Thinking Aloud

Yeah....it's a morning of reflections, so I'm going to deviate a bit from education and think aloud.

It's a glorious June day, and I sit on my deck, sipping coffee and think.  I move in 30 days.  I'm leaving my home.
 
And leaving is difficult.  

It's strange how all the small pieces of life accumulate and become...me.  My house, which I love, my job, which was dear to me in so many ways, my parents' graves, my first husband's grave.  I know those stones don't need tending, yet just being near to them gives me comfort.  I don't know why.

It's not just head stones...there are hundreds of pieces, much more subtle.  Here is the road my father use to walk, here is the store where my mother worked, here is the ball diamond where my first husband and I met and played and loved, and my children now play.  Ghosts haunt my every step in this little place...will the ghosts follow, or will I leave them behind?

It's funny, the world is such a large place, but here is my corner.  I cannot find words to describe how a place and a person can be so intertwined, but the relationship exists.  It's complicated and wonderful and awful...like our relationships with people.  Saying goodbye to it and starting anew, at 43, is daunting.  So, this morning, on this deck in this sun with the sounds of my small town all around me, I reflect and hope and wonder if I am too old to develop a relationship with a new home.

I hope not.

photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/planetschwa/99535218/

Back in the Classroom: What a good idea!

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have spent the past 2 weeks at The University of Northern Iowa working toward my masters in Instructional Technology.  The program is one of many distance learning programs the university offers.  If you are considering pursuing a masters, I highly recommend a distance learning program offered from a prestigious university, for it empowers you to balance school work with life's other commitments on your own terms.  I love that flexibility.

But the BEST part of this program is belonging to a cohort.  Research shows that working with these groups throughout a program raises retention rates greatly.  After these two weeks, I know why.

Here at UNI, I have found a great group of professionals to "hang" with.  These teachers are rock stars, doing amazing things in their classrooms.  Working with them allows me to glean great ideas on new technology and how to implement it in my work.  Spending time with these people also challenges me to step up my teaching game.  I fear being a poor teacher; heck, I'll be honest: I don't even want to be an average teacher.  (You see, I have a competitive nature which has plagued me since little league.)    I want to be a great teacher, and working in this cohort has made "great" way more difficult than I thought.  I want to be in the same league as these guys, and that takes a focused effort.

Just sample the work they did this week (this stuff is free for you to use if you wish).  One team created a web tools wikispace which would explain various Web 2.0 tools for teachers to use.  The wikispace includes tutorial videos to show you how to use these great tools in your classroom.  Another team created a resource library where teachers can add their own tutorials for other techies to use.  Very cool.  My team created a Google Tools website, walking teachers through the steps to utilize Google tools available for free.  Check it out; I think there is good stuff here.

We as a cohort have made it our goal to "Tech...(*clap*)...you up!"  (Yeah, that's a big shout out to those Hans and Franz fans).  So, read, try and "tech up"!

I love being a teacher for many reasons.  But one of the keys is belonging with these professional people.  My cohort is full of intelligent, innovative, diligent, and FUN people.  Just come to our class and you will see excellence in action.

I am glad they are teaching our kids.

PS  Our professors are fairly awesome, too!  But that's another blog for another day....


Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/nypl/3110133998/

Should we be racing to the top?

I am a big fan of our President.  I think what he has accomplished in his career is amazing. However, I am NOT a fan of his educational policy and his Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

And The Race to the Top Funding plan?

Crap-ola.

To begin, the amount of money the Obama administration has everyone doing tricks for is minuscule:  is less than one percent of the federal, state and local spending.  Yet, state officials are dancing like these dollars are a big prize.  Secondly, the rules they want all these states to play by are not supported by research.  Yong Zhao noted this in his recent blog.

Duncan and the Administration want to tie teacher evaluation to student performance--performance measured by a standardized tests.  Some states, Maryland and Colorado for example, have gone so far as to make student achievement fifty percent of the teacher's evaluation, and these teachers could lose their jobs if they are found to be "ineffective" two years in a row.  AHHH!

Here is the thing:  a teacher's effectiveness cannot be measured solely on student achievement.  In fact, as Zhao notes, teacher merit pay or tying teacher evaluation to student achievement has not been proven to affect learning.  Any teacher can tell you this is common sense.  Learning is a difficult enigma to measure, and depending on standardized tests is ridiculous.  Yet, states plow ahead with these plans, clamoring for these dollars, assuming fixing education is that easy.  STOP!

Let's study what does work instead.  That's just what Dr. Zhao is proposing.  He discusses The Big Green Challenge, where local groups competed to make their community more "green."  There was no state mandate or state-run bureaucracy directing the efforts.  They left the creation methods in the hands of the local communities.  And guess what?  It worked!  Creativity was abundant as were good ideas.

So, federal and state agencies are not the directions we should be looking.  Instead we should look to local school boards, who should be listening to their teachers.  They know.  They can do it.  And if a community has complacent attitudes or unhealthy agendas, they need new leaders to step up and run and bring attention and compassion to improving that school.

I am a big fan of teachers.  They are some of the greatest people I have ever met..they are compassionate and knowledgeable and hard-working.  One week in Dr. Z's Emerging Technology Class showed that.

I know lots of people don't like politics, so they stay away.  But if we all do that, what will happen to our schools?  It's time for people who care to get involved.  Otherwise, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit."

I'd rather throw a fit.


 



Image courtesy of picasaweb.google.com

"A Piece of Poetry"

"A piece of poetry."  These are the words Jonathan Kozol used to describe the inner city classroom of Francesca, the young teacher he observed during her first years of teaching.

Wow!  A piece of poetry.  Now, that's something. 


Jonathan Kozol, in his book Letters to a Young Teacher offers some advice to these young professionals, as well as examining why fifty percent of inner-city teachers abandon the profession within three years. 

One problem he discussed was the heavy reliance on standardized tests.  With so much reliance on what our Adequate Yearly Progress shows, the importance of relationships is pushed aside.  A student can't waste time on a joke; there are math facts to learn!  Heavens!  And with all of the pressure on teachers to improve those test scores, bonding with students almost becomes a luxury they can't afford.  Yet, for many of us, we pursued education because of our passion for people.  That is the most rewarding piece of teaching--touching a life (I've seen this on many-a teacher Christmas ornament or necklace).

A classmate reminded me of this important piece in her blog Teaching Rants: My Life's Purpose.  She  referred to teaching as her life's calling.  She has a passion and said, "It is so amazing to be living my life's dream."  This compassion and joy must be palpable in her classroom.  I've never been there, but I'd bet it is a piece of poetry.

Lisa Morehouse discusses Kozol's points in her article Teaching With Passion: Advice to Young Educators.  And I have thought of this passion as I watched my fellow teachers work away in Dr. Leigh Zeitz's Emerging Instructional Technologies class in the University of Northern Iowa's master's program in Instructional Technology.  There is so much passion in this classroom.  Each professional works diligently to create meaningful learning experiences.  And I can bet this passion is visible each day they work with students.  And I can bet each of their classrooms are pieces of poetry.

I hope my classroom is.  And I think the sounds of technology will make my poetry even stronger.











Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/basykes/12508829/

Thinking "Out of the Box"

So, you want me to think out of the box? 

Of course!  I do that well!  This was my arrogant assumption  .  Unfortunately, this day was full of surprises

Here's the surprise....it's exhausting!  And another surprise...I don't even realize that I'm in the box!

I write lesson plans that I feel are student-centered and progressive and good.  But the truth is, I am redundant.  I find a new tool and use it excessively.  Because I felt so good and so proud about using that fancy "thang," I keep using it.  Here's the problem: it's now in the box.  It's no longer innovative.  So, I have to think in a new way.  Thus, the exhaustion.

But, it's the thing to do. I need to think beyond regurgitation to application.  Students need to apply.   I thought reading, analyzing and reporting was application.  But take off the fancy reporting methods used, and it's still regurgitation. 

So, I need to move to creation.  I need to make my students create something and connect and find relevance.  And THAT, my friends, is exhausting.

So, I'm designing an engineering unit....I'm an English instructor working with a teacher of engineering and a teacher of social studies...and I am trying to connect to a language arts course AND implement technology AND make it relevant to my student.  So, the question is...why do teens of 2010 care about the history of technology and its impact  on society?  How do we connect?  How can we make them create?

We begin by emptying their pockets.  What's there?  An mp3 player?  A cell phone?  Why is that there?  What made that mp3 possible?

This is where we will begin.  Let's hope the other elements will follow.






Photo courtesy of http://www.public-domain-photos.com/free-cliparts-1-big/other/containers/out_of_the_box_nicu_bucu_01.png

OMG!

So, a funny thing happened on the way to my homework.

UNI dorm internet access said, "You can't come in."

And then I had a moment like the picture....minus the pumps and short skirt.

But, I found Carrie, and all soon became less panicked.  No longer did it matter I had left my power cord in the lab; no longer did it matter that I didn't know where to park; it didn't even matter that I couldn't get into the bathroom (they put combo locks on them today, and my combo did NOT work).  You see, I had found a friend.  And then we had a great idea:  I bet they have internet access at the bar. 

Eureka!

So, here is my blog.  I'm smelly and tired and frustrated....but happy.  'Cuz I made some new friends.  And I will live to fight another day.

See ya...

One Teacher's Research

For the past three years, I had the great fortune to teach American Literature WITH an American History teacher .  The course was double-blocked with the two of us team teaching history with literature.  This is the greatest way to teach because kids make connections continuously.  It gives them a much richer understanding of the history and the literature, and it helps them develop a much deeper understanding of what being an "American" is.  I say this with confidence, for it was the overwhelming answer in student evaluations of the course.  Unfortunately, this class has been eliminated due to budget cuts (of course, the mantra from our superintendent is "none of these cuts will effect kids"...HA!)  Anyway, I digress.  It was in this course that I conducted some active research that I found very interesting.

During our study of pioneer life, we read the novel O Pioneers! by Willa Cather  I taught this the more traditional way:  students had a reading calendar, a study guide with questions structured in the six traits of reading model, discussion time in class with learning communities and activities, etc.  I felt good about the unit, and students scored well on the objective test and fairly well (an average score of 82.4%) on the essays. (I always report the objective score separately from the essay score, for I believe these tests require two different skills, and I want my students to evaluate their skills accurately).

During the unit on the 1920s and our study of The Great Gatsby, I decided to approach the teaching  differently.  Thanks to a cooperative history teacher, we designed Life in the 1920s Web Quest (using Google sites).  In this quest, students were assigned to a small groups and asked to explore one aspect of the 1920s.  While using class time to do their research and build their presentations (using Google presentation tools), students were to be reading The Great Gatsby.  Again, I utilized a reading calendar, and I scheduled comprehension quizzes and minimum discussions; I just wanted to be sure students understood the novel on a basic level.

After the students' presentation on their aspect of the 1920s, I then spent a three days analyzing Gatsby, discussing themes and characters...moving to the deeper analysis beyond the "right there" stuff.  Thus, minimal class time was spent on the novel--specifically my teaching of it--with most time being spent on students investigating the 20s and making connections to Gatsby on their own.

Here is the interesting part.  On the unit test, students scored about the same on the objective test, but the essays showed a 10% gain as a class average.  Overall, the essays were much more in-depth and moved beyond regurgitation to much more thoughtful analysis...which is always the goal. Why was there a gain, when the essays, compared to those from O Pioneers, demanded very similar analysis?  I know the science of correlation would question the validity of my results, but I think it must be related to the approach of the material, and how utilizing technology created a more student-centered approach to the literature.

Now, all is not perfect.  Six students showed no improvement, or actually dropped some.  In further analysis, four of those students scored extremely well on the first test and had little room for growth.  Two students' scores/essays simply were not as strong.  So, it wasn't magical.

However, it was significant enough of a gain for me to continue finding ways to make the study of literature a student-centered activity.  And the work students did with the technology encourages me to investigate more ways to utilize it in my classroom.  Always, though, I see the technology as a tool.  Do borrow a phrase from James Carville.."it's about the learning, dummy," But the technology can facilitate learning in a whole new way.  At least, that is my opinion.

Photo courtesy of www. flickr.com

I Think I am Having an "A-HA" moment

I think I am on the verge of "getting" this.  It has been a slow process, but, it has been worth it.

I have struggled these last few weeks.  I felt overwhelmed.  I felt lost.  I wanted my professors to provide more direct instruction and guidance--after all, I have invested over $2000 to learn this summer.  Instead of having direction, however,  I felt as if I was floating through an unknown territory, desperately grabbing for something familiar that could point the way.

But now I think I get it.  After watching the video ""A Networked Student" and reading the blog "How I Built My Personal Learning Network", I think I know what I am suppose to be doing.  I am building a Personal Learning Network!  OK!!  It has taken me a long time to shift my expectations of teacher-directed learning, but my perspective is slowly shifting now, and this is a wonderful feeling.  For now I see the direction I should be traveling....now I see the "textbook" I should be building....now I see my role and the teacher's role in this process, and now I feel much better.

And NOW I am excited to build this PLN.  I am not sure what I will do to implement things.  I begin a new teaching position in August, and I do NOT wish to come flying in with all these fancy ideas to implement.  No, I will sit quietly and learn this first year and build my PLN.  I will share when appropriate, but I must not impose.  After all, this is their school now--I am just joining.

But I am hopeful.  I am hopeful that all will be great with this move.  I am appreciative that a district felt it worth extra money to hire me, an experienced teacher.  And I am determined to show this district that I was worth their investment.

Change is hard.  My life is in complete flux as I leave my home I have had all my life and begin anew.  This, combined with the out-of-control feeling inherent with this grad program,  has almost put me over the edge!

But now, I think I 'get' it.  At least this one piece, this PLN, I get.

And that feels like a great victory.

Photo courtesy of....http://www.cs.miami.edu/~tptp/Seminars/Wos-AoAR/LightBulbMoment.GIF

So They Want to Disrupt My Classroom???

Well, fellow bloggers of the EIT world, I just finished reading the next chapters of Disrupting Class and I do feel disrupted.  These swamis (Clayton M. Christensen, Michael B. Horn, and Curtis W. Johnson) have lots of predictions for the future of education. Hmmmmmm........

To begin, I really enjoy the historical perspective they bring to the discussion as they examine past business disruption.  The concept of "competing against nonconsumption" (p. 90) that Christensen et. al. present is insightful, and the "televisions as appliances" historical perspective is especially helpful in understanding technology's disruptive possibilities.  But education??

I am not foolish enough to disagree with the premise that technology will impact education; after all, I am working toward a master's in educational technology.  Student-centric technology has great potential, and as educators we must travel this road and find what it can do for our children. 

Where I become skeptical of our authors' prognosis is the extent to which they see computers delivering instruction.  Here is why: learning is an emotional experience.  In her article, The Connections Between Emotions and Learning, Candy Larson presents fascinating research to illustrate the strong role emotions play into learning.  Yet, I see no mention of this vital element in all of Disrupting Class.   

The overwhelming number of examples to which  the authors draw correlations to is with industry.  I respectfully state the obvious:  children are not machines.  Selling televisions is WAY different than educating children.  These Harvard business professors don't seem to fully grasp this, for there is little to no mention of the number one factor that impacts learning:  the teacher! 

Teaching is about human interaction.  Ask any person what affected his or her education most, and the overwhelmingly most popular answer will be a teacher.  Yes, the pedagogy is important.  Yes, teachers must continually update their knowledge and their skill.  However,  a caring individual will impact a child much more than a computer.  

Disrupting Class has great insight into the possibilities technology offers to boost our effectiveness to educate.  However, it is a tool...and it is a tool to be utilized by trained and caring professionals.  I do not believe computers will disrupt the "humanness" of teaching.  Life is, after all, about relationships.  And that factor, although failing to appear on any of Christensen's charts, is the most vital.

Why Not??

WHY NOT???? 

There seems to be great wisdom in asking oneself this question.  So I am going to have the audacity to ask it....

Why not change the school day/week?

Perhaps this would mean that students meet Tuesday-Friday, and teachers only would attend on Monday....

Perhaps this would mean that students would dismiss at 2:00 each day, with teachers remaining until 3:30.

Now, I know there are problems that arise with this.  Student-teacher time will be reduced.  Extra-curricular sponsors will be antsy to start their practices.  But I believe that if we wish to truly make meaningful change to this educational system, we must give it meaningful time.

Let's consider what the "experts" are proposing for a classroom teacher:  you want me to raise test scores, create inspired lessons, create student-centered learning environments that demand authentic tasks (which may or may not translate to higher test scores, upon which I will be evaluated), add meaningful technology, collaborate with other teachers in other subject areas, and grade all the papers and coach basketball or speech or run a school newspaper?  Really?  OH....and I am suppose to know each student personally, evaluate his/her strengths and weaknesses, develop an educational plan that suits the individual's needs, incorporate the technology that personalizes instruction, and of course be understanding to the family dilemmas and emotional trials the child suffers?  I need to be a genie.  Where is my magic wand?

If this country wants to get serious about improving education, it needs to get serious about incorporating collaborative and preparatory time into a teacher's school day/week.


WHY NOT?