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

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

Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders Through Innovative Technology

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.