Sir Ken Robinson @CUE 2013

The keynote speaker at CUE 2103 was Sir Ken Robinson.  His presentation was worth the price of admission!  He is such an amazing, inspiring, articulate, intelligent and funny man!  I am really not sure how to even compile my notes, so I am just sharing sound bites (bytes?) along with (my comments). It should be evident which is which.  Feel free to ask me to elaborate.

On earth, over the entirely of human existence, there have been about 100 billion lives. Yet, each life is unique and unrepeatable.  You are at a unique moment in human history.

We feign knowledge we don't have. Dalai Lama - "I don't know"The mark of a great teacher is to say at times, I have no idea, what do you think?

To be born at all is a miracle.  You should never resent growing old.  It's a privilege denied to many. It is a miracle we are here.  It's amazing how little people settle for.

Human talents are like natural resources, they are often buried and need to be drawn out

It is our differences that make us interesting.  We have to cherish our diversity. It is our best hope for sustainability.  Education currently does the exact opposite.  Human beings are naturally creative.

'My own personal Everest'.  Getting his PhD was his "own personal Everest". (I love that idea! what is your Everest?!)

Where you stand now is not governed by where you started out. So what are you going to do with your life?  You don't get your resume with your birth certificate, you control who you become. 

Education has a narrow view...it is focused on what they thought was wrong with you, not what you could do! You should teach the child, not the subject (Monger says he stole her line)

The effect of standards is to narrow the curriculum.  (Amen.) Who says Americans don't get irony? The person who named No Child Left Behind GETS irony. NCLB has had the effect of shrinking the curricula.  We are confusing the symptom of the problem with the causes. Rather than narrowing we need Expansive that celebrates diversity...Organic development and change...

Effect of mimeograph machines on teachers was profound!  (Tee hee - I think you had to be there)

Out of Our Minds:Learning to be Creative. his new book 

10 years ago... No smart phones, social media - perhaps it should be called Asocial media (This made me laugh later that night, +sheila monger  and I were sitting next to each other, (Y) ing each other's facebook posts, rather than just talking to each other). 

We are the largest generation in human history.  There are more people on earth now than anytime in humon history. We don't know if we can make this work. - (I am paraphrasing for sure here) essentially, he said that if everyone on earth would consume what the average person in India consumes, we'd be fine. Yet if we all consumed what the average American does, essentially we'd need 4 more Earths.

Current forms of Education are locked into the previous century. We need a radical personalization.  There are 4 drivers of the need for change in education:

Economic. If people are better educated we think they'll be in a better position to get a better job and be able to be economically independent. I can't tell you much I want my son to be economically independent. 

Cultural.  The world existed before ou got here and will continue.  But the world that is you only exists because you are here.

Social.  

Personal. In the end, education is always personal.  Could not be a greater irony that we are cutting funding to Ed and increasing funding to prisons. In the US, 30% of students don't graduate. In some areas, 60%. 1 in 31 in US in the penal system.  We have to get away from standardizing education to personalizing it - technology is the key.

The Empty Space by Peter Brook     Is about how he set out to transform theater. Before we can ask how, we have to ask what is it? What can we take a way and have it still be theater? An actor in a space and someone watching.  It is the relationship. There is an analogy to Ed ...our job is to facilitate learning.  They'll do it on their own so when we add ourselves into the mix, we have to add value. Facilitate. Enable, inspire, recognize diversity, recognize possibilities inside them.  Too many distractions- unions, building codes, etc that have gotten in the way of education.

Our job is to teach students not subjects.

Recognize learning styles

Broad set of experiences

Individualize schedules. ex. School of one in NY

Kids learn at different rates... Multi age

New technologies are disruptive but give us the means to change education.  By the way, Technology is not technology if it happened before you were born.

Photo by zota via flickr

Death Valley - it is not dead, just dormant.  What happened with extreme rain in spring 2005 was amazing display of wildflowers.  

Seeds of possibility. If conditions are right, life is inevitable.  Fill them with hope and a sense of ambition.  Education has (and still does) define students by what they CAN'T do rather than what they CAN do

Celebrate our creativity along with our students' creativity.  The focus on education should be LEARNING. Nothing should be added unless it contributes to learning.

It takes more resources to block effective Ed than it would to do it right

Tweets about "@sandramc59 @sirkenrobinson"

In Maryland, iPad trial has more pros than cons

Green Acres school in Rockville, Md started a pilot with 5th and 6th grades that has been so successful, they are rolling out even more, as reported in the Maryland Gazette.
“It’s not really about the iPad, it’s about building a facility with technology, and using technology to give kids the opportunity to build their skills, and the opportunity to pursue their passions,” Neal Brown, head of school, said.
I couldn't agree more. The iPad gives access to technology which will help prepare our students for their future and access to information to help them learn, tools to help them create and problem solve.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Gaithersburg,United States

It is technology and education, not technology vs. education!

My amazing friend Tracey just sent me this article. Tracey and I worked together in telecommunications for years. Her husband, Michael Bobrowicz, is another teacher like me who left high tech to become a teacher. Like me, he has faced many of the challenges, and enjoyed the personal rewards of, this change. He is teaching an SDC classroom in Pacifica. The discussion about technology in classrooms is reaching a tipping point in our district, and I'd guess in many districts around the world. It doesn't have to be a divisive issue.
Brandon Busteed writes in the Huffington Post Education Blog that A technological revolution is happening in the world of education; it is changing schools for the better. But, it will never change the definition of and need for great teaching. His article, entitled, In Education, Technology Changes Everything and Nothing, he discusses research findings that show what we (teachers) all know, Simply put, great teaching is about emotionally engaging the learner in a way that is individualized. Our opportunity to innovate and improve education is deeply tied to these fundamentals. A great teacher is a great teacher -- whether she is real or avatar.

It is important in discussions and debate to remain respectful and keep the goal of education in mind. We are here to create lifelong learners. We do what we do, however we do it, to make a difference. Technology isn't a fad, it isn't going away. But it is a tool, not a solution.

The Atlantic forum highlighted that the debate about great technology vs. great teachers is unnecessary. Instead, the conversation needs to be about technology and teaching. So now education leaders need to create a seamless interplay between teachers and technology. This will not be easy, but ....at least [we are] left with a clear sense of purpose.

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Wake up all the teachers, time to teach a new way!

I was driving to work the other day and thinking about a current discussion in my district about whether to improve our use of technology in schools. Some teachers think that the investment in technology is made on the backs of teachers. Some teachers see technology as one tool that teachers can us to improve their practice. Some of us feel that the integration of technology into our practice is mandatory as we educate 21st century citizens. I heard this song, sung by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and just said...yeahhhhhh!

Complete lyrics: http://www.directlyrics.com/john-legend-wake-up-everybody-lyrics.html
Wake up everybody
No more sleepin' in bed
No more backward thinkin'
Time for thinkin' ahead
The world has changed
So very much
From what it used to be
There is so much hatred
War and poverty, whoa, oh
Wake up, all the teachers
Time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen
To what'cha have to say
'Cause they're the ones who's coming up
And the world is in their hands
When you teach the children
Teach 'em the very best you can
The world won't get no better
If we just let it be, na, na, na
The world won't get no better
We gotta change it, yeah
Just you and me...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

IPads in the house! Er classroom!

We got our iPad cart this week. Haven't figured out the sync yet but amazing what the kids can do with iPhoto, maps and notepad!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Calabazas Blvd,Santa Clara,United States

Classroom Rules for iPad Use

We hope to get our iPads this week. The kids came up with the following. Not sure if we will need to add to them or further define? Maybe too many?  Suggestions?

Room 7
iPad Rules, Ideas and Stuff

• keep water bottles under desk
• do the right app at the right time
• only take over apple tv when invited
• be gentle and DO NOT run with it
• follow the Bagby Bee’s
• Be Respectful
• Be Responsible
• Be Safe
• return ipad to the cart and plug it in when not in use
• Close it, and Walk. Close it, and Walk!

Consequences

• Mild (by the week)
• 1st warning = $2 McC
• 2nd warning = lose iPad for the lesson
• 3rd warning = lose it for day
• Final warning = lose it for 5 days
• Serious
• Lose it for day
• Lose it for week
• Lose it forever

iPad Academy Background

So to catch up, a few weeks ago our superintendent, Dr. Deborah Blow, announced an iPad Academy. Our district! Cambrian Union in San Jose, CA, has implemented a hybrid Professional development(PD) model where teachers who are interested in an area of study can apply to an 'academy' where they will learn a lot and get the tools to use what they learn.

Here is a description of the academy:

Purpose: To provide Cambrian teachers with a collaborative learning opportunity to develop their use of technology as a powerful teaching and learning tool for the integration of 21st century skills.

Requirements of participants

•Completed application for the iPad Action Research Academy
•Commitment to integration of technology into instruction
•Participation in the 21st Century Learning iPad Academy Kick-Off Event – Monday, March 26 from 3:30 to 7:30
•On Time, required participation in monthly sessions (2 hour sessions, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm) on Monday, April 23 and Monday May 21. Additionally there will be monthly meetings next school year, dates TBD.
•Maintenance of a digital journal/portfolio
•Attendance at end of year Colloquium in Spring of 2013

Components of Professional Development/Areas of Study
•Through action research, investigate the use of iPads to individualize learning forall students
•Components of instruction necessary for our 21st Century Students
•Building upon the integration of technology into standards based instruction that leads to measurable student achievement gains
•Challenge-Based Learning
•Increasing student creativity and innovation
•How to increase student collaboration and problem-solving skills
•Fostering the use of engaging learning environments

Each participant in the academy will receive:
•A class set of iPads
•An iPad for teacher use
•An iPad Cart for storage and charging
•An Apple TV, which will allow you to project from your iPad to the White Board
•Opportunity for further incentives in technology if participating in 21stCentury Learning Academy in future years.


Here is my application.

As soon as the iPad came out, I knew I wanted them for my classroom. They bring a level of student motivation, engagement and learning possibilities that was unprecedented before. I have used my owniPad as a productivity tool and have let students use it to play educational games and to make teaching videos (that is, students teaching other how to do something – like a mini-khan academy). I have also had BYOT days where I had 2:1 “iThings” (touches and pads) for math and literacy centers. I am interested in the iPad Action Research Academy as a way for me to learn new ways to harness this tool but also as a way to find out what works and what doesn’t. Some teachers are apprehensive or unaware of the benefits of using technology in the classroom. I’d like to be able to share tools, procedures and apps that will help allay some fears of implementation in their own classrooms. I see the role of teachers in the iPad Academy as being tech evangelists. Learning with an iPad provides additional opportunities for differentiation and compacting as well as an opportunity to present information to students in a variety of modalities. They provide access to information and research that is too expensive to do with books and hard to access with only seven old PCs or even the C.O.W., including access to regularly updated core content, without waiting for the next textbook adoption. With iPads, students can create their own learning opportunities and teach each other. I would love the opportunity to bring this technology, and these opportunities, to my students.

Ideally, Ms. Monger and I will both be accepted into the academy. S. and I both are impressed with the apps we have used in the classroom individually and would love to collaboratively work on implementing some projects within our co-teaching structure.

I believe I am a good candidate for the iPad Action Research Academy because I am an open minded, tech-savvy, and extremely enthusiastic. I have taught other teachers how to use technology on my own time, including a summer website building workshop. Once I learn how to use something, I want to share it with anyone. I am also committed and organized which will help as we explore and establish ways to manage iPads in the classroom going forward. It is an exciting opportunity to be involved in the early stages of this project with the district and even though I am a temp, I hope you will seriously consider my application.