An educational vision worth sustaining

Note: I like Gary's abrasiveness, humor, directness, and the ability to make me think...



Gary Stager's session at the One-to-One conference concerns a critical conversation: An educational vision worth sustaining. His points:

• Let them build upon their strengths - forget the ditial immigrant etc.

• Bad educational ideas are quite easy to sustain.

• What are the good ideas?

He discusses 3 types of laptop schools:

1. the pioneers- the schools are not good enough and relevant to kids
2. the marketeers - embrace laptops in order to get themselves in the newspaper (he notes, leverage that to your advantage but not the primary focus)
   
3. their neighbors - schools who embrace with fanfare with no idea what they are going to do with them
   

He states:
If you are achieving your educational goals then your goals are too low. It should challenge us to do better. It is not a program. It is not a project or a experiment.

The myths:

• cost is an obstacle to doing the right thing. Reality: Free is the reason for doing something.
• cool technology does not always pay off educationally
• laptops should be immobile - Mobile removes time, removes school on the monopoly on learning
• changing OS represents educational change
• there is a hierarchy of software
• fluency is possible when we keep changing software
• kids are incompetent or evil
• parent won't get it
• go slow
• teachers should get a computer a year early - Reality: the professional development that year is all about chores that replace what teachers always hate doing. can't change practice unless you see what is possible
• professional development works - it does not work. we make artificial place and ways to learn it.
• online textbooks personalize programs
• schools should be like a video game
• web 2.0 will revolutionize education - it is all about identity and removing isolation. we have done that to ourselves.
• the tools should be on language arts
• learning is about access to information. Reality: It is about creation and sharing - real things for real audiences
• online collaboration is the magic bullet
• nothing else should change Reality: make plans for moving forward
  

Does the chld program the computer or does the computer program the child?
Construction of material - brings deeper richer brader experiences.

We should design a video game not just consume them
Using programs such as :scratch, stagecast creator, toontalk, agensheets, turtleart, squeek, netlogo, sketchpad. Better yet: build your own sketchpad.

Build new opportunities and new experiences!

A good prompt is worth 1,000 words:

1. a good prompt, challenge problem or motivation
2. appropriate materials
3. sufficient time
4. supportive culture that includes expertise

Four ways to use materials:

1. teach a specific concept - gears, friction, multiplication of fractions
2. thematic projects - factory, amusement park, airport
3. curricular theme identify a problem in sub saharan africa
4. freestyle

What to think about:

• Monumental vs. substantial work - substantial does something and allows for feedback, etc.
• verbal inflation - can you do the same thing without the computer app? So what? Why do you need it? Why do you use it? Wat are we teaching?
  
• genre study and variety the autobiography
• the digital video rule - video should be shorter and it should be edited one more time - need high expectations - it is part of the process - something that is genuinely valuable

Educational leadership and progress is not about addition. It is about subtraction. We need a role in shaping the future for kids - so now what should go?

Zero based reflective planning - build the network from the learner up - both an educational an network approach.

The bottom line: Less us and more of them! We need to take ourselves and egos out of all of this.

Make memories: 10 things to do with a computer:

1. write a novel
2. share your knowledge
3. answer tough questions
4. make sense of data
5. design a video game
6. build a killer robot
7. lose weight
8. direct a blockbuster
9. compose a symphony
10. change the world - (my note: love that one!)
11. be a mathematician, or scientist, or engineer, or luther, or...

We need to raise our game! At the faculty meeting, we need to share what are the incredible things... teachers need to start talking about their own learning...

He suggests to create a culture of reflective practice. My note: So what can I do to promote that? Maybe a coach's group that will be more reflective. We need to talk about the constraints that compromise the good things that we can do. Articulate in order to make the change. How do other teachers embrace learning for their own benefit? What can we say about the values of the things students do? How can we articulate the benefits of the technology?


Tags: Gary Stager, innovation, education

Social networking - hype or hidden opportunity?

Below are notes from a critical conversations session at the Penn State One-to-One Conference I attended. These are notes I types through the session with a few of my thoughts interjected in.

Dr. Cole Camplese from PSU asks us during the One to One conference: So what are we afraid of?

He says: This changes everything:

How they access information

How they connect with each other

How they control media - they TiVo therefore they want it on their schedule - how feedback from educators and learning opportunities then must be on their schedule.

How they create media (and the millions who watch comment and remix)

Alan Kay quote:

Technology is only technology to those born before technology.

(Note: why then do we keep saying that word which conjures up either some shining entity or fear and trepidation?)

1/3 of psu teachers use you tube (mostly to show video). I will be accessing the data (I just don't type fast enough) and will post those later.

At Penn State, there are some things we feel we know (note: I am glad to hear this from a major university as it is the focus of my teaching but not embraced by the rest of my school)...

• creating is critical
• learning is critical
• collaboration is critical
• sharing is critical

Students are engaged in new communities that share the same values. Web 2.0 is the platform for the community.

He discusses:
Wouldn't we want to be active participants? There is a change and discussions about entrance into college - e-portfolios, digital media as evidence of learning - this will become a much more valued part of University education and can drive the change in the High Schools.

Students are blogging more at Penn State and not just in class (it takes 4 months to develop that habit) - and writing is improving. PEW report shows the change in the writing. Note to myself: I have already stated in the wiki session that I presented that I believed this to be true and that I should create action research next year to measure this).

The focus is on appropriate educational practices that allow technology to be injected and infused.

Backchannels are the best use of laptops sitting there by allowing conversations to continue throughout - (my thought: students writing the notes in class and questions being asked using the backchannel. Perhaps that would open up conversation at a different level).

Very few podcasts are being used for lecture - audio commentary about what they are learning - (note to self - assess these? Now that I had made a goal to create review podcasts, perhaps it would be better to have student podcasts using the content?)

Not many professors are using the CMS. (Note: Interesting. I find my wiki to be a wonderful way to manage everything). Grades are going up, Studying is going down (?). (Note: would like to explore that more).

Blogs for deeper thinking, improving critical thought. Are there positives for a blog as a portfolio? They want a place that is easy to create in - to keep it simple and easy to show to others for grades, showing what they learned. Change in attitude that they will continue after the class - can get them hooked on the value of blogging in about 4 months.

Peer groups are what cause acceptance.

What things should we be thinking about tomorrow? (this question was asked of Dr. Camplese that high schools can do now): 1. start small - take on a piece like a difficult concept and wrap some new thinking about it, 2. ask your students and 3. become comfortable with change. It breathes new life into it (My note: doesn't it ever!). Find something you can change and go for it.

Final note: I loved this session. It is the same conversations I have had in the edublogger world but great to see a university addressing these same concepts and the dialogue between different levels. Dr. Camplese is a wonderful speaker, down to earth, and extremely knowledgeable. It would be great to have more of his voice in places like Educon where many of the forward thinkers come together.

Tags: Dr. Cole Camplese, technology, educational reform, education

South Dakotas One to One initiative

Wade Pogany from South Dakota is one of the states ahead of the nation in one to one initiatives. His critical conversations session at the One to One laptop conference at Penn State had many great points.

The ideas that interested me:

1. 5 day summer bootcamp when adopted
   
2. they have to have a plan for continuing training
3. state offers continuous training online
4. summer institutes

This statistic caught my eye: It takes three years to even be able to incorporate laptops into a school. You go through phases of initial negativity, the use of the tools to just make a replacement for the poster. Need to rethink how to teach the shift in pedagogy - constructivist, pbl...

The third year is the hardest year. Some people start questioning what if it goes away. They don't trust that funding, replacements, etc. will be there. (My note: It won't be embraced if it is just a shiny toy. The shift in educational pedagogy is necessary for people to see that and understand why the funding is necessary).

Creating a climate of change...

Note: these are my notes from a conversation at a recent conference).

Kyle Peck gives us an interesting equation in his critical conversations session entitled: "Creating a Culture of Innovation: What are the necessary pre-conditions that make this possible?" during the recent Penn State One-to-One conference.

D x V x FS > R

• Change happens when dissatisfaction (D) times vision (V) x first steps (FS) can overpower resistance (R).
• It is an ache to do better that is the dissatisfaction.
• The vision is what you are looking for. Need to see what to do to move into that vision. Need to have first steps. The whole left side is motivation.
• Use this formula to manage the change process.

How do you move your school district?

• Decrease resistance directly.
• Enlist peoples special skills to reduce the left side of the equation.

It may be easier to change all of it instead of some of it. Systemic change vs. a piecemeal approach to change. Basically it is Evolution vs. Revolution. Need immediate changes (revolution) so an evolutionary approach is not the best (slow change that adds up over time).

• Conversations are necessary to move individuals from the dissatisfaction as a needing to be appeased vs. a move to change.
• Leaders use enthusiasm, hope, and energy in order to: understand change, build relationships, create and share knowledge, make coherence, have a moral purpose.
• Members need to have an internal and eternal commitment
• The results are in more good things happening and less bad things happening.
• Need a network style leadership and not hierarchical leadership
• Need to develop the trust and having hope that it will enact the change. Our reality is too much of a tradition of failed reform and therefore people mistrust. Create relationships especially those that are supportive and move ahead.
• Create some jealousy (maybe read as "cool, I want to do that too.")
  

School of the future: Portfolio of education options. Students and parents can gravitate around the choices that are right for them. Education is not a one size fits all prospect for those involved.

There is a difference between change and innovation. Imagination, creativity, and innovation - these can all bring the change we need to see.

My note: I like sessions that make me think, challenge the prevalent thinking of the day, and can spark a great conversation! More of these conversations are necessary and actual talk on concrete examples of how these changes have been started and sustained in districts may help the viral spread of educational reform that we are looking for.

Tags: Kyle Peck, educational reform, technology

Unplug...it will all be there!

Jeff Utecht writes in "Back from Digital Darkness 2008", what he was able to accomplish while turning everything off. I did not make that pledge (and really should) but did diminish my time this weekend on anything electronic (nice weather and big landscaping projects). I will commit though this summer when we are traveling and that will make my family very happy.

One part of what he writes, caught my attention:

What I have come to understand is the web waits for you. It will hold the information for you until you are ready to learn it, ready to use it. It waits, patiently, always on, always gathering, categorizing and remembering. I can take a week off because the web doesn’t.

What a fantastic resource the web is and being able to mine it, ferret out the information, and use it for what we want is a wonderful skill. I have found that old information is valuable and comparing old to new, pro vs. con wonderful skills for both me and for my students.

If all the past information on blogging and collaboration were not already archived and available to me, I would never have become an early adopter here at my school (even though I feel a little late to the party in the edublogger world).

Now to be brave and completely unplug just to reconnect with my family on other things great - like nature! This is my goal this summer!

On fear and putting ourselves out there...

Bob Sprankle writes in "I'm Still Rezzing", about items left in books sold to a bookstore. They were placed on a display for all to see. Those who left the artifacts behind are unaware of the material being shown and he wonders about their objections. His post is very timely to me.

He states,

Like it or not, much of our lives are now like those walls, whether by choice, or by chance: open to review and examination on the Internet.

On the positive end of the spectrum, an example of this may be how many of us are now learning in public in ways that were never before possible, through tools such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc. Though this approach of putting your learning out there for all to see can be daunting and challenging, I firmly believe the rewards are enormous. As a personal case in point, I believe that I am a better teacher by reflecting on my practice in public, opening up my professional development to a larger network of participants —my learning network— for feedback, challenges, and even accountability.

and

I wonder if this acceptance of “evolution” for the technology is also allowed for the people using the technology. We welcome the revision of “Web 2.0” but are we also allowing for people’s “Personal Growth 2.0?” In a world where much of our learning and exploration is now carried out in public arenas, are we accepting of revisions and addenda of thought and understanding?

Ewan MacIntosh is quoted there too (and I will paste here because it is currently what I am feeling):

“I think we don’t know what we don’t know. So why should we be afraid of putting our views, at that particular moment, forward. If someone ridicules it in 36 hours, or in 36 months, or 36 years, does it really matter? Can we still learn from that experience? So is the fear that we’ll do something stupid justified?”

Now why do I want that quote here? To remind myself that it is okay to be courageous, forward thinking, and learning and trying everyday. What do we have to lose? Reflection of our practices will continue to make better practice.

It reminds me of students who continually try to learn a math problem and do it over and over again. They may lose less points all the time (and because of this actually be learning), but are not rewarded with doing better, instead may be failing because they are not perfect throughout. If in order to learn, change and grow we must first fail, this becomes a dangerous place to be. Does it mean I need to stop what I am doing? No, but I will be very vocal about what is definitely wrong.

As I just finished being interviewed by a reporter for a magazine, I am nervous about how all of the cutting edge technology plays out in the public forum. I know, it is not new, but it is new to me.

Tags: Bob Sprankle, Ewan MacIntosh, education reform, technology

On change or shifts...

At Change Agency, Stephanie Sandifer posts about what happens after watching Did You Know. I have posted the thought that technology is not the answer, but that technology lets good teaching become easier.

She says:

While it is nice to have administrative support for new technology purchases, a “technology purchasing frenzy” is simply NOT the correct response to the realization that our schools are not doing enough to prepare students for their futures. This is really about changing adult perspectives and adult behaviors to create student-centered classrooms that exemplify research-based best practices around learning. It’s not about buying the latest, greatest, and most expensive tech toys on the market. Expensive tech in the hands of educators who haven’t made changes to their behaviors and instructional practice are no better than the good old chalk board, pencil, and paper. Even worse, expensive tech that the teachers see no use for will end up just collecting dust in a storage room.

and...

Rather than immediately engage in a technology purchasing frenzy, take some time to begin discussions on your campus about how to transform your school into a place where teachers see themselves first as LEARNERS who are invested in improving their instructional practice through reflection and inquiry, and where students are more globally connected in a way that enhances and supports their individual learning. Collaborate with your faculty and staff — your learners — to learn more about how the world has changed and what that means for our profession…

Locate the “early adopters” in your district/schools and bring them in to a conversation around change — recruit them to help spread change virally…

Change adult behaviors and practices first… Change the way you work together, the way you speak with each other… Change your vocabulary… Begin by redefining yourselves as learners rather than educators… Acknowledge that in order to prepare your students for their futures of the 21st Century, all learners on your campus must be equally prepared for those futures…

I have been following the best minds in education now for about a year and am not what I consider an early adopter except maybe in my district. I am hoping that my administration will read the post referenced (as she is a fellow administrator) in this post as a message to be brave, think for the future, and bring new people in who consider themselves learners. Ask me what I learned recently and how, and I am likely to tell you a dozen new ideas in my field and in best practices of education and most were found blogging and reading from those wonderful minds. Bring people in who do not consider education as "business as usual".

So loud

A post on Remote Access, brings to mind what I think about a lot. My room is always noisy and not many others are. What am I doing wrong? Nothing. They are on task over half of the time, they have great working relationships with each other (their own personal learning network), and many of their conversations become teachable moments for other things.

I just stand back and listen, walk around and answer questions, and interject where needed. Yes, sometimes I have to be mean and bring them back on task. But I like to hear what they are doing, little snippets of their life, their concerns, their dreams...

Where do you fit?

From Vicki Davis and Kevin Jarrett, I learned about a wonderful resource first found by Lucy Gray. From Kevin Jarrett:

The Technology Integration Matrix is a clearinghouse of technology integration exemplars featuring educators throughout the Sunshine State doing real work with real kids in real classrooms. At its core it is a grid juxtaposing “Characteristics of the Learning Environment” (Goal Directed, Authentic, Constructive, Collaborative, and Active) with “Levels of Technology Integration in the Classroom” (Entry, Adoption, Adaptation, Infusion, Transformation). Each matrix entry has an easy-to-understand indicator that concisely sums up what classroom use of technology “looks like” at that nexus. Even better, it provides links to detailed lesson examples, for both 1:1 and shared access classrooms, tied to state and NETS standards, each with a video introduction.

The pdf document is powerful and you can easily see where your district is and where you would also like to be. Simple, concrete, and powerful. For those wondering what effective technology integration looks like, this is a must see!

Note: I am still working on the Transformation column as I need to move more real world in all projects as well as connecting globally!

Tags: Vicki Davis, Lucy Gray, Kevin Jarrett, education reform, Florida Center for Instructional Technology

Action research

As part of a class for the Classrooms for the Future, we have developed an action research question. My question: Which strategies and techniques are useful to make a difficult science topic more engaging, in order to increase student participation and understanding?

The plan is to use an inquiry activity, online simulation, worksheet, lecture review, and one or two other activities to illustrate cellular respiration. I am looking at using a student survey, anecdotal evidence from individual and group work, spot check quizzes after several activities, and overall student engagement. What I think may be effective as a teaching tool, may not be so.

Assessment Data Collection

Are beliefs in line with my practice? In difficult topics like cellular respiration we use a variety of techniques to learn about the topic. But which is more effective and of greater value in learning this abstract concept. There is no real laboratory exercise to see. Because of this, I employed different techniques that I would have used in the past as well as some new activities that required the use of information seeking and a variety of group and class discussions. The activities performed include:

1. An initial introduction and discussion by the teacher with basic information
2. Simulations and website links with accompanying questions to complete
   
3. A guided inquiry "autopsy activity" that reveals information, requires small group discussion and research to answer short questions, and class discussion to relate cell respiration to the inquiry
   
4. Review sessions about the steps in cell respiration
   
5. Individual review using flashcards.

Anecdotal evidence has always been a good method to obtain information. Using an attitudinal survey which is subjective and may not relate to traditional methods is also appropriate.

Though my question is not the best, many other questions I can think of are obvious and actually answered by me through change in class practices through this year. However, my perception on some of these activities and student perception and achievement may be two different things.

I decided to use anecdotal evidence from each of these activities to gauge interest and involvement of students as well as a survey to determine which they feel was of value. I also used quiz averages to determine gains made in understanding between these different instructional approaches. My survey used an online survey which also included open ended questions to promote active thinking of the students.

My survey of 45 Academic Biology students revealed the following:

• 97.8% found use of technology increased their understanding of complex topics
• 91.1% found that it increased the interest in the class
• 77% found that they worked more in classes that used technology
• 98% felt they received more feedback when using technology
• 96% felt they had more opportunities for the reinforcement of materials when using technology
  

In regards to the cell respiration unit (students answered whether the instructional methods were helpful in understanding the material):

• Original teacher introduction 58% yes, 42% no
• Simulations 89% yes 11% no
• Guided discovery 69% yes 31% no
• Worksheets 76% yes 24% no
• Class reviews 93% yes 7% no
• Flashcards 76% yes 24% no
  

Students also responded to open ended questions. The answers can be found here and here. More often than not, students suggested that learning happened more when they worked in small teams. Using the wiki as a means to share, review, and refine their information was also mentioned frequently byt he students.

In terms of anecdotal evidence, more interested debates and actual use of relevant topics happened during the guided inquiry when students had to do quick research and discuss possible solutions as a group. Discussing as a class immediately afterward was reinforcing and then connection to previously discussed topics further illustrated the topics. The students were engaged and interested.

Checkpoint quizzes were given after each of the activities: 1. the original introduction and use of simulations of the topic, 2. after the guided inquiry, and 3. after the use of worksheets and self-study. The following averages were obtained: 5.75 out of 10 following the original introduction, 7.5 following the guided inquiry, and 8.75 following further review and worksheets.

I was surprised by some of the survey results. For example, many students found that they worked more in classes that used technology than in classes that don't, almost all students felt they received more feedback when using technology (I thought feedback would be an issue that is easier to do on paper), and many felt they had more opportunities for the reinforcement of materials when using technology

I asked some additional questions of interest to me. For example, I asked about the level of cheating in a traditional classroom vs. one that used technology to a larger degree. The survey revealed the following:
Increased 18%
Stayed same 46%
Decreased 36%

When a class was asked what it meant by staying the same, they quoted that it referred to students explaining material they had researched to answer a question and then explaining the content to another student or asking for clarification from another. They then asked me if this was a bad thing. I said, actually no. In that case it wasn't. I then asked them how they felt about it as well. None of the students really qualified it as cheating.

From here I can see other action research questions that can be done later. They would definitely be of value and would serve a great purpose in showing others the value of not only technology in the classroom but the shift in pedagogy.

I really believed that more students would have found a benefit from the guided inquiry activity. In students where problem solving is quite a problem, they were unable to make the connections between the activity and the abstract material being studied. With more experience, will there thinking change?

I think if students were able to apply the information more than they would be able to understand the information. Technology can be used here to a greater degree but perhaps allowing more options to present, share, and collaborate their understanding in a variety of formats would be worthwhile. This would even include non-technology use. Perhaps the use of an assignment that can be demonstrated in a variety of ways would be worthwhile. In this case, it may not be possible but in other units there may be a greater flexibility.

Important points
Engagement and enthusiasm create a great learning environment that can benefit all learners. Using a variety of instructional materials (but not all using the same media) can provide gains for students. Allowing students to collaborate to find gaps in knowledge is useful. Using technology for the sake of using technology does not provide a better learning experience. Instead, a change in pedagogy increases this experience (and allows opportunities to pull in the technology).

What thoughts do you have?

Action research and taking charge

In his book Accountability for Learning: How Teachers and School Leaders Can Take Charge, Doug Reeves states:

that accountability has been reduced to test scores because teachers have not told their stories well. They have not told the tales of progress and reflection they witness and plan for every day.

Historically, as educational professionals, we have placed ourselves in discreet boxes, building four walls around our teaching, administrative, professional learning and curriculum development practices. These walls have been fortified to protect us from perceived review and analysis from those outside our boxes, those who don't understand the way "we" do things. We nurtured the notion that we were all experts, or artists, in our own boxes and couldn't learn from the novices in those other boxes. Research is showing us that we need to bring down the walls and collaborate across boundaries to ensure that our students succeed. We need to open our doors to analysis, experimentation, and reflection; reporting our results to colleagues and supervisors working together toward a common goal. (Reeves, 2004)

With effective progress monitoring and post assessment teachers can tell their stories and can become researchers in their own classrooms. After all, as Doug Reeves reminds us there are no mandates preventing teachers from participating in action research and measuring the success of their instructional decisions against the success of their students. Teachers can, and should, take the lead to examine those decisions in light of their students' learning. (Reeves, 2004)

These words I learned doing action research in my CFF class has taught me that there needs to be ongoing research that documents the positives in educational reform involving technology. Only through documentation and honest discussion will change happen.

Teachers have always known what works and in sense has done action research in their head. but it is important these days to leverage technology to provide a forum for open expression and discussion of best practices and movement towards effective technology integration.

Tags: Doug Reeves, action research

Relevance

Clay Burrell posts that fear makes teaching irrelevant.

He posts:

These young adults are screaming their critical attitude toward the roles we’ve limited them to in our culture in everything they do, from their attitudes to their music, fashions, and past-times. They live in passive revolt against what schools, parents, communities at large are doing to them. And having no constructive outlet, they either self-destruct or seek solace in the trivial.

So why not let them write about that?

He then writes:

A bit more: They’re also woefully oblivious to the burning issues of their futures (and that pun, though pregnant, was not intended). Doug has commented about the fear in (American) schools of teaching anything controversial, god help us (and this does not mean Doug’s complicit in that). That’s a screaming admission that schools fear relevance.

The logical corollary? Fear makes schools irrelevant.

My thought: Students do not really understand the burning issues. Many are complex and difficult in nature to understand. If we cannot give them the background information that they can use to think critically about it than they make uninformed decisions. We also need to be sure that they know the correct way to discuss these issues as well.

Parent pressure and demands as well as administrative policies make this difficult. If you can spark their interest in the topic, will students search out the truth for themselves? Realy, that is what we need to be focusing on: the ability to keep learning and question.

Staying the course

I found Kevin Honeycutt's blog through Wes Fryer. His Google vs. Brain post brings a few thoughts I would like to preserve.

Actually, I have said these before through another person's post, but it is very timely for me. Mostly because I am again in a great state of doubt. Is the change I have made in my classroom truly effective? Part of me wonders whether what I believe in is right and if I am truly on the right track. Let's face it, there is not much support outside of our own network. But to hear others say what I believe in my heart, reminds me of what I am trying to achieve.

He writes:

So in the information age, the web 2.0 era, the cyber-century, what are the emerging, relevant skills for success? Whatever they are, it behooves us as educators to be focused on them and to be sharing them with learners. I know this though. Memorizing and recalling for success is over. It’s what you do with data, knowledge, facts and figures that matters. What creative, innovative and useful things can your learners do? What happened to the world I was well-wired for before all of this change? You maniacs! You blew it up!

But most importantly it is Paul Bogush who comments:

"Studies show that emotional arousal focuses attention on the "gist" of an experience at the expense of peripheral details...with the passage of time, our retrieval of gist always trumps our recall of details. This means our heads tend to be filled with generalized pictures of concepts or events, not with slowly fading minutiae."
John Medina "Brain Rules" (Great book by the way)

You brain was never well-wired for data storage, the world is just shifting back to a place in which our brains excel. Meaning before detail. Focusing on the data, knowledge and facts forces student's brains to do something they never evolved to do...

Hmmm....another book for my to do list and another reason to do what I do even better next year.

Tags: brain, education, technology

Learning from Zen

A zen master once made a statement:

"Your desire to win the race depletes you of your power".

I am remembering this statement as I read Vicki Davis' post. In "Remembering who I am" she discusses through a heartfelt poem and more endearing "Words from my heart" to express how trying to keep up with everything is not important.

She shares what she found after being unplugged for a spell and why it is worthy of sharing.

So, you ask, why do you even share this stuff?

Well, I share it because there are some other teachers out there who may be struggling with being "sucked into the vortex." This vortex of educational change is like a wild stallion... you can jump on his back, but if you're not careful, he'll control your destiny and you'll not master your own.

What I like about her posts is the opportunity to learn something new and apply information. Here are a few simple learning points she mentions:

1. Know your friends. I have participated in conferences, unconferences, blog posts, etc. and know what she means by those that talk to beginners. Follow the people who treat you with respect. Those that don't have an agenda (translation: ego).
   
2. Filter spam ruthlessly - I am all for clearing out the junk.
3. Filter focus ruthlessly - Really, why are we here? Stay abreast of the greatest tools that make education meaningful and let the rest go. Continue your education through reading and writing. And focus on improving education.
4. Invest your time in things that save you time. (I am still working on this one and have now waited until others try out all the tools to look at the feedback.)
5. Common sense. Unplugging is good, having priorities is great, but being flexible with it all is an absolute must.

Remember why we are here and what we are to do. The rest does not matter. Why the race? The focus is not on me but what I can do for others including my family and my students at school. That is the true power that enriches your life. If I ever wonder how Vicki does it all, I know her power resides inside.

Her ending thought:

Master time lest it master you.

In other words, BE PRESENT NOW!

Tags: teaching, education, inspiration, Vicki Davis, zen