Why Chrome is the Most Amazing Browser

People don't like to talk about religion and politics because people are generally set in their ways and emotions gets high.  This is how I feel towards web browsers (nerd alert), and like any religious zealot, I am completely convinced I am right!  However, this is no leap of faith.  Google Chrome is, by any measure, the best web browser available and anyone who doesn't agree simply doesn't know what Chrome can do. This is especially true for educators and students.

Speed is thought to be a major issue with web browsers, and you can find speed tests that favor just about any browser, except maybe Internet Explorer.  I personally think Chrome is faster after using IE, Firefox, and Safari on a fairly regular basis, however, Internet speed is more linked to your Internet connection and computer processor than it is to your browser.

The real beauty of Google Chrome is the apps and extensions.  For those who don't know, web extensions (also called add-on too) are essentially mini-programs that work within your web browser.  Some of my favorites are Evernote Web clipper, Diigo Highlight/bookmarking tool, Explain and Send (screenshots), Black Menu (for easy access to all your Google Apps), and Aviary image editor for Google Drive--this is important when working in Google Presentation to edit and crop images.  The Google Chrome Store is full of thousands of other extensions and apps such as Ancient History Encyclopedia--and they are almost all FREE.

There are many other benefits too.  Google Chrome automatically updates, so there is no need to ever update the software.  Do you ever leave your browser open so you don't lose the tabs you have open?  Chrome allows you to close your browser and continue where you left off.   Possibly the greatest benefit is the fact that it is 100% web-based.  What does that mean?  I can log into Chrome (Google account) on my desktop and have the same apps and extensions I have on my laptop. I can log into my account on my friend's computer, library computer--ANYWHERE and have all the same apps, extensions, web history, bookmarks, etc. as I do on my personal laptop.  Not to mention the incalculable value of all the other Google Apps, which I've blogged about before here and here.  I don't want to live in digital world without Google.  You won't either when you discover the glory of Google.

1 to 1 Experiment: Year Two

On August 14, we began the second year of our 1 to 1 initiative at Wabash Middle School.  This year we expanded from grades 6-8 to grades 4-12!  Our K-3 rooms are nearly 1 to 1 with iPads.  As you may recall, I'm not one to rely on quantifiable data, however it's the most reliable evidence to some people, so let me throw some hard data at you.  Our enrollment is up over 2% for the 2nd straight year--in a town with a declining population.  Our middle school had the highest standardized test scores we've had in our history.  Our math scores alone went up over 3%.  Our middle school enrollment increased over 10%, and not from students moving in from far away areas.  Most of our new students came from neighboring districts--districts that are ALSO 1 to 1.  There is much more, but we know real learning can't be quantified.  However, these numbers have created quite a buzz in our community.

We held an open house for students and parents the night before school started.  We distributed computers, setup computers, signed papers, gave basic instructions, and communicated classroom information.  Over 90% of our parents and students came (for the second year in a row)--in a district with historically low turnout for open house and parent/teacher conferences. 

We are a fully integrated Google Apps for Education school now, so every student has a secure CIPA friendly email address and access to Google's amazing apps.  My 7th grade team began a digital portfolio this year we are calling a Museum of Learning.  I would like to see our museum extended in both directions, and eventually be K-12.  This type of authentic assessment could actually be useful to students in future endeavors, be it college or career.

We have discussed including students in our technology team.  What a great opportunity for a students to leave high school with 4-7 years of experience in Apple repair, support, and troubleshooting.  Our teachers are assembling authentic content and initiating exciting creative projects.  Of course, this is not true of every teacher or every building.  Each building is at their own phase of implementing a 21st Century class.  Hopefully, time and professional development will help foster a break from traditional education--creation rather than consumption, publishing rather than "turning in", presenting rather that submitting, conversation rather than quizzing, authentic rather than canned, and inspiration rather than obligation.  So, here's to a poverty stricken small midwestern town of 11,000+ breaking a 100 year old mold of public education with our feet dangling off the cutting edge of education and technology!

Failure and Success in Learning

Failure is bad.  Failure is rejection.  Failure is the end.  These are the messages we sometimes receive from society.  This is how we often feel when we "fail".  Carol Dweck recently wrote a book called Mindset.  In her book she explores two divergent mindsets that often define learners: fixed and growth mindsets.  Obviously, there is enough detailed theory and data behind this concept for an entire book, but one major theme she touches on is our response to failure.

A person with a fixed mindset sees failure as I describe it above--a final judgement of inadequacy.  A growth mindset takes failure in stride--a bump in the road on the way to their destination.  For a growth mindset, failure is not an end but a minor learning experience that guides them in a different direction. Edison is a perfect example of a growth mindset. 

I found this information to be so powerful that I wanted to share it with my kids.  I made a How We Learn activity to start our year off.  I want my kids to embrace "failure" as a guidepost to redirect their learning.  Today, I gained the final piece of the puzzle. 

About a month ago, I applied to the Google Teacher Academy.  I wanted in.  I really wanted in.  I love Google--their technology runs my classroom and they inspire me.  Me applying to Google is like Rudy applying to Notre Dame.  I really, really wanted to be a part of the team.  I filled out the lengthy application including a 1 minute video that I made about motivation.  I learned today that I failed.  I didn't get in. 

Initially, I was pretty disappointed--I really thought I would be chosen.  My family was quick to console me.  As I reflected on my feelings, I was reminded of my How We Learn activity.  I took a shot and failed, but this is not the end, and I certainly wouldn't want my students to be devastated and give up.  I'm going to share this experience with my students.  I'm going to tell them how I plan on learning more and applying the next time the Google Teacher Academy is geographically near where I live.  I will be a Google Certified Teacher.

Flexbooks as a Transition to Authentic Content

In my home state, it seems like nearly every school is in some phase of moving to a one-to-one learning environment where every student has some type of computing device.  While this is certainly a giant leap forward for education, the leap has left many teachers feeling uneasy.  The wealth of information online clearly makes the textbook obsolete, but how can teachers harness Internet resources in a manageable way?

A new website call ck-12 has developed a nice transition step for teachers.  In 2008 ck-12 introduced "flexbooks".  Open source textbooks that teachers can mix and match.  Basically, these are digital textbooks that are divided into modules.  Teachers can mix the order of chapters and content from different books.  Flexbooks are a educational content buffet and teachers can create a plate that fits their needs.

I want to be clear.  I only advocate the use of flexbooks as a step for teachers to transition to more authentic content.  Free and fair use licenses teachers a great deal of freedom to use nearly any resource on the web.  We should be discovering content, editing it for our needs, and collecting it as a chunk of content.  Our curriculum end up being a collection of chunks that are easy to edit, update, or change compared to the static textbook. 

Textbooks are a multi-billion dollar industry.  They won't go quietly into the night.  They will continue to sell us things we don't need and are free online.  This is an undertaking that is necessary for education as an institution and teaching as a profession. 

What's Bad About Education Technology

I want to start by saying that I am a huge advocate of technology in education.  I work in a one-to-one school and infuse technology into every activity and project in my class.  That being said, all great power can be wielded positively or negatively There are definitely some negative outcomes that can occur as technology floods into education.  Here are a few that a can lead educators and districts down a bad path.

Sorry Apple, but tablets that don't have full computer capabilities are are mistake as a one-to-one device.  You can try to make this square peg fit into the round hole of education, but you will have to jam it in to make it work.  I love my iPad, but I find it increasingly difficult to use compared to my Macbook when I do school work.  Problems with typing, moving from app to app, file management, compadibility, etc. can doom a one-to-one initiative if it becomes more cumbersome than paper and pencil.  I understand the cost prohibitive of a Macbook, but by the time you buy an iPad, accessories, apps, and other required equipment, you can nearly afford Macbooks, considering Apply will knock down the price on a large education purchase.  Don't go one-to-one because all the cool kids are doing it--with some device that "is good enough"--it will end up costing you more in the long run.

While we are talking about technology devices.  I have to get in a few shots at SMART Boards (SINO--smart in name only).  Spending valuable tech-dollars on SMART Boards is not a good investment of money or pedagogy.  These are a gargantuan waste of money for most classroom applications.  I can see the usefulness in a small elementary or special needs classroom, but in a classroom of 20+ students from middle school up--the only real purpose SMART Boards serve is a $8,000 projection screen.  Technology needs to be used for creation--student creation--not content delivery.  This leads me to my next point.

Using technology to replace or support traditional methods of direct instruction is a misuse of technology.  Computers are tools of creativity.  Schools are not going one-to-one to save paper.  Running worksheets through the Xerox machine to turn them into PDF's and digitizing multiple choice quizzes, based on a boring lecture are tech-crimes that should be met with corporal punishment at the very least.  This is bad and students will know it right away.  This stale method is not engaging to say the least, and it will lead to cheating and other discipline issues.   

Webinars are the absolute worst form of professional development and should be avoided at all costs.  If the video and audio feeds actually work, which is rare in my experience, a webinar is one of the most disengaging forms of learning I have experienced.  Short tutorials are useful, but a 5-person, conference-call-styled presentation is awkward and borderline absurd as a learning methods.  I understand if it is the last possible option, but it too closely resembles traditional direct instruction, only you're not in the same room--a method most effective teachers would laugh at.

When Google Search Doesn't Work

There are certain topics that are very difficult to "Google", which has been declared a verb for searching the Internet.  Maybe you have had this experience.  Your students choose a volatile topic for a paper such as abortion, religion, or guns.  You and/or your student are getting very partisan or unreliable search results.  There are some steps you or your students can take.

Step One:  Search Google better.  The operation and functions of Google Search is as unknown and mysterious to people as a microwave.  Most people are accustomed to pushing a button to make food hot or in the case of Google, typing in a single word or group of words and clicking search.  Just as your microwave has mini operations for thawing frozen vegetables, Google has thousands of "operators" and options that help you modify your search.  (don't include the brackets below, these enclose the search I would enter.

• [filetype:pdf gun laws]--this search will only show PDF files that contain hits on the keywords "gun" and "laws"
• [filetype:pdf gun laws site:.gov]--this search will only show PDF files that contain hits on the keywords "gun" and "laws" from state and federal government websites.
• [filetype:pdf ~"gun laws" site:.gov]--this search will only show PDF files that contain hits on  "gun laws" as a phrase and similar phrases such as "firearms" "automatic rifles" from state and federal government websites.
• [filetype:pdf ~"gun laws" site:.gov OR site:.edu]--this search will only show PDF files that contain hits on "gun laws" as a phrase and similar phrases such as "firearms" "automatic rifles" from state and federal government websites or university or education websites. 

I could go on about Google search operators here are a few others.  Here is a nice inforgraphic about how to get more out of Google.  Really, the steps could end there.  I firmly believe if something is on the web, Google can access it.  It is up to you to create the right query/search.  Obviously you could try other search engines such as Bing or Yahoo, but you will find similar results as Google.  

Step Two: If you have a divisive topic, you might also want to search a reliable database such as a curated library. One place to look is ipl2.  This is a  public service organization with thousands of resources devoted to teaching and learning environments.  Another virtual library is infomine.  This library is "relevant to faculty, students, and research staff at the university level".  You will find databases, journals, books, articles, and many other types of information.  

Step Three: Repeat step one.

Step Four: Go to the physical library in your area and ask a librarian.

Step Five: Give up and pick a new topic.  Seriously.

My Favorite Web Tools Part 2

About a month ago, I posted some of my favorite web tools.  I wanted to mention a few others.  Of course, there are bloggers who make a living reporting and reviewing web tools, but as a teacher who actually uses these on a regular basis I hoped to provide a different perspective.

I can't say enough about Twitter.  I learn more on Twitter in an hour than I do at most 2-day professional development seminars.  This is not just another social network.  Too many people hear Twitter and they think Facebook.  They couldn't be more different.  I once heard, if Facebook is the mall, Twitter is a specialty store, especially when you use it strictly for professional purposes.  For people who are reluctant to join, you don't need to "tweet" anything.  You can just sit back and learn.  I recommend using TweetDeck.  It allows you to follow the topics you are interested in.  In case you don't know, topics are organized by "hastags" (#).  Since I am a social studies teacher I follow #sschat and #socialstudies, but I also love #edtech, #elearning, #edchat, #educoach, and a few others.  Tweetdeck allows you to view the "tweet stream" of all of these topics simultaneously, where as the Twitter site allow you to view one stream at a time.  Twitter is a great first step to building a PLN--professional (or personal) learning network.  This is the professional development of the future--personalized, individually driven, and organic. 

Thinglink is a fairly new site.  It allows users to make images interactive by adding "tags" to selected areas of an image. You can see an example I made of India here.  This is a great way to bring content to your students, or better yet have them create content. These can easily be embedded into a website or blog and Thinglink lets you create 50 for free.  Last year, my students struggled reading complicated graphs and charts, so this year I want them to upload the chart/graph image into Thinglink and explain the various parts with tags.

Students could also create a basic timeline in a spreadsheet (one of my favorite ways), then take a screenshot, and tag it with information, videos, and webpage links to annotate the timeline and bring it to life. You could also take a screenshot of an assignment and give instructions through the interactive tags.  The same idea could work for teaching students new technology.

PaperRater is a great website.  Unlike other similar sites, PaperRater will evaluate the vocabulary level and "grade" the paper.  When you copy your text into PaperRaer, you can select the type of writing and intended grade level.  The spelling and grammar do a nice job of explaining why something might need changed, so students learn some basic mechanics in the process.  I sometimes use it for this blog--probably not often enough.  I always use it when I put together text resources for my class--it can help identify the reading level.  Next year I plan on encouraging students to use it too.  This way they can focus on the content of the paper and get some feedback aside from me. 

Tech Lag

It has always been obvious that a massive chasm exists between technology innovation and the average user's knowledge.  From phones to computers, most users are aware of 1/10th of a given gadget's capability.  This same phenomenon is rampent in the education world.   Every time I am involved in professional development, I am surprised to see people who don't know the basics of general computer literacy and troubleshooting.  Even technology people work too hard and spend too much in counterproductive ways.  To be fair, many teachers are too busy learning their content, pedagogy, professional requirements, building requirements, coaching obligations, not to mention trying to balance a personal life to keep up with the constantly changing landscape of educational technology.  Edtech moves so fast its hard for technology people to keep up, make good decisions about what to commit to.

However, there are countless web tools and gadgets to make their life easier for everyone.  The question is how can we professionally develop teachers in a way that is efficient, meets their needs, doesn't overwhelm, and is cost effective?  I don't think there is a silver bullet that can span all school districts systematically.  Just like our students, each school corporation, each building requires a unique plan of professional development.  However I think there are a few things like Google Reader that make learning easy and fast, but that is another post.

http://www.mylot.com/w/photokeywords/computer+frustration.aspx

All too often teachers are given some technology, such as a SMART Board with very little training, so the technology actually ends up more frustrating than their older paper and pencil methods.  This is an example of the problem with efficiency and bad tech decisions.  "SMART" Boards can cost from $4,000 to $8,000 or more if you get all the bells and whistles.  However, for the way most teachers use SMART Boards the same technology is FREE online--all you need is a $300 dollar projector, a wireless mouse, and a bed sheet to project on--I can guarantee it will work more often too.

Technology in and of itself is not the answer for education--that is not what I am saying.  It is a tool... actually it is a massive warehouse full of millions of tools and if we don't let teachers in the warehouse and give them a guided tour, they are going to walk the other way.  This is going to have negative effects on their classroom and school corporation as a whole.  Education is moving quickly into technology, we have to equip or teachers with the tools and support they need to embrace this movement, not fear it.

21st Century School Culture

In Changing Education Paradigms, Sir Ken Robinson discusses the habits of institutions and the habitats they occupy.  While his intelligence exceeds mine by a factor of 10, I think what he is talking about is creating a collaborative culture of learning among all stakeholders of a school or institution.  Among other things, this culture must be truly collaborative--from top to bottom, or better yet, from bottom to top.  There are so many aspects to explore within this thought, but one that struck me recently is the general disjunction of professional development between administration and staff.

Office Space (1999)

It seems administrators attend one type of professional development and teachers a completely separate type.  There is rarely a crossover and it leads to groups moving in new directions separately.  This leads to a disjunction in collaboration, learning, and general sense of community within a school's culture.  This is a bad habit of many schools.

The trigger of a new direction may be out of the hands of some administrators, or it may be a choice, but it can come from many places.  A conference they attended, choices of a rival school, a recent book they read, an article in a publication only they receive, etc.  Either way--the problem is not a new direction.  The problem is a lack of collective community learning.  This problem is facilitated by a lack of communication.  Even in the best schools, communication between administration and teachers can usually be vastly improved.  

So how do we bridge this disjunction?  How do we foster a better school culture?  I think it can start with two simple habits.  Teachers and administrators attend the same professional development and fully participate (obviously not everyone, but at least representatives).  They don't sit in the back and play with their phone (teachers and administrators), they model the engaged participation they generally expect.  The second habit is weekly idea sharing among the entire community in one way or another.  An exchange and discussion of meeting notes, a shared digital "wall" online, regular staff meetings--something where new ideas are shared, reflections by the above mentioned representatives are shared, and new paths are chosen or at least discussed by the entire group of professionals.

Its about collaboration, its about community, its about buy-in.  If the soldiers don't buy-in to the battle plan of the generals, they won't execute it properly--then we are wasting time on enforcement and discipline.  This analogy applies to whole schools and individual classrooms.  Schools and educational institutions are really encouraging 21st Century skills, but it starts at "home".  A school's culture must employ 21st Century skills, build collaborative learning habits, and create the cultural habitat Sir Ken Robinson mentions--a model of what we expect in the classroom.

Reflections on our 1:1 Computing

Our first year of 1:1 computing (1 laptop per child) has finally come to a close. Wabash City Schools district started in grades 6-8 this year, and next year we are expanding to grades 4-12.  Its strange, this year went so fast, yet it feels like we have always had computers for everyone. The days of scheduling my class in the computer lab seems so distant. It feels like 10 years ago when we learned with textbooks and paper and pencil, but its only been a year... and what a year it has been!

Macbooks in everyone's hands has completely changed our school culture from one of slow growth and general complacency to one of exponential growth, creativity, increased communication, and evaluation of every part of the education process.   As a staff, we are communicating on a whole new level.  Everyone has a mobile computer, so checking email is easier and more accessible.  Google Apps for Education, specifically Google Docs, has dramatically decreased our paper consumption and increased how we collaborate.

Our classrooms have changed more this year than probably the last 5 years combined.   Teachers are looking for new ways to teach and assess.  Most of our teachers are taking (or have already taken) project-based learning training and are now asking for other professional development opportunities.   We are developing a digital curriculum and moving away from using a single static resource (textbook).  Students are engaged and many are creating incredible projects or at least researching on a whole new level.  Personally, I have been working toward this for a long time, so this wasn't a major transition for me.  Our 1:1 initiative has allowed my curriculum to work as I intended.  However, for some teachers this change to digital project-based curriculum will take a few years.

This is not to say we haven't had our struggles.  One thing we need to do a better job of is communicating with parents about 2 things: class activities and how to use the computer.  We are going to have a parent night right before school starts to get parents familiar with the computers and explain how to keep track of class activities.  Many teachers want to use (and have everyone use) a LMS such as Edmodo or MyBigCampus.  While I don't think this is a terrible idea, I think students need to experience a wide range of learning models.  Forcing everyone to be on one system too closely resembles a 20th Century model and goes against the Digital Age grain.  In addition, 21st Century education should be about diversity and creativity, not standardization and conformity.

Other stuggles have been self-inflicted.  During the first few weeks (months?), students were so excited about their Macbook, all they wanted to do was play.  Many of us (myself included) gave them way too much rope and many students hung themselves with it.  So, as a school, we cracked down.  We blocked games, chat sites, websites, wrote discipline referrals, gave detentions... we over-corrected.  The answer was not to block and punish.  The answer was to engage them in learning and guide them through their mistakes.  You can't block all the games, chat sites, etc.  There are too many and the kids are too smart, they will find new ways to waste time (don't we all?).  We can't teach digital citizenship with censorship in the same way you can't teach sexual responsibility with an abstinence-only program.

We ended our year with great success and excitement to start over in August.  The success extends beyond our students.  Teachers are now learning at a rate I've never seen before.  We have become students again.  We are learning new technology and the pedagogy and assessment to match it, guided by new standards and expectations.  This is one of the great keys to a successful education institution.  For decades, students were the only ones learning in schools.  I think to be better teachers, we need to be better students. 1:1 was a massive domino that began a major change in our school corporation.  I am so excited about our future.

Hunting for Teacher Education

I finished my masters of education last year.  I needed to renew my license, so I figured I would just go all the way.  I was ready to learn.  Unfortunately, it was a huge disappointment.  My Technology in Education class talked about cutting edge software like using Microsoft Word to "process" an essay!  Or make a lecture exciting with a presentation made on PowerPoint!  The textbook was on its 10th edition and clearly hadn't been updated since the early 90's.

The other classes had lots of "rigor" [busy work].  Long papers, journal entries, a cumbersome portfolio, blah, blah, blah.  Unfortunately, I learned very little from the entire program.  I even did my homework and read all the books.  Granted, I went to a private university that is not known for its school of education.  It was online, which met the needs of my lifestyle as a full time teacher, father, and husband.  The program lasted about 2 years.  During the program I didn't check my Google Reader; blogs went unread, and I had no time for Twitter---I was bogged down with the "rigor" of my masters courses.  I was too busy to learn.

Since I graduated, I have learned far more from following blogs on Google Reader and watching the Twitter stream of great, new ideas.  I have grown more as a teacher in the last 6 months of learning on my own than I did during my entire masters program.

This reminded me of the scene in Good Will Hunting, when Matt Damon tells the pretentious Harvard student he wasted $150,000 on an education he could have gotten for a $1.50 in late fees from the public library.

Clearly a self-directed PD program will create more "buy in" from teachers AND be far less expensive, but how do we translate this into license renewal and pay scale?  Does the badge system offer any answers?

Learning Styles and Professional Development

I recently read that the concept of learning styles has been debunked.  Several studies were conducted and no evidence was found to support this long-held theory of learning.  A Science Daily article from 2009 claims that the studies that supported learning styles, in retrospect, usually failed to meet the criteria for a valid scientific study. Does this apply to Multiple Intelligences theory I wonder?

I guess the grain of salt is that, you can find a study to support or deny just about every theory, but one thing always rings true regardless of how your brain encodes.  Interest.  Be it general intrigue or practical self-interest, its got to be there to truly learn.  Repetition can work for short-term memorization, but interest seems to last. I have a renewed interest in this because this summer I have a few professional development workshops scheduled. 

The last thing I want is to turn people away from technology and 21st Century pedagogy, especially my colleagues.  So, I guess my question is: What is best way to deliver PD to adult teachers?  I have read about some hokey tips like bring chocolate, put something on paper and hand it out, play a team-building game, tell a joke, etc.  On the advice of my consigliere, Joey Till, I am going to run my workshops like I run my classroom.  I am going to show a short 5-10 minute presentation/video to gain their interest and then let them work; a few tasks to complete and something larger to work on in the background.  I will bounce around as needed and help people individually.  For the longer workshops, I plan on repeating this procedure a few times. 

I want to avoid typical PD seminars and workshops where someone stands and lectures for an hour about not standing and lecturing.  If the pedagogy they espouse is so useful, why not use it?  Hopefully my classroom model is a learning style that works on adults.  Thoughts?

Professional Development of the 21st Century

Professional development money is drying up fast.  Schools can no longer afford pricey conferences and expensive guest speakers.  Fortunately, we live in the era of private broadcasting.  Social networks and blogs are a great place to learn new pedagogy, assessment, and technology skills.  The days of a static classroom are over--using the same old crusty worksheets and activities.  The Digital Age is creating exponential growth, and we have to find cost effective ways to keep up. 

http://ingetang.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/connected_teacher.jpg

The term associated with this movement is PLN (Professional or Personal Learning Network) or PLC (Professional Learning Community).   This is the group of people or resources you rely on for help and professional growth.  Twitter can be a great way to build a PLN.  Google Reader is the best resource I use.  I search education and technology blogs and collect them in Reader.  There are many services to choose from such as Pinterest, Edublogs, and countless others.  You have to find what combination works for you, without overwhelming you. 

Professional development via a PLN is flexible, individualized, and self-paced--all ingredients of a 21st Century education.  Its also easy and free.  District and building administrators can find measures of accountability and collaboration to meet their expectations, but PLN/PLC are without a doubt the PD of the future. 

The Next New Thing in Education

It seems like every time a new thing is introduced in education you hear one of the following:  "No. not another new thing to learn... its always something".  "We just learned (insert thing), now we have to learn this"?  "TTSP--this too shall pass".  We have all heard it.  I have said these things myself in the past.  I understand the feeling, but we have to change our attitude as educators in the Digital Age.  From the time of John Dewey until the Digital Age, changes in education were relatively small and incremental.  The Digital Age has caused an explosion of exponential change that is rippling chaotically through all facets of education--often from the bottom up.  Progressive educators now have a voice and an ability to assemble---digitally.

Content, pedagogy, assessment, professional development, classroom management, communication, administration--everything is rapidly changing.  The tremors of change have not shaken public education uniformly, but its only a matter of time.  The question is, are you going to do the shaking, or will you be shook?  I would rather do the shaking.  With an expectation of change on the horizon, I want to be a part of the changing, not sit idle and wait for someone to change me.

Our school has used Moodle in the past, then Google sites was introduced this year along with a few other web hosts, now Edmodo is becoming popular.  Some people are just now getting really comfortable with Moodle, and we are off to a new thing.  Fear not; this is a good thing, and its something that will never go away--change.  Do we need to radically shift our class with every new shake in education--of course not.  We should all maintain a general style, but we can never stop.

In fact, education is very similar to our wardrobe.  We all have a general style.  New fads are always springing up--we don't buy everything, but we must buy something.  We can't be afraid to change out of what is comfortable.  We risk the metaphorical style of cousin Eddie.  Is this how you want your teaching to look?

It never stops.  We are never "there".  We ask our kids to keep learning more, push themselves, go farther, sharping their skills--shouldn't we?  Our classrooms are learning laboratories, and we must be educational scientists, lest we find ourselves in a leisure suit.

Income and Education

Recently, several studies have been published concerning the income gap between rich and poor and how it relates to success in education.  I suppose we have the Great Recession and the election season to thank for bringing this issue to the forefront--where it needs to be.  I work in a school where about 70% of the families receive free or reduced lunch--a relatively high measure of poverty, so I see the relationship between income and education on a daily basis.

http://directaction.org.au/issue37/on_occupations

I once read that standardized test scores are a great way to measure one thing--the size of the houses in a school district.  Though hyperbolic, there is truth in this statement.  The link between income and education is probably stronger than in any time in recent history.  Why is this?  Why is the amount of money your parent(s) make such a determinate of your likely success in school?  One study gives a clue, "affluent children spend 1,300 more hours than low-income children before age 6 in places other than their homes".   This means that children from higher income homes are getting more life experiences.  Think of the implications of this...  more exposure to interesting geography, architecture, art, road trips, air travel, family vacations, museums, libraries, etc. All of these experiences expose kids to life's possibilities--careers, forms of success, literacy opportunities, and the general intriguing things about life.  All of this translates into a deeper and more intrinsic interest in learning and working hard for what you want.

What can we do as teachers to provide a counter balance?  We can't change their past, but we can affect their future.  We can create more intriguing learning experiences in our classroom.  We can build an inspiration to learn and rebuild a positive concept of their future.  We need to expose our kids to the amazing possibilities the world has to offer and cultivate their confidence so they have the courage to work hard for what they want.   Textbooks, worksheets, and standardized test scores will never break down the wall in the picture.  If we can get our kids excited about learning and working toward their future, the test scores will take care of themselves and that wall will crumble.