Worth Reading...

Sharing some articles and videos from the past few weeks.


 1. 3 Principles for the Future of Gaming, From A Google Game Designer (Fast Company)- ideas about the future of gaming from John Hanke, the man at the helm of Google’s experimental game, Ingress.

Video games have long been the province of the sedentary. But Hanke sees that more as a consequence of the limitations of technology than something inherent in the medium. "The game console had to be hooked up to your television and a power outlet," he says. "After that you had to have your connection to the Internet." But now, with devices that keep us connected no matter where we are, Hanke believes that gaming and the real world are ready to mingle. If Wii and Kinect were designed to get us up off the couch, Ingress aims to get us out the door entirely.

2.  School Design, Classroom Layout Can Heavily Affect Student Grades, Learning: Study (Huffington Post)- demonstrates the impact space has on learning.  Samples included of innovative school designs.

It has long been known that various aspects of the built environment impact on people in buildings, but this is the first time a holistic assessment has been made that successfully links the overall impact directly to learning rates in schools," Peter Barrett, a professor at the University of Salford, said in a statement. "The impact identified is in fact greater than we imagined and the Salford team is looking forward to building on these clear results.

 3. Philosophical Teaching Will Get Students Thinking for Themselves Again (Taylor)- guard against teaching to a test, and continue to push students to be reflective critical thinkers

As an antidote to teaching to the test, I recommend a philosophical approach. This means teaching students to be critical, reflective enquirers. It is all about putting in their hands the tools they need to find answers for themselves, and stimulating them to begin thinking more deeply and critically about ideas and arguments.

4. Our New Value: Making Stuff With Kids (Richardson)- discusses problem-solving initiatives with 6th graders at the Marymount School in NYC.  

We have to become the places where we help kids make interesting, meaningful, useful, beautiful artifacts of their learning that they can share with the real world. That’s our value moving forward. That stuff that can’t be “Khanified.”

5. Got A Problem?  Students Can Find The Solution (MindShift)- examples of how schools can be breeding ground for fostering students’ questions, a place to spark students’ interests and ideas for designing innovative solutions to real problems.

Issues like these arise every day in schools. For educators, the key is to listen to students, enlist them in looking for and building solutions, and empower students to become change makers and innovators. It all comes down to listening to the questions.

6. 1 90 Metacognition Dylan Wiliam Learning and teaching 

7. Meet the YouTube Next EDU Gurus 

Worth Reading

Sharing items from my Diigo account that I bookmarked over the past couple of weeks.

1. Everyone Chip In, Please: Crowdfunding Sandy (Goldmark)- Hurricane Sandy has shown crowdfunding websites are a simple tool for quick-response giving. Anyone can go on these sites and ask for money to rebuild or to help their neighbors rebuild. Friends, family and strangers chip in.

"You can literally sign up, share your campaign on Facebook, Twitter, email, and begin accepting credit or debit card donations online in under a minute,"

2. The Informal Instruction Core and Teaching The Village (Reich)- retake on Elmore's Instructional Core theory to focus more on learning that transpires in informal spaces.

Out in the world of informal learning—where most of us live during most of the day for most of our lives—things are slightly different. Let me propose an "Informal Learning Core." Like Elmore's core, it has three pillars: the learner, the mentor, and the materials. One difference between informal and formal education is that there is a much greater emphasis on "learning" rather than instruction in informal spaces, hence the name switch. Also, hierarchies of learning can be much weaker in informal systems, and the roles of mentors and learners are much more fluid than the roles of teacher and student. But in many cases, we're still dealing with someone who wants to learn, something they are learning with, and someone who wants to help them.

3. The Top Phrase Top Innovators Use ( Berger)-  jump starting the process to innovation, facilitating discovery through asking certain questions.

It's not complicated: The "how might we" approach to innovation ensures that would-be innovators are asking the right questions and using the best wording. Proponents of this increasingly popular practice say it's surprisingly effective — and that it can be seen as a testament to the power of language in helping to spark creative thinking and freewheeling collaboration.

4.  Scaffolding For Deeper Understanding (Skillen)- moving students from novice to experts by privileging process and reflection

• Experts realize that the ‘social context’ is important to learning
  • That learning takes place in a social context is a significant issue. This is why collaboration or ‘cooperative learning’ has become so popular – but it has to be more than social collaboration. Cognitive collaboration needs to be encouraged. As students communicate their ideas, they learn to clarify, refine, and consolidate their thinking. Schoenfeld has said that, ‘Groups are not just a convenient way to accumulate the individual knowledge of their members. They give rise synergistically to insights and solutions that would not come about without them.’

5. Art project erases new-school jitters for these Morristown freshmen- coverage of LeWitt project.  Great points about what was gained from the experience.


6. Why I Hate School, But Love Education:
  

Worth Reading

Sharing some worthy reads...


1. Richard Elmore: Future of School Reform- in 8:30 minutes a one man wrecking ball against the educational system and he is not wrong


2. 5 Inspiring Social Design Pioneers (Brown)- further evidence of seeing the connection between problem-solving and design thinking.  Continues to make me think he we should rephrase and reshape conversations with kids around problem-solving regardless of content or discipline.

Jeanne van Heeswijk describes herself as an artist rather than a designer, yet she uses the tools of design to build coalitions within communities to create lively and diversified public spaces. The video shows her remarkable ability to connect to a community, giving them ways to participate in designing solutions for themselves.

3.  GOOD Education: The Rise of Democratic Schools and ‘Solutionaries’: Why Adults Need to Get Out of the Way (Goyal)- highlights a point that often we forget to include students in any conversation about what is best for schools.  In doing so, we fail to see problems/solutions through the eyes of our true clients.  Under a design thinking model we fail to develop empathy in neglecting those who we are trying to assist.

 Young people bring a fresh angle to the conversation. It may not always be correct, but at the very least that perspective isn’t drowned in years and years of expertise. You wonder why this may be the best time in human civilization to be a young entrepreneur. Anyone can invent or create something without the risk of failing miserably considering the networks, mentors, and resources we’re bathing in.

4. Why Not Just Do It (Moran)- let's not forget the importance of play, experimentation and prototyping.  Think about the idea of experimentation and prototyping and the fact that embedded into each action is failure.  Why is failure frowned upon in schools and not viewed as part of the learning process?

Wise teachers know how to observe the cycles within a learning culture. They learn over time when to intervene and when to let learning unfold. They don’t see mistakes as a failing grade but as an opportunity for teachers and learners alike to practice experimentation, reflective processing, and abstract reasoning. They don’t spend time criticizing and judging children but rather assessing how they as teachers can provide the scaffolding needed to evolve and advance learning, as well as a love for engaging in it. They understand that different pathways offer different children entry points into learning and they define their job as not interfering with, but rather supporting the process.

5. Fight Songs: How Songwriting Is Saving War Vets' Lives (Peisner)- interesting story about return home from war- both the traumatic stress veterans endure and the ways relief is sought.

All over the country, soldiers who are suffering from the physical and emotional ravages of war are learning to deal with their pain by writing songs and playing music. Even more surprising: It's working.

6. Kelvin Doe, Self-Taught Engineering Whiz From Sierra Leone, Wows MIT Experts 

  

Worth Reading...

Sharing some articles, posts and videos.


1. Learning Today Looks Nothing Like Learning in the Past (Lirenman)- ideas about blogging activities and fostering connections with those outside of your building.

My class is involved with Quad Blogging with primary classes in the UK and New Zealand.  We've been visiting their blogs and leaving them comments. We've been learning from them.  This coming week the three classes we've been following are coming to visit us. I can't wait.

 2.  Gift Giving Project (Stanford)- potential task to instigate reflection on the design thinking process or identified key learning outcomes.

The Gift-Giving Project is 90-minute (including debrief) fast-paced project though a full design cycle. Students pair up to interview each other, come to a point-of-view of how they might design for their partner, ideate, and prototype a new solution to "redesign the gift-giving experience" for their partner.

   

3. Recasting Teachers and Students As Designers (Kahl)- discusses the importance of infusing design into our work with students.  Great point about how design empowers learners to assume ownernship over their learning.

 

 The biggest thing that design gives students is this amazing sense of possibility…that everything and anything is possible. 

  4. Finding UX, Designing UI (Socol)- asking kindergartners on how to  redesign schools.  In particular the post focuses on our use of space in schools and inlcudes links and videos to other institutions.

 We got many, many ideas - from Kindergärtners wanting cow tables and a castle with a dragon (what good is a castle without a dragon anyway?), to multiple requests for rooftop reading decks and reading treehouses, a cafeteria softserve machine, a soft student lounge, rolling science labs, movable cubes to read/work in, carpets, bean bag chairs, more outside doors, a big slide to get between the upper and lower playgrounds (ending in a trampoline or not), more art, gym every day (they currently have it four times a week), a zip line to get from one end of the school to the other, far more color - and kid-relevant color - in the school, a "giant robot bluebird which would walk the hallways saying hi to students," and choice - choice - choice... 

 5. The Global One-Room Schoolhouse (Brown)- An animated highlight of John Seely Brown's Keynote Presentation, "Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Learner in the 21st Century," at the 2012 Digital Media and Learning Conference.

The Global One-Room Schoolhouse: John Seely Brown (Highlights from his "Entrepreneurial Learner" Keynote at DML2012) from DML Research Hub on Vimeo.

 

6.TEDxBrussels - Kushal Chakrabarti - Literacy is not enough 

 

 

Worth Reading...

Sharing some posts I have come across.

1. If You Could Only Teach Ten Points, What Would They Be? (McIntosh)- 

some compelling research showing how much more learning takes place when students work collectively in a team, coaching each other to create a team-based product of learning with individual accountability built in. The effect of cross-age or cross-ability coaching is equivalent to every student, not just the one "being coached", having one-on-one teacher coaching

2.  Generation Flux (Boyd)- learning how embrace and thrive with instability

Everything in the corporate world is set up for security, so you can get to the next review. People who are willing to be uncertain will be more likely to be able to move ahead. People ask me, Are you afraid you're going to get fired. That's the whole point: not to be afraid. That doesn't mean I want to get fired."

3. The Labor Day Manifesto of The Passionate Creative Worker (Hagel)-  ideals for living life passionately

As we consider the free information and universal connectivity that is now available, we are struck by the potential that each individual has to impact the world. And as we reflect on our past progress and the opportunities still ahead, we recognize that the most valuable resource we have is the human creativity and ingenuity innate in every person. 

4. The Eight Pillars of Innovation (Wojcicki)- guidelines for nurturing innovation by Google

The greatest innovations are the ones we take for granted, like light bulbs, refrigeration and penicillin. But in a world where the miraculous very quickly becomes common-place, how can a company, especially one as big as Google, maintain a spirit of innovation year after year?

5. What Bill Clinton Wrote vs. What He Said (Atlantic Wire)- copies of Clinton's prepared remarks against his speech at the 2012 DNC

6. Tim Brown urges designers to think big



7. A Japanese Approach to Khan Academy

Worth Reading....

Sharing some posts and resources I came across.

1. Project Dream School (21st Century Collaborative)- from disillusionment about the current educational structure to a vision for a "Dream School."  Reminds me of another great article, If We Didn’t Have the Schools We Have Today, Would We Create the Schools We Have Today? What would you design or what would be your dream school?

I have been dreaming lately, dreaming about starting a school, a place where kids can ask questions and follow their passions. A place where caring adults create the conditions where deep learning can thrive and are willing to get out of the way and let it happen. A place where we value what all learners have to offer teachers and students.

2.  HBW Reads- this was shared by Patrick Larkin who was leading an unconference I attended yesterday.  This was how a school in the district where he works structured summer reading. Students were invited in to blog throughout the summer about a "buzz" book the school selected to read.

3. From Classroom Rules to Community Commitments (Spencer)- shares ideas for the beginning of school and how he has moved from establishing classroom rules/norms to community developed expectations.  Worth privileging time at the start of school to begin the process of developing a community of learners.  Additionally, learners are empowered to assume ownership over the classroom space.

When it was finished, a student asked me, "If these are our commitments, why are we using 'I' instead of 'we?'" I realize his question was linguistic in nature, but I was struck by the philosophical underpinnings to what he was asking.

4. Inspire Drive, Innovation and cReativity.  The 20% Project in the Classroom (Petty)-  description of a 20% project, made famous by Google, in a classroom.  Brings up the questions as to whether we can inspire students and foster creativity without ceding autonomy in the classroom.

With autonomy, students are encouraged to seek out their own topics, create their own timelines, research their own products and complete them.  The pro for autonomy is that students don’t really see a list of possible ideas and then limit their ideas to that list.  They have a little more unmanipulated freedom to think of a new project. 

5. For Back to School, Reimagine Classroom Design (Jilek)-  schools that have redesigned learning spaces to better inspire students. The article is a further reminder of the extent the physical space impacts learning.

But not at Hartland-Lakeside. Across the Hartland-Lakeside school district in Hartland, Wisconsin, teachers have transformed their Industrial Age classrooms into innovative, state-of-the-art learning spaces. Unique spaces allow children flexibility to move, collaborate, and express themselves in creative ways. And as a result of changing the learning environment, classroom instruction changed to fit students’ needs too.

6. "Creativity is Spelled With A "Why" (Achiron)-  discusses the importance of observation in the creative process.  Further prompts us to think about ways we position students to get out of their desks and classroom and into the streets to observe.

“These children learn different ways of thinking and looking at the world.” For Raghavan, those different ways of thinking also need to be adopted by traditional teachers and schools. “We need a shift from ‘yes’ to ‘why?’ in school systems,” he says, “from looking to observing; from being passive to exploring; from textbook-bound to hands-on; from fear to confidence.”

7. Seely Brown on New Ways of Learning in a Rapidly-Changing World- thinking of showing this as part of a new teacher meeting.

Worth Sharing...

Sharing a few thought-provoking posts I came across in recent weeks.

1. Creation Requires Your Influence (Couros)- comments on the importance of working side-by-side with students and taking part in the learning as well.

Having a dad work side-by-side with his daughter to help her learn and do something that she is interested in while helping her develop skills that she will need in her life.  She might not know how to make and edit a video right now, but she will be able to sooner than many kids because of an adult (her dad) taking the time by not only modelling his learning, but, as Chris Kennedy has said, going “elbows deep into learning” with his daughter.

2. What Will the Ed Tech Revolution Look Like (Brady/Fast Company)- prediction for what will transpire in the Ed Tech Revolution over the next 5-15 years.  I jsut wonder if we can wait 15 years for some of these changes to occur.

After a decade more of fiscal pressure at school and many of the changes discussed above, we will finally see widespread changes to our public school model. Schools will move toward one of a handful of models that better support the needs of individual students and reflect the fiscal realities of today.

3. A To-Be List (Maiers)-  what kind of leader do you want to be?

Be A Question Asker.  I have been teaching and writing about the importance of asking great questions for a long time.  Great questions are the best way to have a meaningful conversation, the best way to rope in a mentor AND the best way to look like a star performer.  Make it a priority to listen to people asking great questions. Be in charge of the questions you ask and keep a list of the best questions you hear.  Use this to create a question toolbox you use and can apply to every conversation and interaction you have.

4. A Passion For Learning Is Hard to Quantify-  9th grade student questions how mandatory one size fits all testing is a true measurement of growth and learning.

Tests are important, but are not the only way to find out what kids can do. I know I am not the best test taker, so multiple choice tests aren’t always the best way to show my abilities. And I wouldn't want to just learn how to score better on them.

5.  The Global Transformation in Education- The Global Transformation in Education" addresses the forces of change that are causing educators globally to rethink what education for today's students should involve. Teaching kids how to learn and what it means to be a life long learner.

6. Nike Find Your Greatness- what can we do to create spaces for greatness to occur?

Worth Reading...

Sharing some articles and resources from the past week.

1. Do Our Students Have PLNs? (Dewitt)- thanks to Mark Manning (@fms_principal) for sharing this article about fostering PLNs in the classroom.

Make no mistake our students have their own personal learning network. Many students are on Facebook and Twitter. However, you probably believe that they are not on those social networks for the same reason we are. However, what if they are? We are on there to stay connected with people we have not seen since high school and we suddenly care where they are eating for dinner and press "like" when they "check in" to a restaurant. We have a need to stay connected and our students thrive on that same need. 

2. Incomplete Manifesto for Growth (Bruce Mau Design)-  design manifesto was first written by Bruce Mau in 1998, articulating his beliefs, strategies, and motivations. The manifesto outlines BMD's design process. 

Harvest ideas.
Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.

3. What We Aim (Tokyo iSchool)- i.school is a cross disciplinary educational program newly established in the University of Tokyo.  We develop and provide human-centered innovation educational programs, supported by the Center of Knowledge Structuring, and in collaboration with educational, business and governmental entities.

Human-Centered Innovation

We believe every technology, system and culture created by mankind has been inherently evolved to seek more freedom, more equality and, above all else, more happiness. As we enjoy sustainable happiness, we need to create things rooted in a deep understanding of humans realistically and holistically

 

4. Rethinking Schools: Hackerspaces (Ben Wildeboer)- Hackerspaces are “community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects

 

Giving students agency over their “stuff.” Making stuff is empowering. Taking apart and restoring a trashed bike gives you a sense of pride about the bike that wouldn’t exist if you had just bought it from the store. If your remote control for your TV breaks, you might just go buy a new one- but if you recently built your own solar battery charger, maybe instead you’d take apart the remote control and fix it yourself.

5. Visible Thinking- thanks to Kara Douma (@doumakara) for sharing this resource.  Visible Thinking is a flexible and systematic research-based approach to integrating the development of students' thinking with content learning across subject matters.

 

6. Make Your Own Medical Device- The Little Devices group explores the design, invention, and policy spaces for DIY health technologies around the world

 

 

7. TedXAtlanta- Armin Vit - Think Stupid

 

  

Worth Reading...

Sharing some articles I enjoyed reviewing this week.

1. The Needle Moves Away From Schools Some More (Richardson)- what messages do we want to send home to parents

In our “Welcome Back!” letters this fall, what if we hammered home the idea that command of facts and figures and knowledge and test scores tell us very little any more as to whether or not their children have the literacies and dispositions to flourish in this “new” world of access? 

2.  Post-Its... Real World Motivators- what types of questions are being considered in the classroom; those that are Googleable or Not Googleable?

Student write boundless questions about what they wanted to know about iconography and religious art. Those students that don’t usually contribute were happy to fill many post-its, as the list were anonyms. Students were motivated by the post-its…it became a competition as to how many questions could be asked. Spelling, punctuation was overlooked for quality concepts in questions.

3. Education: The Past, The Present and The Future #2 (White)- discusses the new pillars of education and existing in a world where expertise is abundant

and in Pillar 3, Assessment, the Pillar is actually Doing–using what you know and what you can learn from the Internet, your network and local and global resources to mix, remix, create content and do something that adds value to our world.

4.  A Public School Teacher and Student Discuss Democratic Education (Cooperative Catalyst):

The days of childhood to explore and learn about the wonder of the world and to see how wonderfully you could fit into it are replaced with school, where learning about the world becomes a burden and where you’re told where you fit into the world. When you’re fifteen, you’re legally stuck in the 9th grade while at the same age, Ben Franklin, for example, was already apprenticing for his brother’s newspaper. The brightest kids of our nation, the would-be Benjamin Franklins, are having their potential strangled by the state, who is setting their goals for them.

5. How to Use Video Game Tactics in the Classroom (Andersen)

Worth Reading...

Sharing some articles, resources and videos that I have recently reviewed.


1. Why Every School Needs an Innovation Day- school in the UK experiments with Google's 20% time.  Empowering learners to assume ownership over time and focus of learning.

Bebbington believes every school should allocate one day per week for students to learn freely through projects. Doing so would certainly help students see how what they're learning can be applied to problems in the real world. After all, that's the kind of thing that makes students fall in love with learning, not moment-in-time test scores. 

2. Top US Universities Put Their Reputation Online (Couglan/BBC)- Some of the biggest powerhouses in US higher education are offering online courses - testing how their expertise and scholarship can be brought to a global audience. Further evidence of how online learning is becoming part of mainstream education.

Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have formed a $60m (£38m) alliance to launch edX, a platform to deliver courses online - with the modest ambition of "revolutionizing education around the world"

3.  My Students Reflect on Norway's Connected Testing-Pilot (Michaelsen/Powerful Learning Practice)- On the last day of May, my high school International English class participated in our national English exam. They were also among a group of students in Norway were allowed access to the Internet during testing as part of a pilot program.  Interesting range of students responses shared in the post.

Isn’t the issue interesting or provocative enough? They could be cheating during the test... asking if students should be able to use the internet while taking tests.  But the “controversy” doesn’t seem to have sparked much of an interest there either! Could it be that it’s just the sensible thing to do, and nobody wants to make a fuss?

4. Amplify the Positive Outliers (Godin)- provide a platform for those outside of the center and strongly consider their thoughts and actions.

The most efficient way to get the behavior you're looking for is to find positive deviants and give them a platform, a microphone and public praise.

5.  Skiing With Dad- late father's day post

As I recall, I’d leap out of bed before dawn and into my snow gear, energized by the crisp morning air and the anticipation of a day skiing with Dad. I’d relish our two-hour drives up I-70, our 1989 Volkswagen Westfalia chugging along to the rhythms of Carlos Santana. I’d scout the hills as Dad pointed out old mines and bighorn sheep. Then we’d arrive at Winter Park or Copper Mountain and make gleeful turns together, first chair to last. Yep, that’s the way I remember it.

7. Finland: Discovery Through Technology- Questions to Consider: See how Ms. Huttunen implements "progressive learning". How is technology used to enhance learning through research and data collection? How has technology changed Ms. Huttunen's role in the classroom?

8. All Your History: Valve Ep 1: Unlikely Heroes (w/ Gabe Newell Interview)- story behind birth of video game company Valve.  Newell talks about the open solution method followed by the company.

Worth Reading

Sharing intriguing and thought-provoking pieces I recently stumbled upon.


1. Negative Space (Socol)- commentary on spaces we create and or provide for students in schools.  How does space influence creative, innovation, collaboration and reflection?

For "negative spaces" to exist effectively and positively, the adults in the building must be mobile in space and in time, wandering - not on patrol but in search of interaction and opportunities to support. 

2. Fascinating Places (Lasic)- sharing a story about engagement after being punched in the face

You should have seen the kids go for it! ‘Learning outcomes’ anyone? We had science, social skills, maths, communication skills, problem solving, humour, persistence, engagement … the list of desirables goes on. It was simply awesome and done by kids who’d otherwise be hanging off the rafters or rolling their eyes in boredom, largely baulking at the stuff ‘curriculum’ throws at them.

3. A Third Industrial Revolution (The Economist)- how the information age is changing the face of business

As manufacturing goes digital, a third great change is now gathering pace. It will allow things to be made economically in much smaller numbers, more flexibly and with a much lower input of labour, thanks to new materials, completely new processes such as 3D printing, easy-to-use robots and new collaborative manufacturing services available online. The wheel is almost coming full circle, turning away from mass manufacturing and towards much more individualised production. And that in turn could bring some of the jobs back to rich countries that long ago lost them to the emerging world.

4. Civility, Social Justice, Empathy & Social Networking in the 21st Century Classroom(Sanders)

Many students simply do not understand the who, what, when, where, why and how of citizenship. The iCitizenship project both supports students in understanding 21st century citizenship and creates opportunities for young adults to take ownership and practice it on multiple levels.  My students skyped, tweeted, blogged and connected with people, young and old, from all over the world during this project.

They also facilitated  and lead a twitter chat about iCitizenship and skyped into an iCitizenship Town Hall Meeting at St. Joseph’s College and engaged with a physical and virtual crowd of several hundred people. The event was also live streamed over the internet and generated nearly 1000 tweets.

5. Why Bilinguals Are Smarter- promoting the benefits of speaking two languages

Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.  

6. Teach the Books Touch the Heart (Hollander)-  

We cannot enrich the minds of our students by testing them on texts that purposely ignore their hearts. By doing so, we are withholding from our neediest students any reason to read at all. We are teaching them that words do not dazzle but confound. We may succeed in raising test scores by relying on these methods, but we will fail to teach them that reading can be transformative and that it belongs to them. 

7. Thomas Suarez, 6th Grade App Developer

8. Robert Nay, developer of top selling app Bubble Ball

  

Worth Reading

Vacation edition of worth reading post.  If you run out of materials on the beach or have a few quiet minutes at home take a look through some of these articles and videos.


1. Truly Questioning Everything (Truss)- forces the reader to examine and evaluate traditional school structures.

The learning curve has been huge. I’ve had to question a lot of my own assumptions and have even found barriers in my own beliefs about what school ‘should’ or ‘needs to’ look like. It has been humbling, challenging, fascinating and engaging. The interesting thing is that much of what I’ve been learning can happen in most every school, and I find that very exciting.

2. In Search of Agency (@budtheteacher)- how do we help students and teachers realize and embrace their ability to bring about change.

The essential question at the bottom is, I think, the big piece – “How do I approach a system to determine where my agency lies?”  If you’re able to play, you can see the constraints.  To see them, you’ve got to know how and where to look.  Hacking, making and playing seem to be useful ways to answer that question.

3. Flipped Learning: a response to five common criticisms (November and Mull)- define and defends a Flipped classroom.

If they have provided students with an array of rich resources and have set up opportunities for students to think deeply and question what they have learned at home before coming to class, these teachers are going to see that there are a wide array of new questions that arise that might never have come up during a standard class period. In these cases, teachers are really going to need to know their stuff, and they are going to need to be able to individualize on the fly—quite possibly five, 10, or even 20 times in a class period.

4. Classroom on the Water: The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School- Classroom on the Water: The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, chronicles the achievements of the Harbor School and its journey to its new home on Governors Island.

5. Emily Philloton: Teaching design for change- Designer Emily Pilloton moved to rural Bertie County, in North Carolina, to engage in a bold experiment of design-led community transformation. She's teaching a design-build class called Studio H that engages high schoolers' minds and bodies while bringing smart design and new opportunities to the poorest county in the state.

 

Worth Reading

Just wanted to share links to articles and resources I came across this week.

1. Entrepreneurial Learners (Richardson)- Will Richardson shares his thoughts about a recent keynote address delivered by John Seely Brown.  A link to the keynote is included in the Richardson post.

What I especially like in this description is the idea that it conveys a real sense of the flexibility our kids are going to have to have to succeed. They will need to adapt to many different opportunities, be self-directed and creative, and transparent in the ways they share their work

2. You Don't Think All Kids Can Learn (Sanders)- speaking out against those who feel you can only teach "motivated" students.  Posting raises a point that it is the responsibility of teachers to inspire all. 

As educators, it is our job to light the fires underneath our students and show them that the world is a place that can be changed. We must encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and embrace mistakes our students make. 

3.  Viral Video, Vicious Warlord (Kristof)- thoughtful take on the "Kony 2012 Video by time columnist Nicholas Kristof. 

The video doesn’t contain errors, but it does simplify things greatly to hold attention. Complexity is, er, complicated: It has been a leading excuse for inaction during atrocities — during the Armenian genocide, during the Holocaust, during Rwanda, during the Bosnian slaughter. Each episode truly was complicated, but, in retrospect, we let nuance paralyze us. 

4.  Crisis Commons- leveraging volunteerism and technology to take an innovative approach to crisis management.  

Crisis Commons is a global community of volunteers from technology, crisis response organizations, government agencies, and citizens that are working together to build and use technology tools to help respond to disasters and improve resiliency and response before a crisis.

5.  Q&A: Frank Rose on digital storytelling and media immersion- Frank Rose explains how the digital generation is changing the way we tell stories.  Article worth sharing and discussing with students.  How do we foster the ability to tell stories?

Digital turns that on its ear, because suddenly the need to stamp out products mechanically gives way to the ability to customize them in response to customer feedback. This is as true of stories as it is of T-shirts. Movies are still a powerful storytelling mechanism, but now they can be augmented by shared storytelling experiences that can play out both online and in the real world.

6.  The World Question Center- access the link to explore individual responses to the question of How Does the Internet Change the Way You Think?

This year's Question is "How is the Internet changing the way YOU think?" Not "How is the Internet changing the way WE think?" We spent a lot of time going back on forth on "YOU" vs. "WE" and came to the conclusion to go with "YOU", the reason being that Edge is a conversation. "WE" responses tend to come across like expert papers, public pronouncements, or talks delivered from stage.

Worth Reading

Passing along some articles worht a few minutes of your time

1. Preparing Students to Learn Without Us (Richardson)- furthers the argument to personalize learning and build around passions and interests.

But now more than ever, Tucker (along with the rest of us) lives in a moment when personalizing the learning experience is not just a possibility—it's almost an expectation. We personalize our playlists through Rhapsody and iTunes, our reading through Amazon and Twitter, and our search results on Google and Bing.

But in the midst of this culture of customization, what about education? Are we personalizing learning for our students in ways that make school more relevant and inspiring? Largely, the answer is no.

2.  How to Predict a Student's SAT Score:  Look at the Parents Tax Return (Pink)- suggested evidence that socioeconomic status is a driving force behind educational attainment and performance

My hypothesis about that something — a guess rather than an assertion — is that the households in the top tier often have two parents with graduate degrees. That is, they’re rich and they’re well-educated and that’s a hard combo to beat. If that turns out to be true, it suggests that one of the most influential, but least remarked upon, social forces in America is assortative mating by education level.

3.  Instructional Segregation (Reilly)- thoughts about sorting students into tracks based on "ability

When we position students as being 'low ability'--a practice that often is used to explain instructional segregation--we also tend to believe that these students' 'inner resources' are not robust enough to warrant independent learning and instead these learners are given some 'proven' program designed to make up what is perceived as missing.

4. Engaging With Criticism (Godin)- considerations about designing a system for feedback

If you need to find out how your audience is receiving your work, it's worth considering how you've structured the interactions around criticism. Sometimes a customer has a one-off problem, a situation that is unique and a concern that has to be extinguished on the spot. More often, though, that feedback you're getting represents the way a hundred or a thousand other customers are also judging you.

5. What Does Teaching Creativity Look Like? (Dwyer)- do you see yourself as a creative person?

Schools are places where students are supposed to acquire knowledge—but to create, a person must "forget the knowledge." If you're not able to leave what you think you know behind, you can't approach problems with a fresh perspective. Students must also be taught to "desire success but embrace failure," and to "listen to experts but know how to disregard them."

Worth Reading...

Passing along some resources worth taking a look at.

1. What You (Really) Need to Know-  Proposing ways to redesign education

Nonetheless, it is interesting to speculate: Suppose the educational system is drastically altered to reflect the structure of society and what we now understand about how people learn. How will what universities teach be different? Here are some guesses and hopes. 

2. Living Labs Global- Problem solving initiative for cities

Since 2009, the Living Labs Global Award has worked together with cities in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas to present major societal challenges affecting more than 125 million people. In response, more than 800 solution providers have in the past two editions responded with often ground-breaking technologies, ready to meet those challenges.

3.  Evergreen State College- Leveraging an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning

4. Mooresville's Shinning Example-  District sharing benefits of 1:1 laptop program

The district’s graduation rate was 91 percent in 2011, up from 80 percent in 2008. On state tests in reading, math and science, an average of 88 percent of students across grades and subjects met proficiency standards, compared with 73 percent three years ago. Attendance is up, dropouts are down. Mooresville ranks 100th out of 115 districts in North Carolina in terms of dollars spent per student — $7,415.89 a year — but it is now third in test scores and second in graduation rates. 

5. Dylan William, Content the Process- Comparing the questioning of students to basketball

Worth Reading...

Passing along some worthy reads and views.

1. Shift Your School: Creating a Networked Community of Learners- Jenny Luca shares how her school has helped students understand new technologies and how to use them effectively, become ethical users of digital resources, and learn the importance of creating and maintaining a positive digital footprint.

2. Should They Know It In Twenty Years- David Warlick pushes us to consider what we value in the classroom.

3. NYC iSchool-  Check out the instructional program at the iSchool.  Instruction is built around three core principles

1. Innovation
2. Individualization and Personalization
3. Metacognitive Skill Development

4. Thoughts on SOPA and PIPA- Why it is important to engage students about these potential pieces of legislation

5. Panel Discussion on Social Media-   Dan Meyer talks about inherent incentives in social media

6. Linda Darling-Hammond- What the US can learn from successful education systems around the world

Welcome Back Resources

Wanted to share some resources I reviewed over break. 

1. Teachers as Brain-Changers: Neuroscience and Learning (Wendi Pillars)-  critical takeaways about  neuroscience and teaching

"Reading about all this from a neuroscientific perspective makes the learning process seem more concrete and reassures me that we don't need to scrap everything we know about effective teaching. In fact, many of us already approach teaching in ways that are consistent with neuroscientific findings—but knowing more about how our students' brains function can help us fine-tune what we do, and remind us to be consistent with those ideas that are brain-friendly."

2. Twelve Ideas for Teaching With QR Codes (Andrew Miller)-  ideas to take advantage of mobile technologies

“ As mobile learning becomes more and more prevalent, we must find effective ways to leverage mobile tools in the classroom… Mobile learning can create both the tool and the need.   With safe and specific structures, mobile learning tools can harness the excitement of technology with the purpose of effective instruction.  Using QR codes for instruction is one example of this.”

3. So Here's What I'd Do (David Warlick)-  offering solutions for school districts

"Recognize that change doesn’t end and facilitate continued adapting of all plans and documents. No more five-year plans. Everything is timelined to the goal graduate."

4. Cameron Herold: Let's raise kids to be entrepreneurs- Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. At TEDxEdmonton, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish -- as kids and as adults