How do I keep up in exponential times?

I am often asked by teachers, how can I keep up when things are changing so fast?

My answer is always, “Give it up!”

Allow yourself to be the student from being a co-learner and share the teaching and learning with your students. Kids will always amaze you and they have some great skills that we often overlook or at times afraid to see because of our insecurities or our inability to give up control. Instead of being the sage on the stage, give them an educational provocation or learning invitation that ignites their curiosity. Provide them with the tools (books, technology, other) and have them become inquirers, researchers, problem solvers, presenters, and knowledge sharers.

 How does this look like?

This is the best part because you will have very little to do. You know all those teachers in the staffroom talking about all those cool programs they are using with their students, find out which programs they are using, visit their classrooms while they are using it so you can see the learning in action. You can also do a quick search for some web 2.0 tools that you think your students would like to use.

This is where all the hard work becomes fun, because you are now going to separate your students into groups of three or four and you are going to assign each group a web tool, program or app you want to use. The students are now responsible for researching the software and create a short video, tip sheet, detailed written instructions or any other creative way of describing how the software works.

Once this task is completed the groups are now in charge of teaching the rest of the class on how to use the software. The students will also provide additional resources that they created. A copy of these resources will also be posted in a place where kids and teachers can access the resources.

How do I handle all of this extra work when I have all this curriculum to cover?

I love this question because all of the above activities fit into your curriculum expectations and if they don’t they should. When you look at this activity from a 21^st Century perspective, it has the makings of a perfect pedagogical activity.

This activity incorporated the 4Cs of 21st Century pedagogy. Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity. The students must engage in communication, through discussion with their peers and then communicate their findings with their peers and teachers.   The students have to Collaborate with other students to research and decode the software in order to develop teaching material. They have to engage in Critical Thinking, in order to find appropriate resources and then decide what they can and cannot use for their work. Finally, the students must think Creatively to produce something that is both engaging and instructional and is useful for the teacher and their peers.

The work is now done. You have access to the tools you would like the students to use. The students are the experts and will solve any issue that arises. You look like the awesome tech teacher in the school and the kids did all the learning.

All of these skills are critical to 21^st Century learning as they develop these skills that they will need in order to be successful in both their educational and professional careers.

Give Teachers Permission to be Creative

Why are leaders afraid to share leadership, and allow teachers to make decisions and ultimately fail or succeed

There is a connection between the increased distribution of leadership roles and responsibilities and the improvement of pupil outcomes. (Leithwood, 2010)

I immediately thought of Daniel Pink and his Theory of Self-Motivation. Daniel Pink talks about the motivation trifecta: Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose and how people will do great work if they are allowed freedom to do their own thing. Schools are very complex microcosms that face layers of very difficult problems. These problems often require very creative solutions but I find many leaders are afraid or unwilling to allow their staff to experiment with co leadership.

I don’t know if this is a phenomenon strictly associated with the teaching profession where we are afraid of giving up control and allowing others to take the lead but it seems to be a huge stumbling block. Are the leaders afraid to give up the control or are they afraid because they are ultimately accountable if the teacher lead makes a mistake?

We often talk about the importance of student’s voice and the importance of having children direct their learning but teachers are often hesitant to give students this opportunity. Children want to learn and if given the opportunity they can tell us what they need so that we can support them.

Teachers also need a voice so that they can support the needs of their students. I think teachers are very creative and motivated people who will always impress if they are given the opportunity to do so. It is the role of all leaders to create an environment that promotes creativity without judgment in order to capitalize on the varied talents in every school.

Why are leaders not willing to share? If it is fear of people making mistakes that is holding them back then if we apply this to students what kind of a learning environment are we creating? This is a profession that does not deal with an exact science. The only constant is change and changing teaching styles will lead to better teaching and learning.

Leaders must create an environment that promotes teacher voice and allows teachers to make decisions. When teachers experiment they will develop tools that may support a variety of students. If they fail they need to be encouraged to try again for it is in being exposed to a variety of different techniques that will enable teachers to learn new skills.

Leaders must share this role in order to help solve problem with creative solutions. Empowering teachers to take an active role in the running of their school can only benefit the school and ultimately the children. More importantly with shared leadership comes the potential of developing future leaders, leaders who in turn will be collaborative.

Teachers need a voice to help shape schools. Opportunity breeds access and access breeds empowerment and change. Allowing teachers the opportunity to impact a system supports collaborative leadership and nurtures empowerment and engagement. Autonomy, mastery and purpose must pave the way to looking at leadership through a different lens?

21 Century Education, Why are we not there yet?

Why are we still struggling 21c pedagogy?

We are 14 years into the 21century and we are still struggling with the 21c pedagogy concept. Why?
It seems simple, as a matter of fact, it is so simple that Socrates  was engaging in the practice 2300 years ago.

Here is why I think it is so simple and it stems from a simple quote that Socrates so eloquently articulated a very long time ago.

He said, "I cannot teach anyone anything, I can only make them think."

Wow, do you not see how this perfectly describes our current reality? If we think we can teach people things, think again with exponential growth happening all around us it is impossible for one person to be current.

With the use of a few search engines you can get the answer to almost any question you have.  Educator's role is to help individuals sort through all the fluff and find the useful information.

At the end of the search you will find a lot of valuable information and now the thinking comes into play. What can you do with all the information that one finds?

The most important part of education now happens when you take all the information you found and use your imagination to create something new from what you found.

The role of 21c education is not to impart knowledge, but to ignite thought. If, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the rest of the crew were able to engage in 21C learning over 2000 years ago let's take a page out of the Republic and replicate it today.

The Top 3 Ways to Find an App

Mario's Thoughts

The Top 3 Ways to Find an App

What is a good math app?

I constantly get this question or a similar question for another subject area. The question should not be What is a good.... but what is the goal of my lesson. Once you know your goal, now you can bring the tablet into the equation. Always keeping in Mind that the tablet is just a manipulative like building blocks (but more expensive and a lot cooler) than most manipulatives.  The tablet is not the teacher, but a tool to help consolidate, practice or check the learning of a concept.

Establish the goal:
Let's say your goal is to improve the understanding of one to one correspondence.

Before you start your search, create a basic criterion of what you would like the app to have. Some examples: tracks progress, creates charts, has a login, has no login, print feature, email option, fun,colourful, nice graphics etc.
Once you have a goal and some basic features you need in the app you can start your search.

1. Start off with a Google search. Type in what you are looking for and add "Top ten one to one correspondence app for …"

Once your list appears take a look at each app and then compare the features to the list of options you created. Start off with the free ones, download a couple of the free apps and try them. If they are still not what you are looking for try the paid apps. Be careful because once you purchase them, they are yours. You can also Google the paid app and see what people are saying about it before you purchase it.

2. Take a look at the app store for your tablet.

Type in your search and read the ratings and features. The ratings can be deceiving make sure you have at least 25+ individuals that rated the app. As above, start with the free ones download a few try them, make sure they meet your requirements if not look at the paid apps. Do further research on the paid apps before you purchase them.

3. Join an online forum (Twitter, Pinterest, blogs, etc.) for your grade or subject area. You can also contact other teachers in your district for suggestions.

This is a great way to network with other professionals that do what you do. When you contact your school resource people, many of them service a wide range of grades or subject areas so they can only give general recommendations. When you contact colleagues who are in a similar situation as you are in, you will get specific recommendations that have been tested. Remember word of mouth is a great way of collecting relevant information, especially from colleagues. 

I know this sounds like a daunting task and you don't have time to go through this process, just remember your school is full of tech experts that would love to do this for you. Who are they, you ask? Students in the older grades. This is a great example of real world problem solving and students love doing things like this. Once you tell them what you are looking for they can search and test for you.

Once you have gone through this process, consider creating a blog or use another tool to share the resources you found. I hope this may help reduce some of the anxiety around finding apps.

Mario Addesa