ColleenK on Twitter said that she got to hear Peter H. Reynolds speak this week and he gave a "very inspirational talk." To which I replied, "Peter is always inspirational to me, in one-on-one talks or in large groups. He has a great outlook on life and kids." It is no secret if you have ever happened upon this blog that I am a big fan of Peter Reynolds and of FableVision. I have even tried to explain what it is that motivates me to speak of them so often.
Which led me to wonder, what inspires me - or maybe more accurately, what is it about the people who inspire me? I will start with what inspires me and I hope readers will comment with what inspires them.
Thinking back to speakers I have heard, I think of the things that they said that are still with me. I think I have come up with some common threads to share.
1- One strong memory I have of being completely inspired--and in fact, changed, was when I heard Bill Page who was a speaker at an "At Risk" conference. I remember him saying, "it all comes down to what you believe in?" He said (paraphrased), if you get done teaching a lesson and the kids fail the test, what you do next depends on what you believe in. If you believe the kids are dumb and didn't learn what you so excellently taught, you move on. If you believe that all kids can learn if you could teach it in a way that they learn, you reteach and you do it in a different way. I can't tell you how those words have practically haunted me. When dealing with kids, I frequently hold decisions up to the "Bill Page" test. Not that I give tests, but it is a great way to approach problems.
2- Next, I would point to Peter H. Reynolds (I know, not a surprise). I had never met Peter until 2006 at the Iowa Technology Education Connection Conference when he was the keynote speaker. I had known the company and Peter's books, but I hadn't met the man. I had the priviledge of meeting Peter and Bill Norris in person. You could go through a lot of life without meeting people as genuine as Peter and Bill.
The true inspiration of Mr. Reynolds lies in watching him interact with people. I believe I have watched him interact with people for dozens of hours between the Iowa conference and the two NECC's I attended. I am amazed how 'present' he is when he talks to people. Total and complete chaos can be occurring around him, but he focuses on the person he is speaking to. It inspires me. It makes me want to be more like that. He is a person who has hundreds of projects going at the same time and deadlines that have to be always looming, and he takes time for people.
The other facet of the inspiration comes from the walk-the-talk nature of his personality. The first time we were out to dinner with a huge group of people, I am sure my jaw dropped when Peter took out his water colors and using a little wine, embellished a picture someone down the table had drawn. He is everything that the website says he is, a truly rare commodity.
4- A few years ago, I heard Debbie Silver, author of the book Drumming to the Beat of a Different Marcher: Finding the Rhythm for Teaching a Differentiated Classroom, which ironically did NOT have a cover by Peter Reynolds when I bought the book (but it does now and I have that copy too). What amazed me about Ms. Silver was that she was keynoting at the Iowa Technology conference and seemed to ignore the technology part and just speak about her educational experiences. I laughed...I got misty....and best of all, it made me think. It was early in the days of differentiation, or at least the word, and she spoke compassionately about kids and learning.
5- I have also mentioned Dr. Peggy Healy-Stearns a bunch of times and, trust me, she is deserving of every mention. She inspires me through her honest love of learning. Let's face it, Stationery Studio is an amazing piece of software and if Peggy did nothing, people would still buy it. That software is how I got to know FableVision. But watching Peggy talk to people about the software is an amazing and beautiful thing. She encourages them to send her projects and share what they are doing with kids...because she loves to learn how kids are impacted by the software and enjoys seeing the creations. The fact that she is one of the nicest people I have ever met is just icing on the cake! She also listens to every suggestion about possible changes to the program...the only thing that could motivate that is wanting it to be the very best and the most useful.
In terms of inspiration there are many other people who inspire me. Sylvia Martinez, Diane Cordell, and Karen Janowski all used Skype to present to the college class I am teaching. First, they were all inspiring because they had so much knowledge and experience to share. Second, they were so inspiring because they all either volunteered, or jumped at the chance to help out. It takes a special person to share their knowledge in a non-traditional format. There literally wasn't a moment of hesitation for any of them to jump in and help, which I attribute to being great people and to loving what they do. I won't go into the entire social network again, but I am constantly inspired by my learning network.
I am also constantly inspired by my wife. She teaches in a large school (for Iowa -- 1800 in 9-12) and she sincerely cares about the students in her classroom. It is easy for me in a small school, but her classes are sometimes stretched to fit more than 30 students, it amazes me that she knows all their names and can work with them all to bring out their best writing. I can't tell you how many times she has cried over something her students have written or how many times she has gone above and beyond to help them.
Now, for the common thread that all of these people share -- they all have a passion for learning, people, and kids. They are all immensely creative people who care about other people and share their talents.
People with passion and creativity inspire me.... What inspires you?
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Dark Side of the Internet...
Twitter friend Damian Bariexca (Twitter @Damian613 told me about a song that was in his blog post here. He said, "try not to cry when you watch the video..." Not feeling particularly brave today, I decided to hold off.
Then I was reading Jim Gates' Blog and noticed remnants of that earlier conversation. So I had to go check out the song. I went to the site for a CyberBullying video on YouTube which had the same song as Damian's post. I was blown away. What an amazing piece of work that I think captures the despair of cyberbullying and its seemingly innocuous beginnings.
Thanks to Damian and Jim for leading me to this song and video. ALL educators must watch it and we ALL must work to stop cyberbullying.
UPDATE: I learned there is a teacher guide here along with the original video post.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Out with the Old and In with the New--Revised Bloom
When I was in school, Bloom's Taxonomy was drilled into our heads. We had to show the use of the whole taxonomy in our objectives. With the implementation of the "Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships" framework in my school (and state) we brought out the Bloom and rated our lessons to the thinking skills required. Same old Bloom!
Imagine my surprise when I learned in a magazine from Tech4Learning last summer, that the Taxonomy had a facelift! I was please when I learned that the update had been orchestrated by one of the original framers!
The NEW Taxonomy Organized from Lower to Higher Order Thinking Skills-
Remembering - Recognizing, listing, describing, identifying, retrieving, naming, locating, finding
Understanding - Interpreting, summarizing, inferring, paraphrasing, classifying, comparing,
explaining, exemplifying
Applying - Implementing, carrying out, using, executing
Analyzing - Comparing, organising, deconstructing, Attributing, outlining, finding, structuring, integrating
Evaluating - Checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, Experimenting, judging, testing, Detecting,
Monitoring
Creating - designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing, devising, making
My question is, are there now two different versions of an excellent resource to ignore. Think back to the classrooms that you sat in as a student, then look at the classrooms around you....what is the difference? Sure, there is a lot more stuff in classrooms, but how has instruction fundamentally changed because of the new stuff? Typically, when I ask my college students this question, they say there is no difference between the classes they observe and the classes they attended as students.
The reason I fell in love with using technology was because of the power it had in my classroom. First, because technology was motivating. I used to jokingly say that kids would sell their mom to be able to do something on a computer (sorry, mom). Twenty years later, it is still the case. How can we have school buildings full of computers and still have kids hungering to use them? I believe it is because they want to do REAL things with the technology. They want to learn, collaborate and, ultimately, create.
Last year's revised ISTE student standards: uses Creativity and Innovation as standard one.
"Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology." In the June 2008 edition of "District Administration", Peter H. Reynolds said, "If the ISTE's creativity and innovation standards are embraced and supported, we'll see some fantastic things happen in teaching and learning."
We need a revolution and I think looking at the revised Bloom, ISTE's Student NETS and listening to visionaries like Peter H. Reynolds we know that CREATING is a very powerful and important part of learning. WE must embark on a new era of change. We must start in our own classrooms. WE must share the new Bloom, the works of great thinkers, and the standards that have been created. We all must look at our own practice and share the excellent products that our students create.
Andrew Churches has an article on the correlation between Bloom and Technology here
Comparing the two versions of Bloom, here.
Anderson, L.W., and D. Krathwohl (Eds.) (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: a Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Longman, New York.
Imagine my surprise when I learned in a magazine from Tech4Learning last summer, that the Taxonomy had a facelift! I was please when I learned that the update had been orchestrated by one of the original framers!
The NEW Taxonomy Organized from Lower to Higher Order Thinking Skills-
Remembering - Recognizing, listing, describing, identifying, retrieving, naming, locating, finding
Understanding - Interpreting, summarizing, inferring, paraphrasing, classifying, comparing,
explaining, exemplifying
Applying - Implementing, carrying out, using, executing
Analyzing - Comparing, organising, deconstructing, Attributing, outlining, finding, structuring, integrating
Evaluating - Checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, Experimenting, judging, testing, Detecting,
Monitoring
Creating - designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing, devising, making
My question is, are there now two different versions of an excellent resource to ignore. Think back to the classrooms that you sat in as a student, then look at the classrooms around you....what is the difference? Sure, there is a lot more stuff in classrooms, but how has instruction fundamentally changed because of the new stuff? Typically, when I ask my college students this question, they say there is no difference between the classes they observe and the classes they attended as students.
The reason I fell in love with using technology was because of the power it had in my classroom. First, because technology was motivating. I used to jokingly say that kids would sell their mom to be able to do something on a computer (sorry, mom). Twenty years later, it is still the case. How can we have school buildings full of computers and still have kids hungering to use them? I believe it is because they want to do REAL things with the technology. They want to learn, collaborate and, ultimately, create.
Last year's revised ISTE student standards: uses Creativity and Innovation as standard one.
"Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology." In the June 2008 edition of "District Administration", Peter H. Reynolds said, "If the ISTE's creativity and innovation standards are embraced and supported, we'll see some fantastic things happen in teaching and learning."
We need a revolution and I think looking at the revised Bloom, ISTE's Student NETS and listening to visionaries like Peter H. Reynolds we know that CREATING is a very powerful and important part of learning. WE must embark on a new era of change. We must start in our own classrooms. WE must share the new Bloom, the works of great thinkers, and the standards that have been created. We all must look at our own practice and share the excellent products that our students create.
Andrew Churches has an article on the correlation between Bloom and Technology here
Comparing the two versions of Bloom, here.
Anderson, L.W., and D. Krathwohl (Eds.) (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: a Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Longman, New York.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Enabling the Dreams of Others- Randy Pausch
"All right, so what is today’s talk about then? It’s about my childhood dreams and how I have achieved them. I’ve been very fortunate that way. How I believe I’ve been able to enable the dreams of others, and to some degree, lessons learned.
I’m a professor, there should be some lessons learned and how you can use the stuff you hear today to achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others. And as you get older, you may find that “enabling the dreams of others” thing is even more fun." From the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.
When I heard words, "Enabling the dreams of others," I was amazed at how it touched me. It described part of my journey so well! I remember sitting in my office at school one day and I had read somewhere about the talk. I watched....and I was swept away with emotion. Perhaps I might be too good at the empathy thing.
The resounding message for me aligned with the "North Star" philosophy from my friend, Peter H. Reynolds at FableVision. Dreams and vision are big in the FableVision world and in mine.
This print, available at PeterHReynolds.com, is one example of the message I want to share with kids. How do we, as teachers, enable the dreams of our students. An interesting concept to consider.
Here are my thoughts on how we enable the dreams of others:
1- We give them creative and exciting lessons that encourage exploration and deep thoughts. I know none of the kids in my class are going to run off to be music historians. However, we spend time in sixth grade exploring music history. In part to make connections to the past, in part to learn how to find out about more things that are interesting, but mostly exploring new tools and ways of thinking.
2- We LISTEN to their dreams...We provide realistic opportunities for them to connect to the dream. Sometimes, this leads to uncomfortable talks. When I was working with struggling students in school, one of the things I asked them was, "What do you want to do after high school?" Then I would ask, "What do you REALLY want to do after high school....If there were no limits." ALWAYS a different answer. Always a disconnect between the behaviors exhibited in school and the final dream goal. That was a starting place for a conversation that would continue. No judgment, but a lot of, 'how does the path you are on get you where you want to go.'
3- Help kids to see beyond the small town dreams. There isn't anything wrong with any dream a kid has. I think it is important to not let students settle for an easily attainable dream when their potential is greater. "Dream Big" as the poster states. The trick to this is that it isn't up to us to judge who has greater potential. So, we must give kids opportunities beyond where they are and let them see what else is out there. Of course we need to encourage ALL kids and ALL dreams.
4- We must chase our own dreams...even if we don't know they are dreams yet and we must search for talent and believe in people. We need to live life to its fullest and take opportunities that are presented. If you would have told me three years ago that I would write lesson plans for new software, I wouldn't have believed it. The fact that I now call my favorite software designer, Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns or favorite author/illustrator, Peter H. Reynolds friends, is truly amazing. What made those dreams happen??? Someone believed in me. Someone saw the talent I might have to share and asked me to be a part of something great. In this case, Bill at FableVision. An absolutely amazing person who saw a spark and then believed.
5- WE act as mentors. Both to each other and to our students. We are all in this together and we must be unphased by a broken system and the oppressors of creativity and caring. We must support each other on our journeys. We must believe in ourselves and others. It is important to show appreciation to our mentors so that they know their impacts on us. We also need to 'pay it forward.' We need to take all of the belief and praise others have invested in us and provide it for the next group of leaders and dreamers.
Thank you for Randy Pausch, who inspired me greatly from afar. Thank you to Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns, who through her gentle kindness, has brought out the very best in me. Thank you to Peter H. Reynolds who has turned loose the creativity monster in me....you inspire me more than you know. And, finally, to Bill Norris who had believed in me and launched the greatest phase of my journey so far. Thanks to my blog readers and social network followers who inspire me to write and create!
Randy Pausch passed away from Friday at the age of 47. I am a few days from being 44...I have a lot of dreams to fulfill and enable before my last day....and since I don't know when it will be, I better keep on down the path.
What do you do to enable the dreams of others?? Please comment.
I’m a professor, there should be some lessons learned and how you can use the stuff you hear today to achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others. And as you get older, you may find that “enabling the dreams of others” thing is even more fun." From the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.When I heard words, "Enabling the dreams of others," I was amazed at how it touched me. It described part of my journey so well! I remember sitting in my office at school one day and I had read somewhere about the talk. I watched....and I was swept away with emotion. Perhaps I might be too good at the empathy thing.
The resounding message for me aligned with the "North Star" philosophy from my friend, Peter H. Reynolds at FableVision. Dreams and vision are big in the FableVision world and in mine.
This print, available at PeterHReynolds.com, is one example of the message I want to share with kids. How do we, as teachers, enable the dreams of our students. An interesting concept to consider.Here are my thoughts on how we enable the dreams of others:
1- We give them creative and exciting lessons that encourage exploration and deep thoughts. I know none of the kids in my class are going to run off to be music historians. However, we spend time in sixth grade exploring music history. In part to make connections to the past, in part to learn how to find out about more things that are interesting, but mostly exploring new tools and ways of thinking.
2- We LISTEN to their dreams...We provide realistic opportunities for them to connect to the dream. Sometimes, this leads to uncomfortable talks. When I was working with struggling students in school, one of the things I asked them was, "What do you want to do after high school?" Then I would ask, "What do you REALLY want to do after high school....If there were no limits." ALWAYS a different answer. Always a disconnect between the behaviors exhibited in school and the final dream goal. That was a starting place for a conversation that would continue. No judgment, but a lot of, 'how does the path you are on get you where you want to go.'
3- Help kids to see beyond the small town dreams. There isn't anything wrong with any dream a kid has. I think it is important to not let students settle for an easily attainable dream when their potential is greater. "Dream Big" as the poster states. The trick to this is that it isn't up to us to judge who has greater potential. So, we must give kids opportunities beyond where they are and let them see what else is out there. Of course we need to encourage ALL kids and ALL dreams.
4- We must chase our own dreams...even if we don't know they are dreams yet and we must search for talent and believe in people. We need to live life to its fullest and take opportunities that are presented. If you would have told me three years ago that I would write lesson plans for new software, I wouldn't have believed it. The fact that I now call my favorite software designer, Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns or favorite author/illustrator, Peter H. Reynolds friends, is truly amazing. What made those dreams happen??? Someone believed in me. Someone saw the talent I might have to share and asked me to be a part of something great. In this case, Bill at FableVision. An absolutely amazing person who saw a spark and then believed.
5- WE act as mentors. Both to each other and to our students. We are all in this together and we must be unphased by a broken system and the oppressors of creativity and caring. We must support each other on our journeys. We must believe in ourselves and others. It is important to show appreciation to our mentors so that they know their impacts on us. We also need to 'pay it forward.' We need to take all of the belief and praise others have invested in us and provide it for the next group of leaders and dreamers.
Thank you for Randy Pausch, who inspired me greatly from afar. Thank you to Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns, who through her gentle kindness, has brought out the very best in me. Thank you to Peter H. Reynolds who has turned loose the creativity monster in me....you inspire me more than you know. And, finally, to Bill Norris who had believed in me and launched the greatest phase of my journey so far. Thanks to my blog readers and social network followers who inspire me to write and create!
Randy Pausch passed away from Friday at the age of 47. I am a few days from being 44...I have a lot of dreams to fulfill and enable before my last day....and since I don't know when it will be, I better keep on down the path.
What do you do to enable the dreams of others?? Please comment.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Custom Backgrounds
Tired of the old stale PowerPoint backgrounds that come with the program?? Make your own. These were made with a Wacom Tablet and Corel Painter Essentials.
Be BRAVE and original. Deep down we are all artistic, we just need to experiment and play.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Out on a limb
Original "artwork" created using Corel Painter.
We have been discussing how teachers evaluate media/software on this blog. Now it is time to stop talking and start creating!! I think we all can agree that good software is only as good as the teacher in the room with the student creators. So, today I am throwing out a suggestion/challenge. If you have been reading my blog, you have noticed that I have done a lot with Animation-Ish. What would you have kids do with it if it was in your room?
Please comment with an idea of how the animation program could be used BY kids in YOUR classroom (school) to demonstrate something they have learned. You may not copy my former posts here or here, but you may use them for guidance! I will (voice shakes as he says it) try animating some of the best suggestions (hence the out on a limb) or you can download the trial and do it yourself. Either way, I will be posting some animations in the days to come.
Now dream big here! Think outside the box. I am expecting ideas from all my social network friends! I will be out here on the limb waiting.
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