Tag Archives: Will Richardson

Anonymous vs. Appropriate

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by gavin. robinson

Here is some interesting information from the “Pew Internet & American Life Project” on teen use of social media:

Teens are increasingly sharing personal information on social media sites, a trend that is likely driven by the evolution of the platforms teens use as well as changing norms around sharing. A typical teen’s MySpace profile from 2006 was quite different in form and function from the 2006 version of Facebook as well as the Facebook profiles that have become a hallmark of teenage life today. For the five different types of personal information that we measured in both 2006 and 2012, each is significantly more likely to be shared by teen social media users on the profile they use most often.

  • 91% post a photo of themselves, up from 79% in 2006.
  • 71% post their school name, up from 49%.
  • 71% post the city or town where they live, up from 61%.
  • 53% post their email address, up from 29%.
  • 20% post their cell phone number, up from 2%.

In addition to the trend questions, we also asked five new questions about the profile teens use most often and found that among teen social media users:

  • 92% post their real name to the profile they use most often.2
  • 84% post their interests, such as movies, music, or books they like.
  • 82% post their birth date.
  • 62% post their relationship status.
  • 24% post videos of themselves.

Huh.

I guess that push from schools teaching kids to be anonymous online hasn’t really been that effective.

How about the following slide?


cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Plug Us In

Are we anywhere near that in our work at schools?  I think in PSD70 with our Digital Portfolio Project, we are closer than many, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Maybe instead of continuously pretending kids are staying (or even care to stay)anonymous online, maybe we need to change the conversation and talk to them about being appropriate.

Engaging Parents in the Learning Process

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by bestlibrarian

“The role of parents in the education of their children cannot be overestimated.” ~Unknown

When you ask parents from any country in the world, what they ask their children at the end of the day about school, their question is very similar:

“What did you learn today?”

The disconcerting thing is that the answer is almost always exactly the same.

“Nothing.”

With some of the work that we are doing in Parkland School Division, we are really trying to engage parents in the learning of their child by opening the door into the classroom.  Through the use of blogs, twitter, and other social media outlets, the question can change to something similar to, “I saw that you were learning about (blank) today; can you tell me more about it?”

Different questions usually get different responses.  Improve the question and you are more likely to get a better answer.

Parent Participation vs Parent Engagement

Although the more parents can have a positive presence in our schools, the more they will build relationships within the school community, engagement is something different.  Children are shown to have a much better chance at success if their parent is actively engaged and reinforces the learning that is happening in the school.  Case in point; if you want to improve your child’s reading, read to them at a young age and model what you want to see.

Yet as students get older, many parents are uncertain about the learning that is happening and feel uncomfortable with the content.  The benefit of a lot of learning in our schools today is that it is not solely focused on learning content, but skills and process which are important aspects in a learner’s development.  Being able to engage in the process with your child, like reading, will help improve their learning.  That type of engagement brings learning to a different level in the home.

Are we becoming illiterate?

One of the most influential articles that I have read was by Will Richardson on the notion of expanding literacy. In it, Will discusses The National Council of Teachers of English definition of “21st Century Literacies”, and how many adults, not just kids, are becoming or illiterate.  For many, the notion of literacy boils down to reading and writing, yet it is much more.

“Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups.” NCTE

So with that in mind, what are parents doing at home?  Are they creating websites with their children, assessing what is good and bad information, creating videos and podcasts, and so on?  The majority of our students see the Internet as a place of consumption, not creation.  We need to shift that focus.

Mitch Resnick challenged this notion of consumption when he stated:

“We wouldn’t consider someone literate if they could read but couldn’t write. Are we literate if we consume content online, but don’t produce?”

Based on this ever-changing definition, we have to ask, “Are we literate?”

Keeping Kids Safe

People are quick to jump on using these new types of technologies as either “dumbing down” education (David Crystal’s research shows that reading and writing improve through the use of mobile devices as opposed to the other way around) or that kids will be unsafe.   The reality is that schools in partnership with parents, need to guide children to not only be safe, but to leverage these technologies so that children will have opportunities that we did not.

Carlene Oleksyn, a parent and pharmacist, has immersed herself in the use of social media, not only for the benefit of her own learning, but to ensure that she safely guides her children.  In a recent post on her blog titled, “The Talk”, she shares a conversation that she has with her children:

It started like this:

“Boys, when I need to hire someone do you know what one of the first things is I do?”

Nope, they had no idea.

“I google them,” I said. “I see what they post on Facebook, Twitter, blogs. If they have posted anything that is calling someone else down, is sexually inappropriate, or if they’ve made blatantly disrespectful comments on other people’s postings, I would tend not to hire that person.”

The difference between Carlene and many is not this talk, but it is the credibility that Carlene has from immersing herself in using these technologies herself.  By having a Twitter account, blog, amongst  other things, she has learned how to keep safe by stepping out and looking around first, as opposed to simply letting her kids run wild when they reach the age they are allowed to use social media based on a company’s terms of service.

From her experience, she is able to give some very relevant advice:

I think as parents we need to do three things for our kids:

  • Be aware of what our children are doing on the internet

  • Be on sites with them and teach as they go.

  • Be examples with our own digital identity.

Carlene understands that the world is changing, so she is taking advantage of the learning that can be done while helping her children navigate some murky waters to find a much more positive place.  She is setting a high standard for her kids not only through her words, but through her actions.

Concluding Thoughts

Kids existing online is not enough.  Many schools talk about the notion of “digital citizenship” but simply being a “citizen” is not the heights we should be aiming for offline, so why is it online?

Through my work, I have tried to focus on the idea of “Digital Leadership”; the notion of using the technologies that we have to make a positive difference in the lives of others.  I try to model this simply by writing this post and trying to build more awareness of the opportunities that technology affords parents and children in learning.  Some kids are doing amazing things.

Millgrove School was recently highlighted on Global TV for their work on trying to use social media for learning, but by doing good for their community and hoping to inspire others around the globe.  Isn’t that the standard we should be aiming for as school communities?

To be successful, educators do not only need the support of parents, we need their engagement.  The door is opening more every day to your child’s classroom.  Are you ready to step through?

6 Reasons Why You Should Do a “Blog Study”

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by carlos.a.martinez

Talking with good friends Tom and Leah Whitford, we were discussing moving staff forward and some of the conversations that drive our thinking.  As I started to think about how many leaders do “book studies”, and have been moving those conversation back and forth from and online and offline setting, I thought about the notion of having a “blog study”.  I know that administrators like Kathy A. Melton have done this before, but I just wanted to write what this could look like.

For example, look at an educator blog (Bill Ferriter, Will Richardson or Dean Shareski could be good options) and have teachers subscribe through email to their posts.  As they write, perhaps have a discussion time once a week or month, on things that were stated in the blog, and whether they agree or disagree, and how those ideas apply to your school.  You can host a chat online through something like twitter, or keep them offline if that is what works best for your community.  Ensure that if you do pick a blog, make sure that it is someone that updates consistently and perhaps connect with the blog author and let them know that you are doing a “blog study” on their work.  This is something that you do not have to do with necessarily an educator blog (Seth Godin would be an interesting one), but I think that it would be more applicable to use a blog on education for schools.

Here are some of the reasons this would be beneficial:

  1. Powerful conversations can start from short time commitments.  Books can be very daunting in any profession where time is always at a minimum.  Reading an entire chapter from a book can take a large amount of time yet a post can take you 30 seconds and still spark a powerful idea. It can be a video that is shared, a quote, a podcast, or whatever medium that the author decides to use.  For some, video is a much more powerful medium to receive a message and resonate in an entirely different way than a written post.  The blog format can give educators an opportunity to have some powerful learning in small amounts of time.
  2. Anywhere, anytime, any place learning.  The nice thing about a blog is that I can access it from any device that I have connected to the Internet.  I can literally be sitting at the doctor’s office and read while I am waiting, or at halftime of a basketball game.  As long as I have my device with me, I can connect to that blog.  Although many people enjoy reading paper books, if you are not carrying that book, you don’t have access.  The Kindle app is a great opportunity to have that anywhere, any time, any place learning, but the blog guarantees that access.
  3. You are truly learning as you go with your staff.  There is a reason that administrators choose the books that they do.  They convey a message that the administrator is in total agreement with and they want to share that message with their staff in some manner.  With a blog, you might not necessarily agree with what the author has said on any day, but the discussion that can ensue is where the real learning can occur.  Yes, you will have an idea of how the author writes, but you have no idea what they are going to say.  The learning that can happen there can be truly authentic and real with your staff which could lead to some interesting conversations.
  4. Interactions with the actual author.  One of the biggest benefits of doing a “blog study” over a traditional book study is that you are more likely to be able to interact with the actual author of the blog.  Through the process of commenting, you can ask for clarifications on ideas, push back, challenge, or even thank the author for the idea.  After you read a chapter you disagree with, there is no opportunity for clarification from that author.  What is written is what you are left with.  More authors see the value in connecting through social media with people that read their books, but you are more likely to get a response from someone who is already sharing openly in that space.
  5. Learning can lead to more learning.  Bloggers rarely only share their own ideas, but often the ideas of others.  I have connected with many great blogs, twitter accounts, and articles by reading specific blogger material.  Learning (again) doesn’t stop at what is written on the page, and you can’t click a physical page in a book.  Many authors reference in books some other books that they have read, yet you have to put down the book, grab your computer, do a search, etc.  With a blog, you click and go.  Who knows that this will lead your staff towards.
  6. Teachers can see the power of blogging to start conversations.  The potential of a teacher of every teacher in a study writing a book is slim to nil.  The opportunity of them deciding that they write a blog is considerably higher.  Seeing the power of sharing ideas in different mediums might inspire them to do the same.  It may also encourage them to explore using this same idea with their students.  I was not comfortable starting my own blog until I was able to see what other blogs looked like and how they shared.  This might be the inspiration that others need to start sharing some of their own ideas and inspiration.

There are ways that you can do this online as well as offline.  Creating your own hashtag or blog space to ask questions can help archive your work, and using sites like Storify can help you share your ideas in a single space in an organized manner.  It can also open the study to others outside of your school.

As I go through these points myself, I think there would be a lot of benefits of trying something like this.  Any other thoughts?  Suggestions for blogs to follow that would be good for this kind of learning?  I think that there could be some real power in this type of learning.

Thanks to Kathy A. Melton for the face-to-face conversation that helped me flesh out these ideas.

 

 

 

5 Reasons Your Students Should Blog

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Image from Bill Ferriter at: http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2012/12/what-are-you-doing-to-make-sure-your-students-are-well-googled-1.html

Image from Bill Ferriter (@plugusin)

As a school division, we are deep into developing blogs as portfolios with our students.  To do this with approximately 10,000 students is a major undertaking but the work is important and I really believe that students should have a space to share and reflect on the work. This should not be unique, but the standard.

With that being said, as a school division we have decided to use a blogging platform (Edublogs)  for student portfolios, as it can be used both as a “learning portfolio” (here is what I am learning right now) and a “showcase portfolio” (here is my best stuff).  Through my own experience both blogging, and using my blog as a portfolio, I have seen some powerful benefits of blogging that would directly benefit our students.

  1. Open Reflection – How many times do we actually just sit down and take time to reflect on what we have learned? How many times do we go to a conference and it is speaker after speaker after speaker, with no time to sit down and reflect on what we have learned?  Instead of simply dumping information into our brains, we have to take time to think about what we are learning and make meaningful connections.  Blogging has been hugely beneficial in doing this for myself because I have seen the benefit of sitting down, writing, and reflecting on what I have learned while also learning to create an emotional connection to the information.  Through being totally open, I have had the opportunity to learn from the comments and advice of others as well, which has helped me refine my own ideas.  By allowing our students to openly reflect, we do not only see what they learn, but they can learn from each other as well.
  2. Developing Literacy with Different Mediums – Blogging is a great way to write and share ideas, but there are many other ways that students can share content through this platform.  Using a site like SoundCloud can give students an easy opportunity to share their actual voice with the world. YouTube is an obvious one, but even presentations through SlideShare are helpful to tell stories in many different ways.  The nice thing about a blog is that basically anything with an embed code can be placed into that space.  This gives many different opportunities for students to share their voice while becoming fluent in “21st century literacies“.
  3. Student Voice – Building upon the last point, giving students a space to share their voice is extremely important.  Blogging should not only be “school related” but “learning related”.  In a blog, you may learn a lot about not only what students are learning in school, but what they are passionate about and hopefully how we could serve them better as educators.  In a world where everyone can have a voice, isn’t essential that we teach students how to use this powerful medium to share theirs in a meaningful way?
  4. Creating an Open Archive of Learning – At any point, I can go back to the beginning of my blog and see where I have learned.  Almost 600 posts later, I can see how I have grown and what my thought process has become and how has it developed.  I have seen the power of this by recently looking at my Twitter archives, but that is in only 140 characters.  Through my blog, I am able to look more in depth into what I have learned, and if I tag and categorize it properly, I am easily able to google my own work, as can anyone else.  The opportunity to search that this medium provides makes it a lot easier to go back and revisit what I have learned in the past, as opposed to flipping through notebook after notebook, trying to find something extremely specific.  Can you imagine googling your work from your childhood?
  5. Developing a Positive Digital Footprint - Recently I spoke to a university class on the notion of developing their digital footprint, and I simply suggested that they learn openly, and their footprint will happen.  It has been suggested by Will Richardson that our students should be able to be “positive google”, by their name, by the time they graduate and I would totally agree.  What are we doing as a school to promote a positive footprint?  I wish that I could say that I had the foresight that when I first started blogging that this would happen, but after doing it for several years, I realized that this is only one, albeit very important side-effect of writing a blog.

To be honest, not every student will take to blogging the way that we envision as teachers, and to be honest, that is okay.  If we make them do it the way we think it should be done, they might have trouble adopting this past the school setting.  That being said, if we do give them the freedom to write or share not only what they are interested in, but also share it how they like, it could develop into something very powerful that will also give them an authentic audience.

Why do you believe students should blog? If they aren’t, why not?

Just give me the fish!

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cc licensed ( BY SD ) flickr photo shared by CollegeDegrees360

“We have to stop thinking of an education as something that is delivered to us and instead see it as something we create for ourselves.” Stephen Downes

Traveling around and speaking at conferences, I have peeked my head into several sessions and try to figure out which ones have the highest attendance.  One of the things that I have noticed is that if a session gives you something that you can use on Monday to do with the kids, they are most likely packed.  I remember as a teacher going to conferences, I wanted the exact same thing.

I don’t have time to learn how to fish… just give me the fish!

Unfortunately, I am unable to give those sessions anymore.  To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I gave a session that focused on “teaching” as much as it did “learning”.  Helping educators connect and learn in a way that will help them long term has been my goal, especially since one of the things that I have focused on in leadership has been building capacity.  When I think of the term “leadership capacity”, I do not think of building the future principals of the world, but to help others become servant leaders.  Helping them find ways to help others.  For us to understand what our students go through, should we not try to understand how they learn?

One of the reasons that many people would much prefer going to the session that just gives them stuff “Monday ready” is due to the lack of time.  Curriculum can become overwhelming and teachers do a lot more than simply teach their kids from 9-3:30.  What I hope to see is that teachers, don’t look at what they have learned from one of my sessions and totally transform their work in one day; meaningful change takes time and your experience matters.  If I can help teachers think about how they learn, and what makes them passionate about learning, over time, could that not change the way that their students learn?  I am not going to give you “50 Apps for Your iPad” to use with students; those apps will become boring and then what are you left with?  To transform our teaching, we will have to rethink how we and our students can learn in this world.

Doing sessions at convention and outright telling people that they will have to continue working on their learning after this session can be a daunting thing.  If they do follow up and spend the time connecting with others and sharing their learning, the impact can become transformational, both personally and professionally.  I have experienced this first hand as a learner when people took the time to guide me through Twitter and blogging and sat with me patiently, waiting for me to have my own lightbulb moment.

Every once in awhile though, I see tweets like this that know this focus on learning, can have a huge impact:

The quote that has always stuck out to me is this one from Will Richardson, and it will continue to drive the work that I do:

Meaningful change ain’t gonna happen for our kids if we’re not willing to invest in it for ourselves first. At the heart, it’s not about schools…it’s about us.

If we as educators continue to focus on our learning first, won’t we become better teachers?

The “Flipped” Classroom and Transforming Education

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Recently, I wrote a post regarding some ideas that I did not believe that would transform school culture.  Although most agreed on two of the ideas that I shared, there was a large contingent of educators that argued regarding the “flip” and are very passionate about what it can do for the classroom (one even referred to me as a “nut” for even suggesting this!).

Also, Forbes magazine talked about the Khan Academy and the “flipped classroom” being one of the most important stories of 2012.  Whether it was inspired by Salman Khan or by educators, it has certainly stirred a movement:

Entire school districts are now reworking their curriculum, pedagogy, classroom structure and technology around Khan Academy videos. The net result of these changes is that students in Khan-centered schools don’t watch Khan videos in the classroom. They watch them at home. They use classroom time to do homework under the active supervision of their teacher (who serves as more of a learning lab tutor/coach) and fellow students (who, in technologically advanced classrooms, are digitally flagged when a classmate needs help). In perfectly melding with the collaborative learning ethos of the iGeneration, the Khan Academy has not only flipped the classroom, it’s flipped how we look at education.

As I see how passionate educators are regarding this idea, I can definitely see why it has merit.  I also believe that this is something for some of our students, not all.  I think back to hearing about the importance of “hands on” activities for learning, yet I know many students where that is not the best way that they learn.  Even the notion that all students have to have “collaborative” skills in our world, yet there are many careers now and in the future where someone can work outside of a “group” environment.  There is some important in students being able to have choice.  It seems that we are too often looking for a “standardardized” solution for a “personalized” problem.  Students need to have options and choice.

The Year of the Learner

Will Richardson wrote a powerful comment on my own blog talking about 2013 being the “year of the learner”, and it has deeply resonated with me:

My point is that if we keep seeing the point of school through the lens of “teaching,” nothing will be “transformed” in the sense that Papert talks about or in the sense that I think you mean it (though people’s bar for transformation is certainly varied.) Not saying we don’t need teachers…we need teachers who are masters at developing kids as learners who are adept at sense making around their own goals. Teachers who are focused on helping students develop the dispositions and literacies required to succeed regardless of subject or content or curriculum.

This moment is all about learners having an amazing new freedom to learn, not teachers having an amazing new freedom to teach. I’d love to see 2013 all about making that shift in our thinking around education.

As we continue to move forward, I agree that the “Flipped Classroom” and the use of Khan videos can be transformational for some students, but not all.  The focus there is not necessarily on the learner, but about the teacher.  Just like the idea that computers are great for many kids, but again, not all.  The opportunities afforded by a computer opens up many avenues for learning, but just handing a device to a kid does not change how they learn.

We need to do more.   

I agree with Will’s sentiments that as we move forward this year, we have to not get caught up on new ideas to implement in the classroom, but really connecting with our students, learning about them, and helping them to learn the way that works for them (the student), not us (the teacher).

Almost three year ago I wrote about the qualities that make a “master teacher”, and my first point was not about an idea, but about connecting with students:

“For all students to excel, teachers must learn about them and connectwith each child.  This is not just about finding out how they learn, but it is finding out who they are.  It is essential that we get to know our students, learn their passions, and help them find out how we can engage them in their own learning.  If you are not able to do this as a teacher, the (other) characteristics will be moot.”

Want to transform education?  We are going to have to do it one learner at a time because each and every kid we serve deserves that.

8 Things to Look For in Today’s Classroom

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by chrisbb@prodigy.net

As I think that leaders should be able to describe what they are looking for in schools I have thought of eight things that I really want to see in today’s classroom.  I really believe that classrooms need to be learner focused. This is not simply that students are creating but that they are also having opportunities to follow their interests and explore passions.  The teacher should embody learning as well.

Will Richardson recently wrote this in a comment on one of my recent posts on what teachers need to be like in our current day and the focus that needs to be on learning:

…we need teachers who are masters at developing kids as learners who are adept at sense making around their own goals. Teachers who are focused on helping students develop the dispositions and literacies required to succeed regardless of subject or content or curriculum

This moment is all about learners having an amazing new freedom to learn, not teachers having an amazing new freedom to teach. I’d love to see 2013 all about making that shift in our thinking around education.

Although technology is not the focus, it does give us many opportunities to magnify the opportunities I list below.  So with that being said, here are some things that I believe will help the learner of today be successful in our world, both today and tomorrow.

1.  Voice – Students should have the opportunity to not only learn from others but also share their learning with others as well.  We live in a world where everyone has a voice and if we do not teach our students to use this effectively, they will definitely struggle.  To me, this is so simple yet so essential.

2.  Choice – This is not only about how students learn, but also what they learn about.  How do they further their learning in areas of interests to them?  Throughout the first few years of university I did poorly, yet in my final few years my grades were better than they ever had been.  What was the difference?  I actually cared what I was learning about.  Strengths based learning is extremely important.

3.  Time for Reflection – Classrooms are an extremely busy place and I understand that many feel that they are rushed through the curriculum, but I think that taking the time to connect and reflect on what is being learned gives learners a better opportunity to really understand what they have learned.  I know many classrooms have DEAR time (drop everything and read), so why do we not have time to simply write and reflect?  This is not only for students, but for teachers and administrators as well.

4.  Opportunities for Innovation – Recently I visited Greystone Centennial Middle School during “Innovation Week” and saw students that created a hovercraft (not kidding) using things that they had around the house.  They were able to guide it around the gym and it was able to carry people around.  These kids were in grade 9.

When I asked the students about this opportunity, they had told me that they had saw something similar on YouTube but it was missing a few elements that they wanted to add.  They made it new and better.  I can only imagine what the students will do after they leave school because of this day, not in spite of it.

5.  Critical Thinkers – In the “factory model” of education, students were meant to be compliant and basically do “as they were told.”  This is not something that sticks with a child only, but goes into adulthood as well and it creates “yes” people who tend to lose all originality.  One of my best friends and my first admin partner, told me to never just let him go out on his own with his ideas without questioning them and sharing my thoughts.  His reason?  He wanted the best ideas, not his ideas.  He wanted me to ask questions.  He wanted to be successful.  It was not his ego that was important, but the success of his staff and students.  I have learned to ask the same of all those I work with and although it can turn into spirited conversations, it is was best not only for school but all organizations.  We need to have students that are able to ask questions and challenge what they see, but always in a respectful way.

6.  Problem Solvers/Finders – Ewan McIntosh has a brilliant Ted Talk discusses the notion of “problem-based learning” and how it is not beneficial to give students problems that aren’t real.  Instead, he focuses on the idea that students need to be “problem finders”; being able to find some tough challenges and then being able to solve those problems.  Megan Howard shares a wonderful story of how one of her grade six students was able to see that there was a problem with classmates losing their school uniforms and then being able to use QR codes to be able to identify them.  Let’s start asking kids to really look into finding what the problems are and giving them some purpose in solving something real.

7.  Self-Assessment – I don’t think that I have ever heard a teacher say, “I can’t wait until we get to write report cards!”  That being said, I think we spend too much time focusing on being able to tell others what our students can do and know, and not enough time helping students understand those things themselves.  Portfolios are a great way to share this knowledge and will actually have students develop their own understanding of what they know.  If you can write in a report card that a student can do something in October, yet they can’t do it in January, is that report card still relevant?  I think that we should spend more time working with students to teach them how to assess themselves and not just do it for them.

8. Connected Learning – When I first started teaching, I remember really struggling with science.  It was a subject that I struggled with as a learner and that continued on as a teacher.  I now think that if I was in the classroom, that the best person to teach science wouldn’t be me, but a scientist.  With most people that having a computer also having a Skype account, there are many that are willing to share their expertise in different areas.  This does not only have to be via technology, but we should also be bring in experts from our community to talk to students.  I know many teachers have done this for a long time, but technology opens the doors to people that we could not even imagine being a part of our classroom even ten years ago.  Even Shaquille O’neal has made some time to  Skype with students in one school.

Now I believe that all of these things are extremely important to the success of our students in the future, but there is one thing that is important to all of this; that our students are good people.  One of the things that I have told my students over and over again is that it doesn’t matter how smart you are if you are considered a jerk.  Treat others with kindness and consideration. Always.

Finally, let’s start to really tap into the wisdom of our rooms and have students not only learn, but teach each other.  There is a saying from my time as a referee was that the best officials are the ones that you never notice.  Does the same hold true for a teacher?  I have walked into classrooms and have been unable to identify who the teacher was immediately because they were, as Chris Kennedy would say, “elbows deep in learning” with their students.  Students were  also teaching others along the way.  If we start to acknowledge that everyone can be a teacher, and everyone a learner, I really think that you will be able to see more of the elements I have discussed in our classrooms today.

What I have missed?  I would love your thoughts and feedback.

Update: As David Wees points out, relationships are a fundamental in this classroom.  As I know that I talk about this regularly on the blog, I would agree with David that NONE of this happens without a loving and trusting environment.  Thanks Mr. Wees!

Some of My Favourite Posts From 2012

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Jon Glittenberg

Many people are sharing some of their favourite posts of 2012 from their own blog, but I thought that it would be more beneficial to share some of the great reads I have found out throughout the year.  The one thing that I dislike about the “blogosphere”, is that some of the best posts tend to disappear way too quick.  This is my chance to bring them back for others to read.

The first one though I wanted to share though is very selfish though, yet it was probably one of my favourite days of the year.  This post from Alyssa Lamshed, who I have connected with through her dad and blog, showed me the power of connecting online to create incredible connections offline.  It was just a really cool experience to meet Alyssa in Adelaide and it reminded me why I do, what I do.

Here are some great reads from my year (in no particular order):

1.  Overcoming Digital Dualism - A great post by Dean Shareski (who reads this blog all the time but won’t acknowledge it publicly) on digital dualism which is defined below:

Digital dualism is the belief that the on and offline are largely separate and distinct realities. Digital dualists view digital content as part of a “virtual” world separate from a “real” world found in physical space. 

Dean has some great thoughts on our world today:

My struggle remains in helping people understand that our world now includes digital connections not simply as supplements to relationships but embedded and at times equal to or at least different from traditional non-mediated relationships. Like our computers today, we feel a need to label this and distinguish them as “technology” if only to understand their “newness”. Perhaps someday we’ll not point out these differences and see online connections as less meaningful. For now, I don’t know how to help folks get over that idea without them experiencing it for themselves. I also don’t want this conversation to be about making people feel like “I get this and you don’t”. That’s when the discussion becomes more polarized.

2.  Blogging is the New Persuasive Essay – I could easily share all of Shelly Wright’s posts here, but this one stands out as a favourite.  She makes a very simple yet compelling case on how you could include blogging as a component in your classroom:

I’m not proposing that you need to do things radically different. Teach whatever you teach for Language Arts, or other subjects, but include a blog component.  So if you’re teaching sentence structure, teach your students to create complete sentences while blogging. Blogs, like traditional writing, need great structure.  If you’re focusing on capitalization or punctuation, transfer this skill to blog writing as well.

Another one of my favourite Shelly Wright posts is “I Used To Think“.  If you are ever looking for a speaker to show how much better it is to transform your teaching to focus on powerful student learning, Shelly is a solid choice.  She has such a compelling story that resonates with many.

3.  Everything you know about curriculum may be wrong. Really. – This is just a really powerful post by Grant Wiggins, that uses some simple analogies to talk about how curriculum (and learning experiences) should be designed:

In athletics this is very clear: the game is the curriculum; the game is the teacher. And each game is different (even as helpful patterns emerge). Knowledge about the game is secondary, an offshoot of learning to play the game well. As I learn to play, knowledge – about rules, strategy, and technique – accrues, but it is not the point.

So, it would be very foolish to learn soccer (or child-rearing or music or how to cook) in lectures. This reverses cause and effect, and loses sight of purpose. Could it be the same for history, math, and science learning? Only blind habit keeps us from exploring this obvious logic. The point is to do new things with content, not simply know what others know – in any field.

4.  What it might be: Authentic Student Blogging - I have been watching what Jabiz Raisdana has been doing with student blogging this year, and I have just been amazed at how he has empowered student voice.  As we embark on digital portfolios in Parkland School Division, I have been greatly influenced by what Jabiz has written on student blogging and love his advice:

If you want your students to blog effectively, give them the freedom to experiment and write about what interests them. Stay away from portfolios and forced reflections on their learning, at least until they get the hang of it. Wait until they find a voice, find an audience, and become involved in the conversations around ideas, before you push your agenda of meta-cognition and reflective learning. 

5.  What Leading With Vision Really Means - This is not an education piece, but its implications for educational leadership are obvious.  As we have more access to information from different sectors, educators should be looking outside of the field to see what works for people and business, and then try to make the connection to what we do in schools.  Visionary leadership is needed in our schools/districts so we (as a whole system) can do what is best for kids:

People also want to see that the leader’s farsightedness is based on a deep sense of what’s necessary, right, and good for the business and the team rather than what’s simply expeditious, popular, or self-serving. We want to feel that our leaders’ “far-sight” is focused on the greater good, that their vision promotes the group and not just their own selfish interests. A truly farsighted leader envisions a possible future that responds to and resonates with people’s aspirations for their individual and collective success. When employees or potential employees hear about the good leader’s vision, their visceral response is, “Yes, I want to go there too.”

In my travels, it is so apparent that schools/districts are a huge reflection of leadership and their success.  With that understanding, schools/districts need to put more effort into developing the innovative leadership our schools need, not simply running the same programs with the same objectives of the past.

Here are some other posts I really liked as well:

5 Reasons Your Top Employee Isn’t Happy

The Five Percenters

Is Algebra Necessary

Teachers Should Change How They Teach Students Today

The Question Should be: Why are you not blogging?

Hopefully I have provided a range of great reading to start off your New Year!  If you want more, please feel free to check out my Diigo Bookmarks.  Also, the Edublog nominees for “Most Influential Education Blog Post of 2012” is another great place to look for some great reads.

I am constantly inspired by so many people and could share 100′s of posts so thank you to all that inspire me daily!

Have a great 2013!

“…they were born in another time.”

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I was led to this interesting blog post that was asking for some thoughts based on a letter that was sent by a parent discussing “technology and childhood”.  Here is the email that was shared:

“I am a parent of two boys aged nine and six. One of the ongoing concerns within our family is technology and electronic devices. How do we safely allow technology to be a part of their, and our lives, and still let our children experience childhood? Does technology work in unison with childhood? Is technology so engulfed within our current society that we are required to partake whether we like it or not?  I seem to be having an increasing number of conversations with other parents about technology and its implications on our, and in particular, our childrens’ lives. There seems to be varying opinions on how to approach it, how to utilise it and how to discipline it, especially in regards to social use and educational purposes.  If you feel you have views to express in regards to this topic, then please use this as an oppurtunity for your experiences and ideas to be heard.  My aim is to publish a complete text which will include shared stories from parents and teachers in relation to “Technology and Childhood”. I think by documenting families approaches we can not only learn from each other, guide and help eachother, but also record the current role that technology has in our childrens’ lives. Our young generations are going to be such a significant part of this country’s history. To a great extent they are “guinea pigs” to the social, physical and developmental outcomes of technology usage from a young age. 

So what is your approach?  

Since I wrote a long comment in response, I thought that I would share my thoughts on my blog as well.  Below is what I shared:

Great questions here and I am going to jump in with a few thoughts.

1. Here is an interesting statement that grabbed my attention right away:
“How do we safely allow technology to be a part of their, and our lives, and still let our children experience childhood?”

I guess what I would ask right away is what have we determined as the notion of “childhood”? It is how we grew up or how kids are growing up now? If a kid played a board game would we better with that then a computer game? Both can be social but in a different way. If kids are reading, does it really matter if it is on an iPad or a paper book? We grew up with books and that was a new technology at some point that probably people were uncomfortable with. I think that when many see a kid using a digital device outside during recess, they are appalled, but when they see a kid reading a book, we commend them. In both situations there is good and bad and conversations that should happen with balance.

2. Imagination is extremely important but what happens when we can bring imagination to life? When I was a kid, playing with GI Joe figures was an awesome activity for me and I would act out scenes forever yet those scenes were only in my mind. What if I could actually create something on a computer that would allow others to recreate those scenes? Drawing my ideas was seen as great for brain development, so where does creating something on a computer fit into this? Imagination is fantastic but we have to also think about how we can give kids a creative outlet.

3. I think that this comment can be altered a touch:

“Our young generations are going to be such a significant part of this country’s history. “

The reality is that this generation is important to the ‘future’ of the country which should look different and grow from our past. The idea that kids are “guinea pigs” can be said for so many generations with different technologies, whether it it books, film, automobiles, telephones, or televisions. Do we grow up in an environment where there was no change or do society’s just continue to change, progress and evolve? I actually grew up with a computer that I would spend a ton of time on as a child. That definitely had an impact on my development, but I think that it gave me the opportunity to create in a way that others before couldn’t. Was it negative? Probably some things were negative and some were positive, but with every advance in society, we give some things up where we also gain. That leads me into my last thoughts on balance.

4. Balance is extremely important in this debate about what our kids are doing now. Ironically, I am writing this while watching the olympics which is a celebration of children that probably grew up with a gigantic lack of balance in their lives to be what many would consider to be successful. Is balance what we are aiming for or is it happiness, or is it both? I love this post by Will Richardson where he discusses the balance debate:

“…the reality is that most of those folks who are concerned about kids needing balance are out of balance themselves, just in the opposite way. They’re not online enough, not reading, writing, participating, connecting and creating in these spaces as much as they need to be to fully understand the implications of these technologies for their own learning and for the kids in their classrooms. Lately, when I’ve been responding to people about the “balance” question, I go with “well, actually, you’re out of balance too, you know.” Richardson

If we are really looking out for our kids, what experiences have we learned from using technology ourselves to help guide them through this unchartered territory. As someone who is an advocate for the use of technology in schools, I also am an advocate for exercise, connecting face-to-face, and trying different things. It is not that I am against the use of pencil, but I am against the lack of opportunity to have some meaningful opportunities to use technology in the classroom as well. We need to give kids Option A and B, not just provide one or the other.

The idea of “balance” is important so as Richardson discusses, let’s figure out how we can model this balance by embedding the effective use of technology in our lives while also learning to put it away when we should. By being able to model and understand both, we are more likely to seem credible in the discussions with our children.

With all of this being said, I believe that parents are doing their best to provide a life for their children that was better their own. I commend parents for asking these types of questions as these conversations are so important to improving the opportunities for our students in a safe way. In this whole discussion, this quote always sticks out to me:

“Do not confine your children to your own learning for they were born in another time.”

Thank you for the conversation!

These conversations are so important to our communities and obviously I am a big advocate for schools moving forward from when we went.  I love the below picture which really shows how kids have moved away from how we are as children:

What are your thoughts on this topic? I encourage you to share your thoughts here or on the original blog post.  These are such great conversations that we should be having with our school communities.

21st Century PLNs for School Leaders

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by krossbow

I have to admit that I was pretty excited to write my first post for the Edutopia group that has a great list of educators sharing some of their best practices.  I wanted to share the piece in my own learning space, but you can see the original article posted on the Edutopia site.

As many school administrators are enjoying their summer break, we all tend to think of ways that we can make our school better in the upcoming year. Often, I point school principals and district leaders to a powerful post by Will Richardson that helps us point the finger right at ourselves when we are looking to push our school ahead. Richardson states:

“Meaningful change ain’t gonna happen for our kids if we’re not willing to invest in it for ourselves first. At the heart, it’s not about schools . . . it’s about us.”

With that being said, I have spent the last few years focusing a great deal on my work as an instructional leader within my role as school-based principal, and now as division principal. Although building relationships is the most important thing that we can do in our schools, in my opinion being an instructional leader is a close second.

With all of the new technologies that are surrounding us, and to the many school administrators that are not feeling comfortable with Twitter, Facebook, etc., I would like to suggest three ways (as opposed to the typical round number of 10) that you can focus on your own professional development over the summer. Less is oftentimes more in the digital world as we move from simply being “literate” to “fluent” in this language.

So for the administrator new to the world of social media and all of the possibilities that it holds for developing instructional leadership, here are three ways that I would suggest starting to learn this summer

1) Start a Twitter Account

Twitter is not just about “what I had for breakfast” (although I did have a delicious omelette at my favourite breakfast place this morning). There are a ton of educators on Twitter that are connecting and learning from one another, while building some global relationships that will be invaluable to the future of their own professional development, as well as their schools. Two years ago, it was something that I swore to stay away from, but in those short two years, Twitter has made more of an impact on my learning than any professional development opportunity I have ever been a part of, and dare I say, much more than my undergraduate and graduate work. The learning is real, the ideas are powerful yet simple, and the connections to resources and people are infinite.

To start, simply go to Twitter and create an account. Once there, you can follow the people on this list of educators, which will immediately start filling your column with great ideas and resources. If you are lost, you can often ask questions from Twitter sherpas like Dean Shareski or Alec Couros, two guys always willing to help. You are also welcome to connect with me, and I would be more than willing to help guide you in this world that isn’t as confusing as it may seem. You can also use the Twitter Search tool and look at tweets from school administrators, or on the topic of educational leadership through the #cpchat hashtag.

If you are not sure what you want to put out there, I wrote this post, What should a networked educational leader tweet about?, to help school leaders share in a way that will benefit their own learning. Once you start to create your own Personal Learning Network (PLN), you may also want to look at creating a Twitter account for your school.

There are a ton of benefits from joining Twitter, but until you immerse yourself in using it, you will not be able to share them with those you serve.

“Go the way, know the way, show the way.” (John C. Maxwell)

2) Read Blogs

Now that you have started connecting and learning using Twitter, you will probably have figured out that most content worth sharing goes way past 140 characters. With that being said, many school administrators are looking for content specific to their position, especially since the position of school principal can be quite isolating.

A great blog to start at is the Connected Principals site, where a ton of school- and division-based administrators share some of their best work within their schools. Although this site does have some great ideas, there are many other administrator blogs out there which may be of interest to you. Edudemic does an excellent piece on 20 Educator Administrator Blogs, which will lead you to some great writing of administrators that continuously share those ideas.

If you are using Google Reader (which you have if you have a gmail account), you can easily subscribe to a bundle I have created that will update you on blogs as authors post them, which will save you from constantly checking the site for updates. (Contact me for details.) In general, there are a lot of other good educator blogs as well, which share some great ideas for your school.

There is some great information out there and hopefully this will have helped you on the right path.

3) Write a Blog

Now that you have had access to some beneficial learning through Twitter and blogging, how will you share this with your staff and the world? Many leaders find that sharing links through email is a great way to start aggregating resources for staff, but many others are annoyed by all these messages. However, with these media opening up the world, it is important that, as school leaders, we share our learning back.

Dean Shareski shared the idea that blogging makes better teachers, so it is logical that school administrators do the same:

“There’s a natural transparency that emerges. The teachers who blog as professionals in this reflective manner in my district invite anyone to look into their classrooms and you can get a picture of what happens on a daily basis. This goes a long way in addressing accountability concerns.”

So where would one even start?

Although there are plenty of blogging platforms out there (Edublogs, Blogger, Tumblr, etc.), I would suggest using WordPress. It is free, has no advertisements and is simple to use. There is also a ton of support.

Reading other blogs, you may develop some ideas of what you want to write about, but if you are stuck, I started You Should Read, a weekly blog post that shares some great online articles that I’ve discovered. This is an easy way to start sharing some of the brilliant stuff you are reading, an easy way to start writing, and an opportunity to spark discussion with your staff and the global community. The best leaders not only can speak, but also have the ability to be good listeners. Blogging becomes a way to listen to your readers and learn from them while sharing your own knowledge.

Conclusion

Many look at tweeting and blogging as technocentric or even narcissistic, yet I look at them as ways of learning and connecting. There are so many real educators out there who want to get better at what they do so that they can always do what is best for kids. By opening up your own learning to the world, you will be surprised not only how your knowledge elevates, but how your passion for teaching and learning will benefit as well. Two years ago, a group of generous people spent time with me to help me learn about this awesome network, and I am glad to be doing the same for others now. Hopefully this will give you a good start.