Aunt Martha Wants to Know.

What's the point?

Castle Hayne Elementary

@DavedGlenn and Students at NCTIES17

Two of my incredible PLNs are PasstheScopeEDU and NCEd. They are filled with talented people who, seriously, I’m privileged to learn with. Over the past few months, Kyle Hamstra, Ron Madison and Brendan Fetters have been urging, encouraging, suggesting, use whatever adjective you want to, that I write about Periscope. But, I’ve been too busy. Too busy working. Too busy Periscoping. Too busy doing … life!

Enter stage right.  Mom and Aunt Martha.

My amazing mom, who is turning 79 this year, told me about a conversation she had with my Aunt Martha the other day.  Mom was giving her an update on the family and what everyone has been up to. Apparently, when it came to me, the question that came up was, “Why?”

Why, at this point in my career, am I investing so much time and energy in all these crazy new things like Periscope and virtual reality?  Why not relax and enjoy just teaching?  It all seems so stressful. What's the point?

There are probably several blogs wrapped up in that paragraph, but I’m going to start here.  Why should teachers invest time and energy in all these crazy new techie things? I have an answer. Because, these techie tools enable us to see the point of everything we do.

IT'S THE POINT OF EVERYTHING WE DO

I’ve needed to write about Periscope for a while.  This is the first in a series about the power of Periscope and live streaming in general to capture the point of what we do in education.  The first one is how Periscope amplifies student voice and how we can use it to capture authentic learning. I don't think I'm being hyperbolic.  Next, I'm going to write about why I choose Periscope over other live streaming platforms. Other blogs will be more practical and “how-to” oriented.

I would love your comments and feedback as I write these blogs and become a more active blogger. Thank you for reading!