Edutech Musings

Questioning Normalcy

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:58:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/njtechteacher/

Educon 2.4 came to a close but is far from finished. The conversations started there will continue in the hallways and faculty lounges around the world and in online discussions via blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.

The overarching word du jour was Innovation. We heard what it was and what it wasn't. We dissected it and defined it and even used it in a drinking game. But, most striking was the fact that we never gave up on it.

Innovation, it seems, was a part of us throughout the weekend. And why not? Those of us in those rooms or following along via streaming are education innovators. How many of us know more people who haven't a clue what Educon is than the number of people who were envious of us in attendance?

But how do we innovate once we return to our offices or classrooms? For me I plan on bringing up these discussions with my colleagues. I plan on addressing things that made me question what I, or my school, is doing. I plan on having discussions with students about these topics and how they can help bring about change in our school.

As this transformation evolves I will be posting the "aha!" moments, the "holy crap we can't do that's," and the "let's get this baby rollings." Throughout, I would love your thoughts and encouragement. I'll be sharing this with our students and look forward to their input as well. And, in a few weeks I plan on linking to our class blog as my students start down this journey.

Thank you Educon, Chris Lehman, and the staff, parents, and students of the Science Leadership Academy (SLA) for providing all of us with such an enriching event.

Educon 2.4 First Day Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:45:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twaize/

"Wow! My head hurts, but in a good way." How many times did I hear some version of that statement tonight. Yes, it hurts your brain to question what you are doing. It hurts your brain to question what others are saying they are doing. And, it hurts your brain to stand firm on something you truly believe in.

All of those things happened (and more) to my brain today. Actually this pain in my brain started Thursday night as we sat talking inside of Con Murphys, until later than I would have liked, about things related to unstructured classrooms and democratic learning. [Confession: my brain hurt too because the singer was a little loud - I'm getting old, sigh....]

This continued on Friday as I toured the SLA and talked with their incredible students. But the best thing about seeing the SLA is that our students are just like those students. Our classrooms are incredibly similar to the SLA classrooms. I saw presentations and researching with technology. I saw hands on exploration in a Calculus class. [Confession #2: I was told I couldn't help the students but I did give them a hint about thinking back to their Algebra 2 days and maximizing area of a fenced in pen, sorry]

Then, Friday night, there was a wonderful panel of speakers who challenged our thoughts on Innovation. This later became "the I-word" and was worked into a drinking game but the fact is we were discussing until almost midnight what it means to innovate.

The pain today started early as I had to choose between about 15 conversations for each of the three sessions. Luckily, for me, Michelle Baldwin had tweeted me the night before telling me I had to come to her session where we discussed finding and nurturing the next Da Vinci in our classrooms. [Confession #3: Glad I didn't have to choose and it turned out to be an awesome discussion with Kelly Tenkely.]

The second session I went to was made easy because I didn't have to change rooms. I really wanted to hear Liz Davis and Lisa Thumann and they just happened to be in the same room. Their conversation was on Tradition Vs. Innovation. This was an interactive session as we had to choose to "Dig It" or "Ditch It" on some dozen topics in education that were "traditional." Great discussions by teachers wearing their parent hats in this one.

You know, I've heard Dean Shareski speak and I abuse the other Canadian, Alec Couros a lot on twitter so I had to go see them tag team the topic of Learning in Public. This was definitely standing room only and there were no shy people in the room when it came to discussing this topic. Somehow this was the only session where I was content to just listen. [Confession #4: I almost raised my hand to see if I could be selected so I could tell them that Kelly Tenkely kept raising her hand to comment and they were missing her]

The SLA then provided a dinner where we continued to talk about what we had heard during the day and then we took the train out to the meet up this evening where we discussed stuff for another hour and a half and now, finally, I am back in my room and writing this post.

Basically, I have talked about education related topics every waking hour from my arrival to now and that's about 40 of the last 54 hours. So, yeah, my head hurts. But you know what? I'm heading back tomorrow morning to do it all again.

PBL With Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:00:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristieandgary/

"To create meaningful PBL units it helps to enlist friends and colleagues. If they are not in your area of expertise they bring a fresh perspective. We will discuss creating a PBL unit while brainstorming with a topic and standards given to us from one of the participants."

That is the short description of my conversation for Educon Philly 2012. My aim is to have a discussion around what it takes to create a PBL unit and to show those thinking about working PBL into their classroom that it can be done. And, it is much easier to be successful if you have people help you with the planning.

To start I want to figure out the level of expertise, in PBL, of the people in the room. For that I'm debating using some sort of mobile polling app or maybe just a google form. Either way I'm hoping to have it updating as people are coming into the room so that, as we begin, I already know where I need to head with the initial discussion.

Things that will effect my starting point for the conversation: (1) Grade Levels represented. PBL may be PBL but there are differences that need to be addressed. Are we mostly Elementary or Post Secondary? (2) Experience with PBL. Is my audience mostly new to PBL and really need to understand what the heck this PBL stuff is? Or, are we dealing with knowledgeable teachers of PBL who we can really dig deeply in our conversations. (3) Subject Areas. Are there mostly math teachers? Social Study Teachers? Lower Elementary or Home Schoolers who want to discuss multi-content PBL's?

One of the things I will want to share is this post with links to key items. That includes the Buck Institute. They do wonderful workshops on PBL and have "how to" books on the subject that I reference before the beginning of each school year. Also, Edutopia has started really building their reference materials and videos about PBL. And, lastly, the newest resource for great PBL information - PBLChat on Twitter. PBLChat is every Tuesday evening at 9 EST. And the archive from each week is saved in Storify. Here are two of the better chats: Engaging Entry Events, and, Doing Projects vs. PBL .

Mainly, though, we will have (as the name says) a conversation. I want to hear what people are doing with PBL in their classrooms and schools. I want to hear questions and fears from those wanting to take the plunge. I want honest questions and honest responses. PBL is hard, for example. That needs to be made clear - yes, it is hard. But only because you become like a new teacher when you start with PBL. You are learning pacing, you are learning group dynamics, you are learning a new form of classroom management... The list could go on and on. But when you stick with it you will suddenly get to the day where you get the class started and suddenly there is learning going on all around you. Groups are having thoughtful discussions. Groups are handling issues with one of their members. And, most enjoyably, students are asking you "how?" or "why?" or some other higher level thinking question.

PBL is different. PBL may not be for every teacher. But PBL works. Those classrooms having success can see it; they can feel it; and they can hear it; the learning is in the hands of your students.

Sometimes, NEEDS can surprise you.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:10:00 +0000

From Wordle

The last post I wrote in 2011 was a four parter and dealt with getting started with PBL. I decided to run those posts through Wordle and the picture to the left is the result.

The words that really stand out are PBL, Need, Project, and Students. Not too much smaller are Know and Standards. I found this interesting in that the standards came out as nearly as important as the word PBL, Project, and Students.

What really surprised me was the word Need. I know students really need a different experience in the classroom. I know the students need a teacher willing to try something new so that they can benefit from the best learning possible.

I also know that teachers need support from their peers, their administration and their district curriculum people. Some of you may be saying that I need to apologize for getting you to read this. Actually, I just need to see you all having fun with this post.

Sometimes You Just Have to Drop Back and Punt

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:56:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogersmith/

This week we came back to school and we were in mid-project. When my co-teacher and I met on the return teacher work day we discussed the fact that we were not really happy with how the project had gone and we determined that we might just have to wrap it up and move on.

We, literally, almost came down to an arm wrestle over whether to stop the project, when to stop the project, and how to stop the project. We finally had our hand forced as we realized that the end of our six weeks marking period was going to happen within the next 7 class days.

How did this disaster happen? Simple actually: not being specific about what we wanted our students to accomplish and not understanding the time required to obtain certain skills. And, without having to mention the subject, this could have happened in any project-based class in any school in the world.

When you try to put too much into a project you run into the possibility of students losing interest in what was supposed to be the major end product. That is what happened to us. We had CAD (computer aided design) techniques that needed to be learned and we had a requirement for a specialized 3D printer that needed an upgrade. Meanwhile the driving question was " How can students use their artistic talents in an engineering course to create a lasting symbol of peace and love?" And their end product was a tile mosaic with each student creating a tile for the mosaic.

The concept sounded beautiful. Then there came the set backs. First the realization that we might not be able to make the tiles when they got to that point because our 3D printer wouldn't be ready. Next the realization that the CAD techniques we were wanting our students to learn take time and we hadn't really planned the right number of days for this. A day here, a day there, a Thanksgiving break, and the craziness that occurs near the December holiday break and suddenly it was January 3 and we hadn't completed the project.

So what do you do? Well, here's what we did. On the first day groups created a presentation on where they had gotten to before Christmas. This served a threefold purpose: we could discuss the fact that we weren't happy and wanted to terminate the project, students could remember why we were even doing the project in the first place, and they could practice their presentation skills (giving us a chance at an oral communication grade).

The second day we continued with groups drawing sketches of what the final product would have looked like and what CAD skills they would have had to use to create their design. This gave us a chance to give a writing grade and a technology skills grade. Finally we wrapped things up with a discussion of how things went in the project and what could be improved. And, we took time to discuss the final product and it's potential for impact on the school and community.

Here we have two teachers who have taught in a PBL classroom for a combined 8 years and their project flopped. It happens. And when it happens you need to get the students involved. Have them help you understand what went wrong. Then continue a discussion of what the final product means in relation to the work they have completed. And then move on to the next project. Incorporate skills that you were unable to get to with the previous project into the new project. Use spiraling and scaffolding to connect the skills and before long you may be the only one who remembers this disaster. Welcome to PBL.

A Workout For The New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:13:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ms4denmark/

You get home and you are exhausted or you want to get up and do something but don't have a lot of time before getting ready for school. If you want to walk and/or run as part of your workout then this might work for you. I did mine at lunch today to start the new year right.

I started doing this workout a couple of years ago to get myself back into running. When I started I had a hard time running a lap on the track and I was 70 pounds overweight. Today I'm not much better but I do try to do a monthly 5K and I'm only about 50 pounds overweight. So you can do this.

This will get you through 2+ miles (if you can run at least one lap) and will get you about a mile and a half if you can only walk a lap. The goal is to keep moving for about 30 minutes. So, if you are faster then adjust by adding some distance to this and I'll explain that at the end.

Here's the workout and I'll explain after:

1. Jog (or walk) one lap on a track (or for 4 or 5 minutes) at an easier pace than you do for a 5K.(Note 1)

2. Do 10 pushups concentrating on form. (Note 2)

3. Walk a half of a lap (or for 3 minutes).

4. Run (or walk at a quicker pace) to the end of the lap (Note 1)

5. Do 9 pushups concentrating on form. (Note 2)

6. Walk a half of a lap (or for 3 minutes).

7. Run (or walk) the straight part of the track at faster than a 5K pace (Note 1) then walk to the end of this lap.

8. Do 8 pushups concentrating on form. (Note 2)

9. Run (or walk) the straight part of the track at faster than a 5K pace (Note 1) then walk the curved part of the track. Then run the second straight and walk the final curve to the end of this lap.

10. Do 7 pushups concentrating on form. (Note 2)

11. Repeat steps 1 - 10 with decreasing pushups at the end of each lap (6,5,4,3 pushups).

12. At the end you may want to walk one complete lap as a cool down. Total time should be between 25 and 35 minutes depending on your speed.

NOTE 1: The running/jogging/walking will be at various speeds. I try to do this on a track. I run the first lap at a slower than 5K pace and I start at the beginning of one of the straight-aways. My "formula" has you run a complete 1st lap, run half and walk half for the 2nd lap, run only the second straight-away on the 3rd lap and run both of the straight-aways on the final lap. The straights are done at a faster than normal 5K pace. I like to run in lane 1 (or 2 if there are faster runners) for the 1st and 5th lap, lane 2 for the 2nd and 6th lap, etc. This will help you keep track of the lap you are on.

NOTE 2: The pushups are done at the end of each lap or at the end of every 3 to 5 minutes (depending on the speed). You start with 10, then decrease by one for each lap. This may be a lot in the beginning but is a small enough number that you can really focus on good form. You may always increase the number once you can do them all with great form. At the end you will have done 52 pushups.

Finally, once you are comfortably doing this workout with all of the pushups and you are consistently below 30 minutes you will want to add distance to complete a full 30 minutes. I like to add full laps at a 5K pace. If you get to the point that you are running 3 miles and completing all of the pushups start adding additional pushups or some other exercise to work your upper body or core.

Happy New Year and hope you find this useful. I'll be back talking about PBL in the next post.

Four Posts to Get You Ready (part 4 of 4)

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:22:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/huppypie/

(Part 4 of 4) You have read and re-read recipes for success in a PBL unit. You have gathered the standards and you have the scenario ready for the entry event. You have selected how you are going to assign groups and you have an outline for each day of what you want to accomplish. What other things do you need to think about?

If you haven't already thought about the skills required to successfully understand the standards you are covering then you need to do so now, before the project starts. While you are monitoring groups you will see that some students will not have a firm grasp on what you are expecting them to learn. There will be learning gaps. There will be misconceptions. You need to step in a teach to fill in the gaps. Here is another great thing about PBL - you really can do individualized instruction while the rest of the class is working.

What we will do is get a feel for how many students are struggling with the concept. Is it most of the class? Is it half the class? Is it 3 or 4 students? If you are noticing half of the class struggling with the concept then you need to hold a whole-group session. It won't hurt those who do understand to hear it one more time and it may eliminate some misunderstandings that you didn't catch in your walking around the classroom. If it is just a handful of students you should announce that "in 10 minutes I will be having a workshop on _______ at the front of the room." You then need to make sure that the students, who you know are struggling, attend. A simple walk by with a quiet "you need to be at that workshop," should be all you need to do to get that student to the workshop.

The next thing you will need to do is assess the students for understanding. Just because it's PBL doesn't mean quizzes and tests go away. If this is a time when you need to have a major test then you need to fit that into your plan. If it is just a quiz then you just have to remember to give your students time to finish it. One thing I like to do is have a test over the material being learned during the PBL unit on the day before their presentations. That way the students will know what you consider the most important elements of the learning and they won't be surprised by the questions being asked of them during their presentations.

A less formal assessment of knowledge can come in the form of a poll or a "ticket out." There are multiple ways of gathering the poll information from clickers to phone apps to google forms. Or, you might just have them complete the following sentence stems and hand them to you on the way out of class: (1) What I now know about (the subject) is ______________ (2) What I would like to know more about (the subject) is ______________ and (3) What I am still confused about (the subject) is ________ . That simple step really helps you plan your next day's work day and workshop requirements.

Something that you may not anticipate in a PBL classroom is students learning things that you didn't know or that you learned a long time ago when you were in college. But wait! YOU are the one in the classroom with the most knowledge of the subject matter. That does not mean that you know everything about the subject matter. In PBL there will be groups that will go way beyond what you have required of them. They might just learn something that you aren't comfortable teaching because you've never had to teach the subject to the level they need. This is when you need to suck it up and say, "let's learn this together." There's nothing wrong with asking that group to stay after school or come before school or come during your lunch so you can all go over the information together. That small amount of time will be the most important thing you can do for your students and yourself.

I'll follow that last paragraph up with a word of advice - listen to your students. They know when a PBL project is working and when it isn't. They know if you blew it and didn't consider all of the possibilities. They also know when you have hit a home run and they have not only learned what they were supposed to learn but they have gone way beyond what you had hoped and they enjoyed the learning process. That's right they enjoyed learning. Isn't that what you like to do?

Don't you hate boring, meaningless, professional developments? Isn't it fun to walk out of a PD and say "wow I really learned something and I can use it in my classroom right away?" That's the same way our students are about their learning. It needs to be enjoyable. It doesn't have to be "fun" every day but the students should want to come to class and learn. That is what makes a PBL classroom so much fun to teach in. So listen to them. Ask them for feedback after you finish a project. Ask them for concrete things that went well or didn't go well at all. Then, when you get to this point next year, you can either create a whole new project to cover those standards or you can tweak this project so that it is more effective.

There, you are ready. You will have great days. You will have not so great days. But I can guarantee that once you and your students have become PBL learners you won't go back to the old way of teaching. You, and your students, are about to discover that it is OK to learn stuff. And, you might just have some fun along the way. Now roll out that Entry Event and get going.

Four Posts to Get You Ready (part 3 of 4)

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:21:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/huppypie/

(Part 3 of 4) You've gotten yourself in over your head and you have decided that you are about to do a PBL unit with your class. Well, how long does it need to be? How do you start it going, how do you complete it, and how do you give it pushes to keep it going if momentum is lost in the middle?

Since this is your first PBL unit, you need to be successful. And what I mean by that is that you need to succeed AND your students need to succeed. So, I recommend a maximum of 2 weeks for this first project.

A plan for each day of the 1 or 2 weeks will help you and your students focus on what needs to happen at each stage of the process. The first day will need to have an Entry Event, the last day you will need to have some sort of presentation and you know that there will be times in the middle where you will have to have direct instruction (what we call "workshops"). Depending on the number and complexity of the standards you are encompassing you may need to plan on 2 or 3 days of direct instruction during this two weeks. So, we start with 10 days. We subtract 1 day for the first and last day and let's say 3 days for instruction that leaves about 5 days as "work days" for the students.

Work days are NOT sit at your desk and play with social media or pull out a deck of cards and play solitaire. Work days need to have a set product for the end of the day. This product might be a blog post, it might be a quiz, or it might be a written list of research that was conducted. Most students will need guidance and input from you. Most groups don't automatically have great discussions amongst themselves about the learning process. They DO have great discussions about a recent sporting event or the latest music. So plan on walking around the room listening and inserting yourself in their conversations - when needed. Don't automatically tell them what they should be doing. Instead answer their questions with guiding questions like "have you thought about ___" or "I wonder if you could _____ . "

This gets to the point that over half of the time spent in a project will, normally, be in group work. Group dynamics must be taught. This is especially true for the first couple of projects of the year. The students need to know what you expect from them. They need to know what roles they will fulfill and what requirements there are for each of these roles. So here are some ways to assign groups that I have used over the years: (a) Just a random selection, (b) Rank them academically and put first with last in a bottom-top rotation, (c) Pick group leaders and have them leave the classroom and select their groups while you work with the rest of the class, (d) Use the academic rankings to put the bottom 3 or 4 together - someone will have to rise to the top of that group.

There are many more ways to group. Just try different things and change them after each project. Your best groups, with the least problems, will want to be together for the rest of the year. Force them to work with everyone in the class so that they can see the strengths and weaknesses of every student. Some guiding thoughts can be found on Jerry Blumengarten (cybraryman)'s site under cooperative learning and collaboration as well as on the BIE site and Edutopia.

You have your plan and you have your group assignments. Now you need a "hook" to get your students thinking about what they will be doing for the next two weeks. We refer to this as an Entry Event (EE) or Entry Document. EE's can come in the form of a written document, a video, a live demonstration or skit, or a "call-in" from an expert via Skype or the phone. All of the reference sites I've already mentioned can give you suggestions but here is the archive from one of the twitter PBL Chat's we had on Entry Events.

In my last of this 4-part series I'll cover odds and ends that need to be thought about during any project. By now you are ready to do this and I look forward to hearing from you about how that first project went. You can do it! See you in Part 4.

Four Posts to Get You Ready (part 2 of 4)

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:21:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/huppypie/

(Part 2 of 4) "I don't have a good imagination!" "How do you get started with PBL?" "Do you have to start with the standards?" These are all things I have heard when talking PBL with teachers. And, like writing a letter (or a blog post), it is that first step that is the hardest.

Because you are a good teacher you know what needs to be taught next in your yearly plan. Therefore you need to keep in mind that the standards that you are planning to teach will need to be covered in your next project. Simple right?

Starting with the standards is all some teachers need to create great projects. Others like to think of a potential project and they see what standards can be taught within the project. This will come down to your personality, most of the time, and will be forced due to the need for certain standards to be taught other times. What is it that you want to teach next? If you truly are new to PBL then there is no harm in looking at other project ideas from places like the Buck Institute or Edutopia.

For example, you want to teach the concept of perpendicular lines and the slope relationship in perpendicular lines. You know that the state standards give you the facts that must be learned, now what? Well, where do you find perpendicular lines? How about where floors and walls meet? How about where there are intersections of city streets? How about irrigation canals? Does it have to be something that is exactly perpendicular? What about light bouncing off of a mirror? Now you can talk about terms like angle of incidence and angle of reflection. They aren't in your math standards? NOW you are seeing the power of PBL - you introduce a project that has students measuring angles of light and they are learning terms that they will need to know in physics.

Let's run with this idea. The students start by measuring the angles of light being reflected off of a mirror. Then they can create the equations of the lines by having the place where the line comes in be the origin of an XY Coordinate System. And, if they draw a line on the mirror what would be the relationships of the light "line" and the line in the mirror? Is there anything unique about the equation of the line that bounces right back to the flashlight? Hey that's a 90 degree angle? They are perpendicular. Is there a relationship there between the two equations?

To make this scenario really work the students will need a "Driving Question." The driving question is quite often in the form of "How does a _____ do _____ by _____ ?" So, for this previous question you might use the question, How does a physicist know that a laser is shining in the right direction by moving the beam along a reflective surface? The driving question must be something that you can come back to over and over again. This helps the students answer the "why are we doing this?" question.

I think you get the idea. You brainstorm ideas that might demonstrate the concept you are wanting to cover. Then you tweak it so that the students have to know particular facts (your standards) to be successful. Suddenly you are being asked to teach them how to calculate slopes of perpendicular lines. They have used inquiry and have come up with a level of knowledge they want and you are providing them the knowledge. It is THEIR knowledge now. They are using it because they want and need it.

Sometimes this brainstorming works best when you are with a friend/co-worker. You might even try asking your "friends" on Facebook or Twitter to help you brainstorm. This might be a good time to start coming to the weekly #PBLCHAT on twitter. It happens every Tuesday night at 9 PM EST and there are lots of PBL folks on there who are more than willing to help you brainstorm. Next time we'll look into your first Entry Event and how you will plan groups for your first project.

Four Posts to Get You Ready For the PBL New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:19:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/huppypie/

(Part 1 of 4) 2012 is going to be the year! You have been thinking about using PBL. You have been reading about it and/or there's a teacher in your school using PBL in the classroom. But where to start? My suggestion is to treat it like a recipe. The first thing you will need to do is gather the ingredients and, maybe, read some other recipes about PBL so you know the basics of the process.

Let's give you some places to find PBL methods. First, let's look at the Buck Institute. If you are a visual learner then their YouTube channel will be a great place to start. And, if you are already using Edmodo then I recommend their video about PBL and Edmodo. But there are other videos from "What is PBL?" to example projects done using PBL. If you want written help then, by all means visit their Tools Tab for free usable items to help with the PBL process.

Next you can look at the Edutopia website. On the right side of the page you can join the Project Based Learning Group. This will give you access to other teachers using or thinking about using PBL. Another good place to find links to information, and a source I go to for information on any (and every) thing education related is Cybraryman's blog. Jerry Bloomengarten (Cybraryman) is a keeper of the information and he has dozens of links related to PBL.

You have reviewed the process and you know the basics of what is needed. Let's gather the ingredients. These are from my Edcamp Plano presentation last Spring: (1) Start with up-front planning, (2) Add standards to taste, (3) Mix in a pinch of imagination, (4) (optional) Add friends/colleagues, (5) Fold in experience and, (6) You may need to add more planning.

As you can see these ingredients are the same basic ingredients that go into a batch of "Good Teaching." You need to spend time up-front planning because when PBL is done right and you have planned for all contingencies then the process will (almost) take care of itself. [NOTE: You WILL have to monitor, monitor, monitor during a normal day in PBL - you can't sit on your butt!] And, you can't avoid any standards that you are expected to be teaching. What will help is an understanding Curriculum Department in your school and district. You may (and quite often will) need to rearrange the sequencing so that the project you are planning makes sense to your students.

Next time we look at some ways to start your projects and look for other posts in this series on grouping, managing groups, and final products. Bon Appetit!

Maybe 2012 Is The Year

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:34:00 +0000

This morning I opened my laptop and within seconds I was reading a thought-provoking blog post by one of the hundreds of educators I follow on Twitter. When I clicked on the link I didn't know whether it would be silly, serious, strange, or salient. But, because it was posted by someone in my circle of "friends" on twitter I clicked that link. And poof, I was transported to a learning portal.

When I finished reading the post I went to twitter and tweeted " I love the fact that I can open my laptop 365 days a year and learn things from people here on twitter." Within seconds a teacher friend from the Dallas area tweeted, " @cfanch i was just thinking the same thing." And, without leaving my home I could feel like I was sitting in a coffee house discussing the morning news with a friend.

These people are my friends, my co-workers, my peers, my professors, my students. They are all of these things separately and all of these things collectively. I can comment on a post and discuss a topic like I am talking with a co-worker about how we will use it in the classroom. Then, they can become a subject area expert and I am learning from them as though I am sitting in their classroom. Without blinking an eye a comment might spark a related topic in which I am the expert. Back and forth we go teacher becomes learner becomes teacher.

I have suggested that fellow teachers join me on twitter to no avail. Yes, there are about 20% of our teachers with a twitter account. But, I would say that less than half of them are active on twitter. And, I know of no one who uses it like I do: for personal and professional growth.

Maybe this coming year I can get 2 or 3 others to investigate twitter. Maybe this coming year I can get 1 or 2 to investigate the various "chats" that are so powerful for finding and sharing relevant items of interest. Maybe this coming year our staff can investigate topics that have been discussed on twitter and which improve what we already are doing in the classroom. Maybe....(sigh).. but I doubt it. I've been talking about this for over 4 years and most of them just shake their head and laugh. But, I refuse to give up. Maybe 2012 is THE year!

Keeping The Holiday Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:06:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tr1xx/

Tonight I am happily home with my family with no sign of student/teacher "stuff" laying about me. I have just finished A Christmas Carol (with Alastair Sim) and am now listening to KMFA which is doing their annual Festival of Carols. The tree is trimmed and the lights are hung and it just feels like Christmas.

In another 11 days I will be turning 54 years old. Between now and then we will celebrate Christmas day and we will have plenty of family time. This year, as in the last few years, I will be pursuing something new during the week after Christmas dealing with getting in shape. Two years ago it was starting a work out regimen at the local YMCA. Last year it was buying and reading The Four Hour Body followed by a work out schedule including the addition of a vitamin regimen.

This year's physical plan? I will be meeting with a woman on the 28th to look into starting Crossfit. I'm not sure what to expect but I do know I have seen some amazing results from the three women I work with who have being doing crossfit for a few months to a year. And, unlike many workout regimens, these women really look like they are happy with their crossfit family.

When you are my age you don't just jump into these workout "fads" lightly. I sent a LONG email to the woman who will introduce me to the crossfit world. It outlined the fact that I am about 60 pounds overweight. I told her I have bad knees and am worried about all of the squatting that takes place during crossfit workouts. And, I told her my age. Sprinkled between the lines of woe were assurances that I had completed 5 marathons and innumerable shorter distance races. And that I played college lacrosse and college ultimate frisbee. I didn't even mention my 20 years in the Navy and Navy Reserve because, to be honest, it didn't require being in great shape to stay in the Navy for a career.

So, on this quiet and contemplative night I am glad to be alive. I'm glad for being with my wife for the last 24 years. I'm glad for my two kids who are pretty darn good. And, I'm so thankful that I can do something as crazy as signing up for crossfit. I may be a fat old guy but I still have the drive to one day fit back into my Navy uniform and to one day run another marathon. As long as I'm dreaming - I'd like to finish an ultra-marathon. I think I have the mental toughness to do it. Now I just need the body weight to make it happen.

Happy holidays to my faithful readers (both of you) and I hope 2012 lasts for 365 days and next year, at this time, we are getting ready for 2013.

Manor Plays the State Assessment Game

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:00:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/califmom/

Today I attended our district's meeting to lock in details for how the state's new End of Course (EOC) exams will effect our students. We met to discuss key issues concerning how we would convert the scale score to a grade and how (or if) these exams would effect the Grade Point Average (GPA) and Class Rank.

Before I say anything further I want to say that I was very impressed with how we really attempted to interpret "suggestions" by the Texas Education Association (TEA) regarding these topics. This was really made evident when we heard anecdotal accounts of what other districts in the area were considering for their answers to the same questions.

What was frustrating, for all, was that fine line we kept treading between what is best for the district and what is best for our students. We looked at how tests would be perceived by students. How students AND parents would view the results of the tests. And we discussed whether we needed to have the results effect class rank (which lead to thoughts of parental and district law suits over said results).

The first item of business was to decide how we wanted to convert the state scale score to a graded score to be averaged into the student's grade. This seems minor but in previous meetings we had, pretty much, decided to no longer award 0.5 credits for completion of each semester and just award 1.0 credit for completion of the entire year. As for the grading score we had to start with a fictitious scale score because the state hasn't created one yet. And, each test will have a sliding score along that scale for passing and failing. By the end of the meeting we had agreed to a set score for the categories of minimum, satisfactory, and advanced. What we all agreed to not do is have a graduated scale but one set score for each of the categories.

What we ended the meeting with was discussing what the minimum score would be. We never locked in a value but we are definitely willing to hold our students more accountable to the results of the test than other districts in the area. One district, it is said, is considering having a score of 100 for a satisfactory score and a 70 for anything below that score. So, no matter how their students do on the test, they will pass it. Sign your name? You passed. Are you kidding me? We never came to consensus but let's say we are willing to go below a 70 for scores below that mark on the state scale score.

An interesting phenomenon occurred as we were in this discussion. We, as educators, are willing to fight for the rights of those kids in "the danger zone," (just at passing going into the EOC) but we don't always think about how our top tier of students will do on these tests. We were able to have some good thoughts on how these scores would effect GPA and Class Rank. We came to consensus that the tests would be included in these two areas but we didn't just gloss it over. We really took our time considering all of the angles.

It is worth noting that a definite feel of affluent districts versus less-affluent districts came out of our discussions. It really seemed to most of us that some districts are doing things in anticipation of lawsuits and are almost daring the state to create mandates that are worthy of bringing forth litigation. Many of the other districts, like ours, are trying to give a good faith effort to impose changes that will reflect the intentions of the TEA. We will be ready in January to present our decisions to the school board for their blessings and, come May, our students will have a system in place to convert their score on the EOC exams to a grade that will be averaged in with their other grades for the year in that subject.

Once more I am pleasantly surprised at how our school district is able to come to consensus while letting all sides present opinions. I think we can all agree that TEA really hasn't been able to think through with this albatross they've strung around our necks. But we don't plan on drowning. We're treading water and moving towards the high ground.

Why Are You Trying to be Like Us?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:38:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27594459@N04/4569339597/

Too often I hear "Can you teach me how to do PBL?" Or, "I would love to be in a school like your school." But PBL is not the same in every school. It's not even the same in every classroom in my school. PBL is a way of teaching that should, no must, be taught by a teacher who is willing to put their own stamp on what is being done in the classroom.

Now, can PBL be done wrong? Absolutely. As a matter of fact it is that fact that lead me to write this post. Whenever I see a group of teachers learning the basics of PBL I see some who are frustrated and confused. I feel that many teachers would just like a recipe for success that they can take into their classroom and, poof, they have a PBL environment. It just isn't that easy. I would venture to say that all of our teachers are struggling with how they are doing PBL in their classroom. Some of them are teaching in their 5th year of PBL and came to the school with instruction on how to plan and lead a PBL classroom. But they are still tweaking their presentation. They are creating new projects every year. And they continue to request Professional Development by others, outside of our school, on how to be a better PBL teacher.

So, getting back to the original question, yes I can teach you how to do PBL. As a matter of fact I plan on doing that in about an hour during my Conversation at Educon 2.4 next month in Philadelphia. If you, or your school district, wanted to pay the money you could attend our district's Think Forward Institute which gives you 4 days of intense PBL training. Or you could talk with a representative of the Buck Institute to get instruction. They can point you to some wonderful training. But I'm here to tell you that the training is just the beginning.

To be an effective PBL teacher you must hone your skills each year. You need to be a reflective teacher. You should be willing to have an outside observer critique your teaching and ask you tough questions. As a matter of fact if you take PBL out of the first sentence then the rest of this paragraph would just be telling you what you need to do to be a good teacher. And that's my underlying theme - you need to be a good teacher first. Incorporating PBL is just another tool in your tool belt.

PBL is about getting students fired up about their learning. PBL is about students wanting to delve deeper into a subject. PBL is about students being able to unlock their creative juices. And, PBl is a chance for teachers to lead their classes to a place that no one anticipated when they set out on the journey. It is NOT a culminating "project" where students get to take what they've learned and create something related to that learning.

PBL is like a recipe that mixes a question to be answered with a set of standards. The amount of standards that gets mixed may end up being different than what you anticipated when you started "cooking." You may have been able to make a dense, rich concoction with more standards than you thought could fit into the recipe. Or, you may have had to cut down on the standards because you realized that the original recipe called for too much of that ingredient. If that is the case then you will need to incorporate the unused standards into a later recipe.

It really is just like cooking. The best cooks know the recipe but are willing to change amounts based upon how things are mixing. And, you must always be looking at the batter to understand how the end-product will turn out. This leads to one of the best parts of PBL. On each day I get to observe learning going on. Is it going the way I anticipated? Maybe not. If things aren't going well then I need to redirect the students in a new direction. But sometimes they are heading in a direction that will force them to ask to be taught something new. Even better, the students might learn something that they can teach me. Now, we are all learning.

Can I teach you how to do PBL? That's like asking can I teach you how to bake cookies. I can give you recipes. I can show you where the measuring cups and spoons are and where all of the ingredients are located. But until you step into the kitchen and put that apron on you can never really start cooking. When you take out that first batch you are going to taste them. Is there something you could have added to make them better? Could you have cooked them longer or shorter? Could you have adjusted the temperature because your oven is a bit hotter than average? These are all questions that you will have to answer the NEXT time you cook. But next time you may be working with a recipe for a cake. How will these very similar ingredients react to the way you mix them and cook them?

You should stop trying to be like us and try to be the best you can be. That may end up being much, much better than us. And, more importantly you will be like - YOU.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Tech

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:03:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14275763@N08/

     Some teachers can't wait for the latest tech and they complain about lack of connectivity. But, to paraphrase an old cliche', you may want to rethink what you ask for. Once you have tech in your classroom you always have to have a backup plan for the day (or days) you don't have any tech in your classroom.

     In many of the schools I have worked in it was required to have a folder of emergency lesson plans for that unexpected day when you won't be in class and your sub needs something to do . Well, in a high tech school you should have the same mindset.

     This past week we had an Internet outage mid-day. Many of the classes came to a near standstill as students were unable to access the Internet. Before the end of the day we had been told that we could expect that we would not have Internet access the following day.

     I sent out an email that night to teachers asking if the loss of Internet for the following day was going to change what they had planned. Or were they going to have a normal day because they weren't expecting to need any Internet for the activities they had planned.

     Many of the teachers were going to alter their original plans but many were fortunate and the loss of Internet did not have any affect on their schedule. Of those teachers changing what they had planned, all but one were making minor changes that would have been transparent to the students. The one teacher who responded, who did plan on changing, completely, what they were doing, was going to have the students work on something that would have been accomplished later in the week.

     Our teachers, to their credit, have learned that technology can (and will) stop working at an inopportune time. They want to know when it will be fixed and they may even get a bit cranky, but they understand that teaching doesn't stop just because the technology isn't there.

     Do you have a backup plan for that day you are going to Skype with an author? How about for that day you are going to be researching Australia's Great Barrier Reef?  What do you do with 25 teen-agers who have brought in food and drink and were set to have an engineering design party while watching Apollo 13 only to find you can't get the movie to show?

     You are a teacher first. You will lose the use of your technology at a time that is inconvenient. Just relax, take a deep breath, and repeat after me - we don't need no stinkin' technology!

When You Need Insentive

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:33:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035610542@N01/

I started the night beating myself up because I had written 44 posts this year but it had been over a month since my last post. I even stated in on Twitter: " Beating myself up for not posting on my blog in over a month. I had 44 posts this year and just ran into a buzz saw called life."

That's when Laron Carter (@laroncarter) called me on it with his tweet, "So you're another incredible human surfing the Twitterverse. Bravo! Now write that 300 word post bruh!" And, here I am writing a post.

I'm always having teachers asking "Why Twitter?" They don't get it. I can give them links to items titled "50 ways to use Twitter in the Classroom," or " Social Media in the Classroom" and they aren't swayed. I can give them links to great magazine articles or newspaper articles I read because I saw the link on twitter and they aren't swayed. I can send them links to insightful blog posts written by people I follow on twitter and they aren't swayed.

Well, here's an intangible reason to be active on twitter - Instant Motivator. I have used twitter to give (or receive) encouragement while getting back in shape. I have used twitter to give (or receive) encouragement with classroom issues. I have used twitter to give (or receive) encouragement with the loss of a relative or pet. You get the point.

When you have hundreds of people who you interact with on a regular basis someone will be having a bad day. Someone will be grieving. Someone will be facing an uphill battle that seems insurmountable. Your PLN will be there for you and you will be there for your PLN.

You may never have met some of these wonderful people. You may never MEET these wonderful people. But they are there. And, it may be someone like @laroncarter who gets you off your butt to start working on something that you enjoy doing but just need that push to get back in the saddle. Twitter isn't just for the sharing of great stuff for the classroom. It's also for the sharing of motivation. Now, get off your butt and start doing whatever it is you have been avoiding doing. You can do it!

NOTE: Well, sigh...my wife pointed out to me that I, the knucklehead, misspelled Incentive. And, she pointed out, there might be some English teachers reading this. Well, if I change the title now I'll totally mess up the SEO and Search Crawlers. She assures me that "everyone" has done that mistake before. That's why I married her 22 years ago. Sigh...

Using Checklists in A Rubrics World (of PBL)

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:24:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/national_museum_of_australia/

Right up front I want to tell everyone that this idea was not originally mine. And, even though my co-teacher championed this approach and convinced me to do this it is not his original thought either. But, if I want to give credit to anyone I will give him credit for encouraging me to consider using checklists for our projects.

So,what is the difference between a rubric and a checklist? In simple terms a rubric is open ended and gives the criteria that must be met and will, usually, give levels of performance that are expected. A checklist is just a listing of the criteria. This allows students, teachers, or parents to know that the criteria has or has not been met.

How do we create our checklist? We start with the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Standards, the 12 step design process, and our school's learning outcomes. We teach PLTW's Introduction to Engineering Design or IED. The fundamental approach to everything our students do is related to the 12 step design process. And, every project will have these 12 steps that must be met during the duration of the project. It should be noted that during the first couple of projects we were still introducing what each of these 12 steps looked like. Therefore we only covered those steps that have been explained. For the first time this year our current project will cover all of the 12 steps.

The next ingredient for our checklist is our learning outcomes. In each of the New Tech Network schools we create our learning outcomes that originate from a list of 21st Century Skills. Everything we do is graded using one or more of these outcomes. Our school uses nine learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are Written Communication, Oral Communication, Critical Thinking, Numeracy, Technology Literacy, Global and Community Engagement, Collaboration, Work Ethic, and our Engineering Content.

We take these two areas and create a spreadsheet that we can alter for each project based upon specific skills that we want our students to have that demonstrate mastery. Here is a checklist that is being created for our current project:

You will notice that not every item has a graded criteria. Some of the design steps don't go well with every learning outcome. That is why we, as a school, have stated that we will cover every learning outcome at least 3 times for every 6 weeks grading period.

Now one of the first things we remind students to do each day is to see where in this checklist they are and what they still have left to do. We keep our schedule sequential so the students know what step they are working on each day. Then they just need to see how they will be assessed for each of the appropriate learning outcomes.

To give our students a chance to improve their grades we have also grouped our checklist in groups of 4 Design Steps. They will complete informal presentations of the 4 steps in each group and they will be graded at that time on all of the learning outcomes within that group. During the next grouping they have the ability to improve their grades by making corrections to any of the learning outcomes that they did not demonstrate mastery of in the previous grouping. Then, when all steps are complete, there is a formal presentation and the grades are locked in.

A final difference that we are trying this year is the idea of a mastery grade. If the student is only partially right on the initial time of assessment but the student takes time to correct any deficiencies by the time the project is complete we give them a zero or a 50% with the knowledge that that grade can come up to a passing final grade. This is helped by the fact that our students keep all of their work on a Google Site (part of our Google Apps Suite). As long as they ask us to regrade any of the 12 steps of the design process we will look at the improvements. The one caveat is that this request must be submitted prior to the formal presentation of their project.

My initial thoughts on this new process is that the students are understanding what it is that they need to complete to be successful in the class. They seem to be doing better, as a class, than in the past. There will always be students who do all that is required and will seek out extra material and we can guide them in that direction. But the weaker students are getting more accomplished and the overall knowledge level seems better than in previous years.

Frustrations of Creating An Edcamp

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:06:00 +0000

brisbanetimes.com.au

I debated waiting to see how the edcamp went and then creating a post that is a reflection/lessons learned style post. However, I think it is more poignant to let my emotions be current as I discuss frustrations with my handling of this edcamp.

As of today, Edcamp Manor is 20 days away. I have nearly 30 people signed up. I have a t-shirt company ready to do as many as 200 t-shirts. I have several food vendors who are awaiting my numbers so that the food can be ordered. I have notified over 100 teachers in our Think Forward Ning group. I have tweeted to the 1500 or so on my twitter list. I have put up notices on my Facebook page and on the Ecamp Manor Facebook page.

Still, as I said in the first sentence of the last paragraph, I have less than 30 people signed up. I have even enlisted our National Honor Society to help on the day of the edcamp as reception desk people, runners, and help desk people for each of the classrooms. I have discussed having one room set up to webcast with a student running the set up.

I have less than 30 people signed up so far. The great people at Simple K12.com have put together a how-to manual on doing an edcamp. It came out this week. I downloaded it and read through it. I have done EVERYTHING that they suggest. But, .....

I have less than 30 people signed up.

But everyone, EVERYONE, has told me it will be ok. People will show up. Because it's free people don't feel compelled to sign up early. Because it's free people don't feel compelled to show up on the day, because - it's free. My best teacher friend has been helping me and encouraging me. Even she said, "it's on a Saturday. You and I are the only Ed Geeks willing to give up a Saturday for an edcamp."

The teachers in our school district aren't committing. I have 1, one, teacher signed up to attend from my school. And she might not be able to come but she wanted to sign up so I could have a good head count. None of the other 200 or so teachers in our district have signed up. Yet, I have teachers coming from North Texas, from South Texas, and from East Texas.

The only common thread here is me. There is no planning committee to blame. It's just me. And that's part of the problem. If I were a Principal I could make my teachers attend by coercion, if nothing else. And that just makes me more upset. Teachers shouldn't have to be coerced to attend a day of learning. Teachers should take the day and embrace it. Those who are really good at something, such as classroom management or technology, should be anxious to share their knowledge. Those who want to improve their skills should be demanding topics to be discussed.

I have done my part. I will have a tweetup the night before with any and all of the people coming from out of town. I will get together afterward with whomever wants to do that. I will have fun and, though deeply embarrassed by the numbers, I will be a good host to my guests so that they have fun too.

My final thought here is this: "Thank you Steve Zipkes for being a major sponsor. Without you I would have cancelled the edcamp due to a lack of interest from all teachers in the State of Texas."

Project Two Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 03:00:00 +0000

fieldingnair.com

As we start to wrap up our second project it is time to write down some reflections. Some of you may take this and run with it as a project but I assure you this is only the shell and there is much more that needs to be added to really make magic. Still this will give you everything you need to plan a project to tackle the design process.

The concept of this project was to design a yoga ball seat using any size yoga (or exercise) ball and PVC piping. The project took the students through the first 7 steps of the 12 step design process that we use throughout the year. By taking it through step 7 we did not have to actually build the concept.

The steps we worked on were: Define the Problem, Brainstorm, Research, Criteria and Constraints, Explore Possibilities, Select an Approach, and Develop a Design Proposal. The problem was defined for them in a Design Brief that was written for this project. The way we embed the idea of needing to learn in our students is from their creation of Knows and Need to Knows (K/NTK's). So we had them list their "Knows and Need to Knows" from the Design Brief. When you have students state what they need to learn to successfully complete a project then you immediately remove the "but where will we ever use this?" from the equation.

For brainstorming we had them each sketch 3 or more ideas for the design of a chair. By working in groups of 3, each group had about 10 sketches and ideas to consider. They then narrowed it down to 3 or 4 possible ideas and started their research. This was the first chance for our students to do research for parts. We allowed them to use Home Depot or Lowes (for costs) and any other place they could find on the internet. Any information that they used had to be documented using MLA formatting.

One of the important engineering items we needed to teach was how to do Multi-View Sketches (front/top/right side) of their design. After they had sketched their initial brainstorming we were able to discuss the fact that we need to have clear and well dimensioned sketches that tell our customers what they are getting. This led to the need for a method of sketching that everyone would understand.

At this point we were able to discuss the difference between criteria and constraints and we gave them a spreadsheet to list the criteria and constraints that they knew about this project. Then we had them each draw their personal favorite design. This gave each group 3 designs; sketched and with a written description. To learn how to select the best approach in an unbiased way they needed to learn about decision matrices. They learned that by grading each design by looking at the criteria and constraints, the best design will move to the forefront.

Finally, they needed to take the best design and make sure they had a good multi-view drawing of it. We had each member take one of the three views of the design to practice creating the multi-view. That way we didn't have one person doing all of the sketching. They then needed to have a good written description of the design.

And so the students created a design of a yoga ball chair. They learned about how to research for parts and how to document the findings. They learned how to do a multi-view sketch, how to create a decision matrix, and the difference between criteria and constraints. An additional item they learned was how to work in a different group. They had been allowed to pick their groups for the first project and I assigned group members for this project. There was the need to learn new personalities and who they could depend on to complete work. They also learned the importance of having daily task lists for each member of the group. To be honest most groups were not able to make that happen and we will have to work on that for the next project.

The process of successfully completing a project isn't just learning the curriculum. There are the skills of collaboration, writing, communicating orally, and a good work ethic. This is a work in progress and will continue for all four years at our school.

A PBL-Student is Born

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:06:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogersmith/

This week we have our Freshmen participating in their first "project." Throughout the school freshmen students are learning the ins and outs of projects and they are seeing each teacher's take on what a project should look like. We all have the same terminology. We all have the same pbl logistical items. But the structure looks different from classroom to classroom.

Even in my subject, Introduction to Engineering Design, the project looks different in my room than it does in my co-teacher's room down the hall. And he and I get together at night and collaborate via Google IM, Facebook and Twitter. Plus, we get together before school for 5 to 10 minutes to rehash our plans.

To set the hook for every project, we start with a driving question and a entry event. For this project we are examining the evolution of technology in the 20th century. So, we start with a 4 minute video about the SX-70 camera. The driving question is "How and why do products change over time?"

What is the goal of this project? There are many goals here. Students need to learn how to work in groups and they need to learn how to use our computer system. They need to understand how we organize resources in our "Project Briefcase." They need to understand the typical flow during a class period and the classroom expectations. And, they need to learn how to do a presentation.

There are other things that the students learn throughout this week. But what I described is what we hope every student experiences during their first week of school. They will have learned as much as possible about the logistics of being a PBL student. That way they will be better prepared to handle a more in-depth project, with an increased level of expectation from the teachers, during the second round of projects.

Reflections on My First Week of School

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:13:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25508895@N00/

If you are a new teacher or are wanting to be a teacher, the post you are about to read may send you away from the profession. I have worked in 4 high schools, 2 middle schools and 3 community colleges and the first weeks of school only felt successful at the community colleges. Why? It was because I had nearly complete control over everything I did at the community colleges. Teachers will never have that much control at a public school.

Now that I've been all negative, I need to say that my present school is MORE organized than any of the other 5 middle/high schools. Any of our teachers reading this are not going to believe that because, at times, our school seems incredibly dis-organized. Are there better ways of doing things? Absolutely. Will we improve the first week of school next year? I hope so. Who knows, we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

This year, as in last year, I am teaching two 9th grade classes and two 11th grade classes. They are beautifully distributed. Freshmen in the morning and Juniors in the afternoon. Teaching Freshmen means you have to teach everything about school: how to work in a group, how to log into computers, how to log into, and navigate, our learning community (ECHO/Google Apps), how to understand our school schedule, the district/school/classroom rules or norms, where are the bathrooms, when is lunch?

How can this be done better? First, for some reason we NEVER have school log-ins for the students on the first day. I understand any kid who just moved to the district during the week before school. But why can't the system make this happen between the end of June and the beginning of August? They would then have a very simple task of updating and adding/dropping students who arrive or leave after the 1st of August. There have been dozens of people in the last 20 years who have tried to explain it to me but it never makes sense. If this was the military we wouldn't be having this discussion today.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wits2010/

The computer log-in problem is especially true at our school. We deliver materials for our projects through our Project Briefcases in ECHO. We collaborate on work via Google Apps such as Docs and Sites. Students communicate with their group partners via email and IM. We are a connected classroom. So, what does a teacher at our school do during the first week? They prepare as though they are going to have no technology.

That is where my rookie mistake made for one of my most miserable weeks ever. I know I haven't had a worse 1st week in the 5 years I've taught in Texas. I made the mistake of assuming we would have our computers to work with for the upperclassmen. I planned everything for the first two days to be completed online. I blew it - big time. Students at our school expect a level of detail from the teachers. If the level of detail is anything less, they will revolt. Now, revolution at our school doesn't take the form of anarchy that I've read about from other schools. No, what our students do is they become "normal" teenagers. They do nothing. They talk, have fun, but refuse to find a way to do actual work.

What would this look like to an outside observer? Well, there would be the teacher. Frantically trying to get computer systems or programs to operate as needed. There would be the students sitting around in groups getting more and more animated and loud. Then we would see the teacher trying to suggest things for the students to do while he (or she) "fixes the problem." The student response?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakepjohnson/

Look at the teacher like a cow looking at a new gate. Then the students would revert back to their conversations - only louder. Then the teacher gets louder and more agitated. The divergence would grow until either the teacher snapped or the class period ended. Fade to black....

One thing that always leads to this craziness is the fact that school districts demand to train teachers during the week before school. How could this be improved? Demand that teachers get professional development (PD) or take college classes during their summer. To make this demand more palatable, districts should give credit for attending non-traditional trainings and un-conferences like Edcamps, Barcamps, and Mobicamps.

I've now gotten away from my main idea so let's look at this first week and do some self grading. Teaching my freshmen about working in groups? A- . Teaching how to log-in to computers? A- (we finally had access on Friday). How to log and navigate within ECHO? A - . How to understand the school schedule? A (but we haven't had our first Monday and Monday's are a different schedule). Rules and Norms? C (lots more work to do here). Where are the bathrooms and when's lunch? A (again, Monday lunches are weird due to schedule).

So why was my week miserable? All of the things in the previous paragraph were things with my freshmen. I did great with them and I feel good about the coming year. But, my Juniors? Final grade for last week? D- (would have failed if anything else went wrong). Monday can't come fast enough. I need to get back into the ring and get control of those two classes. Wish me luck and stay tuned for updates in later posts.

You Need to Teach How to be in a Group

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidquick/

Next week is our first week of school and that means, yet again, we need to teach our Freshmen how to work in a PBL environment. When every class is being taught this way it means that in every class they will be working in groups of 2 to 5 people. In some classes they may have to be a group leader. In other classes they may have specific roles to do. In yet another class they may just be working in a collaborative role.

When students get to us they don't, usually, understand how to work in a group. There are assigned roles with individual responsibilities and expectations. There are also expected behaviors of each member of the group and behaviors by the entire group.

Last year we came across a Ted Talk by Tom Wujec where he described a challenge (presented by Peter Skillman). This is now, famously, known as the Spaghetti Challenge. Here is a great video to show what a typical classroom is like in the last few minutes of this challenge.

The rules are simple and we like to present the challenge as an engineering design brief (got to get the vocabulary started too). During the first day of class they are given the challenge. The next day we introduce roles and the students break up into expert groups based upon their roles. The roles are Designer, Tester, and Builder. Therefore the expert groups are the Design Team, the Test Team, and the Build Team. Before the expert groups get started we reflect on what we observed the previous day. What went well? What hurdles needed to be overcome? What frustrations did they feel? And other thoughts as they come up. We then ask how we could make the experience better.

On the third day the expert groups have a quick meeting and then the students are sent back to their original groups to make the tower. The groups are reminded that each person in the group has a role and they are not to do anything that isn't specifically related to their role. Once the challenge is completed we take measurements but instead of a "winner", based upon height, we recognize groups that worked well together. We take time to talk, again, about what worked and what frustrations were felt.

By the end of these three days, the students have learned most of the other students' names and (more importantly) I know many of the students' names. They have also worked in groups where no one is assigned as the "group leader." Each of them has had an important role that was needed for all of the group to be successful. Finally, they have seen what group relationships worked and what relationships were not as effective.

Are You Ready For a Flat School Organization?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:28:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracylee/

For the last week our school has joined the thousands of school districts across the country with back to school preparations. This process usually provides professional development (PD) in topics particular to the school, the district, and the state. They also provide PD in topics related to areas of concentration and might include classroom management techniques or trainings on new technologies adopted by the school district.

At our school you might say it is just as I described with one major exception. Our staff is small (29 teachers) and we pride ourselves in all being leaders of the school. Because of this, and the fact that every one of our teachers is incredibly passionate about his or her subject and PBL, these meetings can, um, not sure of the right word here....be ...interesting(?).

Allow me to give you a taste. Our school grades students on Learning Outcomes (LC's). They are based upon 21st Century Skills and are: Written and Oral Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Work Ethic, Numeracy, Global and Community Engagement (GCE), Tech Literacy, and Content. The school district has chosen 5 of these to use in every school. Our very first task, then, was to look at the district's wording for the 5 LC's they are using and compare them with the wording of the corresponding LC's for our school. In short, all we have to do is decide if we like their wording better, our wording better, or should we change our wording to a combination of the two. How long could that take?

After 15 minutes we were still wrestling with the first LC and our principal turned to me and said, "I should have known, with this group, it wouldn't be easy." We finished that first task within about an hour. Then came an examination of the other 4 LC's. We had to decide: (1) Do we want to keep the LC? (2) If we keep the LC, do we need to change the wording? (3) How does each LC relate to the other LC's and the Content? (4) Do we need to have a content grade if the other LC's can cover the content through the way the rubric is written? (5) How often do we assess each of the LC's - during each project, during a grading period, or during a trimester (our semester)? And a few other questions.

When the smoke cleared, about 3 hours later, we had decided that every LC, with the exception of Numeracy and GCE, would be assessed during every project. Numeracy and GCE will be assessed at least 2 times during each trimester. That, is now the official statement. But each teacher, group of teachers, content teachers, grade level teachers and any other combination of teachers (I didn't just mention), can assess Numeracy and GCE more often.

To recap: Our Principal came to us and asked us to look at the district's Learning Outcomes and determine how our Learning Outcomes compare. We then decided whether to keep our original list or make some changes based upon the district list. Our discussion, cut short because we were at the end of the school day, had taken over four hours to complete. But, every single teacher gave input. As a matter of fact several of us took turns facilitating the conversation and made sure that everyone had an opportunity for comment.

We are a group of individuals who like to give input. We like to dissect problems. We like to have a voice in decisions. We ask questions of anyone and everyone. We are a flat organization. There are many teachers who say they feel that they don't have enough say in what goes on at their school. I wonder if they realize what could happen if suddenly they were given more of a leadership role. One thing I know is that time would become their enemy.

Be careful what you wish for - you might find yourself in charge of a facet of running your school organization.

Carnival of Cities for August 10, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:13:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pringlehill/

Welcome to the Carnival of Cities blog carnival, where we tour the world in a single post, via submissions from a variety of different blogs, all about any aspect of one, single city (or fair-sized town)

Thank you for letting an educator host this great carnival for the first time. I welcome all of you to Edutech Musings, where I blog about education related matters and my family. Glad you stopped by!

This is the August 10 edition. The previous edition was hosted on July 27 by Arrows Sent Forth and the August 24 edition will be on Sheila's Guide.

Please submit your (ONE, non-spammy) blog post to the next edition of the Carnival of Cities using the carnival submission form.

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CITIES IN EUROPE

Anne-Sophie Redisch presents Appealing Alghero (Sardinia) posted at Sophie's World.

Marc Fav presents Barcelona - - - A Dream posted at Marc Fav.

CITIES IN THE AMERICAS

Eileen Ludwig presents Delighted I was one of the lucky 50 For Final Shuttle Landing Atlantis #NASATweetup #STS135 Landing attendees posted at Freelance Tourist: Travel Tips.

Joe Vargo presents Zoombezi Bay Water Park: Say Hello to Summer posted at The Columbus Experience.

Nicole Wiltrout presents Georges Island: Tips and Photos posted at Arrows Sent Forth.

Sheila Scarborough presents Slow down and appreciate the less exotic posted at Perceptive Travel Blog.

Mary Jo Manzanares presents 10 Days of Seattle Summer Fun for Families posted at Traveling with MJ.

Dominique King presents Family-friendly fun at Michigan’s Grand Rapids Public Museum posted at Midwest Guest.

Lacy Morris presents The Mural Project: San Francisco's Balmy Alley posted at Away.com Travel Blog.

Kathy Gray presents The Stark County Back-to-School Bucket List posted at What's Happening in Canton/Stark County, Ohio.

Jessie Voigts presents Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre's Summer Camp for Kids posted at Wandering Educators.

Muriel Clark presents Nebraska Outback: North Platte Area Attraction Tour posted at Nebraska Outback.

Jennifer presents A Visit to Hanauma Bay 21 Years Apart posted at Two Kids and a Map.

Debbie Dubrow presents North Vancouver With Kids: Exploring Persian Food posted at DeliciousBaby.com.

Zhu presents Tourists in Toronto posted at Correr Es Mi Destino.

Corinne McDermott presents Baby Friendly Toronto: Riverdale Farm posted at Have Baby Will Travel.

We had a wonderful tour of the world. That concludes this Carnival edition. Thanks for visiting.

If you would like to host a future Carnival edition on your blog, please contact Sheila Scarborough at Sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. I can now attest that hosting is easy and fun! (Who wouldn't want a sneak peak at all these great travel posts?!) Spots to host are available in September and October.

Past editions and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

My Teacher Essay Contest Submission

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fancher) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:11:00 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tabor-roeder/

This morning I submitted my entry into the Teacher Essay Contest for NBC News Education Nation. Three "winners" will be selected and will be flown to NYC to be a part of the Teacher Town Hall on September 25th. Here is the link to the contest, followed by my essay entry.

Teacher Essay Contest: A Day in the Life of an American Teacher

The biggest challenge I face as a teacher is students arriving for high school with huge learning gaps. But I do not place the blame on the teachers these students have had while they were attending elementary or middle school. Many of these students have gaps due to things happening in their lives while foundational topics were being covered.

These may include any of the following scenarios or combinations of scenarios:

We have students moving into and out of homes with relatives, group shelters, or a car on the side of a street. We have students taking care of sick brothers and sisters or grandparents. We have students who are really, really hungry. We have students living where partying and all night activities are the norm. We have students with no backpack, paper, or books in their “homes.’ We have parents who want to be supportive but they are pulled in multiple directions with multiple jobs, taking care of family and relatives, or a possible drug or alcohol addiction. We have students who are surrounded by people who have never been to college – there is no role model to show them the way.

I could add a few more scenarios but I want to make the point that students come to 9^th grade with a lot of baggage. It’s a wonder they can count to 100 or spell Mississippi with all of the barriers to learning that they have encountered.

One of the really frustrating things, for me, is seeing high school freshmen willing to fail. How should I react when a student tells me “I don’t care,” when I tell him or her that he needs to get his work done so that he can pass the class? Should I respond, “well I don’t care either?” They have seen so many low grades that they don’t think that it is strange to fail. They have already given up hope of being a successful student.

When I transitioned to being a teacher from a career in the military, my father-in-law gave me some sound advice. He said, “You can’t save them all.” What he meant was that you should try and help every student but when one of them refuses the help and falls through the cracks you shouldn’t beat yourself up – if you truly have tried everything.

And so, as I drive home from school each day, I take the time to think about my students. There are the ones who may only be making B’s and C’s but they try hard. They do their work every day, and they are becoming good citizens of the world. Then there are the high achieving students. Am I challenging them enough? Am I encouraging them and giving them praise for their work or am I ignoring them because they always do good work – I’ve got problem kids to worry about!

Finally, there are my low achieving students. One student might be dealing with a pregnancy (theirs or their girlfriends). Another might be going home to a really bad situation every night. And another might be actively involved in a neighborhood gang and all of the potential for trouble that entails.

What about those students who don’t understand the material? What is going on in class that might be causing this? Or worse, what might be going on at home that could be causing this? Am I actively listening to their discussions with their fellow students so I know whether they have any misconceptions? Do I need to pull a student or a group of students in for extra help with a concept? Is there a leader in the class who could do some peer tutoring and when should I schedule that? Do I need to have our master teacher, who is bilingual, call in one of these students for a conference with a parent or guardian because I’m concerned something is going on that is effecting his or her work? What can I add to tomorrow’s lesson, (or to a future lesson), to make class more interesting with real-life problems to solve?

It seems like there are more negative influences on our students, today, than in any other time in my life. Most students are able to overcome these obstacles and they do so without much assistance. Many reach incredible heights of learning in spite of these barriers.

At the beginning of this essay I stated that I had one challenge. However that challenge is a many-headed monster that I must face. I measure my success by how well I am able to help students navigate this maze known as life. One student may periodically get lost and never find the exit. But most will reach the world outside of the maze. And then, I will have succeeded as a teacher.