Student Choice Continuum: Version 1

I'm working on the idea of a student choice continuum to help explain Project Based Learning. This continuum is not meant to represent "good" verus "bad" instruction; almost all forms of instruction can be done well or poorly, purposefully or not. For example, I learn well by listening, so for me, an interesting, well-delivered lecture could be effective. My son, however, is not much of an auditory learner. Doing a Project would be better for him than a lecture.  I'd appreciate your constructive feedback on this idea. This is version 1. What can we do to make it better?

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If Teachers Planned Inservice: Another Perspective

If you're in education, I'm sure you've seen the posts called something like "If Teachers Planned Inservice." The implication is that inservice is always boring (which it often is) and that if teachers did it, it would be either 1. nonexistent or 2. less boring. As a person who plans inservice as part of my job, I hope that what I have planned for you is 1. not boring and 2. useful to you. In fact, that's my number one and number two hope for every session I provide.

My question for you though is this: If you are a teacher, you provide a form of "inservice" every day in your classroom. Do you have the same standards for your teaching as you have for mine? I teach you only a few days a year; you teach your students about 185 days a year. How do you maintain the level of interest and relevancy that you expect from me? I'll grant you that's incredibly difficult, but it is worth pondering.

What I want you to know is that I (and many, many others) worked really hard to provide the inservice we will offer to you in the next two weeks. I will be offering sessions during back to school events in three districts and traveling about 800 miles. I'll sleep in hotel rooms some of those nights so that I can be there up to 2 hours before you. I'll stay up late many nights before that planning and tweaking to make sure there is something new that's just for you. I'll do my best to make sure you always have access to a technology device so that you can participate constantly but not so you can check Facebook.

So, I have something to ask you. If I do all this for you, will you do a few things for me?

1. Come to my session with an open mind and a positive attitude.
2. When I ask you a question, nod your head or verbally answer.
3. Make eye contact with me.
4. Don't sit in the back so you can catch up with your friend during my session.
5. Give me a chance to be a resource to help you be more relevant to your students.
6. Judge the inservice I provide by the standards you want used to judge you in your classroom.
7. Volunteer to help plan and provide inservice so that we can make it the best it can be together. (Thank you to my volunteer helper for next week!)
8. Don't knit or crochet during inservice. (Yes, that really happened.)

The truth is, I don't think we'll have ANY problems with ANY of the above next week because you seem to like the inservice I provide. I'm so glad you do! I love providing it for you and I'm honored to work for your district. You are always kind and welcoming to me, and I know you wouldn't really rather have a root canal than attend one of my sessions. BUT, I need you too. Look at me, talk to me, answer my questions, and tell me when you don't understand. Thanks you guys! I'm looking forward to seeing you next week!

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New to a Google District? Here Are a Few Skills to Get You Started . . .

Above is an embedded Google Presentation with full view access shared via Google Drive. If you don't see it, try this link. Please feel free to use it with your staff. I'd love to hear from you in the comments if you do.

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The Teacher Evaluatron 5000: Coming to a Classroom Near You?

Last week I visited a school district and saw the most intriguing device. It looked something like

the thing on the right. Until I got back home and Googled it, I didn't know what it was called, and so in discussion, it quickly became dubbed the "Teacher Evaluatron 5000." (Nice one, Matthew.) The district had purchased one of these panoramic camera devices per campus so that teachers' classrooms could be recorded and they could then be evaluated from offices far away. My immediate, gut reaction to this was, "How horrible and depersonalizing." I asked a couple of district employees what teachers thought of the device. One of them replied something like, "Well, they should like it, but nobody likes to be evaluated, so they don't like it because it's an evaluation tool." The other employee said something like, "Teachers hate it. They're leaving the district because the way this system is used is dehumanizing."

I wonder what you think. Is it important for administrators to spend time in your classroom or would you prefer the "Teacher Evaluatron 5000" to record then archive 15 minutes of video to a server somewhere far away?

The device in question is actually called the Teachscape. (Good job with the name, guys. Much better than our suggestion.) Also, there are some neat projects going on with this camera that do not have the doom and gloom feel of the Evaluatron 5000. Here's one use that sounds like a potentially good idea. In this instance, the teacher whose work will be used to study effective teaching knows that "She is the only person in Memphis with access to her video, which cannot be used to evaluate her work."

The picture below might help you visualize one possible setup. Here's a CNET review of the Teachscape.  Be on the lookout for this device. It may be only a matter of time until this device becomes a part of the daily life of many teachers.

Photo Credit & Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/may/10/teachers-star-in-researchers-video/, Photo by Karen Pulfer Focht

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Back to School On Campus Staff Development, PBL Style

A couple of smart principals I know (and luckily get to work with frequently) told me that they're going to use Project Based Learning for campus staff development this year. We started brainstorming a Driving Question for this purpose. What do you think? Would you rather have PBL based Back to School staff development? What could we do to improve our DQ?

Driving Question:

How can you work in a team of 4-5 peers to create a 5-10 minute presentation on an engaging strategy, communication technique, or tool that could be used enhance learning or improve communication in our school?

Norms & Expectations:

• All team members must speak about what they contributed during the presentation .
• Teaching techniques or scenarios addressed by the teams should be presented in an engaging way and modeled during the presentation.
• A digital representation or handout that will help your peers remember the technique/tool/idea, etc. must be shared.

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