Web 2.0 - Do not fear the synthesizers

If our students are to be successful in the 21st century, we, as educators, must model what it means to think critically in the 21st century. This starts with modeling synthesizing information, a modern day form of "separating the wheat from the chaff." 

Recently, I was able to catch up with a fellow colleague who is also an assistant principal in another school in the same school district where I have the privilege to serve. My colleague asked me questions about twitter and a few other social networking mediums. I was excited to share my views and opinions on some tools of technology I believe are very valuable and the potential I see that these tools can assist in the learning process. I was asked what the advantage was of twitter specifically, and my answer was simple: Learning. A more elaborate response would be that I see the enormous amount of learning that can stem from the over abundance of information streaming from tweets from the followers one chooses to follow. The sky is the limit. Twitter can be one's source of news, information, data, stats, records, current events, past events, social events, intellectual discussions, questions, answers to questions, social conversations, and so much more. The power of twitter is not new and I do not pretend to think that twitter is the "end all, be all" of social networking. It will eventually be replaced by another more valuable tool, I am sure. What I want to point out is the reaction of my colleague. Like so many others out there, there is a fear of these tools. My colleague turned to me after I shared the enormous potential of receiving information in a constant stream from a tool like twitter and said, "oh my goodness, that is too much! I cannot do something like that. That is just way too much information. I like things simple. I think it is just too complex." 

I could not disagree more. You see, ones who have embraced the power of Web 2.0 tools of technology and social networking tools are not trying to collect ALL information. These users have come to understand the power of synthesizing information. There is no question that I cannot take in all of the information that I currently have coming to me through Web 2.0 tools such as Google Alerts, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, etc. However, what I have come to embrace is the power to synthesize. Digital literate citizens in today's 21st century understand the information that IS and IS NOT needed. That is what it means to synthesize. This is a skill that our students need today and it is imperative that we, as educators, model this for all of our students. 

In a more formal sense: What does this look like? What does it mean to synthesize? In order to capture this idea... I have borrowed from the West Virginia Department of Education:

Synthesizing Information

Synthesizing information is closely connected to determining importance. As Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmermann say in Mosaic of Thought, "Synthesis is about organizing the different pieces to create a mosaic, a meaning, a beauty greater than the sum of each shiny piece." A synthesis occurs as a reader summarizes what has happened and gives it personal meaning. http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/SynthesizingInformation.html What do you think? Is this a skill that needs to be taught and modeled by educators today now that we have Web 2.0 tools such as social networking and stream of information like twitter, etc. ???

Pneumonia, Leadership, Oxygen masks, and a Mea Culpa

I recently was diagnosed with pneumonia. I must give the plea of "mea Culpa" here. You see, in the world of leadership, it is clear if one does not take care of oneself, then one cannot take care of others. The late Stephen Covey eloquently described this as intrapersonal leadership. This is the idea that in order to lead others, one must be willing to lead himself or herself.  I must confess, I have set out to take care of others so much so that I have neglected my own body. After consecutive weeks of 60+ hours of work as a school leader, time set aside to work on a doctoral dissertation, time set aside to be a dad and a husband, I have had very little time to take of myself. I really have no excuses here. I know what I need to do but, I must confess that I have an addiction to please others and stretch myself too thin in the process. I even know practical strategies such as what Dave Crenshaw, time management guru, has discovered that most time over 40 hours a week spent at work is actually "unproductive" time. Because I know some of these strategies and some of this knowledge already... Hence my "mea Culpa."

What has happened is the exact opposite of what I intended. Instead of taking care of others, I am now sidelined and forced to take care of myself with the doctor's orders to rest and not work. You see, I believe we all make this mistake at one time or another. We set out to take care of others and what happens in turn (if we do not care for our own wellbeing) is that we CANNOT EVEN TAKE CARE OF ANYONE ELSE until we are well. Again, Stephen Covey has shed light onto this conundrum. It is worth taking a closer look. If you consider yourself a leader or an influencer, you must shoot for a win/win. You must win with your own health so you can continue to stay in the game and help others instead of being sidelined to rest and recover due to illness. Where did I found myself after the neglect of my own personal well being? I found myself not helping others at work because I was sidelined.... A lose. I found myself not being my best for my wife and my child because I had to medicate and rest... A lose for my family in some regard.

Ultimately, I was trying too hard to place the oxygen mask on the face of others in order to be the hero and helper.  The neglect of leading myself started to affect me in terms of "suffocation" in the form of illness as a result of neglect for my own body. As I reflect, I need to plan on taking care my own health and well being: spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, and physically if I am going to truly take care of others, truly going to lead, to influence.

What do you think? What do you need to change in order to more effectively lead and influence others?

The Uber-focus on Data: Good or Bad?

After attending my state's first day of our annual School Leadership conference, I came away pounded with one word: DATA. In fact, during day one of this three-day conference where school leaders from all 96 counties across the state gathered, I tweeted the following:

"By far, the overwhelming focus at @TNedu 's #LEAD conf. is #data #data and #data - closing gaps b/t stud. pops. #education"

My state department of Education obliged with a response of their own:

"TN Dept of Education‏@TNedu2h @Drizzinkwine That's what it's all about! Proven strategies that help educators reach the hard-to-reach groups. It can be done. #LEAD2012"

Now, here are a few further observations of mine:

I am glad the State Department of Education replied back to me on twitter. I am excited we have a twitter account, for starters! The State department should be commended.

I also need to point out that I am not against data, data talks, data walls, and/or data summaries, reports, etc. (a major focus of the three sessions on day one of the conference). However, I do have a few issues with the over-emphasis on data. You see, if the data we are looking at is from an irrelevant source, then I am against it. And, yes... you guessed it, I believe our current source of data is way off-base.

For example, here is the data source I think is off-base: (the SOLE focus of the conference I attended)

1. Standardized test scores which are one snapshot of an individual. I believe these assessments do not reveal critical/higher order thinking. The scores/data from these assessments do not reveal a student's character, creativity, or determination.

On the contrary, here are four data sources I believe are worthwhile:

1) Graduation Rates as these data point toward the human trait to "win" and persist through challenges. After all, Sigmund Freud once said, "man's innate need to survive has transitioned into his need to win."
2. The use and implementation of technology as it is the tool our students need to master in order to be effective workers. Data should be collected on technology integration and the mastery of these tools.
3. Student engagement through surveys suggested through the likes of Philip Schlechty.
4. Career inventories which solicit student voice and their own desires for what each student wants to make of himself or herself. Assessments such as the Kuder Career Inventory which accompanies the ACT's Explore Test is one such tool.
5. Student behaviors, Creativity/Innovation, and Literacy are three more data sources I believe are much more important when compared to standardized tests.

What are your thoughts? Are standardized tests the only source of data we should look at or do believe there are much better sources out there to gauge student learning today?

BYOT: 3 Observations of an Administrator

I am now in my seventh week of implementing "Bring Your Own Technology" (BYOT) in the school where I am an administrator. Here are three observations I have made so far:

1. Students are overwhelmingly cooperative. One thing I heard over and over again as I encouraged the use of BYOT the last three years was that students would abuse this privilege. For example, I heard from teachers, parents, and fellow administrators alike that students would use the technology when they should not. Specifically, I was told that the hallways would resemble something of the Wild, Wild West with students talking on the phones, texting uncontrollably, surfing the web and many more other things while they should be retrieving their supplies and getting to class. This simply has not occurred. Hallway transitions have not been affected by BYOT. Recently, my school psychologist and I stood out in the hallway during a transition and did not see one device. Students were following the school expectation to be punctual to class and BYOT did not impede the expectation.

2. Teachers are excited! Perhaps, one of the coolest things for me to witness this year has been the excitement in teachers. If there is anything better than student engagement, it has to to be teacher engagement. It has been exciting to witness teachers teaching each other and sharing with each other how we can use tools such as wallwisher, polleverywhere, socrative, and calendar apps to assist students.

3. Students are still students and will make mistakes... do not blame it on BYOT. Poor decisions made by students (heck, made by humans) are a fact of life. There is no question that I have dealt with students who have made poor decisions with their technology these first few weeks of school. However, I have had to make sure I am being objective about why students are making these poor decisions. I have asked myself: is it because of BYOT that this or that has taken place? The answer is no. Some students posted inappropriate content before BYOT, some students chose to bully online before BYOT, and some students chose to be off-task in the classroom before BYOT. These poor choices are actually just one of many reasons why I say we MUST embrace BYOT. We must teach students how to use their technologies and when to use them. As the old adage goes, "there is a time and place for everything."

What observations have you made with BYOT?

Relevant is NOT Good Enough

Recently, I have been reminded of a podcast I listened to when I was a first year teacher. I was listening to this guy from the West Coast, Southern California to be exact. He is a writer, a fashion designer, an artist, and a speaker at national conferences. He said something that intrigued me… he said, “I keep hearing from people that they want to be relevant. I do not want to be relevant; we should not aim to be relevant. Because, at the end of the day, if you are relevant, that actually means someone got there first. You are second, or third, or fourth.” I think this gentleman had a point. I mean… how often do we hear about the new R’s in education: Rigor, Relationships, and Relevancy? The old R’s being Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. The new R’s are better and more fit for education in the 21^st century. But, lately, I am even getting the sense that this is not good enough. After all, I agree… to be relevant means we did not get there first. I want to trail blaze, dream of new and better ways and go after it. How about you?

Okay, maybe you are not sold just yet. Maybe you are asking yourself, how does this really apply to education? Well, I have also asked this very question. It has taken me a while to grab hold of the idea of surpassing relevancy in education. However, recently I have had some conversations with some educational leaders that have prompted thoughts and ideas that pertain to making better the pursuit for relevancy in the education arena in today’s educational climate. I have spoken recently with school principals who have recently obtained a doctorate. I have asked them, “Are you going to do anything with your doctorate? Are you going to extend yourself past what you are already doing as a school principal?” Now, don’t get me wrong… I do not have anything against school leaders going after a doctorate. I am actually in the middle of my own dissertation for a doctoral degree. However, the answers given to me by my colleagues struck me as (although seemingly noble), really mundane and shallow once I thought more of it. Their answers have all been very similar, “I just want to teach a few undergrad classes,” “I want to be a reader for a dissertation”, or, “I just want to keep up with new educational trends.” I would ask a follow up question such as, “why this?” or “why that?” and again the answer while noble at first has now given pause to think. Their answer, across the board, has been… “I want to do this to stay current.” In the contemporary educational lexicon, they are staying “relevant.” I cannot help but to resonate with the speaker from the West Coast. This is simply just not good enough. Our kids deserve better. To stay current means that we are not innovating, we are not designing new ways of learning, we are not creating, and we are arriving too late for the digital natives we walk alongside. What if Starbucks chose to be current? We would not have the Frappuccino. What if Apple chose to be current? We would not have innovative tools such as the iPod or the iPad tablets. What if Mark Zuckerberg chose to be current? We would not have, in my opinion, one of the single greatest tools in communication ever created, Facebook.

What do you think? Is relevant good enough?

BYOT's place in the Creativity/Curiosity Movement

As Daniel Pink has laid claim in his grounbreaking book, "A Whole New Mind," the right brain is the most relevant and necessary part of the brain to use in the increasingly globalized 21st century of learning. Creativity is a HUGE part of this. Simply put, if we want students to have a fighting chance in this ever-changing 21st century landscape, then we MUST place more emphasis on this higher order thinking skill: CREATIVITY. Our student's futures simply depend on it. Pertaining to the future of students, the Vimeo video titled "the Future belongs to the Curious"  http://vimeo.com/34853044  is an inspiring thrust to all students and educators in this world of stale and paralyzing standardized testing. If we want to truly make a difference, we must find ways to innovate and create, dream and imagine while staring standardized inititiaves like CCSS in the face. One way of doing this, is to implement BYOT/BYOD ("Bring Your Own Technology/Device") in the midst of the required CCSS initiative.

The technology is NOT the sole answer. The answer may lie in the fact that we as the adults/educators have decided to say "yes." By allowing BYOT, we are, in essence, saying "it is okay for you to be free to learn as you see fit." BYOT simply lends itself to a more "real-life" experience for students in the digital age. Students can use their devices to create for themselves, to search for answers to their questions, to muse, to simply be their curious selves while dreaming of the next best invention or cure for disease. What a treat we, educators, have to assist our students in this process! Below is a response from one of my school district's teachers who has mused about the thought of creativity and curiosity...

"Curiosity and Creativity are - I believe - at the heart of learning. With curiosity, the student has an emotional investment in his/her own learning and is likely to remember and apply what he/she has learned in real life. Creativity is allowing the student to use his own best set of skills to learn and produce results."

What do you think? Do you believe BYOT lends itself to a more curious and creative learning process for students?

Guest Post... "Global Irony- An American Educator's visit to China"

Written by Ryan Jackson, Journalism Teacher at Maplewood High School, Metro-Nashville Public Schools:

Previously, when I thought of China, the last thing I thought of was teaching and learning. Instead, I thought of the countless imprints at Wal-Mart that read made in China, America’s own suffering Gross Domestic Product, or, embarrassingly, John Woo’s Hong Kong action flicks from the late 80s. So, when I was asked by Vanderbilt and Metro Nashville Public Schools to travel to the People’s Republic of China so that I could help share insight on developing and fostering Chinese students’ critical and abstract thinking skills, while collaborating with Chinese teachers on incorporating 21st century teaching pedagogies, I was excited and perplexed.

See, I was under the impression, mostly due to our media and the U.S.’s own wild sense of paranoia, that Chinese students were quite possibly some of the world’s most perfect students. I’d heard of intense, even robot-like study habits, coupled with razor-sharp focus and a determination that would make the hardest pentathlon champion blush. Like I said, my perception was set and the thought of me teaching any Chinese student, let alone teachers, seemed absolutely ridiculous.

However, day one in Guangzhou, China, sitting front and center at South China Normal University listening to Professor Wu explain the Chinese government’s paralyzing fear that their own education system is producing a nation of factory workers not creative types, I felt my head was going to explode: Paradigm Shift. Due to my limited space allotted here on this blog, I’ll keep my rug-pulling awakening brief. Basically, Chinese teachers lecture, students listen and write down information, regurgitate that information on a standardized test, then based on this test score attend a post-secondary school which will ultimately determine their lives’ fate - literally. That is a succinct yet fairly accurate description of a Chinese student’s academic career. Sit. Listen. Write. Sit. Listen. Write. Sit. Well, you get the picture. Are the students focused? I guess. Are they robot-like in terms of work ethic? They have to be - the fate of their lives depends on it (this is no hyperbole).

Therefore, the rest of my time spent in Guangzhou was helping teachers appreciate the value of questioning, incorporating cross-curricular lessons and project-based group learning, all while infusing a bit of fun in an otherwise stale learning environment. My perceptions were again shattered at not only the students’ willingness to try and accept this frenetic, inquiry-based approach to learning but also at the Chinese teachers’ desire and appreciation for a fresh, right-brain approach to teaching and learning. At the risk of sounding of corny, I felt like I was making a difference. Sitting with my American educators at dinner, over a fresh plate of bok choy, I would smile and share the untapped love of learning and teaching the Chinese were experiencing. As an educator it was rejuvenating.

And then reality set in...

My American team and I couldn’t help dance around the irony of the Chinese government seeking out help from the perceived cutting-edge educators from the West in order to propel their country into the 21st century. I then realized that just as my perceptions were vastly skewed, so were theirs. America’s own educational system is orbiting around standardized test scores, sit-and-get pedagogy, and answers being more important than questions. Here I was doing my best trying to help Chinese teachers turn their students into the creators of the iPod not just the manufacturer, while back in the states our own academic stagnation was turning our students into regurgitation robots.

I’m frequently asked about my trip to China, and the reality is there were so many takeaways, both personally and professionally. However, only one truly keeps me awake at night: China realizes what it will take in order to be the world’s #1 powerhouse as we advance deeper into the 21st century. They even realize and respect the fact that the United States has the ideologies and pedagogies it will take in order to fulfill this prophecy. Then the irony sets back in.

Will America realize and respect the imperative ideologies and pedagogies it will take in order to compete in tomorrow’s global climate?