When a Teacher Shares...

Sometime around New Year's Eve 2015 - I was seeing the #OneWord hashtag being used by my Twitter PLN and saw Karly Moura had created and shared a #OneWord HyperDoc for teachers to use with their students when coming back from winter break. I was inspired to use this great lesson. So I made a copy of it and modify it to better fit my class. I shared my version of the lesson on Twitter. For the next couple of years, I continued to tweak and make changes and share my version of the #OneWord HyperDoc.

The reaction to me sharing this lesson and what has happened since is nothing more than incredible for me to experience! It is through this experience that I am sharing with you, you get a glimpse of what happens WHEN TEACHERS SHARE.

• YOU INSPIRE OTHERS! I was inspired by Karly with her original lesson and consequently, I inspired other teachers to use my remixed version I shared. Others didn't have to use it, but I put it about there to help and inspire others if they found value in it. Just check out all the tweets below that show some teachers who used the lesson to begin the new year. These teachers shared student work that caused a chain reaction of inspiration that led to others using the lesson, creating their own, or doing a similar activity.

#OneWord2018 - Curated tweets by SEANJFAHEY

• YOUR IMPACT REACHES BEYOND YOUR CLASSROOM & SCHOOL! After getting such a positive reaction and seeing all the inspiration and sharing that was happening I was curious about the impact and reach of this shared lesson. So I send out a link on social media to a Google Form asking those that used it to let me know where they are located.  I received 118 responses with the lesson being used throughout the United States & Canada. I also got a response from New Zealand and Panama! This is so humbling because by sharing outside of my classroom, I knew I helped hundreds of more students and teachers enjoy and participate in this lesson. 

• WE BECOME BETTER TOGETHER! Teachers didn't just use this lesson as is. They modified it to fit the needs of their unique teaching situation and then shared their versions. WOW! They included options and workflow I didn't even think of for this lesson. That helps me reflect and become better.  I was also informed how some administrators and coaches used the OneWord HyperDoc lesson for a back to school staff PD. One as a activity for the staff to complete and share their OneWord and another to help introduce HyperDocs to teachers.  I also heard from a few that it was their first time teaching a HyperDoc lesson or using Flipgrid in the classroom and they LOVED IT! Could have those opportunities occurred if I didn't share, maybe, but sharing this lesson opened the door for those possibilities to happen sooner. Those teachers became better because of this shared lesson and I was made better because of the ideas and feedback they gave back to me.   

• WE CONNECT AND SHARE EVEN MORE! Built into this lesson was a shared Padlet & Flipgrid for students to share their OneWord, a way to connect with students from all over the globe. Many teachers had students do this. There ended up being over 1800 posts to the Padlet and over 1400 responses on the Flipgrid topic.  Also, as I mentioned before, the educators began sharing their adaptations of the OneWord HyperDoc for others to find and use. Just check out this Wakelet Collection of different versions of the HyperDoc modified and shared by other teachers. 

IN CONCLUSION...

Sharing becomes this awesome cycle that gets inspiration flowing, our impact has a much greater footprint, we connect to one another to improve our craft, try new things, and become better together.

Now imagine this being amplified by the hundreds of thousands or even millions of teachers that out there in the world. What kind of impact could we make on each other and our students if we all start sharing more freely and openly?

This is the concept of the HyperDocs and Teachers Give Teachers Community, which is an original inspiration of mine to start creating and sharing in the first place. With many schools adopting G Suite for Education and other shareable technology tools, it is so easy to share any lesson and resources we create with other educators around the globe!

Not sure what to share? As edu-blogger and Matt Miller states in his book, Ditch That Textbook, "SHARE EVERYTHING!" 

I'm serious. It can be whatever. Lessons and units you've created or just an idea that comes up in conversation. Because, when you share...well, we already can see what the effect can be! 😉


Not sure where to share? Here are some helpful ideas to get you going.

• Any Social Media.  Create Pinterest boards you update with created materials. There are countless of educational Facebook groups you can join. Twitter, is full of educators constantly sharing little tidbits of knowledge, ideas, and lessons.
• Start a blog. I'm not an avid blogger, but having a place where I can type up some thoughts or helpful ideas for other educators in greater detail then share on social media is great to have.
• Old Fashion Face to Face or email. It is important not forget this. Share with your team, school, district. Send emails, chat with what is working and what isn't, if needed print hard copies of items to give them. 

What do you think about sharing? Where do you share? What do you think hinders educators from sharing openly and freely? Let me know by adding a comment or connect with me on Twitter, @SEANJFAHEY