Media Specialist with Hart

2020 Vision

2010-01-03T08:59:00.004-05:00

Recently I’ve been reading various articles and posts about the famed visionary year of 2020 because, as the writers always point out, it is only ten short years away. Many are asking what we should be doing now in order to be sufficiently poised to usher in that decade prepared for perfect 2020 vision.

Hm.

My reactions to these imploring “calls to action” run the gamut of considerate contemplation to gut-stirring anger. So I’ve been mulling over why I’ve had such a wide range of emotional responses. Now, I am a huge fan of irony and I have been especially tickled that everyone seems so enamored with the impending year of 2020 as a pivotal point in our culture. 2010 vision is actually sharper than 2020…so the idea of embracing 2020 as the benchmark for achieving perfect vision means our society will have actually experienced loss of vision while moving through this decade.

I just don’t understand the crowds of people wringing their hands over the future like we are all destined to fail. So many discussions like these are tinged with the element of fear and calamity for our future- which leads me to ponder, where is the optimism? Where did the “can do” mentality that our country was founded on go? The human race has been successfully adapting for centuries so why is our view of the future infused with fear and not hope? We hear various proclamations of; we aren’t going to be ready, our schools are failing, other countries will out-perform us in every aspect. I am not here to debate if schools are failing or not; I certainly agree that there are areas for improvement, but schools are achieving success in many ways as well. (This will have to be a topic for a different post) I would propose that part of the problem is directly related to our culture. Some may say our cultural failure is a direct result of years of bad schooling- but I don’t believe there is one culprit in this whole mess. Yes, we do need change and innovation and open minds and equal access for all- but please don’t count me in on simply standing around, wringing my hands, gnashing my teeth and wracking my brains for devising “the cure” for the 2020 benchmark. I say- engage yourself now. Our world continues to turn and all we can guarantee is that today we are all here rolling with it.

We’ve all seen the “did you know” series and we can only speculate on the technologies and jobs that will be available in the future. But we do know all these changes are certainly making the world smaller. I’m not suggesting simply becoming vacuous cows grazing blindly into our future- I’m saying we must all start consciously working towards our collective futures with the understanding of current change, opening our minds to the exponential potential for future changes, and comprehension of and appreciation for the changing world around us. Opportunities abound and the idea that there is only one winner in this world is just wrong and short-sighted. Collaboration is currently a big buzzword in our culture so why wouldn’t we work towards a vision where all humans collaborate ourselves into an innovative and productive collective future where everyone benefits?

Is this possible? Maybe you can write me off as a simpleton, someone who just doesn’t comprehend the complexity or enormity of challenges we face as a nation. Could be you are right. But for me, my 2020 vision is a work in progress starting with today. My vision is one where hope and motivation and engagement reside. I plan to move forward with rational thinking and consciously regard the world around me with my eyes wide open employing 2010 vision.

Is this an adequate plan for tangible long-term goals? Well, the good news is, I’m open to change and reflection on my path and I will strive to be flexible and adaptable. This is a terribly exciting time to be alive and I, for one, am very hopeful about our collective future.

ISTE standards and some thoughts

2009-11-25T12:24:00.003-05:00

If you have not read the new NETS for teachers and administrators, please take a look.

When I was reading through the list I wrote some notes to myself, the first being; Wow, high expectations for staff regarding digital competency (#4); how would one best implement teacher learning with everything else going on in the building?

My other thought was to wonder how to make implementation of these standards less threatening to teachers who would be considered at the emergent level in implementation. It is such a delicate balance between bringing people to the table and not overwhelming them with information so that they end up shutting down because they feel like such a failure at "all this newfangled stuff". We don't want them to dismiss these shifts as unimportant and not related to their jobs so they can just turn around and shut the door and keep teaching in the manner they have enjoyed for years where they have probably enjoyed success.

One thing I want to point out is that I don't believe it is only old teachers who would feel this way. Some older teachers would have the feeling I've just described above, but younger teachers are dealing with their own stresses; working on managing their new classrooms, time, curriculum, life changes and they can be just as easily overwhelmed with these expectations. We also can't just assume the younger teachers know how to effectively use technology just because they are digital natives.

I made big stars all over the Visionary Leadership portion for the Administrators; I believe that is the fundamental key to this whole she-bang. We can't make great strides without the support and understanding of our administration. I also starred "ensure effective practice in the study of technology and its infusion across the curriculum" (digital-age learning culture) as another key point.

I wonder; how are schools going to realistically integrate and achieve true success with these standards? Everyone's plates are overflowing and there is no easing up on anything else that I can see. To me, it seems like there are all these independent satellite think tanks scrambling to promote best practices in education; with data collection and reporting and standards and technology and funding and SIP and PLC and going green and safety and on and on and on and no one is getting everyone together to say- Hey! We all have things that need to be attended to in education. How can we expect this group of people to take all this on alone, in individual buildings/districts and without adequate support? How can we as educators support each other with all these initiatives because expecting schools to have success implementing all these expectations is rather daunting. We may want to run and hide, but we can't. Where is the collaborative effort? Joining and participating in online educational networks like NING and PLP is going to be key to our collaborative success. We need to embrace the idea that we are all in this together and together we can be strong. There should be no "Race to the Top" because we can't afford to have winners and losers among our American schoolchildren. We need to "Put Education First" in my humble opinion. (I plan to share that sentiment with Arne Duncan)

And then; what kind of work force would we honestly need to do all the business involved with educating children? Then that gets me on a whole other thinking topic about education on other countries and who is most successful and why are they successful; but I am going to leave that topic alone for today. I need to get cooking for tomorrow....

Facebook/Taste of Technology

2009-04-26T17:40:00.003-04:00

Oooh so many topics but so little time!

Briefly, the Facebook thing is going pretty well so far. We started advertising it with a group of students I've been working with on How the Hangman Lost His Heart book. Tomorrow we are working in groups with students on fun activities and I will have video to post to the site. If you are interested in peeking in- find the "Authors in April" group on Facebook. It is set to public and I believe you can look at it without joining. (I can't tell because I am a member...) Our Authors in April day is Tuesday so I will be working to write more about the entire experience after the visit from the author.

Just want to call your attention to Will Richardson's post on transparency if you have not already read it. I was in attendance the day the administrator asked him the question he discusses on his blog. His post on this topic has received a large number of comments and I am interested in talking about this idea with people. He inspired me to make an appointment with my superintendent- and that experience will have to be another blog post.

All-in-all the Oakland University Taste of Technology conference was OUTSTANDING. I could not believe what a small and intimate forum we had to provide us with the opportunity to chat with Will Richardson! What an unique experience. It was very exciting to me and quite inspirational. Needless to say- I was pretty geeked about the entire conference. I'll need to suggest to the planners to make it a webinar next year- great inquiry Sarah!

Facebook in school

2009-04-01T19:54:00.002-04:00

So, I have been thinking again.

I have been mulling over ways to successfully reach students when they are not in school on a platform they already are comfortable navigating. I imagine a space where school learning and connecting with fellow students expands outside of the classroom walls. I know for me personally, I spend a great deal of time outside of my work day delving in my own personal PD sessions with the computer or a book. My goal is to promote that love of learning and connecting with my students. I've tried wikis and blogs with limited success. That is not to say that I am planning to abandon those efforts; I am simply exploring other options. I am always looking to create windows in the metaphorical brick wall. My thoughts led me to Facebook. Why not? I know my students have profiles there and they are on the site often in their spare time. Considering my own daughter's use of Facebook I thought it just might be pretty successful. Another personal observation of my daughter: she is not an overly social in person, but she is extremely social on Facebook. I expect for those students who are shy or hesitant to share their thoughts in the classroom setting this group would enable them to participate safely. So another reason to try. Of course all of the negative antics associated with middle school students having free reign on a social platform did cross my mind. But, how would I ever know how this could work unless I just tried it? How would I know what to change or set up or anticipate the next time? My brain was screaming, Just Do IT! So I did.

I started a group on Facebook geared to sparking discussions around a guest speaker who will be visiting my district. I invited adults working in the district to join first and encouraged the teachers to start promoting this group with their students. Excited to see what I could generate, I casually mentioned it to a group of students in the library. I had my first student join just the other day. When I congratulated her for being the first student to join she declared that she was going to start inviting her friends! So we have a small group started. Not too much discussion going on quite yet. What I am planning to push next is talking it up with the English classes as those teachers are working most intensively to get this visit off the ground. I intend to make students aware of the group prior to spring break as I suspect that may be a good time for us to be connected. All the students will be required to finish their books over break so my goal is to get them talking about it online. This is a work in process.

To date, what I was most surprised about was how many students told me their parents would not allow them to have a profile on Facebook. I suggested if they were interested in seeing what it is like they should encourage their parents to create a profile and join the group. That way the student could participate through their parent and the parent would be able to monitor what was going on in the group.

I will plan to write more about this little project as it unfolds! Stay tuned!

MACUL presenter, Steve Dembo

2009-03-22T19:16:00.000-04:00

This week at the MACUL conference, Steve Dembo categorically stressed that SCHOOLS HAVE TO CHANGE in order for us to effectively reach the digital natives (aka students) that are sitting in our classrooms. He also clarified that it isn’t the curriculum that has to change, it is the teachers.

Steve’s solution is to encourage teachers to just get out there and do it! He maintains that even if you don’t have a lot of knowledge or a strong comfort level, your students will be instrumental in helping to guide the way. Many of these Web 2.0 tools are created to be intuitive so you do not have to sit at the computer with a great deal of background knowledge. He did acknowledge, however, that in order for teachers to adopt the “just do it!” attitude, our Technology Departments MUST be on board as well and allow us all to have access and freedom to take advantage of the resources available. And there are millions of resources out there. Yet, teachers need to embrace the idea of diving in to learning how to speak the technology native’s “dialect” if we have not done so yet and get over the fact that we are immigrants who may never lose that “cute digital accent”.

Our students are mega-connected and able to multi-process. That concept is not really up for debate right now on whether it is good or bad for them to be navigating their world this way; it is just the reality of the current culture. The amount of information available to us is staggering and growing every day. We all have the potential to harness the available tools and become innovators! The web enables us to engage in information seeking and connecting with others 24/7. That is exciting! By embracing these tools we become networks in action. Our professional development is continuous and available and can be self-directed! I cannot think of a better or more motivating way to participate in my professional development. Steve also wants us to work to give back to the profession. Let people know what you are doing; share, pass it along!

So, you may be asking, “where do I start?” A simple, yet effective way is to challenge yourself to see what you can learn in 30 minutes at the computer. Next, learn how to tap into a community and start connecting. This is what it is all about. We must work to connect teachers to their most valuable resource; each other. It is not fully attainable through presentations or sessions: it is all about the CONNECTION and dialogue. Professional Development is everyday; exciting and fun!

Could this be everything I want?

2009-01-16T20:59:00.002-05:00

Well- I've been lamenting that I need to have a tool to coordinate and contain all my techno-stuff. And I've been asking around to see what people are using or doing and I have not had much success with answers. I stumbled across this tool today and I am thinking it has real potential!
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/diso_dashboard.php

Check it out for yourself and please let me know what you think...

Ning discussion

2009-01-11T09:49:00.002-05:00

Found this discussion on Ning; here is your chance to provide input to our new Secretary of Education! Here is a link to my response.

Holiday reading

2008-12-23T22:10:00.003-05:00

So, it is holiday break time and I am reading adult fiction instead of young adult fiction for a welcome change of pace. Here are my Goodreads updates- Merry Christmas!

I've been reading....

2008-12-07T20:20:00.001-05:00

Please check out my Goodreads feeds; I've been reading some wonderful books lately!

I also want to highlight my student podcasts from book club: Listen @ my link text

View all my reviews.

I want it all....

2008-11-22T20:32:00.000-05:00

And I want it now! What do I mean by that? Well, I am finding that there are so many different cool and exciting applications and websites and technologies out there for me to utilize. All serve to keep me updated and in touch and aware of the world around me. The problem is I am struggling to adequately manage and apply them all in a timely fashion! It takes me time to explore and become successful in the various applications. This certainly does not help my ADD-ish tendencies to bounce like a whirling dervish from one idea/task to another and all the time not feeling like I have conquered anything. Time for me to take a deep breath, relax, and remember one of my favorite mantras: I am a work in progress. It is ok to be a work in progress. I am not ready to "be done". I am a work in progress...(you get the idea).

But, I am feeling like someone needs to ward off the impending technology implosion and get it all together in one place soon. My money is on Google....that would be a wonderful holiday wish come true!

Goodreads does sync here!

2008-11-16T20:47:00.003-05:00

Well, a little playing and I figured out how to sync my Goodreads here! Yea! That can be a wonderful resource as I am following some really good, diverse readers as well.

One technology wish down, a few more to go! Stay tuned!

Ack!

2008-11-16T09:32:00.002-05:00

Have you missed me? I've really missed being active with my blog and reading other blogs...it is not like I've been a total slacker. I've been working on exploring other technologies and activities; Goodreads (why can't that all sync here?), Facebook (why can't all the sync here?), spending a LOT of time with my daughters (always supersedes anything else...they are growing up so very fast!), I've started a book club at work that has been keeping me busy, working to connect with the other media people in my district, and keeping up with the politics of the nation.

I have pretty much given up on Twitter...I just couldn't take the stress of potentially missing something and the disappointment of only being able to check in during a small part of my day that seemed to always coincide with major sporting events.

There are a ton of good things going on out there: Check out Steve Dembo's 30 days to a better blogger or the professional development project that Will Richardson and Cheryl Nussbaum-Beach have started.

I'm happy to be back and glad you have not given up on me!

Playing with Flickr

2008-06-08T10:38:00.002-04:00

Too many things to play with, too little time to play. Just created a Flickr Badge of Christopher Paul Curtis' visit and am pretty excited. Now I want to figure out how to have a scrolling photostream of photos that is bigger...stay tuned!

Summer Reading

2008-06-01T10:54:00.003-04:00

I am struggling with blogger shame as I have been out of the habit of writing for a while. A month to be exact. My old "blogging time" habit has been lost. I had been blogging in the parking lot of the girls' dance studio during their lessons, but with the change in times for rehearsals and the final shows I am done with that activity for the summer. I need to create a new habit.

That is not to say that I haven't been thinking about blogging and my topics...As I am wrapping up all the end-of-the-year work/school activities I am dreaming of all the time I will have to write and explore. And read.

Reading will be one of my biggest summer goals. Switching from elementary to middle school I have discovered that I have some rather large gaps in my reading expertise. I've been getting suggestions from online lists and the awesome group of middle school media specialists with whom I work. We have committed to reading at least three new books a month and then share/swap titles.

With summer approaching I want more.

I am turning to my online community for suggestions. Please, if you have any suggestions for summer reading let me know. I'll compile all the suggestions and may even get the podcasting portion of my blog going with book talks about the various books.

This is kind of scary; I am setting myself up for crickets chirping as I know this blog isn't exactly popular. But hey, it is a start...I'll never know unless I try.

Thanks in advance to those of you who respond with ideas!

Christopher Paul Curtis

2008-04-30T18:22:00.000-04:00

Wow. That’s about all I can say is; wow. What a great day we had with Chris. He was an excellent speaker and what really made it nice was how well he related to the students. He also didn’t act “put off” by some of their more obnoxious antics…he laughed and took it all in stride. A sense of humor is a must when speaking to 1100+ middle school students…The feedback I have received from students and staff has been overwhelmingly positive. Everyone really enjoyed Chris and his presentation. Not only did Chris give three presentations, he also entertained students during a luncheon and a desserts session. Students asked plenty of great questions and I was so happy to watch the day unfold. I can’t imagine how tiring the week must have been for him, but he certainly didn’t act exhausted.

It was a wonderful experience.

Authors in April

2008-04-23T18:04:00.003-04:00

Authors in April is enjoying another successful year! I completely enjoyed myself at the banquet last evening and am so looking forward to our day with Christopher Paul Curtis this Friday. Judge Asadoorian was a hit as MC. I see a future for her in entertainment if she ever tires of the judicial system. It was so nice to hear the other authors as well. I will miss seeing three different presentations at the school this year.

If you have never heard of Authors in April, you really should take a minute to visit their site. This dedicated group really does an amazing job year after year.

When Chris visits our school on Friday I am hoping to have the chance to talk to him about his research for Elijah of Buxton. I am also very interested in hearing about his perspective of Buxton. I was fortunate to visit Buxton recently with a group of middle school students and it made a huge impression on me. I shared my experience with our eighth grade students and believe it made an impression on them as well. Of course, it is best to experience it for yourself.

Hey- I should post my pictures on Flickr! I'll have to get them off my computer at work...

Can't wait to report about my day!

Twitter

2008-04-02T20:32:00.005-04:00

Well, I’ve been flirting with Twitter for a month. I like it- it has not become obsessive (yet) so that is good. I am still seeking the practical, life-altering, educational-related benefit to this device. It is wildly thrilling to be following a number of superstar individuals who are involved with learning and technology and education. Like I know exactly the moment Will Richardson has posted a new post and that Steve Dembo had to purchase a new car because his was totaled in an accident. Really, who would know that kind of stuff without Twitter? Not only is it thrilling to know that stuff, but to even receive replies from these superstars can be completely ego inflating! For example, I was playing with the Twitter features trying to figure it all out and I accidentally nudged Steve Dembo. I mean, how embarrassing to NUDGE someone who has no idea who I am! I didn’t even know what a nudge meant until after I had already done it. I was worried he would think I was stalking him or something so I quick shot out a tweet to him and apologized and explained what I was doing. He responded back to me and was completely nice about it! I was worried I would get flagged or banned or something. (Just so you know and you don’t make the same mistake, it apparently alerts that person that you are waiting to hear something from them…Steve didn’t think it worked.)

Here are a few points I am pondering with this application and how it relates to my life.

Why are the majority of the tweets from men? And…
Who knew they talked so much during the day! ouch
How do I incorporate Twitter effectively at work?

Examining my points; to be fair, I mostly follow men. HOWEVER, the three women I do follow hardly ever tweet. If you have not been on Twitter, here is a brief personal synopsis of the differences between the sexes and their responses.

Men: They tweet about everything they are doing. Getting the oil changed in the car, new blog posts, basketball scores, rebooting their routers, pondering how to find a Twitter filter (which, to me, sounded like wanting to use an aggregate on Twitter which, I also believe, is not entirely the purpose of the application, but a cool idea nonetheless. I did not choose to share that particular observation on Twitter, however), and submitting interesting nibblets of information they stumble upon. All this tweeting fills the twittersphere with hordes of fragmented comments throughout the day. There is also a great deal of good-humored banter that ensues which is very entertaining.

Women: They stick their beaks out once in a while to just sort of check in and/or tweet some sort of announcement. I’ve observed a little banter, but it is usually in the form of a direct reply vs. a tweet to all.

What does it all mean? I have no idea- it just makes me think and conjure theories. It is interesting to me. Maybe I 'll share my observations with John Gray and get some answers. I’m planning to continue to explore Twitter. I see an huge benefit in how quickly people receive information and responses in Twitter posts compared to blog posts. Several others I am following have commented on this phenomenon as well. Contemplating my statement #3…I will have to continue thinking on that one. Currently I am never sitting at my desk long enough at work to delve into Twitter and see what is going on out there.

If you are interested in who I follow on my Twitter account my profile name is ktkallen.
And if you have any thoughts, suggestions or comments I would love to hear from you!

I can’t wait to tweet out on Twitter that I have just posted to my blog…

Connecting

2008-03-28T18:26:00.003-04:00

So many blog topics, so little time. There's that four letter word again...time.

Well, short post as I forgot my computer (gasp!) and actually had to write this longhand. Just to revisit my macul08 conference- I had the best time. Still struggling to get through all my notes and create some sort of brilliant, usable, organized method to keep the new ideas in the forefront of my mind and have other items available to share and demonstrate. That is all prep work and is the most difficult for me. The best part for me was coming back and sharing what I learned with people. I have started to regard that collaborative sharing of the knowledge as a ripple effect. And actually, I already see signs of the ripple effect at work. One person went home and played with all the different tools I presented for podcasting and came back the next day so geeked. You can't imagine how my heart was warmed when I went to the copier to retrieve a locked job that I had sent earlier and I saw there was another locked job waiting the in queue. Another sign of getting the knowledge out there and people practicing. Another sign of progress.

I love my job!

MACUL 08 Conference

2008-03-06T10:09:00.005-05:00

Well, here I am- I am pumped up for a great two days here at macul08. In the first 1/2 hour I have already learned a ton and have added several new features to my blog! I LOVE having my laptop and wireless access and have been cross-referencing sites the presenters reference. I've checked out Gcast, joined the MACUL space through my Ning account, and even checked in with work and answered some email before the presentation started!

I'm off to a wonderful day-

Heading to MACUL and learning Twitter

2008-03-01T07:19:00.002-05:00

I've been playing all last evening and early this morning on Twitter...I'd like to have the ability to Twitter straight from my blog. I have not been able to figure that out yet. I read about Traackr but have not explored that application. Just downloaded Twitbin so I could tweet that I am working on this post. I'll keep playing; right now I'm trying to decide if my tweets are narcissistic but if I get people to respond with proactive and thought-provoking ideas I am going to love the account.

I have to thank Mark Ahlness for getting me motivated to explore twitter...he is now following me so maybe he will read this and know that he has made a positive impact on an educator in Michigan's learning process. Pretty awesome to consider the power of making connections and being connected. To be fair, I should also thank my friend Sarah for introducing me to Mark's blog in the first place.

I am excited to be heading out early Thursday morning to the MACUL conference in Grand Rapids. I finally updated my phone because the old one died (I have a camera for the first time! So lame, I know, but who has time to shop for phones?!?!?! Especially when mine worked.) so I plan to be armed with my laptop and my phone and I'll be tweeting and snapping photos and updating from my blog and learning. It will be great. I have a Flickr account, but still need to figure out how to do a few things on that as well. That will be next!

Meeting

2008-02-20T18:00:00.005-05:00

The days just seem to fly by and my To Do list grows longer and longer. However, one thing that I have been spending time thinking about during my daily commute is a media meeting we had last week. I am continually struck by how nice it was to have the time to sit down with my peers last week and talk. Productive talk. Through our productive talk we laughed together and shared ideas and discussed hot topics. When I left our meeting I was so jazzed!

I think it is the only time in my short media career that a group of us sat together to talk in that fashion. Usually at our meetings we sit and gnaw over district policy and procedure or listen to presentations. We did a little of that too, but time was built into the meeting for our discussion. It was so refreshing! I want more time like that. I need more time like that. Because the days just fly by and my To Do list is growing longer. I need to connect with the other media specialists in my district. It makes so much sense for us to connect. Collaboratively we have the potential to truly rock! Isolated we chase our tails...or at least I do.

Work in Progress

2008-02-14T17:33:00.001-05:00

Well, I am writing. I see I average about once a year. Something I would like to work on improving...I guess part of it is; why would anyone be interested in anything I had to say anyway?

This will be short. I am trying something new and want to see how it looks on the page.

I did make that wiki for our district media specialists. I haven't unveiled it to the group so no one knows that it exists. I've joined Classroom 2.0. I haven't done much with that yet either. I do faithfully read blogs in my bloglines account.

I read something this week that puts my mind to ease about all these different ideas and my lack of mastering them all. It puts my head in a good place to remember this:

I am a work in progress and that is ok.

How awful would it be if I were completed?!?!?!

2007-03-25T13:24:00.001-04:00

More musings on the state of our program…Reflecting on a media meeting last week, I ascertained that we media specialists need an appropriate platform to communicate, share ideas, commiserate, pose questions, explore ideas, etc. Given the time demands on all our schedules, I have been thinking that the best way to achieve this would be in the creation of a Wiki. I would at the very least love to explore this tool. I like it because it enables us all to contribute to the communication and individuals can work on it or access it on their own time. With that in mind, I am going to explore creating a RCS Media Wiki. I’ll keep you posted!

MACUL thoughts

2007-03-21T19:06:00.000-04:00

I can’t sleep. I’ve been awake for over an hour (granted a crying child with a bad earache caused my slumber to end) mulling over all kinds of thoughts regarding education, the future of education, my role in education, my experience with education; as a teacher and as a current student. I attended the MACUL conference and had the opportunity to listen to experts in the field and educators working to connect 21st century technology tools to authentic learning. I loved Peter Reynolds (author and illustrator) message; “make your mark and see where it takes you”. That is both an exciting and scary proposition. I got jazzed up with the iPod presentation and decided I needed to upgrade my mini and collect some more peripheral devices to use with my students. (iTalk) I made sure to visit Will Richardson’s presentation. I share his concern over the current framework for educating our students. Our current educational system is not doing an adequate job of preparing our children for 21st century; and why? Well, I have some thoughts…at least for Michigan; no one in public education can afford to take the risk on changing how we teach and assess students because our funding is tied to student performance on standardized tests. Will has a plan to save every piece of paper generated by his children at school this year and to dump the stack on the superintendent’s desk in June with the statement; Here is a year’s worth of work my children have generated that they have absolutely no vested interest or attachment. I thought that was a brilliant plan! I applauded this move. I was the only one clapping in the room. Which led me to wonder…

Why am I the only one clapping?

Could it be too painful for us as educators to be introspective and ask why we require so much “busywork” under the guise of teaching? Or realize that our teaching practices and approaches are not truly “authentic”. Was everyone sitting there glassy-eyed thinking, yeah, but how am I going to achieve AYP and meet my GLCE’s for the year and get good MEAP scores? Heads roll in our business if the percentages are poor and there is an absence of hard physical evidence that our students are doing something during the school day, aka paperwork. Let’s face it, a worksheet is tangible and parents can understand it. As a parent, I am outraged at the lack of learning opportunities within my children’s schools and at the amount of time they spend on repetitive paper and pencil tasks. And the homework…I am waiting for something to show up that motivates my daughters to extend their learning in the classroom at home. So far, homework has been nothing but a painful regurgitation of the day. They have already been sitting pushing a pencil for 6.5 hours…now they come home and have to do it some more? But you know what, I feel like I am one of the only parents who feel this way. Everyone else is demanding that they bring home papers and have hours of homework because this proves that they are working and learning in school.

I think we are missing the boat by not educating the parents and getting them on board with best practices.

I had the unexpected opportunity to catch up with Will in between sessions and spoke with him briefly. (That was exciting…as I told my husband; Will is the Brad Pitt of technology and educational reform…stop my beating heart) We chatted about his paperwork plan. I know from reading his blog that he is passionate about the need to change our PEDAGOGY and getting students prepared for life and that he also understands that the changes don’t happen overnight. He understands that school districts are scared to open the filters to allow students to access to all the information that exists in cyberspace. But he is frustrated at the slowness and seemingly lack of enthusiasm for these changes. Let’s pause for a minute and consider his conference call with the senator; yikes! Great point or not, that scared the crap out of me; don’t get me started with the politics. Just follow the link and read for yourself. And I have to agree with his disappointment; sitting in that huge banquet room with all those educators listening and seeing how far he was able to “teach” his students when his role was a facilitator and understanding the need for authentic learning as well as having a method for assessment…and they were like brain dead. All I could think about was John Belushi in Animal House when he first tried to get the boys in the frat to follow him and gave a rousing speech and charged out of the room and no one followed. It was kind of like that. Will expressed feeling a little negative about the current situation and the need for a little break, I can appreciate that. What I wish I would have added to our conversation was to not give up hope. People are listening and reading. He has started off as one voice and by his own admission, thousands of people are listening. Others are starting to add their own voice in their own space because of him starting the conversation, so to speak. Others will start as well. I am not a blogger (yet…I’m waiting for my workplace to unlock the sites). I do have a voice. My personal challenge is to start using my voice to a wider audience. I have started some conversations in my district. I see others are doing in their district what I want to implement in mine. I attended a session with two third grade teachers dabbling with blogs and wikis with their students. They made an excellent point; social networking is a reality in our society. How awesome is it that these students have the opportunity to work on these types of written expression pieces and get their feet wet with the guidance of adults prior to them opening a My Space account? These teachers are modeling such great things for the students; they are learning along with them, they are teaching them to edit, to clarify their thoughts, the importance of an audience, etc. The usual questions were asked about danger and inappropriate comments and weirdoes contacting students. They reported no problems. I think if they did have a problem it would be a wonderful way to teach the students how to handle it so when they were faced with an issue in the future they would know what to do.

I do applaud you, Will, and the others like you who are out there, making their mark and seeing where it leads them.