I was going to do this later in the year (and still might as a follow-up), but based on questions I’ve been getting lately and a local Educational Technology event my students will be attending soon, I had my students write to an imaginary class thinking about blogging to share their thoughts about it. About half my students have been blogging for 3 years, others for 2 years, and a few just started in the last six months. You can see the assignment and their posts here – note the left side of our class blog where it says “Student Entries” and click on posts with “Blog” in the title … or go to individual students’ blogs if you like:

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=65078

Learning is messy!

Tags: studentblogging

Not that I think what they call it really matters, but Arne Duncan, the new Secretary of Education, is thinking about re-branding the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. Maybe if nothing else a new name could set the tone? Anyhow, he wants ideas – as quoted in a US News interview:

So, any ideas? I’m still formulating mine.

Learning is messy!

Tags: NCLB, Arne Duncan

I’ve seen numbers bandied around like $1,000,000,000 (that’s a billion dollars) for edtech in an Obama administration. Tom Hoffman dives in here. Wow, that should do it. We’ll all be swimming in tech!
WHAT? No, we won’t!?

No, that funding sounds adequate, but some have crunched the numbers and that funding level would not be adequate.

And that’s the point. We could get set-up here for another major fall. The problem as I see it is that a billion isn’t nearly enough, especially if it is spread around in some kind of “fair” manner so that every district and school gets its fair share. I know that seems like the right thing to do, but I’m not so sure.

See a billion is a lot of money AND it SOUNDS like a lot of money so in the publics’ mind edtech got all they money they could possibly need, so now we’ll really see if technology can and will make a difference in education. If they can’t get this to work with a billion then it just shows that technology integration and project-based, problem-based learning doesn’t work and teachers and school administrators are idiots and waste money … where’s the voucher and testing system? We need some accountability!!!!

One way it could help is if some model schools and districts were funded in an adequate manner by that money, bundled with vision and real leadership, and permission to REALLY try and do things differently. Not just tech integration and project-based activities, but also how assessment is done, what the day looks like, number of school days, field trip funding, cutting requirements to buy textbook programs, paying teachers to plan as part of their contract (ie – non-student days before, during and after the school year),  … I could go on. But then if these models are given the time to work and show that they work, funding will come for everyone else … well at least to some level. I think it is true that if the system works, the money will at least mostly follow.

If we just throw tech into basically the same system we have now? Well that’s what has been tried over and over … and failed miserably. And note that I haven’t even mentioned, well until now, the professional development that MUST happen before much of the tech shows up (and is that part of the billion? If so we need even more). This has to be thought through at every level or why bother?

I’d love to hear what others have to think about this. Am I way off here?

Learning is messy!

Tags: Change, edtech,

From the “I Told You So Department” comes this article and studies:
Exercise Improves Kids’ Academics, by Dan Peterson, LiveScience’s Sports Columnist

I’ll let the article mostly speak for itself but will post this one telling quote:

Learning is messy!

Tags: standardizedtests, excersise

Alice Mercer has started a great conversation over at “In Practice” called “Why not “cure” poverty instead?”
Jump in and add your thoughts!

Learning is messy!

Tags: InPractice, Title 1 schools

With the siren call from many, and President-elect Obama’s seeming support for investing in and re-building our long neglected infrastructure I have hope that schools and educational programs will be included.

Generally, No Child Left Behind has banked on the belief that complete focus on reading and math would be the savior of “At Risk” students. That by using essentially the entire school day outside of lunch, and in many cases, even doing away with recess to gain more time for basic literacy skills, students would “catch up”, or at least do much better.

Even before the advent of NCLB, tighter school budgets over the past 30 years have slowly eroded many programs in music, the arts, sports and other what were considered “extra-curricular” activities.  During those budget cutting times these “extras” were deemed non-essential and were therefore quickly cut from stretched budgets. Middle and higher income parents instinctively understanding the importance of the “extras” from their own school experience, filled in by enrolling their kids in sports leagues, scouts, music lessons and more … with a bit of grumbling here and there. However, when those opportunities were gone from the schools, they were also gone for many students whose parents did not see or understand the value in them, nor have the resources or job schedules required to run them around to various venues and pay the fees and equipment costs. Having these programs available after-school for free or very cheap was key to equal access, and I think to fundamental learning.

Now we hear more and more that learning the phonics and other reading skills without the schema for understanding and making connections to what we read leaves students still behind. It seems that those that have said all along that students require these “extra-curricular” activities not just to be physically fit and well rounded in the arts and social interactions with others, but to bring meaning and understanding to the world around them and to what they read were right.

Here’s an excerpt from a post I wrote 2 ½  years ago:

Tags: InfrastructureInvestment

Cross-Posted from In Practice.

My school is very at risk and therefore is always on the edge of making adequate yearly progress per NCLB. When this all started, about 10 years ago, that meant big programs were mandated in language arts. There were various issues … there was no time left for science, social studies, art, PE,… for example, but the last year or so the pressure to adhere as strictly to the program and scheduling had improved (at least at my school, I know others where it is even worse than before). We’ve enjoyed a bit more flexibility and less scrutiny of every little thing we do, and science and art were beginning to show up here and there.

But something else has been happening that “snuck” up on us and has now become the same kind of issue. Instead of having a big overarching program that drives our day, we have slowly over the years been picking up little ones. Accelerated Math, Read 180, Soar to Success … programs that don’t take much time, that you can sort of fold into the little corners of your daily schedule … the 20 minutes after music right before lunch, as a beginning of the day activity as attendance and lunch counts and announcements are made … and they are more of an annoyance than a major obstacle … until this year.

Now we have RTI – Response To Intervention – and along with some of our other little programs and other issues, we are right back to a programmed school day. There are little evaluations that need to be taken often on some students, data to turn into various people for their reports and more. But maybe the worst part is what has happened to the non-teaching part of the day.

All these programs, and especially RTI, are driven by data. Now gathering data to drive your instruction is a good thing. So good a thing in fact that each of our little programs generates its own set of data and we get to compile and organize it all – whether it is important data as far as informing our teaching or not. And some even have a place you go on the net and get your data, or input your data to get your data back in various forms AIMSweb or Edusoft for example. Now much of this is being done on computers, so therefore its been decided that it takes little time … its easy to input and output the data … and here’s a chart to write all the data down in columns so we have all the data in one place. So much so that it is taking a lot of what we used to use as planning time to do all this bookkeeping of data.

Teachers are therefore cutting back on other aspects of their jobs that require time. Like planning. Hmmm, I have less time to plan and I’m feeling very stressed. So to cut down on stress I’ll use a program that tells me what to do … does most of the planning for me. Many of our old big programs have little optional programs or pieces that go with them that we already have. So guess what is happening?

We are running back to the safety of programs. If I do the program there is less planning and the materials are easier to prep because you don’t develop them yourself … just run them off or put up the ready made chart. AND the program is sacrosanct. The program is supposed to be good … proven to be effective by research … “research based” … so if I am doing the program I can’t be questioned about my instruction or my choices of materials or pacing … because hey, I’m following this approved program.

Programs have become a place of refuge. So guess what isn’t happening much … again?

 

Learning is messy!

Tags: Education

Beginning tomorrow we will do 6 or so evaluations in 3 weeks. We start with what my school district calls the math benchmark test. The next day is the reading quarterly assessment known as the 4Sight test. Then the quantitative spelling inventory which we used to call the “bed, ship, bump”. We will take another SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory), and then it will be time to take the reading benchmark test. The real fun is between the 2nd and third quarters when we do all of these AND the Reading, Math and Science CRT’s (we’re lucky because fourth grade does all that AND the Terra Nova (2 reading tests, 2 math, spelling, language, and more). Remember this is besides any quizzing, testing or evaluative pieces the teacher does. Nevada just cut schools 14% and is about to ask for more. But none of this expensive in money and time testing gets cut.

BTW, a few of us listed what we think is the total number of evaluations that are mandated. We counted 27 per year (but add the Terra Nova testing that takes 5 days to that for the fourth grade total). And who knows, we might get picked to take the NAEP test again too!

Learning is a mess?

Tags: Testing

I meant to post about this at the beginning of the conference, but I guess right in the middle is good too. The K12 Online Conference 2008 is ongoing, and as usual the keynotes and presentations are well worth your time to “attend,” … and better, they are free! You can even get credit.

Last year I was one of the conference keynote presenters, and this year I was honored to have my presentation on video-conferencing accepted. Check out the scheduling page to see what is being offered, about half the conference has already gone live and this week more presentations will come online each day.

Learning is messy!

Tags: K12Online 2008

Chris Lehmann posted today about “Sustainability“. I’ve noted for years and done my best to point out to people outside of education that the success stories of teachers and schools portrayed in the movies and books while inspirational, are not generally reproducible. Certainly any teacher might note certain techniques or attitudes they could emulate, but how many teachers can really consistently put in 60 to 80 hours a week and have a family and any kind of life beyond school? How healthy for the teacher is that kind of effort? Do teachers really have to completely give their time and lives to their profession to be successful?

To me though the real point is this. If what it takes to be a successful teacher is anything close to the true stories of the teachers in books and movies like “Stand and Deliver” and “Freedom Writers”, then something is wrong with how we do school. If the system of schools we put teachers in requires that level of work and dedication to do a good job then maybe we better be willing to redesign it, reinvent it.

I note how many teachers involved in these success stories often only last a few years as actual classroom teachers. KIPP schools and schools with similar philosophies that lengthen the day and the week and require the hours noted above turn over teachers like fast food restaurants go through high school students.

It points out yet again that what we really have to overcome is this reluctance for humans to deal with change. If they were at least generally successful in school, they know how to be successful in that system and therefore will say they are willing to have the schools change. But when faced with a report card or assignments or methods that are different from their experience, they tend to want to run home to the familiar. “But is that like getting all A’s?” 

Learning is messy!

Tags: Schools