Our Brains Think Differently

Just the other day I was writing an email and stumbled across the spelling of the word "alley."  I couldn't remember if the word was spelled ally or alley.  I looked up and asked my students.  The response was brilliant.  Here's how the conversation went.

Me:  "How do you spell alley?"
Student:  "Google it and then click on images, see what comes up."

I marveled at this brilliant response.  My brain is geared to print.  I grew up with dictionary pages and guide words.  Using google to look up unknown spellings of words is not new to me and dictionary.com or google searches of webpages are my normal course of action when unknown spellings arise.   After all, I'm proficient when it comes to internet searches.  But images?  This brought about a whole new understanding to how the teenage brain thinks differently than mine. 

Here's a view of what comes up had I looked up the word alley:

Here's what comes up when I click google images:

 

Quite a different beast I'd say.  Upon second review of this image search, I wondered how easy it might be for a teenager to get side tracked by the barrage of scantily clad photographs of women.  What surprised me was that I didn't even remember these images popping up when I was looking up the spelling of the word "alley."  To my surprise, when I did this activity for the first time, my eyes traveled directly to the image of a street alley and I went right back to my email.  Would a teenager do the same?

Regardless of the response, our brains think differently and my job is to teach the teenage brain not the adult brain.  Part of that teaching must involve knowledge of how to handle images like the above popping up when a student completes an image search because handle them they must.  Understanding what is appropriate to view and what isn't is just as important these days as spelling the word "alley."  A recent incident occurring during a news interview involving a bank employee caught on camera as he checked out pictures of naked women on his computer only emphasizes this point.  

Many adults are under the impression that students are proficient in the electronic world.  Though these students may be more proficient than most teachers, the truth of the matter is that students aren't as proficient as we may think.  The internet is a whole new ball game when it comes to information.  As teachers, we need to guide students towards the development of techniques that not only determine the credibility of information found but to determine whether or not sites are appropriate to visit  based on domain names or URLs.  We know they won't search the same way we do.  The teenage brain is truly a different beast.

Finally, more information related to teaching internet search can be found on Finding Dulcinea website and the Finding Dulcinea blog.

Which Student Project Will Most Improve Education?

As part of the project-based model of conferencing that we use for the Flat Classroom conference, we have authentic outcomes.  Through this process, participants learn HOW to design global collaborative projects but we also see the best proposals and can VOTE on which of these student-created projects most deserve to come to education.  We have a couple of people who have already spoken with us about supporting some of these ideas with their time and effort, but for now, we need your votes.  Read each of these videos and if you wish, you may read more detail on their wiki pages (by clicking on the name of their project) and then cast your vote.  Feel free to use this as a teachable experience with your college classes and students.


Like-Write

Find more videos like this on Flat Classroom Conference Impact: Inspirational Museum Promoting Arts by Children Through Technology Find more videos like this on Flat Classroom Conference Ah-ha: Amateurs Teaching Adults   Find more videos like this on Flat Classroom Conference When done, please vote ONCE below.  Share this with other educators. From Cool Cat Teacher

Google Translate

Google has just updated their translate features which may alleviate the need for additional translation websites and applications if you are using them frequently.

Another Flat Classroom™ Project

Recently I applied and was accepted into the newest Flat Classroom Project titled the Net Generation Education 2010 Project and I couldn't be more pleased.  The team of 8th graders participating in this project are excited and ready to move forward.  They'll have the opportunity to work with students and teachers around the world, as well as Don Tapscott, the author of Growing Up Digital:  The Rise of the Net Generation and Grown Up Digital:  How the Net Generation is Changing Your World.

In this project, students will study and "mash up" the results of the 2010 Horizon Report from the New Media Consortium and Educause and Tapscott's book Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World. Students will study the current research and create wiki-reports with their student partners around the world analyzing current trends and projecting future happenings based upon this collaborative analysis. This project is managed by the students who assume roles such as project manager, assistant project manager, and editors of the various wikis.

After compiling their wiki reports based upon current research, and encouraged by "expert advisors" (subject matter experts in the industry), students will then create a video in one of two strands. Video strand I competition will be the NetGenEd Challenge where students are asked to envision the future of education based upon current global technological trends. Video Strand II Competition is the Macrowikinomics Challenge where students envision the future of global social action based upon their research in current global technological trends. The video challenge will also be open to the public for submissions.

I'm really proud of the participating students as their participation shows their commitment to education, social action, and the willingness to work hard and collaborate with others from all over the world. 

This is our second Flat Classroom Project and I must rave about the organizers, Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis,  founders of the Flat ClassroomTM Project.  Their work and support to bring down classroom walls is phenomenal.

Top Ten Mistakes in Education

A few days ago I read an old post from Pete Reilly's  Ed Tech Journeys regarding Roger Schank and Engines for Education.  

Roger Schank runs Engines for Education, a non-profit organization charged with "creating new learning environments to replace out-dated and wrong-headed educational notions where much of his philosophy, vision and mission for education can be found."  Their focus is on learning environments that foster learning by doing.  He includes a section on his website dealing with the Top Ten Mistakes in Education which I have posted below.

The mistakes he lists and his commentary that follow are worth reading and certainly worth reflection.  They serve as interesting conversation starters for school staff and the constant need to be reminded about our true purpose of education.   Some may feel he swings the pendulum too far in one direction while others will feel like he hits the nail on the head. 

What are the top ten mistakes in education?

Mistake #1: Schools act as if learning can be disassociated from doing.

There really is no learning without doing. There is the appearance of learning without doing when we ask children to memorize stuff. But adults know that they learn best on the job, from experience, by trying things out. Children learn best that way, too. If there is nothing to actually do in a subject area we want to teach children it may be the case that there really isn't anything that children ought to learn in that subject area.

Mistake #2: Schools believe they have the job of assessment as part of their natural role.

Assessment is not the job of the schools. Products ought to be assessed by the buyer of those products, not the producer of those products. Let the schools do the best job they can and then let the buyer beware. Schools must concentrate on learning and teaching, not testing and comparing.

Mistake #3: Schools believe they have an obligation to create standard curricula.

Why should everyone know the same stuff? What a dull world it would be if everyone knew only the same material. Let children choose where they want to go, and with proper guidance they will choose well and create an alive and diverse society.

Mistake #4: Teachers believe they ought to tell students what they think it is important to know.

There isn't all that much that it is important to know. There is a lot that it is important to know how to do, however. Teachers should help students figure out how to do stuff the students actually want to do.

Mistake #5: Schools believe instruction can be independent of motivation for actual use.

We really have to get over the idea that some stuff is just worth knowing even if you never do anything with it. Human memories happily erase stuff that has no purpose, so why try to fill up children's heads with such stuff? Concentrate on figuring out why someone would ever want to know something before you teach it, and teach the reason, in a way that can be believed, at the same time.

Mistake #6: Schools believe studying is an important part of learning.

Practice is an important part of learning, not studying. Studying is a complete waste of time. No one ever remembers the stuff they cram into their heads the night before the exam, so why do it? Practice, on the other hand, makes perfect. But, you have to be practicing a skill that you actually want to know how to perform.

Mistake #7: Schools believe that grading according to age group is an intrinsic part of the organization of a school.

This is just a historical accident and it's a terrible idea. Age-grouped grades are one of the principal sources of terror for children in school, because they are always feeling they are not as good as someone else or better than someone else, and so on. Such comparisons and other social problems caused by age-similar grades cause many a child to have terrible confidence problems. Allowing students to help those who are younger, on the other hand, works well for both parties.

Mistake #8: Schools believe children will accomplish things only by having grades to strive for.

Grades serve as motivation for some children, but not for all. Some children get very frustrated by the arbitrary use of power represented by grades and simply give up.

Mistake #9: Schools believe discipline is an inherent part of learning.

Old people especially believe this, probably because schools were seriously rigid and uptight in their day. The threat of a ruler across the head makes children anxious and quiet. It does not make them learn. It makes them afraid to fail, which is a different thing altogether.

Mistake #10: Schools believe students have a basic interest in learning whatever it is schools decide to teach to them.

What kid would choose learning mathematics over learning about animals, trucks, sports, or whatever? Is there one? Good. Then, teach him mathematics. Leave the other children alone.

Technology Integration in the Classroom

A colleague of mine just posted a terrific link on Diigo this morning regarding the integration of technology in classrooms and how Web 2.0 can serve as an excellent springboard to such integration.

If you're interested in learning more about Web 2.0 and how it might fit into your classroom, this website is something you won't want to miss.  It may serve as a terrific professional development opportunity.  All you have to do is write up a PD proposal and submit it to the PD contact person in your building.

Should you just want to peruse the website, it has many resources and links up to many well known leaders of who practice the integration of technology on a daily basis in their classrooms.
I welcome your comments.
This video comes from the site and explores the impact of Web 2.0 tools on learning and teaching.  


I welcome your comments.

Eagle Rock School Visit

A week after visiting Eagle Rock School in Estes Park, Colorado I'm reminded of the importance of reflection and action.  If I only return from Eagle Rock School with  fond memories of the event — that would be sad indeed.  As a representative of my school volunteering to attend this event, it's my responsibility to share snapshots of the school we experienced on our visit.

Eagle Rock School is a community of learners.  Each student attending is hand selected by committee.  Each student must adopt and live by a set of guiding principles - 8 themes + 5 expectations = 10 commitments.  These guiding principles are embedded into every happening at the school.  They call it "Bad Math - Good Education."

But what stood out to me most of all during the Eagle Rock visit was that each and every child was a leader and each and every student worked on fostering leadership in each other.  It was the students, not the teachers, that held each other accountable for actions and success.  The teachers were more like mentors or guides fostering this newly found passion for success in education that their students have discovered.

Students are well versed in sharing what they have learned through POL's or presentations of learnings.  Since every student is a learner at Eagle Rock, every student shares their learnings through these presentations.  These presentations are required at the end of each trimester at Eagle Rock and center around a topic of a student's choosing.   The POL's are evaluated by outside educators who often comment on the outstanding quality of the presentations.

I want to bring these ideas to MSSD?  I wanted to immediately test out some of these practices to see how our students responded before I forgot the intention of the visit and it became a blur in my memory.

I began implementing my own version of a POL in my reading class.  During reading days students began researching a topic of their choice with the intent on preparing a presentation of their learning after a three week time period.  It's been a week and students are well on their way.  What have I learned:

When I first introduced the project I asked the students what they thought of the idea.  About half really wanted to spend time on the project and begin working.  The other half were split between being afraid of what the work might entail and those not wanting to do the work at all.  As a group, we decided to go ahead with the idea.

By the third day everyone was so engrossed in their learning they begged not to take a break from their research for our scheduled read aloud day.  I agreed to read aloud one day a week instead of two to honor their request.

We're into the second week now and I've learned our students are really good at projects which sets the stage for educational learning opportunities.  My job, over the next week is going to be spent on encouraging and teaching the students how to delve further into research by learning how to better question what they are researching.  In other words, students are doing a great job about explaining what they know but their investigating skills need honing.  The good news is that everyone has a topic and everyone is participating.

The goal over the course of the semester is for students to learn through their POL's that learning can take them into new directions. After their first presentation concludes, students will have the option of continuing with their course or choosing another topic. Maybe their interest in the topic has faded or they have discovered something new about themselves and they want to pursue this new discovery.   The goal is to awaken a passion in themselves about learning and how sharing these passions can trigger excitement and self respect.

Stay tuned.....

And for those of you interested in a copy of google notes taken during the visit - click here.

Lastly, inviting change isn't easy.

Field Guide For Change Agents

View more presentations from Rodd Lucier.