The Importance of Student Collaboration

How can your students benefit from collaboration?  As one major theme of the 21^st Century Framework, collaborative sites offer the ability for students use their strengths, consider multiple viewpoints, and to truly operate like a professional in the real world.  Because all students will eventually grow up to serve on professional teams that may or may not even be within the same geographical area, teaching students to work collaboratively now is of great importance.

The inclusion of collaborative tools in the curriculum provides motivation of students to become more engaged in reading and writing, to think critically, and, therefore, to submit higher quality work. We may have heard about the student that said, "When I write for my teacher, it's just for my teacher. But when I publish online, I'm writing for the world." When the student is writing for the world, they are also allowing contributions through comments and replies.

Not only can the use of collaborative tools incorporate learning across social, cultural, and physical barriers, but it can also provide for an extended school day or expanded classroom walls.  Students, experts, mentors, observers, and even the teacher can work together after school hours, which allows others to build upon their present knowledge through collaboration. 

My favorite collaborative activity that I used in my classroom was a time that I worked with another teacher in my district to establish what we called "blog buddies." The teacher and I paired our students and taught them protocols for responding, which included "no cheerleading," an idea derived from this article, meaning that "good job!" and "nice work!" were not allowed. Instead, comments and responses had to provide challenges to enhance instruction and the thought process.  We saw great potential with this, but we did not anticipate how collaboration would motivate, develop understandings, and contribute to the academic success of all students. 

Social networking and collaboration is sometimes frowned upon in classrooms and schools because, let's face it, it's a scary world out there.  However, social networking is what students do when they go home every day.  As teachers, we have the opportunity to teach our students to safely communicate online.  This is an opportunity we must take.  Otherwise, students may not learn basic cybersafety rules.  This should be an agreement teachers need to make with parents, administration, and our technology and network administrators.  If what's really important is the kids, then it's our responsibility to teach them not just our academic curriculum, but also social and life long skills.  By collaborating in our classrooms with other classmates or other schools, we're taking control of communications and ensuring safety by following an AUP and previewing all communication before it reaches the other parties.  By doing this, we've taken a huge step to keeping kids safe online.

Today's students learn differently than we did.  With the rapid advancement of technology, the students we teach today will advance in future careers and positions that don’t currently exist.  Employers are urging teachers to include critical thinking, communication skills, and social skills in all disciplines.  Working collaboratively enhances each of these skills and encourages flexibility, respect, and shared responsibility.  This, coupled with the motivational benefit of working with another classroom or school, creates the case for using collaborative sites in your classroom.  Below is a list of my favorites. Make it your goal to try these communication tools in your class this year!

Google Apps for Education: Of course this is first. Collaborate to create documents, slideshows, or spreadsheets. Accelerate the peer editing of the writing process, develop shared proposals, videos, and presentations. Use Google+ to share classroom experiences, and groups to post information. The list goes on and on and on.

Blogging (Blogmeister is my favorite for elementary, Blogger for students with GAFE accounts): Be sure to teach student appropriate communication protocols and it also wouldn't hurt to work with the students to develop a rubric for contribution, such as this one, created by third graders.

Skype: You can find other classes seeking collaboration, great lesson ideas, and even experts to contribute to your real world classroom projects.

Answer Garden: Teachers can easily create an AnswerGarden for students to respond to a question or idea. Contributors get 20 characters to respond, and ideas are generated into a word cloud.

Padlet: Easy site to create "virtual sticky notes" for students to use for brainstorming.

Vialogues: Add a discussion board to any video. Discussion stays private with your class.

Scrawlar: Add your students to your class and work together to develop writing, interactive whiteboard activities, and drawing workspace.

Today's Meet: Create a back channel, but use it for experts and professionals to contribute rather than students in your class. Or, use it in conjunction with Skype or Google Hangout to effectively interview a professional or expert.

Comment and add your favorite collaboration tools so we can add more tools to our toolbox!

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.

Wikipedia. Hate it or Love it?

So I have this thing I do when I need a very quick answer and it is fact based, like a date, location, or history. No, I don't ask Siri (unless I'm driving). Instead, I look it up on Wikipedia.

Right now, there's a lot of educators that are either gasping or shaking their heads in shame. And I used to be one of those educators that told my students they couldn't use it as a resource.

I said things like this:
"Do you know that anyone could just create an account and start typing stuff?"
"How do you know that someone who really knows what they're talking about wrote that?"
"It's not reliable. Choose from one of the resources I gave you."

No student ever questioned me, but looking back, I wish they would have. I wish my students would have brought up the fact that our textbook still said Pluto was a planet, but Wikipedia reflected the change. I wish they would have said that I had taught them to research by gathering multiple resources that all gave the same information, and they could use both their judgement and the strategies I had taught them when reading various Wikipedia articles.

A few years ago, I realized that a friend from high school had listed "Wikipedia Editor" as a job on her Facebook page.  This caught my interest, so I asked her about what she did and it's validity. Here's what she told me:

"Since anyone that registers for a wikipedia account can edit pages that aren't protected (locked), they use patrollers who go through every change that is made. The patrollers try to catch vandalism like somebody putting something entirely absurd or their personal opinion on articles. The patrollers can easily reverse the change and go back to the older, archived version of the article before changes were made. If there is uncertainty about whether the edit is "good" or not, the page is earmarked for an editor in that field to look at.

When I log into wikipedia, I can go to that list at my leisure and look through the edits. The ongoing, ever-being-updated list is catered so that those subjects that I've previously said I know more about are higher on my list that things I've indicated I don't know as much about (you rank your knowledge on different subjects 1-10). Occasionally there will be a questionable article marked by a patroller that any editors that have been online have passed by and then the listed editors in that field will get these automatically generated email messages asking you to log in and look it over, starting with those that have a rank of 10 in that category, until someone marks it as okay or switches it back to the archived version. Most of the time the page is marked as "needing cleaned up" or "needing references." Most people that do very much editing keep the articles they contributed to on their "watch list" so that they know if anyone edits their info. 
There's sort of a delicate balance between allowing everyone to edit and doing all of this patrolling, and locking problem pages so that only certain people can make changes to it. You don't want a sixth grader writing about his version of what cancer is, or a crusader editing the stem cell page, so certain pages are protected to varying degrees. Those pages have a picture of a padlock in the upper right corner. These pages have gone through WikiProject collaborations to come up with what editors in that field have deemed comprehensive and accurate. Most of these have a place where people can leave comments about possible edits that might need to be made."

This explanation, along with the fact that Wikipedia articles are some of the most up-to-date, always there resources, made me change my mind about whether Wikipedia was a "bad" or "good" resource. Besides, I required my students to back up their research by finding the information in multiple places, anyway. Why was I forbidding one of those multiple resources?

I think the bottom line should be that students should be considering ALL sources, not just the ones provided to them (or in this case, forbidden of them). In today's world, it is so easy to create content, and I can think of many websites right off the top of my head that have erroneous information. I think it's actually a better service to teach our students the 21st century information literacy that will provide them with protocols of how to choose appropriate resources. Besides, Wikipedia is typically where Siri tells me I should look when I ask her, too.

Not Your Old School Paper Job Application

My daughter starts her first ever real job on Monday. I say real job because she's never had to check to see when she's scheduled, received a regular paycheck, or even completed a w-2. Before Monday, the only jobs she had ever had were babysitting. (I do think she's a great babysitter, though)

Who's more excited, me or her? Probably me. For one, since she's making her own money, she'll be asking me for less of mine (I hope). I also know how this is a huge step for her. It the first step to likely becoming part of a workforce that will last for the next 55-60 years. 

But the biggest reason why I'm excited (other than her earning her own money) is that this is a learning experience for her. This is where she's stepping into an area where mom isn't, where she's becoming independent. Which is both sad and exciting for a mom. 

When my little girl (who is actually 17) first applied for this job, it was an entirely different experience than it was for my first application. I had a mixed array. Everything from, "Yeah, I know your dad. How about you show up at 10 on Saturday?" To the ever humbling, "Can I have an application for employment, please?" And then proceeding to a nearby chair where the application was balanced on a knee to complete in the presence of the (hopefully) future employers. 

My daughter completed her application online. And yes, I sat beside her and helped her. She doesn't have her social security number memorized, she wasn't sure what references were allowed, and she had actually never even completed an application before. 

But I really wanted her to have a job. So I helped her. The application process at that point really looked no different than the old school paper applications. Same questions, just in online format.

We made it through the application process and I proceeded to the couch to watch TV when she quickly exclaimed, "Mom! I need you!" 

Moms know the cries of their children. Some are sarcastic cries, some are emergency cries, and some are attention cries. This cry wasn't one of those exclamations in which I came running. I turned and looked at her with a quizzical look upon my face. I see her frantically waving me over and saying, "Hurry! Hurry!" So of course I return to her side to see what it is. 

And there it is. Something of an aptitude test. It's timed. She's got ten minutes to take it. She's stressed. And I want my daughter to have a job, right? So do I help her? Heck yes, I do. 

She began answering the first few questions as I was skimming the upcoming questions. We both began to nervously discuss answers. There were answers that demonstrated character and work ethic. She would say "I would choose this one, right?"

Then there were math questions. And I suddenly began having flashbacks from my trials at the GRE. In these math problems, multistep, problem solving techniques were necessary, mixed with (yet again) appropriate problem solving techniques. 

I recognized a few questions as what we would call "career ready" questions. As an educator, I made a mental note that we need to provide work readiness skills in school to measure work ethic, attention to detail, and appropriate dress. 

I noticed the time in the upper right corner. We were running out! Did I want my daughter to get a job? Yes! There was only one thing to do.

"Skip all the calculation questions!" I exclaimed. "Just answer the ones you know immediately!" Our hearts were pounding from the stress of the test as she was notified her time had expired.

Two weeks or more went by. I asked her if she had heard anything about her application more than once. "No, mom." (Eye roll)

And then, finally, it happened. She texted me at work Friday. "So, I got an interview. I went in and they hired me. I start Monday." 

I'm so happy I of course tell my parents, my husband, and everyone in my office. Woohoo! She'll start a new job and recognize the value of hard work!

She begins at a local fast food chain on Monday. We have our own little sandwich maker in the family now. 

Teaching with Fidelity

Right now I'm analyzing some achievement data, and noticed a discrepancy between what I thought the data would tell me and what it actually did tell me. I started racking my brain to think of why the numbers didn't turn out quite the way I thought they would, and then I remembered the particular year in question was the first year of a new textbook adoption, and as anyone who analyzes data knows (say it with me, everyone) "first year implementations always show a decrease in performance."

I remembered a conversation I had with an administrator that same year, who said that we should see gains in achievement as long as we implement the new program with fidelity.

Now here's where I'm going to get on the soapbox. Seeing the implementation of programs that have attributed to major gains in performance, and as the creator of professional development programs, I absolutely agree. We definitely want the teacher that is guiding and providing instruction to be upholding rigorous demands. We know that's what is right to make a difference in our students' lives.

But, shouldn't we just be teaching with fidelity? Why are we saying that we need to uphold the fidelity of a particular program when maybe more importantly, we need to uphold the fidelity of rigorous instruction? Our world is changing, and with that change brings the need of a creative class, moving away from the agrarian and factory model that most of school has been based on.

Obviously, "teaching with fidelity" has room for interpretation. The definition of fidelity even suggests that by using this phrase, there is an exact formula for teaching, when in fact, we need to consider the needs of our students in order to personalize learning. Fidelity doesn't mean working hard. Teaching with fidelity is about having high expectations for our students, challenging and pushing them, not allowing failure or even second best. It's about changing the lesson plans every year because no two groups of students are the same. It's about personalizing learning for every student, making the curriculum relevant to today's (and tomorrow's world) and making assessments authentic. It's about no two end products looking alike.

Let's make a fidelity scale. It might look like this:

I would say first and foremost, there are many, many more indicators that belong on this scale. School and learning are not about one single thing. The idea of learning encompasses everything from relationships to curriculum to assessment to strategies to delivery. As a teacher, I have thought about all the "things they didn't tell us in college," like the parent meetings, paperwork, curriculum writing, grading, mini counseling sessions, and so on. Similar to this, learning, a legitimate deep understanding, encompasses a collection of essentials that have to come together for one outcome. This outcome is that information is not only retained, but is used to analyze other ideas, considered critically from an alternate point of view, or used as a foundation to build an entirely new idea.

Teaching like this, in the upper end of Bloom's scale, encompassing real and relevant learning opportunities, using multiple resources and teaching students to consider the validity of resources, presenting information to authentic audiences, and creating, is teaching with fidelity. Take a look at the above scale. Additionally, consider how your students are thinking critically, if they're creating original works, and how you are personalizing the education of all your students. Where does your teaching fall on the fidelity scale?

Our world is changing. Information is growing. We have to raise kids up in a different way than we did in the past. Teaching kids to function in reading, writing, and math is no longer the end goal. Teaching them a skill set of persuasion, analysis, synthesis, evaluative decision making, collaborative teamwork, and problem solving is just the beginning for today's generation. We have to teach with fidelity to make a difference for our kids.

Think about it - what does fidelity encompass? How can we, as a whole, change so that we are teaching with fidelity? How can we measure it? This is what we need to consider when we're planning for our next year. This is how we can ensure that our students are truly learning and engaging rather than simply jumping through the hoops of school. This is what we need to do to teach with fidelity.

Thinking Different

What is real life creativity? Let's start with your commute to the office. If you're like many people I know, you will stop by the coffee shop on your way in and purchase a $4 designer cup of sugar, cream, and flavoring. Even if your coffee of choice is not the frothy blend, chances are your coffee shop has considered the season and availability of various coffees and will offer you coffee black, with anything from a light blend to a robust, nutty dark brew with a fancy name. More than likely, the coffee shop will have some type of advertisement displaying the new blend or the return of an old favorite with some catchy slogan. 

This is creativity. And this is just a trip to the coffee shop. Imagine the creativity that you will encounter in every other part of your day. When you read a new article in your publication of choice, when you take in a commercial on the radio or TV, or even when you go to your local department store.

These are all examples of creativity. Someone had to decide what creativity was going to look like in each of those examples. It's someone's job to invent the coffee flavor, design the advertisements, write the piece that catches your eye, and design the store displays that will make you take notice. And we need to recognize that none of these examples are limited to "the artsy ones," the ones that can draw really well, or maybe are really good at crafts or something like that. They're not Martha Stewart. They're the ones that realize that the next big move or the next thing driving their business is dependent upon being different, innovating, or standing out. Because why else would you spend $4 on coffee? 

I'm thinking about Apple's Think Different campaign from back in the late 90's. 

How often do we allow ourselves to think different? And are we teaching kids to think different? Or are we still expecting every student to turn out the same product? Being creative is being different. Our world depends on creativity- solving unique problems, challenging "because we've always done it that way."  We have to innovate, we have to inspire. We can't be afraid to stand out and be different. Because if we do, all we've done is create an unrealistic world. One without problem solving, one in which we make poor decisions because we have been spoon fed. Our world is anything but monotonous. We have to prepare students for uncertainty, and we have to prepare them to continue innovating.

By the way, this year's seniors were born in 1997, the same year Apple launched the Think Different campaign. Has their education been about thinking different or has it simply been replicating previous decades?

It's Fair Season!

Would you like to win a Flip video camera? What about an iPad? You could be the lucky one chosen because it's once again time for the Joplin Schools Annual Technology Fair!  All you have to do is sign up a few students from your class to showcase their awesome work on April 22nd from 5-7pm at the JHS 11/12 campus.

Because last year's changes were very effective, we are continuing with the categories of Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity.  There will be elementary and secondary winners in each, and this year, we will be instituting a traveling trophy for the winners in each category.  There will also be random drawings for an iPad 1 and a Flip video camera.

Hurry! You'll need to get your entry submitted before April 15th to be included in the brochure!