Saturday, September 3, 2016

Do We Really Have Time for Digital Citizenship?


We've started a series of weekly discussions in our building about life in our increasingly digital world. I guess you could call it Digital Citizenship. I prefer to call it Digital Leadership. We have a half-hour academic support time built into our schedule four days a week. This past Thursday during that time we had our first lesson. We provided teachers with a couple of choices for activities that were pretty easy to implement. We showed a video of interview clips with our own students sharing some thoughts about how their digital life impacts their overall life. And then we discussed the upsides and downsides to technology, for us personally, for our relationships, and even for our nation. 

In my visits to classrooms, there were lively discussions during this time. These are relevant issues that kids really want to discuss. They want to hear different ideas, share their experience, and wrestle with how to successfully navigate this complex world. 

But there were also some challenges to making this happen. Our teachers and students are accustomed to having this academic support time for tutoring, making up missed work, and other important tasks. There were some legitimate concerns where the loss of the time was going to impact the academics of students. They really needed to retake that quiz or there was a study session for a test the next day. And so, I let the teachers decide. If you feel the academic need is pressing, then skip the Digital Leadership lesson this time.

Even my daughter, Maddie, was disappointed she wasn't able to use that time for academics. She is playing tennis and has missed a ton of school for matches and tournaments. She's working hard to get caught up and values Liberator Time to get stuff done. She was concerned about the loss of that time.

As I've thought about how this has all played out, my biggest question concerns our priorities. Are we really paying attention to our students' needs? There is no question that preparing students academically is important. But if we aren't preparing students for life in a world that is rapidly changing, will the academic knowledge really be that helpful?

Each year, I hear stories from heartbroken parents and see shattered lives because of decisions that were made online. I see the impact of all sorts of digital miscues, small and large. Besides the tragic circumstances that arise, there are also less obvious consequences of failure to navigate a digital world successfully. Who is helping kids figure this stuff out? 

One teacher commented that parents should be doing more to monitor and support their own children. I don't disagree with this. I think parents can do more to be aware and help meet these challenges. That's why we've hosted parent workshops and provided information in our newsletters to help parents in this area.

But what I don't agree with is the idea that it's completely the parents job to address these issues. Our school does not exist in a vacuum. We MUST address the relevant issues of our time and partner with parents to help students be successful. Our school motto is, "Learning for Life." That points to the need for learning that really matters, that will help students be successful, not just on a test, but in living a healthy, balanced, fulfilling life.

In our school, every student must have a device for learning. They can use a school issued Chromebook or they can bring their own device. But using a device is not optional. I think this ups the ante for us in our level of responsibility on these issues. It's important no matter what. But when our school is so digitally infused, we must work to educate our students about the challenges they will face. And we must educate them about the opportunities that digital can provide, too.

We are so focused on our curriculum and meeting standards I think we can forget to pay attention to our students and their needs. We aren't thinking deeply about what is most useful to them now and in the future. We see them as just students. It's all about academics. We are completely focused on making sure they are learning science, history, math, literature, etc. Are they college and career ready? Did they pass the state assessment? 

And the one overarching question, the elephant in the room—are you teaching content or are you teaching kids? Cause there's a difference. The best teachers are always ready to teach the life-changing lesson. They understand that's the stuff that really makes a lasting impact. Students will forget the foreign language they took in HS, they probably won't ever use the quadratic formula in real life, and reading Victorian literature isn't likely to spark a passion. 

I hope you get my point.

We can't afford to not make time for Digital Citizenship, or just plain citizenship. 

Question: How is your school addressing the relevant issues of our time? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below or respond on Twitter or Facebook.

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2c2Z1yq
Posted by at No comments:

Do We Really Have Time for Digital Citizenship?


We've started a series of weekly discussions in our building about life in our increasingly digital world. I guess you could call it Digital Citizenship. I prefer to call it Digital Leadership. We have a half-hour academic support time built into our schedule four days a week. This past Thursday during that time we had our first lesson. We provided teachers with a couple of choices for activities that were pretty easy to implement. We showed a video of interview clips with our own students sharing some thoughts about how their digital life impacts their overall life. And then we discussed the upsides and downsides to technology, for us personally, for our relationships, and even for our nation. 

In my visits to classrooms, there were lively discussions during this time. These are relevant issues that kids really want to discuss. They want to hear different ideas, share their experience, and wrestle with how to successfully navigate this complex world. 

But there were also some challenges to making this happen. Our teachers and students are accustomed to having this academic support time for tutoring, making up missed work, and other important tasks. There were some legitimate concerns where the loss of the time was going to impact the academics of students. They really needed to retake that quiz or there was a study session for a test the next day. And so, I let the teachers decide. If you feel the academic need is pressing, then skip the Digital Leadership lesson this time.

Even my daughter, Maddie, was disappointed she wasn't able to use that time for academics. She is playing tennis and has missed a ton of school for matches and tournaments. She's working hard to get caught up and values Liberator Time to get stuff done. She was concerned about the loss of that time.

As I've thought about how this has all played out, my biggest question concerns our priorities. Are we really paying attention to our students' needs? There is no question that preparing students academically is important. But if we aren't preparing students for life in a world that is rapidly changing, will the academic knowledge really be that helpful?

Each year, I hear stories from heartbroken parents and see shattered lives because of decisions that were made online. I see the impact of all sorts of digital miscues, small and large. Besides the tragic circumstances that arise, there are also less obvious consequences of failure to navigate a digital world successfully. Who is helping kids figure this stuff out? 

One teacher commented that parents should be doing more to monitor and support their own children. I don't disagree with this. I think parents can do more to be aware and help meet these challenges. That's why we've hosted parent workshops and provided information in our newsletters to help parents in this area.

But what I don't agree with is the idea that it's completely the parents job to address these issues. Our school does not exist in a vacuum. We MUST address the relevant issues of our time and partner with parents to help students be successful. Our school motto is, "Learning for Life." That points to the need for learning that really matters, that will help students be successful, not just on a test, but in living a healthy, balanced, fulfilling life.

In our school, every student must have a device for learning. They can use a school issued Chromebook or they can bring their own device. But using a device is not optional. I think this ups the ante for us in our level of responsibility on these issues. It's important no matter what. But when our school is so digitally infused, we must work to educate our students about the challenges they will face. And we must educate them about the opportunities that digital can provide, too.

We are so focused on our curriculum and meeting standards I think we can forget to pay attention to our students and their needs. We aren't thinking deeply about what is most useful to them now and in the future. We see them as just students. It's all about academics. We are completely focused on making sure they are learning science, history, math, literature, etc. Are they college and career ready? Did they pass the state assessment? 

And the one overarching question, the elephant in the room—are you teaching content or are you teaching kids? Cause there's a difference. The best teachers are always ready to teach the life-changing lesson. They understand that's the stuff that really makes a lasting impact. Students will forget the foreign language they took in HS, they probably won't ever use the quadratic formula in real life, and reading Victorian literature isn't likely to spark a passion. 

I hope you get my point.

We can't afford to not make time for Digital Citizenship, or just plain citizenship.

Question: How is your school addressing the relevant issues of our time? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below or respond on Twitter or Facebook.

from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2c2Z1yq
Posted by at No comments:

Arrowood by Laura McHugh

Arden Arrowood returns home to Keokuk, Iowa after her father dies and she inherits the family home, a grand place called Arrowood that holds a whole lot of sadness and unanswered questions.  Arden's twin sisters Violet and Tabitha disappeared from Arrowood's front lawn one September afternoon, 17 years before.  They weren't quite 2 years old, and Arden was 8 years old.  She feels responsible for their disappearance, as she was playing with them outside when she wasn't supposed to be; when her back was turned, they were snatched by someone in a gold car and never seen again.  Their kidnapping became one of the most famous mysteries in Iowa history, and people still whisper about it.  

Arden's life has been difficult.  Her mother and father divorced; her mother is remarried to an evangelist and living in Minnesota.  She still pops pills, drinks and watches HSN. Arden's mother doesn't really want much to do with her daughter.   Arden's father was a wanderer, a con man, and a disappointment to Arden's grandfather, the owner of Arrowood.  Such a disappointment that he forbade his son from living in the family home.  It sat empty for years, until his death.  Now Arden has returned because she has nowhere else to go and is at a crossroads in her life.  

Josh contacts Arden regarding a book he is writing about the Arrowood kidnapping.  He believes he has proof that the man who was accused of kidnapping the twins (but never charged with their disappearance) has been telling the truth all along, that he was innocent.  Could Arden's memories of that day be wrong?  If so, what really happened to the Violet and Tabitha?  Could they still be alive, somewhere?

But Arden's stay in the house is a bit eerie.  Water drips down windows, the giant claw-foot tub in the bathroom leaks.  Sometimes she thinks she feels her sisters around her.  Is it her imagination, or are they messages from beyond?

I enjoyed this novel, but I was hoping for a bit more supernatural spookiness.  Laura McHugh does a very good job of portraying a town haunted by its past, and the destruction that can happen to a family when tragedy visits and leaves unanswered questions.  I felt bad for Arden.  Her life was profoundly changed by the disappearance of her little sisters, and her guilt at not keeping them safe.  You may be surprised by the ending, or not. 

Rating:  6/10 for a good read with a main character who is complex because she's had such a messed up life.  Secondary characters round it all out to bring in that small town feel of secrets, gossip, and hidden passions.  

Available in hardcover and e-book.

from Bookalicious Babe Book Reviews http://ift.tt/2bKqQuN
Posted by at No comments:

3 Obvious Ways Twitter Promotes Literacy

What today's young people know is that knowing who you're writing for and why you're writing might be the most crucial factor of all.

It was an interesting day for me.  I spoke in the same district that I did my first keynote in by myself, and it was an amazing experience to reconnect and think about my journey over the last few years.  The person that asked me to speak over six years ago was still there, and we reminisced about our experiences over this time.

One of the conversations was going back to the idea of Twitter and does it actually promote literacy.  Thinking about, jumping onto Twitter years ago has led to many amazing opportunities for me, but I also think that it has led to tremendous growth in my own learning over time.  Since I first started connecting with others through the medium, I have written over 88,000 tweets, written over 1,100 blog posts, and one book.  I am a firm believer that if you want to become better at writing, the best way to do it is to write more.

Without connecting on Twitter, I truly believe that I would not have written in the other mediums.  I have started blogs before, but never made it past a few posts.  As for a book?  I doubt that was something I would have ever done without Twitter.  I am not the only one; so many educators that have connected through the medium have written and published their own books.  I have seen people criticize that so many educators are writing books now, and I think, “Wow! So many educators are writing books now!”  Educators sharing their wisdom with different audiences all over the world is a pretty powerful thing.

Yet how does Twitter actually promote literacy?  As I thought about it, here are three obvious ways that really stand out to me.

  1. You read more. Many educators start off with the idea that they are “lurkers” on Twitter.  They have access to learning and ideas that they might not get within their own schools or usual circles.  I am a big believer in “created serendipity“; the more connected you are, the more ideas seem to find you, not the other way around.  The amount of blog posts and articles that I have read in the last few years is seemingly more than I ever read in my time as a student.  It should be also noted that none of these articles were pushed upon me but it was an opportunity to read things that I was interested in, not articles that were pushed upon me by someone else.
  2. You write more. I googled, “How many characters are in your average book?”, and according to this site, it is approximately 500,000.  So let’s say that the average tweet has 100 characters, well then 5000 tweets would equate to the length of a book.  Now writing 500,000 characters of tweets versus writing in a book are not equally weighted, but simply put, you are writing more.  Getting on Twitter is not about writing a book though, but how often do students write this much on their own?

    Clive Thompson has an interesting take on this:

    “The first thing she found is that young people today write far more than any generation before them. That’s because so much socializing takes place online, and it almost always involves text. Of all the writing that the Stanford students did, a stunning 38 percent of it took place out of the classroom—life writing, as Lunsford calls it. Those Twitter updates and lists of 25 things about yourself add up.

    It’s almost hard to remember how big a paradigm shift this is. Before the Internet came along, most Americans never wrote anything, ever, that wasn’t a school assignment. Unless they got a job that required producing text (like in law, advertising, or media), they’d leave school and virtually never construct a paragraph again.

    But is this explosion of prose good, on a technical level? Yes. Lunsford’s team found that the students were remarkably adept at what rhetoricians call kairos—assessing their audience and adapting their tone and technique to best get their point across. The modern world of online writing, particularly in chat and on discussion threads, is conversational and public, which makes it closer to the Greek tradition of argument than the asynchronous letter and essay writing of 50 years ago.”

    Which leads us into the next point…

  3. You can find your voice.  If you go onto Twitter, there are many educators that are passionate about so many different things, both in and out of the realm of education.  If literacy is about how we communicate our ideas, we have to understand how we connect and share, and how an audience will interpret we are sharing.  This is crucial as it is not only about the message, but how it is delivered.  As I am a big believer in moving from engagement to empowerment, someone that feels empowered to share will most likely tend to share more.

I have long held the belief that we are slowly becoming illiterate if we do not keep up with these modern mediums, but my focus is not about how to keep up, but how to embrace the opportunities these mediums provide us.  If there is something that could get our students not only reading more, but writing more as well, wouldn’t we be crazy not to embrace it?

 



from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2chYWTq
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, September 2, 2016

Screen time; Quality versus Quantity

Thinking through writing…

A question I always receive in workshops regarding the use of technology in the classroom is regarding the notion of “screen time”; what amount is too much (as you will never hear someone asking how much is sufficient!)?

Recently, “The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)”, changed their recommendations on the amount of screen time that it would suggest for a child under two (previously it was no screen time at all based on recommendations).  According to this article from parents.com, here are some of the AAP’s suggestions:

Treat media as you would any other environment in your child’s life. The same parenting rules apply in both real and virtual environments. Set limits; kids need and expect them. Know their friends, both online and off. Know what platforms they are using, where they are going and what they are doing.

Be a good role model. Teach and model kindness online. Limit your own media use. Attentive parenting requires face time away from screens.

Know the value of face-to-face communication. Very young children learn best through two-way communication. Engaging in “talk time” remains critical for language development. That can be face-to-face or via video chat with traveling parent or grandparent. It’s the back-and-forth conversation that improves language skills.

Families who play together, learn together. Family participation in media encourages social interactions and learning. Play a video game with your kids. Your insight helps children put their media experience into perspective. It’s also a good way to demonstrate good sportsmanship and gaming etiquette.

Do your homework on apps. More than 80,000 apps are labeled as educational, but little research validates their quality. Products pitched as “interactive” should require more than “pushing and swiping.” Look to organizations likeCommon Sense Media for reviews on age-appropriate apps, games and programs.

Set limits and encourage playtime. Unstructured playtime stimulates creativity. Make unplugged playtime a daily priority, especially for very young children. Tech use, like all other activities, should have reasonable limits.

It’s OK for your teen to be online. Online relationships are part of adolescent development. Social media can support teens as they find their own identity. Just be sure your teen is behaving appropriately in both the real and online worlds. Keep lines of communication open and let them know you’re there if they have questions or concerns.

Create tech-free zones. Keep family mealtimes tech-free. Recharge devices overnight outside your child’s bedroom. These actions encourage family time, healthier eating habits and better sleep.

Kids will be kids. Kids will make mistakes using media. Handle these mistakes with empathy and use them as teachable moments. But some indiscretions, such as sexting or posting self-harm images, should be a flag to look further into your child’s behaviors.

All very sensible and make sense.  The conversation is crucial.

So what does this mean for schools?  Is it really about the time students spend in front of screen, or the quality of things they do in front of a screen?  For example, there is a difference between a child watching Sesame Street, as opposed to a child watching Sesame Street and talking about it during the program with an adult. Still the same amount of time in front of a screen, but the quality has definitely increased in the latter example.

In many schools that are hoping to get access to technology when funds are lacking, what happens when a child is front of that screen?  Are the activities focusing on thinking and promoting some mindfulness, or are the student’s getting “lost” in the screen?  Consuming videos on YouTube can become mind-numbing in some ways, but creating a video to post on YouTube, can actually create a connection and reflection on content, that was not there when simply consuming.

A timer in front of screen is probably not realistic in schools, but being thoughtful of what you and your students do while having access to technology is crucial.

But that being said…I know that sometimes I spend a lot of time getting lost on YouTube and Vine; I need a “check out” and watch some cats and dogs videos.  I sometimes need to not feel productive.  I thought about this fact as I read this article from a Meredith Bland titled, “Screen Time is Just a Part of Life“. This part resonated:

I’m not worried about my children becoming slugs because that is not something I will allow as their parent. My kids participate in after-school activities. My husband and I are constantly trying to find ways for us to be outdoors. I encourage a love of reading and a tolerance for school work. They love to swim and participate in martial arts. And, in addition to all of that, they also love playing video games. There doesn’t have to be an emphasis on one and a denial of the other. I don’t believe the answer is to limit our children to a half an hour of TV a week, but rather to let them explore all of their interests and enjoy all parts of life.

There’s little in this world that is all good or all bad, and I want them to know that video games and television shows are an enjoyable part of life that they don’t need to shun and look down on in order to be accomplished, worthwhile human beings. It’s we adults who saddle ourselves with worry about using our time effectively—children don’t need to be effective; they just need to be kids. They get enough of adults structuring their time and making sure it is used to accomplish something. (And usually, that is more about the feelings of the adult than the child.) So if my kids want to balance out their accomplishments with a few hours of video games, that works for me. Go grow some dragons and defeat the enemy troops. The world will still be here for you to explore when you get back.

Quote from Meredith Bland

Quote from Meredith Bland

What I think is extremely crucial in this conversation is the conversation in the first place! That people are thinking about it in the context of teaching, learning, and parenting, and finding solutions that work for their family and treating their children as individuals, and not as part of a study, is something that I believe it be important.  What works for one, might not work for another.

Technology should personalize, not standardize.  Our conversations about it should not be standardized as well.

P.S,  This article was written while looking at a screen and the opportunity to reflect and connect my own ideas, and share these thoughts with others is an activity that I would see as extremely beneficial to my learning…just noticed the irony before I was about to press publish.

Source: George Couros



from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2cmIt3G
Posted by at No comments:

Friday Five: Favorite Dinner Recipes from August

Our favorite dinner recipes from the month of August.

Hello and Happy Friday! Can you guys believe it is September already? I seriously don’t know where summer went, but I will tell you that I am most definitely ready for fall. In my opinion, there’s nothing better than cooler temps, comfort food, and pumpkin recipes galore.

Today I’m starting a new series that I’m calling the Friday Five. The series will feature five of my favorite things from varying topics like recipes, cookbooks, cookware, beauty products, home decor, and I may even throw in some fashion items and toddler gear from time to time. But today, we’re starting out with our favorite dinner recipes from the month of August.

We’ve been trying to up our meal plan game, and although I love the weekly meal planning posts I see on other blogs, I’d fail miserably at those. So I decided to do something a little different by starting a Pinterest board to keep track of all the amazing recipes that I come across online and want to try. Then I made them for dinner and kept track of our favorites, and now I’m sharing them with you.

This way, I can give you a mini review, let you know my picky husband’s thoughts, and even tell you if the recipe is toddler approved. Basically, I’m trying to take the guess work out of meal planning by testing recipes for you and then letting you know our thoughts. Easy peasy, right?

(more…)

The post Friday Five: Favorite Dinner Recipes from August appeared first on My Baking Addiction.

        


from My Baking Addiction http://ift.tt/2bQZj6k
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Screen time; Quality versus Quantity

Thinking through writing…

A question I always receive in workshops regarding the use of technology in the classroom is regarding the notion of “screen time”; what amount is too much (as you will never hear someone asking how much is sufficient!)?

Recently, “The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)”, changed their recommendations on the amount of screen time that it would suggest for a child under two (previously it was no screen time at all based on recommendations).  According to this article from parents.com, here are some of the AAP’s suggestions:

Treat media as you would any other environment in your child’s life. The same parenting rules apply in both real and virtual environments. Set limits; kids need and expect them. Know their friends, both online and off. Know what platforms they are using, where they are going and what they are doing.

Be a good role model. Teach and model kindness online. Limit your own media use. Attentive parenting requires face time away from screens.

Know the value of face-to-face communication. Very young children learn best through two-way communication. Engaging in “talk time” remains critical for language development. That can be face-to-face or via video chat with traveling parent or grandparent. It’s the back-and-forth conversation that improves language skills.

Families who play together, learn together. Family participation in media encourages social interactions and learning. Play a video game with your kids. Your insight helps children put their media experience into perspective. It’s also a good way to demonstrate good sportsmanship and gaming etiquette.

Do your homework on apps. More than 80,000 apps are labeled as educational, but little research validates their quality. Products pitched as “interactive” should require more than “pushing and swiping.” Look to organizations likeCommon Sense Media for reviews on age-appropriate apps, games and programs.

Set limits and encourage playtime. Unstructured playtime stimulates creativity. Make unplugged playtime a daily priority, especially for very young children. Tech use, like all other activities, should have reasonable limits.

It’s OK for your teen to be online. Online relationships are part of adolescent development. Social media can support teens as they find their own identity. Just be sure your teen is behaving appropriately in both the real and online worlds. Keep lines of communication open and let them know you’re there if they have questions or concerns.

Create tech-free zones. Keep family mealtimes tech-free. Recharge devices overnight outside your child’s bedroom. These actions encourage family time, healthier eating habits and better sleep.

Kids will be kids. Kids will make mistakes using media. Handle these mistakes with empathy and use them as teachable moments. But some indiscretions, such as sexting or posting self-harm images, should be a flag to look further into your child’s behaviors.

All very sensible and make sense.  The conversation is crucial.

So what does this mean for schools?  Is it really about the time students spend in front of screen, or the quality of things they do in front of a screen?  For example, there is a difference between a child watching Sesame Street, as opposed to a child watching Sesame Street and talking about it during the program with an adult. Still the same amount of time in front of a screen, but the quality has definitely increased in the latter example.

In many schools that are hoping to get access to technology when funds are lacking, what happens when a child is front of that screen?  Are the activities focusing on thinking and promoting some mindfulness, or are the student’s getting “lost” in the screen?  Consuming videos on YouTube can become mind-numbing in some ways, but creating a video to post on YouTube, can actually create a connection and reflection on content, that was not there when simply consuming.

A timer in front of screen is probably not realistic in schools, but being thoughtful of what you and your students do while having access to technology is crucial.

But that being said…I know that sometimes I spend a lot of time getting lost on YouTube and Vine; I need a “check out” and watch some cats and dogs videos.  I sometimes need to not feel productive.  I thought about this fact as I read this article from a Meredith Bland titled, “Screen Time is Just a Part of Life“. This part resonated:

I’m not worried about my children becoming slugs because that is not something I will allow as their parent. My kids participate in after-school activities. My husband and I are constantly trying to find ways for us to be outdoors. I encourage a love of reading and a tolerance for school work. They love to swim and participate in martial arts. And, in addition to all of that, they also love playing video games. There doesn’t have to be an emphasis on one and a denial of the other. I don’t believe the answer is to limit our children to a half an hour of TV a week, but rather to let them explore all of their interests and enjoy all parts of life.

There’s little in this world that is all good or all bad, and I want them to know that video games and television shows are an enjoyable part of life that they don’t need to shun and look down on in order to be accomplished, worthwhile human beings. It’s we adults who saddle ourselves with worry about using our time effectively—children don’t need to be effective; they just need to be kids. They get enough of adults structuring their time and making sure it is used to accomplish something. (And usually, that is more about the feelings of the adult than the child.) So if my kids want to balance out their accomplishments with a few hours of video games, that works for me. Go grow some dragons and defeat the enemy troops. The world will still be here for you to explore when you get back.

Quote from Meredith Bland

Quote from Meredith Bland

What I think is extremely crucial in this conversation is the conversation in the first place! That people are thinking about it in the context of teaching, learning, and parenting, and finding solutions that work for their family and treating their children as individuals, and not as part of a study, is something that I believe it be important.  What works for one, might not work for another.

Technology should personalize, not standardize.  Our conversations about it should not be standardized as well.

P.S,  This article was written while looking at a screen and the opportunity to reflect and connect my own ideas, and share these thoughts with others is an activity that I would see as extremely beneficial to my learning…just noticed the irony before I was about to press publish.



from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2chMOSY
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)