Author: Teach2Connect

This is week four of the MOOC on e-learning and digital courses through Coursera. I think I have spent more time in the last few weeks thinking about the whole concept of a MOOC (here and here), reading articles about the notorious failure of one such course (here and here), and trying to feel connected to the one I am in than I have actually reflecting on the work. The videos have been thought provoking and have set me on a mental path that is pondering the roller coaster of technology in society. My brain swirls with thoughts of dystopian villainy taking over humanity while I’m still working on my students to say, excuse me when they barrel down the hall. The videos in week 2 are still staying with me as I wonder how are the futuristic premonitions actually plausible?

But this isn’t the point of my reflection. I’m finding it difficult to stay connected to the conversation. I can watch the videos, read the tomes, and then pop onto the forums or onto twitter, but it is not “working for me”. When I engage in this type of learning that prompts deep questioning, I want to be able to process in a synchronous manner. (Yes, they have google hangouts, which I should try, but even then with 30,000 people in the course? How is that managed?) I am a tremendous fan of social media with an active life on twitter and facebook, but in this massive setting, I don’t feel I am learning as I should. Perhaps it is my upbringing of classroom based learning that is making me question the experience? I wonder if this would be different for me if I was ten years old?

I want to sit with coffees and grapple with these big questions of utopia, dystopia, technology, futurism, and humanity with human beings, in a smallish group. I am re-affirming for myself that learning in a mass setting is not providing the whole picture of learning. We cannot make ourselves widgets or numbers. We have to respect the human nature of us all. Our need to connect.

This is why, though the rate of change in schools is often abysmally slow, we cannot replace the humans. We cannot take away the adults in the room and replace them with videos of Sal Khan. We cannot put an iPad in the hands of a child and say-go learn everything. Yes, we must adapt, change, integrate technology, re-think our purpose in education, grow our mindset of what children can do, provide opportunities to stretch the adults and the children, but we can’t do it all without clinging to humanity. And a massive class of thousands of people interacting asynchronously, just won’t do it.

My school is participating in the World Read Aloud Day sponsored by LitWorld.org.  This event brings together teachers and students the world over the bring awareness to global illiteracy and to share the gift that is reading aloud.

They have offered a 3 week WRAD Blogging Challenging and I am enthusiastically participating. Here is this week’s prompt.

What do you think is special about reading aloud?

“Cheer Bear, who always knew the right thing to say, answered….”

“When I’m as big as Freddy”

“Omri”

“I hoped that Mary Anne, Claudia, Stacey, and I – the Baby Sitters Club – would stay together for a long time.”

“Oh pity the poor Farkle McBride…”

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I can still hear the voices of the people reading books to me. From my earliest years with my Mom perched on the side of my bed reading every Sesame Street, Care Bear, and Babysitter’s Club book on the shelf on through to the voice of my college lit professor lilting through Genesis via Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Reading aloud has made a profound mark on my life. I have never been an official reading teacher but when I have the opportunity to read to kids, I jump on it. I absolutely love immersing myself into a book with a little human. 

I don’t need empirical research to tell me that being read to made me a better reader. It made me curious, it grew my vocabulary, and my ability to read expressively. It helped shape my character and built a bond with adults in my life. When we read aloud to children, we give them so many academic benefits, but we also strengthen the community that comes from reading together.

As we approach our World Read Aloud Day, I see it as a calling to help our children understand the importance and gift they have in their ability to read. By themselves, with their family, and with each other. We must in turn share this gift with others.

Read Baby Read!

**Here is a repost from my super amazing Kling buddy Suzette Duncan. (My additions are in pink)**

Thinking a lot about being a teacher today.

I think I became a teacher because I love to learn. I think some people become teachers so that they will “know” or be seen as someone who “knows.” We all have had teachers like that. And I think sometimes students believe all teachers are like that.

We are not.

I have learned more as a teacher than I ever did as a student. I have learned a lot about the world, English grammar, ancient cultures, &c., but I have actually learned the most about myself. (I’ve learned about kindergarten number sense and reading acquisition and let’s not even get started on what I can tell you about good vs. bad tech tools. More than anything, I can tell you I’m a grouchy teacher when I’m hungry and I have to work every day at being patient with colleagues who don’t keep my manic pace.)

I never knew that how curious I was about string theory, until I became a teacher. (I never realized how much I care about collaboration and connection before I became a teacher. Change management is my favorite topic.)

I didn’t know I could successfully teach myself to play a beautiful instrument, until I became a teacher. (I didn’t realize I could co-teach 1st grade math without anxiety, until I became a teacher.)

I didn’t know how much friendships could mean, until I became a teacher. (I didn’t realize how much I would need my family to be my #1 champions and my super sounding board every day-until I became a teacher.)

Do you teach? What have you learned as a teacher?

As you have read before in my posts, I’m mildly obsessed with learning and growth. I have a mind that never stops and is constantly hungry for new information. Since my personal PD budget is $0 this year, post Harvard, I’m trying out my first MOOC  I’m “taking” a course offered by Coursera on the topic of “e-learning and digital cultures” from a group of professors at the University of Edinburgh.

The premise of the course looks at how Digital Culture is shaping the world and what role does e-learning play in the development of these cultures. (Or at least, that is what I take as the premise.) The topic is interesting to me but this is more an exercise in seeing how my own MOOC or e-learning experience works. How do I take in, analyze, synthesize and share information when I participate in a class with 10k+ people enrolled. Since my largest lecture class in undergrad was a class of 75, I am particularly daunted by this prospect. But since e-learning/blended learning/online learning are all buzz words of the day, I want to experience it for myself.

At this point, I realize I’m already a week behind on the coursework but since this is a course without face to face connections and so many participants, I don’t feel a sense of urgency. There are massive snippet discussions via Twitter and long threads on the forum, but I have yet to make human connections. It is a bit overwhelming. So as I go through this learning process, both literally and figuratively, I hope to reflect on how this type of learning might work for and against a varied population of teachers (and older students).

Welcome to the MOOC boat. I’ll be your reflective cruise director.

 

I popped back into my reader today after a nice mental break and have found a lot of great things out their on the interwebs…Instead of being a creator today, I’m going to be a good ole’ fashioned consumer and share things I consumed with you. Happy Reading.

George Couros: 3 ideas that will not transform schools

George does a great job at analyzing three big trends in the edu-sphere, commenting on their faults, and offering alternatives. I’m a big fan of his point of view on “flipping”. Read the comments, worth it!

Lucy Gray’s Ed Leadership Reading List

Global Ed Guru, Lucy Gray @elemenous, has begun a curated list of new and old Ed Leadership titles on Diigo from a conversation started on facebook. I was happy to share mine on her page.

Gary Stager’s take on teachers as facilitators

Gary is not what you call, sugar coated, when it comes to his opinions on things. I don’t always jive with his work or find it 100% realistic, but this is blog takes a look at the semantics of being a teacher vs. a facilitator. I liked Chad Kafka‘s comment the most as it was aligned with my thoughts.

Mark Crotty: Real Innovation…or School as we Know It.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I like this post from November.   He writes, “But, more than anything, I want some assurance that my hopes remain true possibilities. In at least some cases, even emerging realities.” Does our bent towards innovation actually change the classroom?? Let us see.

Alexis Wiggins: If you aren’t trying to improve, you aren’t really doing your job.

Not sure where I found this one, but it is spot on. I’m going to put myself in the learner camp. I applaud her bold honesty.

Here is to a marvelous 2012 and a hopeful look towards 2013. Cheers!

Our lovely and wonderful students went home on Wednesday to spend time with their friends and family for winter break. Faculty and staff alike are also undertaking a time of rest. My goal over break is to read a few great books, reconnect with a few friends, and spend time with my family. Just after we return in January, report cards will be due for review by teachers. We have an impending professional day too and our world will ramp immediately back up to its frenetic pace. Our amazing Asst. Head of School wrote a great email to her Middle School faculty before break that reminded them to actually take a break. For like the diligent type A teachers we are, some of this rest time might be spent crafting amazing tomes for our parents to read about their children. My sincere hope is that while this might take a little time, that we all use these days as a time for respite.

Respite is one of my favorite words. I find that it to be a great noun-to take respite-a thing that is not tangible but is so incredibly valuable. Educators often shun respite; we work through illness, exhaustion, casting aside our personal lives for 8-12 hours a day so that we can be incredible teachers. This can lead us to a dark hole of burn-out. So taking our respite is essential to our strength as teachers. We must take breaks, true breaks, to renew our own bodies, minds, and souls in order to best serve our families and communities.

As our days are shorter and darkness finds our world earlier, I feel we have the natural reminder to slow down. To rejuvenate. I hope, dear reader, that as you take your own winter break that you find time for personal respite and renewal. It is not a selfish act to care for oneself, in fact, it is a great gift. As you give of yourself to others day in and day out, please use this time to allow yourself care. You will be better for having given yourself a well-deserved break.

Happy Everything.

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My sister was a high-level gymnast for many years. When someone is in the gym that much, it means that the entire family is part of the gym. My job was to drop and pick up little sister at the gym several nights a week. If I was early it meant watching pint-sized muscles whip their bodies around the bars or flip in the sky and land on a 4 inch wide piece of wood. It was amazing. She was amazing. Being a high level gymnast also meant that life was about two things-school and gymnastics. Most gymnasts of this level are straight A students because of their discipline and focus, but there is not a lot of diversification in life. Eat-School-Gym-Sleep.

What in the world does this have to do with me 20 years later? A lot. I think that balance is the key to a successful educational experience(s). I am hearing a LOT of chatter around me lately that includes a no-screen at all approach to elementary education. Then in my PLN I read about 1:1 programs in Kindergarten; the complete opposite. I don’t think either are the right path. Unlike the life of the elite gymnast, we shouldn’t pigeon-hole our youngest children into one kind of learning or an all or nothing approach. Rather, we should give them educational experiences that are rich, creative, innovative, and build on their own inquiry. We need to provide them with a foundation of literacy and numeracy while developing their sense of critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity.

Technology is just one tool for delivering an engaging curriculum. If we eschew screen time in a way that is curriculum-driven and skill development focused, we are out of balance in preparing our kids for the world they live in today. The need for great teaching has not gone away with the advent of technology and the changing pedagogy of our day, rather teachers need to be more adept at differentiation, curriculum design, and multi-dimensional assessment.

While the out-of-balance lifestyle of the elite gymnast is not what we hope for, we can look to the lessons of self-discipline, learning from failure/resilience, and focus from this sport. When a gymnast falls off the beam, they dust themselves off, grab some more chalk, and hop on again. How many articles/books  have we all read in the last year or two about learning from failure?

Sometimes interest and enthusiasm will lead us out of balance and that is ok too. We need to embrace where children have natural or developed affinities. And we need to encourage them to try every at least once (even broccoli and typing practice). All of these elements are part of an holistic education.

That sister of mine decided she needed balance in her life and walked out of the gym and into a world of lots of different activities. She is now a brilliant engineer with the most compassionate heart I know. She has strong social skills and is hilarious. All in balance.

Last week I spent four days at the Harvard Graduate School of Education participating in the New and Aspiring Leaders Institute through the Principals’ Center. My brain is swirling with new and renewed learning, strong conversations, and the building of great new professional friendships. I was able to fulfill a life long dream of attending Harvard and be in a rich, intellectual environment for almost a week.

We studied my favorite topics like Adaptive Leadership, Leadership Styles, and Strategic Leadership while engaging in topics such as Interim Assessments to Drive Instruction, Parent Engagement, and Literacy. We were a diverse group, from many states and countries and many learning environments. I gained so much information (and a giant binder) that I’m left to unpack and I’m not even sure how to start…so I’ll start with questions.

Here is what we didn’t discuss:

• innovation
• diversity
• 21st C skills
• re-thinking of what matters in education
• technology

As an aspiring school leader, I wonder about our teacher and teacher leader preparation programs that continue to focus on the traditional elements of Education Reform. If Harvard just spent 4 days with 66 leaders focusing on antiquated methodology, didactic instruction, and learning based on standardization, who is talking about moving education forward? It certainly wasn’t us.

This scares me. As someone whose age puts her on the cusp between Gen X and Gen Y and who teaches Millenials, I am no longer comfortable repeating the same discussions that have been had for 25 + years in education. How does a young leader tackle the concept innovating learning when the major thought leaders (or at least those with a foothold in teacher/leader preparation) remain in the traditional approach? Is it even appropriate for me to criticize?

When we do discuss innovation and education reform (as it should be), it can be merely a discussion of digitizing what we already do or using technology to say we innovate. We really must look at what Tony Wagner calls the “Seven Survival Skills” and embrace a completely new way of teaching and learning. As Alec Couros says, “It’s Not Going Away“, so we need to revel in this amazing time of change and move with it, towards it!

With that said, I LOVED the experience, there were so many great take away’s from the Institute. I gained practical tools experience, particularly with protocols for running meeting effectively. There were plenty of new ideas for me to bring that can be applied to an array of educational settings, traditional and not. I feel like my deeper questions of meaning mean that I actually did learn something and that the process (PROh-cess, as my Canadian friends would say) of learning has been positive. When learning and understanding lead to more questions, we are certainly on the right track.

11 years ago this January I was a freshly minted college graduate with my fancy pants degree in Vocal Music Education from the awesome and amazing Northwest Missouri State University. I was ready to take the music education world by storm. I had two suits for concerts and a ink barely dry contract to teach K-12 choral/general music at a small school in southwest Iowa. I was pumped. I was full of assumptions about the kids I was going to teach (church-going, whole milk-drinking farm kids right?) and how I was going to inspire them and we were going to sing amazing music. My assumptions were soon squashed and I grew quickly on my feet. I formed my earliest beliefs about working with ALL children from where they start, not where some curriculum guide tells me they should be. I made shakers out of plastic Easter eggs and wrote my own musical revue. These children taught me so much about life in rural America and the challenges. Our time together was short, but it gave me more lessons than I was ever taught in school.

(First concert as a f/t teacher, spring 2001)

Fast forward 11 years. The years in between took me across the country and back teaching kids and adults about music, opera, and teaching in 5 schools, 3 public and 2 independent. I headed back to school while teaching full-time and earned my M.Ed with aspirations of principalship. I kept teaching and learning, constantly.  I joined the blogosphere and the twitterverse and grew a magical PLN. At the end of the day, my assumptions kept getting squashed (you’d think I’d learn by now) and my love for working with children grew more and more. Between year 1 and now I have loosened my need to control a classroom and lessened my need to be the sage. I consider myself “learner-in-chief” in my classroom; a facilitator, not a dictator. Children must be challenged and must be allowed to fail as part of their learning. School is not just about math and reading and science and art, it is about helping shape these precious little humans to take control and responsibility for their own lives. To build safe places to land when they crash and to encourage them to take another swing.

What I know for sure after 11 years is that this is a passion, a calling, not a profession. I know for sure that I must model life-long learning and never be satisfied with the status quo. I know for sure that if I don’t keep asking why and how that my children won’t either. I know for sure that being with these young people is the greatest gift. I know for sure that I must be part of a mission and wrap everything I do around that mission. I know for sure that teaching and learning for this generation cannot be the same as it was for mine or the one before that. I know that change is constant and the more we push against it, the more it hurts our kids. I know for sure that I am a teacher. And just after child of God, it is my favorite title.

Today was the first day of our “teacher week” at school. Everyone has one; I’m sure and ours is like many others. Lots of meetings and time putting up the bulletin boards and installing new touchscreen monitors (ok, so that was my classroom) and learning new procedures.

I started the new year with one last shot at teaching our new LMS. Teachers had all summer to attend a variety of sessions but being as the summer is sacred, this one was jam-packed. I’m going to boldly confess that I was worried about this one. A few of the people on my roster had been nay-sayers and I was afraid we would spend a lot of time in the “why” of this lms rather than getting through the nitty gritty. And let’s face it, when school starts in 8 days and your classroom isn’t unpacked yet, we can’t spend time on the why. Also, part of my work here is as a messenger. I don’t set policy, though I do influence it, and I do not have supervisory authority over any of my colleagues. I’m merely a coach or mentor.

Much to my surprise, my assumptions were totally squashed. The folks that I had been apprehensive about came in and got straight to work. They asked solid questions, weren’t afraid to show a little bit of vulnerability and even got excited about the possibilities. I am thrilled to see them taking to it like ducks to water. I’ve said all summer at all 7 sessions, “I don’t care if you don’t know how as long as you want to learn.” I am really looking forward to what lies ahead this year.

It really kicked me in the gut too. As someone who is an aspiring school leader, just a few short minutes taught me about the value of releasing assumptions and really building authentic relationships. If I spend time dwelling in assumptions and perceptions, real work cannot be done. As I work this year, it is critical that I work from a place of optimism and open-mindedness about PEOPLE just as I ask my people do to for TECHNOLOGY. Simple as that. I am so grateful for the lesson I learned today.

Let the wild rumpus start!