Patrick Higgins, Jr.

Archive for September, 2008

Daily Diigo Links 09/30/2008

In Uncategorized on September 29, 2008 at 7:31 pm

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9/27 part III.

In 21st Century, reflection on September 27, 2008 at 12:10 am

You waver, sometimes, about the elements of your life you think are transient or fleeting.  For me, earlier this year I wondered what place Twitter had in my PLE; I was busy, rarely had time to contribute to what was happening on Twitter, and often felt like when I was joining conversations for the few moments I could, I was just acting as noise for others who were truly using it to their benefit.

What occurred tonight, via both Election 2008, and my own network was phenomenal.  The engaging nature of both candidates, and I mean that in the sense that they are infinitely more intellectual than was “Dubya,” and the commentary by my network was phenomenal.  I truly appreciate the views of expats like Clay Burell, whose insight into the nuance of candidates’ statements were spot on.  Has it taken online election discussion for me to see the full benefits of life in a democracy?  Gawd, I hope not.

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9/27 part II.

In 21st Century, sparta, teaching on September 26, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Scobles Tablet PC

Scoble's Tablet PC

My months are rigidly divided into three parts: elementary school meetings, middle school department meetings, and high school department meetings.  These are my set dates for which I prepare for.  Each department that I supervise has unique (and often pressing) needs by the time I meet with them each month.  This morning I met with the world language department at the middle school, who, due to a change in schedule is now meeting with all of their students on a daily basis, whereas beforehand they saw 6th grade every other day and 7th and 8th grade every day.  Needless to say, there is some adjustment going on and emotions are high.  Their new schedule has them teaching 30 minutes instead of 40 minutes, yet on the whole for the year their student contact time is higher–confusing, I know.  What they had expressed concern over was that loss immediate class time.  And, if you add in student passing time between classes that 30 becomes 25 or less.

My approach to them was simple: how can I give you back more class time?  The reality is that I am not involved at the building/scheduling level; I can’t physically give them back more time.  I showed them how to create screencasts using Jing.  The thinking behind this was simple in that if they were losing up to five minutes of their class time to passing time and administrative tasks, was there a way that they could ensure that students had the resources to reconstruct that missed time?

There were a few assumptions here:

  1. That teachers will create the screencasts: I was asking them to give up “outside of class time” to create these.
  2. That students will watch them.

Both assumptions are not mutually exclusive. Teacher buy-in and student buy-in go hand-in-hand when it comes to the success of any change in the norm.  If I didn’t wrangle the teachers today in some capacity, there is no way the students will ever see these things.  Here’s how I ran the class:

  1. I showed them what was familiar to them on their tablets (our world language department all have tablet pc’s): Word, PowerPoint, and Journal.
  2. I showed them how to ink on those programs.
  3. I launched JIng and screencasted.
  4. I played it back.
  5. I asked someone to verbally repeat my steps.
  6. I asked them to begin the download process for Jing (slow network).
  7. I asked each of them in turn to come to my tablet and create a mini-cast and publish it.
  8. We laughed at each other.

Lots of “I’s” but also plenty of “we’s.”  There were many times throughout were I would have succumbed to dwelling on what is not possible in the classrooms, but for now, I wanted to focus on something they could do to be pro-active to increase their instructional capabilities.  Screencasting allows them to say that there are resources available to the students at ALL times.

I hope it works.

Image Credit: Scoble’s Tablet PC” from penmachine’s photostream

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9/27 part I.

In leadership on September 26, 2008 at 11:10 pm

“If we cannot learn to engage in productive, ideological conflict during meetings, we are through.”  – Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

There is one thing that most every person that has ever met me may agree with: I am not much for rocking the boat.  My admission of that has never met with much discernment from myself, as I have often taken pride in that ability to remain objective.  Yet, in reading this quote, first in Dave Dimmet’s Leadertalk post, and then again in Miguel’s weekly recap, a smarter part of me took offense to my usual behavioral pattern.

What’s wrong with discord?  In this position, which I cannot call “new” anymore, I am constantly faced with opportunities for constructive discord, and I have found that over the course of the first 10 months in this position, I have often either pacified, avoided, or circumvented opportunities for disagreement.  Why?  Let’s see what happens when disagreement happens in front of me.  What will it mean if I help people who disagree come to terms with the fact that they disagree?  I am going to go with Dave’s advice here and see what happens.  I’ll report back on the state of that idea.

Image credit: “Gloom” from Shirley Buxton’s photostream

Daily Diigo Links 09/26/2008

In Uncategorized on September 25, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/25/2008

In Uncategorized on September 24, 2008 at 7:31 pm

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Pushed to Joy

In reflection, teaching on September 23, 2008 at 10:54 pm

Two articles came across my bow today, one right after the other, and each pushed my thinking a little farther down a path.

Will writes today about an article he read in BoingBoing by Cory Doctorow rehashing Jon Holt’s How Children Learn.  While I’ve not read Doctorow or Holt, Will pulled a quote from Doctorow (as he was discussing Holt’s title) that matched squarely to my experience sitting in for Erica Hartman tonight at Back to School Night:

Most resonant for me was his description of kids’ learning unfolding from the natural passionate obsessions that overtake them.

As an administrator now, I am asked to observe teachers in their practice and give them feedback on specific areas.  Like students have preferences, there are some teachers we prefer to observe because of the mindset we leave with–we are reaffirmed, we’ve learned, and we can spread that knowledge to others.  Those teachers engage and push, and in many ways provide students with access to a very raw emotion, one we rarely associate with school these days, unfortunately: joy.

Immediately below Will’s post in my aggregator was one by Doug Johnson entitled Joy in the Classroom.  Aptly titled, Doug also pulls from a text, that of John Dewey:

What avail is it to win prescribed amounts of information about geography and history, to win the ability to read and write, if in the process the individual lose his own soul? – John Dewey, Experience and Education, 1938

Several parents came up to me tonight and said very clearly: “this is not what I remember about school,” after watching Erica’s remote presentation about our Connections class.  And I took great comfort in that.  Others remarked that they were so glad that their children were getting the opportunity to push their thinking, and that their son/daughter couldn’t wait for this class because they never know where they will end up by the end of the period.  To me that means they are digging it.   And to Paul C who commented on Doug’s post, that joy is synonymous with engagement:

I wouldn’t say that all learning is necessarily joyful. Personally if I am engaged in the topic at hand, time flies and I am consumed by my pursuits…

Equip students with the dynamic learning skills necessary to pursue life long quests.

They’ll forget the content but remember the fire.

Doug also posted Steven Wolk’s list of 10 essentials to bring joy into school experiences:

  1. Find the Pleasure in Learning
  2. Give Students Choice
  3. Let Students Create Things
  4. Show Off Student Work
  5. Take Time to Tinker
  6. Make School Spaces Inviting
  7. Get Outside
  8. Read Good Books
  9. Offer More Gym and Arts Classes
  10. Transform Assessment

After reading those posts, I immediately did two things: first, I followed Doug’s link to his article entitled Designing Research Projects Students Love, and secondly wrote and sent an email to two teachers whose classrooms I have spent some time in this week who completely impressed me with their ability to push their students to joy through whatever means necessary.

They’ll remember the fire. That works for me.

Daily Diigo Links 09/24/2008

In Uncategorized on September 23, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/23/2008

In Uncategorized on September 22, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/21/2008

In Uncategorized on September 20, 2008 at 7:31 pm

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Is this the Academia I am Sending my Children to?

In 21st Century, education, teaching on September 20, 2008 at 7:17 am

From the my own personal Neo-Luddite collection (I found this one in the Philadelphia Inquirer):

“Now that we’re aware ChaCha exists, I can assure you that we will begin
discussion of a formal policy to prohibit cell phone use in classes,”
said Gerard O’Sullivan, vice president for academic affairs at Neumann
College in Delaware County, Pa. He said most professors already
prohibited cell phone use in class.

Let’s rule out something before it is examined.  Sounds highly anti-academic to me.

Daily Diigo Links 09/20/2008

In Uncategorized on September 19, 2008 at 7:31 pm

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What I Liked About Back to School Night

In education, teaching on September 19, 2008 at 12:45 pm

My son is in preschool,  I’ll lead with that.

My wife and I went to his back to school night last week anxious to see his school and meet his teachers.  For us, it was like reconnaissance: my wife is also a teacher and her back to school night was coming up and we needed ideas.  Plus, our son is close-lipped about school, always answering our questions with “I don’t know.”  As we sat there, cross-legged at “circle time,” I took some mental notes, and I also started recalling the back-to-school nights I had lived through in the classroom.  What I remember, and what became apparent to us as the blood rushed from our feet under the weight of our adult bodies, was that the more time I spent on rules and regulations, the less everyone was engaged, including me.

What do we want to know when we enter our child’s classroom?  Do we need to know that the penalty for chewing gum is a wearing it on his nose?  I think we have to take a page from good presentation skills here: if they need to know my rules, I can provide them on a handout.  What we wanted to know as we entered his classroom was what he did when he wasn’t with us.

His teacher did a masterful job of this.  We sat like preschoolers and followed their mini-schedule.  She moved as if we were the kids, showing us the actions she makes as she instructs; every action is mirrored by the words used to describe it.  We got to know her and who she is.  We spent time imagining our son working and interacting with the same things we were.

We are in the midst of back to school night time for most of us here in New Jersey.  Our district is going through them this week.  When you plan for our back to school nights, I hope you all think about what you would want as a parent.  For my wife and I, we wanted to be able to see how he would interact in that environment, and we wanted to know that he was in a supportive environment.

These are the things I would want to see as a parent in my child’s classroom:

  • Be Genuine.  Be who you are with the parents of your students.  They want to know that there child is learning, is challenged, and is supported.  By showing them your true self, it helps them see those things.
  • Don’t give us your resume.  If you are standing there in front of the room, we’ll assume you are qualified.  If parents ask about your credentials, you might have bigger problems on the horizon.
  • Show samples.  Student work on the walls, of course, but also show us examples of lessons they are doing currently or will do in the future.  What I liked most about our preschool visit the other night was that I now know what is on the horizon and what I can expect him to be doing in a class period on a given day.
  • Be Gracious.  You have big class sizes.  You have 130 students over the course of the day.  They have one child in one room at one time.  Understand that they are singular in focus, as you would be too.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Daily Diigo Links 09/19/2008

In Uncategorized on September 18, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/18/2008

In Uncategorized on September 17, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/16/2008

In Uncategorized on September 15, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/14/2008

In Uncategorized on September 13, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/13/2008

In Uncategorized on September 12, 2008 at 7:31 pm

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Cell Phone Survey Results

In pedagogy, school 2.0 on September 12, 2008 at 11:43 am

One of the first things I have asked that the teachers of our Connections class do is to poll their students on cell phone ownership and capability.  The first thing we wanted to know was if they owned one:  The responses were about what we expected (although at the time of this posting, there were only 6th and 7th grade students reporting on this):

Once we identified who owned cellphones, we wanted to know what the capabilities of those phones were. We asked if it had a camera, could record video, playback video from other sources, access the Internet, record sounds, and play games:
2008-09-12_1227

Additionally, we wanted to get some data on how they were using it to communicate, especially via texting.  We asked how them how many text messages they sent and received in a day:

  • Less than 10 per day: 16% of students
  • 10-20 per day: 21% of students
  • 20-50 per day: 20% of students
  • 50+ per day: 29% of students
  • at least three said the number was higher than 100 per day.

Additionally, we wanted to find out what they used more often during the day, a computer or a cellular phone:
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Lastly, we asked them the various ways they could use their cellphone to help their learning and the responses varied from the basics of calculator use, to using Cha-Cha to get answers to basic factual questions (we had a teacher use this in class the other day, so I think the deck was stacked on that one!).

What we are beginning to look at here is how we can leverage this against limited resources and access to computers.  Looking at Liz Kolb’s blog and the predictions for mobile technology, I feel now is the right time to be playing with this idea.  We do so many things throughout the course of the year that students could dig deeper into, and looking at the 4th Screen video from Nokia truly transforms how we view our mobile phones.  There is power there.

How are you using your phone?  How are your students using theirs?

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And We’re Off!

In 21st Century, curriculum, school 2.0 on September 12, 2008 at 10:55 am

Over the course of the last few months, I have been writing about the creation of a new class in our middle school called Connections which focuses on critical thinking and problem solving through multi-disciplinary writing.  Last week our middle school opened and the Connections classes began.  Below is the initial reaction from several of the teachers after that first day:

-I had a great day!  The kids are very curious about the Connections class and the use of technology within the class.  I was floored to see that I would say that about 90% of them said that they have cellphone.  I think it’s going to be a great year!

-Things went well, students are highly interested in Connections, although not completely sure what it is yet. They enjoyed learning about the Web 2.0 applications we will be using and can’t wait to use Google Apps for Education. I am glad we prepared in the summer for the first 2 weeks, it is making the beginning of the year much easier.

-The kids seemed really interested in the course.  The idea of podcasts and other multimedia projects definitely seemed to go over well.  I think some of the students were a bit overwhelmed, but I’m hoping that a gradual transition into our first unit will ease their anxiety.

-I totally hooked them with the pollanywhere.com survey! When I asked them to explain what the Connections class was, they really got it! They said they’d be learning how to think, use what they already know, use technology to demonstrate their understanding and other stuff I can’t remember because my brain is fried.

-They were initially hooked by the “no homework/no tests” aspect.  Once they heard a litttle more they still seemed eager to begin.  There was a mixture of excitement and fear, which is exactly what I wanted/expected.  I think they are ready for the freedom, challenge, and responsibility that Connections entails.

We are now a full week beyond these initial reactions and I have been popping into the rooms to see how things are going.  Initial reaction?  It’s difficult when you know in your gut that what you are doing is the right thing to do, but not too many people have tried it on such a large scale, so to see it in action was frightening for me.  Here’s what I saw:

  • The legs knocked out from under them: The students were confronted with a class that focuses on writing, yet does not grade for mechanics and spelling, only content, clear ideas, and connection to other subject areas.  In one class, the teacher was using Socratic Questioning to continually force the students to challenge their own assumptions and habits.  They were so uncomfortable!  Their cognitive dissonance was palpable and then she made them write about it.  Thinking through writing.
  • Ubiquitous technology: We really tried to hide the technology behind the purposes of this class, and so far it is just that.  They are using Moodle in spots, Google Apps in others, but all for the purposes of being connected to each other.  As the year moves on, and I try to keep connecting the teachers to others of you out there doing great things, I am hoping that our students will see that too.
  • Excitement: This feeling is shared by both the students and the teachers.  Our schedule rotates so that the teachers teach 5 classes, but only see them 4 times in a week.  On that drop day, we have students complaining that they miss what happened in Connections that day.  I hope we keep this up.

Daily Diigo Links 09/11/2008

In Uncategorized on September 10, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/10/2008

In Uncategorized on September 9, 2008 at 7:31 pm

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Call Me What You Will, I Want them Engaged

In 21st Century on September 8, 2008 at 8:37 pm

My wife dropped the big bomb on my yesterday. We were talking about the cell phone issue that seems to be surrounding the educational world lately–something akin to “I Love You, You’re Beautiful, Now Change,” replayed like “We love them, We all Have Them, Let’s Ban Them.” She asked me how I would use a cell phone in a classroom situation. I ran through my Polleverywhere.com deal and my Flickr email address picture thing, and mentioned how Liz Kolb said this and showed that. And then it came. The words I have been expecting for some time:

“But you are not in the classroom anymore, and you think ‘in theory.’ How do I make that work for 90 kids over the course of 8 periods in a day?”

In actuality, I loved the question, because it occurred two days ago and I haven’t gotten it off my mind (which tells me it was a keeper, as is she). But man, it stung slightly when it was originally posed. I miss the classroom. I miss kids and their messiness as they figure things out. However, what I am doing now challenges me in ways that I am not ready to give up.

Classroom teachers are asked to do an inordinate amount these days. Between knowledge of IEP’s for students and the push to differentiate instruction AND infuse technology into their practice, there is little time for some administrator type coming in and saying that cell phones are the savior. I get that. I get that there has to be some example, some established practice that shows results.

My response to not only my wife, but to everyone who would have reacted that way, is simple. What are you doing to engage your students? What is making them talk about your class and what happened in your room in third spaces? It happened when I was in school, so as Barry says, it’s not about the technology. But it is about their motivation.

I taught history. Some teach math. Any subject area teacher, aside from anything associated with the present day, struggles with relevance. I spent the majority of my time creating references and comparisons to present day situations so that my students could see the relevance in the events of the past. This is what we do: we find ways to reach our students and motivate them to learn about things that normally would not garner notice.

Recently, Jonathan Glater’s article in the New York Times, “Welcome, Freshman. Have an iPod,” spoke of how universities are beginning to leverage mobile technology to both lure students to their schools, but also to engage learning:

“We think this is the way the future is going to work,” said Kyle
Dickson, co-director of research and the mobile learning initiative at
Abilene Christian University in Texas

I agree, and Liz Kolb’s recent projection of mobile phone capabilities backs that up: smaller, faster, even more ubiquitous. I don’t know about the lot of you, but as for me, I’ll take anything that engages my students in learning. Tech or no tech. This just makes sense to me.

Daily Diigo Links 09/09/2008

In Uncategorized on September 8, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/08/2008

In Uncategorized on September 7, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/07/2008

In Uncategorized on September 6, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/06/2008

In Uncategorized on September 5, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/05/2008

In Uncategorized on September 4, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/03/2008

In Uncategorized on September 2, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Daily Diigo Links 09/02/2008

In Uncategorized on September 1, 2008 at 7:31 pm