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/

ISTE10- Through My Lens

So, by now, almost a week after the final keynote, there have been lots and lots (and LOTS!) of ISTE10 blog posts. I still have an #iste10 search column in Tweetdeck, and, although it is starting to wind down, there are still quite a few tweets. I will process them slowly, over time. We've all heard the apt analogy that learning at a conference like ISTE is like taking a drink of water from a fire hydrant.

Last year was my first time attending NECC (now known as ISTE). I was overwhelmed and spent way too much time wandering aimlessly, afraid to miss something good. This time, I knew that I would barely scratch the surface of possibility, and I made my peace with that before leaving home. My strategy was not to worry, to enjoy what came my way, to make the most of each moment and every conversation and to take time to recharge my batteries, literally and figuratively.

As I wrote in an earlier post, I had the exciting opportunity this year to attend ISTE as a tweeter/blogger for my favorite software company, Tech4Learning. One of the best things about this was that it imposed a filter for the conference. Rather than making me feel confined, having a focus helped me to not feel so overwhelmed. The theme for ISTE this year was "Exploring Excellence." Tech4Learning is a company that strives for excellence in what they do. I appreciate their strong alignment with what works in education and their genuine desire to provide the best tools for students to "engage, create and share."

I tried to "mix it up" in terms of finding different ways to view the conference through the Tech4Learning lens. I had a lot of fun videotaping people at the T4L booth and events. A big thank you to everyone who spoke to me on-camera!

To read more about information overload and filters, including some excellent graphics, check out this post.

image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaneselvans/3908076784/

Top 10 Components of Effective Technology Leadership

Chris O'Neal- trains principals at University of Virginia

chris.wikispaces.com

italics are my thoughts...

the room is PACKED. We are packed in so tight I can't drink my coffee...

skoodad....(introducing guy works for them)???

He is apologizing for not having paper handouts, this is the first time he hasn't made paper handouts. That, alone, is making me question whether I am in the right place.

Equity of Access- we can't solve the equity of access issue in students' homes, but we MUST solve the issue during the school day. (Covey-- area of influence, area of control. work on those things that are within your control)

In 2010 kids using technology as a reward for finishing work is educational malpractice.

Every kid in every class must have the same access, not just to the equipment, but to the experiences.

Understanding and Using Data-

Lots of schools make (expensive) decisions based on superficial data (ie: student survey "strongly agree....strongly disagree). need to dig deeper into the data before making decisions.

Effective Professional Development-

What is effective professional development? (good question, even at ISTE, not all sessions are created equal!) He is talking about customizing pd for different grade levels. (I don't think that's necessarily the right approach. I agree about differentiating, but I don't know that just focusing on different grade levels is the answer. I personally, after Educon and EdubloggerCon and my learning style which thrives on interaction, have a hard time sitting in a 100 degree lecture and just listening.....I guess that is the point of blogging and twittering for me.)

"Walk the walk~Talk the talk"-- Model what you want

Leaders use the technology themselves, make it look easy

Vision

http://tinyurl.com/istelead

for vision prioritizing

then paste into wordle, very quick way to bring everyone's ideas together to reshape the vision

Reward Growth- recognize and reward when people are trying to move out of their comfort zones.

Genuine Reflection- most education professionals do not reflect in meaningful ways. We need to reflect after professional development, not just ooh, I want that cool thing. Allow time for refection and encourage others to reflect. What is the one thing I am pulling from this session that I am going to DO? (again, the power of blogging....it is a good start, no?)

Student-driven technology - let the kids do the tech stuff. takes some of the pressure off the teachers.

PLN- get one.

It appears that I missed one of the 10 components of effective technology leadership; I only recorded nine. What do you think #10 should be?

The Stories We Tell -EduBloggerCon #2

What stories do we tell about education? What stories are broken? What new stories are emerging?

What's "true?"

Old story- The teacher has to know everything.

New story- We all learn from each other. Everyone can be a teacher.

I like "stories we tell" as a way of thinking about what is happening in schools/education.

Old story- all learning takes place in the 4 walls of the school building, School year based on agricultural calendar

New story- Learning is participatory, learning can happen anywhere you are, learning is creative.

Old story- If you aren't attentive when the info is given, you lose.

New story- People learn at different times of the day, in different ways.

Old story -Learning is linear and subjects are separate.

What story or stories do we have to tell about technology in education?

Can our system of education truly adjust or will there be a whole new system that will emerge?

the story about one-to-one laptops is that they're not working... ?? (I hadn't heard this)

Old story -Learning is neat, quiet orderly

New story- Learning is messy!

Old story Curriculum focused on knowledge of information (ie: everyone should know the parts of a flower)

New story learning how to learn

competing stories.

Technology doesn't improve instruction, teachers improve instruction.

New story - Learning is social.

Should the "new stories" be mandated? J. Alba- how to we move toward a paradigm shift large-scale? must be mandated and supported. and a movement away from testing as assessment.

Kevin- Not mandated, invited, inspired-- meet teachers on the front porch with their stories

What can we take away from this that has value? Knowing that these are stories...As humans we identify with stories as a way to explain things but stories change. We are going through a period where we are redefining the way things work because of the internet.

Book recommendation from Kevin Honeycutt- Don't Think of an Elephant

Building Your Brand Online

Simple K-12
Iheartedtech.com

do you see yourself as a mini-biz? Scott Mcleod....how do you market yourself in a way that reaches people outside of the space you are operating in? brand/marketing helps reach more people.
have to find a personal voice
there is worth in having a brand as a teacher-Scott Mcleod

hiring committee- we looked for people's online presence
- important for employment

Carol Broos- sees a lot in college, wants to see more in K-12
wherever you participate online you are creating a brand, a lot of people haven't consciously worked on creating their brand yet.

How to transition to a new personal brand? move content to ebooks and link to it

keeping "selves" separate ie: having a separate facebook page for personal contacts, a professional brand that is only professional
schools have a fear of social media, need to teach kids how to use it , create brands, represent selves. (Yup, so true)
time commitment, get out of it what you put into it.

What is your goal?
different goals for different people.
many agree that you don't need to necessarily have a goal

Twitter--
How to get districts, schools, classrooms to use twitter?
See EdTechLeader's twitter resources for teachers.

how to increase presence with the blog, using all the pieces to build your brand (twitter, blog, etc). Go to every social networking platform and secure your brand. Even if you don't think you want to use it, secure it. Also think about securing social media sites for your school, even if you're not using them yet.

namechk.com - to check for availability of your name across sites

The Cost of Copyright Confusion

The future of intellectual property in a remix generation

facilitator: Kristin Hokanson

copyrightconfusion.wikispaces.com

Essential Understanding -instead of telling students "these are the rules" we must get students to think critically about the issues

What is your understanding of copyright? small group discussion.

common themes-

what is law vs. what is ethics?

public vs. private use

using certain media to enhance your message (the importance of teaching this to kids)

contextual and intent-driven

where do you draw the line on educational use?

citing sources, attribution

The intent of copyright: "to promote creativity, innovation and the spread of knowledge"

-Article 1, section 8 US Constitution 1787

Fair Use is the exemption to the law. How are we teaching kids to make the distinctions?

Range of comfort with use of copyrighted materials:

"see no evil" teachers who say go ahead and do it, I don't see it. sends kids mixed messages

"close the door" - I'll just close the door and we'll go ahead and do what we want.

"hyper-comply"- teachers who want exact rules, times, etc.

all of these examples fly in the face of critical thinking around the issues.

Discuss:

What do kids understand about...

•copyright

•fair use

•public domain

•creative commons

•understanding the difference between authorship and ownership

•creative commons

-challenge of giving credit, challenge of school filters

•what is the purpose of your work? are you analyzing the piece or simply restating something?

example of importance of purpose: Bill Graham Archives vs. Dorling Kindersley, Ltd. (2006)

Bill Graham sued DK for using their poster in a book about rock posters. DK won. The purpose of the original poster was to promote the rock concert. Purpose of the book was to document the time period, etc.

Codes of Best Practices:

Book- Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education (available from Media Education Lab)

video at http://mediaeducationlab.com/video-overview

The effective use of copyrighted materials enhances the teaching and learning process.

Context and situation of the material (user's rights video. available on temple site, embedded in the wiki, linked above).-

fair use depends on the benefit to society. does benefit to society outweigh the costs of the copyright holder.

Ask yourself: Did I

*add value?

*repurpose?

also on the wiki: scenarios for discussion, fair use reasoning sheet to help students develop the critical thinking skills around fair-use

"Mashups are an opportunity for students to really look at the media they consume-- to take it and give it their own spin. It helps show kids how they can present their own point of view."

-Faith Rogow

Watch: Larry Lessig's TED talk (How the law is strangling creativity)

The above are notes I took during the session. I just want to add that this session really opened my mind to a new understanding of this topic. There are no hard and fast rules. It really is about critical thinking and developing media literacy and a true understanding of intellectual property. And the best news of all is that there are incredible resources (check out the links) available to teach yourself and your students about copyright and fair use.

Leadership 2.0- Who do we need our leaders to be?

Chris Lehmann

Session Description:

If we assume that the schools we need are inquiry-driven, technology-infused and communities of care, what do leaders have to be to engender and nurture those ideas?

Big ideas!

Inquiry-

all of our classrooms should start with the questions we ask together- CL

What does this idea mean?

What does this idea mean for education?

How could this idea affect our schools and communitites?

How does this idea inform my personal practice?

•teacher guided questions leading to self-guided exploration

•inquiry as a pedagogy continues beyond school. is a real skill, process.

•not just asking questions but getting to the answer or an answer.

•teachers asking questions they don't know the answers to "What do you think?"

shared process of inquiry between teacher and student

connection between inquiries and communities of care. We know the content but they (students) know themselves. We can inquire about them.

What does "technology infused" mean?

•technology not independent of the content/pedagogical structure

•how do we leverage what kids are already using/doing with tech?

•can't be "the schools we've always had + technology"

•ubiquitous and invisible

•learning experiences going on that demand technology and can't be done without it.

•saying "I want my kids to be able to do something, what's the tool?"

"tools are transformative"

•release of control by the teacher

The ability to have these conversations and come to common ground requires a good leader. Get to common ground and then move on.

Communities of care-

difference between "I teach math." and "I teach KIDS math."

Students should never be the implied object of their own education.

mutual transparency- true motives are available to each other

care is at all levels. You can not bully teachers into caring for kids.

teachers have to feel cared for, trusted, listened to. top-down mandates will never get us to communities of care.

even when you care for people, you occasionally have to have hard conversations. caring means setting boundaries, being the adult (when talking about adults caring for kids, imposing structure and discipline).

Enabling is not caring.

Leadership- in order to transform a school where do you start?

Start by listening.

what do we do well?

what do we all want to do?

people want to make meaning together. someone who will take their ideas and synthesize them. Then lead.

You have to carve out the time and space for care. It doesn't fit neatly into the academic calendar, but you must make time for it. Structural change- at SLA every student has an advisor, someone whose job it is to know and care for that student. "The curriculum is the community."

"managing up" -teach our leaders how we want things to be. coming to people with solutions they can own. building trust and bridges.

Visioning: Developing Ideas

Modeling: How can leaders publicly live these ideas?

-articulating vision and starting discussion around vision, values

Whatever we want our kids to do, we have to allow our teachers to do.

Servant Leadership: Top Down Support for Bottom Up Ideas

We should be able to say to teachers "How can I help?"

Leading? How do we get everyone on board?

consensus-driven decision making doesn't mean we all agree completely. It means we are all willing to come to consensus and move forward around a shared decision.

requires:

honesty

transparency

a subjugation of ego

Sustaining:

How do we build systems and structures?

go into a school, ask what their mission statement is and ask them to prove it.

what are the systems and structures that support and sustain it?

Good leadership says, "Here are the systems and structures that will enable any teacher who is willing..."

Taking. Play. Seriously

Facilitator: Brian C. Smith

session wiki

Conversation Description: Diane Ackerman's quote, "play is the brain's favorite way of learning" is oft used to describe the learning that takes place in elementary schools. Despite that belief, a simple visit to any school in the country will reveal a picture that flies in the face of Ackerman's statement. We know why play is being squeezed out of schools, but bringing it back will take creative thinking ideas and sharing. Together we will discuss and construct ideas for bringing the aspects of play into more learning experiences.

Framework of Play-

•anticipation- expectation

•wonder

•curiosity

•anxiety

•uncertainty

•risk

•surprise-a-ha! moments

•discovery- a new sensation or idea or shifting perspective

•pleasure- it feels good

•understanding- new knowledge, application of ideas

•strength-empowerment, confidence, new skills

•poise-grace, state of balance, composure, contentment

What is your play history?

What do you think you learned from play?

Types of play-

creative

object

social

body and movement (rough and tumble)

spectator

imaginative

storytelling-narrative

Images: Brian C. Smith's flickrstream

User-Generated Education

Jackie Gerstein

http://jackiegerstein.wikispaces.com/User-Generated+Education

Idea for the Conversation: Once kids get the K-3 foundational skills let them create their own educations.

Is it possible, etc?

The problem: Should a student-centric, user-generated education be the predominant learning model for this era of the 21st century?

The protocol: Technology-Enhanced Socratic Seminar

Socratic- based in the idea that deeper understanding of complex ideas occurs through rigorously thoughtful dialogue.

*dialogue not debate*

•4 elements: text, questions, leader and participants

•Leader's job is not to present material. Leader listens and define additional questions.

•you should leave with more questions than answers.

•based on reading a text or texts.

•Leader: "I wonder if..."

if we can google the answer to a question we shouldn't be talking about it.

see wiki for texts: Disrupting Class

Anderson, J. Remaking Education

Furedi, F. Let's Give Children a Store of Knowledge

User generated education assists the learner in selecting the best tools for individualized learning.

problem: those who are naturally more vocal and extroverted have a voice. use tools to give all kids a voice. let kids pick the tool that they want to use.

honor people's different styles and ways of contributing to a conversation. Not everyone likes to talk.

social media increases options for participation.

Discussion ideas:

everyone is a learner, some are "lead" learners. reconfiguring the role of the adult. making learning transparent.

What is/should be the role of the adult?

talk of guide, talk of creating and manipulating the environment

discussion about core or foundational skills. what are the core skills? core ideas? cultural literacies?

How do we blend approaches? (I think this is an important question)

Do we have enough faith in kids?

Why do we (adults) get to decide for children what they should know?

What matters? (my question)

Alvin Toffler: "Let's throw it out and start all over again."

Thinking Creatively: Inventing the Possible

Educon Session 1: Facilitator: Linda Nitsche

http://inventingthepossible.wikispaces.com

Conversation Description: If schools kill creativity, then what hope do we have of helping our students be prepared to devise creative and imaginative solutions to problems in their futures? Come examine frameworks for thinking and working creatively. Explore and experience creativity, innovation, and imagination in action. Reframe your problems into opportunities.

We each contributed to a wall of the "bricks" that inhibit creative thinking-

Frameworks for Creativity:

Paul Torrance-

-incubation formula for stages of creativity-

1.heightening anticipation: warm-ups, arouse curiosity

2. deepening expectations - apply to content curriculum but look at differently. no rigid path.

3. keeping it going- stretch. go beyond. apply outside of specific area.

research: children who scored high in creativity were more successful than those with high IQ (over 40 years of watching, testing).

elements: innovative, adaptive, creative strengths

Fluency:brainstorming. rules. as much as possible. open up to all ideas. avoid criticism!!!! no comments (+ or -). piggybacking on someone else's idea. practice hearing others' ideas and use them. oddball stuff-want kids to feel comfortable going beyond. taking risks.

Flexibility: flexible thinking, ability to get past your set perceptions of the first picture that popped in your head. takes practice. notice that you're stuck there.

Originality: the result of good fluency and flexibility. that one good idea that comes out.

Elaboration: a creative process isn't just the idea, it's how you elaborate on the idea. example: think up a cool car, be able to give all the details of it.

Scamper: ideation strategy

S=Substitute (other ingredients, materials, etc. )

C=combine (blend)

A=adapt

M=modify (magnify,minify?)

P=Put to other uses

E=eliminate

R=Reverse (roles or rearrange patterns)

start with a question and move through the "SCAMPER" to look at possible answers from different perspectives. OR start with a statement of fact and use scamper to generate questions. look at knowledge, ideas from a variety of perspectives.

"What if?" -"classic phrase. use it!"

Lateral Thinking: from the mind of Edward De Bono

(youtube video edward de bono on creative thinking). will embed here whenever I am able to get onto youtube :)

challenge the process.

provocative statement- look at the problem in an "impossible, contradictory way"

random words- strategy where you choose a totally random word. (from anywhere). attach it

and use it to brainstorm. does it help solve the problem in any way. (takes your mind away from its' preconceived notions of something and helps you see it in a new way).

parallel thinking- 6 hats, take on different viewpoints

So what?

imagine it project- fascinating collection of videos. watch video and record thoughts

creativity

imagination

innovation

curiosity

Behaviors we want to encourage:

•imagination

•awareness

•curiosity

•risk taking

•complexity

•playfulness

Now what? Remember the barrier wall we created at the start of the session -

Name a bridge. How can we knock down the barriers?

Educon Keynote: Marilyn Perez

notes from the keynote speaker at Educon- Marilyn Perez (district admin in Philly)-

•Think of schooling as opportunity to provide access and equity for all, regardless of background, etc.

•It begins with the principal of a school.

•high expectations for all students

•believing that every student has innate talents and can reach their potential

•Teachers-believe the power of your words. It is possible to achieve and learn regardless of circumstance.

•Education can transform quality of life for poor children

• a sense of order. if students don't come with it, we must provide it for them.

rigor! high expectations for all children! homework...

relevant. fun.

desire to make things different, courage to challenge the status quo. have a relationship with students. "attitude of servitude" serve others (your students) with love. don't judge your students b/c of their backgrounds.

reflect on your expectations for students.

What is the purpose of schooling?

teach students to communicate, contribute, find solutions, have a successful life, be productive.