Schools today should be...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nfiore23/2122230324

Preparing students to interact in a global economy. 

In order to prepare students to work with an international community of colleagues we need to provide them with opportunities to interact with people from around the world. Teachers also need experiences collaborating globally. Online social networks, such as Twitter, and  Facebook, provide teachers with a way to meet colleagues from around the world and around the country. These Online relationships in turn provide opportunities for classrooms to connect.

Preparing students to navigate and sift through an excess of information. 

In order to prepare students to search for and evaluate information, we need to provide them with opportunities to do just that. We need to ask students to find answers to ungoogleable questions and then have them not only share their answers, but also describe their search processes and defend their sources.

Preparing students to contribute to and consume in a media rich market. 

In order to prepare students to consume and create multi-media messages, student should be both evaluating and creating videos, podcasts and blogs. Students need to learn to be both educated consumers and producers of these messages. 

Preparing students to tackle new innovations. 

In order to prepare students to face and conquer new technology tools, we need to provide them with opportunities to solve their own problems. We can't provide them with step by step directions, but instead encourage them to seek out new tools, figure them out and communicate their learning with classmates.

Preparing students to think creatively, take risks and come up with new ideas. 

In order to encourage students to discover new ideas, we need to create learning environments that encourage and support not just failure, but also recovery from that failure.

Preparing students for digital citizenship. 

In order to teach students how to interact online, we must openly discuss issues of privacy, copyright, and online behavior. Students need to understand the difference between private and public spaces and how to behave in each place. They also need to learn how to interact online in responsible and ethical ways.


I actually wrote the majority of this post back in 2008. What I said then applies today. Have schools made any progress over the last 5 years? I think so. Are we there yet? Not quite.

Is your school doing these things? Have I left anything essential off the list? I welcome your ideas, questions and comments.

Putting the iPad in front of the horse...

I know it is a mixed metaphor, but rolling out iPads this year has been a mixed experience. In some cases it has transformed learning, in other cases it hasn't. In many cases trying to make the iPad fit the curriculum has been like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Yes, I'm over doing it with the cliches on this post, but when the shoe fits...

Using iPads in my 7th grade English class has lead to some really interesting projects, and some great ways to make the classroom interactive. But at other times the iPad just isn't the right tool for what we want to accomplish. The bottom line is that the "what" has to drive the "how." Educators need to ask themselves, "What do I want students to know?" before they ask, "How will we get there?" Sometimes the "how" involves an iPad, sometimes it doesn't.

Where does this leave our iPad pilot? That is a good question. I wish we could find one tool to do it all, or that we could afford for students to have multiple devices. Perhaps there is a way to find that happy medium, but along the way I have to remind myself to ask the right questions.

Putting the iPad in front of the horse...

Teachers Unplugged - An unconference inside a conference

For the first time ever, NAIS is offering two unconference sessions within their regular program called Teachers Unplugged. At these sessions attendees are going to have the opportunity to shape their own learning. We will have multiple round tables and a variety of topics offered for discussion by those who show up.

This is simultaneously exciting and terrifying. I am helping to facilitate the process, but the reality is that is totally out of my hands. I have run many unconferences, edcamps, and edubloggercons and I have the same feelings everytime. Thus far it has always worked out, but letting go of that control is always disconcerting.

If you are at the #NAISAC13 conference this year, I hope you will come by and help lead or participate in a conversation. Several of the organizers are going to be wearing t-shirts to encourage your questions. Please take a moment to stop us and ask. The sessions are going to run before and after lunch in Hall G.

Here are a few of the topics that people have suggested they might talk about.

• Geometry, math, technology in math instruction, math courses beyond calculus
• Plans for a maker space in their school to support STEAM initiatives? 
• New practices best practices in STEM/STEAM initiatives
• Public-Private Partnership models (school-school and/or organization/consortium)
• Bridging Conversations re ""Diversity & Inclusion"" & ""Teaching and Learning"" (ie intentional cross-cultural competency goals)
• Global collaborations in the K-8 curriculum
• 1:1 laptop program
• professional development
• social media in the classroom
• social media for educators"
• How to build the Intersection of Rigor and 21st Century Skills"
• Starting your own blog
• Going paperless
• iPads or Chromebooks
• Making change in a traditional school
• Getting the best out of middle school boys

Please check out this form to add your own topic.

If you are planning to attend, please take a moment to let us know what topics are most interesting to you.

Two Interactive iPad Apps that Work!

I recently learned about two iPad Apps that allow you to get immediate feedback from your classes. They both work really really well.

Nearpod puts teachers in control of student iPads

1. Nearpod allows the teacher to control what students see on their iPad. Teachers can upload any PDF file and Nearpod separates each page into a slide. Students sign into a "room" and the teacher takes control of the slides that each student sees. If that wasn't cool enough, Nearpod also allows you to intersperse different types of interactive questions throughout the presentation to check for understanding. I tried this recently with a grammar lesson and it was great. I was able to see who was getting the concepts and who wasn't immediately.

Space Race on Socrative

2. Socrative allows the teacher to create interactive quizes which students answer on their iPads. Students can see immediately if they are right or wrong. You can also show a graph of the answers after students have responded and use that to spur discussion about the topic. Socrative will send you data from the session in an excel file with each student's response. The other fun feature is the Space Race which puts students in competition to answer questions first and win the race.

Both of these Apps are free, Nearpod allows you pay to upgrade for more features such as large response groups and the ability have more students in a session, store more slideshows and share them with others.

The Silent History - It's an App - It's a Book - It's Awesome

Field Report Locations

The Silent History is "a new kind of novel." The App itself is free, but then you have to pay for the books within the App. The book is serialized and each installment is delivered to your iDevice on a daily basis (except weekends). You must wait 8 (painful) hours between each piece of the story.

A science fiction novel set in the future about a phenomenon of "Silent" children, children who are born without speech. The story is told through "witnesses" who recount their various experiences with these kids. Each episode features a different perspective at a different point in history. There are 6 books which tell the story from 2011 - 2043. You can purchase the books separately for 1.99 or all 6 for $8.99.

Field Report from South Beach, Miami FL

In addition to the story itself. The App uses geolocation to point you to "Field Reports." In order to read a field report, you must be in exactly the spot where it was written. Thus far I have been able to access three reports. One led me to a clearing in the woods above a middle school not to far from where I teach. The other two were on South Beach in Miami. (I was able to check them out when I was down there for my my Grandmother's birthday.) The reports themselves rely heavily on you being in that spot. It is a pretty creepy and cool experience to stand there and read them.

In many ways this is a book like any other, yet reading it this way makes it something entirely different. If you start now you will be able to marathon through the first book (lucky you) and a little bit of the second. Then you will be just like me, waiting each day for the next installment.

I think this is a brilliant idea that has great potential. Children's books in this form could really help kids get excited about reading! I am certainly loving it.

If you do start reading the series, let me know what you think.

Love Love Love my new Chromebook!!

In addition to piloting iPads this year, we are also looking at the new Samsung Chromebook. For only $249 you can access your Google Drive and the web through your Chrome browser. Given that we are a Google Apps for Education school and I am a very heavy user of Google Docs, Presentations, Forms and Spreadsheets, this machine fits my needs perfectly. Plus it is the size of a Macbook Air and weighs only 2.5 pounds.

I can't say it could replace my Macbook Pro for things like editing video, plus the screen is a bit small, but for just about everything else it is the perfect little tool. I'm hoping to get a class set at the end of the year and try them with the kids. I'll let you know how it goes.

Are you using Chromebooks at your school? I would love to hear about your experience.