I was fortunate to work for many years in a relatively small school district. All teachers had pretty easy access to superintendents and directors and even board members. Trust was easier to build. Certainly it doesn't guarantee a trusting environment but it's much easy to build. Convincing 2 people is easier than convincing 10. That's basic math. For example, back in 2007 I had a teacher email me asking if there might be a way for her students to use their cellphones in the classroom. This was way before we'd heard of BYOD concepts and cellphones were not quite in the hands of the majority of our teens as they are today. Within a few weeks, I had contacted our local ISP provider and within a few weeks, a plan was in place to provide these students with phones and data plans. And by the way, the school's policy was "no cellphones" which was quickly abandoned. When I tell people about the open internet, liberal filters, posting of student images, BYOD, mulitple platforms and many of the other things I was part of at Prairie South, they are often baffled as to how easily these things were able to happen. Then I forget that in most cases, those decisions were made by a small group of trusting teachers and leaders in one or two meetings. 

On Monday I had my class listen to the story of Clarence Fisher and Heather Durnin. Two teachers from rural provinces whose classrooms are one. I can't even tell you all the cool and meaningful things they do all day. From their common learning space to their connections with each other and experts,  I can't imagine there are many better learning environments than this one. They are constantly exploring new opportunities for their students. Recently they launched their own radio station. I'm guessing that most teachers would never be able to even consider this. Even if you have a principal and teacher on board, questions about permission, privacy, the things the students might say or do, etc, would kill the idea before it could take root. Clarence has always been advocating that his students, even though they are from a remote, small town in northern Manitoba can have the same opportunities as anyone. The fact is, in many ways his students are getting more of an opportunity to learn than many of our students from our biggest districts. 

Another disturbing trend with many of our larger districts and schools is an arrogance to admit they might not have all the answers. Big organizations are looked to for leadership and often they seem to be guarded against seeking help or exploring what the "little guy" is doing. Whether they actually believe they know it all or maybe they think that smaller organizations couldn't possibly have anything to offer, it's something I've seen more and more. This is certainly a relativity involved here as well. When Prairie South amalgamated from 7 districts to 1, I noticed some of the larger schools (300+ which is still small in most large urban centers) ignore or at least neglect to look to our smaller schools for expertise and innovation. Now I'm seeing some of North America's larger school districts showing little interest in what anyone of lesser size is doing in the way of innovative and promising educational practices. 

Certainly I'm making some generalizations here. Not all small districts and schools are innovative and awesome and not all larger institutions are thwarting innovation. I know Will Richardson has been on the look out for bold schools. I'm not sure what he's collected thus far but my money is most of those have reduced bureaucracy. If you're reading this and you're from a large school or district and yet you're happy with the freedom teachers have to make change and innovation, feel free to comment and help others see that it's possible. For the most part, I'm stumped as to how the red tape can be removed. To me it comes down to trust, autonomy and leadership. There are some great leaders in larger jurisdictions that are humble enough to recognize they don't have all the answers. That's what often leads to trust and autonomy. However, leaders need other leaders and too often it just doesn't trickle down. 

I used to feel bad for small districts with limited resources. I don't anymore. I truly feel for our large districts and those innovators who fight the uphill battle to make both significant and even incremental change. 

Unlike a classroom where a teacher controls the lecture, the organic communities that emerge through collectives produce meaningful learning because the inquiry that arises comes from the collective itself.
https://kindle.amazon.com/work/new-culture-learning-cultivating-ebook/B004S72WOS/B004RZH0BG
 

Integral to this idea is giving yourself opportunities to experience and facilitate serendipitous learning. Currently there really isn't a better way to make this happen than twitter.

Here's the story.

Yesterday I'm attending a full day workshop (workshop is a loose term, it was really a 5 hour lecture) with Dr. Larry Bendtro, researcher and founder of the Circle of Courage Institute which focuses on reclaiming at risk students. Dr. Bendtro is a good speaker and while a 5 hour lecture isn't an ideal way to learn, there were lots of nuggets of learning I took away.

Sitting in the auditorium made up of educators and community people, I did see several ipads out but the majority of course were sticking with pen and paper to capture their learning. Lots of people were talking notes but of course, few, if any were sharing those notes. That's a bit of waste. So when I pull out my phone, I'm sure most people who see that think I'm checking email, texting, playing a game, or generally just off task. I used to be concerned about that but not anymore. I've learned that for me, engaging in a backchannel or simply using hashtags is the best way for me to stay focused and engaged. It may not be for everyone but it's for me. The person I sat with also uses twitter and we simply agreed to use the #circleofcourage as our hashtag.

Sidebar:

Last week one of my students was tweeting about being bored in class. I tweeted back that she should tweet what she was hearing and try and see if she could get others in her class to use a common hashtag to take collected notes. It worked for her.

Back to the story.

Part of the purpose of using twitter to take these notes is both for me, for the others participating but also because you never know. Early on in the lecture, Dr. Bendtro talked about the importance of a good theory but that if you can't explain your theory to a 4 year old, maybe you really don't understand your theory. As I was about to tweet that out, I see my buddy Dave Cormier in my twitter stream. I had the pleasure of having breakfast with Dave and his family last month and enjoy bantering and teasing with him so I decided I had enough social capital to present him a little challenge:

I really didn't know what I expected him to do with that. The nature of twitter is such that it could have easily fallen into the pile of useless tweets, which I'll admit I likely hold the world record. But Dave took my dare and did something, something quite awesome as a matter of fact. (I forgive you if you leave here now and spend time on Dave's blog. Go ahead, it's okay) He obviously had no obligation to do anything with my question. He could have ignored it or told me to mind my own business. Instead he created a useful artifact that is beneficial for me, others and for him as well.

I don't know if that's an amazing story because it's one that likely happens to many people every day because they place themselves in a space that fosters intentional serendipity. It's actually quite wonderful, joyful and meaningful. You can't quantify it, place it in a lesson plan but you also can't ignore it. I'm sure the vast majority of you reading this are twitter users and have your own story to tell. Maybe not. The point here is that intentional serendipity should be held in much higher regard. If you say you're too busy for serendipity, you might want to loosen up your schedule.  I've often felt that every classroom should have a space, be it a wiki or a bulletin board that highlights unintended learning. It's often the best kind.

Global education, diversity and multi-cultural appreciation are ideas that I believe are essential for our student's success. I also believe as educators we need to model this for them.  So when I used this tool to see where the folks that I follow reside, it was a little embarrassing.

A little North American centric ya think? While this tool only allows a sampling of 100 of your followers, (I currently follow about 700) it's likely a pretty reasonable indicator of who's got my attention.  Ewan's concerned about this as well. He blames time zones and short attention spans and he's got a point. Christian Long argues:

And perhaps — no matter how much Friedman and well-intentioned educators may want — the world defaults to hyper-local (scaled accordingly) rather than global when it comes to conversation over time.

While that offers some explanation I can't quite take myself off the hook. Add to the fact that a number of those outside North American are ex-pats I have to hang my head in shame. Clarence Fisher is doing wonderful things to help his students experience a global education all the way from northern Manitoba. He requires his student to have a diverse global network of students to learn with. 

So to appease my guilt and practice what I preach, I need to do some different things. By the end of the year, I'm going to find 50 new followers from outside North America. I may even look for random people as it could improve my creativity. I'm going to find 10 new bloggers from overseas and 5 new flickr contacts.  Okay, maybe there's more to do but that's a start. What about you? Happy with who you're learning with? Feel a need to expand? Have any tips or suggestions? Speak now and leave some great recommendations for new global blogs to follow.

Update: I should add the Jennifer Wagner wrote a very similar post last month which I did read and perhaps by osmosis, I've pretty much covered the same ground. I'd like to say "great minds…" but I'm not in that category. Go read Jen's post too.

When I discovered blogs almost 5 years ago, I soon figured out what that term meant. Since that occasion I have sat down to write close to 1,000 pieces of reflection. While not all would be considered deep, most take me anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours to craft. While it may not always look like it, these are generally borne out of the times I spent observing, thinking and working in classrooms. The reflective writing has been valuable but definitely the nearly 4,000 comments have been even more of a learning experience. As it's been said many times, this is the single best professional development experience I've had. Way beyond any one conference, workshop or even twitter.

In a week I'll be teaching an advanced technology course at the University of Regina. In the introductory course, I've had students set up blogs to get a feel for what it's like. Some like it, others tolerate it. This term I would like the students to do some analysis of quality, reflective blogs of classroom teachers. I'd like them to develop some criteria for what they feel is a great reflective blog. Hopefully they'll be able to start a journey of reflection that will carry them into their career and not wait 15 years to begin what is certainly a critical characteristic of a great teacher.

I have to admit I've been remiss in developing a list of great classroom teacher blogs. Most classroom teachers use their blogs as homework portals or classroom showcase blogs. Others have developed resource or tool based blogs. I'm not suggesting these are bad but they aren't reflective. Most of the reflective blogs I read tend to be from those outside the classroom. First off, these folks do have more time to devout to blogging but also they need to do the work I'm doing so I gravitate to them naturally.

Three bloggers who I love to read because of the way they reflect and analyze their own practice are Kelly Christopherson, Clarence Fisher and Dan Meyer.

Kelly is an administrator and teacher in Saskatchewan. He wears his heart on his sleeve. I don't always see things the same way as he does but that's precisely why I read him.  His struggles of late deal with the challenges of change and leadership. If you're a school administrator, you'd find his writing fascinating and I'm sure many times you'd be nodding visibly as you read and other times yelling at him.  He doesn't write to make friends, he writes because you sense he has to.

Clarence is someone I've known and read for a number of years. Very cerebral, Clarence makes clear connections between what he sees in his classroom and what is happening in a larger scale. He's likely most similar to my style but certainly his daily experience with middle schoolers keeps him very grounded. He practices what he preaches. Every teacher can learn lots from him.

Dan is a high school math teacher currently on leave and working at Google. That hasn't stopped him from continuing to have a highly practical approach to blogging. He is keenly interested in what works in a classroom and less with lofty applications to solving all the problems with education. With a niche for media, he takes pride in analysing everything from classroom management techniques to how to design a useful handout.

That's three. Three teachers who spend time reflecting and writing about their experiences and ideas. I need to show my students more than these three. So if you'd be so kind, leave a comment with a similar description as I've used here to tell me about your favorite reflective classroom blogger. So read this, retweet it and together we can create a list that you can use and yes, selfishly I can use with my students.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by shareski

We’ve been meeting for 3 years talking about teaching and learning and how their classrooms are evolving.  There story continues to inspire and encourage others in their making learning better for students.

Here are the slides and the audio is below:

People

Without trying to list the names of everyone, it’s apparent for most users of social media that face to face gathering times have changed in the past few years. I used to go to conferences and mingle with local colleagues and a few others I’d met a various functions and committees but there wasn’t much of a community. Now we meet people we’ve never seen and can enter in to meaningful discussion since all the banter and small talk takes place  in other spaces.

This conference brings together not only educators and administrators but also IT. I certainly commend our own IT team for focusing on students but not all do. This is a great way to have them understand that their clients are students and it’s a highly complex task to provide safe, secure environments that also enable them to have the access needed to use the tools that help them learn.

Keynotes

I’ve heard David Warlick live a couple of times but I must say this was worth seeing. David is a gifted storyteller but certainly connects to many outside of educational technology.  Carlene captured the essence of it well. It lead to many meaningful conversations and insights for many including my superintendent who said, “I know you’ve been talking about this for years but it’s finally starting to click”. What’s the phrase about being a prophet in your own town?

Being able to provide a keynote with Clarence, Kathy and Darren was truly a treat. Once I get the audio from Rob, I’ll post it but it was a privilege to facilitate these three tell their stories.

Sessions

So many of the sessions dealt with what’s best for students and how does any of this help our students learn more. The phrase “How does the technology support the practices that lead to student achievement” rang through my mind many times. I heard more praise from various sessions than I have at many conferences.

Critcisms

Nothing is perfect and there were a few things that I’d like to see change. Wireless continues to suck. Why? Last year the wireless at another venue was much better. The hotel did not have wireless so someone had to install a temporary system. It was lousy. This has got to be resolved. I would also like to see more built in opportunity to network. Not a big deal for me personally since I have many connections and can steer informal conversations to meet my needs but for many, they need a time and space to ask questions and contribute ideas.  I mentioned the idea of a “linkable” keynote. A killer opening that had many components that could be explored deeper in follow up sessions or simply building an open space style based on the ideas in the keynote and interests of the participants. Then culminating the conference with a sharing time of what was learned and what plans were made.

Content is Everywhere

So when sites like this emerge it simply highlights the reality that students should never have to settle for  second rate educational content.  If I were teaching Physics, I would be crazy not to invite Walter Lewin into my classroom at some point.  An economics or political science class could utilze the works of Alan Blight.  And while it might be easy to say, textbooks also provide a level of expertise, a well-crafted lecture or better yet a live Q and A with the author is a game changer.

So as I ponder what this should and could l00k like, I think about how that changes my role as a teacher. Again, this is not a new conversation but when you have to live it, it truly changes how you feel about education.   I still love to teach, which can be defined as direct instruction or lecture. There are times when that’s important and the right approach. But I don’t need to feel compelled to prepare a session on web-based storytelling, or podcasting or educational gaming. Others are much better qualified and passionate to teach my students. So while I often brag about being a lazy professor, I’m not all that lazy, just resourceful.

Content isn’t Everything

But again, simple access to great content in a variety of formats is not the only thing we need. Wes Fryer’s review of Bill Gates recent Ted talk addresses this issue:

In his speech, think Bill made a contradictory error in asserting that through access to digital videos of “the best teachers” our students “can have the best teachers.” Simply having access to high-quality video content will not provide our students with the GREAT teachers which Bill Gates correctly asserts our students need and deserve. In addition to good content knowledge, what makes great teachers great is their ability to cultivate relationships with their students. Certainly there are many students who don’t “need” a professional relationship with their teachers or instructors in order to “do well” in academic terms in school. But how about those students in “the lower quartile?” How about those students in alternative educational settings, for whom the “traditional school system” has not worked? Do you think those students simply need access to Academic Earth online? Having more choices about the ways they access content and demonstrate their own mastery IS an important part of differentiated learning, and students at all levels should have those options. Providing great teachers for our students means far more than simply providing access to high quality video lectures, however. It means investing in and supporting teachers who care, understand, and relate to their students so they can encourage, challenge, and support them in their own individualized journeys of learning.

What was formerly seen as nice, but not necessary, must now be first and foremost: teachers who care and relate to students. Teachers who will seek out what specific needs each student has and leads them in the right direction. What great lectures and content can never provide is relationship and caring.  I don’t necessarily define caring and relationship as a seen in the movies, but rather someone who recognizes that their job is to create opportunity for students to not only learn content but pursue and find their passions.  While that may seem like rhetoric, to me it’s become my mantra. I see all my students as desiring to be teachers,  I see all the teachers I work with as teachers desiring to be better.  I realize that may not always be the case, but that’s the premise I begin with.

What Should I Call Myself?

Clarence’s metaphor of teacher as network administrator gains relevance for me many days. My inbox is full of questions from students and teachers wondering how to do this and where to find that and I regularly lead them to others in their current network as resources.  I’m quite pleased with the ways I’ve been able to find mentors for my students. They will learn so much more from the teachers that I could possibly offer on my own. In addition, I’m the lead in providing feedback, not the only one as I encourage and require my students to provide feedback and critique for each other. Will’s theme about being a learner first has also captured my imagination. “Lead learner” is something that feels right but not sure it depicts exactly how I see myself.

I’ve already admitted I do many things that may not be according to the textbook, but I feel like I’m more comfortable in my role. While some reading this might find it fluffy or inconsequential, it’s important for me to provide a definition and title to what I do. Teacher, brings with it too many perspectives to which I no longer subscribe.  Again, I still “teach” but it has to be more than that. I teach, I lead, I learn, I share, I encourage, I critique, I monitor, I connect, I care, I model.

I’m still looking for a name for what I do. Teacher is okay, but as I redefine what it means to teach, I’d like a different title.

Graph by Jessica Hagy
http://thisisindexed.com/2009/01/another-reason-the-internet-has-saved-many-a-butt/

Where Alec wins is in his wise mix of media including public domain video and audio, thoughtful graphics and animation, green screen, humor and a personal touch. I’ve always enjoyed presentations that show me context. Who are you? Where do you live? David Warlick did a great job with this in prior keynotes and Clarence Fisher focused largely on place in his keynote last year. Alec begins his presentation by providing a context and allowing us to get comfortable with his content.

Since his content is about open content, Alec uses video from public domain to create transitions to his piece. In this way, it’s easy for us to follow.

His feature on twitter might challenge Common Craft as a visual way to explain twitter. Not the same style but equally effective.

I could go on but you’d be best to watch it yourself. Again, whether you are watching because the concept is intrigues or not, watch as one way to deliver an effective online presentation.  The bad news is this kind of work takes more time than most are willing to offer. But good work requires this. Nicely done Alec.

k12online08pi05, aleccouros, k12online08, davidwarlick, clarencefisher

If you’ve ever heard the first statement in a staffroom, the rest of the logic would follow.  Learning is what makes us human and to use this logic would suggest that schools can be inhumane institutions.

This is some of the thinking of Dr. Michael Wesch.  In the first 20 minutes or so of this presentation from his talk at the University of Manitoba, he makes such a clear case for the shift in learning due to a changing media. I love the fact that there are so many great conversations and folks dedicated to solid pedagogy which is not new. What’s new is the way new media is influences this. Wesch is the maker of The Machine is Using Us which demonstrates this shift.  The way we experience information and content is new and I’ve yet to hear a good argument to suggest it’s no big deal, let’s do school as usual.

I really want to get good and keeping both solid pedagogy and how it fits with new media in balance. What’s interesting is that the new media is leading people to push the edge of the envelope of innovation and get criticized because they appear to be tool focused. That’s why I love how Will setup the discussion today about streaming video. He prefaced it by admitting, we don’t have the pedagogy all worked out. But it’s still worth exploring and the conversations usually include a good dose of “yeah but does it help kids learn?” mixed with “wouldn’t it be interesting if we tried…?”  At times we need to play, explore and waste time.  Cheap failures allow us to see what works and what doesn’t.  Other times, let’s call it fluff when we see it and move on.

Part 2

So why when I fly 2600 miles to the world’s largest edtech conference would I sit in my hotel room, watch an online video when there is a convention center filled with people, stuff and conversations?  This helps explain part of it.  But also learning comes in many forms. Duh. People have asked me if I’m learning. I hate having to quantify my learning experience.  I like demonstrating understanding.

I love sitting quietly by myself listening, watching, reading and reflecting. I love being with a group of loud friends laughing, listening and arguing. I’m not sure I came to NECC to learn anymore than I could have had I stayed home.  By far the majority of people here need to be here to learn. That might sound arrogant but I can learn from anyone, anytime and anywhere. “Even from here” to quote my good friend Clarence. I would be great if more people could develop this type of learning network and they are. The growth of edubloggercon and the blogger’s cafe would indicate this is happening.  It’s not going to deter from conference attendance because these types of meetups are precious. Spending as much time online with these folks as I do, builds relationships. Not everyone is my “friend” but they are part of my virtual classroom and I like hanging out. I don’t need to be here to learn.

So I’m not here to learn anymore than I would normally. I”m here to be together. That’s good enough.

Here are the links to the other podcasts in case you missed it:

• Darren 2006
• Clarence 2006
• Kathy 2006
• All three 2006
• All three 2007

The post that inspired it all.

I’m always thrilled to chat with these people as I think they represent so much of what good teaching and learning looks like. I’m excited to say that next week the three of them will unite for the first time in Winnipeg. Those will also be some great conversations

This is also my first crack at an enhanced podcast. If you view this in itunes, you’ll have the ability to skip ahead or easily access chapters.

But here’s the thing. We really only have a handful of videos. We’ve got oodles of books, a gazillion blogs but few quality representation of what true change really looks like.

I had a conversation with Clarence a few months back and I remember telling him that I wanted more from his classroom. What I wanted was a clear picture of what goes on in a great classroom. He has since provided some more visuals. But I want more from Clarence and all great teachers doing great work. I realize that classroom teachers do not have the time to create this type of media. Even if they had the time, they don’t have the expertise to create concise, high quality productions. My most recent production about the learning in our school division took me upwards of 60 hours to create. 60 hours for 7 minutes isn’t often see as productive time but I have already gotten more mileage within my own division from that work than I had expected. I’m fair from being an expert in video production, I’m a one man show but for the purposes of our schools, it gets the job done.

Bob Sprankle is one who captured his classes‘ podcasting approach. It’s a great example of how a classroom operates. Wes has begun to compile a few of these and so has Scott Mcleod. There are some great ones here although many are talks that in round about ways or indirectly address issues. Many are produced by non-educators. The number of videos actually showing classrooms in action or schools really moving ahead are few and far between. We rely on a small number of teachers and educators to produce these pieces, we end up showing the same videos over and over again and I’m bored. There are just too many great examples that could be highlighted in much richer ways if we had the skills and time to create. Teachers need big time support in this area.

Which brings me back to Pearson. The quality of that video was not in question. A well produced piece by professionals, freely given to the world to use. I’m not going to argue the political or even the hidden agendas here, the comments tied to Chris’ post do that well. We need more of these types of high quality productions. The Lucas Foundation has contributed some nice resources. The content and messages are important I’m more concerned with beginning to develop a repository of high quality videos that tell a variety of stories about change. I’ll sort through the ones that communicate the message I think is most important, we just don’t have a whole lot to choose from. Show me…don’t tell me, and Pearson, I wish you hadn’t pulled the plug on your video. More companies with the equipment and talent and money to produced these videos need to be partnering with any number of great teachers and schools and showcase their work

Update: Apparently Pearson did repost the video since there were some errors in the titles (Thanks Chris). My apologies. I still want more.

The mother, Beatrice, is conceded some authority by CBC since she has a computer science background. Unfortunately her knowledge of ports and key logging software is about all she has when it comes to her understanding of social networks. Admittedly her 12 year old daughter had been to some less than educational spaces and likely was pursuing content not fit for a 12 year old or anyone. Her reaction was to block all these sites, ban her daughter from the home computer and demand the school district to install content filtering that would prohibit any access to social networks. Craig Spence, a representative from the school division gives a very intelligent response in this interview to her complaints arguing the importance of teaching students about these spaces and recognizing these spaces will still exist outside the school. This article might indicate the school district is buckling somewhat under pressure.

This parent makes a number of comments that demonstrate a lack of understanding and fuels the fire of hysteria and in my opinion, bad judgment.

She admits that living in a rural area, the internet has become “for a lack of a better term, connection” for her daughter. Lack of a better term? That’s exactly what it is…a connection. From her eyes the connection is obviously negative, but that’s got nothing to do with the technology. Her daughter’s connections will remain questionable even without the technology. Her response is to ban her daughter from using their computer until she says,”it will be safe again.” When will that be? When all the nefarious sites have gone away? When her daughter is 18? When she determines that the only value of the internet is looking up stuff?

She worries that a child in grade 3 will be online at school and will accept a date with a stranger thinking it’s another child and will be whisked away by a predator. Once again, there is no case of anything remotely like this. While I understand why she might have this fear, the facts just aren’t getting through. That’s why in part, I don’t just ignore stories like this but feel compelled to speak out. Even the reporter lacked the background information to challenge her claim. I’ve written about this too often to reprise.

She also feels schools should be teaching reading, math, science and computers (how to use a computer) but social networking should be taught in the homes. Think about that statement for a while.

For every site one person deems educational, someone will disagree. For every social network site you block today, three more will arise tomorrow. These are bandaid solutions. Being proactive, supervisory and purposeful are by far the best approaches. Teachers are our best filters at school and parents should be the best at home.

This is why it’s so critical that we continue to promote teachers doing this in Kindergarten and Grade one. At some point we won’t even call it social networking. We’ll just call it learning.