Learning To Go

Why Not Change the World? Curiousity

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:19:00 +0000

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” ~ Clay P. Bedford

Several years ago I found this quote on curiosity and used it as part of my 'signature' for email. I loved the notion of creating curiosity as part of the learning process. It also aligns with the adage of give a man a fish and he eats for a day but teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime. Both capture the essence of engaging the learner in an activity that is meaningful, interactive, dynamic, and purposeful to the life of the learner. These are not 'new' or radical thoughts - the fish quote is reputed to be an ancient Chinese proverb or words of Confucius.

My own curiosity was piqued and I wanted to know a bit more about Bedford. A quick search lead me to the Rensselaer Poly Technical Institute web page. The Institute was founded in 1824 in New York. Their motto: "Why not change the world?"

Clay Patrick Bedford

Class of 1924
Industrialist, Engineer, Manager
1903 - 1991

In his distinguished career with Kaiser Industries, with which he rose to become a corporate director and president of Kaiser Aerospace & Electronics Corp., Bedford was manager for a host of large-scale construction projects, including: chief engineer for the construction of Central Highway in Cuba; transportation superintendent for construction of Boulder Dam; and general superintendent for construction for the Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams.

His reputation as an efficiency expert soared after he supervised the construction of a World War II Liberty Ship in four days and 15 minutes.

In five years, he oversaw the production of 727 ships, which directly contributed to the winning of the war.

In the Korean War era, he was called to Washington as special assistant to the Director of Defense Mobilization, and later became assistant to the Secretary of Defense for production.

He was an advocate of the application of technology to classroom instruction at Rensselaer where he spearheaded the development of the Communications Center.

Here's to curiosity, innovation and a bit of play!

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better" -- Albert Einstein

A Walk

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:03:00 +0000

Earlier this week, Penelope and I went for a walk along the lake. It had been a long day and many things were on my mind. The weather was drab. I was listening to"Eat, Pray, Love" by Melissa Gilbert on my ancient iPod. My walking books this year on the theme of journey

Life and learning are intertwined. These past few months of diving headfirst into a new learning community has been wonderful, challenging, frustrating and messy. I've learned a great deal on this adventure and have met some wonderful compatriots who are passionate about learning and bringing out the gifts of students. I have also experienced the opposite in others who are involved.

Lesson learned: Listen to your own heart and trust your internal compass. My task this fall is writing and writing abundantly. I've chosen to step away from the new school - a vision I believe in but a leadership environment that is not conducive to collaborative or collegial experiences.

The Challenge of a Poem

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:05:00 +0000

I've been working to keep a sense of balance in my sometimes frenetic live. One part of that has been tapping into "The Daily Challenge", a free website by MeYouHealth (challenge.meyouhealth.com) that has a variety of tracks ant daily challenges that you can participate in without any pressure. It has a gamed based approach behind it with rewards, pacts, social connections and opportunities for action and reflection.

I recently chose the "mindfulness" track because I need to start the school year living in mindfulness. This was today's challenge and my post.

Visit a website to find a poem that inspires you, and put it in a place where you'll see it often.

I remember having to memorize poems in 3rd grade. I actually loved it.
We memorized the first stanza of William Wordsworth, 1804 poem about daffodils

I notice that my 3 poems have to do with loneliness and inclusiveness. I think they are reflective of my spirit today. I am starting on a new school adventure - a new school start-up. We have 7 high school students. We had our first all school picnic and the kids shared their stories -- the common thread seemed to be not connecting in traditional learning environments. Thus these poems seemed to pop into my brain.

BUT the FIRST poem that popped into my brain was a welcoming poem by Shel Silverstein I used it as a bulletin board in my first classroom - inner city 8th graders. I still firmly believe that this poem (at the end) truly embraces my philosophy of learning.

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay: 10
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood, 20
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The one that comes to mind (not from 3rd grade) is from Emily Dickinson

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us--don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

and then:

“He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic , rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him In !

From the poem " Outwitted”

― Edwin Markham

INVITATION by Shel Silverstein

If you are a dreamer, come in.
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer . . .
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire,
For we have some flax golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!

So for all of you working with learners of all ages and abilities --- I send you encouragement, invitations to play!!! Come in!!
Vicki

Jumping In! Looking Straight Ahead!

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 04:27:00 +0000

Look straight ahead,

and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
~ Proverbs 4:25, NLT

I started the EDLR program during the summer of 2009. That is when this picture of one of our granddaughters and our old husky malamute (Taylor and Kimberly respectively) who were often walking partners was taken. Both a bit unsteady on their feet: one with a vision of adventure and wisdom that moving forward was a necessary action.

I am transitioning my blog and re-commissioning it as a more reflective palette for embracing my independent study on Spirituality, Innovation and Play in Educational Leadership. My topic of study is an exploration of the integration of spirituality and innovation with educational leadership in creating dynamic school environments that embrace the learning community of students, parents, teachers, and global community. This has been my focal point for the past academic year though my vision has been clouded by numerous other events. I have had to refocus my vision and align my learning outcomes with consideration to those events.

This blog will serve several purposes as a:

Reading Reflection/Journal: 'This reflection will incorporate some aspect of the readings, synthesis of material, implications in my current educational environment, and/or considerations for future leadership.'
Personal Reflective Practices: Thoughts on personal practices that I have introduced/integrated into my life.
Reflective Discussion/Presentation Summary: My desire to interview some educational leaders was redirected by life events. I have attended several outstanding and inspiring keynote addresses during the recent ISTE conference. I will share my thoughts and reflections on those as well as two key Ted Education talks.
Jumping Off Block: The topics, themes and ideas written here have and will continue to simmer on salient research points and provide substance for exploring the stories of learners at the crossroads for my dissertation proposal.

Looking forward! Jumping In!

Innovation! Leadership! Play!

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:04:00 +0000

It seems like it has been forever since I actually posted to this blog! Actually it has been forever! I haven't been idle in reflecting upon learning. I've had great fun curating in ScoopIt! on the topic of Innovation, Leadership and Play. I started an independent study on Spirit, Innovation and Play in Educational Leadership. Well, and it just seemed right to PLAY! How can one take a topic and really explore it in an innovative and playful spirit? After years of such serious study I feel the need to live out that inquiry model of learning by exploring a variety of ideas in action. I want to make my learning relevant to what I dream of doing over the next decade - engaging in educational leadership. ScoopIt! allows me to 'scoop' those ideas and resources that I feel are important to my topic, my learning. It becomes a part of my PLE, another topic that Kathy J (our librarian) and I have presented for the NAIS 2012 conference. And of course the theme captured the energy we hope to engage all learners in discovering. INNOVATION: Imagine, Invent, Inspire, Dream

Here's to connections that inspire us to innovate and play in our learning!

Birds of A Feather

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 20:53:00 +0000

It is actually Tuesday today and I am sharing my own post from our ISTE blog - even with a few spelling corrections! I am forever amazed by the ying/yang of energy/exhaustion! Check out our thoughts and learning on SAAS@ISTE

Is it Monday? What is Weebly?

In a "Birds-of-a-feather" session with Helen Barrett the passionate portfolio advocate. I love the fact that it is the ownership of work - artifacts - reflections on learning by the student allow that ownership. We have Mahara linked to our Moodle 2.0+ that is coming on line in July. I love Google Sites - but not sure as a portfolio platform though her idea of a student creating the goals for learning, posting an artifact representing the learning, and then reflecting upon the learning is very doable. She also talked about blogs as a porfolio frame. They could use the same protocol.

Evernote as a portfolio frame? I can see that working and it works well with the ipad. Here is the blog Helen suggested: http://blog.evernote.com/2012/02/28/how-to-create-a-portfolio-with-evernote-education-series/

Portfolios for student led conference - love these ideas! Our kids (our personal ones) participated in such practices and they were very proud of what they had learned and what was shared. The model she is showcasing looks like a Google Site - it is a Google Site!! Multi-media added the personal touches and interactivity.

Also love the idea of reflection for both students and teachers in their learning! She has recipes for reflections. This is such an essential part of learning (and teaching) that we often skip because of the 'time' factor.

Hmmm. Doesn't this blog serve as a reflection piece for our ISTE adventures?

Splashing!!!
Vicki

Helen's site is https://sites.google.com/site/iste12eportfolios/
Image from: http://www.sportsposterwarehouse.com/detail_PEA0333__633__peanutssplashaj.html

Connected Learning!!

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 23:13:00 +0000

I couldn't help but marvel at this image of connected learning! I found it in Dangerously ! Irrelevant, a blog by Scott McLeod, a professor in educational leadership among other roles.

Below is an infographic made by Dachis Group that highlights these essential components of connected learning. What if every learning environment was centered around these principles?

PLE Pause, Learn, Educate - Purposeful. Link. Embody

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:13:00 +0000


Snoqualmie Falls Speacock Slide Show

I am trying to focus on preparing for the upcoming NAIS conference. Our librarian, Kathy Johnson, and I are presenting on Personal Learning Environments. Kathy has been phenomenal putting the slides together, gathering research, exciting ideas, and trying to keep me focused. She embodies the PLE for me on so many levels. Even as I write this with the intent to Pause I realize that she is already challenging my thinking!

Kathy has been using the imagery of mountains - a perfect one for the Pacific Northwest and learning environments. The dance of the mountains and rivers are seen in the power of waterfalls. My challenge is creating the activities that will make the presentation personal for the attendees - the waterfall activities that will soar deep down and then disperse to others.

My thoughts come back to QUESTIONS? and CONNECTIONS! Who are my best connections on learning? My own iGoogle site, of course! It is my waterfall of innovation ideas and resources!

On Belay!

I realize that there is so much information to sift through and I've forgotten to listen to my own PLE resources.

Fall Again? It's Apple Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:56:00 +0000

Fall 2011

This summer we received a gift of 60 iPads. The 'seed' was planted in late spring. We did some nurturing of the soil, pulled a few weeds, watered a few dreams and developed our growth and harvesting plan! Last week the choice tablets were distributed to faculty and staff - and the growth spurt has begun!

Seattle Academy has a gift for grassroots ownership. With minimal apps on the iPads we are modeling inquiry based exploration. Faculty are encouraged to share their experiences and create foundational practices that support and enhance their teaching and learning. Together we will chronicle the seasons through the use of a Moodle resource course and forums, shared research through Diigo groups, collaborative sharing through Google Sites and Google Docs, and a perhaps a collaborative app or two!

Our first focus meeting was held today. These focus groups provide an opportunity to ask questions, comment, share new expertise, bring forward challenges, and engage the possibilities. All were asked to share their thoughts and discoveries in a forum. We are a learning community on a journey and I'm excited to see what paths and trails we will be exploring!

On Ward through the Orchard!

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

(photo from Stone Garden in Philadelphia, ISTE 2011)

What happened to the Fall?

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 22:51:00 +0000

It seems that we were just in August a few days ago and suddenly it is November! What happened?!

A great deal has happened here at SAAS since this summer:

Debut of Winter Tri 'paint job'

Our Moodle site moved from our servers to Moodlerooms, a hosted site. Just as in any move we lost a few things, discovered new things, and are still moving the 'furniture and pictures' around to best suit our present needs!

The great news is that we are current and up-to-date!
Troubleshooting with the Moodlerooms support people has been a great help and they are awesome people!
We have many learning and teaching options for teachers and students to explore.
and soon it will have a wonderful new 'paint job' just like a new house should!

We moved to Google Apps for Education! Collaboration, cooperation, creative exchange and creation of ideas, as well as global access is another step towards a holistic 21st century learning environment. Google Docs, Google Sites, blogs..... the potential for learning and sharing learning will continue to keep us thoroughly immersed in the education adventure.

SAAStainability is becoming an integrated theme for our sustainability initiative across all departments and offices. Check out our Google Site on Sustainability created for the PNAIS fall teacher conference in Portland: Sustainability Resources (to share and contribute) I am still awed by the Virtual Museum of the Origins created by Melinda's evolution seminar class last year.

The arrival of netbooks for some of the middle school math and English classes has increased our student to computer ratio to almost 1:1. We now have full access carts in 10 classrooms, learning support, and enough to borrow for special projects. The tech lab still serves as the Internet Cafe of Global Learning for classes and individuals.

Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz we are moving along the yellow brick road of the future - "Podcasts! and Bloggers! and Tweets! Oh My!" with our collaborative friends Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, and Toto. We have our tools at the ready, our content at our fingertips, and our capacity to create learning environments that prepare our students for college and life.

What happened to Fall? Perhaps the more relevant question Where are we in our learning this fall? We've been learning, growing, creating and discovering the questions.

We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself. ~Lloyd Alexander

It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it. ~Jacob Bronowski

Technology and the 21st Century at SAAS!

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:39:00 +0000

Tech du Soleil ...

Tuesday evening in the Orvis Theater, Art Center Lobby, and three classrooms a creative choreography of teaching, learning, and discovery was gracefully danced by a passionate troupe of students and teachers. I am often privileged to see these individual interactive performances but to have such a repertoire of engagement happening at one time on several stages was inspiring and energizing.

From an academic tech perspective I saw engaging learning opportunities with content being the driving passion and the assorted technologies being the tool that provide the means. Moodle, Skype and Pamela, Podcaster, Stella modeling, wikis, Google sites, film and animation, Wordle, Glogster, ElectricMath, Esperanto, Makerbots, Robots, Blogs, Smartlessons, Smart Music, Heart Monitors, Response Systems, and the list goes on.

The Parent Association's enrichment committee provided a variety resources for parents, a list of teacher created websites, answers to frequently asked questions, and an opportunity to meet for coffee on the Friday after for further discussion and questions. To check out their resource links and handouts visit the Enrichment page at http://isaas.seattleacademy.org/technology-and-21st-century-learning.

In the broader global context, the correlation to rubrics for 21^st Century Learning prepared by The Partnership for 21^st Century gives us a guide as we move further into this adventuresome learning environment. I had the opportunity to correspond with them as I gathered the appropriate permissions to use their images and information for this blog. It was again, another opportunity to see how easily connections and collaborations can occur as we engage in purposeful technology.

“The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. The organization brings together the business community, education leaders, and policy makers to define a powerful vision for 21st century education to ensure every child's success as citizens and workers in the 21st century by providing tools and resources to help facilitate and drive change.” (http://www.p21.org/)

Here is their ‘picture’ of learning and defined attributes of student outcomes in a 21^st century education:

Twenty-First Century Student Outcomes

The elements described in this section as “21st century student outcomes” (represented by the rainbow) are the skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century.

1. Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes

2. Learning and Innovation Skills

3. Information, Media and Technology Skills

4. Life and Career Skills

To paraphrase the infamous Dr. Seuss - Oh the places we will go!

TechShare Global Ed Montage

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:57:00 +0000

As we prepare for TechShare we've had numerous discussions about Global Education, going out of the box, beyond the walls, integrating appropriate tools that will connect our students and our learning in a way that is authentic, engaging, and realistically possible.

I have a few questions that would be helpful to the Global Montage!

What are you doing in your schools? Share an example? A picture?
What would you like to be doing?
Ideas that you've seen or been inspired by to explore?
Tools that would assist you in accomplishing your idea?

These are the questions we are asking of the participants when we send them off exploring:

What does Global Education meant to you?
How can technology impact global education in the classroom?
What is your digital footprint on the world? - what did we mean by that?

I would love to have some short anecdotes and pictures, links, to incorporate into this project.

Thanks!!!!

Spring Games

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:53:00 +0000

May 28th

It has been a busy spring! In the midst of it all, we have been exploring the concept of gaming in the educational environment. It is an interesting conversation. As with any curricular tool, games need to have a purpose and enable the learners to engage in the subject in ways that create layered learnings. A quick email to our Gaming Group seemed to be an appropriate blog post.

Dear Gaming Explorers,
I’ve been gathering a bit of info since our last meeting (way back in March). Hopefully we will have a chance to gather and continue the discussion, set some clarifications/guidelines, and explore the engaging possibilities.

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=1762

Warlick’s current blog is on Games for Change, which seems especially relevant given the Global Classroom workshop we attended at Seattle U last week. I have been putting the games on Moodle (hidden at the moment) and will link to the resources from the World Affairs Council. I’ve also done a bit of exploring with second life – though it keeps crashing on my laptop (interesting??) and runs sluggishly on my lab desktop. Discovery Education (United Streaming) has a very interesting blog on Second life http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/secondlife . I have also added to my delicious site resources for exploring Second Life http://delicious.com/vbutler08/secondlife The gaming site is http://delicious.com/vbutler08/gaming_group I’ve added World Affairs to my network and they can be accessed at their delicious site http://delicious.com/globalclassroom

Thanks! Feel free to add to any of my bookmarks. I made a wordle of my tags. If you have a chance play a bit with Wordle http://www.wordle.net/create

Spring Snapshots

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:59:00 +0000

Whirlwind! Spring Days! Conferences! Webinars! Moodle-ing! Applications! Projects! Wordle!!!

The past few weeks so many people have been sharing projects that are snapshots of connected learning.

Snapshot from English: Connecting students with their perspective on their own learning styles -A while back, I sent out a link for the “Two Views” project my English 11 kids were working on. In a nutshell, I asked kids to take 2 photos that represent the way they learn; then write text that explains the images and any relationship between the two.

Snapshot from History: Connecting students and their personal family histories using genealogy resources - If you are having success exploring your family's history, then write a 2 page paper explaining the story of one "branch" of your family and how it fits into the historical context. One half of your paper should focus on the historical events of the time and the other half should focus on your family (or family members) particular story.

Snapshot from MS History: Connecting students with Ancient Egypt as virtual persons in the past - Our blog, “Ancient Egyptian Travel Journal,” is aimed at exploring ancient Egypt. Its goal is to come to a better understanding of what it must have been like to be alive back then. One of the best features of a blog is the ability of peers or others who share your interests to comment and, therefore, add content to the blog. The result is that we all get to share our work as well as learn from the work done by others.

Snapshot from MS Math: Connecting students with economics and finances - Student groups collaborate, cheer and moan, as their finances increase or decline. The spontaneous conversations on the viability of a particular stock, short buys, long term possibilities, a greater awareness of the financial challenges facing us today.

Snapshot from the upperschool: Connecting with students on their social network - using the messaging feature on Facebook to help students stay current, it does not require that you are 'friends' but does get information out in connected environment.

Snapshots, just a few of the hundreds that occur each day in and out of the classroom. Snapshots that reach beyond the walls, beyond the school day, beyond our specific subject areas. Snapshots of connections, collaborations, relationships, life, learning.

Snapshot: Wordle found at http://www.wordle.net/

Reflections - organization, conversations, writing

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:12:00 +0000

I have been going through an organizational phase - documents, moodle classes, to do lists, tech tracking documents, moving piles of reading material that I know is worthwhile to dip into at some time......

Reflections haven't been in form of blogging these past few weeks but in conversations. I love showing people around our school. Seeing what we do through someone else's eyes affirms the connections we strive to make on so many levels. These past weeks I have spent time with the Digipen representative. We ambled around all the buildings and he noted the art, the music, the spaces, the tone, the dynamic of the students. We talked about the ideas of programming and gaming. How do we make that relevant to the students experiences? Can we let it get messy?

Splashing!

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:53:00 +0000

Thanks to Bill, our 6th grade history teacher, I had that extra cup of coffee this morning - straight from BTG! That began the theme of the day - BEDLAM! Bedlam in the good sense of the word - creative energy all over the place! Blogs were the 'fire' of the day - or rather the spark that ignited tons of questions, observations, and opportunities to interact with colleagues. We all learned a bit more and I firmly believe that these will impact our learning much more than we can predict. I also spent time discussing forums for an upcoming presentation by our Dean of Faculty. Again, this provides learners with a place to pause and reflect on the subject matter. Teachers can tap into the thought process of these learners, encouraging deeper reflection or commenting on new ideas. We need to pause and reflect. I need to pause and reflect. What are the best practices? How do we best encourage learning and ownership of this extraordinary adventure?

I am glad it is Friday - as I walk the dog along the lake, I will reflect back on this week and school. With a clarifying pause, I will have my coffee on Monday morning ready to harness that energy called learning.

Jumpin' In

noreply@blogger.com (Vicki Butler) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:10:00 +0000

I'm jumping in!! I've spent weeks - maybe months - encouraging others with their blogging adventures. Perhaps it has been years... It's time to share the stories, enthusiasm, successes and challenges! Be it bedlam - with a cup of coffee in hand, one can do anything! Tomorrow morning I'm meeting with a 6th grade teacher to spend some time in ancient Egyptian blogs - he offered coffee or tea for meeting! Students are posting and commenting. The magic of Egypt will be alive for a few weeks and shared with parents and grandparents around the world. What an audience!

That's the point - we want learning to go beyond the walls! My comment on the SAASLibrary Weblog http://saaslibrary.wordpress.com/ sums it up for me and what I envision for every learner.

Each opportunity for people to access information with ease keeps us all moving forward! Imagine an email inbox without those headings…..Has anyone seen….
Remember the first ‘open concept schools’? Extended day schools? Year long schools? Now all of those ideas are no longer boundaried by ’school’ - it is all everyday learning - no limits!

Jumping in....splashing around!

Pushing 'publish'......