Dealing with Distractibility in the 1:1 Classroom

Here is a presentation I shared in a workshop titled Dealing with Distractibility in the 1:1 Classroom. Feel free to use or share!

http://bit.ly/Distractibility

Does Assigning Projects = Project-Based Learning?

While Twitter is my professional learning space, Facebook is my space for personal friends. Having moved many times while I was young, I have been able to re-connect with friends from elementary school and junior high that I never thought I would “see” again. Now that I’ve been in education so long, I can connect with former students now that they are out of college (one of my personal “rules” about my Facebook account.)

Over the holidays and periodically throughout the year, I read posts from my friends lamenting the projects that their children are assigned at school to complete at home. 

I know I assigned projects during my 12 years as a classroom teacher, and I remember the dread that I heard from students (especially the Rube Goldberg project they had to complete!) And while I had hoped to increase motivation and learning through hands-on projects, what I assigned would not have been considered part of "project-based learning."

Project-based Learning, or PBL, is defined as "a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to a complex question, problem, or challenge." (source) 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with projects, but assigning a project may not fit the definition of project-based learning. 

As we are looking for ways to “hook” our students and engage them in authentic, relevant learning, the chart below from Amy Mayer helps us to understand the difference between projects and project-based learning. 

The three differences that stand out to me are:

• A project can be outlined on one piece of paper by the teacher, and PBL includes many "Need to Knows by the students and teachers.
• Projects happen after the "real" learning has already occurred and are just the "dessert," where PBL is how students do the real learning.
• Projects are turned in, and PBL assignments are presented to a public audience encompassing people from outside the classroom.

While students may not get fired up about PBL assignments, there are many qualities about the assignments that make them relevant and rigorous. Also, they can't be done without the assistance of the teacher. 

Simply, project-based learning is about the process, and projects are about the product.

I wonder if I would see the Facebook posts from friends if their children's teacher's used project-based learning in the classroom instead of assigning projects to complete over the weekends or holidays. 

Do you or someone you know use PBL strategies? Please share in the comments. 

Want to learn more about PBL? Click the link for a compilation of 2014's Most Popular Blogs and Hangouts on the Buck Institute for Education website.

Transitioning to PBL isn't always easy. Read this blog post by Benjamin Stern, "Can You Just Tell Me What to Do?"

Good vs. Great Teachers

What separates the good teachers from the great teachers? Is it that the great teachers know more about their subject area? Is it that they are funnier, better joke or story tellers, or better communicators?

In my 20+ years of experience, I think what separates the good from the great is the willingness to learn. The good teacher must not only be willing to learn about their subject area and effective ways to teach it, they must also be willing to learn about themselves and their learners, increase self-awareness, and be willing to act on the information they learn.

Former superintendent of Tacoma (WA) Public Schools, Dr. Art Jarvis, stated this about what makes a great teacher:

"Much of what makes a great teacher today is the same as it has always been. It's a passion for a subject, an inherently caring attitude, the ability to trigger receptiveness to learning in children, and a knack for coaching kids in fun ways. But today, that's no longer enough. In education we are facing a sea of change in high technology and higher expectations." 

The only constant in education, as in life, is change. Especially now, with the rapid changes in technology and their applications in education, a teacher must be willing to change, and to do that requires an ability and desire to learn. 

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership produced the following animation: 

Great Teachers Are Great Learners - AITSL from Innovation Unit on Vimeo.

Dr. Maryellen Weimer, author of "Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice," writes for The Teaching Professor Blog, and wrote an article titled, "Seven Characteristics of Good Learners."

Here are the seven characteristics that she identifies, which are applicable to students as well as teachers: (see her blog post for more information about each characteristic.)

1. Good learners are curious

2. Good learners pursue understanding diligently

3. Good learners recognize that a lot of learning isn’t fun

4. Failure frightens good learners, but they know it’s beneficial 

5. Good learners make knowledge their own 

6. Good learners never run out of questions 

7. Good learners share what they’ve learned

Teachers, are these the characteristics that you possess or are working on? Would you add any to this list?

Administrators, are these the characteristics  you look for in prospective teachers? How do you foster growth in these characteristics in your current teachers? Would you add any to this list?

Beyond a New Year's Resolution: My 3 Words for 2015

Each year, people make New Year's Resolutions and list goals and dreams for the year, and every year they are broken or not met. When planning for a new year, we list dreams, visions, goals, plans, and methods, but something that is not listed is motivation. When days get long and stressful, what will keep us moving in the direction of meeting our goals?

For me, it's the Three Words I select at the beginning of the year to set my intentions, drive my actions, and align my purpose. Choosing three words is something Chris Brogan has been doing since 2006 (You can read his 3 Words for 2015 here). He sums it this way: 

“The three words are a shorthand representation of your bigger story. It’s kind of like how an icon isn’t the software program. It’s just a way for you to mentally access all the work you’re doing.”

While I had been a fan of Chris for a while, last year was the first year I participated and publicly shared my three words for the 2014. My 3 words for 2014 were Discipline, Intentional, and Balance. Last year was an incredible year, and I believe it has to do with using the three words as guideposts throughout the decisions and actions I made throughout the year.

To decide on the three words for the year, I write down words as I reflect on the year and dream for the future. There's no limit to the number of words I write, then I narrow my focus to choose three that I feel will help me to achieve my goals for the year and have a happy and rewarding year. Publicly sharing the words keeps me accountable, energized, and on track throughout the year.

The first word I chose for the new year is Rhythm. Rhythm is defined as "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." (source) 

As someone who likes to be strong, the definition of rhythm seems like a contradiction of what I want to achieve in 2015. What I have slowly realized is a lesson I already had learned as an athlete and coach. As a pitcher, I had to get in a "rhythm" in order to perform my best. I couldn't muscle my way through a practice or game or force the outcome. Sometimes I had to give in to a weakness in order to gain a strength, and it was something I got better at recognizing the longer I pitched and coached.

Life is like that, too... it has it's rhythms, ebbs and flows. With one daughter headed to college next fall, another daughter who will start driving in a few weeks, a husband who is working on starting his own business, and me wanting to get published in 2015, there will definitely be some ebbs and flows during the year. This is where I will rely on experience (mine and others) to help me get the feel of the rhythm of life.

Educators must be brave. I fully believe this. We have a hard, rewarding, crazy, demanding, magical, inspiring, draining job that we do every day. I want to be braver in what I do. I have always lived with the motto, "If you're going to do something, do it right," which has also stopped me from taking some risks that I could/should take for fear of it not being right. (Oddly enough, there are things I've tried and didn't worry about the outcome... I just want to be more consistent with my bravery!) We all have fears. I just want to be able to look mine in the eyes and face them! 

If you know me well, you know that I believe in healthy lifestyle choices - food, exercise, rest, and positive thinking. To be physically fit, one must exercise regularly, pay attention to their bodies and minds, make healthy food choices, and make time to be physically fit. Fitness, my word for 2015, doesn't just mean physical fitness, it means fitness in other areas, too - including financial, spiritual, mental, and relational. I want to pay attention to those areas, develop them fully, make healthy choices, and exercise them daily.

What are your three words for the new year?