An unlikely, unique perspective--

At my feet lies an aging, wise, and loving 100 pound German Shepherd. Rescued from abuse and neglect some 4 years ago, this handsome guy has become an integral family member. I guess it should be no surprise that he blogs and comments to 5th graders in Georgia just like his mom. But the success and scope of this unique and unlikely collaboration has amazed even me.

The journey began last January after a significant lake effect snow event. I’d been commenting to the Blogicians in Georgia and thought I’d share some of the snow with them through pictures on this blog. In one of the posts, I asked the students who they thought cried when he saw all the snow (I linked a to his picture in the comments all in fun).

Imagine my astonishment when I found Harley looking at me in my aggregator in a post at Blogical Minds. That post indicated that the Blogicians had lots of questions about him. And sure enough, Anni, and Johnny, and Tina had questions and comments.

In response, Harley added his voice to the blogosphere at From the Paws of connecting with 5th graders some 800 miles away. His second post was about him and so began his ongoing relationship with Michael and M.V.

When the Blogicians tried their hand at persuasive writing, Harley looked to Mary, Lindsey, Eddie and others for guidance before writing his post about a subject near and dear to his heart, rescuing adult and senior dogs. The Blogicians’ comments were thoughtful and kind.

One day in March, the Blogicians and I had a short, but exciting Skype call. And when Harley posted on Mom’s happiness at hearing their voices, the blogicians comments were full of excitement!

The Blogicians wrote about their passions – T.K. and Victoria, Harley posted on his.

As Harley posted, the Blogicians commented with love and kindness. The old guy seemed to touch a spot in the hearts of these bright, insightful 5th graders. His most recent post celebrates the connections he made with Blogicians through blogging.

Following that post and a wealth of comments, he popped up in my aggregator again at Blogical Minds! Mia, Victoria and Anni have composed quite a poem!

Hmmm, I’m wondering if this might have been one of those great side trips in learning-- an opportunity to write and think and learn about each other? Is there a Harley in your family, who could add an unlikely, unique perspective to a class somewhere?

Oh, the possibilities!

From Darren

"Here's a cool tool: Answer Tips (see the badge at the bottom of the sidebar). As of right now if you double click on any word on this blog that isn't a link a bubble will appear to teach you something. ;-)"

-- What possibilities!

Answer Tips is now on this blog too (the badge is at the bottom of the page) hoping that it will encourage readers to think of the possibilities--

• exposing students to new vocabulary in context
• scaffolding for those who are challenged by reading (you can hear the word!)
• excellent assistance to English language learners
• and ---------
  

K-12 Online 2007!

I am extremely honored to be gearing up for K-12 Online 2007, the second annual conference for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice with Darren, Sheryl and Wes! We wanted to be sure that you are aware of the schedule and request your input as we work to design and develop an exceptional conference experience.

Conference Schedule
If you haven’t already, please mark your calendars with the following conference dates and plan to participate.

8-12 October 2007 Pre-Conference
15-19 October 2007 Week 1 (Strands 1 and 2)
22-26 October 2007 Week 2 (Strands 3 and 4)
27 October 2007 When Night Falls

All published times for the conference will be GMT, and links to time converters will be provided.

Requesting Input
We need your input! What topics would you like to see this year’s presentations address? What areas are of greatest interest and value to you?

In a comment to this posting on the conference blog, let us know your ideas. Your input will be invaluable in the planning of K-12 Online 2007.

Calls for Proposals
Next step will be issuing calls for proposals — within the next few weeks!

Virginia Tech-

“My grief lies all within,
And these external manners of lament
Are merely shadows to the unseen grief
That swells with silence in the tortured soul”
---William Shakespeare

For his courage and willingness to stand up--

It's not often that the essence of a man, especially a complicated man, can be summed up in one sentence. But then again, there haven't been many people like Jackie Robinson.

"A life is not important," he said, "except in the impact it has on other lives."--ESPN

Isn't this a man who should be known and respected by all young people today?

Weaving -- quite a tapestry!

Trying to wrap my brain around and weave together so much good reading in this last week and now it seems to be coming together. It started with the discussions at Weblogg-ed on a degree for social computing. Will continued with these questions (in a later post) that resonated with me!

"Can we systematically teach students to “see the big picture” in ways that will allow them to construct their own process that might actually come close to replicating that formal educational process?
Or do those types of potentials only come at a later age or from experiences that cannot be replicated in a K-12 system?"

I think good answers can be found in Chris Lehman’s comment to David Warlick’s post on SLA in Edutopia

• Chris Lehmann said,
April 8, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
Thank you… all of us at SLA were *thrilled* by that article — they really captured a sense of our school, we felt.
And you touch on something that I’m mulling in my brain, trying to get to a point where I can write about it coherently, but essentially it’s this:
It’s about the pedagogy — the power of all of our ideas — first and the technology second. At SLA, the technology tools we use inform/enable a constructivist / connectivist pedagogy, not the other way around. That’s why, I think, we have been able to build such a strong culture there in eight months, because it’s never just been about the laptop. In fact, when we interviewed kids for next year’s class, our students would really get upset if an interviewee answered the question, “Why do you want to come to SLA?” with “You all get laptops.”

I actually said “Yes!” out loud when I read that and knew a post should be brewing.

And then this from Chris at Practical Theory who really says it better than I ever could:

School 2.0, for me, is John Dewey's Constructivist dream made real by the use of 21st Century tools.

We must create schools that allow students to dig deep into the world of ideas, setting up structures where traditional subjects lines can be crossed. We must use the tools at our disposal to allow students to research, collaborate, create and communicate. And we must work side-by-side with our students, developing the relationships that the students need to learn how to navigate a changing and difficult world.

And then, every decision we make has to be in service of those ideas.

Twenty or thirty years younger, Chris, and I’d be one of your applicants to become a member of the SLA community!

It’s my sense that SLA is “systematically teach(ing) students to “see the big picture” in ways that will allow them to construct their own process that might actually come close to replicating that formal educational process.. “ as Will asks. I’m wondering if another piece that can help with that teaching is found in Mel Levine’s “The Essential Cognitive Backpack” in the most recent issue of ASCD’s Educational Leadership. Just a snippet:

Cognitive Backpack Gear

Interpretation (becoming an in-depth comprehender)
• Forming, grasping, and applying concepts
• Accessing and using prior knowledge and experience
• Understanding through verbal, nonverbal, and experiential pathways
• Forming multiple vivid mental representations of new knowledge and ideas
• Monitoring degrees of comprehension
• Analyzing expectations (overt as well as unspoken)
• Systematically evaluating ideas, issues, people, and products
• Assessing opportunities
• Actively processing information inputs
• Balancing or integrating detail with the “big picture”
• Finding a balance between “top-down” and convergent thinking

Where would our students be given the right cognitive backpack and “John Dewey's Constructivist dream made real by the use of 21st Century tools”? Watching what happens here at SLA and here (these are projects from Darren Kuropatwa’s calculus classes; he has posted about Developing Expert Voices here) could provide a pretty exciting picture! What a great start!

Grace, Class, and Civility

During the current Imus firestorm, my stomach has churned and tightened into a hard knot, as it becomes more and more apparent how much more polarized and uncivilized our nation has grown to be. Racism and misogyny are alive and well in America. Even the comments at Practical Theory are evidence of this polarization and lack of civility. Chris has had to say:

”I just want to say that I am deleting any comments that devolve into personal attack. This is an issue that certainly is passionate and certainly people can disagree, however, comments that attack other commentors personally, instead of living in the world of ideas have no place.”

I had hoped that the Rutgers team would stay above the fray by remaining out of it. Initially I was dismayed when I learned they had agreed to meet with Imus. And then, on the Today Show, I was privileged to hear two very intelligent, very articulate, very classy ladies whose grace and civility reduced me to tears, coach C. Vivian Stringer and team captain Essence Carson. You can view the interview here. At one point Coach Stringer said:

“The society is what it is because of those in leadership roles…. If we don’t set the example, there can’t be a return to real decency. It starts with each one of us and what we do. As much as I would love to win a national championship, I would gladly exchange a national championship in order for there to be a better America.”

What can we each do today in order for there to be a better America?

Connections--

Just back from a walk with Harley at the wildlife preserve where the sun shimmered on the cold water from which the ice is retreating; birds lifting voices in song to the clear, crisp air; snow reluctantly receding from all the shaded nooks and crannys; a goose gingerly walking at the edge of the ice near the open water. Old man winter, who waited until January to let us know he was still in charge, seems to be reluctantly accepting the end of the season and spring appears to be creeping in step by step with all it's glorious rebirth of green and wonderful colors of flowers as they greet the warmth and sun. I love this time of year and eagerly search for each new sign-- the robins in the grass, the daffies peeking through the last of the snow, the warmth of sun anemic no more, and the joyous sound of the choir as more and more birds join in. This connection to the rebirth of spring and the demise of winter, to the cycles of nature --touch the core of my soul,helping me bury old hurts, and rejoice in the innocence and possibilities for rejuvenation.

Even more, I am touched by those human connections in which there is a reaching out on both sides, and a desire to know and appreciate the uniqueness of each. One extremely poignant connection today has made my heart soar. I've been deep in the comments of the blogs of the Blogicians for a number of months. Relationships have developed as we questioned, celebrated, and learned from each other. Imagine, a group of thoughtful, kind, bright, eager 5th graders and an old teacher, now retired. Through text, we had come to know each other. Their accomplished teacher, Mrs. C., has nurtured their blogging, their development as bloggers and their learning community. She has modeled the joy of learning and delight that arises from experimenting with words. She has fostered meaningful relationships and choreographed the environment for a memorable one today. Skype, though finicky, brought bloggers and commenter, some 1000 miles apart, together for a brief moment in time. There was an electricity in the air; you could feel the excitement in both places; grins and smiles permeated the call. As I heard the voice of each blogger, and responded in kind, I rejoiced in the knowing that our souls had touched and each had been irrevocably turned to the light. And that I would always remember this moment in time--

Mrs. C. and Blogicians, thank you! My life is the richer for knowing and connecting with you---

There's something happening here!

Out in the comments and the posts of students--

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
--Buffalo Springfield

The Pre-Cal 40S class have shared lots on their blog! Darren Kuropatwa, their teacher, asks each of them to reflect upon what they’ve learned prior to unit testing. He calls it Blogging on Blogging; his students renamed it BOB. I’ve had the privilege of reading BOBs for about a year now; usually students share what was most difficult for them, often they vow not to get behind again. This semester, these students have taken BOBs to the next level and have provided a real window into learning from their view.

In general, I think this unit is easy and fun bcause of the moments where we could all draw on the PRO SMARTBOARD! See how technology evolves and aids us in our daily lives! Gotta love it!
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/03/bob-ing-2.html

Since the time we first received the smartboard, Mr. K has been practicing his smartboarding skills and now it's more than just incorporated into our daily lessons, but is the basis of where we conduct all of our lessons. We now all come up to share our answers with the class on the smartboard, and I think it's ingenious the way Mr. K set up this peer evaluation process mixed with some competitive vigor to help our overall education. With the smartboard, now we're all willing to go up and put up our answer, and whether we're correct or incorrect, we inevitably end up learning. I wonder what the year would have been like without the almighty smartboard.
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/03/bob-barker.html

math is awesome with Mr. K is around teaching us, with the help of his new toy smart board. its not my time with Mr. K class hahah but i really understand it all with the study group and extra audio files he made to help us understand better than read it
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/blogging-on-blogging.html

Hahaha. Well anyways. The highlight of the class right now is the Smart Board. And how it has incorporated our learning to a whole different level. We can learn and read the blog at the same time... Oh wait were already doing that.. Hahaha. But seriously, the smart board has turned the class upside down and right side up. It has taken this course into a whole new mode of learning with a lot of interacting. http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/bob-thon.html

The whole working in group thing was a good idea. I would say it was pretty fun. A lot of people also said that they learned more through working in groups. I have to agree, I did learned a lot of and understood it better working in groups with the whole sharing ideas about how to solve the problem.
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/bob_4941.html

I have gained much knowledge from the lessons and now that I look back on the earlier exercises I'm finding them a breeze. This is probably due to the group work in class which has been monumentally effective in my mind. All our minds working synergistically to solve problems shines much more effective light on the questions.
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/bob_19.html

When we wrote our pre-test for the unit, there seemed to be a sense of tension in the air while we wrote the test. Everyone was silence and the sounds of pencil scratching, calculator punching, and the blowing of eraser shavings off one's desk filled the air. I myself was not expecting such a "tricky" test so I was also thinking and working furiously. After Mr. K. told us to stop writing and split us into groups, the sounds of frantic problem-solving seemed to morph into a more relaxed sharing of ideas. I feel this class was great because different people got a chance to get together and share their ideas and methods, all of which were greatly appreciated. Finally as Mr. K. shared the correct answers with the class there seemed to be a great excitement as if each answer was the winner of and Oscar. Groups exploded with cheers, fist-pumps, and hi-fives to members of their groups whom they weren't friends with before.
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/bob-circular-functions.html

Groups definitely help mind enrichment due to the fact that integration of minds exists and therefore enhances every member's knowledge about a particular topic. like today, my group members and I shared answers and opinons about our answers. It felt good!
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-on-blogging.html

There’s something happening here too! Eddie, a bright and perceptive grade 5 student from Georgia with a contagious enthusiasm for learning has discovered the power of commenting! He found Darren’s blog (with a little help from his teacher’s bloglines account) and left quite a comment. He then returned to his blog to post about it and link to what he found and the conversation continued. Darren commented to Eddie here and here and when he shared Eddie’s blog with his Pre-Cal 40S class, not only did they visit Eddie’s blog to encourage him through their comments here and here, they posted about him on their class blog too!

I say this for all my classmates, that we were astonished and inspired to learn that a grade 5 student could make such a great blog. This is for Eddie in Georgia.
Leave him a comment just to show how him what you think of his blogger skills and finesse
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/03/wow-world-of-blogging.html

After we talked about our place in the blogsphere and he showed us how to find out about it. We also went to one of our young visitors Eddie, he's a grade five student in Georgia. I believe Mr. K said something about him being in a grade ten level, impressive much?. Seven days ago he looked at our blog and blogged about it. We read it and everybody was impressed of Eddie. From what I can remember when I was in grade five I didn't even know what a computer is! He's so interested learning about Pi and Phi's. Everybody had different reactions when we read the part when he said he can't wait to get in highschool. Wow, Eddie your awesome. You are very inspiring. I wish I had the same attitude as you when I was in your age. Hey, you should listen to our podcast sometime for our class on Friday, March 2, 2007.http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/03/whooot-go-eddie.html

WOW!

“We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down”

There’s something happening here! Are we listening?

Ordinary, Extraordinary --Away from incessant busyness

I’ve been drawn back and again to Barbara Ganley’s recent post, “On the Cusp: Learning to Pay Attention to the Extraordinary in the Ordinary”. Her words have resonated with me on so many levels as her “slow blog” post seamlessly weaves events from her personal life with the importance of slowing down in learning.

On a personal level, my father is also dying, although I sense not in the same way. Daddy’s Alzheimer’s slowly pulls him farther and deeper into a world of his own, and with that descent, I find myself remembering the articulate and loving letters now in my cedar chest that always spoke to me of beauty and love and finding the ordinary extraordinary. With that remembering, I’m finding that I’m far more apt to take time to notice and appreciate the sparkling snow, the call of the geese and their flight across the wintry sky, the fun of digging out of overwhelming snow— away from incessant busyness.

As Barbara so beautifully writes:

It has taken slowing down, going deep, having some time for thoughts to bubble up and rise slowly--to look around, to feel the power of the ordinary instead of just talking about it. ..Even with this reflective blog and my posts about blogging as letter-writing and slow-blogging, I know I moved too fast, glancing at the books piled high, at the road, at the world around me, at the colossal problems in my community and the world.
For years I have been guilty, I believe, of what David T. Hansen describes in his introduction to the outstanding John Dewey and Our Educational Prospect:

"The explosion of information in the world today, the rapidity of interaction via contemporary modes of communication, the continued blurring of the lines between providing education and offering marketable degrees and diplomas: these and other forces conspire to push educators into a mode of incessant busyness, with increasingly scarce time for solitude and the conversation so indispensable for thoughtful study and reflection."

The new rituals .. plunged me back into the pleasures and significance of unexpected informal learning, the importance of paying attention to the local, of learning to look at the road every week and see it, really see it for the first time in twenty-five years, instead of listening to music or zoning out into thoughts of my teaching, of my blogging, of my parenting, of all the things I have left undone.

Her words carry me to another time, referenced here, when silence and listening and thoughtful reflection had a profound influence on my life and my learning. A vivid picture of that meeting room, windows open, birds singing, in its simplicity – a moment in time-- to which I yearn to return.

And on yet another level, her words are so articulate she relates to learning:

In our classrooms we have for so long woven pretty pale, stiff excuses for richly hued, complex, textured tapestries of a group's time together thinking, listening, talking and creating. We can do better. I can do better, by honoring the personal and informal and ordinary within the confines of formal learning, by slowing down, by messing around…

How do we help our students How are they expected to slow down if we don't? How are they supposed to have time to think creatively or mess around outside if even the playgrounds we build are managed?

I'd like to explore other kinds of unscripted moments in my classes--slowly-- the personal and ordinary, turning them over and over in our hands, connecting them to our formal learning experience and to each other in our pursuit of deep learning about ourselves and the world and how we want to live..

Barbara’s words resound as I return to my work on my current project, an online mentoring course for entry-year teachers. Yes, how indeed can I create an environment in which “unscripted moments” abound, where entry year teachers exit their mode of “incessant busyness”, and explore and reflect upon the personal and ordinary? How can I create an environment that honors the personal and informal and ordinary within the confines of formal learning-- a model for learning within their classrooms where their goal is as Darren’s:

I will continue to try to make them feel as though "the ordinary in our class is extraordinary."

so youngsters in turn can revel in those unscripted moments of discovering and power of the ordinary--

A crashed server, thoughtful presentations, and touching base with old friends!

As a massive winter storm currently rages across Ohio, I am warm and toasty in a lovely hotel room in Columbus for the annual eTech Ohio conference.

On Monday, Chris, Tracy and I paneled a session on the new entry-year teacher online course that we're currently developing. With three units complete, we were ready to show all attendees the potential of this new elearning course. Unfortunately, we had to ask folks to visualize the engaging learning environment as the elearning server crashed. To Chris' and my dismay, the server was still down late that afternoon as we ramped up for our elearning presentation. Isn't technology grand!?

The day was not lost; I arrived in time for Will Richardson's keynote and later attended his session on blogging. I truly appreciated his thoughtful questions and references to good pedagogy.

The conference has been a great time to touch base with old friends and colleagues. Mike and Ron from Polaris, Lois and Anita from Cleveland, Paul (my former manager from my days in the Educational Technology Office in Cleveland who I hadn't seen in years)who's now with Educational Funding Group, and Tamera who participated in my blogging workshop last year. She's really taken to blogging with her Spanish students and is presenting on blogging this year! Seeing each of them was special indeed.

Tomorrow's my presentation and then we're headed home to what they say will be an additional 20 inches of white stuff. Hopefully we make it down the driveway!!

Enjoying the Snow!

Hi Blogicians,

I thought you might like to compare the winters of northeastern Ohio to yours! If you click on this link, you'll see map of where I live. I've posted 4 pictures I've taken in the last two days so you could enjoy our snow too!

This one is at home in Chardon!
Do you think I had cleared the driveway once already? How can you tell?
Does the tree with all the snow paint a picture of something else? What?
What one word might you use to describe this picture?

You can check in the comment for an answer to the first question.

He looked out and he cried!

Hi Blogicians,

Here's the second picture from home!
He asked to go out. I opened the door. He looked out and he cried!

Who did I have to make a path for?
From his eyes, what did he see?
What words would you use to describe the snow?

Check the comment to learn for whom the path was made!

And these are?

Hi Blogicians,

Here's a third picture that illustrates our weather!!
In Chardon, down the hill.
What’s happening here?
How long do you think they are?
Is there an idiom you could use to describe this picture?

A new meaning to the word shovel!

Hi there Blogicians!

This is the last of snow pictures from Chardon! This big shovel is two lanes wide and its scoop is 3 feet high!

Can you see the roof of McDonalds in the back; it’s across the street?
Where in Chardon do you think I see this?
How high do you think the piles of snow are?
What words could you use to describe this picture, the snow mover or the snow?

Check in the comment after you've made your decision!

Dear Mary

Dear Mary,

Your podcast thanking me for my comments made my heart skip a beat. I was tickled pink to hear it and hope you don’t mind my sharing it with the world in this letter to you. I shall treasure it always. Thank you!

You’ve taken the world of blogging by storm! Just think, it was only October when you first posted to Mary's Magic of Fame. You invited your readers to get to know you with your poem which painted a picture worth a thousand words. Our conversations began with your Red Panda and Gogonasus Fish Fossil posts. We’ve been on a roll ever since with questions for each other that makes each of us think.

Your extraordinary vocabulary pulls me to read all your posts and your “sweet” tone in the comments brings me back for more. I continue to shake my head in disbelief at our “whisper” word choice. You wrote “You said in such a way it was like a gentle whisper in the breeze.” as you described my comments and I had begun “I’ve been engaged in whispering questions to young people in the comments of their blogs”.

No bones about it, I happen to think that blogging is the cat’s meow-- that a grey haired woman in Ohio can engage in conversations with an insightful, thoughtful, perspicacious, and spirited 5th grade student from Georgia. How much we have learned, and I’m thinking the sky’s the limit in the next few months! Did you know Tuesdays are red letter days for me too! It means a new opportunity to dialogue with you!

All my best,
Lani

Captured fireflies --- and entry-year teachers

In her classroom our speculations ranged the world
She aroused us to book waving discussions.
Every morning we came to her carrying new truths, new facts,
New ideas cupped and sheltered in our hands like captured fireflies.
When she went away a sadness did not go out.
She left her signature upon us.
The literature of the teacher who writes on children's minds.
I've had many teachers who taught us soon forgotten things,
But only a few like her who created in me a new thing, a new attitude, a new hunger.
I suppose that to a large extent I am the unsigned manuscript of that teacher.
What deathless power lies in the hands of such a person. ---by John Steinbeck

I opened the first day of the teaching professions program I taught with this poem. The first time I had read it, my life stood still. The students in that group reacted much the same; there was a deathly silence with an intense sense of commitment--

Mrs. C. and Darren have opened windows to their classrooms allowing us a glimpse of the power of such a classroom through their professional, class, and student blogs found here, here, here and in the sidebar here. Through these windows, I think we see exactly what Anne Davis mentioned to me in an email:

"We need to give students time to really take delight in their learning. Helping them become reflective learners really does require a different way of teaching and learning in our classrooms."

That way of teaching and learning are modeled for us all---These posts of Mrs. C invite, engage, and celebrate the Blogicians here, here and here. What youngster wouldn't take up any challenge or return with some special idea here?

And Mary, Lindsey, Eddie, and Emmy respond to truly validate that teaching.

Darren's posts invite us to view a group of students creating their criteria for excellence on his unique flickr assignments; his excitement and joy at their collaboration is contagious here.

Allen responds to such an environment with a unique and creative scribe and Linger notes the joy of math.

Yes, a different type of teaching and learning and this:

Every morning we came to her carrying new truths, new facts,
New ideas cupped and sheltered in our hands like captured fireflies.

The question then is how, in this time of direct teaching and high stakes testing, can we help teachers, especially entry-year teachers to scaffold this kind of joy for and in learning?

I find that a real dilemna right now as I work to design and develop an online mentoring course for entry-year teachers in Ohio. Ohio requires that entry-year teachers participate in a year long program intended to help them become more accomplished teachers and experience success on their PRAXIS III performance assessment. The course is framed by the PRAXIS 4 Domains and I see that as a plus. Had I had such structure to guide my practice, oh how my students would have benefited and my path toward accomplished teaching much faster! That said, these new teachers have learned in a world in which joy and engagement have not often been the norm. I'm challenged and determined to add yet another framing to this course, that envelops the 4 Domains-- the Steinbeck poem captures the essence, yet I have miles to go to assure that these fledging educators consider the power which has been entrusted to them. How to best model this learning within a structured management system? How to blend the criteria of the Domains with such a sense that they seek to become that teacher who encourages curiousity, and learning with joy?

Seeking balance and a niche--out of the middle, behind the scenes or ?

Thinking on this for some weeks now. Seeking balance and grappling with a tension that continues to trouble me, I’ve not been blogging for a while. And so I’m looking to this writing as a way of sorting through and clarifying the possibilities— and finding where I might belong in all of this. I spent hours working on a post and deleted it.

I’ve been engaged in whispering questions to young people in the comments of their blogs and cheering in celebration with their successes and growth. Behind the scenes, out of the middle (long stories about this and that is what I deleted)– hopefully contributing to the learning and construction of meaning.

Blogging feels in the middle to me, particularly when my contributions seem to echo or celebrate what’s happening here, or here, or here (and reading these folks is far better). I’m not convinced that being up front, in the middle is where I can best contribute—

I’ve spent hours reflecting upon this tension; wondering if it’s the transparency of the blogging, the risk taking that troubles me. And concluding no— I'm just feeling right now the possibilities abound with my connecting with young people--

So there may not be many posts here; unless suddenly I find a passion-- I’ll be out behind the scenes and out of the middle in the comments encouraging conversation and the making of meaning, and celebrating the learning.

Exemplary Scaffolding for Active, Engaged Learning!!

From grade one to high school, exemplary pockets of extraordinary scaffolding for active, engaged learning validate my belief that accountability, sound pedagogy, and innovation can work to serve our children well. I'd like to celebrate four instances and know there are many more!

The Science Leadership Academy, Philadelphia

"We've been given the task of reimagining the core curriculum in Philadelphia. We're mapping our curriculum to have the same set of skills and content as the School District of Philadelphia, mapping back to them and to the state standards in our staff development meetings. We certainly believe that we won't be short-changing our kids come PSSA time." From Chris Lehman

And there are no scripted lessons, in fact, inquiry based learning rules at SLA (Science Leadership Academy)! I've followed the birth of SLA on Chris' blog. What an incredible adventure! What possibilities abound! I look forward to hearing more as the year progresses.

Darren Kuropatwa's calculus classes, Winnipeg

"In the course of my recent research and learning about assessment, the idea of making success criteria transparent is emphasized again and again. I want my students to succeed. As a class our goal is for everyone to achieve between 80% and 100%. I have structured my assessments (above) so that students can achieve, with a reasonable amount of effort, marks in the high 80s. ... I spent a lot of time discussing with the students what excellence looks like. I showed examples of past students work." From Darren

I can recall a teacher in a local high school who told his students that his goal was to fail 50% of the class and he did. The students were discouraged and dismayed, and I was incredulous! I couldn't imagine such an attitude was tolerated by the administration. Not only does Darren want his students to succeed, he provides a clear explanation of the criteria for excellence AND his students have a voice in that criteria. How can youngsters not succeed! Imagine what they can learn as they internalize the criteria of "excellence". In addition, Darren encourages creativity in math with a digital story! Now I'm really math illiterate, despite my dad's best efforts (he was a mechanical engineer) and can't help but think that had I had a clear picture of excellence in math and the opportunity to create such a project, I would have an entirely different outlook on this subject.

Teacher C at Blogical Minds

"I think you can take these writings and really turn them into some masterpieces. Are you ready to put your shoulder to the wheel? Want to make them worthy of all that outstanding photographic work which Chris so graciously shared with us? That’s my challenge to you. Do you accept? This part can be fun because we can all put our heads together and help each other. Plus you have a head start with all the comments you have received from your readers!" From Teacher C

The Blogicians had just finished their first blogged photo stories. Can you imagine being in 5th grade and reading that wonderfully warm, encouraging challenge to improve your writing? And Teacher C's creativity abounds as she provides each student with a podcast of their story so they can hear their writing!! No bubbles to fill, or red marks to read -- encouraging excellence and the joy of writing and suggesting they can help each other. Now that's an environment in which I'd like to learn!

Kathy Cassidy's grade one, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

"Today we spent some time talking about the things that we needed to learn in math this year, and the things that we had already learned. We now have a chart in our classroom that we can look at to check our progress." From Kathy

Student podcasts follow that blog post. To hear those little ones share what they have learned and what they planned to learn, setting goals in a way so appropriate to them and sharing those goals with all of us is a real joy! And there is more! The students are wanting to know what 1000 is; Kathy's number sense pedagogy is incredible!! They are collecting 1000 names on a wiki!! I just know they will reach a 1000.

Innovative, sound pedagogy that scaffolds engaging learning experiences that ensure excellence! Well done!!

No Child Left Behind --One Size Does Not Fit All!

Chris Lehman's comments on NCLB really resonated with me.

"With NCLB and the pressure to conform, to pass the test, to teach to the test, so many schools, adminstrators and teachers have no incentive to innovate, in fact, they often have a disincentive to do so. With the focus on "Research-based curriculum," many folks fall back on what has been done before because there's less risk in doing so. With so much content in the average state standard, too many teachers just try to get through all the content and think, "I'd love to do new things, maybe in the two weeks after the [Insert State Test here.]"

"And that culture of fear that is slowly gripping the American educational system under the current version of NCLB will kill us. It will drive out innovation. It will drive out the brilliant, exciting teachers who want to take the lessons they've learned in their lives and bring it to the kids. To take the NCLB mandate in its most charitable inception, we have created a system where we were so concerned about raising the floor, that we have lowered the ceiling."

In the large urban district in which I used to teach, that culture of fear strangles teacher creativity. Scripted lessons and timelines, rigid rules, and the push to improve test scores rip from children the opportunity to explore areas of interest and develop a love of learning. The drop out rate explodes exponentially. When I recall the youngsters with whom I worked --their needs, their strengths, their weaknesses and their resilience-- tears well in my eyes, for it's my heartfelt professional belief that NCLB has created for them even greater obstacles as they attempt to escape a life of poverty.

And now a group of educators, seeking signatures on a petition calling for the dismantling of NCLB.

"We, the educators, parents, and concerned citizens whose names appear below, reject the misnamed No Child Left Behind Act and call for legislators to vote against its reauthorization. We do so not because we resist accountability, but because the law's simplistic approach to education reform wastes student potential, undermines public education, and threatens the future of our democracy.

Below, briefly stated, are some of the reasons we consider the law too destructive to salvage. In its place we call for formal, state-level dialogues led by working educators rather than by politicians, ideology-bound "think tank" members, or leaders of business and industry who have little or no direct experience in the field of education."

I find the following compelling reasons to add my signature:

7. Requires the use of materials and procedures more likely to produce a passive,
compliant workforce than creative, resilient, inquiring, critical, compassionate, engaged members of our democracy.
9. Allows life-changing, institution-shaping decisions to hinge on single measures of performance.
10. Emphasizes minimum content standards rather than maximum development of human potential.
11. Neglects the teaching of higher order thinking skills which cannot be evaluated by machines.
13. Forces schools to adhere to a testing regime, with no provision for innovating, adapting to social change, encouraging creativity, or respecting student and community individuality, nuance, and difference.
14. Drives art, music, foreign language, career and technical education, physical education, geography, history, civics and other non-tested subjects out of the curriculum, especially in low-income neighborhoods.

I don't fully agree with the wording and content of some of the other points; however, it seems to me that this might have the potential to set the stage for a meaningful conversation on the efficacy of this law. Perhaps we can persuade our legislators to consider a bill that will allow for teacher innovation and creativity AND provide for accountability. --And once again allow us to create for our children learning environments that celebrate their diversity and meet their needs.

We need a "how to" --creating an environment that encourages assessment AS learning

"How's school?" I asked our neighbor's son, as he and his Dad delivered the Cub Scout popcorn we had ordered this afternoon. He shrugged and said "Ok". I pushed a touch more--"Am I getting the feeling you're not fond of school?" Another shrug and "I like gym." Third grade and not liking school! And I've heard that more and more. In my day, in third grade, we loved school. As a matter of fact, we enjoyed school throughout our K12 years. I looked to his Dad who said all they do is talk about the test and preparing for the test. I nodded in agreement. Our school district has been rated "excellent" by the state. Our doctor has shared with me that he sees more and more younsters, younger kids with migraines and stomach problems, especially around "the test". What are schools doing with our children? The joy of learning, the opportunity to reflect upon what is learned have been hijacked and "high stakes" summative testing has taken their place.

Now I've realized that for sometime; its just difficult hearing it again from someone who is so young. And even more so with Darren recently sharing his thoughts and practice around the concept of Assessment as Learning. I became excited when he shared his thoughts last year. In his recent post, he has shared not only how this concept is evolving in his practice but also a great list of resources (oh how I wish NCTM would make all their resources available with a trial membership). With the exception of the NCTM links, the research he cites seems to be European and Canadian. I had read the PDK article when it was published in Phi Delta Kappan, the authors of which are from the U.K. And the Assessment is for Learning website is from Scotland. I find the resources there to be extremely exciting and full of potential for engaging youngsters in assessment as learning. I set out to find the "U.S." take on what I see as a critical component in learning. I couldn't locate any resources-- sigh! Perhaps it was lack of skill in locating information on my part?

I can't help but think that if the child I spoke to this afternoon had had some input into his learning goals, and had had opportunities for reflection and self/peer assessment --that his responses about school might have been far different!! How can we help U. S. teachers and districts, burdened by the summative testing of NCLB, understand the importance of assessment as learning and assist in the creation of an environment that encourages such practice? How can we help them learn from the Europeans and Canadians?

Using the power of technology-- over evil!!!

Tom Hoffman at Tuttle SVC has an incredible idea!!!! He's is encouraging all to use the power of technology to move the martinlutherking.org site, which many use as an example of the need for information literacy, off the top of the google list!!!!

He exhorts:

Anyway, enough ranting… what we need here is a good old fashioned Google bomb. So without further ado:

Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.

Here’s the code under this link. You should be able to just paste this into a blog post.

What possibilities for lessons this will create!!!!! And what good!!!!

One vision--who will accept the task?

Meg commented on my last post in which I just mentioned the possibilities for a model virtual school and she inquired:

“You mentioned a "virtual school"- what exactly would this look like?”

In my mind’s eye, this model virtual school would showcase classrooms:

• in which students are regularly engaged in authentic, multidisciplinary learning tasks
• where collaboration is a regular part of teaching, learning, and assessment
• where collaborative relationships are common among students and staff
• where students are flexibly grouped based on interest and need, and these groupings often cross grade-level boundaries
• where the teacher is the primary architect of the learning environment and purposefully facilitates student learning with overt strategies for nurturing student independence
• where students in these engaging environments:

• “Self-regulate, taking charge of and investing themselves in their learning.
• Develop and refine their learning and problem-solving strategies.
• Derive excitement and pleasure from learning.
• Collaborate with each other, their teachers, and their communities.” -source

So far, I haven’t even mentioned technology! That’s because I agree that:

“These learning environments that engage and motivate diverse groups of learners often rely heavily on technology in order to meet their goals. However, they don't meet the needs of diverse learners because of technology integration; they succeed because of careful design. Planners first must have a clear picture of the kinds of interactions and processes they want to achieve. Technology integration, then, should not be an outcome, but rather a part of the larger instructional design process.” --source

We’d see extensive use of technology in this model virtual school because:

“Appropriate technology integration happens because the instructional design of engaging learning environments requires an infrastructure that supports the communication, collaboration, and access to information central to the instructional paradigm.” -source

And I think that populating this envisioned school might take awhile because:

“The ability to implement an engaging instructional design does not come overnight. ACOT research shows that the evolution in thought and practice for most teachers undertaking the change from a traditional to a more engaged form of teaching is three to five years (Apple Computer, Inc., 2000). This evolution requires a shift in perceptions about the relationship between teachers, students, and knowledge, and these new perceptions must be agreed upon by all stakeholders.” -source

Right now, I think we are still stuck here! We need to encourage teaching practice whose focus is engaged learning and we need support from all the stakeholders!! I reached this conclusion following 3 years as a resource teacher in the instructional technology office of a large urban district. I left the classroom in 1998 because I thought, at that time, that technology had enhanced the learning of my students. Three years later, I returned to the classroom; I had slowly become very aware that it was not the technology but the pedagogy that had altered the learning in my classroom. My mindset as an educator had been profoundly altered upon my return. In my last classroom, my role was dramatically adjusted from “sage on the stage” to a “guide on the side,” from “giver of information” to designer of learning experiences. As my youngsters eagerly anticipated the new learning experiences I designed, I implemented more authentic, project-based lessons. I tried to change the face of the how I taught, what I taught, and how I requested evidence of student mastery. The technology became a transparent tool—the laptops, the online course, the video conferencing, the use of IM to focus students on the task— those were the result of intentional instructional design which was not easy, but was oh so powerful!!!!

If a virtual school could model all of this and become a nurturing environment, one that recognizes and addresses the fears of those resistant to change, one that helps to shape new behaviors, one that serves significant, meaningful and effective professional development, one that supports with suggestions and “Teflon lessons,” one that sends the message to educators ‘you are valued, you are an educator’-- then more educators may feel empowered and this virtual model could become the wind beneath their wings as they then seek to change the way children learn, what children learn, and how children share what they know using technology.

This doesn’t speak to how to plan the environment but perhaps a vision of??

In the planning, some energetic, inspired group of educators might collaborate to seek a grant to create such a model perhaps seeking various types of assistance from these types of resources:

• Microsoft US partners in learning midtier projects
• National commission on teaching and America’s future
• George Lucas Foundation

OR

Just as the K12 Online conference arose from a grassroots effort with a $0 budget, so could a model school, perhaps building off David Warlick’s, New Century Schoolhouse.

What learning and possibilities abound!!! It makes my entire body tingle with excitement!!!

Who might grab this vision and just run with it?? Or are we past my time??

K12 Online: What do you think?

If you have viewed any (even one or just part of one) of the presentations for the 2006 K-12 Online Conference, please take a few minutes and complete the post-conference online evaluation form. The deadline for submitting the survey is Sunday November 12, 2006.

Input is anonymous, and will be both shared and used to improve K-12 Online for 2007. :-)

The Learning--- More Compelling Than the Tools Themselves?

Will's post, Owning the Teaching ... and the Learning, has fostered quite a conversation in the comments. That conversation really struck a chord with me, brought back lots of memories and spurred me on to thinking! He writes:

I hate to generalize, but the thing that seems to be missing from most of my conversations with classroom teachers and administrators is a willingness to even try to re-envision their own learning, not just their students. .....

But I’m still bothered by the fact that very, very rarely do I see new pedagogies to go along with them that prepare students for the creation of their own learning networks. That allow them to take some ownership (or at least envision the possibility of it) over their learning. That help them learn self-direction and get them to stop waiting for someone else to initiate the learning. And even rarer is to find one of those teachers exploring his or her own learning through the tools. ...

Many of our kids are already doing this without us. Many of them have much more of a clue of what it means to learn using these tools than we do. Imagine if we could teach them to leverage their connections even more powerfully, if we could show them how powerful they are in our own learning. That we are not just engaged teachers but engaged learners. That we’re not afraid of what’s ahead because we know how to learn. ......

He concludes:

"And I’m wondering, like the survey question from a few days ago, what classrooms might look like 10 years from now, if they will be fundamentally different from what they are today."

And in the comments were many references to teaching and learning the "tools", the technology. The comments that resonated the most for me were more about the "learning" and suggested paths for moving forward :

Teachers and especially administrators and politicos are not going to sanction doing something differently unless you can prove that it works on more than a one classroom model. Brian Crosby

We should be moving towards creating a few schools that demonstrate the true potential of collaborative, digital learning. Mike Guerena

We need more models showing this “stuff” in action. We need classrooms that are models, places that people can visit, CDs filled with videos of lessons and projects in action. We need model networks of kids and teachers working in these ways and collaborating in their learning over the distances…. People need to relaize that it is about learning and how learning can be and needs to be different. Clarence Fisher

This post really resonates with me. Maybe it’s time to build the school of tomorrow, instead of waiting for the school of yesterday to catch up. Bud Hunt

We do need those multiple examples of those model classrooms! And I'm wondering if a virtual school might be a perfect venue to share the excitement of active, engaged students. It surely would make it easier for all of us to visit and to learn! And I'm wondering if the name of such a school should really suggest its purpose--- showcasing exemplary, extraordinary engaged learning rather than the future. --- but I'm digressing here from my original intention for this post.

I am thinking more and more that conversations whose focus is meaningful, engaged learning, and how people learn—those conversations and deeper understandings may encourage educators to consider and adapt their pedagogy to scaffolding learning experiences for all that by their very nature utilize these “tools” that many now leave behind.

Some years ago, I was fortunate to design, develop and teach a new career tech program for high school students who were interested in education as a career path. The pedagogy for that course design was built largely upon my learning from 3 sources:

Carroll, T. G. (2000). If we didn’t have the schools we have today, would we create the schools we have today? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 1(1), 117-140.


How People Learn by John Bransford et all
For these purposes specifically Chapter Two:
http://newton.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/ch2.html

Meaningful Engaged Learning from NCREL
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/engaged.htm

Now none of these is new, but I’m feeling they each lend voice to adapting to a pedagogy of learning which engages all. A reading of the paper suggests a model classroom of expert and novice learners, not teacher and learners. It speaks to the notion of life long learning, and of active engaged learning. Bransford, in research based How People Learn, notes the specific characteristics of expert and novice learners. These plus indicators of meaningful, engaged learning informed my design and scaffolding of learning experiences. I was incredibly excited and frightened at the prospect of such a learning environment. Some pretty incredible learning for both expert and novice learners transpired. Family circumstances led me to retire, but I shall always cherish and never forget the excitement, the rush from learning with my students.

It strikes me as strange that now when I share the program with others I talk about the technology--- the video conferencing, the laptops, the online course—when it was the pedagogy that fostered the learning. And I'm focusing on the tools???

I’m wondering then, if conversations surrounding the NCREL indicators, Bransford’s work, and Carroll’s paper could lead to “the classrooms our children deserve”. Can that dialogue, along with the models of excellence, be more persuasive and compelling?

A Standing Ovation!!!!

"A vision without a task is a dream. A task without a vision is drudgery.

But a vision with a task can change the world." -- attributed to Black Elk (Oglala Sioux)

Following months of planning, the k12 Online Conference continues!

What an extraordinary concept and intent--that although the scheduled "fireside chats", the keynotes and presentations, and "When Night Falls" are over, the conference would and does live on in the comments on the blog, in the K12 "Tapped In" room, and on the k12 Wiki. As do the conversations, the connections, and the learning--

And so this standing ovation for Darren, Sheryl, and Wes!!!

For your vision
For your talents
For your skills
For your perseverance in meeting any and every challenge as a possibility
For your willingness to share
For your sincere desire to empower and engage
For your determination
For your pursuit of and achievement of excellence

This one's for you!

Energy expended for the possibilities!

I've not been around here much lately. I've been spending time commenting-- to students--encouraging, validating, celebrating. Students on the AP Calculus AB, Pre Cal 40s, and Pre Cal 30S blogs are sharing some pretty incredible learning. The youngsters at Blogical Minds are just getting started, full of enthusiasm and great ideas.

In addition, in response to some encouragement, I submitted a proposal for the K12 Online Conference on commenting as I am really convinced that deeper dialogue on the blogs can lead to so much more learning. I was surprised, and that is an understatement, to find an email of acceptance. What an honor to contribute to a unique new venue, yet really feeling way out of my league! And so the presentation has been humbly submitted to what I believe is an opportunity full of possibilities for those who chose to read, and learn, and comment and create. What might occur in classrooms following this learning is an exciting thought!! This sense gave rise to my volunteering to assist the conference organizers in any way I could prior to submitting a proposal; I'm glad to act as the "continuity editor" as Darren so graciously and generously titled what I'll be and am doing. To contribute to a sincere effort to improve learning for students and assist teachers in becoming more accomplished is pretty special.

The possibilities seem enormous--already the first online preconference keynote that was heard by educators around the world and a fireside chat to continue conversations. Those conversations deepen in the blogosphere where Darren with great passion articulately reflects upon the work and energy, the synergy of the keynote, and the challenge before us all:

"In my day job I will continue to use blogs and other online tools in my teaching. I will continue to foster excellence in my students by having them contribute to the world's knowledge commons via their online presence. And, as one of them said in our recent podcast, I will continue to try to make them feel as though "the ordinary in our class is extraordinary."
..I teach other people's children to grow into making the ordinary extraordinary. Who will do the same for my kids? I'm trying in my own way.. "

...making the ordinary extraordinary... Now I really like that; recognition of the challenges but lots of powerful energy expended for the possibilities!!! --making the ordinary extraordinary-- Darren I hope you don't mind my using that eloquent phrase with proper credit, of course.

I spend many hours these days engaged in opportunities to contribute to education. My retirement has provided time for that--I am fortunate and thankful. Hopefully these contributions are always positive energy expended for the possibilities that might result-- for teachers, youngsters and learning. I'm sure others might disagree and that's ok. But I'm wondering if in the disagreement we might just choose to go our ways and expend the energies for the possibilities we each see as opposed to taking time to fault the other. Oh that the discussions about the K12 Online Conference at Half an Hour focused on possibilities and what we can do in education. Couldn't we learn more to improve our teaching practice, to make the ordinary extraordinary, and then assist our youngsters in becoming life long learners if energies were expended on just that, the possibilities?

Tags: k12online06 k12online

Words of hope that touch my soul--

I've read some posts on teaching recently that really got me excited! I wanted to jump up and down and issue a resounding 'Yes!' They give me hope and more than just a great big 'yes' they really touch my soul!

David Jakes, On being good, was one of them, especially when he ended:

"Frankly, I'm tired of technology as a second class educational citizen. It's not OK not to use it.

Simply put, a good teacher must know when and how to use technology to help kids learn, and must demonstrate it conscientiously, creatively and continually.

It's one of the most important steps in becoming a great teacher--."

That conclusion followed some really thought provoking questions! What a read!

And then this morning David Warlick really touched my heart when he concluded:

"It is not a time for teacher-technicians, trained lab clerks who observe a deficiency, and prescribe a scientifically researched strategy. It's a time for teacher-philosophers, who love their world, love what they teach, love their students, and who love what their students will be."

Now that, to my mind, is really what it's all about! I love the passion in those words, I treasure their meaning! I will go beyond hope to work in my small way toward the time described!

K12 Online2006--Possibilities do abound!

Possibilities do abound when educators have such an incredible opportunity to share, learn and collaborate online!

Darren Kuropatwa, Will Richardson, and Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach have combined their energies and expertise to call all to "K12 Online 2006".

Read about it HERE!

How will you participate? A presenter? A collaborator? A learner? How about all three?

Technorati Tags: k12online06 k12online

A revised ballet and a new group of bloggers!

Yesterday, with a revised ballet on the web, I had the honor to work with Keith, Sara, and Tony in Botkins, Ohio. They teach and learn in a small district in West Central Ohio. Connie Schneider, their superintendent, and a team from the school were funded for a competitive grant for $32000 from eTech Ohio to improve student achievement in reading and writing. They have handhelds with keyboards for all sixth grade students, and laptops for the teachers and monies for professional development. Really neat!

They are a dedicated group who are working hard to help youngsters learn and prepare for our global society! And work hard we did, with no breaks or time out for lunch, we enjoyed a salad as we talked with Darren who skyped in to share how he uses blogs in his classroom. Anne skyped in too to talk about her Write Weblog project. Oh, the learning and excitement as two master bloggers shared their wisdom and experience!!! We didn't even have time for the wonderful looking peach pie that Mrs. Schneider had made for us!

I left sensing that really good things would be happening in 6th grade classrooms at Botkins and that Keith, Sara, and Tony were truly anticipating the changes occurring in their classrooms this fall. They are going to be blogging at Blogmeister! I can't wait to read their students' blogs!

Beyond Hope

Earlier this year, I reflected upon hope for educational reform following Barbara Ganley's post on that topic. At that time I had suggested that I would continue my work even more passionately. And I've done just that.

Tuesday I'm off to a small district in Western Ohio to work with a few teachers on integrating blogs into their curriculum. The superintendent of that district wrote a grant to fund the workshop, indicating her view that blogging may have great potential to improve student achievement. The tech coordinator has been so helpful. I'm excited at the possibilities. We'll be looking at educational uses of blogs and setting up classroom blogs at David Warlick's Blogmeister. I've done my best to create a framework for the workshop that is participant centered and blog centered with me as far out of the middle as possible in a Blogging Ballet.

So what does this have to do with "beyond hope"? I haven't totally decided where/if I should include much about DOPA. Now that I'm writing this, it has come to me that using the quote from that post:

"I have to stop hoping that anything can change; instead I must go about getting the work done. Inside. Where it counts."

And encouraging the folks in attendance that we must go about getting the work done--helping our youngsters prepare for lives in our global society--might be the best approach. I know that it will be the honest one.
And now I've answered a question from another posting when I asked:

As this leg of her journey begins, she wonders where the greatest power may be found-- in the development of conversations and community, or in the possibilities to make her thinking clearly visible to her.

--making my thinking clearly visible to me may be the greatest power thus far!

The changing role of the teacher

What good reading! At The Blog of Proximal Development, an Unending Conversation unfolds. How much richer will a youngsters' education be in Konrad Glogowski's classroom. How much time do most classroom teachers take to reflect upon and change their practice? Just think how youngsters react when "My students write to construct knowledge. I refuse to correct attempts to construct understanding and improve cognitive development." No judgment, no red marks, just scaffolding to construct meaning. Pretty powerful--

How successful can an education law be that makes teachers the enemy?

Wow! What a question and what an answer! I thank Chris Lehman for pointing the way to this column. Unfortunately I hadn't read Michael Winerip until this, the last of his columns.

His writing brings to mind that of Kozol in his Shame of the Nation. He has spent lots of time in classrooms with teachers and students. And he suggests that with reauthorization of NCLB, there be provisions to mandate small class size. In addition,

We need a No Family Left Behind Law. This would measure economic growth of families and punish politicians in charge of states with poor economic growth for minority families.

And finally a new slogan from William Butler Yeats: "“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."

What do you think of that?!

A Refreshing Model of Excellence, Pedagogy, Sharing, and Learning!

Back in the days of cut and paste and copy machine, I always found myself in the library of my school full of planning for the coming year as others wound down their final days in June. I was gathering resources, planning, and cutting and pasting in hopes of applying what I had learned from the year just finished. I could see my practice change and grow, nothing that compares with Darren's energies and sophistication, and would have loved an opportunity to share and get feedback from other teachers. But those were the days of what some called "I've got a secret" and open collaboration was not viewed in a favorable light, at least in my situation. Had I had such an opportunity, my students' lives would have been the richer and their learning and mine deeper from what I could learn from colleagues.

Now the possibilities do abound when educators blog! The isolation felt by a classroom teacher (I do remember that vividly) can be an artifact of the past! The sharing, that I so yearned for, overflows the blogs of educators. The models of excellence, and life long learning on a path to providing what is best for young people are no longer hidden in one classroom in a school, or reserved for those summer weeklong or daylong institutes.

Darren at A Difference has, IMHO, modeled throughout his blog, his quest for the best pedagogy to help his students learn. That pedagogy is one that truly resonates with me! His youngsters are active learners, in control of their learning with an exemplary expert learner as a guide. For me who feels a true appreciation for his pedagogy, for others who may be open to consider this kind of classroom, and for those who now live in the world of drill and rote for NCLB, his unselfish willingness to share all he has learned and is learning opens endless possibilities. His sharing enriches the lives of all who read his blog. His open reflections upon his practice are a model, if adopted by more educators, could transform teaching and learning for youngsters across the United States, Canada, and beyond.

In his recent post, The Next Movement, he details his journey with his students with remarkable detail. What a treasure! He has offered all the opportunity to replicate or adapt his successes and to reflect and plan "the next movement". My name appears in that posting. I was surprised and honored to read it there. Thanks goes to you, Darren, for the opportunity.

How the times have changed! Sitting at my computer in Ohio, learning from a master math educator in Manitoba! What could be more exciting than that!!

Incredible student comments on scribing and learning

There's something pretty special going on over on the Pre-Cal 40S (Winter '06 blog. The student responses to Darren's questions are insightful, articulate, and so exciting. I didn't want to interrupt the student voices in the comments so emailed Darren with a message for them. Then it occurred to me that perhaps my celebration of their learning should be public too so I'm pasting what I put in the email.

Hi there Pre Cal,

I've read your comments with great excitement! Your insights into what is important to your learning, your ability to describe the criteria for posts eligible for the Hall of Fame, and your enthusiasm for learning are exemplary!!

Abr31, your comment on asking questions and your reasoning " I still ask just to make sure what I'm thinking is right now just good enough." shows how much you know about learning and the critical importance of questioning.

Manny, your comment "That is my first priority because I want everyone in the class to do well, "we're all in it together" (at least that's how I feel anyway). " You are so right, everyone is in it all together when learning. I only wish everyone had your great attitude of wanting success for all!

Jefferson, are you considering teaching because you've got some excellent ideas with: " Create an opening sentence that draws a lot of attention to the reader. Make it really interesting. And then, end it with an but kicking ending, so when the reader finishes, he/she not only be satisfied but looking more forward to learning." And your posts do just that!

T3DDie, you are teaching and I think you have really nailed a key element for a true hall of fame scribe when you say: " Well described but short enough explanations so that it is like you're teaching the whole lesson over again so that people that don't get it would have a chance to understand when you read the scribe. "

And Emile, you understand how you have taken learning to a new level when you say: " But when you are scribe you should understand and know how to explain the lesson in a way everybody will understand."

This Winston Churchill quote really speaks to all this class has done this year:

"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."

Your climb has been glorious and I hope that you have found it such!

I look forward to reading the comments that I know will follow with anticipation!

Congratulations on such excellence!

Celebrating excellence and the opportunity to collaborate!

Something's happening at Kennesaw State University in their Blog2Learn project! Some 20 teachers have entered the blogosphere until the excellent guidance of Will Richardson and Anne Davis.

Today was Anne's day. You can view her wiki which she used as a guide for participants here. Her session was exemplary with a real sense of passion for good learning for youngsters. A real teacher's day IMHO!!

I was so very honored when she asked if I might skype in to share my thoughts on commenting. It was indeed a pleasure to do so and I can't thank her enough. She seems to feel that I do ok with commenting. I enjoy making connections with students and work to create meaningful ones in the comments I compose. I'm glad they are seen as valuable! It's great fun and hard work too.

Our collaboration and sharing send me into those "real life highs" that touch our inner beings. Thanks, Anne!

Hope, Beyond Hope, Work

I've always been the one in the family who talks of hope and has hope--- hope that a student will succeed, hope that our American system of public education can transform and change, hope that our ever increasingly violent world can find a way to peace, hope that we can return to a kinder, gentler America.

Today Barbara Ganley's post truly resonated with me; especially the following:

"I have felt myself losing hope these past months that we can effect essential change in education. I have wanted to burrow down into my own practice with blogs and shut out the cacophony. I have faltered even in my own blogging practice during the past month for fear of having nothing positive to say.

And then, a couple of days ago, the latest issue of the provocative American environmental magazine, Orion, helped me see a way out of this mess. Writing about the state of the environment and environmentalism, Derrick Jensen writes in the lead article, "“Beyond Hope" :

"Frankly, I don't have much hope. But I think that a’s a good thing. Hope is what keeps us chained to the system, the conglomerate of people and ideas and ideals that is causing the destruction of the Earth. To start, there is the false hope that suddenly somehow the system may inexplicably change. Or technology will save us. Or the Great Mother…All these false hopes bind us to unlivable situations, and blind us to real possibilities… When we realize the degree of agency we actually do have, we no longer have to hope at all. We simply do the work."

He'’s right, of course. I have to stop hoping that anything can change; instead I must go about getting the work done. Inside. Where it counts."

And I realized that although I have never stopped hoping, that's what I have always tried to do--get the work done. I am thinking that she has articulated something that lives deep inside me, that I never could have put in words. And now that I have read and reread her words, I think that recognizing "beyond hope" will cause me to work even more passionately----