teachers

Imagining Successful Schools [Nocera]

On 09/02/2014, in education reform, K-12 related, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Imagining Successful Schools — from nytimes.com by Joe Nocera

Excerpt:

The main thing that works is treating teaching as a profession, and teachers as professionals. That means that teachers are as well paid as other professionals, that they have a career ladder, that they go to elite schools where they learn their craft, and that they are among the top quartile of college graduates instead of the bottom quartile. When I suggested that American cities couldn’t afford to pay teachers the way we pay engineers or lawyers, Tucker scoffed. With rare exception, he said, the cost per pupil in the places with the best educational systems is less than the American system, even though their teachers are far better paid. “They are not spending more money; they are spending money differently,” he said.

…

Tucker envisions the same kind of accountability for teachers as exists for, say, lawyers in a firm — where it is peers holding each other accountable rather than some outside force. People who don’t pull their own weight are asked to leave. The ethos is that people help each other to become better for the good of the firm.

From DSC:
With a special thanks going out to James Bratt,
Professor of History at Calvin College, for this resource.

From DSC:
I ran across Manish Mohan’s blog posting — Seven Survival Skills in Today’s World — which focused on Tony Wagner’s keynote address at the IFC’s International Private Education Conference: Rethinking Education, Shaping the Future.

So I read the blog posting and then I listened to Tony Wagner’s address. Below are my notes from his talk.

What’s the problem we need to solve in education?

Challenges

Education today has become a commodity. Knowledge is free; it’s like water or air. Educators once had the corner on the market. Knowledge had to come through the teacher. Not true today. You can acquire knowledge via the Internet. Teachers are no longer the gatekeepers. Where, then, is the value that teachers/schools are providing?
Work is being transformed around the world. Routine jobs being automated/replaced by computers or in other countries for far less $$. World cares about what you can DO with what you know. Not just acquiring knowledge. Skill and will are other legs of the stool (in addition to knowledge).
The longer students are in school (in the U.S.), the more bored they are. Less engaged as time goes on. The Internet is their preferred source of learning.

Tony focused on skill (adding value) and will in this keynote. Need to be a continuous learner.

Tony talked to senior executives — what skills do you need today? Where are the gaps?

7 survival skills/competencies a person needs before they reach the end of their secondary school:

Critical thinking and problem solving — how to ask the right questions
Collaboration across networks — how are we going to teach
Agility and adaptability
Initiative and entrepreneurship
Effective oral and written communication — need to be able to write with “voice” — own passion and perspective, to be convincing
Accessing and analyzing information
Curiosity and imagination

New achievement gap — these 7 survival skills vs what is being taught around the world.

Growing unemployment of college graduates compels us to look at goals of education. Academically adrift — communication skills not growing in college.

One person to Tony:
“I want young people who can ‘Just go figure it out.'”

Want graduates who have a sense of mission. Autonomy.

How do we prepare kids to “Just go figure it out.”

We need innovators — creative problem solvers. People who ask the right questions.

The teachers (of innovative individuals) who made the greatest difference were outliers in their respective institutional settings but were remarkably alike in their patterns of teaching and learning. The culture of schooling, as we continue to practice it, is fundamentally and radically at odds with the culture of learning to be an innovator in 5 respects:

Culture of schooling is about rewarding individual achievement vs being a team player
Compartmentalizing knowledge; innovations happens at the margins of academic disciplines, not within them; interdisciplinary courses needed
Passivity and consumption — students listen, consume information; only 1 expert. VS creating information. Teacher as coach who empowers students.
How failure is viewed — fear of failure creates risk aversion. But innovation requires risk and failure. Trial and error. Iteration — systematically reflecting on what worked and what didn’t.
Grades and what they represent in school. Often a motivational tool. Rely on extrinsic motivation. But intrinsic motivation is key amongst innovative individuals. They want to make a difference.

Parents and teachers of these innovative individuals emphasized 3 things:

Play
Passion
Purpose

Provided a buffet of opportunities to discover interests. But did not pigeonhole the person.

We have some responsibility to others — to give back — and to make a difference.

So much of our thinking revolves around delivery systems, but what about the GOALS of education? All too often assumed.

Need to be differently prepared vs. students/graduates of 50 years ago.

How do we motivate students to want to be continuous learners?

A merit badge approach to learning. Evidence. Digital portfolios.

In Finland and Singapore one can see the massive importance of — and investment in — teaching as a profession. Elite group of teachers. Trust through professionalism.

Collective human judgement is key. High stakes testing is completely distorting education system. What gets tested is what gets taught.

Preparation for citizenship is equally important (as skills development for earning a living).

Why not specifically teach about entrepreneurship?

Finland — much less homework, and far more opportunities to discover interests and to be entrepreneurial. Start-up like culture.

Mathematics 101 — Leading sites for math teachers [Petersen]

On 07/01/2014, in mathematics, teachers, by Daniel Christian

Per Karen Petersen:

I created a list of 101 resources for math teachers. You can see the list at http://onlinemathdegrees.org/leading-sites-for-teachers/

…

For current and future math teachers everywhere, the web offers a treasure trove of resources, from advanced curricula to games and activities for teaching math concepts to students of all ages and skill levels. Many math educators are prolific bloggers, and the sheer volume of excellent math resources available freely online is astounding. This list is not intended as ranking, but as a broad and comprehensive guide to available resources, and the order is arbitrary. The sites highlighted in this collection are some of the most useful, informative, creative, and fun math resources on the web!

Here Comes Generation Z — from bloombergview.com by Leonid Bershidsky

Excerpts:

If Y-ers were the perfectly connected generation, Z-ers are overconnected. They multi-task across five screens: TV, phone, laptop, desktop and either a tablet or some handheld gaming device, spending 41 percent of their time outside of school with computers of some kind or another, compared to 22 percent 10 years ago. Because of that they “lack situational awareness, are oblivious to their surroundings and unable to give directions.”

Members of this new generation also have an 8-second attention span, down from 12 seconds in 2000, and 11 percent of them are diagnosed with attention deficiency syndrome, compared to 7.8 percent in 2003.

Also see Sparks & Honey’s presentation:

From DSC:
I have been wondering about the possibility that gaining students’ attention is becoming harder and harder to do. The above items seem to confirm that attentions are, in deed, shrinking. We must get through “the gate” (i.e., getting someone’s attention) if we want to have a chance of getting something into someone’s long term memory.

So what should professors, teachers, and trainers do?

For me, this is where things like active learning, project-based learning, and real-world learning come in. Highly relevant, hands-on learning where we turn over more control to the student, helping them own their own learning. We need to provide more choices as to how students can meet the learning objectives.

More choice. More control. Tap into their passions and internal motivations, introduce more play and more opportunities for students to display and cultivate their creativity.

The following article also has some solid thoughts/ideas that seem very relevant for this topic:

The Science of Attention: How To Capture And Hold The Attention of Easily Distracted Students — from opencolleges.edu.au by Saga Briggs
Excerpt from section entitled, “Tricks for Capturing Your Students’ Attention“:
1. Change the level and tone of your voice.
Often just changing the level and tone of your voice – perhaps by lowering or raising it slightly – will bring students back from a zone-out session.
.
2. Use props or visuals.
Presenting a striking picture related to your topic is sure to get all eyes on you. Don’t comment on it; allow students to start the dialogue. Here are a few resources on how to use animations and storyboards as a teaching tool.
.
3. Make a startling statement or give a quote.
Writing a surprising statement or quote related to the content on the board has a similar effect. In a lesson about linebreaks in poetry, write, “I am dying” on the board, wait a minute, and continue on the next line with “for a bowl of ice cream.” See what kind of reaction you get.
.
4. Write a challenging question on the board.
…

Self-directed learning for all? [modernlearners.com, Sylvia Martinez]

On 06/24/2014, in collaboration, heutagogy, K-12 related, pedagogy, psychology, relationships, teachers, teaching & learning, youth, by Daniel Christian

Self-Directed Learning for All? — from modernlearners.com
What do we mean by “self-directed learning,” and who gets to pursue it? All students? Or only some? Do we select certain students for these opportunities based on what counts as “good behavior,” for example?

How do we make sure that self-directed learning opportunities benefit all students? How do we balance students’ need for support with their need for freedom?

Author and speaker Sylvia Martinez writes in What a Girl Wants about the ways in which gender plays a role in education and explores how we can help support girls in self-directed learning opportunities.

An excerpt/quote from Sylvia’s article:

The teacher’s role is to help students move past what they know school usually asks of them and take a chance on something that they really want to do.

…

Some people assume that self-directed learning means solitary learning. This is far from the truth. Mardziah Hayati Abdullah of the US Department of Education writes that self-directed learning is both collaborative and social, where the learner collaborates with both teachers and peers. Students must learn how to navigate new ways of getting and sharing information with others, both in real life and online. Creating opportunities for self-directed learning means more collaboration and communication, not less, an area in which girls excel.

Six questions that will bring your teaching philosophy into focus [Haave]

On 06/05/2014, in adjunct faculty, faculty/staff, pedagogy, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Six questions that will bring your teaching philosophy into focus — from facultyfocus.com by Neil Haave

Excerpt:

These questions are best answered in conversation with a colleague or two.

Describe the best learning experience you have had as a student.
Describe the best teaching experience you have had as an instructor. Are there any similarities to the learning experience you described above?
What are you trying to achieve in your students with your teaching?
Why is this important to you?
How do you achieve your objectives you wrote down for question #3 above?
Why do you use these particular teaching strategies as opposed to others that are available to you?

The New Digital Learning Playbook, Advancing College and Career Ready Skill Development in K-12 Schools [tomorrow.org]

On 06/05/2014, in 21st century, digital learning, education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, learning, online learning, parents/guardians, professional development, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

The New Digital Learning Playbook, Advancing College and Career Ready Skill Development in K-12 Schools | from tomorrow.org | June 2014
The second in a two part series to document the key national findings from Speak Up 2013.

Key Findings from this year’s report include:

Infographic: The New Digital Learning Playbook: The Digital Content Story
More than 40 percent of high school principals are now offering online classes for students in math, science, history and English/language arts. Only 17 percent of high schools are not offering online classes, according to school principals.
Principals are offering online learning for multiple reasons, including providing academic remediation (66 percent), keeping students engaged in staying in school (63 percent) and providing options for students that need credit recovery (61 percent).
Teachers who teach online classes, in particular, see a strong correlation between the use of technology and students’ college and career ready skill development. More than half of these teachers say technology use helps students understand how to apply academic concepts to real world problems (58 percent), take ownership of their learning (57 percent) and develop problem solving and critical thinking skills (57 percent).
The professional development requests of teachers are fairly common among new and veteran teachers. Even new teachers, who are presumed to be more digitally native and comfortable with technology, have a wish list of professional development support. The rookie teachers have a greater interest than other teachers in learning more about incorporating games and using social media with both students and parents.
Parental support of mobile device as part of learning does not appear to have an economic, community type or grade level bias. Around 60 percent of all parents said they would like their children to be in a class where using one’s own mobile device was allowed. Two-thirds said they would purchase a mobile device for their child to use within class, if that was allowed by the school.
Two-thirds of community members and a similar number of parents of school-aged children expressed support for paying $.50 more per month on their phone bill if those funds were used to increase school access to the Internet for student learning.
One-third of elementary school teachers (32 percent) report using games in their classrooms. The top two reasons given for using games within instruction were increasing student engagement in learning (79 percent) and providing a way for teachers to address different learning styles in the classroom (72 percent).

How teachers are learning: Professional development remix [edSurge]

On 06/04/2014, in career development, Google, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, professional development, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

How teachers are learning: Professional development remix — from edSurge, June 2014

Excerpts:

Addendum, also from edSurge today:

Google Launches Learning Space in Brazil
Designing a learning environment as versatile as the tools

To all the teachers out there: Thank you very much!!!

On 05/06/2014, in teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:

Thank you very much to all of the teachers out there!!!

Teachers made a huge difference in my life, and they most likely made huge contributions to your lives as well. As today is National Teacher Appreciation Day, please take a moment to let the teachers in your life — of your childrens’ lives — know how much they mean to you. How much they influenced you or your children, and the growth you experienced under their care.

Celebrate National Teacher Day on Social Media
Use the #ThankATeacher hashtag and join thousands showing their support for our nation’s teachers.

Also see:

10 ways to teach innovation [Markham]

On 04/24/2014, in creativity, innovation, K-12 related, pedagogy, project-based learning, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

10 ways to teach innovation — from blogs.kqed.org/mindshift by Thom Markham

Excerpt:

One overriding challenge is now coming to the fore in public consciousness: We need to reinvent just about everything. Whether scientific advances, technology breakthroughs, new political and economic structures, environmental solutions, or an updated code of ethics for 21st century life, everything is in flux—and everything demands innovative, out of the box thinking.

The burden of reinvention, of course, falls on today’s generation of students. So it follows that education should focus on fostering innovation by putting curiosity, critical thinking, deep understanding, the rules and tools of inquiry, and creative brainstorming at the center of the curriculum.

This is hardly the case, as we know. In fact, innovation and the current classroom model most often operate as antagonists. The system is evolving, but not quickly enough to get young people ready for the new world. But there are a number of ways that teachers can bypass the system and offer students the tools and experiences that spur an innovative mindset. Here are ten ideas:

APP Ed Review (appedreview.org) & the Global Education Database (gedb.org)

On 04/11/2014, in 21st century, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, art, biology, Bring your own device (BYOD), chemistry, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, engagement / engaging students, engineering, Google, graphics, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, maker movement, mobile learning, multimedia, new media literacies, open courseware and systems, passions, physics, platforms, play, political science, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, publishing, science, simulations, STEAM-related, storytelling, student-related, tablets, teachers, teaching & learning, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

App Ed Review

From the About Us page (emphasis DSC):

App Ed Review is a free searchable database of educational app reviews designed to support classroom teachers finding and using apps effectively in their teaching practice. In its database, each app review includes:

A brief, original description of the app;
A classification of the app based on its purpose;
Three or more ideas for how the app could be used in the classroom;
A comprehensive app evaluation;
The app’s target audience;
Subject areas where the app can be used; and,
The cost of the app.

Also see the Global Education Database:

From the About Us page:

It’s our belief that digital technologies will utterly change the way education is delivered and consumed over the next decade. We also reckon that this large-scale disruption doesn’t come with an instruction manual. And we’d like GEDB to be part of the answer to that.

It’s the pulling together of a number of different ways in which all those involved in education (teachers, parents, administrators, students) can make some sense of the huge changes going on around them. So there’s consumer reviews of technologies, a forum for advice, an aggregation of the most important EdTech news and online courses for users to equip themselves with digital skills. Backed by a growing community on social media (here, here and here for starters).

It’s a fast-track to digital literacy in the education industry.

GEDB has been pulled together by California residents Jeff Dunn, co-founder of Edudemic, and Katie Dunn, the other Edudemic co-founder, and, across the Atlantic in London, Jimmy Leach, a former habitue of digital government and media circles.

Addendum:

Favorite educational iPad apps that are also on Android — from the Learning in Hand blog by Tony Vincent

A crowdsourced curated database of the best educational tools and learning apps: GEDB [Robin Good]

On 02/28/2014, in digital learning, education technology, global / globalization, K-12 related, online learning, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

The Global Education Database — per the Scoop from Robin Good

Per Robin:

GEDB, the Global Education Database, is a great and extremely useful curated collection of the best apps, web tools, gadgets and moocs now available online for educational purposes. Anyone can register to GEDB and submit any valuable resource or tool by filling out the dedicated form. Submissions are reviewed for factual accuracy and integrity and approved and published within 24 hours. Readers and contributors can in turn rate the review and share it online. This is a great educational resource, simple to consult and well organized. A treasure trove of qualified resources for anyone wanting to teach and learn with new technologies. Free to use. Try it out now: http://www.gedb.org/

From DSC:
I haven’t spent a lot of time on this database, but I was intrigued by their model — i.e. using crowdsourcing to identify some solid possibilities and breaking them out for classroom management, Common Core, computer science, flipped classrooms, general learning, language learning and project-based learning. They also have categories for software, hardware, apps, web tools, MOOCs and more.

The Classroom of 2025 [European Schoolnet]

On 02/22/2014, in change, education reform, Europe, future, K-12 related, learning spaces, teachers, teaching & learning, trends, by Daniel Christian

Learning Ecosystems

Mathematics 101 — Leading sites for math teachers [Petersen]

Six questions that will bring your teaching philosophy into focus [Haave]

How teachers are learning: Professional development remix [edSurge]

To all the teachers out there: Thank you very much!!!

Thank you very much to all of the teachers out there!!!

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