A Baker's Half-Dozen Quotes from Wagner, Couros, Whitby, etc.

"A good library not only has answers to our questions, past and present and future . . . it has a place, a physical domain in which we can be absorbed in those answers." --The Language of School Design

"Change in education is slow -- it's a very conservative system. Our tech-driven culture, however, is less forgiving and will not wait. If educators aren't striving to be relevant, they're falling behind more and more." --Tom Whitby

"If you assign a project and get back 30 of the exact same thing, that's not a project, that's a recipe."  --Dr. Justin Tarte

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

“People do not fail in life because they aim too high and miss" --George Couros

“Now, adults need to be able to ask great questions, critically analyze information, form independent opinions, collaborate, and communicate effectively. These are the skills essential for both career and citizenship.” 

--Tony Wagner

Boomerang, Flipped Staff Meetings and More!

Photo from Wikicommons

Boomerang for Gmail review

Boomerang essentially makes your emails go out and, wait for it… arrive when you want them to. Scheduling sending and postponing of incoming emails seem to be the basic staples of the app that most of its users love.

http://tinyurl.com/ntv288c

The Importance of Low-Stakes Student Feedback

Many classes in the U.S. assign a grade by tallying up cumulative points on all tests, quizzes, assignments, and projects throughout the semester. But quizzes given early in the course tend to benefit those students who come into the class with prior knowledge of the subject. If a student has a mother who’s a chemist, for example, or a father who’s a history buff might perform better on early assessments because she’s familiar with the material.

http://tinyurl.com/p8264me

5 Challenges We Overcame Moving To A Flipped Staff Meeting

So if staff meetings tend to be ineffective, boring, and repetitive, why do we continue to run them the way they have always been run?

http://tinyurl.com/o5zgy9o

School Librarians Want More Tech—and Bandwidth 

iPads, maker spaces, 3-D printers, and coding skills top the tech wish lists for 1,259 school librarians across the country, according to School Library Journal’s (SLJ) 2015 Technology Survey. Educators are hungry to bring their students even more—whether that’s robotics classes or Arduino kits.

http://tinyurl.com/p9mmdtp

A PD approach that educators love (and learn from!)

The leader usually begins by asking, “So what are you teaching next week?” Participants share their lesson plans and spend the session creating products with the new technology that they can use in their classrooms next week.  

http://tinyurl.com/qy7que9

Ramsey Musallam: 3 rules to spark learning

Furnish It and They Will Come!

I asked these students if I could snap their picture when I was leaving for the day.

The new lobby furniture that I described recently New MHS Lobby Design Promotes Collaboration is a great hit! Primarily selected to accommodate students who stay for activities after school, it is designed to promote collaboration.

Each time I have wandered through after school, almost all 53 seats are taken. We were pleased to learn last week that will could order phase 2 of our lobby seating design. A prospective donor was touring the building, was smitten by the new furniture and learned about the need for more. Imagine how delighted we were when she offered to cut a check immediately to complete the plan.

Six Quotes about Innovation

Photo with permission by fmfm166

"Our research shows that innovation starts at the top. It’s leaders who set the tone, not only by creating a climate that encourages it but also by making it possible for people to put forward new ideas without fear of failure." -- The Hay Group

"If innovation is truly a desired outcome, how is it specifically supported and encouraged in the system other than empty platitudes?" -- Tom Whitby

“When all think alike, no one is thinking.” -- Walter Lippman

"Innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we've been thinking about a problem." -- Steve Jobs

“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas." -- Dr. Linus Pauling

Transforming Libraries, Teaching Critical Thinking, and Much More

Transforming Monticello High’s Library Into the Creative Hub of the School

We gave purpose to many of our spaces. We transformed our markerspace library from a blank canvas to a veritable craft room with art supplies and tools. This makes it a perfect space for all those messy things that teachers want to do in their classrooms but can’t because they’re, well, messy. An area of the library that we dubbed “the hacker space” for its innovative technology usage got a green screen, a gaming system, and glass boards to make it perfect for filming and for group projects.

http://tinyurl.com/ofskxfr

Future Ready: Roadmaps to Tech Integration

Districts must commit to supporting these initiatives consistently. There should also be a tiered approach to professional learning offerings. Much like we differentiate our instruction, we should do the same for different levels of professional learning. Ultimately, the professional learning opportunities should resemble a conversation and allow time for staff to connect, share, and learn from each other.

http://tinyurl.com/oltygmg

Is Learning Increasingly Self-Directed in the Digital Era?

Research shows that teachers' and peers' encouragement and support significantly influence student adoption of technology for self-directed learning. Thus, the success of self-directed digital learning depends significantly, at least in early stages, on the teachers' expectancies and instructional practices to teachers' encouragement and guidance in the use of technology-enhanced materials for learning.

http://tinyurl.com/nd7zlvg

smohundro via Compfight cc

There’s a Better Way to Teach Critical Thinking: 9 Rules of Thumb

“The reason teacher preparation programs fail to place critical thinking at the heart of the curriculum is two-fold,” says educational psychologist and critical thinking specialist Linda Elder. “First, faculty who control and teach the curriculum simply don’t know what critical thinking is. Second, they think they do.”

http://tinyurl.com/qxrtg7o

Photos For Class 

Teachers have told us they need a place to access safe images that are available to be used in the classroom and for educational purposes. Plus they want accurate image citations. We’ve heard you and created “Photos For Class” to meet your needs for images! - See more at: http://www.photosforclass.com/#sthash.oTiJwlUp.dpuf

http://tinyurl.com/l3aumbd

To Apple or to Google that is the question

The discussion of which tool to use is worthless if all we are doing is automating old education methods. Don’t take tools and put them on top of current systems. Instead, ask how you can design meaningful digital learning experiences for students.

http://tinyurl.com/onl4avg

New MHS Lobby Design Promotes Collaboration

This past week was a milestone in terms of re-design of spaces in two major areas at Mercy High School. First, we made the furnishing choices for the collaborative area and digital creation room that I have described in recent blog posts. 

Secondly, we took delivery of Steelcase furnishings that we have installed in our auditorium/gym lobby. The students love the comfort and lay out of the new design. And while it will allow students to socially as they wait for practices to begin or rides to pick them up, you can see that our choices also allow for collaboration on projects. This is phase 1, which creates seating for 53 students.

Take a look!

We await funding for phase 2. Here is a diagram of the entire project:

Designed by TMP Architecture

Class of 2016 iWizards Well Prepared for their Futures

Four iWizard seniors (and a senior citizen!)

As I recently posted, some of my iWizards have grown up! As originally formed three years ago, all members were ninth graders.  While still skewed toward younger members, the iWizards will now be represented by students from four grade levels, among them the seniors pictured above.

Three of my seniors have been vitally involved with the program since its inception. We have shared many wonderful experiences and I have promised them that for all of their efforts I will write them absolutely superb college recommendations. I am presently in the process of drafting these letters. In those recommendations I will be remarking upon how the iWizard experience has helped these young women develop the following qualities:

Leadership

The iWizards do not have fixed leadership positions. For each project, leaders are self-selected or selected by project teammates. Senior iWizards have been leading projects for four years now and have been continually identified as take-charge individuals with exceptional leadership skills.

Responsibility

The iWizards are accountable to each other rather than an adult leader and the team bond is the most effective system of accountability. Students who do not follow through don't remain iWizards very long.

Self Direction

iWizards are given free reign to develop their curriculum and instructional plans for projects like the new student iPad orientation and iCreate! — an arts workshop for middle school students. They do not need “approval” from a teacher though they select mentors who critique their work. The mentor's participation is more collegial than hierarchical.

Problem Solving

The iWizards become good at problem-solving. These problems could be technical, logistical or inter-personal.  

Presentation Skills 

All iWizards are involved in making presentations at student-to-student workshops.  This includes developing slide presentations or designing ice-breaker activities. The students whose letters of recommendations I am writing also presented last spring at the largest teacher technology convention in our state. They were invited by Apple to present on “ iWizards-- Empowering Students as Leaders“.

Collaboration

Outside of developing our collection of iPad Tips and Tricks, all of our projects have been completed as teams that have required continual communication through digital means such as Google Apps.

Stretching Technical Skills

It is not uncommon for the iWizards to join a particular project team so that they can learn more about a technology. Perhaps the best example of this would be a project team which intended to introduce the Schoology LMS to new students. They were required to learn how to use and develop tutorials before the school actually adopted it. Consequently, they became proficient long before the great majority of teachers did.

Service

Finally, after mentioning all of these intangible benefits the iWizards gain from their participation in the group, it should be noted that all of their projects perform a service to the school or greater community. The benefits of this program flow in both directions.