tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54741942162590524442023-11-16T07:17:36.765-08:00Literacy, Technology, LearningIdeas about using technology and literacy to increase student learning.Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-19609809782327329092012-10-08T13:04:00.001-07:002012-10-08T13:06:43.139-07:00Thinking about math. . . Hey, I'm supposed to be writing about literacy, yes? I'm taking a wee detour into math literacy on this post. I've been a fan of <a href="https://twitter.com/ddmeyer" target="_blank">Dan Meyer</a> and his <a href="http://blog.mrmeyer.com/" target="_blank">blog </a>for a while, since before this TED Talk was recorded. (Best line:<i> I teach high school math. I sell a product to a market that doesn’t want it, but is forced by law to buy it.</i>)<br />
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<iframe src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover.html" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
We're at a time when we (the collective, education community "we") need to make some decisions about where math education is going. There are so many fascinating conversations going on around math right now:<br />
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Online and/or electronic math resources are finally beginning to appear in real numbers. The <a href="http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html" target="_blank">National Virtual Manipulative Lab</a> has individual activities and entire <a href="http://enlvm.usu.edu/ma/nav/doc/intro.jsp" target="_blank">eModules</a> mapped to standards. <a href="http://math.kineticbooks.com/" target="_blank">Kinetic </a>has several more traditional ebook offerings.<br />
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Teachers in <a href="http://edudemic.com/2012/09/finnish-teachers-writing-entire-math-textbook-3-days/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed" target="_blank">Finland </a>and <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/09/26/05utah.h32.html?tkn=VXXF6kWmc6mUTAHxvIHa9Oe%2FSaZTy0HLNZs0&cmp=ENL-CM-NEWS2" target="_blank">Utah</a>,
frustrated with what's available are writing their own math text books
collaboratively, with their standards and students in mind. Don't want
to start from scratch? Check out <a href="http://www.ck12.org/teacher/" target="_blank">CK12</a>--and customize it!<br />
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Henri <span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">Picciotto and a crew of like minded math teachers share ideas about how to </span><a href="http://picciotto/" target="_blank">Escape the Textbook</a>.<br />
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There's a lot going on in math! Almost makes me want to go back to school (again!).<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-56789452052854572722012-04-04T18:14:00.001-07:002012-04-04T18:14:29.206-07:00Enough with the "tool" already!In the early years of the educational technology explosion the mantra was “it’s only a tool.” I must admit that I myself have used that expression, usually to reassure hesitant teachers that their jobs were not in jeopardy. However, to classify the myriad devices available today as mere “tools” is as absurd as calling the printing press as a mere machine. Sometimes a tool begets a transformation. Recently, I sat with the teachers in a world languages department who were beginning their text selection process. We’d learned of schools that leveraged digital tools to <a href="http://www.trinityatl.org/academics/world_languages.aspx" target="_blank">offer students a choice of over 23 languages to study in a semi-independent environment</a>. The department chair looked at me and said “It’s becoming clear that we learn to work with blending this, or we lose our jobs.”<br />
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Yup. <br />
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It's not like the printing press is the most recent example either. Did calligraphy survive? Sure, as a specialty art form. Here's a more recent example:<br />
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<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADisruptive_technology_WikiWorld.png" title="By Greg Williams (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Disruptive technology WikiWorld" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Disruptive_technology_WikiWorld.png/256px-Disruptive_technology_WikiWorld.png" width="256" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-66239789028396697222012-03-02T07:55:00.003-08:002012-03-02T07:55:38.782-08:00Dan Savage at NAIS Annual ConferenceNew Live Blog added to my NAIS Annual Conference schedule. Dan Savage<br />
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I'm really excited about this one!
1:30 Friday (pacific time)
Dan Savage is now a household name thanks to his It Gets Better video project on YouTube. The September 2010 project won instant acclaim asking people to upload short, positive videos about their experience with the LGBT community. Millions have viewed the popular videos, including President Barack Obama and entertainer Janet Jackson. Advertising Age called It Gets Better one of the top social media campaigns of 2010. Savage’s book, It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying and Creating a Life Worth Living, released in March 2011.
<iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=2f8d7e451e/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder ="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=2f8d7e451e" >Dan Savage at NAIS Annual Conference</a></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-72062844245001536572012-03-01T15:05:00.001-08:002012-03-01T15:05:48.926-08:00Independent Matters at NAIS 2012Backup post for Independent Matters
<iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=44ce52d3af/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=44ce52d3af" >Independent Matters at NAIS 2012</a></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-71437902908642466482012-02-26T19:50:00.001-08:002012-02-26T19:50:21.623-08:00Equipoise in Education?Recently, @mrmcgrann tweeted out that he had a question for Bill Gates.
You can read <a href="http://seattleseconds.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/what-id-like-to-ask-bill-gates-next-week/">his whole post here</a> (and you should, I'll be here).
Here's his question:
<i>To fuel innovation, we often need to take risks. Risks come with many rewards, but they also come with failure. How do you balance teacher accountability while supporting and promoting innovative teaching?</i>
This is an excellent question. Because if we take risks, we have to accept failure--it's an integral part of the process of growing to better practice. The only thing is---those are real kids and it is their learning with which we will be a risk.
In Auburn Maine, some educators took <a href="http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/02/17/kindergarten-ipad-initiative-reveals-modest-literacy-gains.aspx">an expensive and visible risk and did a randomized study</a> with Kindergarteners and iPads. They found that using the devices with specific apps had a small but significant positive impact on literacy in just a few months.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.sunjournal.com/files/imagecache/story_large/2012/02/15/CITipadsuccess2P021612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="725" width="620" src="http://www.sunjournal.com/files/imagecache/story_large/2012/02/15/CITipadsuccess2P021612.jpg" /></a></div>
The improvement they found leads to the question--when a benefit is observed, do those involved have an obligation to end the trial to give the benefit to all the children involved? In medical trials, the principle of equipoise means that the premise of a trial is that the researchers do not know whether a treatment or medication bestows a benefit. When the initial results of a trial are significantly positive, it means that the researchers are ethically required to stop the trial to treat all the participants. One example is <a href="http://www.avert.org/aids-history-america.htm">early trials of AZT with AIDS patients</a>.
Does this mean that the district is now obligated to immediately provide iPads to all the kindergarteners? It's probably not that easy.
So what about the opposite? What happens when a risk leads to a "nope, this isn't helping" result? When kids in the study group learn less than those with the traditional treatment? Maybe when corporate profits dip for a year, it's not a tragedy. But when a group of kindergarteners learns less about letters and sounds for a year, well, it just might be.
So the stakes are high. And its not the teachers who really pay the price of failure, it's the kids. And maybe that's why it's so hard to figure out how to support truly innovative teaching.<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-4640838192610160702012-02-20T18:33:00.001-08:002012-03-02T07:53:21.263-08:00Innovation, Live-blogs, and a Tweet or Two. . .<a href="http://annualconference.nais.org/index.cfm?&token=45669&userID="><img alt="" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1138" height="144" src="http://cannonschool.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/naisac12.png?w=300" title="naisac12" width="300" /></a>I'm so excited to have the opportunity to attend the <a href="http://annualconference.nais.org/?navItemNumber=155170">NAIS Annual conference</a> in Seattle this year. I'll be serving as a conference blogger for the first time, with a focus on live blogging the general conference sessions. I began live-blogging the conference in 2009, but this is the first time it'll be "official!"<br />
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From <a href="http://annualconference.nais.org/item.cfm?ItemNumber=155307&navItemNumber=155314" target="_blank">the conference website</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
Join more than 3,500 independent school leaders and colleagues at the 2012 NAIS Annual Conference in Seattle. Together we'll tap into the innovative spirit of the Pacific Northwest to dream up bold new ideas to lead our school communities into the future. Long a hotbed of creativity, Seattle will inspire you to invent new programs and ideas and revitalize current ones to bring back to your schools. Together we'll imagine new ways to cultivate leadership within our schools -- for administrators, faculty, and our students, who are the global leaders of tomorrow. Bill Gates, our opening general session speaker and independent school alum, will inspire and challenge you as he models for us how cutting-edge innovation and philanthropy go hand in hand.</blockquote>
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I'll be reporting live from the conference as each of <a href="http://annualconference.nais.org/item.cfm?ItemNumber=155307&navItemNumber=155314">the general conference speakers </a>inspires the audience. I'll take notes on the speeches, include my own thoughts, observations of the audience and provide a curated Twitter feed as well. Clearly, I'll be drinking lots of Seattle coffee to keep me alert and multi-tasking!<br />
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The speakers I'll be live-blogging are listed below in the order in which they will speak. Click on the speakers name to go to the specific post for the live blog for that speaker. I have information about the speakers available now, along with the chance to have yourself emailed a reminder closer to the blog time.<br />
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<a href="http://wp.me/p15fhf-hV">Bill Gates</a><br />
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<a href="http://wp.me/p15fhf-i6">Independent Matters</a> with a trio of guests speakers who will expound on the conference theme: Stephen Carter, Cheryl Crazy Bull, and Sarah Kay<br />
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<a href="http://wp.me/p15fhf-iv" target="_blank">John Hunter</a><br />
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<a href="http://wp.me/p15fhf-iD" target="_blank">Amy Chua</a><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">JUST ADDED</span></strong> <a href="http://blog.cannonschool.org/2012/03/02/dan-savage" target="_blank">Dan Savage</a><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-18661011528456289482012-01-14T17:16:00.001-08:002012-01-14T17:35:26.963-08:00Innovation--who is doing it? What if?This Thursday's<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GUfLVEmTpC8Parn7GE15JvxkqshQxLNrAQzPevU07TE/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1"> #isedchat</a> Everyone's talking innovation. Who's doing it? and @dwillard's <a href="http://pdsblogs.org/derrickwillardblog/2012/01/13/schools-dont-innovate/">Schools don't innovate? Do they?</a>comment got me thinking. <br /><br />In the "no duh" category, I had a thought this morning doing what I call jogging while listening to <a href="http://edtechtalk.com/21cl">21st Century Learning </a>podcasts. Derek Willard and<a href="http://www.pdscompasspoint.com/"> Josie Holford</a> (Schools are conservative entities) are right--schools don't innovate. However, people do, both individually and collaboratively. While it's tempting to point out the wildly disruptive innovations such as, well, iAnything, most innovations/inventions aren't in that category. <br /><br />Instead, some schools are intentionally creating environments that foster teachers and students who innovate. They are places where questions beginning with "what if" are met with "tell me more" or "try it" instead of "no" And that, I think, makes all the difference.<br /><br />Today I listened to two leaders (Brad Rathgeber, Director of the Online School for Girls and Michael Nachbar, Director of the Global Online Academy) in the world of independent online education share the stories of their schools. How did I listen? Via downloaded podcasts while doing the aforementioned "jog." Innovative? Well, the voice interview has been around for quite a while now. The medium that allowed me to listen, not quite as long. <br /><br />In a similar vein, what I learned was that not everything about these schools was wildly innovative. But <span style="font-style:italic;">something</span> about them was--in this case it was the delivery again. Do schools need to be completely redone? Nope. Is the saying "there's nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9) still true? Yep. Do these two statements mean that there's no such thing as innovation? No. It's just that it's hard to define. Innovation isn't a set thing--a new idea, uncharted territory. Instead, it is an esprit of "let's try" that can exist in even the most tradition-bound environments. If we let it.<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-86359261048495358692011-07-19T17:28:00.000-07:002011-07-21T06:53:15.791-07:00Nonplussed--doesn't happen to me often (but it probably should)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.elitemeetings.com/wp-content/uploads/memphis-tennessee-us_01-360a0307071.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="http://blog.elitemeetings.com/wp-content/uploads/memphis-tennessee-us_01-360a0307071.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Last week, I returned from the <a href="http://www.laptopinstitute.com/">Lausanne Laptop Institute</a> in Memphis. This is always one of my favorite conferences when I go--it's well organized, the sessions are long enough not to feel rushed, and the presenters are always prepared and are masters in their areas. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif<br /><br />While at the institute, I live-blogged many of the presentations I attended. One of my blogs <a href="http://li11.tumblr.com/post/7500962438/networks-form-in-real-time">caught the attention</a> of the keynote, Jeff Utecht. This is a conference with a pretty lively back channel and I ran into some trouble with monitoring the twitter feed and keeping up with my liveblog. Thank goodness for Bill Campbell <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/billcamp">@billcamp</a> who stepped in to manage the twitter feed.<br /><br />I'm working on a post about the value of the backchannel (not yet finished) when I realized that I had more readers of my live blogs (either live or later) of the sessions I attended, including the keynote, than I did attendees at my presentations. I'm a bit nonplussed about this fact. Could it be that I have more to contribute as a reporter than as a presenter?<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-77224991148067528942011-07-12T12:28:00.000-07:002011-07-12T12:30:06.507-07:00Jeff Utecht The Changing Nature of CommunicationSession Summary: Being a leader in the 21st Century means going beyond e-mail and newsletters into the new digital world of communicating with parents and students. Understanding that society today wants information in short and more frequent bursts is the first step in utilizing tools that allow you to communicate using the new web. This presentation demonstrates and discusses the different ways schools and school leaders can harness the power of the Internet to communicate with their school communities<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=32ac2576da/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=32ac2576da" >The Changing Nature of Communication</a></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-46095702313608382502011-07-12T09:48:00.000-07:002011-07-12T10:11:15.640-07:00Elizabeth Hellfant at Laptop InstituteElizabeth Helfant TPACK and SAMR as Evaluative, Unifying, and Goal-Setting Framework.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=8214470617/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder ="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=8214470617" >TPACK from LI11</a></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-880417636977229692011-07-11T12:19:00.000-07:002011-07-11T12:21:58.569-07:00There's an App for ThatJulene Reed, Dir. of Academic Tech., St. George's Indep. School was so good this morning, I thought I'd come back for more!<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=e228d95ca7/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=e228d95ca7" >There's an app for that</a></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-72975173437406940152011-07-11T08:57:00.000-07:002011-07-11T09:00:01.917-07:00QR Codes, connecting the physical and digital worlds with Jeff UtechtI decided this one was too good an opportunity to pass up.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=cc0236cdab/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=cc0236cdab" >QR Codes</a></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-3986356317870661002011-07-11T08:02:00.000-07:002011-07-11T08:03:12.340-07:00E-BooksSession on EBooks<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=08b89fcc51/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=08b89fcc51" >Digital Texts and E-Books</a></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-29663346040168413382011-07-11T06:01:00.000-07:002011-07-11T06:06:34.712-07:00Laptop Institute 2011I'm back at the <a href="http://laptopinstitute.com/">Laptop Institute</a> at Lausanne this year. I missed the conference last year and it feels great to be back!<br /><br />Jeff Utecht (@jutecht) is giving the keynote and I'll be liveblogging. . .surprise.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=508a5a9ec6/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder ="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=508a5a9ec6" >Jeff Utecht Keynote</a></iframe><br /><br />http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-85604281318300553502011-06-20T18:12:00.001-07:002011-06-20T18:12:43.789-07:00Women who leadOn Tuesday, June 21, 2011, I'll have the chance to discuss a fascinating question with a small group of women from other NC independent schools. <i>Why aren’t more women moving up the ranks of leadership in independent school communities to become school heads?</i><br /><br />The question was posed in the opening of <a href="http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinearticle.cfm?ItemNumber=154181">an article in the Fall 2010 edition of Independent School Leadership by Susan Feibelman and Martha Haakmat titled: A Gendered Experience</a>. <br /><br />When I read the article, I discussed it with a number of other women working in independent schools. I can only imagine that many others did the same. Shortly afterwards, in December, a <a href="https://webmail.cannonschool.org/owa/14.1.287.0/scripts/premium/redir.aspx?C=fd441046310745da906e0497d6a2e54d&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ted.com%2ftalks%2fsheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders.html">TED talk</a> (embedded at the end of this post) by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg titled Why we have too few women leaders went viral, at least among the same group. Sandberg looks at why a smaller percentage of women than men reach the top of their professions -- and offers 3 powerful pieces of advice to women.<br /><br /><blockquote><br />Sandberg alludes to some cultural factors that Feibelman and Haakmat describe in their article:<br /><br />The low number of women leaders, it turns out, is directly connected to cultural attitudes toward women as leaders. </blockquote><br /><br />Two women with successful school headships in their careers will keynote this gathering of women interested in learning more about leadership in independent schools. They are:<br /><br />Sandra Adams, Former Head of <a href="http://www.summitschool.com">Summit School</a><br /><br />Doreen Kelly, Head of <a href="http://www.ravenscroft.org">Ravenscroft School</a><br /><br />As is my wont, I'll be liveblogging the keynote addresses and possibly some of the later sessions as well, right here, starting at 9:15.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=3ca0add5c6/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder ="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=3ca0add5c6" >Women in Indep. School Leadership</a></iframe><br /><br /><!--copy and paste--><object width="446" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"><br /></param><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></param><br /><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"><br /></param><br /><param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/SherylSandberg_2010W-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/SherylSandberg-2010W.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=1040&lang=eng&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders;year=2010;theme=not_business_as_usual;theme=celebrating_tedwomen;event=TEDWomen;tag=Business;tag=Technology;tag=education;tag=leadership;tag=women;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /><br /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/SherylSandberg_2010W-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/SherylSandberg-2010W.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=1040&lang=eng&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders;year=2010;theme=not_business_as_usual;theme=celebrating_tedwomen;event=TEDWomen;tag=Business;tag=Technology;tag=education;tag=leadership;tag=women;"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-68383133206906122532011-06-15T10:39:00.000-07:002011-06-15T10:40:17.450-07:00Ode to Pink<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWkaiw5jOSMuTo2VRZHwOw4LP7balH68xzbXe_K167NEmmyCWxqRwyaRlQp5xIEPPbagl4g0cfstUglbRyIGxPqsMvzvzShsAd3ojdIN6WS4yHcf8E9Q0WGYr9boGroSkhmDiw0_o1Bo/s1600/pink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="194" width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWkaiw5jOSMuTo2VRZHwOw4LP7balH68xzbXe_K167NEmmyCWxqRwyaRlQp5xIEPPbagl4g0cfstUglbRyIGxPqsMvzvzShsAd3ojdIN6WS4yHcf8E9Q0WGYr9boGroSkhmDiw0_o1Bo/s320/pink.jpg" /></a></div><br />Both of my daughters love the color pink. We recently moved, and they had a hand in helping to decorate their new room. It came as no surprise to me that their room is now pinkified--pink curtains, drapes, throw pillows, wall art. . . you name it, it's pink. <br /><br />I'm (professionally) infatuated with another shade of pink these days. Dan Pink's <i><a href="http://www.danpink.com/drive">Drive</a></i>. When I read <i>A Whole New Mind</i>, the first of Pink's books to come to my attention, I will admit to being a little underwhelmed. Why it was pleasantly put together, I didn't feel that I learned anything new from AWNM. I had a completely different experience while reading Drive. Yes, Drive referenced and distilled the work of others I'd already read, most notably Carol Dweck's thought-provoking work published in <a href="http://mindsetonline.com/">Mindset</a>. However, in <i>Drive</i>, Pink put his thoughts about what motivates us (people, humanity, etc)together in a way that gets the people in my school talking on a high level about topics such as motivation, assessment, student autonomy. . . conversations well worth having.<br /><br />One nice thing about Drive is that Pink and others have done some of the work to help get conversations going with a group. His <a href="http://vimeo.com/8480171">Two Questions</a> video is perfect for opening a discussion.<br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/8480171?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="270" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/8480171">Two questions that can change your life</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user418351">Daniel Pink</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><br /><br />At my school, we felt like the second question was not one we wanted to encourage. I'll talk more about that more in another post in the future.<br /><br />Once the group has discussed the first video, it is worth seeing <a href="http://www.danpink.com/archives/2011/01/whats-your-sentence-the-video">this collection </a>of responses made by people from around the world to the prompt "what's your sentence."<br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18347489?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=0" width="700" height="516" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><br />Who knows--as a group, you may be inspired to make your own video of sentences. We've started our own--there's much more to come.<br /><iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2FSIcoIn_9I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />Finally, if anyone read the book a while back and needs a brief refresher/overview, I highly recommend these two videos:<br /><iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u6XAPnuFjJc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><!--copy and paste--><object width="446" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"><br /></param><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></param><br /><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"><br /></param><br /><param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DanielPink_2009G-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DanielPink-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=618&lang=eng&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=dan_pink_on_motivation;year=2009;theme=not_business_as_usual;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;event=TEDGlobal+2009;tag=Business;tag=Science;tag=brain;tag=creativity;tag=social+change;tag=work;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /><br /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DanielPink_2009G-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DanielPink-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=618&lang=eng&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=dan_pink_on_motivation;year=2009;theme=not_business_as_usual;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;event=TEDGlobal+2009;tag=Business;tag=Science;tag=brain;tag=creativity;tag=social+change;tag=work;"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-1772744869504948632011-02-24T04:43:00.000-08:002011-02-24T04:53:12.088-08:00NAIS Annual ConferenceI'm so excited to be attending the NAIS Annual Conference again this year. Thanks to <a href="http://www.jasonramsden.com/home/index.php/myblog">Jason Ramsden of Ravenscroft School</a>, I'm able to live blog the sessions I attend. Those are hosted<a href="http://cannonpep.blogspot.com/2011/02/nais-annual-conference-2011.html"> on another blog</a>, and I'd welcome visitors, comments, observations, etc.<br /><br />So far, the conference has been exciting and invigorating. I've already had one big take-away. Peter Gow showed Beaver Country Day School's new teacher wiki. I don't have the link yet, but I think everyone in the room is planning to go home and set one up at their school. The site includes short video welcomes from key people at the school, links to information about books that have been all faculty reads recently, and a host of other information that takes a while to learn when one is new, such as a BCDS lexicon. <br /><br />This post will definitely be edited later today to include links!<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-45452277211453784342011-02-20T20:10:00.000-08:002011-02-20T20:13:24.476-08:00What if we taught spelling with adaptive expertise in mind?What if we taught spelling with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_expertise">adaptive expertise</a> in mind?<br /><br />Such an approach would incorporate Vygotsky’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_proximal_development">zone of proximal development </a>along with the best practices of differentiation and would include the habits of mind associated with adaptive expertise.<br /><br />We would begin with the end in mind. Students would learn common orthological spelling patterns in sequential order; learning to apply the patterns they know when they encounter words in their writing that they want to include, but are uncertain how to spell.<br /><br />According to Invernizzi, Johnston, Bear et. al, each student should be working to master a spelling pattern s/he is “using but confusing.” Such a spelling program will be differentiated and developmentally appropriate for each learner in the classroom.<br /><br />What would this look like in practice?<br /><br />Step One: Each class would take a developmental spelling inventory to determine groupings for spelling instruction. <br /><br />Step Two: Word study units for each group of students based on their developmental stage of spelling. Typically, there are 4 or 5 groups in a classroom of 20 students. Word study includes reading and writing activities such as word sorts, games, and writing activities. The words included follow the spelling patterns being studied. At this point in the fully differentiated classroom, each student would move at his/her own pace. In a partially differentiated classroom, groups would progress together, but students would move between groups depending on ongoing formative assessment.<br /><br />Step Three: A summative assessment of each student’s ability to use the pattern s/he studied. This assessment should include words that students have and have not seen before but that follow the same patterns as those studied. This will allow students to demonstrate mastery and adaptive expertise. For example, if the student was learning to spell words with r controlled vowels, word study might include words such as fir and fur. During the assessment, the word furry would appear. A sentence might be “my pet cat is very furry.” Students who have mastered fir and fur should be able to generalize that the new word is spelled with the letter u. <br /><br />In sum, students demonstrate mastery of a pattern before moving on to study a new pattern. There is no abandonment of skills not mastered. No student spends time studying patterns s/he has already mastered.<br /><br />Sounds simple. Why is it so hard?<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-41314345568502564152011-02-20T19:07:00.000-08:002011-02-20T19:34:48.244-08:00Preparing for NAISWow--in just two days I am heading up I85 to the <a href="http://annualconference.nais.org/">NAIS annual conference</a>. I've set up liveblogs at http://cannonpep.blogspot.com/, which is the blog that the teachers at my school are familiar with. However, it is certainly not an exclusive group--anyone is welcome! <br /><br />I've spent this weekend getting ready for the sessions I'm leading or, in the case of the panel I'm moderating, sessions where I just need to stay out of the way and feed the panel questions. This is going to be a great conference!<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-41741344697898909902011-02-05T17:26:00.000-08:002011-02-05T18:30:27.112-08:00Pick your popsicle?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlD1UWdcTXROBb2eEO78M-w-5A2krrRR5McSJX8IynJ1KPXPDEfp_YZK9p0TEM__mM4z939PgLTVa9PLfDJlIun9iw2Ej8zNQMQqHL8WNEHoRdW1PbJ1YFKmwzCu-MWpycwPvJ3bMfz8/s1600/popsicles.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlD1UWdcTXROBb2eEO78M-w-5A2krrRR5McSJX8IynJ1KPXPDEfp_YZK9p0TEM__mM4z939PgLTVa9PLfDJlIun9iw2Ej8zNQMQqHL8WNEHoRdW1PbJ1YFKmwzCu-MWpycwPvJ3bMfz8/s320/popsicles.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570398153303936578" /></a><br /><br />This past week, my daughter caught some kind of viral bug. At one point, I offered her a choice of popsicles as part of the campaign to keep her from getting dehydrated. Her response left me nonplussed. She looked in the box and mused aloud "Well, I threw up a green one. I saw some orange in my puke the other time, so I guess I'll pick purple."<br /><br />Fortunately, the purple stayed down.<br /><br />Lately, I'm collecting stories that happen in my life and trying to think how I can use them or make them meaningful. This one got me thinking about faculty development. How?<br /><br />All to often, teachers approach faculty development "choices" the same way my daughter approached the popsicle box. Which ones haven't already been, well, nauseating. <br /><br />Why? That takes me back to Dan Pink's Purpose, Mastery, Autonomy.<br /> <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u6XAPnuFjJc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />The experiment I did recently with <a href="http://littechlearning.blogspot.com/2011/01/look-out-pd-coming.html">unstructured time for faculty development</a>was well-received, but I'm not sure what the results are going to be. That's okay. For a while. The waiting is tough. But, that's what I'll have to do.<br /><br />Wouldn't it have been easier just to make everyone "learn" about something I picked for 3 hours with a series of moderately engaging or entertaining activities? Then I wouldn't be waiting. . .<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-72425998432235233802011-01-20T18:38:00.000-08:002011-01-20T18:59:26.399-08:00Look out--PD coming!Tonight's inaugural #isedchat addressed the question: "What does successful professional development look like at your school?" <br /><br />I missed the chat--7pm with two little kids in the house is just not twitter chat friendly. So, I perused the thread tonight with a goal in mind. What should we do at school for our next scheduled PD time?<br /><br />Periodically we have a half day for professional development at our school. I've been thinking about our upcoming day for a while now, and here's what I've come up with. This stems in part from the thinking that led to the "<a href="http://littechlearning.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-are-we-teaching-this-stuff.html">why are we teaching this stuff</a>" post.<br /><br />Now, what with being a fan of stealing, I mean researching, others' ideas, I went looking for someone who'd tried this and blogged about it. Bingo! Lyn Hilt, a K-6 principal in Pennsylvania who blogs at <a href="http://lynhilt.com/">The Principal's Posts</a> gave the teachers at her school time for self directed learning. Not a free day, but a day with purpose and accountability, and autonomy. Her <a href="http://lynhilt.com/inspiration-delivers/">description of how she organized the day</a> inspired me.<br /> <br />Here's part of the email message I wrote to the other deans and the division director:<br /><br />I've been thinking about this day. Here's what I'd like to propose:<br /><br />Implementing a form of the Google 20% time. There's been a lot written<br />about this since Dan Pink mentioned it in Drive and his speech. We<br />could ask folks ahead of time what they needed to learn more about.<br />Some groups might naturally emerge. I would work to provide resources<br />for those who need them. We could also put together a "sit and get" for<br />those who insist. The big part is that 20% time still has some<br />accountability. Participants are supposed to DELIVER at the end of<br />their time. What would that delivery look like at Cannon? I am<br />thinking the delivery would be in small groups spread throughout campus,<br />with one of us in each group.<br />Sarah<br /><br />I suggested some reading on the concept of 20% time:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.danpink.com/archives/2010/10/motivation-twitter-style">From Dan Pink</a>:<br /><br />One school leader's <a href="http://www.connectedprincipals.com/archives/1430">experience</a>:<br /><br />Let's see what they say!<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-60790309480420931982011-01-16T13:40:00.000-08:002011-01-17T04:35:52.069-08:00Why are we teaching this stuff?I follow with avid interest the musings and ideas of leaders in the <a href="http://www.independentcurriculum.org/">Independent Curriculum Group</a>. The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09ap-t.html?_r=1">NY Times article</a> about changes to the AP. <br /><br />Great--I'm reading good stuff. Now what am I going to <span style="font-style:italic;">do</span> about it?? That's the question I'm asking myself. Because if I'm not doing anything about it. . .<br /><br />On Connected Principals, Dave Truss wrote a brilliant post <a href="http://www.connectedprincipals.com/archives/2164">Less is more. Teach less, learn more</a>. I left a comment and he wrote me back--causing that thrill that happens when a nobody like me gets a comment from someone who is a somebody. DT is the creator of the <a href="http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/a-brave-new-world-wide-web/">Brave New World Wide Web Video</a> seen by just about everybody.<br /><br />In our exchange (I had an exchange w/ Dave Truss!) I thought of something that made me realize it was time to blog. We must be wary of teaching kids that the academic grindstone is the way to ensure life-long success. That is clearly not true for many now. But, to break that grindstone for students, we’ll have to free the teachers first. <br /><br />What are the essentials?<br /><br />Give teachers time to collaborate and learn. I can do that. But it isn't just about time. Given time, even good teachers will often fill it with the tasks of teaching rather than expanding their own thinking. "There are so many papers to grade. If I have more time, I can read each draft as well as the final copy to help students be better writers." What do we need besides time? How do we create an expectation of learning and collaborating in that time? <br /><br />Access to resources that expand teachers' worlds and provide tools for collaboration. I admit it, I'm a professional media junkie. I want to drag more folks into my world. I need to make sure that I'm not neglecting other realms though. Why on earth do teachers have to buy books about learning with their own money? Where are the professional libraries at most schools? How old are the books in them? Do teachers read and discuss books as part of their professional day or is that supposed to be done "on your own time?"<br /><br />Authentic accountability. What if each teacher set some indicators to show how s/he has grown as a learner at the beginning of the school year and was evaluated with those in mind? Some schools approach teacher evaluation this way, how does it work?<br /><br />Finally, that 20% time Daniel Pink espouses (see video below). Started (?) by Google, <a href="http://ecologyofeducation.net/wsite/?p=1968">educators have been talking about it</a>. we keep hearing about. Do we give teachers and students 20% time? How about 10%? 5%? <br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/u6XAPnuFjJc?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/u6XAPnuFjJc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-35201859612566566042010-11-07T17:15:00.000-08:002010-11-07T17:45:30.891-08:00Hathaway Brown Innovation SummitI am absolutely determined not to feel overwhelmed by my experience at Hathaway Brown's Innovation Summit this weekend. Why? Because that leads to passivity. Bill Christ, the head of school at Hathaway warned attendees that what matters most is what we do after we leave.<br /><br />@Sedson was at the conference and I am now following her on twitter, which led me today to this video:<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7ECAVxbfsfc?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7ECAVxbfsfc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />In today's paper, I read a post-election editorial that referenced <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-29/poll-shows-voters-don-t-know-gdp-grew-with-tax-cuts.html">the Bloomberg poll</a> that showed the majority of voters believed that middle class taxes had been raised during the last two years, when, in fact, they fell. Those asked also believed that the economy was shrinking, not growing.<br /><br />The article blames Democrats for not making the message clear to voters.<br /><br />Not me--I blame education. How did we get to the point in this country where being informed means listening to infotainment that echos what you already think? Why don't adults in this country ask questions and do research with the primary documents readily accessible online? Could it be because we don't teach students to ask questions in school? Because we use textbooks to teach them instead of primary sources? Yes, primary sources are harder to read. They don't have reading guides or comprehension questions already prepared. Who read the health care bill? Who read even extracts of it? (Confession, not me either).<br /><br />What does school look like when we decide to prepare students to run the world instead of prepare them to have a job/go to college? <br /><br />So, tomorrow, I start. First up? The kids. They need to know that I'm counting on them to be able to solve some of the pretty big problems they are about to encounter. I also want to talk with students about motivation. Both Pink's autonomy, mastery, and purpose along with the <a href="http://21k12blog.net/2010/10/23/rethinking-student-motivation-pbl-and-computer-learning-suggestions-from-christensen-horn-and-johnson/">success and fun</a> they are apparently seeking. We'll see how it goes.<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-57807353169510609702010-08-30T17:18:00.000-07:002010-08-31T18:04:49.368-07:00Why social media for educators?Cross-posted (and better looking) at <a href="http://innovate.ncais.org/2010/08/30/why-social-media-for-educators/">NCAIS Innovate</a>. Not sure why I'm struggling with Blogger and succeeding with Wordpress, but I definitely am.<br /><br />Once upon a very hot August almost-back-to-school day, I came upon a tweet. A tweet that traveled across the country, from North Carolina to Oregon (and maybe beyond) in a flash.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_agW3dJhuhck_Syuasl4CsssOULeiU_7WY90H3akq1tEe9MJZUqmiOeZPlDUiiHrWUTysQYfXxIlO_WV4IGW824e-4WkI9uPcO2S6ieE8noME8hwZ3RIvXgf6UMsozlE6FAiwOmimDg/s1600/dbl+msstewart+original.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 22px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_agW3dJhuhck_Syuasl4CsssOULeiU_7WY90H3akq1tEe9MJZUqmiOeZPlDUiiHrWUTysQYfXxIlO_WV4IGW824e-4WkI9uPcO2S6ieE8noME8hwZ3RIvXgf6UMsozlE6FAiwOmimDg/s200/dbl+msstewart+original.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511364028422863794" /></a><br /><br />I was not the only one. . . <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNzOwzc6oj9VKwa2SljfwS6Jywn7rksAgVUawh2wQ2-1N6KlotMEXTUMdYvrew8EZkLfb4ROIUNfQslEm4APnXmrFKy8C7-_RxPOpT8ZvJr8k1oZrC57YH1wGd_SewpIObSE85v3nV1jg/s1600/dbl+msstewart.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 151px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNzOwzc6oj9VKwa2SljfwS6Jywn7rksAgVUawh2wQ2-1N6KlotMEXTUMdYvrew8EZkLfb4ROIUNfQslEm4APnXmrFKy8C7-_RxPOpT8ZvJr8k1oZrC57YH1wGd_SewpIObSE85v3nV1jg/s200/dbl+msstewart.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511364343707860610" /></a><br /><br />Within a few days, at least 10 (and I suspect far more) teachers asked the same two questions of the fresh faces gathering in front of them: <i> When do you feel most engaged/interested/curious in school? </i>and <i>When do you feel most checked out/bored/uninterested in school? </i><br /><br />The result? You can see my class's responses here:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNwuYuJpeXd__a5VkSIFGmrhFnPWozQSZziauroLCTHrVGx_mHq_biQdpcvdJ-Vd6M_WruuBwCh5CmecTNCnwuNBaZMOkaSPfNoTY5PZXw96Wn5EpjbAqw0sWSF3lOg0hEhhqSecsuHQ/s1600/New+Picture+(1).bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 131px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNwuYuJpeXd__a5VkSIFGmrhFnPWozQSZziauroLCTHrVGx_mHq_biQdpcvdJ-Vd6M_WruuBwCh5CmecTNCnwuNBaZMOkaSPfNoTY5PZXw96Wn5EpjbAqw0sWSF3lOg0hEhhqSecsuHQ/s200/New+Picture+(1).bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511376248496320002" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9hM_tFtBcnDaU9UXURS96p0ofjsYjAvqH6pLEXxeUD8JVXV_mVBMtQr-eDZiwgknOJqwB2cQk2-GVHC7SeNolbzeQ23-A_uoHxwQg5ZfY9JmX6jeU_AZbGg0bYvaMo83B5QrULyg-c8/s1600/bored.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9hM_tFtBcnDaU9UXURS96p0ofjsYjAvqH6pLEXxeUD8JVXV_mVBMtQr-eDZiwgknOJqwB2cQk2-GVHC7SeNolbzeQ23-A_uoHxwQg5ZfY9JmX6jeU_AZbGg0bYvaMo83B5QrULyg-c8/s200/bored.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511375256765089186" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />They resemble, but are not identical to <a href="http://inforgood.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/lecture/">the responses Ms Stewart's students </a>gave.<br /><br />Sharing ideas among teachers is nothing new. Back when I began teaching, it sometimes (often?) took a semester or more for an idea to make it down the hallway. This shared question went from North Carolina to Iowa to Utah in moments. Next, the questions, along with their accompanying images, sparked a spirited conversation on the <a href="http://englishcompanion.ning.com/profiles/blogs/death-by-lecture">English Companion Ning</a>, as well as a less feisty but just as heart-felt series of responses on <a href="http://inforgood.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/lecture/">Ms Stewart's blog, <i>In For Good.</i></a> So what's the value of this rapid spread of an idea? <br /><br />First, every teacher who asked the questions spent a some time thinking about knowing the students they encounter a little better as learners. Which means that a few hundred students learned that their teachers care how they learn. <br /><br />Second, a few teachers engaged in a lively conversation that involved debating the value of pedagogical methods, sharing professional resources, and critiquing said resources with intellectual vigor. Teachers are busy this time of year with activities that can seem decidedly unintellectual. To have teachers engage in visible intellectual discourse can only be described as heartening! And this happened without a course, a scholarly journal article, or a professional development session!<br /><br />The American Lit students in my course and I had an interesting conversation about their thoughts as they looked at the Wordles. I'm sure that the other classes that answered the same questions did too. Is the next step connecting the students together to see what they have in common with students across the country (and maybe across the world?) That would be yet another value add.<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474194216259052444.post-90918266175427837862010-08-22T19:05:00.000-07:002010-08-22T20:05:57.936-07:00Creating a positive herdIn <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://isenet.ning.com/forum/topics/switch-how-to-change-things">Switch</a></span>, Dan and Chip Heath discuss how to convince individuals and organizations to change the ways they operate when the initial inclination is to resist change at all costs. <br /><br />There's a lot that is interesting in the book--I received my copy as a gift at the NAIS conference in San Francisco last year. Instead of reading it all at once, I've been reading it in quick snippets for months. I'm not totally sure how that happened, in the intervening time I've read a number of other books in the more traditional (start in the front and work your way through to the end, one book at a time) methods. <br /><br />The upshot of this though, is that I reached the section on the power of the herd just as the school year was beginning at Cannon School. At the end of the first week, I said to our Dean of Students "You know, I haven't seen a single sullen face all week." <br /><br />Now, I'm sure there were at least a couple of students who weren't quite ready for summer to end. However, the culture at the school is "we're happy to be here with each other." I saw smiles, heard many offers of help from/to students and adults, and witnessed more helping hands than I could count.<br /><br />Not all the new students wanted to be here. Yet, when I checked in with the new students during the week, the universal observation was "I'm feeling happy to be here, everyone here is so great." It's hard to be sullen when those around you are cheerfully showing you where to put your stuff, helping you navigate the lunch line just because they can tell they haven't seen you before, and translating words to you in whispers during class (we have several international students). In other words, the herd at Cannon gives the message that here, we look out for ways to help each other. There's an ad for a financial or insurance company that implies the same thing-folks in the ad see someone help a stranger struggling with a package, then go on to restore a baby's fallen toy to the stroller, someone else sees that and so on.<br /><br />I credit the two Deans of Students with creating the kind of "herd" that encourages new students to enter the community with a positive outlook. They are, without a doubt two of the most positive, yet non-Pollyanna educators I've met. They act as a team, make their contributions unselfishly, all of which makes them role models for everyone else in the community (students and faculty).<br /><br />Earth shattering research? No, we all sort of knew this already, but seeing it in action is powerful. It's going<div class="blogger-post-footer">littechlearning</div>Sarah Hanawaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16562865776353395978noreply@blogger.com0