The Landscape of Learning

"Free to Use, Share, or Modify" With Google Apps

2013-05-20T14:45:00.000-04:00

CC licensed by teachingsagittarian on Flikr

We’re not allowed to copy, right? But plagiarism is still a problem for students today. And the increase in research technology is making it even easier for them to access copyright protected material. Fortunately, new innovations to Google Apps for Education can help overcome these plagiarism challenges that exist in our schools today.

Google Apps makes it easy and convenient for students to search for material that is, “free to use, share, or modify, even commercially.” To help spread the word, I have created two screencast tutorials that will demonstrate how to use Google Apps to integrate copyright free material that is “free to use, share, or modify” for students and teachers. Throughout these two videos, I will clearly demonstrate how to use:

the “Research Tool” in Google Docs for easily inserting reference citations, footnotes, and quotations with the integration of Google Scholar
Google Search for copyright free images
Google Presentations to easily search and insert copyright free images into slides
YouTube to use, modify, and republish Creative Commons videos in YouTube’s Video Editor

The first video will demonstrate how to use the "Research Tool" in Google Docs, and the second video will feature how to search and use copyright free multimedia such as images and video with Google Search, Google Presentations, and YouTube Editor.

Word is out ... Docs is in!

2013-05-13T21:27:00.000-04:00

The Josephson Institute Center for Youth Ethics surveyed 43,000 high school students in public and private schools and found that “One out of three high school students admitted that they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment” (Plagiarism Facts & Stats).

With Google Docs, it has never been easier to avoid plagiarism than it is today. Google makes it super easy and convenient to research content and insert reference citations, footnotes, quotations and more, all without having to leave your document.

For those of you who still aren't convinced that Google Docs is more powerful than Word, you might think twice after watching this video.

Mind the Gap with GapMinder

2013-05-13T21:11:00.000-04:00

cc licensed by rrward.deviantart.com

“I want to convince you that these kinds of personal explanations of success don't work. People don't rise from nothing....It is only by asking where they are from that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn't.” ― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

After reading Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, I found that my biggest takeaway is the fact that where we're from determines much of our success. And by from, I don't just mean our specific geographic location―that matters too―but also who our parents are, the environment that surrounds us, and what our culture is like. This all really started to make sense to me when I discovered GapMinder, created by Hans Rosling.

GapMinder empowers its users to investigate data, discover trends, find correlations, and identify anomalies in order to understand more about our world. For example, users can select any of the most popular categories such as life expectancy, income per person, or carbon dioxide emissions in order to try to find a correlation, or spot an anomaly. Users can also select other categories such as Economy, Education, and Government when trying to investigate data. Furthermore, users can even pinpoint specific countries in order to investigate change over time. GapMinder even color codes the countries by continent and displays quantity with circles of proportionate size to the data.

Here is a video that I created as an example from some data found on GapMinder.

Students can use this information to extend on a learning activity, or even take the opportunity to inquire more about a topic. Visit the GapMinder for Teachers page to learn more about the possibilities and resources for this tool.

For your consideration

What questions might you have from watching this video?
How might a student use this data to extend his or her learning?
How does GapMinder help to "mind the gap" regarding global awareness?

Final thought

It has become more important than ever for our students to become internationally-minded and to have a sense of cultural awareness in the 21st Century workplace. Our world is keeps changing. We need to prepare our students for their future in this global economy. We need to prepare them for the jobs that haven't been created, and the problems that haven't been discovered.

Let's help our students to mind the gap of global awareness with powerful learning tools like GapMinder.

Happy Earth Day!

2013-04-22T09:15:00.000-04:00

Earth Day is a great time to learn a little bit more about our amazing planet. While there are tons of resources that are out there, I would like to highlight just a few.

1. Live Google+ Hangout Today: In lieu of Earth Day, National Geographic is hosting a Live Google+ Hangout at 12:00 p.m. about chasing deadly storms, studying life on the Great Barrier Reef, and monitoring Earth from the sky. It will focus on how technology allows explorers to go to new extremes and discover more about our world.

What do you want to ask them? Post your questions below using #OurEarth or upload them to YouTube. You may even be invited to ask your questions live.

Find out more about the #OurEarth Hangout series: http://on.natgeo.com/116wNSN

Official website: http://on.natgeo.com/12FcJvG

2. Google Earth Resources and Tutorials. Check out one of the latest blog post, What on (Google) Earth? on The Digital Learning Series to find out how to use Google Earth as a powerful learning tool in many different subject areas.

3. NASA Earth As Art: This is a beautiful collection of satellite images taken from NASA to show just how Earth can be represented as art. You can also download the free app or download the PDF eBook.

Have fun exploring and investigating our home that we call Earth!

My Landscape of Learning

2013-04-06T18:23:00.000-04:00

Looking down at Machu Picchu, reflecting on my experience

I often get a lot of questions regarding the title of my blog, "The Landscape of Learning". Most people are pretty quick to figure out that it is a play on words with my last name, "Lands", but its symbolism actually goes a lot deeper than that. This blog post is my attempt to explain the meaning of my blog and to reflect on my monumental learning experience in Peru.

I was inspired to create my blog after my volunteer teaching experience in Cusco, Peru. When I decided to embark on this journey I knew it was going to be a very difficult, yet rewarding experience. I was entering a school system that had no technology, had little to no funding, and had the bare minimum of resources. I was responsible for teaching secondary boys and girls English with a chalkboard and old wooden desks and chairs. This was an exciting challenge for me because I had to focus on best practice teaching strategies, rather than focusing on technology tools to enhance student learning.

This is when I was reminded that the fundamental art of teaching is really about three things:

getting students excited and motivated to learn,
empowering them to explore and investigate their inquirires, and
providing them with appropriate resources and support throughout the learning process

I was reminded that humans learn best by the natural process of the scientific method which is basically trial and error. I was reminded that humans have been doing this for as long as we have been a species. Visiting the astonishing world wonder, Machu Picchu, helped me to find clarity in my pedagogy.

After climbing the trail to get to the top of the mountain, I was finally able to get my first glimpse of the magnificent remains of what was once an Incan empire. As I peered over the ledge I was able to catch a breath-taking view of Machu Picchu. At that moment, I thought to myself, "How on Earth were these people able to build such an intricate, earthquake-proof village on top of an extremely steep mountain with very few resources?" I was completely perplexed, yet fascinated at the same time. I guess this is why Machu Picchu still remains one of the top "world wonders" today.

My view of this landscape, Machu Picchu,will forever remind me that we as humans are natural learners. We learn by trial and error. We naturally seek challenges, and we collaborate and communicate with each other to help us with our challenges. And that together, we can achieve the impossible. This is the foundation that supports my educational philosophy and I will always have this mental image in my mind when I think about learning.

To help with the metaphor that I am using for my blog, I decided to look up the definition for the word landscape.

Dictionary.com defines the word, landscape, as the following:

an extensive area of land regarded as being visually distinct
a painting, drawing, photograph, etc, depicting natural scenery
the distinctive features of a given area of intellectual activity

Thus, as my blog description reads, "As educators, we need to challenge ourselves to see the big picture and expand our educational horizon to prepare our students for their future! The Landscape of Learning is a blog dedicated to sharing my educational beliefs, values, and pedagogy as well as providing technology resources and best practice teaching strategies for teachers."

This is my view of education. This is my landscape of learning.

For your consideration

What is your view of education? What is your landscape of learning?

3 Easy Ways to Search and Use Copyright Free Images

2013-03-22T11:46:00.000-04:00

This image is free to use or share from doctormo

It has never been easier for students to access multimedia for projects than it is today. We currently live in an "open source" world where we can easily search text, images, and video content for various uses. For example, our students use images from the internet all time time when creating PowerPoint Presentations.

However, when students grab images form the internet, they aren't always grabbing "Copyright Free" images. This is actually a big problem. So, this blog post is dedicated to helping teachers and students easily locate "Copyright Free" images to use and modify for various projects.

Interestingly, we as teachers are so concerned with making sure that our students cite their references appropriately and accurately when they write research papers. We teach them that not only is it the right thing to do, but they could also get into trouble if they don't. Yet, we don't hold them accountable for pictures and videos? Why not? I think its because of two things:

Lack of knowledge
Lack of convenience

Therefore, to help with this problem, I have created a short screencast video to demonstrate just how easy it is to search "Copyright Free" images, and how to easily integrate them into our projects. Hopefully, after watching this screencast video, you will know about the importance of using "Copyright Free" images, in addition to using these images at your convenience. In a later post, I will feature how to easily search and use "Creative Commons" videos.

By the way, please feel free to share this video with others, I have posted it to the Creative Commons community via YouTube!

To learn more about Copyright, check out the following resources:

"Can't Knock the Hustle"

2013-03-13T22:48:00.000-04:00

Image is free for public use from: http://goo.gl/jTHcf

"Achievement is talent plus preparation. The problem with this view is that the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play." - Malcolm Gladwell

New research tells us that achievement and success in life depends more on a person's drive, hard work and dedication, rather than innate talent, skill or intelligence. In fact, Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, is convinced that effort is one of the most important factor of success. What's more, the magic number of practice and effort to become an expert in anything seems to be at least 10,000 hours of hard work.[3]

Ironically, Alfred Binet, the inventor of the IQ believes that, "Without denying individual differences in children's intellects, he believed that education and practice could bring about fundamental changes in intelligence."[2] In her book, Mindset, Carol Dweck argues that "The hand you're dealt is just the starting point for development. This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts."[2]

This concept is so vital to education because students who are associated with negative labels can develop self-esteem issues and believe that they have limitations for success. For example, "People who believe that they are at an intellectual disadvantage based on stereotypes (or based on test scores and tracking) have a fixed-mindset and will inhibit their learning and success."[2] What's more, kids today often think that if they have to work hard at something, that must mean they’re not smart.[1]

On the other hand, praising students for grades and final products can actually give them a false sense of security in terms of achievement. For example, "To a kid, Good job means You’re smart or You’re talented — the praise goes to inherent, natural-born abilities or intelligence. But that immediate spark of self-pride will turn into deep self-doubt when the child invariably comes across a bigger challenge and doesn't immediately succeed."[1]

As educators, we need to build capacity in all of our students and inspire them to believe that they can achieve anything in life, if they work hard enough and long enough. In other words, we need our students to believe and value hard work and dedication if they are going to be successful as global citizens in the 21st century.

Ben Haggerty (better known as Macklemore) is a perfect example of this life lesson. In his first song (Ten Thousand Hours) on his first album (The Heist), he demonstrates his passion for the love of music by poetically depicting how his hard work and dedication finally paid off for him:

I stand here in front of you today all because of an idea
I could be who I wanted if I could see my potential
And I know that one day I'mma be him
Put the gloves on, sparring with my ego
Everyone's greatest obstacle, I beat him, celebrate that achievement
Got some attachments, some baggage I'm actually working on leaving
See, I observed Escher, I love Basquiat
I watched Keith Haring, you see I studied art
The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint
The greats were great because they'd paint a lot
I will not be a statistic, just let me be
No child left behind, that's the American scheme
I make my living off of words
And do what I love for work
And got around 980 on my SATs
Take that system, what did you expect?
Generation of kids choosing love over a desk
Put those hours in and look at what you get
Nothing that you can hold, but everything that it is

Ten thousand hours felt like ten thousand hands
Ten thousand hands, they carry me

Put simply, no matter what our role is in education, we need to make sure that our students understand that "… personal success is when you work your hardest to become your best…".[2] That practice doesn't make perfect ... perfect practice makes perfect. That you can do it, if you put your mind to it. And that you get out of life, what you put into it!

In other words, its the hustle and grind that will determine the success of our students. And as Jay-Z would say, "Can't Knock the Hustle".

You might also like

How to Foster Grit, Tenacity and Perseverance: An Educator’s Guide
Can Everyone Be Smart at Everything?
How Many Hours Does It Take To Become An Expert? [Infographic]

References

Barseghian, T. (December 29, 2011). Can everyone be smart at everything? Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/07/blogging-is-the-new-persuasive-essay/
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: the new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: the story of success. New York: Little, Brown and Co..
Ten Thousand Hours. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. The Heist. Macklemore LLC. 2012.

Blogging about blogging: A professional development activity

2013-03-13T14:28:00.000-04:00

As an Instructional Technology Coach, I frequently lead professional development opportunities for my staff regarding meaningful technology integration. Today, I thought I might do something a little bit differently.

My professional development workshop today is focused on "blogging" in education. The idea behind this, is to get my colleagues to actually practice the act of blogging by first "microblogging". My colleagues will be leaving a comment to this blog post that will act as their personal blog post. Then we will have a discussion followed by more activities about the topic of blogging as a learning tool for both educators and students.

Directions

Please choose one or more of the following blog posts to read. Then, simply leave a comment to this blog post at the bottom. Your task is to read, reflect, write, and share. Your comment should be about a paragraph in length and should address the topic of "blogging". The purpose of this activity is to go through the blogging process while simultaneously publishing your thoughts on the web in the form of a "comment".

NOTE: Be sure to comment as (Name/URL) and just type in your name.

Feel free to write about:

the first thing that comes to your mind
an "ah-hah" moment
questions you might have
what you'd like to know more about
how you feel about what you read
what you think about what you read
any other thoughts you might have

Featured blog posts to read on the topic of "blogging"

Blogging is the new persuasive essay
Why are you blogging? [Guest Post]
How (And Why) Teachers should blog
How to make better teachers?
5 Reasons your students should blog
Never underestimate the power of social networking
Just give me the fish
Tips for better blogging

So ... what are your thoughts???

My Pixar Pitch

2013-03-12T15:18:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time there was an education system that equipped students with a particular set of skills needed to be successful. Every day, teachers would stand in the front of the classroom and impart their knowledge onto their students in hope that every student would comply, graduate, and enter the workplace. One day, the workplace suddenly demanded new knowledge, new skills, and innovation. Because of that, we have been trying to prepare our students to prosper in this rapidly changing, unpredictable world. Because of that, we have created competitive learning environments due to an increase in standardization and accountability. Until finally ...

Educators, help me write the ending to this story!

Try viewing this story with Google StoryBuilder for a more powerful effect.

Reference

Pink, D. H. (2012). To sell is human: the surprising truth about moving others. Section: Pixar pitch. New York: Riverhead Books.

The Top 10 Most Versatile Learning Tools in the "Free" Market

2013-03-11T16:25:00.003-04:00

"My view is that people are creative animals and will figure out clever new ways to use tools that the inventor never imagined." - Steve Jobs

As an Instructional Technology Coach, I often try to find the best learning tools that are my "go to's"—my "frequent flyers" if you will. These are the tools that I will almost always choose over other tools that are similar, simply because of their versatility and dependability.

What I love about these learning tools, is that they are all web-based. You can access these tools from any computer, on any internet browser. Most of them, even have apps that will allow you to use them on mobile devices. So you don't have to worry about their availability on different machines.

Even when new tools come out every day by the dozens, I will still choose these tools over any others. In addition, even though I still enjoy reading about new tools and learning about their features, I always compare and contrast them to my essential and fundamental set of tools. What's more, is I try to come up with new ways to use these core learning tools to expand their versatility. I find it fun and challenging to engage in the type of divergent thinking needed to come up with creative new uses for these tools.

So, without further adieu, here are my top 10 most versatile learning tools in the free market (that are in no particular order), along with multiple different ways in which you can creatively use each tool.

Google Search

As a search engine for text, images, videos, etc. (try using Advanced Search and Google Scholar)
As a calculator (simply type in a calculation)
As a dictionary, thesaurus, etc. (try typing "define:" then the word you want to look up)
As a spell check (simply type the word and it will give you suggested spellings/words)

Google Sketchup

As an architecture tool (create 3D digital houses, buildings, and structures)
As a Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) tool (create 3D, digital versions of prototypes, inventions, innovations, items, and objects)
As a math tool (use the measuring tools for length, distance, area, volume, surface area, etc. and covert measurements using ratios, fractions, decimals, percents, etc.)
As an exploration and investigation tool (download other projects from the 3D Warehouse to explore and investigate famous structures such as the Eiffel Tower and the San Francisco Bridge)
As a publishing and sharing tool (upload your own projects to the 3D Warehouse to share with others)

Google Earth

As a geographic learning tool (try typing in a specific location)
As a math tool (try using the measurement tools for distance. Visit: http://www.realworldmath.org/ )
As a literature tool (visit: http://www.googlelittrips.org/)
As a science tool (use the "sunlight" tool, "Google Sky" tool, "Mars" tool and "Moon" tool)
As a history tool (use the "Historical Imagery" tool)
As a presentation tool (use the "Record a Tour" feature displayed here: http://goo.gl/1MzLe)
As a vacation planner (use the "Add Path" tool)
As a virtual field trip (use the Google "Street View" tool get a 360 view of any location)

Google Docs

As an official document (turn in assignments, write papers, etc.)
As a journal (keep a series of notes, or use as a diary)
As a chat tool (use the chat feature)
As a collaboration tool (have multiple people edit the same document in real time)
As a book, or magazine (create books and magazines with formatting)

Google Presentations (Slides)

As a presentation tool (very similar to PowerPoint)
As a photo editor (edit, add, modify changes to images)
As a children's book (use the slide transition to act as pages turning in a book)
As a collaboration tool (have multiple people each responsible for a specific slide or more)
As a drawing tool (draw and create images with the drawing and shapes tool)
As a marketing tool (create signs, ads, posters, etc.)

Google Forms

As a survey (collect, organize, and display data and information)
As a poll (quickly get a response to make a decision quickly)
As a likert scale (on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is the least and 10 is the most, how likely are you to ...)
As a formative assessment (use yes/no, true/false, multiple choice, and short answer quizzes)
As a summative assessment (use the paragraph response to allow for essays and responses to writing prompts)
As a Choose Your Own Adventure (CYA) story (create choices that take users to specific pages based on their choices)

Evernote

As a notebook (save notes, images, videos, voice recordings, etc.)
As an audio recorder (save voice recordings from yourself, from lectures, or interviews)
As an official document (turn in assignments, write papers, etc.)
As a journal (keep a series of notes, or use as a diary)
As a book, or magazine (create books and magazines with formatting)
As a social bookmarking tool (use the "webclipper" extension for your browser to quickly save, organize, and share a web clipping via social networking sites such as Twitter)
As an ePortfolio (a place to collect and organize projects, notes, images, and more to showcase your best work)

YouTube

As a video browser (browse videos that interest you)
As a learning tool (use YouTube EDU to learn about various subject matter)
As a video file cabinet (upload your own videos and archive them in your account)
As publishing tool (upload and share your videos with family, friends, or the rest of the world)
As a video editing tool (merge videos together, trim video clips, add effects and more)

Google+ (Hangouts)

As a social media tool (connect with friends and family)
As a photo and video gallery (upload and store videos and photos instantaneously from your smart phone)
As a video communication tool (use Google+ Hangouts to have a video chat with friends and family)
As a collaboration tool (use Google+ Hangouts to hold a Conference Call or a virtual group meeting)
As a live streaming tool (use Google+ Hangouts to show live footage of an event to a friend or family member)
As an absence tool (use Google+ Hangouts when you are absent from a meeting, class, or event. Simply have a computer with a webcam set up at the class, meeting, or event and participate virtually as if you were actually there)
As a theater tool (use Google+ Hangouts "effects and toolbox" to add props, sounds, and other cool effects.

Twitter

As a consuming tool (read Tweets from people you are following)
As a research tool (find out what's trending in the world, or your location with the Trends feature)
As a promoting tool (Tweet your promotions in 140 characters or less)
As a sharing tool (Tweet resources, images, videos, tools and more)
As a connecting tool (discover other users that have similar interests and occupations as you)
As a backchannel tool (look back at your old Tweets to reflect on how your opinions or thoughts have changed over time)
As a reference tool (mark your favorite Tweets for you to refer back to later)

If you have any other ideas on how to use any one of these tools, please add a comment to contribute to the versatility of these tools!

You might also like

How many uses can you find for this paperclip?

"Hold Me Now" ... Figuratively Speaking

2013-03-08T16:30:00.002-05:00

Picture Source: http://www.dcc.ru.nl/anc/index.php

At one point in their life, the Thompson Twins (for those of you 80's music fans) needed someone to hold them, based on their song, "Hold Me Now". They physically needed someone to hold them to make them feel safe, loved, and supported. They literally needed a "holding environment" for that moment in time.

While we all need a literal "holding environment" from time to time, I'm referring to the figurative "holding environment"--the working environment where one feels supported, challenged, and encouraged to seek professional growth and development. Most of the time these "holding environments" are our schools, our institutions, and our communities.

What I want to know is, can "holding environments" for allowing professional growth happen anywhere?

In her book, Leading Adult Learning, Drago-Severson argues that, “the most effective holding environments provide individuals with high support and high challenge in order to encourage growth” (p. 47).

This really made me think about what a "holding environment" really is. Does a "holding environment" have to be a physical place, or can it be a state of mind, or can it be both?

For example, in his book, Drive, Daniel Pink mentions Results Only Working Environments (ROWE) and how they are becoming more popular, and even more productive in the workplace. The idea behind ROWE is that people perform their best work when they are in a constructive place and have a constructive state of mind. In other words, "Management" as Pink explains, "isn't about walking around and seeing if people are in their offices ... it's about creating conditions for people to do their best work."

To explain ROWE a bit more, Pink refers to the idea of "home-shoring":

"For instance, while many enterprises are off-shoring work to low-cost providers overseas, some companies are reversing the trend by beginning what's known as 'home-shoring.' Instead of requiring customer service reps to report to a single large call center, they're routing the calls to the employees' homes. This cuts commuting time for staff, removes them from physical monitoring, and provides far great autonomy over how they do their jobs."

Pink was able to conclude that productivity and job satisfaction are generally higher in "home-shoring" than in conventional arrangements--in part because employees are more comfortable and less monitored at home.

Application to Education

So, how can we take this idea of a ROWE and apply it to teacher productivity? How might we think of professional development opportunities in places other than school? Might teachers participate from home? Might they participate from a coffee shop? Might they participate in a communal place other than school? Might they participate online?

My point is the fact that "holding environments" might NOT have to do as much with the physical location, as it does with the mental state of mind. If someone feels safe, supported, challenged and encouraged, does it really matter where they learn and grow professionally?

Questions I still have

Could social media tools such as Twitter be the venue or "holding environment" that leads staff in professional development?

For a learning institution, would most teachers benefit from professional development in schools, in a different location, or online?

If one had to choose, which is better? To have a physical holding environment, or to have a psychological holding environment?

References

Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
Severson, E. (2009). Leading adult learning: supporting adult development in our schools. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin ;.

Collaborating About How to Collaborate

2013-02-23T13:13:00.005-05:00

Through collaboration, ideas can be shared, new and better strategies can be developed, and problems can be solved. However, too often do we create opportunities and environments for our educators to "collaborate" with each other in order to solve problems and make improvements within a school system, without offering any training and support on how to effectively collaborate.

For example, during staff meetings and other professional development sessions, we congregate everyone into a single room with tables formed into groups and we say, "Here are the problems ... now, let's go figure it out!"

While we celebrate a shared vision and value collaboration, educators are often not taught how to effectively collaborate and work together to achieve a common goal. Moreover, we create these same collaborative learning opportunities for our students without properly teaching them effective collaboration skills needed to be successful. Yes, some students figure this out by trial and error, but I believe that we should be providing more practice and support for our students when putting them into collaborative settings.

My argument is that educators (and students) need more professional development regarding how to effectively collaborate, before they can begin to successfully collaborate with others. In my research, I have compiled reliable information that offers best-practice strategies and skills needed for implementing effective collaboration.

Prerequisites for Collaboration

In order to collaborate, there are certain prerequisites that need to happen before effective collaboration can key place. Below are some essential elements that first, need to be in place:

Reflecting on your personal belief system: How much do you value sharing ideas? Examine your belief system to see if you have tolerance toward changing your standards in your classroom. (I recommend reading Mindset by Dr. Carol Dweck to develop a growth-mindset)
Refining your interaction skills: First, you need to develop effective communication skills which include listening, attending to nonverbal signals, and asking questions and making statements in clear and nonthreatening ways. Secondly, you need to have interaction-process skills which include conducting effective meetings, responding to resistance, resolving conflict, and persuading others. (I recommend reading To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink)
Contributing to a supportive environment: Administrative and staff support, teachers’ effort to contribute to collaborative atmosphere, and the availability of time for collaboration. (I recommend reading Transforming School Culture by Dr. Anthony Muhammad)

Fundamentals of Collaboration

There are particular fundamentals that need to be understood in order for collaboration to work effectively. These fundamentals need to be understood and accepted by all members on a team.

Collaboration is voluntary. You decide to participate.
Collaboration is based on parity. Teachers who collaborate must believe that all individuals’ contributions are valued equally.
Collaboration requires a shared goal. Teachers tend to collaborate only when they share a goal.
Collaboration includes shared responsibility for key decisions. Teachers divide work and share decision making about the activities they are undertaking.
Collaboration includes shared accountability for outcomes. If teachers share key decisions, they must also share accountability for the results of the decisions.
Collaboration is based on shared resources. Each teacher in a collaborative effort should make an effort to contribute some type of resource.
Collaboration is emergent. True collaboration will emerge as teachers are more experienced at
collaboration

Communication Skills Needed for Effective Collaboration

Communication is arguably the most important part of collaboration. It is imperative that each member considers effective communication skills and practices these skills when collaborating.

Use knowledge of frame of reference to foster effective collaboration.
Recognize that shared problem solving begins with the understanding that there are many “right” answers for addressing student learning and behavior.
Develop effective strategies for listening.
When someone shares a concern with you, avoid the temptation to offer advice immediately.
As much as possible, focus your interactions on observable information.
Use collaborative language; that is, ask questions that encourage others to speak.
Monitor how much you talk.
If you have a disagreement with a colleague, address it as soon as possible and in a straightforward manner.

Establish Collaboration Norms

Agreeing on collaboration norms is critical to the success of the team. Without them, teams can often get frustrated or feel like some members are being treated unfairly. Here are a few recommended norms to establish when collaborating:

Everyone would be allowed to voice their opinion.
One person would talk at a time.
Everyone would listen to what others had to say.
Everyone would be respectful of each other even when we disagreed.
A solution would be reached that everyone could agree upon.

Six-Step Problem-Solving Process

After the norms are established in a collaborative team, it is important to apply the Problem-Solving Process in order to generate successful solutions to problems.

Identify and Select the Problem
Analyze the Problem
Generate Potential Solutions
Select and Plan the Solution
Implement the Solution
Evaluate the Solution

Moving forward, my goal is to help build capacity in my students' and educators' ability to effectively collaborate by implementing these strategies. Only then, can ideas truly be shared, teamwork be facilitated, and problems be solved.

References

Collaboration: A Must for Teachers in Inclusive Educational Settings: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/infoBriefs_local/shure/collaboration.pdf
Problem Solving Process: http://www.cls.utk.edu/pdf/ls/Week3_Lesson21.pdf

If Education is a Symphony, Let's Toot Our Own Horns!

2013-02-20T17:17:00.001-05:00

Picture Source: http://goo.gl/ccHkf

No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. — H.E. Luccock

Symphony, as Daniel Pink describes, is the ability to put together the pieces. It is the capacity to synthesize rather than to analyze; to see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields; to detect broad patterns rather than to deliver specific answers; and to invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to pair. It is the ability to spot trends, draw connections, and discern the big picture (Pink, 2005).

Here is my big picture of education—my landscape if you will. My philosophy is that my students are your students, and your students are my students. As an educator, I feel like we have a collective responsibility to do what is best for all students. In reality, we as educators are all teaching the same students—the leaders of tomorrow—that will eventually be taking over for us when we retire.

We should all think of ourselves as co-learners. We can all learn something from each other. And we should be proud of what we can individually contribute. However, if we don’t put ourselves out there—if we don’t take creative risks, and share our experiences—then we could be potentially impeding the learning and experience of others. So, let's keep an open-mind when learning, sharing, and collaborating because after all, it is for the good of our students … our future leaders!

I truly believe that each of us has something unique and valuable to contribute to the field of education. And if we each share and learn from each other, then we will have successfully synthesized our individual strengths and talents into a symphony—"a whole whose magnificence exceeds the sum of its parts" (Pink, 2005).

As educators, let's create an educational symphony. Let's toot our own horns to the same song. Let's celebrate and share those unique qualities and talents that we all have. Because ultimately, all of us, are smarter, than any one of us! And together, we can achieve greatness!

Reference

Pink, D. H. (2005). A whole new mind: why right-brainers will rule the future. New York: Riverhead Books.

Culture Shock

2013-02-20T16:49:00.002-05:00

Picture Source: http://goo.gl/ThzF7

Sadly, performance-based accountability is creating a toxic learning environment among educators. It is creating a culture of competition, rather than a culture of collaboration. The worst part is the fact that it has happened so fast. So fast that many of us feel as if we are experiencing culture shock!

A Competitive Culture

As we continue to teach in the Age of Accountability, educators are becoming more competitive by trying to out-perform their colleagues in order to yield the highest test scores. Moreover, teachers are resistant to sharing their successes because they want to be the ones to receive high marks on their evaluation and they want the credit for student achievement. In contrast, other teachers are afraid to reach out for help because they don't want to look like a failure. Somehow, the mentality has shifted from the success of our students, to the success of my students—from our success, to my success.

For some reason, when teachers get recognized for their success, it seems to threaten others. So, instead of working together and collaborating with each other, we seem to isolate ourselves, thus reaffirming the competitive culture.

In his efforts to bridge the gap between standards and achievement, Richard Elmore eloquently describes how accountability can often cause of a competitive school culture:

"One of the strongest social norms among school faculty is that everyone is expected to pretend that they are equally effective at what they do. However, most people who work in schools know (or at least claim to know) who the “good” teachers are. Teachers themselves will, under the right circumstances, talk candidly about who the strong and weak teachers are reputed to be. Teachers, who threaten this pretense, either by publicly distinguishing themselves as expert teachers or by being singled out as a model within their schools, may have to pay a price in social ostracism" (Elmore, 2002).

"Yet the entire process of improvement depends on schools making public and authoritative distinctions among teachers and administrators based on quality, competence, expertise and performance. If everyone is equally good at what they do, then no one has anything to teach anyone else about how to do it better. Thus, educators’ pretense of absolute equality is a major impediment to improvement and a significant factor in determining the capacity of schools to engage in effective professional development." (Elmore, 2002).

A Collaborative Culture

I would argue that some teachers are perceived better than others because of this competitive environment that has been created. In a competitive culture, teachers worry about who is best. In a collaborative culture, teachers worry about how to meet the needs of students, best. I personally believe that we all should reach out to each other and collectively celebrate our successes with the hope to learn and grow professionally from one another, in order to best prepare our students for their future.

You see, I truly believe that each of us has something unique and valuable to contribute to the field of education. And if we each share and learn from each other, then we will have successfully synthesized our individual strengths and talents into a symphony—a whole whose magnificence exceeds the sum of its parts (Pink, 2005).

Below are a few of my favorite quotes regarding teamwork and collaboration:

It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed. —Napoleon Hill
Not everyone can be an expert at everything, but everyone can be an expert at something. —Unknown
Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. —Vince Lombardi
No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. —H.E. Luccock
The secret is to gang up on the problem, rather than each other. —Thomas Stallkamp
In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed. —Charles Darwin
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. —Andrew Carnegie

Final Thoughts

Let's help to transform our schools from a competitive culture, to a collaborative culture. Let's help to foster a high productive working environment for our teachers and a cultivating learning environment for our students, by simply learning, sharing, and working together for the good of our students. Let's experience a new culture shock by transforming our competitive cultures back to collaborative ones!

References

Elmore, R. F. (2002). Bridging the Gap Between Standards and Achievement. Washington DC: Albert Shanker Institute.
Peterson, K. D. (2002). At Issue: Culture. National Staff Development Council.
Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: why right-brainers will rule the future. New York: Riverhead Books.

The Art of Teaching

2013-02-15T13:41:00.001-05:00

Image created by Bradley Lands

In the age of accountability in education, there are lots of factors that are out of our control. I am suggesting that we as teachers need to focus on the factors that we can control. More importantly, we need to focus on improving those factors that we can control.

In my reflective practices in education, I have discovered that we cannot change the who, what, when, and where of education. We cannot change who we teach, what we teach, when we teach, or where we teach. In other words, we cannot change our students, our content, our schedule, nor the location of our schools.

However, there are two important factors that we can change. We can change the why and how of education. Put simply, we have control over why we teach and how we teach.

Why we teach

Every teacher has a story—a reason for teaching. These stories make us uniquely effective as teachers. We all have different reasons or motivation for teaching, but it is important to remember those stories, in order to influence the decisions that we make in our classrooms.

In order to do what is best for students, I would argue that teachers must revisit why they are teaching in the first place. By asking this question, I believe that teachers will see the big picture of education, which will ultimately help them become better teachers. I personally teach in order to make a positive influence in the lives of my students and to help prepare them for their future as global citizens in the 21st century.

To change why we teach is simply a matter of mindset. Dr. Carol Dweck, the author of Mindset, argues that "what people believe, shapes what people achieve." "For twenty years", she says, "My research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life”.

For example, Dweck has divided people into two categories—"fixed-mindset" and "growth-mindset". She has found that teachers with a "fixed-mindset" believe that their intelligence is “fixed” no matter what they do; whereas, teachers with a "growth-mindset" believe that their intelligence can “grow” with time and effort. In other words if teachers have a "growth-mindset" then they believe that their human qualities, such as intellectual skills, can be cultivated through effort.

So, what does this mean? If teachers have a "growth-mindset" then their philosophy of education can ultimately be shaped from their learning experiences. Simply put, the reasons why we teach can change based on what we believe via learning, sharing, reflecting and growing with other educators. This is essentially something that we as teachers have control over. In other words, we have the ability to change our intrinsic motivation for coming to school each and every day.

How we teach

What I find interesting is the fact that our philosophy of education—the why—actually influences our instruction—the how. What's nice about instruction, is that we as teachers have autonomy over how we teach.

Research will tell us that when people have voice and choice over their work, they are naturally more productive. Providing employees with autonomy, or independence and freedom over their work has proven to increase personal satisfaction and productivity. In his extensive research on motivation, Daniel Pink reveals, "The science shows that the secret to high performance isn't our biological drive or our reward-and-punishment drive, but our third drive—our deep-seated desire to direct our own lives, to extend and expand our abilities, and to make a contribution”. In other words, people are mostly motivated by their natural ambition to engage in meaningful work where they have control over how they complete their tasks.

To change how we teach is simply a matter of instruction. We as teachers are empowered to teach in a manner to which we believe will yield the greatest learning experience for our students. And based on what we believe to be true about best-practice teaching will greatly impact our instructional strategies in the classroom.

For example, some teachers prefer to integrate the arts into their instruction; whereas others prefer to integrate technology. Some teachers implement project-based learning; whereas others implement the "flipped classroom". Bottom line, the type of instruction that a teacher uses is completely up to her. And most of the time she will directly align her instruction to her pedagogical beliefs.

Moving forward, I urge teachers to continue to research best practices, to explore their potential, to learn from each other, to share with each other, and to grow as professionals. Only then, will we be making the best decisions as to how we teach our students that will maximize their success in academics, and in life.

Final thoughts

I truly believe that the art of teaching resides in the why and how of the teacher. Combining the reason why one teaches with how one teaches can truly produce a masterpiece in the classroom. And yet these masterpieces are uniquely different, but equally magnificent due to the power that each of us have to control why and how we teach.

In conclusion, we each have the power and opportunity to create our own masterpiece. Thus, by continuing to learn and grow, we can discover new inspiration, new materials, new tools, and new techniques that will help us paint an authentic representation of what teaching looks like to each of us.

You might also like

My Internal Conflict with Education

References

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: the new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

My Internal Conflict with Education

2013-02-14T16:41:00.000-05:00

Picture Source: http://goo.gl/bGB1U

As an Instructional Technology Coach who is passionate about teaching and learning, I keep trying to inspire, motivate and support my teachers to engage in best and next practice teaching strategies. However, I often find myself running into the same problem—teachers are hungry for it, but they end up starving themselves.

By way of introduction, this is my internal conflict with education that I share with so many other teachers:

"Do I teach in a way that will maximize my students' success on standardized test scores, or do I teach in a way that will maximize my students' success in life? I wish I could do both, but I feel like I can't."

The Situation

The Accountability Movement [No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Teacher Evaluations] is heavily influencing our decision-making in the classroom.

If one were to look at our current state and national standards, one would notice that they are predominantly content-based. This means that our education system values "knowledge" more than any other aspect of learning in terms of achievement and success. The fact that our education system values "knowledge" over all else, is a bit scary, because most of the information that students are required to know on standardized test can easily be found by performing a simple Google Search in a matter of seconds. This can't be the key to a successful future for our students.

Let's take a look at the International Baccalaureate's Learner Profile:

Inquirers
Knowledgeable
Thinkers
Communicators
Principled
Open-Minded
Caring
Risk-Takers
Balanced
Reflective

Nowhere in our state and national standards are any of these other learner traits mentioned, valued, or assessed. The "Knowledgeable" trait seems to be the our only concern. Some might argue that "Thinkers" might be valued and assessed, but only minimally in my opinion. Furthermore, not only is the content that we are teaching Google-able, but we are only using the lowest level of Blooms Taxonomy in order to assess our students learning and understanding of this content.

For example, think about the types of questions on a typical standardized test. Too often are students asked to regurgitate facts such as who, what, when, and where. These questions ask students to recall information, which is categorized in the "Remembering" level of Bloom's Taxonomy. Sometimes, students are asked questions such as "Why?" which is the next level, "Understanding". Rarely, are students ever tasked with application questions where they have to take what they have learned and apply it to a new problem, situation, or context. And "Application" is only the third level of Blooms Taxonomy out of a total of six where each level becomes more challenging than the former. The other three levels are rarely touched in standardized tests. Why? Because those types of questions are far more difficult to assess and are extremely time consuming.

The Problem

The real challenge is to implement best-practice teaching, while yielding high test scores. This is essentially what all teachers want to do. However, this is a double-standard, because the theoretical does not match up with the practical. For example, today's best-practice instruction mostly includes nonroutine tasks—creative, conceptual, innovative, collaborative right-brain tasks—whereas yielding high test scores today includes routine tasks—sequential, analytic, algorithmic, rule-based, left-brain tasks. [1] The problem with routine tasks, is that this type of work has become easier and cheaper to send offshore or to automate from advances in computer technology. Therefore, routine work has become less valuable and less important in advanced economies like the United States. [1]

So, teachers are continually faced with an internal conflict: "Do I teach in a way that will maximize my students' success on standardized test scores, or do I teach in a way that will maximize my students' success in life?"

From my experience, I have found that teachers naturally want to do what is best for kids. Teachers crave the autonomy to be creative, but they feel like they can't because of the overwhelming pressure that they feel to "cover" all of the content that their students will need to know for the tests. Being creative and innovative requires risk-taking, subjecting oneself to vulnerability, and flexibility of time and resources. All of these things create a level of uncertainty that is uncomfortable and intimidating for teachers. So, what usually happens is we default back to "safe" teaching that is consistent with the practices of our colleagues and the alignment of our pacing guides.

We say we don't teach to the tests, but ask anyone what their school's goals are. I bet they will tell you that their school's goals are to raise test scores to meet Annual Measurable Objectives (APO), or Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), particularly in specific "under-achieving" subgroups. These goals influence our daily decisions in the classroom. Especially, since teachers are evaluated based on their students' scores on standardized tests.

So, when teachers want to try something new, to be creative, or to simply do what is best for students, they will often choose do what is best for themselves, and what is ultimately best for their learning institution. This action solidifies their job security and their school's reputation. However, it's not our teachers' fault ... it's the system's fault. Our teachers are merely victim's of the system, which consequently underserves our students.

My Action Plan

The reality is that we can't make standardized tests go away. Not yet anyway. So, my goal is to implement or develop a method of instruction that satisfies my internal conflict. An innovative approach to teaching that will foster both student success on standardized tests, and student success in life.

You might also like

The Art of Teaching

References

Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

Connecting Career and Technology to Education

2013-02-07T19:15:00.006-05:00

Surprisingly, as a previous Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher, I have noticed that there is a huge disconnect between what science knows and what workplaces and schools do [2]. This blog post is my effort to make these connections more clear by providing research on the topic, examples in the workplace, and suggestions to align our schools to the most innovative learning and working environments.

The Science

Daniel Pink has done extensive research on what drives or motivates us as human beings to lead productive and successful lives. Pink argues that, "The science shows that the secret to high performance isn't our biological drive or our reward-and-punishment drive, but our third drive--our deep-seated desire to direct our own lives, to extend and expand our abilities, and to make a contribution" [2]. In other words, humans are most productive when they are intrinsically motivated--when the joy of the task is its own reward. And humans are intrinsically motivated when they are provided with an opportunity for autonomous work, to reach mastery, and to understand the purpose of their work [2].

In the Workplace

There are many careers and occupations that are applicable to autonomy and self-directed work, but let's take the famous artists Michelangelo, Picasso and Van Gogh for example. "Nobody told them: "You must paint this sort of picture. You must begin painting precisely at eight-thirty a.m. You must paint with the people we select to work with you. And you must paint this way" [2]. Daniel Pink believes that, "Whether you're fixing sinks, ringing up groceries, selling cars, or writing a lesson plan, you and I need autonomy just as deeply as a great painter" [2].

20 Percent Time

It's evident that we are naturally more creative and more productive when we have control over our work. One of the most innovative strategies to increase production in the workplace is to allot for "20 Percent Time". This "20 Percent Time" is an initiative in place at a few companies in which employees can spend 20 percent of their time working on any project they choose [2].

The best-known company to embrace it is Google, which has long encouraged engineers to spend one day a week working on a side project. In a typical year, more than half of Google’s new offerings are birthed during this period of pure autonomy [2]. Some Googlers use their "20 percent time" to fix an existing product, but most use it to develop something entirely new" [2]. Google News, Gmail, Google Talk, Google Sky, and Google Translate are just a few of the projects that have been created on "20 percent time".

FedEx Days

"Created by the Australian software company Atlassian, these one-day bursts of autonomy allow employees to tackle any problem they want--and then show the results to the rest of the company at the end of twenty-four hours. Why the name? Because you have to deliver something overnight" [2]. Get it? Atlassian offers "FedEx Days" to its employees once every quarter in order boost productivity from self-directed projects. This is a very interesting work strategy that more and more businesses are beginning to explore.

Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)

The brainchild of two American consultants, a ROWE is a workplace in which employees don't have schedules. They don't have to be in the office at a certain time or any time. They just have to get their work done. For example, while many enterprises are off-shoring work to low-cost providers overseas, some companies are reversing the trend by beginning what's known as "home-shoring" [2]. "Instead of requiring customer service reps to report to a single large call center, they're routing the calls to the employees' homes. This cuts commuting time for staff, removes them from physical monitoring, and provides far great autonomy over how they do their jobs" [2]. Interestingly, "Productivity and job satisfaction are generally higher in home-shoring than in conventional arrangements--in part because employees are more comfortable and less monitored at home" [2].

In the Schools

Pink suggests that too often, "We're bribing students into compliance instead of challenging them into engagement" [2]. Simply put, control leads to compliance, whereas, autonomy leads to engagement. In order to foster intrinsic motivation in our students, Pink recommends that we as teachers should allow our students to have autonomy over the four T's: task, time, technique, and team [2].

Pink recommends that teachers should ask themselves these three questions when giving assignments [2]:

Am I offering my students any autonomy over how and when they do this work, and who they work with?
Does this assignment promote mastery by offering a novel, engaging task (as opposed to rote reformulation of something already covered in class)?
Do my students understand the purpose of this assignment? That is, can they see how doing this activity contributes to the larger enterprise in which the class is engaged?

The Connection

By definition, "Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that play consist of whatever a body is NOT obliged to do" [2]. When autonomy is provided to both employees and students, it makes the work seem more like play, which leads to greater intrinsic motivation and higher productivity.

Furthermore, we need to be challenging our students to engage in more nonroutine work--creative, conceptual, right-brain work that can't be reduced to a set of rules [2]. This is because routine work--work that can be reduced to a script, a spec sheet, a formula, or a set of instructions--has become easier (and often cheaper) to send offshore, or to automate via computers [2]. As a result, such algorithmic, rule-based, left-brain work has become less valuable and less important in advanced economies, such as the United States [2].

FLEX

To accommodate to the demand of our global economy, we as teachers need to be providing our students with more opportunities for nonroutine work, where students have voice and choice over their task, time, technique, and team. For example, my middle school has created a "fun learning experience" (FLEX) block where students are allowed to work on self-directed projects for one hour each day. This FLEX-ible block is very similar to Google's "20 Percent Time", only our students are working an hour every day, as opposed to working one full day out of the week. Some of our students' projects have included creating a weekly school e-Newsletter; producing Public Service Announcements on important topics regarding health and safety; and entering in several national competitions including Google Doodle, C-SPAN StudentCam 2013, National History Day, Verizon App Challenge, Science Fairs, and more.

During our FLEX block, I have observed my students displaying more intrinsic motivation to succeed at these projects in addition to demonstrating a higher level of creativity. I attribute these findings due to the fact that our students do not receive a "grade" for their self-directed projects. I believe that removing grades, coupled with having full autonomy over their projects, subconsciously tells them that their activities are more like "play" as opposed to "work". I have even noticed my students achieving a state of "flow" when they are living so deeply in the moment and feeling so utterly in control, that their sense of time, place, and even self have melted away [2].

Final Thought

Ten years of employment data has discovered that the largest gains have been in jobs that require “people skills and emotional intelligence, imagination, and creativity" [1]. Furthermore, it has been determined that in the future, "There will be plenty of work not just for inventors, artists, and entrepreneurs but also for an array of imaginative, emotionally intelligent, right-brain professionals, from counselors to massage therapists to schoolteachers to stylists to talented salespeople" [1].

In closing, let's model our classrooms to reflect these innovative work environments that are yielding both personal satisfaction and high performance. Let's empower our students to have more autonomy in their learning and encourage more right-brain, nonroutine work to best meet their needs and ultimately prepare them for the 21st century workplace!

References

Pink, D. (2005). A whole new mind: Moving from the information age to the conceptual age. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
Pink, D. H. (2010). Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. Edinburgh: Canongate.

My Relationship Status with Data is "It's Complicated"

2013-02-03T15:15:00.001-05:00

My relationship with Data goes way back. We have had some good times, and some bad times, but it is officially time to set aside our differences and begin to work things out. Let me explain.

As a math and science person at heart, I particularly find inquiry, research, and data very interesting and exciting. However, I only find it exciting and interesting when I personally believe that my inquiry and investigation is meaningful and authentic and will help me to diagnose problems, or help me to solve problems that have already been diagnosed. Participating in data analysis and statistics to which I find to be a waste of time, does not excite me, naturally.

Our Problem

While I find statistics to be a very powerful tool, I truly feel that statistics should be used appropriately for things that matter. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines statistics as “a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of masses of numerical or quantitative data”. The key words to highlight in this definition are numerical and quantitative. I find that numbers are often not the best way to assess learning. I personally value qualitative data over quantitative data because I believe that qualitative data helps to paint a more detailed picture of the information gathered.

In other words, I often feel that Data has a warm, subjective human side which is qualitative in nature, but can also portray a more cold, objective, quantitative side. This split personality is not helping our relationship.

As an educator in today’s society, I find it disheartening that so much of our time and effort is spent on analyzing state standardized test data. I honestly do not believe that state standardized tests are an accurate measure of student learning and understanding. I find that they are mediocre at best.

To help me elaborate, I will borrow a sample of text from the book Shaping School Culture. In their efforts to shape school culture, Deal & Peterson (2011) argue that:

“Scores on standardized tests are becoming the only acceptable evidence that students are learning what they need to know. The narrow gauge of achievement tests captures only a small slice of what students take away from their time at school. As a result evidence of success is spotty, tied at time to ethnicity or socioeconomic standing that students bring with them rather than important learning that may be taking place. The cry for tangible evidence and the relative lack thereof undercuts confidence or faith in schools. Over time it erodes teachers’ belief in their ability to make a difference. What they once hoped for in a career falls victim to a constructive version of what education means.”

In my opinion, having teachers analyze state standardized test scores (to which we are ill-equipped to do effectively, unless we receive proper training and support) to guide our instruction is truly a broken system. I find this to be a broken system because I find the data to be extremely unreliable due to Campbell’s law.

Campbell’s Law states that "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor" (Wikipedia 2013). In other words, having both high stakes and high validity is not possible. When there are high stakes, data becomes unreliable. We simply can't have our cake, and eat it too!

Therefore, even in our best efforts as educators to analyze state standardized test scores effectively and accurately (as our current education system values so much) we are simply making decisions based on unreliable data which has not proven to significantly help student achievement. Analyzing state standard test results might prove to increase test scores, but I have yet to find evidence that supports increased test scores correlate to increased student achievement and success.

By focusing our attention only on “content knowledge” we are lacking to foster and evaluate 21st century workplace readiness skills such as creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. We are failing to assess and evaluate student inquiry, research, application, and innovation. We are too focused on the “content” that students are learning. What's worse is the fact that we are currently operating on a broken system to evaluate this “learned” content.

My Proposed Solution

I do feel that data analysis is a very important part of teaching and instruction in order to create differentiated learning opportunities for our students so that we might best meet their individual learning needs. However, we need to stop focusing on analyzing standardized test scores and start analyzing other data collected inside and outside of the classroom such as our own authentic assessments, formative assessments, observations, conversations, and student reflections, etc.

Keep in mind, that I did not say that we should abolish analyzing state standardized test scores. I am simply suggesting that we need to have more focus on other types of assessments and data collection to help us paint a broader and more detailed picture of our students' learning and understanding.

In closing, while we will not be able to completely disregard the data from state standardized tests, we can collectively start focusing our time and energy on the types of data that are best for our individual students, and not what is best for our individual institutions!

Relationship status update ... back "In A Relationship" with Data.

You might also like

Rethinking Assessment
Leveraging the Strengths of Our Students
There is More than One Way to Climb a Tree
Keep it up America! We are Doing Something Right!
What Data Should Drive Data-Driven Decision Making?

Playing for Education

2013-01-31T15:37:00.002-05:00

So I am sitting here writing a paper for one of my classes, listening to music (like I always do, because I love music) and I just got a really innovative idea for a potential music project in my school!

I'm currently listening to the album "Playing for Change" where songs were created from recording separate, individual, musical tracks with either one voice and/or one instrument from around the world, in order to produce a complete song. This movement eventually turned into producing entire albums that have truly innovated the music industry.

"Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world." - Source

So I thought, we should be doing this project with our students! So, I am taking the initiative (along with the music department at my middle school) to get this project rolling.

We would first test this project in a small scale, by individually recording our students singing and playing their musical instruments into GarageBand. Then we would have our students edit their individual music tracks and splice them together to make an entire song composed from all of the separately recorded tracks. Much like the music industry does today. That would be cool!

But even cooler, would be for my school to reach out to other schools across America, and around the world via social networking to see if we could pull off the same type of "Playing for Change" project.

What if ... we were able to collaborate with students from different cities, countries, and continents in order to produce a song created from separate recordings from around the world? Better yet, what if we were able to produce an entire album?

So, here's how it works. Each participating school would record their students singing and/or playing musical instruments (native to their geographical region) to create a single music track. Then, each participating school would digitally share those tracks via the Internet to all other participating schools. Finally, each school would have the opportunity to create an authentic song using GarageBand from all of the musical tracks that were recorded and shared from the participating schools around the world.

By simply reaching out on Twitter, and sharing this blog post, I think we could get a lot of people involved on this. We might even be able to create some Google Hangouts with other participating schools to discuss the process and decide on a meaningful song using a specific tempo and key. Call me crazy, but I really think our school can pull this off, and it would be such an amazing project.

Not only would this process teach our students about cultural awareness, citizenship, and world music, but it would also teach them about global collaboration and technology integration from splicing all the individual music tracks together to produce a song in GarageBand. Therefore, I call this project, Playing For Education.

If you are interested in participating in this idea, or think you may know someone who might be interested, please share this blog post with them and have them reach out to me @MrLands.

Apple's Role in My Landscape of Learning

2013-01-31T09:50:00.002-05:00

Apple’s symbolism and its products have significantly helped me transform into the educator that I am today.

Steve jobs believed that Apple is about people who think outside the box, who want to use computers to help them change the world. That’s what I think every time I see the Apple logo. Creativity and innovation. Art and technology. Design and empathy. That simple Apple logo brings so much meaning and power to education and it truly inspires me to become a better educator.

Apple technologies have helped me to “think differently” about education. Thanks to Apple, I always think about how I design and market everything that I do as an educator. The skills of design and marketing have never been more important than they are today. In his new book, To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink suggests that we are all in sales now, "Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others. Like it or not, we’re all in sales now".

In a world where resources are equally accessible, one must be able to create an innovative design and be able to “market” that design in order to be successful. Apple reminds me of this. Whenever I am faced with a challenge as an educator, I often ask myself, “What would Apple do?” Then I remind myself to think creatively, keep it simple, and make it appealing.

I apply these same product design features and marketing strategies that Apple uses when leading professional development and creating lesson plans. For example, as an Instructional Technology Coach, I often lead professional development for my staff to show them how to use Apple products and how to integrate them into their teaching practice. I feel that it is my responsibility to get them excited, inspired, and motivated to want to use these devices with their students. Therefore, during my presentations and training sessions, I try to design creative presentations and training sessions to get them excited about using the devices.

Similarly, I also use this strategy when creating lesson plans for my students. Apple has indirectly taught me to always start off with a “hook” that sparks curiosity and inquiry in my students. This is how real learning takes place. I consistently try to find creative ways to spark interest in my students to get them excited about learning.

Apple products have also helped me with my transformation in education. Apple has developed innovative tools that have allowed me to learn more efficiently and teach more effectively. Firstly, Apple has created mobile devices such as the iPod, iPad and Macbook that have empowered me to take my inquiry and creativity with me anywhere, anytime. With these mobile devices, I have been able to research a topic, share multimedia, or create a presentation on multiple devices, with multiple people.

Secondly, Apple software such as iMovie, GarageBand, and Keynote have allowed me to be creative, to express myself, and to make meaningful projects. These tools have allowed me to make presentations, create demonstrations, and synthesize my own learning and understanding. Now with the ability to download apps on all of these mobile devices, the possibilities of learning and sharing are limitless.

Although, it wasn't until I put these devices in the hands of my teachers and students that my learning environment truly transformed. Using these products for my own personal gain was transformational, but not nearly as transformational as empowering my students and teachers to use these products to help them transform their own learning. My learning environment now consists of learning and sharing with teachers and students on multiple devices, on multiple levels, thanks to Apple.

*Note: The video featured in this blog post is my "pseudo-interview" with an Apple representative about how Apple technologies can be used in education. This was part of a project that I was working on for my Apple Distinguished Educator application.

Extreme Makeover: School Edition

2013-01-23T18:04:00.001-05:00

Idea and Image created by Bradley Lands 1/23/13

Twenty-First Century schools need more than just a face lift. Yes, we need to remodel the "traditional" style classrooms where student desks are aligned in perfect columns and rows directly pointed toward the teacher. Yes, we need to create safe and collaborative spaces that are both conducive to learning and are aesthetically pleasing. But our schools need much more than this. What I'm talking about, is an Extreme Makeover from the ground up!

I would like to introduce three initiatives that I think (and are research supported) could substantially transform our schools into institutions that are in the best interest of our students and actually prepare them for their future in this rapidly changing, unpredictable world. This blog post is my attempt to briefly scratch the surface of this challenging (but totally possible) endeavor.

Establish a Positive School Culture
Encourage Intrinsic, Student Motivation
Integrate 21st Century Workplace Readiness Skills

1. Establish a Positive School Culture

“School culture is the set of norms, values, and beliefs, situations and ceremonies, symbols and stories that make up the “persona” of the school.”[4] But cultural change must be achieved--and it must be achieved well--if we are to prepare our current and future generations of students for an ever-changing world that is becoming more demanding each day."[4]

Create a vision and mission: Building a shared vision is the ongoing, never-ending, daily challenge confronting all those who hope to transform their schools into learning communities.[1] And until educators can describe the ideal school they are trying to create, it is impossible to develop policies, procedures, or programs that will help make that ideal a reality.[1] Each learning institution should ask itself, "What is it we expect our students to learn, and how will we fulfill our collective responsibility to ensure that this learning takes place for all of our students?”[1] Furthermore, all valued stakeholders should be involved in establishing the vision for their institution, and should be committed to implementing it.

Establish a Professional Learning Community: A “professional learning community” is a place where teachers inquire together into how to improve their practice in areas of importance to them, and then implement what they learned to make it happen.[3] This "place" can be in a classroom, in a school building, or somewhere in the midst of our online, social media universe. Regardless of the space, it is imperative that educators create some type of learning community where they can learn, share and grow together, because "all of us, are smarter than any one of us".

Maintain support and accountability: Leaders in education must transparently communicate purpose, foster collaboration, build capacity in his or her staff, hold people accountable, and provide support and accountability when needed.[4] This same support and accountability should also be instilled in our students to ensure learning and understanding by all students, at high levels.

2. Encourage Intrinsic Student Motivation

"People use extrinsic rewards expecting to gain the benefit of increasing another person's motivation and behavior, but in doing so, they often incur the unintentional and hidden cost of undermining that person's intrinsic motivation toward the activity."[6]

Student Inquiry: Inquiry-based teaching has been found to have a significant impact on student learning. Students should be engaged in making observations, formulating then asking questions, analyzing evidence, evaluating data, formulating explanations, connecting their explanations with scientific concepts, and communicating the justification for their explanations in all content areas.[7] Consequently, when students engage in these actions, their learning becomes more personalized and meaningful to them, which in turn allows them to gain a deeper level of conceptualization and understanding.

Student Autonomy: Students need the opportunity to have voice and choice in their learning by identifying their learner profile. "A student’s learning style, intelligence preference, gender, and culture can influence learning profile."[8] Not only does this strategy increase student engagement, but it also helps individual learners understand modes of learning that work best for them, and to offer those options so that each learner finds a good learning fit in the classroom. This ultimately differentiates and personalizes the learning for each individual student.

Meaningful Feedback: Consider non-tangible rewards. "Praise and positive feedback are much less corrosive than cash and trophies."[6] Provide useful information. "The more feedback focuses on specifics ("Great use of color")--and the more the praise is about effort and strategy rather than about achieving a particular outcome--the more effective it can be."[6]

3. Integrate 21st Century Workplace Readiness Skills

"Companies are seeking employees who have academic skills, common sense, and social skills, and if they have to recruit overseas to accomplish this, they are willing to do so. Nations like India and China are providing workers who have the kind of skills that companies want, and they are increasing their recruitment efforts globally in order to fill this need."[2]

Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration: "We are moving from an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computer-like capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and a society built on the inventive, empathic, big-picture capabilities of what's rising in its place, the Conceptual Age."[5] The arrival of desktop PCs and the automation of business processes, they say, have heightened the value of two categories of human skills. The first is what they call “expert thinking--solving new problems for which there are no routine solutions.” The other is “complex communication--persuading, explaining, and in other ways conveying a particular interpretation of information.”[5] Thus, moving forward in the 21st Century, these particular skills will be more important than ever for our students to master in order to remain competitive in the global economy.

Arts Integration: "Ten years of employment data and discovered that the largest gains have been in jobs that require people skills and emotional intelligence, imagination, and creativity."[5] The abilities our students will need--Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning--are fundamentally human attributes, which is why integrating "The Arts" is so important. Visual and performing arts such as music, theater, dance and art help to develop the type skills needed for tomorrow. Most surprisingly, "A master of fine arts, an MFA, is now one of the hottest credentials in a world where even General Motors is in the art business. MFA is the new MBA."[5]

Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): STEM education has never been as important for U.S. students as it is today. Compared with other students around the world, U.S. students are particularly falling behind in math and science. As a result, fewer students are graduating college with math and science degrees and thus, failing to fill math and science positions in the workforce. Simultaneously, as the U.S. demand for technology increases exponentially, the supply of innovators steadily decreases, jeopardizing our economy, environment, and national security. Moreover, "Foreign competition, especially in the area of technology and science, has increased substantially. As corporations struggle to find educated and skilled workers, they are looking to the shores of foreign nations more and more."[2]

Our Action Plan

Let's start with things that are in our control as educators. Let's start by making an "Extreme Makeover" in our classrooms, in our schools, in our districts. If we all play our roles and we all do "our" part, then we will have successfully transformed our learning institutions to prepare our students, for their future!

You might also like

I Think We Have Education Backwards, Don't You?
Don't Get Caught with an Open Container Violation
Let's Plant the Seed of Learning in Our Students
It's Time to Shift or Get Off the Pot

References

Dufour, R. & Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities at work. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Friedman, T. L. (2005). The world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Hargreaves, Andy, and Michael Fullan. Professional capital: transforming teaching in every school. New York: Teachers College Press, 2012. Print.
Muhammad, A., & Dufour, R. (2009). Transforming school culture: how to overcome staff division. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: why right-brainers will rule the future. New York: Riverhead Books.
Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
Sheninger, E. C., & Devereaux, K. (2012). What principals need to know about teaching and learning science (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

There is More than One Way to Demonstrate Mastery

2013-01-20T13:40:00.003-05:00

Daniel Pink has helped me to realize that students today need to be intrinsically motivated to learn. One way to increase intrinsic motivation is to allow for student autonomy in education. We as educators should be empowering our students to have voice and choice over how they learn, and how they demonstrate their learning.

In this post, I have included multiple types of creative assessments that allow students to demonstrate mastery not only in content, but also in workplace readiness skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. Just about all of these creative assessments can both accommodate to an individual learner, or a group of learners to help encourage communication and collaboration. Moreover, having students "present" their demonstrations allow them to work on their communication skills such as "public speaking" and "listening" from participating as audience members and asking insightful, meaningful questions after the demonstrations have been presented.

Furthermore, there are multiple mediums to which students can create any one of these demonstrations. To create these demonstrations, students can use anything from paper and pencil, to the latest and best technology apps and tools. In addition, these assessments provide natural differentiated learning opportunities for students by empowering them to choose their preferred learning style, interest and strengths in order to demonstrate mastery. Even better is the fact that a lot of these assessments directly align to the multiple intelligences.

Below is a list of creative assessments that might be used for students to demonstrate mastery.

Create a story from a picture
Create a story from a title
Create a title from a picture
Create a title from a story
Create a sculpture
Create an image of a concept or theme
Respond to a real world writing prompt
Design a webpage
Write a poem or song
Create a skit
Create a video
Create a photo voice by taking pictures
Ask complex questions rather than answering them
Create a graphic organizer
Write a newspaper article
Write a journal entry
Create a comic
Create a digital story
Create a photo story
Create a "Fakebook" page
Create a blog from the perspective of a historical figure
Analyze a primary source photo or document
Argue a position and defend it
Conduct an experiment
Solve a problem
Design a product
Engineer a product
Mix and match any of these assessments

And this list just scratches the surface. What else might you add to this list?

Your comments are welcomed and encouraged!

You might also like

There is More than One Way to Climb a Tree
Leveraging the Strengths of Our Students

What Distinguished Educators Do Differently

2013-01-20T12:53:00.000-05:00

What do "Great" teachers do differently? Todd Whitaker believes the following to be true ...

Great teachers never forget that it is people, not programs that determine the quality of a school.
Great teachers have high expectations for students, but have even higher expectations of themselves.
Great teachers know that they are the variable in the classroom. Good teachers consistently strive to improve, and they focus on something they can control: their own performance.
Great teachers focus on students first, with a broad vision that keeps everything in perspective.
Great teachers create a positive atmosphere in their classrooms and schools. They treat every person with respect. In particular, they understand the power of praise.
Great teachers have a plan and purpose for everything they do. If plans don't work out the way they had envisioned, they reflect on what they could have done differently and adjust accordingly.
Great teachers have empathy for students and clarity about how others see them.
Great teachers keep standardized testing in perspective. They focus on the real issue of student learning.
Great teachers care about their students. They understand that behaviors and beliefs are tied to emotion, and they understand the power of emotion to jump-start change.

While all of these attributes are indeed great qualities to have in a teacher, I happen to disagree with Mr. Whitaker. I believe that these are all "fundamentals of teaching". I personally feel like these attributes that he describes are now the status quo of teaching. I don't think any of these attributes are innovative enough to be considered "great" ... not anymore at least.

I want to create a list of what excellent teachers do differently. What superb teachers do differently. What distinguished teachers do differently?

I would imagine that continual learning, growing, and sharing as an educator would make that list. I would also imagine that fostering student inquiry, creativity, motivation, and effort might also make the list. Laslty, I would argue that building capacity in students' strengths, talents, interests, character, integrity, and autonomy might also make the list.

What might you add to this list of what distinguished educators do differently?

What Distinguished Educators do differently?

All comments are welcome!

Reference

Whitaker, T. (2004). What great teachers do differently: fourteen things that matter most. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Never Underestimate the Power of Social Networking

2013-01-15T18:44:00.002-05:00

I was contacted last May by a woman who happened to stumble across my blog and website after performing some research on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) which is basically integrating the arts into STEM. She wrote me an email letting me know that she found my resources both valuable and useful and asked me if she could use my material for a presentation that she was leading for her staff. Of course I allowed her to use my material and I encouraged her to do so. I was ecstatic to discover that someone else was out there who truly valued my educational insight and wanted to collaborate with me.

Long story short, she contacted me again just last week. It had been about 8 months since we had last exchanged emails and she reached out to me once again! Her email to me reads below ...

Hi Brad,
It has been a little while since we have been in contact but a lot has happened since I first emailed about using you as a resource for our Professional Development day last May. After initiating the implementation of technology in the arts, I was able to experience using a set of iPads in my classroom for the entire first semester of my classes and it was an amazing learning opportunity for my students as well as for me! To make a long story short, I have very recently left the classroom and have begun a new journey as the eLearning Coordinator for our district. I am very excited about the direction we are going and have already begun research and scheduled visits to amazing schools that have implemented online and blended learning. As a newbie in this department, I am relying on any contacts that I have made in the past and you were the first to pop to mind! I immediately admired your willingness to help me and was impressed by what you are doing in the classroom. I would very much like to come and visit your class as I gather information about furthering our implementation of technology infusion as a district. Let me know if that might be a possibility or if you know of another teacher/school in your area that could be of help.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Laurie

What an awesome opportunity I thought to myself! I emailed her back and happily invited her to come visit my school. I was so excited to finally meet this person who reached out to me as a fellow educator. Today at 11:00 a.m., she met me in my office and we exchanged "hellos" for the first time.

I gave her a tour of our school and showed her how we were integrating technology in our classes. I stopped by our CTE department where our students were working on "reverse engineering" projects in which they had to perform research and design to construct a product to be made out of Legos. Then they had to create a set of instructions for another group to be able to construct their product. Students were using mobile devices for research and were using Google Sketchup to design a 3D model of their product.

Next, we stopped by a 7th grade classroom where I gave a demonstration on how to use the iMovie app on the iPad to help students create Public Service Announcements for a project that they were working on. Each student had an iPad and had the opportunity to sandbox with iMovie after my demonstration. Finally, we talked a bit more, shared some resources and innovative ideas and she was on her way.

After she left I thought to myself, "Wow!" I actually met and collaborated with a complete stranger who just happened to share my passion and ambition in education ... all from social networking. Never in a million years did I think that I would actually get to work with this woman in person who first emailed me a year ago.

My Reflection

This is such an amazing time to be an educator. In an "open source" world, we are fortunate to have access to information, resources, and people ... for free! We should take advantage of these resources by learning and sharing from each other, and not forget to contribute to the same "open source" world that we use to consume. We as educators should be taking risks to learn, share, and connect with each other. We are now shifting from a competitive learning environment, to a collaborative learning environment, and we should take full advantage of each other's knowledge and experience. Each of us uniquely brings something different to the field of education and we should not be too timid, nor proud to share. Because in the end, these are all of our students that we are teaching. The same students that will be our future leaders.

Related Content

Why Do You Blog?
http://rnart.weebly.com/
https://sites.google.com/site/stemwithmrlands/steam

Things I have learned from Steve Jobs

2013-01-10T20:15:00.002-05:00

Picture Source: http://goo.gl/rU8zb

I finally got around to reading the book, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson over winter break. I was finally at a point in my life when I actually had time to read it. I knew it was going to be epic, so I decided to take notes on my iPad while I read it. This blog post is a compilation of all my favorite quotes from the book. For those of you who won't get around to reading this daunting book of nearly 600 pages, I hope that you find this post to be valuable.

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." - Steve Jobs

Leadership

"Polite and velvety leaders who take care to avoid bruising others are generally not as effective at forcing change. Dozens of the colleagues whom Jobs most abused ended their litany of horror stories by saying that he got them to do things they never dreamed possible. And he created a corporation crammed with A players."

"Some leaders push innovations by being good at the big picture. Others do so by mastering details. Jobs did both relentlessly. As a result he launched a series of products over three decades that transformed whole industries."

"I don't think I run roughshod over people, but if something sucks, I tell people to their face. It's my job to be honest. That's the culture I tried to create. We are brutally honest with each other. That's the ante for being in the room: You've got to be able to be super honest."

"If you act like you can do something, then it will work. Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are."

Business

"If you don't build your dreams, someone else will hire you to help build theirs."

"I have my own theory about why decline happens at companies like IBM or Microsoft. The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in the field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important. The company starts valuing the great salesmen, because they're the ones who can move the needle on the revenues, not the product engineers and designers. So the sales people end up running the company."

"You should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last."

"It reinforced my sense of what was important -- creating great things instead of making money, putting things back into the stream of history and of human consciousness as much as I could."

"A great company must be able to impute its values from the first impression that it makes."

"Either make something you can sell or go get a job."

"The stores would impute the ethos of Apple products: playful, easy, creative, and on the bright side of the line between hip and intimidating."

"Jobs was a strong believer in face-to-face meetings. There's a temptation in our network page to think that ideas can be developed by email and ichat. Thats crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they're doing, you say wow and soon your cooking up all sorts of ideas."

"My goal has always been not only to make great products, but to build great companies."

"What are the 5 products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest because they're dragging you down."

"Competition among a variety of devices and manufacturers leads to greater consumer choice and more innovation."

Design

"The reason Apple resonates with people is that there's a deep current of humanity in our innovation. I think great artists and great engineers are similar, in that they both have a desire to express themselves.

"In most people's vocabularies, design means veneer. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers."

"If we are going to make things in our lives, we might as well make them beautiful."

"Real artists simplify"

"There should be no distinction between fine art and applied industrial design."

"Less is more"

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"

"Why do we assume that simple is good? Because with physical products, we have to feel we can dominate them. As you bring order to complexity, you find a way to make the product defer to you."

"The main thing in our design is that we have to make things intuitively obvious."

"the iPod became the essence of everything Apple was destined to be: poetry connected to engineering, arts and creativity intersecting with technology, design that's bold and simple."

"Part of the reason we model our computers on metaphors like the desktop is that we can leverage this experience people already have."

"Great art stretches the taste, it doesn't follow tastes"

"When you're a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you're not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You'll know it's there, so you're going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through."

Innovation

"To create a new standard takes not just making something that's a little bit different, it takes something that's really new and captures people's imagination."

"Apple, Jobs considered his greatest creation a place where imagination was nurtured applied and executed in ways so creative that it became the most valuable company on earth."

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

"And he was able to infuse into its DNA the design sensibilities, perfectionism, and imagination that make it likely to be, even decades from now, the company that thrives best at the intersection of artistry and technology."

"My view is that people are creative animals and will figure out clever new ways to use tools that the inventor never imagined."

"It was designed to celebrate not what the computers could do, but what creative people could do with the computers."

"Asked if he wanted to do market research he said no because customers don't know what they want until we've shown them."

"Some people say, 'Give the customers what they want'. But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, 'If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, A faster horse!' People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page."

"Apple is about people who think outside the box, who want to use computers to help them change the world."

Reference

Isaacson, W. (2011). Steve Jobs. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.