How activity focused are we?

I just finished developing a project based lesson for a group of teachers to use as an example. My brain hurts.

I decided to take a break when I finished and do some mundane, zero-thinking tasks and then come back to the lesson to review before finishing it up. While I was reflecting on the lesson, a few realizations hit me like a ton of bricks.

First, I was thinking how good it was for me to stay in the practice of creating lessons like this. I've been telling teachers for a long time that PBL is the way to go. For our students, it can make the difference between learning to remember and learning to get by. The process of developing one start to finish (without anyone to collaborate with - my own fault) is not an easy task. Do I think it's worth it? Absolutely. I've seen it first hand with my own students.

Yes, it is time consuming, but again, I will say that I do think this time spent developing PBL units is worth it. It's a pay off in the long run, and if we were to take the amount of time I'd plan in two weeks and add it all up, it would probably be the same amount. I like to use the phrase "uncovering information, ideas, and innovation" rather than "covering curriculum" when describing a true PBL unit.

Another thing I realized is how important it is for us to develop our own units rather than finding existing ones to use. When we're first starting out, I do think it's OK to try one someone else has made first just to get our feet wet. Some great PBL units can be found here, on the resources from the Buck Institute. I've said before, it's easier to follow a recipe when you're learning to cook. Once you get comfortable in the kitchen, you can begin putting your own twist on things.

But here's the biggest reason we should look at developing our own lessons. My process of developing a true PBL lesson reminded me of a time that my science curriculum consisted of science kits rather than science textbooks. The science kits were good. I liked that my students were using hands on projects and reflecting on their learning with blogs. What I didn't realize at the time is that those science kits were developed around the idea of an overarching concept, like motion, design, growth, change. Instead, I said we were working on the "car kit," or the "plant kit."

I had become stuck on the activities that are part of the learning process. And so my teaching became isolated to the events of making a car that would move, planting plants that would grow, and finding what phase the moon was in, rather than recognizing how movement is in effect all around us, how growth is present in our lives, and what cycles we are part of.

This was another piece about teaching with fidelity to me, a self-reflective piece of fidelity. In all that I do and all that I teach, I need to reflect back and see how I'm framing the learning around concepts rather than the activities that are a part of it. The conceptual framing is the glue that puts the entire unit together.

If we design our learning around a conceptual theme (such as with true PBL), we can go deeper in our instruction. Knowledge gained will not be isolated to one particular event, but built around a mature understanding of the impacts and results of that knowledge. When we design lessons like this, we avoid the activity trap. Just activity is not engagement, it's busy-ness.  And unfortunately, this is how I approached my science kits.

So what have I learned from this, especially if I'm saying that it's a fidelity piece? One thing is to look critically at what we're teaching to find that conceptual theme. If when talking about our most exciting lessons, we focus on the process or the tasks the students are involved in, then it's activity focused. That doesn't mean that the concept is nonexistent, it just means that we, as the teachers, are looking more at what our kids are doing rather than what level their understanding is. That's what I mean when I say it's a process of covering, rather than uncovering, curriculum. I so wish I'd had this "aha!" moment years ago when I was introduced to the science kits I would use in my classroom.

I hope this also models how important the reflection process is. Unfortunately, I can't go back to my students and reteach those lessons to frame them around concepts instead of activities. I can, however, through this experience, recognize if I catch myself doing that again. And at the same time, serve as an example to take learning deeper.

Because "just activities" are not enough.

eSourcing - The How

In a recent post, I gave the why of eSourcing your curriculum. In case you are not familiar with the idea, it is developing a project based curriculum using multiple resources, including videos, websites, books, and other applications.

The first step in creating a classroom focused on eSources is to identify a unit to begin with. From looking at the standards you need to meet with that unit, consider the learning activities students will be involved in. You need to ask the question, "How does a ____________ (scientist, mathematician, journalist, writer, etc.) use this skill in real life?" Not only will looking through that lens help you identify what resources you need, but it also will help you to create a unit that engages students in critical thinking and project based learning. Write the answer to that question on a Post It note, and stick it somewhere you will see constantly while you're preparing the unit. Maybe it's to the side of your monitor or on your desk; it doesn't matter. It will provide you with focus so that you don't start chasing rabbit holes during development.

Keep in mind that this needs to be a true project based experience for students, and I recommend following the 8 Essential Elements of PBL. The Buck Institute announced earlier this year their quest to bring together PBL units for a Gold Standard PBL, which would be vetted by BIE and would provide great examples. Keep your eyes on this.

The next thing you'll do is a Google search. It depends on what grade level you teach, but regardless, there's information out there. Here's a list of sites that I think are beneficial when you're trying to provide students with a list of vetted resources.

Expert Space
BBC Bitesize
Scholastic Storia
PBS
National Geographic (Kids - Elementary) (Secondary)
Time For Kids

I could go on. And on. And on. So instead, here's a link to my eSourcing bookmarks. The content found on these sites will represent the in depth research your students will participate in. In depth research is going to take the place of the teacher delivering information to the students, and instead, students will research and find the information to apply to the concept of the unit of study.

You will have to scaffold the research so the students aren't out there in the wild west. Think about what information they need to bring back after their research. Maybe as a class (or individually), students will brainstorm questions they need answers to that will drive their research. Another good idea is for students to research from the role of a real life profession or responsibility that goes along with the unit of study. For example, if students are researching the water cycle and water conservation, have them research from varying roles of farmers, parks and recreation directors, and water purification engineers.

Next, you'll need a content repository. Think about where you can house the information you're finding. Depending on how scaled the initiative is, you might need anything from a bookmarking site to a purchased curriculum manager. I would recommend iCyte to all, regardless of how large your initiative is. To give you a quick summary, iCyte takes a picture of a website and stores it in your account. No longer will you visit a site today and find it's gone tomorrow if you cyte it.

Now, for an individual unit, you will go back to the planning stage and think again about how professionals use this information in the real world. From there, develop the PBL unit according to the article listed above.

If you are looking at full scale, whole site change with an eSourced curriculum, there are other things to keep in mind.

1. Communicate, communicate, communicate. You have to share this information with parents, teachers, administrators, and the community. It's different. Most of us didn't learn this way, therefore, most of us will only know school as it existed for us. Be prepared - moving to a curriculum that focuses on PBL will be different for kids, and some (namely the kids that are good at school) will balk. Remember, school doesn't work for some kids. That's one big reason to use PBL. 
2. Check your network. Every time you find a resource you want to use, you need to check it on network from both the teacher and student side. If you find information that is blocked by filters and you feel it is important to open it, be sure to follow your district's procedure for doing so. Most network administrators are very open to unblocking sites upon request.
3. Be prepared that some resources might need to be purchased. Expert Space, for example (linked above), is a great tool for science and social studies classes. It has a small annual fee and students will have to be given accounts. Gizmos from Explore Learning are also a great tool purchased through subscription.
4. As with anything in education, tweak, change, and repeat. Most teachers don't teach the exact same lesson year after year without making adjustments to it. Because with eSources, you're using the most up to date resources available, you'll definitely need to be prepared to follow suit in this area.

The most important thing to remember about eSourcing is that it truly has to occur in a project based environment to make a difference. Often, we change resources, we change tools, but we fail to change the delivery of our instruction. If you are interested in learning how to develop a project based curriculum, check out these online courses that will take you start to finish to develop a unit you can use in your classroom this semester. From there, you can continue to build your curriculum over time.

A quote I love is from Robert Marzano - "Teachers must move beyond 'teaching content,' to teaching students how to learn - that is, find and evaluate content, connect with prior knowledge, and use that knowledge to solve authentic problems."  Using eSources with project based learning can help us achieve just that.

Innovation Academy

Throughout my experience as an educator, I have been very fortunate to work for a district that encouraged professional development and also to have the opportunity to attend many workshops and conferences both in my regional area and around the country.

I think you'd find few educators that would disagree about the importance of professional development. However, time, travel, and the expenses involved are sometimes inhibitors. Additionally, one-size-fits-all PD can sometimes be counterproductive. Therefore, in response to these struggles, I am very happy to announce the launch of 21 Vision's Innovation Academy.

The Innovation Academy is a series of online professional development offerings designed to engage professional learners in skills for today's students, such as Project Based Learning, the Flipped Classroom, Visual Literacy, and Google Apps just to name a few. All courses are designed to support a classroom that provides not just relevant, but real world learning experiences.

All courses take about a month to complete, and participants will directly collaborate with other teachers in the course and the instructor throughout the month. Courses are offered at a very affordable $125. Check out the link above for course descriptions.

Additional courses will be available very soon, and will always be launched the first date of the month.

Don't Get App-Happy

Once I was working with a school district that was implementing iPads 1:1, and I'm going to be honest, I was scared. Having used computers in the classroom for five years, I wasn't sure that a tablet was the right decision.

Let me explain - I have an iPad and I love it. I've told many people that there's plenty of times that I could use my iPad and set my laptop aside. This is usually when I'm looking up some information, checking email, or using Google Drive to organize and create documents. And so I guess, to be frank, I was afraid that the iPads would be used the same way. For productivity rather than creation and critical thinking.

The challenge presented was two-fold. We needed to make sure that technology was not being used for technology's sake, but as a tool in a project based learning environment. The other part was to provide enough freedom in management to allow teachers and students to download age appropriate apps when necessary. The problem isn't really a fear that unnecessary apps would be installed and take up space, but rather, that unnecessary apps would be used and not promote critical thinking.

Because they're designed this way, tablets promote app use. It takes a focus for users to refrain from being "App Happy" and downloading every fun, colorful, free app that's out there. Teachers have to think critically when they see a list of apps about how those uses will enhance and enrich the classroom. Additionally, we have to remember that tablets have a web browser and most of what we could do on our computer, we can do on the tablets. Maybe we only need five apps. Maybe we need less than that. It's not about the number, but what we're doing with them, and we have to be careful that we're not downloading and providing "busy work" to the students just because there's a curricular tie.

This is where the project based part comes in. If we treat technology in every student's hand as a whole group learning experience, we've cheapened it. Following the 8 Essential Elements of PBL, providing students with resources, and promoting the use of those resources to solve real world problems is how technology can make an impact on classrooms. It's not about the app, what kind of device, or even the technology at all. It's about the use of critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration present in the classroom when students are working on real world problem solving.

I recently read The Epic BYOD Toolchest, and I thought it was a great resource that focused not so much on the apps, sites, or devices, but on how they are used in classrooms. At the same time, I've developed an app rubric (that could be used for Chrome extensions also) to help with our focus of quality, not quantity.

So after all of this, am I still scared of tablets in the classroom? Not at all. As with all technology, it's not about the stuff, it's about how it's used.