Finding my "10x idea"

Recently I had the opportunity to challenge my thinking at the Midwest Chromebook Institute held at Downers Grove North High School. A big thank you to the Staff at the high school and CBI Staff for putting on a tremendous 2-day event focusing on utilizing Chromebooks, technology and new ideas in our classes.

The workshop focus was geared towards fostering our "10x thinking skills". The workshop challenges every participant to give not 100%, not 110%, but to expend 10x the effort toward thinking about our craft, to find the "moon shot" idea, to chase the big dreams we have for our classrooms, to shrug off our fears of failure and to ask the question "Why Not?" again and again about our big ideas.

What was my "10X idea" from the experience? It came to me as I was walking up to the building on the second morning, reflecting on what I had taken away from the day before. A presenter yesterday reminded us that:

ACTIVE LEARNING=PHYSICAL MOVEMENT=INCREASED STUDENT ENGAGEMENT=MORE LEARNING

Fact-A physical layout of a classroom needs to be redefined for the students as education evolves. And I agree. It is evident in an environment of student ownership, busy classrooms and engaging activities that our desks and tables and learning spaces should be different for the students. But when I opened the school door to enter the building, I thought....YES, AND what about teachers? What about their work and learning spaces? If we believe that we need to create new spaces for our students because they learn differently, don't we need new spaces because educators are teaching differently? It was my 10x thought!

Wouldn't you like to work and collaborate in these types of spaces with your colleagues?

Images courtesy of Turnstone Office Furniture and Steelcase Office Furniture

Don't you think that this type of environment in your departmental office would get your creative juices flowing more? Wouldn't the time with your team be more productive in areas that lend themselves to easier collaboration and sharing of ideas or visions for the future? Me too! If better collaborative spaces are important for our students, shouldn't they be for teachers as well?

My next stop...talking to my administrator to see if I can turn my "10x thought" into reality in a portion of the teacher lounge! I will keep you posted!

If a Chromebook Institute comes to a city near you, then please attend! You will amazed at how the sessions and speakers ask you to question what you do currently in education and to redefine them. For me, it was all about learning spaces-Here's hoping that you discover your "10x thought" as well!