Faculty Meeting Wiki

I have been experimenting with wikispaces for our faculty meetings this year. One of our objectives is to update our goals for knowledge, skills, and values we want our students to develop by the time they graduate.

It was my desire that perhaps we could do without much of our meeting time by letting faculty members participate and give input to brainstorms and collaboration asynchronously-- that is on their own time. When I introduced the concept, I could see how many were willing to give it a try, and I was optimistic. I did give faculty meeting time during our first meeting for groups of faculty to brainstorm, and as we concluded, we had definitions, links to resources, embedded videos. There was excitement in the air. As we go into our next long meeting, however, there has been little input by our teachers, and I feel very deflated. As I reflect on what happened, here is what I think needs to be improved:

1) I wanted faculty to work together, but once they grouped, only one actually recorded on the wiki. That means that most were not able to see easy text entry and uploading is. Now that I am asking them to do it on their own, they do not feel comfortable with wikis.

2) There is still a reluctance to using the term wiki. Even with definitions, resources, examples, and videos, the term "wiki" is hard for some to take seriously and justify use with each other and with students. I should probably say it is just web page editing, even though they should know and use this tool for learning, communication, and collaboration. Many, however, were here when we thought HTML and later wysiwyg editors, again to some unsatisfactory results. Some of us saw the great possibilities of hypertext even 10-12 years ago. Only three of us continued to create web pages. Will wikis go the way of the html editors of the past? I don't know, but I am impressed when I give the format to my students, and how familiar they are with wikis whether they know exactly what they are doing or not. Is it too much of a paradigm shift for adults, espcially older ones?

3) The last major obstacle is what I was trying to alleviate--TIME. There is not enough time for faculty not only to learn new tools but most importantly not enough time to play. I hear more frustration about not wanting to use the tool, no time to get on, no time to edit. Really? No time to pull up a web page and edit a sentence or a word perhaps? I have written about this earlier, but we are more comfortable in the bubble of our own classrooms. Moreover, how can we find the time to learn about and use the tools.

More News Sites: Visualize, Visualize

I just have to add to one of my earlier Three for Thursday posts on news sites for students. These additions come from Larry Ferlazzo, who provides links for students, especially ESL, on his blog. I recommend his page on "best web sites" with its different categories. Here are my additions to recommended news sites.

World News Map: I actually like this the best for student project on Hot Spots around the World. You could click on any country and get headline news and breaking news.

NewsMap: I like this just as much. Google Maps, and just click on any country.

NewsGlobe: Another visual global news map from Yahoo News.

Reverbiage: Nice widget with a global visualization. I'll see how and where I should embed this.

Newsline: Breaking news in a timeline format as released. I don't really know how I would use it in class, but it is a different visualization of the news.

DoodleBuzz: I don't exactly know how to use this either. It is different and interesting.

Earlier Recommendations:

Breaking News Map
Newsmap
Spectra Visual News Reader

Web 2.0 Discussion on Britannica

I came across a great discussion on Web 2.0 and education on the Britannica blog. First, kudos to Britannica for using the web to add to and improve the knowledge base of their already wonderful work. I guess competition (from Wikipedia, Encarta, et.al) can be a good thing. Their blog, with the subtitle "Where ideas matter" makes sense. I am caught up in the forum this week on the uses of technology and education and will perhaps need to write later about it as I wait to digest the meat of their ideas.

The forum first begins with Steve Hardagon with an entry entitled "Moving Toward Web 2.0 in Education." posted on October 22 and then a follow-up "Why Web 2.0 Will Not be an Integral Part of K-12 Education." by Dan Willingham. Hardagon explains the advantages and obstacles of education during this revolution of information. I have seen in my classroom aspects of Web 2.0 tools to achieve goals of engagement, authenticity, greater participation, dealing with openness and greater access of information, collaboration, creativity, personal expression, asynchronous contribution, critical thinking, etc. I also know by working with other teachers that if they are not ready or adequately trained, it is not going to happen. Willingham has a good closing "The wisest course may not be to find the 'best practices' with the expectation that they will apply across the board, but rather to expect that teachers will select pedagogical practices based on their own strengths and the material they teach, and to support them in that choice." I just believe that these new tools and applications of the web can help them be more effective in their own teaching and better reach our students. After all, Willingham is part of this information "conversation" on a blog, a Web 2.0 tool to reach teachers and students, which is much better than reading an encyclopedic definition.

Three for Thursday 10-23-08

Links for educators for the 21st Century

ISTE's National Educational Technology Standards for Educators These standards by the Internaional Society for Technology in Education is always a good place to start.

21st Century Educators from 21st Century Connections nice description of chracteristics of needed teachers.

Seven Steps to a Flat Classroom Nice workshop of 21st century classroom skills from Vickie Davis and Atomic Learning.

The Transparent Teacher

I am having some difficulty with this thought of being transparent and connected. It is very interesting to be in a profession that is based on connecting with people be they students, parents, and at times peers. Yet, we are too comfortable in our own classrooms and reluctant to share and have others share with us.

As a new teacher twenty years ago, I was fortunate enough to teach in a school that allowed for collaboration. I taught both English and History and was, therefore, a member of two departments. The other sections of the classes I taught happened to be taught by master teachers. I touched base with them almost daily, not only to be sure we were teaching at about the same pace but also to learn from them, get ideas from them, and in turn become a better teacher. They were also willing to hear my ideas about content, skills, and pace, and we had really developed a peer relationship rather than just have me teach what they were doing.

The second school where I taught I was asked to create this program in English based on the Reading and Writing Workshop approach. The school was smaller, and I was more or less on my own this time. The atmosphere of the school, however, allowed for great input from others and collaboration. We all shared a common workspace, and I remember wonderful discussions on content, curriculum, students, and personal interests. I was free to experiment to get this program up and going. Experienced faculty encouraged me to put myself out there. They gave me great feedback, put me back on my feet if I was struggling, pushed me back out the door to try again. They also shared their experiences and gave me wonderful advice.

I now have taught at my third school for seventeen years. I remember the first few years wanting that feedback, discussion, brainstorming. I asked for teachers to visit. The Department Heads said that wasn't really part of the culture of the school. When I was visited, feedback was very cursory and surface. I remember one time, I tried to implement what I had learned with the workshop approach I had used from another school and was told in some roundabout way that content was more important and shouldn't I be worried if students were prepared for the next year of class. Not that there was any data suggesting students were not prepared, but their expressing a concern was a way of saying stop. Back into the classroom I went, door shut, and taught by myself, careful not to rock the boat.

What am I getting at? First, I feel like that same excitemnt of learning as I teach. These tools of technology are now again giving me teachers to learn from, feedback from other voices, and a forum to reflect in a more public environment. Moreover, experimentation, constructivism, student empowerment, teacher empowerment are becoming more accepted. I am becoming more energized.

Yet, I am worried I have become too comfortable in my own domain, my own classroom. Can I allow myself to be vulnerable again. I remember seeing my first comment on one of my Flickr images or this blog by someone I did not know. My first reaction was fear. Did I post the right things? Was I grammatically correct? Was I understood? Being raised in generations paranoid of "Big Brother" was a natural instinct. Once I broke through that trepidation, I realized I had just plunged into a new pool, and I can swim. Yes, we should open to working with each other, showing our own efforts, whether they be victories or failures. The Internet can be used to help each other whether we are in the same school or across the country. We should be transparent teachers.

I have shared my experiences and what I am gaining, and what I hear most is that teachers here do not want to be so connected. "Why should I share my bookmarks?" "Why should I post a comment on a blog or even worse have someone comment on mine?" What can break through this reluctance on allowing ourselves to grow and become more transparent in our growth? How can we break out of the four walls of our classrooms and work with each other so that we can be better teachers for our students?


Photo Credit: Aki Jin

Is it the content?

I just returned from a Fall Family Weekend at my son's boarding school. It was interesting being on the other side of mini-classes and discussions. I was intrigued with a couple of members of the faculty in the classes. First, there is an atmosphere at this school where it is cool to be smart. I believe that we have it at St. Margaret's where I teach as well. Students come wanting to learn but need to learn how to learn. Those at the top of the class are models and not pariahs. Secondly, at his school, I appreciated that even the honors classes were still focused on skills such as communication and critical thinking, not so much on content. In this age of Google, content is less important, it's about learning.

I then came across this video from Chris Lehman. Nice for some inspiration on developing schools for the future.

I have been reading Chris Lehman for a while now and had come across a pdf of one of his presentations. I like his speech, although he is speaking quickly, is inspiring and motivating. The ideas are also a good starter for school conversations. I think why I have been drawn so naturally to Web 2.o and its application in schools are the principles of progressivism but with new tools. "21st Century Schools are about educating for 21st century citizenry not the 21st century workforce.

I really like the quote of Alvin Toffler, "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

His talks reinforce how I want to engage teachers that we teach kids before we teach subjects and it's about them--not US!

I also like Chris's commentary on Neil Postman that technology when done right is not additive but transformative. "Technology should be like oxygen--ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible."

Three for Thursday

Three visual news sites that are helpful in teaching news and current events.

Breaking News Map An interesting site with breaking news from Reuters appearing on a moving Google map on fo.reca.st.

Newsmap I don't know why I like this, but it's interesting and quite usable. Stories are color-coded by story type and then darkened by time since posting. These first two links seem to be difficult for older adults to to see and use.

Spectra Visual News Reader This is one funky site which is a visual reader from the RSS feed of MSNBC. The floating and moving stories can be distracting.

Time for professional reflection

Today was PSAT day. I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up on some major blog reading and look at current conferences as I await the K12Online Conference. I did enjoy the keynote video from Stephen Heppell on Oct. 13. I already introduced the concept to our faculty of his title “It Simply Isn’t the 20th Century Any More Is It?: So Why Would We Teach as Though It Was?”

Looking for more info bring to my faculty, I came across Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach's broadcast video at the Learning 2.0 Conference in Shanghai in September. She begins with a good question that I want our faculty, "What am I doing right now in my classroom to prepare kids to live out their lives and be successful in the 21st century?" Good question, and to be honest, I really don't know. I think as a history teacher I am preparing students to live in a new global age and learn different perspectives and cultures. I want them to use tools of technology to be more effective consumers of knowledge but also learn to present, share, and create.


Other points in her video:
"Helping students to learn to be . . . is just as important as learning about . . ." Our school has spent some a lot of deliberate time reflecting on what do we want our students to be. I don't think that these "to be's" have become more important than our "to know's."

"We do a wonderful job help our students engage in conent so that by college students are ready to be engaged with content. But the problem with that model is that the rate at which content is expanding."

"By 2020, knowledge will be doubling every 72 hours." If this is true, we cannot have content be the focus.

I use this concept of the growth and speed of knowledge in my history classes, and I do agree with the concept, but I am still trying to understand how this is measured. Here are some similar statements.

"In the ninteteenth century, it took about fifty years to double the world's knowledge. Today, the base of knowledge doubles in less than a year." http://www.emory.edu/TEACHING/Report/AppendixD.html

"We're all striving to keep up with the quantum leaps being made in all areas of knowledge. It's estimated that medical knowledge, for example, doubles every seven years, and scientific knowledge doubles every twenty years. The total written knowledge in the world is said to have doubled between 1450 and 1750, and then to have doubled again between 1750 and 1900. Between 1900 and 1950, human knowledge doubled once more, and then again from 1950 to 1975. Now, it is believed to double every 900 days. By the year 2020, global knowledge is predicted to double every 72 days!" http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/web/about/about_dean.asp

The Horse or Cart

Yesterday, I was giving a faculty workshop on web 2.0 tools. First, I gave an introduction to Firefox and tabbed browsing. We then moved on to Google applications for teachers. We started with iGoogle and gadgets and then started on other applications that could be used. I think as teachers learning technology, it is difficult for us to first learn technology for its own sake, think about how we could use it in our own lives, and then think about how to teach the students to find meaning and purpose in these tools and then apply the technology in their own lives. I then have work with many different levels of ability and interest in a faculty workshop and then levels of willingness to apply and integrate technology in the classroom.

I also have a difficult time communicating my own experience and joy of really seeing these applications work as more efficient tools for learning without sounding like a nut. I want them to have that epiphany but also see how the web can be a great tool for them as teachers but also fellow learners.

One comment was made which is worth discussing. A colleague, who is very thoughtful and careful with his words, said that we have to think about how we teach this technology to our students. At what point are we setting the cart before the horse? I do understand this predicament. I guess, at what point are we teaching our students technology for its own sake? Moreover, at what point do we set our students lose with technology while they are still learning the steps of the research process, learning how to evaluate resources, learning content? I guess I feel I am comfortable seeing new ways for students to create, express, analyze. I feel comfortable teaching these students tools to be more effective learners. News feeds are a wonderful way to research current events and blogs. They could apply outside of school in their own lives with keeping tabs in their own social networks. Social Bookmarking is another way to learn how to not only find useful sites and have them follow you, but also to have others be your filter. Google Docs and Notebook is helpful for research, bookmarking, and early outlining. Moodle is great for experiencing online course mangagement, class chats, forums, posting, journals, assignments, online help, wikis, etc. The fact is our students are already immersed in this world, especially our girls with Facebook and MySpace. Isn't this teaching skills of interaction with people and online content but through the course?

I am still feeling my way as a go, but I haven't seen many concerns when working with the students. The difficult part as a teacher is yes there are times when it is about the technology, but with that tool comes learning, participation, and student teaching more than I provided before.

Are we teaching for them or for us?