Ian Byrd
@IanAByrd

I make Byrdseed.TV, a lesson library for gifted and talented teachers. Email me! ian@byrdseed.com

 Oahu
byrdseed.com
Joined July 2009
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Minecraft Dungeons II release day was very fun with the 8yo. His first preorder game and day one experience. We found some bugs to exploit 😆
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8yo enters my office, "Byrdseed has a problem." <Heart rate increases, imagining crashed website or broken videos> "The maze generator isn't complicated enough." hahaha. He designed the maze generator a few months ago.
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I’m happy with this paragraph.
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Heck yes the 8yo picked The ‘Burbs for movie night. But only wanted “a glass of water” for snacks. 😒
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Putting together a small book called “Overwhelmed to Whelmed” about how overwhelmed I was as a teacher. The plan is to give it away once it’s finished! Part 1’s draft is available here: byrdseed.tv/overwhelmed
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I am a happy ex-teacher because right now 3 of my 5 active text conversations are with former 6th graders now in their late 20s who have somehow kept in touch with me.
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Am I right that there’s no way to make a Gmail filter from the iOS/iPad apps? Gotta get these goofy Amazon emails out of the inbox! I hoped Gemini could handle it, but he doesn’t know what a filter is haha
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“That was the greatest conversation of my life,” the 8yo after talking to ChatGPT about Terraria while playing Terraria
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The 8-year-old quoted National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation in August, so I guess I’ve nailed parenting.
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One of my Rules For Professional Development is to solve problems - not give information. Teachers have too much to do. PD should solve a problem and *reduce* their work. But most PD I led just gave information. And teachers walked out with *more* to do.
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If professional development doesn't clearly solve a teacher's problem, it needs a reframe. Teachers need solutions, not more work! I wrote more here: byrdseed.com/pd-rule/

My #1 Rule For Professional Development

Does your PD solve a problem? Or does it just give more information?

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When people ask for tips getting started with Depth and Complexity, I usually ask “What problem do you want to solve?” Depth and Complexity is great for some things, but not others. If it doesn’t match your problem, it’s not a good use of your very limited time.
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More here! byrdseed.com/depth-complexit…

Depth and Complexity vs Bloom’s Taxonomy: You Need Both

You can use the prompts of depth and complexity yet still ask very shallow questions. Here's how to avoid this common pitfall…

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If you hope Depth and Complexity will lead to high level thinking, it won’t. That’s not the problem is solves. D&C will just lead to questions like “What are the 🚦 rules? What are three 🌼 details? What’s the 🏛️ big idea?” All identify level thinking. If the problem is “low level thinking” the solution is Blooms Taxonomy, not D&C.
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The hard part for me is that happy newsletter subscribers never reply. But if I make a typo or post a broken link… oh boy. So, typically, the only replies are complaints of some sort! The lesson: occasionally reply to newsletters with a kind note!
simeonGriggs
@simeonGriggs
Jul 31
Been doing this ~20 years, and pressing send on an email newsletter doesn't get easier.
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Making intro videos for each Module at ByrdseedTV: byrdseed.tv/scope-and-sequen…

Introducing Module 1 ＊ Byrdseed.TV

You’ll find the current Module on the homepage under the “For You” tab. Module 1 starts the school year by setting up several year-long tools, most notably your grade’s Universal Theme. Here’s an...

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Ian Byrd retweeted
Annie? Rauwerda?@anniierau
Jul 29
starting a collection of quotes like this
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As a teacher, my quest to add "more ideas" made me overwhelmed. Because my problem was never "I don't have enough teaching ideas." My problem was… well, I never defined my problem! Instead, I kept adding random solutions, like someone who grabs every medicine at the pharmacy without first having a doctor diagnose them.
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If you're overwhelmed, "more ideas" will only make you more overwhelmed. You ALREADY have too much to do! So get a diagnosis! Have a knowledgeable educator watch you teach for 10 minutes. They'll find something you can work on. It will be mundane but important.
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More (including a YouTube video!) here: byrdseed.com/more-ideas/

I Didn’t Need *More* Ideas

As a teacher, I'd start by grabbing new ideas. But I didn't need more ideas. I already had too many!

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