Dear Blog, Have You Missed Me?

I love Top Chef. While I realize the producers amp up the drama to increase viewership, I still admire the ability of the chefs to take all their hard won knowledge (whether garnered through professional school or on-the-job training) and apply it to new situations.  Cooking is a wonderful blend of art, intuition, and science [just like teaching]. It's the ability to use heightened senses and a knowledgeable palate to create a dish worth drooling over. I deeply admire the chef who can maintain dishes cooking on four different burners, continue prepping food, and toss off bon mots to his or her competitors. You know when Padma, the host of the show, comes in that some new challenge awaits the chefs. "Hello, chefs." She will slyly smile and then tell them they have to cook with one hand, or blindfolded, or swap dishes mid-cooking with another chef. I see this happen often to teachers and administrators. "Oh, by the way, we've just redistricted and added 200 students to your school and cut your budget by 18%, but you can still meet your educational growth target, right?" I am fortunate to be in a situation where we have been able to pilot an iPad program for our youngest learners, a teacher iPad pilot with Apple TV wireless connection, and SMART Boards for many of our middle and high school STEM teachers. Teachers are absorbing tech pd faster than I anticipated and are incorporating Twitter and blogging into the curriculum. All my problems are actually blessings but it feels a bit like Padma just came in and gave us our challenge.

When the head chef, Tom Colicchio, comes in to to check on the chefs, at least one chef invariably says, "I'm in the weeds." Tom will ask some questions, the chefs will sweat some more, maybe doubt their work. Yet, [most of the time] the chef pulls through with a magnificent dish. Who needs Tom Colicchio?  However irksome the chefs may find Tom, I think his questions inspire them to reach even higher. I sympathize as I feel like I've been in the weeds. I see daylight, sort of.  I have been prepping the framework for the creation of a new Technology Curriculum, pre-K through grade 12 [hence my absence from my blog]. My hope is that this plan will underscore our educational philosophy, reflect our understanding of digital learners, embody all the hard work we have invested in Visible Thinking, Curriculum Mapping and Differentiation, use of Social Media, and correctly anticipate where technology may lead us [Ouija board anyone?]. And oh yes, let's not create a plan that will be outdated 6 months after creation. A tall order surely but I have a hardy crew of volunteer teachers from all disciplines, and armed with the great research provided by my PLN, and our curriculum maps, I am confident that we will navigate these sometimes murky waters safely. Our school is yar, our sailors skilled, and we've packed plenty of provisions. Wait, has anyone seen the brownies? Hmmm, maybe I need Tom Colicchio after all. 

How did Social Media get so Unsocial? (or Where have all the manners gone?)

I always thought manners were more than just protocol or etiquette, but an expression of how you cared about someone else's feelings. A demonstration of consideration. I posted just last week about the need to educate our students on how to communicate in social media so that they understand how best to express their ideas in a clear and concise manner. I believe I fell short in my call to action. We need to do more. Recent events underscore the need to teach our students (and model ourselves) how to communicate socially in social media. 

Several weeks earlier an article by Sharon Noguchi, Educators Combat Crude Culture of Social Networks, popped up in many re-postings. In short, the article refers to the rampant profanity and crude behavior exhibited on social media by students, especially on Facebook and the steps that the legislature and educators are taking to combat this trend. 

     But now, as kids head back to school, they may find more adults are paying attention. Educators increasingly are joining in to challenge the crude culture of social networks, which they fear unleashes cyberbullying and sexting, heightens the social drama of puberty and teaches the wrong values.
     Even though Facebook flaming usually originates off campus, more schools are teaching "digital citizenship," how to care for online profiles, deal with bullies and speak up for what's right—a critical skill because teens often don't take problems to adults.

Several weeks earlier there was a great article in the New York Times, Teaching Kids How to Break Up Nicely By Benoit Denizet-Lewis. Mr. Denizet-Lewis reported on efforts to teach students how to responsibly handle ending relationships, to "face it, not facebook it".

      “When I’m done with a relationship, I’m not going to wait a day, an hour or even 10 minutes to update my status,” Roberto told the group. “When it’s over, it’s over. I’m done with you.”
      “The key word here is ‘racing,’ ” another girl replied with all the condescension she could muster. “Is that really healthy? Breaking up shouldn’t be a competition!”
      The group’s adult facilitator — who wore a blue “Face It, Don’t Facebook It” pin, in a reference to the apparently troubling trend of young people breaking up with one another via social media — nodded in agreement and suggested that Roberto consider taking a “technology timeout” the next time he felt compelled to race home and publicly declare his singlehood. Roberto reluctantly agreed to consider it.

A technology time-out? Ummm, I think we can do better. Are we really teaching our students to hide behind social media. When are we teaching them to be brave and responsible in our dealings with others? I think back to my parents' lessons and all my wonderful teachers' lessons and how they consistently modeled how to do the right thing. Whether it was "sharing is caring" or "if you can't say something nice about someone . . ." Have we educators been so overwhelmed by teaching to the test that we forgot to model some values along the way? Is it a failure by parents to actually parent? Or is the lure of destroying someone anonymously so great, that we cannot combat this trend? Good grief, there are even articles helping you choose which social media is best for you to use to break up!

How did social media get so unsocial?

When Carol Bartz, former chief executive officer,  was fired from Yahoo she turned to her IPad and vented to her staff:

To all,
I am very sad to tell you that I've just been fired over the phone by Yahoo's Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.
Carol

Fantastic. short, sweet and to the point. Fired over the phone? Not a very classy job, Yahoo. Whatever happened to your manners? Whatever happened to building relationships? Of course since Ms. Bartz called Yahoo Board out for their lack of class, I expected to see her act the opposite way. Umm, not so much.

In a defiant, often profane interview with Fortune, Ms. Bartz said she intended to remain on Yahoo’s board. If so, it would make for some uncomfortable meetings because, in the same interview, she also called her fellow board members “doofuses.”

Ugh. Ms. Bartz, where have your manners gone? Where have all the manners gone? If you find them, please let me know. 

 

Are We Putting All Our Lessons in One Basket?

     Two tweets crossed paths this morning on my feed and inspired this post asking if we are failing students by not teaching them how to communicate in social media? Are we putting all our writing lessons in one basket?

     The first spark was a tweet from @willrich45 about Digital Outcasts. Will discusses Nishant Shaha's definition of  a digital outcast as ". . . not somebody who doesn’t have access to the technologies; s/he is somebody who, after the access has been granted, fails to actualise the transformative potentials of technologies for the self or for others." Will suggests that we need to teach students not only how to use media properly, but how to employ it in the service of others. Really interesting point and as I was chewing on the implications of where Will's post was leading me, a tweet came into my feed from @DanielPink about how Columbia Business School is asking for 200-character admission essays. Here is an excerpt from the post:

Earlier this summer the University of Iowa's Tippie School of Management made headlines by ditching the traditional essay in favor of allowing would-be students to use Twitter to write a 140-character application. Now Columbia Business School is following suit by asking applicants, "What is your post-M.B.A. professional goal?" and limiting responses to just 200-characters—not words, characters.

     Good grief! A 200-character or less response to what is your goal? Of course the response would have to be incredibly focused and fresh to get the attention of the admissions committee. A great challenge but are our students up for it? 

     Daniel Pink's tweet reminded me of one of my least favorite doctoral classes. It was a required technology class and we had weekly assignments where the professor would post a question on one of the assigned readings and we needed to respond in a blog in 25 words or less. Not bad, right? Well the kicker was that your response had to be completely original. You could not repeat the thoughts of any previous poster. Of course, I would  sit impatiently by my computer near posting time so as to try and get my post in first, for the more time (and the more posts submitted) that went by, the more difficult it was to respond in 25 words or less with an original response. At the time, I cursed that class and that professor, but now I think he was genius. I read those weekly readings very carefully in light of how I might be required to respond any one of them. I tried to anticipate how others might respond. The professor's point was that it was not all about how you responded to the reading but understanding how others felt too, and by incorporating those communal thoughts,  perhaps you might change your perspective and respond with a fresh perspective.He required rapid, clear, and concise responses. It was great training for current communication practices.

     So, what do you think? Are we missing the boat in putting all our eggs in the basket of long essays and literary analysis? Should we be teaching our students how to properly provide a critical response to a blog, how to properly tweet, how to truly listen (read) to other responses and respond back in a thoughtful and concise manner? Wouldn't our students benefit from a laser like focus on their analysis and writing? And more importantly, why are we not taking the next step and teaching our students how to use these technologies to change the world for the better? 

     Let me know what you think   . . in 140 characters or less. :)

What Would Darth Vadar Do?

     Many teachers, good teachers, even GREAT teachers, think of technology as the DARK SIDE. Why? Well, perhaps it is just a fear of the unknown. Perhaps these teachers fear loss of control as technology sometimes slides you into more of a facilitator role (isn't that a good thing?). If you are a content area teacher, you keep up with how your content evolves so why not keep up with the best means to engage your students? If your lack of technology expertise makes you feel inadequate, become better educated. Make it a priority. After all, the fate of the Galactic universe is in your hands. As I blogged earlier, it's really a mindset issue that I believe will take more than one Jedi to fix.
      What would Darth do? I'm sure the Emperor would tweet him to find the best teacher who integrates technology seamlessly into his or her curriculum and then clone that person--and of course, blast any teachers who did not comply. Boy, that would give a whole new meaning to mandated professional development. I'm betting Darth wouldn't think that was the best method. Darth would probably consult his PLN for a solution. I think Darth would agree with Tom Whitby that we should begin with a different type of PD. Darth would push for relentless, rigorous technology training and he would then follow up with multiple classroom visits to see how things are going. (Can you picture that black cape strutting down your hallway?) Darth, although not the best dad, knows his son, Luke, while skilled, is no digital native Jedi. Darth knows that a Jedi only becomes a master through a lot of training and support. Of course, wouldn't all teachers want to become Jedis as they are given so much respect? Wouldn't all Jedis want to become Master Jedis?
     Lots of talk out there in the universe about "no excuses". I hear you. I understand your frustration. So Administrators, let's set the bar high. Let's set clear expectations about technology implementation in every classroom. Let's evaluate teachers based on those expectations. Let's make sure we support them with the right training, tools and encouragement. Let's remember what Yoda said, "There is not try, there is only do." So, let's do.

Darth Vadar, pictured here at the Laptop Institute during a lightsaber demonstration.