Schools: we are not the only shop in town. A lesson from DeadPool

It occurs to me that as leaders of schools we often forget that we do not have the monopoly on learning. This first hit we when my own two sons found Kerbal Space Program (KSP). It's game where you build space ships to complete missions. My boys loved this program and have returned to it several times over the years. Their eye lit up when they talk about connecting to a real astronaut on Reddit to ask questions about how to build their space ships better. But the real moment was a conversation we had about their learning in KSP. My boys were telling me all they build in this game, how they connected to real experts in the field, and with excited voices they said the statement that killed me as an educator.

"We've learned more about space in KSP than four year of science at our high school."

And my heart sank. They go to a good school. It's ranked top ten by US News and World Reports. They get good grades. The teacher there are great. But all that learning and resources were nothing compared to this game. KSP engaged them in a greater community. It connected them to real world experts. It allowed them to personalized their learning through choicing missions. It is project-based learning. It's got all the educational buzzwords.

So after I got over the shock and moved into the 21st century, I started to think "Is this so bad?" They are engaged. They are learning. Isn't that what we want for all our students?

That was a few years ago. Since then I have bumped into this outside of classroom learning often. I mentor robotics team after school. At first it was funny but now I am use to the time each season where a student suddenly says "Oh this is where I can use that math I learned in class."

I am ashamed to admit I play a sim game on my phone where you build a town with fields, animals, and factories all that produce things to meet goals in the game. It's probably time to feed my cows now. This would be a great tool for teaching Economics. Let the kids play this for two weeks, then introduce your terms, topics and problems. See what that added knowledge does for their game play.

DeadPool is a great movie in part because it breaks that fourth wall.  Our classrooms should do that to. Break that wall between the kids' learning outside the classroom and students' learning inside the classroom.

We can find ways to do this starting with the kids themselves. Ask them how they learned about a new game or improved their sports skills. Look for other successful places of learning. Today what sparked this for me was the articule at the end of this post. Think about museums, these are places of learning that are optional. They have to make it interesting enough that kids WANT to go there. Or at least parents are interested in taking their kids there. It's like a free market classroom. This is a great place to look for ideas! ( mic drop)


What Schools Can Learn From a Science Museum That Makes Learning Irresistible for Kids  

#iste17 reflections

Back in another lifetime, I was a LotusNotes gurl. I developed courses and taught NetWare and LotusNotes when the industry certifcations were just coming out. I have been to a few tech conferences in my day. I was at iNACOL last year.

But ISTE is a whole another level.

20,000 educators, footballs fields of vendors, sessions, playgrounds, and posters. I had no idea what playgrounds and posters were before I went there but I highly recommend them. ISTE is a huge event. Plan before you go, get there the day before and stay until the closing.

The first day was great. I was with my poeple. Not that I went there with anyone but all the people there - they're my people. They get it. They get the constant learning and comfortable shifting sands of technology.

The second day the vendor floor opened and I was off chasing shiny things. The free stuff otherwise know as trickets and trash. I cramped my hand writing raffle entries. I watched product demos I will never use for the tee-shirt. I got a dozen ribbons for my badge.

Then I hit a wall. Suddenly it all looked trendy and flashy. There were robots everywhere. I have been mentoring robotics on a team founded in 1999 but apparently it all just caught on. I ended the second day with a pretty good haul. At least four tee shirts. One is really soft. Another says "The Code is strong with this one" (star wars!). A great book ( Ditch that textbook). and about 30 pounds of flyers.

Time to regroup. What was I there for?

I work in a vaccum. I am the only person leading online learning and virtual program in my school. My mentor just retired. The position I report to have been vacant for sox month and my dep. supe. does not know what I do.

I'm not a ISTE for the trendy products. I am not here for the tools. I am here for the thought leadership.

So I started my third day planning to listen to Will Richardson. At the bus stop, I learned about a sketchnote meetup in the blogger cafe. I attended and got my start at sketchnoting. I met @SylviaDuckworth. I listened to Will Richardson remind us that technology should amplify the learning not drive it.

Overall ISTE was a great experience. I learned a lot. I connected with many people.  and I found my focus.

Digital Learning in reality for K-8: fighting to live the dream #k12online #edtech #digitallearing

This morning Digital Learning: Glimpse of the Future popped into a newsletter I read. Since I have been a virtual teaching for four year as part of the team that started one of the first K-5 100% online programs in Michigan, I can tell you I have been living "the dream" for years now. And it's not what you think.

Digital learning has a future in k-12 education, but we are shackled by the constraints of funding and software that handicap our ability to fully embrace this ( I was going to say future but it's really the reality of the present) reality.
We still must follow the pupil accounting rules of Count Day for STW ( seat time waiver) programs. Which I am not really sure MDE has figured out. It's really just forces the brick and mortar rules into something that is doable in the click world.
We are defined as a traditional school year program and the LMS shuts down to do a roll over in the summer so our calendar is locked in.
In our LMS course must have a start date so it's not on demand for the student.
I would love to just start students where ever they are in Math regardless of grade level. But for those that are behind, we don't have a path to catch up. And for those that go ahead, it cost money to get the next grade level. It's money well spend but there is a reality of the budget.

So we hold to the principals of digital learning. We fight against the ignorance and constraints. We look for innovations to make what should be a reality happen now. The world is changing. We have to change with it so better serve our students.

That's my big thought for the day. Now back to the daily todo list battle and boredom of operational duties.

Here's a link to the blog that started this musing:
Digital Learning: Glimpse of the Future - soloprenaut.com https://soloprenaut.com/teaching-online/digital-learning-glimpse-of-the-future/ via @thesoloprenaut

Writing an Awesome Application @edutopia #michEd #teachersspendtheirownmonytoomuch

Writing grants is something I have always wanted to learn more about. It's a great way to get funding for all those projects you know will impact your students but your district cannot fund. And lord knows we pay enough out of our pockets. There's a free online course that's on my summer list.

Below is pasted  part of a post from Edutopia. This will be on my summer do to reading list.

Writing an Awesome Application

• Grant Space Classroom From Foundation Center: Foundation Center's training center features tons of useful online grant-writing courses. Many of the courses are free and self-paced, and they're designed to help anyone write more effective proposals. Great, free courses for beginners include Introduction to Proposal Writing and Proposal Budgeting Basics.
• How to Write a Winning Grant Proposal: This GuideStar resource offers concrete tips for writing the best applications. From ideas for what to include, as well as formatting and style tips, there's a lot here to help you get started.
• 10 Key Ingredients of Winning Proposals: Looking for ways to make your application stand out? Author Mathilda Harris, the director of the Grant Training Center, provides tips and ideas of what to include in your grant proposal.

source:http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-travel-grants-resources-matt-davis?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow 

Ninja Online Teacher Skills Detective

The Myth:

• When student go online they disappear and never come back.

Reality:

• The online teacher fights to keep that student alive on line like a life guard saving a drowning swimmer.

• Sometimes the problem is simple. 
• They forgot their password. 
• They lost the mentor teacher's number. 
• The device broke.
• Internet is down. 
• Sometimes it's a sign of trouble
• The student is not progressing. 
• The student needs help and is not asking for it. 

What the online Ninja Teacher knows:

• That if a student is not working- there's a reason. 
• It is nesscariy to  have what we have come to call Spidey Sense. 
• Look for problems before they happen. 
• You get a sense for what questions should be asked at what time. Not asking that question is a sign of trouble. 
• 
  

Reflection:

Being an online teacher requires a techie sense. You have to be able to trouble shot and problem solve across many systems. You have to 

Virtual school is not for everyone. Not every virtual school is the same. Our model is an outreadch to homeschooling families where parents engage in teacher planned direct instruction.  

The younger the student the more books and parents are needed. 

Ninja Strategies:

Build that relationship before you have to make a difficult call. It makes the difficult call easier.

• When in doubt, call. Ask more questions.
• Don't wait to respond to parents.
• Use all your tools to detect the answer. LMS reports. Communications logs. You cannot monitor their face so monitoring the data.
• Progress is a huge hurdle for online students. Communication can help.

What are the skills an online Ninja teacher has?

Ninja skill 1:Detective 

                   The myth is that we as online teachers are faceless.

                    The truth is as an online teacher I may not know their face but I know them better academically.
Strategies the Ninja Uses: 

We always have to be on the look out for things that make the spidey sense tingle. Is there a software problem? Is that tech working right? Has the student been online active enough this week? Is that really the student's writing?

Ninja Skills of Online Teaching: techie- ness#mlearning #k12online

Techie-ness 
Definition: the ability to navigate know and unknown websites, systems, apps, devices, and all "things" technology. 

The Myth: Learning online is easy. 
What ninja online teacher knows:

• The LMS or dreaded Lesson Management System is the website where the content, assignments, and assessments are stored ( BrainHoney, Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, Connexus) 
• The SIS or Student Information System is the schools system for enrollment, grades and transcripts. (PowerSchool, Que, MiStar)
• There's an email system somewhere. Sometimes it's in the LMS, Sometimes it's district supplied emails address ( think student google accounts). 
• The online teacher must be fluent in all these systems plus video conferencing ( Hangouts or Adobe Connect) and all google products ( Google Docs, Google Slides. etc.) 

Reflections

• When I first starting teaching the ideal of a new system to learn was daunting. Thoughts like "where's my training?", "where's the manual?", " These kids will know this better than me!" filled my head. The uncomfortable feelings were paralyzing. 
• Then I learned to trust in myself and not expect to have all the answers. Your learning a new system with the students often. You don't have to have all the answers as long as you can find the answers. This is the difference between having knowledge and having the ability to learn. 
• In the future our students face, they will need the ability to learn more than the knowledge you can give them.

Ninja Strategies

• Google is your friend. Search for a topic with PDF if you need directions. 
• There's always a YouTube Video you can watch. 
• Learn from each other. Share your solutions and listen to the solutions of other teachers. They're in the same boat. 
•  Create "Lego" directions. These are my favorite versions of directions. A table with short directions in one column and screen shots in the other. 
• Learn to do screencasts. A quick screen cast of how to do common task will  save you answering many questions. 
• Build a toolkit of FAQ's. Weather it's documentation, videos, screencasts, or podcasts build up a library of commonly asked questions so you have already created resources. Reuse those resources. 

When NOT to teach #michEd #edleadership

This week I have been spending a lot of time ( just talk to my family) with my robotics team.  I am a mentor on the strategy team. Saturdays are our work days. What I was reminder this Saturday was that as teacher sometime the best thing we can do is not teach.

The students arranged a meeting when the robotics team room was open and staffed, But I could not be there. We planned our goals for that session and they went off to meet.

When I could show up, the teacher in me want to start teaching. Stop their conversation. Start talking myself. Have everyone listening and focused on me. Start giving directions/instruction.

But I took a deep breath and just stood there for awhile observing. The team was on task with a large part of their project for the day done. I asked some questions so they could bring me up to speed. Gave some targeted feedback on what was looking good and some areas they could improve on. Then let them know I was in there until five that day.

By not teaching those students guided their own project. They worked as a team giving feedback on the project. They learned skills they can apply to any group project and any problem. Some times the teacher just needs to sit back and watching the students learn. I am proud of them.

Stock image source https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/MapsAtWork.JPG