When is the Last Time You Took a Risk?

Every Monday night another assistant principal at our school, Holly Sutherland, and I co-moderate a Twitter Chat that uses the hashtag #ALedchat. It’s a chat for Alabama educators as well as educators all over the country, and it's a terrific opportunity for professional learning. 

Today, I emailed several school superintendents in the state that I know personally or who are in our “over the mountain” school classification.  

I decided to put myself (and her, ha!) out there. Many thoughts crossed my mind.... Are the superintendents even on Twitter? Do they value Twitter? Will they see this as insignificant? Will they forward the message to their educators? 

I felt vulnerable at taking the risk, but I know that without risk there is no reward.

Here’s the email I sent:

Holly Sutherland and I, both administrators at Hoover High and co-moderators of the weekly state Twitter Chats, would like to invite you and other educators in your school system to join us tomorrow (Monday) night from 9pm-10pm as we discuss topics with other educators in Alabama and across the country. 

Tomorrow's topic is "Learning First, Tools Second," inspired from the article "Students First, Not Stuff" from the March issue of Educational Leadership (ASCD).   

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar13/vol70/num06/Students-First,-Not-Stuff.aspx 

www.tweetchat.com is your best option if you are going to participate. Just go to the website, sign in with your Twitter account and then enter the #ALedchat hash tag in the top box. This will allow you to follow the chat, reply, retweet, and favorite tweets more effectively.  Once you follow the chat with the hash tag in the box, the hash tag is automatically added to the tweet. Please join us and feel free to share this email with other educators in your school system who use Twitter for their personal learning and networking.  

Sincerely, 

Jennifer Hogan, Ed. S.

Ninth Grade Principal
Hoover High School
1000 Buccaneer Drive
Hoover, AL 35244
Twitter: @Jennifer_Hogan

When is the last time you took a risk? How did it turn out?

The Outboard Brain at School

I still remember a time about 15-20 years ago, when I was a classroom teacher and there was a debate among science teachers about whether or not students should have to memorize anything from the periodic table. Should students memorize elements' symbols? Atomic mass? Atomic number? When I taught physical science about 15 years ago, I would have freshmen in my class who had to memorize the symbols, atomic number, and atomic mass of the first 40 elements of the periodic table. Then, I would think, WHY??...it's such a waste of time and brain space!

My philosophy was for students to memorize the symbols of some of the common elements to be helpful when students were having to write formulas for compounds. If our goal is to prepare students for "real life," in real life they would be able to look on a chart or in a book to find the factual information they would need. 

Fast forward to today... students now carry around those "charts" and "books" in their hands. Students with smartphones have access to information that teachers have always provided and have tested students on their ability to memorize. With these tools, is it necessary anymore to have students memorize the presidents names in order? Or memorize the names and dates of the battles of the civil war? What about memorizing the formulas for physics class?

I recently attended the annual conference for the National Association of Secondary School Principals. One of the sessions was led by Scott Klososky, and international technology speaker and entrepreneur. Being a huge fan of technology and the potential to infuse it into education to enrich the learning for all, I was excited to hear and learn from him. 

Scott showed the following video, The Outboard Brain. David Bowden performs the spoken word poetry and the words reminded me of the debate I faced many years ago. There is a huge shift in how students access information today that wasn't around 15 years ago. They carry access in their hands, immediately available on demand. 

"The way we amass, access, and assess the information we process has changed."

Using "Outboard Brains" is a game-changer for education. Although I was a science teacher, I see application possibilities in subjects other than science. For example, instead of memorizing the names and dates of presidents (in order), students can use brain space for learning how those presidents impacted the country, culture, and world during his presidency as well as any lasting effects. Instead of using time at home to memorize, time can be spent researching, pondering, chatting, listening, etc. Instead of class time being used to test and quiz the students' abilities to memorize, time is used for debate, listening to other students' inputs, writing responses to thought-provoking questions, and more.

The brain can be used for creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration, moving up Bloom's taxonomy from lower-order thinking skills to higher-order thinking skills.

What are your thoughts on using the outboard brain to do our memorizing for us? How can we capitalize on this and deepen students' learning?

An Exciting Time to Get Back to Blogging!

It's been a while since my last blog post... and A LOT has happened since then! I was in Washington, D.C. this past weekend for the annual conference of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. My husband got to go, and it was his first time in D.C. He's a huge history buff, so I was excited for him getting to go. 

The conference was wonderful in many ways, from the sessions and school showcases to seeing the people I had already "met" on Twitter. I found it to be the perfect timing and impetus for me to get back to blogging about what I'm passionate about - kids, education, and technology.

I plan to share a lot of what I learned at the conference.  I also plan to share some of the terrific things we have going on at Hoover High School. You can visit the school's blog, which is written by Holly Sutherland, (update: the school blog is no longer live) to follow along our school's technology journey in a 1:1 iPad environment. This blog is not intended to duplicate Holly's efforts, but I will on occasion share great things that are happening at Hoover High School. I also plan to share some of those ideas that rattle around in my head, keep me awake at night, cause me to spend gobs of time on the Internet researching, or those that I learn from others that resonate greatly with me.

Thanks for joining in,
Jennifer

Back to School! (And an new, technology-driven Engaged Learning Initiative)

Who remembers starting school after Labor Day?

I do! And because I'm feeling nostalgic, I thought it would be a good time to resurrect my blog about education. Specifically, education at Hoover High School. 

I took the summer off from blogging... and since then, I decided I will continue to write blog posts next summer because I'm asked all the time, "What do administrators do in the summer?"  Hopefully I'll be able to put the mystery to rest. :)

We've got some really exciting things going on at Hoover High School this year! Our school district has launched what it calls the Engaged Learning Initiative (ELI). We call it the iPad Initiative... starting on Tuesday after Labor Day, seniors whose parents have signed the agreement form will receive an iPad for their use this year. Early in 2013, juniors will receive an iPad. If all goes well, freshmen and sophomores will join them next fall and all 2600+ students will be using iPads for their learning.

Our teachers got their iPads a couple of weeks before school started, and our professional learning days on those days prior to students returning was focused on integrating technology in the classroom, the iPads and apps, and social media. The excitement in the building has been incredible, the teachers have been sharing their knowledge with each other and with students, and they have also been learning from students. 

The 12th grade principal, Holly Sutherland, and I have been visiting classrooms almost everyday and tweeting about what we are seeing. Now teachers are sending us emails inviting us to see the wonderful things that they are doing each day! 

While the iPads are a tool for increasing student engagement, we are seeing that teachers are also more engaged (some rejuvenated!), which has the trickle-down effect for students and colleagues. This year is proving to be one of the most exciting and transformational yet. 

Stay with me through my posts this year so that you can follow our journey....