21st Century MV Mindsets / Badging / Differentiated Instruction / Learning Measures / Learning Outcomes / PBL: Passion Based Learning Posted on:

Introducing Faculty Badges: Winter Edition 2017

Today was the grand unveiling of the new suite of badges designed for faculty by Amy Wilkes and Katie Cain. Like a kid at Christmas, I still get excited when new badges are designed and introduced. These badges are only available through the end of April, so don’t let them pass by you. Remember, a badge has six elements to its design. Although the artwork is often the most visible and appealing aspect of a badge, it is only 1/6 of the design. Like a quarterback who gets all the credit when a team wins, the artwork can overshadow the […]

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Badging / Community / Reflective Practice Posted on:

The Blogger Challenge

The Blogger Challenge concludes today. A challenge was issued and 18 daring educators answered the call. Some had never blogged before. A few had blogs, but had not written and reflected in a while. Others never stopped. Some of the cool things about this blogger challenge was that it was a) voluntary b) during the summer c) badge related d) cross divisional Feedback from the Bloggers… “What fun the blogging challenge was, it was my first time participating in an all school activity. Thank you for the opportunity it’s been fantastic!” “What a fun ride! I am challenging myself to keep […]

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Badging / Maker Movement Posted on:

A Full Day

A Full Day Started the day with a fantastic Middle School Admin Team Retreat, followed by an incredible Maker session where I learned about the Studio(i) experience, designed and printed using the laser cutter, and earned a badge! It was a fantastic turn out and professional learning event considering it is summer time. Next, I went to training session for this week’s Fuse conference with the fantastic Red Team followed by a fun team dinner at Village Burger. Finally, I ended the day by reading to each of my children and going for a night walk and swim. Blessed.

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Badging / Learning Measures / Professional Learning Posted on:

The Power of the Scoreboard & Accountability

The Power of the Scoreboard & Accountability Badging interest exploded with the faculty program’s initial launch in August. After months of plateauing, another spike occurred when we measured progress in December and January through a series of infographics and charts. We teased prizes, but as of yet, we have not even specified what those prizes might be. Therefore, it isn’t clear whether the hope of winning prizes has any impact. The scoreboard, and the accountability that comes with it, seems to be the driving force behind this second surge in badges earned. Perhaps accountability coupled with time of year? Badges […]

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Badging / Faculty Meetings / Learning Measures Posted on:

What Does This Badge Get Me?

Badges Earned (1/20/16)Create bar charts What Does This Badge Get Me? Continuing to explore how a badging system can be used to communicate and measure learning, we conducted an analysis of each individual and team’s progress. There are 11 possible badges that any individual can earn including: Blogger, Clear Touch, Drone, Folio, Innovative Formative Assessment, Innovative Technology Integration, Presenter, Summer Learning, Teaching Through Art, Twitter Chat Moderator, Create Your Own Badge. The Summer Grant badge was omitted because not everyone had the opportunity to earn it (only 8 grants were awarded last summer). Some badges afford the opportunity for multiple […]

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Badging / Drones / ethical decision maker Posted on:

Drones in Action

Drones in Action In August, we purchased a drone. Our team designed a digital “Drone” badge that faculty members could earn in pre-planning. We unleashed the drone in chapel for all students to be introduced to our newest interactive tech device. In September, we crashed the drone. While Upper School students were learning how to make minor repairs to the drone, we purchased an additional drone. In October, Mr. Roth took small groups of students outside to learn how to pilot the drone and discuss related science and ethical issues. In November, I worked with a small, volunteer group of […]

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Badging Posted on:

4 Badging Must Do’s for Teachers

4 Badging Must Do’s for Teachers In the 2016-2017 school year, our team’s goal is to launch a student badging program. An initiative like this could be daunting and overwhelming, unless it is broken down into smaller, simpler components. With each team member committed to a growth mindset and taking ownership of a small, manageable piece of the pie, this will be easy and a huge win for students. To make this vision a reality here are… 4 Badging Must Do’s for Teachers Earn – Teachers must earn badges in order to experience the value of badging first hand and […]

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Academic Resource / Badging / Study Skills Posted on:

Students Earn Study Skills Badge

Students Earn Study Skills Badge After launching two student badges as a test pilot a few weeks before Thanksgiving, 13 students have earned the ‘Taskmaster’ badge. By earning this badge, students have demonstrated mastery of a set of age-appropriate, study skills. Specifically, they have demonstrated (as 5th Graders) the ability to use a student planner and calendar to monitor weekly and monthly assignments, events, and class schedules. Today, the students received their badges in an informal ceremony of recognition at the start of class. The badges were awarded in two forms: digital and locker magnet. In the digital form, students can […]

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