my students participated in a Today’sMeet chat conversation with these three people and Mr. Thornton’s class. While they’re in the United States and we’re in Canada, we were all able to learn together. The students were able to help each other define community, and they were able to create their own learning too. It all started with sharing …

Participating In Today'sMeet

Then there was the small group literature circle Skype call with @jgriffith2‘s class. On Twitter, JamieLynn shared about the connections that she made with classrooms last year, and together, we connected to make another connection this year. When we first spoke about trying this Skype Literature Circle, JamieLynn shared with me a format that she’s used before. Together we used this same format again, and we’ve both seen the success. We just finished our second small group Skype Literature Circle, and already, the students are taking ownership over leading the discussion and discussing their learning with each other. Again, it all started with sharing …

Participating In Small Group Skype Call

Finally, the week ends with a visit from David Kidney from McMaster University. Thanks to what my students have shared online, and what a professor shared with him about our classroom, David came to see if our classroom would be a good final keynote address for the CNIE: Cascades of Innovation Conference on May 18th. David got a chance to see the students using technology in the classroom and discussing how they use the various tools and what they learn from using these tools. They shared their learning with him, and now David’s invited all of us to share what we do with the conference attendees. Once again, it all started with sharing …

Engaged In Using Technology During Math Centres

I hope that we can all share here what we’ve learned from “sharing” with others. I know that I’ve become a better teacher because of what others have shared with me. A special thank you to all of the amazing educators that I work with and learn from everyday — whether at the school, in the Board, or half-way around the world — that inspire me to continue to learn and grow!

Aviva