Category Archives: Thoughts

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How do you Deal with Failure or Being Wrong!

Updated 5_3_2011 due to the original YouTube video no longer being available. I had been wanting to write about being wrong or in some cases failure. Not every idea I have is a winner by any stretch of my imagination. The thing is though that I am willing to try and at time fail big in public. I had to do a major mea culpa earlier in the year when I had to get the students who were under 13 to delete the Google accounts I showed them how to create. I was wrong to do that an made it right or as right as I could. I am not saying we need to celebrate failures or being wrong like we do being right or succeeding in what we try, but let’s balance it a bit. People, and therefore schools are not always right or successful. Some of the things we do just do not work or do not work anymore.

I had the following TED Talk by Kathryn Shultz in my TED app on my iPad to watch. I had not yet watched it and then came an email from Patti Donnelly, a fellow teacher, who said she had played it to her class. I like the message it sends as I think there is a lot to showing our students that sometimes being wrong is in fact, being right.

Old post from January 2011.

Each day I learn from what I do wrong and try to reflect to be a better educator. Jason Ramsden just shared this link via Twitter and I thought it worthy of a post before I leave school. When I was a Science teacher most of the experiments we would do in class would work, not all but most. I used to tell my students that most scientists are wrong most of the time, but if they are right once, it can be a successful career. I hope I continue to fail and learn from it and I hope my students do the same.

I did find a solid movie by Robert Marzano where he discusses Responding to Failure so thought I would add it here again.

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Collaboration Imagery of Campus Leads to a Discussion

Students in my Digital Learning 5th and 6th classes do a short unit on Digital Imagery where we discuss elements of telling a story with a picture. We talk about Rules of 3rds, Perspective and then work with iPhoto to make edits that can enhance or highlight what “caught” the student’s eye. Each student then exported two of their favorite images and uploaded them to this collaborative VoiceThread where they were to label their images with their name and tell the story of the image. Once they had done theirs, they were to look at and comment on other images. I am pleased to say that students began to discuss how students took the photos or how they edited them. The larger goal of this collaboration was to develop a conversation between students about the project. I am very pleased with some of the photos as the students show a good eye for capturing interesting images. Students in Digital Learning 6 also created movies using the online tool, Animoto of all of their images. You can view them at http://dl6th.edublogs.org/tag/animoto/

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Will Schools Reach a Singularity?

Singularity Book

 

”The Singularity is Near’…very’

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36613169@N00/112475613

I am just finishing up a very interesting interview done by Leo Laporte Tom Merritt with Ray Kurzweil at TWIT Triangulation. While I know that some people feel that he is out there with his predictions and ideas, I was fascinated with his statements in the interview how humans look at change as linear when in many cases it is exponential due to our intuition being linear (time code: 3:40 – 6:20). The inability for humans to adapt to the exponential leads us to misinterpret most of the changes that are taking place today. I can remember a time when I was young where we had a party line phone that hung on the wall. We would interrupt our neighbors talking to find out when they thought they would be done. I took one of my first computer training classes in Hadley, Massachusetts around 1983 where I believe I used Windows 1.0 and struggled with understanding how to make the computer do much of anything. I knew there was something to this machine, but wondered if I could ever figure it out given how I was struggling to understand the input mechanism needed to make it do anything. Only 28 years later, I make my living teaching adults and students how to use technology to learn, create, communicate, teach, and share then I ever could have predicted in that classroom in Hadley. When I started teaching at Culbreth Middle School in 1993, I had the chance to use a Macintosh with HyperStudio. My teaching and my students learning changed as I began to use the technology in centers of learning allowing students to create projects that demonstrated what they were learning. It was not easy as we had floppy disks to manage, Appletalk networks to maintain, and those wonderful Imagewriter printers. This was exciting to me and altered my teaching career to become what I am today, a Digital Learning Coordinator where in the lab next door students are using Google Docs to collaborate and edit in real time. Students visiting from France are able to talk to their families back home in real time. We have used tools to teach from China with audio, video along with students recording spoken language in a VoiceThread while the teacher in China accessed it to listen in near real time. I could never have imagined this in 1983 or even 1993 and perhaps even 2003. Now, I can do it with nothing more then the tools built into the computers and a user account. Cost is $0.00.

As Ray discusses in the interview the advancements are predictable (time code:13:10 – 15:00) in that there is a steady progression in the advancement of technology. He talks about how we are moving towards creating computers that will allow nano-molecular computing. He said that when it happens he will have his “cell-phone” implanted in his body, as “that is where it belongs”. In addition, when asked about what the “Singularity” is he describes it as the time when computer intelligence reaches parity with human intelligence. This means that computers will be able to recognize patterns like our neocortex does for us. (time code: 21:12). I also liked the way Ray describes how 50 years ago we could not of told people that one day they will be able to use Skype, Facebook and other technologies to communicate. (time code: 25:00)

It is now 2011, and if Ray is correct, in only 18 years, the intelligence of a computer will be equal to the intelligence of our human brain. My grandson, Elliot, who is now 10 weeks old will be 18 at this time. What will his school look like then? What technologies will he employ in school? What will he use outside of school? What technologies will be banned or considered disruptive?

If schools follow the path we have thus far, schools will look and function much the same as they do today with some schools embracing the new technology more rapidly then other schools. Yes, we now have phones in the classrooms, although that was controversial when first suggested. Teachers have laptops, although most did not want them when first asked. Classrooms now have mounted LCD projectors with some even having SMARTBoards. If we go back further, I am relatively sure there were committees that were formed to discuss whether or not schools should deploy the new fountain pen when that technology was introduced. I can only imagine the discussions that took place at my high school in 1973 when the new IBM Selectric was ordered as it replaced the nice old fashion Manual typewriter.

How will learning change? How will teaching and schools change as we approach this singularity event? How will schools prepare for the event or will they? What role will schools play in this event horizon?

Anyway, listen to this interview as even though it may wierd you out, think about my grandson coming of age at that time and realize we must prepare for the singularity in some way as the change is coming in exponential ways.

Power aug

http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/talks/revo.slides/power.aug.curve/power.aug.gif

Updated: 4/21/2011 – I just read about this on Cathy Davidson’s blog and thought I could include it here as it relates.

 

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DA Middle School has Gone Google Video

Gone Google

 

Durham Academy Middle School implemented Google Apps for Education in November of 2010 so that all students, regardless of age, could access the powerful collaborative tools. With little training and few issues, students and teachers have Gone Google in meaningful and substantial ways to advance the learning of our students with this transformative collection of tools.

Google launched a Gone Google campaign for companies, schools and others to tell how Going Google has impacted the organization. I also read a blog post by Dean Shareski about how he started this Google Doc. I thought I would combine the two ideas and created my own Gone Google Doc to see if students and teachers would help create a Gone Google Video. After asking a few teachers to nominate students, I nominated teachers who were actively using Google Apps with their students. I created a Google Doc asking for a short video and shared it with the people.

The directions:

Teachers and students, I would like to hear how using Google Docs has helped you with school. The idea is to get short (30 – 60 second) videos where you answer the following statements. I will take the clips submitted and edit them together to create the Gone Google movie. We will do this all in Google Docs.

The idea is for you to create a short 30 second video clip that you shoot on your own with your computer and then upload it to Google Docs and share it with me, I can get it from there to make the Gone Google Video.

The Script:

1. State your first name and grade (No last names as it is going on the Internet)

2. Complete this sentence: “I have gone Google because I ………….

(Talk about how Google Docs helps you or any other comment that works for you).

3. Complete this sentence: My tip on how to use Google Docs is to ………

(Perhaps it is something you do for yourself that helps you be more productive).

4. Complete this sentence: I wish I could do _____________ with Google Docs?

(Optional  –  leave out if you have no wish).

5. Add any other comments you want.

Technical Directions:

1. Use your computer’s web cam and Photobooth or iMovie or any other software to create the movie. (If desired, I can video you at school).

2. Leave a gap at the start and at the end so I can trim it. 3 seconds is a fine amount to leave.

3. Name it lastname.gonegoogle.

4. Upload it to Google Docs and Share it with me. It should be in a .mov format.

5. Have the movie to me by 3/22/2011

6. If you need help uploading the file, see this link: http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=50092&topic=1153381

I am sharing it via our VoiceThread so if you would like to leave a comment, please do.


 

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Student Back Channel

Computer Screens

 

Image: ‘Backchannel, from the Back of the Room’

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35034345586@N01/14027805

 

Ryan has done more solid work with the backchannel resources. This just appeared in the Class of 16 Students FirstClass Conference. What makes a student to want to share like this? Is it built into the DNA of our students to share? How do we foster more of this sharing so that all students are involved in creation, curation, and publication? How do we make sure teachers are harvesting this back channel?

One way to do all of this is to bring it to light and promote it I believe. Many teachers have created Moodle Discussion Forums for this harvesting as it helps everyone. Of course, there are some who are concerned with quality and fear the backchannel resources could be erroneous. Which is better, nothing or somethings that may need to have the group correct?

Hey guys,

In case you haven’t noticed, I have posted lots and lots of personal glossary words for Kanoy science! If you don’t think you have a complete Personal Glossary #3 list so far, then check it out! (You may have to already be logged onto Moodle for the link to work)

http://msmoodle.da.org/moodle/mod/forum/view.php?id=17577

Also, apply to my Quizlet group, “Cavaliers”! We have lots of History and Spanish sets along with a few LA ones. However, we don’t have very many French sets. I recommend Ryan St_____s’s group, “French 7 Engebretsen” for French sets.

Cavaliers: http://quizlet.com/group/59895/

French 7 Engebretsen: http://quizlet.com/group/42410/

Science 7 Kanoy: http://quizlet.com/group/70787/

^^^^^^

Ryan S.

 

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When the Learning Seeds Escape the Walled Garden

dandelion in the wind

‘Dandelion in the wind’

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91273409@N00/140131319

Having gardened for many years, I know how tough it can be to contain all of the plants inside of my garden area. Learning and teaching inside of a walled garden like our Moodle has some of the same limitations. Sometimes, the learning needs to escape into the world’s garden. I have worked with Tina Bessias on many wonderful projects and for many years we conducted workshops together for teachers at our school. She has always been a teacher who looked to challenge both herself and her students with work that could have meaning after the class was over. I was excited to hear that she was also a NCAIS Master Teacher. She clearly is one and I think we will both benefit from the challenges we face with becoming one of the first group of Master Teachers. Her Master Teacher project was about Immigrants and Interviews. A neat idea and one that I thought her students would both enjoy while also being challenged.

I received a very nice message, (which prompte this post) from Tina. She granted me permission to post it here as I liked how she included the earlier work her students had done with me as a reason for some of the success of the project.

I took six 9th graders to the ICG Conference at Carolina Friends School on Thursday.  Together, we presented our project to a small but engaged audience.  Mostly, I let the students do it, and I wish you could have seen them.  Nobody in the audience had used Moodle or created wikis before, and it was amazing to see the students’ work through their eyes.  They made seamless transitions among discussion forums, Garage Band, photo editors, wiki templates, and the concepts of the project–the variety of experiences they heard about from immigrants, the enthusiasm with which they referenced “my immigrant”…  It was a beautiful thing.  And throughout the project, they have mentioned and built on what they learned in Middle School.

I responded thusly,

WOW! What a Wonderful World View Student Centered project! I have been poking around in your course and Wiki and am awed by what you were able to harness and produce. I am also proud of what those students were able to create and do and am glad that my teaching laid a foundation. Too often, I wonder if what I do continues to be nurtured. Clearly, this project represents a prime example of the roles of a 21st Century teacher and learner.

Tina is a heavy Moodle user at the Upper School as her courses contain most of the modules that are available for use in classes. She has used the wiki in Moodle for many years even though most Moodle users agree, it is not very good. Moodle 2.0 has a much better, built from the ground up wiki which we will hopefully be able to use next school year. What Tina has accomplish with her project is to do the MESSY teaching and learning aspects of her project inside the walled garden of our Moodle. Only students and teachers can access it which limits projects living outside of a classroom or our Moodle. This is a classic use for a walled garden with 9th grade students. This is a picture of her Moodle tools used in the construction of the project. She used links, wikis, discussion forums and PDFs to guide the project. Some are active and some are grayed out as they are no longer available to students.

World Literature Bessias

I am excited to attend the presentation to the Durham Academy community on April 3, 2011 at 4:00 PM to share the learning and work of these learners and immigrants. To see more of the learning that lives in the garden outside the walled garden, visit The World in Our Midst.

Immigrant Interviews home

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When Students Run the Class

Leape

 

‘Bring Me Sunshine’

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68134711@N00/3172441452

 

I took a leap in the last Digital Learning Grade 5 class when I gave them a rotation to teach themselves something, create a product, and teach the class. Like usual, I was impressed that most students more then delivered. A few students under delivered given their abilities which I attribute to not being sure exactly what to do with this new found freedom. I put together a VoiceThread of their projects to showcase them. We did have a couple technical and logistical issues which is why there is not one for each student. I will for sure do this again and frankly think we may want to do more rotations like this one as even though it was more work then all of us working on one project at the same time, it was a way more engaged and energized classroom. Besides, I never even thought of stop animation as that was a suggestion from the students. One group took over 300 pictures to create the duck movie.

 

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When Students Teach Themselves for a Rotation

Rotation

‘Rotation’

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11821713@N00/3230061564

This Rotation is For You! This was how I introduced our last rotation for the Digital Learning 5 class. I wanted to try some of the ideas I have been reading from Jonathan Martin, The Electric Educator, and others on how they are flipping the instructional flow. I also wanted the students to showcase what skills they have developed during our trimester course as a final project to see if all we learned would transfer when given an open ended project.

Using a Moodle assignment so I could assess their work and because it is our main class portal where I can add tutorials from Atomic Learning in our Moodle, and other learning links that we needed to learn, I posed this challenge:

In this project, I want you to think about what you would like to learn to do that you could teach yourself and us. For instance, have you ever wanted to learn how to shoot a video, how to create a podcast, use Photoshop, or any other type of technology?

You will fill out a Google form where you will list what you want to learn, how you will evaluate your learning, and which type of project will you produce. Your project should teach us something that you taught yourself. This is part of your final project for class.

Once I have the ideas you want to learn about, I will work on getting resources for you to help guide our learning. Unfortunately, YouTube is blocked here at school so that will not be an option. If you find a YouTube video at home, you can send me the link and I will download it so you can watch it at school.

You will be required to work on this at school and at home so consider this fact as you think about how you will create your final project.

Ideas:

How to draw a ……..

How to record a  podcast?

How to shoot a good movie?

How to use Google Sketch Up?

How to use Google Earth?

How to use Scratch?

How to …….

Remember, you will teach yourself something and by doing so create something that will teach us.

We are now into the presentation stage of this project and these are the projects students have done to teach themselves and others. All students used a Google Presentation to present to the class. We worked on linking the video they made into the project since we had to upload their video to their Google Apps account and then get the link under the Share menu.

1. How to create a Stop Motion Animation – 4 students used cameras, iPhoto, and iMovie to create stories.

2. How to use Google Earth – 4 students have used Google Earth to create training movies, tips on how to use different tools or elements.

3. How to use iMovie –  4 students have used the Lumix cameras or video clips from parents to create movies that tell a story.

4. How to use Google Sketchup – 1 student wanted to learn more about this software after using it with his father.

I have learned that students will:

  • rise to the challenge when offered an option to do something they have a passion to learn
  • amaze you at the level of care and instructions they create
  • want to help each other learn once they learn it themselves
  • utilize tools and skills already learned to create new projects even without specific teacher directions
  • using a Google form is an easy way to collect and visualize data for a project of this type
  • actually use the Help menu in applications – how many of you can say that?

One student created a Google Presentation on how to use iMovie that it will serve as a tutorial for other students and teachers. She linked her presentation to an iMovie she has on her Mom’s Mobile Me account as it was too big to upload to our Google Apps setup. I never had thought about teaching students to do a stop motion animation, but believe I might work that in to the next class.

The biggest change is that I became the guide in the room to assist as needed but also to develop the soil where this type of self-guided learning could grow. This was a small step, but I feel had enough success that I will try it again next trimester.

 

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What is Your Sentence VoiceThread Project – Please Add Yours

Sentence

 

‘Sentience Structure’

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8344872@N05/4245830972

 

I have been working on my NCAIS Master Teacher Academy project with my group of 5th grade students. I wrote about Daniel Pink’s Two Question video earlier. In my last post on Learning to Teach how to Learn is Hard, I wrote how I was having to help my students take time to go deeper with this project. After 3 days of work in our Digital Learning Class, they have added sentences for each of the 5 people, added their sentences, (two were absent so not quite done). Some worked on trying to come up with who the two people are that Daniel Pink refers to as “He taught a generation of kids to read,” and “She invented a device that made people’s lives easier.” I do not know about you, but these were not obvious people to me so I thought the students should figure out who they are by researching. I have to say, that some of the students were taken aback when I said, I do not know for sure who these two people are, help teach me. It is interesting to listen to their findings. I think this might be a neat way to flip the research of people where the students are given a sentence and then must make the case for who the person is or why it is their sentence. Some of my students did add reasons why it was who they think it was. I left this part pretty wide open as I wanted the process to be guided by the students and not directed by me completely. As I wrote previously, this is not easy for both of us in the room as the students looked to me for advice and approval, and I struggled with saying just enough. I enjoyed watching the students begin searching for the sentence to see if it would be that easy. Of course, the result was usually Daniel Pink’s blog which meant the students had to try different search terms and strategies. I had hoped this would be the case as I tried to scaffold the lesson in such a way so that students would develop this understanding.

 

Now it is your turn to add to this VoiceThread. Please take the opportunity to add your sentence, have your class add their sentences, and figure out who those two people are. Pass this VoiceThread along to any one who might want to add to it. All I ask is that the work be serious in nature. If you have a video camera, record video, if you have a good microphone, record audio, or if you only have a keyboard, type the sentences. I would suggest if you are typing that you use a Word Processor to type the sentence and then copy and paste it into the comment as while any sentence is good, a misspelled sentence seems less educational.

 

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Learning to Teach how to Learn is Hard

I worked with my Digital Learning class today on my Master Teacher Academy project inspired by Daniel Pink’s Two Question video. As we discussed the concepts, responsibilities, and outcomes, I had the sense that what I was asking them was very new to them. I like reading Dean Shareski’s posts as he has an inspiring message as I try to adjust my teaching. I am trying to have my students guide their learning more with me assisting and coaching as we both learn together. My students today were in too much of a rush to get the project done. I felt like I had to hold them back as I want to go deeper and get to a level of emotional connectedness to this project. Granted, it may be that I am too connected to the project, since it is my project and not theirs. I understand that, but I am guiding more here for a reason. Anyway, I am sure we will get to where I want us to get as my students rise to the occasion. I was struck by how this video echos many similar themes. I am working on growing as an educator and this helped me today. That makes me better today, then I was yesterday. Thank you to Dean Shareski and Shelley Wright.

There will more about the project I described later, but for now let’s listen and learn from Shelley and her students.