January 16, 2012

Five Big Trends for Education in 2012-2013

My pick this week is an interesting read making some predictions about educational trends in the year to come.  These predictions are featured in an educational blog,  and come from Marian Salzman <http://mariansalzman.com/> , CEO of global integrated marketing communications agency Euro RSCG Worldwide.

Some predictions are no surprise, but others are intriguing:  “…if you believe that, in the age of globalization, the concept of an Ivy League of educational superiority will remain a uniquely American offering, think again.”

Indeed, this piece is just another reminder that things are changing . . . . 

Five Big Trends for Education in 2012-2013

 

12 Most Useful Ways Kids Can Learn With Cell Phones

My selection this week centers around the idea of integrating Cell Phones in to the classroom instruction.  As we all know, more and more of our students are coming to schools with cell phones, and they want to be constantly “connected.”  As our teachers are looking for new ways to hook our students in, the use of Cell Phones proves to be an extremely popular route to take.  

As the article states, “In order for adults to connect with our kids and students, we need to mobilize.”

12 Most Useful Ways Kids Can Learn With Cell Phones

Eight Steps to Meaningful Grading

In Hilliard Schools, we are engaging our teachers in discussion around grading and homework practices during Late Start time.  Administrators and teachers alike are wrestling with our beliefs   about the role of practicing skills for a score.  Should students be graded on their practice?  I am personally glad that my first driver's license was not based on the number of times I needed to develop proficiency in parallel parking.

The article "Eight Steps to Meaningful Grading" gives teachers' tips for transitioning to standards-based grading.  

Eight Steps to Meaningful Grading

4 Lessons The Classroom Can Learn from the Design Studio

"Designers collaborate across disciplines, give and take criticism, and embrace failure in the process of solving problems.  Wouldn't children benefit from the same skills in school?"  Lifelong learning for both students and teachers must contain the elements of rigor, critical collaboration and public exhibition.  We should think of teaching as a design studio for curious minds, and as such, teachers will need to respond creatively as they plan learning experiences that will challenge today's student. 

Lesson design came to my mind as I was reading this article.  Intentional design which embraces "best practices" and 21st century practices has to be carefully planned.  It takes time, as well as review and revision.  The data team is an excellent forum for this process to take place.

4 Lessons The Classroom Can Learn from the Design Studio

Webinar: Establishing Purpose for Learning

Webinar #7: Establishing Purpose for Learning

We’ve been discussing “Knows and Applies Best Practice” all school year.  We’ve also been studying Doug Fisher’s “gradual release” model for successful instruction.  This webinar begins to dig even deeper into both with a focus on establishing purpose and exactly how and when we should do it in the classroom.

Establishing Purpose (2011-2012) from Hilliard City Schools on Vimeo.

December 12, 2011

Online Classroom Infographic

My pick this week is an interesting infographic illustrating the evolution of online education technologies.  Some of the statistics are pretty amazing and important as we think of what the traditional classroom will become in the future.

Online Classroom Infographic

The Invisible Leader

My selection this week is a blog post by Tom Schimmer, an educator from Canada.  I chose this post since it stresses what I believe is one of the most important jobs we have as educational leaders, developing a “team” that works together in which no one member is more important than any other.  

Schimmer says it best in the following: “Being an invisible leader is what we all know great leadership is about, but it can be challenging – even privately – to park our egos and allow others to flourish.”

The Invisible Leader

Better Teachers, Common Curriculum Are Hallmarks of Finnish Schools

In the recent iGeneration seminar, Hilliard administrators discussed The Finland Phenomenon documentary.  The video explored the educational system that develops some of the world's highest achieving students in science, math and reading as measured by PISA.  Our local conversation centered around two pieces:  the components of Finnish schooling that most significantly impacted student learning and take-aways for Hilliard Schools.  

This week's article highlights Finland's extensive professional development investment.  Strong teacher content knowledge is built through feedback from students and masterful colleagues.  A reoccurring question to ponder with our colleagues:  How can Hilliard administrators promote teacher professional development in our buildings so that instructional skills are strengthened?

Better Teachers, Common Curriculum Are Hallmarks of Finnish Schools

The Trouble with Homework

At the iGeneration Seminar last week, we viewed the movie "The Finland Phenomenon".  In the film, leading Harvard educator Tony Wagner interviewed Finnish high school students and asked them to estimate the number of hours of homework that they were assigned per week.  They said that worked no longer that three hours per week on homework; most weeks, it was less than that.  Many of our high schoolers are assigned at least three hours per night!  Is the extra homework leading to increased student achievement?  Students in Finland spend considerably less time on homework than ours, yet their rankings on international assessments far exceed ours.  A vast number of studies on homework indicate that our practices fail for two reasons---there is too much homework being assigned and the homework focuses on low level busy work.   How can we get higher results from the amount of time being spent on after-school assignments?

A promising new line of research by neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, and educational psychologists reveals ways that students absorb, retain, apply knowledge. "Mind, Brain, and Education", this new field, offers three new insights into how homework can be turned into a catalyst for learning.  Read this article to find out what these recommended practices are and how they can be used to support our work with students and staff.

The Trouble with Homework

December 5, 2011

The Khan Academy Opens Its Virtual Doors - Carefully 

How connected are your teachers?  Are they paying attention to new trends in teaching?  Here’s a test.  Ask them if they’ve ever heard of a “flipped” classroom.  The Khan Academy is continuing to grow, and soon teachers will even be able to upload their own videos.  Check out this article about the expansion of the Khan Academy.  This type of instruction is going to continue to become more commonplace in our classrooms.

“In the very foreseeable future, teachers will be able to upload their own videos to the Khan Academy, but also be able to create their own “knowledge maps” or repositories of content for their classes, using videos – within or outside of the Khan Academy – and all of Khan’s analytics, and reporting tools, in order to customize their own curricula.”

The Khan Academy Opens Its Virtual Doors - Carefully

Points Don’t Work.  Respecting Students Does.

Wednesday, during our Late Start, our secondary teachers will be discussing grading practices.  As I was reading this article, I felt it would provide us with a good lead in to this discussion.  At the heart of the article is a Framework for Rigor/Relevance.  However, what I found to be most interesting was the author’s point that these two R’s can not occur without the trust that is formed between teachers and students through a third R, Relationships. 

Points Don't Work. Respecting Students Does.

Formative Assessment or ‘Formative Instruction’?

As we prepare for our second Late Start professional development of the year, I am reminded of the importance of convincing teaching staff that our district initiatives are connected.    As we carve out precious staff meeting time for work such as data teams, RTI, new Standards implementation, and grading practices, we need to assist teachers in realizing that all of this work is about improving the quality and focus of instruction.  

The blog I chose this week reminds us that assessment is a "reciprocal feedback loop of students and teachers figuring out together whether deep learning has taken place." Isn't that what our daily work should always be? 

Formative Assessment or 'Formative Instruction'?

As the Brain Changes, So Can IQ - Study Finds Teens' Intellect May Be More Malleable Than Previously Thought 

This article reinforces what we believe about highly effective teachers, leaders and schools.......what we do really does matter.

A recent study by researchers at University College London found that environmental factors during the teenage years can impact intellectual capacity.  I.Q., which may be more malleable than previously thought, can be influenced by environmental factors such as tutoring, personalization, feedback, and at the opposite end, neglect.  "A change in 20 points is a hugh difference", said the team's senior researcher Cathy Price.  " It can mean the difference between being rated average and being labeled gifted- or conversely being categorized- as substandard."

As the Brain Changes, So Can IQ

November 21, 2011

The Top 25 Temptations of Leadership

This is a pretty good list – certainly some important reminders and great things to think about as we all work to be the best leaders we can be this year!

Here are my favorites from the list.  What are yours?

·        Believing talent, experience, or skills compensate for preparation.

·        Overlooking the destructive behaviors of high performers.

·        Allowing people to think you agree when you don’t.

The Top 25 Temptations of Leadership

5 Tips To Get All Students to Participate

If you had the opportunity to hear Dylan William speak this past August at the ILE Conference, or have watched the most recent webinars centered around feedback using Dylan William’s book Embedded Formative Assessment, I’m sure you’ve walked away with a few strategies to share with your staff.  In the article I’ve selected this week, the author, Chris Atkinson, provides us with five tips for increasing student engagement.  Additionally, he provides a short video clip of Dylan William sharing his thoughts on the topic.

5 Tips To Get All Students to Participate

The Principal as Formative Coach

As we reflect on our practice as administrators, I am reminded of the 7 Characteristics of Highly Effective Leaders.  The first few characteristics challenge the principal to lead teacher professional development based on current knowledge of curriculum, instruction, and assessment.  The intent of The Connected Leader blog is to provide tools that you might use to give instructional leadership.  

The article The Principal as Formative Coach reminds us that "Even in those schools fortunate enough to have a curriculum coach, the principal must still set the expectations for student learning.  To effectively sustain school improvement, the principal must be the epicenter of school change".  The authors use "student work as the foundation for mentoring (teachers) and professional development".  A building leader might use the suggestions in this article to strengthen the work in data teams, staff meetings, or the upcoming Late Start.

The Principal as Formative Coach

Starting the Conversation About Grading

The entire November 2011 issue of Educational Leadership is devoted to effective grading practices.  This topic will be the focus on the secondary Late Start Day in December and the elementary one in January.  The issue of grading gets right to the core of teacher belief systems, and there are strong feelings about adhering to certain practices.  "Even though opinions about why grades are important differ, more and more educators are beginning to question traditional grading practices that were developed to sort students into learners and non-learners, not to support learning for all," writes the author of this article.  Is your staff questioning traditional grading practices?

Before we explore these ideas during the professional development time slot, this is an excellent time to begin the conversation in your school.  The reading will provide ideas to challenge our thinking and lead us to determining what the purpose of grading is.

Starting the Conversation About Grading

Webinar: Gives & Receives Feedback – Part II

Webinar #6:  Gives & Receives Feedback – Part II

Part two of this two part webinar on giving and receiving feedback offers practical strategies for implementing all types of feedback in the classroom and should serve as an important springboard for discussion about additional effective feedback strategies that can be implemented.

Gives and Receives Feedback - Pt 2 (2011-2012) from Hilliard City Schools on Vimeo.

Webinar: Gives & Receives Feedback – Part 1

Webinar #5: Gives & Receives Feedback - Part 1


Part one of this two part webinar on giving and receiving feedback establishes a common framework and understanding for the meaning of feedback and what it means for teachers and students in the classroom.



Gives and Receives Feedback - Pt 1 (2011-2012) from Hilliard City Schools on Vimeo.