You know you're teaching in the 21st century when...

My son was out last Friday, and asked if I could stay home with him; since he rarely asks me to do that when he's not feeling well, I decided to honor his request.

The interesting thing about the whole process was how the whole day was set up. I put in for the sub via a website, then sent a text messages to colleagues on my team notifying them that I would be out and was going to email them the lesson plans for the day.  I wrote out the lesson plans and emailed them out. Since the Theory of Knowledge class is so seminar based, I set up a class discussion about the meaning of history on CoverItLive and class continued as normal.

This definitely has some interesting potential for education and how it is delivered. There are an increasing number of online programs and sites available where teachers can post and deliver instruction online. However, there is much to be said for face to face interaction, especially when it comes to delivering instruction. While it did enable me to continue instruction on a day when I was out, I would not want to give up the spontaneity and energy of actually being in a classroom, interacting on a more personal and intimate level. Human relationships are affected by online interactions, and I definitely don't think the class would have gone as well had I not previously built those unique relationships via classroom instruction and the simple human interaction that comes from teaching. The idea that teachers are far more than simple deliverers of material isn't exactly a news flash: the duties and responsibilities of an educator go far, far beyond that of simple subject matter... and these "soft skills" that don't get measured on any standardized test are just as important, if not more so, to the development of a student and to their success (or failure) as an adult.

As a supplement to classroom instruction or as an adjunct to instruction on days when a teacher is out but has access to technology, online discussions are the way to go... but as an acceptable substitute for instruction? Never. Education is far more important than that.

The cost of not going paperless

(The irony of having my disconnected SMARTboard in the background is not lost on me.)

One of the many things that many of us were looking forward to when we moved to our new building was the idea of moving towards a (virtually) paperless classroom. I most definitely was for sure. Not only does a paperless classroom assist students with the acquisition of 21st century skills, it helps to keep me organized (I can easily sort and file student papers in electronic files on Google docs) and it has the potential to save school districts in general hundreds of thousands of dollars a year (literally) on the cost of paper alone. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the shift to paperless classrooms has stalled this year.

I recently crunched some numbers and came to a startling conclusion: based on the number of handouts I'm giving my students this semester, I will be responsible for nearly $5,000 in paper (just in paper) costs this semester alone. Multiply that times the number of other 9th and 10th grade teachers in our building, and it works out to over $84,000 just for 9th and 10th grade for one semester.  Double that for a full school year and double it again to include 11th and 12th grade, and you're looking at over $300,00 just in the cost of paper for one year. One so many levels, this is unacceptable, particularly in light of having electronic options available. (Realize two things: 1. the district where I work isn't overly large, and so the savings in other districts would be far greater, and 2. while I am talking about my district specifically, this applies to any and all districts throughout the country.)

To illustrate the point: my students just completed a district common assessment. I took the test and answer sheets to the wellness center in the school and weighed it, just out of curiosity. The two day test weighed 17.2 pounds. A ream of paper (500 sheets of paper) weighed 4.8 pounds, meaning that just for my students, approximately 3.58 reams of paper were used, for a total of over 1,791 sheets of paper used.  At a cost of (approximately) $.10 per sheet of paper, that amounts to $179.17 for just one test for one group of students.  Multiply that times four (four groups of students/four academies), and you end up with this one test costing the district $716.67.  These assessments are given four times a year, for a yearly cost of $2,866.67.

I wonder how much it would have cost to have the students take the same multiple choice test online? My guess is that the savings would be significant.

The district where I work could provide one laptop for every student in the high school for half that amount every single year (assuming a cost of $1,000 per laptop), thus enabling our students to learn 21st century technology skills in addition to the curricular materials while adding to the fiscal savings from year to year without affecting the currently adopted teaching model. Even if the students were issued laptops and allowed to keep them permanently, after the first year, the savings actually increase as districts would only have to purchase laptops for incoming students since existing students in said district would already have their laptops from the previous year(s).

The irony is that for many, the cost of providing a laptop to each student in any district is seen as prohibitive, yet I wonder if those responsible for working out budgets from year to year have ever really sat down and crunched the real numbers involved.

The other factor, of course, is that so many educators are downright Luddites when it comes to the integration of technology in their classroom. It is true that bad teaching is bad teaching, no matter what bells and whistles one tosses at it, that is no excuse to not include technology into the daily lessons. The engagement of my students increases dramatically when instead of just reading Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, they are able to watch it on YouTube. Students are more apt to revise their work when it involves simply going back in to an electronic document and making the necessary changes instead of having to rewrite the entire thing by hand. Writing workshops become dynamic and enjoyable when I'm logged in on a student's essay the same time they are and I can give instant, real-time feedback to what they are writing. Do not tell me "if it was good enough for me, it's good enough for them," either. Times have changed.

Public education has a choice: keep up and actually become innovative rather than just give innovation lip service, or be left behind by students in private and charter schools. Private schools are often on the edge of the curve when it comes to innovation; I know, I've taught in both private and public schools. Often the innovation and creativity is due to increased fiscal responsibility: when the parents are writing the checks directly and can access the books anytime they want, there is an increased sensitivity as to where the money is going and how much things cost. Public schools regularly get ripped off. Case in point: I have seen videos for sale in catalogs provided to school districts that cost $40 or more when the same video can be had from any online or brick and mortar store often for much, much less.

It's time for public schools to take the lead. Our children deserve better.

Worlde your way through vocabulary building

(Image from Wordle.)

Last week my Theory of Knowledge students and I attempted to define the word art. Now while this seems perhaps somewhat straightforward, and all we really needed to do was to consult a dictionary, in reality, we found the dictionary definition rather lacking, and so we decided to embark on our own definition, including the connotation of the word as well as its simple denotation. We sent out the question via text message, email, Facebook, Twitter, and I let my freshmen and sophomores join in the discussion by writing down their definitions on a 3x5 card and dropping it in the box. We ended up with some pretty amazing answers, and I decided to put the answers on the class blog page and to see what might happen if we decided to make a word cloud out of it. The answer is above and can be seen on the TOK blog as well. As I looked at the cloud, I realized that this has some potential when it comes to exploring word meanings, especially in regards to connotation and the ideas that each of us brings to and puts behind the words we use.

This is a tool I definitely plan to use again, not only for this class, but in my other classes whenever the opportunity permits. There was high student engagement, and our discussion was strengthened by the inclusion of the definitions of others. Very valuable indeed!

Did you know? updated

Recent update, just as powerful.

What *IS* the point of high school??!!

Just read this interesting blog post by Elona Hartjes exploring the purpose of high school, and I feel there are some very valid points raised by her thoughts. For the most part, high school in the 21st century still teaches to prepare our students for 19th century society. You can see it in the "sit and get" model still so prevalent in the vast majority of public schools, even though it's a model of teaching that no longer fits with 21st century students, nor does it develop skills necessary for life outside of school in general.

So what is the purpose of high school in the 21st century? Perhaps Teach_J's comment on the above blog post is a thought in the right direction: technically end high school in 10th grade, with students choosing to continue their educational track (or not) after the age of 16. It is similar to what is done in European schools where often students take some sort of test and then are placed into or choose to pursue whatever academic or vocational path they prefer. I have no idea why that approach hasn't been adopted in American education, nor does it even seem to be under any serious consideration. Certainly it would lead to an greater investment by all concerned, and while students can, do, and will change their minds about what they wish to do, it is often those students who would opt for a more traditional liberal arts educational path anyway.

The concept of a forced white, upper middle class acculturation is no longer appropriate in our increasingly global society. While there is and likely always will be an expected "canon" in education, at the same time, not every single student leaving American high schools needs to know how to compose a sonnet. I have yet to use algebra II or even calculus since leaving school, and while there are those who would argue that sonnets, algebra II and the like teach thinking skills and enrich the value of a life, I would argue that there are other methods of teaching those same skills likely more relevant to a student's life. What was "good enough" for one generation is hardly "good enough" for another any more.

Not too long ago, there was a discussion and realization that the job of an English teacher in the 21st century has evolved into something more of a communications teacher. It is now (or should be) an English teacher's job to teach students how to think, work collaboratively, and communicate effectively in a variety of forms of communication, and really, that's about it. Now, that's fairly broad and a whole host of skills falls under that (analysis, writing, research skills, etc., etc., etc.), but keeping those goals in mind tends to put the job in a whole new perspective.

Do I feel that part of my job remains acquainting students with literature, both The Great and the Not So Great? Absolutely, definitely and definitively yes. Do I feel that part of my job is teaching students the basic skills of writing: grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.? Of course. However, I also feel that part of my job is giving my students basic 21st century communication skills, which includes not only word processing skills, but email, social networking, and the like. In 2007, the Did You Know? video mentioned that we (as educators) are preparing our students to work in jobs and careers that do not yet exist. Interestingly, that same year, a new career title, Corporate Social Media Specialist, began appearing on the hiring sites of corporations around the world. Associated with internet marketing and with a salary range of $39,000-$83,000, this is a field that represents a much more serious impact on corporations than it appears. (Dell claims to have $3 million in profits from its activity on Twitter alone.) Not preparing our students for this type of career is a huge disservice to them. Yet, many of the skills necessary don't appear on any standardized test. (A whole separate topic unto itself.)

So what does this all mean? It means that education reform needs to happen and it needs to happen fast. Schools need to start exploring and taking chances rather than waiting for "the research" to come in. By the time it has, it's already too late. And reform needs to not come from politicians or those who have been out of the classroom for too long (or not in the classroom long enough)... it would be really, really nice if those making education policy could simply do the thing that should have been done long ago: ask students what their needs are (they are far more savvy than given credit for most of the time), and ask teachers how they can best meet those needs (we are far more savvy than we are given credit for as well).

Holy freaking cow!! WAY too cool!!

Social networking as a form of class discussion?

Recently wrote a post on the Global Learner blog around Purdue University's "Hotseat" program, a form of social networking as a means of class discussion. There is some very interesting potential here, if implemented correctly, for real-time student collaboration and opportunity to work with and assist in teaching one another. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this... anyone use anything like this?