This blog is on the move

Although there is still plenty of excellent content here, all new posts on education and a variety of other topics are now hosted at Brilliant or Insane.

Please be sure to visit Brilliant or Insane today and everyday for inspiring content 365 days a year.

What are you waiting for? Hurry over to www.brilliant-insane.com now. You'll love what you read.

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

My Education Talk Radio interview on staff-led PD

Education Talk Radio host Larry Jacobs and I recently discussed staff-led professional development. Here is the interview.

Find Additional Education Podcasts with EduTalk on BlogTalkRadio

What are your thoughts on staff-led professional development?

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

Do you know about the Reform Symposium?

If you could spend a few hours over a weekend from the comforts of home to transform yourself as an educator, would you?

The fourth Reform Symposium International Online Conference, which comes to you live October 11-13 from anywhere that you have Internet access, can help you transform as an educator.

The Reform Symposium, which features amazing keynote speakers and over 100 sessions on everything inspiring and topical in education, is a webinar-style conference that mixes video, audio and chat into one amazing online learning environment.

The Reform Symposium requires no travel, unless you want to attend from your local coffee shop and, best of all, it will cost you absolutely nothing.

The Reform Symposium is a worldwide e.conference, delivered by the interactive online conference room, Blackboard. If you're thinking, "I don't know what Blackboard is, and I don't know how to use it," never fear, because the Reform Symposium organizers have you covered with this amazing Blackboard Help page.

What if you live in Warsaw, Dubai or some other country? Don't worry, you don't have to miss a second of this amazing conference. Remember, this event is global. Just visit this Reform Symposium schedule page and click on your time zone for a complete listing of sessions.

Want to be inspired? Want to go back to the classroom after the conference as a transformed educator, ready to impact lives like never before? Don't miss the Reform Symposium International Online Conference October 11-13.

See you there.

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

What is a connected educator?

A variety of posts around the blogosphere about Connected Educators Month got me thinking about how we evaluate connectedness. Is there a widely-accepted definition?

I went in search of this answer by typing the question into a Google search (does that act alone make me connected?). Most of what comes back on that search is only related to the phrase, "connected educator." I did find this article at EdWeek, providing some specific details on the subject.

Photo credit: Principalj.net

EdWeek says the connected educator has a Personal Learning Network, or PLN, embraces blogging and the Bring Your Own Device movement. Although I tend to agree on most points, I'm not sure we've reached a definition yet.

The recent Bammy Awards, honoring connected educators, in many cases, focused on those who have a massive following on Twitter and Facebook, at least in terms of people who aren't celebrities. Admittedly, I used to be enamored with a large Twitter following, envying others in the profession who have 10,000, 50,000 followers or more in some cases.

Upon closer look, though, I realized that some of these people also follow tens of thousands of people, and if you understand Twitter, you likely know that many people have systems in place for automatically following back someone who follows them. You don't have to be a math guru to see how this system might multiply your followers rapidly. So, does having a ton of followers make you connected?

I have written widely on technology use in the classroom. I have a modest 4,500 or so followers on Twitter. I tweet, post to Facebook and LinkedIn and blog regularly about education. I even teach an online course called, Plugged-In. So, am I a connected educator?

I'm still not sure, and I really do want an acceptable definition. So, are you connected? What makes you think so?

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

Are you a Freedom Writer?

For some reason, I was in need of inspiration today. Even though I'd seen it before, I watched the movie Freedom Writers.

I taught for 20 years, and I like to believe that along the way I made a difference in many kids' lives. Erin Gruwell, though, makes me wonder just how true this is.

As a young, new teacher, Gruwell chose to go where no one wanted to be -- a tough inner-city school, newly integrated, where she was given classes full of the most troubled students. Constantly told she should lie low, that she couldn't help them, Gruwell did everything humanly possible to make her students feel valued.

I found myself wondering how often I was like her, in two decades in the classroom.

If you haven't seen the movie, watch it. Then, ask yourself if you are a Freedom Writer.

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

Fire the principal. . . well, not really

How much professional development would you receive, if your school had no principal? Depending on the kind of teachers you have, you'd get none or quite a bit.

Photo credit: Trianglewiki.org

Consider the kind of PD you have in the current top-down model. Most likely, the administrators at your school board or your principal decide what PD is provided. If you are like most teachers, in many cases, you may see this instruction as completely worthless.

How would things be different, if you decided the kind of professional development that took place at your school? What if you or your colleagues directed this PD? Isn't it possible that your interest would increase exponentially?

Staff-led PD is not such a wild idea. When you consider what principals present at PD and faculty meetings, most of it could be shared in an email with a few links to articles or videos. Teachers know what they need, yet they are rarely asked what those needs are. So, you want better PD? Try these steps:

• Tell your principal that you and a few colleagues want to design some staff-led PD.
• Poll your colleagues to see what they want (survey monkey is a useful tool for this).
• Find several highly-motivated staff members (these don't always have to be teachers) who are interested in designing a half of whole day of PD.
• Use resources like education technology sites (www.freetech4teachers.com and www.learnitin5.com are two good ones)
• Ask for feedback when your PD is complete.

This is a marvelous starting ground for staff-led PD and a good way to "fire" the principal.

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

Bammy Awards raise serious issues

Have you heard of the Bammy Awards? Don't feel out of the loop if you haven't. The Bammys, produced by Bam Radio, are an Oscars-type award ceremony honoring educators. Bam, which touts itself as "The voice of the Education Community," is an excellent online radio network that produces high quality education programming.

In 2012, the network created its own version of the kind of popular award shows that honor TV and movie actors, right down to the red carpet. Unlike the Golden Globes or Oscars, though, the Bammys honor educators.

It's about time hardworking teachers get some positive pub, you may be thinking. At first, I felt the same. After further consideration, though, I quickly realized that I am not a fan of the Bammys. And I'm not the only one. Check out the amazing response to Pernille Ripp's Bammy post here.

Ripp is not so much anti-Bammy, as she is opposed to how the ceremony was produced. She specifically takes aim at jokes that were told, which may or may not have been in poor taste, and the lack of actual teacher awards presented live.

My issue is different, as I'm against the whole idea of the Bammys, in their current form. Why do teachers need red-carpet treatment? Why should there be a "Best" librarian or principal? Don't we teach kids that they should love learning for the sake of learning?

I believe the creators of the Bammys are well-intentioned. Where they missed the point is with whom they honor. Being a teacher isn't about receiving awards. It's about kids.

So if Bam Radio wants to produce a big event, even including a red carpet, I say make it 100 percent about students. Put the teachers where they belong -- in the audience!

cross posted at ASCDEdge

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

What are Arias?

One definition of an aria is "a striking solo performance." I think what the creative team at Internationally-recognized education publisher, ASCD, envisioned with its short, hard copy or eBook format Arias, were brief, striking written works that would immediately engage educators in a way like no other format does. 

The Arias answer questions that today's educators are asking, like "How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom?" and "How do I prepare my students for the real world?" 

In the video interview below, I provide more detail on the exciting new Arias format and my own Arias book, The 5-Minute Teacher.



If you've read an Arias book, please share your opinion. What other questions would you like Arias to answer?

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

What if President Obama was anti-Common Core?

The president and other powerful men, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Bill Gates quickly come to mind, have pushed the Common Core so hard that 45 states have adopted it, virtually without question.

It's no secret that President Obama is very much in favor of the Common Core State Standards. Just about every speech he delivers on education centers around higher standards and accountability.

Via: WashingtonPost.com

With these omnipresent bureaucrats touting the Common Core as the be all, end all of education reform, many education publishers, consultants and other opportunists are churning out Common Core success programs faster than you can say, "Race to the Top."

For their part, public school teachers participate robotically in professional development sessions about teaching Common Core Standards as readily as they create seating charts and distribute textbooks. Why? Because they are told by administrators to do so, regardless of the fact that there is little if any evidence that the Common Core is effective.

Still, the Common Core marches forward, with teachers beating the drums that carry its beat, mainly because they feel they have no other choice. What if the table turned, though?

What if President Obama and his cronies were against the Common Core? What if Arne Duncan preached the deleterious effects of standardization, and what if Bill Gates said he'd only give money to districts practicing 21st-century progressive methods?

Is it possible that publishing companies, like Pearson, might suddenly turn out teachers guides on project-based learning? Might books like Role Reversal become New York Times Bestsellers?

I say, for just one moment, let all educators, administrators and teachers alike, pretend that President Obama hates the Common Core. How would your school and your classroom change?

Isn't it time to take back American education?


Cross posted at ASCDEdge.org

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

Talking Twitter on EduTalk Radio

The amazing Tom Whitby and Shelly Terrell joined me and EduTalk Radio host, Larry Jacobs, to discuss the power of Twitter as a professional development tool. Tom and Shelly are the co-creators of #edchat, the most popular education conversation on Twitter. Enjoy our conversation.

Listen To Education Internet Radio Stations with EduTalk on BlogTalkRadio

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

Moving from traditional to progressive teaching

After presenting results-only learning to a group of 150 charter school teachers in Ohio, one enthusiastic participant asked, "What was the biggest challenge in your transformation?" I had discussed discarding all traditional teaching methods -- lecture, worksheets, homework, testing and even grades.

Via: Alphamom.com

This was a challenging question and much broader than the queries I'm used to during these presentations. After some contemplation, I decided the most difficult of part moving from the daily grind of lecture-practice-assign homework-quiz to a vibrant student-centered classroom was replacing the old approach with projects that encompass many learning outcomes.

I spent a lot of time, discarding the old worksheets, workbooks and homework assignments, I told the inquisitive session participant. Many hours heading into the school year and throughout suddenly were filled with planning detailed, step-by-step projects that would take an entire grading period or more to complete.

Along the way, I created brief, interactive lessons that helped students acquire the skills necessary to apply new knowledge to the projects. My evenings during the school year were spent trolling websites or creating instructional videos that students could use throughout their project work and spark more inquiry on their part.

Weaving standards or learning outcomes into lengthy projects that students love and that truly demonstrate learning is a challenging, yet amazing, part of creating a progressive, results-only learning environment.

What challenges do you face?

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

Is the College Board dooming higher ed?

According to Education Week, the College Board is aligning four of its testing programs with Common Core State Standards, in an effort to assess students' mastery of skills in literacy and math, as outlined by the standards.

Credit: Crmoony.com

Instead of making a move to evaluate students on their body of work, the College Board is falling into line with bureaucrats and the publishing lobby, in their move to label students' abilities and achievements, based on ill-conceived learning outcomes and high stakes tests.

Am I the only one who finds this decision more than a little confounding? What possible incentive could the College Board have to align itself with a system that has not proven that it can effectively evaluate students?

For years -- mainly since No Child Left Behind was enacted -- professors have complained that students enter college unprepared for the intellectual challenges it brings. Now, they will assess so-called mastery of skills with standards that claim to be different, yet have no history of success. In fact, the Common Core is under so much fire that some states are considering abandoning it completely.

It seems that the College Board is taking an "If-you-can't-beat-them-join-them" approach, which may ultimately doom higher education as much as the Common Core may doom K-12 schools.

Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom