21st Century Learning

Why Change?

Someone in a community I belong to recently said, "Why should teachers change? We are asking them to work harder, do things in a new way, unlearn the old ways of doing things, and when they do all that we have asked we do what? Tell them thanks? I know we don't give them more money. Maybe if they are really lucky we ask them to help the others who just don't seem to get it. What a reward!

I face the same problems, some jump on board and others don't, and I have started asking myself why should they change?"

Why change?

Here's why-- you change for the same reason you went into teaching in the first place. You change because what you do for a living was never just a job- but more a mission. You change because you are willing to do whatever it takes to make a significant difference in the lives of the students you teach. You change because you care deeply about kids and you know that unless you personally own these new skills and literacies you will not be able to give them to your students.

Why change? You change because of all the people in the world- teachers understand the value of being a lifelong learner. You change because you know intuitively relationships matter and you are interested in leaving a legacy to your kids-- through what you do for other's kids. You change because you understand learning is dynamic and that to not change means to quit growing.

Why change? Because you made the decision when you first became a teacher to do something that was larger than life and more meaningful than money, recognition, and status. You became a teacher because of change-- the changes in the world you wanted to make one kid at a time. You change because you want to do what is right-- simply because it *is* the right thing to do and you understand the need to model for others so they can do what is right as well. You are use to hard work and long hours. You are use to commitment with little recognition. You know what you do has lasting results.

You change because the world has changed and you know that not challenging the status quo is the riskiest thing you can do at this point. You change because you love learning and you love children and you know they need you to lead the way in this fast paced changing world and to do that you have to find your own way first. That is why you and they should change.

Photo credit:http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/03/15/monarch_stages.jpg

7 Things Meme

I’ve been tagged by Jenny Luca to contribute to this meme. The idea is that you share 7 things about yourself that would be unknown to your readers.

1. Before I attended college at age 26, I managed health spas.
2. I first became interested in education when I was homeschooling my four children. Soon I was homeschooling my friend's children, which then turned into a small private school which then grew into a charter school, all while I was finishing my first education degree.
3. I was the youngest manager ever hired of all Long John Silver's company stores. I was 16 when I was made manager and had to get my employees to draw the beer because I was underage.
4. I left home at age 14 and never went back.
5. I am a big believer in random acts of kindness to strangers that they have no way of paying back.
6. I had my four children in birthing centers (one where the doctor didn't show and we delivered ourselves with no one in the room-he did arrive in time to cut the cord) or at home (again the midwife didn't show and we did it ourselves).
7. I was a vegetarian for ten years and previously lived on the US's largest successful commune (The FARM).

Now I am suppose to tag 7 people who will do the same thing I just did.

I tag:

Jamie Baker

Lisa Parisi

Fred Delventhal

Mike Gras

Pat Hensley

Robin Clarke

Amber Karnes

Time to Reflect

At the close of every year our family uses this time as an opportunity to review, reflect, predict and plan. We each have a journal where we have kept our goals and it is interesting to look back over the years and see where we have been successful and areas that still need work or redefining.

We do not just take a  “What should I change?” perspective when goal setting but we also look at our strengths, as individuals and as a family. We collectively examine how well we have been keeping the family mission statement and look closely at what each of us did in the previous year as individuals that worked. 

Some questions we will ask each other in our family meeting on Jan 1, 2009 ...

• What am I doing well?
• What did I complete or do successfully during 2008?
• What are my highest held values and how can I build on them?
• How am I documenting my successes and excellence?
• What are my three month, one year, & five year goals under the categories of personal, professional, family, spiritual, and financial?
• Long term- what 2008 goals have I achieved?

Everyone of us has something that works in life; something we can build on and develop. I am a big believer in developing strengths. To be highly successful you figure out what you do well and where your passions lie and you develop that area to its fullest. I am convinced that is how one achieves excellence, by playing to one's strengths. In our family, the areas of weakness will get attention too, but while we work on our deficits we understand that our most heroic efforts will often yield mediocrity at best. The exception is when our deficit is in an area of passionate interest, then motivation typically pushes us to produce despite any circumstance that may conspire against us.

We also celebrate together our successes and we hold each other accountable for laziness. Our family meetings throughout the children's lives have been a powerful way to develop their voice, encourage their strengths and to receive from them their wisdom regarding life choices we are contemplating. A good friend told me recently, "Never sell short the importance of raising wise children, as we will need their wisdom as we grow older." Never a truer statement! I can't count the times my children have been able to look at my circumstance and offer a perspective I had not considered that was wise beyond their years.

Have a blessed New Year. Take some time to reflect and plan as a family. You will be richer for it.

The Effects of Budget Tightening on PD

"21st Century Learning is students and teachers co-creating the curriculum.  The teacher has a broad-brush idea of where to go, but the students connect this outline with their own passions, developing a syllabus together."

One of the Powerful Learning Practice community members recently gave this definition to 21st Century learning. It connected immediately to my vision of classrooms as communities. What if our classrooms were places where we all learned together? Where students taught teachers and each other as often as teachers taught students.

But that would mean a reculturing of schools as we know them. That would mean equipping teachers with the skills to build and sustain communities of practice and learning networks.

TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES
Anthony called me for an interview yesterday on a piece he was doing about the adjustments schools are going to need to make to get their training and PD needs met in light of the tightening of most district budgets. Many schools are realizing that they will not be able to send as many teachers to conferences or bring in the same numbers of high ticket presenters to lead their staff development initiatives. He wanted to know if I had ideas or tips for how schools can still meet their training needs.

For me it is a no brainer. Equip teachers to do their own PD through the building of PLNs and leverage the potential of Web 2.0 tools to bring experts in at relatively low cost. Teaching teachers to create their own free PD represents a lifetime savings for the school or district.

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING
In schools we all agree that students need to take responsibility for their own learning. The teacher can present the material all day long, but the students have to be active participants in the process if learning is going to take place.

But somehow with teachers we do not have the same expectation. We put them in conferences, lectures, courses, and inservices that are mandated and for the most part are one size fits all. What if instead we equipped them to design their own learning experiences based on professional development goals that they co-created within a professional learning team? What if we helped them understand how to develop learning communities within their schools that knew how to connect globally with other educators around the world? And what if they knew how to leverage the communication and collaboration tools to find "just in time" answers from their learning networks through the sharing of resources and ideas? What if through this sharing they were able to improve their teaching skills, mentor each other, and model for their students these same 21st Century literacies?

I am reminded of the analogy, " “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”— Schools trying to cut PD dollars need to be investing in teaching their teachers to fish.

WHAT WOULD I DO?
If I was in the position many educational leaders find themselves today- I would invest in PD that helped my faculty understand how to build sustainable situated communities of practice where teachers learn from each other. I would make sure my teachers knew how to use the emerging technologies to share, connect and collaborate. I would target my professional dollars on experts who knew how to deliver best practice professional development online and understood the value of job embedded PD over time through virtual community spaces. I would invest in training that helped my teachers understand the new networking literacies.

Why?

1. PD needs are met for less money
2. Teachers are gaining valuable 21st Century teaching and learning skills through immersion in the the environments their kids use to learn outside of school.
3. Teachers make connections that accelerate their growth as networked learners.
4. To save on travel, lodging, and food cost associated with sending teachers off or bring multiple experts in physically.

TRADITIONAL CONFERENCES STILL HAVE THEIR PLACE
I am not suggesting conferences are not still beneficial or diminishing the role that a well positioned keynote and workshop can have on motivating your staff to accomplish great things. However, I do believe that as budgets grow tighter and leaders are forced to limit the number of opportunities like these they can provide- taking a serious look at programs like Powerful Learning Practice or K12Online just makes sense.

But then that reminds me of other "Fish" analogies...

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you will not have to listen to his incessant whining about how hungry he is.”—Author unknown

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.”—Author unknown

“Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.  Unless he doesn't like sushi—then you also have to teach him to cook.”—Auren Hoffman, Herald Philosopher

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish, and he will sit in the boat and drink beer all day.”—OldFox

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.  Teach a man to sell fish and he eats steak.”—Author unknown

Photo credit: www.piperreport.com/archives/categories/46.html

Transcending through Connectedness

Have you ever noticed how these powerful Web 2.0 tools really do transcend time and space? It seems as though the friendships forged in virtual space become deeper sooner. Maybe it is the perceived anonymity where we share our hearts and true selves and by pass many of the physical space cues that trip us up in our day to day friendships. I mean because I do not have to be bothered with visual cues such as "Why did she look at me like that when she said that?" Or what someone is wearing or who they are with or the circumstance of location or any number of other distractors- I can just enjoy the disembodied essense of who my online friends are in the most pure sense. The core of their self comes through.

Yesterday one of my new close friends from the PLP work I am doing sent me this. It affected me deeply on many levels. As I watched and listened so much of what was being said resonated with me. I sorted through feelings of mother, daughter, wife, friend and was left in the end with a deep appreciation for strong women who stay connected and transcend all life throws at them.  I immediately sent this to my daughters. I now share it with you. It is my idea of holiday wishes to my dear strong women friends.

Why You Need a Personal Learning Network

Frustrated I turned to my PLN on Twitter and asked--

* What about kids talking to each other and learning socially is so hard to "get"?
* Why is control such a huge part of school culture? Control of kids--control of teachers?
* Why do we not trust students and think if we are talking - they are learning?
* Why is restructuring the way we deliver curriculum so hard for teachers to accept?

Wisdom of the Crowds

I awoke this morning to their wisdom. I am so glad I have a PLN. I'd love to know your take to these questions as well. Please leave me a reply!

Laura O'Reilly    
BoudiOReilly @snbeach Many teachers define learning as "agreement with me"
    
Laura O'Reilly    
BoudiOReilly @snbeach because we have egos!

craigsteed    
craigsteed @snbeach and then you realise, students/teacher dialogue (real dialogue) = learning = increased motivation = less 'need' for control.

craigsteed    
craigsteed @snbeach students talking = teachr not "delivering" = loss of control, these all fit togethr. Secret, to realise studnts can learn togethr..

ZZenovka    
ZZenovka @snbeach Hard for me as a teacher to restructure due to a lack of administrative support. I'd love to do things differently!

craigsteed    
craigsteed @snbeach (curriculum & control) I think it often stems from peoples own experiences from their education - hey it worked for them didn't it?

craigsteed    
craigsteed @snbeach I also wonder why teachers feel they must have exams to motivate students - motivation does not come from control

adrianbruce    
adrianbruce @snbeach NB I also believe that All Generalisations Are Evil! :-)

adrianbruce    
adrianbruce @snbeach I also believe that the natural selection process of Ts and Executives mean that these people do well in the existing system.
    
adrianbruce    
adrianbruce @snbeach Ad's opinion re qustions-Structural Functionalists believe that the structures that exist in groups replicate & continue the group     
    
Michelle Baldwin    
michellek107 @snbeach we are discussing the "illusion of control" in schools- had a great conversation with district & bldg administrators yesterday

snobles    
snobles @snbeach Or filled a school with teachers who had not thought about their own teaching ... really ever?
    
Carey Pohanka    
capohanka @snbeach What would happen if we had a school filled with people who hated school for themselves?

Carey Pohanka    
capohanka @snbeach I teach French (my passion) and Geo (hated as a student). I think I'm a better Geo teacher than French bc of that.

Carey Pohanka    
capohanka @snbeach meaning, as students the old system worked for them.    

Carey Pohanka    
capohanka @snbeach Many teachers are the ones who were successful in the "old" way..teacher talks, they learn. If not, they wouldn't have liked school     
    
Karen Richardson    
witchyrichy @snbeach it's ALL about trust system doesn't trust teachers OR students so they try to script learning so it's teacher & student proof

Patrick Higgins    
pjhiggins Icon_red_lock @snbeach great questions. Teachers have a hard time seeing the value in some forms of student-centered instruction.

Ian Nixon    
inixon @snbeach School culture is the key word there. The curriculum architecture in a school also tells the story of why control is dominant.

cbearsolutions @snbeach When education is under siege, anything 'new' looks simply risky. (found you through @j_allen, nice to meet you)

Ed Allen    
Horizons93 @snbeach Brilliant Sheryl! would say the answer is that change is feared and many, sadly think it is still 1978.
    
Susan Carter Morgan    
scmorgan @snbeach Control--it's how they were taught. They have trouble seeing beyond their own experience.

Josh Allen    
j_allen @snbeach Simply, too many teachers are control freaks and they won't give up control of that situation.

Karyn Romeis    
karynromeis @snbeach I wish I knew the answers to all your questions. I keep asking them myself! And I'm not even a teacher!

Chad Lehman    
imcguy @snbeach Is there a feeling that control is related to accountability?

Chad Lehman    
imcguy @snbeach I think restructuring the curriculum is more difficult for administration to accept.

Jason Alley    
jasonalley @snbeach Fear of the unknown and a feeling of obsolescence? I think your PLP model is a dynamic approach though. Seems rooted in E. Rogers.
    
Ernie Easter    
ErnieEaster @snbeach First we would need to change school culture and principals who do not want to see chaos-kids socializing during class. Poor evals.
    
erniec    
erniec @snbeach in order to make social learning happen we have to get a whole-school appreciation for what a GREAT classrooms look and act like

Carmen Tschofen    
ctscho @snbeach Always somewhat stumped by idea that teachers can "make" kids think.
    
Wendy Drexler    
WendyDrexler @snbeach Teachers feel that what they are doing is working. Hard to give up "tried and true". PD should be about experimenting.

Alfred Thompson    
alfredtwo @snbeach How often to we hear people thinking that when kids are talking they are NOT learning? When it is often the way they do learn.
    
erniec    
erniec @snbeach if your style has been to maintain a quite and orderly classroom this looks like chaos

Wendy Drexler    
WendyDrexler @snbeach Do you think that control is part of a teacher personality?
    
Wendy Drexler    
WendyDrexler @snbeach I think we're afraid that if we're not talking, they're not learning. Can't see that twinkle in the eye when they "get it".

Scott Elias     
ScottElias @snbeach It's a lot of work & they don't see the value. Some believe that they are giving up the "power." That's where leadership comes in.

robclarke    
robclarke @snbeach I think it is insecurity

Jonbecker @snbeach have you read Dan Lortie's Schoolteacher?
    
Stuart Ciske    
sjciske @snbeach Teachers teach the way the learned (and played old educ game) best and thus we have a system full of knowledge font people
    
Meg Ormiston    
megormi @snbeach Add in the control question Unions setting the culture of control

Networked Family

Last night my son walks outside- snaps this- and comes in and emails me. He then Skypes and says, "Check your email." Interesting thing- we live in the same house. I get up and go outside and make him come look with me f2f. While we are outside, my daughter, who is walking her dog calls and tells me to go outside and look at the sky. I then call the other kids and tell them to look.

The family that is networked together- stays together.

Planning for 21st Century Instruction

In his book, Shirky describes a "ladder of activities that are enabled or improved by social tools" in which "The rungs on the ladder, in order of difficulty, are sharing, cooperation, and collective action." (Here Comes Everybody, p.49).

While I am sure Shirky never intended for anyone to use these steps as a planning tool for scaling lessons and helping students own their own learning and build their own networks, I do think the four verbs work nicely for 21st Centuryizing (if you will) what we could be doing in the classroom.

I suggest that these constructs should be used, if used at all, as a scaffolding or spiraling framework. Online we can be sharing-connecting & collaborating at the same time and at different levels.

Basically, my current thinking is you can take any of the current 21st Century skills lists-- for example Wagner's "7 Survival Skills" or Linda Darling Hammond's "Changing Expectations for Learning" and you still get individuals publishing and sharing at best.

The ideas I am playing with now take the highest level of the new Bloom's Create and move it out from there to community. Living in a participatory culture (Jenkins, 2007) suggests that we need to move from a traditional classroom framework to a community framework and that in doing so the focus moves from the individual creating and publishing to the community collaborating and taking action.

It isn't enough for my colleagues or my students to be engaged and sharing with each other in the isolation of the classroom. Instead we need to understand how to publish our work and ideas to an authentic audience (teachers first and then model, once they own it, for students).

But it shouldn't stop there- because once we share our thinking online, others will find it and begin to connect to us via the medium. And from those connections we will find others with passionate interests similar to ours. We will begin to build a professional network of learners. And from that network we may decide to collaborate around a shared interest or passion as a means to learn and grow. And who knows-- from there we may find a project that will address the common good and bring even more caring individuals into a situated learning community which is starting to develop around our shared interest.

What I am trying to do is find a way teachers and students can think about/explore their passions and take them beyond the walls of a classroom to the community. A place where kids can learn what they need, when they need to learn it- rather than learning according to some artificial curriculum plan (Papert, 2004). And from those connections begin to understand how to build and leverage the potential of their PLNs and CoPs in ways that will take them through life.

Currently, I am trying to place these ideas in a grounded context while at the same time conducting some action research to see how they play out as a planning tool for teachers in "21st Centuryizing" their instruction.

http://abpc.wikispaces.com/21st+Centurizing+Lessons

Australia - Perth

After the ELH conference I was scheduled to fly across Australia to Perth and do an all day workshop at the Hale School. The campus was incredible and expansive. Participants came from all over Western Australia but the most exciting part for me personally was that Sue Waters was in attendance. I had collaborated with Sue online but had never met her face to face. Sue became my personal tour guide while in Western Australia and I learned a great deal about life in her region of the world.

We arrived at our hotel in Perth and were thrilled at how beautiful it was. In all my journeys I have never stayed at a place with a courtyard. Incredible!

Sue picked us up at the hotel and took us to a garden called Kings Park where I got to see local fauna and many other natural beauties of Western Australia. She had just given Alan Levine a similar tour a few weeks before so it was interesting listening to the stories of their wild adventures.

We had lunch and conversation at a shop in the park with an amazing view.

The park was set up where you walk through the tree tops and look down on the splendor below.

Sue also took us to see where she works and teaches at Challenger TAFE in Fremantle, Perth.  TAFE is an amazing place. It was my favorite part of the Western Aussie journey.

David got to take a spin on the ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) simulator used for training pilots to work in offshore industry, an opportunity he will never forget!

This is an old abandoned whaling cave that is on the property where TAFE is located.

We also took in some shopping while in Fremantle. The aboriginal art, digaridoos and boomerangs caught our eye for sure.

Maegan wanted to go to the Bell Tower while I was presenting at Hale but she couldn't talk David into going.

Sue also arranged a Blogger's dinner for us. A fellow Perth bloggers and ed-tech enthusiasts attended including Jean Anning, Jane Lowe, Tomaz Lasic and Paul Reid. 

The workshop at Hale School went really well. Peter made sure all the technology was working and provided wonderful assistance.

Having Sue and Jane there was such a special treat and added depth to our conversations.

Overall Reflections
I learned a great deal about Australia's education system while I was there and especially the strengths and weaknesses they have related to ICT. The timing couldn't have been better considering that Will and I are leading eight Australian schools this year as part of the International Cohort with Powerful Learning Practice

I look forward to returning to Australia and would love and opportunity to give in kind the great hospitality I received while there. If you ever get an opportunity to visit, take it.

Australia- ELH Conference in Lorne

I met Bruce through Will and I have to tell you from Day 1 I was impressed. Bruce Dixon is the founder and president of the Anywhere, Anytime Learning Foundation and consults to schools, school districts, education departments, Ministries of Education as well as technology companies such as Microsoft, hp-Compaq, Apple, Bertelsmann and Toshiba on 1-to-1 and technology in education. Bruce has more than 25 years experience working with schools and technology and besides that he and his staff really know how to put on a first rate conference. 

It was a joy to meet  Bernajean Porter and Mary Burns, other keynoters at the conference and very smart women who understand the importance of 21st Century educational reform.

I left John's home and started the trek toward Lorne where the conference would be held taking in the beauty and history of the Great Ocean Road.

 

  

 

We all met for lunch at a place along the way called "At the Heads" and then on to the conference hotel in Lorne called the Mantra Erskine Beach Resort.

One of the most amazing things to us in Australia was the variety of animals and plants. Here at the resort cockatoos from the wild congregated on our porch. They would eat right out of your hand.

The beach was right out our hotel room back door and was so beautiful.

Some of you may remember this famous Indian.

 The conference itself was excellent. I got to meet so many smart people, some of whom I knew online and some I met for the first time.

The secret here is that even though I looked calm and collective my zipper broke on these pants minutes before I went on stage and I had to use the AV guy's duck tape to tape them to me so they wouldn't fall down. Hahahaha!

Another highlight of the conference was the critical conversations around broad themes. I learned so much during these sessions. I wish these were a key part of all f2f conferences.

    

The social events at the conference were just as educational as the sessions. Lots of networking and deep dialog.

Here I am talking to one of the other keynoters, Mary Burns. The gentleman is Mike Valentine who is a leader at Hale School where I presented in Perth. He was amazing and did a wonderful presentation on passion-based learning at the conference.

We ended our time in Lorne by celebrating Bernajean's significant birthday. Can't think of a more perfect place to celebrate a milestone than with Bruce and gang in Australia. Thanks for the memories.

 
The next post will be the last of the Australia posts and will cover my time in Perth!