Building Empathy Through Interviews

www.floridamemory.com/items/show/32039

7th graders are all over the map when it comes to emotions. So, on one level, you might think that it isn't hard to get them to develop empathy. But how many of your students, at any grade level, have conducted interviews to gain knowledge of their interviewee?

My first semester at Meridian school is winding up and I am still getting used to the timing of projects. That led to a two week period between the Thanksgiving break and final exams.

I knew that I wanted to introduce an interview process soon. I also wanted to include either the 7th grade ELA teacher or the PE Coach with a project early in the next semester. And then it hit me - 6 Word Memoirs.

As the name implies, students write about themselves by using only 6 words. After checking with the ELA teacher I found that she had just completed a unit on memoirs. And, after talking with a few students only a handful had done a 6 Word Memoir (6WM) in the past. And so it began...

On the first day I gave the students a post on interviewing like a pro. It doesn't exactly apply but I wanted them to think about what the pros think about before, during, and after an interview. To minimize time on the article I had them do a jigsaw and we discussed things they learned about what to do before you go to an interview; what you do during an interview; and what things to think about after the interview.

Then I paired them up (key word there, "I" paired them up).  Many were with people they don't normal hang out with so getting to know them became a harder task. I gave them 10 minutes to come up with a set of questions to use as openers. And, I instructed them to go down any path that became an obvious interesting topic that might be used to write a 6WM.

To help them think, I gave them a list of topics that might be good places to draw from for questions.
The trouble is I forgot about how the 7th grade brain works. Because I put a list in front of them, they couldn't come up with imaginative questions or question sequences to go deeper on any other topics than the ones I presented to them. I actually heard one boy ask another "Have you ever been married?" When I heard that question I asked why he had asked it. He said "because I had included "marriage" on my list of possible topics." Silly me; I was thinking that maybe there might have been an interesting wedding that they might have attended.

By the end of class I actually was pleased with the results from most of my students. They had asked good questions and had made good recommendations to their interviewees on what they should write their 6WM about.  Very few ended up needing help in understanding the process and how to make a relevant recommendation.

Before the next project starts I will be able to draw from this experience as we discuss interviewing to gain empathy. Because when the next semester starts (after our holiday break) I will be having my students interview clients or other pertinent people before they start brainstorming ideas. I feel better about their interviewing skills and I believe they will be better at identifying the needs and desires from those that they interview.

To finish the 6WM, I am having them go through a critique rotation today. They are writing their 1st draft and are presenting it to their small group. The small group is tasked with recommending at least one word to be changed to make the 6WM stronger. Then the students rotate to different groups and go through the process a second time.

They will be turning in an 8.5 in. by 11 in. paper with their 6WM on it, that has been decorated to help tell the story. These will be placed on our classroom wall so all of my classes can see what the others have written.

Sometimes a quick 2 week assignment can bring out a lot of learning. In this case my students have learned about how to be a good interviewer. My students have also learned more about their classmates. And, I have learned more about all of my students. Sounds like success.

Still Ripping Educators Off

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/171347960792965587/

I started (this current round of...) getting upset about this (continuing) problem of educators being ripped off for supplies, a couple of weeks ago. I was talking about it with a fellow educator and he reminded me of a time when a teacher went to the vendor floor at a conference. She commented on how expensive this one item was and the vendor said, "Why are you upset? The school district pays for it anyways."

Those outside of the teaching profession assume that we get such a great deal and "the district just pays for things." Even if that WAS true, and it's not, I'm a tax payer in a school district and therefore I help put together the funds that are to be spent. I don't need my school district being ripped off when they are using my money!

So then, today, I wanted to price 4 inch to 6 inch balls that I want to use in a project down the road. I figured I'd start by looking at foam balls and that they would be the cheapest. Within minutes I had been to several sights, including Oriental Trading Co (a teacher go-to site) and Amazon.com.  I found what I was looking for in the 50 to 75 cents a ball range and was doing some mental calculations that I would need 50 to 75 dollars to get the 100 balls that I wanted.

Then I went to Discount School Supply. Doesn't that sound like some company trying to help us teachers out? Well, not so fast. These guys wanted $2 a piece for the balls. That is more than double the price - for foam-stinkin-balls! I would be more upset but I have seen this since my days in the military. "Oh, is that being purchased for a government entity? We'll mark it up 100%"

When you see the statistics about the amount of money a teacher spends out of their own pocket on school supplies each year (probably averaging in the $500 to $1000 a year for me) it really galls me that these places would charge double (and often 3 or 4 times) for something that could be purchased somewhere else. No wonder crowd funding sites are so popular with teachers (such as Donor's Choose).

I'm going to get balls for my project. I'll spend 50 to 100 dollars from the look of it. But I won't be spending any money at any of the "discount educator" sites. They can wait for the purchase order that I'm not filling out because I'm using my own money and NOT my school's money.  Grrrr...

You may return to your regularly scheduled lives.....(and I'm pretty happy that I kept my maturity with this post and didn't say anything like, "I got my balls in an uproar!" - That would have been wrong.)

You See, It Takes Time

https://www.flickr.com/photos/badboy69/

We are seeing a real dichotomy in education these days. Thanks to social media we are exposed to teachers, at all levels, doing wonderful things with their students. We're seeing students doing incredible things that they have chosen to do - not because they are completing an assignment that they have to do.  

We are seeing images of happy and excited people from gatherings of educators at edcamps, conferences, and webinars. And we're also seeing students in these images. Students - outside of the normal school day!

Then there is the reality of schools being labeled as "low performing." And students dropping out of school because they perceive life will be better with their gang family or, sadly, because they need to provide for their family. The images we see are of unhappy and, often, angry students. 

Between the two extremes lies the average school in the average district. And, at the average school, teachers are pressured to meet certain test requirements. To meet these requirements they must follow a strict curriculum with every day mapped out for them. They don't dare deviate from the course. The strict curriculum is designed by "experts" who know that teaching a certain topic in a certain way will guarantee the average student will succeed. And by succeed they mean pass the state test. 

But there are INCREDIBLE things going on all over the world. Students are going deeper in their learning. Student attendance rates are improving. Students are, (gasp), having fun and are enjoying learning. If students are attending classes and having fun in school then maybe, perhaps, their scores on state tests might just be improving! What a crazy concept!

Schools are having success. But there is this little statement that stakeholders in schools hate to hear - it takes time.  We saw it at Manor New Technology HS. My first year our scores in math were not good. There was hope that I, the "Old Math Teacher," could suddenly make things better. But what was lost on all of us was the fact that we were doing things differently. Our students had to learn how to learn and our teachers had to learn how to help students learn in this world of project based learning (PBL).  The superintendent and principal bought into the idea of "Trust the Process" and the teachers had incredible support and autonomy. We could try new things, and fail, without a huge to do about it.  And the school's scores started improving. 

All it took was time and the willingness of stakeholders to allow things to not go well so that we could figure out how to do it right. States and school districts have got to be willing to take risks and try new things with their students. Even though things might not immediately improve.  Are you willing to try something that excites students? Are you willing to try something that increases attendance rates? Are you willing to try something that keeps students from choosing life without school? Are you willing to give it 3 to 5 years? Are you willing to see test scores, possibly, stagnate or even go down? All we ask is for you to Trust the Process. Because, you see, it takes time. 

Putting Together a Design Class in a IB World School (Part 2)

Screen Capture from - https://goo.gl/VoUfRT

[NOTE: Originally written a week ago]
"So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. Thank you." Willy Wonka.

 Right now I'm feeling like a cross between the Scarecrow ( giving directions in OZ) and Willy Wonka these days. One minute I'm heading one direction and the next I'm heading in a completely opposite direction. But, the bottom line is that, wherever I end up heading needs to be a direction that helps our students and our school. I can live with that.

A long time ago (yesterday) I wrote the first part of this group of posts. At that time (yesterday) I felt like I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel - the tunnel of planning what my class would look like this year. Evidently the light I was seeing was a warning sign that said "Detour Ahead."

https://www.flickr.com/photos/shannonmary/

It now looks like my focus needs to be around the word Community. What does it mean to be a part of a community:   The classroom community, Our school community, Our "local community," and the world community?

The first project, that I will be doing with my science teacher neighbor, will now focus on my helping my teaching community. We will do the Rube Goldberg Machine because of the teacher's needs to teach certain concepts like momentum and speed.  We will build because of the need to have visual representations of the science concepts they will be learning. We will be doing all of the other components of the project so that everyone in my classroom community understands the parts of the design process.

For the school community I will be making sure that my students are learning the IB concepts at the MYP level. This will build on their years of learning these concepts at the PYP level. And throughout this unit, and the rest of the year, I will be referencing how our learning impacts (and is impacted by) the local and international communities.

It will be a time for me to join the Meridian World School community as well.  Let the school year begin!

[END NOTE: Stopping here. This was to have gone out last week. It's time to start writing the next post. School started today. And we are rolling! Come join my community. ]

So I'm Going to Teach This Computer Science Class

http://goo.gl/BL0lkk

On Friday I had a chance to talk with my new principal. If you haven't heard about that feel free to get caught up with my earlier post.

During my initial interview (with The Head of School and the Secondary Principal) I was informed that they really wanted someone who was able to teach a computer course. I never said I wouldn't but I said that it had been a long time since I had worked with a programming language. So when they hired me I was told that I would teach 4 sections of Design Thinking, 1 section of math, and another subject to be decided at a later date.

So, along comes Friday and the subject of computer science comes up. I quickly say that I'm not against teaching computer science; I'm just a little rusty and would have to learn a ton before the students walked into the room. By the end of the conversation I had committed to teaching one section of Computer Science I for 15 to 20 Juniors who had signed up for the course at the end of last school year.

By Saturday morning I realized that being a teacher with experience with Project Based Learning; a teacher open to learning with my students; and, a teacher with a couple of thousand Twitter followers makes me nearly freaking unafraid of anything. I will have "experts" available to help me with this and the 20 of us in that classroom will be going deeper and doing cooler things than your average computer science classroom in this world (insert maniacal laugh).

I was energized, excited, and (to be completely open) a bit terrified. With Saturday being the 4th of July, I decided pursuing this could wait a day or so. Finally, last night (the 5th), I ventured onto Twitter and wrote: " Any of you at #kidscancode, #EdTechBridge, #DTk12chat have opinions on the language I should use for Comp Sci I class I am putting 2gether?"

Where did I get the hashtags? I went to my first source for all things educational chats - my old friend Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1). I looked through his list of chats to see which ones sounded like they dealt with computer science and/or coding. Then I added my Design Thinking group because they are always working with people in the maker world and coding world. They are just smart folks and know everything about anything.

As I was sending out that tweet I noticed my friend Rafranz Davis was on and so I sent her a note too: "I know you know people who know people...I am putting a Comp Sci class together for HS Jrs. Who should I get to know?"

I was soon exchanging thoughts with Lisa Palmieri (@Learn21Tech) but I had to go so I could watch the Women's World Cup final which, of course, the US Women's National Team won. When I got back online 4 hours later I was greeted with a list of people to follow from Josh Gauthier (@Mrgfactoftheday) .

That list included: Myra Deister (@shhsMath), Jim Klein ( @jnetman1), Jared Cosulich ( @jaredcosulich ), Vicky Sedgwick ( @VisionsByVicky ), and Brian Briggs ( @bribriggs ).

I started conversing with Vicky Sedgwick and was later joined by Melissa Techman ( @mtechman ). Then Lindsay Unland ( @Lindsay_Unland ) suggested that I follow D Martin ( @D_Martin05 ). Vicky followed with a suggestion of Alfred Thompson ( @AlfredTwo , someone I actually have been following for a few years). Alfred came back and sent his list of CS Educators on Twitter  - only 290 people on that list (a gold mine!). 

In less than 24 hours from the first tweet, I had a list of about 300 people who I could reach out to for help and suggestions in this quest to create a computer science class for this Fall. I am so fortunate to have decided (nearly 8 years ago now) to get on this Twitter thing. I never have to worry about finding help. There are people, much smarter (or, at least, more experienced) than I am. And, they are smart with just about anything I might need help with.

So, I'm going to teach this computer science class - and it's going to be OK.  Follow along for future events in my first year at Meridian School as I figure out teaching Design Thinking, math, and computer science.

I'm Not a Techie

Technology Cow via http://goo.gl/XR2MYi

In 1976 I went to the University of South Carolina to be a dual Math and Computer Science major. I got my math degree but gave up on computers after spending hours at the card punch machine at late hours on the university's one computer (that also had to do research and university business).

In 1985 to 1987 I attended the Naval Postgraduate School where I majored in Weapons Systems Engineering. I got a masters in engineering and the equivalent of a bachelors in physics while studying robotics. I worked on an IBM AT and an IBM XT for the robot work and I had a computer built to my specs for home where I could connect to the school's mainframe.

In 1992 I finished my masters in education and I co-taught a computers in the classroom course at Old Dominion University. We used the Apple IIE and I got to see teachers experience the world wide web (and accidentally find porn sites).

In 2008 I started work at Manor New Technology HS and the first question I was asked was whether I was a Mac or a PC person. I had never had a Mac but I knew the correct answer - give me a Mac! A couple of years later we added iPads to our repertoire.

During the years 2008 to present I actively reached out to like-minded teachers who were on Twitter, used Macs and iPads, and were discussing the future of education. So many of my first Twitter friends have become, what I like to call, Twitter Gods! They go to all of the cool conferences, hang out with all of the coolest people, and write books and have well-followed blogs. And many (most?) of them are techies. But not me.

That's right. I'm not a techie. I appreciate technology. I use technology to help me work more efficiently. I love discussing the latest apps, the latest websites, or a great blog post. But I'm not a techie. I still want to be where all of the "cool kids" are like SXSW, ISTE, or Ipadpalooza. But you know what? I can't afford to go to these conferences and I'm not in technology at a school district so I can't expect anyone to help me financially. Because I'm not a techie.

What I am is an education nerd. I love talking about curriculum and pedagogy. I love finding ways to help kids enjoy learning. I try new things in the classroom and want teachers to be better because our kids deserve the best teachers they can have. And if that means a cool app that improves inquiry and helps a student go deeper with their learning, then I'm all on board. But if a teacher has the latest bells and whistles tool, but can't reach the kids, then I don't want to hear about it.

Too many education conferences are focusing on those "precious" things called technology. Teachers by the hundreds are attending these and hanging out on the vendor floor with stars in their eyes. But what about learning about becoming a better teacher! What about finding ways to get students more involved with the content?

I just finished 3 weeks where I spent 11 of the 15 work days in front of teachers wanting to learn about PBL. They designed projects built on their content standards. And they designed these projects to help students make connections to the learning. Not once did I suggest an app, some software, or any hardware. Because I'm not a techie.

What I did do was help them understand how to turn the verbs written into their standards into some real-world, authentic, activity or problem. If, through examining this authentic problem their students might need some sort of technology we'd discuss that but technology was never at the center of the discussion. Because these were teachers - not techies.

It is 2015. It is time to FINALLY get to the point where we were at Manor New Tech 7 years ago - technology is the invisible tool. It is a tool. That is all. A tool. Like a pencil or pen. Like a chalk board, a white board, or a SMART board. A tool. We need to be tool masters not techies. What tool do we need to use to successfully complete this task? Whatever tool works best.

Can we finally stop sucking on the technology teat at education conferences? Probably not. But can we please get principals to the point where they see technology as just a tool? Then, and only then, will we be able to push teachers away from their "precious."

We just might get back to where we were in 1976 when I graduated from high school - we used the best tools that we had available. It just happened to be that it was a stick of chalk and a chalk board - although some of the rich kids could afford a Smith Corona electric typewriter - now THAT was cool!

If You Borrow It, Tell Someone

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kittiesmademedoit/

Those are words of advice given to me by my Father. Actually it was more like, "Hey, I don't mind if you want to use my tools but put them back - in the same spot - when you are finished."

Isn't that really the point of attribution? You are borrowing someone else's words or pictures. You may not be able to "put them back in the same spot," but you can send others back to the spot where they were found.

Too often on Twitter and Facebook I will see something that I know I have seen before. Almost invariably I do some digging and I find the original news article, blog post, or image that it came from.  Sometimes it is in a re-tweet (RT) and the person who originally tweeted it is the guilty party of not giving credit where it is due.

So, what should you do before you re-post something? My immediate answer may surprise you after my intro here. I say it depends. If you are in the middle of a twitter chat where 50 to 100 tweets are flying by every minute, then you may miss  hundreds of tweets with great nuggets by researching that one tweet. Just favorite the tweet prior to RT'ng it and then you can go back and give the original item the proper attribution after the chat.

If, on the other hand, you are seeing a tweet outside of a chat or in a slow moving chat then take the time to check it out and if the original person wasn't mentioned in the tweet take the time to include "via @originalperson" in your RT. If you need to modify the original tweet prior to RT'ng it to fit the "via," then remember you are now tweeting a Modified Tweet (MT) not a re-tweet.  Just use MT instead of RT and everyone will know what you did.

Finally, if you are going to be the original person putting something up on Twitter or Facebook, then take the time to craft your tweet or post so the attribution is included. If you can't find the person's Twitter handle through the twitter search do a web search using the person's name and the word twitter - "chris fancher twitter" for example.

If that doesn't immediately give you what you need, then research where this person works. Is he or she with a business, at a school or university, or in a school district? If nothing else find a twitter handle for the specific place of employment and include that.

Take the time to do the simple task of giving recognition to the originator of whatever "tool" you are using. You owe it to them and to your followers to do it right.

Feeling Radioactive

imgarcade.com

WARNING - NEGATIVE RADIATION CONTAINED IN THIS POST. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

[Originally written mid-April, 2015 ]

Yesterday I went for a run/walk as I try to regain my body - my body that is currently almost 70 pounds overweight and tired.  While I was out plodding along and listening to my running playlist, the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons started playing and I realized that this song has a different meaning to me than most others.

It was about 15 months ago when I was out in similar fashion (except I was only about 50 pounds overweight then). As I was running I heard Radioactive and a huge vision of my brother undergoing chemo-therapy popped into my head and tears filled my eyes. I replayed that song countless times that morning while moving forward at a snails pace.

Now when I hear that song I feel a connection to my brother who lost his fight with cancer almost exactly a year ago. But, in a weird way, there is a deeper connection than just the title and cancer. In a way I have become very radioactive this past 12 months. I have become much less sociable and withdrawn - not wanting to spread my radioactivity to others.

I once was very active on Twitter - to the point that over 3000 people now follow me. I was also very active on Facebook - friends could guarantee a quick response to postings. And I used to write blog posts with regularity. Now I'd rather stay home and "work" although I am often just going through the motions. At school I am getting much less accomplished and I'm less and less able to keep our teachers smiling.

My school and district are a huge source of my radioactivity. Trying to "do right and fear not" is getting to be a real challenge when there are people around me who are doing wrong and fearing not. I am surrounded by too many people who are unhappy and want change. That negativity fuels my radioactive juices.

By the end of the calendar year I hope to eliminate (or drastically reduce) the radioactive levels flowing through my soul. The first order of business will be to find a new job. If that can't happen then I worry that this past year may pale in comparison with the amount of radiation I might have to absorb in the coming months.

[Updated 16 May 2015]

I will need help to do this. I need to be among people who are strong, positive, and smart. There are some incredible people in my current school district who fit that bill but more and more those people are leaving like the proverbial rat leaving the sinking ship. Just last night I learned of another person who is leaving. I was hoping to be able to work with this person at some point in my career but that will now not happen. My radiation levels creeped back up last night.

The possibility of being too old and, therefore, not hirable is also starting to enter my brain. There are tons of things I would love to do but I worry that people are going to start choosing younger minds with better physiques over me. Up go the radiation levels. Thank god I have my work with the Buck Institute for Education (BIE). It allows me to be around adults who are learning about a way of teaching that I firmly believe in. It allows me to be encouraging. It allows me to be cheerful and positive. It allows me to lower my radiation levels quickly.

I don't know what my life will look like 12 months from now. I could be doing something completely different from what I am currently doing. I could be doing instructional coaching in another school district. I could be doing the exact same job I'm doing now.  Except that very little will look the same at Decker Middle School.

The 2015-2016 school year will have a totally new administration - a new Principal AND new Assistant Principals. What will this new regime bring to DMS and what will this disturbance in the force do to the nearly 1000 students coming through the doors? Our poor 8th graders will have had a new principal every year they were in middle school. But our leaders don't think about such silliness. If our test scores go down it will be the teachers' faults for not doing their jobs.

Radiation levels could go critical!

Anyone have a dosimeter I can borrow?

Another Take on Problem Based Learning for Math

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpforeducation/

I have been wrestling with the marriage of Project Based Learning (PBL) and Math for nearly 8 years now.  A few years ago I moved towards Problem Based Learning (PrBL) instead of Project Based for math. It just seemed to make more sense.

With PrBL there are shorter time periods to complete a problem which, to a math teacher, frees up more time for "Math Skills." Of course a veteran math teacher, using inquiry-based teaching (PBL or PrBL fall into this niche), will find opportunities for practicing math skills.

Once a teacher decides to pursue PrBL, he or she will need to figure out which math units fit best. Or at least that is what I used to think. Now, after years of working with this, I realize that instead of figuring out which units and then what specific problems to work with, there is a better way.  Teachers need to start the planning process with great "Open-Ended Questions."

Now I use the term "open-ended" loosely because many of the problems I found with that label were actually closed problems.  The open-ended problems I am looking for may have multiple solutions but they may just have multiple paths that can be taken to get to an appropriate solution.

So here's a problem I found for middle school students (taken from the Math Forum):

I can see this being used as an introduction to area. During the first day's questioning I would hope there would be obvious questions about how to calculate area. But I would also hope to hear questions about whether the "whole number dimensions" have to be in feet. Could they be in "whole" inches? How about a question about whether "rectangular" means it has to be four sided - could it be a composite figure of rectangles? There might be a question that comes up that I would never think of.

The beauty of this is that the students can explore their specific questions to solve the problem going down a path of their choosing. At the end of the week the real question is: "Can the students solve a 4-sided, rectangular figure, with a length of L and a width of W?"

My big AHA! then was this - what if I found 20 or 30 or 50 great open-ended questions that represent content I want my students to learn during a school year?  I could then lay these questions alongside my district Year at a Glance or Pacing Guide to see where the questions would make sense on the calendar.

Now as a teacher gets to each unit they will already have 2 or 3 (or 5) open-ended questions that have been vetted. These will be the problems used in class to foster inquiry.  These problems will take 3 or 4 days from start to finish. There will be opportunities for questioning and brainstorming; creating drawings or other models; presentations; and reflections.

For example, the questioning and brainstorming might be completed on the first day. The modeling (along with the requisite critical thinking) might be on day two. On the third day there would be an opportunity for an informal presentation of how the groups solved their problems, followed by a reflection. On the last day of this PrBL there might be an assessment on the learning that was completed.

This all started from having a sound, content specific, question that fueled inquiry, questioning, and thinking. Using an open-ended question allowed students to go in different directions in pursuit of answers. Successful students ask questions, think critically, and defend their ideas. That is where deeper learning happens and that is how we help our students develop perseverance.

What is Essential For Successful PBL?

   

http://earthmosaic.org/index.html

This year the Buck Institute for Education (BIE.org), of which I am on the National Faculty, is re-examining the "Essential Elements" for PBL.

As I was thinking about it I remembered that I have posted about these elements a few times, over the years, and I came across this post from July of 2013.

So, in the essence of recycling, please read it again, or read it for the first time, so that you too can begin thinking about what the Gold Standard should be for PBL:


THE NINTH ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF PBL(7/7/13) -  I am about to work in my last co-facilitation with the Buck Institute for Education (BIE.org) doing what they call a PBL 101. A basic, 3-day, course in the planning, managing and assessing of a PBL project.

Within a project most people can agree that there are certain items that make it successful and BIE has narrowed the list down to 8 items that they call the 8 Essential Elements of PBL (see the diagram to the left).

Anyone who has truly done PBL knows that there must some sort of significant content, there must have been a way to establish a desire for inquiry (in this case by having a driving question and by overtly discussing what it is the students will need to know), and there must be a public audience so students feel an added desire to do their best.

Through group work, research, and the inquiry process students end up having to do, what most people call, 21st century skills.  These skills include, but are not limited to, collaboration, critical thinking, communication (orally and in writing), and creativity. Finally, there must be a chance for students to have their work assessed. At that point, they must be allowed to revise their work and reflect on their assessment. This ensures the final product is something the students are proud of and the product demonstrates the knowledge that the students have gained during the project.

As I said, most people can agree that these 8 elements are key components of a classroom or school that uses PBL as the primary mode of instruction. But these elements are not as connected as the diagram might suggest. The glue that holds these 8 elements together is the classroom, school, or even district culture. Culture is the 9th Essential Element. Without a proper culture students might not be allowed to have voice and choice in the products they work on. Without a proper culture students might not be willing to do revisions of their work or they may not feel a need to reflect on their learning.

Even the 21st century skills can be restricted when there is not a culture of collaboration; students aren't encouraged to think critically; student communication is not allowed or shown as unimportant; or when students have no outlet to show their creative side. Each of these issues with students comes directly from the way teachers and administrators interact.  If the teachers don't collaborate, communicate, or get a chance to try creative things in the classroom then there is a shadow upon the entire school culture that can't be ignored.

So, teachers, as you finish your PBL 101,  your New Teacher training with the New Tech Network, or some other PBL training this summer, remember to work hard and stay positive. You can do this. But get your fellow teachers and administrators involved in what you are doing. Get the PTA or other parent organization involved too. It is time to work on the entire educational system so that you and, more importantly, your students can be successful pursuers of inquiry.

Make That Desert Project More PBL'y

http://goo.gl/XqZSjZ

Friend of mine had their son bring home a "project" to make a cell membrane.  I sighed. But then I thought about how the teacher could have done something with the same material.
And it hit me - science teachers need to see how to take that internet or youtube project and make it a PBL project.

So, I googled "make a cell membrane project," just now to simulate this process that the teacher might do.  Based upon 13 ratings it (the one I selected) had 4 stars (out of a possible 5) - so it has to be pretty darn good, right?

The Objectives of this project: (1) To build a model of a cell membrane and (2) to investigate how the cell membrane regulates what moves into and out of cells.

The "Research Questions" of this project: (1) What molecules of the cell membrane do the cotton swabs represent? -and- (2) If a molecule needs to enter or exit the cell and it cannot fit between the phospholipids, how can it cross the membrane?

Reading this made me think of the movie I enjoyed as a young boy: Fantastic Voyage. And I suddenly had a concept for the project. What if the students read the book or watched the movie and had to write their own chapter for the story where the crew had to move between cells in their craft.

http://goo.gl/1YsMlm

What if they had to create a cell and craft that were able to fit on a small table (for display)? What would they make the cell out of? What if they were required to explain how the craft moved through the cell walls?

Let's roll with this idea - Students are working for a toy company who will be working with a movie company creating an updated version of the movie "Fantastic Voyage." They are to create a mock up of a vehicle and a cell that would be scientifically accurate and will be sold to children ages 8 to 12. Their cell structure is to have an educational value and must be able to show the structure of a cell and must demonstrate the process of a molecule crossing a cell membrane. And, for this situation, the vehicle the crew will travel in must move like a molecule.

There you go. (Almost) the same project that I found on the internet. Except, in this case, the students are given the task of creating a cell structure that can demonstrate molecules crossing the cell membrane. They will have questions that will lead to inquiry (we can assume) which, in turn, will lead to a need for scaffolding (by the teacher or a guest lecturer) about how cells function.

And, if done right, students will have to interact with a book or a movie giving this project an additional literacy angle for a written product.

I'm not a science teacher but I'm betting your average science teacher could take what I suggested and run with an awesome (and fun) educational project that will help students understand the cell structure and the function of the various parts of a cell.

If you are a good science teacher tell us about this project by using the resources at BIE.org.  Start with the Project Planner.  Once you have it all planned out send me a link in the comments section and then I can share it out on Twitter to our science friends using #scichat.

Resolve to Stop Using the Word "Fail"

http://goo.gl/ssvt4z

This year I want to see educators using the word "fail" less. In 2013 and 2014 it seemed like it was the word to use when it came to discussing student resiliency.

Half a century ago Winston Churchill talked about failure not being fatal. He then went on to emphasize the importance of not giving up. That is the message we want our students to carry with them.

Unfortunately, in the world of education, we have associated the word "failure" with grades and academics. If you aren't very smart, you fail. If you aren't successful in a class you are a failure.  This all comes down to the idea that we must assign a grade to everything our students do in the classroom. 

So now schools are trying to have our students build grit. We hear about agency and wanting our students to never give up. There are dozens of posters out there proclaiming failure as a starting point. I was even guilty of printing out signs that stated "FAIL = First Attempt In Learning."

But what are we saying? Is it really OK for our students to fail at something on their first try? Don't we want to build a layer of knowledge so that our students feel somewhat successful on their first attempt? Don't we want our students attempting a second or third try because they are feeling like they are figuring it out?

We need to come up with another term besides "fail." Remove that term from your lexicon. Failure should only be used when a student is totally unsuccessful after multiple attempts. And, even then, we need to be there supporting them.

My nice-sounding suggestion has some hurdles if it were put into practice. There are those parents (and institutions) who consider grades more important than, or at least equal to, learning.  What if every kid who had a solid understanding of a concept passed? Then none of those students would be failures. Is that a bad thing? There still would be people who would want to know how the students compared on a pecking order.

Assessment and grading is such a big topic I'll leave those for another day. But let's pause before we use the word "fail." Let's not encourage students to fail first. Let's encourage them to try again. 

Take Time to be Thankful (even in a crappy year)

Via Smithsonian

There is so much going right in my world that I shouldn't dwell on the downer stuff - but the holidays push me towards that abyss. And no one would fault me for whining and complaining. But I'm going to try and take a different tack.

Tomorrow will be the first Thanksgiving that I won't get to talk with my big brother. There's been a lot of firsts since that sad day last Spring when cancer took his life. 

That's the mean thing about death. Those left mourning get to experience the first birthday, first pick-a-holiday, and first pick-a-season.  But what about those others who are living with this? Every day I read about another person who was wiped off of this planet by something tragic. There are a zillion people experiencing their own first______ since ______ died. 

I want to celebrate resiliency.  My brother had 2 sisters and me. [Our parents passed years ago.] He also had a wonderful wife,2 sons, and a daughter. Each of those people have their own family. If we call these folks the immediate family circle, then we have 15 individuals who all are dealing with this loss in different ways. And they are all going to be ok - we're all going to be ok. 

So I want to think about things I am thankful for, such as:

• 25 years of marriage
• a great wife who keeps the ship heading fair
• a great daughter and son who are heading in the right direction and, by all accounts, will be people others will look up to in life
• wonderful sisters (MaryAnn, Janice, Alice) 
• incredibly gifted nephews/nieces - 6 amazingly talented people.
• a job with a good salary - I get to work with some great professionals
• good health - I haven't had to spend time in a hospital since losing my appendix back in 1987.  
• ready to go somewhere else to work - and there are options out there!

It's Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for and I am already looking forward to Thanksgiving 2015 - because it won't be 2014!

My best to each and every one of you. Take time to find at least one thing you are thankful for - and then hold on tight to that one item. Keep a vision of that one thing with you for all of those bad times that are waiting out there for you. Here's to resiliency - cheers.

There Was Gold In Them There Colorado Hills

http://goo.gl/oNBuIc

A Gold standard for PBL - that's what the folks at BIE.org are trying to define. And we are reaching out to all of you who are practicing this in your classrooms and schools. This past week the National Faculty (NF) met for our Fall summit and we had some rich, deep discussions on the topic. My takeaways:

(A). Many people refer to our 8 Essential Elements for PBL. If we are defining the Gold Standard then we need to determine whether we keep these as they are; we change them all; or, we just change key elements. For our summit we decided to start here and we were shown a proposed new look that is far from the finished product. The original 8 elements will probably be changing slightly. For example, Public Audience might be replaced with  Public Product.

Outside of the original hexagon there might be a new layer of teacher/facilitator practices. The idea here is that the teachers will now have specific things to think about as they create,facilitate, and assess projects. My question on this layer is the shape - do we keep it hexagonal or do we use a circular or rectangular shape to show how this layer envelops all of the 8 essential elements.

Look for more on this as we go through the next few months and follow #goldstandardpbl on Twitter.

(B). In our signature PBL 101's we concentrate on helping teachers create projects and we refer to the importance of them taking their students' learning deeper. Who are we educating in these sessions? Adults, of course. 

We acknowledged that we need to do better at educating these teachers. To do this we need to increase our knowledge of adult learners. This was our next focus for our summit - the adult learner. As with all summits I was amazed by the level of knowledge of my fellow NF's. 

We looked at various aspects of learning and we had a very informed discussion from our own Jennifer Klein on the Male and Female Brain. She even gave us a diagram of the 8 essential elements with how each type of brain interacts with that element.

(C) Another key topic in our summit was the idea of PBL Sustainability. As one NF put it, for true sustainability we need to work ourselves out of a job. We want our clients creating a culture of collaboration on their campus. We want our clients growing their own PBL "experts." And, we want our clients creating a culture of learning for all of the stakeholders. Teachers should be co-creating projects with community members and students should be interacting with local companies.

When we have a sustained "gold standard" of PBL in a community or school we will truly have reached the gold standard for education. Then, in fact, we will have worked ourselves out of a job at BIE. And I'd be OK with that.

(D) With each summit I attend I find myself increasingly excited about working with this incredible group of NF's. They come from diverse education backgrounds and experiences and we push each other by questioning accepted norms.  

When you see the book on Gold Standard PBL come out (next Summer?), you can bet that it will have been discussed, analyzed, and vetted by some of the greatest minds in education. And, some of those minds will be BIE's own National Faculty. Feel free to add your thoughts via Twitter. Remember the hashtag: #goldstandardpbl.  

20 Thoughts on Instructional Coaching

http://goo.gl/CxWFJb

Thursday and Friday I attended an incredible training by Steve Barkley. If you haven't heard of him, get to know him. If you have heard of him and haven't attended one of his sessions then get going and attend one. As a coach, this is one of those must attend events.

What I learned is forever going to change how I look at the coaching process and teaching, in general. I know this is true and, from talking to the other coaches in attendance, I know others felt the same.

 Here are 20 things mentioned in these two days that caused me to stop and ponder:

1. How can your teachers trust each other if they've never been in each others' classrooms?
2. Are your teachers a franchise or are they a team?
3. Department Heads should be the model classroom.   
4. When using rubrics have the "top" line be created by the students.
5. Students cause student achievement. Teachers do not cause student achievement. Therefore, coaches need to focus on students when they observe.  
6. You can't teach a student math. You teach a student how to learn math.
7. Teachers should use their inclusion teachers to model expected behaviors, thinking, and discussions.
8. Schools should do Emotional Walkthroughs. On a 1 - 5 scale what is the emotional level of each classroom?
9. When you walk through your school, how many Wow!'s to you get?
10. If students complete the exact work assigned they should get a "C." Go Beyond that for a "B" and go above B-work for an "A."
11. A student's major work shouldn't be graded until the end of semester or year and students should have multiple opportunities to revise/edit.
12. Students should be exposed to more book options. One teacher put 5 books on each of 20 tables at beginning of the school year. Students rotated, table to table, and scored the books based upon interest. At the end of one class period they had seen 100 books and should have seen a few that met with their satisfaction.
13. The hardest part of teaching is when the students aren't there.
14. Coaches, you have been hired by your school to change kid's behaviors.
15. Homework should never be the same for the entire class.
16. Teachers should have a 3 year commitment to kids: Spend time with them the year before they come to you. Spend time with all of the students on your grade level. Then spend time with them the year after you have them to see how they are doing.
17. We tend to do vertical alignment without the students.
18. Instructional coaches should be evaluated on the teacher growth during the year.
19. We were hired to bring discomfort to our school. We want a culture where our teachers are comfortable with discomfort.
20. The biggest coaching mistake is to let teachers know what the coach is thinking before the coach knows what the teacher is thinking.