All hail a new heroine!

Ms. Rief... veteran teacher at Oyster River Middle School needs to be recognized as a heroine!

Please read the article about her...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/education/no-child-left-behind-catches-up-with-new-hampshire-school.html


and pass it along and encourage everyone to adopt her approach!

Writing!!

The Young Writers' Project is one that I wish teachers (and leaders) in my school appreciated and were  participants... I subscribe to their newsletter and found this announcement posted... it is worth passing along!

NOV. 11: Taylor Mali headlines the Fall Joy of Writing Conference, Friday Nov. 11 from 8:30 to 3:30 at the Davis Center at University of Vermont. Mali will deliver the morning keynote and have an afternoon performance. Mali is inspirational and should not be missed. ... The morning will feature a variety of workshops on writing, instruction of writing, and digital writing. ...  For more: see http://ywpschools.net/joyofwriting (link has a written attachment, too.)    To register: http://www.regonline.com/joyofwriting

Technology questions...

After reading an opinion piece entitled "the wrong education questions are being answered" recently, I reflected on my morning walk about the important technology questions that we are ignoring in our schools... here is my short list:

> What are the skills my students will need in the future?-- We have all sorts of standards, but none appear to be forward-looking at all. If we cannot predict the future, then how can we assume we know now what they will need then?

> What can I learn from my students?-- For the first time in the history of humankind (I speculate), there is a skills inversion... young people are more skilled users of information and technology than their teachers.

> How can we be flexible in our technology systems?-- There is one things that is for sure... technology today changes-- quickly!-- and educators do not. Whatever systems we create for technology infrastructure or technology usage, must be adaptable

Horror Movies

Earlier this week, I posted a study from Common Sense Media regarding young people's use of media... I registered on their site so (of course) have begun receiving emails form them and it appears this is an organization worth watching.

One timely item that they have featured recently is a sort item on horror movies and young people.. worth taking a look at and sharing with parents:

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/horror-movies-and-your-teens

WolframAlpha widgets

I am not sure how long WolframAlpha has had this feature, but I am in search of new web-based tools to use with students, and I have been exploring the site more...

So, if you have an account with WolframAlpha, you can create and publish a widget:

Google+ for Education

Rumor has it (on the IT-listservs I read) that Google+ (their version of FaceBook) is going to be released for education soon.

Presumably, educators would be able to control students' access to their own social network. I like the idea-- I like it a lot.

If this does become available, then educators are going to be forced to rethink their relationship with media and social networks. A few years ago, I mentioned to a principal (who was wondering around looking for a student to hand her a letter) that we should set up a social network so that he could simply message her that the letter was ready and he could have saved some time. He rolled his eyes and walked away. Fortunately, that principal has retired, but we will have to get the rest who have his response to return or otherwise leave the profession if we are going to be able to join the 21st century and catch up with our students.

NELMS Awards

NELMS Awards Update

Know an outstanding middle level educator?

Would you like to nominate someone for one of the NELMS awards?

The nominating deadline has been extended until January 7, 2012 for all awards. Don't wait click here for the NELMS award page and find out more about nominating a deserving colleague.

Good cyberbullying resource

Education Week Teacher is hosting an online discussion with Sameer Huinuja and Justine W. Patchin, two of the leading scholars on cyberbullying... there seems to be some good discussion as well as line to informative resources.

21st century educator

A colleague recently asked me what I thought about eSchoolNews' five characteristics of effective 21st century educators:

1. Anticipates the future.

Yeah, this is needed, but be careful... the future, especially if it is technology-rich, is not predictable. Much of the really interesting and useful and innovative and necessary "stuff" in the future (devices and patterns of using the devices) is not what was predicted by experts or intended by the designers. Anticipate the unanticipated and run with it!

2. Is a lifelong learner.

This one is a "no-brainer," if you are not actively learning about everything-- human learning, your content area, the learning sciences, and technology-- you are are demonstrating that you are not qualified to be an educator.

3. Fosters peer relationships.

This is important, but we have to be careful... simply having kids "work together" does not foster peer relationships. Educators must give opportunities to create together what cannot be created alone and  educators must model and provide structures for meaningful dialog and multilog. 

4. Can teach and assess all levels of learners.

 I am confused as to why this is still an issue... perhaps to raise awareness. But then again, I see lots of teachers who believe their job is to work with specific populations. Sigh...

5. Is able to discern effective vs. non-effective technology.

This is a bog one... just because kids are in front to screens does not make the use of computers effective. I think back to the principal who insisted that students use a web-based test preparation program. I advised the principal to make sure that it alone was not the only computer experience students had. A month later, I observed students in tears because they were forced to use the system over and over again. I am glad that principal has since retired. We must develop the skill and knowledge to recognize useful technology, and that is only done by becoming confident and competent users ourselves.

 

Don't think we need to change education?

Here is yet more evidence that the learners who enter our classrooms are not the same learners as we were when we were in school (I am 46-- even if you are in your 20's this applies!)

Common Sense Media, an advocacy group focusing on children's relationship with media, has released a study looking at the media use of young children... even pre-school children. The middle school educators may find little of interest, reasoning that t will be 10 years or more before the children who are that age enter middle schools, however, the media experiences of those children now will permanently affect their relationship with information. What they experience now will determine what they expect and how they experience school and work and life.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/zero-eight-childrens-media-use-america

PDFescape

I recently stumbled upon this tool...

http://www.pdfescape.com/

Log on and create PDF files... also create PDF files that can be forms... filed trip permission slips and similar forms can be posted online and users can enter their information and then produce a PDF file!

Autism & iPads

I do not typically watch the television networks (sports is about all I watch and that is for only a few hours per weeks), so I missed the 60 Minutes segment on iPads and autism that aired on Oct. 23. It is available on the web: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-20124225/apps-for-autism-communicating-on-the-ipad/

The report does seem to confirm the observations that I have heard at several lunch table conversations at conferences in the last few years that seems to suggest that the devices do help some learners diagnosed with autism to become more social. Certainly, this is a field that will be the subject of greater study in the coming years.

Math Anxiety

EdWeek contains a story about math anxiety and the brain physiology of the response. I have been trying to convince several colleagues (with limited success) that the work of educators is going to change significantly as we come to deeper understanding of the operations of the human brain-- findings like this simply cannot be dismissed!

Schools that Don't Compute

The New York Times web site features an article about Waldorf School that don't compute... even those in Silicon Valley are places where kids don't use computers. The page with the story features a picture of a girl lying on the desks reading.

I am something of a Luddite-- I want technology to be used for those purposes for which it is useful and I want it to have a place in schools where students build and create, read and write, and play instruments and games. When we look to schools such as these and contemplate the minimum role of technology in them, we must think about why there is no technology and not assume that this is necessarily "better."

Recently, I was at a soccer game and saw a teacher in the audience who was correcting test papers... a stack of papers on which the students had answered questions and she was marking them with a red pen. I wondered back to the last time I corrected papers like that... it has been years. All of my students take test online, so we are all looking at the same questions and answers and my comments are their for students and parents to review indefinitely.

I think we need schools aligned with the Waldorf spirit of engaged learners who build knowledge... and even lie on desks reading books, but then who use technology when it is appropriate.

In-service...

Today is the first in-service day of the school year... I am afraid, very afraid. The agenda has several items; first a continuation of a very-poorly designed introduction to research-based practices... those things that appear to be observed in every "good" classroom.

Second, our new curriculum coordinator (which I have not seen in our building yet since students arrived) will talk about curriculum mapping (an initiative that has been talked about for several years-- and we even hired a superintendent who was the curriculum mapping expert but who left before the initiative could get to the top of the to do list).

Third, our new technology coordinator will introduce Google Docs... this is going to be a long afternoon for those of us who have been using it for three years!

Ubuntu & Windows.. for techies!

I just read a post on a mail list that suggests someone was able to get Ubuntu (11.10) to join Windows 2003 Active Directory... if you know what that means, then you will see this as a good thing.

Basically, one of the impediments to using Ubuntu in networked environments has been difficulty with Linux connecting to existing Windows servers... looks like this has been addressed.

Sometimes we feel like this in education...

This strip runs in my local paper...

When I saw this yesterday, and thought about the budget worksheets that I had just submitted (and was called on the carpet for not taking seriously when past practice is well-established in our school... seek input that is ignored and then criticize those who gave the input) I was convinced that this was written about education!

http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/

NCTI closing?

I was surprised to read on the eSchoolNews web site recently that the National Center for Technology Innovation, one of the leading organizations for supporting special needs populations with technology, is closing because the government grant that funded it expired.

BYOD debate...

In this space, I have participated in a small way in the bring your own device (BYOD) debate. Basically, the contention is that schools should introduce schemes whereby students (and teachers) are allowed to supply their own computing devices and that the school's systems be adaptable to allow those machines to function.

Yes, I know the equity issues, but I think those can be addressed... yes I know the security issues, but I think those can be addressed...

This is not a debate only for educators. ZDnet (a site for IT folks) is contributing to the debate as well:

http://www.zdnet.com/debate/great-debate-bring-your-own-device/6313019

Internet Safety for Parents

The NLEMS community may be interested in this:

Internet Safety for Parents

Tune in to 30 minute sessions October 19th or 26th

Learn about steps you can take to keep your kids safer online, including tips for privacy settings,

passwords, safer searching, and more. This webinar is back by popular demand after it was presented in March. 

To attend, go to the webinar link at www.e4vt.org on the date and time of your choice from any computer with a high speed Internet connection. No pre-registration required. 

We encourage you to log in 5 min. before the session begins.

You will need to turn on your computers sound/speakers.

Webinar Dates (same webinar repeated):

Wednesday, Oct 19th 6:00-6:30pm

Wednesday, Oct 26th 6:00-6:30pm

I can only hope this is a fake news story...

This caught my eye as I was looking at the education news this morning... really?... a school policy that limits visits to the restroom by students?... this puts a new spin on bullying!

School policy limits bathroom breaks

A colleague recently told me that bullying an teaching are associated... she suggests that some teachers were once bullies and entered the field to continue to bully or that teachers were once bullies and become teachers to get a chance to bully... I am not sure I agree with her (perhaps in a small, but recognizable minority), but this story appears to support her observation.

WolframAlpha... check it out

On occasion on this NELMS blog, I have pointed readers to WolframAlpha, the computational knowledge engine, and given the attention I gave Siri with Wolfram Alpha earlier today, I should point readers who don't have an iPhone back to the site.

One of the features I enjoyed the most when I used the full version of Mathematica (the software behind WolframAlpha) was the 3-D molecules that could be rotated. (I know similar options were available with certain web browsers and plug-in's, but this is far easier to use that the previous options.)

This capacity is built into Wolfram|Alpha with CDF... and it does require an install and restart, but it is worth the few minutes of work to add interactive computing to your web browsers.

iPhone & Wolfram Alpha

My kids (20 & 17) are real Apple geeks... they have the laptops, iPads, Apple TV, you name it, they have it... so on Friday two iPhone 4S's arrived at our house. Over the weekend, we spent several hours playing with Siri... the voice-activated assistant.

After a few minutes of finding out how it reacts when you swear at it (we are middle-school boys despite our ages!), we spent quite some time exploring how it works. I was especially impressed with the integration of Wolfram Alpha... tell Siri to graph a function (tell it "graph x squared" and within seconds, the graph is there on your screen!

Don't think we need to change?

This video just came my way... can someone argue that we will be able to engage this kid in 10 years when she is in middle school?

Brilliance from unexpected sources...

Yesterday, students in our building were completing standardized tests... they have been for much of the week. Walking home, I was listening to a comedy podcast from the BBC. One of the presenters reiterated a quote from Albert Einstein:

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.

Ubuntu 11.10

I am a huge fan of Ubuntu-- a version of Linux that is easy to install and has loads of software that has wide application to students in grades K-12. Especially today when there are so many Windows-based computers in homes, I firmly believe that students should have access to alternative operating systems in schools. Further supporting the decision to use Ubuntu in schools is the fact that so much of 21st century computing is cloud-based that all one needs is an updated we browser and one can be accessing information and interacting via ICT and Ubuntu provides several modern web browsers.

The most recent version of Ubuntu (11.10) has been released. If you have never used it, ask for (or find) an old unused computer... look for a computer that would run Windows XP or better... a Ubuntu Community Documentation page suggests:

The Recommended Minimum System Requirements, here, should allow even someone fairly new to installing Ubuntu or Gnu&Linux to easily install a usable system with enough room to be comfortable. A good "rule of thumb" is that machines that could run XP, Vista, Windows 7 or x86 OS X will almost always be a lot faster with Ubuntu even if they are lower-spec than described below. Simply try Ubuntu CD as a LiveCD first to check the hardware works.

Ubuntu Desktop Edition

• 1 GHz CPU (x86 processor (Pentium 4 or better))
• 1 GiB RAM (system memory)
• 15 GB of hard-drive space (or USB stick, memory card or external drive but see LiveCD for an alternative approach)
• 800 by 600 screen resolution
• Either a CD/DVD drive or a USB port for the installer media
• Internet access is helpful
  
  

Install Ubuntu and explore.... you may never buy a Windows computer again!

Ideas that could change the world

The future is a scary but exciting place... educators have a responsibility to become proactive in our curriculum. Cutting edge ideas need to be in our classrooms... I write this as the students who should be in my classroom are taking standardized tests... argh!!!

Sure information technology is an important aspect of society and culture, but I am convinced that K-12 curriculum must adopt a more broad view of technology and the nature of technology and emerging technology trends need to part of what we teach.

The BBC recently added some "ideas that could change the world" to their web site... robotics... biotechnology... seem like interesting an important ideas for middle school students to understand.

BlackBerries... iPhones...

In the car last night I heard for the first time of the outages that have affected the BlackBerry network in recent days... I carry a BlackBerry, and have had no problems. My son who is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his new iPhone on Friday suggested that the BlackBerry issues are a conspiracy by Apple to get folks to switch!

I am wondering if my son in right! I was impressed with the video demonstrations of the new iPhone and I am thinking I may join the iPhone crowd!

Storybird

So, I have become a serious fan of Storybird... after my students (5th graders) created some stories, we invited younger students to read them, and we had several score students caring about their writing and taking care to read.

Some of my 5th graders even admitted that it really is important to use punctuation and to spell right if other are going to read their work. Not all of them are convinced and not all of them have the ability to makes sure to add those details to their writing, but we are making some progress!

Chromebooks...

It appears that my school is beginning to look at purchasing Chromebooks... basically that is Google's device that is all about "the cloud." They have partnered with various manufacturers to produce these devices that connect users to the web and little else.

As a fan of GoogleDocs, I like the idea... but I am not convinced that we are looking at them for the right reason. The process is good, but not great compared to other low end notebooks... yeah Docs is great, but there is more to computing than Docs... and what about tablets... seems to me that a KindleFire may be just as good...

NELMS bullying conference

NELSM has recently announced a conference focusing on bullying (the standard joke about preventing it not getting better at it is deleted from this spot). We know that bullying is a problem that increases as students progress through grades 6-8-- at least that's what the data says for cyberbullying-- and we know that adults do have a role in reducing the instances of bullying and in helping young people develop strategies for reducing it, so add this to your calendar:

Middle Level IS the Place for the Prevention of Bullying

A day-long event confronting bullying in schools.

Doug Wilhelm & Elizabeth Vachon

SERESC Conference Center, Bedford, NH

December 2, 2011, 8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

YouTube and space station!!

Today, I noticed the YouTube icon was different (Google is famous for that), and so I clicked on it to find out why they would have a space helmet as part of the icon. I expected to learn that today was the anniversary of a famous space launch, but instead, I discovered that YouTube is sponsoring a competition to have a young person's experiment flown into space, conducted on the space station, and the experiment streamed back to Earth!

What a cool idea and a great opportunity for young people to think about experimental design. As the contest is open only to those 14-18, most middle school students cannot submit, but this seems a good opportunity to think about what experiments we need to do, how to do them, and it seems we might want our students to pay attention to what happens:

http://www.youtube.com/spacelab?feature=inp-yo-space

The more things change... the more they stay the same...

I have been watching the recent discussions related to NCLB with some mild interest. I have been hopeful that learning and preparing young people for an unimagined future would become the focus of our schools, but it appears that there is interest in continuing to make schools political institutions and to make the political disputes over schools even more heated and more dubious:


Details Emerge on Senate ESEA Discussions

Educational software

An article from the New York Times News Service has shown up in several newspapers recently... the general conclusion of the authors is that educational software-- specifically Carnegie Learning's Cognitive Tutors-- is not effective. Visitors to the Carnegie webs site can see research that the software is effective, and the authors cite other research that it is not effective.

It sure seems to me that this discord points to the simple conclusion that technology alone is not going to solve any education problems... also that no single approach or model or curriculum or reform alone is going to solve any education problem.

Thinking about Jobs & innovation...

With the news of Steve Jobs' death, I hear commentators discussing innovation and the role of innovators as leaders. I hear speculations about the future of Apple, and question about the future of Apple as an innovative company.

In education, also, we see that the culture of a school is a deeply influential aspect of the school that follows from the leader-- innovative leaders cultivate an innovative culture that can outlast the leader, but only if another innovator assumes the lead after one leaves.

Apple seems an interesting case study for educators... perhaps we should listen to these commentators and pay attention to what it means to be innovative and how innovators approach their work.

A $60 tablet?

News on the computer geek blogs in the last fews day has announced that a company in India is marketing a tablet computer (like an iPad) for $60-- it was supposed to ship for $35!

It sure seems to me that the recent meetings I have attended in which we were sitting around trying to figure out how we are going to find donations or grants so that we can upgrade our students to "good Windows computers"seems misguided... in the time we spend at those meetings, we can all throw in a few bucks (or have a bake sale!) and get devices that can get our students connecting, communicating, and creating!

BYOD

EdWeek has "reprinted"a story about the efforts/ struggles in Massachusetts to address the "digital divide." Whereas some schools are moving fast-forward with efforts to provide devices to each student, leaders in other cities are concerned about equitable access.

In my own school in rural Vermont, we are concerned with how we get devices in front of each student also. Increasingly, I am convinced educators have a responsibility to reflect the emerging technology reality: many people have far better devices than we can provide them. By leveraging the capacity in students' pocket, we can use school resources to provide similar devices for those disadvantaged students and we can begin to make progress using technology to access, manipulate, create, and share information.

Questions about online learning....

An article on EdWeek raises questions about student performance when they attend online high schools. Now, I am no huge fan of using test to judge student performance, but if we use those as a measure to compare groups of students who have different education experiences, then I think we may have found an appropriate use of those data.

The issue from my perspective is in the quality of the implementation... the same things that are true of in-person schools is true of online schools. Poor curriculum and weak instruction results in inadequate learning.

Safe surfing

The news is in (well, not really news)... colleges and employers check FaceBook before hiring!

We need to start spreading the word to our students that what they say and do online is a permanent record of who they are and what they do... and bad choices when they are young can limit their choices later.

Renewed basics for teachers?

A colleague arrived at my door recently with one digital device in each hand: an iPad in one and a Bluetooth keyboard in the other.

In the box with the keyboard, there was a USB cable... I am not sure what the purpose of the cable was, but she wanted help... she could find where the cable plugged into the keyboard, but not into the iPad.

After a big sigh, I explained to her that Bluetooth is a wireless protocol... no need to plug anything in... I also explained that an iPad is not a laptop like those that have become familiar over the last few decades.

I also was cleaning up some old files recently and found a 3GB movie file that I helped a colleague rescue a year and a half ago... she had been told that the netbooks we received with a grant would be great multimedia computers. She had then used the machine to create a 45-minute video and the 3rd party video editing software that was added as part of the grant that paid for the machines only allowed her to export as an .avi file.  Surprise, surprise, the video caused the netbook to freeze, and we worked several hours to save the video so it could be available at the open house.


I get the desire to have new and flashy toys, but we need to become aware of the capacity of devices before we buy them and attempt to use them.

Put this on parents' radar!!

It seems there is a new app that is gaining popularity... Blendr is a "location-based app." (Interpretation-- it  allows users to see the location of other users... up that is the physical location of the user.)

As you may have guessed, there is concern over predators using this to find victims... and there is some evidence that it has been used in this manner.

Seems to me we educators have a role in publicizing this so that parents and others know this capability is available.

Another story appeared on The Guardian's web site a few weeks ago.

Robots... interesting ideas about technology

Middle school students are intrigued by robots and other futuristic and fantastic devices and plots and characters. In the past, I have had students consider ethics form the perspective of  Isaac Asimov's laws of robotics. It has been some time since I have had the opportunity to consider those ideas with students, and then today, I found on the BBC's site an article that considers the potential of robots in today's world plus reference to Asimov's laws and a modern variation.

This is on my "to read with students list."