Classrooms for Today

We’re deep into the 21^st century. Why are we still talking about classrooms for the future? Our students are learning in classrooms for today, and they need to learn skills that will prepare them for jobs that we don’t even know exist. Teachers and students in classrooms for today need instructional leaders to show the way.

What does it look like when students are fully engaged with content – using technology? It is a class demonstrating mastery of vocabulary by creating online books using StoryBird; another class, all voices heard in a written discussion around quotes from a video, using the discussion forum in their learning management system; students making screencasts of their Google Maps tour of countries around the world; and students visiting with a class in South Africa. These are the kinds of experiences that should be common-place in classrooms for today.

My Son's Saxophone Lesson

Last night, my son had a sax lesson with a world-renowned teacher - a 6 hour plane ride and a time zone away. Are we independently wealthy and able to fly him across the country for a 60 minute lesson? I wish! Nope, he did it via Skype.

Afterward, I told my husband, who is also a musician, that I didn't think the lesson would have been any different if they were face-to-face. He agreed. There is no time delay. The sound is crystal clear. They can see each other; the teacher can point out fingerings on his own instrument. He can also see the fingerings that my son is doing. When the teacher wants my son to try something, he models it for him. My son plays it for him and receives immediate feedback. At one point, my son plays something. The teacher catches a mistake, jumps in and plays it correctly on his sax. My son picks it up and continues where he left off. There is no pause is the flow. If you think about it, I could be describing a traditional sax lesson.

Typically, when my son goes to a local lesson, he brings a notebook or the sheet music he is working on. As the lesson proceeds, the teacher jots notes on the page about what to play and what to practice. In this case, his teacher simply typed in the chat window. When finished, my son copied and pasted it into a document for reference later.  

You might think that teacher and student can't possibly build a relationship this way. After all, isn't that human connection important in music? The fact is they've never met in person; however, they speak conversationally, crack a joke here or there, and feel the music together.

In a different generation, my son would have had a choice of instructors within, say, a 10 mile radius. Or, if we were willing to drive him a further distance, and if he could do his homework in the car, he could expand his search for a teacher into a wider geographic region. Now, his choices are only limited by the tools his teacher is willing to use.

Music lessons...in a way never before possible.

Administrators and Technology - What should professional learning look like?

An educator I know recently asked what the role of an instructional coach should be when it comes to providing professional learning to administrators. I’ve given quite a bit of thought about this through the years. The instructional coach is in a perfect place to provide professional learning opportunities to administrators. We know what can be accomplished instructionally when technology is used well and with a purpose. However, my experience has been that as much as administrators want to see technology being used in their buildings, they are not quite sure what it should look like. I’ll never forget the Principal, who when asked if he was happy with how technology was being used in his building, responded with a “Yes, when I walk down the halls, I can see the rooms glowing (from the interactive whiteboards).” Yikes! That was a formative moment for me. I realized that although many educators get it, that is not always the case for everyone.

Now comes the question of how best to get the use of instructional technology on the radar of administrators. Ideally, I think that all educators need to find ways to use these tools in their everyday lives. I can almost guarantee you that if I show a new father/mother/grandparent how to make a slideshow or movie of their (grand)children’s  pictures, blog about their hobby, create an interactive Christmas card, customize their reading so that they receive articles and alerts about their favorite teams or hobbies, I can get them to think about how those same tools can be used for reading, writing, speaking, and listening about content. Did you know that there are still, unfortunately, some districts that do not allow school devices to be used for anything personal? Ugh.

Another approach is getting administrators to model for the faculty. After all, unless there is a sense of urgency from administrators, we are going to continue to see only pockets of excellence in any district. Teachers are stressed with so many different initiatives; they are going to pick and choose their priorities. I believe that administrators need to use Google Docs, Padlet, Google Forms, OneNote Staff Notebooks and 1-take videos to model effective communication, collaboration, problem solving, self-regulation and knowledge construction between and among faculty. Then, once the faculty has used these tools, the faculty needs to have a facilitated conversation about how these tools can be used in the classroom to promote critical thinking. Then, make a plan how each subject area or grade is going to use it. The expectations needs to be explicit. Ideally, I would sit with administrators as they design their faculty meetings and communications, the things they do anyway, to recommend tools that could be used most effectively. Most of the communication that happens in faculty meetings could be done virtually. Why not do it? Then, use the time together to have that conversation about how that tool we used for a virtual faculty meeting could be used in the classroom.

The trick is getting in the door to make this happen. That four-letter word is thrown at me – Virginia, if I only had the TIME.

 

Another piece of this is the ability of instructional coaches to make the connections between initiatives and technology. I have heard, “Oh, we can’t do technology this year, our focus is formative assessment or differentiated instruction or literacy across the curriculum.” Huh? If we continue to think of these things as silos, then the connections will never be made. As coaches, we can work with administrators to see how the tools our students have at their fingertips support formative assessment, differentiated instruction, and literacy.

Having these conversations with administrators is not easy. They have so much on their plate. The amount of time they spend on observations overwhelms them. To make professional learning very practical, one of my projects has been to work with administrators on taking a look at the Danielson Framework to develop examples of effective uses of technology for each of the components. It’s a work on progress – one this post reminds me I need to return to.

My Work Here is Not Yet Complete

Since November of 2006, I have been involved in statewide programs. Much of my focus has been on the seamless and appropriate integration of technology into reading, writing, speaking, and listening about content. This week, I had the opportunity to have some serious discussions with instructional technology coaches who have been on that journey for nearly as long as I have. Upon reflection, I realized that, despite the fact that they have been working with their teachers for many years, our conversation still centered around whether we were using an LMS, which one we were using, and if GAFE or O365 was the right answer.

We lamented the fact that each of the schools has determined that there is not time in a student's school day for formal learning of technology. As a result, teachers are unwilling to try new technologies for fear that they'll have to spend a significant amount of instructional time teaching the tool. Our lament continued…, if no one teaches the skills, that excuse for not using the technology will continue to be valid.

All of us are still spending a considerable amount of time thinking about how teachers can post assignments and learning resources, create self-grading multiple-choice tests, and organize their thinking using digital tools. Don't get me wrong. These are all solid results of 1:1's, easy access to carts of tablets, computers, Chrome Books, and BYOD. However, it became clear to me that, 10 years later, we are still focused on logistics. And the folks I was talking with are the coaches who "get it." They understand that the role of technology is to be used to help students grow in their understanding of content, while creating, communicating, collaborating, and thinking critically. These are the coaches who spend time consulting with teachers on their instructional goals, gather data for them during lessons, and then provide opportunities for teachers to reflect on evidence from their lessons.

All of those around the table philosophically agreed that the combination of a master teacher and appropriate use of technology can engage students with content. Injecting job-embedded professional development, instructional coaching, into the mix provides ample opportunity for the continuation of PD beyond the drop-in session. Yet, 10 years later, none of us is where we want to be.

There is still so much work to be done.

Fanning the Flame: Reading and Writing in a Digital Age

Okay, I'm taking a deep breath as I type this, because I know this might start quite the conversation! But I think we’re ready for one.

As is often the case, I spent some time in a Penn Literacy Network class last  week, and we were talking about research related to literacy.

Research tells us that students should have 12 opportunities to write a day. That is not necessarily the standard 5 paragraph essay. It’s writing about content. It is writing as a tool for processing what you are learning. When students process what they are learning by collaborating, even better. Note-making is more powerful than note-taking. Research also says that we learn best when we form our own writing/letters (preferably in cursive). Typing, unless one is a fluent typist, has the least impact on learning, as the “writer” is not generating the actual letters. Why cursive? Writing in cursive fires a part of the brain related to creativity that no other type of note-taking or note-making does. That firing of the neurons promotes quick retrieval of content, even far into the future. Fluid writing, and yes, even fluid typing, builds a deeper connection with the content.  Writing ON the screen, with a good stylus, appears to have the same impact as it would if you were using cursive.

Students are doing research online and reading online textbooks. Research says that the most effective reading (close reading) requires our eyes to move in a Z pattern. This is how we read, while reading the printed page. We read in an F pattern, while reading something that scrolls and is back-lit. Research also tells us that annotating text helps students make meaning of what they are reading.

In his presentation, Joe Ginotti, PLN Director, cited:

Advances in Haptics, by Anne Mangen and Jean-Luc Velay,

National Centre for Reading Education and Research, 2013.

So, how are we addressing this and similar research in schools, particularly in 1:1 schools?

• How does/should the research impact hardware selection? 
• How does/should the research impact the teaching of keyboarding skills? 
• What are the tools our students are using that addresses this research the best?
• Some of our tests are now delivered online. How are students given the opportunity to apply literacy strategies? 
• With so many LMSs now available, we provide our students digital access to many of our handouts. How are they doing text rendering?
• What are the other questions we should be asking?

I know I have my own opinions, and some of you already know them. However, I’m hoping this blog gets a conversation started.