Learning is Change

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.

We need a Brave (New) World:

What resonates with me most about this post is when speak about the world being weak:

“It is this world that we live in that can be weak. This world that is too afraid to embrace change. This world that is too afraid to stand up and speak up for those who are not able to. This world that would rather talk about apps and computers and Twitter than use those things to talk about how to make our schools safer for all of the people inside of them.”

I find this infinitely true. We are afraid and we are weak. We find it easier to put everything into little boxes that fit into what we believe school is or should be.

However, the narrative that I think is most at odds with us making schools safe for all teachers is the one that claims teachers don’t have a life outside of schools. If we admit that teachers don’t only exist between the first bell and the last, we have to accept that they are complex enough to have personal lives. If we stop believing the only purpose teachers have in this world is to grade papers and plan lessons, we would have to think hard about how they are human, and they are us.

As an educator, we are brave when we deny this narrative. As a non-educator, we are brave when we see teachers as complexly as we see ourselves. We all deserve this brave world. We all deserve to see people for who they are, and not merely the roles they play within our small corner of the universe.

Thank you for showing that teachers are people and for sharing your complex and wonderful story with others. There will come a time when the world is brave enough to accept this from everyone, but until that time, I am glad you are thinking and writing out loud.

via Please Don’t Call Me Brave: For Those Who Continue to Teach From Within the Closet | Crawling Out of the Classroom.