Learning is Change

Should we sell our content to one another? I think we can come up with a better approach:

I think you have hit upon something central to “why we become teachers.” I don’t think any of us do this so that we may become rich, however we are trying to join our vocation with our ability to provide for ourselves and our loved ones. There is this natural tension between the “the why” of teaching and “the how” or existence. If we do not resolve these tensions we get either burnout or exploitation.

I think a better way to resolve this tension is to think about teaching as a professional skillset. If you are getting paid in one space for that skillset, it would only make sense that you get paid for that same skillset elsewhere. So, if you lead a workshop on a given topic, you should be able to be paid for that workshop. However, it breaks down for me when we boil down our skillset to making content. Content is a ubiquitous commodity. I would agree that it is better given away than sold, but if folks want to see themselves as content creators rather than teachers, I think that they have sold their teaching short.

I am not offended that there are content marketplaces, but I would rather see us come together and collaborate to make the best possible Open Educational Resources. That way, we would all have world class content. Then, we could really be the educational leaders the world needs. We could create a marketplace for teaching, for the art of educating others. Everyone needs to learn something new, and right now we are just selling the content. That tension will never go away if we stop there.

via Share the Land (Guess Who) | #slowchatPE.

Children are not “broken” and they do not need to be “fixed”:

I think that your thoughts on the “brokenness” of students are spot on. You have identified a belief system that many in education have without acknowledging it.

If we believe students are broken and it is our job to “fix” them, then there is only so much that we can rely upon them for within the classroom. We cannot rely upon them to make their own instructional choices. We cannot rely upon them to teach one another. We cannot rely upon them to be reliable collaborators.

Fortunately, for the reasons you have outlined here, this is not the case. We do not have to be the only expert in the room. We do not have to make dots or red pen marks on every paper we get in the hopes that these will mean something to our students.

Thank you for helping us to think through the “why” of math and the ways in which we can allow students to authentically think through problems.

Mistake-making to sense-making – The Reflective Educator.

The cognitive load of a teacher is extremely high:

I love it when folks bring together disparate points from seemingly unconnected sources, as you have here. I think your comments about cognitive load are apt, as some research says that teachers are making up to 1500 decisions in a single day (http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/teacher-makes-1500-decisions-a-day/). This is a HUGE cognitive load, and one that definitely does require breaks.

However, I wonder if a lot of the cognitive load issues that we see in many classrooms is in the very role of what we think an “ideal teacher” should be. Many teachers feel as though they have to be the one expert in the room, and yet there are so many other sources of expertise and “teaching” that they can rely upon. Whether it is in creating a community of learners to help support one another or in relying upon digital resources and tools, the cognitive load is lessened each and every time the teacher does not have to be the sole source of information and knowledge in the classroom. It doesn’t necessarily make the teacher’s job any easier, but it can make it so that at least some of those 1500 decisions are made by the students or the adaptive tools that the teacher uses.

via Plugged In Educator: Reducing Cognitive Load.

This is what a great PD day at a school looks like:

The power of connecting and learning together never ceases to amaze me. I am so glad that you recognized it in the moment and even took a moment to capture some of the collaboration as it was happening (nice screencast of a live Google Doc collaboration)! This is what makes coming together both online and offline into something that is truly unique.

Every time I witness this type of creative process, I am in awe. It is not a #bigmistake to have outcomes you define, but it is a mistake to underestimate just how many more outcomes will be added by the time you are through. You have created a culture of sharing and building together, and that is exactly what they did. Continue to use this to answer big questions like the “attributes of a graduate” or “how can we make sure students are agents in their own learning?” Thank you for sharing your teacher experts with all of us!

The Learning Nation: Inquiry-based Discomfort.

It is so wonderful to see how an every day assignment can affect a student’s life and their understanding of themselves:

Thank you so much for writing about this assignment and your approach to it. I think you are absolutely right about how much writing and talking there is to do in a project that is about discovering who you are and where you come from.

There are so many ways of figuring out “your own context”, but a family tree is one of the easiest ways to contextualize yourself and try to plant roots in a specific time period. The past is so abstract for so many kids, but when they think about their great-grandparent’s generation, they can more easily learn about the history of that time period. While not every child is going to have a well researched family history, like the one from this email, every child does have a rich personal history. Each one is worth exploring, writing about, and talking through with others.

via Walk the Walk: Writing Family History & Culture with Students.

I like the concept of the Teacher TwitterBrain, a lot:

I think there are likely two components as to why this ended up working the way it did:

1. You have created a community as your audience. The people reading your blog or following you on twitter, genuinely care about you and your work. They want to see good ideas, but they also see you as a human being and not some faceless teacher imposing assignments on kids. This community is a support structure just as much as it is a learning one. I think that calling out the fact that you have probably cultivated this community over years of your work is important.

2. You shared it in a collaborative way, specifically requesting feedback. You could have easily shared this assignment as view-only. You could have easily made it into a PDF and then sent it out. But, you didn’t. This was a collaborative process of sharing with multiple entry points (throughout the assignment folks could comment on different things). This means that you are much more likely to get the kinds of outcomes you are looking for. So, while I agree with your last paragraph that “sharing is caring.” It really matters how you share too. If you share something static, you will not see the power of the Teacher TwitterBrain. If you share something open and honest, then you very likely will.

via He’s the Weird Teacher: Harnessing the TeacherTwitter Brain.

What kind of learning can happen in an “open space”?

I found the comparison of home and learning spaces to be quite compelling. While I would never advocate that we treat schools like home in their entirety, I do think there is a lot of value in seeing just how much comfort and care we can build into our learning spaces.

“Open spaces create more opportunities” is a wonderful way of looking at our classrooms and our learning commons. But, I think the converse is something we must grapple with too. “Closed spaces” are holding us back. The more walls we put up or stuff we pack into a space, the less room there is for learning and creation to happen. Let’s build these mini learning commons. Let’s make them as open as possible.

Figuring out how the Pieces Fit … – Home – What is the Environment for Learning?.

Everyone should read this blog post. Thank you for the “no thank you.”

This is one of the more wonderful ways of dealing with the negative viewpoint of teachers currently in existence. I love the way in which you have framed everything as a choice to accept or reject this narrative.

The “no thank you” I most want to hear, though, is the one that we can say to those who would deny the voice of those closest to kids, the teachers. Those that would seek to silence your words or deny their value I would say, “No thank you.”

This is the narrative I want. This is the voice that I want to hear. Always.

via Reflections : No Thank You.

Students should have a say on what PD their teachers receive…

I love the way in which you have framed this question to students, as they are the ones who most directly are going to be served by better PD. 

One thought I have, though, is how we might take this further. Could we, for instance, allow students to specifically request “better teaching” in a specific area when they run into an issue within their school? Could they provide feedback on more systemic issues they see for how teachers might improve their practice?

I’m also intrigued by just how many of these kids talked about better collaboration between teachers. It is as if they are the only ones that see how arbitrary the separations of the different subjects are. How can we make good on these requests?

Again, thank you for sharing the viewpoint of your students about professional learning. It is my sincere hope that we include students much more in these kinds of conversations.

Student Centered History: Technology and Critical Thinking: From My Students: What Teacher PD Should Focus On.