TAKING THE NEXT STEP

I have written before about the blogs I read and I throughly enjoy them and think they keep me current with the happenings in the education world. With the help of the internet we can now provide our students with all the benefits and resources that every other student in this state and nation have.

One of the blogs I read, Principals of Change, is written by a principal in Edmonton, Canada, he also hosts another blog, Connected Principals, which I read. He is very insightful and I decided to try to get ahold of him through Skype. We made contact last Sunday night and talked about education, technology, practices, the differences of our countries and a variety of other topics. We visited for approximately 50 minutes and I felt I had gained professionally.

Then the thought struck me that we could connect our students through the same medium. George is an elementary principal and is ahead of the curve in what his school is doing with the available technology. I offered an invitation for our grades 3, 4, and 5 to skype each other and learn about the others country. George was also excited about this and we are going to give it a shot, I am excited about this and for our students to experience this.

WHICH CLASSROOM IS BEST FOR KIDS

Teacher-Directed Learner Directed

Direct Instruction Interactive Exchange

Knowledge Skills

Content Process

Basic Skills Applied Skills

Facts and Principles Questions and Problems

Theory Practice

Curriculum Projects

Time-slotted On-demand

One-size-fits-all Personalized/customized

Competitive Collaborative

Classroom Global Community

Text-based Web-based

Summative Scores Formative Evaluations

Learning for School Learning for Life

I believe I would want my child in the class that was working on the skills to the right. Why we don't allow student collaboration I'm not sure, since they will collaborate the remainder of their adult life. We make all their decisions and then wonder why they make poor decisions on occasion, we have to let them experience in school what they will experience when they aren't in school for them to be responsible citizens.

MY FAVORITE BLOGS

I am an early riser, and enjoy the quiet time to watch the morning news and drink coffee. I also enjoy reading blogs about education, teaching, and technology used in education and what people are doing with the current technology available. Blogs I read on a daily basis are:

Freetech4teachers.com-a new list daily of technologies that can be used in the classroom or to enhance learning.

davidwarlick.com/2cents/-Education reformer that has some interesting viewpoints.

Leadertalk.com-A blog by school administrators for school administrators.

Blog.learningtoday.com-Latest information on new technologies available for education.

educationaltechnologyguy-Updated list of tools to use to enhance learning and make a teacher's life and job easier.

educationinnovation.typepad.org-Blog used to mainly build a professional learning community.

georgecouros.ca-A principal in Canada that is full of energy and ideas on how to connect with kids and make learning relevant.

joebower.org-Another Canadian that has some different ideas in regard to education-you can also find that he is a disciple of Alfie Kohn.

makeuseof.com-another site that deals with what people are doing with technology.

teachpaperless.com-This is about teachers that are cutting down on the usage of paper in their classes.

weblogg-ed.com-Another education reformer.

There are another 15 or so that I check on a weekly basis, several of them are magazines and since they release monthly, one really doesn't need to check on them daily. The amazing thing about reading blogs is they always lead you to another blog. If you don't read blogs in your particular area of interest you are really missing out on becoming better informed, and we are lifelong learners.

BACK AT IT

Well I've taken the summer off from blogging and the urge to write did hit a couple of times but it passed and I got on to several other things. I did find a couple of new blogs that I really enjoy and I think my next write will be the blogs and sites I do enjoy the most, not that it will have any effect on your world, but might give you some interesting reading.

I did come across an article by Alfie Kohn that I thought was excellent and wish to share with you. Mr. Kohn writes mainly on education and parenting and has some unusual ideas in some areas but if you read him with an open mind much of what he says makes sense. This article was about working with kids as opposed to doing things to them, here are the 10 suggestions he offers:

1. Reconsider your requests-Sometimes when kids don't do what we tell them, the problem isn't with the kids but with what we're telling them to do.

2. Put the relationship first-What matters most is the connection that we have, or don't have, with our children-whether they trust us and know that trust them.

3. Imagine how things look from your child's perspective-Parents and teachers who regularly switch to the child's point of view are better informed, gentler, and likely to set an example for moral development.

4. Be authentic-Your child needs a human being-flawed, caring, and vulnerable-more than he or she needs someone pretending to be Perfect.

5. Talk less, ask more-Telling is better than yelling, and explaining is better than just telling, but sometimes eliciting (the child's feeling, ideas, and preferences) is even better than explaining.

6. "Attribute to children the best possible motive consistent with the facts"-Kids live up to, or down to, our expectations, so its better to assume the best when we don't know for sure why they did what they did.

7. Try to say yes-Don't function on auto parent and deny children the chance to do unusual things.

8. Don't be rigid-Predictability can be overdone; the need for inflexible rules may vanish when we stop seeing a behavior as an infraction that must be punished--and start seeing it as a problem to be solved (together).

9. Give kids more say about their lives-Children learn to make good decisions by making decisions, not following directions.

10. Love them unconditionally-Kids should know that we care for them just because of who they are, not because of what they do, they don't have to earn our love.

There is my first post in quite some time, I hope some of these help and make sense to you, and I will try to post at least once a week.

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER

I'm sure Alice Cooper's song is about the most popular one on the airwaves nowadays, I know when I was a principal I would sing it over the intercom the last day of classes. Even though school is out and everyone needs a break including but not limited to students, parents, and teachers. We hope to make our people Life Long Learners and that learning can occur when school is not in session.

Students: Even though school is not in session your brain does not take a break and there are valuable things to learn that don't come from textbooks. You can learn important talent and skills from a job, working with others, or even a vacation when you are seeing anything for the first time. We don't want your learning to stop just because we aren't in school.

Parents: When you see an opportunity for a "learning moment" don't pass it up. Our students will listen to you more intently than they will any of us, as well they should, so take advantage whenever you can. Point out new things and open your children up to new experiences and opportunities whenever you can.

Teachers: After a much needed mental break, begin to ask yourself what you can do to better serve student learning. How can do the best we can to reach every student and adjust to their learning styles. How can we break the one size fits all brand of instruction to better facilitate the information we are trying to get across to our students. What new resources can we use to better accomplish student learning.

Have a great summer and we look forward to seeing you next fall.

Social Media

Social media tools and platforms gives us a chance to have conversations with anyone around the world. Facebook, myspace, twitter, google buzz, and various others have made significant changes on how we communicate. If you think these are a fad please consider the following:

If facebook were a country it would now #3 in the world behind only China and India.

Over half the world's population is under 30 years old.

96% of Millennials have joined a social network.

Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the US.

1 out of 8 couples in the US met via social media.

80% of companies us social media for recruitment.

Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Spears have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Sweden, Istael, Switzerlan, Ireland, Norway, and Panama combined-4.8 million each.

50% of mobile internet traffic in the UK is for Facebook.

78% of Wikipedia content is in languages other than English.

Still think its a fad and going to go away? I rather doubt it.

The Importance of Trust

Trust is everything.

Nothing can be done without it.

It can take years to build, but one moment to lose it.

Here are only some of the essentials that I believe in building trust:

1. Extend trust-If you want people to trust you, you must show that you trust them first.

2. Be open and honest-There are many times where tough conversations are needed to be had with the group or individuals. Trust that the people you work with can take the bad news and deal with it, and would much rather KNOW than wonder.

3. Admit mistakes-If you screw up, say it. Do not try to hide it. Not only will you build trust amongst those you work with, you will also build an environment that promotes risk taking.

4. Listen-Hear what people are saying, consider it, and act upon it. Even if you do not agree, when people see that you are legitimately listening to their thoughts, you will build upon your relationships with them. There is a difference between not listening and not agreeing. You do not have to always agree, but it is important that you always consider.

There are many other ways that you can build trust but these are just some that I work on. These qualities relate to any relationship. If you want things to get done effectively, trust is everything.