Moving Beyond 140

Technology and the Internet have brought an infinite amount of changes to the way we teach not to mention changes to our society. Luckily I am not one to sit still and let the world change while I watch. Therefore, I have always believed using technology is something to be embraced as a means to an end in the classroom and in my personal life. Part of my tech journey fortunately included the discovery of Twitter as a tool for Professional Development, resource sharing, peer engagement and collaboration. 


Many people, educators included, engage each other with vast amounts of, shall I say trivial dialogue albeit entertaining at times. An even greater number of educators share resource links that get saved into Delicious or Diigo for future reference when and if they might need or remember the resource link. Some like myself apply what we learn from these resources and it directly improves our profession. Twitter is an outstanding format for developing professional relationships that are rewarding and fruitful for a lot of educators including myself. The tools and ideas are endless and worthy in and of themselves. The problem lies in the usefulness of the relationships if they never move beyond 140 characters. Of course that presupposes a willingness to make those relationships useful.


Twitter provides a vehicle for connection but it is up to us to enhance those relationships and move them into something more permanent and useful. I envy my PLN that have gone to conferences like ISTE and have met face to face. So far I have met two PLN members and it was a rewarding experience. This year at NCSS I will finally get a chance to meet the most valuable members of my PLN, the SSChat crew. I encourage everyone to seek out your PLN beyond the 140 characters.


This year the core group of us @gregkulowiec, @becky_ellis_, @Dontworryteach(Jamie), @ShawnMcCusker and @kyteacher(Angela) have done some amazing things beyond Twitter. We have shared a GDoc on a number of occasions to plan for SSChat as well as write proposals for the NCSS conference in December. In May we started the SSChat Ning and have seen it grow for Social Studies teachers everywhere. We are currently planning more exciting things to come for our group. 


If you haven't done so, take the next step. Plan to meet people, work on a project together, Skype with each other's classrooms, go to conferences or engage in any other medium that enhances your professional and personal relationships beyond 140.

The Gift of Teaching Gifted Students

The classroom is an interesting place to say the least. As teachers we are solely responsible for setting up and setting the tone for learning every day. Many of us are fortunate enough to teach a variety of subjects to a diverse group of students but not all of us have a gifted class. When I first starting teaching (um, 18 years ago) I had 35 gifted students in a social studies class and it was an eye opening and exhilarating experience. Starting my career like that really got my attention.

You know that time when you just started your first teaching job and you have a million ideas to use in your classroom? Soon some of those ideas do not turn out like you planned and you end up switching to plan B more than you expected. But then there is one class in which everything you try turns out better than expected. Why? Was it your approach? Enthusiasm? Did you reflect long enough to realize it was the chemistry of the class? For me those 35 gifted students had amazing chemistry. I quickly realized I could do anything with them as long as I included them in the learning process.

Here I am 18 years later and again have a group of students who are amazing and gifted. They are my AP World History students and they have energy and a passion for learning and life. I feed off their energy and try to meet their needs on a daily basis. The challenge is in diversifying their needs enough which will fuel their learning and keep them focused. Yes, despite them being gifted they have a variety of strengths and weaknesses that provide quite a challenge every day. The one factor they all have in common is that they "get it". They understand the value of education and are motivated to come away with a deeper knowledge of the subject not just the grade. Although there are a few who see the grade as all important, most understand the need to learn and grow as individuals. So, when I ask for their input on projects, assignments, etc. they provided great feedback that will steer their learning in the direction that best suits them.

As I look forward to next year, I want to use the experiences from this class to design, create and implement a learning environment that will allow all students to learn and grow. Therein lies the challenge. I'm confident with the feedback I receive this school year from my gifted students that I will be better prepared to meet the needs of next years classes.
I'm looking forward to it.

We Are Not Alone! Connecting in a Digital World.

Do you remember the first staff meeting you ever attended? Did you look around the room and wonder who you might be able to work with in the coming weeks, months or years? I remember and can still feel the sense of apprehension I had about whether or not I would have an opportunity to collaborate.  As my first year progressed I found it easy to collaborate with a couple of teachers in subject areas other than mine but for the most part I was alone, on my own when it came to learning, growing and developing into the teacher I wanted to be.

Most of my early opportunities for collaboration were found in workshops and conferences. There I would meet great like minded people to share ideas and resources but once it was over and we all went home, the collaboration stopped.  Even in one of my more recent professional development activities with the TAH grant I was limited when it came to long lasting sustainable collaboration with colleagues. I'd have to say I was a little disappointed with the lack of contact with colleagues in my field. Well, at least until I happened upon Twitter by accident.

You see a couple of years ago my wife was curious about this thing called Twitter. I had heard about it but never gave it a second thought. Then one day she started an account so she could poke around on it and see what it was all about. The only problem or as it turns out fortunate problem for me was that she had actually signed me up. I decided to keep it open and slowly began following fellow educators. Soon I was gathering resources and discussing educational issues on a daily basis. Finally I was chatting with teachers in my field and last July, Greg Kulowiec and I thought it might be a good idea to start our own Twitter chat for social studies. We created the hashtag #sschat and have been steadily growing our following. Since that time my professional development is focused on the resources, links and people I follow on twitter. The amount of learning and collaboration is filling a void in my professional and to some degree personal life. (Later post I'm sure)

People I have never met are now the best resource I have ever had in my 20 years in education. I am at the point where I am collaborating on projects, presentations and documents with people I don't even know! Yet I think I know some of my colleagues on twitter better than the ones in my building. And soon I will get a chance to meet with a few of these wonderful people at a conference later this year. It will be like we have known each other for years. 

The reality of the digital age is that there are no boundaries to how you learn, share and grow as a person or educator. The only rule is that you have to jump in and explore. I am thankful that this medium has afforded me and many of my Twitterverse colleagues the opportunities that we never had before.

Is it Learning or Compliance?

This topic has bothered me for some time. After reading 4thGrdTeach's blog on homework she inspired me to write. Homework is a big issue but the bigger issue is what are kids learning from the class? Are students truly learning or are they just complying with our course requirements to "get the grade?" How do we build young minds to desire knowledge? Have we taken the time to write curriculum that engages them or are we using the textbooks as an easy time saving devise? Are you one of those teachers who assign reading and questions at the end of a chapter? Or do you know a teacher who is referred to as "Captain Handout?" This is all very real and sad and it only functions as a means of turning kids off to learning. Not all students love all subjects but we can at least make it interesting by building a better mouse trap.:-)

Many teachers complain that they just don't have enough time. Okay, I understand the limits of time for teachers but there are a lot of us who take the time to create good lessons that get kids interested in learning. What is the point of a lesson if the student doesn't learn anything from it? Ask those teachers, "What the heck are we here for anyway?" I have heard countless students tell me that a class was a waste of time or that they were so bored in a class. Didn't I read recently that the number one reason for high school dropouts was boredom in school? Houston, we have a problem!

So, how do we move kids toward an intrinsic desire to learn? There are a lot of ways and I am hopeful that my colleagues will use some of the many examples that they learn from professional development and their PLN. Wait...most of them don't even know or want to know what PLN stands for let alone create and use one. Alas, that is a problem but things change and many of us who have a PLN and blog and dare I say...LEARN are forcing the change. 

Staff and students learn differently! We know this from Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, Differentiated Curriculum training and Sir Ken Robinson's "The Element." Therefore we need to allow students the freedom to learn in the way they learn best. Paper and pencil is not the answer for most kids. Give them choice and give them buy in. Once you give them a choice then you can build solid lessons that engage them. Cooperative learning works wonders when done well. Students learn more when they share with each other. So here are a few methods to incorporate:

• PBL - Project Based Learning with student choice of topic and type.
• Cooperative Learning - Students learning from each other. Score!
• Socratic Circles/Discussions - Works well in most subjects.
• Collaborative Web based Learning - Wikis, Nings, Moodles, etc.

Okay, I get the fact that those of you reading this already do many of these things and that I'm preaching to the choir but, I am hopeful we can spread the word and influence others.

We need to work hard to develop a child's desire to learn. Create a democratic classroom. Don't talk at them, talk with them. As we move away from the old model of education, let us hope that learning is at the forefront of what the new model looks like. Be a part of the solution!

A New Road to Travel

The world is an amazing place where technology changes faster than we can keep up with from day to day. People however do not change. We still have the same hopes, dreams and desires that have been with us for millennium. We want a good life with family, friends and enough to feel fulfilled. For many of us these thoughts are realized as we work to make them happen but for others the struggle continues. Personally, I believe that those of us who have should help those who do not. Thus, that is why I am an educator.

I am blessed to have the opportunity to work with young people on a daily basis. They keep me young and give me the desire to be a better teacher, coach, advisor, and mentor. As a result, I seek to learn more every day. Moreover, I look for ways to improve the educational experience for all of my students; lucky for me and them the world changes. 

Globalization for all its faults has created new technologies and connections never seen before in world history. Of course there are pros and cons to most everything. For all the negative impacts of consumerism and technology there are some positives that many of us should and will take advantage of to make the world a better place. As more and more of the world tries to emulate the West's lifestyle and standard of living competition forces us to be better educated as well as up to date on the latest tools for our chosen field.

Technology has provided us an opportunity to see the world in many new and different ways. We now have the ability to work, talk, write, text, research and learn from almost any place on the globe. Careers and jobs in the future will require skills in technology that currently are unknown. Those of us in education should and in my opinion must learn and embrace technology for our students and their futures.  If education reform has any definitive look to it, then technology is a big part of that picture. So, let us encourage, push, prod and force our colleagues to grow and change.  We owe it to our students, to our selves and to our world.

Adventures in Santa Fe

For my first post I am compelled to write about my summer exploits in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Learning is just apart of who I am as an educator and therefore every year I try to find something, somewhere to give me deeper appreciation and knowledge that I can share with my students. So, last February as I was looking through the many opportunities for summer workshops I was intrigued by one called "Contested Homelands."

"Contested Homelands" was being developed and sponsored by the University of New Mexico. I was interested because I didn't have a lot of historical knowledge of New Mexico other than the Santa Fe Trail and the Camino Real and because the fact that I didn't know much bothered me. So...I applied and was accepted! Yay me!

The good news is that there was a stipend for the workshop. The bad news is that it ended about the same time ISTE10 was taking place in Denver. Nonetheless, I was excited to be going on another journey. One that would prove to be my most fulfilling yet.

As the date approached I received a book on Po'Pay and some articles on the history of Santa Fe. Very interesting reads for a history geek like me. Of course I did a little research to find out more and was feeling pretty good about my trip.

I arrived for a weeklong adventure by way of 10 hours of travel time that took me through four different airports, the least of which was Phoenix International, ugh! Nonetheless, there I was in Santa Fe ready to learn and boy was I going to learn.

The week started off with a nice reception and introductions from the four leaders of this adventure and discovery. They made us feel at ease despite the demanding schedule we would endure for the week. I was feeling pretty good about my time in New Mexico and prepared for the variety of activities we would be exposed to in the days to come. And we did a lot but the outcome from this journey surprised even me.

See, it wasn't the museums or the visits to pueblos or the lectures by respected scholars that impacted and inspired me. It was the relationships I built with other educators from around the country. How powerful it was to connect with each other, learn and grow as professionals and people. I am truly blessed by the people I met and as the director of the project, Dr. Rebecca Sanchez said to me, that hopefully "elements from this workshop weave into your consciousness." Those elements for me are the people. So, take that to your classrooms and remember that the most important elements are the ones that come through your door during the school year and for many of us the educators who make up our PLN.