Is Educational Change Glacial?

Food for thought...

I heard today something that made me sit up and take note.
I heard "Isn't this the same discussion we had 5 years ago, 10 years ago?
It is the same rhetoric being moved from the back of the room to the centre of the room to the stage.  So what is different?  Is it changing in schools?"

This generated the idea that educational change and innovation is moving at a glacial rate.  Slowly pushing its way forward over the boulders, valleys and mountains.

We could say that the obstacles that a glacier navigates could be government policies, changes in curriculum, changes in leadership, changes to idea sets, changes in technologies.  I like to think that the pedagogical practice, the why and how of teaching is what is pushing this change.  Teachers wanting to inspire their students, involve parents and communities and show the obstacles that students are innovative, solution seekers that are gasping for engaging content and a purposefulness to their learning.

The other force of this glacier are the students.
Students want control of their learning.
Students want control of their learning environments.
Students want a large and varied selection of tools to choose from to create, collaborate and solution seek with.
Students want to be teachers and learners.

Then we must ask... are us as educators the rocks and mountainous obstacles on their glacier?

I recall participating in the conversations at the back of the room, then in the middle and now I sit and see it coming from the front.

When will the glacier stop moving?  Maybe it won't.  Will the edge snap off and float away on a stormy sea? Or will it become a thing of beauty with a hidden depth of knowledge, experience going on to encounter other icebergs? Or will it melt away, disappearing from sight, to become a distant memory?

My First Time @ ISTE

Well.. I am here.  It is huge.  It is over the top.  It is insane crazy.

I don't know how I feel about it yet.

There is a lot of reference to Common Core - I am struggling with this.
I don't use Common Core and there is word in ISTE that says International.  The last time I looked Common Core is only used in the USA.  The discussions I am hearing are the relationships of the ISTE Standards with Common Core.  More generic please.  If you truly want to be seen as an international organisation with international standards then the relationships need to be generic with curriculum contents.

I empathise with my fellow educators, my US colleagues, with what they see as a daily battle of engagement - not just with students but teachers as well.  But the journeys that others take, can be learned from.  Their experiences, their encounters, their failures, their successes need to not just be heard but listened to as well.  Learn form them.

This is just after day 1.

I hope that the next few days there are different discussions, different encounters, a more global approach.  I don't know.  But I hope so!
Go global people, think it, act it, learn from it.....

The Things You Find

Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

What tech savvy teachers do...

I am in an extremely privileged position that enables me to walk in, watch, listen, learn in classrooms from K-12 in my school.  This means I get to spend time with tech savvy teachers and not so tech savvy teachers.

A few things that I have noticed with the tech savvy teachers is that they almost always:

• Research, try and link education technology to curriculum outcomes and school policy along with

  

  http://learn.susd12.org/course/view.php?id=360

  strong pedagogy.
• See which tools work best for students
• Discover what global colleagues are doing through their professional learning networks by following blogs, twitter, google+ or other social media.
• Thoroughly test products and trends before they invest or implement.
• Identify goals and performance indicators
• Visit conferences either in person or online and see what others are saying and add their voice
• Share - share - share!
• Unpack the analytics, get into feedback, find out what's working and what isn't
• Constantly researching, testing and learning.

Google Maps and the Early Years

Who said that Google Maps and Kindergarten would not be a positive mix?  

They were wrong. 

Currently working with 20+ students in Kindergarten (5 year olds) and street view.  They have discovered their place.  They are exploring their world.  Their is joy in sharing and knowing familiar landmarks.  The sessions where I get to sneak in and enjoy the sheer excitement of learning by these students makes my week. 

Are we ambitious?  Of course!  

Do we aim for the sky?  Absolutely!

Do things not work some of the time? Yes, but it builds solution seekers and resilience!

Do our students fail?  Uhuh - First Attempt In Learning!

The next step after we have explored our "Hood" will be virtual excursions.  This is where with an international client base we can wander the world from our classroom and there will be someone who has seen, been or planning to go! 

This post by Using Technology Better has inspired teachers in our early years to give Google Maps a go.  

http://usingtechnologybetter.com/using-google-maps/

With coaching from me and support in the classroom - what a journey we are having.  

WHERE TO NEXT KIDS???

Another thought about passion....

When I saw this it resonated with me.  I reflected on my work, on prior jobs, on things I do in my spare time.  I looked for joy.  The joy in what I do.  

Dean Shareski presented at a GAFE Summit in Singapore last year and talked about joy, about where is it in what you do?  In your classroom?  In your life?  If you pause and have to think about it then it truly is not a significant part of you day to day process.

IT SHOULD BE.

How do I bring joy into what I do?  How do I create wonder? Where is the passion?

1.  What brings you joy?  And no chocolate is not an answer for this! :)

2.  How can you add that thing that brings you joy into the parts of your day that aren't so joyous?

3.  What are you passionate about?  And no chocolate is not an answer for this!

4.  How do you thread your passion into the moments of ho hum so that the ho hum becomes passion?

Food for thought.

Being True to Your Passion

I read recently in Dave Burgess's book "How to Teach Like a Pirate"  that we must engage deeply in what we are passionate about.

As teachers we have to teach a wide variety of things that perhaps are really not our cup of tea, so therefore we aren't that passionate about it.  It doesn't mean we don't care any less - it's just.... well you know.

I sat back and reflected on what I teach and those moments of "ho-hum" and how engaged were the students.

Light bulb moment - they weren't engaged.

They were going through the paces just like I was.

Realization moment again - the content might be "ho - hum" but connect to something that you are passionate bout, use a tool that engages you as an individual.  Associate the "ho-hum" to something that drives you, create the links, create the passion and create the drive.

Yes it is the end of my academic year - yes the drive, the innovation, the ability to make the links, the creativity is waning.... but to get me through to the end - I am taking the time to develop my passion and guess what?

I am coming up with great ideas for next year!