Workshop+Preconference+Managing+the+Transition


 * Managing the Transition- Alan November**
 * Attendees:** Diane Smith, Vicki McNeill

alan@novemberlearning.org Twitter- globalearner Notes available at- []
 * Diane's notes:**

Note taking as a group endeavor. People take notes through 3 different foci. Kids should rotate taking notes from diff perspectives and share

Irony of schools being places that **block** students from learning, blocking the use of the most powerful learning tools- cell phones, Facebook History of technology in schools 1. Teach all kids logo 2. Media literacy 3. Integrating technology across the curriculum 4. Web 2.0- put kid's stuff on the web

We need to ask different questions Question is not, "What should technology be?: Get rid of isolated IT dept technology planning team. What flows thru the technology is what is impt- information and global communication, connecting people together. Technology is often a solution in search of a problem in schools. Need to start with learning goals and needed process change and develop tech development plan that supports these. Cisco discovered that quality was lowered (-2%) when 1:1 Get improvement by process change

How do we make sure that all students have equal access to all libraries? Get every kid a diigo account, twitter account Schools are contributing to the economic divide by not allowing kids to access online learning
 * Evolve from "tech planning" to "process change" planning**
 * Equity**

Empower the family. [|www.epgy.stanford.edu] Education for gifted youth Need kids to access Online learning communities Make a school committee to find and advertise the online learning communities that are available "The most consistent predictors of children's academic achievement and social adjustment are parent expectations of the child's academic attainment and satisfaction with their child's education." The structure of school gets in the way of parents supporting learning.
 * Family**

School needs to make a plan to empower parents to create learning environments at home. - Parent enrichment - Harry Rosen - did research on how to get parent involvement. Trained parents to be daycare workers - part of the plan needs to be to access parents thru web. Empower the family. Ex. Reading. Make a reading DVD for all parents. Teach parents learn how to best read with children. How to be reading teachers. Video the teacher reading with each child. Parents will watch a DVD of a their own child learning to read with the teacher. The question is how to get the info to parents. Parents have never (or rarely) seen their own child in midst of learning. Teachers balk at being recorded because of fear of criticism. If teachers won't do it, get the reading specialist do it. What info do parents need in order to be the best teachers they can be? What technology best supports families in getting the info they need? Need a plan for improving learning, which might include different forms of technology. Main ? to ask to determine the quality of learning going on in a school: Who owns the learning? This is the difference between a good school and a great school. Idea- have students video their home environment. Show and discuss at a faculty mtg. Teachers need to understand the environment the child comes from.

Empathy is THE 21st c skill. Another question to ask: what is the empathy scale in the school?

The Age of Unreason- Charles Handy Shoshonna Zubaf- book on tech. "informating" as opposed to "automating" Do the right people have the right info at the right time? (teachers, students, parents)

Use tech to 1. Informate- give people 2. Build relationships- Harness the synergy of people working together. 3. Help students become self- directed learners, empowered, PLN. Do you have the right freedoms? To evaluate a teacher, ask teacher to leave the room and give the class a problem. See how students do. Student professional development day in which students learn the tech tools, so they have access even if the staff don't know. Charles Handy. Idea- students and teachers attend staff development together

Data Information- make meaning of data Knowledge- apply info Wisdom- do we need to redesign systems? Ask questions we've never asked before
 * 4 levels of info**

Impt to know that google cannot think or read. Can't use a term like "recent" SO impt to know how to search. Need to be precise. Works on algorithms not heuristics site:gov "breast cancer"- choose timeline button. Choose 2011 site:edu "breast cancer" Searches come up differently based on your geographic location. Google bubble on YouTube Eli Pariser TED 2011 Beware online "filter bubbles" Facebook and google filters what you see based on your prior history. Google creates an algorithm based on 57 info data Most older people were "paper trained". Digitally trained people actually receive more biased information, with narrower and narrower viewpoints because of google bubble on your own computer. Google is set up to sell ads to the geographic location To counter this, go to a different locale. Use change location on left side of google Or Change search engines, __ [|google.co.uk.com] __ Site:__ [|ac.uk] __ "breast cancer" For country codes- root.zone.database- I Site: then country code Try clearing browser history This creates global connections. Teach kids to think globally. Site:sg award winning science fair projects (from Singapore) Need to learn about the architecture of information. Literacy needs to tear about web based information Revolution- teach critical thinking on the Internet Every classroom should be a global communication center Ex- kids have lab partners in England. Skype going all day all year long. Don't just teach tools Teacher professional development on how to search for differing points of view.
 * Smart searching**

Have students search same event in search engines from around the world __ [|scholar.google.com] __ Scholarly articles are not the most current

Shows steps to solve any equation In an age of Wolfram- Alpha, what should math or physics homework look like? Feedback needs to be instant.
 * Wolfram-Alpha**

Anybody can teach/ learn the mechanics of math. The point is the creative application of mathematics. This is what homework should be. Or classwork if the teacher uses flip teaching.
 * Khan Academy**- is the mechanics of math. Teachers should not have to put in time on the mechanics.

Idea: students take pictures on their cell phones of trig, geom, etc
 * Design thinking**- teach children to seek out problems. Global warming is a trig problem.

Kids should be able to get their courses online. How do you build capacity in a school? - Get a school hashtag. - Project tweetdeck with educational feeds on a monitor in teachers' lounge - #cpchat- principals around world tweeting about being a principal [|www.fanfiction.net/books] site to ask questions of fans of the book around the world

Role of the learner is to be a contributor
 * Role of the learner**

Help teachers how to follow and use Hashtags to build their PLN We must teach teachers the common misconceptions of their subject area. Google "misconceptions" and the subject area. Elementary teachers need to know the misconceptions and **//not teach them.//** For secondary teachers, Instant feedback is impt to clear up misconceptions because students retain the early taught misconceptions
 * Role of the teacher**
 * //Example://** [|Misconceptions about Science] [|Common Misconceptions about Math], [|Early Learning (Preschool) misconceptions about teaching Mathmatics]

Google- Teach less Learn more: Need to redefine a "teaching load." Teachers need more time to meet, collaborate, innovate. Finland model. [|pdf explanation], Connected Principal [|post and video]

dgh.wikispaces.com- example of student created curriculum (history) Kids work on the wiki even over the summer because their work has purpose. Most assignments as they are now get thrown out. Assignments should have legacy.

Lightspeed Filter. Company also has a feature, [|Educational Resource Library], that will show you what teachers around the country are using YouTube videos to teach curriculum. We have to teach teachers to build networks with other teachers and students to work together to create meaningful work. Kids should create the wikis (not provide the wiki to the students)

[|Dipity]- timeline tool

1. Does this have purpose? Does it have a legacy? 2. Will we get the synergies of students working together? (Or will the dynamic just be between the student and teacher?) 3. Does it have a global connection? (ex- states in other countries) 4. ?
 * 4 questions in curriculum design**

Mathtrain- student created math videos. 6th grade course

See hashtags on November learning website
 * Leader as a role model**
 * Job:** Connect people together.


 * Benchmark Team**


 * Faculty synergies**

Too much staff development is around technology instead of pedagogy and curriculum
 * Alignment of tech to curriculum (not the other way around)**

Thursday 5-7, Friday 11:45 GTEC
 * Larissa- workshop STEM**

Starting in K, "grandparents network" skyping with grandparents Record video of grandmother reading a book. Example of re-do of 50 state capitals lesson 1. Why teach this? 2. Make the lesson more than memorization. Make it higher order. Search tip: Use- site:__ [|k12.me.us] __ "state capital" Boston Email students in Boston. Connect. Students can create a remote video. Boston statehouse.google maps. Screen capture using jing. Email the historian at the massachusetts, Skype him, record what he says and edit your jing video using his VoiceOver. Teacher creates one map of the whole US, All teachers, esp elementary teachers should learn google maps. YouTube google map tutorial. How to create "my map" in google maps Keep the google map created one year, and have the next year add to it. Kids work should have a legacy. Not turn in the same paper every year, over and over. In preparing kids for their futures (ms, hs, college), ask, what should my students take with them to next level? What tools for learning?

-how to manage documenting their learning (auditorium app); -networking skills and a network (following the best minds, top thinkers in the subjects they will study, fields they are interested in); -their own twitter library, including lists (way to organize those you follow into categories); -their own diigo account (have students create diigo accounts in grade 3); -knowledge of tagging Teacher offers ideas of lists that represent different perspectives. Need a school committee to identify tool kit that all kids should graduate with. The current system asks kids to give everything back! Good example website "Mrs. Devlin's grade 1 class- all about us!"
 * Ideas for what students need to take with them from being in school:**

- entrepreneurial skills - identifying their passions Follow on twitter- David Weinberger Too much of "integrating tech into the curriculum" does not fundamentally change the process of learning
 * Other ideas for what students need to take with them:**