Guest Post by Becky & Kathi

There’s a great saying, “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”  Well, good teachers are very much the same way – we find ways to brave new waters, pull up anchor, and bravely set sail for uncharted goals.  This is the perfect time to navigate some new learning, so we have a little set of challenges for you...and we hope that you will “Cs” the moment!

We lead a lot of professional development. Together we give new ideas to thousands of teachers a year! When we’re working with teachers, one of the first questions they ask is “What’s one small thing I can do right away?” Educators are often overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options available to them. So many tools, so little time. Where should we begin?

In our book Sail the 7 Cs with Microsoft Education, we summarize stories and lessons from around the world. But we also give readers challenges! These stopping points encourage you to get ready to set sail with us. For this DBC blog, we’re capturing seven of our favorite ideas for getting started using Microsoft Education tools in new ways to positively impact students – one for each of our 7 Cs.

⛵Community

Ask a few colleagues to read Sail the 7 Cs with you. Set up a time to talk about it and agree to try something new together. You’ll be held accountable, you’ll have friends to support your effort, and you’ll get to enjoy bouncing ideas off each other. It’s refreshing and empowering! You can even use our book study discussion guide, available here.

⛵Collaboration

Start a Summer Memories OneNote notebook, and collaborate by adding members such as your family or a good friend.  Use it to plan and chronicle adventures, ideas, and memories this summer.  Make sections such as “Outdoor adventures”, “Summer Recipes”, “Summer Bucket List”, “Backyard Photos”, “Scavenger Hunt Ideas”, etc., and add as many pages in each section as you’d like.  It’s a great way to learn how to use and play with all the features in OneNote, and you don’t have to learn it alone.  Collaborating makes it more special, and everyone gets to share in the creation & memory making together!

⛵Communication

Start a Flipgrid topic for students to play Two Truths and a Lie. Each student tells two things that are true, and one thing that is a lie. It can be about themselves or any topic! Moderate the topic so you can preview the posts before other students can view them. When you send the posts live, let the other students guess the answer before you have the original poster reveal the lie.

⛵Critical thinking

Minecraft Education has a wonderful lesson that teaches basic coding skills – and it’s fun!  It’s actually the Hour of Code lesson that’s been a huge hit with students and adults alike.  When we say that everyone can do this, we mean it...it literally walks you through step-by-step and lets you code “the Agent” in a really fun and engaging way. Just head to this website https://education.minecraft.net/hour-of-code and you will be SO impressed with yourself and all the coding you can do in just about one hour!

⛵Computational thinking

Reverse engineer some code. No, really. You can do it! Go to makecode.com and pick a project. Complete the simple code using the tutorial. Then change something about the code and see what happens. Make a flashing heart that blinks twice into a flashing smiley face that blinks three times. Challenge yourself to learn a small piece of something new about coding while you’re at it.

⛵Creating

Open PowerPoint (online or desktop) and type the name of your favorite food, place, or sport into the main title slide. Then open Designer in the Design ribbon and see what types of designs you get. Change the topic and refresh the design options. Isn’t that cool?!

⛵Changemaking

Please do yourself a favor and try this:  Go to education.skype.com and log in.  Look around the site, but especially scroll down to the section that says “Upcoming Live Events” and see what this summer has to offer.  It’s when we learn about our world that we start to really CARE about our world.  From space missions to archaeological digs, from appreciating deserts to understanding sharks...the world awaits with Skype in the Classroom!  Teachers who know where these resources exist and how to bring them to their students are the teachers who are Changemakers.

We hope that we’ve left some inspiration here to put some wind behind your sails and to empower you to take the wheel and continue your learning journey!  If you’re looking to find more inspiration, our book is full of stories, ideas, and touching anecdotes from educators all over the world who WANT you to replicate their ideas and then make them your own.  We hope you’re enjoying setting sail with us – your adventure is just beginning!

-Becky Keene & Kathi Kersznowski

Thank you, Becky & Kathi