21st Century Learning

Culture Change- Breaking Down Tradition

Interesting discussion over on Student 2.0 by Sean (the bass player) a student in Scotland and a group of teachers.

The post was inspired from some well meant questions from a caring American adult (teacher) who was chatting with Sean at 1:30am (Scotland). I think it was more the perceived inferences Sean drew from the questions that inspired his post, not necessarily the intentions of the asker, but regardless, the conversation struck a chord with me.

Where do we draw the line?
Sean asks, "Where do we draw the line?" in response to the question- “Does it seem strange to you to associate with a bunch of adults?”  There is more to the conversation- I encourage you to go read Sean's post for contextual reference for this discourse that follows.

The line Sean is talking about has more to do with the hidden rules of tradition and territory than it does with a moral or digital citizenship line of sorts. It is one that while more visible in the 21st Century has been around since Amateur radios began showing up in homes.  It also has a bit to do with motivations, goals, intellect and family culture I think. Let me explain.

It is a matter of family norms and culture
Sean's preference for adults is not new and he certainly isn't the only one. There are others who don't quite fit the mold and in some families it is by design. I homeschooled my four kids. Amber, my oldest (http://myaimistrue.com), only attended 1 year of conventional education. And Grace, my youngest, entered the traditional system in 5th grade(11-12 year olds).They mostly hung with adults and each other- which had some real advantages. Sure, they had some friends that were their own ages who they mostly saw at church or later in the collaborative school I created, but mainly they preferred adults. Why didn't that bother me? Because in our family the culture (mantra) was- I am raising adults, not kids. I wanted the end product to be adults, so having lots of interaction with adults seemed to make sense.

My kids were mature for their age and had lots of questions and interests that other kids simply were not into, so it just made more sense for them to connect with folks who could help them learn what they wanted to learn. Besides, learning in our family took place 24/7 even at 1:30am-- as we all had people we spoke to around the world. And I do not think that is so different than it was for my father as he was a Hamm Radio nut when he was a kid and up at all times of the night trying to accommodate for time zones.

And being a homeschooling family, the more interesting or diverse the adults my kids befriended, the better. Since my kids could pursue their passions in terms of content studied, we actively sought out adult mentors who could serve as SMEs (subject matter experts), and technology helped a great deal with that. My kids would often attend the college classes I taught and participate in the discussions. They felt as comfortable around adults as they did children, not because they were so different- but more because our culture and experience was different. 

Tools today are more powerful
While we didn't have the same tools we have now, we did have some. Bulletin boards and asynchronous chat boards were popular, IRC chat, and various protocols that gave us direct access to each other's machines. Sometimes I would make the relationships online and introduce my new found friends to my kids and sometimes they would introduce me to who they had met. I will admit- in the beginning of all this- there were typically more "techie types" online than there was Joe average, so less chance for a need to exercise digital citizenship (safety)  skills. It simply hadn't caught on yet. However, if I had been given a choice between my kids being online at 1:30 am talking to someone in Scotland who was a responsible adult or having them out riding around in a car, breaking curfew with other immature, age-specific peers-- well you get the idea. Plus, when you raise your kids to be responsible online and have open lines of communication there is a level of trust that is developed. And until that trust is broken, there is no reason to doubt that the relationships  they are making in person or online aren't healthy. Staying involved is the key.

I say all this to say- not all kids are the same. Not all parenting styles are the same. My kids now are all very successful and madly creative. They are well adjusted and have lots of friends. They all say they have fond memories of growing up in a house that included such different learning opportunities and access to a variety of interesting adults through both hands-on and virtual experiences. And they all have continued to develop relationships with interesting adults from around the world.

Teachable Moments and Networking

Let me help you understand the different mind set. Because the culture in our family was learning as a life style and not just when school was in- we were always on "game" in terms of teachable moments.
I remember going to WalMart and seeing two young adults (my age at the time) on bikes who were traveling long distance. I thought, what a cool experience this would be for my kids. I struck up a conversation with these strangers and invited them to stay at my house for a few days. Turns out, Jenny and Dan were from Seattle and had just gotten married. As part of their honeymoon, they decided to take a cross country bike trip for a year and Jenny, a writer was documenting it all on a laptop!!! (Remember 15 years ago laptops were not as common). Boy did I score. Here we had young, interesting adults who used higher order thinking to plan a year long trip, one was a writer, they were traveling and could share their experiences with my kids.

We got out a map and documented everywhere they had been with pins and yarn. (picture shows how we used this technique to study other things too) We researched the geography, culture, and landforms. We talked about how you plan a year long trip and the kids planned their own using their newly found skills. We  looked at bikes in general, the mechanics, how to wrench, the science behind them and the environmental impact. The curriculum we discovered in Jenny and Dan was endless. When they left- they emailed back their locations and we continued to track them on the map.

Well meaning friends asked-- How did you know they weren't mass murders? What if they had been drug addicts or had hurt your children while you slept or what if they had stolen things? All valid questions I guess but  not part of our reality, much like Sean 's feeling of  surprise, " I surprisingly hadn’t thought about it before."

Not Wrong- Just Different
That isn't to say this way is "the" way to raise a family. Homeschooling sure has gotten its share of criticism as well. It is to say that there are different ways to raise kids that are acceptable even if they do not fit into the traditional vein. And adults are not the only ones who feel discomfort with breaking tradition (Sean's post).  Teens also feel territorial about places like MYSpace. My kids use to get asked all the time if it creeped them out that I was on MySpace and Facebook. They would laugh and say not at all as I was there first. 

Bottom Line
I think the most important message I got from what Sean wrote was this- Teachers we need to ask ourselves...

Do we want what we are preaching or not? Do we want kids who know how to use these tools in powerful and pervasive ways to connect and collaborate with others from around the world-- even at the cost of breaking our comfort and relationship with the status quo. Are we willing to unlearn most of what we know and relearn new ways -- new norms-- for how healthy relationships are established and nurtured in the 21st Century? Do we believe in learning ecologies made up of very diverse people who help inform our student's interests and passions?

Model for your students how to build a personal learning network
The kids are ready for relationships defined by community and what each learner has to share- and not bound by the traditions of teachers having to be the expert. I feel I have come full circle. Now rather than looking for teachable moments with interesting adults so my kids can learn what they need to learn, I find myself looking for opportunities to learn with/from interesting students who have garnered skill and wisdom through their use of these participatory medias. I want to learn all Sean has learned in his late night ventures with interesting adults. I hope he doesn't hang with kids all the time and that his parents continue to allow him to be part of a learning community that is trying to leave education a better place.

As educators we need to get ready for a real shift in culture. The shifts that are coming will not allow "business as usual" rather it will be "business as unusual". That is why it is critical for all of us to first own these emerging technologies and the pedagogy/culture that surrounds them, by using Web 2.0 tools to connect- in an effort to chase our own passions. Through the experience of building of your own PLN, not only will you model for your students how this should be done, but you might find some transformational moments along the way -that like mine with Jenny and Dan- will leave you a better person. And do NOT discount what those younger or older than you have to offer. Use expertise and passion- not age- as criteria for who you should learning from and for who should be part of your learning network.

I look forward to your comments, concerns, and push back. Let's have this hard conversation.

Photo credit: http://www.ky4ky.com/yhn.htm

What's Good and Right in Your Educational World ?

I gain so much from my personal Community of Practice- the Teacher Leaders Network. After a couple weeks of venting in the community about the challenges and struggles each of us were dealing with in our professional settings-  this prompt, like a breath of fresh air, came through.

So, what's GOOD AND RIGHT in your educational world right now? No qualifiers, no buts, just a celebration and appreciation of what is wonderful.

Here is my response and I hope you will add yours below.

University School of Milwaukee
After a visit to an independent school in Milwaukee, Wisc. with David Jakes to discuss the development of an academic technology plan that aligns nicely with the school's progressive strategic plan, I came back inspired and amazed at just what a group of committed people can accomplish on behalf of children when motivated to do so.

First impressions of the school ranked high. The moment I walked in the school and met USM's leaders I knew this was going to be a delightful visit. Most impressive was the evidence of creativity mixed with the wisdom and influence of top educational leaders across the educational spectrum. For example, from collaborative curriculum planning through mindmaps (Heidi Jacobs and Grant Wiggins trained), to deep, engaging personal relationships developed with students in secondary English classrooms- as they sat around a table discussing/reflecting what they were reading with a passionate teacher who was concerned that technology might interfere with this tried and true (and brilliantly impressive) process. Additionally, I saw strong evidence of the arts integrated into all core content classes, a diverse population of articulate students who could tell me what they were learning and their current research interests as I popped unannounced into various classes, a lower school that used inquiry-based methods in ways that made me smile through the entire tour, and a middle school team that "gets it". I am still trying to figure out how to harness the middle school teachers' enthusiasm and proactive attitude about the need for 21st Century alignment, but after I had met Matthew Montagne I understood their source of energy and drive.

"Da Bears" on the Harp

The highlight of the journey though came when we stopped by the music room. The award winning harpist, Linda Lak, enticed my friend David Jakes to not only sit at the harp, but actually gave him a lesson on how to play this beautiful instrument.

David Jakes Playing His Rendition of Da Bears

Powerful Learning Practice
What else is "good and right" about my educational world? Watching teachers up and down the east coast in three different projects- who are at differing levels of understanding- grapple with tough issues such as the new literacies, how to operate as an effective PLC online and f2f, and how to make sound changes to their classroom practice and pedagogy that builds on what we know works and yet incorporates the changing learning landscape of the 21st Century.

These teachers and educational leaders from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennesee, Virginia, and Western NY cause me to reflect deeply as they discuss the tough issues, ask the hard questions and debate how and if schools could/should change. I am so thankful to be a networked
learner. I grow so much every day and continually learn new ways to slay the time dragon from watching my colleagues.

Alabama Best Practices Center
Recently, in the work I am doing with the Alabama Best Practice Center I had a chance to collaborate online with a team of student advisors 2nd grade - 11th grade. We discussed how they use technology at home and school and how technology impacts their learning (if indeed it does). It was incredible to listen and watch as they quickly adapted to the Elluminate environment and took over as moderators and led the discussions. Their wisdom and insight - even from the youngest of the group -  was mind blowing. I was reminded of what Silvia says (Gen Yes) about how students make up 94% of the learning environment and teachers make up 6% and to not include them in creating positive educational reform is just poor planning. These kids reminded me how important it is to include student voice in educational planning and reform.

PLN Goodness
I am thankful that I live in such a time as this and have the participatory media available to develop my own personal learning network made of educators from around the world. How awesome is it that we can bring others into our classrooms who represent such diverse thought and culture with a few simple clicks.

What is good and right? Having John Norton, Barnett Berry, Chris Gareis, Meagan Tschannon-Moran, David Jakes, Gene Roche, Cathy Gassenheimer, Will Richardson, Darren Kuropatwa, Barbara Mocarski and many others from TLN, the Blogosphere, and my PLNs as my friends and mentors. These precious souls hold me accountable in my thinking and stretch me in ways I would never have had possible without technology providing instant access to them regularly.

Reversed Mentorship
What is good and right? Working with teachers in one project where I am suppose to be the mentor and then quickly realizing they have so much to teach me - and redirecting them to work with teachers in another project - where we can all learn. Seeing daily that the collective wisdom of the group acts as a catalyst for increasing the wisdom of individuals, who then have a viral impact on their spheres of influence. Seeing how important it is for each individual to bring their foundational wisdom/value to the community, so that together our social experience brings new understanding and a deeper realization to everything I learned as an individual.

Cause to Celebrate
And without a doubt the most incredible "good and right" in my educational world was having the affirming honor bestowed upon me by my children - the 50th birthday site where I could see in black and white- there is much good and right about my educational world. http://www.sherrys50thbirthday.com/

Ok- Your turn. What do you have to celebrate in your professional journey?

You Might Be Too Busy IF...

A few weeks ago I found myself frustrated by the fact that I was too busy to enjoy life's little pleasures. For example, I had gotten a new I-Touch for my birthday and hadn't had time to explore and my OLPC laptop had finally arrived and there had not been even a moment to open the box. So what did I do? I created a diversion by wasting time on Twitter asking my community to finish the "Jeff Foxworthy" (of You might be a redneck if.. fame) like statement..  The responses were hilarious! Mostly because they were all so true! Read them over and see if you haven't been there!

So here you go..compliments of Twitter-- oh btw.. if you have one to add- please do in comments. Thanks my fellows Twits! You are too funny!

You might be too busy if...

• you can't wait to leave work... to go home and do more work.
• your husband and children go on vacations (without you) and you are happy :-)
• your to-do list is a list of to-do lists.
• you say you're too busy to learn how RSS can reduce your stress!
• your calendar is full through May and it is only January!
• you took the Christmas decorations down 2 weeks. ago, but all the boxes are still in the living room.
• you wake up in the morning, get dressed and ready for work...then realize it's Saturday!
• your 5 yr old says, "Are you done yet, I need to work on the computer now!"
• your cell phone vibrating makes a hole in your pocket!
• you discover that you already made the entire wiki for the workshop and had completely forgotten that you'd done it!
• hot chocolate and pizza logs eaten at a skating rink constitute dinner. Twice a week. For four months.
• you look at your calendar and don't see Saturday or Sunday.
• there are so many things to do that you can't decide which to start, so sit and stare at twitter.
• you've already put in 8 hours before you take that shower!
• you spend four days trying to accomplish 1 thing, and realize that u have finished many other tasks but still not that 1 thing.
• you have yet to turn on for the 1st time the new Macbook pro you got back in Dec.
• you rush to brush your teeth and realize you've used Preparation H instead of Crest.
• you realize you haven't done laundry, so you just wear two different socks under your boots, hoping no one will notice.
• you have to schedule time on your calendar for a restroom break.
• you forget to eat lunch even after several people remind you!
• school ends in an hour and you haven't eaten lunch.
• you don't have time to replace the dead batteries in your PDA.
• you think it's still Monday.  (Ha - just kidding - I know it's really Tuesday.  Wait.  What?)
• you can't remember if you ate or just thought about eating.
• you still have unopened boxes  of palm pilots and document cameras.
• you are grading papers in January that were turned in mid November.
• you're 3/4 of the way through the day before you actually think about what you want to accomplish for the day.
• you look up at the clock and 6 hours have passed without you noticing.
• your desk has too many piles that you resort to working elsewhere.
• you spend more time adding things to your to-do list than actually DOING them.
• you spend so much time organizing your to-do's that you have no time to actually do (been there, done that :-))
• you have MAIL from 6 weeks ago you haven't opened yet.
• you do not notice your "Currently" Twitter comment is almost three days old.
• you haven't got time to write a 140 character reply to Sheryl!

Reflection as an Agent of Real Change

As I was reading Jennifer Jones' post on viral PD today I found myself thinking how cool it is that in a community we all have a piece of the puzzle. One of the challenges we face in the 21st Century though is how we collectively connect ideas in such a way that the big picture becomes clear and everyone can benefit.

I know what you are thinking- ever heard of RSS Sheryl? (Actually, I have been thinking about RSS a lot lately in the work we are doing with PLP). But more my concern is around *managing* successful viral PD. With all the feeds, Google Alerts, and other information being pulled to each of us, combined with all the responses from each participant in an active, engaged CoP and the viral spin offs of each community as it grows and becomes more successful through the planned scaling - - how does one manage all the information without missing critical pieces?

I am a community organizer by trade. I spend most of my day reading, writing, thinking, and developing community across the nation and around the world. So how do I decide what to keep and what to toss? As we begin to feel the results of successful viral PD opportunities like what happened in Alabama, how will staff developers keep up with it all? For that matter how will *any * of us keep up with it all- with information doubling every two years now and predicted to double every 72 hours by the year 2010?

As I continue to work within the communities with which I am involved, it is wildly gratifying to see the deep and consequential changes in practice taking place over time with the educators who are participating.  I know the job embedded model works. What I question is how to maintain these changes in practice over substantial periods of time (sustainability) as the viral impact causes diffusion of the innovation to large numbers of users (spread).

Knowing the role of the community organizer is critical in terms of champion building in the beginning when trust and norms are being developed among members, I question how staff developers who oversee multiple communities of practice in addition to maintaining their own learning through their personal learning networks will keep up?

In Alabama, (which is one of the Microsoft mid-tier Partners in Learning projects) the community is strong and participants have taken ownership in ways that deepen and sustain the original work via adaptation (shift) as they are innovating and revising the outcomes of what we (the designers) originally intended. It is exciting to find my thinking continually challenged and to be pushed to reshape and recreate the model in new and different ways. (evolution) However, I am finding less and less time for sharing what I am thinking, doing and the evidence I am collecting that points to what is working.

How do we find/make time for reflection? I do believe it is critically important to reflect and be transparent as possible about the processes we are using. Why? Because it helps us all move away from a place of privacy and isolation to one of collaboration and innovation. But lately, I find myself so busy with design and implementation that I neglect reflection, even as critical as I believe it is to have your comments inform my thinking.

In Schmoker's "Results Now" he says, Isolation -- 'professional privacy' as Little called it -- explains why exemplary practices never take root in more than a small proportion of classrooms and school. Judith Little found that, "When teachers engage regularly in authentic "joint work" focused on explicit learning goals, ...their collaboration pays off in increased teacher confidence and remarkable gains in achievement."

As more and more teachers reject isolation and seek collaboration, teaching will become more transparent with teams of teachers excited and willing to learn from each other. The idea of sharing and reflecting on 21st Century lesson planning in a virtual community where it can be accessed and reviewed on the Web is one way to help schools move more quickly toward a culture of collaboration and improved teaching and learning!

The Reflective Change Agent
Donald Schon suggests that the best professionals know more than they can put into words. To meet the challenges of their work, they rely less on established models and more on improvisation learned in practice. Basically, we test out our theories and ideas via our blogs and through other participatory media and this allows us to collectively develop and design further. Significantly, to do this we do not closely follow established ideas and techniques - textbook schemes. Rather, we draw on what has gone before (shift and evolution mentioned above) and we can link this process of thinking on our feet with reflection-on-action.

I think this way of thinking about reflection and leading is going to become more important as knowledge creation picks up an even faster pace. There simply will not be time to formally test each change idea so others can review the findings and determine value before implementation. Rather reflection in action, transparency in our process via conversations with experts on the Web will enables us to spend time exploring why we acted as we did, what was happening in a group and so on and inform our practice as we move forward. In so doing we develop sets of questions/answers and this informs our ideas about our activities and practice.

Through our blogs, videos and recordings we should engage the network in our process, not having to have a full understanding of things before we act. With communities of global, experienced professionals pushing our thinking along the way, we will be influenced by, and use, what has gone before, what might come, our repertoire, and the repertoire of the community.  As we work collaboratively we will bring collective fragments of memories into play and begin to build theories and responses that fit each new situation. Through this reflective process the change in schools will become more emergent, organic, and viral in nature.

So I invite my readers to continually comment and push my thinking further. I appreciate your voice in my work.

Getting Questions Answered by the US Candidates

My teacher leader colleague posted questions in the San Francisco Chronicle and  both Senators Clinton and Obama responded. I think these are worth a quick read and while not technology/learning community focused-- worth highlighting here.

So how about you? Have you posed your questions to the candidates yet?

Chronicle readers question the candidates: Sen. Hillary Clinton

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/03/MN6KUR81L.DTL&type=politics

Is anything worth saving in No Child Left Behind? How much of a monetary role do you see the federal government having in education, particularly K-12, as opposed to a bully pulpit role?

- Carol Strand, 65, Berkeley
Sen Clinton: Well, Carol, one of the reasons I'm running for President is to ensure a better America for our children. Ensuring educational opportunities for all children and raising education standards in our nation's schools has been a cause of mine for over thirty five years now, ever since I joined the Children's Defense Fund out of law school. I believe that every child should be taught by a qualified teacher in a school that is held accountable for educating every child - that is why I supported the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) back in 2001. Then, the law represented a historic promise - more funding for more accountability. But quickly thereafter, it became clear that the promise had been broken. I have been an outspoken advocate for reforming No Child Left Behind since 2002, and now I believe it's time to get rid of the law. I believe we should reward schools that make progress instead of punishing schools that struggle. I oppose the one-size-fits-all approach to addressing the challenges facing schools, and am pushing for more flexibility in the law. I have also called for less teaching to the test, a more well-rounded curriculum, and a system that demands that our children take fewer tests and that those tests be of higher quality. Every year since the law was enacted, I have co-sponsored legislation, written to the appropriations committee and spoken out aggressively about the need to fully fund NCLB.


I'm fighting to improve the quality of every child's education from preschool through college, to make sure that every child has an equal chance to succeed because each is taught by a qualified teacher in a modern classroom - especially in K-12 education. This means providing funding and oversight at the federal level with comprehensive plans that will provide quality universal pre-kindergarten education, a youth opportunity agenda to bridge the achievement gap and a college affordability plan that will ensure a quality and equal start for our children from start to finish.

Since standardized tests offer such a limited measurement of student learning, and have undesirable consequences, are there other means you could envision schools and teachers using to measure student learning?

- Anthony Cody, 49, Oakland
Sen. Clinton: This is an important issue, Anthony, because with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) school curricula rely too heavily on standardized tests at the expense of student creativity. Instead of focusing on standardized testing as a measure to reform schools, our focus should be on starting with proven remedies, such as smaller class sizes and enhanced parent involvement and ensuring our children are being taught by qualified teachers. We need a president that will prioritize learning more than memorizing. Currently, standardized tests determine the curriculum but it needs to be the other way around. It's time for us to rethink student assessments so that they measure students' problem solving and creative thinking abilities. And we need to reduce the influence of standardized tests in our schools.

Our public education system is becoming less globally competitive and more separate and unequal from the weight of No Child Left Behind and economically driven district gerrymandering --thus widening the education gap between the affluent (haves) and the poor (have-nots). What solutions do you offer to have a more rigorous, relevant, equal, and global competitive public school system?

- Cory Haynes, 33, Napa
Chronicle readers question the candidates: Sen. Barack Obamahttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/03/MNC0URFOC.DTL&type=politics

Sen. Obama: The goal of NCLB is the right one - ensuring that all children can meet high standards. But unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation by the Department of Education, and shortcomings in the design of the law itself have limited its effectiveness and undercut its support among many people who care deeply about our schools and our students.

One of the greatest troubles of NCLB is that we have spent too much time preparing students for tests that do not provide any valuable, timely feedback on how to improve a student's learning. We need assessments that are useful to improve student learning. As president, I will work with the nation's governors and educators to create assessment models that will: provide educators and students with timely feedback about how to improve student performance; measure readiness for college and success in an information-age workplace by testing reading comprehension, writing skills, scientific reasoning, and other critical thinking skills; and indicate whether individual students are actually making progress toward reaching high standards.

We also need to work together to ensure that a qualified and successful teacher is in every classroom in America. While the current "highly qualified" standards for teacher quality are important, it is not clear that they are the only criteria on which we should assess the quality of our teachers. Particularly at a time when our nation is facing a shortage in teachers due to retirement and retention problems, it is important to ensure that we can attract, support, and retain high-quality teachers. Many states and local governments have seen successful results from experimenting with alternative preparation programs, innovative incentives to subsidize teacher training and interest in serving in high-need schools, and increased teacher support through mentoring, effective professional development, and the support of professional learning communities within schools, so that teachers can work together to improve their practice.

In the Senate, I've introduced legislation to create Teacher Residency Programs to provide incentives for talented individuals to enter profession by teaching as apprentices in the classrooms of expert veteran teachers while completing coursework for certification and pledging at least three years of service in the sponsoring district. As president, I will expand the number of Teacher Residency Programs by providing funding for 200 new programs that would each serve an average of 150 candidates each year. Each year, my plan will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need schools to provide long-term commitment and leadership in these districts.

In addition, I have proposed a substantial program of service scholarships to underwrite the preparation of teachers who will teach in high-need locations and fields and the provision of mentors to beginning teachers so they will stay in the profession.

But fixing NCLB is not an education policy. It's just a starting point. That's why I introduced a comprehensive plan to give every American child the chance to receive the best education America has to offer - from the moment they're born to the day they graduate college.

Since standardized tests offer such a limited measurement of student learning, and have undesirable consequences, are there other means you could envision schools and teachers using to measure student learning?

- Anthony Cody, 49, Oakland
Sen. Obama: I've set forth an education plan that describes in detail robust measures of student learning. And I've made clear that I do not support traditional "merit pay" if that simply means paying teachers more on the basis of student test scores. Linking teacher pay to a single standardized test does not accurately reflect teacher performance or student learning, and I believe we need develop more innovative and robust systems.

I support systems such as those being used in Denver right now, and my Career Ladder initiative will encourage the adoption of such educational reforms throughout the country. Measures of student learning in specific subject areas may include scored writing samples or reading samples, mathematics assessments, assessments of science or history knowledge, or even musical performances. In some schools, teachers use their own fall and spring classroom assessments as a way of gauging student progress. These measures can also be tailored for the learning goals of specific students (for example, special education students or English language learners.)

So if you're a Language Arts teacher, a Career Ladder might look to your students' papers, or how many books they've read, in addition to their performance on classroom exams. If you are a science teacher, it would collect evidence about the quality of students' science investigations as juried by evaluators at a science fair or about the number of students passing the AP test in their field.

Student success can also include other outcomes, such as improved behavior, attendance, work completion, and course passage.

In Denver's system, teachers set two goals annually in collaboration with the principal, and document student progress toward these goals using district, school, or teacher-made assessments to show growth. So the teachers themselves are involved in selecting the criteria upon which they are evaluated.

Making a Mint competition

 

Posted by: jimhighland | February 4, 2008
http://hvlc.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/making-a-mint-competition/

Making a Mint competition   

NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is offering free resources and prizes in its Making a Mint competition. Making a Mint is a botany and enterprise project for 7-14-year-olds from NESTA’s Future Innovators Team and Planet Science.

The competition, which closes on 6 July, will provide entrants with a free pack of mint seeds and will set teams the challenge of adding as much value to the grown plants as possible.
At the end of the competition, NESTA will look at the top 50 entries which have made the most money and award a prize to the most creative money-making scheme. Participants will also have the chance to win £1000 for their school in either Amazon or garden vouchers.