Lucy Calkins - Writing

Seven teachers from Chets Creek Elementary trekked to Orlando, FL on February 11, 2013 with Principal Susan Phillips to hear literacy expert, Lucy Calkins.  These are the combined, compiled notes of Part 3 of that conference, "Pathways to the Common Core".  These notes focus on Writing, especially persuasive writing.

About Writing and the Common Core...

• Common Core Standards #1-3 are it!
• Three types of writing are addressed in the Common Core: Opinions (persuasive letters, personal essays, editorial, petitions, persuasive speeches...), Informational/ explanatory ( how to, all about, pamphlets, brochures, reports, answers to Reading, Science, Social Studies, Math questions), and narrative (personal, small moments, realistic fiction, fantasy, narrative biography, narrative non-fiction...)
• Teachers should aim for the standards in the grade above because the K-1-2-3 standards have low expectations. 
• Fourth grade standards, however, are ambitious and we are not sure fourth graders can do what is expected of them.  Fourth grade teachers certainly cannot accomplish all that is expected if they are not able to stand on the shoulders of the grades before them. 
• Students should enter middle school with the 6th grade standards mastered if you want the students to leave 8th grade with the standards mastered.
   

About Writing...

• Writing needs to be taught EVERY day in every grade.
• Kids get better at writing by writing.
• Kids need to be writing about what's on their minds.  Let them choose their topics.
• There will be no "dittosh_ts" which means no graphic organizers in Writers' Workshop.  Students should be writing, not filling in sheets.
• A first graders should be able to complete a three page book with three sentences on each page in each workshop.  By third grade a student should be able to write a notebook page and a half in a single workshop.
• If you want to immeiately lift the level of writing in a story in first grade, start with the weather! - "One bright sunny day..."  "The sun streaked through the window..."  "One dark gloomy day..."  This is the advice given to Lucy by her mentor, Ralph Fletcher.  Who knew?  Then add dialogue.
• John Hattie's research on achievement says that what accelerates achievement is 1) teacher/ student relationships, 2) using performance assessments, sharing and discussing them collegiality, and 3) providing powerful feedback (which includes informative compliments and next steps).

About Performance Assessments...

• Start the year by asking students to write their best on-demand narrative small moment.  Next day write their best informational - something they know a lot about.  And then on the third day an opinion piece.  These are your baseline.  Teach the unit of study including working through the writing process to a completed, polished portfolio piece.  At the end of the unit, give the prompt again. This will tell you what the student can really do. This is the teacher's assessment of what was taught.  This is what teachers should be discussing with colleagues.
• Instructions for these prompts and benchmak pieces to compare against are available at the Reading the Writing Project web site. 
• Self-assessment for the genres of writing that are written in kid friendly language are also available at the Reading and Writing web site.

Persuasive Writing In Kindergarten - Using Words to Make a Change

• This is a six week unit - writing to make a difference.
• In your school - Students look for problems in the class and around the school and find solutions.  Children make signs ("Knock on the bathroom door before you go in." Hang up your coat.")
• Writing letters to make a change - Write letters addressing a problem with solutions to spark change. State the problem boldly.  Build up the problem so that it is a BAD problem.  Infuse details throughout. You can embed a story or anecdote into a persuasive piece or teach politeness in the closing (Thank you kindly for listening...").  You can persuade with information.
• Take on a persuasive project that requires research to make the world a better place. Sound like an expert.

Persuasive Writing in First Grade - Writing Reviews

• Best in Show - Ask each child to bring in a shoebox collection of something they care about (e.g., hair bows/ barrettes, wrestlers, Star War characters...). When you care about something, you have a best. Now how do you decide which is the best item in your collection - the winner? Which is the second place? third place? and why did you make that choice? Which thing in your collection takes the booby prize? Can you defend your choices?
• Writing reviews - First graders can write reviews of restaurants or video games or toys or movies or television shows... They learn to hook the reader, to defend their choices and to make comparisons. They learn to use checklists. They study published reviews.
• Writing persuasive book reviews - Learn to share a summary of a book but don't spill the beans by telling the entire story. Don't make it too long or too short.

Persuasive Writing in Third Grade -Persuasive Speeches, Petitions, and Editorials

• Third grade is when you want students to write expansively with great detail.
• Once children can write a personal essay, it is easier for them to write an opinion essay.
• Start with transference.  Remind students of all they have already learned.
• Be speech writers, opinion writers.  Start with a quick persuasive speech or a "flash draft," like how to get more magazines in the library.  Then the next day go back and really write.
• Then go to petition writing.  Send the petition to someone that can make a decision.
• Hook the audience.  (from Lucy's example - "Barbie-licious")
• Chart what the children say. 
• Give brave, bold opinions. 
• Then give reasons with evidence.  Use quotes as evidence.  Use examples as evidence.  Add a micro story.
• Use your hand as a graphic organizer.  Your palm is the topic and the fingers are the reasons.
• Consider the audience and make sure the audience can always read your piece.
• For an effective transition from the mini-lesson to independent writing, have the students bring their writing to the floor for the mini-lesson.  Have them begin their writing on the floor after the mini-lesson and dismiss them to their seats as you see that they have gotten started.

Persuasive Writing in Fourth Grade - Personal and Persuasive Essays

• Start with a structure boot camp.  Teach the 5 paragraph thesis-driven essay.
• Give the whole class the same topic, such as "I love ice cream" (a topic that cannot be rebutted).  Give three reasons and use micro stories, examples and quotes as evidence.  Give reasons playing up and stretching out the part that makes your point. Use elaboration to grow ideas. Use a closing statement to tie back to the thesis.
• Add in a 2-day language and conventions/ punctuation boot camp, if needed.

One teacher's reflection...
I have had the opportunity to learn from Lucy Calkins through her books, her web site, and through two summer institutes in NYC.  She has changed my professional practice.  Through her passionate instruction and through videos of children doing things I had never even imagined, I was able to see possibilities for my youngest learners that were beyond any of my own expectations.  So, it is no surprise, that on this threshold of new standards, she is the one lighting the way for us all.  I feel privileged to have shared time with her.  She is a model of a dedicated, passionate, lifelong learner.

At the same time I am blessed to be at a school, and to have been at that school for fifteen years, that lives the type of model of continuous improvement that Lucy speaks about.  I am proud that I serve with school level leadership that recognizes the need to reach beyond the expectation by finding a way to provide for this type of professional development that will make a diference tomorrow.

And then,  to be walking this path with educators who are willing to risk it all for children makes me humble and proud at the same time.  These are the friends that pick me up when I fall, that listen to my whines and complaints and care about me all the same.  They are the ones that read with me, that will discuss almost any issue with me, and who challenge and push my thinking on a daily basis.

This was one of the many conferences where we listened and talked all the way home about ways to infuse what we had learned into our daily walk,

but still managed to have lots of fun!

It doesn't get any better than this!

Lucy Calkins - Reading

The Chets Creek team with Lucy Calkins on February 11, 2013 in Orlando, FL.  Lucy has taken a semester off from teaching at Columbia University to travel the country and talk about

the Common Core.

The Reading Standards

• There are 10 reading anchor standards that all the others are based on.
• #1-3: Key Ideas and Details - What does the text say or suggest.
• #4-6: Craft and Structure - This includes choices the author has made, authorial decisions.  Nothing is in that text by accident.  Every word, every image is selected for a specific purpose.  This is reading as a writer.
• #7-9: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas - We need to move toward more and more complex text and looking across the text.  We need to stay "inside the corners of the text."  This is not text-to-self reading.  If the conversation goes into thinking about how this reminds me of... or personal reflection, pull it right back into the text evidence. We just went too far with personal reflection and the Common Core  pulls us back to center.
• #10 simply says the child is reading and comprehending on grade level.

About reading...

• Throughout the WHOLE day, half of what the kids read should be non-fiction, but we cannot turn our back on fiction.  Certainly we need to add quality non-fiction to our classroom libraries and we also need to get quality non-fiction in the hands of content teachers instead of textbooks, but there will always be a place for complex fiction.
• Students should be reading an hour and a half, eyes on print, every day to maintain their reading level.
• Students should take home at least two books -even six books! - and read from 30-60 minutes beyond the school day. Tell the children that you can't imagine a child that could stop with just reading a single book! Reading has to become a life habit.  If a child is reading the Magic Treehouse series, Level M, and is reading 100 words per minute, he should read a book in the series in 60 minutes.  If he is reading 200 words per minute, he should finish a book every 30 minutes!  We need to seriously ramp up our reading.  How much a child reads is the single most important predictor of school success. The volume of reading that students are doing will raise their ability to read more complex texts.
• In first grade students should have about 12 books at their level.  They should be able to read for about 50 minutes straight in Readers' Workshop.  First they read independently, then they read all books with a partner and then back to independent reading again.
• Even though Poetry is not dominant in the Common Core (in fact, it is barely mentioned), we need more, not less.  Using poetry is just good instruction.  Where do you think the short, complex passages are going to come from that need critical analysis when writers get ready to write test questions?
• It doesn't really matter if you are talking about independent or instructional levels of reading.  Nobody can agree on the percentages anyway.  When a child moves up into a new level they are a little instructional until they become independent, so Teachers College does not put instructional and independent on its levels.

About comprehension... 

• You need to know that comprehension is complex and that there is no researched magic list of strategies that will guarantee that you get all your students to the standards.  The world has told us that reading is so important that we have become afraid to teach it.  However, there is no one on high that has told us which skills to include in comprehension. 
• Get used to using full sentences in discussions.  There will be no more one word answers.
• There is no more "main" idea but several central ideas instead. As you work through the text you see what sticks to those central ideas and then revise the central ideas as you go.
• John Gardner says there are only two themes.  All stories are either "Man's journey home" or "A stranger comes to town." Who knew?
• Comprehension is complicated and depending on who you read, different elements are important.  There is no list of comprehension strategies.  Experts can't even agree on what to call each strategy and different people probably depend on different strategies to make sense of text.

About accountable talk...

• Read Aloud is the opportunity to teach and practice accountable talk - Who can get us started talking about...?  All eye on ___. Turn and Talk about your ideas. Who can add to this? Who can build on that?  Let's keep going with ___'s idea. Can you say more about that?  Do you agree or disagree?  Partially agree or disagree.  Turn and talk about your evidence.
• Chart sentence and question frames to help students form their comments and direct their discussion.
• Stress the importance of listening to each other.  If students just keep saying their own ideas without any connections to other ideas that are being expressed, start over, because they are missing the point. Ask the students if they are building on that idea or going to another.  If they are going to another, stop them, and have them instead add on to the previous idea until you have clearly exhausted that topic and are ready for a new one.
• Setting the expectation in accountable talk models what we want to see in book discussions.
• Stress the importance of paying attention to certain clues and elements in the story that aid in building meaning and lead to deeper comprehension. Objects matter.  Weather matters.  Names matter.  Every detail an author adds is for a specific reason.

Improving predictions...

• Prediction is not mentioned in the Common Core although we all know it is an important strategy.
• Use the whole text. It's not just about what happened on the last page, but what happened so far.  Use what you know about characters.
• Focus on HOW something is going to happen and not just WHAT is going to happen.

Evidence of powerful teaching...

• Rituals and routines are firmly established.

Lucy Calkins - Common Core

On February 11, 2013 eight educators from Chets Creek Elementary School, under the direction of Principal Susan Phillips, traveled to Orlando, Fl for to hear renowned Literacy expert, Lucy Calkins.  These are the compiled notes of those educators.

What are the issues with the Common Core?

• The problem in American education is poverty.  23% of our children are growing up in poverty which is up from 10% just a few years ago.  We have the largest number of children growing up in poverty of any of the developed countries.  There is the income gap. Standards cannot make up for all that poverty takes away from these children.
• The estimated cost of implementing the Common Core is $15.7 billion for the beginning phase.  The problem is that half that money is going to developing new assessments and the rest to the new technology needed to give the tests!  Where will the money come from to provide rich libraries and non-fiction books for each classroom? We are being asked to do more with less!
• The Common Core is not really researched-based.  It is really just a hypothesis.  We really don't  know what the pathway is to achieving the Common Core Standards.
• The design itself may be flawed.  Working backwards from college readiness may not really provide the best standards for K-1 students.  Also the contrived way that the fiction and non-fiction standards have to mirror each other makes for a few bizarre standards.
• We have given a small group of businessmen the license to micro manage what is going on in our classrooms.

"Teachers, principals, and schools have a CHOICE: to read the Common Core with criticism, finding all its faults and abandon it altogether, or embrace it as a new path and a new way of looking at what our kids know and how to take their learning to a newer, deeper level."  We are at a crossroads.  We can CHOOSE to see opportunity, possibilities, hope and promise.



We have learned a lot about what NOT to do.

• Adopting a new core reading program will not solve the problem.  We spent $87 million on new reading core during NCLB, and reading flat lined.  Adopting a basal and trying to teacher-proof learning just shows a lack of confidence in the profession and WON'T work!.
• Turning down the lights and turning on the music and just letting children write will also not produce results. There has to be quality instruction.
• Adopting too many innovations with a little bit of this and a little bit of that will not work.  One of our biggest problems is fragmentation, overload. If you have more than 4 or 5 innovations, you will not see gains.  Innovations need to be implemented with 90% fidelity to make a difference.

Why is the Common Core gold?

• It's a wake up call.  Our kids are going to have to be smarter than we were because knowledge is growing so fast.  85% of the jobs now require high levels of literacy.
• The Common Core sets the expectation so we know when good is good enough.
• It's certainly better than NCLB when we reduced reading to five little areas, over emphasizing the part that phonemic awareness plays and barely mentioning comprehension.
• The implementation of the Common Core calls for a model of continuous improvement.  It calls for collegiality.  It is about helping our schools improve and grow stronger.    Kids need a great school, not just one great teacher.  This has to be K-5 working together on a school-wide approach.  Gone are the days of closing your door and doing what you want. We are now in a time when teachers will have to work together in learning communities in order to lift the level of their practice. Most teachers learn their first three years and then hit a plateau.  We have to break that plateau.
• There is an emphasis on writing.  Not only are there writing standards, but part of the reading standards are about writing.
• There is an emphasis on text complexity and moving kids up through levels of more and more difficult text.

The decisions about how to reach the Common Core Standards (the way to go about teaching and achieving these standards) is left in the hands of teachers and principals.  The BEST strategy is still a teacher who can make a difference.

The standards are a covenant between you and the student -  It is a covenant of what you will teach and what your students should be able to do.   Not all students have in their genes to be a good reader.  It is the teacher and her expectations of them as readers that pushes the level of achievement.

About change...
Schools need to be communities of practice.  If you want to change the group, you need to use the group to make the change happen.

About leaders...
A leader is someone who is passionately driven by a cause bigger than themselves.

Lucy Caulkins at the TEACH Conference

On September 15th, a group of us from varying grade levels attended the 2012 TEACH professional development conference presented by WJCT and Community First Credit Union.

This one day conference held on a Saturday had an unexpected turn out of over 1,000 educators. Perhaps it was because the keynote speaker was Lucy Caulkins followed by Brad Cohen in the afternoon. Both keynote speakers were engaging, motivating and honest about the issues facing public education today.

The breakout sessions that followed were broad in nature but seemed to fulfill the curiosity of the participants based on the conversations heard throughout the day. The sessions covered topics such as bullying, teachers as leaders, childhood obesity, planning for your financial and personal well being and parent engagement.

With Common Core State Standards implementation underway, the session that was of most interest to me was Learning with the iPad in Common Core by Kate Kemker, a southeast education development executive for Apple, Inc.

My hope was that I would end up with a list of some cool apps I could use with my students. Dr. Kemker did share several of those but the message that I left with from this session was that using a tool such as an iPad serves as a whole new way to learn for our students, that includes e-text, project-based learning, electronic collaboration and the opportunity for ongoing research at the touch of a screen. 

Overall, the day was productive and informative. I enjoyed spending the day, yes, even on a beautiful Saturday, with other educators, learning and sharing and am looking forward to next year's conference.

Denver, CO in images

For those of you that have asked what we saw and did in Denver, we were able to take an afternoon for a Rocky Mountain tour and to see some sights in the city of Denver.  If you would like to see yourself, check out this slideshow for images of the conference, city and mountains.  Enjoy!

What's an EdCamp or an Unconference?

One of the most powerful things about attending a conference like ISTE 2010, is the conversations you have between the sessions and the people you meet.  That's why I'm so intrigued by the idea of an edcamp or unconference.  This voicethread explains the concept well:

And Lisa Thumann not only explains it here, she is helping plan one coming up soon. 

I have never attended an unconference, but have learned much online from others attending or sharing at them.  I have been intrigued by the idea of how they get started and wonder why I have never seen one with the topic of ed tech where I live or anywhere down south!

So, in the avenue of being "the change you want to see" I'm thinking of planning one.  Anyone with me?  Would you be willing to lead discussions and come learn?  What do you think?

Model Classroom: Focus on Quality Before Multimedia Projects Begin

Rushton Hurley and Jim Sill shared their strategies for doing multimedia projects with students.  When assigning the topic for the project, they choose "framing" questions for the project.  These are what questions you want them to ask themselves while working.  They let the students watch videos filmed by others to see what they may have noticed as a strength or weakness in filming.  Here is a great resource for them to use with many videos to see:  Lightbulbs collection.  The students were then able to generate lists with the teacher regarding "strengths" and "weaknesses" they noted in the films they watched, such as: distracting background, low sound, boring questions were asked, humor made it more interesting, etc.  Based on these lists they could then generate the checklist of preparation steps they needed for their project.  As teachers, they certainly could have just done a mini lesson on good filmmaking and "dos" and "don'ts" but because the students discovered these things on their own they understood them better.  An example of one of Jim's student projects was when they had to learn about sonnets.  The students were not really excited about this.  But Jim assigned them sonnets in small groups and after studying (see detailed description of project here).  He allowed them to represent the sonnet in a short video with audio voice over.  They could represent the words figuratively as they interpreted it.  This is an example of the results:




 


Would you rather your students show comprehension this way? Or by answering questions on a written test? I think the proof is in the product!  Give multimedia a try!

Podcasting, Mobile Media and Mobile Learning

Mobile Media is a fluid environment through which information is conveyed and learning is accomplished.  Mobile Media can include many devices such as cellphones, e-readers, laptops, netbooks and ipods.  Most students have one of these devices, if not more than one.

How do we learn today?  Here is a good example of how many of us learn:



If we're asking students questions that they can answer by searching Google, are we asking the right questions?

What is a podcast?  It is mostly an audio blog and can also handle video and pdf files.  Podcast ready media is a file that can be made into a podcast but an RSS is a podcast you can subscribe to.
The first thing you need is a host/server, then you publish your RSS feed, then the subscriber listens to it from the server.

Here are some excellent podcasts to follow:

Always On - Katie Morrow and Michelle Bourgeouis
Professional Practice of 1-to-1 schools
http://web.mexom/alwayson

Tech Chick Tips - Anna Adam and Helen Mowers
Professional Practice






When working with ipods create playlists according to theme, interest, current events, location, subject areas, create smart playlists by using student names to organize student work.  When using apps, organize by pages and folders.

ItunesU has tons of free content provided by Universities as well as K-12 organizations.

WGBH
Edutopia
Lawrence Hall of Science
Many states have started putting their students content online. 
teachers.tv professional development resource
State of Maine

Here are some resources to find out more about podcasting or using ipods in the classroom:
Appolicious is a social network for apps for iphone and other smart phones
IEAR.org is a network for apps
iPads for Education
podcastingforbeginners.wikispaces.com

Empathy: The 21st Century Skill

Educator Alan November has been asking the question, "What skill do our students need to succeed in the global workplace?" From CEOs to Anthropologists, surprisingly the answer is the same.  Empathy.  Americans in general aren't so good at it.  Being empathetic is a sign of emotional intelligence which leads to understanding, motivation and managing one's own emotions and having an appreciation for the emotions of others.  Our schools need to develop a sense of urgency in teaching our American students how to be empathetic.  They must be able to hold two different points of view at one time.  They must be able to communicate with and be accepting of others around the globe.  As educators we can help students practice empathy when we help them develop a network of people that they can tap into as a resource once they graduate and enter the "real world". 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Taking Good Digital Pictures and Editing Them Effectively

Leslie Fisher's #1 tip for digital photography:  Read the manual!

Top issues we run into
* Not close enough:  Fill the frame with the subject.  Take a photo, get closer, take another, get close, repeat.  Look around the edges of your photo before you click.

* Macro mode:  Allows you to get close to your image (1-3 feet).  Best to use a tripod to keep camera steady.  Or prop your camera on something steady. 

* Not in focus:  When you look at the screen it appears to be in focus but it's not.  Your camera has a maginifying glass you can click to make sure it's in focus.  Look for your focus point and make sure it's on the subject.  Press the shutter button halfway down to set the focus.

* Camera shake: Usually it's lighting.  If it's too low the camera needs espose te picture longer to take the image.  Your shaking hands get in the way of the camera and it makes the image look very blurry  What can you do?  Put your camera on a tripod or other stable object and set a timer.  Have you seen the night mode camera setting before?  Night mode will tell the camera the lighting is low.  It will make the photo darker, but not blurry.  That is better.

* Boring photos:  Tell the story better.  Wander around the scene for a different angle/view.

* Boring Composition: The Law of Thirds.  A nifty little technique to make sure your basic images are frames in a pleasing manner.  When looking through your viewfinder, Imagine 3 vertical and horizontal lines intersecting.  Position your subject in one of those intersections.  This will establish a good flow for the picture.
Look for "lines" in your photo that will help draw attention to the subject.  Have fun with open spaces.  Maybe place the subject only in the corner of the picture to show an amazing view.  Shoot high/shoot low, move your body.   Don't shoot posed shots, make them laugh, make them jump. 

* Missing the Action shot:  What kind of SD memory card do you have?  Some of the cards are really slow and can affect the speed with which you capture the shot.  Lexar Professional card or Sandisk extreme 3 or 4 are great cards to have. You can also put the camera in sports mode, running man icon on camera.  This will take the photo as fast as possible.  The drawback is the faster the shot, the less light brought into the camera.  Be prepared for underexposed images (you can fix those in Photoshop)

* Ignoring the background:  Make sure you're aware of what's in the background.  It can ruin what's in the foreground. 

* Too Much Flash:  When the flash fires we have no sense of the environment around you.  Try to work the scene, get a tripod, night mode. Use your flash during the day, because the sun will cause you to have shadows on the subject's face.

* Why Not Vertical?:  Don't forget to turn the camera vertically to capture the scene better.

* Digital Zoom:  Just say no!  Instead of zooming digitally, set your camera to the largest image size possible.  You should always have to set to the largest size posssible. 

* More DPI, Better Quality?:  Yes and no,  If you were a billboard printer, then I would worry more about the high level DPI picture.  Most of today's inkjets and laser jets do not have a high DPI picture to give you a great print.  Most pros recommend printing your images at 160 dpi  The less dots per inch the larger your picture can be printed!  You need to know what the image is being taken at, look in your settings. 

* Settings in the Camera: Allows you to set the picture in portrait mode so you can focus on the subject and put a soft focus in the background. 

* Editing Photos in Photoshop (or whatever editing software you have):  NEVER edit the original, save a copy and edit that.  Color correction: white balance.  You can change it in your camera settings or the color editing area of your software.

Innovative Leadership in a Participartory Web 2.0 World

Cheryl Lemke from The Metiri Group makes a great case for the way a school leader must embrace the warp speed changes occurring in the world's our students live in.  School is no longer the only place for learning.  In fact only about 18.5% of learning occurs in a formal environment for K-12 students.  The Internet provides a 24/7 resource and even though school is no longer front and center in a student's learning we do need to embrace our place and tap into our student's interests.  The following are 7 ways a the school's leader must adapt to lead the changes required to meet the needs of our ever changing learners.

1) Own the Innovation - Lead the change you want to see in the classrooms, don't delegate it for someone else to implement
2) Drive Change Through Creativity and Knowledge - Be creative, informed, tolerant, critical, questioning and experiment with technology
3) Shift From Rules to Shared Principles - Actively facilitate the development and adoption of the guiding principles instead of constructing rules for implementation of initiatives
4) Establish a Professional Learning System - Provide a menu of differentiated PD options for teachers including mentoring, coaching, face to face, virtual, collaborative and just in time (Research shows that 49 hours of PD a year can increase student scores by 21 percentiles)
5) Shape Culture - Create an environment of openness, collegiality, honesty and adapt the focus on standards guided by principles (Look for the positive deviance in your staff and reward it)
6) Ensure Digital Access and Infrastructure - Make sure your teachers have the appropriate hardware and access to the tools they will need to implement technology initiatives
7) Accountability - Hold yourself and your teachers accountable for implementing strategies and for gaining the student results desired.

The biggest advice given was to use good judgement when it comes to next steps, providing opportunities and access for teachers and devote the time to your own learning as you take your school into the next era of learning for students.  Embrace the change without fear!

Yolink and Sweet Search ... a safer, smarter way to search the web

For the last several days, I have heard a lot of buzz about Yolink.  Today I finally got someone to show me what exactly Yolink does, so let me now share that with you!  Yolink is an application that you can download on your computer for free.  It allows you to scan webpages that you are searching for specific information, using key words, without going to the pages.  It organizes the information for you where you then have a choice to import it to google docs, create an instant bibliographic reference or share through email.

It is really best explained through demonstration.  Check out this quick screencast:
How to use Yolink

As well as partnering with Google Docs, Evernote and many other useful applications, yolink has partnered with Sweet Search for safe student searching.  Many times, Google searches yield unintended results that students can innocently run across.  Sweet Search is a safe search engine for students to use when researching at home or at school.  It works with yolink just as well.

With Yolink, you can teach your students to search smarter and help them develop their critical thinking skills.  Check out their classroom resources on their link page. 

Developing, Designing and Delivering: The Case for Powerful and Productive Presentations

Ken Shelton and Robert Craven made the case today for why we must change the way we present if we really want our audience to be engaged and understand the message we are trying to convey.  Very simply, the most effective way to communicate is VISUALLY!   The brain can process visual images at the speed of a jet plane, text at the speed of a prop plane and sound at the speed of someone walking.  When choosing photos for a presentation there are several important things to remember.  Pictures in color are most easily interpreted by the eye and should be high quality.  Images should be chosen to carefully relate to the topic and can be used to evoke emotional responses.

Leonardo da Vinci said "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." The same is absolutely true for the PowerPoints or Keynotes we design to share with others.  There is actually research that confirms that it is more difficult for someone to comprehend information while reading a slide filled with text as the presenter reads the information outloud.  Slides should not be filled with overwhelming graphics or multiple lines of text but rather with meaningful, purposeful images to develop a central message around and limited to no text.  Video and audio can also be used if they provide a thought provoking purpose.

Finding just the right images takes time and it is highly encouraged that you spend some time building your own library of photos. It is also suggested that you encourage your students to take photos for a classroom library for their use in creating powerful presentations.  If you need more digital cameras for the classroom you can ask parents to donate old ones after Christmas each year since many get new ones. Free use photos can also be found on websites like Stock.Xchng, openphoto, flickr, morgueFile, Wikimedia Commons, PD Photo, or PUBLIC-DOMAIN-PHOTOS. 

As you approach your next PowerPoint or Keynote remember there really are no rules, spend the majority of your time finding the right images that you can talk from and put yourself in the place of the audience - if you're engaged then they will be too!

Changing the Climate: How Teaching Social Networks Might Save the World

Social connectedness through twitter and facebook is changing the landscape of how we get information about political and environmental news and happenings.  There is debate about whether we should be using these tools as well as wikipedia in schools.  Will would argue that we should.  Because we have the ability to connect around our passions it can make what is going on in the classroom seem irrelevant to students.  We need to solve this problem. 

Will showed the Clustermap for his blog and said this is what he wants for his children, global interactions.  Not necessarily the quantity, but the quality of the interactions.  We have to show kids somewhere in our curriculum the power of global interactions.  MacArthur report shows how students are using these social network tools.  The vast majority uses these tools to stay in touch socially.  A smaller number use these tools to connect with others who share their interests.  Some of these people they connect with are adults and we have been afraid of that as educators.  We need to get over that.  We need to do this safely with them, because there is so much they can learn from it.  Are we modeling this skill for our students/ children?

One of our goals in life should be to build something bigger than ourselves.  Do we teach kids that?  We need to begin to figure it out.  Social tools can support this in so many ways.  It's not that you have to use social tools, it's that you CAN and it's a quick way to get something started and have momentum.  Here's how a high school teacher leveraged the tool of YouTube to share his thoughts about global disaster. 

This video went viral and there has been so much conversation around his topic, he is now writing a book.  All from leveraging social networking tools.

How are we preparing kids, at our schools, to be problem solvers for the world?  You have to let them solve problems in the classroom and be comfortable with inquiry.  Too much at school is about "the same thing on the same day in the same way."

We can't just cross our fingers and hope students will use social tools in a safe, productive way.  They have to be taught.  Showing them examples of this that other students have done, is a good start:  25 days to make a difference, working together to make a difference, Ryan's Well.  Teaching kids to use social networking skills is not a "unit" or a part of the curriculum, it should be a part of all we do.

The National Council of Teachers of English say that these are the ways to be literate in the 21st century.  Are you literate? Are the students you are sending out in the world literate?  Let this be your call to action!

Watch Will's session here on ISTE vision.

ISTE/TIE Leadership Bootcamp

When we found out we would be able to attend ISTE this year, we were intrigued by the opportunity to attend Leadership Bootcamp.  We went into the camp hoping to meet fellow attendees that would be like-minded with similar goals as well as learning from amazing leaders in education.

The day was strategically planned with session strands for teaching and learning, IT professionals and administrators.  Susan attended the administrator sessions and I went back and forth between the teaching and IT sessions.

Lucy Gray talked about the importance of PLNs.  If you're still unsure what a Personal Learning Network (PLN) is, listen to Will Richardson explain here:


Lucy's review of PLNs validated my own opinions on the subject.  She emphasized the importance of being professionally generous with others.  She encouraged teachers to step forward and lead where they can and not wait to be "annointed" to lead.

Mark Benno talked about Communication and Collaboration with ITs.  Mark kept returning to the idea of relationships.  Effective communication and collaboration in almost all areas can be attributed to the relationships built between the people involved.  Mark highly recommended the book:  Relational Intelligence for those that want to learn more about this.  He reminded us that you can do amazing things with incredible tools, but if people aren't using the tools and learning from you it doesn't matter.

Doug Johnson was another great break out speaker.  I had never heard him speak before and I have been such a fan of his quick wit and thoughts on his blog for quite a while.  He kept us laughing and nodding as he compared the goals of teachers/librarians and IT personnel.

Howard Ditler and Elizabeth Hubbell presented data they have collected through McRel's research through classroom walkthrough observations.  Using an ipod touch to collect data on affective domain, bloom's taxonomy levels observed and technology tools and strategies in practice they did power walkthroughs thoughout schools providing powerful feedback that initiates change in schools.

The most inspiring part of the day for me, was the lunch keynote from Chris Lehmann.  Chris is the principal of the Science Leadership Academy, in Philadelphia, PA.  Chris spoke about the Schools we need.  And he is so right.  And I cannot even begin to do justice to what he said.  Because he touched my heart with his words, his passion and his ideas.  His recent TED talk is not the same thing, but he touches on many of the same topics so I would ask you to take the time to watch Chris...and be inspired. 

Lessons From Leadership Bootcamp

Creating and Maximizing Learning Networks – Scott Elias
Social Networks are everywhere and about people, not the technology we use. When they are used to further our learning they move beyond just a social network and into a Community of Practice. In a Community of Practice the participants are interested in a topic and sharing knowledge through a variety of methods. This type of Social Learning allows for relevant connection and collaboration. “Educational Twitterships” provide this type of community, one example being #edchat that occurs each Tuesday on Twitter. You gain social capital by giving back in the exchange of information, with leads to an expanded network or community.

Communication and Collaboration Tools – Scott McLeod
When addressing online safety the most important question to ask: Is the tool the problem or is it the supervision? When students are educated about how to appropriately interact on the internet the opportunities for them are limitless. Districts must begin to trust teachers to make appropriate choices with the web in their classrooms. The “prohibition approach” to dealing with the internet does nothing to show teachers trust or educate students. Most will behave appropriately and those that don’t should be dealt with as opposed to participating in “format bigotry” and blocking You Tube, blogs, Wikipedia, etc…

Communication and Collaboration Pieces – Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
For educational leaders to leverage the connections available today we must begin to “unlearn” what we believe about our classrooms. Learning doesn’t just occur at school anymore, it occurs anywhere and anytime. Teaching is no longer private but a public, collaborative event. Learning isn’t passive but is participatory and often done as a community. Communities are groups of people joined by a common need or belief. Networks occur when these connected people publish and share ideas around their commonality. The PLCs that result are the way of the future for personal and professional development.

Denver, CO - ISTE, Here We Come!

We arrived in the Mile High City tonight excited and ready to attend ISTE 10 and our first Leadership Bootcamp!  What a surprise to find Florida weather like ours that turns into jacket weather as the sun goes down.  Who knew?  We hope you'll follow us and learn along to with us too.

Opening Keynote - America's Choice National Conference

As usual, AC's President and CEO Judy Codding, kicked off the conference by addressing attendees and introducing our guest speaker. I never tire of hearing her speak as she reminds us all of the philosophical principles on which the the America' Choice School Design reform efforts were built. ALL children deserve a world class education that guarantees them opportunities to continue into post secondary education ready for success. Their future depends on our answer to the moral calling demanding that the hard work it takes to ensure students meet success is done. She also shared results of a 13 year independent study of three school reform initiatives conducted by CPRE that showed AC students outperforming students in all other schools studied. I'm not surprised - the design implemented with fidelity changes lives. I've seen it firsthand.

Our guest speaker for the afternoon, Vicki Phillips is the Director of Education College Ready in the United States Program for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation shared the foundation's vision that all lives have equal value and that having a healthy and productive life shouldn't be a privilege. She described a two year study that is beginning in which thousands of classrooms will be studied in an effort to determine what the best qualities of teaching are in effecting success for students. She stressed the need for common world class standards, next generation assessments, course and teacher tool redesign, and innovative models of professional development. Intensive partnerships in education need to work to recruit, develop, assign, retain and compensate teachers and design career paths for them that point towards performance. There is a, "gap currently between where high school ends and dreams begin" that must be addressed by "powering up" our schools so that students are prepared to meet the demands of the ever changing global workplace and leave our high schools college ready, because, "everyone has a right to their dream".

Chets Creek Elementary Virtual School Tour

Today I got to present a "Virtual" Tour of Chets Creek to a fabulous group of educators attending the pre-conference sessions of the America's Choice National Conference. I always love talking about the great things teacher and student are doing and thi group was especially engaging and interested. My focus for this tour was to show how we are using technology to promote professional collaboration and development, communicate with stakeholders and engage students in 21st century learning. Here is the presentation including all the links to launch you out into the great work that can be found on the web.

AC Virtual Tour 10

View more presentations from dreamleader.

Going Back to Cali...

Next week I will travel to Los Angeles, California for the America's Choice National Conference. Since our involvement, 11 years ago in this school reform the conference has proved to be a vital link to keep our momentum going in the foundational ideals of the design. It is a way for us to share our stellar work and to learn of the latest strategies and products available for our professional growth. I have been asked to present a "Virtual Tour" of our school and have chosen to do so by showcasing the incredible ways we are collaborating professionally and engaging all stakeholders using technology. As always you can keep up with what I'm learning since I'll be blogging the conference live and posting here on Live From the Creek.