Learning is Change

A great example of connected reading and writing in the high school English classroom.

There is something extremely powerful going on here within both your autonomy and your ability to express the need for feedback. I do believe that “being left alone in your classroom” is possibly holding the rest of your school back more than it is holding you back. Because you have sought out feedback and made your classroom into a community of learners, you are able to see how your instructional choices have in impact on your students and any teachers who stumble upon this blog or their writing on Genius. However, my guess is that many folks in your school are not yet reading your blog or using Genius as a way of creating an authentic feedback loop for kids and adults.

I wonder if this means that without having someone observe and evaluate your progress, your story stays within the walls of your classroom. If your evaluator/observer came in and saw this lesson, I would think that he/she may better understand the connected nature of writing, and want you to help support other teachers within the building in that regard. I may be wrong about this, but I have a hard time thinking that someone who came in and saw this wouldn’t want everyone in the building doing it.

Anyway, thank you so much for your thoughtful reflection. It is inspiring to see not only great practice happening in a Language Arts classroom, but also to see just how much value you place upon the connections being made.

via What Should We Do With Our Classrooms?: An authentic audience: Lit Genius and SoundCloud.

When personalized professional learning goes so right:

I am so glad that you are okay with folks asking you to “stop” for all the right reasons. I think that very often we hear that word and we think that we need to press right on through. I love that this is an intentional moment of clarity you are looking for, but I think that it might just be more than that.

The “stopping” that this teacher is asking for is, perhaps, more about trust than anything else. Perhaps the ability to ask for you to “stop” is available to this teacher because she knows that you will “be right back” or that you will continue to support her, even in your absence. While she is empowered to have the time she needs, that time is about trusting you and the process you have laid out.

That trust that you are creating is invaluable and you should treasure it. Thank you for sharing this moment, and I hope that you continue to listen when your teachers say “stop” for all of the right reasons.

via Redesigning Education Through Technology: “Stop”.

What an amazing set of student voices in this post:

The written words of students, particularly those that are deeply engaged in the learning process, present the single most inspiring moments of my own teaching career. These words are no different, and I think you should feel extremely proud that they were given to you. They are a gift, a moment of real learning that makes nearly anything seem possible.

“I could just pour my emotions into the keyboard. And when my fingers started moving they wouldn’t stop.” These are the words that get me. There is nothing better than a student writer, especially one that knows how important the act of writing can be for their own growth. This student understands just how powerful the writing process can be. She understands that this is not just a skill within one class, it is life skill.

Thank you for sharing this.

Use Your Outside Voice: Embracing Procrastination.

What an amazing example of what is possible with cross-classroom collaborations and connected educators!

I know that this post is from a couple years ago, but I am just now finding it, and I am so glad that you captured all that you did for this project. It is clear that it took an immense amount of work and the level of detail with which you were able to think through all sides of this debate is wonderful!

This debate (about homework) is a great example of what is possible when you put the conversations going on in the classroom into the larger global context in which they exist. I think too often we believe that the conversations happening between students are inconsequential or are disconnected from the very real debates and conversations happening elsewhere. You didn’t let that happen here. You let the kids take part in something that was authentic, something that had a real audience of their peers and a real purpose for trying to persuade.

My favorite part, though, is how you were able to make the thinking of your students (and of all of the participants really) more visible and transparent. The planning is in a transparently shared Google Doc. The notes are in a transparently shared Google Doc and on the Twitter Hashtag. The entire debate is recorded and can be reflected upon again and again. It is the act of capturing the learning of students and the planning of the teachers is something we should be doing for as many learning activities and tasks as possible. It not only presents a model for others (teachers and schools), but also models for students just how transparent their learning can be. You are modeling ways of creating a digital footprint that are both positive and about growth. Not everything went perfectly (hangouts being blocked and having spotty access), but in these micro-failures are each lessons for teachers and students that in those moments, there is learning too.

4 School VIrtual Debate Using Google Hangout – Elissa Malespina.

My thoughts about how trying is harder than you think:

I love how this post is half inspiration and half opening the conversation to other opportunities for learning (the links and the week at a glance). Your structure of a story also really resonates with me.

I believe in the mantra you are trying to create here. “Try” is one of the best things you can ask someone to do (a student or an adult). But, I do think the struggle is real for figuring out “how to try.” Trying requires that you have enough support to make the attempt. Trying also requires that you have enough context for the learning that in front of you.

I think that the mantra is a requirement, but frustration and apathy are very real consequences of seeing others “try” around you and believing that you don’t have what you need in order to do the same. How can we make sure that the students and teachers around us can make good on your mantra? How can we lead in a way that support for each attempt a part of the equation?

via The Colorful Principal: Give it a TRY.

This is an amazing post for how to make your few resources go further in your classroom. What a wonderful lens for learning:

I love the way you are looking at constraints as an asset here, and I really think that they are in your very capable hands. Your ability to challenge just what is possible with 6 laptops makes it seem as though there really are NO EXCUSES for not connecting your classroom.

I’m also very intrigued by this notion that fewer laptops/devices means more collaboration. I think that many of us seemingly are searching for the 1:1 device ratio without questioning just how valuable it is to do things together on a machine. I also think there is a real opportunity for not only different roles as you have outlined here, but also for mentorship from one student to the next as they walk each other through their thinking.

One of the things I struggle with most in much of our movement toward personalized learning is in the isolating nature of a truly personalized education (i.e., if it is unique to me, then how can anyone else possibly take part). I think that you are reaching for the balance that allows for students to make choices about their learning but in the context of the community of learners within the classroom. I wonder how you would frame your “differentiation” in opposition (or perhaps support of) personalization for learning?

The Landscape of Learning: 6 Reasons Why You Should Use 6 Laptops in Your Classroom.

I can’t wait to try out all of the teacher challenges that Rae mentions:

I am in love with the way you have laid out the growth potential you have identified within teacher challenges. 

I often struggle with this component of group accountability within professional learning. I think that this is something we do rather poorly when we “require PD”. Can we shift toward this model of challenges and avoid the required element?

Also, I am so intrigued by how you decided to tackle only three challenges per year. I run into so many teachers who are trying to take on everything all at once. I think you have dog s a rather wonderful balance here. 

I’m also very interested in how you see growth happening as a result of teacher challenges. What is it that you think is “changed” as a result of the ones you have taken part in? 

I’m now going to go dig into each one of the ones you linked to. Thank you again for this wondeful frame and way of looking at Professional Learning from the frame of personal accountability and connection. 

EdTechyness: The Power of a Teacher Challenge.