Authentic Learning and Making a Difference

Why, oh, why are we not doing more authentic learning projects like this in our schools? From USA Today:



There are so many ways our students can make the world a better place. Isn't it time we leverage this enormous pool of talent we have in our school age children? The value of both the knowledge gained from the creation of the new hand as well as the significant contribution to this young child's quality of life is, in my humble opinion, life altering for these students and our world.

Gratitude

May all of us in the Storm Lake Schools

be grateful for all that we have

and be willing to offer our help to those in need.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Sound of Music - A Must See!

Storm Lake High School is performing The Sound of Music, and you absolutely must go. I attended last night, and I was overwhelmed so many times during the performance. The casting is spot on. The music is spectacular. And, the emotions these young adults evoke are remarkable, especially considering how young they are. Congratulations to the directors - Joanne Tucker, Sara Carlson, and Jason Heeren. Kudos to the actors, the pit orchestra, and the production crew.

I can't get over the amount of talent we have in the Storm Lake Community School District. What a wonderful evening of entertainment. I will be humming the songs all day!

Is Tech in Classrooms Optional?

Questions for the day:

How effective would you be on the job if you only had access to technology every once in awhile, and how well would you like your job under those circumstances?

Does your answer to that question influence your thinking when it comes to technology availability to students for learning in classrooms?

I'd love your input on this one.

Working as a Team

As I sat in our District School Improvement Team meeting today, I was so excited and proud to hear about all the new things we are doing this year to help our students learn and succeed. All of the data analysis and individual attention can't help but pay off for our students. The dedication of the people on this team to work together and try new things based on best practices and research is remarkable. This is not easy work. To change the way things have traditionally been done is hard. There will be push back.

Which leads me to my thoughts today: How do we get everyone who works for our school to first, feel like a valued member of the team, but also, to second, work as hard as possible to implement the new things we are doing in the district? This is not a question with a simple answer. The traditional master-of-one's-own-universe view of working in a school is hard to let go of. We all like our autonomy and our ability to make our own decisions. However, if we are going to improve the overall education for our students, we need to work very hard together, and we need to be willing to change.

I picture a staff of 350 people or so all wearing Tornado Green and all working together with the same goals, the same vision, and the same dedication. Just think of how great we would be!

This is not an impossible task. Are each of us willing to do our part?

There's no place I'd rather be

This article in the Des Moines Register made my day. I came to Storm Lake seven and a half years ago, and I am extremely happy and proud to be a part of this vibrant community and our exciting schools.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2014/10/22/changing-face-iowa-follow-storm-lake-lead/17703097/

Get to know your co-workers, classmates, and neighbors. We have far more in common than we have differences.

Conferences, Twitter, and PD

I attended the ITEC Conference in Des Moines earlier this week where teachers, administrators, some students, and experts in the field of educational technology came together to learn. It's always revitalizing to me to rub elbows with others who care so much about students and education that they are willing to learn more and to "imagine if."

Conference website

Conference session resources

My notes from Jamie Fath's Classrooms Gone Google Workshop

My conference session resources

Twitter as individualized, just in time PD Research Articles:

• #TwitterforTeachers: The Implications of Twitter as a Self-Directed Professional Development Tool for K-12 Teachers (full text) - Ryan D. Visser, Lea Calvert Evering, David E. Barrett
• How and Why Educators Us Twitter: A Survey of the Field (abstract only) - Jeffrey P. Carpenter and Daniel G. Krutka

Not being able to attend a conference is not really an excuse anymore. There were sessions available remotely. Twitter was lit up with #itec14 posts, including lots of information and links. And, the above links keep much of the information available now. The question to me is:

"How do we motivate educators to continue to learn on their own, to continue to perfect their craft of teaching or administrating, and to be brave enough to try new things and learn from failing on occasion?"

We no longer live in an age when a finite amount of information learned in school will prepare us for our careers. Everything is in flux and changing, and the only way to keep up is to constantly learn. We owe it to our students to feed their creativity, their inquisitive natures, and their ability to continue to learn on their own. It's the only way to survive in our information-rich, ever changing world. Are we as adults modeling this kind of learning? And if not, why?