"Dangerously Irrelevant - Blogs That Deserve a Bigger Audience" via Scott in Google Reader

Quickie Update

2010-01-17T02:22:46Z

I have not been blogging regularly, and I hope you will excuse me for this, but I’ve been sick on and off since before Winter Break. It’s sapped my will to write and some of my creative juices, so I just don’t have much to say. Here is a short update on what little I’ve done:

SMART Board activities from A Mercer on Vimeo.

January is a time for new beginnings, and to start off this year, I’ve gotten the loan of a SMART interactive whiteboard. I’ve had it in the lab for the week. I got the board because a district middle school has gotten a number of them a few years back and want some more support on using them, which I might be doing.

There have been a lot of critiques about how “interactive” these tools really are for students, and whether or not similar tasks could be done with other, cheaper tools (here is a recent thread on this). The biggest complaint seems to center around teachers using it largely for direct and whole class instruction. With this in mind I’ve been using the it as a “center” where I pull back small groups of students, rather than using it for whole class instruction. I model the activity quickly, and then let the kids do it. I’ve also tried to have the kids explain the how-to to the next group. I have no big conclusions at this point.

Haiti

2010-01-16T20:07:13Z

I rarely share personal information in my posts, but given the devastation in Haiti, I am making an exception. I traveled to Haiti in 1991. I was part of a work team that had raised money for materials and was going to build an addition to the teachers’ quarters outside an elementary school. The school was in Cabaret (formerly Duvalierville during Papa Doc’s time) about a half hour from Port Au Prince.

This is how we found the job site. The teachers lived in those existing concrete squares outside the school with no electricity, bathrooms, or runnng water.

This was our Haitian forman. He was a formidable worker. He wore me to a frazzle.

The temperature was over 100 degrees each day and shade was coveted.

We poured a concrete floor and built the concrete columns that would carry the roof of the addition.

Unloading a truck full of precious (and heavy) construction materials.

Now were making progress.

The beautiful students who visited us whenever class was out.

They were super friendly and spending time with them helped reinforce why we were there.

I couldn’t get enough of these guys.

My first day in Haiti, touring Port au Prince. Found a nice basketball game in the park.

After work we visited the hospital in Port au Prince.

This little one was so small and so sick.

A dedicated young doctor educates us on the challenges she faces daily.

My prayers go out to all the Haitian people and especially to the children, the teachers, the men who labored with us in the sun, and the doctors who work so hard in such difficult conditions.

pete

Your legislator needs a letter

2010-01-15T13:47:00Z

If you didn't read this article in yesterday's Register, take a moment to do so. It forecasts a major shift in Iowa's educational structure.

You can see why legislators are considering this, as AEAs, without their direct contact with students, looks like the natural choice to save money. Same way a district looks to administrators, central office staff, and custodians when cutting to meet their budget. But, those same legislators could also understand that cutting their own clerical support is not going to make for a more efficient legislature.

Obviously, as one who earns their paycheck from an AEA, I'm distraught about this. Certainly, that's not to say that AEA employees would be losing their jobs, but "re-organization" is the time to lop off programs and services while becoming more streamlined, regardless of the gentle language that is coming out in the article.

So, the question is what will we lose in order to save this money? Will it just be the "extra layers of bureaucracy" that is referred to--the administrative jobs that can be magically eliminated without a loss in services? Do those even exist (and why haven't AEAs eliminated those already, then)?

Or will it be cuts in curriculum consulting? Professional development? Assessment services?

And, the second question is will districts see that saved money? Especially now that they will have to hire to handle those services internally? Or will it be absorbed by the state budget?

Will this new, spider-shaped organization, be efficient enough to keep Iowa's schools moving forward? Do we have any other spider-shaped initiatives going on right now, and how would we rate their efficiency?

Erik Helland is right, the devil is in the details.

What’s glogging?

2010-01-15T06:42:09Z

Glogging is a form of online web logging similar to blogging yet it’s more graphics based. Rather than writing a post, you actually express yourself through a digital type poster. Glogster is easy to use and let’s you post pictures in a collage type manner to express how you’re feeling. Also, you can add music to your post or even turn your glog post into an actual video. This new form of web journaling takes blogging to the visual level. Also, there’s a social aspect to it as well; you can become friends with other gloggers and make your own little glogging network.

Here’s a glog for my new puppy, Rani, and another one of me on the Great Wall both made on Glogster.com:

*Please note: these are thumbnail size. When you make an actual glog, it turns out much larger. Also, if you do start glogging, my username is DearLibrariAnn if you want to join my glogging social network.

Beginnings of Weeklong Workshop Focused on Lifelong Learning Approach

2010-01-15T01:09:55Z

Each area is a Module of the overall Learning Approach
Modules: Archiving, Researching, RLW (Reading, Listening, and Watching), Reflecting, Participating

Overview: If you want to learn how to integrate technology in the classroom better, learn how to learn with technology first! Workshop attendees will walk through a sequential process of learning how to learn with technology that will expand upon their own personal learning strategies, their use of technology within their classroom, and how technology can improve education as a whole. Upon completion of this workshop, attendees will have built a foundation of learning that will provide them with a new context with which to utilize technology in the learning process. The final product of our learning experience will be the beginnings of a personal/professional learning network.

We will explore several online applications, experiment with several mobile learning applications, and perhaps even take a look at some new technologies that are not within the mainstream market yet. Our overall goal is to break away from the project oriented technology integration approach into a fresh new approach focused solely on learning with technology!

The online tools mentioned can change depending upon the best available applications at the time. The tools chosen will be robust and extensible. We will not be tool dependent, but rather concept dependent!

Day 1 Module: Archiving Part 1 / Module: Researching Part 1:

We will work through strategies for organizing, tracking, and collating online and offline resources. These strategies will lead us into learning how to become more efficient with locating quality personalized resources throughout the research module. These archiving online applications overlap with research and will actually work in the background for you while you are focused on something else. We want to focus on becoming much more efficient with our time online. Basically, we want to flip our approach to learning online. Instead of surfing the web to find quality information, we will have the web itself bring the best of the web to us!

Online Tools we will Explore: Google Alerts, Delicious.com, Diigo,com, Google Scholar, and Advanced Google Search

Day 2 Module: Archiving Part 2 / Module: Researching Part 2 / Module: Reading, Listening, Watching Part 1:

Utilizing our newly archived resources, we will explore new ways of locating resources as we expand upon our new techniques of researching online. We will add in a few more archiving applications as each workshop attendee chooses their tool of choice. Additionally, we will focus on better research strategies by targeting quality resources of learning through new reading, listening and watching online strategies. Each workshop attendee will have a new personalized library of resources full of experts in education and specifically within their field with whom they can learn from at any time and at a time and location of their own choosing.

Online Tools we will Explore: More Advanced Google Search, Simplybox.com, Tagging, RSS Feeds, Google Reader, Bloglines.com, ITunes K-12, ITunes University, Schooltube.com, Teachertube.com, Youtube.com, K-12online conference, Open University Classes from MIT, Yale and others.

Day 3 Module: Reading, Listening, Watching Part 2 / Module: Reflecting:

We will continue to build upon our online research skills throughout the reading module. Once again, the more you begin to read, listen to, and watch, the more research you have undertaken because these skills overlap. In conjunction, we will begin to reflect upon the learning process with our own personalized reflection tools. We will begin with commenting on what we read from others work and then we will begin to publish our own thoughts. Basically, workshop attendees will begin to build their online learning presence through reflective writing, commenting, podcasting, and perhaps even screencasting.

Online Tools we will Explore: Google Education Apps, Google Reader, Bloglines.com, Blogger.com, Edublogs.com, Edmodo.com, Ning.com, ScreencastAcademy.wikispaces.com,

Day 4 Module: Participating:

We will spend the day working within several professional and social networking tools. Teachers will have a chance to explore and find answers to pressing learning issues previously identified within the workshop. Attendees will build a foundation for their own modern personal/professional learning network. We will explore the very nature or difference of a personal learning network vs. a professional learning network.

Online Tools we will Explore: Twitter.com, Ning.com, Etherpad.com, Todaysmeet.com, and perhaps even Facebook.com

Day 5 Module: Creativity and Creation:

We will spend the day using our new found learning skills to learn how to learn and be creative as a result of the lifelong learning approach. Each workshop attendee will be accountable for their individual goals in this module. While utilizing the learning process, each attendee will present some new "learning" to the rest of the workshop attendees. Additionally, we will formalize the development of our own cohort of learning moving forward. Expectations and goals will be set by the workshop attendees themselves moving forward.

Online Tools we will Explore: All of the above modules tools and Doodle.com.

Better than donuts?

2010-01-14T21:47:44Z

I’ve probably written this post before. But a long conversation with a teacher brought up my concerns with inservices yet again.

We know what works for inservice–prolonged coverage of a subject, a mission that people buy into, small groups, choice, and self-directed learning. We also know that sometimes a district needs to convey information/techniques/methods to their staff.

So, how to reconcile those things and still have an effective, productive use of time, so that everyone isn’t just going through the motions and just hoping for a nice lunch?

One word–Inspiration. Wouldn’t it be nice if on inservice days, that’s what we were fed with our donuts?

Real inspiration–inspiration that makes you go, I can’t wait to get back to my classroom and do this–I can’t wait to see my students–I love what I do.

How do we invite teachers into inservice in a way that lets them know–this is different–we are breaking the mold and what we want to end up with is that you feel inspired? And is that possible on days when the inservice really is just needed to convey information?

It takes planning to break the mold; a sense of enthusiasm and mission; commitment on both the part of the presenters and buy-in on the part of attendees(buy-in which has to be earned).

It takes true love of your subject to lead/plan such an inservice. It takes teachers who aren’t tired, sometimes. It takes giving people a break to learn what they need to know. It takes interaction and feedback. It takes care.

But what if–what we wanted to accomplish most of all–was to move our mission forward with inspiration?

First this has to start with a clear sense of mission. Over and over I go back to my experience at Science Leadership Academy–a school where you walk in the door and you know the founding principles around which the school is organized.

Everything happens more or less around those vision questions. And when SLA held the first Educon conference, it was organized around core questions as well:

1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members.

2) Our schools must be about co-creating — together with our students — the 21st Century Citizen

3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around.

4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate

5) Learning can — and must — be networked.

What if our inservice year was oriented around core questions–questions our own schools devised? How would that serve the purpose of inspiration? How would that move our mission forward more effectively? How would that improve teacher buy in?

If we make our mission the North Star of our schools–then it will guide everything we do–including our inservice and training. It will bring that coherence of purpose that inspires, pushes us to try harder, and engages our highest imagination as educators.

And in both the long and the short run, it’ll be better, more filling, and more refreshing than donuts.

photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindyfunk/2399675950/

I can’t SEE it

2010-01-14T16:24:26Z

I can’t see 3D movies. I mean actually, physically will never be able to make the neuro-messages from my two eyes converge into a three-dimensional experience. As far as I know from talking to ophthalmologists for decades, there is nothing in current medicine that will change this.

As I read all the hype about Avatar in 3D and the possibility of 3D television and more and more 3D movies in theaters, I am downright resentful. How dare they leave me behind as someone who will not be able to see any movie or show projected or broadcast in this fuzzy new medium? Don’t they know there are people like me who will be abandoned as lost?

My reaction bears a strong resemblance to some we as teachers and/or technology “leaders” may have passed by as we jog ahead. Learning support students have always felt abandoned and resentful during lessons taught through means they cannot “see.” When the faddish, highly patterned posters with hidden images first came out over a decade ago, some of us could not force our eyes to decipher the hidden images. My most empathetic teaching colleagues finally understood how their LD students felt and changed their lessons to include multiple approaches to concepts. Just as those posters were not the only things available to hang on the wall, however, finding other options for teaching was similarly easy.

Now , with people marveling at Avatar and promoting the prospect of ubiquitous 3D, I am experiencing my first near-terror at technology “progress.” For the first time in my tech-loving life, I am not an early adopter. I am negative and angry that I could be considered “challenged.” I do not know of a way to “fix” it and am secretly afraid that NOT welcoming 3D will make me less of a an innovator-teacher-communicator. I don’t want to be the old person who doesn’t try the new thing. This is not my role, and I resent being pushed aside.

pause for Aha moment

THIS must be the way some teachers feel as technovations beyond their vision whizz through their worlds like hummingbirds on steroids.

I have the luxury of time to play and commitment to make the effort with every new technology, always excited to figure out how it could fit into learning. Like many edtech leaders and willing educators, I continue to add, adopt, adapt, and build my PLN with new tools. In two years, Twitter has cycled from a curiosity to a regular part of my day/week. The difference between my initial Twitter reaction and my 3D reaction is that I can’t see 3D.

If teachers truly believe that they are similarly hampered, organically or logistically, they must be feeling the same resentment and embarrassment. Can’t See It empathy must be part of planning for all of us who lead and teach our fellow educators, even those who simply teach alongside a peer in a similar panic.

I know I have written about the issues of technology adoption, fear, and teachers’ professional obligation to grow and change before. But now I am living Can’t See it, and the intensity of my reaction is the perfect fuel to do my job better.

A Great Piece of Advice?

2010-01-14T12:57:44Z

It’s that time of year when New Year resolutions get caught up in the everyday clutter of the “tyranny of the now”. Last month, I had the opportunity to talk with two gentlemen during my wife’s school’s December get-together. I was a “trailing spouse” and recognized two gentlemen with whom we’ve sat near each other at various school events.

These two gentlemen are very well regarded by their peers and by the senior leadership in their organization. After the usual pleasantries, I asked, “You’re both considered highly successful both personally and professionally. I’m certain people come to you for advice. What’s a great piece of advice YOU have received that has helped you in your personal and professional lives?”

One answered quickly, “Write your summary of what you accomplished during your current tenure as soon as you start a new job. You want to start with what you want to accomplish in your current role early on so that you maintain focus when the urgencies threaten to take over your priorities. I keep mine beside my desk and refer to it weekly. That discipline of weekly referral helps me as I shape my calendar and my priorities for the upcoming week. I got this advice long ago from a mid-level manager who was great at developing talent on her team.”

The other answered, “That’s a great piece of advice. I’m going to have to use that. Thanks. Here’s a great piece of advice I received when I got my first management job-Don’t embarrass your mother. It’s a variation on the theme of being comfortable of your actions, words, and behaviors being on the front page of the newspaper, but the idea of not embarrassing your mother makes it more real to me. In this age of texts, emails, and voice mails being saved for a LONG time, I use this piece of advice as a little voice in the back of my head when dealing with thorny issues. It’s served me well over the years.”

Two great pieces of advice. Now it’s YOUR turn. What’s a great piece of advice that you have received?

I’m looking forward to reading your responses and learning from you.

All the best,

Chris

Letter to Simon Teska, Reporter Post Journal

2010-01-13T19:02:01Z

If you, like me, didn’t attend the Maple Grove/Randolph boys’ basketball game but did read the report of the game in yesterday’s Post-Journal, you may be interested in why our boys’ basketball team would take our “2009 championship football banner with us to Maple Grove’s gym”.

That’s the first thing I wanted to know after reading the article. As I learned more about what actually happened, I thought readers of this blog might be interested too. Following is the email I sent to Mr. Teska regarding his report of the game.

Mr. Teska:

Your article in yesterday’s Post Journal has certainly generated a lot of interest here in Randolph. In particular, when I returned from a conference in Albany I was anxious to see the “2009 championship banner” that we “brought to the game”. I didn’t know we even had such a banner! Not having been at the game, I asked several people including our principal, Dave Davison, our coach, Kevin Hind, and our AD, Robin Maycock, “who gave us this banner? did we purchase it? and of course, why did you take it to the Maple Grove basketball game?”

What I learned from them was very different than the impression given in your article. This was a sign made by and brought to the game by students–and as I understand was not a “2009 championship banner” as you reported. Your article reflects poorly on us as a school district and makes us sound like poor sports who have done something which I would find very inappropriate–which is to bring a State Championship football banner to another school’s basketball game. These two teams seem to take turns winning no matter the sport and we have nothing but respect for their hard work and dedication.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Moritz

It definitely wasn’t the best choice made by our students either but I want to be clear that this wasn’t something that we did as a school or done by our coaches. Didn’t Maple Grove just win the championship last year? Both wins are something we should celebrate as a section, not use to try to “smack down” another school–plus in a different sport? That doesn’t even make much sense to me.

Rebuilding and Strengthening America's Middle Class

2010-01-13T14:41:00Z

Representative George Miller is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. Change.org asked Representative Miller to respond to questions to provide context for his work and the causes he supports.

Change.org: What cause or causes would you most like to promote as a Changemaker and why?

As the chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, no cause is more important that the need to rebuild and strengthen America's middle class. I am dedicated to improving our nation's schools and making college more affordable and accessible, so that every student has the opportunity to succeed. I am committed to rebuilding a clean energy economy that will create millions of good-paying jobs and reestablish America's technological leadership. As we regain jobs through this new investment, I will fight to restore workers' rights, so that every American can benefit from economic opportunity. And we will make the preservation and strengthening of retirement savings a priority, so that all Americans can enjoy a secure retirement after a lifetime of hard work.

Together, we can rescue our economy, restore the promise of the American Dream, and ensure that, in a nation as great as ours, the interests of students, workers, families and retirees are at the heart of our nation's priorities.

Change.org: What are you most proud of about your work for social change?

There are many things I’m proud of during my years of public service, but I’m very proud of our committee’s work this past year to improve the lives of all Americans. Last January, I was thrilled to stand by President Obama’s side with Lilly Ledbetter as he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law – an issue that our committee first began working on in 2007. At the same time, the House also passed the Paycheck Fairness Act that would help end the discriminatory practice of paying a woman less than a man for performing the same job by strengthening the landmark Equal Pay Act.

In a historical step, the House passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act in November that would extend affordable health insurance to millions more Americans. Creating good paying jobs has been a key focus for this Congress. To that end, I worked with my colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would save and create millions of jobs and lay the foundation for sustainable, long-term economic growth. Just before we adjourned in December, the House passed the Jobs for Main Street Act, to continue generating new jobs in every sector possible and get Americans back to work.

Paying for college and retirement are top worries among working families, which is why our committee passed the 401(k) Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act to ensure workers have basic, clear information about the fees associated with their 401(k) plans.

In September, the House passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. This legislation provides students and families with the single largest investment in federal student aid ever and makes landmark investments to improve education for students of all ages – and all without costing taxpayers a dime.

I was present when the President signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, ushering in a new era of service and volunteerism that will help our nation emerge stronger from this crisis. We’re empowering new generations of Americans to meet growing needs in their communities, to learn skills for the jobs of the future, and to become part of the solution to the key challenges we face – health care, energy and education. This law will make Americans of all ages, from middle school through retirement, the backbone of our nation’s recovery and revival.

It was a tremendously busy 2009 and we’ve got much more to do in 2010, including getting our health insurance reform bill to the President’s desk. However, our work over the last year will help get our economy back on track and lay the groundwork for a stronger future.

Change.org: When did you first know you wanted to dedicate your life to public service?

Growing up in a politically active family helped me see that politics could make a difference in people’s lives. My father, a California State Senator for over twenty years, dedicated himself to improving the lives of children and Californians from all walks of life, protecting the environment, supporting the rights of workers, and improving education. He would hold meetings in our living room that could get pretty loud sometimes as issues were hotly debated. It was his influence and seeing the real difference he made in our community and in our state that led me to believe I wanted to help make a difference too and that I could be good at it.

Change.org: Who are other Changemakers who you look to for inspiration?

I look to Senator Ted Kennedy’s spirit, passion and remarkable lifetime of work. Senator Kennedy was always a personal hero of mine. Over the past 35 years, the opportunity to work with him, to have him as a mentor, and a friend was immensely valuable to me. I have great respect for his commitment, his courage, and his leadership in fighting for the most important causes of our time. At the core of everything Senator Kennedy fought for was a profound sense of justice. In foreign and domestic policy, he was grounded by a fundamental sense of right and wrong, and our country is better for it. Not every injustice he fought against has been righted, but his dreams and his legacy live on. Now it’s time for the rest of us to pick up where he left on and see them through.

A Fair Living Wage And Benefits For All Workers

2010-01-13T07:48:00Z

Randi Weingarten is part of Change.org's Changemaker network, comprised of leading voices for social change. Change.org asked Ms. Weingarten to respond to questions to provide context for her work and the causes she supports.

Change.org: What cause or causes would you most like to promote as a Changemaker and why?

I would like to promote two interconnected causes, one educational and the other economic: to ensure that every child in this country receives a high-quality public education, and to ensure that every worker has access to a job that pays a living wage. More than the minimum wage, a living wage is one that allows workers to obtain the basics of food, shelter, health care and transportation for themselves and their families. The American Dream is a false promise if the reality is that millions of Americans can get an education and work hard for 40 hours a week and still not be able to afford basic necessities. As our country works to rebound from the economic collapse, we should focus on creating good jobs in which workers are respected, have a voice in their workplace, and earn a decent wage that enables them to provide for themselves and their families.

Change.org: If you could ask 1 million people to all do one thing to advance causes that matter to you, what would it be?

I would ask that they become fully engaged citizens of their communities and of their country-to realize the vision of being a service nation. Specifically, we know our schools and our communities need support. Get to know-and engage regularly with-your child's school and teacher. Take time to mentor a child who, with just a bit of added attention, would stay in school.

Change.org: If you could ask President Obama and the U.S. Congress to do one thing to advance your cause, what would it be?

What this country needs right now are jobs, jobs and more good jobs. The work that President Obama and this Congress have done in the past year to create jobs-even in the face of a sour economy-is critically important. But the fact is that, sometimes, just having a job is still not enough for an individual or a family to get by. I would encourage our federal leaders, when they talk about creating jobs, to also push for a fair living wage and benefits for all workers.

Change.org: What are the greatest obstacles to change on your issue?

We need to create an environment that is a race to the top, and move beyond the bleak reality of today. President Franklin D. Roosevelt put Americans to work through the Work Projects Administration, which created jobs for public works projects that truly benefited communities, individual workers and their families. Although our nation is in a tough situation, we have a golden opportunity to make things better. The current labor law system is broken. The Employee Free Choice Act holds the key to leveling the playing field for America's workers. Workers should be able to unite with their fellow co-workers and bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

While families may need a running start from government programs like the Children's Health Insurance Program, Medicaid and school free-lunch programs, part of the dignity of work, and in particular public sector work, is that it helps people become self-reliant. Good jobs also benefit the economy-as more folks enter the middle class and pay taxes, we are creating a stronger revenue base and a stronger America.

If you thought it was complicated before…

2010-01-10T15:33:57Z

As an array of new devices parade through the CES show this week, the picture for e-book readers gets even more complicated. What’s a girl to do?

Selling libraries short?

2010-01-09T23:33:03Z

I was a little irked and befuddled by Seth Godin’s post about the future of libraries today, to be honest.

Like Joyce Valenza, librarian extraordinaire, I admire his work a great deal. And I don’t want to come across sounding like some “stuck in the mud” or defensive and staid librarian. Though there is some merit in his point, I think the picture he painted was a bit misleading.

I found myself wondering why he didn’t seem to get the vitality of many of our “wired libraries” or understand that libraries are(and have often been) the salvation of the economically/socially underserved/elderly/children, especially in this dicey economy. And that libraries are not just warehouses for checkout but are still widely used for internet access, guest speakers, tech trainings, job hunting, teen hang-outs, reference support, children’s programming, teen mentorship progams, parent trainings on computer safety, community meetings, book groups, social events, and yes, DVD borrowing. And that many of our websites are twittering, facebooking, meebo-ing and leading by providing tutorials, widgets and links to help keep our customer’s informed and current?

But then I thought if he didn’t understand, then are public libraries, (or school libraries), really telling their stories? If they were, wouldn’t the average taxpayer know what is amazing about their libraries? There are libraries that are so clearly vital to their communities like the Seattle Public library or the Charlotte Mecklenberg library that even if you’ve never been there, you are aware of their libraries. Our local community library is also that way. I know that because they do a great job of telling their stories.

Now, I do agree with Seth that we need to be helping train leaders as information sherpas and with Joyce’s inspiring message that librarians need to get on the bandwagon and grab the opportunity to lead.

And while it is vital that libraries stay current and relevant, I think it is also really about relationships and communication. If we have a relationship with the community we serve, then we know what is important to them and that’s what we provide.

Because after all, we can complain that our patrons/customers/students don’t come to us, or that we are only providing a narrow service (as Godin notes) or we can get busy finding out what it is our community needs/wants by building strong relationships with the community. And then we can do it, share it, and then communicate what we are doing.

We have to understand the community we serve. And that involves talking to them, gathering feedback from them, and marketing to them. It involves telling our story. It involves good design in telling our story. It involves that human relationship conveyed through our policies, our websites, our social networking presence, and our physical spaces. A library should be an experience. Like going to your favorite coffee shop, or bookstore, you should “feel” the library’s vibe when you visit their website or walk in their doors.

We may be completely ‘virtual’ someday, or become more of a community gathering/information sharing space or be cyberarians, but even then, it will be about providing what is needed, what will lead people forwards, and what will create safe launching points for the future.

Addendum: Check out some examples of libraries which serve their communities in these heartfelt responses to Scott McLeod’s blog post.

Transformative Change

2010-01-07T16:14:44Z

“For public education to benefit from the rapidly evolving development of information and communication technology, leaders at every level–school, district, and state–must not only supervise, but provide informed, creative, and ultimately transformative leadership for systemic change.”
- From the National Educational Technology Plan

There are several elements involved in transformative and systemic change. First, there is the content of the change message; second, is the condition of the audience who will be receiving the message; and third, is the the condition of the person who will be delivering the message and leading the change.

For the purpose of today’s post, let’s pretend we all agree on the content of the message. We believe that technology can be a catalyst to transform teaching and learning so that students are more active and engaged in their learning. Now, let’s explore the environment into which this message, or any message of change, is being delivered.

The Environment- We all know that a school building culture can be complex environment and like any organization one description of the culture does not fit all. However, it is clear that some buildings, over the years, have devolved into an ‘us and them’ atmosphere. The ‘us’ being the teaching staff and the ‘them’ being the administration. In these situations there is a feeling that administrators are nothing but political animals who want to look good; but don’t understand or truly care about how difficult the teacher’s job is, nor are they fully supportive of the staff. There is little trust.

The building may be experiencing destructive levels of triangulation on a daily basis. The Principal holds a faculty meeting, or the technology committee or the curriculum committee holds a meeting and the staff participates; but as soon as the meeting breaks, there are people in the hallways or lavatories complaining about the Principal, the presenter, the committee chair, other members of the team, or the entire committee process. Rather than raising these issues in public where they can be discussed and remedied, they are relegated to private conversations. When people aren’t being candid with one another it erodes trust.

The teachers are open to the leader’s message; but they are overwhelmed. There are multiple initiatives going on and many committees meeting. The teachers feel like they cannot take on another thing. They don’t have the time or the intellectual shelf-space for another ‘high priority item’.

There may be a few staff members who are not meeting the teaching profession’s basic standards. In some cases these folks have been ignored and tolerated for years because engaging them will take an enormous amount of effort and has the potential to generate lots of political controversy.

The pedagogy in many classrooms within the building, especially secondary classrooms, is fairly traditional: teachers have the answers, they follow the curriculum, they talk a lot, while students listen and then take written tests. Also in the realm of pedagogy and transformation falls the ‘personality driven classroom’, where teachers who like to exert control or be the center of attraction find that the personality traits that have made them so successful, do not serve them as well in a more creative, project-based, student-centered classroom.

The point here is that bringing a visionary technology message, or systemic change initiative into these building cultures will be exponentially more difficult than bringing the same message into a building with a healthy, trusting, culture that has shared values and a shared vision.

“When you want to foster more responsible behavior in people, you can’t just legislate more rules and regulations,” says Dov Seidman, the C.E.O. of LRN, which helps companies build ethical cultures, and the author of the book “How.” “You have to enlist and inspire people in a set of values. People need to be governed both from the outside, through compliance with rules, and from the inside, inspired by shared values.”

Tthere are many elements of existing building cultures that need to be addressed before we can move ahead with transformative technology initiatives. Think of it as tilling the field before planting a new seed. We need to deal with existing building cultures so that our staffs are open to creating a new shared vision and implementing it.

The Leader - Last, but not least, there is the messenger; the leader. How prepared is the building administrator to lead systemic and transformative change? No doubt a challenge like shifting a building culture and introducing systemic change will be the challenge of a lifetime. Have we trained for this? or are we stepping up to the starting line of a marathon without having done any roadwork ahead of time?

If the building leader is like most of us, he learned on his own, and through his studies as part of his graduate certification program. There were courses in School Administration, School Law, Business Administration, Personnel Management, Supervision of Instruction, and School-Community Relations. He read, he attended class, he discussed, he wrote, and occasionally he presented; but little of his certification work had to do with leading transformative and systemic change.

Take just one of the scenarios above…If there is even one staff member who everyone in the building knows is not doing their job and the leader ignores them and lets them continue with business as usual, how much credibility will he have when he lays out his vision for the future? The staff will look at him and say to themselves, ‘Sure, he says he wants to make this school ‘world class’, ‘the best it can be’; but he turns his eyes away from the people who aren’t doing their jobs because it’s too much work to confront them. It’s too politically risky. Why should we stick our necks out if he won’t?” They’re right. In order to build trust with the staff the leader has to walk his own talk.

I am not trying to discourage us from moving forward. I have designed my life to help lead the effort; but if we are serious about transforming teaching and learning, we need to get serious about identifying the enormous challenges we face; and once we have done so, we need to take some serious steps to prepare ourselves, as leaders, to meet them.

It’s my belief that we’ll never get there if we continue to prepare our leaders in same manner as we have in the past. As the National Educational Technology says…”leaders at every level–school, district, and state–must not only supervise, but provide informed, creative, and ultimately transformative leadership for systemic change.”

Where will these leaders come from?

pete

Minority and Poor Students Become Majority in the South

2010-01-07T15:59:00Z

More than half students in the South are members of a minority, a milestone reached for the first time last year says a new report by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF). This is likely to happen nationwide by 2020. Worrying though is that more than half of students from the South are from low-income families, and the number of students receiving free or cut-price lunches is on the rise in every state, reports the New York Times.

If the South doesn't step up, the long-term consequences could be terrible; the states are desperate to create a workforce that can help their economies develop. The same is true nationwide, and the implications of a majority number of students coming from impoverished background makes it even more essential to improve schools (and teachers). Sadly, lawmakers don't appreciate that doing things like legalizing undocumented would help their economy and give a huge boost to local economies.

The SEF explain that the way public education is financed has to change in order to ensure fair opportunity for all — those in most need don't get enough money. The SEF conclude by saying "No challenge is now more important than helping the South’s new, diverse majority of public school students realize the full measure of their potential for themselves and the rest of the region." We're not just letting students down by failing them, but dragging the South and the nation down with every high-school student we allow to drop-out, and every child we fail.

Photo credit: Bloomsberries

Recruit Teachers With True Grit to Significantly Improve Education Says Teach For America

2010-01-07T01:59:00Z

Perseverance matters most in finding great teachers. Perseverance with teaching methods and routines, perseverance in maintaining students' focus in class, and perseverance demonstrated through exhaustive lesson plans that are well communicated to students. Perseverance and grit as a natural habit. That's the conclusion of a Teach For America study that has tracked hundreds of thousands of students and teachers. An excellent Atlantic article recounts and ponders Teach for America's discoveries and findings.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is increasingly talking about teacher accountability instead of school accountability, so he may be inclined to agree with the study and feel like the Obama administration is on the right track with their reforms. In order to win Race to the Top funds, Arne Duncan is asking states to remove legal obstacles to linking student scores to teacher performance reviews, and if you trust the findings of the Teach For America study, they're right to do so. But what are Teach For America doing to make a difference?

Teach For America is implementing their findings, and having great success in improving test scores with teachers moving up 44% of their students at least one and a half years on average, up from only 24% the previous year. Increasingly, when students struggle to make the grade, it's not just the social situation, the parents, or the school and its resources being blamed, but also the teachers — after all, achieving good results is not beyond our control. So Teach For America is concentrating on replicating the success of their best teachers and focusing on recruiting teachers that show tremendous perseverance.

But can you measure a student's perseverance levels in percentage points? Sure, their Math and English scores may have risen due to an exceptional teacher, but you need to teach them how to persevere, pay attention and avoid distractions too — and this can't always be done in traditional subjects, or be measured so easily in tests. Children who are taught these skills perform substantial better in later life, just like their teachers. Getting the best teachers is crucial, but let's make sure all that perseverance and energy isn't directed only towards getting kids test-ready, and that students come out of school as well-rounded individuals as well as being book smart.

Photo credit: Bloomsberries

Teaching and encouraging creativity

2010-01-06T22:49:17Z

When I first saw the video of Ken Robinson talking about creativity, I sat and nodded my head in agreement. Most of the people I show it to do the same thing. But then most of us go back to business as usual.

Is our current educational system even capable of addressing an idea as nebulous as “creativity?”

Do we employ creative teachers? Creative leaders? Is it even a trait that we value when we interview prospective teachers or administrators?

Do we have students who think of themselves as being creative?

I’ve said out loud before, ‘You know – I’m just not a very ‘creative’ person.” It’s taken me a long time to realize that what I really meant to say was, “I’m not really good at drawing things.” Because when we talk about creativity, that’s the first place a lot of our minds go: the fine arts. Sometimes we extend that into writing classes, but we rarely envision students being creative in Physics or Calculus.

Fortunately for us, though, Albert Einstein didn’t view math and science as a series of chapters in a textbook. He didn’t think that doing math meant doing “1-35 odd.” He didn’t have “science time” during which he thought about the Theory of Relativity followed by “math time” when he calculated how many dimes and nickels he had if he had 13 coins and 95 cents. His most important discoveries and theories came from having time to just sit and think and play with the interactions of multiple disciplines.

And Einstein knew how to have an idea and take action to push it forward; to focus on moving from vision to reality.

I like Ken Robinson’s definition:

Creativity means having original ideas that have value.

I would also add that it’s about knowing where to go from there. It’s about ignoring — just for a moment — the impulse to tell yourself, “That’s stupid.” Of course, not every idea deserves all that attention, but for those that do we need to know what to do next.

from "Indexed" by Jessica Hagy

So I’m wondering a lot lately about how we can provide time for educators and students to just sit and wonder. Or play.

I know, I know. We would allow kids more time to be creative if it weren’t for [standardized tests, behavior, curriculum, attendance]. I know the barriers because I live within them, too.

But given all that, how we can support teachers, leaders, and kids learning how to make their ideas happen?

from "Indexed" by Jessica Hagy

Now that it’s 2010…

2009-12-31T23:20:55Z

Do we stop saying “21st century skills?”

Do we begin living them?

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30971624@N00/2483188081/

New Year’s Roadshow of the Mind

2009-12-31T15:12:29Z

Hindsight knocks us over each New Year’s Eve. Television, radio, RSS feeds, and tweets bombard us with “top ten most important” lists to summarize the closing year or decade. And older we get, the more tempting it is to build retrospective castles of glistening memories, assuming that an Antiques Roadshow of the Mind will somehow locate unexpected value amid our mental junk. Yes, time generates perspective, but it is rarely unique or profound. Our New Year’s reflection is no more powerful than what occurs on a daily or monthly basis in classrooms of sixth graders. For us, the realizations may be new and the insights fascinating, but to others they are old hat.

What moves a glimmer of reflective thought from ho-hum to the Roadshow of the Mind Highlights Edition is one of three things: timing, audience, or true uniqueness. The same three make the difference between ho-hum classroom learning and moments that can change a kid’s life of learning. So humor me by considering my comparison of Roadshow reflections with what learning can be.

Timing

Sometimes we just happen to think the right thing at the right time when the supply is low, the commodity desirable, or the interest “in vogue.” Any New Year’s reflection or decade summary that includes a perspective about globalization, green technologies, or diversity will sell well today. The “auction value” of these thoughts and concepts is very high right now. For a student who masters new classroom concepts and relates it to any of these (or other) timely topics, the learning is more important. It may even help him/her seek a new path in life. Timing can take a personal reflection beyond a simple New Years or classroom experience to a new plain.

Audience

The appraisers will tell you that if no one comes to the auction, even your greatest mental treasure will not have any value. If you share your thoughts on the closing decade with no one but your best friend, these thoughts have little worth beyond the mundane. You may find yourself yelling at the television when some highly-paid commentator says the same thing, but YOUR auction did not even draw any bids for those treasured thoughts. If a sixth grader tells the teacher what he learned by making a cool multimedia comparison of the 1960s and the 1920s, it is just another gen without bidders. (My New Year’s reflection in this post is another reflection with limited audience and bidders.)

True (or likely) Uniqueness

You and I and our sixth grader buddies have little control over whether our thoughts are unique. To us, they are. My reflections here comparing New Year’s retrospectives to classroom experiences or Roadshows of the Mind seem unique to me, but more than likely, they are just a remix or coincidental restatement of what others are tweeting otr telling their best friend as I type. We’d all like to think we are unique, but uniqueness depends on circumstances well beyond our view. The Internet allows us to throw things out there to the wise crowd to assess uniqueness by user-generated “research.” Positive comments, such as a Roadshow appraiser stating he has never heard anything like it in this color or size, can add value to my reflections by increasing their likely uniqueness. But “true” uniqueness cannot be proven. Only a wide net of appraisers can generate some sort of standard of uniqueness. Wonderfully this decade, that network now includes more “us” than it ever has. Here you and I and our sixth graders work together.

So, as you add to “top ten most important ideas” list of the closing decade, don’t forget to add the sixth graders who include timely topics within their new realizations, share their ideas with audiences beyond their teacher, and even take the time to rate the uniqueness of blog posts like mine and yours along with their own.

How-to Make a Class Report Quickly and Easily

2009-12-31T08:44:52Z

As happens in the run up to Winter Break, time takes on some very strange and elastic properties. While days once dragged on endlessly, they are now short. Or time is endless, but your students’ attention span is not. What I find happening with classes in my school is that as time winds down to the break, the ability for classes to complete research reports planned in the hope and optimism of October/November disappears. What options do you have beyond having students cram in a low-quality writing assignment in the time remaining and handing out coloring sheets? How about gathering together what the kids have learned and putting it on a VoiceThread. Since this scenario happened with the fifth graders I see, I’m going to share how I think this could work in a regular classroom with only a few computers (let’s say 2-6).

Requirements:

Knowledge of how to create a VoiceThread. This is not a very high barrier. If you haven’t done it yet, get out some of those holiday pics you’ve taken in digital form and go to this page for how-tos, then create a VoiceThread on your own. Once you’ve done one, you’re ready to do it with your class. I’ll try to hit on some of the management aspects in my instructions. You’ll need at least one computer with an Internet hookup. A digital projector to share the results with the class would also be nice.

1. Research and writing: Likely you will have already done some of this, just not enough for each student to come up with a one, two, or five page report. The idea at this point is to gather what knowledge they have gained.
Lab version: I had them in the lab, so they read on the Internet. The topic was Astronomy. I had them go to sites with information about the topic. NASA Kids has a whole encyclopedia of information on astronomy topics they can search. I’m more concerned with the lexile level at Wikipedia, than the quality of information (since science sections are pretty well-maintained, they can be more up-to-date than encyclopedias). WikiJunior has an astronomy section as well at a more accessible reading level for elementary students. I had the students write short blog posts summarizing a paragraph they read. I could have had the kids correct each other online by replying to each others comments with editing suggestions.
Class Version: If the class is doing a thematic unit they should be reading on paper as well as the Internet. Have take turns in pairs on computer looking up the online topics, and then have them look through books in the classroom as well. Have them do quick writes (a couple sentences) paraphrasing what they learned. You could have them pass the quick writes around for a “buddy” edit.

2. Getting photos: Visuals will make this more engaging for the kids and give them something to speak to.
The NASA site has a number of excellent pictures if astronomy is your topic. Flickr Commons is also good for other topics. VoiceThread will let you use creative commons photos on Flickr by using the Media Sources button when you are adding photos/video to your VoiceThread. You may want to “pick out” photos by searching Flickr in advance, as the VoiceThread tool is really great, but the search facility is not as strong as Flickr’s. A tip for looking for astronomy pics, add NASA as a search term (all government photos are public domain and can be used) to get the best photos of planets, etc. Pull one or two of the kids back at a time to pick out photos to use.

3. Add students’ voices: This is where the small parts they have learned will be gathered together and hopefully make something of more depth.
Have the students come with their quickwrites (or if you’re in the lab, pull up their comments on the blog), and have them read what they wrote as a comment on an appropriate picture. Ask them a follow-up question to see if they have picked up knowledge beyond the recall level. You can also have them come up in pairs or trios. Since you’re recording, you’ll want it quiet (although I never get it “silent” and you shouldn’t worry about that). Make sure the other students know to give you silent signals, etc. at this time. You might want to consider a small coloring/drawing project to keep the other students engaged, then you can scan or take a picture of the best ones to put up on the VoiceThread.

4. Listen and learn: Play the VoiceThread for the class via projector, or have them go up in small groups and listen. Ask them to share something they learned from others. If time permits, you can have them leave comments.

Is this as good as a research report? Is this going to have a lot of higher order thinking? Maybe, maybe not, but it will make the work they’ve done more useful and long-lived than just stopping abruptly, and not completing the reports. It will also give you and the students some closure on the thematic unit.

Here are the results I got: