#WeirdEd Week 102- Make a Thing Pt. 3

It's that time of the school year.

You know- That Time.

Many of us are TESTING (bum bum bummmmm!). Many of us are tired and starting to feel the strain of the marathon. Knowing it's not a sprint doesn't really help in mile 22. It would be damn hard to turn it into a sprint at that point anyway.

So we're fading some. We're struggling. It's ok to admit that. Doesn't make us bad teachers. It mean that we've been running hard all year. No matter how well trained you are no one coasts in to the finish. We've earned this tired.

We're here to help each other out. Twitter chats are a great way to do that but I'm always looking for other ways to make it better. Sure, we're connecting and talking, but how far does that go? So I return to a well I've dug with you twice before- Make a Thing (Pt 1/Pt 2). I feel comfortable doing back to this because, though there are many chat stalwarts who have been with us since the beginning, there are many more teachers who join us all the time. Doesn't mean I want to have another conversation about why Twitters Is The Bestest PD Evar, but I do like Making a Thing quite a bit.

Here's how it will work this week-

I have created a shared Google Doc. At the start of the chat we'll all say hi, like normal. Then I'll post the link to the shared Doc. At that point the chat mostly moves off of twitter and onto the Doc. Together, on one Doc, we work. People ask questions and propose lesson ideas. Together we build lessons for each other. We take ideas and organically build on them.

My focus for you is Something Creative To Do When Not Testing. You don't have to do this, but that's where I'd like us to jump off of. Some of us are taking a long long time testing our kids. Some not so much. Rather than dwell on how awful it is let's build some ideas to help us and our kids survive and thrive through them.

NOW, if you have other things you want to ask the group, other lessons you need some help with, by all means bring them up. Start another page of the Doc, use a different color, and shout out. Very little of the chat will take place on the tweets. I'll pop over every few minutes to remind people to come to the Doc and answer questions, but this is a collaborative work time like we wish we had in school.

Can't wait to see what you all come up with!

And here's what you came up with.