National Commission on Education and the Economy

For some time we have been waiting for a report from the National Commission on Education and The Economy. While I will attempt to provide a summary, here is the link to the executive report:

http://www.skillscommission.org/executive.htm

Executive Summary Tough Choices or Tough Times (PDF) If you are running Adobe Acrobat version 4 or lower you may be experiencing problems opening the Executive Summary. Please visit Adobe's site to update your PDF reader.

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Web 2.0

This has got to be one of the coolest posters I've seen yet! A berlin based company is selling this poster that depicts Web 2.o

From Blogger to Diggs to del.icio.us, it's all there. Found it in an older post in TechCrunch. I thought I'd pass it along. on sale. Get it for 16 Euros plus shipping, in time for the holidays. I’m buying mine now. See their other posters here. In US dollars with the least expensive shipping, it costs about $41.

eSchool News articles of interest

e school news is dedicated to news and information regarding technology. Their latest issue has listed 20 articles most pertinent to schools. While some such as 'preparing for bird flu' may not seem like it would hit a top 10 list for schools, other articles such as warning students about what they post to the web along with information and use of wikis have a lot of relevance as we advance the use of technology within our instruction.
By following the link, you will find the article listed as Top 20 Articles Recommended by eSN Readers for 2006.

Part 1 can be found at;
http://eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6743

Part 2 can be found at:
http://eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6745

Network Conferencing with Karl Fisch, writer of the Fischbowl Blog

Monday afternoon, I had the distinct pleasure of conferencing with Karl Fisch. I have been extremely excited about what I have read in Karl's Blog, "The Fischbowl". Previously I wrote about his "Trilogy" presentations and shared them with our student and parent superintendent's cabinet. The presentations are so well done and thought provoking. After a few e-mails, I truly wanted to connect with Karl to learn about the initiatives taking place in his school and how students and teachers are trained. Since we are talking about using collaborative o n-line tools, it made sense to use them. I called Karl over Skype and we used the Vyew to document our conversation.
Karl was as interesting as I expected. He is a former Math Teacher turned Building Technology Coordinator. The district is in Colorado and have been fortunate related to financial resources. They received grant money as well as local funds as their board of education allocated 1 million dollars for technology in the district. Our evolution related to the technology initiatives are quite similar. A small group of teachers became teacher leaders and training spread from their. We discussed the challenges of time and how to have students trained in Web 2.0 technologies outside of the course content. As I wrote in my last post, our students are excited about use of this new media, at times they are overwhelmed and frustrated because they are learning the technology at the same time they are learning high level content. Something we will be looking at as a district.
While we are anxious to get things moving at a faster pace, we share very similar frustrations but are this is not necessarily bad. We are certainly pioneers treading on new ground and that is more than many other districts. Our teachers that have embraced the use of the new technology have renewed energy and excitement in how they deliver instruction. Finally, we are being noticed. Will Richards, author of Blogs, Wikis and Podcasting and the gentleman that trained us at "High School's New Face" last July referred to us in his latest blog and podcast.
Will's blog can be found at: http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/dispatches-from-the-front-lines-cont/

Will posts;

I came across this post from Pat Aroune in Western NY who has been diving head first into Read/Write Web tools with his students:

About one month ago, I asked five students to participate in an online experiment utilizing Skype and an online interactive whiteboard called Vyew. Vyew is a free, always on collaboration and web conferencing site that allows individuals real-time desktop sharing and capturing. I met with this small group of students, and we began what was essentially on online tutoring session for an upcoming essay. We did nothing that had not been done during the course of a classroom session, except we were all in our individual homes, and it was 8:30 p.m.. I began to sense, over the course of that hour long session, a wave of energy and enthusiasm from the participants. One month later, this concept of online collaboration has taken on a life of is own. Just last night,twenty sophomores from my A.P. European History classes, met online and did a Skype - Vyew session in preparation for an essay exam today. The remarkable thing is, I was not even a part of it. Individual initiative got last night’s conference off the ground. More power to the students!

You might want to check out the reflections of some of his students on another post as well.

Almost as cool is that Pat’s superintendent Neil Rochelle is blogging about his efforts to bring the tools into the school as well. And this post reflects the type of approach that I’ve been thinking and writing about more and more lately. It’s his recap of a monthly Parent and Student Cabinet meeting where they are talking about the Read/Write Web and it’s use in his school. The result:

Students that have been involved in blogging and social bookmarking love the use of these tools that are being made available and integrated into their instruction. Their chief “complaint”….they are overwhelmed! Because we have attracted teachers to the use of these tools in “pockets” across the district, the same teachers are teaching the content as well as the “how tos” for using the technology. Students feel that they need to learn the newest technology in another class BEFORE using it in these selected classes. A point well taken and one that I will be giving much thought to. Consensus however is they love the approach. They are motivated by on-line collaboration such as internet conferencing such as Skype and video conferencing. Before this year, MySpace was a close as they came to social networking. Now they see an educational value.

It reminds me that kids are overwhelmed too, that they don’t know all of this, that we still have a great opportunity to lead and model appropriate and effective uses, and to learn from each other and our students. Pat and Neil are taking their school in a much different direction, and it’s pretty exciting to watch.

Just some feel good for the holiday…any other stories to share?

Superintendent's Parent and Student Cabinet Meeting December 15th, 2006

Once a month, I meet with my Parent and Student Cabinet. Students range in age from 6th to 12th grade. Parents are those that are interested in keeping informed about district issues and initiatives. This month, in addition to district business, I thought these groups would be an excellent forum to discuss our journey into the read/write web and Web 2.0. I thought the best way to get a message across was to share 3 presentations from the Fischbowl- "The Trilogy". Well, the presentations did provoke thought and conversation amongst both groups.

Students that have been involved in blogging and social bookmarking love the use of these tools that are being made availble and integrated into their instruction. Their chief "complaint"....they are overwhelmed! Because we have attracted teachers to the use of these tools in "pockets" across the district, the same teachers are teaching the content as well as the "how to's" for using the technology. Students feel that they need to learn the newest technology in another class BEFORE using it in these selected classes. A point well taken and one that I will be given much thought to. Consensus however is they love the approach. They are motivated by on-line collaboration such as internet conferencing such as SKYPE and video conferencing. Before this year, MySpace was a close as they came to social networking. Now they see an educational value.

Parents were also interested and surprised to see the work of Karl Fisch. How could you not be. The "Did you know" presentation is a wake-up call at the least. The conversation had begun with what we need to do to better prepare students. Challenging them to high order thinking skills: in essence, critical thinking skills. It is no surprise that many high school teachers feel that critical thinking is the main skill deficits students have. Content isn't the issue. Between a very structured curriculum both at the local and state level, not to mention accountability in the form of mandated state testing, students are very good at learning "information". It is the ability to take their learning and use skills of analysis and sythesis that they lack.

So, I have to ask the question. Has the changes in our instruction over the years resulted in the loss of creativity and creating students that just parrot back the information in it's original form? Many teachers, some due to their subject matter, will not settle for just regurgitating the information. They insist that students take the information learned and apply it in a more generalized, high order thinking model. As the discussion progressed with the parents, it is oftentimes the basics they see their children lack, common sense, taking the conversation about what they learned in school to how it will impact their life or what it means to them. Basically, we get "the facts". Worth mentioning is the comment that just having the conversation as many of us had when growing up is a challenge. We talked about the disintegration of the American family. How just getting the family together around the dinner table at the same time is a challenge.

No surprise that we didn't come away with all the answers. Most important to me is that it started the conversation. What is it that we want our students to leave high school with. Does it go beyond just the content (in the case of New York, proficiency in the NYS Standards)? How do we introduce Web 2.0 technology to studnets? What about the next generation?.....Of that generation, I refer to the incoming kindergartens....the graduating class of 2020. Do we not want a different approach to learning from the start?

We have some work to do. From the start, reading and writing. There are still some that believe that reading and writing must be done with paper and pen, reading books. I agree, there is a place and need to do so. However, does it mean that there aren't other ways to accomplish the same goals? What about e-books on-line? What about the read/write web? I would advocate that we can do both.

Just food for thought. Something that will help us keep the conversation going and in the end, help us better meet our mission of providing the best for our students.

Looking for some great books for holiday gifts...even for yourself

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, that wasn’t on the list. However, I still believe it to be a must read for every modern educator.

I have also read David Warlick’s Raw Material’s for the Mind: A Teacher’s Guide to Digital Literacy. If not already in my collection, this too would have been on my list.

My list this year includes three other valuable reads for educators…

1. Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century; David Warlick. David is truly one of the great minds and motivators of educational change in the new century. His words cut, challenge, enrage and inspire readers and listeners to reevaluate how we educate our children.

2. Blog, Wikis, Podcasts and other powerful Web Tools for the Classroom; Will Richardson. Richardson is another of the true visionaries who is able to provide practical and effective ways to use web-based tools to flatten our classrooms into participatory learning environments.

3. The Long Tail; Chris Anderson. In many ways, I wouldn’t even be able to enjoy any of these titles without the advent of the Internet as a place of commerce. Anderson’s book evaluates the effect on the commercial viability of information sources as companies like Amazon.com and - here in Canada - Chapters/Indigo increasinly rely on the web as a place to do business.

The Fischbowl: Colorado Tech Coordinator posts amazing information

A must see....................

The Fischbowl "Trilogy" of Presentations

Several folks have asked for one location where they can direct people to to find all three presentations that have been posted to The Fischbowl. Well, this is it. For each presentation, however, I would recommend visiting the associated blog post to get the context of the presentation, as well as read through the comments. My suggestion is to read the post first, then watch the presentation, then go back and read through the comments. (To view the comments, go to the blog post and then click on the words "12 comments" - or whatever number it is at - at the bottom of the post.)

Each of these presentations are available in multiple forms. If you'd like the PowerPoint version, you'll need to save both the PowerPoint and the MP3 music file into the same folder in order for the music to play. To download any version of the presentations, right-click (or, if you have a Mac with a one-button mouse, control-click) on the link and choose Save Target As . . . (or whatever similar choice your browser lists). Then browse to where you would like to save it and click Save.

The order that I created these presentations was "Did You Know" first, then "What If", then "2020 Vision." I suppose the more logical order to view them would be "What If" - which looks at the past, then "Did You Know" - which looks at the present and a little bit of the future, then "2020 Vision" - which looks "back" at the future from the year 2020. That also happens to be from shortest to longest. If you only have time for one, I think "Did You Know" is probably your best bet.

Presentation is about 6 minutes



What If PowerPoint Version and MP3 Music File (save both to the same folder)
What If Windows Media Player Version

Presentation is about 8 minutes
Did You Know PowerPoint Version and MP3 Music File (save both to the same folder)
Did You Know Windows Media Player Version

Presentation is about 15 minutes
2020 Vision Windows Media Player File (only plays on Windows Machines with Windows Media Player 10+ on them)
2020 Vision Quicktime Version
2020 Vision on Google Video

The sense of urgency. How do impact a larger number of teachers?

You know I'm an advocate.....at times crazy over what we need to do and how to make it happen. There are several thoughts. First, we need to change how we do staff development as we know it. I still believe there are a need for "conference days" to present pedagogical changes in our district. With respect to making others aware, there are some incredible resouces I have just come across that we can "professionally borrow and adapt" in the form of powerpoint presentations from a blog "the Fischbowl".
I was stunned at the quality and the message that would be hard for anyone to argue with. I have already downloaded these presentations. They can be placed on our common drive and ask departments to take a department meeting to view them. That will take care of awareness.
With respect to blogging. For those just beginning, there is a step-by-step powerpoint that teachers could follow. That too can and should be on a common drive.
Next, it the notion of meeting the needs of our students. If you do see the presentations from the Fischbowl on "Did you know" and "What If", the imperative will be clear. Teachers are intelligent and in this profession for a reason. The need will become obvious.
In other reading this week, there is another Commission that has been at work. "The National Center on Educatio and the Economy". They had published a resport at the end of the 90's looking at what schools and the business community need to do to function in the world we live in. They are about to release a report that will outline the needs for success in a global economy. I am very interested in see that the report documents and recommends. I think that may become a platform for Iroquois, if not New York State to begin a conversation.
Lastly, while hypothetical, check out the presentation I sent you "2020". Is it time for us to tackle a strategic planning committee to look at what we need to do in order to prepare students for 2020? Why is 2020 "the year"? In September, incoming kindergarteners around the country will graduate in the year 2020. If we are to truly reform schools and teach students in the educational system "differently", does it not make sense to begin at the very beginning with the next generation?
I leave you with those thoughts.

Time to Catch Up.....................

I've almost lost track of this blog. Since the last time I posted I have begun several other blogs. You can quickly access some of them alongside this blog under 'links'. Since The New Face of High Schools conference in Ellicottville last July, our school has a quiet. but very strong force in taking a new look at how we educated high schoolers. The most important shift is one of the pillars of New Faces: having students take a more active role in what they learn and how they learn it.
Our high school has several initiatives going on at the same time but the y are all interconnected. Iroquois has joined The Successful Practices Network in order to become a 'model school'. The resources that Bill Daggett's organization provides is helping us reach that goal. Several committees have taken on a different facet. One committee is investigating a Freshman Academy- not that new of a concept but one that has demonstrated success. Extending the middle school concept of teaming can only foster a sense of community for our students and give them the added support to ensure they have a successful high school career. Another committee is looking at The Successful Practices Resources and investigating best practices. Hand in hand, the entire staff have submitted "Gold Seal Lessons". Once approved, our faculty will have access to an enormous library of Gold Seal Lessons developed by some of the best teachers in the country. It's always good to get new ideas without reinventing the wheel.
Yet another committee is looking at how we connect with students and are pioneers in using blogs, wikis and podcasts to help students think out of the box in terms of how they learn and access information. In this technological age, so much is available to our students. As a superintendent, while I want and need our teachers to "cover content", it is just as important to me for them to consider a change in their role as traditional teachers. I would like to see a shift from teachers as "instructors" to teachers as "facilitators of learning". There is enough literature to wallpaper a school building related to students being engaged in the learning process and that student achievement increases when students not only take in information but actually synthesize and analyze. Be it Maslow's hierarchy, Silver and Strong's "Thoughtful Education Model" or the work of Marzano and yes Bill Daggett, students will achieve at higher standards if their learning is relevant and they take an active part in the learning.
I have been fortunate and privilaged to see this type of learning from students taking AP Economics and AP European Studies at Iroquois. Students post daily lecture notes for all classmates to access, information is analyzed and debated over a class blog and students post work for their teacher to see. Many would ask if this will make a difference? Couldn't students learn the same information from their teacher in a lecture format? I will suppose that they could learn the facts and do reasonably well on both formative and summative assessments. But what of critical thinking skills. Can they take the information to the next level? Actually understand the conditions that causes a particular event and understand the conditions under which we could replicate or prevent the same conditions from happening again............
We know that students have difference learning styles. We also know that many students do not succeed well in a lecture format. Does the use of technology help other students be more creative? Do students that live and breathe for the internet have the ability to learn how to use the internet for more than fun but to access a world of information? How many more students will we 'reach' because we have found another way to engage them? If we engage 1% more students in a class is it worth it?.......5%?..........10%?....................get the idea?
There are many features that would please parents of our students. Gone would be the excuse that "I forgot the homework" or "I was absent today and don't have the notes". All the information could be obtained by logging onto the class blog. Parents could also access the same information buy checking out the blog- these blogs are public!
I have used a blog since September to keep our school community informed of special events, actions at monthly board meetings, relaying plans for homecoming and the success our athletes had this fall and finally, used the during the now historical October Storm in Western New York to keep student and parents informed about school closings, safety conditions in the area along with clean-up efforts. I have received quite a bit of feedback from both parents and students that they like this up-to-the-minute information. Another blogs allows students to ask me questions or air their opinions. How many of us had direct access to our superintendent when we were growing up? How many of us had any access to our superintendent when growing up? Times they are a changing!
As an educational institution, I believe it is our responsibility to not only teach students what is required but what they will need to be successful in the future. I don't know of any school that does not indicate so in their mission. With all the technological advances and how quickly people have come to expect access to information and use it in their daily lives, how could we not tap into this as we educate our students?
Those of us that attended Will Richardson's sessions at last summer's New Faces Conference had the opportunity to meet with him again. To see how far we have come and what the next steps could be. There are other pioneers on the horizon. I am proud to say that our school is one of the leaders in actually taking off with integrating the use of technology. It is my hope that you will take the time to check out some of the blogs related to courses as well as those used to inform or dialog in our district. It is an exciting time in education. How proud we can be to be a part of the most substantial change that has taken place in how we teach in years.

High School's New Face

High School's New Face

I have the good fortune of being at this conference with a team of highly motivated, extremely talented and incredibly creative teachers that cannot hold back their enthusiasm for changing our high school. My challenge, as the leader of the district is how to support this change...not with this highly motivated and creative teachers, but with the entire faculty in our high school. We want to move beyond the "why" to the "how" and for some of us.......How fast we make it happen?

Where to begin?

As a leader in schools, change is one of the most challenging aspects of the job. There are many things that are to be considered and the research is full of caveats, timelines, and processes for change. I need to make one immediate assumption and that is that deep down, every educator knows that students have changed over the years. Their values, their interests, the way they communicate and gain information. No longer does it suffice to say that "you need to learn this because you will need it someday". Years ago (when some of us were students) that answer was enough to motivate us or at least give us a reason for what we were learning. Students of today are constantly challenging what they are learning and why they need to learn it. They seek to make real-world connections (purpose) for their learning. We owe it to them to be able to anwer that question.

One of the first challenges becomes, can we answer their question? Can we tell them what awaits them after high school, after college? What it is they really need to know to be successful, productive citizens, consumers, professionals? The information is out there.....Just one example is the highly publicized, and increasingly respected perspective in Friedman's book, "The World is Flat". Is the answer a global society where individuals will need to communicate and compete with the likes of India, China and Eastern Europe? Is their competence in algebra, geometry and trigonometry, biology, US history, etc., truly what they will need to be successful?

Or does being successful mean being able to seek, interpret and apply new knowledge? Is it to demonstrate critical thinking? Is it the ability to set goals, make a plan for attaining those goals and knowing what it takes to accomplish their goal? .................something to ponder.

Do students in the 21st century learn in the same way we were taught? How much faster can students access information? How much faster do students expect to obtain information? What motivates them to learn?

There are increasingly more educators and leaders in schools that know the answers to some or many of these questions. Information needs to be meaningful. Students are information seekers but use technology to gather it...not a card catolog in a library.......they have access to information like no other generation before them. Their textbooks come with CD-ROMS to extend their learning. Textbook companies support their textbooks on the web. Students share homework assignments and exchange answers while instant messaging each other on myspace.com, aol instant messenger and a host of other vehicles on the world wide web.

And so the challenge is, how do we integrate the needs of students with respect to how they learn, what it is they really need to learn and show them the relevance of what it is we are teaching? How do we begin to make these changes in schools? In schools that have been teaching the same way they have educated students for hundreds of years?

From a leadership prospective, how to we introduce to our teachers the need to change how it is we do business? How do we effect change in a system that is resistent to change, that has "results" i.e. test results, that show 'we're doing a good job'? How do we as leaders support the teachers that are ready to embark upon 21st century teaching? Do we start with small groups of teachers that are interested and willing? Do we make decisions (research supported of course!) that change is inevitable and essential and just direct teachers?....... "we need to do it differently, this is what we need to do, now lets talk about how we're going to do it?"

Obviously, I have some personal ideas on how this change can take place. Change as a construct has research that supports the notion that with respect to "change" in schools, for change to be institutionalized, it will take 3 to 5 years............................can we wait that long?...............should we wait that long?

The purpose of this blog is for folks to share their ideas with respect to changing high schools. Not only am I interested in what you are changing...............I am more interested in the process of change. Who do you get on board? When? How long do you take? How do you introduce the concepts to a faculty in a school district?