Textbooks…Are They Needed?

I just finished reading a blog post about textbooks and their role in education.  This author didn’t believe that they supported dynamic, engaging learning.  I would have to concur.  As I watch my own children learn, the best learning occurs when they experience new situations and are required to use different resources (people, internet, text, tools, etc.) to make sense of information.  When there is an opportunity to ask a friend of mine about the skills required to be successful in their career, several themes seem to emerge. I’ve asked engineers, health care providers, business managers, educators, lawyers, recreational directors, project managers, SRS workers, and secretaries and the following skills seem to rise to the top.  They all must be able to:

• access, make sense of, and respond to a vast amount of information (many of them state that Google is the first place they go)
• collaborate with others to solve problems
• communicate effectively in reading, writing, speaking, and listening
• create more effective and efficient ways of doing business
• take initiative to learn and complete a project

As an educator, it appears that managing information is one of the most difficult tasks because as a teacher, we have grown up thinking we should know all the answers and the textbook can serve as a place to find the “right answer”.  Well, finding the right answer doesn’t seem to be as important as finding ways to solve problems.  Content can be found with a click of a button, thanks to Google.  It is the process of learning that is so important for future careers.  The ability to think critically and creatively, produce quality work in person or online, collaborate with others to solve problems, take initiative to l earn, and communicate effectively with others seem to be much more important than having the right answer.  The struggle schools have is that the way we assess doesn’t necessarily match the way teachers teach and/or believe students learn.  There is often a “right answer” on the high-stakes tests.  Textbooks and worksheets often have a “right answer.”  Are some valuable? Sure!  If they make students think, collaborate, communicate, and create…they are valuable learning resources.  If they make students regurgitate information they will forget in two weeks, they are not!  This is what we can take “off of our plate,” leaving more room for high-level thinking (plus it will save some grading time)!  Educators are being called to create learning environments where students find answers to complex problems by using many resources (other people, technology, print sources, etc.).   Let’s take a stand, regardless of the high-stakes test, and create opportunities for ourselves and our students where thinking and creating are at the heart of learning!

What is all the Hype about Skype?

I’ll never forget walking into my son’s kindergarten classroom last year and they were using Skype to visit with someone from another country.  They were learning to communicate using a different language. It excited me that my son’s teacher, Mrs. Bryan from Inman Elementary School, had the vision to use technology to create opportunities for our kids to learn outside of the classroom walls!    Just the other day, I witnessed a colleague and friend of mine, Kevin Honeycutt, using Skype to communicate with national experts and students involved in a project-based learning opportunity.  No travel, less time and money, and authentic, engaging learning opportunities for all!

Skype is such a valuable tool to help us bring experts into our classrooms and allow our students to communicate and learn with others located in other states and countries!  Recently, the Teaching Degree website shared 50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype.  Check it out!  Make learning come alive in your classroom!

Social Studies Resources

The sites below offer FREE resources you can use to teach the local social studies curriculum. 

• http://www.kansasmemory.org/ :  Primary sources from the Kansas Historical Society.  This site allows you sing up for an account and create “folders” to organize your materials that you might use to teach difference units.  You can search by topic and if you have an account you can search by state standard (by clicking on the “Teachers” link at the top of the page. (Grades 5-12)
•  http://www.digitalvaults.org/# :  Search national archives for many primary sources. Students can then easily create posters and movies. You may save, email, or print student projects. (Grades 5-12) 
• http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/ :  Allows you to get the front pages to newspapers around the World.  Great for current events. (Grades 8-12)
• Another site worth reviewing is an Economics Site shared by Amy Remington.  This free resource can help support economic learning at all grade levels:  http://www.kcee.wichita.edu/Documents/Resources.htm. (Grades K-12)

Word Wall Resources

Word walls provide visual references for students as they learn new vocabulary and concepts and can be used at any grade level, for any subject!  In Marzano’s book, “Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement:  Research on What Works in Schools,” (2004) he writes that “Students’ comprehension will increase by 33 percentile points when vocabulary instruction focuses on specific words important to the content they are reading…”  Knowing this, it is possible that using word walls could be an effective strategy to helping build strong vocabularies, resulting in better comprehension and writing skills.

There are several staff members in Valley Center using word walls for reading, spelling, math, social studies, and science!  A teacher from a different district mentioned that they use the poster tri-folds (science fair boards) for their word walls because their wall space is limited.  Whatever the method, the important piece is making if a teaching and learning opportunity where the words are explicitly taught and students interact with the words and use them as a resource.

Below are a few word wall websites shared by my colleagues:

• Math Word Walls: http://ladybugsteacherfiles.blogspot.com/2010/12/math-vocabulary-cards.html
• Word Walls in Middle School:  http://www.suite101.com/content/use-word-walls-in-middle-school-a77221
• Using a Word Wall in the Secondary Classroom:  http://www.markville.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/mm/oise2005/bestpractice/wordwall.htm

Literacy 2.0 and Technology Resources

Are you looking for videos that will support the learning of important math, science, history, and finance skills and concepts?  You don’t have to look any longer!  Our District Technology Director shared a site that includes a number of videos that will support student learning.  The site is:   http://www.khanacademy.org.  It was developed by the Khan Academy, which is a not-for-profit with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere. 

After Derrick sent this to me, I started thinking about the various emails I received this week from staff members sharing awesome FREE resources.  This is the power of COLLABORATION.  The World Wide Web has so many valuable resources!   One colleague shared a YouTube video that shares information about innovation and the power of collaboration, highlighting information from Steven Johnson’s book, “Where Good Ideas Come From.”  Another colleague reminded me of the free resources available to all of us on TeacherTube where you can access numerous lesson plans and videos to support a wide-range of curriculum topics for any grade level.  Another  team member shared with me a site where you can find about any Web 2.0 tool to support learning academic content and skills.  This site is:  “Cool Tools for Schools.”  Information is just exploding!  There are so many resources that I wonder if students and staff  find themselves drowning in a pool of possibilities. 

In the book, “Literacy 2.0: Reading and Writing in the 21st Century Classrooms,” the author states that we shouldn’t feel as if we have to keep up with all of the tools, rather we must understand the functions or purpose that these tools provide.  If we stop thinking of technology in terms of nouns and instead think of it in terms of verbs, it can be liberating!  In other words, we should find the right tools for the function needed.  If we need to present, share, collaborate, or communicate information, which technology tool will best support the function?  We will NEVER keep up with all the tools, but if we can continue to keep the function and purpose in mind at all times, we can continue to prepare ourselves and our students to be 21st century learners who can adapt to new technology and the vast amount of information located on the World Wide Web because we understand the purpose (to collaborate, to research, to communicate, to report, to inform, etc.). 

So, as educators, we have the incredible and important  job of creating learning opportunities where students are allowed to use technology tools for a specific function!  The more we allow them to find information, analyze it,  make sense of it, and use it for a defined purpose, we are providing them will skills that will last a lifetime!   The reality is, when we act as facilitators of learning and give our students choices to learn the defined curriclum and opportunities to collaborate (with peers, other schools, teachers, community,etc.),  they will teach us so much during the process and in fact, will most likely learn more than we ever expected!  Again…the power of COLLABORATION!

Virtual Math Manipulatives

Our Learning Support Coach shared a great online resource that can support mathematical understanding.  The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is an interactive site providing math manipulatives for each grade level Pre-k to 12.  The manipulatives correspond to each area of mathematics  (Number & Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, Data Analysis & Probability).   Enjoy!

21st Century Learning

One of our district’s goals is to create and support a 21st Century Learning environment.  The more we have dialogue about what this really means, the more clear it becomes that our current educational system (federal, state, and local level) must continue to work at removing barriers (time, policies that can sometimes hinder change, etc.).  Most teachers want to model and support these important 21st century behaviors such as collaboration, creativity, inquisitiveness, and adaptability (and the list goes on…).  It is also clear that we have great influence on the system and can help support the change and model the 21st century behaviors while solving our own complex problems.  Take some time to reflect on the following questions:

• Are we self-directed?  When we don’t know how to do something do we expect it to get done for us or do we take initiative to find out ourselves through conversations with a colleague, watching a YouTube video, reading a blog or a book on the topic, or suggesting possible professional development topics to our leadership teams?   
• Are we creative?  Do we seek alternative solutions to complex problems?  Do we think outside the box and seek out multiple resources?  Are we willing to take a risk and try something new even if there is a chance for failure?
• Are we willing to persevere through a problem without knowing the answers right away?  Do we realize that a problem worth solving can’t always be solved in a 24 hour period?   In a recent math meeting, it was stated that we can unintentionally foster  ”impatient problem solving” when we give a page of 24 problems that can be answered quickly instead of an in-depth problem that takes multi-steps to solve and the utilization of various skills.   
• Are we reflective?  Do we reflect on the situations we encounter and take responsibility for our choices and eliminate blame?  If something doesn’t go as planned, do we look to ourselves first and only work on the areas where we do have influence or control or do we place blame to take the focus off of ourselves?
• Are we  collaborating?  While we collaborate, do we intentionally focus on practicing the skills of pausing, paraphrasing, probing, putting forward ideas, paying attention to self and others, presuming positive presuppositions, and pursuing a balance of advocacy and inquiry? 

 As I reflect on the questions listed above, it reminds me that this USD 262 staff is special.  Many of our staff members DO model these behaviors.  It is exciting when you have a room full of people working together (without pay) to solve problems that will impact student learning.   I don’t know how many times I get resources sent my way from a staff member because they were researching how to do something and came across a great idea or link.  It is exciting to see PLCs make sense of new information and work interdependently to make sure that all learning goals are met. It is rewarding to see teams function as true Professional Learning Communities (or as Adaptive Schools called it, “Professional Communities of Learning).

Additional resources for 21st Century Learning

1. Mile High Guide -A guide helping districts and schools determine where they are on the spectrum of 21st century skills integration.
2. Teach 21 - West Virgina’s website with great 21st Century Teaching and Learning resources (lesson plans, video examples, instructional designs, etc.). 
3. Framework for 21st Century Learning-Tools and resources to help schools fuse the three Rs and four Cs (critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation).

Family Engagment Resource

The following Family Engagement resource is a great tool for schools to utilize as they continue to strengthen home and school connections.   This resource was developed by the Kansas Parent Information Resource Center, Families Together, Inc., and the MTSS Core Team. It gives schools and families ideas of how they might work together to support the learning for all students!  The ideas shared are linked to the six PTA National Standards for Family School Partnerships, which were endorsed by the Kansas State Board of Education in January 2008:

• Welcoming All Families Into the School Community
• Communicating Effectively
• Supporting Student Success
• Speaking Up for Every Child
• Sharing Power
• Collaborating with Community

The practical strategies can increase family and community engagement and increase learning opportunities for all students.  Building strong home-school connections are at the heart of a strong Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS).

Virtual Education

I just finished reading several articles out of Education Week’s special report on Virtual Education.  The three articles that stood out were:

1. “Schools Factoring E-Courses Into the Daily Learning Mix”
2. “E-Learning Delivery Debated”
3. “E-Curriculum Builders Seek a Personalized Approach

Our digital students learn at their own pace and are used to 3-D reading (online and hyperlinked…where kids interact with the text), rather than just 2-D reading which is often what some traditional classes offer (text-based, etc.).    You’ll notice in the article, “Schools Factoring E-Courses Into the Daily Learning Mix,”  that Notus Jr. Sr. High requires all students to take at least one online course.   This isn’t a bad idea given the fact that most of our students will take an online course as they pursue a degree or even just learn a new hobby!  There are opportunities to provide our students with more choices about their learning right now!  ESSDACK has partnered with Kansas Educational service agencies and the Coalition for Career and Technical Courses to provide our students a directory of online courses offered by Technical Colleges, Community Colleges, and Universities in Kansas that are organized by Career Clusters and Pathways. 

Please take a moment to comment on this post…What ideas do you have for our district as we continue to strive to be the best district in the sate for learning?   What ways might we utilize online learning to support all student interests and learning styles?  What are the advantages?  What are the disadvantages? Which state and district policies and practices support (or don’t support) online learning for students?

Google Lit Trips

If you are looking for ways to combine digital literacy skills, research, and web-based reading and writing, Google Lit Trips might be a resource worth viewing!  This tool provides students with many opportunities to experience cross-curricular learning and practice 21st century literacy skills.  The following link shows a list of all the resources on the site-Site Resources.  Enjoy!