I was brought up to think on my own; to color outside the lines; to be creative, and always ask “why” even if there were no answers to the questions. I have always been curious asking why we are here; why the grass is green and the sky is blue; why being passionate about something makes you feel so good; and even why there were so many questions. A few years ago, I wrote what I believe and don’t believe about learning which still works for me today.

What do you believe and don’t believe about learning?

It’s been wonderful having conversations with amazing educators in the Rethinking Learning podcast series. In doing several of the podcasts and learning about their pasts, I decided I wanted to reflect on how I got to now.

Being Different

If you know me, you may not believe that I was actually very shy. I don’t remember much of kindergarten except that I had problems coloring inside the lines. My mom was an artist and told me there were no lines and to draw where ever I wanted. She made all my clothes and finger curled my hair so I looked like Shirley Temple. She made me believe that I was beautiful, smart, and could do anything. When I went to school, reality hit me. I had trouble fitting in with everyone else. Some of the other kids made fun of my clothes and my curly hair. I didn’t look like everyone else. Actually, the real problem was because I didn’t want to follow the rules, so I kept my mouth shut.

My life at home was so different than my experiences at school. My parents told me I was beautiful and asked me every day what I did that day. I had a voice at the dinner table and with my sisters. Yet, in school, I had very few interactions with others and felt invisible. My teachers made me sit still, fold my hands, keep quiet, and only go to the bathroom when they allowed it.

Learning My Options

In third grade, I had a new teacher who believed in play, being creative and encouraging everyone’s voice. We did projects in groups. I remember creating a paper-maché map, sitting wherever we wanted, dancing, and playing fun roles in plays. We did a lot of giggling and had fun in class. He took time to get to know all of us. It was the first time I really enjoyed school and felt like someone cared. Halfway through the school year, he was evaluated by the principal and the classroom changed. He made even stricter rules than I had before. We had to sit in rows. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Learning was fun and now back to the same old ways. Fourth grade was even stricter and I only spoke when called on. My parents were told that I wasn’t going to go very far if I didn’t follow the rules. My parents were my advocates, but there weren’t that many options for me in school other than following the rules and keeping my mouth shut when I was young.

Nothing much changed in my K-12 world. A few teachers took the time to get to know me, but most of the time I just went through the motions. Very few ever asked me how I learn, why I was not getting something or even interacted with me. I learned how to “do” school. A high school counselor told me that I may want to look for a job instead of college. What? I loved learning but not the way school was then. I was just being compliant because that’s what the system seemed to want me to do. Now I wish I stood up and stood out. I did want to go to college and learn more.

Finding my Voice

So I went to a community college, and that’s where I found my voice. I tried a little of everything and realized I could do something if I put my mind to it. I loved writing and wrote a poem that my English teacher said was really good. He asked me to read it in the quad to other students at noon. I did, and they loved it. Wow! He then published my poem in the school newspaper and received wonderful reviews. I started writing more and wrote a short story that I entered into a contest and won. Looking back, I just wonder who I would be now if I knew I could write and found my voice earlier.

I do have to say now when I look back at my younger self, I wish I appreciated my privileged life. I had a family who cared for me and believed in me. I went to good schools. The teachers only did what they were taught or told to do. It was just the system that wasn’t working for me. I made a choice back when I was younger to be compliant.

Later when I realized it was my choice on how I was going to learn, that I decided I was going to do whatever I could to change the education system. I knew that every child needed to have a voice in how and what they learn. They need to know they can have a voice and make a choice on how and what they want to learn. That’s why I went into education. Maybe I had to go through what I went through to be who I am today. I know so many others who are adamant in changing the system because of their own experiences. I tried to change the system for my children, but it’s not that easy to change it as a parent. That’s another post to write. So through my journey, I eventually found my voice and discovered that my purpose is to share stories of awesome educators, administrators, and learners and how they changed the way they teach and learn. That’s why I have this website and started my podcast series, Conversations on Learning.

So I believe…

We have to transform teaching and learning because the system still encourages compliance for most of our kids and teachers. But things are changing. The future is here now. Businesses want people who are creative, critical thinkers and can self-advocate for what they believe in. We need to prepare our kids to be global citizens in a world that encourages agency so they embrace and demonstrate creativity, imagination, and innovation.

Let’s be there for all children and educators so they have a voice in discovering their passion and purpose for learning.

How did you find your voice?

What is your purpose for learning?

“What, Huh? What did you say?”
“Are you really listening?”

The problem with “kind of” listening is that it can lead to mistakes, misunderstandings, the wrong goals, wasting time and lack of teamwork. I love the quote in the graphic above from Ernest Hemingway. There are so many reasons for us to pause before we act. This pertains to listening as well. As a coach, I learned the importance of careful and thoughtful listening. Yet, I still have to remind myself about active listening. Some people think they are listening but to build positive relationships that work, they need to listen well.

“Listening is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well.” – John Marshall

They may be listening just enough to jump in to say what they want to say. Some have trouble concentrating on what the other person is saying so they zone out or daydream while the person is talking. There are others who think they are listening but actually are thinking of all the things they want to say or need to do that day. Listening is less important than how you listen. By listening in a way that demonstrates understanding and respect, you build a true foundation for a good relationship no matter if it is between coach and coachee, teacher and students, friends, mother and child, spouses, or team members.

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” – Ernest Hemingway

Ten tips to listening well:

1. Decide you want to listen: Remember the old adage about having two ears and one mouth. Maybe we’re supposed to listen twice as much as we speak. Whatever, it starts with the decision to listen.
2. Come with an open mind: It is very easy to come to a conversation with a preconceived idea about the other person and what they are going to say. Give them a chance to surprise you and you surprise them with an open mind and listening well.
3. Hear what they say: Make sure you can really hear the other person. It is surprising how often people do not realize that they cannot even hear other people. Make that you can really hear them first for effective listening. Let them know if you cannot hear what they are saying.
4. Give 100%: Show you care about the other person or persons by giving 100% of your attention to them and suspending all other activities. If you multitask while listening, you are not listening.
5. Listen 75%, speak 25% of the time: This is a powerful tip unless you are giving a speech. Try to allow the other person to speak more than you and listen to them.
6. Show interest: While the other person is speaking, lean forward and maintain eye contact. Be sensitive to their cultural background while listening. Some cultures find smiling offensive. Some people talk with their hands. When you are listening, use similar cultural gestures and actions.
7. Let the speaker finish the point they were making: Our brains speed along four times faster than when we speak. Try not to finish their sentences or interrupt. Wait for Pauses. When the speaker pauses, you might be able to jump in and ask a clarifying question. If there are not good long pauses, then wait until the speaker has completed speaking their idea.
8. Show understanding: Just saying “I understand” is not enough. People need some sort of evidence of understanding. You can demonstrate that you understand by occasionally restating the idea they were sharing or ask them a question that probes deeper into the main idea. Try not to repeat what they said just to prove you were listening. Active listening means you can show you understand what the other person is saying.
9. Respond with interest: You can demonstrate you received the message and how it had an impact on you. When you respond, speak at the same energy level as the other person. This will help the person who is speaking that they really got through to you and will not have to repeat what they said.
10. Be respectful: Let them know you take their views and ideas seriously. Be willing to communicate with others at their level of understanding and attitude by adjusting your tone of voice, the rate of speech and choice of words to show that you are empathetic and trying to imagine being where they are at the moment.

“I think one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention.” – Diane Sawyer

 

Resources:

How to improve your listening skills
Listening Secrets
Listening First Aid
The Art of Effective Listening
Talking is Sharing, but Listening is Caring
Listening is crucial in a Multicultural Workplace
Training in the Art of Listening

“Teaching is telling. Learning is listening.” Chris Watkins

This is a repost and update of an earlier post I did in 2010 on active listening. You are welcome to add any tips or ideas on active listening below.

Rethinking Learning Episode #6

Shelly Sanchez Terrell is an international speaker, adjunct professor, and the author of three books. Her newest book is Hacking Digital Learning Strategies: 10 Ways to Launch EdTech Missions in Your Classroom. Her most rewarding role is being the mother of Savvy and Rosco the pug.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

I connected with Shelly on Twitter long ago and met her in person around eight years ago at the ISTE conference. I love her energy. At ISTE in San Antonio this year, I had the honor of meeting her beautiful daughter, Savvy. In fact, Savvy interviewed me — actually Shelly asked the questions. It was so much fun so I asked Shelly if I could have a conversation with her. Her podcast is episode #6 and when I listen to it, I remember the smiles and giggles we had when I was with Savvy. I captured some excerpts from the podcast and added them in the post below for you.

Why are you so passionate about digital learning?

One of the reasons why I am so excited and passionate about digital learning is because of access. Now with the Internet and so many digital tools, students around the world especially so many who do not have the opportunity to learn, now can learn so many dynamic things because of their access to tools. Now if students want to be a scientist, doctor, or inventors, they can actually talk to innovators in those fields. I find that really exciting.  

Why is social media so important for educators?

One reason is that our learners use social media. I think to be able to teach them the skills they will need to prepare learners for their future, we need to experience these skills ourselves. For many educators, social media is scary which is really a good thing. We have to think about the things that we tackle like imbalance or getting addicted to social media. We need to know how to handle that or decide what and what not to post, publish and share. I shared Rosco the Pug who connected with others like you so it made it personal for me and comfortable for others to share online. All of that really helps us with our learners’ journeys. Another great thing about social media is that you get to connect with other educators around the world that really inspire you. That’s the way we met and many other educators who I eventually met in person, presented with, interviewed, and even created conferences with. 

The world is in love with your daughter. Can you explain why you share Savvy on social media?

I wrote about sharing so much of my daughter’s life in my book right now. Some people might question that, but Savvy had a digital footprint before she was born. For me being on social media, I thought it was important to start her digital footprint early. There is no way of avoiding what people were going to know about her because I was always on social media when I was pregnant. Another reason is that our learners today start their digital footprint before they are born. For most of them, people announce they are pregnant on social media like I did. Our children especially those really young or not born yet have no control over what people write, say, or what pictures they put up on social media about them.

I thought it was really important to put positive information up there about my child. Because I shared her digital footprint early, you and other great people followed and connected to her even before you met her in person. She is making people happy with her presence right away before she has to tackle any negative activity on social media. I love sharing her not only virtually but face-to-face with people who I love. I took a picture of Savvy interviewing you at the Badge Summit before ISTE 2017 in San Antonio.

We have to mention #edchat since you are a co-founder. What a difference #edchat has made for so many.  Can you tell me how #edchat started and about its impact?

Tom Whitby @tomwhitby is a fun guy who wears Hawaiian shirts. So in 2009, I asked him to guest blog. One day he direct messaged (DM) me about an idea and asked me “How can we make Twitter into a much bigger conversation.” I suggested the hashtag #edchat. We asked Steven Anderson @web20classroom to help us organize #edchat. So in July 2009, we co-founded the Bammy winning education chat, #Edchat, which has inspired over 400 education hashtags!

I was honored to be included in the 30 Goals Challenge for Teachers. Can you tell us about the book and the challenge?

The 30 Goals Challenge for Teachers started about the same time as #edchat in 2009. When I jumped onto Twitter, I was just so excited and inspired by so many educators that I met. I wanted to share my ideas. So part of that was the 30 Goals Challenge. Since I saw how powerful social media and crowdsourcing knowledge was in my life and professional, I really wanted to test what the possibilities were. Even though I had been blogging a couple of months, I decided that I’m going to try and accomplish the challenge goals starting in January. At first, I was going to try to do one small goal as a challenge in the classroom of something you could accomplish in a day. I invited other educators to join me. Since then over 10,000 teachers have joined this challenge. Trying to do all 30 goals in one month was too much, so now it is spaced out throughout the year. The book takes some of the 30 initial goals and the others are the ones I thought would be the most enlightening for teachers. We have free online conferences now where teachers share their experiences, a Facebook group that is free to join, and a lot of ways to support each other.

I just got your eBook: Learning to Go and love the lessons you share and the format. Can you tell the audience about this book and the design?

I have very good friends in Oxford who are like a second family to me. I was there and had just run a MOOC on designing digital books. I was getting frustrated with the way digital books were designed. Most were PDFs and not very interactive. Now with technology, you can do so much. So when I was in the shower, I thought of Learning to Go. It includes lesson plans to bring in your own technology and mobile learning, but the way that it is designed is to test the boundaries of what a digital book could do. So even offline, it is almost like a website. Instead of a table of contents, it has a content map that is accessible on every page. If you want a lesson plan, you can click on each circle that has a link at the bottom of the page. It’s very interactive. It’s also designed in a way like a mind map and not linear. My dream, when I get a chance, is to create a textbook in the same format where teachers and learners can access content where it matches what they need to learn best.  

I hear you just finished writing a new book, Hacking Digital Learning Strategies: 10 Ways to Launch EdTech Missions in Your Classroom. Please tell us about this book.

My new book, Hacking Digital Learning Strategies: 10 Ways to Launch EdTech Missions in Your Classroom, is coming out either end of August or beginning of September. It was going to come out earlier, but he publisher got very excited about the missions so we ended up making more of those. So we decided to add more material to it. I’m working with the HackLearning series, and it’s been great since they let me do a lot with it. It goes back to the concept of the 30 Goals. There are small goals to inspire teachers to do mission minded learning. If we are given a goal every day or regularly throughout the year, then we feel good if we achieve them and strive to accomplish more.  This book is for students with 10 EdTech missions. Each of the missions has a mission card that teachers can give their students digitally or they can print them out. Students can earn badges for accomplishing the different missions. The missions have to do with meaningful ways to use technology. These address the way students already use technology and where they might not be very responsible or do not have a purpose for.  For example, being an amateur journalist. We see this problem with fake news and how to be responsible as a journalist knowing what ethics are involved. Students broadcast their own news, walk through the steps as an investigative reporter doing interviews, and get footage around the news. There are so many things students do in the missions to be able to learn those roles.

Make sure you visit Shelly’s updated blog at TeacherRebootCamp.com and I’ll end with her mission statement…

“Let’s collaborate on strategies for engaging all our students through effective instructional methods and technology.”

****

Shelly Sanchez Terrell is an international speaker, elearning and digital learning specialist and the author of The 30 Goals Challenge for Teachers: Small Steps to Transform Your Teaching, Learning to Go: Lesson Ideas for Teaching with Mobile Devices, Cell Phones and BYOT, and Hacking Digital Learning Strategies: 10 Ways to Launch EdTech Missions in Your Classroom. She has trained teachers and taught learners in over 20 countries as an invited guest expert by organizations, like UNESCO Bangkok, the Venezuelan-US Embassy, Cultura Inglesa of Brazil, the British Council in Tel Aviv, IATEFL Slovenia, EduTECH Australia, and HUPE Croatia. She has been recognized by the ELTon Awards, The New York Times,  NPR, and Microsoft’s Heroes for Education as a leader in the movement of teacher driven professional development as the founder and organizer of various online conferences, Twitter chats, MOOCs, and webinars. Recently, she was named Woman of the Year by Star Jone’s National Association of Professional Women, awarded a Bammy Award as a founder of #Edchat, and named as one of the 10 Most Influential People in EdTech by Tech & Learning. Her latest project is the creation of Edspeakers to enrich the field of education with passionate voices (spoken and written) from those of diverse experiences and backgrounds.

Shelly has an Honors BA in English with a Minor in Communication and a specialization in Electronic Media from UTSA, a Masters in Curriculum Instruction ESL from the University of Phoenix, and a CELTA from CELT Athens. Her greatest joy is being the mother of Savannah Duncan-Sanchez and Rosco the pug.

Url- ShellyTerrell.com  Blog- TeacherRebootCamp.com  Twitter- @ShellTerrell

Slide Presentations and Keynotes- Slideshare.com/ShellTerrell

Hack Learning book

Hacking Digital Learning Strategies: 10 Ways to Launch EdTech Missions in Your Classroom
https://www.hacklearningacademy.com/p/edtech-mission-f038c7de-5d65-4bfb-bf26-fa29167c9822

For all learners to grow and flourish, we need to create environments where every child is recognized and validated as a learner with unique talents, interests, and beliefs. A culture that values every learner will empower them to discover the joy and purpose of learning. However, building this culture doesn’t happen overnight.

We need to unlock the learning by recognizing the key constraints that keep our kids from reaching their full potential as learners.

The key constraints that might inhibit learning and a sense of belonging include:

Compliance. When learners feel uncomfortable or are not sure about something, they tend to go back to what they did before and resist new challenges and ideas.

Low Self-Esteem. Learners may feel insecure by being concerned about losing face, being uninformed or feeling not particularly smart. This could also impact how they relate to others.

Fear of Failure. Learners may be afraid to take any risks and tend to seek ways to avoid the embarrassment that they believe happens from failure.

Secrets. Learners come to school with issues at home, with family, or with peers. Some secrets are big and may be difficult to talk about. These secrets probably impact how they feel about themselves and others.

These constraints could be the reasons why some kids have trouble succeeding in school. I believe it is important to take at least two weeks at the beginning of school to get to know your kids. Creating a culture of learning is about developing relationships based on trust and respect. Each child needs to have a sense of belonging in the classroom community and to feel that you and others in the class care about them before you jump right into academics. For some kids, you may find it will take longer to build that relationship especially if they hold on to some secrets that are harming them or cannot open up to share their feelings with you. The following tips may help your learners feel like they belong and want to participate in the class community.

8 Tips to foster a sense of belonging:

1. Introduce you. Send an email, note, or a link to your website or blog to your parents to introduce you to their family.
2. Make it personal. Include a fun picture that includes your family members, pets, or you doing your favorite hobby. Write a personal note about what your class is going to be like this year along with contact information.
3. Know their names. Get a list of your children’s names with pictures before the first class and memorize their names.
4. Greet each child. Stand outside the door, greet each child and say their name while shaking their hands. You can even come up with a fun way to make it more personal by creating your own special handshake that you want the kids to memorize.
5. Create Outside Inside. Have each child create a drawing or write a reflection of themselves. Ask them to write on the left side what people see and know about them. On the right side, ask them to write what they believe about themselves that others may not know.
6. Encourage voice. Invite your learners to brainstorm together what they believe is their Bill of Rights and Rules for the classroom. Ask your kids to come up with their own handshake to teach you. Share your stories of how you learned from failure. Encourage learners to be open to voice concerns so they can learn from mistakes instead of feeling like a failure.
7. Provide journals. Give learners a journal so they can reflect on their feelings, how they learn or have trouble learning, and how they interact with others in the class. Make sure they know the journals are for them only and it is up to them if they want to share them with anyone even you.
8. Schedule meeting times. Invite each learner to schedule times on the calendar for you to meet one-on-one with each of them to reflect on their Outside Inside and, if the learners are willing to share their journals.

These are just a few tips to start building a positive culture and can be adapted for any age. The idea is to develop relationships based on trust and respect. There are other tips but thought I’d start with these first. I’ll be adding future posts with other tips for culture building and socio-emotional learning activities.  I welcome any comments or tips.

Guest post by Darren Ellwein, Principal of Harrisburg South Middle School, Harrisburg, South Dakota

It has been well-documented that not much has changed in education in the past century. The classroom environment today has eerie similarities to the past. Students in colleges and universities around the world are trained to believe they are the holders of all knowledge. This then transfers to a ‘modern’ classroom with a teacher providing all students in a room the same information, even though some are ready to move on or need more time to comprehend the material.

This does not exemplify all schools, though. Harrisburg South Middle School in Harrisburg, South Dakota, has several examples that break this traditional model that has been in place since the Industrial Revolution. Within our walls we have learners, not students.

We have learners that are embracing the freedom to drive their learning.  

My belief is that middle school students are constantly stuck ‘in the middle’ and not considered able to make adequate decisions for themselves. Well, that is a lie and/or a myth. I believe that learners from elementary age to high school are able to advocate for themselves. Unfortunately, adults hinder their growth by believing they (teachers) have all the answers. Many schools still do not want to or know how to allow voice and choice for their students.

Voice at South MS happens from the simple: learner input to the student handbook, attendance and a voice in our parent group, and feedback with our personalized learning model called Team Innovate. Choice appears in individual classrooms, Team Innovate video of learner choosing her learning and iChoose (combination of Edcamp for learners with 20% time sessions).

Here’s another video showing a learner in Team Innovate choosing Instagram to prove Mastery:

How It Started

Three years ago I began researching 20% time, commonly called Genius Hour. I had a few early adopters to the model within their classroom. After one semester I had an entire grade level of teachers ask to create time to do this model with each student in the grade. After a few semesters of this model, another grade level wanted to engage in 20% time. Our 6th grade was then tasked to ‘sandbox’ an Edcamp model for their students. We then created time every Wednesday for our whole student body to complete 20% time projects or attend sessions they created.  

During the summer of 2016, we began our work on a personalized learning model that had our social studies, english/language arts and science facilitators dovetail their standards to create offerings for a group of learners. Their work, with much assistance from Pioneer Ridge Middle School in Chaska, MN, was mapped into strands called  iLearn, iPractice and iMaster. With this idea in mind, I penned the name iChoose.  

At the same time we began a personalized learning pilot for half of our sixth graders. Team Innovate is a unique model that offers learners a choice of offerings to fit their learning.  With the assistance of a scheduling software from Personalized Learning Tools, www.personalizedlearningtools.com, learners form their schedule on a daily basis to match their learning needs. This form of choice has been amazing to watch this past year.  

iChoose

Scuba Session in Edcamp

The Edcamp portion is learner-generated. A week before an iChoose Friday, we ask the learners in the building, grades 6-8, to generate topics they are interested in learning.  From this list, we form 10 or more “sessions” for them to choose.  Session topics have included coding creations (2-Player Pong, Fruit Ninja, etc.), endangered animals, ASL courses, the math behind an NFL salary cap, drafting your own NBA team with a salary cap, magic, Sphero Art and so many more.  Learners then take 5 minutes or less on the Thursday before the iChoose to sign-up for their session. With the scheduling software mentioned previously, sessions do have a capacity that is set. For some sessions, there is a rush to enroll in a session before it is full.  Session offerings can last multiple weeks depending on interest/request of the learner and the amount of material they want to cover.  Session offerings were also led or prepared ahead of time by programmers in the community and architects discussing space. Here’s a video of learners presenting their ideal school:

What about 20% Time?

The great piece to iChoose involves empowering learners to engage in their passions.  As mentioned above, we had a portion of our learners who did not engage in the 20% Time projects.  These learners who did not engage can now have voice in the Edcamp model. What about the learners who DO want to work on a project? Well, they have voice and choice as well. Built into the iChoose schedule, learners can enroll themselves into the session for 20% Time or Genius Hour with again, the scheduling software from Personalized Learning Tools.

Coding Session in iChoose

Once they enroll in this session, they will embark on a year-long project that fits one of two categories, Passion or Butterfly Effect projects. Passion projects include high-interest topics that they research, pursue or simply learn about. This past year South has had Passion projects that included creation of crystals, the production of a horror movie and a research study of Alzheimer’s (video below):

Butterfly Effect projects involve bringing awareness to an issue or making life better for a group of people.  Projects included working with patients at our local children’s hospital, creating an anonymous website highlighting positive traits of every 6th grade peer, and a group of 8th grade girls who visit with younger girls to build our school culture. A few Genius Hour projects from last year that became TED Talks at a Showcase Night were up-cycling, Anti-Bullying Campaign led by learners, discrimination study, doorstop invention, musical instrument made from PVC pipe and autism awareness.  

Throughout this year, we also discovered that our Edcamp topics could evolve into Passion projects. One example was an ASL offering during Edcamp that led two girls to create a Passion project. They have led ASL during our choir concerts and created their own Edcamp offering for their peers to attend. As iChoose continues to evolve, we anticipate more learners will be leading sessions for their peers.  

We All Need To Choose

I believe educators have to make a choice.  We either choose to reside in a model of learning that was created a century ago, or we can think differently.  I want our opportunities to be learner-driven, instead of one person holding knowledge and deciding when it is imparted to the masses in the room.  The shift to more learner choice is difficult for most educators.  Often I hear discouraged educators trying to institute change being told, “Just do it the way we have always done it.” or their colleagues saying, “Why can’t you just be traditional?”  I heard a quote recently that fits my mindset.  “Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you will.”  My time within this timeframe of education is short, so my choice is “I can.”  Will you say the same so we can transform learning together?  

****

Darren Ellwein @dellwein

Darren Ellwein is a middle school principal from South Dakota who recently received the 2017 Digital Principal of the Year from the National Association of Secondary Principals.  His mission is to bring voice and choice to learners by allowing opportunities for innovation and creativity in his school.  Risk is promoted, and failure is a learning opportunity to find successful solutions.  His school has embarked with a unique personalized learning model, and he has created a learning opportunity called iChoose.  ‘No Box Thinking’ is a phrase he has coined that drives his vision for the learning opportunities of his facilitators and students.  

Twitter: @dellwein
Email: darren.ellwein@k12.sd.us
Blog: https://edtransformed.wordpress.com
Harrisburg MS website: http://southmiddleschool.harrisburgdistrict41-2.org
Team Innovate (PL program): http://plinnovate.weebly.com

It’s Sunday and a great time to reflect on the last week. All I can say is that it was a whirlwind. Working 12-14 hours every day on Race to the Top proposals, refining our process, talking to different groups about what is and what isn’t personalized learning. The talk always goes back to technology.

It’s not about the technology. It’s about the philosophy you embrace around personalizing learning.

If it’s all about the learner and starting with them, then everything about teaching and learning changes. Technology supports personalizing learning but should not be the focus.

Just putting technology in teachers’ and learners’ hands doesn’t mean they know how to personalize learning. I remember the early days of technology in schools. I believe the late 80s and early 90s, schools built labs called CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) such as Computer Curriculum Corporation, Success Maker and others.

As a technology consultant during those times, I was asked to help build those labs. Most of these labs were built in high poverty schools in rooms that weren’t made for computers. Even the electricity in some of these older buildings couldn’t handle the capacity. They would string together extension cords from other classrooms and hold them in place with duct tape. In some rooms, we had to step over the cord that was 2 feet high. There were some rooms where they moved the computers next to the heaters. Actually, that didn’t matter, because the heaters didn’t work. I needed the work at that time, and that’s where all the money was going. One lab with 50 computers and the software took all the technology budget. There was no money left for training. Only enough to train a paraprofessional who managed the lab. There was no integration with any curriculum in the classrooms.

I observed these labs. Kids loved them in the beginning because it was new, interactive, and included games. They loved the idea of playing in school. The paraprofessionals collected the data and shared with the administration. Scores were going up. The kids rotated through the lab once or twice a week.

But after about six months, kids started talking about how boring it was. One third grade told me that it didn’t matter how he answered the questions so he just hit any key to make it go to the next screen. Scores were at a plateau then dropping. Dropping all over. All the labs. Everywhere. Few years later, the labs were changed. They took off the headphones and brought in technology teachers. Teachers with credentials. Only issue I saw was that they were prep teachers. This meant that there tended to be very little integration of what was happening in the classroom to what was happening in the labs. I know so many of these fantastic computer teachers who did amazing projects. When I was asked to come in, work with the computer teachers, and help integrate technology into the classrooms. Classroom teachers were so busy teaching the curriculum that they didn’t have time or the energy to take the work in the lab and connect it to the classroom. So once again, the work in the labs stood alone and was mostly focused on building isolated technology skills. But there were some amazing computer teachers and librarians who found ways to integrate the skills with projects happening in the classroom.

So now fast forward to today and learning labs to support blended learning rotations. The labs look similar to the CAI of the past and, yes, the scores are improving.

But the real learning that is needed seems to be lost. In some of these environments, the student to teacher ratio has increased because the computers “individualize” the student’s learning and they don’t need as many teachers. Maybe that’s how or why schools are looking at this solution — to save money. Based on algorithms and data, teachers keep track of performance and work with individual students to respond to intervention — to increase scores based on standardized tests. This may sound good to some people, however, to prepare our children for the global workforce, they need different skills then they acquire sitting in front of computers like this. It just cannot be about the scores.

The skills needed for today’s jobs include:

• collaboration and teamwork
• problem-solving
• critical-thinking
• creativity and innovative thinking
• choosing and using the appropriate resources for a task
• building a network of learners locally and globally
• learning how to learn, unlearn, and relearn

Computer labs like the ones some schools are building to blend learning are fitting learning into strict schedules: 20 minutes at one station then move to another station. Real learning doesn’t work that way. We did this already, and it didn’t work. Now we have mobile technology and learning can happen anytime anywhere. Let’s rethink this strategy before we invest millions again into set labs with desktop computers that are just trying to increase scores and use curriculum that adapts to their performance based on algorithms instead of how they learn best.

Personalizing learning needs to be social. It starts with the learner not the technology. Real learning encourages play, creativity, experimenting, taking risks. Learning is supposed to challenge the learner and that cannot happen if they don’t have a stake in it. Learners have a stake in their learning if they have a voice in their learning and are motivated and engaged in the learning. Learners just cannot own and drive their learning when they sit in front of a computer with headphones on clicking through adaptive activities that keep track of their keystrokes.