K12 Lesson Strategies - Three Easy Tweaks

Today the K12 education world has tons of experts analyzing and measuring infinite nuisances. There are plenty of learning theories old and new. Students face a raft of assessments to supposedly measure what they have learned or are capable of learning. Yet, every school day the fact remains, there is a teacher in a classroom – doing the trench work – to carve out learning in the lives of students. I’ve been there and I’ve done that successfully. Being a K12 teacher is an unforgettable experience and an awesome responsibility. Here are three easy and simple tweaks that can be done in any classroom, around the world and in any language, to expose learning opportunities and shape lifelong learning skills in the future leaders of our world.

The three easy tweaks are here:
http://www.educationreporting.com/article-K12lessonsStrategies.php

Have a great weekend, Jack

Do pedagogy and inpsiration mix?

Well, I kept asking myself what inspiration has to do with project based learning and service learning ... and I didn't have any answers. Ever been drawn to something without understanding why? I was drawn to a Tony Robbins video on TED.

After watching it, I was clear - so glad I don't always need a reason "to do" something. This video clip is 20 minutes well worth your time - for the quality of your life and thus the quality of your teaching. Everything he discusses relates to pedagogy.

What did I learn? Well, too much to mention here but I did grasp that learning/teaching are heavily dependent on unseen forces. In my role as an educator, I think all teachers have made a plan for achieving what we want to deliver in our personal effort to fulfill students' education - either consciously or unconsciously. Mine is conscious choice at this juncture.

During the drive of our teaching career we are going to make some "decisions of destiny" and each choice we make will bring into view certain choices ... those choices are what we end up focusing on and thus shaping our world.

What I find most interesting are his six traits - so to speak - that each of us contain. Yes, we use them all but use some more than others. The one we choose at any time will drives us in that period .... and they are: certainty, variety, significance, connection, growth, contribution.

I can see how different students in different classes are driven by those at one time or another... sometimes all the time. Like the class clowns are the "significance" since they disrupt the class to get 100% attention. The students who "aren't doing a drawing unless I get a ruler" would be "certainty." Another is "variety" which is those students who are asking more and more questions about the same subject but in different ways or on related topics.

This is the first time I've seen Tony, although I've heard of him for years. If you take the time, I think you 'll be pleased and find this a meaningful talk for yourself and your students. I'm going to show it to mine this week.




Tell me what you think.

Are you a literate educator?

I have always thought a literate educator was one that knew the language and could draw metaphors with it, as well as write and read. What do you consider the qualities of a literate educator?

What peaked my interest was learning how to make a podcast the other night after arriving home from school. Creating one is something I’ve been meaning to do, so I sat down at the trusty laptop and got a Googling. Within 20 minutes I had found the article that worked for me to explain the procedures and the parts I needed, which weren’t much. With a microphone hooked to my PC and free software I’m able to get started in the world of podcasting.

As an educator, I think I can turn my podcasts into a handy education tool for students. But why make the effort? They will listen. How many students have MP3 players in your classes? About 50% or more in mine have ‘em. Students obtain more knowledge from watching a 15 minute clip that they do listening to my 15 minute lecture, even when I’m using a PowerPoint presentation. I’m thinking the time has arrived to redefine a literate teacher for my view.

There is so more media available to teach with nowadays besides books, paper, and a pencil/pen that the students will use. We as teachers have to take the leading edge in integrating technology into our lessons and classes. Here are my skill requirements for a literate educator in the not too distant future ….

Blogs: can produce a blog at regular intervals for lesson use or to communicate with other educators

Email: must be fluent in sending, receiving, and managing email

File Management: manipulate files, upload or download, and is well organized in maintaining and storage of files, including bookmarks of favorite web sites

LCD projectors: with this linked to the teacher computer the entire world, via the internet, can be used in a classroom lesson.

Podcast: develop, produce and share content relevant podcasts

Peer Collaboration: skillful at using online resources in lessons where students and teacher can have dynamic discussions, including being able to navigate social networking sites

Texting: understands how to receive and send text messages

Web page building: demonstrated success in constructing an informative and interesting web page

Wiki: makes use of this tool in publishing lesson content or to manage student discussions

What are the requirements you see as necessary?

Visit my web site at educationreporting.com.

US Dept of Ed - reinventing approach to education?

Straight from the top – US Department of Education is promoting the Equipped For the Future (EFF) program which is based on constructivism – an active process of knowledge construction allowing learners to use prior knowledge to shape meaning of today’s’ experiences and therefore acquire new knowledge.

I think this reading will benefit a teacher or parent in any country. To me, this program, if implemented correctly, will turn the tide and immensely benefit K-12 education.

Not to worry, the docs below are fairly easy reads. What are your thoughts about them?

A Purposeful and Transparent Approach to Teaching and Learning

Summarizes the research basis for "a purposeful and transparent approach to learning", the first key research principle underlying the Equipped for the Future system reform initiative.

EFF Research Principle: An Approach To Teaching And Learning That Builds Expertise: EFF Research To Practice
Describes how research findings related to building expertise have been applied to the development of the Equipped for the Future (EFF) Content Framework and assessment system.

A Contextualized Approach To Curriculum And Instruction: EFF Research To Practice
Identifies the research basis for a contextualized approach to teaching and learning, the third concept underlying the Equipped for the Future (EFF) system reform initiative.

Transformation: Reform Spotlight: Research + Policy + Practice = Transformed Schools
Reviews research concerning sustaining comprehensive school reform. This publication examines the policy implications of research on school transformation.

Top five: revitalizing K-12 pedagogy

Teaching isn’t a job, it’s an excursion to train future leaders of our world.

Here’s my top five “musts” for teacher lessons to maximize student engagement: create learning opportunities.

5. Meaningful Content:
The context here is the wrapper that content is presented with: it must touch the life of students – in one way or another. As a student, would you pay attention to what is presented in class if no one told you the “why”? I wouldn’t. The job of an educator is the knowledge expert – absolutely, but that job also includes developing a “wrapper,” which can take many forms: story, presentation, or activity. Technology is interesting wrapper for any subject or concept, we have to realize that students today spend more and more time using technology. The content wrapper must capture their attention.

4. Peer Interaction:
There is plenty of research that demonstrates serious learning takes place when peers communication – connect. In this simple communication so much takes place: understanding, confidence in content comprehension, building social skills, and even argumentation skills. Every lesson – every day – must include some level of verbally working with other class mates. It can be paired sharing; it could be class discussion facilitated by the teacher or even table discussion that is then presented to class. Something as simple as a “ticket out the door” where students must talk to another student, then say one thing that student learned and one question they have about content covered today. This communication between students will also help build a “safer” class environment as students feel more at ease with each other.

3. Learning Confirmation:
Each class must have one pit stop where there is time for students to get a check on their comprehension of the material provided so far in the lesson. Going on and on in class with no learning check can lead a student to being overwhelmed. This check is really a vote, “Thumbs up if you agree with this statement”. There is nothing wrong with two/three checks per lesson. Another example is a short reflection period on one or more prompts, giving students a writing moment, then picking a few students to say what they wrote.

2. Do It:
Whether the class is doing history, math, or science students NEED an opportunity to do what is being taught. Students today are so active and creative. They NEED an outlet to express themselves. Again, this can be as simple as making a non-verbal drawing to a prompt the teacher provides. A complex level is providing time for them to design and/or build a model from a rubric provided. The possibilities here are completely adjustable to your lesson time and requirements. The point is, students must have some extended time to focus at least four of their senses (touching, seeing, hearing, talking, thinking) on the material to absorb it.

1. Promote Success:
Every student must get some positive feedback once a day. There is too much bad in the world, which begins in the hall outside of class. Acknowledge their effort. Let them hear some praise. Find something good about the class and speak it. One example, tell students, after the bell rings to signal the end of class, what a terrific job they did in focusing today and then dismiss them. Yes, it’s that easy.

Pedagogy: reinvent classrooms using simple technology

This year's Horizon Project report identified the emerging trends, but what does that mean to a middle school or high school teacher and class? I think these trends translate into tools .... opportunities for engagement. How? Let's start with a basic approach:

Grassroots video:
Most schools have some video equipment that can be used by any class. At the very least students have cellphones with a camera that does rapid photos or a video. Teachers, put together a simple assignment - to start with - that students capture and bring back to class. The way they deliver it to you will vary, the simplest might be they email you the files and then you display them using a LCD projector connected to your computer.

English class: have them capture a conversation of language you are studying in class
Science class: capture an example of characteristic that describes a living thing

Collaboration webs:
Since we are just beginning, let's start with a blog. Many blogs are free to teachers and classes. Teachers can post a weekly assignment where student log into the blog and study a web site or web pages(s) to reveal solutions to the assignment. Students record their findings in the blog under the appropriate weekly assignment.


Mobile broadband:
Set up work or a specific assignment that requires students to use a cell phone. Here is a math class example, divide the class into groups of three or four students. Have the groups arrange a time after school to work on an assignment. Give each group a different problem to solve. Have the individuals in each group assign them self a number - 1, 2, 3 4 and so forth. tell the groups to start with #1 and have that person do the first step of the problem and call student #2 with the answer. Then #2 will use that answer to do step two and then call #3, who will complete step three and then call #4 and so forth. This process continues until the problem is solved. The last student in the group brings the solution and to class for discussion.

Data mashups:
In this trend the students can compile data from different sources in a PowerPoint file, or a free goggle application, to substantiate an investigation. For example in a history class studying World War II, have students break into groups and give each group a different concept or subject to study about the war or events leading up to it. The groups compile that information, text and images, into the PowerPoint file/presentation. The finished presentation is saved as self running presentation that anyone can view.

Collective intelligence:
Publication of data takes place here, which is accomplished in a blog that we discussed earlier or in the PowerPoint presentation file that gets distributed. Another way to accomplish this is to collaborate information by using an application like Google docs. In that application a document/file can be shared with with multiple people who all have access to edit the content. Google docs are available for free to people who have an email account with Google: gmail.com.

Social operating systems:
This may be the most difficult one to establish with one class. Since the theme is connecting people with common interests, the first step is establishing those common interests among students, then producing a medium where the individuals can communicate with other students having similar interests. A tool to facilitate the communication is a blog, wiki, or a monitored forum and all of those are free.

Here are resources for free tools:

Google Apps
Documents
Slides
Norton
Spyware
Screensaver
Google Earth
Web Page

Blog
www.blogger.com
www. edublogs.org

Wiki
www.wikidot.com
pbwiki.com

Forum
www.makeforum.org
www.forumer.com

Pedagogy: reinvent secondary education with emerging trends

Like it or not teaching never stays the same. Sure the methods do: collaboration, engagement, and assessment to name a few. But, you have to admit that collaboration, engagement, and assessment today mean different things than they did 30 years ago or even 10 years ago. For example, today students can be engaged by collaborating in an online project together to study significant concepts in any content area. That material will also include an assessment where the teacher grades student responses and then send the feedback directly to the student – all done online.

The recently released Horizon Project report has identified the emerging trends, which are essential to reinventing the classroom. I think teachers will do well to gear up by using these trends in their teaching. In fact, teachers must begin integrating these trends in order to keep pace with student interest and also to better prepare students skills for well meaning careers. The trends are….

Grassroots video: this is easy to do since even a simple cell phone now produces a decent video clip.

Collaboration webs: this is already available in online projects that are free: TELS and WISE.

Mobile broadband: there is one cell phone per every six people on the planet … that is a lot of phones. Yes, imagine the interest in class of allowing students to use cell phones to complete an assignment.

Data mashups: compiling data from different sources into one application doesn’t require extensive resources or programming.

Collective intelligence: an example of this is your class assembling what they have learned and publishing it.

Social operating systems: networks created around people versus the networks today created by focusing on content.

In the next couple of days I will review my ideas on how to put these trends to work in a classroom. What are yours?

Are Schools Killing Creativity?

This video is worth your time since the speaker is a key person at the J. Paul Getty Foundation which studies education.

Education is supposed to ready our future leaders .... is that getting done?
What are the accomplishments of schools and how does school nurture creativity?

I think this is an excellent talk and well worth your 18 minutes to view it.