Philly Teacher

Philly Teacher has a new home!

2011-08-06T19:37:00.002-04:00

After many happy years on Blogger, Philly Teacher has moved to its own domain!

Come check out the action at: http://mbteach.com

This site will stay up, though the posts have all migrated to the new domain.

My Email to Education Nation

2011-08-04T12:53:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how many of you get emails from NBC's Education Nation, but I get them fairly frequently and was even invited to attend the Teacher Town Hall in Philadelphia (I didn't--instead I attended a locally planned and organized event that connected me with some great people here in Philadelphia).

Right now, NBC's schtick is an essay writing contest for a teacher to win a seat at the Teacher Town Hall in NYC. I am beginning to get tired of the whole thing, so I sent an email in return. Here it is:

Thanks, Kevin.

Just curious--what is the lure of sitting in the Teacher Town Hall? Why a contest for a seat sitting and watching something I can watch from home? Yes, I know there is a glimmer of a chance that I could get up to the mic and ask a question, but to what avail?

I understand what NBC is doing, and I'm glad they're getting involved, but after the horrendous conference call I was invited to participate in--I hung up since I a) had no idea how many people were on the call and b) found the format not very conducive to conversation, kind of like a bunch of blind people in a dark room--I'm wondering, "what's the point?"

You'd be better to do an essay for a teacher to be ON THE PANEL.

Even WORSE is that when you do a search on NBC for the SOS March you get NOTHING except a video of Matt Damon. There is no mention of it on the Education Nation website either.

Where was Education Nation then? That was THE biggest possible Teacher Town Hall this country has ever seen and NBC missed it.

I know you may just be a marketing guy, but these are serious questions and issues. It's great and all to have some stuff for ratings and PR, but if you're not actually tackling the big issues and covering everything, what's the point?

I hope you are not offended by my honesty, but I just had to express what I've been feeling every time one of the Education Nation emails comes through my inbox.

Thank you,

Mary Beth

Networking vs Building Relationships

2011-08-01T14:28:00.000-04:00

image from Melody on Flickr

Amazingly, I did not write a single ISTE reflection piece this year. It's always a little overwhelming trying to digest everything, but there are a few things that have stuck with me even into the beginning of August. Now that I'm on a bus headed to the #140edu conference , it seems fitting that I'm thinking about some of the conversations I had about networking.

Over the course of the 3 days I found myself in discussions about networking, relationships and learning on more than one occasion. Most discussions concluded with the idea that while networking is invaluable, building relationships is really what matters and is really what we're about.

My involvement in social media over the last three years has taught me the priceless skills of making connections and networking (skills, I would argue, that teachers are deprived of through the nature of current programs within schools of education). I'm an outgoing person, but 4 years ago I would not have had business cards, approached people I'd never met or felt connected to larger conversations enough to pipe up in a conversation while able to bring enough to the table to join in and then sit back and learn.

I've been telling people how much I've learned about networking and I've been following many conversations centered around the networked teacher. In fact, I have been working with a colleague of mine to help her become one. I always tell people that I'm only as smart as the people I know. I know a lot of people.

But is "networking" really what is helping us learn? Is it really what we should strive for?

David Jakes has a great blog entitled The Strength of Weak Ties. I've always loved that name. While searching for the exact link for this post I stumbled across Mark Granovetter's highly influential sociology paper of the same name. (I'm kind of ashamed I'd never heard of it before!) As networked teachers we are connected loosely through social media, conferences and in a more local sense, our Intermediate Units, Regions, Districts, Unions, etc... These connections make us better teachers, they facilitate learning, but when I talk to members of my 'weak ties' network (mostly Twitter) what we really seek are relationships, stronger ties that enable ongoing support and deeper learning opportunities.

When I think of networking in the traditional sense, I think of an exchange, an "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" attitude. Relationships, however, involve a give-and-take with one side sometimes giving more than the other. Relationships involve a giving of self and ideas rather than a give-in-order-to-receive mentality.

Though I began honing my networking skills through the lens of social media, I have begun to build a network here in Philadelphia as well through the work I do for the South Philly Food Co-op and the annual edcamp Philly unconference. Some of the connections I have made are 'weak ties.' They are limited to the skin-deep needs each party has for his or her project. However, many of those ties have bloomed into relationships that go beyond our original purpose. It has made Philadelphia ridiculously small for me over the past year or so.
Similarly, many of the weak ties that I have built through social media still remain weak. Even so, I still value them. These are the people with whom I network because we share similar jobs, viewpoints or interests. However, the more powerful, deeper connections that have blossomed from such weak ties into friendships and professional relationships have and continue to push me as a teacher and helped me discover my own passions and beliefs.

While it's important to maintain those weak ties, let's look beyond networking and begin to build relationships that matter.

The Reform Symposium 2011

2011-07-22T20:51:00.001-04:00

The countdown has begun for this year's free, 3-day online conference, The Reform Symposium! In its third year, this awesome event runs nearly 24 hours a day for 3 days, with keynotes from highly respected educators and presentations from all over the world. Whether you're in Texas or Taiwan, there are presentations happening for your time zone.

Thanks to the organizers, Shelly Terrell, Christopher Rogers, Kelly Tenkely, Lisa Dabbs, Melissa Tran, Mark Barnes, Cecilia Lemos, Clive Elsmore, and Jerry Blumengarten! You can read more about them here.

A big thanks goes to Steve Hargadon as well for setting us up with the Elluminate rooms!

You can tune into the sessions, which will be held using Elluminate, by checking out the schedule. To see what's happening in your time zone, use the tabs on the bottom of the spreadsheet. Links to each room will be posted on the first day of the conference.

You can also follow the hashtags #rscon3 or #rscon11 (people seem to be using both).

To learn more about the presenters, you can check this out.

We are also in need of Elluminate moderators. You can sign up to help here: http://is.gd/ZhnDuj

I will be presenting on Friday, July 29th at 5:00pm EST. I will be discussing video games and what we can learn from them to better plan instruction and design learning experiences.

Come check it out! It's always a good time!

Do You Teach Touch Typing Using Home Row?

2011-07-14T10:16:00.001-04:00

My recent post on whether or not we should be teaching keyboarding skills invoked a lively conversation. As a follow up, here is a survey to gather some data on who is teaching it and who is not and why or why not. The results will be published in an upcoming Technology Review article by Anne Trubek.

This form is now closed. Thanks for everyone who responded!

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Adventures with Robots

2011-07-08T19:20:00.000-04:00

Next week I begin teaching LEGO Robotics for the first time. I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a kit for the weekend to play around with.

Here is short video I quickly pulled together (I apologize for the quality!) of my day. I spent about 45 minutes building the first robot, but spent most of my time struggling with the install of Mindstorms on OS X.

Here's how I spent my day!

A Tribute to My Father

2011-07-07T12:36:00.000-04:00

This post is way overdue, but it's been on my mind for a while. I wrote a post for my mother a month or so ago and it's only fair that I express my gratitude for my father as well.

I have been blessed with two wonderful parents, and each have played a large role in who I am today.

I am thankful for having a father who always believes in me, who supports me and always wants to the best for me. A father who worked hard to give me as many opportunities as possible and from whom I probably inherited my insane work ethic.

I enjoy discussing politics and history with my father. (Though the chances that we'll agree are slim.) He is a highly intelligent person with a great sense of humor.

Thank you, Dad, for your unending support and for helping make me who I am today.

Freedom to Learn: Trust me Please

2011-06-22T12:43:00.000-04:00

This past year I had the opportunity to write my own tech curriculum. I was starting at a new school with a new set of students and two labs I'd never taught in before. It was a shot in the dark.

I used the ISTE NETS framework to build the curriculum, mapping out a schedule of when I would teach what and which skills were at what level for each grade, but I had no idea where my students were on that map.

Now that a year has passed, I am scrapping nearly the entire thing and rebuilding it based on what I now know about my students, what I have learned over the course of the school year about teaching and learning as well as what I have observed as successful and what has failed in how I teach and design lessons and units.

My curriculum next year will be twice as good as this year's, I'm certain.

So I struggle with the idea of canned curricula, books and series put out by publishing companies and labeled as 'curriculum.'

No wonder many teachers feel like robots, delivering what the teacher's guide says is the objective for the day. I'm not even sure I know any teachers in Philadelphia who have played a part in writing the curriculum they teach. Why are we being told by someone outside of our school or community tell us what our kids need to know?

This doesn't mean that teaching should be anarchy, with each school doing whatever they want whenever they want. We still need to have an agreed upon idea of what we (meaning teachers as a whole across the nation/world) think our students should know. The issue is figuring out how to get there. To me, that is the magic of writing a curriculum that meets the needs of your students. It is not a fixed document, it is fluid and can be revised. It is not paired to a textbook or a reading series. It is a loose framework that acts as a map to help us navigate through the school year and move our students toward the larger essential questions and understandings that we want them to have.

So please, trust us. Know that we are professionals whose expertise is children. Let us use what we know about our students and about teaching and learning to craft a curriculum together that best meets the needs of our community. Let us have input into the document. Foster conversations across grade levels about skills and concepts students need to have or understand to be successful. Stop calling purchased reading series and social studies textbooks 'curricula.'

Trust us, please.

The 1st Annual Philadelphia Education Conference

2011-06-01T21:47:00.000-04:00

I just learned about a wonderful event here in Philly this weekend, the 1st Annual Philadelphia Education Conference. It is a day of conversations and panel discussions with the ultimate goal of hashing out some tangible steps toward positive reform of education here in Philadelphia.

While some of you may be aware that Education Nation, an NBC media event is also starting this weekend, I urge you to attend the Philadelphia Education Conference, which I'm sure will be a much more localized, grassroots and meaningful conversation.

Some of the listed attendees are:

Jim Stephens - Founder of Elite Rescue, Recovery, and Rebuilding

Greg Trainor - Philadelphia Community Corps, United Philly

Alex McNeil and Project EDU Temple University-City Year

Howard Jean - Director of Education at Cheyney University, Founder of the national programs Call Me M.I.S.T.E.R and S.E.I.L. (Success through Education, Inspiration, and Leadership)

Gina Renzi - University of Pennsylvania Director of The Rotunda, After School Programs

Bunmi Samuel - Freedom Schools, Director of Education of Friends Neighborhood Guild, Community Leader for Health and Nutrition at -EPIC, Board Member of Temple University's Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities

James Elam - Professor, Mentor, Founder of Pride Academy After School Program - a three tiered program consisting of education, arts, and athletics

Chuck Treece - several after school programs and youth Skating initiatives, Pew Fellowsip for the Arts Recipient, NARAS Board

Isaiah Thomas - Associate Dean of Students, Athletic Director, and Head Boys Basketball Coach at Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School. Candidate for Philadelphia City Council at Large

Tony Payton - State Representative

Tony Alvarez - Mariani Bracetti Academy Charter School - Dir. of School and Community Development

Tiffany Bacon - Connect to Protect Health Collective; Public Health Management Corp, PRAISE 103.9, 100.3 THE BEAT, 107.9 WRNB
Tiffany Thompson - Youth Health Empowerment Program (Y-HEP)

Russell Hicks - 100 Black Men of Philadelphia, E3 Centers

Richard DeJesus - Richard and Friends of the Community

Jeff Murray - YouthStarz

John Price - University of Pennsylvania Policy and Procuedure Department - OST Programs

Jonathan Centeno - ASPIRA, EPIC Kensington

Monica Montgomery - Arete Magazine

Celandra Rice Prince - Elements of Inspiration Radio Show, 1460 AM

Mark Savage, Jr. - Spoken Word Artist, Bright Lights Foundation, 528 Crescendo Productions

Ann Guise - Bright Lights Foundation

Ryshon Jones - Spoken Word Artist

Jamilla Harris, Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement (PYPM)

Darryl Clark - Help Educate Leaders for the Present (H.E.L.P.)

Alison Lin - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - Connect to Protect Initiative

Thomas Butler - Project Grad ( Philly Chapter)
------------------------------------

When: Sunday, June 5th from 10am to 4pm. Doors open at 9am

Where: Room 200 at Temple University’s Howard Gittis Student Center
Address:
1755 N. 13th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122.

Tickets are only $10.

You can purchase tickets through TicketLeap here.

Ending the Year on a Positive Note

2011-05-30T12:05:00.000-04:00

In my most recent Edutopia post I challenged my readers to make a list of at least 5 things they've done better this year.

Here are mine:

1) Assessment
I have taken a lot of time this year to work on my methods and purposes for assessment. While I am still stuck with a numerical gradebook system, I feel that I have a better grasp on what and whether my students are learning and I am able to focus my lessons more on specific learning outcomes.

2) Choosing the Right Tool
This year I stuck to only a few tools with my students. Some of this is because of the slow Internet speed at my school, but some of it is due to my realization that it's about depth not breadth.

3) Allowing for Re-dos
For the first time, I allowed my students to revise and resubmit their work. Rather than handing back their grade as a 'done deal,' I handed back their graded rubric with places for improvement. 90% of my students worked to revise their work and I am 100% sure they learned more through the revising than they did creating the project.

4) Making Sure that Everyone is Done
As a 'prep' teacher, specialist teacher, whatever my title may be, I am stuck with a limited amount of time with my students. Some classes I see only 45 minutes once a week and, should there be a holiday or trip, even less than that. In the past I have felt forced to move on once we have spent a certain amount of time on a project partly because of the requirement that I have a certain number of grades in my grade book each marking period (ridiculous) and partly because I felt that we just couldn't spend a month on one project. This year, however, I allowed my students to spend a month on projects. I tracked student progress and made sure that every student completed their work, even if it meant pulling them for a small period of time outside of their scheduled time with me. This has made a huge difference in how my students have progressed as well as giving both them and me a sense of accomplishment.

5) Collaborating with My Colleagues
This year, as many of you know, I started at a new school. I was so excited to collaborate and learn with my new colleagues, many of whom are enthusiastic about technology. This year I have done more collaborating, whether it be team teaching or doing a model lesson or bringing technology into a classroom to enhance a unit of study, than any of my previous years. I hope that next year will hold even more possibilities for teachers to bring tech into their classrooms.

What are YOU most proud of this year?

Should We Still Be Teaching Keyboarding Skills?

2011-05-18T19:08:00.000-04:00

keyboard photo from Flickr

So I've been talking with my former college professor about keyboarding skills, how kids learn them and whether we should still be teaching them.

Part of me looks down at my swiftly moving fingers (I don't look down that often) and thinks "Yeah!" being able to type fast is awesome!

Another part of me remembers the first time I rotated an iPad and tried to use both hands to type on the screen. It was not very successful...I kind of made up my own new system.

As a lab teacher, I spent very little time on keyboarding skills. This is for two reasons.

1) My students have already taught themselves how to keyboard on their phones or at home.

2) Were I to focus on keyboarding instruction until my students had mastered Home Row, there would be no time for video editing, music editing, teaching Digital Citizenship, web design or learning programming skills.

Part of me wonders if I am doing my students a disservice. Will they end up in college or high school unable to type fast enough? Will they sit down to take that online GRE or writing test and fail because they have run out of time?

Then the other part chimes in: "Are your students entering a world that rewards fast typers or a world that rewards innovative thinkers and creative minds?"

What do you think?

If you have any research or articles pertaining to this topic, please share them in the comments!

The Falsehood of School Choice

2011-05-17T22:51:00.000-04:00

Pennsylvania's new Governor, Tom Corbett, ran on a platform of school vouchers. He and his neighbor, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have been pushing for legislation to bring more of them to their respective states. Most of the arguments I have heard supporting school vouchers is that they support school choice.

This idea that being able to choose from a traditional public school, a public charter, a parochial school or a private independent school is true 'choice' is a huge falsehood.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarygami/5689980135/

When we talk about school choice, we should be talking about choices in instructional models. We know that not all students learn the same. We know that some students can succeed in the traditional model. We know that many do not. We also know that there are a variety of alternatives to the traditional model.

I recently went to a public gathering focused around the new independent school opening here in Philadelphia called Philly Free School. The founders of the school have spent a lot of time visiting similar schools which are based off of the Sudbury Valley School in Massachussets, a democratic school in which students direct their own learning and make all the decisions in the school through a democratic process. In the informative literature from the Fairhaven School that they distributed at the meeting, there was a sheet for parents to help them understand and explain the school's model to others. It was called, "OK, so you're sort of like..." followed by a list of school models and a comparison between them and the Fairhaven model. Some of the school models on the list were a Montessori School, a Waldorf School, a Progressive School, Homeschooling and Student Governments in traditional schools.

This list shows what true school choice really looks like.

The Philly Free School is an amazing model. It takes a certain kind of student to be able to function there and it takes even that kind of student time to adjust when coming from a traditional school setting. It is not for everyone. Similarly, a Montessori School model might be too open and free for some students (though I would argue it would be too open and free for the parents rather than the student), while another model might be too test-driven for a family.

Recently, I have been reflecting on my own education. I experienced a variety of school models over the course of my K-12 education career, some of which fit me well and some which did not. I started my schooling in a Montessori school. I then entered Kindergarten at a small private school that stressed project-based learning. I spent K-3rd grades tackling a huge, multi-layered project each year. I also spent my summers exploring beaches, marshes and reading tons of books of my own choosing (some might call this self-directed learning).

As I entered 4th grade in the new district that my parents had chosen to move to due to its high-performing schools, I began my first experience with traditional public schooling. Needless to say, I was miserable. I was placed in a Talented and Gifted program (TAG), for which I was pulled out of class, but school was much, much different. Timed tests, bullying and few projects or student-centered learning.

I spent the rest of my school years in the local public schools until senior year when I applied to Walkabout, an alternative program for high school seniors. During my senior year I completed a 4 week community service project during which I only went to school once a week, went on two week-long backpacking trips, and completed a 6-week internship in NYC that I landed on my own. During my internship I also only attended school once a week. That year was one of the best years of school I can remember.

One aspect of Walkabout and the private school I attended was that they were selective. There were a limited number of slots in the Walkabout program and the director of the program hand-selected students from the applicants, choosing only those for whom the program was a good fit. To enter the private school I took a series of IQ and other tests (some which helped me earn scholarship money) as a sort of screening process.

I'm not sure that this means that traditional public schools should be selective, but I think that were there more diversity among public school models, not just climates, resources and performance then school choice would make more sense. Not all schools work for all kids, so why are we pretending that they do? Rather than offering boot camp 'reform' schools for 'problem children,' perhaps they just need a school that is more geared toward self-directed learning? Maybe those students who constantly get in trouble would benefit from the opportunity for more flexibility in their day. What about those students who are successful in traditional school but leave without any sense of what their true desires are?

We need to stop thinking about school choice at face value and begin to think more deeply about the choices we are really giving students and their families.

A Tribute to My Mother

2011-05-08T12:10:00.001-04:00

I'm not usually one for Hallmark holidays, but I felt the urge to celebrate my Mother, Nancy, in all of her awesomeness.

My Mom and I at The Barnes Foundation April 2011

I am thankful for having a Mother who never told me what I had to do or who I had to be as a child, who let me be myself (pink hair and all), who believed in me and still does while peppering in motherly advice whenever she can.

As grown woman I now can appreciate my Mom's independence, her strong will, and her intelligence. She has become a good friend and I love that we can laugh, reminisce and hold deep political conversations all in the span of 20 minutes.

Thank you Mom for being who you are and for helping me become who I am today.

Is Teaching an Art or a Science?

2011-04-23T21:54:00.002-04:00

The Barnes Foundation

Yesterday my mother and I visited the Barnes Foundation, a wonderful museum outside of Philadelphia. Unlike a traditional museum, this house-school-museum was curated by Dr. Barnes, its founder and remains in its original design according to the rules set forth by him in his will and through his Foundation. In addition, rather than artwork being organized by time period, style or artist, each wall of the museum is organized according to Dr. Barnes' own interpretations. Some walls have a particular color that runs throughout each work, some walls position works to show how artists were inspired by others and sometimes there is furniture, candlesticks or sculptures by the wall that serve Dr. Barnes' vision. I remember two Renoir paintings of fairly large women, each with a fairly large chair perched underneath them. Alongside the paintings are pieces of ironwork that Dr. Barnes collected and placed on the walls, adorning the paintings, with their shapes often mirroring shapes in the paintings.

One of the most poignant parts of the experience was learning about how different artists like Cezanne and Renoir influenced each other by looking at paintings right next to each other. In fact, the docent who guided us through the house explained the importance of these relationships and how common they were among artists, even over the course of decades. In fact, the collection at the museum is so rich that we could look at a painting from the 18th century and see how it influenced an artist from the 19th century. As a former art student, I remember studying different painters and analyzing their techniques and styles. I remember seeing what my peers were doing and being influenced and inspired them, even at a young age.

In fact, art as we know it would not exist if artists had not shared their work, critiqued and talked about each others' work or picked up techniques they admired. I'm sure some of you have at some point read about or imagined those dark cafés thick with smoke with artists and poets sitting around drinking absynthe, smoking cigarettes and reading poetry or critiquing art. These kinds of communities are glorified in the history books as labs of innovation and a vital part of our cultural heritage.

As a teacher, I find that I practice the same kinds of sharing, reflection and inspiring dialogue with my peers, though my art is not painting, but teaching.

Some of the conversations I've been reading recently point to the fact that many schools, districts and educational leaders look at teaching as a scientific algorithm; something that can be pared down to scientific data-based methods.

So, I wondered, is teaching an Art or a Science? I decided to poll my colleagues.

It was a loaded question, as many people who answered my poll argued. Here are some of the responses I received on Twitter:

However, I was curious to see what people would choose when faced with only an 'either/or' situation.

Here are the results of the poll:

Your browser doesn't support iFrames :( Vote for this poll here.
If you go to the poll page, you will see that most people believe that teaching is truly a mixture of both, but still, when faced with a decision, most people (a large majority) chose the 'art' option.

As for the argument about art being both a Science and an Art, I would agree. However, I would also argue that a big part of art includes science. A good artist knows the chemical composition of his or her materials. Certain paints contain cadmium, certain chemicals have certain effects on the texture of paints, still others can turn a paint into a glaze. Master artists understand colors and use them purposefully to create an emotion, an experience or an impression. In that way, Art is a Science, but we still consider it Art.

In the same way, a good teacher knows the composition of his or her curriculum and his or her students. Master teachers understand their students and the curriculum and know how to create learning experiences for his or her students. This requires a scientific understanding of how the brain learns and how to engage students, but it takes an artist to create a powerful, deep learning experience.

What do you think?

Barnes Foundation photo by marybethhertz on Flickr

Designing Instruction for Learning

2011-04-13T22:12:00.001-04:00

I just finished this fabulous book by Ken Washburn that really has me thinking about instructional design. The Architecture of Learning has also made me more concerned about the direction that education is headed in this country. My main takeaway is embodied in this quote:

Instructional design differs from lesson planning.

I have been lesson planning for years. I think about what I want my kids to learn and what content they need to know and, in the past, I have designed for how I would deliver the ideas and content. However, I now have a better understanding of how important it is to plan for how my students will build knowledge and how to guide them through the exploratory phases of learning that lead to deeper connections and a better chance of retention and ability to apply new knowledge to new situations.

To truly design learning experiences is a pretty exciting idea. Washburn's blueprints for skills and concepts really helped me pull all of my professional learning this year come together into something cohesive. His model follows this sequence, based on how the brain learns:

Experience--> Comprehension--> Elaboration--> Application--> Intention

All of the approaches I've been studying point to the importance of letting students explore content before assessment and of addressing misunderstandings before we move on and expect them to be able to apply what they have learned. Giving them a point of reference is also important. Washburn does a great job explaining how the simple use of stories can help provide a metaphor that can guide a student through the learning process. Being able to say, "remember when...." and compare new situations to previous experiences is powerful.

I am hoping to use this experience stage of learning when I teach my 6th graders Scratch. Before they start coding, they will practice acting out lines of Scratch code kind of like a play. That way, they have a visual and sensory frame of reference for the code they will be writing.

I am looking forward to mapping out units this summer. I can't wait to put myself in my students' shoes and plan for how they will organize and unpack content and synthesize skills to experience learning that lasts.

This year I have taught fewer units, but feel that my kids have learned more than in many of my previous years due to my focus on instructional design for learning rather than just lesson planning to deliver content. By taking the time to let my students explore the tools we use and by taking the time to scaffold them toward both proficiency with tools and with content and concepts I have found that my students have surpassed all of my previous students in retention and ability to apply the concepts and skills I want them to know.

As Washburn says,

...teachers combine four elements to design instruction: an understanding of students, a knowledge of learning, an awareness of subject matter types, and a sequence of classroom activities that mirrors how the brain processes new data.

The scary part? I have never seen unit development or curriculum mapping that puts this in action in any school I have ever worked in.

The great part? I attended a few schools that did. And man what a difference it made in my life!

If you are looking for practical advice on how to design instruction, I highly recommend this book!

edcamp Philly 2011

2011-04-12T21:07:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to announce the second annual edcamp Philly! It is a day full of learning and making connections with teachers just like you!

When: Saturday, May 21st
Where: Jon Huntsman Hall, University of Pennsylvania
Cost: FREE!

The day is completely unstructured until that morning, when the schedule of sessions is built by the attendees themselves. Sessions can range from discussions about assessment to sharing of Web 2.0 tools to interactive sessions. There is a lot of social networking and use of technology, but it is NOT a technology conference. Next to someone with an iPad you will also see someone taking notes on a legal pad. However, if you are looking to open up your classroom to more technology this is the place to go.

The best part of edcamp? The Rule of Two Feet. If you walk into a session and it's not what you expected or you are not impressed, you can simply choose a different session.

What's more, you can take tips, tricks and ideas back to your classroom on Monday and the whole day is FREE!

For more about edcamp, visit our website and check out the video below:

Ed Camp from True Life Media on Vimeo.

What We Can Learn from Peer Pressure

2011-03-29T22:49:00.000-04:00

Tonight I heard a great story on Marketplace about using Peer Pressure to affect social change.

The interviewee, Tina Rosenberg, explained how some groups, rather than focusing only on education used, essentially, Personal Learning Networks to promote social change. She sums it up below:

"...by connecting them to other people, by having them be a member of this close group, and by giving them a sense of a more positive future, and by using peers who had been in the same situation and were telling them, 'Here's what I was then and here's what I am now, and you too can change,' they found that this was very effective."

I couldn't help but make the connection between these programs and what goes on in the tight-knit group of educators using social media. We learn about tools and practices and we get ideas from other educators by being part of a like-minded community of educator with whom we can share our experiences.

We can also take this idea to heart when trying to figure out the best way to get other teachers on board with social media and technology integration. Education isn't enough. Perhaps they need some old fashioned peer pressure.

You can listen to the story here:

Why We Should Be Teaching Social Media

2011-03-14T17:13:00.001-04:00

When the story of Natalie Monroe, the "Teacher Blogger" broke earlier this year, it rustled a lot of feathers. There were those that stood in firm support of her 1st Amendment rights, there were those that called for her to be fired immediately, and there were those that denounced the idea that teachers should be blogging at all. My opinion was pretty much in line with that of Principal Chris Lehmann here in Philly.

So when I received a call from the Philadelphia Inquirer asking me my opinion, I was elated. You can read the article here.

But this post isn't about the article at all. Well, it's not about the content of the article. What struck me was the comment area. Now, comment areas are renowned for being minefields for expressing everything from well thought out replies to anonymous rants and attacks. What was new for me was that this rarely happens on my blog or on those of my 25+ good friends who blog. When it does, the blogger attempts to keep the discussion civil, and if unsuccessful, thanks the person for their opinions and ends it there.

When I read some of the comments on the article, I couldn't help but think that they are a perfect example of why social media and blogging should be taught in schools!

(these are screenshots of actual comments from the article)

Lesson #1 that I teach to my students is that once you click "Post," "Send," or "Submit," your comment may exist forever. Even if you take it down.

Lesson #2 is already explained pretty well above--don't say anything that you wouldn't say if you were standing in front of the person. It is all too easy to hide behind a screen name and say whatever you please without considering the consequences of your words.

Lesson #3 is 'stay focused'--if you're leaving a comment, make sure that you stick to the topic at hand or your comment is pretty much worthless.

I'm not afraid of disagreement when it comes to ideas, in fact, I welcome them (when they are presented in a thoughtful and respectful way). It is important, however, to know how to handle disagreement when you can't hear the tone of voice behind them or you're not sure if it is a personal attack.

Lesson #4--don't engage 'trolls' or bullies. I teach this to my students so that they know how to handle the ever-feared 'cyberbully.' Included in that lesson is how to report the user or block them.

With more and more stories coming out about students being bullied and about regretful Facebook postings and tweets, it's now or never with this up and coming generation of kids.

Luckily, there are lots of talented and forward-thinking teachers out there guiding their students in the right direction.

If you must know how to leave a quality comment, just ask the students in Ms Yollis' class:

Now what does this have to do with me blogging?

I have always been a reflective person. I have always needed to work my way through ideas, whether it be verbally or in writing. Through my blog I have been able to pinpoint instruction that works, celebrate lessons that have been successful and I have sought out advice from colleagues when I needed a helping hand. Many of my posts are crafted with the intention of helping others who may also be going through the same struggles or to provide resources to my readers.

Now, imagine being taught math by a teacher who was not allowed to multiply. Imagine the difference between being taught writing by someone who is certified in teaching writing and being taught writing by someone who is certified and has also written a novel...which would you prefer?

Young people are blogging and leaving comments all over the web and they need role models to learn from. Obviously, going by what others write in the comment area of blogs, articles and YouTube videos will not teach them how to be good digital citizens. Only practice doing the real thing will.

That said, we should also be teaching them how to use blogging as a reflective platform, not a place to rant and attack others. Who will work to challenge the next generation to break through the divisiveness and the negativity we see so much in today's society, especially when it comes to civil discourse on the web? As more and more writing is done online, who will guide students if not their teachers?

Comments appreciated :)

...just keep it civil, guys.....

And the Winner Is....

2011-03-14T13:43:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Amy, whose comment in my Super-Powered Word Study contest had the most votes!

She has won a copy of Super-Powered Word Study to use with her students.

Congrats, Amy!

Super-Powered Word Study: Teaching With Comics

2011-03-07T21:40:00.000-05:00

Recently, I was lucky enough to get my hands on this fantastic book, Super-Powered Word Study.

What I love about the book is its focus on research-based strategies. This is not a simple 'comics will make kids want to read' book. The authors James Bucky Carter and Erik A Evensen have created a systematic approach to using comics to teach students how to decode words based on their Latin roots. Their materials and methods are based on research on how the brain learns. The comics aren't bad either...

The main characters of each short comic are named after a Latin root (prefix or suffix) and the stories are deliberately interlaced with context clues to help scaffold students' understanding of the roots. Activities include word sorting and scavenger hunts within the stories as well as a final piece requiring students to craft their own stories using the roots themselves. Each comic spans a week and follows the natural progression of building understanding through sorting and categorizing words through the application stage at the end of the week where students get to show what they understand by using the words in a new way. In addition, understanding word roots will aid students in understanding the meanings of new words of all kinds that they may come across in the future.

I gave a copy to the sixth grade teacher across the hall and she reported that a few students snuck it away from her desk to read!

The book includes a CD that contains interactive comic-building software and pdfs of comics.

You can listen to a free webinar with the authors here.

I have a free copy to give away to the commenter with the best story about why their students will benefit from learning through Super-Powered Word Study!

The comment with the most 'thumbs up' votes by Monday, March 14th will win the book!

Sometimes It Takes A Few Tries

2011-03-01T21:24:00.002-05:00

My 6th graders are in the middle of building wikis about a topic of their choice. It has been a journey of learning how to evaluate sites, how to locate information, how to bookmark sites using Diigo and take notes with the highlighting feature. They have learned how to create a wiki and plan out their front page, and they have had time to explore editing wiki pages.

Before we began building I had them plan out their site on paper using a template that looked like their wiki. However, as my students were building their sites I began to realize that they were putting all of their information on the front page. It was time to talk about pages and navigation.

We spent some time looking at websites and locating the navigation and discussing the purpose of navigation. We looked at the titles of pages and discussed why the titles had been chosen and whether they were helpful or not.

Back to the wikis and they still didn't get it.

So, in desperation, I tweeted out a simple question:

I got a lot of great responses, but one from my friend Michelle stuck out:

Today we gathered together and I had a student give his topic. I wrote the topic (lightning) in a bubble in the middle of the screen and then told the class, "Let's pretend that Carl* is writing a book about Lightning. What chapters would you include in that book, Carl?" He then provided names like Dangers of Lightning, Types of Lightning as well as a chapter dedicated to photos of lightning. Things were looking good...

I then asked a second student who I knew was researching an individual, to provide his topic. Since many of the students are researching famous people, it was imperative that we do a similar exercise with such a topic.

The second student provided his topic and his chapter titles. It clicked.

The students were then sent to their seats where they used pencil and paper to draw out a map of their book title (their topic) and the chapters. Most of them were bent over, intently listing their chapters and building their map.

The red check shows that I have read over and discussed their 'chapters.'

The real proof of comprehension will come when I see them again on Friday, but I am fairly certain that they will be ready to start building their pages.

*not real student name

It's Time to Take Our Schools Back

2011-02-27T23:01:00.002-05:00

Why???

I moved to Philadelphia in August 2002 with a lot of energy and no idea what I was doing here. Nearly 9 years later I have built a career, bought a house and am proud to call Philadelphia home. I think that there are amazing things happening in this city and it is an exciting place to be. The city is full of creative, inspired and passionate people of all ages. Between The Mural Arts Program, events like Ignite Philly, a movement of food co-ops, farmers markets as well as a number of civic associations that work hard to make their neighborhoods great places to live.

The majority of these groups are community-run and are not funded by the City or the State. Often, the people running them work full time along with the work they do for their neighborhoods and the larger Philadelphia community. There are a lot of hard working individuals trying to make Philadelphia the best city it can be.

So, I ask, why does the state still run our schools?

It is time for these concerned and involved citizens to say "enough is enough." We've seen the enraged parents, the protests and the shady actions by the School District.

Until we have an elected school board that truly represents the parents, families and stakeholders of our city, then we will continue to have change forced on us and we will continue to lose our voices.

I don't pretend to know where to start, but I wonder who is with me?

Let Them Do it Their Way

2011-02-24T21:40:00.000-05:00

As my 4th graders begin their research projects we have been discussing and experimenting with keywords. Today they put together a list of questions about their topic (a famous African American) to prepare for starting their research. I gave them a choice of how they listed the questions. I modeled the list method and the 'idea map' (graphic organizer) method while also telling them that they could organize their questions in whatever fashion made sense to them.

As I walked around I noticed a big drawing of Michael Jordan on one of my students' papers. This student had been asking lots of questions about the assignment, but I had been so sure that we had cleared everything up, so my hear sank when I saw the drawing. I double checked with the student as I approached to take a closer look and he looked at me and said, "You said we could do it however makes sense to us, right?" I looked closer.

He had been writing his questions inside the drawing! It made my day.

Let's rethink our practice of making everybody do it 'just like the teacher!'

Active Grade: Create Standards-Based Reports

2011-02-17T06:42:00.001-05:00

One my recent obsessions this school year is figuring out the best assessment strategies and methods of reporting student progress. While I have not even covered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mastering how I assess my students and provide them with timely, meaningful feedback, I have been struggling this year with translating these practices into the limiting, number-based, weighted, percentile gradebook system that I am currently required to use.

I recently tweeted out that I needed to be a software designer so I could develop a system that would allow me to report how my students were progressing on standards along with the ability to provide individualized comments.

Within minutes I received a tweet from Riley Lark, who stated that he himself had gone through the same challenge and had come up with a solution himself. His solution, ActiveGrade, provides a customizable gradebook that allows the teacher to enter standards, assessments and grades based on either a percentile scale or a rubric scale. Teachers can then print out or email customizable reports that automatically populate individual grade reports in the form of a letter for each student. Teachers can input personalized comments for each student to be included in the report.

I tested it by easily copy/pasting in one of my class lists and was quite satisfied with the report it created. I was also excited by the opportunity to show a list of standards rather than random-seeming tests/quizzes or other assessments that don't paint a complete picture of what a student knows or doesn't know. All assessments can be grouped by standard to paint a picture of a student's progress toward mastering a standard.

You can try it for free for 14 days or pay just $12 until September. If you want to start using it next year it will cost about $40 for the entire year.

What Can We Learn from Gaming?

2011-02-13T22:15:00.001-05:00

photo courtesy of Clover_1 on Flickr

I have been thinking a lot recently about video gaming and what we can learn from it as educators. This is not a new concept or a new discussion. I've been seeing things happen in my classroom that really make me think there's something to this idea. My recent reflections and changes in classroom practice don't actually involve my students playing games to learn new skills or concepts (though there is research about the positive effects of this), but rather on the broader structure of games in relation to classroom practices.

For one, while watching my students play games I notice that they easily just click 'retry' or 'new game' or 'start over' and keep trying until they master whatever skill that game's level requires. They don't worry about making mistakes because they know they will get another chance. They learn more and more each time they have to do a level or game task over. We should be building these kinds of experiences into our classrooms.

In addition, games provide immediate feedback. Not just any feedback, but usually feedback that helps a student fix or improve on their previous performance. We should be giving students as many opportunities as possible for useful and timely feedback.

Games also have a purpose, an underlying goal. Sometimes there are mini-goals that help get you to the final goal, beating the game. Players can focus on the mini-goals rather than be overwhelmed by the ultimate goal of beating the game. There is usually something that indicates how far along they are toward their final goal, which makes them feel like they're getting somewhere. We should be setting manageable goals for our students that help them move toward mastery while providing timely feedback on their progress.

I have been giving my students chances to revise and revisit their work, and I find that they learn more from this experience than they do while creating the project the first time around. I have also been having them share their work with their peers to solicit feedback. From listening in on the sharing sessions, I also find that they have to explain their choices in their work, which means they are thinking about the choices they make. As for goals, I have been making a point of breaking projects down into manageable chunks and focusing on small goals for each class period so students are aware of what they are focusing on and so my assessments are focused on the mini-goals that will lead to mastery.

Don't think that things are as perfect as they sound. Adding these gaming-like aspects to my classroom is a new endeavor, which means I'm still figuring out the best way to implement the approach into my classroom. However, the immediate effects and results have been noticeable.

I am interested in reading more about the Quest to Learn school in New York City, which focuses on gaming concepts throughout their curriculum.

I would love to know your thoughts.

Edu-Overwhelmed

2011-02-08T22:33:00.003-05:00

I'll admit it.

I'm overwhelmed these days.

I feel that I am a Jane of all trades and a Master of none.

I work hard all day ensuring that I am the best teacher I can be, and then I come home to be the best girlfriend I can be while also maintaining blogs, an online professional life, working to start up a food co-op and maintaining priceless face to face friendships.

When I log onto Twitter and Facebook these days (it's been less and less recently) I notice the same names and handles scrolling by and I wish that I had time to be so connected, to devote so much time to sitting in front of the computer.

How'd I get here?

Part of it's my own fault--I can't say "no"--and part of it is because I crave dialogue and love learning new things.

However, is it worth barely talking to your loved one for hours at a time while sitting mere feet from each other?

Can it replace a drink with an old friend or a night hanging out with the ladies?

Is it more important than getting to know my community and becoming involved in local issues that directly affect me?

I'm starting to think not.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not giving up entirely, but I will need to make a list in the coming weeks and begin to pare down my responsibilities and my priorities.

I am invested in my professional community, many of whom I now consider close friends, and I am invested in the future of education as we know it. I can't detach myself from the world I dove into almost 2 years ago and I won't.

However, I know that I don't NEED to be online 24/7 and I know that those relationships will still be there as long as we are all dedicated to what we do day in and day out.

So for now I will focus on my relationships, my teaching and the co-op that myself and my colleagues have worked so hard to bring to this point. I will blog about my teaching, I will read my RSS feeds, I will travel to conferences and engage in dialogue, but you might not 'see' me around as much.

I'd rather get a hold on what's important than try to do a lot of things poorly.

I Told You So

2011-02-01T23:21:00.001-05:00

I have been fighting filtering battles ever since I first entered a computer lab as a technology teacher almost 4 years ago.

Today I got my vindication.

I am lucky that my new school does not block YouTube. My 6th graders are doing research projects that will culminate in them creating a Google Site about their topic. Today they began to (yes, it's old school) sketch out on paper a basic design for their site. As they thought about their homepage, many of them asked if they could use video. "Of course," I replied.
I quickly harkened back to last week when my friend Ann and I were embedding video into a Google Site for a presentation we did together this weekend.

"Go to YouTube," I said. See if you can find a video there. YouTube videos are easily embeddable into Google Sites with the click of a button.

As many of them searched the 'dreaded' YouTube for relevant videos, I had not ONE student searching for inappropriate content or looking up videos that were not 'kid-friendly.'

Why?

The task was authentic, and they had a purpose for searching the site.

Blocking these kinds of resources denies our students access to material that is relevant, interesting and informative.

One student, who is researching drums, bookmarked a video of Justin Beiber playing the drums in her Diigo library with a note: "Even famous people play the drums." Another student found a video of a lightning storm for his site about lighting and electricity.

If we design authentic and meaningful experiences and use good classroom management and common sense when using these tools, we can rest assured that little harm will be done.

Educon 2.3 Takeaways

2011-02-01T22:52:00.006-05:00

This weekend was a blur of ideas and passion, and I can't even begin to describe the feeling of being surrounded by such intelligent and energetic educators, many of whom I consider good friends and who push my thinking on a daily basis. Rather than go into depth about each and every session I attended, I decided to do a run-down of my takeaways from the weekend, broken down by topic. There are links to each session's Educon page and some sessions have a link to a website or wiki shared by the presenters.

Blended Learning Opportunities
Tony Baldasaro

Tony's blended learning charter school is doing amazing things by blending content with experiential learning. His students not only complete academic coursework, but complete experiential projects in a field of their choice.

Passion is when we lose ourselves in a task, when we never get tired of engaging with something, when we become emotionally invested in something.
Angela Meiers suggested that part of being passionate is suffering. While I'm not totally convinced that you need to suffer to be passionate, I think that there is an emotional investment in our passions.
We can't expect children to find their passion if we don't expose them to as many experiences as possible and let them tinker with ideas and try out different roles?

Standards Based Grading
Mike Ritzius and Kristen Swanson--session site

This is one of my recent obsessions (grading, assessment in general) and I was lucky enough to sit next to a technology teacher like myself who does a standards-based report card for her class. She shared a great site with me: SnapGrades. This site does have a fee, but it creates standards-based report cards and aligns perfectly with my current classroom practices.

What is the purpose of grading?
How do standards based grades affect college acceptance? (most agreed that they don't)
There is a lot of education that needs to be done with the families when switching over. George Couros spoke about how he was clear with the parents about why they were switching to narrative report cards rather than grades.
Standards based grades are a better indicator of what your child really knows.
When we average out grades, we penalize students for growth.
When we give students zeros, it's an easy way for them to 'check out' and not learn the content.

I could talk about this topic for DAYS. I loved hearing what George Couros had to say about his school's approach to getting rid of grades. He explained the move to the parents by telling them that it would be a true reflection of what their child knows. There was also a lot of talk about the disconnect between K-12 and Post-Secondary education, especially when it came to college acceptance.

The Future of Research
Joyce Valenza, Shannon Miller, Gwyneth Jones--session site

There was some great conversation here about what students 'need' to know and the kinds of skills they need to be successful researchers. In addition, there was some conversation about 'old school' vs 'new school' methods, tools and resources.

You can't teach research unless students are actually DOING research. They need to learn while they are doing.
Use citation tools to make citation easier (http://easybib.com)---BUT knowing citation is an important skill. It is like knowing the common code of communication for information.
Do term papers serve a purpose or are they an outdated form of assessment?
Do we love or hate Wikipedia? It lets students know when articles are poorly references, provides additional resources at the bottom of articles and includes things that you won't find in a traditional encyclopedia. However, for younger students it can be hard to read and digest while also evaluating the content.
Students need to know how to evaluate information, collect information, synthesize what they have collected and be fluent in using keywords. They also need to know where to go for the information they are seeking.

What is Literacy Today?
David Jakes and Laura Deisley

This was possibly the most engaging and fascinating conversation I had all weekend. Neither David nor Laura provided concrete answers, but rather presented us with a continuum of probing questions. Me likey. I think we all need to bring it back to our schools.

Literacy---political act, human right, interpret/comprehend, participate, literacy vs fluency, power, civic participation
Is the notion of what it means to be literate different? Has literacy changed?
Has literacy been institutionalized?
Was there literacy before there was reading and writing?
Is there digital literacy or is it just literacy in a new context?
We are now reading in new places, so we often read more than we used to.
We now have reading breadth rather than depth
We have access to what we want to read, more choices.
This means we need to be our own filter--a skill we must teach children.
We control what we read, which can lead to group think. (David Warlick)
Since most people get distracted by links and may never finish what they started reading, you can control the reader by how many links you put into your post and where you place them.
You can also create a path for the reader with hyperlinks--a conscious act
Book Glutton--read books socially and synchronously with others.
What about schools that don’t have access---are these students the new illiterate?
Is it OK to stick to functional literacy that depends on context?---being literate in the ‘world’ in which you live

Is the Internet Making Us Stupid?
Myself and Ann Leaness--session site

There was so much more to this conversation, but it was very face-to-face, so I did not take notes or tweet at all! One of the most exciting parts of the session was listening to Zac Chase's student talk about his own experiences with the Internet, distraction and his 'old brain.'

I don't miss my old network, but I miss my old brain.-- Ben Wilkoff
Do we control the tool or do we adapt to the tool?
What does it mean to be a patient reader?
Are we witnessing evolution and how big of a deal is neuroplasticity?

The Classroom of Tomorrow
Zoe Pipe and Rodd Lucier

We used Livescribe pens to record our discussions. As certain topics were discussed, I made markings on the special Livescribe paper. This allowed us to easily find parts of the conversation by clicking on the marks I made. It was difficult, but very cool.

Learning spaces should allow for a variety of learning areas.
Schools should be open to the world through the use of windows and by designs that allow each learning space to access the outdoors.
There should be a space where students can lounge or relax.
Should we still use the word "classroom" when much of our learning might not be contained within walls or learning might occur across many physical spaces?

Other takeaways:

a large presence of administrators---it is refreshing to see many school leaders create learning networks and join the discussions either as participants or session leaders
are we saying anything new?--- I find that the group of educators that attends Educon tends to be of the same outlook, mindset and viewpoint. Many of the conversations we have had over the weekend are nothing new. How many times can we hash out an idea and say "We should do something about this" before something actually gets done?
what are the new conversations?---what do we really need to be discussing as we move forward into the new year?
I have some pretty awesome friends that I only get see at special gatherings like this--social media is powerful, but nothing beats meeting someone face to face and seeing that they are just the same as they are in 140 characters. What's more, nothing beats face to face...period.

This is Why I Blog/Tweet/Use Social Media

2011-01-20T20:32:00.001-05:00

My last post, Research: One of the Hardest Things You'll Ever Do, was a reflection on a lesson with my 6th graders about evaluating sites. I shared it with my network on Twitter and was met with some dialogue about my choice of "Is it a blog?" as an evaluation question.

Here is some of the conversation:

If I had never blogged about the experience and if I had never tweeted my blog post, I would have missed out on a concise, yet meaningful exchange that challenged me to think differently about my teaching.

It makes me wonder: how I ever did anything on my own before!

Thanks to Bud Hunt and Tom Fullerton for pushing my thinking.

Research: One of the Hardest Things You'll Ever Do

2011-01-12T21:10:00.000-05:00

My 6th graders are about to embark on a journey for the next few weeks. While it may seem like an exaggeration, I tell them that "research is one of the hardest things you'll ever do." Even as an adult, I find this statement is only a slight exaggeration. They will be completing their first research project with me and I am really excited about it.

Research is one of the hardest skills to teach, and, in the past, my efforts have had limited success. This year, I have rethought my approach and have broken the process down into (hopefully) easily digestible steps.

I asked them how many of them had done a research project before, and fewer than half raised their hands. I was expecting this, mostly because of the school's lack of resources for facilitating research (no library and no functional computer lab before this year). I told them that we would be taking it step by step to make the process easier for them.

My students will be creating Google sites about their topic that they chose, so I explained how important it is to make sure that their website is factual and contains accurate information.

After we used Schoology to post our research questions and topics, installed our Diigo toolbars and learned how to bookmark sites, we spent a class period learning how to evaluate sites. I provided them with four sites and gave them a chance to review the sites for about 5 minutes, deciding which ones were real and which ones were fake. This is the page for the activity.

&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Your browser does not support iframes.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

After they had a chance to view the sites, we grouped together and, using the criteria, explored whether each site was real or fake.

is it a blog?
can anyone post here?
is it an educational or government site?
who is the author?
can I find this information anywhere else on the web?

Sometimes, we made it through all of the criteria, but when we searched the web, we found that the site was fake or the information was false. Students suggested that we "Google" to see if we could find more information about the topic. Each time I pulled up one of the sites, they easily moved through the steps, scrolling down to find the author and, in the case of the Tree Octopus, we discussed 'gut' feelings and that they can be a valid reason to mistrust a site.

Using the criteria list, my students created an acronym to help them remember the criteria for evaluating sites. They came up with one that, to an outsider, might not make a lot of sense, but I know will be helpful to them. The beauty of it is that it was created by them, for them.

Anyone post?
Who is the author?
Educational?
Blog?
Information somewhere else?

I am excited by their engagement in the lesson and I believe that this activity, and my deliberate attempt to move slowly through the research project will ensure successful websites and a successful research process.

I will keep you posted.....

Taking the 365 Project Challenge

2011-01-04T22:09:00.001-05:00

As if I don't have enough to do, I have decided to do the 365 Project, a global project whose participants take and upload a photo a day for an entire year. I'm already going strong on Day 4.

You can subscribe to my Posterous below to follow my adventures throughout the year.

Here's hoping I can do it!

If you are also taking the challenge, leave a link to your project photos in the comments!

Looking Back on 2010

2010-12-31T18:18:00.001-05:00

image credit

As this year comes to a close, I decided to look back at some of my posts from this year. A lot has happened for me, my blog and educators. I have grown as a teacher and a blogger and I have learned much from my colleagues across the globe.

Here are 5 of my posts that received the most hits this year. I think they speak for the many of events in my career and the education world this past year.

1.) Reflections on Waiting for Superman

2.) My Top 10 To-Do List for Administrators

3.) Should We Ban Fiction from the Curriculum?

4.) I Miss My Old Brain

5.) EduPunks

Thank you to all of my readers for a year of growth and reflection. I look forward to many more.

Have a wonderful New Year!

Why Scale It?

2010-12-24T12:10:00.000-05:00

photo courtesy of FreeFoto.com

I recently read an article entitled, "Education's Status Quo to Parents: How Dare You Use the Parent Trigger and Make Decisions!" on the blog Dropout Nation. I won't get into the details of the article, which was about the uproar over a private company helping parents in California use the "Parent Trigger" to call for the closing of a failing elementary school. Rather, a comment by the author of the post grabbed me.

We had been engaging on various points back and forth in the comment area and one of my comments claimed that many of these privatized charter schools are not scalable. They cannot replace traditional schools on the larger scale. To which the author, RiShawn Biddle replied,

The obsession with scale, both among traditionalists and school reformers, from where I sit, fails to consider what actually happens in the real world. Which leads to another point: Your concept of a “corporate” approach is rather false. In the corporate world, there is rarely full standardization; companies will approach their operations, markets and array of products and services differently. Proctor & Gamble is different from Colgate-Palmolive and from Unilever. All are successful in the space in which they compete and satisfy the needs of their customers. Same is true for Apple and Microsoft. What these companies do have in common is what all successful companies share (including strong talent development, and clear focus on product, service and customers). What each company does that is particular to its corporate culture and historical development will not work for others.

I stopped to think for a minute.

While I find it heartbreaking to think of students as customers and schools as customer service--first of all, this applies only to private schools with tuition, second, it's a team effort so the road goes both ways. I wonder about the argument, "it's not scalable."

We are constantly talking about how learning should be individualized, how we need to teach students, not subjects, how what works for one student may not work for another. So why are we constantly seeking that one model that 'works?'

As I stated in my comment on the post:

Privatized charter schools are not scalable. What IS scalable is giving ALL schools the freedom they need to educate students. Give ALL parents the power to make changes in their schools not because they are privately run charters, but because their school has the freedom to meet the needs of the community rather than bow down to district mandates.

There are a lot of 'franchise' type charter schools out there right now (Mastery, KIPP, Harlem Success and others), and I won't expound on my feelings for some of them, but these kinds of school networks ARE trying to scale their model by taking over more and traditional public schools. Whenever a traditional public school is taken over by a charter school, in my experience here in Philadelphia, the 'no excuses' environment and high expectation for parent involvement often causes huge attrition rates. Where do these students go? Back to a traditional public school.

It seems that the more control the government wants to have over schools the worse off everyone is. In a district as big as Philadelphia, with over 200 schools, we have the federal government telling us what to do thanks to Race to the Top, and we are run by the state rather than an elected school board. We have programs that are mandated across the board for all low-performing schools (usually scripted programs) and decisions are made for sometimes all elementary schools across the board no matter what part of the city or what population the schools serve.

This is what scalability looks like. And, as Biddle states, it doesn't work.

So when will politicians, teachers, unions, parents and edreforms galore stop looking for the magic solution and understand that any organization that deals entirely with people is complicated and defies the logic of scalability? We need schools that serve the communities and children in which they stand, not the blanket mandates of districts and large network franchises.

Should We Ban Fiction From the Curriculum?

2010-12-20T22:37:00.004-05:00

Today I had a day-long conversation on Twitter about whether we should still be teaching fiction in the curriculum. This was in response to a recent article by Grant Wiggins entitled "Ban fiction from the curriculum." In the article, Wiggins makes the argument that fiction is essentially a sissy genre read by women at the turn of the century (the last century, not this one). He also argues that most of the reading we do in our adult lives is non-fiction, and fiction reading is more of a hobby than a necessity.

I will agree that reading fiction for me was a hobby as a child. More like a necessity. I was always reading as a child. I devoured Dahl, Tolkien and L'Engle as well as The Dark is Rising Series, and The Chronicles of Narnia. As I got older it became Herman Hesse, Vonnegut, Joyce, Huxley, Toni Morrison, Castaneda and others. I've even read the Bible cover to cover (I highly recommend it. The whole world makes a lot more sense if you have.)

By the way, none of these were required readings for school, though I was lucky to have a few teachers who let us pick a book from a list to read.

image courtesy of Celeste on Flickr

However, these books helped fuel my imagination. They kept me company when I moved to a new school and had yet to make friends. They gave a voice to teenage angst and inspired me to write my own stories and poems. (Like my friend, Nick, I, too have published poems myself, though not online--yet.) In all, reading fiction helped me explore ideas, worlds and possibilities that would shape who I am today. My best teachers guided me through the process of unwrapping fiction and making connections between characters, across novels and across time periods. I learned what it may have been like to be a slave, I studied how C.S. Lewis' religious life inspired his stories of Narnia. I sifted through beautiful imagery and marveled as a story unfolded, twisted, and was resolved through the power of skillful writing. It inspired me to write. Which I did nearly every day of my life for at least 5 years. (I have the journals to prove it.)

So what does this have to do with Wiggins?

I would agree that much of the fiction I was asked to read in school was poorly chosen (Sarah Plain and Tall is a horrendously boring book, as is The Long Winter), though to say that fiction is 'girlie' is a blanket statement that belittles some of the inspiring and talented authors listed above. There is nothing girlie about the dark thoughts of Damien or the death, betrayal and battles of Tolkien and Lewis.

I would also agree that in my adult life I tend to read more non-fiction that applies to the work that I do. I now devour education books the way I used to devour Tolkien. Some, I must admit are hard to get through (Marzano's The Art and Science of Teaching). I also have an RSS feeder full of blog posts, articles and resources that I sift through on a regular basis. That said, I find myself picking up books like Matilda or even the Narnia series to escape reality a little. I find that for every non-fiction book I read I am also reading a fiction book at the same time.

Recently, I began reading Salman Rushdie's acclaimed Midnight's Children as my fiction book (David Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed in Flames is next on the list) to keep by my bedside. I have to admit, I had to re-teach myself how to read this kind of fiction. It contains visceral images, metaphors that appear and re-appear throughout the story like thread holding together a tapestry, and the writing has an irregular rhythm to it like waves crashing on the shore. Needless to say, it's a beautiful piece of writing unlike anything I've read in the last 10 years or so.

Again--Wiggins?

Our brains work differently when we read non-fiction as opposed to fiction (this is my own observation, I can't quote any research). It is imperative that we are able to read non-fiction for obvious reasons--it is practical and pertains to our daily lives/needs. However, when I read non-fiction, I may be touched by a story, but it doesn't paint pictures in my head or weave intricate tales of daring and adventure (aside from a biographical/autobiographical story). It reaches a different part of my brain, and (dare I say) my heart. Sometimes we don't know how we feel until we read how someone else has expressed or described a feeling we can understand and with which we can empathize.

All the mushy stuff aside, learning how to unravel a story through its metaphors, trying to decipher a character's motive or grasping an author's double entendre helps students work out real-life scenarios. Think about all of the messages our students are bombarded with every day on the TV, Internet, radio and magazines. These texts, scripts, etc... were not written by researchers or scientists, they were written by writers. People who write fiction.

This is not to say that there is not poorly-written fiction out there that could be designated as 'trashy' or 'shallow' or the like. There are also poorly-written history books, poorly-written whitepapers and trashy research written by poor scientists.

So rather than ban fiction, let's re-think how we teach fiction and non-fiction.

give students choices
do away with the 'standard' books that everyone reads in 'x' grade
require students to read one non-fiction book for every fiction book they read
stop silo-ing texts into subject areas and teach reading across the curriculum
if a kid really hates fiction, then let them read what they enjoy reading

Thanks to Nick Provenzano, Chad Lehman and Lark for starting me thinking about this.

Please stop by and read Nick's take on the issue on his wonderful blog, The Nerdy Teacher.

The Homework Conundrum

2010-12-17T22:04:00.004-05:00

I just finished reading an excellent book, Meeting Students Where They Live: Motivation in Urban Schools. While it doesn't contain a lot of new ideas for me, it is still a great read that has ideas for me to reinforce in my classroom and a few things to try. It's an important book, I believe, for anyone who teaches in an urban setting (though it is universally applicable).

One of the chapters is about homework. This is a contentious issue in urban schools. Many of my students go home to an empty house with no supervision, many have loud, chaotic homes that are not conducive to studying. I, personally, have never given homework since I am a 'specials' teacher. When I was an intern in a 1st grade classroom I remember giving homework from the workbook that matched whatever lesson in our literacy program we had done that day in class. Many times the parent did the homework. Many times it just wasn't done and I honestly can't remember why I was assigning it aside from the fact that it was required by administration.

I love reading posts at Joe Bower's blog about Abolishing Homework, but I've been having some positive thoughts about homework today. Some of my thoughts have been reinforced through conversations on Twitter with Chad Lehman and David Andrad e.

Here are some thoughts:

1) Homework isn't inherently bad. Worksheets and busy work are.
2) For many urban students, homework helps teach study habits and helps build skills for learning outside of school.
3) Bad homework IS pointless. It should challenge but not frustrate. It should require some thinking and, if possible, connect with students' lives outside of school. Its purpose should be to build anticipation or get students thinking about a lesson the next day.
4) Homework may not be as important for upper/middle class students, but not giving homework to students who don't have someone at home teaching them how to learn outside of school can do more harm than hurt.

Feel free to agree or disagree, but let me know your thoughts.

Motivation in Urban Schools

2010-12-14T21:19:00.000-05:00

I have had this book sitting on my shelf for about 6 months now and, due to it's over-simplistic title have avoided picking it up. I'm happy I changed my mind.

Meeting Students Where They Live: Motivation in Urban Schools, by Richard L. Curwin, has turned out to be a gem.

On labeling students

Try doing substitution when you are tempted to use a label or when you hear another teacher use one. When you want to say a student is arrogant, for example, try "She defends herself" instead. Rather than calling a student a gangster, consider saying "That student has troublesome friends." If you find yourself starting to describe a student as lazy, switch to "I've yet to find the key to involving her."

Make a list of commonly used labels--both labels that you use and ones that you've heard used--and find reasonable substitutions for them.

On threats and rewards

Threats lead to finishing, not learning

Threats lead to an "I have to" mentality, not an "I want to" mentality

Threats satiate, requiring the use of stronger and stronger threats over time.

More on rewards and punishments

When deciding whether to use threats, punishments, and rewards, think like a physician: first, do no harm.

and my personal favorite:

I hear a variety of arguments for rewarding urban students when they do well academically or behaviorally. One argument goes thus: "So many urban kids are deprived of positive reinforcement. They never get rewarded for doing well. Often, they never get noticed. They need and deserve rewards." ...so what's the problem? Although I agree that urban students' lives frequently lack positive reinforcement and that offering rewards can, indeed, compel students to do their work, rewards do not necessarily result in learning. If a reward is offered to solicit specific behavior, even desirable behavior, it is little more than a bribe, and bribes are not effective motivators. Looked at another way, bribes are simply threats in disguise. If I say to you, "If you do everything in this book, I'll give you a sticker to put on the cover," what I'm really saying is, "If you don't do what I say, I will deny you a sticker." The truth is that threats and bribes are two sides of the same coin: control.

I'm only partially through the book, but after 7 years of teaching in inner city schools, I find the advice to be well crafted, realistic, practical and while not anything completely new for me, it is a great overview of best practices and a chance to reflect on my own practices.

If you teach in an urban school, or even if you don't, I suggest picking up a copy.

When You Fail, I Fail

2010-12-09T21:11:00.001-05:00

This year has been a transformative year for me. Maybe it's because it's my 4th year in a lab, maybe it's because of my improved school environment or maybe it's because I've hit that point in my career where I can really begin to hone my craft.

One of my main focuses this year (as many of my readers may have already guessed) has been assessment. I have been discovering ways to know if my students 'get it.' Sometimes, even after what I think is a great lesson, I discover that they don't.

photo courtesy of annais on Flickr

The great thing? I actually know that they don't get it. Through developing methods for quick checks for understanding and by narrowing down my focus and learning goals for each 45 minute period I have been able to ensure that my students have mastered the skill or concept required to move them to the next part of a project or to push them to apply the skill to a new situation.

I walk methodically to each student during the class period checking off whether a student has mastered the skill I want them to have by the end of the period (i.e. "Show me how to use the paintbrush tool." or "What do you click if you want to leave this website and go to a different one?") In this way, I can quickly pick up who 'gets it' and who doesn't. I have found this vital to ensuring that everyone is ready to move on and that I address any misconceptions before applying these skills to a new situation.

The biggest realization for me has been the acceptance that when my students fail it's usually a direct result of something I have or haven't done.

This fact has been proven to me a few times this year as I changed my approach or my method or allowed my students to revise projects based around feedback. I have watched my students succeed and produce better and better projects and I smile inwardly as I hear them tell each other how to move files around and teach each other how to find applications with the Spotlight.

It's not all roses. I have stumbled and there have been lessons that failed. When this happens and my students obviously didn't get it or are not ready to move on, I have to take a step back and assess what they need to be prepared for the task or tasks ahead.

Today I told my 4th graders, "If you fail, that means that there's something that I didn't do right. If you fail, that means I failed."

It's a bold statement, but I'm starting to think that it's true.

Thank you....

2010-12-05T14:19:00.000-05:00

I am honored to have been nominated for an Edublog award.

I also deeply regret not having completed my nomination post in time!

There are a TON of amazing blogs, groups and people nominated this year, so please take the time to vote.

I also want to extend my gratitude on behalf of the Edcamp Philly team for our nomination for Best Educational Use of a Social Network. We are humbled.

Please take the time to vote for ALL of the nominated categories here:

Taking a Look at Schoology

2010-11-30T22:44:00.003-05:00

I finally decided to jump in and give Schoology a try. I've been intrigued by its Facebook-like interface and its services like assignment creating, dropbox, discussions, blogging and gradebook ever since I first came across it at the TSETC conference last month.

This is what my home page looks like. I can't show the course home page due to students' full names being listed. You can see the assignments and due dates on the right-hand side and different 'places' on the left-hand side.

I introduced it to my 6th graders this week. The first assignment we tried, after creating an account with an access code (no email required!) was a discussion question: "What is your favorite kind of poem and why?" We are in the middle of a poetry unit that their homeroom teacher and myself are teaching, so the question was relevant to the unit.

Their responses were on topic, thoughtful and one student even wrote, "This is cool." We had experience with commenting, so it was probably familiar for them, but what made it even more familiar was the format. It looks just like a newsfeed on Facebook, so they picked up how it worked with little direction.

Today they logged in again to access our first assignment: making a Voki that reads a poem they wrote. I easily added the assignment to our course page and included a link to Voki. The students then copy/pasted their Voki embed code into the comment area of the assignment.

I can see using Schoology to teach blogging with my students. They have never blogged before, so the ability to get them started in a "walled garden" is really exciting.

A few features that I love:

as an administrator you can edit student user permissions like private messaging
built-in gradebook that automatically populates with students who 'join' your course
no need for student email addresses
user interface

How I introduced it to my students:

Guided students to the registration page.
Wrote access code on the board so students could automatically enroll in my course.
Had students choose an avatar for their profile.
Guided students to the course home page to find the discussion question.
Gave students time to answer the question and read each other's answers.

That took 45 minutes.

The second day the students navigated the site much more easily and I foresee it getting easier and easier.

Punk Rock Musings

2010-11-28T15:03:00.000-05:00

I was reminiscing this weekend to the sound of Bad Religion when I realized that it was bands like them along with the Dead Kennedys and others that taught me what it was like to (literally) yell against injustice and corruption and plea for a better way. As a teenager, punk rock provided me the impetus for not accepting the status quo, for pushing the envelope and for being fearless in the face of adversity and for going against the grain.

In addition to the music there were self-published 'zines,' many of which contained articles written by students my age. The articles ranged from reviews of new albums to articles about corruption and political policies. Of course, with the advent of the Internet, I'm sure many of these zines have fallen by the wayside. I see a lot of similarity between these zines and the community of progressive educator bloggers on the scene right now.

As an adult, I still find power in many of the songs that had a huge affect on me as a teenager. Perhaps that's why I choose to label myself an edupunk.....

For your enjoyment, here are two Bad Religion songs that still seem poignant to my adult life 15 years after I first discovered them.

Against the Grain

Change of Ideas

well the sheaves have all been brought,
but the fields have washed away
and the palaces now stand
where the coffins all were laid
and the times we see ahead
we must glaze with rosy hues
for we don't wish to admit
what it is we have to lose

millennia in coming
the modern age is here
it sanctifies the future
yet renders us with fear
so many theories, so many prophecies
what we do need is a change of ideas
when we are scared
we can hide in our reveries
but what we need is a change of ideas
change of ideas, change of ideas
what we need now is a change of ideas

Take the Power Back: Teacher-Run Schools

2010-11-21T21:06:00.000-05:00

I recently wrote a post on the excellent group blog, The Co-operative Catalyst, called "Who's the Boss?" in which I explored the idea of teachers being in charge of a school. More and more I'm feeling that not only is this a trend, but it is an important movement.

This past Thursday I attended TEDx Philly, a gathering of inspiring and motivating movers and shakers in Philadelphia. I was struck by the talks by Chris Lehmann and Simon Hauger who both signaled a need for big changes in education.

Lehmann, as many people know, started his own school here in Philadelphia within the School District itself but partnered with The Franklin Institute. His talk about how High School sucks and why it doesn't have to be that way, highlighted the authentic, real-world experiences The Science Leadership Academy offers its students. As a perfect example, his students were documenting the entire event on film with still photography and video.

Simon Hauger, the renowned West Philadelphia High School teacher whose students beat out the likes of MIT and Cornell in the Progressive Automotive X Prize for their hybrid vehicle, spoke as well about how school should be. In fact, he is in the process of organizing his own school, The Workshop for Democracy and Social Entrepreneurship.

photo courtesy of Budzlife on Flickr

Educators in the classroom know that the current state of affairs in education is not working. As members of the front line, they know what works and what doesn't. They also know that the models that work do not always neatly fit into quantifiable charts and graphs that can be analyzed by computers and politicians.

I can't begin to count the number of times that I have had a conversation about starting 'our own school.' What's amazing is that most of these conversations as well as the concrete, real-world examples, have a different kind of leadership.

Leadership in schools started and run by teachers are democratic in nature. They have flat leadership and the entire staff works as a team. Some of these kinds of schools do have administrators, but these leaders are just that: leaders. They are not The Boss and they do not manage their staff like a CEO of a business. Hauger's school describes its leadership and organizational structure as one of democratic cooperation:

The school employs a shared leadership model in which roles, responsibilities, and accountability are clearly defined, but decisions are made collaboratively. (http://www.workshopschool.org/drupaled/?q=node/26)

Teachers are ready to step up and take the reins of reform. We are ready to take responsibility for educating our students and we WANT to be held accountable.

What we don't want: to be held accountable according to an outsider's standards. We can and will hold each other accountable as part of a team. If the quarterback isn't throwing winning passes, then the whole team fails. We know that NCLB is not going away any time soon. Politicians will still want their line graphs and percentages. Let's show them that students can be successful in other ways that are still quantifiable and that test prep, bi-weekly benchmark testing and other methods that 'teach to the test' are not as effective as learning experiences that teach the whole child and force real-world problem solving.

This kind of learning is messy. Which is why we need a strong, supportive team for feedback, inspiration and accountability.

So let's stop looking for band-aid reforms and quick fixes. Let's start to rethink the leadership and organization of school itself. Let's start our own schools that are within districts, not experimental charter schools. Let's change the system from the inside and truly affect change. Let's take charge of our own buildings and do what's right for kids and their families.

If you have an example of a teacher-run school, please post a link or name in the comment area.

I'm a Yuppie and I'm OK With It

2010-11-14T22:02:00.001-05:00

photo courtesy of Tim Morgan on Flickr

I had a recent epiphany that I am, technically speaking, a Yuppie (young, urban professional). I've always used the term to describe office/corporate types in suits who drive nice cars. But when I think about it, I am a young, urban professional. I might not wear a suit to work and I might not work in an office, but I have a business card, I live in the city and I am a professional.

This realization is an important one. I think more teachers need to consider themselves as working professionals. For some reason we tend to separate ourselves from professionals who work in offices or work in the business sector, yet most of us are just as or more educated than our corporate peers and we are skilled at what we do.

I once pulled a business card out to give to someone I had met and they were amazed that a teacher had a business card. We need to change the perception that we are any different than those who work in the business world. We network, we attend conferences, we have performance reviews and we had to work hard to get where we are.

I'm a yuppie and I've come to terms with it. Can you?

Effective Feedback

2010-11-09T21:02:00.002-05:00

This past month my 6th graders have been working on videos in iMovie using photos and video I took of them completing a Science lesson. They handed them in last week after grading themselves using the rubric for the assignment. I then watched each one and graded it, stapling my rubric under theirs.

As I was grading them I realized that there were a lot of places for improvement. Rather than me taking the time to meet with each group individually I set aside a few classes as film reviewer sessions. We watched everyone's movie and gave positive feedback and constructive criticism. I modeled the first few comments and then let them try it.

What ensued was the most effective feedback session I've witnessed in a while, adults included.

They said things like, "I think your music was good, but your text went too fast." They even were able to take the feedback without trying to justify or respond.

The proof of the power of these feedback session was when I let them return to their projects to work on them based on the feedback they'd gotten. I was blown away by how some students completely reorganized their images or deleted all of their text and changed it. Some re-recorded their opening videos or added smoother transitions.

This is a new group of students for me and it is their first attempt at an iMovie project. I was really proud of them.

It took 2 1/2 class periods, but the self-assessment skills they learned were worth the time. I foresee these skills carrying into other projects as they review their final products.

Here is an example of one of the projects:

Many of the students emulated things they liked about each other's videos, which is apparent in the above video, whose last clip had some inspiration from a classmate's improv video clip that was a hit.

Do you have any examples of using effective feedback with your students?

A Lunar Lesson: Approaching the Two-Step Model

2010-11-04T16:38:00.000-04:00

My grade partner happens to be our 6th grade teacher, since there's only one of her in the building and she's right across the hall. She and I have been collaborating a lot this year, and her students see me 3 times a week. She and I also share a love of Science, which has been very exciting.

Today, she brought her students over to the lab to use our Promethean board for a lesson on the Phases of the Moon. They have been studying Astronomy, but many of the students lack basic knowledge about the solar system. We decided to present the information in an interactive way using a flip chart and multimedia. (She had been using a pencil and a tin can to show them how the moon orbits the Earth.) What ensued was a lesson that mirrored the two-step Constructivist model I've been reading about.

Before the lesson began, we made sure that we knew what the learning objectives were. For this lesson they were very simple:

Be able to name the phases of the moon and explain how and why they change.
Know that the moon is a sphere and does not change shape.
To know that the moon waxes and wanes and be able to explain why.

Step 1: The Exploratory Phase
Students brainstormed what they knew already about the Moon. They then read through some facts, watched a video and a flash animation and then pulled the phases of the moon in order on the Promethean board to reinforce what they had learned about the names of the phases as well as vocabulary like 'waxing,' 'waning,' 'gibbous' and 'crescent.'

During this phase, we paused a few times to check for understanding, and then at the end we had each student write down and then tell us one thing they had learned. We didn't grade them on the lesson, but we made sure to address any misconceptions, providing interventions as needed (when they didn't understand the concept of the Sun as a bunch of mini 'explosions' we showed them a National Geographic video) and checking for understanding.

The purpose of the Exploratory Phase is to use activities, dialogue and interventions to support and assess student learning, understanding and interest.

Step 2: The Discovery Phase

After lunch, the students were given a paper with all of the phases of the moon on it. They had to cut out the each phase and paste it in order on a sentence strip, labeling each phase and stating whether it was waxing or waning. This is the performance part of the learning process. It is also the part of the process that is graded. The Discovery Phase is where the students 'show what they know' by creating a product or completing a task of some kind. This product shows the teacher whether or not they have mastered the objectives laid out at the beginning of the lesson.

I was very proud of my colleague, who had never used the Promethean Board before, but handled it with ease. I also think that our students will go home today with a much better understanding of the moon's phases as well as a deeper understanding of why and how they occur. I wouldn't be surprised if they look up more often at night to see what phase the moon is in!

This is what learning looks like.

One of the students asked, "Is this going to be one of those one-day things again?" We have had a few hands-on, interactive and fun-filled lessons with technology and Science that have lasted only one day due to the nature of the curriculum and pacing schedule. I said, "I hope not." In the back of mind I thought: he gets it. Even my student knows what real learning is. And he's craving it.

More Adventures in Checking for Understanding

2010-11-03T23:01:00.003-04:00

I'm almost halfway through a wonderful book, Applying Standards-Based Constructivism: A Two-Step Guide for Motivating Elementary Students. It has given me a lot of practical advice and it has given me a better understanding of some of my instructional practices and methods and at the same time justifies practices I've been doing for years.

I will write more about the Two-Step model later, but today I wanted to briefly reflect on a new method for checking for understanding that I found in the book. In the section on Assessment, the book stresses that teacher observation really is a valid form assessment because (gasp) teachers are professionals and are the most qualified to determine whether and how their students are learning.

The authors describe how you can easily gauge student understanding by having each student take 10 seconds to say one thing they learned at the end of class.

photo courtesy of farleyj on Flickr

Today I tried it with my 1st graders after their first time using MS Paint and was amazed as they stated, "I learned how to use the paint brush," "I learned how to use the magnifying glass to make my page bigger," "I learned how to change the color," and other things. What an 'ah ha' moment. In 2 minutes I had a snapshot of the actual learning that had happened during the 45 minute period. I tried it again with my 5th graders who had started typing stories. They shared, "I learned how to change my font," "I learned how to put my heading in the middle," and other statements that really helped me understand whether they had met the learning objectives of the class period. (They had.)

Part of the success I had today was due to the fact that I had clearly outlined the learning objectives at the start of the period and limited them to a few observable behaviors (put one space between each word, center a heading, use return key, use capitals and periods). I was easily able to know whether the students had learned what I wanted them to in a matter of minutes.

I am still amazed by Geoffrey Canada's bold statement that he was a 'Master' teacher in his 5th year of teaching. I feel like this year, my 6th year of teaching, I am finally 'getting it' when it comes to assessment. It's a messy process, but I'm loving it. I can't wait to see what I'm working on 6 years from now.

My First Experiment with Checking for Understanding

2010-10-21T21:29:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading Checking for Understanding by Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher. It is one of the most practical books I have read in a while. In it I found techniques that I could immediately apply in my classroom.

Assessment is a huge challenge for me.

I see most of my students 45 minutes a week and I teach about 300 students over the course of a week. As a previous post discussed, I have recently been working on the learning goals and focus of my lessons and projects. Now that I have semi-solved that issue I am now working on assessment.

This year I also have a new classroom setup with an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) at the front of the room and the computer facing it. This makes it impossible for me to see the student screens if I'm demonstrating something at the front of the room (we don't have wireless, so a wireless computer controlling app for the iPhone is a no go). In my former labs I didn't even have a wall to project on, so all demonstration had to happen through Apple Remote Desktop on the students screens. As a result, part of the challenge this year is getting used to a new classroom configuration.

These changes and realizations have caused me to be extra reflective in what I do and why in the classroom.

Wikimedia Commons

After reading Checking for Understanding I decided to use the 'thumbs' method to pace my demonstrations. As we move through the steps, for example, to insert an image into a project, I stop and tell students to 'show me your thumbs.' A thumbs up means "I'm with you and ready to move on" and a thumbs down means "stop, I need to catch up or I'm lost."

It has worked wonders for checking that everyone 'gets' what we are doing. I have found more of my students retaining the steps and more capable of applying their knowledge to other functions of the program. One of my 4th graders exclaimed today, "Ms. Hertz, I can insert a picture all by myself! I did it!"

Of course, even a simple sounding procedure such as thumbs up/thumbs down needs to be practiced, so I'm excited at the possibilities for ensuring that my students are getting the base skills I want them to have so we can begin to push toward more complex, content-based projects.

Another goal of mine has been to have an assessment clipboard on which I have each child's name and a skill I want them to master. Today I walked around while my 2nd graders were practicing typing lowercase letters and uppercase letters using shift as well as sentences with capital letters and and periods. I was able to go student to student, checking that they knew how to make a capital letter and write a sentence with a period and a single space between their words. I now feel that I have a true snapshot of whether they have mastered the learning goals for the lesson.

In addition to these assessment goals, I have been clearly stating the learning goals at the beginning of the class period and restating them at the end. For instance, "Today you will....." and "Today we......" I've found it makes ME even better reflect on what we accomplished for the day.

A big factor, I believe, in my ability to implement these new practices is that, now in my 4th year teaching in a lab, I have most of the big stuff down so I can now focus on more reflective practice than before. I also have a school climate that is more organized and more predictable than my previous 5 years. This gives me more time to focus on my students, not on the fact that there are 5 teachers out and I have to cover a class for 3 hours.

I'm excited to keep trying new ways to check for understanding and to focus on how and what my students are learning in a more organized, deliberate and meaningful way.

EduPunks

2010-10-17T09:18:00.002-04:00

My friend, Tom Whitby, an educator and blogger has put out a call for blog posts centered around positivity in education to counter all of the negativity going on. I recently wrote a post on the Cooperative Catalyst blog called "What (Really) Works," trying to focus on what works in education rather than what doesn't.

I refuse to get caught up in the "what's broken" conversations. It's the same reason I rarely sat in the lunchroom at my former schools. Sure, we all need some group therapy every once in a while, but when we focus too much on the negative, we start to lose sight of why we do what we do.

So I invite you, whether teacher or parent or community member, to be an 'Edupunk.' Don't get sucked into negative conversations. If the people around you are talking about how schools are failing kids, how we are behind other countries in test scores, how we should fire bad teachers and expand charters, I challenge you to bring up the fact that there are lots of successful schools doing amazing things with students and teachers who are dedicated to doing whatever it takes not to raise student test scores but to raise students' consciousness and give them meaningful educational experiences that will prepare them not for a test or a job but for life.

If you need examples of some of these schools, districts and teachers, here are a few examples:

Science Leadership Academy, Philadelphia

Shelley Blake-Plock - take a look at his classroom!

Van Meter School District, Iowa--check out what Shannon Miller is doing in her library!

Look at these administrators who blog about their schools as well as teaching, leading and learning: Patrick Larkin and Eric Sheninger
Check out some of the posts at the Cooperative Catalyst blog
Read all of the teachers who have signed onto Joe Bower's call for a grading moratorium
Read how Hadley Ferguson wants her students to care more about the learning process than the grade they get

There are so many others I could name who work hard every day and take risks in the classroom in the name of innovation and authentic learning experiences.

So rather than focus on the media, let's be Edupunks who go against the negativity and do what's best for kids. If we talk enough about what works and what's working, we might actually get somewhere.

Reconciling Tech and Content

2010-10-14T20:36:00.001-04:00

photo courtesy of K. Sawyer on Flickr

Just last week I had the first serious observation I've had in a long time. I was observed during the first time my 3rd graders used the computers all year (no pressure!). I was nervous because this is my first year in the school, but I was also nervous because very few people, aside from aides and TSS workers have seen me teach. In the 7 years I worked in the School District of Philadelphia I was officially observed a total of 3 times. Two of those observations were before I was even certified.

The best part about my observation was the post-conference. The Instructional Coach who observed me had a concise and specific goal for me to work on, and it was one that I knew I needed to reconcile. She told me that I needed to decide what exactly my learning goals for my students are.

As someone who believes that technology should not be taught as a separate class, teaching in a lab is a bit of a conundrum.

I want to make sure that what I'm teaching my students is relevant to what they are doing in their classrooms. I want my class to be more than just learning how to do x, y and z. However, I also realize that my students have never been taught how to do much on the computer at all (the whole Digital Native thing is farce, believe me).

Part of the post-conference conversation was about learning goals for my lessons. I have to make a decision. Is the learning goal about the content or the tool?

In a perfect world, I would love for the tool to be a pathway to understanding content. First, however, my students need to know how to use the tool.

So to reconcile this dilemma I have realized that I can teach the tool and make my main learning objective be focused around the tool while using a relevant topic or concept that is aligned with the grade-appropriate curriculum to teach the tool. Perhaps later in the year, or even next year, once my students have enough tools under their belt, we can begin to explore content, not tools. Until then, my role as a lab teacher is to provide my students the time to explore a variety of tools so that when it comes to choosing what tool is right for the job, their belt has a few options in it.

Reflections on Waiting for Superman

2010-10-11T16:33:00.002-04:00

This past Friday was a half day at my school for Professional Development. As a nice surprise, our CEO took the entire staff to see Waiting for Superman at a movie theater downtown. It was a very thoughtful (and exciting) outing.

As I sat in the theater before the movie started, I realized that I was going into the movie with a lot preconceptions and I already had a sick feeling in my stomach.

As the movie progressed, I realized that there was very little in the movie that I didn't know already. I recognized Geoffrey Canada's voice before I even saw him. I had learned about the Rubber Room in NYC 2 years ago when This American Life dedicated part of a show on them with interviews with actual Rubber Room teachers. Most people in the theater, including my colleagues, were learning about a lot of things for the first time. The other thing the movie failed to mention? Mayor Bloomberg and the union have agreed to do away with rubber rooms altogether.

Throughout the movie I was frantically typing notes into my iPhone, and trying really hard not to be a curmudgeon. I'll be honest, I did yell out a comment or two, but I tried to control myself.

Who are the Real Superheroes?
To me, the real heroes in this movie are not the teachers or the education 'reformers,' but the families and parents of the children the movie follows. We watch parents who have struggled themselves but have made a conscious decision to put their children first. We see a parent who takes a 45 minute subway ride just to visit a school that her child has a tiny chance of getting into. These parents are empowered in that they seem to know what their options are, they see the value of education for their child and they are willing to do whatever it takes to give their child the best education they can.

To me, the shameful thing is that while this movie shows the dedication and love of these parents, it chooses not to celebrate these engaged and caring parents. Instead, it chooses to demonize teachers and unions and lift up a small group of 'experts' as the true heroes of education reform.

Public Schools are Evil
At one point, the movie states that these poor performing schools are doing damage to the neighborhoods in which they exist. I can't argue that fewer graduates means more youth on the streets and higher crime rates, but what the movie doesn't discuss is the deeper issues that influence students outside of school. If you know more people who have been to prison that have gone to college (a statistic from the movie) a school has a huge hurdle in helping you understand the importance of school. This hurdle is magnified by uninvolved or neglectful parents.

What really saddens me is that what the movie doesn't discuss is the fact that many of these low-performing schools in high-poverty neighborhoods are teaching scripted programs, have cut out art, music and other creative arts and teach primarily to the test. Of course a student in a school like this would find no value in education. Worst of all, the teachers have little say in the introduction and implementation of these programs. This is NOT a generalization. I taught for 5 years in a school like this. We were nearly at the bottom of the list of state test scores.

What IS evil about public schools?

The wall in my old classroom.

Yes, there are a number of poor-performing or novice teachers (though for some reason if you're a Teach for a American teacher this stigma doesn't apply to you) and yes, it does require a series of paperwork to 'get rid' of a poor-performing teacher. However, the true evil is many traditional public schools are over-enrolled, under-staffed, under-funded and in many cases, the buildings themselves are falling apart.

The world Jonathan Kozol described in 1991 in his book Savage Inequalities has not changed much. In fact, Camden, which sits a stones throw across the river from Philadelphia, is, I believe, still one of the lowest performing districts in the country.

Teachers Unions are Evil
One of the most disturbing parts of this movie is the way it depicts teachers' unions. There was ominous music playing when AFT president, Randi Weingarten appeared on screen and many in the audience, including those in my staff may as well have booed at her.

Throughout the movie, the Guggenheim refers to the fact that the education reformers always find that 'the union gets in the way.' At one point, Jonathan Alter, a Newsweek writer, actually used the term "menace" when referring to unions. This from a man who writes about the economy and from a magazine who wrote the 'brilliant' cover story: The Key to Saving America's Education or Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers. (To which I responded: Shame on You, Newsweek)

I have my own issues with unions, and I'm not a gung-ho union supporter. That said, I understand their importance and their place in education.

It a complete and utter myth that union teachers are lazy and do the bare minimum because they can. Some of the best articles I have read about education have come from American Educator, a publication of the AFT. The union and its members is dedicated to celebrating good teachers and good teaching.

The movie describes what some districts call the 'lemon dance.' This is a process by which administrators agree to shuffle around their poor-performing teachers to share the burden rather than fire them (wait, we should blame that on the teachers?).

This process happens constantly in the School District of Philadelphia with administrators. A strong administrator will be pulled out of his or her school to go 'fix' a school with a poor-performing administrator. This poor-performing administrator is then either shuffled to a new school or put behind a desk at the central offices. Principals have a union, too.

For the 7 years I taught in the unionized School District of Philadelphia I met teachers from all ends of the spectrum. 90% of them were talented, hard-working and dynamic. They had classes of anywhere from 25-30 students with no aid. They weathered fights and lock downs, they taught students were neglected, malnourished, students with a variety of learning difficulties, and they did this often in a building with a broken heating system, no air conditioning, peeling paint, broken stairwells and a schoolyard that looked like a prison yard.

The other 10% were like the 10% in any other profession.

So why did they still have jobs? Yes, partially it was because of due process. Not tenure, as some would call it, but what I would like to call 'due process.' (Thanks to Ken Shelton for reminding me of that distinction.) Some of these teachers were receiving extra support and had already been disciplined. Some had not been disciplined, but were offered extra support by school coaches.

Others? Lord knows. In some cases, everyone in the school knew they were a poor teacher, but nothing was ever done about it. In my opinion, it may have been too much of an effort to go through the discipline process. Or, maybe certain steps had been gone through, but then the administrator never pushed further.

Why, you ask, have due process at all? Why make it so difficult? It may seem simple enough. Do away with due process and you can get rid of these poor performing teachers more easily.

Here's why.

Many administrators here in Philadelphia solve the paperwork conundrum by just writing teachers out of the budget. However, they usually don't write out the poor teachers. Instead, they write out the people who speak their mind, the people who stand up for themselves. The people who won't accept the status quo.

Without due process, without a union, these people would essentially be out of a job just because they stood up for what they believed in. I am not speaking hypothetically here. I personally know of two people who were written out of the budget for these reasons.

So why else are unions important?

In a large, urban district, a lot goes on in any given day. A teacher may be dealing with a dangerous child who has destroyed a room 2 or 3 times without repercussion. They may be publicly teased or harassed by a co-worker, an administrator or a student. A union is there to help them out.

The current system of tenure (due process) does get a few things wrong.

I was granted tenure by the School District after 3 years and a day as any employee is. However, I had not received the necessary official observations required of a non-tenured teacher. Despite that fact, I was granted tenure automatically.

That system is inherently flawed. No one really knew what was going on in my classroom.

I wonder, as a side note, how Michelle Rhee herself kept her job after applying masking tape to her students' mouths during her first year as a Teach for America teacher. I'll tell you one thing, though. Her union would not have been able to do much if she asked them for help.

However, focusing the conversation on tenure is a waste of breath. It is, in my opinion, the least of our worries at this point.

Divide and Conquer
What I feel that this movie has done is successfully pit 'us' against 'them.' Charter versus traditional public, union versus non-union.

I see this in my day to day conversations and it breaks my heart. Recently, on Facebook, a friend told me that I was part of the "Charter school movement." I had no idea, first of all, that there was such a thing. This statement just reaffirmed my beliefs that we are moving away from the real issue, which is educating children.

My response has become my personal mantra:

I'm a part of the educating kids movement. Charter, regular public, whatever works ;) I think all schools should be free to do what they think is right for kids. So do most of my union buddies.

Why the Movie Appeals to Us

One thing that Guggenheim does to reel the audience in is to use scenes that depict school the way it looked when 'we' went to school. The desks are in rows. The kids are using pencil and paper. They are taking tests. There is some carpet time with a story. He also intersperses some school scenes from the 1950s and 60s. There is a warm sense of familiarity to the scenes that helps pluck our heartstrings.

The problem?

from Wikimedia Commons

None of the scenes depict a truly innovative or progressive school. School just doesn't look like that anymore. To see what progressive and innovative education actually looks like just see George Lucas' response to the movie and watch the videos at the bottom of the post.

What is it That Teachers Do?
If you were hoping to get that answer from this movie, be prepared to be let down. There is little insight, aside from the clip of a teacher whose use of rap songs to teach the alphabet and other concepts inspired KIPP founders Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin. Other than that, it's all similar to stock footage. One can also assume that the teachers they filmed were at the charter schools and not a local public school where pretty much the same kind of teaching probably goes on.

What you will see, however, are images of kids heads opening like a door with a teacher pouring knowledge into their brains. Because we all know THAT'S how teachers do their best teaching.

Some Surprises
There were a few comments about the profession that really amazed me. One came from Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children's Zone. In describing his path to teaching and his experiences, he stated that he became a Master teacher in his 5th year of teaching.

I was floored. I am in my 6th year of teaching and I am hardly a master. In fact, I believe that there is no such thing as a Master teacher. If you call yourself a Master, it implies that you have no more to learn, that you have mastered everything you need to know. Anyone who has ever taught before knows that, as a teacher, you can never master everything you need to know about teaching. Becoming a teacher means dedicating yourself to a life of learning new things.

The second surprising comment came from Michelle Rhee, who stated that she came into her job as Chancellor of schools in Washington, DC, knowing that she'd be a one-term chancellor. She is also a TFA graduate. What does it say about her motives or dedication to students and families to come into such an important, powerful job with that mindset?

What it Gets Right
As I went into the movie trying very hard not to be a curmudgeon, I made a point of finding parts of it that I agreed with.

The first statement I agreed with was actually by Michelle Rhee. She stated that after all of the trials and tribulations she had been through that in the end, it's "always about the adults." While we may not agree on why that is or which adults we are speaking about, it is entirely true that in the discussion and implementation of school reform, it is most often the students who are thought of last.

The movie also makes an important case for the detrimental effects of tracking students. However, it is not necessary to attend a charter school to avoid tracking. Many schools have done away with it. It's a shame that the one featured has not yet.

I also agree with the movie's statement that we have an obligation to other people's children. Now who 'we' are in the movie I'm not sure, but I would agree that we are in this together. I would also agree with Guggenheim's statement that "schools haven't changed, but the world around them has." This indeed, is one of the roots of the problem. Too bad he didn't take the time to show schools who are changing with the times and it's a shame that he says that almost at the end of the movie.

Final Thoughts
All in all, Guggenheim has produced a film that is heart wrenching and has a clear message. It provides a solid jumping-off place for dialogue to happen.

Let's just hope that the dialogue happens and that people learn to read between the lines of a well-produced and well-funded movie.

I hope that others will join me in my mantra.

I'm a part of the educating kids movement. Charter, regular public, whatever works ;) I think all schools should be free to do what they think is right for kids.

Other posts about the movie:

Abandoning Superman - John T Spencer
Seeing Waiting for Superman - Kirsten Olson
We're Not Waiting for Superman, We're Empowering Superheroes -- Diana Rhoten
Larry Ferlazzo's list of posts about Waiting for Superman

An excellent description and explanation of Charter Schools:

The Toll-- Chad Sansing

Superman image from Xurble on Flickr

Authentic Writing

2010-10-06T21:43:00.004-04:00

My 6th graders just completed their Digital Citizenship websites using iWeb. I am very proud of them as this is the first project we have completed together and it is the first project they have completed using Macs.

As I have no server yet, I had the students hand their work into my favorite site, drop.io. They were instantly able to see and comment on each other's sites. I handed out our rubric to help them focus their comments on our guidelines (Layout, Graphics, Fonts, Spelling & Grammar and Content Accuracy). I told them they had a chance to 'practice what they preach' when it comes to Digital Citizenship by following good netiquette when leaving comments.

As I expected, there were a few mean comments (this is not the first time I've done this lesson so I was prepared) so we discussed how to handle anonymous bully-like comments. I was able to delete the comments that were borderline inappropriate, also modeling how webmasters can decide what they want to remain on their site and what they want to take down.

From reading their comments it was obvious that they knew what made a good website, that they had read and understood the rubric and that they had read each other's text. In addition, I was able to view all of the websites and comments in one place and I left each student a personal message about his or her project.

There is huge opportunity, when letting students share and respond to each other's work, for deeper reflection, higher levels of motivation, and a classroom culture built around constructive criticism, higher order thinking and collaboration. No longer are they writing and creating for the teacher, they are writing and sharing for each other. I am excited to see what effect this has on their writing process and progress.

In the words of Neil Postman:

Once they have become literate, most people have intellectual and emotional powers that are irrevocable.

Postman also asks:

When was the last time you wrote a 'composition?'

In the 'real' world, we write with a purpose. We write from the heart, we don't write cookie cutter, 'constructed responses' that follow a pattern and a uniform structure. (Can you find the topic sentences in this post?)

Don't you think a school year ought to be a continuing exchange of ideas, rather than a series of staccato "lessons" and "units?"

quotes from Teaching as a Subversive Activity, 1971

Review of Intel's Classmate PC

2010-10-01T22:02:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to be asked by Intel to review their convertible laptop, the Classmate PC. Upon opening the demo model I received in the mail, I definitely knew that this was a 'cool' product. How, I wondered, though, would it be different than a regular laptop and how would I see it being used in the classroom? First, I dug through its basic features, as described below.

The Desktop

The Classmate PC came with both Windows 7 and the Inspirus desktop that Intel has created for student use. It also supports Windows XP and Linux operating systems. Personally, I think the modified desktop isn't necessary for students over the age of 6 or 7. After 3 years of teaching students in grades K-6 in a computer lab, I find that students learn how to use and navigate the computer easily without needing training wheels. While using the Classmate PC, my students found it a little confusing when the desktop switched to the Blue Dolphin Quick Launcher, which provides a list of programs. While most of the programs appear in the Quick Launcher, only those that have been approved by the account manager will open.

When setting up a student account, the Inspirus desktop can be adjusted to the child's age or it can be set with a regular Windows desktop. The child can change his or her desktop background and bottom tray (similar to a Mac's 'dock') to personalize the machine. Also similar to a Mac, students can use an application similar to Stickies to put reminders on their desktop.

The Browser
The Inspirus desktop comes with a browser made with students in mind. With managing options, I could see this being a great advantage for 1:1 programs in which the students take laptops home. Schools would not have to worry about where students are navigating to, especially since, unlike in school, there may not be an adult watching them. When a student is using the browser, they cannot type in their own URL. The adult who manages the account provides a list of 'Favorites' and bookmarks where the child can go. When setting up the account, you can also choose to have Internet Explorer set as the browser if the Safe Browser is too limiting.

Power and Battery
The Classmate PC has pretty good battery life. It comes with an extra long power cord that could be helpful when working outside or in a classroom as it provides more mobility should the battery life fade 'on the job.'

Input/Output
Like a true laptop, the Classmate PC has a VGA port, and it has 2 USB ports, one on each side. It also has 2 headphone slots (great for collaboration) and a microphone jack. It also has both an SD card slot and a mini SD slot, which is great for editing images and video captured on the go.

Networking
It was very simple to connect the Classmate PC to my home wireless network. It also searches automatically through the network for a 'teacher machine' and asks if you would like to connect. Students can connect to a teacher machine to share files and for monitoring and demonstrating purposes.

GPS
While I did not try out the computer's GPS, I read that it is built into the computer. This could be great for Geocaching activities.

Memory
The model I was sent had about an 80G hard drive, though from the Spec sheets I've seen it usually comes with anywhere from 8G-32G. Sizable space for a little machine.

Other Child Safety Controls
A parent or teacher can also set up a bonus points system where a child can earn bonus points for playing educational software. Non-educational programs deduct points. I'm not sure how the computer knows which applications are educational and which aren't, but for a parent, this could be a great way to keep track of what your child is doing on the computer. For a teacher, it could also serve as a management tool.

While not a safety control, the laptop does come with a water-resistant keyboard and states that it has passed a 50-60cm drop test. (I didn't test that feature out as you can imagine.) It also has a built-in handle for easy portability and it has a slot for a lock should you want to lock the laptop to a table or desk.

The Software
The machine comes standard with a SmartNotebook Student Edition license which does not require your school to have Smartboards. The software allows students to create content and it is optimized for touch screen capabilities. This software allows for the teacher to manage and monitor student machines as well as broadcast and share content. It also allows for student content to be shared among peers or to be shared on an IWB. When a student connects to the school network, he or she can instantly connect with their teacher's machine.

The MyScript application, which allows students to take handwritten notes using the touch pen on lined notebook paper is fun and, for lack of a better word, 'cool.' However, both myself and my students had trouble getting our words to look fully formed on the screen. This may improve with practice, as it does on an Interactive Whiteboard. As a result of the difficulty writing with the pen, the application didn't recognize all of my students' handwriting. I could see, however, this application being useful for writing observations or for those students who want to take notes in tablet mode.

As for educational value of MyScript, I could see it being used by students with limited typing skills, or when students are on the go and not sitting in a classroom or at a table or desk. It would be great for school trips or for writing observations during an outdoor science lesson. As for use in the classroom, I think that the keyboard would be less frustrating. However, one of my students who struggled with using the application still said he enjoyed using it, even though he couldn't properly write his own name using it.

Art Rage application in tablet mode

By far the best application that came with the computer was the ArtRage Paint drawing application. This application is available for Windows and Mac, but seems to have been optimized for the touch screen for the Intel Classmate PC. In tablet mode, it is like having a pad of paper and a box of drawing and painting tools at your fingertips. My students really liked it. This, too, could be used for outdoor Science lessons or even observational drawings for art class or for a class trip.

The Easy Learning application, which is essentially math problems paired with animation, was not that impressive. I did receive a trial version, but it only provided repetitive math problems about multiples of 10. The games were not leveled and did not seem to be age appropriate for very young students.

Inspirus Mail is an easy to use, simple mail program that looks promising. It is set up by the account administrator and looks pretty easily managed and monitored.

In talking with the designers, I also learned that Kidspiration and Inspiration are optimized to work with the Classmate PC and that McGraw-Hill is selling Classmate PCs w/an e-book bundle and interactive textbooks. While I am not advocate of teaching from a textbook, for schools looking to embrace the e-book trend, it is an option.

The Stylus
The Classmate PC comes with a stylus pen that can be easily stored in the side of the machine and is attached to the machine by a thin cord. Most of the applications can be controlled either with the stylus or with the mouse. While my students used the stylus mostly in tablet mode, they also used the stylus when in laptop mode. The stylus can be used in Inspirus Desktop mode and in regular Windows mode. If you are in tablet mode and want to type, you can either click on the stylus icon on the task bar or click on the icon when it appears next to the cursor. Then you can write what you want with the stylus into the box that pops up and it will converted into type that you can then enter into the screen. I was able to fill out the search box in Internet Explorer this way.

The stylus can be calibrated easily if needed, much like an IWB, and I did not experience many issues with it being unresponsive. The biggest issues were with forming words and letters that the software could recognize. This is no different than when using a pen with a Promethean board.

The Camera and Microphone
The Classmate PC comes with a rotating camera and a microphone. My students were able to walk around with the PC in laptop mode and take video. The ArcSoft Webcam Companion application for capturing photos and videos is easy to use, as is the editing software that comes with it. The editing software is limited, however, to the basics: rotating, cropping and resizing. Students can also annotate photos and there is an e-book feature, though it is more like a photo slideshow. These features would be great for capturing experiences outside the classroom to share or blog about.

The camera can be rotated 180 degrees and works both in laptop and tablet mode. There are controls on the side of the screen for the camera when working in tablet mode.

Student Reviews

Of course, my students were immediately struck by the 'coolness' of the machine. None of them had trouble figuring out how to convert it from laptop to tablet mode, even without instructions. They stated that it "feels nice on your hands" because of the soft rubber casing, and they thought it was "not too heavy" and that it was a good size because it could "fit in your backpack."

watching video and editing photos in tablet mode

They found trackpad easy to use, and they felt that the camera and microphone quality were great as well as the sound quality.

When they were asked what they would change, they replied that they would love for it to be a touch screen without the pen and that they would like it to be even smaller. Otherwise, there was nothing for them that really needed an overhaul in design.

When asked whether they would prefer a Classmate PC or a traditional laptop, the students overwhelming stated the Classmate PC because it has "more features" and because it's small enough to go anywhere.

Introducing Classmate PC into the Classroom
When I asked my students what they would use the Classmate PC for, they replied "book reports" and "art projects." These responses show how important it is for the teacher using these in his or her classroom to use the features and tools in innovative ways as well as how in some cases, much of the responsibility for teaching how to use these tools for learning will fall on the teacher. As such, I do not suggest that schools go out and purchase a whole class' worth of Classmate PCs thinking it will transform the learning in their school. Like any 1:1 program, introduction of the Classmate PC requires thoughtful planning and professional development for the teachers.

Intel does offer professional development courses through their Intel Teach Programs, and I did notice some free course offerings.

The Cost
The Classmate PC is sold through individual vendors, so the price varies. It starts around the mid-$300s, which makes it about the same cost as a standard netbook, but with more features.

Final Thoughts
I would recommend the Classmate PC if an elementary school were going to a 1:1 program, but I would not suggest it for students over 6th grade. The machine is best for younger students as older students may find it a bit childish. It is a great computer for mobile learning or if students have to take their computer back and forth to school. With all but the youngest students, I would use the regular Windows desktop as the Blue Dolphin utility and the Inspirus Desktop may be too limiting and childish for older students.

If you have a strong, inquiry-based Science program at your school, this machine would also be great in a lab setting due to its sturdy nature, small size, portability and its various features such as video/image capture and the ability to connect peripherals such as microscopes and other lab equipment.

The Classmate PC has great features that can make for powerful learning experiences and it simple to use. If your school does not plan on taking these out of the classroom and creating mobile learning environments, or if your students do not take laptops home, then I would stick with a regular laptop. The screen and size of the Classmate PC is not optimal for completing intricate classroom projects, especially multimedia projects. While none of my students complained about the Classmate's size, they also were not thinking of it as a content-creating device but more of a consuming device.

If your school IS planning for more mobile learning, then the Classmate PC is the perfect tool.

For more about the Classmate PC, check out these links:

Interactive Manual
Spec Sheet (pdf)
Press Sheet

Reflecting on Tech Integration

2010-09-30T08:12:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, I am at a new school this year with a new twist on my former position. I still teach technology but now I have time to plan my lessons around what students are learning in the classroom. I did write a technology curriculum, but will only need to fall back on it when necessary. Instead, I have been reviewing the literacy and science curricula of my students and planning lessons that infuse technology into the concepts they are learning in the classroom.

As an example, my 2nd graders were focusing on synonyms and antonyms. Last week, we used PicLits to create pictures with synonyms. It was the first time they had ever used the computers in the lab, so the assignment was simple, but they did a wonderful job. First, we brainstormed synonyms of words and then they chose a group of synonyms to put on a picture of their choice.

You can see their work on our student work wiki.

Today, I will be pushing into a 6th grade class for a stream table lesson on erosion and landforms. The students will create streams and then create a birds-eye-view map of their stream, labeling areas like delta or canyon. Tomorrow, they will come into the lab with their drawings and, working in their same small groups from the stream table lesson, they will use Google Maps in satellite view to find examples across the planet of various landforms. They will also have to explain how they think the landform was formed. These responses will be in the form of comments on our assignment page.

I will have the students take photos and video of the science lab today for use in making a documentary-style video about the experience.

Needless to say, it's exciting.

NBC Steals the Cake

2010-09-26T14:25:00.000-04:00

I just watched NBC's Education Nation Teacher Town Hall and participated in an online Twitter conversation with the hashtag #educationnation.

I saw two tweets from friends that really caught my attention:

and

It is probably true that NBC will get all the attention for having brought together so many educators in one place while those of us who have been doing this for a year either through our use of Twitter or the weekly #edchat discussions.

I guess my hope is that other teachers will see the value of conversations like these and join us.

The next step: action!

Sustainability and Gadgetry

2010-09-26T12:41:00.003-04:00

Those who know me well know that I am a very deliberate and conscious about my impact on the environment. I eat mostly organic, I avoid processed foods, I never eat fast food, I buy as local as I can, I've been recycling since I was nine, which also the time around which I started cutting the soda can plastic rings to save ocean animals from strangulation (back then they still dumped garbage into the Hudson River). I am part of a committee that is starting up a food co-op in my neighborhood so we can have access to local, sustainable and healthy food, I walk or take public transportation when I can, and ride my bike for farther away errands. I try to use as many biodegradable cleaning products as I can as well as recycled products, and I rarely buy packaged food to avoid throwing out too much trash.

Basically, I am an environmentally conscious person in almost every aspect of my life.

Except my 'gadgets.'

photo courtesy of NOAA

This epiphany came to me while I was reading an article in Newsweek about China's new initiative to start mining around deep sea vents. The article describes the unique ecosystems that thrive around these vents. 1,300 new species have been discovered in these ocean communities since 1977. The vents, which spew seawater as hot as 750 degrees Fahrenheit, create massive mineral deposits. The seawater that leaves the magma under the ocean floor brings with it melted minerals that cool and harden as they hit the cold ocean water temperatures. One of these deposits, according to the article, is 600 feet across and 120 feet high. Inside these deposits are minerals and ores like copper, gold, silver, nickel and tellurium, which is used to make computers, CDs and DVDs.

As I read this, I began to think about all of my gadgets, my 2 laptops, my phone, and all of the processors that run nearly all electronics these days. In all of my attempts to be environmentally friendly and conscious, my gadgets are the one place I have been slacking.

I am pleased to know that my Macbook Pro is made of one piece of aluminum, but the processor and most of the parts inside are made in China. The last thing I want is for my love of gadgets and devices to cause the destruction of an ecosystem that is not only unique, but that also has provided microbes that enable DNA fingerprinting, and other biological compounds that could hold cures for diseases.

Right now, China is in the process of exploring these vents in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.

But this is not the first time that a mineral found in our beloved devices has had negative implications on our planet. In addition, the mineral coltan, which is in every cell phone on the planet, has caused political strife, corruption and deaths in the Congo, where it is mined. Some call coltan the new 'blood-diamond.'

Does this mean that we should ditch our devices?

We don't necessarily need to stop buying new computers and cell phones, but we DO need to be more conscious of where and how they are made. We should make sure that our old machines get recycled, and that these materials that are so costly to mine are reused. We should also be making sure that we know where the parts of our devices come from. We should be pressuring companies to mine sustainably. I hope that, just like the consumer campaigns against Nike's sweatshops or against Congo's blood-diamonds, consumers will start demanding that their digital products contain sustainably mined minerals.

Australia, one of the places that coltan comes from has already moved in that direction. Check out the sustainable mining conference that happened just this summer.

Able to Leap Tall Buildings....and Save Education?

2010-09-19T03:09:00.001-04:00

Tonight my feathers have been rustling over the soon to be released documentary, Waiting for Superman. Before I go on, take a look at the trailer.

Okay, here we go. So when I first watched the trailer I immediately felt doom and gloom come swarming down from above. I knew exactly where the movie was heading. The long and short of it: "Education is broken. It needs to be fixed." But we all knew that anyway. Sprinkle in some Michelle Ree, some Arne Duncan, some Geoffrey Canada and you've got all of the big names in school reform. The problem? I assume that there's a lot of discussion about what's wrong and a lot of generic, crowd-pleasing rhetoric about how education needs to change. Kids don't have a chance when the teachers are incompetent and a child's only chance is to get into a lauded charter school like KIPP or The Harlem Children's Zone's Promise Academies. Don't get me wrong, I think that the HCZ has done wonderful things and is a great initiative. It's also funded largely by private donations.

I predict that teachers' unions will be blasted, that Randi Weingarten will be made to look like the devil and that there will be no concrete examples given of successful schools that are NOT charter schools. I also predict that there will be a lot of talking heads and not a lot of actual teachers in the movie, further perpetuating the myth that we are stupid and don't know what we're doing. There will definitely not be an appearance by Diane Ravitch.

I guess what worries me is that this movie is wonderful mid-term election fodder and it will stray the conversation from the real issues of ineffective government accountability policies, lack of funding and an overall lack of creative vision when it comes to education. In addition, I fear it will perpetuate the idea that the US is at 'war' with other countries to get back on top when it comes to education. If we are trying to 'win,' then, as described in a recent Newsweek article, The Creativity Crisis, we're not doing a very good job.

When faculty of a major Chinese university asked Plucker to identify trends in American education, he described our focus on standardized curriculum, rote memorization, and nationalized testing. “After my answer was translated, they just started laughing out loud,” Plucker says. “They said, ‘You’re racing toward our old model. But we’re racing toward your model, as fast as we can.’ ”

Everyone else in the world seems to have figured out that inquiry and problem-based learning creates a better learner and a better citizen. Education is not a battlefield. If we treat it like one, then yes, we will end up with the system we have today. Or as Neil Postman spells out in Teaching as a Subversive Activity:

The institution we call “school” is what it is because we made it that way. If it is irrelevant...if it shields children from reality...if it educates for obsolescence...if it does not develop intelligence...if it avoids the promotion of significant learnings...if it induces alienation...if it punishes creativity and independence...if, in short, it is not doing what needs to be done, it can be changed; it must be changed.

And that was in 1971.

So I hope that this movie will address the real issues. I hope that all of the rhetoric on the website about changing the education system and "demanding world class standards for all students" doesn't turn out to be a marketing ploy. I definitely plan on making a point to see it as soon as it comes out. If you do buy a ticket to see the movie, and you get a Donors Choose voucher, use it to help fund my project! I do have to thank them for that.

For more commentary on the film, check out these posts:

An Inconvenient Superman by Rick Ayers
Waiting for Superman Sends Educators to Detention Hall by Bonnie Goldstein

Across Oceans and Across the Street

2010-09-13T23:27:00.001-04:00

Tonight I hosted our biweekly committee meeting for the South Philly Food Co-op that myself and a small group of community members are working hard to open. There's something special and intimate about having a group of people who are not necessarily your friends, but with whom you share a connection, sitting in your living room.

Part of our efforts have included door-to-door surveying of neighbors and community members as well as participating in community events and speaking at civic association meetings. I have never learned so much about my neighbors or my community. In the process of finding neighbors to survey I officially met my neighbors two doors down whom I have been smiling and saying hello to for a year now.

Which got me thinking.

With all of the amazing opportunities that technology offers to open up our classroom walls and make global connections between students across oceans are we forgetting the importance of the community across the street? Technology has the power to connect students with their neighbors and to become active members and participants in and spokespeople for their local communities.

So lets open our classroom walls to the world outside our window as well as the world beyond our reach.

Photo courtesy of Bill Gracey on Flickr

We Need Headphones!

2010-09-06T11:36:00.000-04:00

So this post is a shameless plead for help.

For those of you who have been following me on Twitter for a while, you may know that I have started a new job at a charter school in North Philadelphia. The students have never had a technology teacher who taught more than keyboarding and the school is in the process of upgrading the technology in the school. We have a new Mac lab for the older students (3rd-6th grades) and an old Dell lab for the little ones (K-2nd grades). I am planning on introducing my students to multimedia projects as a way to show understanding and I know from experience that my little ones will need to spend some time navigating sites like Starfall to get used to using the computer.

However, the school did not have the funds to purchase headphones to go with the computers.

As a result, I can imagine 25 computers all spitting out various music, sound effects and other noises while my students work on videos, and I foresee podcasting as impossible. The older lab's computers don't have external speakers, so my little ones who are beginning reading won't be able to listen to stories or directions on sites we will be using. As for providing my students with screencasts to help teach them how to use various applications or complete an activity, that will be totally out of the question, too.

I have begun to realize that in order to provide my students with the skills they will need to be successful as 21st Century learners, we need something as simple as headphones.

So PLEASE help us achieve that goal and allow us to complete exciting digital projects and build our literacy skills by donating whatever you can to our Donors Choose Project. And of course, pass the project along to anyone you think might want to help!

Click here to view the project

Who's Tracking You?

2010-08-21T15:26:00.001-04:00

Just recently I heard a story on Fresh Air, a radio show on public radio, about companies that track your web surfing habits and sell them to ad agencies. It was a fascinating story, and a chilling one. There are companies making tons of money off of your browsing habits. By tracking where you go, ad companies can advertise products based on your specific habits. While this is nothing new, and many argue that at times it makes things like Internet searches easier, it can be a little creepy. The guest on the show, Julia Angwin from the Wall Street Journal, told a story about looking at shoes online and then having the shoes appear in ads all over the pages she browsed on the web. She finally broke down and bought the shoes.

Like most people I know, I do a lot of web surfing, and I'm not comfortable with 3rd parties having access to my browsing habits. Julia shared a resource, Abine, which is a browser add-on that encrypts your information, scrambles your email address and blocks 3rd parties from accessing your information. The coolest thing it does is that it pops up a little window in the corner of your browser when you go to a site telling you how many cookies have been placed on your computer by the site, and whether there are any ad networks or tracking sites in use. You can then block them with the click of a button.

I have been using Abine for a day now and just to give you an idea of what I've learned about different sites, here is what came up when I went to Best Buy's website, which I have spent a lot of time on recently while searching for a washing machine.

If you are someone who is concerned about their browsing privacy, check out Abine to see what it can do for you.

I also suggest that you read or listen to the story on Fresh Air to learn more about what companies are tracking and how.

Crowdsourcing is Dead. Or does it have a new face?

2010-08-19T22:07:00.002-04:00

A recent Newsweek article, Take This Blog and Shove It!, makes the argument that crowdsourcing and interactivity on the web is dying. It calls Wikipedia's drop in contributors a 'tipping point' in the history of the web, stating that "Even the Internet is no match for sloth."

Quoting a recent Pew study that the number of bloggers in the 18-24 year old range has declined by half from 2006 to 2009, the authors argue that this is evidence that "many of them would rather watch funny videos of kittens or shop for cheap airfares than contribute to the greater good." They acknowledge that there has been a large shift to Twitter, but then state that, with "50 million tweets per day...as many as 90 percent of tweets come from 10 percent of its users according to a 2009 Harvard study." In addition, the authors describe a decrease in commenting by Internet users along with ploys that various sites have introduced to increase interactivity by users.

I agree with the authors that at the dawn of the interactive web there was a feeling that it was a great democratizing force and that it allowed for everyone's voice to be heard, so people were excited to contribute. However, they claim that 'ennui' is the reason why interactivity on the web has decreased.

There are a few factors at play here.

Cliff Lampe's insight, as quoted in the article, that there are more sites competing for our attention plays a huge role. With so many places to have our voice heard, contributors are stretched thinner than ever. However, the decrease in the number of bloggers in that age range just means that most bloggers are older, professional bloggers and that perhaps (gasp!) the format that people use to express ideas and opinions might be evolving or that people can't be forced to comment on content that is irrelevant or poorly written. I have seen 3 or more pages of comments on articles about charter schools or government policy, never mind the pages of mindless comments on YouTube videos.

As for crowdsourcing, I have crowdsourced ideas at least a dozen times just this month. I had 88 responses to my survey on technology tools people planned on using during the first week of school. South by Southwest crowdsources its panelist proposals each year and every week the #edchat discussion topic is decided by an online poll.

A couple of other things came to mind.

Should we be worried about the idea that we will return to being web content consumers? We should teaching our students how to harness the power of the interactive web to make sure it survives, grows and evolves. Our students hold the future of the web in their hands.

We need to explicitly teach our students how to use the Internet for more than cute kitty videos and shopping and we need to accept the fact that the web is a fluid, constantly evolving organism that is only in its infancy. The web that our students will use when they are adults is something we can only imagine in our wildest dreams. They need to be an integral part of its future.

There are many other details in the article to reflect on, and I suggest you give it a read, even if you don't agree with its slant or conclusions.

Feel free to leave any comments on the article or on my musings below.

photo from Hannes Treichl on Flickr

Vote for 2 Great South by Southwest (SXSW) Panels

2010-08-12T19:17:00.003-04:00

I have been honored to be included in two education panel proposals for the South by Southwest (SXSW) music, film and social media event held every year in Austin, TX. It draws thousands of people from all over the country and lasts an entire week.

The two panels are chock full of talented, innovative people who live and breathe education and are dedicated to doing what's best for students. Feel free to pick the one you like better or vote for both!

Panel 1:
The Emerging Role of Social Media in Education
Panelists: Richard Byrne, Steven Anderson, Kyle Pace and myself plus a moderator TBD

Panel 2:
Education in the 21st Century
Panelists: Joe Bower, Chris Lehmann, Shelly Blake-Plock and myself plus Aparna Vashisht as moderator

To vote, you will need to create a free Panel Picker account, which only takes a few minutes. SXSW states that they do not use your email address to send information or emails, so don't worry about getting a million emails from them.

Voting ends Friday, August 27th and these crowdsourced votes count for 30% of the total votes!

Thanks for your help!

photo courtesy of Mike Rohde on Flickr

I Miss My Old Brain

2010-08-04T00:20:00.000-04:00

I recently began reading The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr. I first saw him on The Colbert Report and was intrigued by his interview. I have only read the prologue, but already I am hooked.

Even when I was away from my computer, I yearned to check email, click links, do some Googling. I wanted to be connected. Just as Microsoft Word had changed me into a flesh-and-blood word processor, the Internet, I sensed, was turning me into something like a high-speed data-processing machine, human HAL.

I missed my old brain.

Carr's story struck such a chord with me that I made it a mission to get my old brain back.

I used to sit and lose myself in 300 page novels. I've never really been good at getting work done in front of the TV or if there is music with words playing in the background. I get to work at 7:20 am every morning so that I can have an hour to myself uninterrupted in my room before the day starts. So why am I kidding myself that I'm doing my best work with TweetDeck running, my email open and a tab open for Facebook (not to mention countless other tabs and windows)?

These last few days I have done my best to only check my email on my phone if I feel the urge. This keeps me from getting sucked into the computer. I spent today catching up on my Newsweek magazines, helping my friend with some little tasks for her jewelry-making company and rather than take the train home I walked the 20 blocks. It felt wonderful. It's almost as if every minute I spend off the computer makes it that much easier to close the lid.

It's a weird revelation for someone who dedicates so much time to using technology for her own learning and spends so much time and energy learning new ways that technology can inspire and motivate students while allowing them to take control of their own learning.

Call me 'old school,' but I think that it is important that we teach students how to focus on one thing at a time. I think our students need to be aware of their own multitasking and they need to be taught how to take measures to balance the skimming and shallow activities that they do on the Internet with deeper, uninterrupted activities.

In my experience, when I spend hours multitasking on the computer or spend days at a time sitting at the computer I feel scatterbrained and unfocused. I find it hard to start tasks around the house or sit and read my Newsweek or whatever book I have on my Kindle at the time. Today I felt focused, refreshed and, well, alive.

I recently read a wonderful New York Times article entitled I Tweet Therefore I Am. In the article, the author describes a touching moment with her daughter which she has an urge to tweet out to her friends. She continues to eloquently describe how Twitter plays into our psyche and our self-image. Twitter has definitely changed the way I experience life. Small observations and experiences become tweets in my head almost unconsciously. For example, I am thinking of a tweet right now while I watch The Daily Show about how having Will Ferrell and Jon Stewart at the dinner table would be the best night of my life.

I am certain that the Internet is changing the way we think and experience our day to day lives. We need to be conscious of this and make sure that we don't mistake efficiency and the ability to absorb large amounts of information for careful reading and thoughtful reflection on what we are absorbing.

I am also certain that the Internet has been an invaluable resource for me, especially over the past year. The information and resources I have accumulated that help me be a better teacher, the relationships that I have fostered, the connections I have made, the dialogues and debates I have had are priceless. Granted, I have been forced to learn how to manage all of this information through various tools like Google Reader and Diigo. I have also been forced to learn how to manage my online relationships through tools like TweetDeck. The result? From time to time I have an information overload or a feeling that I can't keep up with all of the conversations flying by. I start to find myself clicking around from tab to tab or tweet to tweet mindlessly.

I miss my old brain.

photo courtesy of Dimi15 on Flickr

My Call to Educators for Leadership Day

2010-07-30T16:50:00.000-04:00

Last year I participated in Scott Mcleod's Leadership Day project with an overview of the NETS for Administrators that I felt were most important and a video of some of my campers talking about technology in their inner city schools.

A year later I have grown exponentially as a teacher and as a person as a result of being connected with educators and Administrators all over the world. I call some of these Administrators colleagues. This has greatly changed my perspective on what an Administrator's role is as well as what the challenges are of being an Administrator. I have also come to realize that Leader and Administrator do not always mean the same thing. I have met many Leaders who do not run schools or districts (and I have met Administrators that were not necessarily Leaders).

I thought about this while reading Jon Becker's Leadership Day post. In his post he lists award winners in various education organizations. These are highly regarded thinkers in education who have a lot of influence on policy and practice. Powerful thinkers that I had never heard of.
He called on these organizations and individuals to step up their game by becoming more transparent about what they do and say through social media like blogs. I would say that we who consider ourselves leaders or aspire to be education leaders who are 'in the trenches' need to do the same. How many of the people on that list know the people I consider leaders?

Social media has connected me with educators all over the globe as well as thinkers and doers like Alfie Kohn, Howard Rheingold and Diane Ravitch. Granted, there are those that would argue that these are famous names, but not great thinkers in education. However, they are famous and respected by many. So it seems the logical next step is for these award winning thinkers to join the online community. We want our president to be transparent. We rally for more a more open government. Why are we not rallying for a more open conversation between the educational thinkers, the doers, the leaders, the people in the trenches, the parents, the students, the teachers?

The challenge may fall back to the old 'us vs. them' situation. But isn't that why we love social media so much? It tends to tear down those titles and walls, allowing for a free flow of ideas. I can tweet Barack Obama (though Lord knows who's reading it!) Earlier in the year my friends were debating back and forth with Governor Chris Christie on Twitter about the education reforms he was pushing in New Jersey (again, who knows who they were really tweeting with!). Let's bring more people into the conversation.

As Jon suggests, look up some of the thinkers on that list. Start blogging about what you find or read. Start talking about their ideas in the context of what you do on a daily basis. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" as they say. People are always interested when they are being talked about!

"But who cares what I have to say? I'm not a true Leader in education," you say?

If you are a teacher who finds that others tend to listen to you when you speak, you are a Leader. If you are an administrator who works alongside his or her staff and has a true vision for your school, you are a Leader. Bring attention to what you are doing in your school, your classroom or your district through blogs, videos, press and even direct contact. Make it so that the people on Jon's lists know who you are just like you know who they are. As Leaders in your respective worlds, you are doing a disservice to your individual causes by not connecting your two worlds.

image courtesy of dunechaser on flickr

My Top 10 To-Do List for Administrators

2010-07-30T16:07:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Scott McLeod for continuing the series!

10) Read Curriculum 21, edited by Heidi Jacobs with your staff, discussing it using the ASCD Study Guide and familiarize yourself with the National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators

9) Try to visit every classroom in your school at least once a week, even if only for a few minutes. Talk to students and teachers about what they are doing.

8) Offer differentiated professional development. Do this by asking your teachers what THEY want to learn or what they are struggling with. Don't offer the same training to everyone, rather base it around their needs.

7) Use your teachers as your best resource. Allow your staff members to run professional development based on their own expertise in the classroom. Hold an all-day or half-day 'unconference' in your building where teachers decide the content and teach it. Don't bring in expensive experts to train your teachers unless you have to.

6) Choose one digital tool to try out that will make your job easier. Maybe email your daily announcements or complete your observations on a laptop or iPad. Create a Google Form to collect information from your staff or students. Start a blog to announce school events and initiatives and celebrate student achievement. For examples of administrators who blog, click here.

5) Reflect on your school's Vision and Mission. What do you want your school to be known for? How will your school's mission ensure that you are preparing students for the future? What should teaching look like in your school?

4) Don't just buy flashy technology because the district next door did it. They may be kicking themselves in a few years. Think about your Vision and Mission. How will technology fit into the picture? Do your research and take your time when making decisions on large purchases.

3) Make tough decisions. As principal Eric Scheninger says, there will always be naysayers. Do what you know is right for your students and your staff.

2) Support your teachers who are using technology in innovative ways and use them as resources to support their colleagues with technology integration. For those staff members who are reluctant, pair them with a technology-using teacher as a mentor and model how you use technology in your every day life. If these teachers don't see how technology fits into their personal life they will not see a purpose for using it in their classrooms.

1) Be vocal. Connect with other administrators whether it be through Twitter or a network your district already has in place. Share ideas, share successes, share failures. Be a voice for your students, your faculty, your parents and your community. Contact the local press when you are having an event or see an especially innovative project going on in your school. Make sure your school's website is up to date, accurate and engaging. Start a Facebook page for your school and a Twitter account. Be out there.

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The Grading and Assessment Conundrum

2010-07-25T23:54:00.002-04:00

This weekend I attended ntcamp, an unconference for both veteran and new teachers aimed at providing conversation for new teachers to learn from veteran teachers. I sat in on a session facilitated by Jason Bedell about grades that proved to be a thought provoking one.

He created a collaborative document that holds a lot of the thoughts, reflections and reactions from the session. You can access it here.

It really got me thinking about my own grading practices, which I have always struggled with. Part of the struggle has been trying to give grades to almost 300 students that I see once a week for 45 minutes (if I'm lucky). Part of it is just an underlying feeling that I'm not 'doing it right.'

I tend to focus on project based learning with rubrics as an assessment. I create the rubric first, outlining the learning goals and creating descriptors to support what they would look like from basic understanding to mastery. My rubrics are constantly being revised, reworded and reworked. While the project is still in progress I make notes on changes to make as I see fault with the scale or descriptors or if I find that wording is unclear. Still, I feel that I'm just not 'doing it right.'

So I wonder: Is this because I haven't figured it out? Is there something inherently wrong with giving students grades? Or maybe this feeling is just a necessary evil?

My struggles:

Even with very specific descriptors that spell out the requirements for each criteria I often find myself wondering how objective my grading really is
I always have students who don't finish the project in time for the end of the marking period--why should they be penalized just because they work more slowly than their neighbor?
By teaching with a standard rubric I am using the same expectations for students who are not all the same. I do modify the rubric for students with IEPs, but usually it's just a matter of deleting a criteria to simplify the project.
How do I get my students to look beyond the grade when I give them feedback?
How do I assess my students the way I think is best within the constructs of the system I am forced to use?
Is it OK for me to be instilling in my students the idea that they are only as good as someone else (me) tells them they are?
How do e-portfolios, having students develop rubrics, student self-assessment and having students explain their understanding of a standard verbally or in written form (all ideas I've been hearing) play out at the elementary level?

What I am going to try:

Using LiveBinders to have my students start an e-portfolio that we can add to each year. Students would choose what items will go into the portfolio
Sitting with students while they explain how their portfolio item(s) meet the standard(s)
Collaborating with classroom teachers to incorporate content standards into my projects
Making standards transparent to my students and having discussions that will help me assess understanding
Keeping individual records on students to track progress--it should be easier this year since I won't be teaching 400 students a week!
Allowing students as much time as they need to complete assignments
Letting students revise a project until it meets the highest criteria
Have students tell me the grade they think they deserve with a justification (perhaps by having students record their grade explanations as an mp3 to hand in digitally)
Allowing for group work that will provide students the opportunity to use their strengths and learn from their peers.
Designing learning experiences that allow the students choice and that are based on real-life situations

Still unsolved:

How to quantify these assessments so they fit into a gradebook/report card
How to introduce and explain these kinds of assessments to my students
If I let my students take as much time as they want, what do I do if they haven't finished by the end of the marking period?
If I am going to ask my students to explain their understanding of a standard that means I will still have to have deadlines of some kind
I will have to plan for time for the self-assessments--this will take away from instructional time
How will I convey expectations to my students? Will I still need to have a rubric of some kind?
How will I create these 'authentic' learning experiences while allowing for student choice and meeting standards?

I'm still on the fence about grades. I know that something is not right, but I also know that we are working within a system that is based on quantifying student learning. My students will need grades to be able to get into a good high school (in Philadelphia you can apply to competitive high schools) and definitely to get into a good college. In addition, students want to know if what they are creating is any good. We all know that feeling when we thought we really had something good only to find out it was only mediocre. Some of my most memorable teachers were able to give me useful and honest feedback while also asking questions to push me further. Eventually, though, this feedback ended in some kind of evaluation in the form of a grade. In addition, we spend our adult lives being rated on some kind of scale, whether it be your quarterly review or a formal observation or a raise,

On the other hand, it wasn't the grade that I remember, it was the feedback process. So I guess I want that experience for my students. I want them to be more interested in the conversation around a concept and dialogue of learning than how I rate them on some seemingly arbitrary scale that I have concocted so that I can put a letter or number in a box.

So what are you struggling with? What are you going to try to do differently next year? What are your thoughts on grades?

For more about abolishing grades here are some resources/ideas

Joe Bower--Abolishing Grading and The Grading Moratorium
Matt Townsley -- The Tenets of Assessment/Grading Reform (guest post)
Alfonso Gonzalez -- Why Grade to Assess?(guest post)
Jason Bedell's Summer Series on Assessment

photo courtesy of pjern on Flickr

What's Really New in Education?

2010-07-19T12:46:00.002-04:00

Maybe it's because it's summertime or maybe it's the general atmosphere of education these days, but the online education community has been a flutter with talk of what needs to change in education.

What I'm wondering is how much of this is new or different than years past. I am fairly young, so my memory is short in comparison with those who have been teaching longer than I have. In a conversation with my mother the other day she mentioned that many of the changes to education that I was mentioning mirror the attitudes and reforms of the late 1960's and 70's.

Honestly, my one course in the history of schools and schooling didn't really do the whole picture justice, so my own understanding of trends in education is limited. However, it is becoming clear to me that what many great minds in 21st Century education transformation are discussing is nothing new. John Dewey wrote about learning as a social process at the turn of the century just as we tout the power of social media to change education as we know it. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky's theories along with Dewey's are credited with inspiring the Constructivist learning theory that describes knowledge as being constructed by the learner. This theory is behind many 1:1 laptop programs that support individualized learning. In addition, Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, proposed in the last century, is often referenced when discussing how digital tools of this century can support and transform student learning.

So what really is new in education for this century?

Is the issue really that even with all of these supported theories and innovative thinking that schools have not changed to reflect these theories? Or is the issue that educators are revolting against the No Child Left Behind Act and the widespread standardized testing that goes against these theories? Or is it the recent Race to the Top initiative that bears a close resemblance to the changes proposed by the A Nation of Risk study from the early 1980s?

I believe we live in a time like no other history. I believe that education has to evolve to meet the challenges of this world. However, I wonder how much of what we do fundamentally as educators really needs to change. It seems that we still quote theorists of old when we talk about teaching in the 21st Century.

So what can we learn from the past? Are we taking the time to look back at what others have accomplished or the struggles and challenges they encountered or are we too focused on the future? I think we should not have the misconception that the changes that we discuss and the ideas we have are necessarily new. The tools, yes, but not the underlying theories and pedagogy. I am intrigued by this paper I came across describing the "social- and cognitive-connectedness schemata" as a way to describe what learning looks like in the 21st Century.

I think it is undeniable that technology has changed the way we think and process information. I am looking forward to reading The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr for that reason.

Perhaps nothing is really new in education when it comes to theories because we are, for lack of a better term, at a tipping point in education. We know that we are cognitively being changed by the digital tools in our lives, but how we are changing is not quite certain yet. It may take a whole century for these changes to deeply affect how we teach and how we learn, or they may not change anything at all. At this point in time I would argue that we don't need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to what we do in our classrooms. I would also argue that the advent of digital tools have helped support the theories of the last century.

What are your thoughts?

photo courtesy of Mark Brannan on Flickr

The Charter School Dilemma

2010-07-16T14:52:00.000-04:00

I am an avid reader of The Philadelphia Public Notebook, a non-profit newspaper and website dedicated to all things related to public education in Philadelphia. The most recent issue focused on Charter Schools. This piqued my interest as I will be going to a Charter School next year after almost 7 years in the Philadelphia School District. I read an article about the expansion of Charter Schools in Philadelphia and began scanning the comments. What I found was a not so friendly debate about the Charter School movement. Immediately what upset me the most was that two of the commenters were using Anonymous or other pseudonyms--a pet peeve of mine. To see the full conversation you can check out the article and the comments here.

I felt the need to respond as I was disheartened by the unkind banter coming from "Anonymous." I posted this:

Here was the response:

I responded as such:
(I have posted it here as text so it is easier to read)

Anonymous,

Is this the same Anonymous from the first conversation above?

I will first reply to your question: "What do you expect to gain from working there?"

I will gain:
being treated like a professional, not a cog in a wheel
having a say in what I teach, when I teach it and how I teach it
knowing that when my colleague is not towing the line or if his/her teaching is doing a disservice to his or her students that he or she will be let go (yes, I am prepared to be blasted for that statement)
working with a team that is dedicated to a clear mission and vision
not having to teach scripted programs for 2 hours a day
knowing that I am not being governed by a non-elected School Reform Commission run by the State
not wasting hours of instructional time giving my students benchmark tests that are not a true reflection of their learning (not to mention the hours of instructional time spent teaching them how to take these tests along with the PSSA prep)
I am a little confused by your grouping of Charters as 'they.' Charters are all very different. For instance, there are Charters like Mastery and KIPP that are very discipline oriented and are focused on academics and test scores. There are Charters like Independence Charter whose students take full immersion Spanish classes whether it is their native language or not. There are Charters like New Foundations whose curriculum is focused around Service Learning and whose teachers attend national conferences based on teaching Project Based Learning.

You cannot lump all Charters together is my point. They are not a united front by any means.

That said, if all of Philadelphia's public schools had the freedoms given to Charters or even traditional model schools like Penn Alexander, or perhaps if being an Empowerment school actually meant being empowered and not weighted down with rules, regulations and scripted programs I would stay in the district. Unfortunately, the schools that are the most desirable are often protected by the transfer process & tenure or are highly competitive (100 applicants for one position) or no one ever leaves unless they retire. Many of these schools that are site-select only start interviewing before the site-selection process even officially starts, so unless you know someone you are SOL.

As for funding, I too am saddened at watching funding disappear for the arts. However, I wouldn't blame it all on Charters. This is happening all over the country. Partially due to redirected funds, partially due to high stakes testing that does not included these subjects and partially due to the money put out for expensive programs to help raise test scores. It doesn't help that Ackerman got a $65,000 bonus or keeps creating new positions at the top to support her.

As for rallying against Charters, why don't we start rallying FOR the things that will make Charters unnecessary? More choice for schools in how they run themselves, more flexibility for and trust in teachers, a comprehensive study of whether giving students a standardized test every 6 weeks will really help instruction or whether formative assessment can suffice. More high quality, differentiated professional development to ensure that quality instruction is going on in ALL classrooms and accountability for those administrators and teachers who don't tow the line?

I would love to hear people's thoughts on my response or any other parts of the conversation, even if you don't agree with me.

Just keep it civil and don't post as "Anonymous." :)

ntcamp 2010 PLN Panel

2010-07-12T23:35:00.001-04:00

I have been graciously asked by Andrew Marcinek to participate in a panel at ntcamp 2010 on Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) with my friends and colleagues Tom Whitby, Kyle Pace and Steven Anderson. One of the most important resources that a new teacher can have is other teachers. Without a strong base of support, many new teachers leave the profession or find themselves overwhelmed. Building a PLN, whether it be within their own building or through online tools like Twitter, blogs and Nings is vital not only for new teachers but for all teachers.

As a panel we want to make sure we address what the attendees want to hear. Andrew has put together a Wallwisher to crowdsource some questions and topics for us to address as a panel.

Please add to the Wallwisher with some guiding questions or discussion questions for us!

For more on PLNs:

Why everyone needs a great PLN
What Makes a PLN Valuable to You?
5 Things You Can Do to Begin Developing Your PLN

ntcamp 2010

2010-07-12T23:03:00.001-04:00

In a little under 2 weeks I will be attending ntcamp 2010 in Philadelphia. What is 'ntcamp' you ask?

Here's the run down:

an unconference modeled after edcamp and barcamp
a day of conversation based around topics relevant for new teachers (ntcamp!)
a day of participant-run sessions

I was an organizer of the inaugural edcamp unconference here in Philly and I have been ecstatic watching them spread all over the country. I am even more excited to have the first edcamp for new teachers to be held here in Philadelphia!

Why should I attend ntcamp?

As a true unconference, ntcamp is FREE. It is free from vendors. It is free from death by PowerPoint. Best of all, it is free of charge. Sessions are scheduled the morning of the conference by the attendees themselves. If a session doesn't live up to your expectations or you are free to 'vote with your feet' and choose a different session. Sessions are informal and are a great way to meet other educators with a passion for what they do. Often, conversations extend past the session's time limit into the hallways or lunch.

Who should attend ntcamp?

As the name suggests, ntcamp is geared toward new teachers. However, there really is no limit to who can and can't attend. Anyone who is invested in education is welcome. Ideally, a veteran teacher would be able to bring a new teacher with him or her to experience the varied discussions and resources shared.

How can I register?

You can register at TicketLeap.

For more on unconferences
Another unconference by Lisa Thumann
Wikipedia definition of unconference

The Power of Words

2010-07-09T12:40:00.002-04:00

One of the most practical and powerful books I've ever read as a teacher that has directly affected my practice is The Power of Our Words by Paula Denton. In it, Denton describes, using specific examples, how what we say and the words we choose with students can transform our teaching and our classroom. It did for me.

This past week at ISTE 2010, the largest educational technology conference of its kind in the world, there was a lot of talk about a session (I'm not sure who ran it or what it was called. If you do, please tell me in the comments!) in which the leader did not let the participants use the word 'but.' For instance, you couldn't say "I would love to use technology in my classroom BUT I don't have enough resources." you would have to say "I would love to use technology in my classroom AND I'm looking for grant opportunities to bring resources into my classroom."

It's amazing how changing that one little word can change your entire outlook on a situation.

So I challenge you: When you start to hear yourself say 'but....,' STOP. Think. Reword your statement to reflect a positive outlook.

For more about overcoming negativity, read this post by Carla Arana called Say NO to Change, which addresses how we need to change our attitudes about change.

photo courtesy of Dunechaser on Flickr

Turning Words into Action: Part 2--Be Heard

2010-07-06T23:50:00.003-04:00

Tonight's #edchat conversation both invigorated me and irritated me at the same time. Don't get me wrong, it had nothing to do with #edchat itself, but rather the topic. We have talked ad nauseam about reforming education. We have hashed out what needs to be done, what education should look like and why it's important that we DO something.

So where do we start? How do we start?

As I was watching the tweets go by I began to think: we have a huge community that participates in #edchat. A huge community of taxpayers, parents, community members and educators.

To really move our words into action we need to start with those who make policy--our legislators.

I have drafted an open letter to a legislator that can be edited to fit the needs of any local community. The letter could also be adjusted to be sent to President Obama or Secretary Duncan.

The idea is to use the Google Doc to collect signatures. The understanding would be that once the letter's body has been agreed upon it would not be changed, but people could add their name at the end of the letter.

The letter can be passed around using Twitter, Facebook, email or any other digital method until the desired amount of signatures is acquired. The letter can then be downloaded as a Word document and forwarded to the legislator. I'm hoping to get 200 signatures of parents, teachers, admins and other community members once a version of the letter has been refined for my local community. It is vital that all stakeholders are represented in the digital signatures!

Make your voice heard!

Copy the letter to your own Google Doc and get the message moving!

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Of course, I don't claim that this letter is perfect or speaks for everyone. It is a template to start from.

I'm hoping to get at least 25 people to commit to starting the initiative.

If you are going to participate, please fill out this Google Spreadsheet so we can track our progress and our reach.

Thanks and keep fighting the good fight!

For more information on how to find your local legislators:

Find your state Senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Find your Congressman/woman: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

photo courtesy of hebedesign on Flickr

The Philadelphia Public School Notebook

2010-07-06T15:12:00.000-04:00

If you are a teacher, parent or anyone invested in education in the Philadelphia area, I want to introduce to THE source of information for what's going on in public schools in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Public School Notebook is "a nonprofit news service serving thousands of supporters of the Philadelphia public schools. The Notebook serves as an information source and voice for parents, students, teachers, and other members of the community who are working for quality and equality in Philadelphia's public schools." (from their website)

There you can find blog posts, editorials, news stories and resources for parents, teachers and community members. It is updated almost daily. If anything, you can learn from reading the comments on many of the articles. The Notebook is tuned into the heartbeat of the public school system and its readers are real people who reflect the community at large.

Even if you're not a Philadelphia teacher, parent or community member, it is worth a look.

You can also follow them on Facebook, where they often post current stories.

Disclaimer: I am listed on their blogroll. I do not receive any kind of promotion or compensation for appearing there. I am promoting them based solely on the resources and dialogue they provide to the community.

Is ISTE Still Relevant for Young Educators?

2010-07-06T10:16:00.001-04:00

As many of you may know, I was given the honor of being named this year, along with 3 others (Chris Craft, Lisa Sjogren, Adam Bellow), an ISTE Emerging Leader. My new colleague, Julie LaChance was awarded ISTE's Outstanding Young Educator Award. I was excited to meet the awardees as it was certain that we had something in common and that these were people with whom I should be collaborating. It turned out that many of us ran in the same circles and that we indeed share a lot of the same goals and motivations.

Before reaching Denver, I had spent a few days with some colleagues vacationing in the calm before the ISTE storm. As the 'baby' of the group, I found that my outlook, goals and passions did not differ from my elders. One interesting fact I learned was that it seems that ISTE's smallest membership is with educators under 35. A colleague made the observation that perhaps ISTE is irrelevant for younger teachers, who find it commonplace for technology to be integrated into teaching and learning.

I know for a fact that while younger teachers are accustomed to using technology and that there are more technology integration courses being taught, it should not be expected that young teachers are experts in technology integration, receive support in their schools for successful integration or are aware of how technology can transform their teaching. They also may not be aware of trends, policies and projects that are occurring around technology in education. In addition, ISTE provides a venue for young teachers to meet more veteran teachers who have been successfully integrating technology for years.

That said, there was definitely a small number of attendees at the Young Educators' Network event. I have two theories as to why this is. For one, perhaps we don't want to be labeled. Being a newish, younger teacher can often hold a stigma. Younger teachers are seen as novices, even if we don't feel like one. Secondly, yes, we're young, but one aspect of being a teacher is that your colleagues are of various ages. As such, we're used to hanging with colleagues who are of a different age or generation.

I still think that ISTE is relevant for young educators, and I feel that building a network of young educators is important. The 4 other award winners are people for whom I have a lot of respect. They are accomplished and make a huge impact in the field. Were it not for the Young Educator's Network, I would not have connected with them.

In addition, as the youngest members of the organization, we hold the future of it in our hands. We hold the future of education and technology integration in our hands. It is up to us to build the future that we want and to ensure that the best practices that we know and share continue while also fostering innovation and global collaboration. The Young Educator's Network creates a community for us to connect and collaborate.

I do find, however, that even within the Young Educator's community there is a range of experiences and associations. It was easy for us award winners to connect since we were already connected through Twitter or common colleagues. This makes me start to take the title of Emerging Leader more seriously--even if it is a label tacked on by ISTE. I do suddenly feel charged with the duty of moving best practices in technology integration and global collaboration forward. ISTE has provided a network that Twitter, the blogosphere and Ning communities can't always build since not all educators my age are as entrenched in these online communities as I am.

So for those young educators out there, let's take the bull by the horns and stay connected. It is up to us to decide what the future will hold for our students and our profession.

Please stop by Julie's blog about Young Educators at ISTE here.

You can also join the Young Educators Network here.

Dissecting the 21st Century Teacher

2010-06-29T03:03:00.000-04:00

I'll be honest. I didn't really plan on attending a lot of sessions at ISTE this year.

However, the one I attended today was one of the few on my schedule. It also happened to exceed all expectations.

The session, moderated by Ken Shelton and featuring a variety of educators, including Paula White, a member of my PLN for whom I have much respect, was a panel discussion focused around some thought provoking and deliberately worded questions developed by Ken himself.

What ensued was a meaningful and engaging conversation about what it means to be a teacher in the 21st Century, about the use of technology in the classroom and the struggles that teachers face. Each question Ken posed was worded just right to allow for deep thinking about what it means to be a teacher in 2010.

One of the things that I took away immediately was the idea that we are NOT 21st Century educators. Rather, we are contemporary educators. I have always struggled with the label "21st Century learning" as a way to define what I do, when in fact, I am educating and preparing my students for the future, not the present.

One of the first discussions delved into this. Are we contemporary teachers just because we integrate technology, or is it more than that? Furthermore, do we NEED to always integrate technology to be contemporary teachers?

One of Ken's brilliant questions was: "Do 21st Century teachers make a conscious and deliberate effort to integrate tech into their curriculum?" (I may be paraphrasing here, but you get the idea.)

I had to really think about the wording of the question. Conscious effort, yes, but deliberate? That was the word that got me. Should we be searching for ways to integrate technology into the curriculum just because it's expected or because we feel obligated or because the technology is there? Is it a necessary aspect of being a 21st Century teacher to be seeking out ways to use technology in our classroom?

Or, should the technology we use in the classroom be so seamlessly integrated that we use it only when it fits our learning goals and leave it aside when we can achieve a learning goal without it? As Paula suggested, technology should transform a lesson without the lesson being centered around the technology itself--seamless integration.

On the other hand, should we be thinking deliberately about why we are using technology, how the tool will engage students and transform learning when we introduce new tools into the classroom?

As an audience member stated, "curriculum needs to drive technology." We need to keep learning goals in mind first before we think about the technology we are integrating into the classroom.

One of the last questions asked was:

"Are these the greatest challenges a 21st Century teacher faces?

Money
Lack of resources
Lack of Professional Development
Student aptitude/attitude
Lack of Administrative Support"

I don't believe that all of these qualify as the greatest challenges of a contemporary teacher. Some of them are facts of life (money and student aptitude/attitude), We can either claim these as road blocks, or we can label them as stumbling blocks from which we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and keep trudging.
One thing you can clearly see is missing from the list: time. This was mentioned by an audience member. I am of the opinion that if it matters, you can make or find the time for innovation and risk taking. Seek out your own resources, find your own learning network to support your professional development needs, write grants and work with what you have.

Maybe this is asking too much, but we have to stop making excuses.

So what is a 21st Century teacher?

A contemporary teacher is one who maintains relevant content and delivery and allows students to explore content through whatever medium or pathway that is appropriate for the task, whether it is using technology or not. A 21st Century teacher is a contemporary teacher, integrating technology seamlessly with content, transforming lessons and building global citizenship amongst his/her students. S/he is an advocate for his/her students, s/he connects with like-minded educators and never stops learning.

What does it mean to you?

photo courtesy of aaron schmidt on Flickr

Crowd Sourcing and Problem Solving at ISTE 2010

2010-06-28T18:12:00.001-04:00

As I was sitting in the Bloggers Cafe and listening to the hubub around me I was empowered by the conversation. Why do people come to ISTE? Why do they convene here in this space with few chairs and even fewer tables?

To find solutions.

We all come across struggles and dilemmas in our daily teaching experiences, and what better place than this to find solutions?

Next year I will be at a new school, starting a technology program from the ground up. My school wants Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) and technology to be integrated into every aspect of teaching and learning. Right now, we don't even have a lab or any up-to-date technology in any of the classrooms aside from one Dell desktop as a teacher station.

I have been sitting here picking the brains of some wonderful educators for whom I have a lot of respect about 1:1 programs and IWBs and how they use them in their schools and districts. I have been learning about different brands, what they offer and the good and the bad about each one. I have been getting feedback about how to implement 1:1 programs and learning about the pitfalls to avoid when implementing a program.

I was talking with my friend, Cory Plough about some conversations he had last night that helped him solve some struggles and dilemmas that he has been facing in his teaching. He felt that he had learned more in that conversation outside the Hard Rock Cafe than he could have in any session.

Conversation is empowering. Use it here at ISTE to learn and grow!

ISTE 2010 Foursquare Scavenger Hunt!

2010-06-27T17:11:00.003-04:00

Are you coming to ISTE's annual conference in Denver this year?

Are you a Foursquare user? (if you're not, check out the bottom of the post for more about what it does)

Make sure you participate in the Foursquare Scavenger Hunt to win prizes and explore the city of Denver and the Convention Center!

Here's how it works:

1.) If you haven't already, download the Foursquare application for your smartphone.
2.) Find Steven Anderson and Mary Beth Hertz and add them as friends.
3.) Check in at the Conference to get started.
4.) Follow the tips at each location to find out where to check in next.
5.) Earn prizes!

How do I earn prizes?

1) Check in at various places around the Convention Center and the city of Denver that Steven and Mary Beth suggest.

2) When you get to the last check in, you can collect your prize! There are also mini prizes for checking in at 5 different places and 10 different places, and there is a grand prize each day for checking in at all 15 places--a $25 gift certificate to the ISTE Bookstore!

2) Collect your prize starting on Monday from either Steven or Mary Beth by finding them based on their Foursquare location! (only one grand prize per day and only one prize per person!)

Not on Foursquare? Not sure what it is or what it means?

Foursquare is an application that uses your location (based on the GPS on your phone) to show you what places are around you. If the place where you are isn't listed, you can add it to the list based on your GPS location. Every time you check in, you get points and it alerts your Foursquare friends that you have checked in at that location. You can also leave tips about a place you visit so that your friends can see what you have to say about it. For more information on the app, click here.

Subsidizing The Digital Divide

2010-06-27T12:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I attended EdubloggerCon, an unconference organized by Steve Hargadon. In the sessions on Best Practices in 1:1 Laptops and Bringing the Family along for Learning, the conversation centered at times around the Digital Divide. One of the things I love about the ISTE conference is hearing all of the innovative and exciting projects and initiatives that people are doing in their classrooms, schools and districts. However, I live in a different world than many. Teaching in an enormous, urban district that is controlled by the State (we have no School Board) often makes my perspective and situation unique and different from others.

When the topic of taking laptops home came up, there were mixed opinions. I tweeted out the question of whether students should take laptops home and got a variety of responses. One person brought up insurance concerns. Another said that students should be buying their devices. In the face to face conversation there was a consensus that students should be taking devices home in order for them to be effective learning devices.

Here is where the conversation got really engaging.

A few people were commenting that kids were going to be bringing their own devices into school anyway because they owned them already. I commented that my students don't even have smartphones (most of them use pre-paid phones), and most of them don't have the financial ability to buy a laptop. Then I brought up the idea of a 'rent to own' system where students make payments toward their laptop until they own it. To me, this seemed like the perfect solution. If students know that they will one day own the computer, they are more likely to take care of it and more likely to take the time to learn the ins and outs of how it works. This also eliminates the need for districts and schools to spend large amounts of money on insurance.

It was the perfect solution until I was sitting in the Family session and the point was made that if a child attends public school and is required to have a laptop, that it would have to be provided to them by the school. Then, one of the session participants offered the solution of using Title I money to subsidize the laptops. We already have 100% of our students who receive free breakfast lunch, so why not use that distinction to divert Title I funds toward subsidizing the devices for those students who qualify for free/reduced lunch. In my school, all of the devices would most likely be subsidized, but in schools with a more diverse socio-economic population, this would help decide who would buy a laptop straight out and who would be subsidized.

All of this got me thinking: are laptops the new pencil, notebook, paper, pencil sharpener, etc...that parents are required to send their child to school with?

This would be a huge shift in thinking and practice for public schools, and I'm even sure it would work, but the Digital Divide is real and the need for access is real.

How do we ensure that technology literacy isn't a privilege for those who can afford it?

What To Do About Rock Stars

2010-06-23T23:25:00.002-04:00

photo courtesy of fmgbain on Flickr

During this week’s edchat I saw a name scroll by that made me look twice. Mixed among the many tweets was a tweet from Diane Ravitch. I had just recently read an adaptation from her book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education in American Educator, which I had really enjoyed. For those of you not familiar with Ravitch, she was Assistant Secretary of Education for George W. Bush and a supporter of the No Child Left Behind Act when it was first passed. Over the years she changed her views and is now adamantly against the policy. In short, she is highly influential and well-respected amongst many educators and policy makers.

Thus, seeing her name scroll by caught my eye and my attention. It also caught attention of some other edchat participants. What ensued was a debate over whether to acknowledge her presence or not. On one side, edchat is not about who is more important, or as it was put, about ‘rock stars.’ On the other side, edchat participants want their voices heard. Some of us feel like we’re trapped in a bubble, with all of our ideas, reflections, experience and knowledge bouncing around inside our community without escaping into the mainstream. “I wish Arne Duncan was here to hear this,” or “It’s too bad Obama isn’t at edchat tonight” are some of the comments I’ve read over the last year.

So, when Ravitch’s name crossed my twitstream, it was a big deal. At least to me. I thanked her for participating in the conversation. This sparked a conversation with an edchat participant I respect about whether we should be highlighting people who participate in edchat just because they are influential.

What makes edchat unique is that it is for and by the participants. While there are moderators and organizers, it is ultimately the participants who choose the topic and make the conversation. The conversation moves so fast (Ravitch herself confessed it was too fast for her!) and there are so many ideas flying by that when an idea or comment catches my eye, or if I engage in conversation, I may only have enough time to make a note of the Twitter handle. Often, I must go back afterwards and look through the stream to learn more about a person I was conversing with. More than often, this person becomes part of my learning network. While they may not be as highly influential on a larger scale, they are influential to me and I respect their ideas and the dialogue that we share.

So do we treat someone who is influential and well-known, an established member of the education field, differently than we would a colleague?

I don’t think we should treat a ‘rock star’ in education differently than our colleagues. I think we should engage them on the same level we would our colleagues. I think we do need to keep in mind, however, that if we don’t remind ourselves of someone’s influence or if we shrug someone off due merely to their influence, we run the risk of perpetuating the ‘us vs. them’ culture between those of us who are in the classroom and those outside the classroom or those with seemingly little power and those who seem to have all of the power. Of course, ideally, it should be educators who are the policy makers and educators who run schools and the school system. In order for this to happen, we need to engage policy makers and so-called ‘rock stars’ in our conversation and expose them to our day-to-day struggles and our innovative ideas and practices in the classroom.

What are your thoughts?

Finding my Element

2010-06-19T22:47:00.000-04:00

I am about halfway through Sir Ken Robinson's book, The Element, and I have been reflecting on finding my own Element.

Over the past year I have begun to feel that I am doing what I was meant to do. I am motivated by some unseen force to spend my days and nights living and breathing education and technology and expanding my relationships with other educators. I don't always get paid for these hours of hard and rewarding work, and I don't really mind.

Here are some quotes from Robinson's book and my reflections on them that have made me realize that I have magically slipped into my Element.

The Element is the meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion.

I know that I'm smart (see my previous post about me and smart people here), and I know my strengths (writing, reading and visual art). However, I became aware this year of a strength I took for granted, mostly because it's not a skill that can be tested. I have a natural aptitude for working with other people. I am passionate about solving problems and finding solutions, which are better accomplished in collaboration than alone. When I am working with others, I am in my Element.

When people are in their Element, they connect with something fundamental to their sense of identity, purpose and well-being.

This quote describes the past year of my life to a 'T.' All of a sudden I feel a sense of identity and purpose. I have found people who are as passionate as I am, I have found a field of work that ignites a fire in me and makes every day an exciting day. Of course, with these feelings of purpose comes a sense of well-being.

All the same, it should be said that getting too deeply into your Element can cause a sense of ill-being as you can easily neglect your personal relationships as you follow your passions. (Read a great post on this subject by my friend Beth Still here and my own thoughts on the topic here.)

If you don't embrace the fact that you think about the world in a wide variety of ways, you severely limit your chances of finding the person that you were meant to be.

As humans we are always seeking out the 'meaning of life.' "Why am I here?" "What is my purpose?" As Robinson states, we need to explore our world and our connections to the world to fully know who are and who we are meant to be.

Discovering the Element is all about allowing yourself access to all of the ways in which you experience the world, and discovering where your own true strengths lie. Just don't take them for granted.

This quote rings true for me as I have had a wide variety of experiences in my 30 years and I have a wide variety of interests. I have driven cross-country, lived in Senegal, lived and taught on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico and spent my summers exploring the beaches of Nantucket as a child. I enjoy bluegrass, drum and bass, punk rock, hip hop, jazz, classical and metal music. I have tattoos and piercings, love hanging out at skate parks and enjoy a good pub. I also have a Master's degree in Instructional Technology, love NPR, read fanatically everything from Roald Dahl to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. I love talking politics and policy and I have a soft spot for cats. In other words, I experience the world through many different filters, which is one of my strengths. These varied interests and experiences help me work well with others and allow me to see things from many different angles.

People who work creatively usually have something in common: they love the media they work with.

If children are media, this describes me perfectly. It also describes many of the passionate and innovative educators I have met over the past year. Our passion for children and education make us think creatively and take risks and rise to meet any challenge.

I feel blessed to have found well-being, identity and purpose in my life. I couldn't have made it here without the help of others. I also feel blessed to have picked up Robinson's book at such a poignant time in my life.

So I ask, what's your Element?

photo courtesy of zenera on Flickr

Tech Tool vs Learning Tool

2010-06-08T21:55:00.001-04:00

Tonight's #edchat discussion on how we move from the idea of tech as a 'tech tool' to a 'learning tool' was one I've had numerous times over the past year. It was the perfect conversation to end my day. Today my 1st and 2nd graders with whom I have been working over the year on higher order questioning and shared inquiry based around classic stories began recording their book reports in GarageBand.

We spent the last week writing them, filling out information such as the title and main characters as well as the plot and reflection questions. This week we were to begin recording our book reports to share with each other. Of course, in typical School District of Philadelphia fashion, we found out 1 minute before our reading group time that this would be our last meeting together. I moved forward with our plan anyway, even if just to give my students a chance to record their voices.

My students had never used GarageBand before, so I spent a few minutes showing them the basics of creating a podcast with the record button, play button as well as how to delete recordings and move them around.

Within minutes they were recording their voices. They started by reading off of their papers, but many of them began ad-libbing, describing the story in detail in their own words. A few of them decided to begin reading the story they chose, stopping to listen to themselves and starting over if they didn't think it was done well.

As you can imagine, there was quite a din with all of them recording at once.

Unfortunately, in the video above, I had a very impatient student calling my name! However, you can tell how focused and engaged the students are as they ignore all of the background noise. Amazingly, some of them didn't mind.

A few complained about the background noise, so I pulled out some copy paper, remembering the trick that Samantha Morra shared in her Digital Storytelling session at Educon this year. The students rolled up the copy paper to create a little tube, focusing their voice on the microphone. This helped cut out a lot of the background noise in the classroom.

As I moved around the room observing and helping students, I was amazed at how engaged the students were in reading their projects and their stories. I could hear them reading with inflection, which I don't often hear them do when we read out loud. I heard them reading and re-reading whole paragraphs until they got it 'right.'

Eureka.

The project I had planned as a simple way for them to share their book reports had turned quickly into a project that helped them build reading fluency and verbal expression skills.

A specific dialogue during tonight's #edchat conversation with Rich Kiker and Rebecca Petersen got me thinking: Can I pick a tool to teach content with or should the content lead to the tool?

In this case, the content led to the tool. This is how I tend to approach technology integration in general. Plan the lesson and the learning goals first, choose the tech tool last. However, I hadn't considered how the tool might help my students learn in other ways. So in the future, could I plan a lesson around GarageBand with the goal of increasing reading fluency? Or would I plan a lesson on fluency, including my learning goals, keeping in the back of my mind how GarageBand would serve as a great tool to teach this skill?

Or is this a case of the chicken and the egg?

In any case, it was a powerful experience for me and my students with huge potential for learning.

Thoughts on Facebook Privacy

2010-06-02T21:02:00.001-04:00

Facebook's privacy issues have been all over the news recently. The dialogue has sparked conversations about our attitudes as a culture toward privacy. Most articles and blogs I have read state that social networking has changed our attitude toward privacy and made us much less choosy about what we share publicly.

About a week or so ago I received a postcard from one of my best friends. She and I have been writing letters and postcards back and forth for close to 10 years. It's one of those lifelong friendships that will endure until we are old and gray.

As I turned the postcard over and started reading, I noted the intimacy of the message on the back despite the fact that it was a postcard, readable by anyone through whose hands it passed. I then thought of the dozens of postcards like this that have been exchanged between myself and my friends over the last 10 years. I then envisioned the decades during which lovers exchanged postcards across oceans and sent telegrams delivered by complete strangers. Deaths, births, all kinds of personal messages often went through many hands before reaching their recipient. Even military personnel have all of their correspondence read before it goes in the mail.

So my thoughts are: did Facebook really change our attitudes, or have we always held these attitudes and Facebook has just provided a different media and outlet through which people can express their need to communicate?

edcamp Philly: Words Cannot Explain....

2010-05-25T21:17:00.004-04:00

As many readers may know, myself and a team of dedicated, innovative, collaborative and fun-loving educators put on the very first edcamp unconference here in Philadelphia.

We have been working tirelessly since November when we attended our first ever Barcamp to put together an education-focused professional development experience unlike any other.

In my humble opinion, we succeeded. Succeeded beyond all of our expectations.

So what made edcamp so successful?

We had a team of organizers that most people only dream of.
We had a diverse group of attendees, many of whom did not know each other or us personally.
The attendees were brave enough and inspired enough by the 'vibe' to sign up on the spot to run a session.
The attendees were not shy to having informal, open discussions that sometimes veered off topic.
We stayed true to the barcamp model, letting the attendees essentially run the conference.

The most amazing take-aways for me are that, while I moved around from room to room, trying to peek in on as many sessions as possible, I found it hard to get up and leave because I wanted to stick around to hear the rest of the conversation. At one point, that little voice in the back of my head said, "Wow. I helped PLAN this!" It was something that I would want to attend!

Another unique and exciting aspect of running an edcamp is that nearly all of the work happens before the sessions start, and then it's smooth sailing. I'm convinced that part of that ease was due to our amazing team, but the more I think about it, the more I think it is a product of the model itself.

Since the presenters are all attendees and no one is getting paid and no one paid to be there, it takes the pressure off of everyone and allows everyone to enjoy themselves. In addition, once the schedule is set and everyone understands how it works, it basically runs itself. Session leaders tweeted out invitations to their own sessions. Attendees tweeted out interesting sessions for others to find. If anyone needed something, often an attendee was able to offer help (like a laptop dongle for lil' old me!).

Our job as organizers that day was simple: be welcoming, be friendly, be helpful and participate! Of course, there was the whole get up at 4:45am and get to Drexel to set up thing plus almost 6 months of non-stop planning, but the day itself was fun AND enjoyable!

The final most AMAZING thing is how quickly people have pulled together to run their own edcamps! Within 24 hours we had educators from up and down the East Coast and the Midwest discussing hosting their own unconferences!

Thank you SO much to the attendees. You made the conference. We merely provided the venue, tee shirts and coffee! We also had some generous and helpful sponsors to boot. I can't wait for the next one. Hint, hint: bring a friend!

To my fellow organizers: I now consider each and every one of you a close friend and I am so blessed to have met all of you. This experience has been invigorating and life-changing! We did it!

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For information on how to set up your own edcamp unconference, check out our wiki: http://edcamp.wikispaces.com

There have also been a number of blog posts about edcamp Philly. Here is short list:

Scriddleblog Edcamp Philly by Patrick Hourigan

Scriddleblog Edcamp Philly! Part 2

Rita's Posterious: Edcamp Philly by Rita Sorrentino

Relax. No, really.: If We Build It by Shelley Krause

On #edcamp by Dan Callahan

Edcamp Philly: A Recap by Kristen Swanson

My edcamp by Andrew Marcinek

Share your blog post(s) here:

Reflection blogs for edcamp Philly

organizer photo by Kevin Jarrett on Flickr