Getting to know you

It has been three weeks since I started working at Wellesley High School. I am starting to get to know people, I am also starting to realize how many people I don't know. In Brookline, I was a full time technology specialist at a school with 400 students. I am now less than full time (I also teach TV/Video) at a school with 1200 students.

I worked in Brookline for three years. Over those three years, I gained the trust of the faculty and really saw some progress in their use of technology. Now I'm starting all over again. I believe in the power of Web 2.0 technologies to change the way we teach and learn. I think it is essential that we incorporate 21st century skills into our curriculum. But that is just what I think. Why should anyone listen to me?

I'm reading a book called The Human Side of School Change by Robert Evans, which was recommended to me by a friend on the ning Classroom 2.0 social network. Thanks to Pamela Livingston for the suggestion. (Ironically, it turns out Robert Evans works in Wellesley.) I'm only at the beginning of the book. So far I'm reading about why change doesn't work.

Traditional organizational change often fails because its designers, overemphasising rationality, underestimate the opposition reform generates and the power of staff members to resist....At the core of traditional approaches to change lies an arrogance that invites failure and plays a key role in the inability of those approaches to overcome resistance.... The conviction of an advocate, even a powerful one, inspires resistance if it simply dismisses the inevitable dilemmas of implementation. (Evans, p 16)

...our response to change, particularly when it is imposed upon us, is determined by how we understand it, what it does to our attachments and beliefs, and how we can fit it into the sense we make of our world. (Evans, p17)

How can I help people understand the changes I am asking them to undertake, to fit technology in to the sense they make of their world and to expand their attachments and beliefs? I'm looking forward to the part of the book where Evans tells me how to do this! I'm working on it. I would love to hear your ideas! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Starting Small

"Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten." (fortune cookie, author unknown)

Today I helped several people solve some small problems. At least they were small to me. Everyone I helped was thrilled that I was able to figure things out. I got a lot of praise, which was nice, but in a growth mindset (see my earlier posts) kind of undeserved. Solving small technology problems is what I do. I have had a lot of practice. Solutions come to me quickly because I have encountered similar problems before. I realize to others it seems like magic.

I think I am going to work on making my problem solving process more transparent. As I work to fix something, I'm going to try to articulate my thought process. It really isn't magic. Sometimes I know what to do because I've done it before. Other times, I know what to do because I've been through the problem solving process before. And I care. And I am interested.

These little moments are sometimes called "just in time" learning. I think the key is for the learning to happen for everyone involved, not just the problem solver. As teachers we want our students to be life long learners. I want this for my teachers too.

Act first, ask questions later?

It is after midnight on Friday, August 31st (I guess that makes it September 1st) and I should be sleeping. My 3 and 5 year old children are going to appear beside my bed tomorrow morning to wake me up. And yet, my brain is buzzing. It's that time of year. On Tuesday the new school year begins. I'm always crazed at this time of year, but a new job adds a whole extra layer of frenzy. I've never worked with high school kids before. I'm both excited and terrified - neither emotion is particularly suited to a good nights sleep.

I'm also thinking - I've got lots of ideas, but it is a new job so I've got to pace myself. I would like to set up a private social network just for the faculty and staff at the school using ning. I think the classroom 2.0 site on ning is an amazing resource. I would like to recreate that kind of community on a smaller scale. As a new teacher, this space could really help me to get to know and connect with the other teachers in the school. It could also serve as a great resource for teachers to discuss and share ideas and questions.

In the past I have often used the "act first ask questions later" approach to trying out new technologies. But, when starting a new job, that probably isn't the best plan. I've sent a note out to my administrators to see what they think. If they approve, you'll be hearing more about how it goes. Cross your fingers for me.

A New Job

This summer I was unexpectedly offered a position as the Instructional Technology Specialist at Wellesley High School (A public high school in Wellesley, MA). As much as I have loved working in Brookline, this is an opportunity to learn and grow that I could not pass up. I will continue to use this blog to share my thoughts on the Power Of Educational Technology. I hope you will keep reading and commenting as I start this new chapter in my professional life.

Thanks so much to everyone in Brookline who has supported and collaborated with me over the last three years!

Happy New School Year!
-Elizabeth

Changing Your Mindset - Part Two

Blogging with a Growth Mindset

As you know from my last post, I just finished reading Mindset by Carol S. Dweck. In Mindset, Dr. Dwecks explains her work on the "fixed" versus "growth" mindset. A person with a fixed mindset believes that their intelligence is fixed - there isn't anything he or she can do to change it. A person with a growth mindset believes that if they work hard and challenge themselves they will succeed and grow. Fortunately, those of us with fixed mindsets can change and learn to embrace a growth mindset.

As I have been encouraging people to try blogging, a lot of the resistance that I hear is a fear of writing. People will say to me, "I'm not a good writer," or "I'm a slow writer." This is a fixed mindset attitude. The more I write the faster and better I get. Blogging itself is improving my writing and my confidence in my writing. The only way to get better is to try - and maybe fail - but keep trying.

The beauty of blogging is that your entries should be short (just like attention spans). You don't have to write a lot. Just write a little bit about what you are thinking. Keep at it, don't give up and you will see that your writing will improve. Good writers are made not born. Open your mind to the possibility!

Changing Your Mindset - Part One

I just finished reading Mindset by Carol S. Dweck. I am so excited about this book that I don't know where to begin. In Mindset, Dr. Dwecks explains her work on the "fixed" versus "growth" mindset. A person with a fixed mindset believes that their intelligence is fixed - there isn't anything he or she can do to change it. A person with a growth mindset believes that if they work hard and challenge themselves they will succeed and grow. Fortunately, those of us with fixed mindsets can change and learn to embrace a growth mindset.

At some level this seems obvious and yet I don't think we realize how much we carry around this fixed mindset, especially when it comes to intelligence. This can be a very dangerous mindset when it comes to our children. When we tell our children or our students "you are smart" we are unwittingly passing along a fixed mindset. This kind of vague praise doesn't give room to grow and learn, instead it can create a fear of risk and a fear of looking stupid.

"...in the fixed mindset, effort is not a cause for pride. It is something that casts doubt on your talent." (Dweck, p 99) I think we can apply this concept to teachers and technology. Sometimes, successful, experienced teachers will be very resistant to exploring new technologies. These teachers may be exhibiting a fixed mindset. They feel what they are doing works, they think of themselves as "good" teachers. If they try something new and fail, then they will no longer be "good" teachers.

The phrase "a born teacher" plays right into a fixed mindset. Good teachers are good teachers because they work at it, because of the experience they have working with many children over the years, of trying different things with different kids and seeing what works. Teachers are not born, they are made.

I have so much more to say about this, but I'll stop here for now. This book should be required reading for all teachers and parents. It will open your mind to so many possibilities! Stay tuned for more.

Click here to listen to an interview with Dr. Dweck.

Dweck, Carol S. Mindset. The new psychology of success. Random House Inc. New York. 2006.

Technology Integration Between Friends

I just completed a 5 day course learning how to coach and facilitate a type of professional development called Critical Friends Groups or CFGs. In CFGs, groups of 10 - 15 teachers meet regularly (monthly) to discuss student work and teacher practice in an effort to improve student achievement. They do so using protocols facilitated by a trained member of the group. These protocols provide a structure that focuses the conversation, keeps people accountable for the things they say and helps the group find solutions to difficult problems.

I believe in the effectiveness of this work. I wonder how to both bring technology into the work itself and how to use the work to help increase the use of technology in the classroom. Can one support the other? I'm sure the answer is yes, but I don't yet know how. Perhaps a social networking site like ning, a blog or a wiki could help teachers to stay connected, keep the conversations going, and reflect on practice in between sessions.

I also wonder if there is a way to use the protocols Online. Could these types of structures help facilitate Online interactions? Could we create some protocols to help guide our Web 2.0 conversations? Do we need to? What do you think?