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Category Archives: leadership

Finding Perspective

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Education, Friday Flyer, leadership, Making Connections Leave a comment

This week was the end of the season for my son’s 3rd grade basketball team. It was a good season and, ending at 7-2, they expected to do well in the post-season tournament. Unfortunately, they did not. Losing two straight they were quickly eliminated by their opponents who probably have a little more experience than the 10 weeks that this group of boys have been playing together. Both games were close and a win could have been had by either team but, in the end, our team lost. As you might expect from a 3rd grade game, there were lots of inadvertent fouls as the teams are still working to learn how to play the game. When the game was over, my son asked, “Why was number 33 so mean?” prompting a long discussion about sports, playing a game and perspective.

In reflecting further on the idea that my son had a very limited perspective and only saw his side of it, I began to think more about my own perspective of the world and my role in it. Our perspective is shaped by our experiences, our beliefs and our own view of the world. But, as I tried to explain to my son, our perspective is our own and we can’t know, we can only try to see the world from someone else’s point of view. As educators, our perspective has great power because we bring it with us into the classroom and, because of our positions, our perspective has influence on the students who walk through the building doors. Their personal experiences are being shaped everyday as a direct result of the work done in class and the experiences they have. Educators are influencers and have great power and responsibility with their respective classes and we must recognize that our perspectives are our own, as our the perspectives of our students. Are these perspectives always right? Absolutely not. It’s simply a way of looking at the world.

All this being said, be aware of your perspective, that of your colleagues, and equally importantly, your students. Chances are they look at the world differently because of their own experiences. It’s not wrong, it’s just different.

Thinking about perspective reminds me of a photo that I saw on Twitter that was taken by an photographer named Steph Goralnick. I’m not posting it here because I don’t have permission, however, I love the perspective switch that she took in creating it. Check it out. It might take a second, but quickly you’ll see how quickly perspective can change. Also, kudos to The Cool Hunter website that pointed me to this photo.

Cross posted to Northeast Middle School Friday Flyer

It’s here!! – From Inspiration to Red Carpet

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Education, Film Festival, leadership, Literacy, Technology, web literacy Leave a comment

For about a year and a half I’ve been working on my first book with some of my colleagues describing and highlighting the film festival that we used to run in our district. Last week at the METC conference in St. Charles, Missouri, I finally saw the final product in print and got to hold it in my own hands. Needless to say it was a very exciting to finally physically see the hours and hours of work that I had done preparing, writing, revising, and editing in print. I still haven’t sat down and flipped through the entire thing because of my responsibilities at the conference but I have my own copy and and found that it’s also available on Amazon. I’ve gotta say, it’s a pretty great feeling to see all of that come to fruition. Thanks to ISTE for helping make it happen.

What was the last thing you learned? (My adventure with Minecraft)

Posted on by Posted in Education, Friday Flyer, leadership, Making Connections, Technology Leave a comment

As I was driving my son home from basketball practice yesterday, we were talking about his new favorite subject: Minecraft. If you’re not familiar with Minecraft (some schools are using it with their students), it’s an online game where participants can create worlds and interact with each other. There’s a lot more to it and I’m certainly no expert (ask your students, they’ll probably know), but it’s his new big interest. One of the things that players can do in this game is to modify it to suit their needs. In fact “mods” are a pretty big part of the game and give you additional ways to interact with this digital environment.

Luckily, I have instilled in my 9 year old a healthy skepticism of the “free” things that are found on the internet. But, also being 9, he REALLY wanted to mod his minecraft game and he just knew that I could figure out how to do it. “After all, you’re a computer guy,” he tells me. Now, let me be clear, I like video games and I do play them, however, I have not delved into the world of Minecraft except to install it for him, watch him play and now, begin thinking about how to mod the game.

The first mod he wanted to do was one that, upon doing a little research, seemed to be a virus. No to that one. The next one seemed to check out so I began the process of figuring out which files to copy, what to delete and what to keep. It was no small task but, with the help of YouTube and some Minecraft forums, we got it done. After a brief, “Thanks Dad” he squeezed past me and was off to play.

Yesterday was not the first time the topic came up. He’s be after me for the last few weeks to mod his game but, I was resistant simply because I didn’t understand it. I think this happens more often than not in classrooms, not just with technology but with ideas and practices that are foreign to our experience. We know what works, but do we know what works for every kid? How do we reach those that seem to be unreachable? Could it be that we need to learn something new and give up that control to make that connection, even if we’re unsure of the outcome?

Last night I was part of an experiment that could have gone wrong. We could have gotten a virus or deleted a crucial file to make the computer boot up. Luckily we didn’t, but what if we had? At that point, we’d have to deal with it and the learning would continue. I took a risk and learned something last night. When was the last time you learned something? Was it new or was it adding information to a previous experience? Finally, how can you allow your students to take risks in their own learning?

Thinking about instructional titles

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Education, leadership, Reflections, Technology Leave a comment

Not too long ago I was listening to one of the Google Apps for Edu on Air Hangouts about using script in with Google Apps hosted by Jay Atwood and Jennie Magiera. Their discussion was a good one and definitely expanded my thinking around how I can use scripts in my own work.

One of my big takeaways though wasn’t about the topic at hand, it was really just part of Jennie’s introduction. Let me provide some context. Over the last six years I have begun to look at things on a bigger scale and to think about how organizations work and function. I’ve starting thinking more strategically about how groups organize themselves and how they work together. Sometimes, this includes the titles that people hold providing a little insight into what that organization holds as important. Sometimes these titles are more about legacy and comfort with the “way it’s always been.”

While that’s only a small piece of what I’ve been thinking about, I do think that the way groups and organizations set up the ways that they work shows what they value, especially in schools.

All of this is to say that in the Hangout, Jennie introduced herself as a “Digital Learning Coordinator”. I was immediately intrigued. Now, truth be told, I haven’t done any real research on what the job actually entails and haven’t asked Jennie about it, but I’m fascinated by what it implies and what the values of the organization and the leadership might have been thinking when they created the position. From my outside view, they seem to know that the digital piece of learning is as important as the traditional and that it’s crucial enough to the success of the students in Chicago Public Schools that they needed a position that can meet that need.

Again, this is all speculation on my part and I’m simply thinking about the work that needs to be done with teachers and students in schools. I fully believe that teaches need support in their use of technology and digital tools and I know that Jennie is providing that in her work. I just think her title is fantastic and shifts the focus from technology to learning and, overall, broadens the scope of what might be accomplished.

Jennie Magiera can be found online at @msmagiera.

Here is the hangout that prompted my thinking.

Would you take away their pencil?

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, coaching, Education, English, leadership, Making Connections, NCTE, Reflections, teaching, Technology Leave a comment

DSC_1284Just a few weeks ago I had a great conversation with the assistant principal of a nearby school centering around how to manage devices in the classroom. “What do we do if the technology distracts our students?” she asked. At one time, not so many years ago, my answer would have been different than the one I gave her. In 2003, I begged, borrowed, and stole computers and parts of computers from every nook and cranny of the high school where I was teaching. All of the staff had just been given a laptop and the old desktops that were in each room were, in many cases, dust magnets that were never turned on. So, I snagged them and rebuilt about 25 computers that would serve as the basis of my “paperless classroom” and give my students the opportunity to create and interact with digital materials in ways that they hadn’t been able to before.

Each semester when I got a new round of students, I went through the process of thoroughly threatening them if they did anything inappropriate (I may have used the word “stupid”) while on the internet and on these machines. This was a different time in the world of technology and online tools were not nearly as easy to use as they are now. But my fear was still there. What would happen if something went horribly wrong? How would I handle the fallout from a student who didn’t abide by my rules and guidelines? During those first few years students were clamoring to get into my English 10 class because it was different. They got to be on computers. They published their work online. They learned how to code HTML. It was not your typical English classroom and word spread quickly that there was something different happening.

As an introduction to this new found world of technology in school that my students were experiencing, I felt as though I had to hold something over them if something went wrong. So, each semester, I assured them that if they did something inappropriate, I would revoke their technology privileges altogether and the rest of the semester they would find themselves doing all of their work with a pencil and paper. This seemed like the appropriate thing to do at the time. After all, students wanted to be in the class because they wanted to be on the computer. In order to manage my classroom, all I had to do was punish them where it hurt most… the ability to use digital tools to learn and create.

As I look back at that now, I realized how flawed my logic was. If I were really interested in their learning, removing access to technology was not going to help them succeed or learn more effectively. This is even more the case today with so much information, tools, and opportunities that exist online. So what would I do now if I were in the classroom and faced with the same question? Well, hopefully my district and administration would have thought about this in advance and recognized that taking technology out of the hands of students does not help them. Instead it puts them at a disadvantage because of the many learning opportunities can be found online.

So what is to be done? If I were to do it all over again, I’d refer to the code of conduct that is found in every school and try to find parallels between the digital and analog worlds. If a student is playing a game on the computer instead of his work, what approach would I take if technology wasn’t a factor? I would either find a way to keep them on task or give them the appropriate consequence. If a student posts something inappropriate in a message board, I would have to approach this in the same way as if they said or wrote something inappropriate in class or in a notebook. I most certainly wouldn’t take away that student’s pencil.

The tools of technology have changed the way we teach and approach instruction, but too many times we feel that these tools are not integral to the learning process. Technology tools are quickly becoming essential for classroom teachers but many still give the same threatening speech that I gave almost 10 years ago. We would never dream of taking a textbook away from a student because of behavior, but in many cases we don’t think twice about limiting their access to a system that has more information than any textbook or library could ever hold.

If I were back in the classroom today, that speech would look dramatically different. These technological tools are the new paper and pencil, learning tools which I would never dream of taking away. There are other ways to manage student behavior, removing the tools of learning should not be one of them.

Digital Learning Day

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Friday Flyer, leadership, Literacy, web literacy Leave a comment

Preface to this post:
This year my middle school is going to participate in Digital Learning Day on February 6, 2013. This is my invitation to them and a brief explanation as to how we might celebrate and learn together. It’s going to be a work in progress but it’s our starting point.

As we start (or continue) thinking about the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013, I want to give you yet one more thing to consider for the upcoming year. On February 6, 2013, Northeast Middle is going to participate in Digital Learning Day. This national celebration is meant to shine a spotlight on teachers who are using technology in their classrooms. For us, in order to celebrate teachers, we are going to celebrate the work that students do in our classrooms with digital tools. Therefore, I need to know what kinds of things you have your students do. If you have students who are using digital tools to create and demonstrate their understanding (previously, presently, or if you have plans to), I’d like to know about it so we can showcase the work that these students are doing.

What the final celebration looks like will be determined by what kinds of things students are creating. My plan right now is to create a montage highlighting the use of digital tools in the classroom that will be released on February 6th and shared with the school and community.

What it looks like?

Digital tools can be used in all kinds of ways in the classroom. Here are some examples:

  • Writing online – Are your students creating their understanding through digital writing? Are they posting any of their writing online?
  • Digital video – Are your students creating their videos to showcase their learning?
  • Digital images – Do your students take and share pictures that represent their learning?
  • Digital presentations – Are your students creating and sharing their presentations digitally?
  • Digital research – How are your students researching using digital tools?

For additional ideas, about how to use digital tools and technology to engage your students and help them learn, consider visiting the Digital Learning Day educators page where you will find lesson ideas and toolkits pages that might help you think about the possibilities for your students.

So, for the next month or so, I’ll be accepting and soliciting ideas, submissions and work showing how students are using digital tools at Northeast Middle. There’s nothing too big or too small to be included in this project so please let me know what you’re doing (past, present, or future) and any ideas that you have for celebrating how students are using these digital tools.

Creating a Digital Footprint

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Education, English, Friday Flyer, Google Tools, leadership, Literacy, Making Connections, Online Safety, Technology, web literacy Leave a comment

Have you ever Googled yourself? You know, just to see what would come up? If you haven’t, I’d encourage you to do so. Put your name in Google, put quotes around it (so it only searches for your name) and see what you get. Chances are you may find a few links to people with your similar name. For me, I often find information about William M. Bass III, an american forensic anthropologist best known for his work with “The Body Farm“. But, if I look down a little further, I will find my website and other references to me online. This represents a portion of my digital footprint, the digital information that can be found out about me by a simple Google search.

Let’s face it, more and more things are online these days and there are more ways to share information than there ever have been. It’s important to know what kind of information there is about you because, truly, you need to manage your own digital footprint. Just as you manage your credit, identity, and reputation, your digital footprint is a representation of you but online.

More than likely, if you seek information now, where do you go? It’s probably the internet. Looking to see if a business is reputable? Try looking for reviews online. The same can be said for you as an educator. I ask my grad students every semester if they looked me up before class started. The majority of them have. What about you? Do you think your students do a search for you before school starts each year? They just might.

My point is that you want to control your own digital message. What do you want your students to find out about you? If you Google yourself and don’t find much, is that a good or a bad thing? Will Richardson, an educator, author, and champion of teachers says in his presentations, “Repeat after me… I want strangers to be able to find me online.” Meaning that in our world, identity matters and digital identity is equally important. You want to be Googled well. You. Your students. Your family. Trust me, you have a digital identity. What does it say about you? Are you Googled well?

If you’d like to learn more about managing your own digital identity, let me know. Also, check out Common Sense Media. They have great resources for educators and parents for lessons to help kids to start thinking about what it means to be online and to start creating their own identity online. Colleges and employers are looking. Control what they find.

The following video is one that I often play when I talk about ones digital footprint. Enjoy.

From Inspiration to Red Carpet – Global Education Conference 2012

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Education, Film Festival, leadership, presentations, Technology Leave a comment

Today I had the opportunity to present a session at the Global Education Conference entitled From Inspiration to Red Carpet. The presentation was recorded and can be seen for posterity online by following this link. If you watch, I do hope you enjoy it. The following slides are those that I prepared for this presentation.

The Global Education Conference will continue for the rest of this week with some amazing presenters and topics. I do hope you’ll tune it. For a complete schedule visit their Sessions and Schedule page.

See Research Differently

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, coaching, leadership, Making Connections, Readings, Reflections, teaching 1 Comment

Wednesday morning I was looking through the RSS feeds in my Google Reader account and I ran across a post that Christopher Lehman, author of Pathways to the Common Core, had recently put on his site entitled, “Research Instruction: Who Decided It Should Be A Tremendous Bore?” With a title like that, how could I help but click on the link and read his writings.

What was great about his post was that he put many of the thoughts I have had about traditional research instruction into words. I remember as a high school student sitting in the library with stacks of notecards documenting and redocumenting facts and quotes and then flipping it over to record my source information so that I could pull these facts together. For me, that was research. It was finding all the information so I could retell it in my own words, get my grade and, if I were lucky, remember something that I put down on the paper. Those research habits were a direct result of how I was taught to do research and work with information. It was a way for me to prove my “knowledge” on a topic to my teacher and, truly, jump through the hoops. Did it help me, probably. It certainly gave me a basis of understanding of the process. I’m just not sure that it helped me to learn much in the way of content.

Research is something that we do everyday in the form of posing a question and finding and answer for that question. In his post, Chris pulls from his newest book, Energize Research Reading and Writing, and suggests three ways to make the research process less painful and more exciting. But even more than that, using this approach, research also becomes about learning not regurgitation.

  1. Stop handing out so much stuff – Give students choice and support them with resources and direction. Assign them questions, not topics.
  2. Take notes on your mind, not your book – Learning doesn’t happen in the book, it happens in the mind and with the connections students make to the reading and information.
  3. Add a new process step: teach-through-writing – I love this. As is sometimes obvious, writing helps me think through topics and make meaning. In this one, students explore the topic through different writing activities that help them make connections based on what they have learned.

I didn’t even remotely do Chris’s approach to research justice in this short space. But I am interested in learning more about how research can be changed from what I experienced for so many years to one that focuses on students learning and understanding.

This coming Monday, Oct 1st at 7PM EST Chris is guest moderating #Engchat with the topic “Teach Students to Research, Not Regurgitate” and I hope to be able to join him in the discussion.

 

Cross posted to Parkway Northeast Middle School Friday Flyer

Information Literacy in the Digital Age

Posted on by Posted in 21st Century Education, Education, leadership, Literacy, Making Connections, Online Safety, web literacy Leave a comment

Earlier this week my 8 year old daughter and I were sitting at our kitchen table engaged in a highly competitive game of Princess Yahtzee when an campaign ad for the congressional elections came on the TV during the news. Typically commercials are something to be fast forwarded through in our household, but alas, with live TV you can’t skip over those things you don’t want to watch (yet). “Well that was rude,” she commented indignantly on the advertisement. “Why were they so mean?” she asked. While I considered getting into the whole idea of mudslinging and spin, I instead told her that during elections, people aren’t always nice to each other because they are trying to win votes and that everyone has their own viewpoint in different topics but that doesn’t make them wrong, it’s just an opinion. That seemed to appease her for the moment and we went back to the game. However, I know that this is now something that she’s thinking about and she’s wondering about the differnet viewpoints that people have. I know this won’t be our last conversation around this topic, especially as we continue to ramp up for the presidential election. The question is, where will we go next?

In an era where everyone has the ability to publish online, this conversation will get more and more complicated making the need to teach and work with kids of all ages on the ability to recognize bias in all forms of media (not just text based). It will stretch us to think more critically about media literacy and the messages that bombard us daily. How can we know whether that statistic we found is accurrate or if we have just become the victims of spin and convenience? This question will become increasingly more difficult (and important) to address in classrooms regardless of content area. I’m not suggesting that there has to be a dedicated unit in your curriculum to make an impact. What I am suggesting is that it’s important to model your thought process as you work with students and information. How do you determine what is credible information and what isn’t? How do you know that the website you are going to is to be trusted? These are things that we may do naturally as educators and users of information, but we may not draw attention to the process with students. Show them your thinking and reasoning about how you identify bias and evaluate information in your own work so that they can see good examples outside of their own experiences.

As for me and my daughter, I too will try to be more intentional about explaining why she shouldn’t click on the very first result after searching for something. We will have conversations around advertising and the messages that come across in all forms of media and I will do my best to help her filter the plethora of information that she receives so that she will learn how to do it for herself. In the meantime, I’m glad that, even in the midst of a heated Yahtzee game, not all messages will be positive and that she must figure out what works for her.

Here are a few resources for thinking about media and information literacy: