What did you learn today? Today, I learned to never underestimate the creativity of a kid with a vision. Ok, to be fair…I knew this already, but today’s point of view was further amplified by the fact that we were both learning something new. I’ve been a Photoshop user for years and by user, I mean that I get by with the most basic of skills. I make banners for my blog and toy with font. That’s about it! Before I even saw Braeden today, I made photoshop a personal goal of mine so I buried myself in Lynda.com, got side-tracked and started doing what most people do when that happens…switched to youtube. I watched Swoozie’s "Cheating in School" videos and found myself enamored with animation which led me to Deviant Art Muro which is an amazing web based FREE art tool. Check out the link to it in the Chrome Web store…Hello Chromebooks!! deviantART muro If you’re with me, I started out trying to learn something about photoshop. I ended up on youtube and then finding another creativity tool which happens to be a Chrome App. I’ll definitely add DeviantART muro to my "learning list" but until then, I decided to check youtube for photoshop and that’s when Braeden showed up. Learning From and With A Global Learner I’ve never shown Braeden my photoshop but as soon as he saw it, his eyes lit up. See, he has been watching videos on animation and in many of his videos…users were using photoshop so he had an idea of what it was. We started with trying to learn the pen tool by tracing an image of him. It’s not as simple as it looks but then again, we didn’t start from "photoshop lesson 1″ which isn’t a bad thing but there were tricks that we did not know, like the difference in brushes. Braeden was super excited to learn how to "trace himself" even though he felt like he was "cheating" because he was tracing. I found that interesting. I think that you can learn just about anything through youtube and today’s lesson ended on lines and adding basic color. Tomorrow, we’ll have to work on shading as we did not get that far. At any rate…the image below is where we are which isn’t that bad for a first time! Thought Bubbles from the Day I wrote a post earlier about "barriers to creativity" and I have to admit that it was very difficult to take my own advice. Braeden was learning the tool too but he had visions about his product. I found myself not listening to him even though he was right. No worries…not only did he correct me, he reminded me that I wasn’t being a good collaborator…which I found alarmingly true and ironic. Quotes from the kid… "I can just do what I want to do and make it happen. Can you just leave me alone?" (yes, you can fix your own thumb…he was right…I was wrong) "To get what you want, you have to stop following the instructions" (Feel free to deviate from online instruction & chart your own path) What I REALLY learned: Kids are experts on learning and doing even when they aren’t sure of what to do. We have to empower them to shine by standing in the shade and letting them go.  The secret sauce to being creative and learning must be void of two ingredients…Fear and Control.

I should start out by saying that I hate the squirrel reference and I knew that I would hate it the moment that I saw it in the movie, Up. Yet, squirrels are what most people equate to ADHD…so there you go. Yesterday, I read an article posted by Edsurge about some "new age" school doing "transformative" things or something like that. Those articles tend to blend into each other after a while. This particular articular listed out its "surprises" concerning learning in their "student driven" environment and what caught me was their surprise #8….  "While there are real and serious learning disabilities, ADD and ADHD are mostly nonsense." Really?? Life with Me There are moments in life for me that are a blur. It’s not the kind of blur of a person that blacks out but more of one where I speed through situations without realizing what others see. I forget…a lot. Yet, I remember so much. It sounds odd but it’s the truth. My close friends and family will tell you these things about me… I rarely finish a complete thought without switching a few times to other things. I can talk on the phone, text, tweet and talk in person…simultaneously. If something hits me mid-conversation, I will completely walk away mid-sentence to do "the thing" that hit me. When I’m medicated, everyone knows. When I’m not medicated, everyone knows. I don’t have to say a single word. Have I always been this way? Probably. I’ve always been "stuck in my head" according to my family but to me, it wasn’t just a matter of being stuck. I had ideas that circulate…lots of them….all at once. My Life as a Student As a student, learning was stressful. I always felt as if I wasn’t quite as smart as everyone else because I could not focus and retain in the same way. As a matter of fact, I was booted from my Honors English class because my instructor felt that I could not handle the requirements. That moment still hurts because I could do it, I just could not make it happen. Any course that required a great deal of reading & writing was tough. That, for me, was every course except math, computer science and band. I excelled at those things. The Medicated Me I chose to see a doctor and start medication and I have to say that doing that saved my career. Heck, it’s the reason that I was even able to get through college because prior to my "new awakening", I literally had to take off from my day job in order to sit in total seclusion just to finish reading a chapter of no more than 10 pages…and understand it. After many…many nights ending in tears, it was great to NOT go through that. In case you’re wondering…please do click play on the video below to understand what starting medication was like for me… That doesn’t mean that the medication "cures" my ADHD. It just means that I can process information in a much more organized manner and that is huge. About Social Learning At night, my medication is out of my system and that’s when I am most active on twitter. The multiple columns of tweetdeck are like stimulus to my brain. I like the movement and can manage multiple conversations because finishing isn’t an issue. They’re always right in front of me. Blogging helps to rid my mind of the ideas that float in my head.  When ideas come, it helps to have this medium to get them out. My Struggles With or Without Medication….Oh and Technology I still find organizing information difficult but certain productivity tools help. My gmail task list and google calendar pretty much run my life…as long as I place the information into the calendar. Saving to cloud spaces like Drive and Dropbox eliminated my loss of thumb drives. I keep everything in my phone and having it handy to record, with permission, helps me to process later. Books are read digitally and I do still struggle with retention but there is something about being able to highlight, save and share from one device that is really helpful. About the Classroom To be clear, I do not believe that I learn differently because of my ADHD. I believe that I learn differently because we all do. As a matter of fact, I learn quite normally. I just need quiet space sometimes to process new knowledge. Yes, we love a "noisy" classroom, but sometimes many of us need spaces void of noise. That is why I work at night. Everyone is asleep. Televisions are off. It’s just me and the silence of a room. I get so much done when there are no distractions. People often ask me for tips on helping kids with ADHD in the classroom. Here are mine… Stay away from your own perceptions of ADHD when it comes to kids. I agree that there are too many kids misdiagnosed and over-medicated but if you teach all kids individually and cater to those needs…the diagnosis won’t matter. Kids need to get up and move…with or without ADHD. They also may need to stand at times to learn. Let them and be okay with it. Work with another teacher on noisy days and have a designated quiet place because some kids need that. Your organization will help your students. I struggled with this but having consistent designated ways that materials were handled in class was necessary for all of us. If you have access to technology, an LMS or even the ability to create digital task list with alerts is so helpful. A tool like Remind101 is especially great because you can communicate and "remind" both parents and students about what’s happening in class. One more thing…to say that a kid will just grow out of ADHD is a myth. You don’t grow out of it. You learn to adapt to it. Medication isn’t for everyone but it was right for me and is easily one of the best decisions that I made concerning my own mental well being. We’re all different. Some of us get to have a bit of a super power.

For months, I’ve watched Braeden mold all sorts of clay objects. Today, I decided to learn his process. 1. Search Google images for creative inspiration 2. Open another window for a youtube video and do it again. (The still image is to capture the idea while the youtube video is for capturing movement and detail) 3. Eyeball a "glob" of clay for size and mold it into an "egg" or whatever size is needed for what is being molded. 4. Grab either molding tools or toothpicks to add detail. 5. Also grab toothpicks to attach head, arms and legs. Check out the video below and you can hear this process directly from the kid himself! Enjoy! Other learning… 1. Youtube Audio Library is amazing for finding audio tracks for student projects. It definitely gives more choices than itunes alone. 2. I’m also growing as an editor and using "tricks" like splitting audio, including "high speed video" and eliminating as much dead space as possible through splitting clips…helped with the story. 3. 11 minutes of video can still be condensed down to a more viewable time without losing the story. 4. I did try out youtube video editor but I have to say that as much as I’m using imovie now…I prefer it. 5. Capturing Braeden on film sharing his process also helps him become better at teaching it which is something that he wants to do. 6. WHEN I apply for GTA or even ADE at some point, I may just have this video thing down. By the way, what did you learn today?

To be fair, this should be day 6 but somewhere between watching the "Goliath" of our family, my dad, fall ill and coming to terms with the meaning of life…this learning moment was born. At any rate, Discovery Ed sent me a bag of seeds and the learning began. I’ve never planted a single plant in my entire life so when I received my parcel in the mail from Discovery Ed, it was no-brainer that my "learning moment" would have to be about planting those seeds. There is just something honestly therapeutic about tending to soil in order to prepare a plant for growth. The foundation had to be ready. Can this moment be any more metaphorical? A few hours before I dug into the earth, I received a text message from a former colleague that one of my students was graduating High School. I stopped what I was doing, said a thankful prayer and cried. See, this student was so near and dear to my heart because as a freshman, she struggled so much with math that she cried almost everyday at the beginning of class. Everyday, I was honored to assure her that she could do it and everyday…she did…even amidst tears. At the beginning of the school year, she proclaimed time and again that she was quitting. Time and again, I assured her that quitting was not an option. We had so much work to do beyond algebra as this child needed more than someone to love her…she needed to love herself first. You may never really understand the power of "I’m to happy to see you today", until you say it and see the glimmer of hope in the face of a student that follows. By mid-year, she was with me and I knew it. Before I left that school district for good, I made one call…to her counselor. I needed to make sure that she would be in good hands and that meant that she had no choice but to be in a certain English teacher’s classroom. We remained connected in that way and I also knew that she would be okay. I’m so proud of my Miranda because I know where she started and seeing her make it to this moment was something that she definitely didn’t foresee when we started. I read an article earlier about a high school diploma being worthless but I need to say that it’s not on any level. For this young lady, achieving her High School diploma is bigger than life. She has a solid foundation on which to build. The nurturing that she has had along the way gives her an even greater chance to exceed her wildest dreams and I am so proud to have had a hand in that. As teachers, we plant seeds like this daily. It’s ironic that on the same day that my seed paper arrived, I was able to see the blossoming rose of my student. I’ve never felt happier than that moment. About those seeds…I made a video, of course…

It’s the last of school and my son’s geography teacher kindly sent me a text that his "research" assignment wasn’t completed. His job was to imagine that he had $10,000 that he could spend anywhere in the world, plan a trip and create a ppt with a minimum of 15 slides. He had two weeks to get this done in class and didn’t finish it. As much as I despise when my son does this, moments like today opened the door to multiple learning moments. 1. I get to spend some necessary quality homework time with my teen son 2. I get to help him spread his technology/research wings. 3. My son gets to model an idea for his teacher which only works because he is open to it Why Google Tour Builder? To be clear, this assignment was totally a "time killer"…something for his teacher to do to pass the time. As annoying as that is, it was still a chance to redefine learning for a teacher who desperately needed it. Google tour builder is a google tool that mixes google earth, images, video and text to create a more interactive experience. For sharing global geographic locations it’s perfect! What I love about Google Tour Builder is that images and video can be added directly through the application, much like other google tools. In addition, the "mapping" of places on google earth give students a visual sense of the world that help them to see how their chosen places are connected. The final product is a more interactive "slideshow" experience that is much more engaging and geographically relevant. View my son’s tour here: Khalil’s Tour of Spain One big negative: No Embedding

If you haven’t read José Vilson’s piece, Michelle Obama and Why Teachers Need to Embrace Critique, you should. Many have criticized both Michelle Obama for her statements and José for his writing and in a perfect world, all teachers see kids as kids and not kids as something else. In a lot of places and schools, this is not the case. I learned from my own mother that visibility was important. As a parent, I’ve learned that if I wasn’t visible at school…my children were invisible. We’ve seen our share of jacked up situations in the case of our children and if we were not a part of their educational experience directly, we would not have known. For example, as a 1st grader my niece was having extreme difficulty paying attention in class and sitting in one place silent. Her teacher’s response to that was to place her desk facing a wall…alone…the entire year. To be clear, to keep her from talking to her peers, she turned my niece’s desk to face the wall…alone. Her principal approved this madness. We had no idea until parent/teacher night when my niece showed us her desk. Let’s just say that the next few months were interesting and eventually that desk moved. There were other ways…better ways to deal. That wasn’t it. When my son was in 5th grade, he was often reminded by one of his teachers that he would be in prison by the time that he was 16. Why say this to a 5th grader? Well, he was a bit of a clown and also didn’t answer her questions fast enough. Their student/teacher relationship only declined from there. If my son released a breath sideways, he was sent to the office…a place where the principal and this teacher were best friends. So yes, we had to be visible and united. And then there’s Braeden, a clearly gifted child who doesn’t make the cut or fit the mold of "giftedness" in our school district, given the awesome experience of a fully worksheet based education that clearly did not cater to him or his learning needs. My nephew, on the basis of his "subgroup", had to undergo mandated pull outs and tutorials because…heaven forbid that he didn’t pass the state exam! Let me be clear in saying that this kid, like others, did not need those mandated pull outs or after school tutorials. Do you think that we needed to be visible for this madness to stop? YES. In all of these situations, these teachers were not open to criticism and were quite offended that we called their practices into question because they were the "experts"…only they were not. There was no pedagogical theory behind what they did and even worse in understanding how to address the needs of kids of color. I would love to throw my kids into the classrooms of many of the teachers that I know from twitter. Unfortunately, that is not an option. If you are a teacher that thrives on providing an equitable educational experience to all kids, that is wonderful. However, instead of being offended at Michelle Obama, José Vilson and others…understand that you are not the norm. You are the exception and just because you do what you need to do…doesn’t mean that others are following suit. Truthfully, in many schools, kids of color are still seen as "them", "Subgroups", "colored" and "troubled". We aren’t quite there yet where our kids are seen as equal. I’ll say this as well… I consider myself a great teacher but I too do not have all of the answers when it comes to my learners. I am always open for critique because sometimes…you just need to hear it in order to become better. Those criticisms are why I am who I am and why I will always continue to strive for better.

Having just read Kristy Vincent’s post, "What is this, High School?", I feel like I finally need to add to a conversation that I’ve tried to remain silent on. Only, I’m not going to refer to the incidents that led to Kristy’s post. Instead, I’ll share my own story. As someone who tends to travel in my own circles of immediate interests…education, tech, race, art, creativity…I will admit to being "behind the times" on rape culture and what it meant. It’s not new by any means but it’s not something that I’ve wanted to discuss openly for many reasons. Childhood As a young child, I endured repeated sexual assaults from the age of 4 until about 8 years old. It was at the hands of a high school kid, a family friend. For years, I blamed myself…kept the secret. How could a boy, well into his teens, do this to me? Maybe I should have stayed in the room with the adults? What could I have done, as a child, to prevent it? 10 years ago, I mustered the courage to tell my mother and she was hurt…wondering why I never told her back then. I found myself wondering if it would have stopped if I told her? Again…blaming myself. As I read more about rape culture, I connected to that story. Here I was, wondering what I could have done on my own to prevent it instead of wondering why his parents didn’t teach their sexually deviant son NOT to do what he did. Adult As I was preparing to leave for college, my mother sat me down to talk about precautions. She gave me sound advice like… Don’t walk around at night alone. Don’t take an open drink from anyone at a party. Don’t drink to get drunk. When you do, you are relinquishing control of yourself. Be mindful of your surroundings. Always carry money in your pocket in case you go somewhere and need a ride. If you go anywhere, go with a group that you trust and that have your back. Needless to say, I ignored every bit of that advice. Two months out of the house, I went with a group of friends to a party. I drank from every cup in that place and I drank a lot. My friends left early and tried to get me to leave but I chose to stay. I would later recount that as a huge mistake. One of the last things that I remember were the gunshots from local "thugs" shooting at our location and being thrown into a vehicle by a friend who was "saving" me. I woke up the next morning in his bed…naked, sick, assaulted. At that moment, I thought… Why did I drink so much? How could he have done this? Why didn’t I listen to my mother? I want to throw up. Is this really happening right now? As he was driving me home, I asked him what happened and why. He apologized profusely and claimed to be just as drunk as I was. (It occurred to me that he drove us in this state) I asked him if I said no at all and he said that he didn’t remember hearing it. Surely, I said no. I found myself wondering if I could claim "assault" when we were both heavily intoxicated. He’s a man and he should’ve known better, right? Clearly, it HAD to be his fault alone. The more that I thought about it, the more that I owned that it was not his fault alone. I made critical errors in judgement…ones that cost me greatly. Reliving this… When I read the original piece, I eventually bypassed incident #1 and connected incident #2 to my own collegiate experience. I even envisioned myself and my co-conspirator. I was right back there…in his bedroom. the morning after…taking the awkward walk of shame to the car. I hated myself for thinking about all of the critical mistakes in judgement that she made…that I made. I wanted her to have my mother’s list…the same list that I ignored. Writing these thoughts right now makes me ill. Then, I thought of #YesAllWomen which led me to reading about "rape culture". I immediately came to this realization… Yes, we need to teach boys and men about "no" and that an intoxicated "yes" isn’t really a yes. There should definitely be embedded education about their roles in rape avoidance and that our bodies are NOT for their taking. However… We also have to teach women to be sensible, responsible and aware…especially in situations where alcohol is involved because we have to stop the madness of women sometimes putting themselves into these situations for the sake of a drink…or two…or three. We always have a choice and sometimes it comes before the sex occurs. Let’s not ignore that please. Yes All Women…We owe that to ourselves…

This week at ISTE has been one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life. When I think back to who I was before becoming the "me" that I am now, it makes me even prouder. You see…two years ago, this ISTE experience wasn’t possible…at least in my eyes. I was a teacher who would go to conferences and either sit in the back or somewhere hidden in the shadows of every other attendee. I knew that I was doing great things in my classroom but I did not think that I was capable of sharing outside of the small trainings that I did at home. I did not think that what I had to say was of value outside of my spaces of comfort. Two years ago, this IGNITE speech (as captured by Carrie Ross) that I shared about "sharing" would not have happened. The Power of a PLN I will be the first person to say that "getting connected" isn’t a part of "Edu-babble" but something that can make a huge difference in the lives of many. I am the "me" that I am now because of the connections that I have made along the way. It’s not like I just woke up one day and said…"I’m going to be an active participant in the global education space". I had to come full circle and understand that I am a part of that global education space and owning that idea was critical. For me, it was about making connections with people who didn’t just share in one direction but who believed in constantly pulling others in. Along my journey of growth, people encouraged me to share in spaces like my local technology conference, other school districts and even ISTE. Yes, a PLN is about learning but a PLN is also about building each other up and supporting one another to be the best of who we all can be. It’s not about following the ideas of one but on drawing upon the strength, beliefs and knowledge of many. Being connected helped me to realize that not only were my ideas valid but also critically important to share and not because they were always right but because they were mine. When I shared Braeden’s story during the Ignite, I did it for him but I also did it for my former silent self. Braeden used youtube and art to find his voice. I used twitter and a solid pedagogical understanding to find mine. The silent me is a distant memory. In her place is a confident teacher…determined to empower others to relinquish their hold on their silent selves too. In the words of Braeden… What will you learn? What will you create? How will you share it?  The world is waiting to learn from you.  

For me, ISTE 2014 was more than about coming face to face with educators that I’ve connected with via twitter. It was also bigger than being on stage to give one of the opening ignite speeches. It was 100% about re-igniting my passion as a creator and more importantly as the creative director of my own life. (more on this later) You see, as of late, I’ve been in a bit of a struggle with myself over my choice to join the ranks of the edtech community. As a die hard math educator, I’ve just been feeling a bit blahhh when it comes to technology…period. I hate talking about devices and I despise having to dedicate so much time to the mechanics of them which isn’t a great feeling to have when doing so is so much of your job. Don’t get me wrong…I love technology but I adore the art of learning even more and understanding that means knowing that the device itself is the least important…yet access to it is critical…if that makes sense. I have to say that the conversations at ISTE more than re-energized me. As a matter of fact, I’ve never felt more driven to work towards a greater purpose and I have the moments below to thank. The Personal Stories Being one of the ignite speakers and sharing from the lens of my nephew gave me a bit of an "in" when it came to conversations. Beyond talking about the speech itself, people felt compelled to share stories of their children and I loved that. One such moment involved a teacher named Tammy who in the moments directly after the ignites, stopped me to share about her daughter who just finished making her own puppets. As a matter of fact, her daugher frequented my nephew’s puppetry Tackk and she was shocked to see me there sharing him. I cried as we hugged because children liker her daughter were the reason that we shared his work to begin with. I still get chills thinking about that moment.     The Edtech StartUps & Programmers There was a time when I was a bit annoyed with startup folks but that was not the case this year. First, I met the creators of LessonCast, a platform aimed at helping preservice teachers become reflective lesson designers. As a matter of fact, I spent the day with its creators Nicole and Khalid. I was blown away by their passion for why they created their product. They were also the first black edtech developers that I have ever met and knowing the climate to which they joined, their dedication to their purpose moved me. They weren’t just there to say, "hey look at what I’ve done" but "Hey, what are your thoughts and how might we improve?". I loved that! LessonCast | Next Generation Teacher Preparation I also met Eli, the brains behind my favorite creation of all time, Desmos! The beauty of meeting Eli was that I almost didn’t go to that meetup because I was so tired. I would have been so disappointed had I missed it. When you talk to him about Desmos, his eyes twinkle and you feel the blood, sweat and tears that went into it. It’s truly remarkable. I loved hearing secrets behind Desmos as well as the story behind teacher.desmos.com, their new venture into connecting math classrooms. Eli also promised me that I could kickstart their Desmos instagram and I’m totally holding him to that because it’s a genius idea…just saying! He’s just a cool dude who had an idea that would go on to change math classrooms. I’m so happy that I met him. Did I mention that yet?   #ff to my new friend & genius @eluberoff the heart of @Desmos. Seriously, I could hang w/ him all day & that’s huge! pic.twitter.com/EasXMo0qsS — Rafranz Davis (@RafranzDavis) July 4, 2014 The Conversation Regarding Math that I Needed I could go on and on about all of the other conversations that I had during ISTE because they were all remarkable but the most touching one came at the hands of Jessica V. Allen who asked me to meet with teachers from her school in Chile regarding technology in math. Their educational system is very different from ours and while there was a language barrier…passion and excitement needs no translation. Without going into the specifics of our conversation, I will just say that it was the most rewarding moment for me at ISTE. I have never felt more motivated and excited than during that conversation that happened to take place on the final day of the event. It helped that this teacher just experienced Eli’s session on Desmos and was equally as excited about it! Oh! Thank you @RafranzDavis for your time today! You are #awesomesauce #eduawesome #ISTE2014 @aabollado pic.twitter.com/wiEOJ1WXBd — Jessica V Allen (@jessievaz12) July 1, 2014 So, as my goal was to be re-ignited…I most certainly was and the added bonus was being able to connect with all of you!  

A few days ago, we gave in and let Braeden tweet for himself. It was our way of putting the art of his story in his hands. To think that a kid who creates his own puppets could not handle something as simple as a tweet was a bit crazy and so now he is. Yesterday, he completed part of his newest creative venture…the head of his fur suit and his excitement in doing so has been contagious so much so that we are all captivated buy it. For the 4th of July, Braeden wanted to take a few snapshots and as the camera-woman, I could not just snap what I wanted. I had to snap as he posed because that was what he wanted. I stopped after several shots and asked him why these crazy poses were so important. His reply was everything. He said… "Auntie, I am the creative director of my life. I know the message that I want to say. Let me say it." For a child so young, he is wise beyond his years. We tend to navigate on auto pilot after a while. He plans and works on that plan. I love that about him. Earlier today, a fellow edu-friend, John Spencer (@edrethink) tweeted about receiving multiple negative comments on his social sites from a particular user and I immediately connected this with being a director of sorts. We share because we understand the power of adding to this space and telling our stories. We love receiving feedback and having great moments of thought as a result. However, we do not have to accept clearly negative, demeaning or abusive feedback. As the creative director of my life, I definitely utilize the "block" feature of every space without a second thought. It’s important that we honor filtering the "roads to nowhere" just as much as we pave streets of thought. I believe this with all of my spirit. So, yes…I will delete/block without question. As the creative director of your own life, you choose the players in it as well as each action. Speaking of action, I slept after ISTE and I slept long! I needed that. I also took a step back and unapologetically engulfed myself in my own family. As a matter of fact, I am pulling out of an event this week to be home since I will be leaving again next weekend. As the creative director of my life, I refuse to let "event schedules" dictate the time that I give to myself and my family. They come first no matter what and they need to know that. There was a time when this was not the case but remembering that I am in control helps keep things in order. The message that I want to convey is that I am a collaborator, passionate educator, mother and friend. It’s time that all of my actions were aligned as such. The power of being your own creative director is that your choices are yours. There is nothing more empowering than that.