Starting at Starbucks

I always leave CUSD's iTeach inspired and excited for the new school year!  In our district, iTeach is a week-long summer PD focused on integrating technology to further Common Core and STEAM initiatives.

This year, we met at Starbucks for our initial meeting!  We were each given a secret mission to focus on while we were there.  My mission was, "How are people grouped?  Are they alone?"  Some other missions were "What is the environment like?  What is sound level?" "What are people ordering?  Are they ordering straight from the menu customizing their order?" 

So when we got back to our formal training room, drinks in hand, we were all ready to talk about our secret missions.  Some of our observations were that some people were standing in line alone, others were sitting at couches or tables with a partner or small group, there was background music playing, there were several conversations going on at the same time (but people could still engage with their group and were not distracted), people were customizing their order with different types of milk and sizes.  

We later tied these Starbucks' observations to how we want our classrooms to look.  We want to facilitate a welcoming, collaborative learning environment.  Students should have opportunities to engage in group work and there should be constant conversation. We also want to give students ownership in their own learning and allow them to have as much choice as possible.

Other highlights from iTeach were collaborating with other inspirational teachers, favorite T-shirt introductions, EdCamp, Project-Based Learning, STEAM, and culminating TED Talks.  I plan to write in more detail about some of these later.  It was the perfect way to kick-off an exciting school year!