Truth be told, I am glad week six is behind us. I know that life happens--but I cannot remember a week in my life when it has been more trying to be a human being.
Even as I write this reflection, three police officers are dead in Baton Rouge. We are gearing up for some of the strangest political party conventions held in my lifetime. Turkey is about 12 hours post-coup attempt. There is a heat dome headed for most of the Western US. There are still people missing in Nice, France.
This feels like humanity is converging upon sure disaster.
Then, I think, does all of this seem connected simply because we are all so connected to it. I can turn on the news--broadcast 24 hours/7 days a week and get the latest details. I can take a quick glance at any number of my social media connections and get a quick read on what is happening and how my circles are responding to it.
Has the world always been this chaotic? Or, have our connections just brought the chaos into full, focused view for all to see?
And, I am trying to think about how we can guide our students through all of this information to productive conversations. I wonder how we are going to do that when some of our best universities are encouraging us to moderate the tone of our social media usage. Our students have their voices too--voices which need to be heard and voices which often contain more reason than those of the adults around them. I am loathe to ask them to moderate their voices when, to the depth of my core, outrage does seem appropriate.
However, it is not enough to feel outrage. Collectively, we have powerful tools in digital media that allow us to create communities of understanding. We can learn from experience and move forward in a way that is productive. I am convinced that humanity has the capacity to create collapsed digital spaces where perspectives and solutions to our shared issues can germinate, pollinate and grow. Can we use what we are learning here to create narratives which can move us in a different direction. Can those same ideas be used to move our politicians and leaders in a direction which serves all humanity?
Perhaps I am an idealist--still. Converging upon sure disaster is not a place which is comfortable for me--and the question becomes, how can we help ourselves and our students become change agents working against this madness? Can we equip them with digital literacies which give them a powerful voice to become catalysts for change? I believe we can--and I believe we have an ethical and moral responsibility to help them move in that direction.
Tough week for our planet.
Summer 2016: ILT5340 Theme: Transitions, Changes and Risk-Taking
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Week 6: Assignment Bank
It has been a week of what if's for me. What if we could just turn schools upside down? What if the creative spaces for learning were truly creative, open and welcome. What if our learning was open--to all kinds of possibilities.
And, I thought it would be fun to share a photo of one of the classrooms we developed over the past two years. It is a classroom with multiple spaces for learning, collaborating and interaction. This was designed so that students could have spaces to work independently. They could also collaborate in a face to face environment. They could collaborate with other students using web based communication tools and video conferencing software.
They have the opportunity to work with more knowledgeable others including teachers and mentors.
It's a great place--but it was missing one element. So, I put Toby under our tree.
I used a web-based photo editing program and a transparent photo overlay. It is a fairly simply but effective procedure which is very intuitive. My photo editing skills are marginal--but I think this one turned out pretty well.
Re-conceptualizing learning spaces is difficult because we are all somewhat set in our ways when it comes to what schools look like. Even most newer designs still begin with a series of rooms on either side of a series of hallways. This is both inefficient and inadequate for creating collaborative created spaces for students.
I had fun with this--and created another aspect of change thinking.
And, I thought it would be fun to share a photo of one of the classrooms we developed over the past two years. It is a classroom with multiple spaces for learning, collaborating and interaction. This was designed so that students could have spaces to work independently. They could also collaborate in a face to face environment. They could collaborate with other students using web based communication tools and video conferencing software.
They have the opportunity to work with more knowledgeable others including teachers and mentors.
It's a great place--but it was missing one element. So, I put Toby under our tree.
I used a web-based photo editing program and a transparent photo overlay. It is a fairly simply but effective procedure which is very intuitive. My photo editing skills are marginal--but I think this one turned out pretty well.
Re-conceptualizing learning spaces is difficult because we are all somewhat set in our ways when it comes to what schools look like. Even most newer designs still begin with a series of rooms on either side of a series of hallways. This is both inefficient and inadequate for creating collaborative created spaces for students.
I had fun with this--and created another aspect of change thinking.
Week 6 Reading Critique: Platforms and Personalized Learning
This has been an incredibly full week and like most of the others associated with ILT5340, there has been a serendipitous intersection between life and class!
I am spending two weeks at the Summit Public Schools Basecamp. The Summit Public Schools have been identified as one of the top ten transformational schools in the United States. In this model, students are in the driver's seat of their own learning. They access what they want to study, when they want to work on it through a Personalized Learning Platform which allows them multiple on-ramps for choosing and discovering their best ways of learning. Sounds like a fantasy, right?
I really was not going to do this in 2016/17. I was going to hang out in my sweats and finish my dissertation. Really. That was my plan.
Then a new charter school had its founding principal resign in June. My plan fell to pieces when I was contacted by them and we started talking. Mental note: I should never ever engage in a conversation about transforming schools unless I am willing to take the job. A mere week later, I signed an agreement to get Launch High School up and running.
Launch High School will be using the Summit Personalized Learning Platform. You can read about it here: http://www.progressivepolicy.
One of my goals as a school leader is to significantly reduce the amount of time I spend on attendance issues. I have struggled with the very high drop out rates particularly among our minority students. I have also really had to grapple with my own personal opinion that schools have become less and less relevant to our young people in the 30 years I have spent in the profession. I am disturbed that 50% of our minority students find them so irrelevant that they simply cease engaging in the school environment. I have said more than once that if our schools were responsive to the needs of our learners, I would never have to enforce a truancy statute. I believe this. I want to see it play out in the field.
So, what happens if we re-create what schools look like entirely? Rather than continuing to create disconnected 'course' -- we work to connect the learning to real life. Rather than assuming that every student needs to learn the same things in the same order, we toss out Scope and Sequence in favor of a more just in time approach? I have heard educators--including 4 new teachers I have hired for my team, tell me that this is impossible.
In our model, students will be working on entrepreneurial projects. They will be working inside their communities and their world to figure out how to make things better. While some of these projects will be profit based, we already have students working on social entrepreneur projects with Youth Venture and the Ashoka Foundation. This provides a real world application where learning becomes relevant and effective. Students will have the opportunity become change agents in their communities.
This is exciting and transformational work. It also comes directly against every system currently in place to measure effective schools. To be honest, we do not know what test scores will look like. We are unsure if our post secondary readiness will fit into a rubric the Colorado Department of Education has designed for such purposes. We are hoping that by making what happens both in and out of our building relevant for our students, they will perform well on those measures. However we simply are not sure. This is the disconnect between transformational schools and intractable systems. We need to overcome that.
And yet, how can we do that without critical discourse? I was so deeply saddened by Remi Holden's communications regarding open discourse at the Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology Conference. As this field continues to emerge, there are important conversations that need to happen--and disagreements will happen. I am a real proponent of iron sharpening iron. We all get better when we agree, disagree, and practice our work collaboratively. I found the communication between the conference and Remi so condescending and inappropriate among a body of scholars. I was sickened. Moderating voices will never move our field forward and in fact perpetuates a status quo that simply is not working. I do not believe this is appropriate in any academic field. I am shocked that this occurred and like Remi, I'm not sure how one even combats this line of thinking.
This sort of fight is mentally exhausting.
I am also intrigued by the additional readings on solitude. As someone who is highly connected during the day, I find myself craving time simply to be rather than to do when I am away from school. I see the demand of the incessant vibration of my cell phone annoying to the point that frequently flip it off. For the purpose of writing this blog, I checked: yesterday I received 43 phone calls; I received 72 emails and responded to 54 of them. By any measure, that it more communication than I could have ever have managed in an unconnected world. Part of this is due to the online nature of the work I do. But there is a seeming expectation that we are all available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I have to wonder about the cognitive fatigue we all experience--and whether or not I am meaningfully connected to anyone when I am so fatigued.
This weekend, I am turning off the cell phone--and connecting face to face. I am doing that mindfully. I am doing that because ultimately, I believe life is about relationships and nuturing meaningful connections which are empathetic and rich with shared experiences.
Won't you join me?
I am spending two weeks at the Summit Public Schools Basecamp. The Summit Public Schools have been identified as one of the top ten transformational schools in the United States. In this model, students are in the driver's seat of their own learning. They access what they want to study, when they want to work on it through a Personalized Learning Platform which allows them multiple on-ramps for choosing and discovering their best ways of learning. Sounds like a fantasy, right?
I really was not going to do this in 2016/17. I was going to hang out in my sweats and finish my dissertation. Really. That was my plan.
Then a new charter school had its founding principal resign in June. My plan fell to pieces when I was contacted by them and we started talking. Mental note: I should never ever engage in a conversation about transforming schools unless I am willing to take the job. A mere week later, I signed an agreement to get Launch High School up and running.
Launch High School will be using the Summit Personalized Learning Platform. You can read about it here: http://www.progressivepolicy.
One of my goals as a school leader is to significantly reduce the amount of time I spend on attendance issues. I have struggled with the very high drop out rates particularly among our minority students. I have also really had to grapple with my own personal opinion that schools have become less and less relevant to our young people in the 30 years I have spent in the profession. I am disturbed that 50% of our minority students find them so irrelevant that they simply cease engaging in the school environment. I have said more than once that if our schools were responsive to the needs of our learners, I would never have to enforce a truancy statute. I believe this. I want to see it play out in the field.
So, what happens if we re-create what schools look like entirely? Rather than continuing to create disconnected 'course' -- we work to connect the learning to real life. Rather than assuming that every student needs to learn the same things in the same order, we toss out Scope and Sequence in favor of a more just in time approach? I have heard educators--including 4 new teachers I have hired for my team, tell me that this is impossible.
In our model, students will be working on entrepreneurial projects. They will be working inside their communities and their world to figure out how to make things better. While some of these projects will be profit based, we already have students working on social entrepreneur projects with Youth Venture and the Ashoka Foundation. This provides a real world application where learning becomes relevant and effective. Students will have the opportunity become change agents in their communities.
This is exciting and transformational work. It also comes directly against every system currently in place to measure effective schools. To be honest, we do not know what test scores will look like. We are unsure if our post secondary readiness will fit into a rubric the Colorado Department of Education has designed for such purposes. We are hoping that by making what happens both in and out of our building relevant for our students, they will perform well on those measures. However we simply are not sure. This is the disconnect between transformational schools and intractable systems. We need to overcome that.
And yet, how can we do that without critical discourse? I was so deeply saddened by Remi Holden's communications regarding open discourse at the Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology Conference. As this field continues to emerge, there are important conversations that need to happen--and disagreements will happen. I am a real proponent of iron sharpening iron. We all get better when we agree, disagree, and practice our work collaboratively. I found the communication between the conference and Remi so condescending and inappropriate among a body of scholars. I was sickened. Moderating voices will never move our field forward and in fact perpetuates a status quo that simply is not working. I do not believe this is appropriate in any academic field. I am shocked that this occurred and like Remi, I'm not sure how one even combats this line of thinking.
This sort of fight is mentally exhausting.
I am also intrigued by the additional readings on solitude. As someone who is highly connected during the day, I find myself craving time simply to be rather than to do when I am away from school. I see the demand of the incessant vibration of my cell phone annoying to the point that frequently flip it off. For the purpose of writing this blog, I checked: yesterday I received 43 phone calls; I received 72 emails and responded to 54 of them. By any measure, that it more communication than I could have ever have managed in an unconnected world. Part of this is due to the online nature of the work I do. But there is a seeming expectation that we are all available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I have to wonder about the cognitive fatigue we all experience--and whether or not I am meaningfully connected to anyone when I am so fatigued.
This weekend, I am turning off the cell phone--and connecting face to face. I am doing that mindfully. I am doing that because ultimately, I believe life is about relationships and nuturing meaningful connections which are empathetic and rich with shared experiences.
Won't you join me?
Friday, July 15, 2016
Week Six: What would you Change?
I love this video. I have to admit after stumbling by accident into the Jubilee Project last week, I ended up digging a bit deeper into this during week six. I find that so many of their videos line up perfectly with my focus of transitions and change and risk-taking. However, they do have a bit of a formulaic feel after you watch a few of them.
The storytelling part of this really creates empathy between the individuals in the video and the viewer. Every woman who has had a child can identify with the woman who wants to erase the stretch marks she has earned as a result of pregnancy! We all wonder if we should cover those grey hairs or not--even men these days are doing more than just dabbling with hair color which is quite a shift in my adult experience. (Of course, they could go the route of my husband who opted for bald as a recourse to turning grey!)
The digital literacies demonstrate in this video are fairly sophisticated--without appearing so. This is deceptively simple in terms of setting. Just a tall stool in an open room somewhere. However, the lighting is perfect. The camera angles are flattering. The background music enhances the overall feel of the message--it's a good fit for the message. All of the technical features come together for a cohesive whole.
It is in the message though that the strength is really found. This is what the Jubilee Project excels at--the delivery of a message which is thoughtful and thought provoking. It takes me back to one of my favorite quotes from Robert McCammon's A Boy's Life:
“You know, I do believe in magic. I was born and raised in a magic time, in a magic town, among magicians. Oh, most everybody else didn’t realize we lived in that web of magic, connected by silver filaments of chance and circumstance. But I knew it all along. When I was twelve years old, the world was my magic lantern, and by its green spirit glow I saw the past, the present and into the future. You probably did too; you just don’t recall it. See, this is my opinion: we all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out. We get put on the straight and narrow and told to be responsible. Told to act our age. Told to grow up, for God’s sake. And you know why we were told that? Because the people doing the telling were afraid of our wildness and youth, and because the magic we knew made them ashamed and sad of what they’d allowed to wither in themselves."
Then I view a video like this and it occurs to me that we were all kids once who would only change their bodies by growing mermaid tails or wings so they could fly. I wish we could embody that wishful ambition for living magical lives instead of allowing that to become consumed by the trials of daily living which quickly reduce us to making a living rather than living a life. Those are two very different things--the first of which will never require a mermaid tail or a set of wings. So, in periods of transition and thinking about risk taking, I am wondering how to make that mindshift backwards and rekindle the comet fire within myself and the students I serve.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Week 5: Reflection--From Practice to Practicality!
It's hard to believe Week Five is over! With each passing week ing ILT 5340, I feel like I have developed more skills and a better understanding of the theory and the mechanics of digital storytelling.
I was particularly able to connect this week's readings to practice this week. In my work life, I am busy developing a program for a brand new school which will open in a few short weeks. Launch High School has been specifically chartered as a blended learning program with a focus on entrepreneurship. It is one of many of the opportunities I have had professionally in my career that just leaves me wondering at the serendipity that is my life. I have been trying throughout the semester to think about what group annotation might look like in a high school environment. By the time I completed reading and annotating this week's required readings I had ideas for every member of my new staff about how they could implement hypothesis in their classes and how they could inspire students to read more closely and more thoughtfully--but more importantly more collaboratively in the classroom.
The two readings on the letters to the next president put some flesh on those ideas which made it possible for me to send them out to my staff. I truly believe this is the most contentious presidential election in my lifetime and having tools our students can use to tweet, blog and message the candidates is an empowering element that we have not had in previous election cycles. Using this in our Social Studies classes will give our students a whole new perspective on the process.
The highlight of the reading week was truly the annotation flash mob. I had honestly never thought about this--but am now envisioning doing this as a collaborative exercise in a classroom--either as a pre-reading exercise or as a way of starting a collaborative discussion. The 30 minutes I was able to spend in the flash mom was incredibly illuminating--and provided a lot of inspiration.
So in terms of my professional practice--this is a week of transference for me. I'm much more able to transfer this week's readings to our school's practice in the coming weeks. Most of all, my horizons are a bit wider.
On the artistic/creative side, I have LOVED this week's daily creates. The mashup became a group project in our household which means that my daughters have learned how to use transparent images to create mixes of their own. It is the ultimate in DIY when my kids join in and muck around with me as we figure out new programs and see what we can do. There are so many great ways to complete the daily creates and I am learning to just sit back and have fun with each one as it comes up.
Bring on Week Six!
I was particularly able to connect this week's readings to practice this week. In my work life, I am busy developing a program for a brand new school which will open in a few short weeks. Launch High School has been specifically chartered as a blended learning program with a focus on entrepreneurship. It is one of many of the opportunities I have had professionally in my career that just leaves me wondering at the serendipity that is my life. I have been trying throughout the semester to think about what group annotation might look like in a high school environment. By the time I completed reading and annotating this week's required readings I had ideas for every member of my new staff about how they could implement hypothesis in their classes and how they could inspire students to read more closely and more thoughtfully--but more importantly more collaboratively in the classroom.
The two readings on the letters to the next president put some flesh on those ideas which made it possible for me to send them out to my staff. I truly believe this is the most contentious presidential election in my lifetime and having tools our students can use to tweet, blog and message the candidates is an empowering element that we have not had in previous election cycles. Using this in our Social Studies classes will give our students a whole new perspective on the process.
The highlight of the reading week was truly the annotation flash mob. I had honestly never thought about this--but am now envisioning doing this as a collaborative exercise in a classroom--either as a pre-reading exercise or as a way of starting a collaborative discussion. The 30 minutes I was able to spend in the flash mom was incredibly illuminating--and provided a lot of inspiration.
So in terms of my professional practice--this is a week of transference for me. I'm much more able to transfer this week's readings to our school's practice in the coming weeks. Most of all, my horizons are a bit wider.
On the artistic/creative side, I have LOVED this week's daily creates. The mashup became a group project in our household which means that my daughters have learned how to use transparent images to create mixes of their own. It is the ultimate in DIY when my kids join in and muck around with me as we figure out new programs and see what we can do. There are so many great ways to complete the daily creates and I am learning to just sit back and have fun with each one as it comes up.
Bring on Week Six!
Saturday, July 9, 2016
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