Mr Hammerlund

Photo by Juri Gianfrancesco on Unsplash Ugh, people problems are the worst to deal with. Unfortunately, I tend to avoid conflict so I don't think I have ever learned to deal with them properly.  Fortunately/unfortunately I have recently been getting a lot of practice. Recently, I was in a meeting that was a little ... contentious. This meeting was the result of a long and drawn out series of meetings that have brought us to this point. In one of the more recent meetings, I had felt attacked, so I attacked back. This is my reflection for how I should handle this kind of situation next time. Listen Everyone should listen without judgement, but especially leaders. When listening we should not jump to conclusions, but listen to understand the other side. Does the other side have a point? Apologize early and accept responsibility It is better to apologize and try to move on than dig in to your position or double-down. You might win the battle, but end up destroying your reputation or t...

This plan is not going according to plan. Everything was worked out in our heads. It seemed good on paper. I put my doubts away because after all, this was the way we did it and it worked for us. Sound familiar? via GIPHY This year one goal I/we had was to upskill the faculty about the different technology tools we use. It was decided we would focus on Google and Seesaw.  When I got my Seesaw Ambassador certification way back in 2017, it was just a series of videos that one had to watch. Now Seesaw has a few different options for certifications beginning with the Seesaw Pioneer. After that, with time and watching different PD webinars, it is possible to be invited to become an ambassador. From there, you can then become a Seesaw Certified Educator. So back to my plan, teachers would get the Pioneer certification. We would then move on to putting teachers on the path to becoming a Google Certified Educator Level 1. Google has great resources for this.  It was decided that teach...

The other day a student in one of my classes blurted out, "What is the largest lake in the world?" Being from Minnesota, and having gone there many times in my life, I told them it was Lake Superior. "You know about the Five Great Lakes?", I asked. They blankly stared back at me.  So I pulled up Google Maps and showed them the Great Lakes in the US. "When you are looking across them, they look like the ocean", I said to them. "Are they as big as Lake Biwa?", one student asked me. (Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan.) This is where I got the idea to actually compare the lakes. Compare areas or things on a map in Google MyMaps Using Google MyMaps, you can add a shape or line to your map by clicking the connection tool.  When drawing a shape, click often in small increments, trying to make the basic outline.  To draw in a more detailed manner, zoom into the map. If you find that you run out of space when drawing, move your cursor to the edge of ...

Not too long ago Google Docs introduced drop-down menus. These are great for project management, and Eric Curts has used them for close reading lessons.  Today I was supporting an MYP Design class. The teacher had a table with questions on the left side and a response cell in the middle (see above). I don't have examples of the questions she asked, but here is what she spent a lot of time on: clarifying the questions she wrote adding answer prompts clarifying vocabulary. I was thinking about how using a Google Sheet could let her change the questions by using a drop-down list. Then I remembered that Google Docs has that function as well.  Google Docs In the  Insert  menu, there is an option to create a dropdown list. Using this, a teacher can make a list of questions and change them. They could be asked in a different way, or the vocabulary could be changed.  The first example I thought of was for Japanese. The level of kanji could be changed based on class abil...

I was invited into a Kindergarten class last week to help get them reacquainted with the Seesaw app. The teacher and I know each other well, so there was not a pre-lesson meeting to discuss much more than "how to do Seesaw". Explaining the task Working with each other Making a final check before uploading We put the students into pairs and had them take a picture of each other. They then shared with each other and looked over the pictures to see if they were OK to post. At this stage, the students are not ready to do much more than that at this point in the year. We are working on trying to bring the design cycle into the younger years this year.  I also liked how we were able to include asking others about uploading photos and checking before posting.