Panel @ SDCOE: San Ysidro Broadband & Casa Familiar Digital Connectors Program

Tonight’s presentation at SDCOE about Casa Familiar and Cisco IT Essentials was informative.  Many of the inequities described by the panel members coincide with the realities faced by my students as well: budget cuts, limited access, cash flow shortage to pay for internet services and computers…  The digital divide is alive and well for my students.  Even the public library has limited access! 

However, programs such as Casa Familiar and the Cisco IT Essentials program provide "technology and education enhancement for very low-income youth and families in San Ysidro".   Programs like these help to level the playing field for all students regarding technology.  Another huge take away for me this evening was the Computers 2 SD Kids program which offers refurbished computers to families for approximately $40-60.  In many cases, these “refurbished” computers are state of the art!  Affordable, modern computers definitely level the playing field for impoverished students and families. 

Schools are educating 21st century students, and teachers yearn to have students surf the web for research, blog, and post assignments.   Accordingly, school districts must find methods to provide internet access to students and their families.  The best example tonight was seeing the mother of 4 on the panel become completely animated when she told us her story about learning to use technology.  She can now communicate in real time with relatives, apply for jobs, etc.  Clearly, she feels empowered! 

Casa Familiar and Cisco IT Essentials are two examples of excellent ideas and programs that can help narrow the digital gap…  Hopefully our cities will take on this problem as well and go the route of “Smart Cities” such as Riverside. 

Futuristic Project: The Teacher's Lounge

The teacher's lounge can be the most toxic place on campus!  My futurist plan is to create a place where teacher's gather to talk about student work, share teaching ideas, and support one another.  Here are my ideas/notes on how to implement this practice:

1. If you were to implement this practice, strategy, idea today, what specialized skills, resources, and dispositions would you need to obtain for yourself, your colleagues and staff?

Have a group meeting to discuss norms.  This would need to be approached from a positive point of view.  Create committees: decorating (i.e., colored paper, posters, pictures), norm/rules, make it a collaboration area with teacher library.  In the room would be computers, round tables to invite conversation, textbooks. 

2. What skills will your colleagues and those you supervise need in order to be successful in this scenario? Of those skills, which ones are currently being supported through resources such as professional development in your setting? Which ones are missing or minimal? What is currently being supported in your setting that would likely be obsolete in 2020?

  

Teachers need to and should have positive conversations about students.  Teachers would need updated data on students to share with other teachers.  Collaboration could be between subject matter teachers, vertical grades, and teachers who share the same students.

3. In what ways are we unprepared, lacking in resources and staffing, or to what degree are our strategies and underlying values unable to respond effectively to the conditions this scenario represents?

Is the current environment:  toxic or healthy (articles by Anthony Muhammad)?  Create a "positive talk zone". 

4. What could we be doing now to leverage this trend to our advantage?

Model with people we currently work with.  Initiate positive talk conversations with colleagues and students. Let others begin to see and experience the benefits of the "new and improved" teacher's lounge. 

5. What would need to happen internally and in the external environment for preparing yourself and those you lead to navigate in this strategic vision? What changes should your organization begin to make? What should it start doing? What should it stop doing? 

Get team leaders on board.  Buy a can of paint (in a mood enhancing) shade.  Feng Shui the room.  Create inviting areas.  Create a school/teacher blog to highlight good outcomes shared information, teacher-presented Prezis.  Create a chart of data analysis results for the walls showing current AYP standings and what the goal is for the year.  Have a theme for the year (i.e: student ownership) and a place for teachers/admin to post results.  Have a parking lot board.  Have a conversation board.  

***This Blog is the result of a wonderful collaboration with my classmate and colleague Cheree.***

Thoughts from the Project Tomorrow website

Are you interested in preparing your students to be the innovators, leaders, and engaged citizens of tomorrow?  Then take a look at the resources available to you on the Project Tomorrow website!  :-)  

Help educators nation wide learn where our students are and where they want to be with technology:

Students, Educators & Parents Speak Up!

Open October 10th – December 23rd, 2011

Join the conversation about the use of technology for learning through Speak Up, a National Research Project.  The online survey is open to students, educators and parents; it’s quick and easy to get involved. 

 Sign up today to take the survey: http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2011/

The data available in the reports will really open your eyes to what our students know and desire to know about employing technological tools in their learning.

Who Doesn't Love a Family Science Night?
Science is important because it excites and engages students in learning, and an effective Family Science Night would create an environment where families can learn the value of hands-on, inquiry based science and how science integrates the teaching of science processes, content, reading, math and critical thinking skills. 
Engage families in science.
Inspire exploration and learning. 
Connect with classroom instruction.
Encourage positive attitudes about science.
This is an easy way for you to connect to the community and get the parents of your students involved!   

Look at this website and and tap into the resources available: you can use them today!

http://www.tomorrow.org/search/search.html 

Understanding the Theory of Disruption

Here is my understanding of Christensen's Theory of Disruption:  Christensen and his colleagues have claimed that stable businesses are aware of technological innovations, but their business plans and schemas do not facilitate the pursuit of technological innovations or ideas as they emerge.   Why not?  Newer technologies and innovations cost money, and this lowers profit margin.  Innovations are often not profitable in the beginning stages and their development and phases of implementation can take vital resources away from current projects that are making money in real time.  In other words, the current production or services being provided would have to be detracted from, and this generates a fear that the competition would use this degradation to grab a larger portion of the market share.  Therefore, Christensen states that the “value networks” of a business place little to no value on the disruptive innovations.  However, start-up companies possess different “value networks,” and seek to replace existing “value networks.”  New products and services replace the “old.”   This causes existing businesses to panic and attempt to keep up in order to not fade into bankruptcy. 

I have seen an example of this in schools over the past 10 years.  When I began teaching everyone was dependent on the overhead projector.  We had notes on transparencies that went onto the overhead projector.  Over time PowerPoint emerged, then the projectors connected to PCs came along, and now we have PCs connected to Smart Boards as well as projectors.  The ability to link from PowerPoint notes to the internet as well as have an interactive Smart Board which can be engaged by students.  This process of disruption took time and was met by resistance.  However, this disruption has led to progress and an easing in the access to multimedia use within the classroom. 

Am I a Visitor or Resident on the Internet?

Am I a visitor or resident on the internet?  Hmm…  Good question for me because it requires some thought and reflection.  I suppose that I am currently both a visitor and a resident of the internet.

In some ways I am a simply a visitor: I do some of my banking online, I shop online, and I read information online such as the news and articles.  Most of these activities are brief excursions into the World Wide Web (WWW) with little or no trace visible to others.  I have not previously had any desire to have my personal identity online as any sort of Brand.  In fact, I would go out of my way to protect my identity and ensure security from identity theft or stalking.  I thought it would be for the best to have no one able to find me via a Google search.  I still believe this to be true from a personal life point of view.  However, from the perspective of a professional life point of view I can envision why it would be a good idea to have a WWW presence and identity online. 

In some ways (very small at this point) I am somewhat of a resident also.  I do have a Face Book account that I primarily reserve for non-professional friends and family only.  As a leader, I do not feel it would be appropriate for everyone I work with to have deep insight into my personal life.  At any rate, I am there, and my life can been seen by those with access even when I am offline.  I am also a resident via email.  Once an email is sent, it is always there, and it certainly leaves a trace. 

I am attempting to grow my residency online in a professional context.  I have a Twitter, Diigo, iGoogle, You Tube, Tweet Deck, Blog on blogspot, and a Gmail account.  I am still learning how to maximize the use of these tools in a professional context though.  Therefore, I am excited about the next 9 weeks and learning how to expand and broaden my professional online presence.  J

Creating My PLN

As I think about creating my PLN, I am feeling like a complete digital immigrant.  Face booking, Tweeting, blogging, Diigo, iGoogle, etc are all very new to me.   I have a smart phone, but even though I have had it for a year I still need to ask people to show me how to use new app’s.  The technology has far more potential than I know how to employ.  I often chuckle that the impoverished students at my school can utilize a smart phone better than I can! 
 
I also start to worry about how much time seeks to be spent on social media sites.  My daughter can be on FaceBook for hours…  These are hours that she is not reading or writing on a higher order level.  Sure, she and her friends chat which requires conversation and writing, but the writing is far from academic.  Perhaps if this technology was put into practice on an educational level it would be beneficial in school.  However, we are clearly not there yet.  In fact, almost all of the social media/networking sites are firewalled in my school district. 

I am behind the times on the technology available and how to effectively use the technology I am signed up for.  Diigo seems like it could be a powerful tool, but I still have much to learn regarding its potential and employment.  TweetDeck is also foreign to me…  I can sort of see that the groups available are full of potentially very useful information.  However, it flits by so quickly!  I need to figure out how to get into each group to review topics.  Then I can read, search for, and synthesize the information.  It would seem that this could be an amazing source for sources!  J 

Thus, I am plodding along, playing with the tools I do know about and attempting to learn on the fly.  I just wish I could digest the digital possibilities at a much more rapid rate!  Eventually I will be comfortable with the technology available, and I even aspire to become comfortable with emerging technology.  Hopefully this course will be of great assistance in that endeavor and help me to create a digital presence for myself. 

Reflection on Pink

Reflecting on Pink's thoughts about right brain tendencies and the implications for teaching & learning is fascinating.  Pink explains that the right hemisphere of the brain is nonlinear, intuitive, and holistic.  How often do I see learning environments designed to support these areas?  Not often in the traditional setting in which I work.  Sure, it is there, but it is not the mainstream.
I think that bringing Art back into the curriculum full time would be a good start; currently we only have one section.  Art allows students to connect with literature and mathematics in diverse ways, and it is sorely missed on my campus.  I would also like to see more project based learning...  The 8th grade history classes do a lot of projects, but they are not widespread in the language arts classes.  Science classes have hands-on experiments, but not enough time with the students making meaning on their own.
Most of the traditional classes focus on skills, memorization, and practice.  This focus allows students to analyze and solve problems, but it reduces the making meaning.  Project based learning and art based learning lend themselves to having students make meaning via synthesizing information and combining the elements of varied subject matter. 
On p.134 it says, "People who hope to thrive in the Conceptual Age must understand the connections between diverse, and seemimgly separate, disciplines."  The ability to link things in terms of others and draw analogies helps the learner to see relationships via metaphors. 
Hmm...  Design and Symphony:  How do we motivate our colleagues?  Well, perhaps a holistic approach would be beneficial.  Within the overall vision allow for peer led discussions on topics and challenges.  Give the teachers autonomy to problem solve and generate ideas.  Validate their ideas and put them into practice- this could create ownership by the faculty and inspire them to even greater performance. The symphony of ideas being shared may lead to just the right design necessary for the students.  

Reflections on my Story

     While I certainly believe that I am an individual with very diverse and distinctive traits, characteristics, interests, and abilities, I also possess several cultural identifiers.  I am currently an educational leader, but what brought me to this point in my life's journey?
     I suppose that I realized that I was a heterosexual, American male at an early age.  I had a younger sister, and it was evident that we were biologically different.  I also came from a military family and lived on military bases when I was young.  I can recall being in kindergarten thinking that I wanted to grow up and be in the Marines to shoot machine guns- something I knew little girls could not do at the time.  I also knew something about race, gender, economic status at a young age, but I lacked full comprehension of these constructs at that time. 
     Stereotypical of being in a military family, I moved every three school years when I was growing up.  I lived in many diverse places and had many cultural experiences.  I suppose I really started to notice, and began to understand, racial and socioeconomic lines during my middle school years.  During that time I lived in a suburb of Tampa, Florida.  I used to have to ride the bus approximately 45 minutes into downtown Tampa to attend school in order to ensure desegregation.  As a Caucasian male, I was in the minority of students in my school; the majority of students were either African American or of Cuban decent.  I distinctly recall that many of the African American and Cuban students were from poor families and lived in the nearby projects.  Additionally, it was not difficult to perceive that the African American and Cuban students seemed to despise one another based on racial lines.  Being caught in the middle of a dispute between these two groups was a daily fear during this time. 
     I moved to Tallahassee, Florida after 7th grade and saw abject poverty there too.  I was a middle class child, but not far away people were living in squalor.  I went to school with students from these depressed areas.  It was in 8th grade that I really began to sense that the students in the lower socioeconomic bracket seemed to have very different lifestyles.  Moreover, although I lived in other places, my high school experiences were similar to that of my experiences in 8th grade. 
     My peer group in high school attended college.  In college I enrolled in NROTC and was destined to become an officer in the United States Marine Corps.  Yes, I was following in the footsteps of my father.  In the Marines I worked with people of all different ethnic and economic backgrounds, and learned that teamwork and success is possible with anyone.  This belief still holds strong with me today.
     As an educational leader I see this as a tremendous asset.  For example, I currently work in a school where 70% of the students are classified as English language learners.  I continuously tell students how fortunate they are to be bilingual!  The diversity of my students is something to be used as a strength- I see the big picture...  We really do live in a global society despite it sounding cliche.  Having traveled extensively, I know this to be true.  I want my students to see the world beyond the local neighborhood; this takes experience.  As an educational leader this is not always easy, but it is a must for our students to be successful in today's society.  How?  Two years ago I had a frustrated teacher ask me how he could teach "these students" about the world when they had not even ever been to the beach which is only 12 miles away.  I asked him how much he knew about the moon...  He started to tell me all sorts of things, and then I asked him when the last time he visited the moon was.  Yes, we can teach our students, and yes, they can learn!  All of them can learn!  It is my challenge as an educational leader to foster this belief and promote culturally relevant instruction to ensure that all of our students receive a high quality education.