Teenage Pressure Cooker

By Jacob Gutnicki

Janice did not like school. That damned Mr. Lotta made her miserable. Always taunting her for drifting off into space. Didn’t he understand that he was boring her? Of course she understood that this was no game. After all, you don’t pass math and your stuck in this hellhole.

Her parents did not make matters easier. Dad would always say, “No daughter of mine is going to fail math. Young lady if you ever plan of having a future you better crack open those books!” Mom was a bit more sympathetic. She would try to give me encouragement. However, she found ways to make me crazy as well. Years ago, the school labeled me “hyperactive” and suggested that my parents get me medicated. At the time, I did not understand what all of this meant. However, in time the repercussions became very clear. My friends would jokingly call me a druggy.

Well… enough was enough. I wasn’t going to let anyone control my life. I stopped taking those pills over 2 years ago. For once, it is nice to know that I am control of my life. Naturally, my parents have no idea that I am off the meds and have been flushing the pills. As far as they are concerned the medicine seems to really be working. After all, I always seem happy.

Unbeknownst to them I found the ultimate aphrodisiac in the form of a technology internship program. Two days a week I work in a different school as a High School Intern fixing and upgrading computers. The principal at the Clara Barton School is really nice. She is always so appreciative for my technical assistance. The tech coordinator is pretty cool too. She has shown me a number of trouble shooting techniques and has taught me about the finer intricacies of job etiquette.

I suppose things are not so bad. The district representative was telling me about an early college program that sounds really interesting. Anyhow… the math tutor is coming over so I need to stop yapping.

Eureka! We've Finally Perfected Educating Students for the Past

Sir Ken Robinson goes prime time on the Bonnie Hunt Show to lament the fact that in the 21st century we've finally perfected the art of preparing students to meet the needs of manufacturing. If we're entering what Daniel Pink describes as the conceptual age, we're way off the mark. Unfortunately, students are anything but standard and we're judging them as though they are all the same. Innovative educators know that they're not! They are different. Despite that, schools have become a manufacturing system that is all about conformity (video 1:44). This is driven by the multi-billion dollar industry of standardized testing which judges intelligence in the same way even though kids are very different people with different intelligences and talents.

Robinson goes on to explain that when you test different kids with different talents in the same way, many of those kids fail. Hunt adds some insight surmising that when so many kids fail it's no surprise that 30 - 50% of student are not graduating when we're only testing to the strength of a particular type of student. Robinson shares that this is not the fault of students or teachers. When you have this many kids not making it, it is clear our system needs to be fixed!

Robinson offers a solution. When you help a student find their talent their whole life changes. That’s the first step. If education is not about helping people finding a life of purpose, meaning, and fulfillment, then what is it? He asks Williams to reflect upon the tremendous impact following her passion had on her.

Robinson suggests that we need to rethink talent and build a different type of system around it. For parents and teachers he further suggests we listen to kids messages, help them discover and build upon their passions and encourage their individualized talents.

To learn more watch this video and visit his site http://www.sirkenrobinson.com.

Get Going with Google Apps for Education with a New Domain

Innovative Educators often ask me how to begin using Google Apps for Education. The first step is to set up a domain. Evan O'Donnell from Teaching Matters, Inc. shared this handy step-by-step guide on how to get started using Network Solutions.

4 Simple Steps to Setting Up a Domain with Google Apps for Ed

1. Purchase a domain:
   http://www.networksolutions.com/
   
   
2. Register this domain for Google Apps:
   http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/index.html
• Completing this form will immediately launch a standard edition of google apps while google review your education application. You can continue setting up the domain in the meantime.
• Google will email you requesting more information regarding your application. Reply to the message with the required information. If in 48 hours google has not been upgraded, complete this form: http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/request.py?contact_type=nonprofit
  
  
3. Enable services for your domain and closely follow the instructions on-screen.
   
   
4. To setup email, you have to switch back to network solutions, manage your DNS records and add MX records:
• Login and click on "Manage Domain Names" under the "nsWebaddress" link on the left. Select the domain you want to edit and click the "edit DNS" button:
  
  

• Select "Manage Advanced DNS Records" from the next screen. DO NOT SELECT "Move DNS"
  
  
• Scroll down to the Mail Servers (MX Records) section and add the MX records that Google requires.

For all the other services you should change the URL of the services so your users can easily access their tools. Click on the service, and choose the "change URL" radio button. Follow Google's instructions for modifying cname records. You change the cname records on the same page as you add the MX records (see above image) - only in the cname section.

Once your services are set, the next step is to setup users and groups. Click on the Explore the different tabs in the control panel:

You can setup users one at a time here, or bulk upload users from an excel sheet using Google's template. If your school is migrating their email from another system, click on the advanced tools tab.

From the Users and Groups tab, you can also setup groups. These are like listserves (allstall) for the domain.

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Created by Evan O'Donnell, Teaching Matters

Incorporating Innovation into Strategic Planning that Will Enrich Learning

It takes more than ensuring educators and students have access to technology when schools begin the work of developing a 21st century strategic school plan. As innovative educators, students, leaders, and families, are well aware, technology is just a tool. In and of itself technology does not equate to either innovation or greater effectiveness. In fact poorly used technology generally results in substandard instruction. In some cases this further results in dropping technology-(rather than learner) driven programs and support. This is important to remember when developing a strategic school learning plan. What's most important is learning always come first.

I've heard one too many educational leader, teacher or parent proudly state that they are part of an innovative school as evidenced by the fact that they have laptops or Smartboards in every classroom. That is not impressive. What is impressive is when the conversation begins with how student learning is enriched in new ways and learners are engaged with innovative tools and ideas. I was recently asked by a school leader for feedback on how to ensure their school's strategic planning could help ensure educators were preparing 21st century learners for success. Here is what I shared.

The goals, dreams, and vision for learners, not technology, need to drive the plan. Technology can help meet these desired outcomes but tech in and of itself is should not be the defining factor. For example a school goal could be formatted like this:

• School goal for learners:
• Specific technology used:
• How will this accomplish the goal in ways not previously possible:
• How will this enrich student learning:

Here are some ideas on how your school can get started on the road to developing a strategic plan for learning.
DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR LEARNING

• Develop a school strategic innovation team
  Ideally this team is comprised of teachers, school leaders, students, and family.
• Take a simple assessmentHave team members come together to take a simple assessment to see where the school lies on the continuum of 21st century success.
  This measures a schools success in five dimensions.
• Infrastructure: Hardware, Software, Networks and Tech Support
• Human Capital − Teacher Effectiveness
• Curriculum Coherence, Learner Centered Instruction and Digital Content
• Leadership
• Student Achievement Outcomes
• Here is a sample simple assessment
• Start the conversationDoing this enables team members to start a dialogue, develop, common language., and begin thinking about areas in which they want to grow.
• Select a dimension of 21st century success on which to focusAfter taking the simple assessment, discuss and select a the dimension(s) on which it makes sense for the school to focus
• Determine where you are and want to go
  Once the dimensions are selected the team should determine the specific areas of focus using the Rubric for School Innovation to determine where the school currently stands and strategically make a plan for moving to the next level in the continuum.
• Fine-tune your focusOnce the dimensions of focus and plan are discussed the team can work to create an innovation roadmap. You can see samples here by clicking on any model school and looking at their roadmap. This will be the school's guide for moving along the continuum of 21st century success. There should be a lead writer assigned to drafting the roadmap, but all innovation team members should be invited to the document (Google docs works well) as it may make sense to have certain team members take the lead on various parts of the roadmap.
• Ensure innovation road map has an educator and student-driven hardware purchase planYour school has a hardware budget. That doesn't mean that those not in specific classrooms should determine hardware purchases. Educators and students don't like to feel imposed upon. Instead, excite teachers and learners by inviting vendors to share various possibilities with classrooms and encouraging teachers to write hardware proposals with input from students. Let teachers and students partner to use the technologies. The educator as the pedagogical expert and the students could server as a partner in using the technology effectively. In my district we did this by selecting ten commonly use technology tools and invited vendors to join us. Each teacher wrote a proposal for $1500 worth of equipment (this is dependent on school budget). This results in teacher and student buy in and a partnership with leaders, educators, and students to make decisions on instruction aligned to school goals. Upon receipt of the hardware and implementation of teaching and learning, classes publish their work sharing lessons, videos, photos, and student testimonials. We have begun this work in a newly launched (and soon to be populated) site http://InnovateMyClass.org. School interested in using this tool can contact me.
• Review and finalize innovation road map with innovation team
  When the innovation roadmap seems complete the innovation team should review the document together and revise/update. When the document seems in good shape it should be shared with the school staff for their final input.
• Share road map with staff, students, and familyShare the innovation road map with the school community and incorporate feedback.
• Celebrate success with innovation field trips
  Celebrate and learn from/about the work your school is doing with an innovation field trip. Read the School Innovation Field Trip Quick Guide to learn how.

Developing an effective strategic plan means schools focus on student success and keeping their eye on the prize. Technology is the tool to achieve the prize, not the prize itself. As the saying goes, "It's all about the kids," and with them as the starting point schools can begin effective planning.

To Blog or to Not Blog

By Jacob Gutnicki

“Last year Creed asked me how to set up a blog. Wanting to protect the world from being exposed to Creed's brain, I opened up a Word document on his computer and put an address at the top. I've read some of it. Even for the intranet, it's... pretty shocking.” (The Office, Season 3, Episode 23)

Many administrators fret about students and teachers creating blogs for this very reason. After all, in this age of accountability it only takes one incident to end a principal’s career. So what does the principal do? No one wants student work containing poor grammar to get posted. Likewise, no one wants to create a controversy through a student blog. Subsequently, many schools do not encourage the use of blogs and in some cases even discourage/ban its use.

This is a shame as the power of publishing is a motivator that should not be underestimated. Since the dawn of the Internet cutting edge schools have been creating web sites centered on a variety of themes and have found time after time that it helped drastically improve student-writing skills and proved to be a powerful motivator. The students were excited to see their work displayed on a web site as it gave them a voice that can be seen by millions of people. However, in those days web publishing required that the user code in HTML or use a GUI Web Editor and a FTP application such as DreamWeaver and/or Fetch.

Thanks to the advent of Web 2.0 tools, web based publishing is as easy as using Microsoft Word. No longer does one need a FTP account or knowledge of how to use a web editor, code in HTML, or use a FTP client. This in turn has lead to a publishing revolution and explosion of information as never seen before.

Yet there are still many holdouts that fear the worst. Are these fears rational? Will students and teachers post something terrible? To be truthful these are tough questions. How many times have we seen an inappropriate ranting posted on the Internet? Additionally, posted work with poor grammar may lead to a false impression about the academic rigor of a given school.

However, one must ask the following question; “If not now, when?” Simply put, shouldn’t schools teach children how to write? If not, who is preparing students to interact and compete in a world powered by web based tools? If we choose to avoid using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom, we are leaving students to their own devices in which they are far more likely to blog without any regard to netiquette and proper use of grammar. Therefore, I implore administrators to adopt the use of technology tools, which promote writing. Naturally, schools should create a review process and protocols that help students write more thoughtfully and effectively. In fact, the blog can be a great learning opportunity in which we teach students about netiquette and writing mechanics. Who knows? With a little innovation and caution we might just produce the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling.

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Related posts

Why I started a blog and why maybe you should too,
Is Blogging Worth The Risk? For Most Teachers, No
Is Blogging Worth The Risk? - Yes!

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