How Cool Is That?!

photo by John Langley

Wow! What an amazing experience!

Towards the end of a meeting packed week that also included finalizing senior grades and assisting seniors with their graduation slideshow as well as a successful Student Summit for the NetGenEd 2011 project and a photography/art show at the PPHS Ice Cream Social (a fine arts festival), I was running out of steam. I was so worn out tonight that I was wishing that I could call in sick tomorrow, knowing that I could not because there is too much to do.

What rejuvenated me was a chance look at Facebook where I noticed a post that two English students were working on their Post-Modernism Final Exam Project and were streaming the session live on Ustream with the assistance of one of their friends. How could I resist? Shortly after I started viewing the live stream, they got excited that they had a viewer, and I commented on Facebook that it was me. I watched and commented for a while. The students even discussed setting up a regularly scheduled live show - how cool is that?!

I am so thankful that I was able to be an observer of learning outside the classroom. It fired me up again. I don't feel the weight of everything on my "to do" list now. I feel refreshed and ready to go! I could see that the students were excited that I was watching them work and that I was interacting with them during their live performance. Their creativity and ability to make "work" into "play" made me forget about the work I have been doing. One of my personal goals as a teacher has always been to make learning fun, and another has been to create a culture of creativity and problem-solving. These students hit the mark, and I was priviledged to be able to participate.

I also began to reflect on the "work" of one of my colleagues, who posted a song on Soundcloud this week. Ms. McGovern posted "Words for the Wise" to her seniors and "Rockin Guitar Class" among others. How cool is that?!

What about that Student Summit? Students presented in a web conference of a global project while Flat Classroom Project co-founder Julie Lindsay attended from the other side of the globe - how cool is that?!

Students and parents viewed the award winning photography that was on display during the Ice Cream Social - students were eager to show off their work to their family and friends. The choir and band sounded amazing! I actually got the tingling chills that you get when music is so good that it becomes an emotional experience instead of just an auditory experience. How cool is that?!

How do I cap off this week? I get to present a PPEA scholarship to an amazing student at graduation this weekend. How cool is that?!

How do you avoid burn-out? What keeps you fired up and motivated? Leave comments.

Hitting a Moving Target

photo by HikingArtist.com

I realized today that students in my classes are analyzing material deeper than in previous years. Students are thinking critically more often and are striving to meet my expectations, expectations that are progressively raising as students approach the bar. What's different? Are the students smarter than previous year's students? No. I, like several of my colleagues, have created a culture of increasing expectations, and most students have accepted that striving for the bar is the right thing to do. Our moment of glory is seeing a student try, and, if unsuccessful, problem solve and keep trying.

Why do my colleagues and myself continuously maintain high expectations? Why do we spend extra time making our lessons more meaningful? Why do we research, collaborate with our PLN, model our ideals? The answer to each: because that's what we do. We put in the time, we give what we can - even when a few of our colleagues are "collecting a paycheck" and others are in it for the pat on the back. We are 21st Century Educators. We prepare students for their futures.

Now, I don't live in a fairyland - I understand that there are students who just don't want to try. I am not naive in understanding that there are those who do, those who can't do, and those who won't do. As educators, we can often make an impact on those who do and can intervene with those who can't do. The won't do group has to make the decision for themselves - sometimes we can reach them, sometimes we cannot - we have to accept that for what it is.

Upon reflection, I have to recognize that today's students are challenged much like students of the past. So, really, what's different? In my classroom the tools are different. Information is readily available in the moment. Research is spontaneously occurring each class because students have the Internet continuously available. Collaboration through backchannel chats are spontaneously taking place in Google Chat. Technology tools have enabled students to complete research, collaborate, create products, etc. much faster than students of previous years. The benefit: we have Time to analyze, dig, explore. Student work is public (posted to websites, blogs, wikis, web videos, etc). Students ensure that their work is of good quality since anyone may see it.

As students' abilities change, the target changes.  21st Century Skills align with this concept. Teachers who push there students for quality work typically are doing all the right things that the "educational gurus" say teachers should be doing. Even so, it's a great affirmation to be able to say, "Yeah, I do that already." So, as long as teachers challenge their students, the target will continue to move.

American Education Week, Professional Development, and Your PLN

This week is American Education Week (November 14-November 20).  Thank you to all Educators who do their best to be the best for our students!


Just as recently as a couple of years ago, Professional Development used to mean going somewhere else to attend a conference.  The teacher(s) and/or administrator(s) who attended the conference would then pass on the knowledge and ideas gained to the rest of the staff.  Professional Development may now be attained without leaving our building.

Online conferences are available for a variety of educational topics.  Several online conferences are a fraction of the price of attending an "away" conference.  A multitude of online conferences are available for free and may either be attended live or viewed as a recording afterward.  Classroom 2.0 and The Educator's PLN are excellent organizations to join to stay in touch with the freshest ideas in education in the United States and around the world.  I am amazed that I am able to sit in on an online session with the greats of education - not as a zombie at a table in a hotel banquet room, but as an active participant.

Professional Development has shifted.  It's time that we shift with it.  Check for online sessions on 21st Century Skills, Core Standards, RtI, PBIS.  Talk to administrators about attending online workshops and conferences.  View recordings of workshops at faculty meetings.  Get in the habit of sharing your ideas with your colleagues.  Give each other choices.  There often is no perfect "right way" in education, but choices often give educators bits and pieces of inspiration to formulate plans that work in their individual classroom.
In addition to talking to the teachers you work with (your close Personal Learning Network), join PLN's for educators.  The best place to start is by joining Classroom 2.0 and The Educator's PLN.  Talk to your colleagues about sitting in on an online session with you or view the archived presentations of past sessions at your leisure.

Thanks to Steve Hargadon, I received the following notice of the 2010 Global Education Conference.

The free, all-online 2010 Global Education Conference takes place this coming week, November 15 - 19, 2010!

We currently have 397 sessions from 62 countries scheduled, as well as 63 keynote speakers--an amazing lineup.  Please take a look at all that is taking place:  http://www.GlobalEducationConference.com.

The conference is a collaborative and world-wide community effort to significantly increase opportunities for globally-connecting education activities. Our goal is to help you make connections with other educators and students, and for this reason the conference is very inclusive and also provides broad opportunities for participating and presenting. While we have an amazing list of expert presenters and keynote speakers, we will also have some number of presenters who either have not presented before or have not presented in Elluminate--please come to encourage and support them, as they are likely to be a little nervous!

There is no formal registration required for the conference, as all the sessions will be open and public, broadcast live using the Elluminate platform, and available in recorded formats afterwards. There is a limit of 500 live attendees for any given session. To verify that your computer system is configured correctly to access Elluminate, please run the self-test at http://www.elluminate.com/support.

Please tell your friends and colleagues about this event, and watch for the Twitter hashtag #globaled10.  See you online!

Steve

Steve Hargadon
Conference Co-Chair
steve@hargadon.com
www.stevehargadon.com

Visit Classroom 2.0 at: http://www.classroom20.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

As always, the most important thing we can do as educators is to be the best we can be for our students.

Personal Learning Network and 21st Century Skills

The 21st Century Skills that educators and students alike should strive for:

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Creativity
• Innovation
• Information Literacy
• Media Literacy
• Information, Communication, and Technology Literacy
• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Self-direction
• Social and Cross-cultural Skills
• Productivity and Accountability
• Leadership and Responsibility
• Global Awareness
• Financial, Economic, Business, and Entrepreneurial Literacy
• Civic Literacy
• Health Literacy
• Environmental Literacy

The 21st Century Skills require a rethinking of the way we teach.  In order to be prepared for the workforce and/or college, students need a different skills set than what most schools are currently providing.  Society has evolved, and education is evolving with it.  Throughout past year, the concept of digital learners has been a recurring theme in my classroom.  Students not only learn differently than what we did, the professions that they will be in will require most, if not all, of the 21st Century Skills.  Students need to be able to take tools/concepts that they learn and apply them to new situations.  That's what we as educators need to do to challenge them - present them with situations where they are stretched.  Failure is a result of Trying.  Success is a result of Failing/Trying until you Succeed.

Keeping up on education, your area of expertise, and the 21st Century Skills used to be a challenge.  One of the most important things a teacher can do is start and maintain a Personal Learning Network (PLN).  If you haven't heard that term yet, you will be inundated with it soon.  Your PLN is your link to information, contacts, a network of global colleagues, etc.
 
A good start to a PLN is with iGoogle (TeacherTube Video: iGoogle and Building a Personal Learning Network).  Create an iGoogle page and add an education tab, a technology tab, and even curriculum specific labeled tabs.  iGoogle will automatically add popular gadgets to your tabs, and you can add more to personalize it.

After you get your feet wet, a possible next step is to join teacher networks like Classroom 2.0.  There are a plethora of teachers/organizations who are sharing ideas in education and in technology in education.

Finally, join Twitter.  I used to be avidly anti-Twitter . . . until I found out how teachers are using Twitter to exchange ideas, network, and connect.  If you want the latest, greatest info on education, the best source is from the experts in the field.  Twitter is the tool educators are using to do that.  Joe Dale's blog Twitter for Teachers has some video clips that make the whole Twitter thing clear.

There are several tools available to manage Twitter so you don't get overwhelmed and lose yourself in Geekdom for hours on end.  I highly recommend TweetDeck for your pc/mac - very functional desktop to manage your social networks: Twitter, Facebook, LinkIn, etc.  I use TweetDeck on my iPhone.  TweetDeck allows me to email links to someone I know who doesn't use Twitter.  Once you get really rolling, you can peruse Top 20 Sites to Improve Your Twitter Experience and Your Favorite Education Twitter Hashtags

Just setting up a Twitter account doesn't quite get you where you want to be without knowing what to do and who to get information from.  Shelly Terrell put together an amazing training video: How to Build A PLN Using Twitter.

From there, it's up to you.  Be the model for your students.  Don't expect them to try anything that you aren't willing to try yourselves.  Don't just Talk the Talk - Walk the Walk.  Move into the 21st Century with your students.