Worth Noting

Just as in 1842, just as in Socrates' time when literacy appeared, the technologies of information and communication have changed radically this decade - the ways in which humans learn about their world have changed radically, and schools will either help their students learn to navigate that new world, or they will become completely irrelevant.

How you learned doesn't matter at all

If you are a teacher, a parent, an administrator, or the President of the United States, I do not care how or what you learned in school. Or, let me put it this way, your experience in school, or in sitting with your mom studying books in the wee hours of the morning, is completely irrelevant to any discussion of the education of today's students.

Maybe worse than irrelevant. Maybe dangerous. The belief that "your" experience is relevant leads to a nightmare loop. Students who behave, and learn, most like their teachers do the best in classrooms. Teachers see this reflection as proof of their own competence - "The best students are just like me."

And thus all who are "different" in any way - race, class, ability, temperament, preferences - are left out of the success story.

from Ira Socol - Technology and our misunderstandings

From Joichi Ito - "In an Open-Source Society, Innovating by the Seat of Our Pants"

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/science/joichi-ito-innovating-by-the-seat-o...

from David Ginsburg - Maslow's Hierarchy Hits Home

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/coach_gs_teaching_tips/2012/02/maslows_hiera...

Ryan Bretag shares some great insights in his last post, Non-existent Formula. 

"In fact, I’m not overly concerned with how any teacher is teaching so long as the learning we desire is happening. I’m concerned with teachers connecting with students, recognizing when learning is or isn’t happening, knowing how to adjust if it isn’t, and having a diverse range of strategies to draw upon.

This means…

1. We need to define learning and what it means in our community (learner profile)
2. We need to know what it is we want students to know, to do, to experience, to be
3. We need to ask ourselves constantly: are our students learning in our classroom, in our department, in our school at the depth and breadth we want? If the answer is no, we need
4. We need to embrace a diverse range of teaching styles and methodologies but constantly building a breadth and depth of strategies for all
5. We need to a curriculum that is designed backwards while remaining true to “Making Learning Whole“

In other words, it isn’t enough to focus on strategies, a teacher’s toolbox, or an instructional blueprint. The key is focusing on the learners, the community, and the learning vertically and horizontally."

"As an analyst and as a geek, I too am captivated by all that’s new and shiny. I’m grounded however, by the real world conversations and actions necessary to translate trends into actionable insights. Innovation must be studied. Its impact must be understood. The benefits offered by disruptive technology must be analyzed to learn how it will benefit our business, whether its effects are of value to the business or market infrastructure, in customer and employee relationships, or in product or process breakthroughs. It’s not enough to experiment. While test and learn is a necessary ingredient in converting innovation into progress, it is in the recognition of opportunities where we need to begin. We need to start with a hypothesis or an idea about how technology plays a part in evolution and more importantly, how it allows businesses to realize its objectives better than it does today. It then takes research and experiments to prove or disprove your theory."

via Brian Solis, Leadership in an Era of Digital Darwinism 

How many of our educational organizations are doing the same? As Solis states, "the future of evolution comes down to you and your leadership team." 

"The pedagogy that’s emerging to deliver 21st-century skills is student-centered and inquiry-based. In the inquiry-based approach, student interest drives the learning process and the teacher shifts from the sage on the stage into more of a coaching role. Within this system of learning, there is real value in having the widest range of technological tools for not only consuming information in all its multimodal forms, but for creatively demonstrating what one has learned.

from Alan Levasseur - Teaching without Technology?

"This has me thinking that the real issue might not be factory education and the real solution might not be as simple as applying home-school, unschool, charter school, private school, Waldorf, Montessori, KIPP, PLC, BYOD or LSD across the spectrum.   It's why, as amazing as Finland may be, I don't think the solution will be to copy them, either.  We can rail about industrial education, but culprit has less to do with the factory model as much as the reality that the model was applied top-down to all public schools while ignoring the sense of nuance, paradox and context implicit in every educational experience. 

The real issue goes further back than the factory and probably further back than Socrates.  It's the idea of enforcing one idea, one system and one model across the board and assuming that it will work.  It's not so much the problem of one-size-fits-all (in a true one-size-fits-all there is room within the fitting for customization) but a one-fit-sizes-all where the "fit" is used to size up every person, place and institution that doesn't conform to a particular standard."

-John T. Spencer via Teach Paperless

Lilian Katz summarizes this discussion up nicely: Some teachers tend to focus on what is happening rather than on what is being learned. They may wish to simply stop the incident rather than consider which of many possible interventions is most likely to stimulate long-term development and learning. It takes courage not to punish, and it takes real effort to see misbehavior as an opportunity for the teacher to teach and the student to learn.

From Joe Bower - Consequences for whom? http://www.joebower.org/2010/10/consequences-for-whom.html

A good principal sets her own high standards.

Many are the ways Ms. Getz evaluates teachers. She regularly visits classrooms. She looks at the written materials they send to families and the administration. She watches them during group planning sessions with other teachers. She studies their lesson plans and notices how they maintain their rooms, when they show up for meetings and whether they take notes. She looks to see how they organize themselves for the day and the records they keep. She listens to parents.

Ms. Getz wants to know whether teachers continually challenge themselves, have the power of reflection, make intellectual connections and are curious about the art of teaching. Some of what she’s hunting for, she can describe only vaguely: “There’s something at the core of a good teacher that kids get, and makes them feel safe and relaxed."

from Michael Winerip's The Secrets of a Principal Who Makes Things Work

"Find those in your school who are already dabbling or immersed in social media. Begin to distribute responsibility to those who trust the school and its leadership and who understand the school and its mission and philosophy on a deep level. Do not fear a deluge of negativity coming at you. Getting attention is the hard thing, getting in the game and into the conversation is the real issue."

Josie Halford on Social Media and School Leadership