Harvard Reflections: Arts, Education and Learning

This summer I was fortunate enough to have been selected to participate in the first ever Institute on the Arts and Passion-Driven Learning held at Harvard's Graduate School of Education in collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble.

photo Andrew T. Garcia

My situation was unique.  I was camping in the Adirondacks for 5 days and planned to continue the same for another 5 days after the Institute.  I emerged from the woods, attended the 2 1/2 day Institute and traveled straight back to the Adirondacks.  While in a hammock at the edge of Rollins Pond, I reflected on the experience.  The result is below. This list is in no particular order and may not even make sense to those outside the context of the experience.  However, I have attempted to expound on the list.  Feel free to contact me for any clarifications or just to connect.

'NOTHING WITHOUT JOY'

This is a quote by Loris Malaguzzi that host and Harvard Graduate School of Education Lecturer Steve Seidel shared at the opening plenary session.  He also concluded the Institute with the quote.  Mr. Seidel was the best of hosts (Yo-Yo Ma referred to him as "Mr Rogers for adults"). He used humor when appropriate but also posed excellent questions to frame the Institute.  Some examples: What is the role of passion in learning? What are the possible roles for the arts? How can the arts deepen learning in other subject areas? How do the arts support students in becoming more engaged, empathetic and responsible participants in their learning?

WHAT'S WORTH KNOWING

This question was also raised by Steve Seidel.  It seems like a simple question but it is so important for all educators to spend some time thinking about it.  Given precious little time in the school day/year, what is worth knowing? And why?  Answers to those questions drive the curriculum and what gets 'learned' in schools.  If you teach something, why did you decide it was worth knowing?

SNAKES (ARE BORN THIS WAY)

As an example of what is worth knowing, the video Snakes Are Born This Way was shown. The 2nd grade class at Conservatory Lab Charter School wrote and performed this parody to share what they had learned about snakes through their learning expedition. The Conservatory Lab Charter School is unique as it "empowers a diverse range of children as scholars, artists and leaders through and El-Sistema-based orchestral education and rigorous Expeditionary Learning curriculum."  As the students tell us: "In 2nd Grade our teachers told us that we would be herpetologists".  And that began the exploration. Worth knowing?

EMOTIONS ARE CONTAGIOUS

More than once Cristina Pato (Gaita player) said this.  The important takeaway is to be genuine in teaching, performing and learning situations.  The more one is open and transparent, the better the learning for everyone involved.  

MAKE LEARNING VISIBLE

Butterfly by Aidan William Garcia, age 6

Making learning visible was a theme of one of the workshops I attended.  There are many ways to do this but so much of the time we feel (as teachers) that we lack the time to follow through on this. However, it is probably the most important part of learning in schools. It reminds me of the quote from Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park With George. The character (and once real life artist) George Seurat sings: "A vision's just a vision if it's only in your head.  If no one gets to see it, it's as good as dead".  Likewise, it easy and tempting to keep learning in the classroom only. But it should be shared.  Starting now.  

COLLABORATION, TRUST=SAFETY AND NEW CREATIONS

Collaboration was a big theme of the Institute since the role of the Silk Road Ensemble involves collaboration 100% of the time.  In their own performances, the musicians are always working together, sharing, experimenting and pushing themselves into new territory. When the Ensemble visits schools (as with the Silk Road Connect venture), collaboration is the name of the game.  There exists the school culture and the Ensemble (made up of members from many different cultures).  In these environments, open mindedness,  negotiation and flexibility lead to trust and true collaboration which leads to a feeling of safety and comfort for all participants.  Once this level is reached the collaborative 'dance' can yield new, spontaneous creations.  Powerful stuff.  How can we create these conditions in our classrooms and schools?

DISCIPLINED IMAGINATION

Yo-Yo Ma described an exercise he uses to spark creativity and new thinking. In a conversation with Steve Seidel, he said he uses something he has dubbed "Disciplined Imagination", the crux of which is to take something known and transpose this to a new setting in your mind.  He used the example of knowing Steve and his thoughts, mannerisms, interests, passions in the context of Harvard and then imagining Steve in other settings and how he might engage, communicate and participate in those other settings.

CULTURE BUILDING

Small and large group conversations in several workshops led to the understanding that, as arts educators and educators in general we are really involved with 'culture building'.  Culture building is laying the foundation of how individuals would act, speak, respond and participate in the classrooms/school setting where collaborative (trust-based) learning would take place.  We spoke of the difficulty of some students bringing jaded and negative attitudes into the classroom impeding trust and true expression, sharing and learning.

photo Andrew T. Garcia

LISTENING

Related to Culture Building is building a 'Culture of Listening' in our learning spaces. Since listening and considering the thoughts, ideas, music, etc.. of others leads to true growth and learning and opens the mind.  A powerful definition for teachers in this context would be "The most experienced learner in the room."

KNOW DEEPLY AND SHARE GENEROUSLY

In a conversation on the final day of the Institute, Mike Block of the Silk Road Ensemble said learning happens and transcends the local environment when one knows deeply and shares generously. Amen.

And there you have it.  Some nuggets I took away from the 1st Harvard Institute on the Arts and Passion Driven Learning.  I have shared generously and hope that these personal recollections are of some use to others.  I will forever be working on the 'knowing deeply' part.

The Power of the Arts for Students

As a Music Teacher, I have been a long-time advocate for the Arts. The Arts make up a significant part of our history and culture. Opportunities to express, create, practice and work toward goals larger than Self are such key factors in nurturing whole human beings. I believe Arts Education has a place for every child in school.

But where do the Arts fit in schools? What does the Federal and State Gov't have to say? I am pleased to be able to report that the arts-including art and music are considered CORE subjects in the Federal NCLB law as well as the MA Education Reform Law. Interestingly, research is being unveiled frequently about how the arts actually assist students to learn and think critically in arts classes as well as other academic classes. Additionally-and this is very compelling!-the field of Neuroscience is mapping HOW the brain processes as a result of immersion in the arts.

THE ERA OF DIY and CONTENT CREATION
As is frequently noted on this blog, the paradigm has shifted in the world and Education must play a crucial role in adopting and exploiting new ways of doing, learning, leading and creating. Parallel to the shift to Standards-Based (Student-Centered) Education, a shift made possible by emerging technologies is the ability for individuals to create their own content (images, videos, music, etc..). This is the commonly called D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself). Education should embrace the DIY movement and allow students and teachers to create as learning process. (Note that creation here is not necessary the culminating activity--but an embedded WAY to learn).

A great example of Combining the ARTS and the DIY Movement comes from students at Boyertown High School in Pennsylvania. Art programs were in danger of being cut, so the students made a video to show how they feel about their art classes. Great work for a great cause! Arts Education.

EduCon, Collaboration and the Arts

The following is a blog post created in collaboration with the following Educators on the subject of Arts Integration which was a conversation topic at the recent EduCon Conference in Philadelphia.

Yoon Soo Lim

Michelle Baldwin

Elizabeth Peterson and

Kyle Pace

(For those unfamiliar with Twitter, user names are preceded by an "@". This is one's Twitter "ID" or handle. I recommend Twitter to all Educators and I further recommend 'following' any of the fine Educator's listed above.)

Cultivating Connected Learning Experiences through Arts Integration
by Yoon Soo Lim

@eliza_peterson, @KylePace, @michellek107, and I decided to bring a vis-a-vis conversation to EduCon about learning through integrated arts curriculum. Why? It is believed that in our society art, dance, music and theater are considered nice, feel-good things, especially for kids. Take a look at our crowdsourced virtual bulletin board here with teachers answering the question, “Why Integrate with the Arts?”. After reading through these posts, one cannot help but ask a follow-up question, “If the arts are so important, why aren’t they integrated more into the curriculum?”. This is precisely why we wanted to have this conversation with our colleagues at EduCon.

Interestingly, creativity and arts education had been mentioned many times during EduCon, starting with Friday night's panel. During the discussions of EduCon sessions and in my preparation for our conversation, these words kept popping up: "cultivating", "connected-learning", and "experiences".
These words also happen to be the first four words of our session title :-)
When it came to our session time on Sunday morning, these are the words we focused on.

Why?

Everyday, Elizabeth, Michelle and I are immersed in music while Kyle gives support to his arts teachers. We teach about music, we create music, we teach others how to teach music, and we learn new ways to learn about music. We live and breathe the joys as well as the pains of being “in” the arts field. To move our schools forward and to collaborate with teachers, we motion to cultivate a new culture – to prepare the ground, and foster growth through refining of the mind – for all of our students’ learning. So why does it matter to connect?

This screen shot is from RSA video we shared in our session. The video is RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms of Ken Robinson (05:41 and on). It’s a clear capturing of what a fully-engaged learning looks like. Senses, brain function, and passion all working together, so focused and fully alive!

To the teachers who attended our session in person or virtually, making this kind of “aesthetic experience” mattered. Some teachers grew up being in the arts. For some, they were curious how to integrate the arts in the classroom. These teachers engaged in conversations fully and intentionally.

Some of the examples we shared on our Google Sites were good starting places to delve into deeper conversations with teachers who were in attendance.

Encouragement: If you want connected learning for your students, make it a priority. Take the first step to get in a consistent conversation about what students are learning and how you as teachers can give support to each other.

This charge is for both classroom teachers as well as the arts teachers. WE ARE ALL TEACHERS. We no longer cannot monopolize our “subject” areas and consequently keep ourselves at an arm’s distance. Students will not connect their learning if it is not encouraged or modeled for them. It will be hard. It will be time consuming, but by creating this kind of learning environment, learning becomes real and interesting for students.

Make Arts Your Priority, Admins!

If you truly believe creativity is something that needs to encouraged, and cultivated, make arts education a high priority! I am tremendously blessed to work with administration who support the arts education at our school. I am going to quote one of the administrators at my school: “Creativity, critical thinking and innovation – all are important terms in today’s education. Integrating the arts is a great way to tap into all of these while making learning more meaningful to the students.” Follow Susan’s advice and make it an important priority for your school.

Start with a Simple Conversation, Teachers!

Routinely get into conversations with your students about what they are learning. You are good at asking specific questions to elicit information, teachers! Engage in conversations and learn about what they are learning. It shows not only that you are interested in who they are, but that you are curious about them as learners. Talking to other grade teachers in person is always good idea. Again, connecting with another teacher is something that is time consuming, but in teacher’s lounges, or even in passing, make an effort to start a conversation. If you need help integrating the arts in your discipline, ask an arts teacher you are interested in partnering with. There just might be an area where two classes can naturally work on a project that will bring deeper learning.

I am humbled to have worked with Elizabeth, Kyle and Michelle. They are not only active in their own learning, they make connected learning come alive. I learn much from them and work harder to make connected learning a reality for my students.

The EduCon conversation was a great beginning. I cannot wait to have more of these important conversations and see the changes in many classrooms. I believe there will be a time when more decision makers for schools will make arts a priority. Until then, our work continues.

Before I end my thoughts for today, I want to ask you to think about a question based on @mrchase’s post titled, Things I know 36 of 365: We're really good at not teaching kids to sing. Why are kids afraid of singing?

If you would like to think some more, check out Where Do the Arts Stand in Our Schools? by Dana Santomenna, PsyD.


The EDUCON EXPERIENCE
by Michelle Baldwin

Educon was a fast and furious experience for me, but one that I will value for a very long time. So many conversations, both scheduled and impromptu at lunch or dinner, have kept me thinking and questioning since I returned home.

During our session, we talked about how arts education helps students to understand not only how everything is connected in our world (as an adult, you don’t just do math at 10:00 in the morning and then switch to science or reading), but also how arts education helps to understand how everyONE is connected. Through music, art, drama, and dance, students can view similarities and differences across cultures. Isn’t it interesting that every culture on our planet utilizes the arts to express what it means to be human?

At one point during our session, we began discussing how the arts really help students learn about each other and work together. I said, “When you’re taking a math test it’s all about YOU. When you’re in a music class, it’s all about US. ” How often in school do students have an opportunity to truly work toward a common goal? Most of the time, that is going to occur in an area where the arts are involved. When I think about how important teamwork and collaboration are in our society, I wonder why students spend most of their academic careers competing with each other for class rank, grades, etc. It’s no wonder they have difficulty translating their learning in school to how to succeed in a connected, global society. By integrating arts lessons throughout the curriculum, students may have more opportunities to work together, to learn ensemble, and to feel the power of WE, instead of only ME.



The Virtual Experience
by Elizabeth Peterson

Attending a conversation virtually can be interesting. You are listening in, taking it all in, but your voice may not be heard. Let’s face it, one of the best parts about a conversation is the give and take. You can’t just take, you have to give!

The platform used for the live streams at EduCon 2.3 was great because not only were you able to view and hear our session(once it got up and running), but you could participate with other virtual viewers in the chat room.

Our team tried to make sure that other virtual attendees were part of the conversation. There was a give and take going on in the chat room that posed some interesting thoughts, resources and even built relationships. We echoed the important points made in Philly and added our own two cents, making for a full experience.

There is something about listening in on a conversation that allows for great reflection, too. As you sit in the comfort of your home, slippers on, letting the sound of others talk together fill your headset, you have a relaxed feeling of being there. And when you are ready to respond, your thoughts, written out, not spoken, are thought out a little differently than if you are there. You are able to complete your thought, look it over and then send it out to the others in attendance.

I, being Skyped in as part of the presentation team, had the other advantage of being able to speak at times when I thought appropriate. My wonderful teammates would make my talking head a little bigger on the screen and allow me to add my thoughts. (That was another interesting aspect of Skyping in – I was always being projected on the screen in the front of the room! :-) )

At the end of the session, everyone in the chat room made sure we all knew each other’s Twitter handles so that we could keep in touch and keep the conversation going.

The other venue we provided for our attendees was the #artsint backchannel. Here, both face to face and virtual participants could tweet and reply to one another. This backchannel is now in full swing as people are starting to use it more and more! Again, we are keeping the conversation about the ever important topic of Arts Integration alive!

Sure, there are limitations to being virtually in attendance to a conversation among peers. But this is yet another wonderful example of what the virtual world can do for us as educators. We connect online, have opportunities to converse in person and continue the discussions for weeks and months into the future.

See what happens when you allow teachers to connect? Go us!


ATTENDING EDUCON VIRTUALLY
by Andrew Garcia

Despite the video feed glitch delaying my remote entry to the Arts Integration conversation, I found attending virtually to have several benefits (some of which I tweeted using the hashtag #noncon). First, the view of the presenters and what they were saying was clear (most of the time). From home there is no obstructed view or “overflow room”. Second, it is actually easier to ‘take notes’ during conversations by listening and writing and/or live-tweeting. This would quickly become annoying to a neighbor if I were actually present at Educon. (One great benefit of being an auditory learner is the ability to at once listen and type!) Question is, which is more important? Silent and still listening to preserve the peace of your proximal #educon attendee or to passionately listen, process, type and connect (w/ others on a backchannel)? Who is to say that the backchannel conversations aren’t the ones that will assure that the message lives beyond the moment?

To me, at least with regard to conversations, I learn best by listening and processing. Right there, right then. With any good talk, keynote, session, workshop, ‘conversation’ NOW is the moment to key into. (And why so much Professional Development efforts fail- it’s too easy to lose that lovin’ feeling once tomorrow comes.) Attending virtually, I was 100% THERE and turned ON to the moment/topic at hand. I was simultaneously documenting the moment. As Connie Weber of Fireside Learning wrote to me after the keynote, “I definitely felt you there!” Being ‘there’ is all about the quality of attention and intention. I might argue that some folks “at” Educon, may, at times, have been physically there but mentally elsewhere. If I were at Educon, I would have been, at least to some extent, distracted by all the awesome Educators around me (‘OMG, there’s @willrich45!!’). And, if reading the tweets of some of my followers is any indication, this is definitely true for them, too.

Third, attending Educon online actually allowed freedom to attend multiple conversations without being considered rude. I was interested in many conversations that were scheduled at the same time. I would time my exits accordingly (a lull in the conversation, a tech problem, but I always returned). Doing so also allowed me to be a minor asset to presenters. I took screenshots of conversations and posted them at BOX.net-free for the taking. Many presenters were grateful to have “evidence” of them in action for their professional portfolios. I was happy to be a minor but helpful resource.

Finally, far from feeling alienated and excluded by those attending Educon, I would argue that relationships with #educon friends in my Twitter PLN, were kicked UP a notch. Circumstances (multiple snow days, committee obligations) kept me away from Philadelphia during Educon 2011 but I feel closer to those who attended than I did before as a result of the conference, and the multiple live and virtual conversations being had in those 2 thought-provoking days. Sure, I would have loved to see @NMHS_Principal’s karaoke skills. But (apparently) I am glad I missed the Applebee’s experience on Friday night. (Eh?) It also was a plus to be able to prepare a meal and/or go to the bathroom without missing a word that was said. Good perks, those! All this said, I can’t wait to be at ISTE2011. Live. In person.


I feel a depth of gratitude for being invited to share and learn along with these fine colleagues. Please visit their blogs and follow them on Twitter (see above). This experience represents the best of what is possible through digital networking and streaming media. Please also see my post: On Arts Education-Changing the Paradigm in Schools which provides a framework for schools seeking to adopt a '21st Century' model using the Arts as a lens.

On Arts Education: Changing the Paradigm in Schools

Perception is a big stumbling block when we advocate for arts education in general and arts integration, specifically. If the arts are perceived as separate subjects and the domain of specialists a problematic situation arises in schools. This is where mental turf wars begin. I have been witness to the following (mis)perceptions: ‘Why are you pushing your subject on me?!’ ‘My subject is actually a CORE?!’.

Schools, intended or not, teach this divisiveness. Children absorb it and learn it. Once in middle school, our students who are still very concrete thinkers, really begin to believe this is true. We reinforce the notion by having students physically leave one subject class and go to another. It is up to them to bridge the gaps, to find the commonalities among subjects. Worse, students learn to place these subjects in a hierarchy with the arts being, if not dead last, close to it. They may even articulate this without realizing what they are saying: “It’s only music class, why do we have to do this?”. Ironically, arts subjects are also where students are the most engaged, absorbed and ‘on’. It is precisely because of this ‘flow’- the ability to be engaged in learning without noticing that confuses students and teachers as well. It all just seems like "fun" as if fun and learning cannot be part of the same process.

The arts are about doing. About crafting and creating. About building and dismantling and re-defining and refining according to what seems right, feels right, sounds right, looks right. That doesn’t mean critical thought is not part of the process. Critical thinking precedes the process of creating and doing that the arts represent. Changing entrenched perceptions means starting a whole new conversation around, not the arts as subjects, but the arts as a doorway to doing, perceiving, thinking and creating. Adopting an arts-based approach to learning would shift the focus of classroom learning from a product-result-right answer orientation to a process-fluid-multiple perspective orientation.

How many of us have been disappointed when students ask a version of the following questions: How many words (paragraphs, pages, notes, measures) does it have to be? How much counts as an “A”? The problem isn’t that students are naturally superficial. They’ve just learned to play the ‘how much’ game. Simultaneously, they have also learned to play the ‘right answer’ game. As teachers we have collectively taught students that there is a ‘right answer’ and if you can figure it out (quickly!), you ‘win’. The more you can do this, the better student you are. The better the student you are, the higher your GPA. This right answer quickly approach is reinforced by timed standardized tests.

Few students value the processes of thinking, creating, reflecting and refining-and thus the quality of what they are doing- partly because they are being asked to churn out a ridiculous amount of finished home ”works" (to paraphrase Ron Berger). Since they get this request of so many teachers, they are overwhelmed and need, by necessity, to know what the minimum requirement will be to do well. Is this what we want? If not, how do we go about encouraging a shift in student thinking (and teacher practice)? Part of the answer has to do with changing that question of theirs. Instead of ‘how much’ we need our students to be asking ‘how come’ then have them investigate the answer(s) collaboratively. Furthermore, these investigations need to take them into real world spaces-either physically or virtually: Places and spaces that look familiar when students are NOT in school. The arts help to marry the 'real world' and school; the real 'internal' and external worlds of the student-worlds where learning is natural not prescribed. Interestingly (and thankfully) the processes of thinking, creating, reflecting and refining are not restricted to the arts. For example, as Professor James Zull reminds us, there is art even in such a seemingly ‘artless’ field as neuroscience: “The neuroscientist is also an artist. The very process of seeking understanding has its own mysteries”. That bears repeating: the very process of SEEKING UNDERSTANDING has its own mysteries. Isn’t the process of seeking understating another way of saying learning? And isn’t learning at the core of this thing we call Education?

If all subjects were approached with a process orientation (and, perhaps but not necessarily with art-product ends in mind) there would be more learning. Genuine learning involves trial, error, failure, critical thinking, and creating by doing. It is also best approached in groups since the learning of one is amplified and augmented within a collaborative group. What are classrooms if not spaces ripe for potential collaborative investigation? It is the arts-especially music performance, drama and dance where learning to work with and within a group is an intrinsic part of the process. As teachers shift to 'artistic' modes of inquiry and learning, they have built in consultants right in schools themselves-arts specialists!

To summarize, beyond integrating art subjects themselves within other disciplines, I advocate for an adoption of artistic habits of mind to be infused within the culture of all schools/classrooms. The subject separation that we teach at school is an illusion and it is damaging because it limits the potential of our youngest members of society. It often takes real life well beyond school for students to begin thinking in connective, creative (artistic) ways. There exists support for moving in the direction of artistic modes of learning. In the words of Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: “The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind - creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers.” Additionally, the Framework of 21st Century Learning as outlined by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills includes the now infamous 4 C's: Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity. Sounds like the Arts to me. As districts adopt 21st Century protocols, they should look to the arts and arts teachers to help navigate the way forward. The time for Arts Education has come.

References:

Berger, Ron. (2003). An ethic of excellence: Building a culture of craftsmanship with students. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Pink, D.H. (2005). A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead Books.

Zull, J. (2002). The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning. Sterling: Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Unblocking Blocked Websites: Framing the Argument

Much to the frustration of many teachers, websites that could be used to engage learners are blocked at school. Many school districts, with good intentions of protecting students (and teachers) have taken a very heavy handed approach with regard to online access to websites-especially (social) networking sites. It is the rare school district that allows access to Facebook. Many others do not allow access to You Tube, Gmail accounts, Ning Networks or Twitter.

But as many teachers know, all of the sites mentioned in the previous sentence can and do have educational value if used properly. It is also known that technology can be used to effectively engage learners and to differentiate learning. Knowing this, however, doesn't help convince those with the authority to unblock sites that have potential educational value. The argument for doing so has to include HOW these websites have educational value. And HOW other districts, schools, teachers and administrators are using these online sites/tools.

Here are some resources that can help begin the conversation. If you use sites and tools in your classes, please share your blog/site and what you do. Did you have to convince anyone to unblock sites that you use regularly? If so, how did you do it? Your story is immensely valuable to others.

• EDUCATIONAL USES of TWITTER
• A PRINCIPAL'S USE OF FACEBOOK
  
• EDUCATIONAL USES of GOOGLE
• EDUCATIONAL USES of YOU TUBE
• 47 ALTERNATIVES TO YOU TUBE

Using Technology for the sole purpose of using technology is pointless. As we frame the argument about it's use, it is important to consider the words of Principal Jonathan Martin:

What are we doing as educators to meaningfully engage our students, to give them the autonomy, purpose, and opportunity for mastery which they crave and to which they respond with focus, energy, enthusiasm, and diligence?

How can technology help? Framing the argument with these credible, educational goals in mind helps to move us forward in the right direction-to a future of unrestricted access.

Waiting For Superman

"Waiting for Superman" is a 2010 documentary film from director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott. The film analyzes the (perceived) failures of American public education by following several students through the educational system.


To some, the film takes an easy and cheap shot at the 'Education System', (whatever that is). At least for the filmmaker, who attended private schools as a child, the answer to the 'problem' of Public Education is charter schools.

Diane Ravitch, Education Policy analyst and historian, characterized the film in her review titled 'The Myth of Charter Schools' in the New York Times as follows:

"For many people, these arguments require a willing suspension of disbelief. Most Americans graduated from public schools, and most went from school to college or the workplace without thinking that their school had limited their life chances. There was a time—which now seems distant—when most people assumed that students’ performance in school was largely determined by their own efforts and by the circumstances and support of their family, not by their teachers. There were good teachers and mediocre teachers, even bad teachers, but in the end, most public schools offered ample opportunity for education to those willing to pursue it."

The uncomfortable reality is that there are many who agree with the over-generalized and manipulative message of the film-as if there is ONE 'problem' and which can be 'cured' with ONE 'solution'. Pure and simple: It is film making and film making is intended to make a profit. If your topic is controversial enough and you shine alight on that controversy, eyes and ears will follow.

On the one hand, the film can be dismissed with a laugh as petty and sensationalist. However, with so much money poured into its promotion, many unfamiliar with the true terrain of Education could be hoodwinked into believing that ALL pubic schools and ALL Public School Teachers are 'the problem' which is not helpful to any hard working teacher or public school system in the U.S.

Your thoughts?

10 Things All Teachers Should Know How to Do (Edited)

After viewing @todmafin's tweet about how it's simply not funny to claim 'Luddite' status anymore, I thought about what might be important-from a tech perspective-to know as a teacher teaching in these times. Here's my top ten...with many exclusions.

These, to me, are basic competencies I think all School Districts should assess and provide professional development in.

All teachers should be able to..........
1. Subscribe to an RSS Feed
2. Bookmark, tag and annotate websites in the Cloud
3. Create and use a Blog
4. Create and use a Wiki site
5. Create hyperlinks (in e-mail, at blogs, websites and wikis)
6. Create a PDF file for Free
7. Capture, Remix and upload Photos (free of copyright restrictions)
8. Capture, Remix and upload Audio/Video
9. Use Google Docs or other collaborative file sharing system.
10. Locate and Participate in Social Networks on Education, Useful Tech Tools for Learning, 21st Century Learning and content-specific Education Sites.

What would you add?

What Teachers Can Learn From Ingrid Michaelson

Ingrid Michaelson is as real as one can get when one is a successful touring musician and when one's music has been featured in episodes of several popular television shows, including Scrubs, Bones , Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill, as well as in Old Navy's Fall 2007 Fair Isle advertising campaign. When 'I Just Want to Be OK' is the chorus of one of your songs-you have wide appeal. Looking like the attractive girl next door doesn't hurt.

Attending a live performance of one of her concerts as I had the great fortune to do this week (at Pearl Street in Northampton, MA) , one learns that Miss Michaelson is smart, quirky, talented, playful and fully in touch with and manipulative of the vibe in the room. It's exactly what we teachers need-to be able to control the vibe in the room, with finesse. Here are some other Micahelson-isms that worked and are worth noting.

• Tap prior knowledge (She had the audience sing TV theme shows-Full House, Golden Girls..this happened spontaneously when she began humming a few bars of each.)

• Mix it up (she played different instruments, we can change the delivery, tools, venue). -DO same thing in new ways (she sang The Way I Am twice..once as known and then again-as an encore- as a punk rock parody. Brilliant!)
  

• Show gratitude (genuinely)
  

• Connect and be accessible (she asked questions of audience members close to her and made reference to the new information we learn later. We can do the same w/students)
  

• Tell stories (we now know that she once taught Children's Theater and the kids has a hard time walking in a straight line--her telling had us all in stitches.)
  

• Have fun (You can't fake this)

Song Demo- Walk Away (just for a little extra)
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

The Slow Nature of Change in Schools

On a recent field trip, neither my students nor I was at threat of being eaten alive by a t-rex.

Why, despite ruling Earth for nearly 80 million years (even longer than Wall Street barons), are Cretaceous period animals not regularly chowing on our gizzards? Things change.

Scientists have suspected this for some time. In fact, a growing body of geologic evidence seems to support the theory that things today are not the same as they were 200 million years ago. (Many even suspect tomorrow will be different than today.)

Surprisingly, this idea of “change as constant” is not yet an accepted norm. (Though it comes as no surprise to anyone whose visited any number of schools in recent years.)

by Jason Flom, read the rest at: Shift Happens. (Even in Schools?) | Ecology of Education

Combining Service-Learning and Technology Fosters positive Youth Development

In an ongoing effort to promote youth empowerment in education, we’d like to offer this research synopsis. This one pulls together several of our favorite subjects: youth development, project-based learning, and technology.

Best Practices for Integrating Technology and Service-Learning in a Youth Development Program by JoAnn R. Coe-Regan, PhD and Julie O’Donnell, PhD, MSW.

Community-based programs that are meant to promote youth development have been around for quite awhile. Numerous studies indicate that youths benefit from these programs in many ways: a more positive self-image, a reduction in risk taking behavior, improved school behavior, etc. Because research illustrates the success of after-school programs, federal funding has increased from $40 million to $1 billion in recent years. A ubiquitous and recurring challenge these programs face is how to recruit and retain teens despite the potential barriers of boredom, family responsibilities, and spending social time with their friends.

In 2006 the YMCA Youth Institute of Long Beach, California developed a service-learning program to help overcome these barriers which “…uses technology as an integral mechanism for promoting positive youth development and enhancing the academic success and career readiness of low-income, culturally-diverse high school students.” (Coe-Regan & O’Donnell, 2006)

The YMCA Youth Institute research is unique in the fact that it focuses on the mutually supportive benefits of technology and service-learning. It also supports the idea that effective technology learning is more than skill acquisition, but is built into collaborative, authentic projects.

Overall, the study found that service-learning which emphasizes technology not only increases positive youth development, it also retains and sustains the service-learning program. Participants were particularly attracted to learning new technology skills and saw this as increasing the likelihood of being successful in life.

from Relevant research: Combining service-learning and technology fosters positive youth development -Generation YES Blog

PHSprincipalBLOG: One Size Fits All?

PHSprincipalBLOG: One Size Fits All?: "Imagine walking into a shoe store where all shoes were the same. Size, shape, color, and function were the same for all choices. Every customer walks out with the exact same shoe as the customers yesterday as well as shoes that will leave the store again tomorrow. Of course shoe stores do not work this way. People have different shaped feet and need shoes that function for different tasks. Apply this to education. Do schools do a good enough job of 'sizing up' each student and finding the right programs for them?"

TEXTING AND TWITTER: THE DARK SIDE

Here's something I don't read or hear discussed much:

There is fundamental difference between how a 30, 40, 50, 60 year-old professional and a tween or teen might choose to use social networking tools. Same is true for any of the media sharing sites we have at our disposal. A professional person (a postgraduate with a job and real life responsibilities) has a completely different raison d'etre than, well, a child. But both are equally vulnerable to the dark side of tech tools like Twitter and Texting.

TEENS, TEXTING AND SLEEP DEPRIVATION

I bought heavily into the Digital Native/Digital Immigrant argument early on but something isn't feeling right anymore as I see so many (digital) presentations by these so-called natives about how out of touch (we?) immigrants are. Many of these presentations are clearly scripted by adults (are they, then, "neo-natives"?) but they have the students deliver the message. To be clear before I continue: my raison d'etre is to promote what's best about 21st century learning/tools. This should be evident by reading my blog posts and bio. The issue, though, is that too many of us are assuming that since kids use cell phones, other handheld devices and computers regularly (not all do) that they are using these tools in productive useful ways and to learn. They may look sophisticated and "involved" but my own observations and conversations with students confirms to me that there's an awful lot of trivia being exchanged and so much healthy, youthful energy is being wasted.

To wit: A middle school girl was complaining recently about being tired. "Why?", I asked. She responded that "this one" referring to the boy next to her "texted me at 9:30 and I was already asleep". I said, "Was it important? What did he say?". The boy offered that he just wanted to 'bother' her so I asked the girl, "Why don't you turn your phone off when you go to bed?" Response: "I don't know. I don't want to miss something. I keep it on all night"

As usual, then I began thinking. I am concerned. I am concerned because this is an independent, strong, smart and talented young lady. She's the kind of girl who teaches herself to play and sing songs by Colbie Caillat and Sara Bareilles and who plays goalie for an All- Star soccer team. Yet....yet she feels she has to answer a text message by a boy who woke her up just to annoy her. We're not talking about friends here. We're talking about a boy she doesn't really associate with or like. I think that if this happens to strong, talented, independent girls how about those with weaker self-esteems? Are they waiting for every text with bated breath as some sort of personal 'validation' even if it comes from people they don't like or know well. And what does it say about the boy and his apparent lack of boundaries? I'm concerned. I have read about the rising epidemic of teens losing sleep because they sleep with cell phones under their pillows. I now have evidence that this is real and that sleep is being lost for no good reason at all for some young people. That's a pitfall of texting for teens. Speaking as an advocate of technology in all forms, I see no reason that anyone under the age of 18 needs a cell phone, or at least a plan that involves texting. No reason at all. Perhaps that seems like a contradiction but I believe in limits.

TWITTER, ADULTS AND SLEEP DEPRIVATION

If you have a Twitter account, you know that you can follow people who may have some valuable insight into things you are interested in. For me, I follow people who "tweet" interesting messages about education, education technology, internet learning tools, arts and music education. I use twitter more like an action research project where my tweets, in time, become chronological data points that can help map my learning and understanding from day to day. I read articles that others suggest reading. It's highly educational for me. It is a form of professional development.

However, I do witness the potential pitfalls of twitter everyday. Here are two things I have witnessed that concern me:

• Some people I used to follow were always online. Seriously. Always. One person I used to follow made 2-3 tweets EVERY HOUR in a 24 hour period. Huh? Really? Is this necessary? Why? He had many followers and tended to send direct messages to me. Not creepy messages. Just chummy, "thanks" kind of messages. I don't know this person in real life but I sensed he felt validated by the "connection" to strangers. Is the tweeting a potential addiction? Does he need help? He definitely needs to sleep. So do others who incessantly use the service. It's a pitfall.

• The constant river of information that is Twitter in itself concerns me. It sets up a false sense that one is "missing" something. Go 8 hours without checking your twitter account and, wow, there's some catching up to do! Any sane person, though, realizes, it's impossible to catch it all, to read it all, to synthesize it ALL.
  

In the end a good life requires balance. Now that we're wired, connected and connected wirelessly all the time, we need to fight for this balance, lest we begin to lose sight of the big picture. It's really what we need to teach our children now: Tech Tools can be used in positive ways to learn, create and express yourself AND Tech Tools can be used in negative ways that waste time, cause sleep deprivation and can potentially damage your health, sense of well being and, consequently, your future success. Let's teach them to unplug and power down once the work is done.

Let's model it, too. It's almost summer. Log off. Get some sleep.

photo by Sifter at Flickr

Students Seeking Relevance In Education

Ben Grey raises one of the most fundamental questions regarding our present situation:

What are we doing for students accomplishing their most amazing feats of education outside the education system?

Information has become decentralized. It is no longer "owned". Here are two examples of how information used to be owned:

1- Major broadcasting companies (and record labels, etc.) used to own information because they controlled what would be watched and listened to because, basically, there were NO options. In the 1970's when I came of age (as did Chris Anderson) the majority of us watched the same TV shows. There was no option for viewing in a format other than TV until VCR's came along. But even then there was a major limitation of freedom of choice. We also all listened to the same music because the music we 'knew' was the music on the radio. There was no choice for listening and the TOP HITS were decided for us.

2- Teachers used to own information (or at least we allowed this perception to linger for way too long) in the sense that they were "trained" and "knew" the content. Then teachers "delivered" the content "to" the student. Students were supposed to be grateful for this altruistic transmission of information. To a large extent, early on, there was some truth to the dichotomy between the 'learn-ed classes' (teachers/scholars) and the 'unlearn-ed masses'. There were few options beyond school besides multi-volume encyclopedias and libraries. But there, too, someone controlled the information. Publishing companies decided what got published. Those were the books that wound up in libraries. Same for encyclopedias. There were few OPTIONS. And teachers were respected for being the "knowers" largely, again, because there was little choice in the matter.

But now! But now we have a zillion options. Not only do we have options for the information and media we want to interact with but we have options for the format we wish to experience the information and media. These options dilute the old notions of Best or Top Ten.

What does 'Best' or 'Top Ten' mean anymore, anyway when there are tens of thousands of well written articles, blog posts, musical works, etc. in every conceivable language? And how can any self and student-respecting teacher claim to 'know everything' or at any rate be the 'only one' who knows. Information is information and it can be gotten from multiple sources and quickly. To be sure the experience can be more dynamic than a static explanation of a thing (as with a great teacher explaining a thing). As an example, why discuss the nuance in Thelonius Monk's playing when one can call up a You Tube video of him playing and let students see for themselves??

Maybe the new buzz words should be Relevance and Authenticity. When it comes to information, what's relevant? And how authentic is the information? In other words, how close to primary sources are we getting so students can experience "the thing itself". Major Broadcasting companies acted as a filter for information. They delivered what they (a group of men?) chose to deliver. And we digested it. Same thing happened in school. Teachers taught from textbooks. This acted as a dual filtering system since many inaccuracies were allowed to fester in textbooks of old and many teachers took the point of view presented in the textbook.

So, back to it. If a student pursues his interest and achieves her best education outside of school- where does that leave Education? Teachers? It all has to do with relevance and authenticity and choice. Education systems must adapt otherwise the tired saying "school s@cks" will be increasingly relevant to the subjective experience of students because, to interpret the saying, it means Education (schooling) is out of touch and irrelevant. Which it is, actually, for many students right now.

original photo by talweblog at flickr

Do Your Administrators Advocate for Music In Schools?

The fact of music and art programs being cut from schools flies in the face of the reality of what they bring to the lives of students enrolled in these programs.
I am convinced that school-based administrators and superintendents themselves need to advocate for music and the arts because when music and arts teachers do, school committees believe they are just begging for their jobs.

Here's a principal talking about how her daughter finds great value in her musical studies.