Kindergartners will be world changers. Right now they are learning to share, cooperate, and take turns. It is inspiring to think that one day these amazing little humans will make our world a better place.

The kindergartners at De Vargas Elementary School, in San Jose, California, recently completed a Project Based Learning (PBL) Unit called World Changers. What is PBL? It is a teaching method in which learners gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and answer an authentic and engaging question. PBL enables the learning to be personalized so that each learner has access to and ownership over their learning.  

Academic standards are embedded into each PBL. The kindergarten social science standards include learning about now and long ago, learning about the community, and learning how to work together. All these standards were embedded within this PBL. In addition, key vocabulary and sentence structures were taught as most of our school population are English language learners.

Launching the Project

The Driving Question for this World Changers PBL was: How can you change the world when you grow up? This is a big question for little kids and one that they took seriously.  To launch this project and give them the hook to inspire their curiosity and wonder, we invited community members to come, dressed in their professional wardrobes, and talk to the children about their careers and how that impacts the world.

Community members talk about their professions

This community member talked about the importance of heating and cooling homes.

Expanding the Driving Question

After learning from people in our community, we returned to the driving question for our PBL.  We brainstormed things we need to know and new vocabulary needed for this project. We kept track of this information on our PBL Wall.

The children had opportunities to choose books on a variety of career topics that interested them. We found some video clips to aid in this discovery.  More discussion took place, as they learned about different careers. They noticed that some careers that were important in the past are not needed presently. We talked about how and why those changes took place.

During playtime, they enjoyed dressing up and trying on different career choices.

Choosing Careers the will Change the World

Towards the end of the project, the children chose the future career they felt would fit them best. They created a model of their future self and stated how they will change the world. The children displayed these products in the Guided Learning Center for learners, staff, parents, and community to see. They also documented all their learning on a digital portfolio that is shared with their parents.

“When I grow up I want to be a veterinarian. I will change the world. I will help animals.”

“When I grow up I want to be a chef. I will change the world by making food for others.”

“When I grow up I want to be a shopper. I will change the world by buying food for people.”

“When I grow up I want to be a scientist. I will change the world by making medicine so people get better.”

“When I grow up I want to be a pilot. I will change the world by taking people to the other side.”

Through this project, the children learned about different kinds of careers, and the many ways in which they can change the world. They are now looking towards the future, and they are excited about what they can do and how their actions will affect others.  It is my hope that this PBL will inspire the children to continue to think about how they will become world changers.

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Paula Ford graduated from the University of California at Davis with a Bilingual Cross-Cultural Language and Academic (BCLAD) multiple subject teaching credential. She also has a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and Early Childhood Education. She has been teaching for over twenty years. She began her career in bilingual education and then moved to teach second language learners.

Paula taught kindergarten, first grade, third grade, and has been a resource teacher for grades transitional kindergarten through fifth grade. The majority of her career has been teaching low-socioeconomic English language learners. Currently, Paula is teaching kindergarten at Manuel De Vargas Elementary School, and she absolutely loves it.

Make sure you follow Paula on Twitter at @prford5

Other Posts by Paula on Rethinking Learning

• Kindergarten PBL with School in Africa
• Random Acts of Kindness PBL
• Farm and City PBL Part 1 Traveling Toy Animals Part One
• Farm and City PBL Part 2 Traveling Toy Animals Part Two
• Episode #4 Podcast and Post with Paula Ford on Collaborative PBL with Kindergartners

Dr. Katie Martin is the Head of Partnerships-West at AltSchool. Over the last 5 years, she has worked in diverse contexts to learn, research, and support deeper learning for all students. She has served as a middle school English language teacher, literacy coach, new teacher mentor, university instructor, and coordinator of district programs. Katie is the author of Learner-Centered Innovation.

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I’ve known Katie for over five years and about her passion to create experiences that empower all learners to develop knowledge, skills, and mindsets to thrive in a changing world. I read a draft of her book, read the published version, and couldn’t wait to talk to her about it. Below are some excerpts from the podcast along with resources and links.

You and your family

We currently live in San Diego, California and grew up here most of my life. I met my husband, Mac, in Hawaii. After I graduated from college, I moved to Hawaii to teach and luckily he did also. We met teaching 3 doors down from each other. He was the 7th-grade science teacher and I was the 7th grade English Language Arts teachers. Our new teacher mentor introduced us. We started dating and kept it from our students for the first year. They loved it when they found out. We ended up staying there, married and had two kids, Abby and Zac, who were born in Hawaii. After we were there for 10 years, our kids were ready to start school. Mac got a job teaching at High Tech High that allowed us to move back to San Diego and be closer to my family. My kids were in 2nd and 3rd grade at the time of this podcast. It’s fun to see them grow up and see the school through their eyes.

What it was like for you as a learner

I was not the typical child who played being a teacher presenting to all my stuffed animals. My mom is an amazing first-grade teacher so I spent a lot of time in her class. She was doing makerspaces and projects over 20+ years ago so I learned a lot from her. But I wasn’t experiencing the same kind of learning in my own classrooms when I was a student. Very early on in 3rd grade, I remember thinking “how much longer do I have to be in school? This is horrible.” The reason I say that because I remember my teacher telling me I had to read the “Mouse and the Motorcycle.” It was the first time a teacher said to me that I had to read this book and a specific chapter. I was not inspired by that at all. I had a strong aversion to reading and just did what I had to do to get by. I always got As and Bs but I was not motivated nor passionate about filling in worksheets. It just didn’t do it for me. This made me not want to be a teacher.

TedTalk: Teachers Create What they Experience 

Background as a teacher

As life turned around, it turned out to be that the only thing I was meant to be was a teacher, especially a Language Arts teacher. I wanted to help my students think differently about their own reading and their own voice in the world. When I started teaching 7th grade, I was handed a workbook and looked through the filing cabinets. I was not going to teach this at all. My credential program in California was amazing where they taught us how to design experiences and thematic units so I brought that with me. I was fortunate to be in a space where I had the autonomy to teach what I wanted to teach. I designed lessons for kids that allowed them to pick books they wanted to read and connect with each other. It took a while for it to catch on, but it was the most memorable moments especially when they made connections to their own lives.

What if a school could be better for students and adults? https://t.co/s0Y7YF5c9C

Building Relationships First

Before I moved to Hawaii, I wasn’t sure how to connect with the students there.  One of my students said, “if you build relationships, you’ll be okay.” That comment really stuck with me. From day one, I really pushed aside the pacing guide. Instead of going over the syllabus the first day, I spent the time to get to know the kids and telling them about who I was. That first couple of days paid off. If I just connected with the kids I was teaching and got to know who they were, everything else became so much easier.  

“When we empower kids to explore and learn how to make an impact o the world, we inspire problem solves and innovators.”

Keynoter at the ISTE 2018 Conference

#ISTE18 keynote speaker, Katie Martin, on rethinking school to create an innovation ecosystem. For more details, go to https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=2198

Short recap of her ISTE 18 Keynote after Michael Cohen:

This is Barbara: My reflection on Katie’s book: Learner-Centered Innovation

The subtitle, “Creating Experiences that Ignite Curiosity, Develop Passion, and Unleash Genius,” is definitely what her book is all about. The book starts with what if questions and asks “what if education could be better—for students and for educators?” We need to ask this question: 

What if learners were valued for their diverse talents and not just our traditional model of “smart?”

This is a must-read book for all educators. This book will inspire you to want to create new experiences that develop learners with agency. Katie shares evidence-based ways to ignite curiosity that today’s learners need to survive in an unpredictable world.

Make sure you listen to the full podcast because there is so much more Katie shares, follow her on social media, and definitely read her book. It’s just what we need now in education.

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Dr. Katie Martin is the Head of Partnerships- West at AltSchool. Over the last 5 years, she has worked in diverse contexts to learn, research, and support deeper learning for all students. She has also served as middle school English language arts teacher, instructional coach, and led the district new teacher mentoring program. Katie has a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in middle school education and her Ph.D. and in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on the support that impacts teacher efficacy and retention.

At the university, district, and school level Katie aspires to create experiences that empower all learners to develop knowledge, skills, and mindsets to thrive in a changing world. As a mom, she wants her kids to have learning experiences in school that build on their strengths and interests and as an educator; she is passionate about making sure we do the same for all kids. Katie’s experience in research and practice continue to guide her belief that if we want to change how students learn, we must change how educators learn. She enjoys teaching graduate classes in diverse teacher education programs. At the university, district and school level, Katie aspires to create experiences that empower all learners to develop knowledge, skills, and mindsets to thrive in a changing world.

As a leader, teacher, and speaker, Katie’s experience in research and practice continue to guide her belief that if we want to change how students learn, we must change how educators learn. Katie’s first book, Learner-Centered Innovation; Creating Experiences that Spark Curiosity, Ignite Passion, and Unleash Genius.

You can connect with Katie on Twitter @KatieMartinEdu or contact her at 31katie@gmail.com

Website: https://katielmartin.com 

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For all of the Conversations on Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray,
click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

Naomi Harm is a Tech Innovation Specialist, ISTE Instructional Coach, and Google Certified Innovator in Fairfield, California. She is an educational thought leader and influencer and Strategic Outreach Manager in Education for Wonder Workshop.

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When it comes to human-centered design, design thinking and brain-based approaches to teaching and learning, I seek out Naomi. I’ve known her for years and am honored that she joins me in a conversation about her journey. Below are excerpts from the podcast along with great resources that include pictures, videos, and links. 

Learning My Work Ethic From My Father

I grew up in Northeastern Iowa on a dairy farm, and that’s where I got my work ethic. My father was my mentor and allowed me to be the maker of who I truly am today. I used to get up early to milk the cows and late at night to do my chores helped me learn to continue that work ethic in my college education, in teacher education, and when I earned my master’s degree in educational technology.

Image from http://blog.innovativeeducator.us/2008/10/my-father-my-mentor-my-best-friend.html

Being a teacher of 4th/5th-grade looping classroom also a year of kindergarten in Bangor Elementary in Bangor, Wisconsin gave me the utmost patience and competence. But what I learned from the kids was that I could inspire teachers. I saw the computer lab was not being utilized and sat there empty with 20 brand new iMacs. I decided to figure out how to use them and created the first WebQuests with kids. A regional agency saw what I was doing and then asked me to lead 26 school districts in Western Wisconsin. It was a very big job with a huge learning curve but it provided me the opportunity to create my network and relationships with educators across the nation.

Advocates for Jake

We have 3 children and our son, Jacob is our youngest. He was injured in a military accident over 3 ½ years ago. When we heard about his injury, we got to him in Texas within 12 hours. He broke over 50% of his bones in his body and endured a severe traumatic brain injury. He was in a total coma for over 3 weeks. My husband and I are grateful for the opportunity to be advocates for Jake and brought him to Minnesota to the Bethesda Traumatic Brain Injury Center. They worked with him to get to the next stage so he would be able to walk, talk, eat, and breathe without a respirator. We were told that he would be a vegetable and that we should put him in a nursing home. We would not do that. I reached out to find neurologists and surgeons that could help us. Everyone we talked to said don’t give up on him. They told us as parents we need to nurture him by stroking his hand and keep talking to him in small spurts so he knows we are there and that he has a support team. We are very thankful for the Augusta Health Unit in Minnesota. We got him home 175 days later and continued physical therapy at the local hospital at Gundersen Lutheran where my cousin Marguerite Costigan is the head of the physical therapy unit.

It’s amazing with a brain injury, your brain controls everything. With the amount of injury on his right side, he had paralysis on the left side of his body but he does walk now his way. He knows 3 ½ years later that he was in an accident, doesn’t remember the accident, and that he knows he has a brain injury. Because of that, we continue to work with neuroscientists across the US. They call him the miracle soldier in the US Army because he was not predicted to live. They are doing case studies on him because of the amount of support he has from us as educators and parents to help him live a productive life.

Jake’s Blog- where I dedicate most of my blog efforts instead of my personal blog: http://posthope.com/We-Love-Jake-Harm

Connecting the Teacher Story

Teachers are the essential ingredient in the classroom that can make or break a child’s learning cycle. We need to bring whatever we can to make teaching and learning successfully. Brain science is so important and we need to bring that into our classrooms for our teachers and our students. Every child can be successful if they have more processing time. Jake needs 3-5 more seconds to process and think about what you said to connect with his brain to generate a response.

So many times as educators we just put that question out there and don’t give students enough wait time to process the information. Even the high achievers, it gives them the opportunity to think differently. Teachers need to know how the brain is highly malleable and changes. That is called neuroplasticity. Every interaction we are having with a child is changing their brains. The more positive influences, interactions, or hands-on, minds-on learning experiences children have, it gives them opportunities to succeed in what they are truly passionate about. When we talk about the maker culture, that is very important now because it is meeting so many needs of our children so they find success. We need to build that culture and community each and every day so kids feel safe and productive. The teacher is the one to make that personal connection to each child so they have confidence in themselves. Listening to understand how the child feels, processes, and what they are truly struggling is about building the empathy connection so the relationships matter. That’s the game changer right now.

Becoming an Entrepreneur

I was asked long ago to do a keynote in South Africa and the person in charge of the agency would not let me go because they wanted me to stay in the area of Wisconsin instead of going internationally. During this time, my father had just retired from farming and developed pancreatic cancer. Before my father passed, he told me to either venture out on my own to inspire adult learners or open my own bakery. I loved to cook and bake. I have a chemistry background and love STEM. So I thought about how I could do both of these and ventured out to start my own consulting company. I took the leap and did do that keynote in South Africa. Actually, I was invited back three more times in seven years. It has allowed for me to scale my business and also inspire more women in educational technology in the Midwest.

 http://best-keynote.com/naomi-harm/  

I moved to California, but I still have my consulting company, Innovative Consulting Network, with 12 amazing women educational consultants that are leading the company for my back in the Midwest. We are better together because we share and learn from each other. It is like we are a startup where they are learning from their kids in the classroom and sharing back what works.  I’ve been lucky to work all over the country with schools, organizations, and major corporations. I get to meet awesome educators in person who I met on Twitter that are doing wonderful things with coding and robotics. Jon Samuelson @jonsamuelson is in Beaverton, OR and has a Techlandia Podcast is blowing me away with what he is doing with an awesome group of women. They offered Tinker, Code, Make as an all free professional learning for teachers in January and called it “Welcome to the Petting Zoo.” #tinkercodemake

http://www.tinkercodemake.com/

I now work for Wonder Workshop that allows me to continue working on my own as an entrepreneur and to be creative with everything STEM and coding with girls. Wonder Workshop sparks creativity with kids of all ages and inspires them to have fun, learning new skills with our robotics. Hands-on activities like these encourage students to continue building critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills for tomorrow’s job market.

I wanted to put everything up that Naomi shared, but you just have to listen. It was a wonderful conversation. I was touched by Naomi’s story and her journey.

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Naomi Harm is an educational thought leader and influencer. She welcomes every opportunity to share her expertise and best practices relating to mobile teaching and learning initiatives, coding, programming, and robotics, redesigning classroom learning spaces, human-centered design thinking approaches, and brain-based instructional strategies to support the student-centered classroom. Her 20 years in the educational learning space and her dynamic career focus reflects a passion-driven approach to leading and learning as Strategic Outreach Manager in Education, National Intel Senior Trainer, ISTE Faculty Instructional Coach, Google Certified Innovator, and CEO and founder of IEC Network http://IEC.Network

Naomi’s well-known specialty is delivering inspiring keynotes focusing on emerging technologies, transformative technology leadership, empowering student voice and choice, and brain-friendly teaching and learning environments.

As a Strategic Outreach Manager in Education for Wonder Workshop, Naomi Harm grows partnerships with schools and cultivates these relationships to successful implement coding and robotic best practices with Wonder Workshop products in K-12 schools. She defines long-term computational thinking and computer science goals for growth throughout the West Coast and MidWest regions. Naomi also builds relationships with educators, schools, districts, government officials and organizations in education, while leading educational industry discussions, conduct keynotes, presentations and workshops.

She has spoken at over 125 National and International technology conferences, and her most recent keynotes and featured speaker addresses include: ISTE – San Antonio, TX, CUE – Palm Springs, SSLA Saskatoon, Canada, AVEdTech Summit Palmdale, CA, Practical Pedagogies in Toulouse, France, NCTIES in North Carolina, ISTE, and SchoolNet South Africa in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Bloemfontein.

Twitter: @NaomiHarm

Website: Innovative Educator Consulting https://www.naomiharm.org/ or http://www.IEC.Network

About Me: http://about.me/naomiharm  

Best Keynote: http://best-keynote.com/naomi-harm/  (Linked to updated preso’s, live webinars, quotes from national edtech leaders I have worked with, and keynotes)

Wonder Workshop Blog: https://blog.makewonder.com/

Digital Buzz Podcast show https://www.spreaker.com/user/the_digital_buzz (last recording was one year ago with my contract with Intel Education)

Linda Ullah is an Online Instructor at Krause Center for Innovation, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA and has been a coach for Friday Institute in NC, New Tech Network, and Personalize Learning, LLC. 

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I’ve known and followed Linda for over 20 years. What I love is Linda’s passion for kids and why it is important to bring curiosity and wonder to learning. Every time I have time to talk with Linda, I feel that sense of wonderment she mentions in the podcast and post. Below are a few excerpts from the podcast and at the bottom of the text is a link to a blog she wrote that provides more details of global projects. Enjoy and feel the wonder!!

Beginning with Linda’s Journey

I grew up in New Jersey and went to school in Ohio.  When I was a young woman backpacking in India and Bangladesh, I met my husband, and we are still married. My travels started back when in grad school for sped and I had a chance to study Renaissance Art in Italy so I took it. When I was there, I hitchhiked through Europe and since then I have the travel bug.

You and I met when I lived in the Bay Area in San Jose, CA. Then, I followed my grandchildren to North Carolina and then moved to Spokane, WA to follow them again. I have two grown sons. One works here in Spokane for the Better Business Bureau. The other one is an Archeologist now in Kazakhstan doing his field work. I have 3 grandsons, 10, 9, and 4, who are the loves of my life and my inspiration right now.

Let’s talk Education

I’ve been an educator for 50 years. This has been my life’s work and passion. I’m not ready to retire. Like I said this is my passion. The last place  I visited was Croatia when we did this podcast and will be going to South America. I teach a course on project-based learning and encourage teachers to collaborate with other teachers even if that means with the teacher in the class next door. I worked with Paula Ford and coached her with the Kenya project. [Episode #4] When I travel, I visit schools and try to see what ‘s going on in the world in terms of education. It’s definitely a lifelong passion. I bring back to my grandsons’ classrooms a travelogue to try to inspire them to want to travel and see the world.

Can you share how real learning inspires a sense of wonderment?

Do you ever wonder about things? My grandsons wonder about everything. When I work with kids I see them wonder about all kinds of things. If we think of life through the eyes of a child, children are full of wonder as they grow up. The questions I get asked by my grandsons are just amazing. Last year, the eight-year-old came to me and asked me what fossa is. From the movie Madagascar, he got interested in learning more about it. He did the research on his own, capturing pictures, learning how to do PowerPoint. He now wants to go to Madagascar, and that came from his sense of wonder from a movie he watched. It was his interest and what he wanted to do. This makes me think of a fabulous quote:

“The world is full of a number of things. I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”
Robert Louis Stevenson

If we tap into kids curiosity and their inspiration, then we develop that sense of wonderment in children and it doesn’t go away. What I worry about is all too often it’s sit down, be quiet, and do what I tell you to do rather than allowing children to explore and learn what they want to know about. If we help children discover their interests and talents and what they really want to know, then we can tie it to what they need to know. We can help them that way. That’s what wonderment is all about and I don’t want to see that go away. That’s why I travel and I learn so much. Every place I go, I have new questions. That’s what happens when children have wonderment, they learn something and that develops new questions.

“Just keep the wonderment going. When we cease to wonder, we die inside.” — Linda Ullah
 

How do we bring a sense of wonderment as professional learning for teachers?

I worked with the Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project when I was a technology learning coordinator for Oak Grove School District and for 2 schools in the Eastside Union High School District. I want to share about a teacher who taught social studies at Oak Grove High School. He started every year with his kids having them do a personal project on anything in the world they were interested in, passionate about, or really cared about. It was totally open-ended. At the end of that, he took the information and as he taught world history, he helped the kids tie their passion, interests, questions, and curiosity to the history of the world. The multimedia projects they did were all tied back to their original personal passion project.

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Linda wrote an amazing blog post last November about wonderment that includes examples and links to global projects. Please take check out how you can Inspire Wonderment through Global Projects.

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Linda Ullah has a M.Ed in Special Education and a M.A. in Instructional Technology. She is an online instructor at the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College. She has been an elementary classroom, special ed, Title 1 and GATE teacher, a technology learning coordinator, teacher in residence at the Krause Center for Innovation , a school development coach for the New Tech Network, a coach for the Friday Institute at NC State University, and a coach for Personalize Learning, LLC

Twitter @Linda_Ullah
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaUllah

Yes, you can discover magic in your classroom right from the first day of school. Your kids are ready and willing to make magic happen if you are. Think of kindness, wonder, mindset, and the heart of learning as magical.

We all need some magic in our lives. Why not in our classrooms?

1. Wonder – Bring a sense of wonder to your class. In Dean Shareski @shareski’s book, Embracing a Culture of Joy, he has a chapter on wonder. Michelle Baldwin @michellek107, who is a Lead Teacher at Anastasis Academy in Centennial, Colorado, asked her kids in 2014 to name their class. They chose “Architects of Wonder.” Just imagine what they wondered about. What about asking your kids to name their class? What if we bring back the curiosity and wonder that kids had before they entered school? Encourage them to ask “Why?” about what they wonder about. Build a wonder wall with their questions. Here’s a wonder wall idea from i.d.e.a. schools.

2. Kindness – I saw this video of a Wall of Kindness in Lebanon and thought why couldn’t that happen in our classrooms. What if you created a space where kids could share good thoughts and anything they would like to share or give away? It could be a  post-it with a good thought, a coat, shoes, a stuffed animal, or even a book. Ask your kids to help build this wall or figure out a way to share ideas and things with each other. Kids want to make a difference so why not start sharing right away?

3. Play – Start off with a fun game that takes very little time. How about Rock, Paper, Scissors? Have kids pair and review how to play the game. Tell them that this goes pretty fast as the ones that lose the play need to quickly move to the sides of the room. Each person who won a play then finds another person who won to play Rock, Paper, Scissors again. Repeat until there are only two people left and see who wins. You can even use a timer to see how long it takes to get to a winner. Then play again several more times. Make sure everyone giggles and cheers for the people still playing. What they may find out is that it is rare for the same person to win every time. It’s just a game where winning has nothing to do with talent or skill. It’s just fun and brings some joy into the class. This is only one game to encourage fun so please share other games or activities in the comment box below.

4. Mindset. You probably know that some kids come to your class with a fixed mindset. They may believe they can’t do some things. How about addressing the differences between growth and fixed mindsets right away?  Share the graphic from Carol Dweck’s presentation on Mindset and ask your kids what words and statements fit under fixed mindset or growth mindset. Invite them to create their own classroom graphic or poster with words, statements, and even drawings for fixed and growth mindset that they have said or heard. Invite them to keep a journal about what it means for them to move to a growth mindset.

5. Heart. Find the heart in your classroom. I was lucky to visit Viscount School in New Zealand with Cynthia Sistek-Chandler @cynthiachandler. We were fortunate to meet with Barbara Woods, Deputy Principal of Viscount Primary School in Mangere district of Auckland who shared with us about how each classroom built their heart of learning. We’re going to be writing another blog post about our visit to Viscount School, but want to share a little about how they demonstrated the spirit of learning by identifying the 6 hearts in each classroom. Each teacher described characteristics of what learning means with words such as listening, responsibility, and persistence. Then the class brainstormed characteristics and created and hung up the 6 hearts of learning in their classroom representing what mattered most to them.

6. Focus. Change the focus from only the kids that are successful to all the kids learning so everyone is valued. Check this article from Linda Flanagan at Mindshift on Ditching Awards and Assemblies and Focusing on Kids and Learning. Most kids don’t receive awards or are part of ceremonies celebrating them. This article just came out and really resonated with me. All kids need to feel valued. This article mentions that we need to realize that student life outside the classroom is just as rich as it is inside and that those endeavors are just as worthy of notice. Find out who your kids are, their interests and what they love to do. Share what each child is proud of because “Kids Deserve It” just like Adam Welcome @awelcome and Todd Nesloney @techninjatodd wrote in their book.

7. Passion. What are you passionate about? I started a podcast series, Conversations on Learning, to have conversations with educators and leaders who are passionate about transforming learning. We need to do the same with our kids. What are they passionate about? What if you started a podcast or video show where you captured their stories about what they are passionate about? I learned so much about passion and kindness from Tamara Letter @tamaraletter in her passion for kindness projects. I also had a conversation with Noa Daniel @noasbobs who shared about her 7th graders SportBeat where they interviewed each other about the sports they love. Actually, think about kids interviewing each other. This means the interviewer has to come up with questions and make it conversational so the focus is on the interviewee. You can capture these and put them on your school website, your class website or blog, and even link them out to the community. Let your kids encourage each other to share their magic and what they are passionate about in their own MagicCasts.

The magic is the culture in your classroom. It can be at the heart of learning or the wonder your kids have about learning. The magic is in each child and what they are proud of. It is about changing the focus from teaching to all children to learning about each child and how they can own and drive their learning. You may even want to rethink what people notice before they enter your classroom. I’m excited that it will be about seeing the smiles, hearing the joy, and feeling the happiness from everyone in the class. I didn’t mention creating and tinkering but that’s another blog or two. Please share how you discover magic in your classroom.

Guest Post by Linda Ullah @linda_ullah, Online Instructor, Krause Center for Innovation, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California

In 1970, Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner wrote an article in The School Review (Vol. 78, No. 3 (May, 1970), pp. 429-434) entitled “Teaching as a Subversive Activity.”  They point out the best educational environments are ones that are open-ended and inspire wonderment through interesting activities. I started using the term “Teaching as a Subversive Activity” when No Child Left Behind was enacted. I just now learned where it came from. Forty-seven years later, in spite of legislation to the contrary, the best educational environments are still those that are open-ended and inspire wonderment through interesting activities that empower learners to develop agency.

My Experience to Wonder and Be Curious

Throughout my long career as an educator, I experienced several swings of the pendulum–several “reforms.”  Teaching, for me, has been a long process of learning. I’ve been fortunate to work with outstanding educators who really care about their learners. It is that caring that is the key to empowering learners to wonder, to be curious, to be excited about learning.

In the 1990s, while teaching at Edenvale School in the Oak Grove School District in San Jose, CA, my learners became interested in local history when the school was celebrating its 25th anniversary. Encouraged by my principal, Meril Smith, I wrote an Apple grant and got 8 networked computers, some software and a dial up AOL connection. The grant was based on our local history project which my learners entitled The Great Edenvale Detective Caper. This was my foray into project-based learning and into personalizing learning, although, at the time I was unaware of these pedagogies. I blundered my way into them instinctively because it seemed like the right thing to do. I still remember standing in the middle of my classroom watching every learner fully engaged in the project and not needing my help.  The project morphed and continued over the next three years.

During that time my learners, and other learners at the school, wrote, self-published and sold a book entitled The Mysterious History of Edenvale, Proceeds from the book were donated to the Adopt-a College program to help provide college scholarships for former Edenvale learners. Edenvale learners also wrote and performed in a local history play named “Edenvale 95111”, created a school-wide, local history day with games and activities for each period of history, designed and painted a local history mural on campus, worked with East Los Streetcapers to help design a piece of street art near downtown San Jose, and created a local history museum on campus. The project took on a life of its own because the learners were in charge of it. On occasion, I still hear from my former learners wanting to know if I still have copies of the book that they might borrow or purchase. I’ve managed now to save just one copy for myself.

As Edenvale school became networked, more opportunities for my learners to work with others presented themselves.  I joined some National Geographic Network science projects during which my learners worked with research scientists and learners from other schools around the U.S. and the world to do real scientific research on acid rain, recycling, water pollution.  This led my learners to become more interested in pollution, and I was fortunate to be selected and trained in Global Project Based Learning in Qiryat Shemona, Israel along with teachers from several other countries.  I was partnered with a high school in Sao Paulo, Brazil and my elementary school learners worked with high school learners on a cross-curricular project centered around water-pollution. My learners and I also participated in several Jason Project projects working with scientists and learners from around the world doing research on volcanoes, coral reefs, rainforests, etc. During this time I noticed that the more I allowed my learners to control what they wanted to learn about and how they wanted to learn it, the more excited and engaged they were.

In 1995, I took a part time position as a technology learning coordinator in my district for the Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project–a federal technology challenge grant through Joint Venture Silicon Valley involving schools in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.  I remained in the classroom part time.  As a group of educators, the TLCs (technology learning coordinators) under the direction of Michael Simkins became a powerful professional learning community as we learned from each other about project based learning, collaboration, and coaching. My learners worked with learners at Frost Elementary School and the Live from Mars Project to create shoe factories (their choice) for a Mars Colony. The following year, my learners chose to create the Mars Virtual Olympics. The teachers I coached began to do collaborative projects with other classes and schools as well.  My passion for connecting classrooms around the world began to grow.

Three Questions for Educators to Wonder

1. How do we empower our learners through wonderment and interesting open-ended educational activities when standardized testing looms like a hungry tiger looking for prey?
2. How do we assure that our learners are fully engaged critical thinkers who remain the motivated, joyful learners they were before they started school?
3. How can we as educators assure that our learners have the skills they need to live and work in a global economy and in a world where technology connects us in both positive and negative ways?

Becoming Globally Literate to Understand Diverse Cultures

Globally literate people have an understanding of diversity, culture and language that allow them to live and work in peace with each other. We live in a culturally, racially, religiously and linguistically diverse world full of wonderful opportunities. Giving our learners the chance to work with learners who live in other cultures can only strengthen global understanding and hopefully promote world peace. In our global economy it is critical that our learners develop an inherent respect for the many cultures, races, religions and languages of the world.

The rationale behind global project-based learning is to give learners the opportunity to become aware of and appreciate each other’s cultures, languages, and religions so that they will develop positive working relationships around a common goal and develop an empathy for peoples from other parts of the world. Ultimately this multicultural understanding and empathy will promote a healthier environment, better living conditions for all, and worldwide peaceful relationships. Peace and prosperity in the 21st Century depend on increasing the capacity of people to think and work on a global and multicultural basis. As technology opens borders, educational and professional exchange opens minds. (Institute of International Education)

Real Learning Provides a Sense of Wonderment

The first question I get from teachers is: “…but I have standards to “cover” before the “tests”.  This is followed by the statement: “ I have to assure my learners show …x… on the state tests.”  Since I view teaching and learning in an era of “accountability” as a subversive activity, my reply is paying homage to standards and standardized test does not mean you have to sacrifice real learning. Real learning happens when learners are empowered, excited and engaged. It is that sense of wonderment that Postman and Weingartner discussed.

Begin by finding out what excites and interests your learners.  Discover (perhaps with your learners) where those interests and the standards intersect. Think cross-curricular.  If you are at the secondary level, look for a partner teacher who teaches a different content area.  If this is new to you, look for global projects that meet your learners interests and the standards.

Global projects you can join:

• Global SchoolNet
• Global Collaborative Projects  
• ePals
• iEarn
• The Global Classroom Project
• Launching a Virtual Book Club
• Kid Link
• Skype in the Classroom
• OneWorld Classrooms
• Online Projects for Kids
• The Jason Project
• Center for Integration in Engineering and Science Education Projects
• Flat Stanley
• Connect Your Class to the Outside World
• Projects by Jen (Links to an external site.)
• Global Collaboration Day Projects

Examples of virtual field trips:

• Google Expeditions
• 10 of the Best Virtual Field Trips
• Discovery Education–Virtual Field Trips
• Virtual Field Trips Web Site
• Skype in the Classroom-Virtual Field Trips
• Virtual Field Trips–Scholastic.com
• Virtual Field Trips for the Classroom
• This is What Google Expeditions Can Do in a Classroom

Find a friend or family member who is traveling and have them blog their trip for your classroom and/or take a Flat Stanley along with them. For example, in 2006 Flat Stanley went with me to Singapore and Bangladesh for a friend’s classroom.

Finally, look for a colleague or friend who teachings in another school, another state, another country and begin to plan a project that connects both of your classrooms.  My eCoach is an excellent collaborative planning tool.

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Former President Jimmy Carter once said, “We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”  One of the best gifts we can give our learners is to help them, through their interests, develop wonderment about the world and the people who live in it.

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Linda Ullah has a M.Ed in Special Education and a M.A. in Instructional Technology. She is an online instructor for the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College.  She has been an elementary classroom, special ed, Title 1 and GATE teacher, a technology learning coordinator, teacher in residence at the Krause Center for Innovation , a school development coach for the New Tech Network, a coach for the Friday Institute at NC State University, and a coach for Personalize Learning, LLC.

Follow Linda on Twitter: @Linda_Ullah