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The Times, They Are A-Changin’

Jan9

I haven’t felt inspired to blog in a while, but a number of things have happened in the last few days that have given me much cause for thought…

I spoke in an earlier blog, about my new principal this year – how he has been encouraging us to slow down and focus on process as opposed to content – to go deeper instead of wider.  I was honest about my skepticism, ready to see another educational fad come and go, and was rather frustrated to be “put through the hoops” as we jumped onto the latest gimmick.

I wish I could spend the next few paragraphs bragging about how right I was.

Let’s just say the good thing about my skepticism is that it forced me to educate myself on the subject.  My participation in the PLP (Powerful Learning Practice) program this year taught me to develop and keep up with an RSS reader.  I need to be honest and admit this…  I had no idea how ignorant I was of current practices and theories in education.  I think as teachers, we just “do our thing” year after year, and figure if it has worked in the past, why change?  But do we really look at whether it has worked?

My principal has also provided some interesting insight from folks like Alfie Kohn (www.alfiekohn.org), Chip Wood (www.yardsticks4-14.com), information from the book Best Practice, Today’s Standards for Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools,

http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Standards-Teaching-Learning-Americas/dp/0325007446/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294625150&sr=1-1

and the Responsive Classroom program (www.responsiveclassroom.org).  All of this has been enlightening, challenging, and frankly, overwhelming.

In a recent faculty meeting, we discussed grades.  We talked about how to provide authentic instruction, how to focus on the progress of each child, and finally how best to assess our elementary students.  These open discussions enable us to throw the big questions out there, and talk through them as a team.  One of our biggest concerns as an independent college preparatory school is the effect on our students as they move forward into middle school and high school.

Today I read the New York Times article on the upcoming redesign of the A.P. Program.   http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09ap-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

The revised exams will focus on application of concepts and critical thinking skills as opposed to memorizing huge amounts of content.  This Connected Principals blog addresses the article as well – (http://www.connectedprincipals.com/archives/2250)

The fact of the matter is this:

As Bob Dylan sang, “The Times, They Are A-Changin’”

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.

Do you want to be the last on board?  It’s no longer about the content.  If we refocus our teaching and our students become strong critical thinkers and problem solvers, they will have no problem applying these vital skills to every subject area in middle school, high school, college, and beyond.

What Do You Want to Learn Today?

Nov7

I’ve been thinking a great deal about what it means to teach our kids to be “self-learners”.   We talk about wanting kids to be able to pursue their passion.  Did I even know what my students’ passions were??  One day last week I decided to find out.  In the morning, the students found a journal prompt on the front board.  It said, “If you could learn about any subject, what would it be?  Is there something you want to know more about that we do not study at school?  How do you think  you could learn more about it?”

My 3rd graders were temporarily baffled.  They needed more information.  Should it be a subject, like Math or English?  Should it be a person?  Could it be a sport?  Could they really learn about ANYTHING??  I told them there were no wrong answers.  They were free to tell me about absolutely any topic or person they were interested in learning about. 

It wasn’t long before the room fell silent.  Suddenly, they were writing.  Could they learn about more than one thing?  I encouraged them to pick just one or two topics.  When they finished, I asked them to bring me their journals.  Slowly, they came to my desk with their journals.  They were timid, as though they were revealing a secret no one else knew.  They wanted to know if their answers were “ok”.  The results astounded me.   Here are some of the things my 8 and 9 year olds are curious about:

Russian language and culture
Ocean biology
Football
Greek and Roman mythology
How the brain works
Haiti, and how things are since the earthquake
Turtles
Steven Gerrard (soccer player)
The periodic table of elements
Civil War history
Robots
The behavior of dogs and cats
Basketball
Civilization timeline – Who were the first people?
Division
The Hope Diamond – Is it cursed?
How the body works and what it can do
Probability

Wow.  Now what???  Suddenly it felt very important to allow my students the freedom to pursue their quest for knowledge!  What good was it just to ask?  I spent some time looking for appropriate search engines, and found some great sites.  Here is a short list:

http://www.kidsclick.org/ (web search for kids by librarians)
http://quinturakids.com/ (search engine with word cloud)
http://www.kidrex.org/ (Google safe search)
http://www.squirrelnet.com/search/Google_SafeSearch.asp
http://www.studysearch.com.au/ (a cool australian search engine)
http://www.dibdabdoo.com/
http://kids.yahoo.com/

This week, I plan to bring in the laptops, and turn them loose.  I want them to learn how to be safe on the Internet, and how to find the information they want from reliable sources.  I want them to realize the vast resource at their fingertips, and encourage them to pursue their passions.  I want them to see how their curiosity can lead to learning.  I think they’ll be excited at the possibilities ahead…

Manage, Analyze and Synthesize Multiple Streams of Simultaneous Information?

Sep14

I have a high school daughter.  She and my husband constantly argue about how long it takes her to complete assignments, and how her texting, facebooking, music, and other “multi-tasking” activities are distractions that are not productive.  I’ve been listening to other educators talk about how this is the future, and that our kids are already good at this – that we shouldn’t shut them down!  Our old and addled brains just can’t understand…  I did some research and found this recent article about Facebook use during studying: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39038581/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

At my recent PLP (Powerful Learning Practice) Kick-Off in Dallas, Will Richardson whipped off the title phrase above (you’d be impressed by how quickly he can say it!).  My question is this… Is this the SAME as what we know to be multi-tasking?  During the kick-off, I was watching Will’s PowerPoint presentation, listening to him speak, participating in a TodaysMeet (http://todaysmeet.com/), and taking notes in a Google Document.  I had my TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com) open, as well as my Facebook to entertain me when someone was asking a question I already knew the answer to and I got bored.  Even now as I type, I have 12 tabs open in my browser (including Skype in case my college daughter wants to call and talk) and I’m struggling to listen to my husband behind me…  Yes, I’m struggling.  Although I LIKE having all this going on, I will admit that I’m not terribly good at it.  I’ll also admit that I missed chunks of what Will was saying while I was “backchanneling”. 

Here’s what TodaysMeet says about the backchannel:  “The backchannel is everything going on in the room that isn’t coming from the presenter.  The backchannel is where people ask each other questions, pass notes, get distracted, and give you the most immediate feedback you’ll ever get.  Instead of ignoring the backchannel, TodaysMeet helps you leverage its power.  Tapping into the backchannel lets you tailor and direct your presentation to the audience in front of you, and unifying the backchannel means the audience can share insights, questions and answers like never before.

Lots to think about…  Is it ok to be partially tuned in to six different things, or are we cheating ourselves?  Many of the studies I’ve read say that we CAN’T actually multi-task – but that our brains can switch from one thing to an other with amazing speed.  This I believe.  I also believe that to “Manage, Analyze and Synthesize Multiple Streams of Simultaneous Information” may not really be multi-tasking.  It might just be the way we learn to organize and prioritize the vast amount of information that comes at us at once in this wonderfully digital age as we truly become 21st century learners.

My daughter is not likely to give up her ways.  Thanks to the way the world is, she gets restless when “single-tasking” and has difficulty focusing (is this why we are labeling more kids ADD each year?).  My job as a parent, and our job as educators, is to guide and teach our children how to Manage, Analyze and Synthesize Multiple Streams of Simultaneous Information (and sometimes that might mean knowing when to turn off a few things to effectively study for that big exam tomorrow, or reducing distractions when grades are dropping).  But to do this, we must learn ourselves – We must stop dragging our feet and become 21st century learners.