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A Language for the Future



Courtesy of Google Images
Mandarin language classes are on the rise. It’s no wondersince 1.3 billion people reside in the People’s Republic of China. Mandarin isthe dominant language and it is helping to unify the country and change theface of China.  

Research has proven that it is best to learn a second languagefrom childhood. This is even more true for Mandarin because the ear needs toperceive the four tones that distinguish the meanings of many words.

Learning Mandarin is a challenge that our students can meetif we support them be offering courses in elementary school. Their economicfuture may depend on it.

See one teacher’s approach:
http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/rising-number-of-american-students-are-learning-chinese/

Thing 3


Google’s Principle Number Three: Fastis better than slow.

I’m not so sure about this one and it's effect on the classroom.There are some actions that could speed up to make delivery of education moreefficient. Many of them are out of the realm of the teacher. So, is thereanything worthwhile that can be done faster in the classroom?  
  • ·        All students would appreciate havinganswers to their questions in a timely way.

·        Access to all classroom informationcan be faster with an internet connection.
·        If I were a student again I wouldwant a quick response to my answers on a test.
Delays are the stuff of societiesthat keep their citizens in check. Speed is a characteristic of opencommunities.
And what’s the reason to speed upthe information process? To give the student more time for quiet reflection. Ittakes time to process information and make a good decision. Speed gives us thatadvantage.


School for the Imaginative

Courtesy of Vittra


Liz Dwyerasks, “Is Sweden's Classroom-Free School the Future of Learning?” We can onlyanswer, “Yes, yes, yes!”
In Sweden’s new Vittra,Telephonplan learning flows from one space to another. Vittra, which has set up30 schools in Sweden has eliminated classrooms altogether. The building lookslike a studio for techies. Well, maybe it is, although they are very young.
Spaces are arranged forindependent and group work. Play becomes work, and work is play. It’s a fit.
No grading system gets in the way.Students are taught at their own level with others whose needs are similar.
I would like to work and play here. How about you?

Read the article: http://www.good.is/post/is-sweden-s-classroom-free-school-the-future-of-learning/

See the Vittra philosophy: http://vittra.se/english/AboutVittra/Oursixpromises.aspx

Bookbags Are Out!

Courtesy of Google Images


Start the summertime chant: “No more pencils, no more books,no more teachers’ dirty looks.”

Apple has announced plans for reinventing the textbook. iBooks2 haspartnered with textbook publishers to sell interactive texts for use on theiPad. With 20,000 educational apps in existence vocabulary flash cards will behistory. Students will be able to determine for themselves how to study usingthe many apps available. Let’s hope that highlighting text will help it stickin their minds in time for the test.
http://www.educationnews.org/technology/apple-unveils-ibooks-2-ibooks-author-itunes-u-for-ipad/


Thing Two



Google, Inc’s second principle: It’s best to do one thing really, reallywell. We do search.
Google’sintention is to bring “search” to other products. So they took on Gmail, GoogleImages and Google Maps. Their intention is to bring search capability to otherareas.
Schoolsoffer wide-ranging programs, and most are afraid not to. There are broad academicchoices, sports, and the arts. On the side there’s counseling, breakfast andlunch, and academic support services. If we offer too many services, we diluteour effectiveness. That’s why Google emphasizes search.
Schoolsare complex institutions. Perhaps we should look at the menu of services we areproviding, limit ourselves to what we are accomplishing successfully, andcontract with other providers for the rest.  
What can schools do really, reallywell? 

Baby Steps

Courtesy of Google Images
When I set out to make a change I have big goals and I wantsweeping reforms. So I reconsidered my modus operandi when I read ShelleyWright’s post, “A New Year’s Challenge:  Startwith Small Strategic Steps.”

Shelley’s four points are well-taken:


1.      Start with one unit. Get your feet wet.   See ifyou like a different (student-directed) way of learning.


2.      Talk to your students about the nature oflearning and how our minds work.


3.      Use technology in ways that are a naturaloutgrowth of your studies.


4.      Prepare for things to go wrong. Get up and getgoing again.

Read the entire post:
http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/a-new-years-challenge-start-with-small-strategic-steps/

This is something everyone can do. If you are in a positionto lead others, these simple steps are a reasonable requirement. We are doingthis for our kids, aren’t we?

Who’s Driving?



There was a time when teachers held the keys. They decidedwhich textbooks they would use in their classrooms, what they would teach andhow they would teach it. Then publishers got behind the wheel with achievement testingand texts written by the self-same test-writing companies, soon after theyloaded up the van with programmed texts, and teachers only need to be able toread aloud. We worried about who was driving the educational system.

Now young entrepreneurs have a very different view of Americaneducation from the average teacher or man-on-the -street. Prerna Gupta, CEO ofKhush, producer of music apps thinks that we overvalue higher education in theU.S. because we do such a poor job of educating students under age 18.

Some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are advising students toleave school and start their own businesses. For the tech-savvy, brilliantyoung person, that is probably the best option. It is not so different from thepath a young ballerina takes. Graduate from high school while emphasizing skilland excellence en pointe. Don’t worry about algebra or history. Practice yourskill under the tutelage of a master, reach as high a level as you can, then,at 35, try college or look for a second career.  A successful entrepreneur can become educatedon his or her own time.

Technology is disruptive and we are in a state of flux. Guptastates,
We are in a time of convergence: teachers are incorporatingtechnology from their everyday lives to increase student engagement, while visionaryadministrators are using the momentum of grassroots digital learning movementsto move our institutions forward. Hopefully education will catch up before theSingularity arrives.

Read her article and take a look at some uses of apps in theclassroom:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/15/can-technology-transform-education-before-its-too-late/
Who’sdriving in your classroom? Tell the truth

absolutedeviation

absolutedeviation

¡Hurra para el aprendizaje!



Julia Steiny reports on a BestPractice from The International Charter School, a dual language, elementarypublic school of choice, located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Courtesy of Google Images

Third grade teachers developed aproject that links the students’ language and culture with photography,storytelling and presentation. The skill and artistry of a professionalphotographer who teaches the eight and nine year-olds to compose photos is adefinite plus. On the big night students explain their personal projects tovisitors.

To complete their project each onehas imagined an idea that will tell others about his/her culture, photographedthe idea and written about it in two languages. The use of two differentlanguages, not translations of one another, point out the differences incommunication of the two cultures.

What fun! See the entire article athttp://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/julia-steiny-a-social-studies-project-lets-us-peek-through-windows-into-3rd-grade-lives/


Focus on Great Teachers


Courtesy of Google Images

A non-profit corporation, The Mind Trust  is focusing on three primary areas to improvelearning in Indianapolis. The idea is to create “Opportunity Schools” whichwould have greater oversight in their own domains. By reducing the size of the school district's central office, individual qualifying schools will receive funds that wouldhave been used by the administration. The school leadership can then spendmoney to improve the education of the students in their building. This ispublic school with an entrepreneurial structure.
At the heart of the initiative is:
  • A great teacher in every classroom.
  • A great leader in every school.
  • An environment that fosters excellence and multiplies success.

“Decades of failure demonstrate that it’s not the people who areat fault, it’s the system. Most IPS schools don’t have the conditions thatresearch shows schools need to succeed. This plan creates those conditions,”said David Harris, Founder and CEO of The Mind Trust.
My ongoing concern in the rhetoric of saving education is savingthe "system" instead of providing better opportunities for the students. I think Indianapolis is moving in the right direction by offeringmore freedom to the talented teachers and administrators they employ.
What do you think? Would this plan work at your school?

Thing One

Courtesy of Google Images

There is a great deal of buzz in the education community about21st Century Learning, social media and connectivity. Perhaps weshould be looking at one of the world’s most successful (though not perfect)companies to learn their guiding principles.

Google, Inc. wrote “10 Things” and corporate leaders revisitthese ideas every couple of years to see if they still hold true. (There’s arefreshing concept for educators as well.) Here is the first principle:
NumberOne: Focus on the user and all else willfollow.
Since the beginning, we’ve focused on providing the best user experiencepossible. Whether we’re designing a new Internet browser or a new tweak to thelook of the homepage, we take great care to ensure that they will ultimatelyserve you, rather than our own internal goal or bottom line. Ourhomepage interface is clear and simple, and pages load instantly. Placement insearch results is never sold to anyone, and advertising is not only clearlymarked as such, it offers relevant content and is not distracting. And when webuild new tools and applications, we believe they should work so well you don'thave to consider how they might have been designed differently.
What are the classroom takeaways?

First of all, it’s all about the student.
Are we serving the individualrather than the curriculum, or worse, the test? The 2008 Google Annual Reportstated, “We believe that our user focus is the foundation of our success todate.” When classroom teachers focus on their users they also experiencesuccess.  

Are instructions clear and easy tofollow? (See: First Days of School.) Harry and Rosemary Wong offerspecific instructions for teachers for smooth classroom management. A teacherwho puts their words into practice establishes a secure place for students tolearn. Students understand expectations, procedures for learning, workingcollaboratively, and what to do when they don’t “get it.” The result is asuccessful experience for students and their teacher.

New tools and applications are agiven. Students are always curious about the next cool thing. They aremotivated to earn about social connectivity, so why not make that the vehiclefor subject matter?

What about you? Are these ideas workable in yourclassroom?

Project-Based Learning


Courtesy of Google Images


In this season for resolutions and self-improvement I founda great example for instructional improvement from Margaret Haviland of WesttownSchool, in West Chester, PA. She writes about her progression from teacher-directedassignments to individualized, project-based learning in a 12/23/2011 post atPowerful Learning Practice. See: http://plpnetwork.com/category/voices/.Scroll down to “The Shift: Making Mongol Movies.”

Haviland began ahead of the pack. Her first assignments forMongol Culture in her high school level World History class were readings from collegelevel books, not diluted textbooks. Each year, over three years, she hasenriched the study and given students more opportunities to learn on their own.(Read the article.)

I see at least four characteristics that make her anoutstanding teacher - a best practitioner - one to emulate:

·        She has a personal enthusiasm for learning. Shewas as excited about re-teaching a unit on the Mongols and learning to makefilms as a kid at an amusement park.
·        She is a risk-taker. Having no idea about how tomake a film, let alone teach film-making, she forged ahead.
·        She learns from “mistakes.” Haviland immediatelyanalyzed the completed unit, including student responses, and decided how tomake it better.
·        She does not need to be perfect or to have completecontrol.  She is content to let her able,enthusiastic students breathe life into their studies.

What implications do you see for your lessons?

Social Media Restraints

Social Media will be a hot topic in education this year. There is no escaping the ubiquitous use of Twitter, MySpace, Facebook and every other electronic link students can find. What will schools do with this?

Teachers are making great headway in connecting formerly disengaged students to classroom topics through social media. This area needs to be developed with all classrooms in middle and high school. Teachers need to model, and students need to participate in positive educational application of social media.

On the negative side, some teachers are abusing the practice and making sexual advances on students. State legislatures and school boards react by trying to shut down all social media. We revert to punishing the whole class with silent lunch because two people interrupted a lesson with their chatter.

This NY Times article cites some of the current issues:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/business/media/rules-to-limit-how-teachers-and-students-interact-online.html?_r=2

Courtesy of Google Images
It seems to me that all teachers need to be aware of two important distinctions. One is the line between public and private information and contacts. Overall, student-teacher connections should be public. The few private connections should be professional in nature. The second distinction is adult vs. child. All students through high school graduation are children in relation to their teachers. It is our mission to nurture and encourage them as learners. We fail them when we cease to see them as children needing our protection and care.

What do you think?