I, like many of us in educational technology, have been somewhat taken away by AI over the last few months. ChatGPT, Dall e, and Midjourney have been weekly, if not daily, topics of discussion, along with AI policy, frameworks, assignments, and assessments in education. For example, just in the past week I have run an edcamp session on AI in schools, developed coursework for an AI course, and shared a presentation with a local educator team on creativity and AI.

Last year at this time, I was working on developing a course for Utah Education Network. The course was, and still is, a passion project for me.

A few months ago I was asked to start a new web series for Utah Education Network about Google tools teachers can use. Nicole, my producer, and I decided to make these videos fun, maybe a little goofy, but entertaining. This month, within a discussion about extension activities, I believe that I have achieved that goal. Just watch the first minute to see what I mean (really, as if you can’t tell by the Viking helmet). However, in the video I explore a few options for educators to use in their classes for early finishers for extension activities.

If you ever spend time with me, I will probably wax poetic about the phrase, “Becoming”. I love the idea that no matter how good we are at our jobs or naturally talented at anything, we are constantly in the state of ‘becoming’, or trying to continually push ourselves and learn everything we can to be consistently better at what we do. That is why this weekly post is called “Developing Educator”. I don’t think anyone is perfect at teaching or the myriad works happening to support educators and students worldwide, so we all are developing, or becoming, educators as we work, build, connect, fail, and grow. It takes time and effort to build what we want to be, even if we may never get to perfection. We still strive to be better.

In my last school, there were two science teachers that both had open play chess boards available to all students when they came into the class. They marked each day who made moves and when it was the teacher’s turn to move. It was a great way of exchanging with students and engaging them in the classroom beyond content. However, I always worried about those chess boards being moved, pieces tumbling to the ground, and losing their place. It happened on occasion and it was always an issue. So, why not move this online, and make it a customizable board.

First off, like many teachers, I know that distance learning is not always a suitable replacement for in class learning, particularly in the elementary and secondary settings. It does not give teachers and students the same level of communication and relationship building.