Reflections of a Techie

Rocky Road in PBL--Failures Welcome as Part of Design Process

All this year I've been working to empower students and turn learning over to them.  We've just started my newest attempt at PBL with the rock cycle as the centerpiece.  In this first day of the work, I've seen such encouraging change in student attitudes.  They embrace the chance to try things out...they see the trial and error part of this kind of learning as tolerable and, dare I say it, almost enjoyable.  When things don't work out the very first time, they have enough experience to realize that it will if they hang in there. 

They buy into the idea that it's a design process.

So if you're a teacher or student you've seen this chart a million times.  I wanted students to take it to another level...one where they experienced it.  Clearly they're not going into the mantle or not top of a volcano.

How could they build a model to show their understanding?

What questions do they have about how this re-cycling works?

I told them that we were going to do this unit without cookie cutter lab directions and they would be in charge of defining how to go about learning these concepts.  Loads of eyerolling went on.  Hey they're middle schoolers and it goes with the territory.

As we built background information, they've developed some amazing questions.

• How does the rock cycle work in a volcano?
• Why do some rocks never go through the cycle?  Where are these rocks located?
• How do we show the kinds of processes that rocks take...the melting, the pressure, the cooling and the breaking apart?
• When you build a model of something, what makes it a good model?
• How do you make dangerous things not dangerous so it can be in your model?
• What can we melt that can happen in our classroom and that can be broken up later?
• Do other planets in space have rock cycles?
• Is this really just re-cycling and why is it called a cycle instead of re-cycling?
  

You can see that the questions were pretty far ranging.  I also think it indicates they've started going beyond the obvious questions.

One of the best parts of this phase of PBL

Now that we've been doing this kind of inquiry for a while, students are much more tolerant of the process.  They know they're going to be stumped here at the beginning and it will all become more transparent as they work with the ideas and question.

They know that I'm not going to leave them out there, grading-wise or curiosity-wise, without a net.  They believe that I wouldn't ask them to do something that they can't do or figure out.  And that it will take a bit of experimenting to figure out what works.

We've gotten to the point where they know that some of their ideas will work and some won't.  For example, one of the groups realized they would need to break down rocks in their model.  They're using crayons as minerals and bricks to represent the rocks that scrap past.  Unfortunately as they tested their idea, it didn't work.  This would have been a diaster for the group in August.  Now they realize that this idea didn't work, but if they just tweaked it a bit, it might. 

They didn't see this first attempt as a failure because they get it's a design process.

They have belief that they'll figure it out on a future attempt.  That's huge.

3 Questions for ELA/Science writing and social media implementation

I'm very interested to learn about the art of communication in science.  It seems like one of the things that my 6th graders can work towards..even if their science isn't that advanced.  Imagine my delight when my Twitter timeline held this jewel for me....from Scientific American's Blog Around the Clock a guest post by Michele Arduengo, Scientific Communications Specialist at Promega Corporation.

She wrote that she was "  I’m curious to see how the web can facilitate the development of communities across communities, particularly to see if science communities can interact meaningfully with non-science communities." 

That is exactly what I've been wanting to do with my 6th graders.  I have been trying to connect and collaborate with other 6th grade teachers so that my students can develop ideas that both classrooms study.  Maybe it would be a Skype chat or co-creating a wiki page about a lab or an experiment.  And then taking that learning and turning it into something that all people can understand.

It really is a twofold process: 

• Understanding what you know and what other people who as expert in that area can learn http://lmsblogs.org/together; and
• Communicating that to an audience of people who don't know much about your area of expertise.

To some extent we already do this in class when we have students write a letter to their grandparents to explain what they've been doing in science class.  Wonderful letters come back in response.  And it's also what you might see my students doing on our classroom blog.

Ms. Arduengo also raises the point of how social networks must not only do the work of supporting your work, but also of helping you critically evaluate your work.  This has been a huge component of what working scientists do....critiquing each other's findings until they stand strong in what conclusions can be made. 

It's the hardest part for 6th graders.  They only want to ask friends and family to critique their writing in hopes of avoiding the hard, uncomfortable growing questions.   I am concerned that the ability to personalize news pages, subscribe to particular news feeds or blogs, actually makes it easier for people to become more isolated. People connect with others across the world, but the only those who share the same interests or views.   What a fair question for not only the real-world scientists that Ms. Arduengo is working with but for all teachers who are trying to ask how to incorporate social media and networks into their classrooms.  There will be a surge of activity in this realm with the implementation of Common Core curriculum standards and the Next Generation Science Standards....all of which push the idea of connectedness and community.

I do believe these all wise issues to raise and consider.  1) What is the function of a community in giving support but also critique?  2)  How do we construct lesson design so students learn how to build networks from a wide-ranging set of perspectives?  3) How do we teach students that they've insulated themselves with "yes" people so they don't limit their growth?

How is a Kansas middle school like a California high school?

Sometimes you read a blog and it feels like your story too.  That happens to me occasionally and today I made a wonderful discovery...Leslie Moitoza is someone I've never met but we have the same quandry.  Don't you love that word.....it's what she used to describe the decision she had to make.  She said this...

It started with a quandary. As a veteran writing teacher, I was struggling, feeling caught in the middle between my responsibility to prepare my high school students for the traditional academic demands of college and the prevalence of compelling technology in their lives. Although, I recognized the need for computer literacy, I was not willing to trade rigorous academic work time for frivolous computer projects. So, my quandary led to my inquiry: Is it possible to teach academic writing as digital composition? What happens to writing instruction and student learning when we go digital?

I don't teach academic writing but I worry all the time about how to use digital resources wisely.  I worry about not taking on frivolous digital projects with my science classes so I can say that "I'm doing technology."

As I read about Ms Moitoza's journey, I had a sense that she was going to find value in changing up the way she taught writing.  I have found that same value in many of the digital revisions I've implemented in my lessons.  I couldn't imagine teaching weather without using real-time updates, for example.

She said it this way,

I can now answer my question, “Is it possible to teach academic writing as digital composition?” with a resounding YES! --with the caveat that the focus needs to be on the “teach” in the question.

And that is the word that makes all the difference in the world.  Teach.  Digital tools are great.  They come and they go.  But the teaching that makes those tools powerful is the real key to integrating technology well.  Thanks to Ms Moitoza for writing about her journey and you should read everything she wrote and the wonderful artifacts she's posted to document what happened along the way.

So how is a suburban Kansas middle school science teacher like a large urban California high school English teacher?  We both use our teaching expertise to focus on the learning not the tool.  Connectedness allows me to read about her journey halfway across the country and see my own classroom....it allows me to draw strength from what she learned and to inform things I need to do in my own practice.

 

Adapting Google's 20% time to my classroom

I read about something called 20% time at Google where employees are studying their own questions for 20% of their workweek.  Supposedly many innovations come from letting people follow their interests.  I can't even relate because I work in an industry where there are "scripted lesson plans" that tell you what to say, not just to give you the direction for your work.

Anyway...onto a more positive note.

I decided to take this urban legend of an idea and try it out in my own classroom.  I had three students who were finished and who wanted to "hang out" while all the others finished.  Instead I proposed they come up with something to do ala the Google 20% time.  My only boundary was that it had to fit into school learn somehow.

Honestly they had no idea what questions interested them.  They were stumped and frustrated.  And after quite a bit of letting them work on it, interjecting questions and trying to lead them....I suggested they might look at some creative websites for inspiration.  I suggested using the Exploratorium's Tinkering Studio and Make. I love reading about all the cool things they do.

From looking over these sites, they chose Light Painting.

So I dug out my yearbook camera, the camera manual and suggested they print out the materials to read over.  Since the rest of the class was working on their library projects, we asked to borrow the backroom where all the equipment was kept as their painting studio.  It took them only a day to figure out how to re-set the camera's shutter and to trial and error some pretty neat shots.

For their light source, guess what they picked?

You betcha.  A cell phone....what else would a 2012 6th grader pick? 

So these are some of their paintings.  Now they've super excited and asking more questions.  NOW they are full of thier own unanswered questions.  NOW I have them hooked.  This will fuel many days of trying new ways and ideas.  Who knows where it will go.  But it will be fun and it will be their path.

I'm always looking for ways to get my students curious and interested in learning.  Maybe this 20% isn't a myth.  At least not in my classroom.   Wonder what the folks at Google would think of our implementation!

 

Why Teachers Need to Take Ownership of Implementing the Common Core

How schools will go about implementing Common Core Standards is a huge topic within education  today.  Stephanie Hirsh has written an impassioned discussion of what will be required of our school communities in order to move forward.  It made me stop and think.

Teacher leaders will be critical to the successful implementation of Common Core Standards (CCS). Sounds like a no-brainer, but teacher leaders are most often the missing piece of education reform. Effective teamwork and sustainable implementation of such a large change depends on teachers leading the effort forward and co-designing professional development. 

I've been lucky to work with an amazing set of 22 NBCTs from North Carolina and Kentucky that who have spent the last six months piloting curriculum tools developed by the Math Design Collaborative (MDC) and the Literacy Design Collaboartive (LDC) at the Center for Teaching Quality.  It makes so much sense to capitalize on all the knowledge these teachers have gained from their working with the MDC and the LDC in a real classroom situation.

Alignment between states, districts, and teachers depends on teacher leaders. Even the Department of Education blog acknowledges that this implementation needs to be different: “Neither students nor teachers are served by a structure that treats some teachers like interchangeable cogs in a machine. We long to lead our own profession because when we drive our craft, we will see huge shifts in the responsibility, leadership, pay and respect.” 

As states begin to blend CCS with their own standards, district administration may be ready to move ahead without teacher input. They realize teachers have no choice in whether to implement. But the choice isn’t to implement or not to implement; the choice is in how to implement.  With a strong base of teacher leaders in place and leading the effort, other teachers will find inspiration and success.

Time and again, top-down implementation stalls as teachers fail to hear workable plans that reflect the realities of their classrooms. One must only look as far as the top-down force-feeding of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to see how negative side effects may outweigh any benefits. Ask any teacher how she felt about the implementation of NCLB and you’re likely to get an earful about how things could and should have been done better.  

With the implementation of CSS, educators and administrators have a chance to find a better model for rolling out widespread change. According to the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, more than 90 percent of teachers believe that other teachers contribute to their success.Teacher leaders can help build a climate that draws on their colleagues’ expertise and wisdom to improve the CSS implementation. Teacher-designed and teacher-defined professional development is the other critical element in aligning CCS.  

Critical to a successful launch of CSS in schools is establishing credibility for that change.  Teachers are often wary of anything they had no part in creating. This attitude is even more pronounced toward CSS, since the standards come from a political movement started by governors to “fix” education.
 
There is no force that is more adaptable, nimble, or capable of calling to action every one of the 3.2 million classroom teachers than genuine teacher leaders. These are leaders who work in classrooms every day. They have lived through NCLB and can apply the best and worst of that initiative. They have the respect of their peers, and can therefore call into action the legions of teachers who simply want to make tomorrow better for their 49.4 million students.

Image licensed under CC with attribution http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/625205010/sizes/m/in/photostream/