Leading Change

Work Together, It's The Only Way!

2012-08-20T09:33:00.001-07:00

Here I am going to criticize as constructively as I can two perspectives of education, teachers and parents. I have linked to both recent articles that both made me get a slice of passion as this summer is ending and I am starting to head into daily reflection mode.

First of all let me get this out on the table right now, schools cannot be successful for students if teachers and parents cannot work together. End of story!

Who knows how best a child learns, teachers or their parents? Some here would say teachers and some would fight till their death saying parents. I say both. We all know that there are parents out there that really do not show too much caring about their children but those are not the parents I am talking about. I am talking about the parents that are engaged in their child's education. A parent will always and should always advocate for their child and no teacher/administrator should ever try to drive a wedge between that relationship and for those of you that do, shame on you. Teachers and parents should be fighting together for child's best interest, that interest is learning and being prepared to enter to the world that is ever changing. We are fighting against the people that could make each of jobs so much easier. Neither side is the enemy, the enemy is the political system that is changed by suits who have no children and have never been teachers and feel that the only way to assess whether a student has learned is through a test.

Both articles below are great and to some extent I agree with both. Yes, parents you should always back your child, but please understand a teacher does not have one classroom of 30 students, we have 30 classrooms of one student and it is a very difficult job. Yes, there are some bad seeds that have ruined it for lots of us, but that is not the case of everyone. Please talk with us. I rarely get parents that come to me to talk to me about something that concerns them. They usually run to the principal and complain and then the principal comes to me. Out of all of the concerns that have been brought to me from my supervisor, do you know how many I have addressed? Zero! That is right. Parents if you do not have the guts to have a difficult conversation with your child's teacher then you must not really care about the situation enough to change it. Have the guts to come talk to me and find out the real reason I do what I do. Your children are worth it for you to have the guts to talk with their teachers and that is really all what teachers want. Some do not want to have any parent communication but don't realize how much easier their jobs would be if they had parents on their side.

Now on to Ron Clark.... Brace yourself because if you were in my district I would call you out. You only have it half right. Do you even have your own children? Based on the article I would say that you probably don't but it is hard to tell.

At times when I tell parents that their child has been a behavior problem, I can almost see the hairs rise on their backs. They are ready to fight and defend their child, and it is exhausting. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I tell a mom something her son did and she turns, looks at him and asks, "Is that true?" Well, of course it's true. I just told you.

Of course you see the hairs on their back rise up. Every child is an angel in the eyes of the parent and I am a parent of a child who can be down right evil, but she is still my princess angel. "I have been having some issues with Johnny in class and I wanted to see if you have noticed this behavior at home?" That is how you address a parent with a behavior issue. If the answer is "No" then ask the parent to help you figure out why little Johnny is behaving that way.

I am glad that you have pet peeves Ron, but that one stated above is a poor one. I would ask my child the same thing. Not because I didn't believe you but because there is real life learning when a child verbally recognizes their faults.

Ron you are right that there are some teachers out there that just cannot handle and work with parents, those teachers are in the wrong business because only a minor percentage of parents really make the profession difficult at least from my perspective. I grade my students very difficult and push them harder and harder each year and get complaints all the time, but when parents understand why I do what I do, they are right there backing me and I am backing them. When a parent comes to me and says "Mr. Sandberg I know that you use cell phones in class but my child is grounded from her's." I back that. In my room it is not "My way or the highway" it is the "Right way or the highway!"

Let parents challenge class grades, all they are doing is challenging math. 2 + 2 will always equal 4. If it works out to be a 79% then it is a C. You the teacher can't change math, but if a student can argue why they wrote what they did and defend it, they should get credit for that.

One thing that you nailed right on the head is that a child getting straight A's does not mean that the teacher is good or that the child is getting a good education. While all my students earn C's or higher, I work hard to get each students up to that bar. I NEVER adjust the bar, but work to get students to that expectation.

The Innovative Educator: Parents Take Issue with Advice of 'Super Teacher' Ron Clark

What teachers really want to tell parents by Ron Clark

Twitter And Facebook Should Replace Traditional Teacher Professional Development

2012-08-05T08:21:00.001-07:00

Twitter And Facebook Might Soon Replace Traditional Teacher Professional Development

My thoughts and feelings may be somewhat one-sided when it comes to using Twitter and Facebook for PD. I could not agree more with the article and their reasoning for why it can benefit teachers in their strive to become better. Over the last five or so years, every time I was sitting in a professional development session (one that I did NOT have any choice in selecting) I would think, "Man this is boring and old pedagogy. I know that I could investigate and learn more from my Twitter PLN and reading blogs of leaders and other educators." Every time that is what went though my head, and it is true. I do learn more from Twitter and reading blogs than I do listening to another educator babble on about assessment or engaging students.

If this is true about a middle-aged educator, what does that say for the students in our classrooms? You know they are most likely learning more from their social networks from the hours of 3pm and 8am than they are sitting in your rooms all day long, and not all the stuff they are learning is useless either. College drop out visionaries (Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg) have drastically changed the world that we live in and I am sure that most of the content that they were learning was outside of school through exploration and the drive and passion to succeed.

5 Popular Posts 7/29 - 8/4

2012-08-05T07:39:00.003-07:00

Does the Executive Board of Directors Make Good Decisions for Kids?

Becoming Friends with Students, both online and offline

The 21st Century Principal: 6 Must-Have Mobile Device Apps for the School Administrator

When learning becomes fun

iPad, Pages, and Google Docs, wonderful combination

Does the Executive Board of Directors Make Good Decisions for Kids? #edchat #leadership

2012-08-02T10:47:00.001-07:00

I recently was looking through some resumes that I found online of people who were selected to be interviewed in an very extensive search for a superintendent. For confidentiality reasons I am not going to post those resumes or link them nor mention the school district that was doing the search. There was just something that leaped off the page to me so I wanted to share and get some feedback.

I looked a five resumes of very distinguished people. They have had long careers of working with public schools at the district level as well as some being leaders from the private sector. The thing that jumped off the page to me is that of the five resumes only one of them had experience working as a principal, vice-principal, and classroom teacher. Everyone else came from the private sector to the district level and then to area superintendents and director of programs, not having lead a single school. Does anyone else find this disturbing? Maybe it is just me but I feel that if someone is going to lead a massive amount of schools and make critical decisions that will affect the lives of children, they have better spent a great deal of time in the "trenches" of the school and the know what the public school anatomy is like. I sure do not want the head of surgery at a hospital being a person that knows nothing about the human body or its anatomy.

So who got the job in the end? Well you guessed it, not the person with the experience as a school leader. The business man with the business background and no school leadership experience. So what do you think? Should the "head honcho" be the leader without experience leading and school and being in the "trenches" with the teachers and the children?

Becoming Friends with Students, both online and offline #edtech #facebook

2012-07-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

I was recently reading a post from the Innovative Educator: Why can’t we be friends? - Innovative educators say, "Yes we can!" to friending students on Facebook and Face-to-Face on friending students on social media sites. The reason for this post is that I am conflicted on what is the right thing to do with friending students or calling them “friends” in the 21^st century. Recently our superintendent sent out and email strongly encouraging faculty and staff not to “friend” students on social media sites. While he cannot force that to be the case, his thinking behind this is sound. Recently educators have been getting into trouble for what they post on their Facebook pages. When you post something online for “others” to see, the “others” also includes your students. “That was supposed to be private!” There is no such thing as ‘private’ when you post something on the internet. If you don’t want your employer or students to see such racy photos and judgmental posts, then don’t post them. I know how easy it is to get caught up in the moment and you just want to sit down and rant about your boss and how they are treating you, but once you press the ‘return’ button it is not private anymore.

While I do not follow his strong encouragement, I do take another stance on the topic. Yes, I am friends with students and former students as well as colleagues and real-life friends. I do not add students. Every student that I am “friends” with on Facebook requested me to be their “friend” (I place that word in quotes for a reason which I will get to later). Students/Former Students fall under a different category than my other “friends” on Facebook. They are restricted to only see what I posted to “public” for the world to see. If it is not a public post, they cannot see it. Every photo is set by default to private unless I change it. If I change it to public and there are consequences, then that is my own fault. In this age we need to be more digitally responsible and we need to teach our students to do the same. There is not a fine line between your professional life and your personal life (online), there absolutely NO LINE! Every employer does a Google search of a prospective employee. They want to know what kind of person they are hiring before they do so. It use to worry me about what I posted on my blog as that others may read it and not want me to work for them, but then as I reflected on that some, my online life is an almost mirror image of my real life. I only post things that are true and that make me, me. I don’t want to get a job or receive a reward for being a “fake”.

So if you are a digitally responsible person like myself, friend your students, Tweet them, comment on their posts, just remember to always maintain some academic and professional integrity with your interactions with them. No don’t go and share your photos of your wild time in Vegas with your students. If you must share them with your friends, investigate the privacy portion of Facebook before you do.

The reason for the quotes around friend, ties back into the post I was reading from the Innovative Educator:

Encarta defines the word friend as follows:

somebody emotionally close: somebody who trusts and is fond of another.

acquaintance: somebody who thinks well of or is on good terms with somebody else.

ally: an ally, or somebody who is not an enemy.

advocate of cause: a defender or supporter of a cause, group, or principle.

Many times teachers tell their students that they are NOT “friends”, well according to the definition, you better be their friends. Teachers need to be everyone of this qualities of a friend to students. If you do not have these qualities towards your students there may be something that is amiss. No, teachers are not “friends” in the fact that they are not going to be hanging out with students in a social setting at BBQs or going fishing with them on the weekends, but I am friends with my students for caring about them and their interests. It is extremely important to share interests with students and form that connection with them.

5 Popular Posts for 7/22 - 7/28

2012-07-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here are the most popular posts for 7/22 - 7/28:

College plans to discuss with teens #edchat #learning

2012-07-26T09:46:00.001-07:00

Here is the list of the 5 majors from the article:

Economics
Health sciences
Communications
Education
Information Technology

While I totally without any reservation agree with the first three, the last two I have a problems with.

First, I have many friends to have degrees in the computer sciences or informational technology who are managing bowling allies or working at the local grocery store. Thousands of dollars of education not being used. Many, many people have these degrees. Plus companies that hire people to work in this field don't care about where you went to school or what degree you have, they want people who can solve problem and program what they need in little or no time. I have a friend who is a programmer and makes six figures, works from home, and never finished college. But he is probably one of the brightest people I know when it comes to information technology and programming. He has never had a difficult time getting a job. It is like the professional musician. Do you want to hire one who went to Julliard or who sounds good? Now chances are that people who attend Julliard do sound amazing, there are people out there that never went to college and are washing dishes in NYC who sound better.

Last, education, while a very promising career path, a very saturated one. Everyone wants to be a teacher and most want to be teachers for the wrong reasons. Getting a job in education right now is very difficult with the financial status of the US. This has been the case for a while and will be for the years to come. I would never advise a student of mine to go into education unless they really wanted long hours, little pay, and almost zero gratification. The best thing about being an educator is that it matters, the worst thing, is that it matters everyday.

The Innovative Educator: 5 majors to discuss with teens thinking about college

Mayoral mandate to ban cell phones in schools? Give me a BREAK!! #edtech #edchat

2012-07-25T07:53:00.003-07:00

This makes me sad!

This is flagrant! The largest city in the US has decided to go backwards in time. Does the mayor honestly think that creating a ban is going to solve the problem of students cheating and looking at inappropriate material? Creating a ban because of a few bad seeds who are not necessarily bad, but just made a bad decision, will not solve the problem. In Oregon we have a ban on texting and talking on a cell phone while driving. Before that ban was put into effect I never saw people texting or talking on the phone. Now I see it all the time. I even see it by police officers who are suppose to uphold the law on duty, not break it.

On of my biggest pet peeves is when people make major building or district wide rules and consequences on petty things such as cell phones and gum. Now for the record I hate and I mean HATE gum! But making a building policy on gum chewing is not going to fix the problem of finding gum stuck to the bottom of chairs or in the middle of the hall. Kids need to be taught the correct behavior. As I typed that I had a picture in my mind of a lady who I worked with at one point in time, just roll her eyes. She would think that kids should have that common sense already engrained and would not need to be taught that. If they have never been taught it before at home, why would they ever know it? Our six year old had to be taught to look both ways for cars when crossing the street, it is not common sense. The same is true for using technology, any technology, at school. Kids need to be taught what is the appropriate way to use that technology and to not abuse it. A lot of people feel that it is just easier to ban the devices than it is to help teach the appropriate way of use. Who is it easier for? You? If you got into this profession because you want it easy, you are delirious I need a CAT scan. Students love these devices and it helps keep them engaged.

I bet people wanted to put a ban on paper over the slate when it first came out too, but you and I could not do our jobs without paper. "Why do I need email when I can just walk down to the office and give them the message?" I am too young for both of those, but you know that is what happened. These devices are going to happen, no matter what ban you put in place, so you should just get on board and start learning how to utilize them now before it becomes more difficult later.

The Innovative Educator: 3 reasons students are banned from BYOT / BYOD: In New York City the mayor has banned students from using the technology they own and love for learning in school. This decision is not left to teachers, parents, school boards, or administrators. It is a mayoral mandate that despite protests, is closed for discussion.

Here is why the chancellor and mayor do not give students the freedom to choose the tools that work best for learning:
1) Since 2006 the mayor has vigorously defended the ban on student owned digital devices in school calling them unnecessary and disruptive distractions that interfere with learning.

2) In light of the recent scandal at Stuyvesant High School, the NYC school chancellor explained that we must ban students from using their own technology because people are always trying to think of new ways to do things like get answers to questions. He says, that’s cheating and it’s not acceptable.

3) The mayor's latest rationale for banning student tech in schools is kids might use them to watch pornography. “You have a big liability with pornography. The city would get sued right away.” And, in fact, it is our systems lawyers who are making policies and guidelines for students and teachers.

Education does not have room for managers, it needs leaders! #leadership #edchat

2012-07-23T09:09:00.002-07:00

Why Managers Suck - Young and Prosperous

So I was reading this blog on "Why Managers Suck" written from a business standpoint, when it dawned on me that the author makes some good points that could be applied in education as well.

Good teachers do not always make the best leaders. I have noticed this. Just because a person is good in the classroom does not mean that they can be effective at leading the masses at being good. It takes special qualities to be an effective leader.
Worried about pleasing the top. Oh no, everyone is worried about this. Everyone wants to please upwards rather than the people that they lead. Everyone wants their supervisor to be pleased with their performance. There is nothing wrong with this, it is human nature. But how many middle/high school teachers out there have students evaluate their performance at the end of their course or year? I don't or haven't in the past. I have known of one teacher in my nine years that has had the guts to do such a thing.
Lack of being humble. Yeah no matter what position you are in a school, there is always somebody better and smarter than you out there. Many managers feel that they are the best person for that position. A leader does not feel that way, they are humble knowing that they are the best fit for that position at that moment and that there will always be somebody out there with better ideas.
Top cannot hear the bottom. How often does the top of the school hierarchy really hear the bottom? How often does a principal listen to the ideas of students in how to adjust school culture and education? How often does a superintendent listen to the ideas of teachers or even students for that matter? Most of what comes a long is a top-down method. The top creates the ideas and the bottom implements them. Leaders always include the bottom in discussions that affect them. If I am going to be responsible in implementing ideas, I want to be part of the initial discussion of those ideas.

EdTech Reflection #1

2012-07-21T07:44:00.001-07:00

40 Ways Education Technology Will Be Used In The Future | Edudemic: Do you know what technology you’ll be using in the classroom 5 years from now? What about 10 years from now?

This statement could not be more true. Five years ago I was not even on Twitter and thanks to the wonderful Timeline feature on Facebook, February 6, 2008 was my induction to Facebook. Look how far those two have gone in such a short time. Technology changes so fast and education takes so long to change that it is almost impossible to keep up. By the time schools spend the time and money to invest into new technology, it is already outdated and something better has already taken its place.

Teachers using technology in their classroom cannot afford to get comfortable with what they are using and stick with it for many, many years. Something better will come alone and replace it. Something that engages students much more than FB and Twitter. Use the technology to engage your students, but be open to trying new things as they come along. We want our students to learn and explore, and EdTech leader needs to do the same.

Guts for difficult conversations #leadership

2012-07-17T09:37:00.001-07:00

So this year I was challenged with something that made me really have to think about guts.

In previous years I would do what I though was a good thing for students by integrating technology in the classroom on a regular basis. I would use cell phone in anyway that I could get students engaged in the classroom. This year was particularly difficult to do that. For some reason in years past me using cell phones or other electronic devices in the classroom was disturbing other teachers in their classrooms. I still to this day am puzzled as to how my room down the hall or across the building could be disruptive. Were we louder than normal when we used electronic devices? I didn't think we were but there was an issue obviously present that I was unaware of.

Why did it take so long for others to express their feelings and concerns? Where they too afraid to talk to me about their concerns? Why is it that educators have a problem talking with other educators about what bothers them? Even I have this problem. There were tons of issues that I have witnessed over the years that I felt were probably not the best for kids but still didn't say anything. Am I not advocating for the best interest of kids by being silent? Am I the only one that feels this way?

When learning becomes fun #edtech #edchat #learning

2012-07-17T09:23:00.001-07:00

"Once we have computer outlets in every home, each of them hooked up to enormous libraries where anyone can ask any question and be given answers, be given reference materials, be something you’re interested in knowing, from an early age, however silly it might seem to someone else… that’s what YOU are interested in, and you can ask, and you can find out, and you can do it in your own home, at your own speed, in your own direction, in your own time… Then, everyone would enjoy learning. Nowadays, what people call learning is forced on you, and everyone is forced to learn the same thing on the same day at the same speed in class, and everyone is different.” ~ Isaac Asimov

Effective Managers. Do those terms really go together?

2012-07-13T07:32:00.001-07:00

Effective Managers Earn Trust Quickly By Doing 5 Things Well - Forbes

I don't think that this world needs better managers, in fact the last thing people want is to be managed. They want to be led by a leader who is ethical and can inspire.

"Most importantly, managers must quickly earn trust from their colleagues to inspire team unity and collaboration that is centered on the fundamental principles of loyalty, communication and transparency."

Managers will not get trust very quickly from me and they certainly do not inspire me. I don't like to be managed. I am a professional and treat my colleagues the same way. Now there are some people out there that need to be managed, but they are the exception to everybody else. If they were not the exception, the exception would not exist.

Managers work with things, leaders work with people.

As a leader, do you have to be liked as a person to do good work?

2012-07-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

I was reading an old post from @justintarte on legacy. I totally agree with his post that people want to know what other people think of them. "what others think should not be the driving force behind what we say and do; it's merely a piece of the whole puzzle." Is leadership in schools about what others think? From my personal experiences it even though we know a good leader is not there to make friends or have people think wonderful things, it is about positive change. Is it possible to be a good leader and not have people like you? I believe it is.

I heard a story recently from a school board member in another district who said that when they were going through the selection process for a new superintendent they when to that candidates school to interview his current staff members. Now this is the part of the story that takes a turn that I was not expecting. The candidate took the board members who where there to interview staff member and all his staff members into the library. He separated his staff members in two groups. On one half of the room where the staff members that loved him and though he was the kindest most caring person and on the other half of the room was a groups of staff members who did not care for him very much as a person. But the entire group unanimously thought he was a fantastic principal and the perfect choice for what is best for kids.

There is a story where people can dislike you as a person but can respect you professionally and think that you do excellent work. Why do people feel like they need to please everyone and be everyone's friend to do good work? I know that this did not have much to do about legacy, but for the superintendent candidate in the story, I believe that he was successful in leaving a legacy at his school he left. Oh yeah he got the superintendent job by the way. I am sure that through his actions he will spawn more leaders.

Life of an Educator by Justin Tarte: Leave a legacy...

What will your legacy be? For what will you be remembered?
Will your legacy be a legacy of treating others respectfully, fairly and individually?
Will your legacy be a legacy of trust and tolerance to the needs of others?
Will your legacy be a legacy of shared, collective and collaborative approaches toward improvement?
Will your legacy be a legacy of sincerity, selflessness and reliability?
Will your legacy be a legacy of humility and acceptance of failure as a means toward growth?
Will your legacy be a legacy of flexibility, enthusiasm and energy?
Will your legacy be a legacy of courage, strength and vision toward shared aspirations?
Will your legacy be a legacy of helping and serving others so they can achieve their goals?

Don't think Bill Gates has it all quite right....

2012-07-01T12:52:00.002-07:00

While I do agree that student need much more than a new way to read material, technology in itself is a new way we consume information. Students are more apt to want to read a portion of a textbook that is on an iPad than from the actual paper version of the textbook. But in the long run students need to read, write, and have good communication skills in order to be successful. Tablets of all kind can help in this endeavor, not just the iPad.

Reading this article I viewed BG as being a spokes person for the "PC world", not the education world. It does not matter who makes the devices that kids use to consume knowledge, they will still consume whatever knowledge they can get their hands on. Literacy opens doors, and opens them wide. Kids want to be literate! It is not what technology we use to educate students it is that we are using tools that relate to them and recognizing the impact that technology has had on education.

Somewhere in one of our classrooms we are educating the next Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates. Will they be a visionary because of the innovative seed you planted in them or will they be a visionary to help students get away from the Industrial Age education that plagues most of our schools today?

Bill Gates: tablets in the classroom have a 'terrible track record' | The Verge: Among other things, Apple's iBooks 2 initiative is designed to put modern digital textbooks into schools, and some studies have found that the tablet can be a positive learning tool. However, not everyone's convinced — Bill Gates, for example. In an in-depth interview with the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Microsoft co-founder said that the future of education requires a lot more than simply providing people with new ways to read.

What do you teach in school?

2012-06-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

When I attend conferences, I often find myself asking the question to other educators "What do you teach?" Now when I ask this question I am never really looking for a particular answer and to be quite honest I should rephrase the question. For me personally when I am asked this question I always respond in the same way, "I teach kids, but the vehicle I drive is science."

So what do we really teach in schools, subjects or kids? I believe that there are a lot of teachers out there in schools today that have that mindset that they are their to teach kids and they use particular subjects in order to do so, but they never answer my question that way. That does not mean that they are not student centered by any means. Even I have caught myself a time or two. We all just get wrapped up in the question and we know what the person is really asking. If they are not really wanting to know what subject or content we teach and wanting to know that we actually teach "kids", the the question is loaded, but loaded in the correct way.

The question is not meant to trip anybody and set them up for failure. It is meant as a way to see where their heart truly lies. Does it lie with the students or the subject. While I love teaching science and there is no other subject that I would rather teach, I love witnessing kids come out of my classroom having a more solid foundation in their reading and writing skills. Nothing makes me more excited that I did my job correctly and that they could read and write better than they did when they entered in September.

Like I have said, I teach kids, but the vehicle I drive is science. How do I use that vehicle? Simple. I am concerned that students need to learn the various objectives in science like cell division and states of matter, but I am more concerned that they can read and write about them. Like Glenn Holland said in Mr. Holland's Opus, "Well, I guess you can cut the arts as much as you want, Gene. Sooner or later, these kids aren't going to have anything to read or write about." I use science to reenforce reading and writing. I have them constantly read and write about various topics linked to objectives that are mapped to the science standards. Is it more important for a student to be able to explain what the three states of matter are or if they can read and write? I say both are equal. While state officials and educational leaders would say that reading and writing are the most important subject in ALL schools, there must be topics to read and write about.

I believe that it is important for students to learn about history and science just as much as reading and writing, but my main goal as an educator is to educate students. I take great care to reinforce what students are learning in language arts and in math by integrating those skills into science. Science is a captivating subject. I love being able to use a subject like science or even history to gets students excited while learning reading and writing.

Getting those Google Docs under control

2012-06-12T05:57:00.002-07:00

I have so been dying to use Google Docs in my classroom for the past six months. The problem that I have been running into is the lack of email offered to students at school. Some have email and others do not and on top of that they are not allowed to access email at school. In my opinion that is like telling a student they cannot write or turn in homework at school, but that is another story.

In my thought process through wanting to incorporate Google Docs into my classroom, one of the things that has been on my mind is how to control all of the documents that 150 students would be sharing with me on a regular basis. I ran into this post by Kern Kelley that gives some great details on how to keep your Google Docs organized.

Managing Google Docs in the Classroom

Twitter & Texting a problem for writing skills?

2012-06-12T05:56:00.002-07:00

Like the author I completely disagree with the statement below. In the world of education, technology like email has really let people get too a large audience a great deal of information quickly. The problem is that people will sit down and construct a three page email and send it off too everyone thinking that everyone is reading it. Make a mental note, not all are reading those emails. Especially not I. When I open an email after reading the title of the message and there is a sea of text, the delete button is about to become less lonely. If the title of the message is something that is important I will mark the email urgent and take a look at it later. There is very little time for educators to spend during their day reading these lengthy emails. If everyone kept things down to 140 characters and communicated through Twitter, I would respond a whole lot more and in a more timely manner.

Time is a precious commodity, one that I cannot afford to waste. I much prefer one to be clear and concise with their communication. Others out there would agree. We need to expect the same from our students. I really do not want to read a response to a question that could have been answered in 5-7 words and the students chose to use 50-70. The longer the response does not mean the better the grade.

How Twitter & Texting Saved Writing | Inc.com: Twitter and texting are killing the English language. English is a beautiful and complex language ... but our quick-hit communication culture is turning the language of Shakespeare (as the French call it) into a bunch of random symbols.

Social Media and Two-Way Communication

2012-04-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

I have often said that the five people who influence me the most and on a daily basis…… I have never met. At no other time in my career have I had immediate access to experts with only one click of a button. A 140 character tweet at times has caused me to think differently even more so than a 140 page book.

via connectedprincipals.com

This statement could not be more true. Through the power of social media I too have learned a great deal from people I have not ever met nor probably never will. I can rattle off tons of educational leaders such as Eric Sheninger(@NMHS_Principal), Scott McLeod(@mcleod), Joe Mazza(@Joe_Mazza), Scott Elias (@scottelias), and many more that have impacted in daily practice. I have never met any of those leaders, but I have learned from them.

The power of social media is amazing!

Studies Give Nuanced Look at Teacher Effectiveness - Inside School Research - Education Week

2012-04-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

Student observations may be the real key to identifying what works in teaching, according to Ron F. Ferguson, a senior lecturer in education and public policy at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. He analyzed surveys from 2,985 MET classes with at least five responding students each, and compared students' achievement with their observations of "seven Cs" of teaching practice. They focus on whether a teacher:
• Cares about students;
• Captivates them by showing learning is relevant;
• Confers with students to show their ideas are welcomed and respected;
• Clarifies lessons so knowledge seems feasible;
• Consolidates knowledge so lessons are connected and integrated;
• Controls behavior so students stay on task; and
• Challenges students to achieve.

via blogs.edweek.org

Five Best Practices for the Flipped Classroom | Edutopia

2012-04-15T10:42:00.001-07:00

I get very nervous when I hear education reformists and politicians tout how "incredible" the flipped classroom model, or how it will "solve" many of the problems of education. It doesn't solve anything. It is a great first step in reframing the role of the teacher in the classroom. It fosters the "guide on the side" mentality and role, rather than that of the "sage of the stage." It helps move a classroom culture towards student construction of knowledge rather than the teacher having to tell the knowledge to students. Even Salman Khan says that the teacher is now "liberated to communicate with [their students]."

via edutopia.org

Flipping the Classroom Requires More Than Video | GeekDad | Wired.com

2012-04-15T10:41:00.001-07:00

Video lectures lead to less engaged students. — “This is actually the opposite of what I experienced as a teacher,” wrote Bergmann.

Classes will become too big to support engagement with students. — “I talk to every kid in every class every day.”

It’s just bad lecture on video. — “I see the flip as a stepping stone for teachers who have lectured for all of their career. For them the idea of moving to an inquiry, problem based learning model would be very difficult.”

Students with limited access to technology are hurt — “We simply took 4-6 videos and burned them onto a DVD and handed the DVDs out to students. Some students who had a computer at home but not high speed internet brought in flash drives and took home the videos that way.” Bergmann points to principal Greg Green’s success in Michigan.

via wired.com

Flipping the classroom has become a large passion of mine. It is one of my ongoing professional goals to implement next year.

I have to agree with these four bullet points. Poor video lectures are worse than the live version of the same lecture. They need to be engaging.

The Best Writing Apps of 2012 The Write Stuff

2012-04-13T19:36:00.001-07:00

Whether you are an active, write-on-the-go-journalist type or you need a way to keep track of those great ideas you have without fumbling for a note pad and pen while away from your desk, today’s guest has some great advice on writing apps for you. Please welcome Jane Johnson from GoingCellular, she’s going to share some insider insights on apps for writing on the go.

via allandouglas.com

The 21st Century Principal: 4 Reasons 21st Century Administrators Should Get Out of the Way and Let Students Blog

2012-04-09T21:03:00.001-07:00

Blogging gives students an opportunity to engage a real audience. This became evident this past week when one of our students excitedly came into my office just to tell me about individuals from a European country who contacted her because of her blog. I can't say in 16 years as an English teacher I ever saw one of my students get that excited about an essay they'd just written. Blogging gives students an opportunity to engage in real writing with a potential real audience, an English teacher's dream!

Blogging gives teachers and educators a real context for teaching them how to effectively engage others with writing and media. No one sits around reading essays except English teachers, and I say that as a former English teacher. Trying to engage an audience in an essay isn't real. Trying to get others to read and comment on your last blog post is real. Blogging is an environment that gives students the opportunity to experiment and try to see what works with readers, and the feedback is real too.

Blogging gives us (all educators) a tool to teach students to contribute responsibly to the web conversation. In the context of blogging, educators can teach students how to engage readers and engage with the right level of disclosure. Teachers can teach students how to blog safely as well as effectively. In other words, if we want students to blog safely, then we have to give them the opportunity to blog.

Blogging provides an environment for students to reflect on learning. Sure, reflection can be done in a journal, but journals are at best written for an audience of 2, the student and the teacher. It's in the context of a blog that students can test out what they are thinking with others. The reflection is expanded with feedback and comments. Blogging allows for interactive reflection.

via the21stcenturyprincipal.blogspot.com

The 21st Century Principal: 6 Must-Have Mobile Device Apps for the School Administrator

2012-04-09T21:02:00.001-07:00

Note Taking App Evernote Evernote is by far the most versatile note taking app available currently. It easily has all four of the characteristics above. Evernote is accessible on my deskop, the web, my iPad, my Droid phone and even my Kindle Fire. Sharing notes is easy too. Even the premium version of Evernote is quite affordable. For more information check out http://www.evernote.com/. Cloud-Based Storage App Dropbox Dropbox is the easiest to use of the cloud-based storage options. Making sure a file appears on multiple devices is as easy as saving in your Dropbox folder. Sharing access to files and folders is easy too. Dropbox meets all four criteria above to easily become my cloud-based storage app of choice. For more information regarding Dropbox check out https://www.dropbox.com/. Social Bookmarking

Diigo for iPad

Powernotes for Android Device
Diigo is definitely the way to go to customize how you share bookmarks and notes with others. It also has versions of its apps available on anything electronic, and sharing through social media, email or groups is a cinch. Diigo meets all four criteria above as well. For more information regarding Diigo, check out http://www.diigo.com/. For information on Powernotes, check out http://www.diigo.com/tools/power_note_for_android. PDF Readers

Goodreader for (iPad)

ezPDF Reader for Android Devices
Good PDF readers allow users to easily access, read, and annotate PDF documents. While neither of these apps meet all of the criteria above, both of these apps make reading PDF documents easy. For information about Goodreader, check out http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goodreader-for-ipad/id363448914?mt=8. For information about ezPDF Reader, check out https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=udk.android.reader&hl=en. Twitter Clients

Tweetcaster for Android Devices

Twitter for iPad
Tweetcaster is my favorite on my Kindle Fire, and the Twitter app is my Tweeting app of choice for the iPad. The truth is, since Twitter redid Tweetdeck, it is my Twitter app of choice simply because I’ve tried others and haven’t found one I like better. For information on Tweetdeck for desktop, check out http://www.tweetdeck.com/. For information on Tweetcaster for Android devices, check out http://tweetcaster.com/. For Twitter for iPad, check out http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8. E-Reader Kindle I began using all the e-book apps, iBook, Nook, and Kindle in the very beginning, but I have since become a Kindle enthusiast for a couple of reasons. First of all, I like the selection of books offered by Amazon, and secondly there are some great browser extension apps that make sending documents to read in your Kindle app easy to do. For more information on the Kindle apps, check out http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771.

via the21stcenturyprincipal.blogspot.com