Exam Day: Demonstrating Understanding through Collaboration and Connection

By Shelly Blake-Plock



It's final exam day, so I thought I'd give you a peak into what things looked like in our paperless classroom: we've got kids collaborating, kids making stuff, kids doing tough academic work tied to the real-time web, kids in history class demonstrating the ability to read, write, think, share, and work like a real historian.

Here's a copy of the exam. Enjoy.

Honors Western Civilization
Final Exam
June 8, 2011
Exam Length: 2 hours and 15 minutes / 30 minute extension available


In the following exam, you are going to be asked to do the work of a historian. Please read the questions carefully as many of them have multiple parts. If you have any difficulty understand concepts or terms, look them up. In real life, historians have the power of the Internet at their fingertips; so too do you on this exam. Further, there will be sections of this exam that assess your ability to collaborate in real-time over the web. This is an essential part of the real work of the 21st century historian and it is something in which you are going to demonstrate fluency.

Lastly, remember that history is as personal as it is public. Think hard about these questions before answering. Don’t just Google yourself into a panic. Use the resources of the Internet History Sourcebook, the BBC History site, National Geographic, the Met Museum, Nova, PBS, Infotrac, Grolier, Biography.com, the Internet Archive, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, and all of the resources we have used in class. Also remember to refer back to the Twitter lists we put together during review; they are full of good sources -- but beware the occasional not-so-good source: When using a source, ask yourself, “Would Your Teacher Use This Source?”

If you use a source, cite it by in-text citation and noting the source after your response with an APA citation in a mini-bibliography (even of there is only one source) -- this includes pics, maps, etc. Check here to review APA format: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Please post all of your answers onto your blog. For Google Maps, please embed them so that I can actually go into your map rather than just look at a screenshot. If you have any computer problems, let me know immediately and get on one of the Macs. Also, it is important to me that I see the breadth of your understanding as well as the depth of specific knowledge, so I will be keeping you to the timed format. I will offer up to a half-hour after the official exam time for anyone who wants to go back and edit or complete any sections from the exam to do so.

I trust you will all do your very best work and I looking forward to seeing the results.


1. What is History? Get together in groups of five. You will be having a five minute discussion on which way to understand history is best: Linear, Cyclic, Hegelian (thesis + antithesis = synthesis), or Vortex (history goes back and forth through high points and low points). Please create a public TodaysMeet room of your own for you discussion (you will need to come up with a name for your room). Please sign into the chat with your real name; I will be giving you credit based on: your contribution to the chat, the quality of sources you bring into the chat, the quality of your interaction asking and answering questions and dialogue within the chat, the historical and logical accuracy of your chatting, and the quality of your argument and evidence. When complete, post the link to the room on each of your blogs.

2. Agricultural Revolution. (appx 15 minutes) This is a three part question: 1) In a one paragraph brief constructed response, explain why the Agricultural Revolution was so important to the development of cities. 2) Create a Google Map showing where the Agricultural Revolution took place and tag the map with a label that explains why the geography of this place was so conducive to the production of stable agriculture. 3) Write a short (two to three paragraph) newspaper article describing a future where the agricultural system has collapsed; think about all of the things in society that would break down.

3. Egypt and Greece. (appx 10 minutes) In two or three paragraphs, compare and contrast the Egyptian and Greek views of the Afterlife. For Egypt, here is a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead: http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ and here is an excellent article on Greece that I expect you to cite: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_dbag.htm

4. Herodotus vs. Thucydides. (appx 10 minutes) Please look through the following archive of articles about 9/11: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/sept_11_2001/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=September%2011&st=cse and find one article that seems to approach the topic in the style of Herodotus and one article that approaches the topic in the style of Thucydides. In a two paragraph response, explain specifically why you chose the articles you did and be specific in explaining where you see the style of Herodotus or Thucydides in them. You may discuss via chat with classmates; but no two responses should be the same. I will be coming around during this section to answer questions and help out.

5. Rome. (appx 40 minutes) Please write a five paragraph academic essay on the following: “Is it fair to say the United States is the modern day equivalent of the Roman Empire?” Here’s the catch: You must look through http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/ and find three stories happening today in the world to back up your argument. Things to think about: Republic vs. Empire, the Bad Emperors and the Good Emperors (if you use these, be VERY specific and cite specific events from the lives of the emperors as accounted in Suetonius [see: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suetonius-index.html]), the “Decline and Fall” of the Roman Empire, etc. In your essay, be sure to mention at least three specific examples from Ancient Rome and three specific examples from the newspapers. Cite properly.

6. The Third Crusade. (appx 20 minutes) This is a two part question. 1) Work with a partner to create a wiki (make a public wiki at wikispaces.com) promoting Richard’s Crusade. The wiki should have the feel of a political campaign, so you should come up with slogans based on historical writings from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1k.html#The Third Crusade and you should include visual material such as historically accurate flags, images, etc. Make sure the wiki is public and then put a link to it on your blog. 2) Then each of you will individually write a two-paragraph op-ed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op-ed) from the point-of-view of the Saladin about why the Crusades are unjustified and your vision of how the Jerusalem problem should be handled.

7. The Black Death. (appx 10 minutes) Three part question. Major source -- The Decameron: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/boccacio2.html 1) Explain how the Black Death started and what its spread meant for the people of Europe. 2) Imagine you are a Medieval physician. Describe exactly what the Black Death looks like, what it does to a victim, and what techniques you attempt as a physician to either stop it or relieve the sufferer from his or her pain. 3) In a paragraph or two, explain how you think people in contemporary America and people you know would respond if a plague on the scale of the Black Death were to occur.

8. Romanesque vs. Gothic (appx 5 minutes) Collect three images of Romanesque cathedrals and three images of Gothic cathedrals from Wikimedia Commons and, in a paragraph or two, explain how the architecture of each represent the differing theologies of the eras.

9. Renaissance. (appx 10 minutes) Who do you think best represents the ideal of the “Renaissance Man”: Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, or Shakespeare? In a two to three paragraph response, you will need to define what a “Renaissance Man” is and you will need to find at least three works of art or direct quotes from letters, poems, plays, etc. to support your claims.

10. Bringing it all Together (appx 5 minutes) Free response: Do you feel like you learned something this semester?

Fifteen Paperless Math Strategies

John T. Spencer

BEFORE

#1 - Critical Thinking
Description: Students answer critical thinking questions such as, "Are numbers neutral?" or "When are decimals less accurate than fractions?" The goal here is for students to go deeper into thinking conceptually about the math they use.  For additional ELD support, I've found that definitions work well here as well as digital sentence strips to help scaffold the vocabulary.
Grouping: This can work individually or in groups.  One allows for more introspection while the other creates a greater sense of dialogue.
Tech Tools:  blog, form, shared document

#2 - Vocabulary

Description: When introducing new words, I like to have students keep a vocabulary blog, where they can list the vocabulary word, find a picture (either draw one and take a picture of it or find one online), use it in a sentence and then use the labels for synonyms. Later, I have students answer critical thinking questions that require them to use this math language.  Or they can create a short podcast using their vocabulary blog as an additional support.

Grouping:  This can work in pairs or small groups, but the blog should be individual.

Optional Tech Tools: blog   

#3 - Find the Pseudo-Context

Description: This one works best for older grades.  However, it's a great chance to teach students how to construct quality, realistic word problems.  I show them a sample word problem and have students analyze it with questions such as, "Is this realistic?  Would someone do this in real-life?  Is there a better example you could find?" 

Grouping:  This works well in the math blog, but also as a discussion question on a class blog or a small group analysis with a shared document

Optional Tech Tools: blog, shared document, Evernote   

#4 - Create a Metaphor

Description:  Students develop a metaphor for a particular math concept.  For example, they want to think about division, decimal, percent and fractions being a similar process with a different way of displaying it and thus they use the metaphor of someone who is multilingual or someone who uses the same actions in different sports (different rules, different names, same action).  Students then have to explain their metaphor.   

Grouping:  This works well individually or in pairs (if you want the students to compare the metaphors) where you might compile it into one presentation

Optional Tech Tools: blog, shared document, drawing, photo editing, podcast, presentation, comic-style photo editing   

#5 - Prove It

Description: I start with a statement and students have to prove whether it is wrong or right.  It might be something like, "There are no vertical lines on a graph."  It then forces them to think through vocabulary like linear equation and function and prove whether my statement is true or false.  I ask them to prove it visually, orally or in written form.

Grouping:  This can work well individually or in a small group

Optional Tech Tools:  A shared document or wiki, blog, e-mail (to get quick responses), form, photo with annotation (do it by paper and then use an annotation program to add to it), audio/podcast or video    

DURING

#6 - Mental Math

Description: Students answer a simple math question and then follow this up by sharing their process.  The goal here is to get them to think through the process and engage in discourse.  I might show them a bill and ask them to find the tip.  As I walk around, I'll hear, "Why would you divide it by five instead of moving it one decimal over and doubling it?"  

Grouping:  This should start individually and then move to partners or small groups

Optional Tech Tools: podcast / audio recording, photo and description in a blog or on smaller blogs like Posterous or on Evernote   

#7 - Word Problems

Description: Students struggle with word problems.  Sometimes this is a vocabulary issue.  Other times, they can't visualize it.  So I have students use a few strategies.  First, they copy the text to a Google Document and highlight it according to the elements of literature (the conflict, the characters, etc.) or using a word problem analysis process (find critical details, take out extraneous details, etc.)

Grouping:  individual, pairs or small group

Optional Tech Tools: shared document   

#8 - Multimedia Inquiry

Description: I might have students look at Google Maps, a photograph I've taken, a video or a few websites and then ask a math-related question based upon what they see.  It might be a snapshot of a batter with the stats below, a jar full of jelly beans or a list of services and prices for Dish Network and Cox Cable.  The goal here is for students to look at a situation and develop a math problem that interests them and fits their level.

Grouping:  individual and whole class

Optional Tech Tools: blog with response, Posterous, social media (Twitter works well for this one), Evernote   

#9 - Concept Connections

Description: Sometimes students struggle to see how various concepts connect.  One non-techie strategy that works is to get them to physically connect the concepts with yarn and a verbal description.  However, a concept map works really well for this, too, because they can change the colors, use multiple arrows and figure out their own style of organizing the information.  

Grouping:  individual or partners

Optional Tech Tools: concept map    

#10 - Name It, Claim It

Description: The idea here to get students out into their world and finding examples of their current math concepts.  They can shoot video or take pictures and then annotate it, present it or download it. This works well as a challenge, such as, "See how many acute angles you can find at our school," or "Interview five adults who have used fractions in the last month."  

Grouping:  Small group works well for this. 

Optional Tech Tools: Students can use a photo editing program (such as instagram) label it comic-book style or they could annotate it verbally using presentation or podcast software.  They could also shoot a video and edit it with labels.  

ENDING / ASSESSMENT

#11 - Life Connections

Description: Similar to number ten above, I might ask students to write or audio-record a reflection about how they see a particular math concept connect to life.  I don't buy into the theory of math for math  sake.  Nor do I want them reaching to far and getting into pseudo-context.  Students need to see that math is around them.  So, I challenge them with something like, "give me an example of a linear relationship in your world."  

Grouping:  This can work individually or in groups (to get a higher level of discourse) both orally or on a blog

Optional Tech Tools: blog, podcast, shared document, social media (creating a hashtag for it and then seeing the examples)    

#12 - Reflection

Description: Sometimes I ask students to describe a process they used.  Other times, it's simply a description of what they know, don't know and want to know more about. This helps me figure out potential intervention and it helps the students articulate their own strengths and weaknesses.  

Grouping:  I prefer to go individual with this one.

Optional Tech Tools: blog, podcast, video (to actually show the difficult part visually)   

#13 - Student-generated Tutorials

Description: This works best as an enrichment activity.  Students might solve an algorithm and show the steps with a t-chart (hyperlinking the vocabulary).  Or they might show an example and give a verbal tutorial, taking pictures of each step along the way.  Finally, they might show it on the board and video-tape it.   

Grouping:  Small group works well here, because it gets the entire group talking about the process and how to communicate it

Optional Tech Tools: You can use video, audio, presentation or photo editing software here.   

#14 - Self-Assessment

Description: Students take a self-assessment of skills once a week in my class.  This doesn't tell me where students are at (that's what authentic assessments are for) but it lets me know how they feel about their learning.  I then meet three students a day and go over the data and their shared document as we plan future math goals. 

Grouping:  This works well individually. 

Optional Tech Tools: I use Google Forms for this one.   

#15 - Conference Document

Description: The conference document is a shared document that has a chart (with the standard written as a student-friendly objective, the progress, my input, student input and any notes), a list of goals and a written record of our one-one-one conferences.     

Grouping:  Individual with teacher

Optional Tech Tools: shared document

John T. Spencer is a teacher in Phoenix, AZ who blogs at Education Rethink.  He recently finished two books, Pencil Me In, an allegory for educational technology and Drawn Into Danger, a fictional memoir of a superhero. You can connect with him on Twitter @johntspencer   

Design as Literacy II

by Mike Kaechele

If you were interested in my previous post about Design as Literacy, here is the TEDxGR talk by Mickey McManus that inspired it. Enjoy!

Oops & Ouch

by Noah Geisel

My life is such that I attend a fair number of meetings. In recent years, a vogue best practice that has emerged is to start off the agenda with Norms. For the uninitiated, this is the new word for rules. A facilitator could probably explain better than I that norms are not exactly rules as one does not follow nor break norms; norms are simply the behaviors that we collaboratively agree to exhibit. You know the drill: “One person speaks at a time.” “All ideas will be heard and respected.” My favorite norm (I’m being sincere here!) is one I learned during an ADL World of Difference training: Oops & Ouch.


The Oops & Ouch rule, er, norm, is an invaluable tool in groups and meetings. The idea is simple: If I say something that I subsequently wish I could take back, I am encouraged to say, “Oops.” Think of it as a verbal Mulligan. A second chance to make a first impression. Likewise, if I am hurt, offended or in any way negatively impacted by something someone else says or does, I let it be known not by screaming, pointing or demanding an immediate letter of resignation but rather respond, “Ouch.” Instead of kicking the desktop computer (here, symbolizing our meeting) to the floor in frustration at its refusal to cooperate, this norm allows us to do a calm Control + Alt + Delete and reset relations.


An important piece of the Oops and Ouch norm is that we are assuming good intent in others. Even if we can’t assume it, we must give the benefit of the doubt. With this foundation in place, we are empowered to let someone know with a single word that all is not well on the USS Good Meeting cruise ship and that we need to recheck the navigation tools before we steer straight into a dark storm that knocks out power to the freezers and all causes all of the vacationers to get E.coli poisoning at the evening’s Tiki barbecue.


But enough with my B-rate analogies. The catalyst to my writing this comes from the bullet-proof tiger of an analogy that is John T. Spencer’s running blog posts on his Living Facebook Experiment.

Imagine the more civilized world of digital citizenship in which we would be living if in addition to the “Like” button, Facebook offered us the ability to click “Oops” or “Ouch” on any post. It would be great if our email apps and providers would afford us the same luxury. Who among us would not cherish the opportunity to go back and eat crow with a humble “Oops” declaration? (Though likely none of us more so than this guy)


Better yet, allow yourself the fantasy that we all practiced Mr. Spencer’s experiment. This would mean that Living Facebook would include rolling down the window to yell “Ouch” to an inconsiderate driver or saying “Oops” after being informed that it will ALWAYS be too soon to crack Michael Jackson jokes.


Best of all would be the fact that instead of thinking you awkward, listeners would know exactly what you were talking about. It is, after all, an experiment in living Facebook, and if there is one norm ubiquitous in most our lives, it is Facebook.

Don't Blame the Medium (Living Facebook Reflection)

by John T. Spencer - A Reflection on the Living Facebook Experiment

"We need to do something about cyber bullying," a teacher laments. Note to self: if someone is still using the word "cyber," then he or she probably has a skewed view of social media.

"I know. It's a real problem. But you know what's worse? Oral and pencil bullying. I've found two notes on the ground where someone was bullied and you wouldn't believe what I heard out in the playground," I point out.

"Yeah, but Facebook is so public."

"And a rumor isn't?"

"But Facebook is a place where bullying is more prominent. I just don't think kids should be on it."

"You know what site has the worst bullying? The cafeteria. That place is rife with bullying. Maybe the kids won't eat. Or maybe they can eat in silence. That would stop the bullying. I mean, you could argue that it's a condition of the heart, but I think we're better off blocking a site instead," I point out.

I get it. I wasn't nice. I could have been more diplomatic in the conversation. However, I'm tired of blanket statements about how Facebook is "making us" into something, as if we've become unblinking, unthinking cyborgs who can't figure out a respectful way of using a medium.

Throughout this week, I've been surprised by the depth of social interaction on Facebook. Whether it was a meaningful dialogue with former students, an encouraging message from Brad the Philosopher or the often witty and thought-provoking discussions based upon status updates, Facebook felt intimate and meaningful. Social media aren't making us shallow. Instead, each tool provides the potential for depth that is often missing in our urbanized face-to-face interaction.

* * *

"I bet you're finding that it's deeper in person. You know Facebook makes us shallow," someone tells me.

Tell that to the Arab Spring and the pro-democracy protestors who harnessed social media to create a revolution. Or tell that to the people on my social network who are writing some of the most beautiful impromptu eulogies for a curriculum specialist who died two days ago.

If Facebook seems shallow, it's because humans can be shallow. If it seems boring, it's because we can be boring, often when we are hiding out of fear. If it's a place of bullying or sarcastic remarks, it's because humanity can be dark. But Facebook is also a place where students thank former teachers for the difference they made and it's a place where we remember a life well lived and it's a place where we rekindle old friendships. If Facebook feels beautiful and broken, it's because humanity is beautiful and broken.

True, technology shapes us. No doubt the long attention span of the nineteenth century or the image-obsession of our current age are both formed by the most dominant contemporary media. However, it's more complicated. It's always a reciprocal relationship, where technology shapes our culture and the culture shapes the medium.

It is deeply human to use technology in positive ways. It is also deeply human to use technology for destruction (think the nuclear bomb or Jamestown Intervention software). But it is also deeply human to believe the lie that we are either deterministically programmed by the medium or that we can create a techno-dystopia where the medium never has any harmful effects. The bottom line is that our relationship with technology will always be paradoxical in nature.

John T. Spencer is a teacher in Phoenix, AZ who blogs at Education Rethink.  He recently finished two books, Pencil Me In, an allegory for educational technology and Drawn Into Danger, a fictional memoir of a superhero. You can connect with him on Twitter @johntspencer

5 Tips for Success - in school, business and in life

   

by David Andrade, http://tinyurl.com/edtechguy

A couple of weeks ago, CPEP (CT Pre-Engineering Program) held it's annual competition day. CPEP is a pre-engineering program, held after school, that has students working on projects throughout the year and then they compete at the end of the year against the other schools. Projects include Roller Coasters, Maglev vehicles, boats, and more. Students design, build, and then modify their projects throughout the year. This is my third year doing it and every year we have won a few categories. This year we swept the Chess tournament and took 2nd in the Maglev vehicle. CPEP is a great program that teaches students teamwork, problem solving, and applications of math and science.

At CPEP day, we had a keynote speaker at the opening ceremony. It was Naveen Selvadurai, one of the founders of Foursquare (He is from Connecticut). In his keynote speech, he talked about his life, how he came to work on Foursqaure and gave some advice to the students on his tips to success. He had stated that he started Foursquare because he felt that the phone in his pocket could do more based on locations and where you were and what was near you.

Here are his 5 points (with my notes):

Be Curious - look at things and wonder why. Wonder if something can do more. Wonder if you can make something better or different. Ask why? Ask how?

Keep Learning - never stop learning. Be a life-long learner. Learn because you are curious. Learn because you want to better yourself. 

Don't Be Afraid to Fail - no one succeeds on the first try. For every great success, there are hundreds of failures. You learn from your failures and they help you succeed. We should encourage students this way in school also. 

Be Passionate - be passionate and excited about what you do, no matter what. Why do it if you aren't passionate or don't care. This goes for everything you do, from cleaning your room to doing your work.

Keep Good Company - be around people who share your values and beliefs. Be with people who are passionate, curious, and keep learning. Surround yourself with people who will help you succeed, not lead you to failure or troubles. 

These are great tips and advice and we should share them with our students and colleagues.

Self Evident Assessment

by Mike Kaechele

I hate buzz words! I really do. But in education, as in any profession, we use them all of the time. I am guilty of it too, but there is one particular use that I especially hate. The political use of educational buzzwords by reformers and politicians to promote standardization and testing. I hate the current movement focusing on standard curriculum and tests for every student. I have always believed that individual, authentic assessment by professional teachers is the better course. I also believe that when students are doing authentic tasks that really matter that their learning is obvious to anyone who takes the time to talk to them. I have not always felt the ability to express this clearly to others though. Usually the best way is through stories and examples.

Then I saw John Hunter's Ted Talk about his World Peace Game. It is a fantastic simulation that is structured but open-ended. The whole video is worth your time but I want to focus on the segment from 14:40-16:55.



I love what John Hunter says:
       I get chills every time I see that. That's the kind of engagement
      we want to have happen. And I can't design that, I can't plan
      that, and I can't even test that. But it is self evident 
      assessment. We know that that is an authentic assessment of 
      learning. You know we have a lot of data but I think sometimes
      we go beyond data with the truth of learning of what is going on.

So as much as I hate buzz words I propose a new one to fight against people who say that we need more "data" (test scores) or "common assessments" (test scores) to help improve "student achievement" (test scores): self evident assessment.

When students, especially in the PBL model, present authentic work to real audiences the skills and learning are apparent and obvious. I do not hear people asking how teachers are assessing in these situations. On the other hand testing is a great way to assess worksheet dittos and questions from the textbook. Maybe the reason that we have so many politicians and reformers pushing the testing agenda is because too many teachers for too long have not given students the opportunity to engage in activities which produce self evident assessment.

I believe as politicians push educators into testing and more testing leading to test prep and more test prep that parents will seek out and demand these type of learning experiences for their children.

Living Facebook Experiment: Embracing the Tactile

by John T. Spencer - A Reflection on the Living Facebook Experiment

I could spend an entire day living in my mind.  Give me a day off at Starbucks and I'm good.  On some level, I could spend an entire lifetime avoiding the terrestrial here and now.  Let me blog and write, listen to Sufjan Stevens and speak in front of people.  I can debate ideas, tell stories and ask hard questions.  I can join chats on Twitter, post quirky updates on Facebook and manage life from a fourteen inch screen.  Not only can I live this way, but often times I do live this way.  And the crazy thing is that people reward me for it with a virtual thumbs-up or a retweet.

The Living Facebook Experiment (does it need to be a proper noun when what we are doing often feels so overtly improper?)  forces me to engage in social interaction with my real voice and my two hands.  Whether I'm writing on a window (it's a long story regarding why we avoided walls), scribbling intant messages on a church sermon handout or pulling plants in our Suburban Farmville, I'm stuck with real-time and real-space and all the insecurities that go with it.

On one level, the experience is humbling. I have clumsy hands.  Okay, not entirely.  I can sketch and paint.  But it's not effortless.  It's not as simple as dreaming up an imaginary fantasy land for a novel.  The tactile side of life always feels slower and more prone to mistakes.  And that's why I need to relearn the importance of the five senses.

On another level, it's liberating. It's fun.  I forgot the feeling of sliding a letter into an envelope, licking the nasty glue and sliding the note into the mailbox, thus sealing its fate forever.  I forgot what it was like to use an Expo marker, not to illustrate a social studies concept, but to draw a virtual cigar or cup of coffee.

I need to live with my hands.  I need to learn to look and to smell and to listen.  I need to remember that life does not happen virtually.  So, do I abandon the online vapor me?  Do I keep away from social media and instead pursue social interaction?

It doesn't have to be either/or.  In fact, it shouldn't be either / or.  It is deeply human to pursue the imago, to live in the mind and to dream up fantastical ideas that may, at some point hit the terrestrial terrain before our eyes.  And yet, we are of the land and in the land.  Sometimes I forget that there is more complexity in the dirt between my finger nails than in the entire programing of my iPad.

John T. Spencer is a teacher in Phoenix, AZ who blogs at Education Rethink.  He recently finished two books, Pencil Me In, an allegory for educational technology and Drawn Into Danger, a fictional memoir of a superhero. You can connect with him on Twitter @johntspencer

Learning About Culture Through Dance

by Shelly Blake-Plock

Thinking today about Sir Ken Robinson's thoughts about the travesty of dance not being taught in school. So, here's a short video of a small group of some of my 9th grade history students who are trying to understand the Renaissance... through dance:

IEP Recommendation: Mobile Access

By Shelly Blake-Plock

As a parent of a dyslexic elementary schooler who happens to be obsessed with all things tech -- especially iPods and WoW -- I've been thinking recently in terms of what his future might look like. And I keep coming back to the idea that mobile tech is the single best vehicle for addressing the confidence and practical needs of many of our kids with learning differences.

I don't mean to say that the tech itself is the 'difference', what I am trying to say is that the tech -- and especially the personalized and always-on facet of mobile tech -- will provide the connection to the tools, the teachers, and the interventions that will make the difference in a way both unique and also requiring a re-thinking in terms of how we offer relevant services to students with learning differences.

And two things need to happen if we are to make the most of what the current digital situation represents. First, we need to explain to developers what we and our students need from them. Even better, we should be calling for Ed Schools to provide instruction in app making and digital design so that we -- the teachers -- have the capacity to program our own teaching. App design and personalized programming might do very well as a standard requirement for a master's degree in education.

Second, we need to push now for an end to the access issues facing all of our schools: public and private. So let's start by writing mobile tech into the IEPs. Let's make districts come to the realization that mobile devices and mobile access are the point-of-entry for learning right now. Let's put state funded devices in the hands of kids who need them and let all kids bring their own INTELLECTUAL EMPOWERMENT DEVICES to class.

My son learns better and understands better when he has access to the net. And given some common sense simple provisions, there is absolutely no reason why he nor any kids like him nor any kids at all in this day and age should not be allowed the resources the world has to offer them and that are offered anywhere but within the confines of a 20th century school building.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Question of the Day: What are the five most important qualities of a 21st century school leader?

By Shelly Blake-Plock

Question of the Day: What are the five most important qualities of a 21st century school leader?

This is a question inspired by the current principal search going on at my school. It's been interesting to watch and hear the reactions of different constituencies to different candidates. Would like to know what all of you would look for in a leader.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Face to Facebook: 5 Thoughts on Education Reform

by John T. Spencer

For the last ten days, I've been participating in a Living Facebook Experiment, where I do everything in-person that I do on Facebook.  While I initially saw it as a chance to rethink the role of technology in my life, I'm now recognizing how it's changing my perceptions on education reform.

#1: The Dangers of Customization

Observations: Facebook, Google and other media have encouraged me to grow myopic in personalizing my settings. I realized this awhile ago with Pandora, when I began to listen to a narrower version of indie folk rock. I saw this recently in a TED Talk. It was as if the author had been articulating the dystopia I was trying to describe - a world in which the "relevant" and the "personal" replace the important, the uncomfortable and occasionally the boring.  For years I have advocated customized learning based upon students' interests and personality.

Teacher Take-Home: What I'm wondering now is how to balance what students want versus what they need and how to expose them to the painful, the boring and the disruptive side of learning while still  meeting their individual interests.  I used to think Pandora would be the ultimate model for a school.  Now I'm seeing that I would rather have a school that looks like a rock festival where students can roam the live music with constant exposure to new ideas.

#2: It Isn't Neutral

Observations: Social media initially appears to be transcultural and trans-geographic.  Yet, there is a significance in what a medium omits and promotes as well as how it organizes information.  The end result is a distinct brand-based culture that permeates the entire experience.  I feel as if I "go to" Twitter and "go to" Facebook even if it is simply the tap of a plus-icon on my Chrome browser.

Teacher Take-Home: I'll be working with ten 21st Century Classrooms next year in a hybrid, one-to-one learning environment.  I've been thinking about collaboration and communication using social media.  I've been dreaming up project-based learning opportunities.  And yet, this is forcing me to rethink some of my initial ideas.  I'm recognizing the danger in social media to colonize and socialize.  I'm recognizing the need to not only criticize the media but also the transcultural experience created by a media platform.

#3: The Power of Friendship

Observations: This project is forcing me to rethink the meaning of friendship. I have hundreds of "friends" on Facebook, but I'm starting to question what all of that actually means. As I interact with my "friends" offline, I'm struck by the notion that I am sometimes more transparent online than I am in person.  I am far more guarded, private and awkward in my interactions with neighbors than I am with my PLN.

Teacher Take-Home: I'm wondering what it means to "friend" former students and wondering about the relational distance we should expect.  In particular, to what extent should I still have a voice in my former students' lives? Moreover, what does it mean for students to "friend" students in other parts of the world?  How authentic can we be without the physical geography?

#4: People Are Profound

Observations: I'm fascinated by the depth of strangers. Sometimes I get into this place where I think that my friends are the only deep thinkers. I've been surprised by the deep conversations I've had with people I didn't know.  I never thought this would be the case, but living Facebook has caused me to see the depth of humanity in a way I hadn't seen before.  In other words, for all the trash people talk about social media, I am struck by the thought that I am living better when I am living Facebook.  Scary, perhaps, but true on some level. On the other hand, I'm often disappointed by the shallow nature of social media.  Often it feels as though the deeper conversations aren't occurring on Facebook and that much of Twitter is used to share resources rather than ideas or questions.

Teacher Take-Home: What does it mean to use Twitter or Facebook for in-depth, critical thinking projects when adults often model a shallow, take-this-quiz-on-which-Phil-Collins-song-you-are-the-most-like?  What does it mean to encourage students to ask hard questions about their universe when they have so often used these social media platforms for entertainment?

#5: Obsession With Numbers

Observations: I care too much about numbers.  I am bummed to see that I have only ten subscribers.  However, I am surprised to see that I'm getting over two hundred page views a day.  I care too much about retweets or @mentions.  And that's the subtle seduction of social media - the way it encourages me to seek my self-worth through popularity-based data. It's been a humbling experience (for example when I wear a t-shirt advertising my friend count) to see just how arrogant I can be about my online influence.

Teacher Take-Home: How do we pursue a humble reform when proposing bold steps toward changing education?  How do we communicate in blogs, conferences, podcasts and books in a way that recognizes the human element rather than the data-bound pie charts?  Have we, in the educational technology community, simply bought into a new data-bound narrative that is not much better than the current metrics used to rate students on standardized tests?

Question of The Day: Online Teaching

By Shelly Blake-Plock

Starting in the Fall, I'll be teaching a year long high school Latin course entirely online. Would like to hear some advice and thoughts from teachers and students who have conducted classes on the web; what's been your takeaway? What are the pitfalls? What are the benefits? How did you make the learning happen?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Design as Literacy

by Mike Kaechele

This week I had the privilege to attend TEDxGR. One of the speakers was Mickey McManus of the design firm MAYA. He talked about the need for a new literacy based on design. He mentioned SEL and STEM as being important emphasis in education but felt that there was something missing. He sees the missing piece as human centered design. His company starts with people and designs products based on people's needs. Their main clients were teaching their design principles to CEOs in successful companies. They decided to try teaching these skill to students in middle school students as an experiment. Check out the results:


This is a short film about a pilot program we (LUMA) ran in Columbus, Ohio. It shows the value of human-centered design thinking and real world problem solving to educating the next generation of innovators. Teachers were weeping by the end of the week and kids that wouldn’t even make eye contact at the beginning of the camp were presenting ideas based on real user research to heads of foundations and industry.

Now I am not sure that I think that this is a "new literacy" as what "is" or "is not" literacy causes many arguments that I am not sure that I even care about. What it does seem to be to me is an excellent example of a complex PBL environment. It is student driven, authentic, with both real world audience and problems. Students work in groups and use creative problem solving to design and have to present their ideas to testers where they receive feedback and then have to re-design until their idea is a working prototype. So it may not be a new "literacy" but I am positive that we need more of this kind of learning in schools. 

A Day of Living Facebook

by John Spencer


The Premise

It was a novel idea.  The protagonist would meet a physical manifestation of the online version of himself in the form of a method actor trying to practice for Death of a Salesman.  The actor would slowly achieve more than the protagonist in every category until, in the final pages, the protagonist recognizes what the actor will never experience: intimacy.

After sketching out the plot, I abandoned the plan and instead thought about a new project.  I decided that I wanted to live this idea and record it as an experiment.  So, Christy and I decided we would do Facebook in person:  tagging Poloroid pictures, handing out birthday cupcakes to friends, sharing a movie, conducting a neighborhood #chat about education.

Our goal would be to compare our offline experiences with our online interactions, asking ourselves:  How are we shaped by the medium?  How do we change in our language?  To what extent are we developing a perfectionist alter-ego?  (One that doesn't hawk loogies out of a car window or stammer when he's nervous).

The Experiment: Students

I begin the experiment with the concept of "I like," "Let me comment," and offering a thumbs up when I approved of a person's statement.  Students recognize the experiment within the first five minutes of class.  A few roll their eyes. Most of them joined in, if for nothing else, a little end of the year novelty.

I begin our Philosophical Friday with, "Are people born creative?"

"I think it's our limitations that lead to creativity," a boy responds.  Ten students offer a "thumbs up."

A girl shakes her head and adds, "Just to comment on what he said.  I disagree.  Little kids have few restrictions and they are really creative.  But school and parents are the ones who force us to not be creative."  Eight students give a thumbs-up and I can sense that she's hurt.

When we move to our blogging free write, one student writes, "Everyone is acting like Facebook in class today.  It's so rare to get someone to say 'I like what you said.'  We're dying for affirmation, but it's never there.  Teachers give compliments, but we never get it from each other."

Another student comments, "I don't like the fact that I can count the thumbs up in our philosophical discussion.  We shouldn't quantify ideas like that."

The Experiment: Adults

During my prep period, I stop by 7-11.  I'm tired and I need caffeine and the convenient store offers enough Diet Coke to kill a horse.

"Good afternoon," the employee says.

"I like that," I say with a smile and a thumbs up and, like a yawn, it goes viral.

"Good choice on your chip selection," a lady tells me.

"Oh, I love adding Cherry Coke to Diet Coke," a man says.

So it goes, in one of the coldest relational climates, a small dose of optimism reframes the space within minutes.  We talk to one another.  We affirm each other.  In small ways, perhaps, but I leave the place feeling surprisingly refreshed.

I continue the "I like," thumbs up and "Let me comment," concept through our staff meeting.  Interestingly enough, nobody figures out the experiment.  However, I notice a few other staff members giving themselves the permission to affirm one another.

Observations

It has me wondering if maybe the allure of Facebook is that it meets my primal need for affirmation of both my ideas and my identity.  I want a metric for how I'm doing; just a little quantifiable evidence that who I am and what I think matters in this world.  Narcissistic?  Perhaps.  But sometimes I wonder if people are dying for some kind of feedback in our offline world and yet our social norms prevent it from happening.

What if we asked permission to comment?  What if we gave a thumbs-up or a handshake or even a hug more often?  What if we said verbally, "I like what you said?"

At the same time, a day of living Facebook forces me to recognize the limitations of the medium.  Everyone is "nice" on Facebook.  There's a "like" but not a "dislike" button.  It's a place where everyone is nice and everyone likes everything.  Shallow, perhaps, but always pleasant.  In other words, Facebook is Paula Abdul on steroids.

For me, Facebook is a pleasant dystopia, offering intimacy at arms length.  It's a personal playground where I can be Social He Man, master of a universe where I can scan through "this is what I'm having for dinner" and comment on what I deem to be important.  It's a customized community that centers on me.   Living Facebook is forcing me to recognize just how passive-agressive I can get online.

The reality is that I need interruptions and laughter and body language.  I need stutters and stammers and interrupted speech.  I need the vapor of language that doesn't hang around in ones and zeroes like ticker-tape for our lives.

I'm not sure where my 40 Days of Living Facebook experiment will lead me.  However, after one day, it's forced me to examine not only the social media I use, but my own humanity.

John T. Spencer is a teacher in Phoenix, AZ who blogs at Education Rethink.  He recently finished two books, Pencil Me In, an allegory for educational technology and Drawn Into Danger, a fictional memoir of a superhero. You can connect with him on Twitter @johntspencer

The Best Thing About Chromebooks: It's Complicated

by Shelly Blake-Plock

The best thing about Chromebooks has nothing to do with the actual physical devices themselves. It has nothing to do with how much they cost. It has nothing to do with the fact that they are made by Google or Samsung or Acer or whomever. The best thing about Chromebooks is what they suggest about the way we are now thinking about computing.

Computing used to be about hardware and software. Now it's about connecting. So when you hear people naysay technology, you might point out that, to an extent, they are actually naysaying the connection between people.

There is of course the issue of money money money and all the big players who stand to make a buck off our tech needs.

I was talking to a school's IT guy today and he said: "Look, I'm vendor-neutral." And that makes sense to me -- in terms of a way to approach tech. Because when it comes down to the brass tacks, the connection is more important than the device; in the same way that my used car gets me where I'm going just the same as Joe Schmoe's Ferrari. The highway is more important than the car.

But you can never really be vendor-neutral any more than you are neutral when you decide to buy a car. There are no generic cars. There are no generic tablet devices (despite what some of them look like).

There's also the matter of what the devices do and how they connect us socially. That's not generic either, though to maintain those connections, we are somewhat beholden to the general terms and operating structures of FB, Twitter, etc.

Read an article in the NY Times today about backchannels in schools. And it was immediately apparent both in the article and the comments that the majority of the critics of social media in education have no experience actually using social media in education. And as I suggested later on Twitter, that's pretty much like those folks who will protest a movie they've never seen.

At the same time, I understand where the critics are coming from. They are a bit jaded (once again) about the idea of "change" in education and yet nervous about what it could mean (this time) in terms of shaking up their worldview (and their paycheck, to be frank). But I think their criticism would be better levied against the producers of the means -- for example, arguing that the big tech and big textbook money should be removed from the educational landscape and that they should all do business as non-profits or social ventures (fat chance... ie getting the change there, not the levying of criticism) -- rather than against those teachers and students who are re-imagining the ways we connect for the sake of learning in a connected world.

This connection thing is complicated, no?

Thinking about it, the real importance of the Chromebook is not the vendor, it's not the device, it's the fact that it makes the prediction that the Web of the future is not just a place to go look for stuff, or even a place where we can share stuff and network, but rather it's a place where everything is done. And the social technology that the current Web represents is the reality of the world -- it's not auxiliary to our reality, it is completely merged with it. To the point where we don't need a download of a song much less a cd; we just need a connection and access to Cloud based playlists. We don't need to be accepted to MIT to learn about physics; we just need a connection and access to their open courseware. We don't need to wait for the mainstream media to tell us what's happening in the world; we just need a connection and access to the social stream.

And that direct connection to the net: as the place where we do our work, express our feelings and opinions in the public arena, and grow as networks of engaged citizens -- that direct connection is what the Chromebook represents. And it's not like its unique to the Chromebook. It's inherent every time we work on the Cloud. It's just that the Chromebook magnifies that by making it the "sole" purpose of the device.

It also represents the reality that we depend so much on tech companies to provide that access. And as teachers, we depend so much on tech companies to provide the way to make that connection. It's a position I think many of us are plenty wary of. But we are living in an era where the means is so technologically specific and nearly impossible to reproduce without the industry, yet the potential outcome is so great.

We don't get 'On the Road' without the automotive and oil industries. And we don't get the blogosphere without the tech industry.

Again, this connection thing is complicated.

In the end, as we become more connected, we inevitably become more dependent upon the providers of our connections. So we have to go forward vigilantly, not scared of the connection and not naysaying reality, but as truly aware citizens. And we're gonna have to think about what this whole connection business is all about.

Because this connection thing is complicated.

In the practical, as educators, we should be considering the following: how do we help teachers understand the change in the culture of computing and how do we best help them become empowered users?

And in the philosophical, as educators, we should think about this: how does the new idea of computing -- Cloud-based, app-driven, mobile -- affect my relevance and reality as a teacher in the physical world? How does this connection thing complicate my identity?

Question of the Day: On Building a PLN In an Age of Mainstreamed Social Media

by Shelly Blake-Plock

Question of the Day: "Is It Harder Now In 2011 to Build a PLN Than It Was Before the Mainstreaming of Social Media?"

In my experience, teachers understand the value of building a PLN. A common problem many have, however, is just getting started. And for many teachers just starting out, it seems as though they may have even more struggle than many teachers did just a short time ago.

Though engaged in all sorts of online endeavors since the earl 90's, I only began in earnest putting my education PLN together back in 2008 through minor blogging endeavors and some freelance writing. It was in the winter of 2009 that I got into Twitter and I recall that for about the first three months, I didn't even make a post. I remember reading the tweets and blogs of other folks and I recall becoming so full of anxiety whenever I would leave a comment. (I probably checked to see if anyone commented on my comments several times a day at the beginning...)

It was only with the creation of this blog and my cross-pollination of content into the Twitterverse that I started to feel more comfortable with social media -- despite the fact that I'd been engaged in one way or another going all the way back to the days of BBS boards. Things started picking up. Eventually (eventually!) I found my own voice, and of course now I feel completely at ease in my writing, in my commenting, and in my tweets.

I wonder though if it was easier engaging in a PLN in early 2009 -- before the mainstreaming of social media -- than it is today. We often talk about how events in the summer of '09 changed the public perception of social media. From the China earthquake to the Iranian protests to the founders of Twitter on the cover of Time magazine to FB hitting 500 quadrillion members (slight exaggeration), that summer saw social media go big. And I wonder if that actually makes it more difficult to engage.

And I'm not talking about the number of followers you have. That's relatively arbitrary. I'm talking about the quality of connection you are able to make. I'm talking about the ability to foster professional -- and personal -- connections via this huge and ever moving arrangement.

I would like to see the community here give some practical advice to those folks plugging their user ID into Twitter for the first, second, or third time. What should they expect? How can they leverage social media to get the most good out of it? Why is it worth their time? And is it harder today (or not)?

Let's hear it in the comments and get some conversation going.

Potions

by Mike Kaechele

It is a beautiful, sunny Mother's Day in Michigan. I got my first nap of the year in my hammock, listened to the Tigers win on my stereo (yeah I still have my big speakers from college in my shed), and my son went fishing in the lake.

My yard

Then my son made a potion. He has been begging me to do it all week. He mixed vinegar, Oxi Clean, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar, flour, and ketchup. He then applied it to my dandelions and apparently they will be dead tomorrow.

My son loves science and experimenting. When is the last time you experimented? When is the last time you gave students time and space to experiment?

Now I am off to help my daughter make a potion. Experimenting is contagious...

A Short Survey on Schools and Attitudes Towards Tech

Dear readers,

If you could take a moment to fill out the following short survey, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

- Shelly

Click here to take survey

To Hack or Not to Hack?

by Shelly Blake-Plock

Yes or No:

It is the duty of the teacher who believes in networked learning to, if necessary, hack and proxy and to encourage hacking and proxying for the purpose of getting students into a place where they can connect freely online despite whatever institutional filters and blocks might be in place in the school, district, etc...

Authentic Assessment: Let's Publish an eBook

by Shelly Blake-Plock

My Latin III students and I sat around this afternoon chatting about what to do with the last month of their high school Latin career. They decided they wanted to write and publish a book about their favorite Roman poet -- Catullus.

And they don't want to fake it.

By the end of a 45 minute session, they had chosen two editors-in-chief, worked out assignments ranging from writing and translating to public domain picture vetting. Two students took the lead figuring out how to publish an eBook that would be available on Amazon; by the end of class, they had figured out how to get an ISBN number and were talking about how to distribute any money from sales to charity.

They set up a Google Group for organizing, and a Tumblr and Twitter account to promote their work and to connect with folks interested in what they are doing. As I understand it, they want to set up a video streaming channel to talk to other Latin students; and they are looking at different ways of putting a book together.

Finally, they are going through all of the translation and critical analysis they've done all year and they are editing it all into something that can stand on its own.

This is authentic assessment. It's assessment directly integrated into the process of "the making of the learning". It's assessment that will likely live on in Amazon comment boards and archived chats long after I've done the work of giving grades. And it makes something as potentially arcane as ancient poetry into something with which the students can work and make new things.

They'd love it if you followed their progress at @CatullusDivided and soon on the YouTube channel where they will be documenting their experience.

Digital Literacy Objectives: A Starting Point

by Shelly Blake-Plock


Nothing provides a better forum for learning to understand what the new media is all about than the discussion tabs on Wikipedia articles related to current events. Here's a starting point, for example:

Hello students, today's topic is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Osama_bin_Laden

Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate digital media literacy by analyzing and explaining the discussion that has surrounded the decision-making process in the editing of the Wikipedia article on Osama Bin Laden in the wake of his death.

I'd like to know what you all could/would do with this sort of thing. I'd love to see a wiki resource developed to help teachers use the Wikipedia discussion tabs in planning and facilitating lessons designed to help students learn new media and develop their digital literacy.

Anyone interested in a project?

Culture-part II

by Mike Kaechele

We had some interesting pushback in the comments of my last post about creating a culture of responsibility in schools. As I read and responded to comments I realized that some people were interpreting my post as one change to make to a traditional school setting. But what I observed at the school was a re-interpretation of how to do school.  So I thought I would share the values of a New Tech school by comparing it to a traditional school. Changing only one of these things in a school will not have the same effect as all of them working together.

Click here for enlarged view

What would you add or subtract to these values? Does seeing all of these things clarify how this school creates a culture of responsibility? Leave a comment and I will share what I think is understated in my next post.