The Sunflower Project

One of the requirements of being a Google Certified Teacher, is to develop a "personal action plan." The idea for mine came during a discussion with our middle school language arts teacher, Deb Kuhr. Deb told me that she had been reading and discussing Simon Wiesenthal's book, The Sunflower, with her 8th graders. The Sunflower recounts Wiesenthal's personal dilemma (whether partially fiction or entirely non-fiction is apparently the source of some debate) around "the possibilities and limits of forgiveness."
The Sunflower is a book in two parts. Part one is the story of Wiesenthal's experience in a concentration camp as well as a request for forgiveness from a dying Nazi soldier. Part two is a symposium of responses."

"Among respondents to the question are theologians, political leaders, writers, jurists, psychiatrists, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, former Nazis and victims of attempted genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, China and Tibet. " (Wikipedia)

In our meeting I learned that the students, moved by the deathbed scene, wanted to create a video re-enactment of that part of the story. I thought it would be interesting to crowdsource the symposium, also through video. We shared the idea with the students, showing them the It Gets Better Project as an example.

Next we created the "Would You Forgive?" Google site as a home for the project. The students worked on writing the descriptions for the various pages of the site. They continued working, as part of their language arts class, on the script for the reenactment which was filmed after school and edited by one of the students over spring break. The students also wrote essays articulating their personal responses to the dilemma. Additionally, they video- reflected on the meaning of the entire project.


The Sunflower- Student Reflections from MJGDS Classrooms on Vimeo.

At the recent edJEWcon conference, hosted by MJGDS Mrs. Kuhr and the 8th graders shared the project and the re-enactment with educators from other Jewish schools, requesting that these teachers show the video to their students and solicit video responses. It was impressive to hear the students speak so articulately about their work.

From my perspective, working with a small class of "seniors" has had its highs and lows. There have been some real "blah" moments, some confusion around project management and productivity, even some questions as to "why are we bothering to do this?" 

The edJEWcon session was a high point. The students watched others watch their video. They were able to see and hear outside appreciation for their quality work. This had an impact that surpassed any amount of teacher feedback. 

We still have a lot left to do and not much time left in the school year. The students are excited to promote the site and the re-enactment, to receive and review responses. It is our hope that this work will reach people, touch them and inspire them to think. 

Learn•Reflect•Share...and the Slide I Forgot

My presentation preparation process:

Step 1: Think/brainstorm in a general way, about the topic.

Step 2: Start creating slides.
Step 3: Do tons of thinking and research (including searching for and reading related material, looking at related slide decks, etc) as I add slides.
Step 3.5 (which is part of steps 2 and 3): Obsess over slide design, search for or create the perfect  image. I can easily spend 20 minutes fine-tuning the design of a single slide.
Step 4: Ask a trusted colleague to review the slides and give feedback.
Step 5: Make changes, additions, etc.

All the while I am working through these steps, I am thinking, thinking, thinking about the slides and how they visually support the message I hope to convey.
By the time I am ready to present, I have spent many hours, while working on the slides, thinking through my ideas. I am prepared. Even with all the thinking, I don't know exactly what I will talk about with each slide until I say it. I sort of make a decision to just trust whatever comes in the moment as being the right thing to say...it keeps me from over-thinking or getting nervous.

The nicest thing is receiving positive feedback after a presentation. It feels like the message I worked so hard to craft was received and resonated with the audience. I really enjoy reviewing the back channel and being able to immediately reflect on what was shared there.

Even though this process seems to work for me, I always go through a stretch of time afterwards where I think of all the things I really should have said. Normally this phase only lasts a short time, and then I let it go.

Learn, Reflect, Share (edJEWcon keynote) from Andrea Hernandez

I was honored to be able to share the opening keynote for this year's edJEWcon. I tried to set the tone for a conference based on the idea that learning is a cyclical process, one that involves reflection and sharing. Immediately afterwards I thought of the things I shoulda, woulda, coulda said...and then I forgot it all in the many wonderful conference experiences that followed and occupied my mind.

Except for one thing. In all the experiences that followed, and in all my reflections on those interactions, I realized that there was one important slide I totally forgot. It is not random nor is it replaceable. It is a vital component of the learn, reflect, share cycle. VITAL.

image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pamhule/4463975948/

Learning is Messy... Cause Life is Messy

original photo: www.flickr.com/photos/ikkoskinen/5313414605

I have accepted that learning is messy. I feel it in my heart and in my bones. I recognize when it's happening, and I ride the messy wave the best I can, running from student to student, trying to have meaningful, individualized, powerful moments. Trying to teach.

Accepting the messiness doesn't mean I always enjoy the mess. I think that deep down inside I still have a goal to see things through in a way that satisfies that part of me that wants a neat little package, tied up with string. It's like when you spend a lot of energy cleaning the kitchen. You get a moment of pleasant satisfaction as you look around to gleaming countertops and an empty, shiny sink. Then you cook a meal. Or your kids eat a snack and forget to clean up after themselves (or are my kids the only ones who do that?)

The house would stay clean if only...

if only no one lived there.

Learning is messy because life is messy. And learning is life. And there's really no way around it. 

I've been working with MJGDS librarian and teacher extraordinaire, Karin Hallett, on some research projects with 2nd and 3rd graders. We try to reflect after each session, assessing and discussing the mess, strategizing new things to try. It's a bit like cleaning up the kitchen except that cleaning the kitchen is the same process each time, while the process of teaching and learning is iterative. We try to fail forward. 

Really it's not failure in any sense. It's actually formative assessment. And reflection. And coaching. It's teaching real students WHERE THEY ARE not where we think they should be. And that is a big, fun, challenging mountain to climb. 

Great Virtual Conference Expectations

Being that I have just spent the last two days at the North American Jewish Day School Conference and am in the process of co-organizing the upcoming edJEWcon conference, I've been thinking quite a bit about the practice of "virtual participation" at conferences.

My colleague, Silvia Tolisano, wrote this post, outlining what it takes to make virtual participation work. Since that post was published, we have received inquiries from people interested in virtual attendance at edJEWcon. We have also been questioned on the decision not to charge for virtual attendance. In the ensuing conversations it has become clear to me that the idea of virtual attendance means different things to different people.

So, one question to be answered is this: what does virtual attendance at a conference look and feel like?  Is it qualitatively different than watching a video, participating in a webinar, reading a blog post about a conference or following a conference hashtag on Twitter? If so, how?

As Silvia made clear, there are two distinct parts to making virtual attendance work- part one is the work of the virtual participant; part two relies on the face-to-face attendee. Both must make a commitment to connect. We decided to practice this skill while I was at NAJDS. We would use our regularly-scheduled Monday meeting times with teachers to demonstrate by doing. Silvia also scheduled time with the middle school students, inviting them to participate in a Today's Meet backchannel of the Monday session with Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Image Credit: Silvia Tolisano http://twitpic.com/c0vdzr

Today's Meet and Skype 
Today's Meet is simple to use. A "room" is created generating a unique URL, which is then shared. Type your name, and you're in. We also Skyped so that the students in FL could hear the same thing that the in-room participants in DC were hearing. Our middle school students are experienced back-channelers.

Here are a few screenshots taken from the transcript of the back channel (which is many pages long). As you look at them, try to get a feel for the conversation. Can you tell if there was a meaningful conversation in response to what was happening at the conference? Were people engaged with one another in the back channel?

Starting out with greetings

responses to a prompt

At some point, the students left to go to other classes. We turned off Skype and I turned to Twitter to continue sharing my notes. 

Later in the day, I connected again with Silvia who had reviewed the Today's Meet and the hashtag tweets with some teachers at an afternoon meeting. She was disappointed at the lack of substantial tweets and didn't feel that she was able to connect with what was happening at the conference. 

What went wrong? As I reflected, I realized that I got involved in something that, for many people, represents the most valued part of going to a conference- face to face conversations. I had the amazing opportunity to chat with Heidi Hayes Jacobs. No way was I going to dilute the energy of that experience by taking out my phone and tweeting our conversation. So, to my partner back at school, I had abandoned my responsibility by going off the grid.

I thought about Silvia's experience with the lack of meaningful tweets in relation to what I had noticed in the morning session.  Almost everyone in that session was taking notes. What I noticed was that most people were taking notes in “closed” apps or on paper. What I mean by closed apps are applications, like MS Word, that are visible only to the one taking the notes. This is not to make the assumption that people don’t share those notes in some way or another. I don't know how, when or with whom those notes might be shared. 

Live Blogging

Later in the afternoon, I attended an interesting and very conversational session titled “Moving From Authenticity to Integrity: A Conversation About Jewish Practice in Jewish Day Schools.” With Silvia’s comment about "empty shells" fresh in my mind, I wondered how best to share the conversation in the room.  I decided to “live blog” on our school’s closed faculty Ning since the topic has a rather specific audience. The post was not processed nor polished; I simply shared my notes. This was the type of session in which I probably would not have taken notes if not for the fact that I was consciously trying to share my conference experience. It was very conversational, and I typically prefer to focus my attention on the conversation as opposed to trying to transcribe it. Nevertheless, I transcribed and published. 

Forty-eight hours later that post has received no comments. I do not know if it has impacted or interested anyone back at my school. Was it a valuable use of my time? Will I be happy, in later days, to have those notes available as I reflect and process my learning? Will those notes eventually lead to anything- a conversation, a blog post, a connection?

What Makes Sense?

I admit that I am skeptical (which, if you know me, is nothing new) about this whole idea of virtual conference attendance. In picking it apart, from both sides of the table, I feel that there are very directed ways of making this work, but that there are certain benefits of conference attendance that can not be replicated. That is not to say that we should not share what we are hearing, both for ourselves and others, nor that we should not consciously wrestle with how best to facilitate meaningful connections. 

In trying to understand and contribute to an idea of "best practices" for both in-person and virtual conference attendees,  I think it is important to collect data. I am working on a survey, which I will share soon. If you are interested in participating in the survey, please let me know. If you have an opinion, experience, questions or other thoughts, please share in the comments!

Rockin' the PD- Part 2: Hatzatah

MJGDS is a K-8 school on the path to becoming a learning organization for the 21st century. At MJGDS we are experimenting with new forms of learning, as well as exploring different tools. We have been using iPads as a creative learning tool since 2011 when we purchased a cart of 20 devices. These 20 iPads are shared throughout the school, and they are in almost constant use. 

In addition to experimentation with student learning methods and tools, we are playing with new ways of engaging teachers in professional development. The essential question is,  "How do we inspire, build and promote a culture of self-directed and self-motivated learning at the school?"

n 2011, we introduced "hatzatah הצתה " (Hebrew for Ignite) as a fun, optional challenge to our faculty. Hatzatah is our school's adaptation of a popular presentation format based on Pecha Kucha and Ignite.  Each presenter has 5 minutes to share an idea, broken down into 20 slides, which automatically advance every 15 seconds. Hatzatot could be presented in either Hebrew or English. 

We began opening each faculty meeting with a hatzatah. As people embraced the challenge we were treated to the opportunity to learn more about each other's passions. Our 21st century learning coaches were available to work with teachers as they learned this new form of self-expression. 

In January 2013, as part of our school's edcamp day, we held a hatzatah contest using the open-ended prompt, "How have iPads impacted my practice?" We were thrilled to have five teachers embrace this opportunity to win an iPad. iPad in education experts, Richard Byrne, Mike Fisher and Lisa Johnson, judged the contest, using a rubric created from our Hatzatah checklist. 

The feedback, from both the presenters and the audience (even the judges) was tremendous. The true "prize" was, hopefully, learning new skills and overcoming challenges. Shelly reflected, "I can honestly say I was scared to death and I wanted to drop out, but when it was over I was glad that I did it.  I started thinking that this experience made me relate better to my students.  I had forgotten the anxiety that I feel before I have to give an oral presentation."

I sat back, in a state of awe, watching and listening to the excellence that shines forth from our faculty members who took this challenge. They all worked hard to prepare and practice, and boy did it show. 

Here are the videos of the hatzatot:

3rd grade teacher, Seth Carpenter

Art teacher, Shana Gutterman

Librarian, Karin Hallett

4th/5th grade language arts teacher, Stephanie Teitelbaum

4th/5th grade math & social studies teacher, Shelly Zavon

Rockin' the PD- Part 1: Edcamp

January 18th was PD day at MJGDS. Each January, we have one day without students where the whole faculty comes together to learn. I have the enjoyable responsibility to be part of the planning and facilitating of this day, and each year I have turned to my own learning network for new ideas to make the day worthwhile.

MJGDS Edcamp

This year, our team (myself, Jon Mitzmacher and Silvia Tolisano) decided to split the day into three parts. Inspired by many schools that have  tried the format and shared their stories of success, we decided to offer MJGDS edcamp. It was introduced briefly at the preceding faculty meeting without much explanation. For those that wanted to prepare themselves in advance, we created a group on our faculty Ning where we shared blog posts, video and other resources that described edcamp in detail. 

Teachers writing down their sessions and checking out the choices!

We have a small faculty, so we offered three, 45 minute sessions in each time block, for a total of nine offerings.  I stopped in to each of the sessions, mostly listening, at times jumping in, and taking photos and video for my own reflection on the process and its impact. It is hard to put into words the feeling I had as I watched teachers "own the learning." I have often wondered if our school's change and growth is sustainable for the long-term. I am now certain that initiatives like The Daily 5, student blogfolios and student-led conferences have ignited a spark and will continue to grow and evolve at MJGDS.

MJGDS Edcamp! from Andrea Hernandez on Vimeo.

Many of the teachers reflected afterwards on the Ning, and the reviews were all positive.

The whole wondrous thing about EdCamp is that it starts out from the initial activity as a self-driven, interactive way to increase and add to one's skills and professional repertoire.  The style is reminiscent of a self-serve restaurant.  You go and get what you want, and if it's not on the menu, you have the option to bring your own along with you and  share with others. -Seth Carpenter, 3rd grade general studies teacher

Edcamp was such a great alternative to our usual Professional Development days! ...We have so many knowledgeable faculty members but we don't necessarily know what their area of interest is. Now we know more. -Arlene Yegelwel, Kindergarten general studies teacher

I think everyone was so excited and so eager to learn and contribute!!  I feel like everyone wasn't rushing out of the door at the end of the day.  People mingled to talk more about the day!  It was just such a wonderful day full of positive energy and learning!!  I am so glad I was able to be a  part of it.  I am so anxious and excited for our next PDD!!! -Pamela Lewis, 1st grade general studies

 I was totally hyped up all afternoon and into the evening.  I found the day 100% interesting and educational.  I loved the “Edcamp” theme.  From the moment I walked into the building I felt the vibe of enthusiasm. I thought the idea of being able to learn and discuss whatever we wanted to was great.  I like choice and this is what I was given. -Shelly Zavon, 5th grade general studies

Schooly Non-Discussables

I just read Miguel Guhlin's post The Undiscussables of Tech Leadership (as well as a few other thought-provoking blog posts from his blog, Around the Corner).

I've worked (hard) for 20 years to be the best educator I can be. do my best to understand, both in an academic sense and in a pragmatic, experiential way, what that even means.

Part of me believes that it's all perspective. Being a tech leader (or now, just a leader having taken out  "edtech" from the title since it's all just "ed" in 2012, right?) at a small school I go back and forth from positive to negative, frustration to optimism. In no particular order and not tech-related, here are a few things that I just do not get-

-Why do some teachers firmly believe that textbooks and teacher's guides are a necessity in order to "cover all the material?"

-We do we think covering material means learning has occurred?

-Are we too obsessed with technology, gadgets and devices?

-Why are so many children given spelling lists and words to memorize?

-Will we ever agree on what makes a good school or a good teacher?

Innovative Culture at Google

Image Credit:Nina Matthews Photography

I spent today and yesterday last Wednesday and Thursday at Google in Mountain View as part of the Google Teacher Academy. I've experienced learning in the form of information overload that I will have to slowly process over time. What I'm thinking about most right now is the innovative culture that makes Google the kind of place that draws the best and the brightest (according to the person that led our tour they receive MILLIONS of resumes every year).

Of course, I am an outside observer, and I've only observed a scratch of the surface. But certain things stand out.

•Positivity- Everyone I met is brimming over with enthusiasm and excitement for what they do. They don't like working here; they love it. They feel privileged to be here. As Patrick Pichette, Google's CFO said when he spoke to our group, "Life is short; you have the right to whistle to work."

•Humanness- In contrast to many teachers, people who work at Google can go to the bathroom whenever they want. Not only that, the bathrooms are quite nice (with heated toilet seats).
The food is great, plentiful and free. Google supplies workers with free transportation, counseling, recreation, pet-sitting assistance, massages, haircuts, and the list goes on and on. In other words, they recognize that people work best when they are not stressed about other matters. They want people at their best so that they can shine.


•The Gift of Time- Google is famous for 20% time. Engineers at Google are given 20% of their work time to pursue whatever interests them, the idea being that our brains need time and space to explore, learn and expand. It is that expansion and freedom that births new ideas. Many teachers and schools are taking note and experimenting with giving students 20% time to explore their interests and pursue personal projects.

•Passion to make a difference in the world- Everyone wants to feel like what they do matters. It is a mindset, not necessarily tied to any industry or line of work. The people I met at Google were passionate about using their energies to make a difference in the world. According to Pichette, Google is 3 things- a search engine, a for-profit (and wildly successful) company, and a university-type environment. The financial success is necessary in order to create the university-type environment and the university environment is necessary to nurture the innovative ideas that in turn creates more financial success. But I got the feeling that the true motivation was making the world a better place and the money was the by-product of that, as well as the enabler of continued growth.

•The world IS Broken!- I don't know how many times I've declared, "If it's not broke..." According to Pichette, at Google they view the world as broken and go about finding pragmatic ways to fix it. This speaks strongly to me, as I (like so many people) am resistant to change. I get comfortable (stuck!) with things being the way they are and fail to imagine new possibilities.

•Be Yourself- What I didn't see at Google, was people watching the clock. I saw no mass exodus to the parking lot at 5 pm. I did see guests joining their working friends and family for meals. I saw people playing volleyball and bowling in the bowling alley. I glimpsed the dance studio and other fun places to take a break from thinking, writing, coding or whatever they happen to do. Hmmmm.... makes me think of the saying of one of my student-teaching mentors (about students), "They're here because they're alive!"

•Share- Google is all about open access to information. Yes, we had to sign a non-disclosure agreement that extended to photography of non-public spaces. However, every lead-learner and presenter said something to the effect of, "Feel free to use my materials." The unspoken corollary to that is, "go ahead and remix, create something better and then share that." This is how the web is changing the world and pushing us to "dream more, learn more, do more, become more."

•Don't Lose the Forest for the Trees- (or just "save the trees!") I have written before about my fear that a lack of concern for environmental sustainability is the dark side of edtech. Of course, it IS California (where the general vibe is so much more in tune) but I, personally, appreciated the evident respect for reducing and recycling. No earth= no tech.

So, which of these ideas can schools apply in our quests to be innovative learning environments?

SLCs - Students Lead, We Succeed!

Thank you to 5th grade blogger, Evie. Her post, "We Lead and We Succeed" was the inspiration for the title of this post.

Who Owns the Conference?
Every fall and every spring, a letter goes home to parents with the schedule for parent-teacher conferences. A line at the bottom reads, "Please remember that students should not be present at conferences."
Every single time I read this I think, "This is really missing the point."
If our goals are to empower students and focus on individual learning, doesn't it make sense that students should be present when the important adults in their lives meet to talk about their learning, their growth, their goals?

I was excited when, in the course of writing professional development plans with teachers, 5th grade teacher Shelly Zavon expressed an interest in focusing her PD on a student-centered answer to Alan November's question, "Who Owns the Learning?" Shelly is already using several of November's "Digital Learning Farm" models and ideas in her classroom, so we decided to delve into something new by exploring student-led conferences.

(I should say that in the 1990's, when I taught in San Francisco public schools, student-led conferences were a fairly common practice. Our challenge was often getting anyone to show up for the conference. So, I have been surprised by the resistance I've encountered when I've suggested that students belong at the conference table.)

We began by reading and researching- looking for models, examples, and stories. Shelly, Silvia and I created a collaborative Pinterest board to share our finds.  Everything we discovered from the field was positive and reinforced that this was the right direction for a school dedicated to nurturing a culture of reflection and growth.

As far as preparing the students, Shelly found a model she liked and made time for the students to reflect. She asked the other teachers to write goals for each student, and the students used those goals as part of their own goal-setting. I was basically there to watch and learn, to support and champion the process.


Is Pushback Inevitable & Even Necessary?

One thing that was interesting and is worth noting is that we had a "moment" of expressed negativity from the students just as we were beginning the most focused part of the preparation. Seemingly out of nowhere students told us they were "against" the student-led model. What they expressed was anxiety, lack of confidence and a discomfort with change. They were overly worried about "bad grades." They didn't really want to come to school (for only 20 minutes) on a day off! One honest student admitted, "Sometimes I tell my parents and my teachers different things; I don't really want to have to talk to them together."

We also heard uncertainty from parents and others. What if there was something that shouldn't be expressed in front of a child? What if the conference was needed to begin a "difficult conversation?" Although I usually am quick to question myself, in this case I remained unwavering in my belief that students belong at the "conference table."
We decided to make the SLC's optional. If a parent really wanted the traditional parent-teacher conference, they could forego the student-led. However, each student would still participate in the reflection and preparation. We offered to parents that they were welcome to schedule another meeting with the teacher at a later date if they felt that it was necessary. In the end, every parent participated in the SLCs and what we heard from parents and students was overwhelmingly positive.
The video really says more than I ever could. Please watch it!

Student-Led Conferences from Andrea Hernandez on Vimeo.

What's Next?
As part of our action research, we are collecting and processing feedback from all parties. Students were asked to blog about their experiences and feelings after the conference, and parents were requested to comment on their child's post. We have also shared a survey with parents.
Students (who, remember, expressed fear and opposition before the conferences) were overwhelmingly positive in hindsight. Many said they don't want to have to wait until spring to participate in another conference; they wish conferences were every nine weeks!

Students Reflect:
Ben C "What is a SLC?" wrote:

I think the best thing about this experience was me sharing my work face-to-face with my parents. Another thing I like about the conference was explaining to my parents what I did and why I did it instead of my teacher trying to do it for me. I really like SLC and I am looking forward for the next one.

Gil, in his post "Confrontation Conference" wrote:

The best thing about this experience had to be not waiting for my parents to come home and have to tell me what happened, so I think the best part of the student led conferences was definitely being there when people I trust talk about me!

To read more, check out the 5th grade student blogfolios.

My hope is that this successful experiment was not a one-shot deal, that this is the beginning of a process of change in the way our school views parent-teacher conferences going forward.

Writing Commenting Policies for Student Blogs

Assessments come in many forms and should be ongoing. As students develop knowledge and skills and build their schemas about the world, they are better able to articulate their understanding of complex ideas. One goal of student blogfolios is to help students recognize quality- in both their own work and the work of others. Our 4th and 5th graders have been working with the idea of quality blog commenting for three years. As teachers, one way we help our students understand quality is to provide rubrics or other guidelines and expectations. One way to assess understanding of quality comments is to have them provide guidelines for others. We did this by having each 4th and 5th grade student create a commenting policy for his or her blog.

First we discussed the concept- what is a commenting policy? Why have one on your blog? 5th grade had a lively debate on whether a commenting policy would hold people back from leaving a comment at all. This sparked a discussion about quality vs. quantity (is it better to have a lot of "junky" comments on your blog or less comments in number but more thoughtful in content?) as well as a great discussion about word choice or media and tone of message matters (inviting vs. bossy).

Here are some notes from the discussion with 4th graders:

What is a policy?

A policy is guidelines or rules you have to follow in order to do something. -Ayden

Why write a commenting policy?

-to limit the junky comments
-you're helping people who might want to leave a comment
-to tell people what you want to expect from a comment
-you can help people be better at writing comments
-to show that you want quality comments on your blog

How will you prepare to write your commenting policy?

•First look at a few examples. Here are some student blogs with written guidelines for commenting. Take a few minutes to read (or watch) them carefully. As you are reading (or watching) pay attention to what works or doesn't work for you. Start to form ideas of what you will include in your commenting policy and how you create it.

Dawso's Blog

Guess What?'s Blog This one uses an animated video to share commenting guidelines

Alexandra's Blog

•Make a new page for your commenting policy.

The students embraced the process and were given their choice of tools. The products show each student's understanding of and ability to communicate the idea of quality comments.

Ariella's Commenting Policy

Julia's Commenting Policy

Julia's Quality Commenting Policy from MJGDS Classrooms on Vimeo.

Jonah's Commenting Policy



Itamar's Commenting Policy

Comments from MJGDS Classrooms on Vimeo.