Lifelong Learning 2.0

If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.

~Mary Engelbreit

For the past ten years, I have been teaching at an Independent Study charter school.  I’ve taught 34-40 students each year, in a unique school environment.  We serve students who were not successful in a traditional school model.  Keeping the same students for more than one year has allowed me to have a strong knowledge of  their strengths and areas needing growth. It has been an amazing experience working with kids individually in this model.

I work with an incredibly talented group of teachers and administrators, who care for our students and foster innovation.  While there are many wonderful things to celebrate at our school, there are several changes I’ve wanted to see take place. Technology and web 2.0 skills have not been explored much by our teachers.  Many of our students would benefit from innovative uses of technology to enhance their learning experience.  Since they work in an independent study model, they need opportunities to make connections, create and collaborate.  There are many tools we can use to help our students do this in a virtual setting.

I want to help in this effort for changing the way our students and teachers learn. I want our school to provide standards-based, project-learning opportunities where students can take ownership for their education.   I want to help teachers take control of their own professional development and grow a personal learning network.  I want us to collaborate to find better ways to engage students in meaningful learning experiences.  You know the feeling you get learning from your PLN virtually or at a conference?  I want to provide that kind of network for our staff.  I’ve longed for this all year. 

Sometimes you need to stop talking about change, and just do it.

I have decided to leave my teaching role to help bring about change at our school. I was offered a position to work on curriculum development and instructional technology.  I’ve helped with curriculum in the past, in addition to a full teaching schedule.  Until now, we did not have an educator focused solely on these areas for our academy.  While the job description is still being defined, I know it will include the following:

• Curriculum Development: We are providing an alternative  to traditional textbooks:  a project-and inquiry-based model.  There will be an emphasis on writing, critical thinking, collaboration, literature and the use of web 2.0 tools.
  
• Course-building in Moodle: We will be using Moodle for the first time this year.  We’re utilizing it for technology training for teachers this fall.  In the meantime, we are taking a year to build courses and develop curriculum in moodle for our students to use next year.
  
• Professional Development Training: I will be leading workshops for teachers and parents.  I hope to do this on-site and in Elluminate.
  
• Instructional Technology: We will introduce students, teachers, and parents to web 2.0 and innovative technology tools to enhance learning.
  
• Web 2.0 Class: I am writing a proposal to also create a Web 2.0/Technology Club for students, which I hope to launch in October.
  

I will miss working with students on a daily basis.   However, I am grateful for the opportunity to help bring about change at our school.

This is where you come in.  I am looking for a little advice from my PLN to help me in this transition.  There are two ways you can help.

1.  There are many projects that I would like to work on.  I will be posting about some of these in the near future.  If you are interested in collaborating on a project this year, let me know.

Where should I begin?

2.  Please consider posting a little advice for me or any newbie in this role.  Where is the best place to start?  What’s one thing that has worked well for you with organizing resources for your teachers? If you are in a similar job position and created an amazing wiki or helpful website, please share!  If you are willing, I would love to chat with you sometime.  I look forward to learning from you!

Creative Commons Photo Attribution:  Victoria is Changing, by victoriapeckham

Recently, I was invited to visit with the folks at Edutopia, (George Lucas Educational Foundation). Several PLN friends have asked begged for a detailed account of the day.  Prepare yourself for a play-by-play.  I’m still in awe of the experience!

I was accompanied by Alice Mercer, Larry Ferlazzo, Derrall Garrison, and Gail Desler.  Spending the day with these four individuals who I look up to was a wonderful experience in itself!  I have learned from each of them this year by following their blogs, as well as participating in discussions online and at conferences.

We arrived at Skywalker Ranch and were met by Elana Leoni (Online Membership Coordinator) and Betty Ray (Community Manager), who greeted us with smiles.  I enjoyed a Skywalker Cappucino outdoors as we talked, while we waited for everyone to arrive.  For security reasons, we were not allowed to take photos indoors, but were given permission to take this group photo outside. (Left to Right:  Gail, me, Derrall, Larry and Alice)

Don’t you just love Yoda?

The day was spent with tours of Skywalker Ranch, a trip to the Ranch store, a fabulous lunch, and important discussions about education.

What I Took Away From the Day

We had the chance to meet many wonderful people at Edutopia, including Milton Chen, the Executive Director, who is also a member of the Board of Directors.  Of course, it seemed like a wonderful place to work. Everyone we met spoke highly of their experience being part of the Edutopia team. Not only were the surroundings peaceful but the energy there spoke of innovation, forward-thinking, and collaborative teamwork.  I saw in them a strong desire to support educators, administration and parents to motivate students to reach their full potential.  It’s not just about the technology, though they applaud the innovative ways that technology and project learning can engage students.  I took away a sense of this passion that Edutopia has, as they highlight inspirational teachers and students in their magazine, in the hopes of inspiring us.

The Tour

I loved touring the grounds.  The scenery was so beautiful and calming.  My favorite part of the tour was the main house. It was fun seeing various memorabilia, but what I fell in love with was the Frank Lloyd Wright design, the redwood walls, and beautiful craftsmanship.   The table with skinny, extremely tall-backed chairs reminded me of something out of Star Wars.  The view of the pond from the table was serene and peaceful.  The library, where research is done for films, was breathtaking!

The grounds contain a guest house, the main house, fitness center, pool, restaurant, daycare, vineyards and a barn.  They have a little farmers market for the employees during the week.  I took home a container of lavender-infused sea salt.  We heard that the honey and olive oil are amazing!

Each building we toured was completely different in style. I was intrigued to hear that Mr. Lucas wrote a fictional story for each building, upon which the architects based their designs.  Isn’t that cool?

We had a fabulous lunch with Betty, Elana,  Jen Fujimoto (Membership Support Representative), and Ray Hill (Product Manager), followed up by the most delicious berry pie.

Discussions

For the remainder of the day, we sat with Elana, Betty, and Ray, and were joined by Grace Rubenstein (Senior Producer), Sabrina Smith (Communications Manager), and Cindy Johanson (Chief Operating Officer).  What followed was an exciting round table discussion about education, social networking, and the Edutopia magazine.  We all had a chance to share some of the innovative experiences taking place at our schools.  I was so proud to be in the company of four amazing educators, to hear the stories of their accomplishments in our field.

I loved talking about social media and networks, as well as the value of learning in community.  We had so much to share on this topic and brought our unique perspectives to the discussion.  We also talked about the George Lucas foundation, the principles that he values in education, and goals for the Edutopia magazine.  I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and spending the day with these fine folks!

Resources form Edutopia

If you do not frequent the website, you need to!  Check out Edutopia online, What Works in Public Education. Here are a few things to take a look at:

Go Green: Education for the Ecosystem

The Digital Generation Project

How To Become More Tech Savvy This Summer

The Magazine

Edutopia Webinar Series

Many Thanks!

Thank you, Edutopia, for your hospitality and kindness in hosting us at Skywalker Ranch. The conversations were thought-provoking.  It was exciting to hear how you are moving forward in innovative ways to continue being a leader in the education community.

Thank you to my colleagues, whom I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with at the ranch.  I’ve learned so much from you this year.  How neat to be able to spend the day with such amazing educators!

If you don’t already follow them, I encourage you to subscribe to these blogs:

Alice – Reflections on Teaching

Larry -Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day

Derrall – Cloudy Tag Thoughts

Gail – Blogwalker

This summer, I have been working on several creative projects that I wrote proposals for this Spring.  There is one additional project that I was assigned to do which has not been as exciting.  In fact, I am having a hard time with it.  It involves working on pacing guides to accompany textbooks in the core areas, for grades K-8.  The pacing guides designate which chapters address state standards.  The chapters are paced out for each week of the school year, with key questions from the state framework, along with accompanying assessments and answer keys.  These pacing guides provide the lesson plans, allowing teachers to be on the same page without having to recreate the wheel.

The problem?  The textbooks.

Earlier this year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested the idea of replacing California’s public school textbooks with open-source materials and digital curriculum.  I love the basic idea, which allows the students to have access to current information, saves money, and provides a platform for teachers and students to collaborate on lessons.  Of course, there are obvious obstacles that would have to be overcome, but the vision is exciting.

I like what Lucas Ames has to say in his blog, Entrepreneurial Teaching,

Innovative entrepreneurs create new value, but in the process destroy the value proposition of an existing business.  A good way to look at this is through the lens of music.  From records, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, to mp3s new innovation destroyed older business models, but also provided tremendous benefits to the consumer and the music industry. In many ways I believe our education system is in need of more entrepreneurial teachers to ‘creatively destroy’ it.

I am interested in a new vision of education at our school.  How can we creatively destroy the traditional model of textbooks updated every 6 years, tons of worksheets, and old school methods?

Ames also quotes Bill Gates, who had this to say:

Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today’s computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It’s the wrong tool for the times.

Our high schools were designed fifty years ago to meet the needs of another age. Until we design them to meet the needs of the 21st century, we will keep limiting–even ruining–the lives of millions of Americans every year.

What are your thoughts on this?

In an effort to pilot a new approach, I ditched textbooks last year in the areas of science and social studies. It required a lot of extra work in lesson planning.  It was a challenge to creatively design projects that were inquiry-based, full of opportunities for writing and critical thinking, and still met state standards.  It would have been great to have digital curriculum to access and opportunities to collaborate with other teachers on those lesson plans.

I don’t want to use those pacing guides I have to work on, traditional textbooks and worksheets with students. I want to use innovative teaching methods and integrated technology, to engage students in lifelong learning habits, while preparing them in 21st century skills.  I would love to work collaboratively with others to create project learning and thoughtful assessments.

Do you share this passion? Are you designing online units, collaborative lessons, or inquiry-based projects?  I would love to learn how you make it work at your school.

Have you fantasized about ditching textbooks altogether?

What’s one step that you plan to take this year to be innovative in how you teach students?

Creative Commons Photo Attribution:  June 15, by Little Yiye

Interactive Stories-Handhelds in Action-Special Guest: Tony Vincent

Date:
Saturday, May 23, 2009

Time:
9:00am Pacific/10:00am Mountain/
11:00am Central/12:00pm Eastern

Location: Elluminate

Recording (full):
https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/installinfo/playback?psid=2009-05-23.0732.M.ACE02B5F35AA7E7975F015AAC6F794.vcr

Tiny URL for full recording: http://tinyurl.com/ob3ukc

I am so excited to attend this web meeting about encouraging students in the area of social media and innovation!

The National Center for Technology Innovation is putting on a free webinar this week.  Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders Through Innovative Technology is taking place on May 20th, from 3:00-4:15 ET.  Check out this website for more information.  If you plan on attending, register early here.

Read about the presenters below. (Taken from the NCTi website.)

Learn about forward-thinking technology solutions from four leading educational entrepreneurs who have unleashed student talent through the use of online, interactive platforms. Join Steve Hargadon, Founder of Classroom 2.0 and an architect of LearnCentral.org; Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer for Stanford University School of Education and a leading researcher for Programmable Open Mobile Internet; Jennifer Corriero, Executive Director of TakingITGlobal; and Emily Briggs, Program Manager of Sprout e-course, as they discuss successful strategies for developing the entrepreneurial spirit of global youth in advancing social media and innovation. The Webinar will take place on May 20th from 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm ET.