Thursday, July 11, 2013

Reflections on #MakerEd and #dtk12chat

This week has been packed with invigorating twitter chats! (I'm blessed with incredibly self-sufficient children who build blanket forts and draw treasure maps while I tweet.)  Tuesday at 3pm PST was #MakerEd chat, with the driving question around how we find and evaluate "Making" resources, and what a "Guide To Making in Schools" might look like for either teachers or students.  Wednesday at 6pm PST was #dtk12chat, or design thinking K-12 chat.  The first in this series, the chat aimed to establish common language and definitions around design thinking in K-12 education.  Both were incredible, and really help solidify my understanding of both movements and started my wheels turning for how to apply both within my school!

These are by no means official archives of either chat, but collections of the tweets, resources, and mini-conversations that stood out most to me.

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#MakerEd

Our driving question on Tuesday really emerged from an earlier conversation about how to "scale" Making in education.  For many teachers already leading Making, the processes - interation, creative use of tools, developing delicate crafting - come so naturally that a "guide" seems unnecessary.  So how can we "guide" other teachers towards this model without constraining them out of true "Making"?  Here are a few ideas that came out:

9 Jul I gravitate towards guides to get started, but they're too complex/wordy/step-by-step! I think I need 1-pager intros to diff tools.



9 Jul the idea being more about "here is what you can do here" than about "here, do this while you're here"



9 Jul  reference: Whereas for my class, I love the explosive brevity 's "17 things" list



i think the educator commitment is to help kids find ways to learn, so, yes, it takes relationship-building & inquiry & iteration



Let me be clear that my first year of eschewed standardized, leveled and kid-appropriate instr and FAILED.



Start with guided learning first then open the whole space. I think it gives better idea of possibilities.



I want guided discovery for the experience of grappling with entirely new ideas, of experimenting blind, grabbing happy accidents.



a tacit piece of tutorials i want to help makers articulate is how much stuff should be out in which piles



As teachers we have a responsibility (which I shirk) to document and share our learning, both to model for Ss & as a indp resoursce



Could start w a shared GoogleSite - pics spaces, detail pics of tool org, 1/2-p tool intros...



"what you build in your hands, you build in your mind. " that's one of my aphorisms for Design / Design Thinking /



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I still don't get "design thinking" as a discipline or content focus. Hopefully keeping my mouth shut in will help



I think because comes naturally to you... Det'ing need, understanding "customer" (even if self), iterating.



If PedagogyX is something people do naturally, unconcioussly, unnamed … then do we need workshops and binders?



PedagogyX YOU do naturally... How guide other tchrs to dev'ing that flow? PCK of ?



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So, yeah, I signed myself up to start a shared Google site where we can share our progress in our Maker spaces and programs!  Mine is going to start out in our shared Middle School Science Room, with plans to build a larger, more glorious space in our new building (which hasn't broken ground yet).  This will be a big experimental year!

James Tiffin Jr (@JimTiffinJr) is - like me - in the process of defining and building out a new Maker program and space, including a "Habits of Mind" list.  I will definitely continue to pester him, especially after his appearance at #dtk12chat Wednesday!  We clearly see eye-to-eye.  Vinnie Vrotny (@vvrotny), whom I met at ISTE, is also transforming an old lab into a Maker space!


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#dtk12chat

Wednesday was the *first* #dtk12chat, and we collected quite an amazing bunch of teachers to discuss the place of design thinking in schools!  I'll openly admit: I've been a bit of a design thinking skeptic.  It has seemed very heavy on steps, process, and vocabulary.  This chat really helped open my eyes to the depth and meaning within the process, and see how it can be applied non-linearly as more of a mindset!

(I really enjoy scrolling back through rich twitter conversations and seeing my own lightbulb turn on...)

Here are a few ideas that came out:


Q1: What is design thinking?



agree, I think the empathy piece is what really sets design thinking apart from other solution oriented processes



I don't think meaningful solutions can be found without the empathy piece. Otherwise, it's just a band-aid.




I like how you see it as a continual process, not just an end product

That is key in empathy, the ability to go beyond just understanding and reach a degree of identifying w/ others



I love that design thinking also incorporates the physical aspect of building prototypes and field work!



To become DT as a strategy, I think that the empathy is used to determine how your solutions will be used/perceived/received





  1. 15h
    Would like problem-solving "empathy" defined more clearly. I usually think of SEL be-nice, think-of-others - hard to translate.
    Expand
  2. 15h
    Often thought of as walking in someone else's shoes. Experiencing her/his position, experiences, perspective.
    Expand
  3. 15h
    So req's asking probing questions, since your 1st "read" of the prob/situation might not be everyone's "read"?
    Expand
  4. 15h
    Right. And those questions can also help the person with the need better understand it.


I think I struggle w/ term "empathy" in because have to probe yourSELF too, to deeply understand need. "Empathy" incl self?




the difficulty with learning empathy is knowing its more than a siloed step.


you can't just hop out of someone's shoes and move along after you've tied the laces :)

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2nd Question Q2: How does design thinking apply to education?


If is incorp in mindset, then we ask 5-10 q's before take definitive actions. No knee-jerk. Yes?



Ask enough questions of enough people to deeply understand the human needs associated with the problem at hand.




Then it also demands a growth mindset to be successful as well, no?

there is such a tendency to rush to the end… and once they get there it is over DT goes against that



So have to be careful not to hang on terms/steps, but rather integrate process into daily routine & thought processes.




That's when it has a chance to become a disposition, or way of acting.

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BIG Q: Am currently coaching EDUCATORS through prototyping. Tips on breaking bias of expertise/experience????





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Collective societies like Aboriginal culture focus more on self-in-relation & DT tends to default to that




Q3: What are some examples of design thinking in action?


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We gotta get on the Dweck train of growth mindset & drag the stragglers aboard kicking and screaming



our sprntndt sent a rocking letter with Dweck's book to all new hires Exciting 2 see the train moving!



Constantly kicking my closed mindset self in the face; it's my default & my students' often



The fact that you recognize that means you have a growth mindset.



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In presenting , like at conferences, how do we get past steps/vocab/"make a wallet" to deep understanding of this?




Reminds me of

there is an awesome book called Steal Like An Artist -



The DT toolkit for educators from and riverdale is also great:



I like the statement by : "Reframe Failure"



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16h
Final Thoughts Q4: Thoughts going forward?


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So... future topics that came out of Wednesday's #dtk12chat :

1.) Schedules / School Structure
  1. 16h
    One major hurdle in implementing seems to be allowing enough time for the process to work
    Collapse
    6:41 PM - 10 Jul 13 · Details
  2. 16h
    agree with you on this one (making note for future topic) Flexibility & ability to pounce of DT opportunity KEY



2.) DT, STEM, and Community Connections
  1. 16h
    does anyone have examples of design thinking used in real curriculum development connecting businesses and k-12 lessons?
    Expand
  2. 16h
    great topic for a future chat!


3.) DT 201 : getting beyond the steps to incorporating the mindset
  1. 16h
    In presenting , like at conferences, how do we get past steps/vocab/"make a wallet" to deep understanding of this?
    Expand
  2. 16h
    I think that is a great question for a future chat.

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Friday, July 5, 2013

An Educator's Top 4 Tips for SXSWedu PanelPicker Success

Checking out the SXSWedu 2014 blog today, I saw a new post entitled "5 Great Tips for PanelPicker Success".  It certainly gives some useful tips, like to actually fill out the whole proposal form, but I think it leaves much to be desired... As an educator who attended SXSWedu in 2013 and is on the advisory board for 2014, here are MY top 4 tips for non-educators for PanelPicker Success (with a bonus tip for educators at the end):

1.) Propose an active, collaborative effort between the presenters and the audience.  Real education doesn't work via lecture, and neither does professional development or the development of new educational innovations.  Offer questions for your audience to consider together, mini-activities to think through problems and solutions, or at least a backchannel for discussion.  (#SXSWedu gets awful crowded... over a sub hashtag for your session!)

2.) Include the teacher voice in your session. There are dozens of teachers who can contribute to a session on any topics.  MOOCs, 1-to-1 initiatives, even reaching schools with your marketing strategies or considering the implications of big data!  If you want educators to come to your session, the educators want to know that their voice is being represented.  Reach out.  Some teachers have started listing themselves as available for collaborations here, and you can troll twitter... we're out there!  (And if you don't already have teachers with whom you're collaborating... think about the implications of that for a minute.)

3.) Focus on the interaction between teachers, students, and technology. I don't speak for all educators, but I don't know a single educator who wants to "save time" and "be more efficient" by handing all teaching, assessing, and student connection over to the computer.  Your personalized adaptive math education platform might be cool, but nothing can replace the direct connections I have with my students.  How will your product support or enhance that connection?  What ideas do you have towards using technology to encourage positive relationships, deeper thinking, and interaction.

4.) Think about how your ideas and words sound to those of us in the trenches. If your proposal - like some from 2013 - refers to EdTech entrepreneurs with no classroom experience as "the real saviors of education," how excited do you think that will make those of us who work day-in and day-out trying to improve the lives and futures of children? And when you respond - like some did from 2013 - that those of us educators at SXSWedu are outliers and "if only all teachers had your enthusiasm!," consider what a slap in the face that is to the majority of my colleagues who are also awesome, and love children, and aren't at the conference.  If you want to work with teachers to improve educational outcomes for kids, consider your words and whether you are inviting teachers to work with you.

(And if working with teachers is not your priority... then we probably won't see eye-to-eye.)

I am looking forward to a kick-ass SXSWedu in 2014, as are many of my teacher colleagues around the country and around the world!  As an advisory board member, I'm encouraging my friends in learning sciences research - especially those in applications of technology to education - to propose sessions to bring more quantitative understanding of learning to the conference.  I'm also encouraging my teacher friends to propose sessions about their incredible successes with technology in the classroom, as well as their challenges and needs...

In that vein, one final tip for educators making SXSWedu proposals:

 We teachers need to take every opportunity we can to bring our needs to the edtech entrepreneurs!  They're enthusiastic; they want to improve learning for kids.  They often have little classroom experience.  Educator-driven sessions need to provide opportunities for educators and edtech entrepreneurs to work together to hammer on common needs in education that can potentially be helped or straight-up solved with technology!

Innovating solutions for better outcomes for kids!  That's basically the mission for SXSWedu, right??  Go forth, and PROPOSE!

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

My 5 Biggest #ISTE13 Take-Aways!

In the next few days, I'll go through and really process my ISTE experience... I took very thorough notes - even more detailed than usual - because I'm going to be submitting formal reflections to earn continuing ed credit through Dominican University of California.  But tonight, easing back into more routine evenings, lying with my kids as they fall asleep, I need to at least process my major take-aways:

1.) Attending conferences is foremost about making connections.
2.) The best sessions are those where we *DO* stuff!
3.) One-hour sessions with playtime are VERY hard to scaffold!
4.) The EdTech StartUp world continues to be more about business model and marketing strategy than about innovation in improving educational process and outcomes.
5.) My session kicked ass.

In more detail...

Read more »
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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

#DesignFest At ISTE13

Welcome to the pre- and post-conference landing point for DesignFest: Science Units for Global Collaborative Knowledge Creation!  This session will be / is being / was held at ISTE's national conference on Tuesday, June 25 at 10:30am in SACC 005.  Use the resources here before the session to learn  how to apply global collaboration pedagogies and knowledge-creation discourse strategies, and continue working with others after the session to build projects ready for cross-classroom collaboration with your kids!

To access the resources available for DesignFest, please visit the DesignFest ISTE 2013 Google Drive Folder (also accessible via the QR code below.  There, you'll find a collaborative notes document and a spreadsheet for participants to share and begin collaborating.  You'll also find:

  • A report on the benefits of place-based education
  • A paper by Prof. Jan van Aalst on supporting knowledge-creation discourse among learners
  • A paper by Prof. John Loughran on the complex problem of understanding the relationship between teaching and learning - pedagogy
  • A document of resources, including a link to the session's Prezi



I know many folks will be following ISTE from home via #ISTE13 and other hashtags.  Please join a conversation on developing collaborative science units via #DesignFest !

By the way, if you haven't joined the ISTE Ning "social network" yet, jump in and join the Nerdy Science Teachers group as another way to connect with science teachers while at the conference!
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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

End-of-the-Year Feedback

Another teacher at my school started a little initiative earlier this year to plan to gather semi-formal feedback from kids at the end of the year and - true to form - I went searching for ideas from other awesome educators to steal!  I found this great blog post from Cathy Yenca on her own "teacher report card" using Google Forms, plus her link to  @MrVaudrey's Google Form as well, both of which I started mining for ideas!

As with many grassroots initiatives, the idea of teacher feedback kinda faded away until I brought it up with the other 7th grade "Advisor" (like homeroom) teachers, and we decided to create an overall 7th grade "report card" that looked at the whole 7th grade experience, rather than individual-teacher by individual-teacher. So! We got rolling, made a Google Form, and distributed it to the 7th graders on Monday!

You can see the questions we asked here, broken into "Overall 7th Grade," "Science," "Humanities," and "Fine Arts."  (The 7th grade Advisors include math, science, and humanities teachers, and only the fine arts teachers asked to also be specifically included in the survey!  Math gave a separate, math-specific survey.)

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I was incredibly pleased with how many kids mentioned our Adventure Days as a particularly stand-out learning experience from the year! For example:

I think that I learned a lot from the Adventure Days. I created a graphic novel, and I learned a lot about what goes into making a comic/graphic novel and how long it takes. I also learned about different techniques to use and that it is actually really hard to create. It also made me appreciate the people who make graphic novels a lot more.

From the top of my head, I witnessed and experienced resourcefulness. During Adventure Day, my partner and I decided to make a layer cake. As many people are aware of, layer cakes take tedious hours of baking. After the process of baking, some of the layers turned out burnt and had fallen apart. Following this discovery my partner and I repeated that process, over and over again, until we had a few delicious layers. The rest of the layers, we decided to reassemble the good parts of the bad layers; not wasting food, and being resourceful.

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 We also got great comments from kids who really felt the benefits of service learning projects, a study of media influences in Advisor class, and a broad spectrum of academic projects from specific classes! For example:

 I learned a lot in girls class about healthy and unhealthy relationships. I though that that was an important as well as interesting topic. It relates to everyone of us, and we all need to be aware of our relationships...

 I think I actually learned a lot from the media project we did in advisor, because we learned about the sorts of tactics that advertisements and commercials use to grab our attention. I also learned more about how the media affects our decisions and and personalities.

 In advisor I learned a lot from doing the Service Learning project because we learned about how we can help the community by doing little things. (like doing a sign and flag for the giving garden.

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 We also asked the kids to reflect on what skills they think they've improved on in the past year, and what skills they could work on more next year. I'm excited to think about how we can incorporate these reflections into *starting* the year next year!

 A few of those fantastic improved skills are:

  • One skill I improved is just working really hard when something takes a long time, like the science animation or science essay or some of the humanities projects, and that it usually just works out even when you think it won't so you don't have to freak out and stuff if you don't think you will finish.
  • I think that I have improved with learning how to cut out things and shorten my writing. I think that this is important because my writing no longer has pages of unnecessary details, and the reader isn't bored with the length.
  • Writing with detail. I used to be a decent writer with detail, now I can write with a lot of detail in my papers.
  • I think I have really shown growth in the areas of asking good questions, and focusing, (which was a very big issue at the start of the year). This is because I can now much more easily pull myself away from distracting things, and dive into the academic work we were sent here to accomplish.

A few of those awesome need-to-work-on skills are:

  • I think next year I could work on Time management a little more. This year I felt like I didn't necessarily prioritize the way I should've and although I did get my work done I think I didn't use my time the most effectively.
  • I think that I could work more on asking questions when I'm confused, because sometimes I get too proud and don't want to ask for help. I realize now though that I need to, and that I can get a lot of answers and help. Next year, I will work more on asking questions when I'm confused about something because they can really help me on the project or problem that I'm on.
  • I think working in groups is another skill that I want to work on next year. I need to find a good way to communicate with my group members and make sure everyone is going to have enough time to do their part in the project. This skill will come in handy all throughout my life.

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 In the science section, I queried the kids about which unit they learned the most from and WHY. I love reading about kids enjoying the intensity of really difficult projects like the Biomedical Research Essays, and about how much they learned and grew in the more open-ended personal choice units! They also enjoy learning about issues directly related to themselves - Adolescent Brain Development! I also love reading them think through their own learning... for example:

 Energy in Biological Systems. I learned a lot when we were doing the activities, but mostly while making the final animation of the whole process. At first I thought the animation wouldn't help anything, but it really made me understand how things worked, and I think the amount of time I put into it helped me understand the concepts even more.

 I think that the biomedical research essays worked really well for me. I really enjoyed this because during the process and writing of the essay, I got to really think about how my study effects me and my family. I got to find a topic that relates to my personal curiosity and I got to answer a lot of personal questions about myself that I hadn't ever gotten the chance to ask. I also really liked this project because I like to write, and this essay was an inspiring piece to write about.

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 In the science section, I also asked in which units they feel like they could have learned *more,* and how I could modify the units to help future 7th graders. A very common suggestion was to add more time for investigations and projects - the kiddos felt rushed a lot of the time, especially during our investigations of heredity and gradual change, which they were really into and felt shortchanged! I definitely would love to find a way to let us lean into our projects more... perhaps that means cutting something out?

 Another suggestion that I really appreciated was not having two open-ended, self-driven, individual projects right back to back. One student said:

I feel like I could have learned more from the Science Symposium. Since it was right after the Biomedical Research Essays, I was kind of burnt out. I didn't do as much research as I could have because I was just really tired and didn't have a lot of "science brainpower" at the time. I realize I picked a really interesting topic, I just wish I could have expanded on it some more.

I can definitely respect that sentiment!

 (There were also a lot of complaints about my being out of town during the final week of writing those Biomedical Research Essays... Darn you, SXSWedu!!!)

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 Finally, I've really enjoyed reading the part of the feedback that asks the kids to offer advice to upcoming new 7th graders, and to their teachers for next year!

The big, huge, overwhelming suggestion from SO many kids to their teachers was, essentially:

  • Communicate with each other about assignments, so big projects don't occur all at the same time. Give us enough time so we're not rushed all the time!
A couple bonus good individual ones, that we should all definitely take to heart (even though the last one makes me smile from cute):
  • One possible change is to have more time to go further than the typical curriculum.
  • try to see things from our perspective.
  • be patient, because sometimes we make mistakes and don't know what to do so be forgiving.
  • I would tell the future teachers and staff at evergreen to do some mathematics, and adjust the height of the tables and chairs to better suit the ergonomic needs of OUR CHILDREN! My joints are hurting, and my elbows are trodden with pain.

 And finally, to the new 7th graders:

  • I would tell them to enjoy the year but also to know what work you have to do and set out time for fun stuff and school stuff. It's all about balance.
  • Prepare whatever you think is right because if you don't truly believe what you are doing, it is meaningless.
  • I would tell the current 6th graders to be prepared for a lot more work. This means being organized with your homework from different classes and balancing extra-curricular activities with school assignments. I would also tell them to push through any friendship problems by talking to their friends in a calm environment, because it isn't worth losing a friend that you've known since kindergarten over a small argument.
  • I would tell the future 7th graders to not lose their cool, and to stop and think about how the decisions they make now may affect their lives in the future, but to also live in the moment. It's hard.
  • Seventh grade is a lot different from sixth grade... All I can say is be true to yourself... (as cliché as it seems, it's true) Classes aren't that hard, but make sure to listen carefully in class and get your work done. Put you're best effort into everything you do and if you need help ask a teacher, teachers can usually always help. Good luck...
  • Don't procrastinate. Also, Be Awesome.

I think that's really the best advice anyone can give to anyone... Don't Procrastinate. Also, Be Awesome.
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Saturday, June 8, 2013

Best Google Apps Scripts for Educators

My school adopted Google Apps for Education (or #GAFE) earlier this school year, and I *LOVE* it!  We've had some solid "teachable moments" re: appropriate/kind use, but for the most part, it has really been a start to a broader transformation of our technology use.  We're movin' on up the SAMR scale!

And Google Apps alone is pretty cool, but not the end!  I have been starting to explore scripts and am going to try my hand at a little programming this summer.  Here are my favorites so far, plus a few hopes for things I haven't found yet:

1.) Doctopus was the first script I tried, the very same day we launched GAFE at school.  I was about to go out of town for a conference, and my students had an essay due the Friday of the week I'd be gone!  Doctopus let me set up a folder with one document shared with each of my students, each with the skeleton outline for the essay.  This helped me enormously in keeping all those essays organized, and I was able to comment to my students while out of town!  My students also each shared with two peer editors and with their parents (each set to "comment only" so mom and dad couldn't over-edit!).

Doctopus also has a gradebook and commenting feature, but I haven't played with that one yet.

2.) Flubaroo is a script for creating automatically-graded quizzes in Google forms.  As a science teacher, I don't really give many multiple-choice or other computer-gradeable quizzes, but many teachers at my school do, and we're looking for solutions outside of our current LMS - Moodle - for giving and grading those quizzes!  Flubaroo could help us move away from the one-stop LMS into a more GAFE-focused online learning environment!

3.) AutoCrat is a mail-merge script that I just found, and can't WAIT to try!  We exclusively use narrative reports for our kids... No number grades, no letters.  I've found that this can actually make ongoing feedback to parents tough... I give kids narrative comments for all major projects - formative and summative - and haven't found an easy way to transmit those comments to parents so they understand how their kids are doing along the way.  Hopefully with AutoCrat, I'll be able to mail merge comments from a spreadsheet so each parent can receive the feedback specific to their kid, as a "heads-up, here's how much your child is rockin'!"

4.) A fourth script that I want, but haven't found:

Giving narrative comments for each assignment, I *WANT* to have one comments spreadsheet for each project/assignment where I can enter each comment per kid.  However, I also want a comments spreadsheet for each *kid,* so they can have one place to look for all of their comments from all of their projects/assignments.  I feel like this would be pretty easy to put together, so that might be my GAFE script project for this summer!  It might even be as easy as playing with Queries, but I need some tinkering time...

What's your favorite Google Apps script to use in the classroom?  Or what's a script you *wish* someone would make?
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