Quote-A-Day: Day 73

If we can help #learners discover how to #teach a concept or skill, we've met our goal as #leaders. #QuoteADay #Day73 #edchat #edu #ASCD14

A number of years ago, as a teacher and department chair, our science department designed what we called a "Student Understanding Pyramid."  The goal of this pyramid was to help students learn to self-monitor, and like a Bloom's Taxonomy or Maslow's Hierarchy, show an increase in learning needs met as learners progressed.  We inverted the pyramid to highlight what we saw as the power of mastery growth.  You can check out the picture below.

As I was thinking of today's quote and looking at the poster of the pyramid in my office, I began to think about some ultimate goals for leaders.  We certainly want all our students to be successful, and we definitely want all students to have their needs met.  Along with that, we want students to display mastery of the learning process.

The best way to get to true mastery?

Take a skill or concept and teach it.

The act of teaching requires learners to not only know about an idea or skill set, but be able to explain it deeply and connect it to other relevant items.  Teachers have to be able to anticipate questions, and that "preflective" thinking is what helps separate those who know, from those who can teach.

A learner who can teach something to other learners has truly internalized that information.  If we want school to be meaningful for students, we have to move past the "standard" assessment practices we see regularly, and put learners in a position that requires them to not just show their knowledge, but to teach it to others.

My New Year's Challenge

Happy New Year to all!  In the new year I'm embarking on a number of challenges. . . in fact, I've chosen to take on challenges this year, rather than form resolutions.  The problem with resolutions I've found is that they either tend to be problematic from a time perspective or a specificity one.  

For example, "I'm going to lose five pounds" can be problematic from a time perspective as one could lose five pounds in the course of a month, and then what?  

"I want to become a better person" suffers from lack of specificity.  What does that mean?  How would a person measure it?

To that end, rather than make resolutions, I'm providing myself with a challenge, one that I think that will be fun and quite difficult.

Like many others, I'm on a never-ending quest to continue learning, and part of that quest is to put myself into situations that aren't entirely comfortable.  I'm a user and lover of quotes, and I often use the written words of others to help me get my point across.

This year, I'm going to pay thanks to all those who have penned quotes before me by writing one new inspirational (I hope) quote each day over the course of the year.  In addition, I plan to put together a quick post each day here, detailing where the quote came from.

Here are the rules I'm setting for myself:

• I need to create one new quote a day, for 365 days.
• The quotes must be original, and tied to life experience.
• I may incorporate pre-existing quotes or parts of them, but the quote as a whole must be original.
• Quotes must be 140 characters or less (Twitter will be my main means of sharing).
• No quote stacking allowed (each quote needs to be made on a separate day).

Your role?  Provide thoughts, and share feedback on those you enjoy and those you don't.  If you feel any are particularly worthy, please share them.  I'll be tweeting them with the #QuoteADay hashtag.  Most importantly, don't let me give up.   Even the smallest encouragement will prove helpful, of that I have no doubt.  Goodness knows I'll need it.

Good luck to you in whatever challenges you choose to undertake this year, and look for my first quote attempt tomorrow. :)

Keepin’ It Real: Preparation Pathways that “Work”

Despite my alma mater’s best intentions, I was not ready to be a teacher upon graduation.  Sure I completed all my methods courses, and found my student-teaching experiences to be excellent learning opportunities.  Yes, I was lucky enough to get a job in the subject area I had been “trained” for, and for all intents and purposes, I was ready to “start” my life.

Unfortunately for me, I had no clue what I was doing.  Seriously.  I still recall a conversation I had with a colleague (who would later become a trusted friend and co-worker).  It went a little something like this:

Ray:  Hey Fred.  How was your first day?  You’re packed up and ready to go?  What, do you have an appointment or something? (Note: It was about 2:30 in the afternoon)

Me: Oh, hey Ray.  It was great.  I can’t believe how easy it was.  No appointment, I just got everything done I needed to do.

Ray: Oh.  Huh. (staring at me with one eyebrow raised)

Needless to say, from Day 2 on, it was rare for me to ever leave before 4:00 (and those were often good days).  I just didn’t get it, and while a scenario like this might be very common, the fact that I thought I understood the time commitments of my new career and yet was so off-base means that there was (and still is) a major disconnect between teacher preparation programs and the “real” world of education.  There are a number of issues we need to consider in order to make sure that folks new to the profession aren’t left picking their jaws up off the floor when they realize all that teaching involves.

Let’s prepare specialists, not generalists.  Educators new to the profession can no longer afford to be generalists (in fact, I would offer the challenge that this has always been the case).  Teacher preparation programs are often woefully short on subject matter deep-dives (particularly for elementary pathways).  When I was a middle school science teacher, there were times when I would provide misinformation because I believed I knew something that I didn’t.  But, I was secure enough in my knowledge base to write the wrong after I did further research.  Plus, I was never afraid to say, “I don’t know.  Let’s figure it out together.”  Unfortunately, it can be tough to teach a subject with little content background.  We can teach our students how to write essays, but if they have no content to write about, the process is pointless.  Preparing prospective teachers with methodology without the subject-area skeleton is much the same.  As an added bonus, this adds rigor and an air of “the serious” to the preparation program.  We all know how challenging teaching is.  We can’t afford to have those who aren’t serious about the profession enter it.

Provide certification blueprints.  I went to a university in a state I did not plan to teach in.  Yet, I never knew to ask what I would need to do to become certified to teach in the state I DID want to teach in.  Maybe that was just naïveté on my part, but I don’t think so.  It would have been nice if I knew what I would have to do to transfer my certification before I graduated, and without me having to try and navigate not just one state education department, but two (my head still hurts).  While times may have changed since I graduated college, it would be great if prospective teachers were given this information ahead of time and had the opportunity to ask the important questions about what they need to do, and why they need to do it.  While this might not have changed anything in my career progression, I will never be sure.  I ended up paying for and sitting through multiple certification exams in multiple states.  Needless to say, my initial certification in my first awarding state has long since expired.  And guess what?  It was never used.

Let’s Talk.  Considering the emphasis on college and career readiness, why aren’t colleges and universities regularly meeting with K-12 teachers (by the way, this isn’t meant to be a dig on post-secondary staff, those of us in the K-12 world can be reaching out to colleges and universities too)?  In the ten years that I taught middle school science, never once was there talk about seeing what was taking place in our area colleges and universities to prepare future science teachers.  It was almost like the two relatives in everyone’s family that refuse to acknowledge each other.  It seems to me that better preparation pathways could be designed by engaging in regional symposia that would bring K-12 and postsecondary educators together to share curricula and discuss methodology.  If nothing else, it would be a great start to opening discussion and would help provide pre-service educators with a clearer horizon to head towards.

Involve all Stakeholders.  Wouldn’t it have been helpful if one (or a few) of the courses you took in your preparation had parents and students from the area actually attend?  Stakeholders could share their thoughts and feelings about current education, and prospective teachers could role-play the types of parental and student scenarios that can be demoralizing for new teachers.  Imagine how helpful these types of interactions could be towards helping future educators meet parents and students where they are and to always move towards positive resolution. 

Begin Teacher Prep in High School.  It isn’t appropriate for post-secondary faculty to find out that a student isn’t ready to become an educator during a junior level methodology class.  Unfortunately, by this point, students have already progressed through two years of college, and in these days, have already amassed debt and are simply trying to graduate.  This may force some to enter a career that they don’t find themselves interested in, simply because they can’t spend another year or two in college with a new major.  It stands to reason, then, that we should be providing students with coursework in education earlier on in their academic careers.  Why not provide child study courses at high schools across the country?  Or, why not give juniors and seniors at the high school level the chance to pair up with teachers in their own school (or other district schools) and get a brief intro to student teaching?  This could would strengthen the prospective teacher pool by providing experience and much needed perspective, and perspective can be everything.

The future of education depends on the next generation of teachers.  They can’t be faulted for being ill-prepared.  In fact, I would even suggest that our manner of “evaluating” new teachers shouldn’t put blame on them for not necessarily knowing what to do.  In those situations, the blame should be put on the collective “us.”  If we expect new educators to become effective master teachers and learners, then we need to provide them with the path to do that, and just as importantly, join them as they progress down that road.

Solving the "Play" Problem

As I write this, I’m sitting on a plane traveling to Phoenix, Arizona for one of the National Science Teachers Association’s regional conferences.  The flight’s a fairly long one from Newark, New Jersey, so between almost completing today’s Times crossword puzzle (anyone know a four letter word for “jazz line?”) and reading about some great “geek science” opportunities in this month’s Discover magazine, I’ve had quite a lot of time to reflect on an important conversation I had earlier this week.  

One of my roles as a regional science coordinator has me working with classroom teachers on any myriad of science education initiatives they choose to explore.  As I was planning an inquiry-based “deep observation” experience with a teacher, we got into talking about the topic of “play.”  This teacher mentioned the challenge that many of his students have with seeing more than the forest when they look at a stand of trees.  To quite a number of his students today, a plant is a plant is a plant.  Why would they need to know any more about it?

This view is a troubling one, and is a reflection of the constantly “on” lifestyle our students (and many of us) lead.  Very few of our students can remember a time where their mother or father told them to, “Get out of the house and play.”  Why?   Because hyper-scheduling has made any unstructured play a near impossibility.  Whether this is due to countless after-school activities or more time spent on homework, the end result is a crop of young people who don’t have the time to truly observe the world around them.  This is an annoyance for us as educators, but may prove to be a bigger concern if the trend continues.  True innovation requires deep thinking, and deep thinking can only happen when one has truly taken the time to observe, consider, and learn from all that is encountered.  To truly be creative, we need to have the opportunity to think outside the box, and that requires time and exposure to unique and new experiences (as opposed to the same old routines).  In an article by Tom Kelley and David Kelley in the Harvard Business Review, the need to avoid a “creativity crisis” is a main focus.  The authors emphasize that we shouldn’t stifle the innovative and creative impulses that all children are born with.  They write that education must encourage students to embrace “messiness,” the judgment of others, and taking the first, often frightening, step to exploring something a little different.

As educators, we have to be the guides that lead students along this slightly less-beaten path.  Here are a few tips for helping your students become reacquainted with play, creativity, and innovation:

·         Provide time to be one with the world.  Too much education takes place indoors.  For students who aren’t involved in outdoor sports, their only outdoor time in a given day may be running from the front door to catch the bus.  That isn’t good, and it doesn’t provide time for students to truly “see” a different world then they are used to.  Contrary to what some might believe, any class can be held outdoors.  That doesn’t mean the focus of a lesson needs to be on studying the world outside, but a Shakespearean reading on school grounds, a study of bus idling procedures, and/or a playing field area calculation all provide students with the chance to observe more than a classroom.

·         Promote percolation.  Instead of letting the class end with a bell (or the transition to lunch or recess), build in five or ten minutes for students to reflect.  For many students, reflection doesn’t just happen, and strategies (such as creating a “Questions I have. . .” chart, or an “If it were up to me. . .” learning progression statement) should be incorporated to help students begin to become more active thinkers.  By making thinking time a necessary part of your work with students, you’ll encourage them to reflect regularly and often.

·         Push for unstructured “play.”  The teacher I was working with earlier this week told me about a recent time that he was taking a bunch of students outside for recess.  Unfortunately for students, the playground balls that were usually available for recess could not be used.  Students stood around for a minute or so, and then asked to return inside.  Very few seemed to even realize that there was much more to do outside than play an organized game of football or soccer.  In some respects, many of our students today need to be “forced” to play in an unstructured-environment, if for no other reason than to learn what it means to just be a “kid.”

It worries me that my daughter, who will be three in a few months, and who engages in imaginative play at the drop of a hat, could lose that important quality, and partly because of the design and structure of our educational system.  I want her to be a truly innovative leader who thinks critically and isn’t afraid to imagine.  I believe we want that for each and every student we encounter.  We can’t afford to experience a further “creativity crisis,” and it should never be a problem for students to play.

Works Cited:

Kelley, David and Tom Kelley. (2012).  Reclaim Your Creative Confidence.  Harvard Business Review.  90 (12), 115 – 118.

Is Your PLN Truly a PLN?

I’ve really gotten into Twitter over the last year or so.  As far as social media networks go, I can’t think of a better one to connect people and ideas (truth be told, I only joined Facebook two months ago, so I can’t speak to its effectiveness, and no, I haven’t been living under a rock J).  Besides sharing ideas, I greatly enjoy the many different chats designed for educators using Twitter.  I am a regular participant in #edchat, and when I can, I love participating in #ptchat (parent/teacher chat) and anything related to science. 

I’m also a lover of all things language, an ed policy follower, and a scientific skeptic by nature of my background.  So, needless to say, I’m always paying attention to what members of our profession believe the next big educational “thing” will be, and what the inherent benefits and risks of that “thing” are.  Some might call my devil’s advocacy and toe-dipping before jumping in “educational pragmatism,” others might simply call it “frustrating.”  Regardless, as I’ve become a more frequent user of social media tools, I’ve started to think more and more about PLNs and our use of the term.

PLNs, or Personal Learning Networks, are referred to regularly in Twitter chats, and tend to mean a group of like-minded people who want to learn together.  But, according to an excellent piece I read recently in the Teachers College Record, true PLNs should do much more than just bring people together to talk about similar ideas.  While I won’t recount the entire study (it is a great read if you have a subscription), the basic premise of the paper I’m referring to is this: Real PLNs have to go beyond simply “talking,” and have to result in actual “doing.”  Not only that, but they must do so with actual data as the roadmap.  True PLNs, communities that actually operate as PLNs are “supposed” to, take on what the researchers term an “improving stance,” whereby teachers use data to focus on limitations in classroom practice.  Weak PLNs spend more time validating their own worth by occupying what is referred to as a “proving stance.”  In other words, proving to each other what works and doesn’t work in education based on their own practice, and usually what they believe they do quite well.  The researchers also describe how ineffective PLNs use “disconnected talk,” where anecdotes are supplied without fact, and labels, generalization, and “buzzwords” are used regularly.  They contrast this to “true” PLNs that use “inquiry-based talk,” where conversation spirals from participant to participant (no one participant “needs” the floor), and questions and discussions are always, always, based on data, and analyses are always, always, explored and reflected upon as a community.

What, if anything, does this have to do with Twitter?  As I read this research, I began to think about all the times I’ve tweeted about how great it is to have a Twitter PLN, when, in all honesty, my engagement in Twitter chats is fairly “unPLN-like.”  I would be willing to bet, that for many of you, it is the same.  Chat discussions are often a hodge-podge of answers to questions that are extremely relevant, but often very general.  This “big picture” focus provides a great jumping off point for participants to share their thoughts and beliefs, but very little opportunity to explore and analyze “real” and “crunchable” data.  Most responses to questions, while regularly very empowering, provide anecdotes without much grounding, and only occasionally does anyone share/cite actual data.  Yes, it is tough to do that in 140 characters.  And yes, the fast pace of chats tend to make it difficult to stay focused for more than a second on any one tweet.  But, why shouldn’t we make our online PLNs as data-driven and specific problem focused as our face-to-face ones? 

Imagine this. . . What if #edchat (or any Twitter chat for that matter) was less about sharing beliefs and anecdotes and more about actually delving into a specific problem to solve?  Or, what if (and maybe this happens already), #edchat serves as a general starting point and then members from that #edchat meet up (either virtually or in person) to look at some real data about the topic that was discussed and begin to hash out ideas, solutions, and next steps.  In a future #edchat, this group could report back to the others “in attendance” and those interested would take these ideas back to their classrooms, districts, and face-to-face colleagues.  True, this would drastically reduce the speed of the Twitter chatting phenomenon, and yes, it would require those of us who participate (like me, for instance) to do more than exchange emails or Skype every once in a while with other educators in my online “PLN.”  But, if we’re going to use an educational “buzzword,” we should use it well, and more importantly, our actions should speak louder than our words (both the ones we truly speak and the ones we type).

I would love to experiment in turning an #edchat into a #beyondedchat.  If you’re interested in exploring ways to make social media PLNs more like true PLNs, let me know.  I would love to embark on a data-driven Twitter journey with you.  Contact me through Edge, or you can always find me on Twitter at @fredende.

Works Cited

Deuel, A., Holmlund Nelson, T., & Slavit, D.  (2012).  Two Dimensions of an Inquiry Stance Toward Student-Learning Data.  Teachers College Record, 114, 1-42.

Ready, Set Goals!

The school year is beginning for many within a few days, and with it comes the excitement and anxiety of a new year and all its possibilities.  For many of us in education, we spend countless hours considering the goals of our charges (whether they be students, teachers, community members, etc.), and much less time really thinking about our own personal goals.  In fact, I would be willing to wager that for most of us, our own personal goal creation is fairly pitiful when compared to the goals we create or collaborate on with others. It’s not that we don’t want to further our own knowledge (heck, we’re born learners, after all), it is just that deep introspection takes lots of time, and in education, time is a commodity that is never in large enough supply.

Happily, I’m here to be your goal setting conscience.  Since the school year never seems to slowly rev up, but rather always starts at full throttle, here are a few goal-setting rules to consider while you’re still at “coasting” speed. 

1.  Plan with parsimony.  Ever heard of “Occam’s Razor?”  In science, it is the idea that barring any reason not to, one should always consider the simplest hypothesis before those of a more complex nature.  Why?  “Simply” (sorry, couldn’t resist) because the greater the complexity, the greater the room for error and competing variables, all of which will make it tougher to tell whether the hypothesis has been verified or not.  The same can be said for goal creation.  Goals, whether personal or for stakeholders, should be simple enough for all to understand with no bias or room for misinterpretation.  Considering how busy everyone’s lives are these days, goals must also be simple to pursue.  Keep in mind that just because a goal is simple to understand and get started on, it need not be simple to achieve.  Challenge is good.  Goals that are too simple really aren’t goals.  Some food for thought: If the creation of a goal takes longer than meeting the goal itself, than it isn’t a goal worth creating or achieving.

2.  Get time on your side.  Goals require a finite time span.  In reality, time spans for goal completion should be mid-range in nature, providing for enough time to devise goal-meeting strategy and adequate reflection, but not so long that time lapse causes the goal to get buried by other initiatives or antiquated by the nature of today’s fast-paced world.  So, a two-week goal?  Likely too short a time period.  A three-year goal?  Not short enough.  In fact, I would be willing to argue with anyone interested (I love a good debate) that a “one-year goal” is actually too long.  Rather, goals can be appropriately timed by the structure of your building or district’s terms.  Quarterly or semester-based goals are appropriate, whether they are your goals, your students, or your teachers.

3.  Try triads.  Goals can be stressful.  Whether building benchmarks for yourself or for others, reaching new heights is anxiety producing.  The more goals set, the higher the inherent anxiety, and the more likely some will fall by the wayside.  Of course, if only one goal is set, it leaves little room for flexibility in goal achievement and can stifle collaboration and strength/weakness pairing.  The human mind is an incredible tool, and it seems to work quite well with ideas grouped in threes.  So, keep your goals to a triad to provide just the right amount of flexible thinking opportunities and positive stressors.

4.  A final important rule is don’t set goals for others unless you plan to have a few set for yourself.  So, without further ado, here are my professional goals for the next three months (I’ll look to report back by the end of November and let you know where I stand. . .remember, goal reporting and discussing is always key):

• Explore and then implement one new technology tool.  I’m currently looking at Socrative (a handy-student response tool that works with “any” device; http://www.socrative.com/) and some handy Twitter SAP tools (http://www.sapweb20.com/blog/powerpoint-twitter-tools/).  I’ll look into them in more detail and then try one of them out with the students or teachers I work with.  If those tools don’t pan out, I’ll increase the social media exposure of the science program I work with by creating a Facebook page (our Twitter feed has been quite successful).
• Design and facilitate one new science education workshop.  We always like to provide teachers with new offerings, and I’m looking to run a session on life science content for elementary science teachers and/or Next Generation Science Standard characteristics that teachers can begin implementing now (even while the document is in “draft” form).
• Complete our first grade audio book portfolio.  I’m in the process of developing and recording audio books for our younger elementary curriculum.  I’ve finished the kindergarten selections but haven’t been successful in keeping up with this project for first grade.  Time to make it happen.

It is always helpful to have a “critical friend” handy who can look over your goals and discuss where you stand at the end of your time frame.  My wife is an educator and is an excellent educational sounding board.  In addition, my current supervisor has been an excellent source of encouragement and critical feedback.

As you ramp up from 0-60 (or 0-97 for our metric colleagues) in the next few days, make sure you’ve had the chance to put a few personal goals in place.  That way, when the year ends in a few short months (and next summer will be here before you know it), you’ll be able to look back at not just another year going by, but just how much you’ve accomplished for yourself and your stakeholders.  

Talking Organization

I recently had the opportunity to compose a guest blog piece for Really Good Stuff's blog, The Teachers' Lounge.  I was asked to share my experience and expertise on materials management, something that I know a bit about.  When you have a few minutes, check out the post, and let me know what you think.



3 Tips To Organize Your Classroom

#NGSSchat Begins!

With the Next Generation Science Standards first draft being released to the public this Friday (the draft will be available at www.nextgenscience.org), we'll be holding a #NGSSchat on Twitter each Thursday at 8:00 p.m. to discuss the standards and their implications.  To get involved, simply log on to Twitter at that time and search for hashtag #NGSSchat.  Join us this Thursday for our inaugural session!

Hope to see you there!

Talking Shop

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to share a project I had worked on with students in the past.  The project, an open-ended student data collection experience, was featured in a recent issue of Science Scope (one of the National Science Teachers Association’s peer-reviewed journals) and attracted the attention of Lab Out Loud, a podcast organized by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and moderated by two high-school science teachers, Dale Basler and Brian Bartel.  I had the opportunity to speak with them about the project, and what experiences of this type can do for education.  Rather than write the details here, when you have a moment, give it a listen and let me know what you think.

http://laboutloud.com/2012/03/episode-76-not-another-lab-report/

Update on the Next Generation Science Standards

On Friday I had the opportunity to attend the Celebration of Teaching and Learning (CTL)  in New York City.  It was a wonderful conference.  I attended a workshop put together by Brookhaven Laboratory first thing in the morning and then listened to the plenary right after (Sal Khan ended up being a much more dynamic and humorous speaker than I thought he would be).  In the afternoon, I heard the sobering data from the MetLife survey that teacher satisfaction has dropped fifteen percent to forty-four percent in the last two years.  With all that is going on in education today, that is frightening, but not entirely surprising.

The most intriguing session for me, however, was getting an update on the development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).  I've been following the process as closely as possible since the release of the NRC's Framework in July, and this was a great opportunity to hear what was cooking behind the scenes at Achieve.  The session was run by Stephen Pruitt (of Achieve fame), Heidi Schweingruber (force behind the Framework), and Peter McLaren (of the CSSS).

Dr. Schweingruber began the presentation with a description of the Framework.  She did a nice job of bringing all those who have yet to read the Framework, or to read NSTA's "Reader's Guide," up to speed.  

 

I apologize in advance for the terrible images.  The Hilton was stingy with the wifi ($25 bucks, come on now), so all my tweeting and pics came from my Droid.  The image above shows a simple correlation between the Common Core standards and NGSS.  This was very cool to see, but wait, it gets better.

Before turning over the presentation to Dr. Pruitt, Dr. Schweingruber shared the determinants for disciplinary Core Idea selection.  What separates out the included from those not making the cut?
According to this list, an idea would only be listed as a core idea if:

•  It had broad importance across disciplines or was a key idea in one discipline 
• It provides a key tool for investigation or problem solving
• It directly relates to the life experiences of students or important happenings in society
• It is teachable and "learnable" over multiple grades

She noted that while this "rubric" was tough to use at times, it did help in making the Framework more about depth than breadth.

Dr. Pruitt then shared how Achieve has used the Framework to begin drafting standards.  While "shifts" is becoming a tremendous educational buzzword (add that to your education bingo card), Dr. Pruitt shared the shifts in the NGSS (as of now).  While the pic above is horrible, the shifts include looking at standards as performance expectations, correlating the NGSS with the Common Core State Standards, and integrating science and engineering.

What was really exciting to see was a sample standard!  Dr. Pruitt made clear that this was only a sample, and may not look anything like the draft or final versions.  Still, it presented some interesting food for thought.  Here's the lowdown:

• Performance Expectations will be written in such a way that each of the three Framework pillars are incorporated (Practices, Cross-cutting Concepts, and Core Ideas).  An example could be: Students will analyze data (Practice) to determine that kinetic energy is proportional (Cross-cutting Concept) to the mass of a moving object and that it grows with the squaring of velocity (Core Idea).  
• Colors will be used in the standard document to help readers see how the three pillars are incorporated.
• Correlations to Common Core State Standards will be included below performance expectations to provide for a seamless method for tying relevant standards together (interdisciplinary party, anyone?)

Other intriguing items of note?  The first public draft should be out by April 30th (a month later than originally anticipated), and in this first public draft, performance expectations will be broken down by individual grades for K-5, and then in bands for 6-8, and 9-12.  Achieve is looking to design pathways that states could use to allow for standards to be met in either a grade-by-grade or band format.  In this way, regardless of the states needs, they would be able to integrate the standards into their programs.  Personally, I'm more a fan of having four distinct bands (K-2, 3-5, 6-8. and 9-12) as I think it affords teachers and curriculum designers with more flexibility.  But, I won't knock either option until I've tried it.  I'm anxiously awaiting the chance to provide some feedback!

Mr. McLaren wrapped up the presentation by sharing ways that states are getting involved in the standards process, and just as importantly, how the average Joe and Jane can get involved.  One item he mentioned is that even though the talk has been about the twenty-six "lead states" (of which New York is one), all fifty states and D.C. are putting forth plans for standard release.  He shared his card with all attendees and even sought me out after the presentation to make sure I had all my questions answered.  All three were excellent presenters and great to briefly chat with after the presentation was over.  

This is the first time I've had the opportunity to attend the CTL, and have to say that the four sessions I was able to attend were quite intriguing.  I even had the chance to pose with good ol' Snoopy (note that I in no way endorse MetLife :) ).  

 

It's All About the Training. . .

As a classroom teacher up until a few months ago, I was always split on my opinion of professional development.  I had loved some teacher training sessions, and endured others while gritting my teeth and watching the clock travel ever so slowly.  So, it was with somewhat bated breath that I ran my first training session this past Monday. 

One of the large parts of what I do in my new job is assisting other teachers with the use of our K-6 inquiry-based science program, SCIENCE 21.  I almost always attend the trainings, but never run them (we have consultants who have taught the curriculum or helped develop it in the past).  So, even when I attend as “director,” I’m truly attending as “learner.”  This training was different, however.  As the Regional Science Coordinator here, I, along with another colleague was training a group of twenty teachers on the administration and “grading” of New York State’s Elementary-Level Science Test (ELST).

The ELST requires a decent amount of setup so we began by unpacking a number of boxes filled with equipment.  I had done this before at the 8^th grade level, but this was my first time setting up the 4^th grade test. 

This is an example of a PD session that folks attend because they have to, not because they want to.  That can be a major issue for presenters at these types of sessions as adults can be even harder to engage than children.  In fact, most participants don’t arrive excited, or particularly engaged.  So it falls on the presenters to work uphill from the start.  Happily, my co-presenter and I made a great team.  His experience in leading this type of training and my science content knowledge and recent classroom experience meshed quite well, and I was pleased to see the positive feedback we received on our evaluation forms.  Discussion about grading methods was good, and teachers enjoyed taking the test and rating various student responses.

This session taught me quite a bit.  First, the years I have under my belt as a middle school educator have prepared me quite well to present in any given situation.  It should be a requirement that anyone entering a “public-speaking” profession spend a year or two teaching first (an “unlikely-to-occur requirement,” but an important one, nonetheless).  Second, just like with students, an interesting topic can be made dull and a “requirement” made intriguing simply by the way it is presented.  Finally, this type of work will need to be a part of my position moving forward.  As I’ve been out of the classroom for a few months, I’ve realized how much I miss teaching.  I love my position and with some training/teaching built in, believe that I’ll be as professionally fulfilled as I can imagine.  Building more training into my schedule should be something I can arrange quite effectively once I get a few more months under my belt.

I’m happy to report that my transition from teaching young adults to teaching “less young” adults was quite positive and I’m excited to do even more of this work in the future.  After one session, I’m already starting to see a number of similarities and differences between teaching these varied age groups.  I’m excited to report more on this as I gain more experience working with adults.

Setting the Audio

One of the goals of SCIENCE 21 (www.pnwboces.org/science21), the elementary science program I direct, is to provide teachers with a plethora of resources to utilize with their students.  Recently, a number of teachers have inquired about creating audiobook versions of the “readers” we have previously created (see below for an example).

We’ve already made the readers available online by saving the pages as Publisher files, and then converting them to .pdf files (here’s one as an example: http://pnwboces.org/science21/Readers/GKU3Newts.pdf).  In this way, teachers can use the hard copy versions of our readers as group read-alouds and have the .pdf files up on interactive whiteboards or separate computer terminals for students to read together in groups and/or explore individually.

When I was asked to put together an audiobook, I wanted to make sure that I was able to utilize the files we had already created and would be able to format the audiobooks in such a way that every classroom could view and listen to them. 

So, I decided to design .ppt files with built in audio on each slide.  The creation was simple but time-consuming.  I migrated the images and text from Publisher, resized them to fit the slightly modified .ppt slide area and then began the process of generating audio (see below for a screenshot of one of the .ppt slides).

We have a recording studio on campus and I utilized Adobe Audition (a very user-friendly product, by the way) in the studio to record me reading each of the pages.  I created two versions, a standard one where I simply read the pages, and an extended version where I supplied a number of critical thinking questions as well.  I saved the files as .mp3 extensions to reduce the file size, and then embedded them in the .ppt.  To make the audiobook easier to use, I set the audio to play on each slide shift, and moved the audio “button” out of the visible field of the slide, so it would be less likely to be deleted or moved. 

We then placed both versions up on the web for teachers to review.  We also created a short survey about the books to get a sense of whether teachers felt they were more likely to use the standard or extended versions.  So far, feedback has been extremely positive and I’m excited to be able to offer additional curricular resources to our users!

Want to check out the audiobooks for yourself?  Visit http://pnwboces.org/science21/Teacher_Resources.html and then click on “SCIENCE 21 Readers and Audiobooks.”  Listen to the two samples provided for the “What’s in the Box?” book, and let me know what you think!

Learning (and "Unlearning") Every Day

My daughter is a little over a year and a half and she's a spitfire.  Every day she amazes me and my wife with what comes out of her mouth, and what actions she takes.  As an educator and scientist at heart, I'm always amazed at what she learns, and what she doesn't.

Take colors, for instance.  My daughter is at a stage where she loves picking up objects and telling me what color they are.  She readily identifies yellow, orange, blue, red, pink, etc.  However, she refuses to call orange, "orange."  Why?  Not a clue.

Or consider counting.  We count together up to ten, but she never says eight.  In fact, every number beyond seven is "nine."  What allows a person to build conceptual understanding but prevents them from tearing down "blockages?"  I find it all so interesting.

So interesting, in fact, that I ran a quick test with my daughter this week (the armchair scientist's work is never done).  As we were driving home from my daughter's daycare on Thursday, I started counting off by odd numbers, interested to see if my daughter would insert the evens.  After a few practice rounds, she did (of course leaving out eight).  The speed that she picked this up was amazing to me.  What was even more amazing is that over the last three days, anytime we ask her to count, she now only counts in even numbers.  In effect, by trying to teach her a new idea, I somehow made her "unlearn" the other numbers she seemed to know!

The connection to education (whether working with pre-K'ers or high school students) is that we all inherently have concepts and ideas that come to us very easily, and misconceptions that can arise at the drop of a hat.  As educators (and certainly parenting is all about education) it is our job to identify what comes easy (nothing provides challenge for those who "get it" better than encouraging them to assist others) and what just seems to be "blocked."  We also must do our best to not create gaps in understanding by trying to teach new ideas that others might not be ready for or that might confuse cognition.  What do we do to help when those obstacles seem to just pop up?  Well, that seems to depend quite a bit on age.  Based on my experience, I've provided a few thoughts below.

For the really, really, young, repetition and practice can often provide the push to overcome any misconception.  Since conceptual understanding of all things is occurring at a breakneck pace, ideas are constantly being relearned.  It's like continuing to add a new coat of paint.  Eventually, it looks just right.

For elementary level students, unpacking challenging ideas in truly concrete ways is helpful.  Small, discrete, ideas provided with ample time to explore in a variety of learning modalities is key.  So is avoiding creating misconceptions yourself as ideas "set" at this age often have a way of "sticking."  Explaining that plants conduct photosynthesis and animals conduct cellular respiration to a third grader "glues" the idea that plants do not conduct cellular respiration into their scientific consciousness.  This erroneous idea, like others, becomes much tougher to remove as students get older.

For secondary and post-secondary learners, the idea of metacognition is paramount.  Once students can truly think about their thinking, they can begin to explore why certain concepts challenge them, and what they, in fact, can do about it.  The self-motivated learner is what we hope all our students (and even ourselves) will become.

Finally, for "adults" collaborative opportunities keep learning fresh, and help us to see ideas from other perspectives.  Since we often get further set in our ways as we age, nothing works better to loosen these restrictions than engaging in evidence-based discussion with others.

The key, of course, is to always keep learning (and to strive to "unlearn" that which is not "correct").  We see it in the very young, and this trait of "learning everyday" should be something everyone sets on their daily "To Do" list.  While certainly a lofty goal, it is one that can be reached and never exhausted at the same time.

Taking Stock. . . Literally

One of the challenges for any science educator is keeping tabs on materials.  As a department chair, I often struggled with inventory and equipment accounting.  All teachers had specific equipment that belonged to their rooms.  However, we regularly shared equipment for lab work, demos, etc.  This made it near impossible to locate that errant triple beam balance when a teacher needed it most.  I tried and tested numerous accounting methods from the age-old silver sharpie routine to a more "high-tech" Microsoft Access file.  For whatever reason, none of the methods I tried worked as well as I would have hoped.

One of the first obstacles I tackled in my new position was figuring out how to efficiently catalog and inventory our equipment.  I wanted a no-cost system that could be accessed whenever and wherever it was needed.  In talking with one of my colleagues, we identified a few options: marking them with markers, putting together a database file, tagging them into our regional library system, or using QR codes (if I could figure out a way to make them do some accounting).

The first two options were automatically out as I had tried them before with limited success.  My colleague, who runs our regional library system, was more than happy to add the equipment to her roster, but that seemed like an easy way out for me and one that took the inventory control out of our hands.  So, I decided to explore using QR codes (you know, those funky little designs that are rivaling bar codes for their simplicity and readability) for inventory.

QR codes are becoming more and more ubiquitous with every passing day.  You see them regularly in magazines, in advertisements, and even on business cards.  Here's an image of one in case you haven't really thought about them, or more importantly, what they can do.

QR codes can easily be scanned with reader apps for just about any smartphone, and the data embedded in them can range from text to URLs.  My thinking was if I could generate a database online, I could create a QR code with the database URL embedded.  I could then print the code on label paper, attach it to a piece of equipment, and by scanning it, be taken to the database for that item.

So, after some trial and error, that is just what I did.  I started by using Google Docs to create separate databases for each piece of equipment that we had.  While this was somewhat time consuming, it allowed me to generate an individual URL for each piece of equipment (which would be necessary later).  I then used a QR code generator to input the URLs and create a QR code.  Since I would be using these on a variety of different pieces of equipment, I created the smallest size codes to maximize my placement options.  I then printed these codes on label paper and attached them to our equipment (see below).

By scanning the code with a free code scanning app, I was able to access the database directly from my phone.  I could then edit in information, see who had the equipment on lease, etc.  In this way, whether I was in front of my computer or lending equipment during a training session, I always had access.  The best part was, this was an entirely free system.  The QR code generator is free, as is the use of Google Docs.  Add in the free code reader app, and this is an inventory method that included no overhead and provided our team with an ability to use current tools and technology to always know where our equipment is.

There are a few caveats, however.  I have yet to find a way to do what I would call "multi-linking" with QR codes.  The epitome of awesomeness would be to scan a piece of equipment and then scan a person's name tag or work badge thereby linking the item with the person and populating the data table without having to manually enter information.  Despite spending quite a bit of time trying, I could not achieve this, and I'm not sure if this is even possible. . .yet.  A second issue is that most reader apps can be finicky.  I find that with my Android phone I've got to be in a "Goldilocks zone" to read the codes accurately.  Too far or too close and I just look like a fool pointing a phone at a microscope, triple beam, or camera.  I've also found that Google doc editing capabilities vary from one phone OS to another.  Our program assistant can access the databases with her Blackberry, but has a heck of a time editing them.  My Droid Incredible is a breeze to access, read, and edit from.

All told, this proved to highlight just what one can accomplish with collaboration, determination, and a little technological know-how.  If you're interested in creating a free inventory system of our own, drop me a line. I'll be more than happy to help out.


Truly, "You are Here."

Fred

Green Means Go

While I consider myself an early adopter of most things science, technology, and education, (and life, for that matter), it has taken me a while to put together a blog.  It isn't that I don't think I've got excellent thoughts to share, but rather I just didn't think anyone would really be that interested in reading them.  As time has passed, however, I'm getting the sense that some folks might actually be interested in hearing what I have to say, so I figured I would give it a try.

The title for this blog pretty clearly encapsulates where I consider myself today, standing (or to bettere go with the rest of the description, sitting behind the wheel) in the middle of a four-way intersection.  Education Avenue, Technology Way, Science Street, and Life Lane are my options, and I can head down any one I choose (for those of you keeping me honest, let's just say I somehow ended up in the center of the intersection without travelling down one of those roadways. . . some people are so critical :) ).  Yet, despite the fact that all four are clear, I'm content having a foot (and arm) where they all meet, in the intersection.  So, expect to see posts focusing on those four areas.

I have two goals for this blog:
1.  For you to read it.
2.  For both of us to learn something.

If both of those goals can be met, than my intuition about creating a blog was correct.  If not, then hey, it was free :).  Looking forward to sharing my successes and failures and learning from yours.

Truly, "You are Here."

Fred