What we assume when we talk about homework

Some thoughts related to my conversation at Educon 2013:

When we talk about homework, we’re talking about the wrong thing.

We talk about how much students can be expected to do in one night. We talk about whether they can be responsible. We talk about practice vs. new learning at home; we talk about “flipping” the classroom to redefine what homework looks like.

 

When we assume that students can get their homework done, we assume a lot.

 
At the most basic level, we assume that there is a “home.” We assume that at that home, there is a physical place for the student to do their work – a table, a desk, maybe even a computer and internet access. We assume that in that place, there are pens and pencils, erasers, keyboards, paper.

 
We assume that around that work space, there is quiet. Beyond quiet, we assume there is calm. We assume that this table is a safe place, that there are no family members, friends, acquaintances, or others in the space who threaten the student’s safety or perceived safety. We assume that the room isn’t too cold in the winter or too hot in June. We assume that constant drama in the home doesn’t distract the student from the task at hand.

 
When we assume all this, we’re also assuming that the student has made it home after school, that she isn’t working or caretaking. We assume that school is a relatively high priority in the lives of our students, or a priority at all.

 
If we take all of these things to be true, we still find ourselves with the student looking at the paper, or the computer screen, and assuming that that student has the internal skills of time management, frustration tolerance, and mental organization to complete what is being asked of him.
When we talk about homework, what we’re really getting into is the student in context. We need to consider the student’s whole life outside of and including school. I am lucky to work in a very small school where I can individualize my teaching to account for each student’s life in context – but I believe that you can do this at any scale by providing structures and supports for all students.

 

I don’t want to offer any solutions or suggestions about homework or anything else – I want to raise to the surface the assumptions we make. It’s not wrong to make these assumptions, and sometimes we assume because we have no other information. But when we become aware of them, examine them, and then respond intentionally, we become better teachers.

 

Let’s continue this conversation at Educon – I’ll see you there.

#educon 2013!

Just a quick note to say that I’m facilitating a conversation at EduCon Philly in a few weeks! Hoping to write a more detailed post in a few days around what I’m hoping for my session, but for now check it out here and register! 

 

 

Beyond curating and sharing – how Cybraryman teaches on Twitter

I have to admit – at first I didn’t see what the big deal was about Cybraryman.

Okay, he has lots of links. That’s cool, I guess. Web curation takes some time and effort and I appreciated that. But there were still so many links! So many resources on each page! What made this different from all the other repositories of links out there?

As you know if you’re reading this and you know anything about Cybraryman, what makes the difference is Jerry. The teacher makes the difference.

I stand by my original impression that if you come to the Cybrary on your own, through its main page, you might be kind of overwhelmed. There are tons of topics, and subtopics, and sub-sub-topics, and dozens of links for each. The Cybrary is not necessarily a good resource for the casual browser.

But in our classrooms, when do we ever lay out all of the content about everything we’re going to teach the entire year, and allow students to just poke around? I doubt we’d engage many kids that way. Yeah, one or two things might be flashy and catch the eye, but curriculum needs context, and that’s one of the main roles of the teacher. Have you ever had the experience of reading a so-called “classic” book on your own and not enjoying it – but having the opposite experience when read with a teacher or a class? Teachers lend context, nuance, and guidance, and help us make sense of the world around us.

That brings me back to Cybraryman, also known as Jerry Blumengarten. I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting Jerry face-to-face once, at EdCamp Boston, but he’s a constant fixture in my Twitter feed. And what Jerry’s doing there is teaching.

You see, Jerry doesn’t just blindly promote the Cybrary at any old time, linking folks to the front page and telling them good luck from there. No, Jerry does what great teachers do – he listens.

You can tell he’s doing it by watching where he crops up during an #edchat or an #sschat. During a conversation about alternative models for professional development, he’ll link to the Cybrary’s EdCamp page. While #engchat is discussing the pros and cons of project-based learning, there’s Jerry with his projects page. If there’s buzz on Twitter around a big Apple announcement, Jerry will provide you with his iPads page.

Jerry listens, and he responds with resources. He lends context to conversations – talking about group work? Here’s a collaboration page. He puts his resources in context – here’s my page on differentiated instruction, since we’re talking about meeting individual student needs. He shares his own experiences and then provides external sources so that we can further explore based on our need and desire to learn.

We can learn some great lessons about teaching here. Students need to be directed toward the best resources the web has to offer. They need context, and the timing has to be right. We can show off flashy technology tools all we want, but without a meaningful situation in which to use them, we might as well not bother.

We can also all aspire to do more on Twitter and in online professional development networks. Let’s not limited ourselves to sharing, curating, and connecting – let’s teach one another.

So here’s a tip of my hat to you, Jerry, and thanks for teaching us all!

Experiment: Using Google Calendar to Hold Us Accountable on Goals

You know the feeling: you participate in some great professional development, you attend a thought-provoking conference. You generate ideas and you set goals for yourself. Then you go back to school on Monday, and the tidal wave of Stuff To Do overwhelms all your good intentions.

This summer I facilitated a professional development group on ISTE’s Essential Conditions as they relate to our school. We came up with some awesome long- and short-term goals. I’m trying something new to help keep us on track with those goals.

Using Google Calendar, I set myself periodic reminders, and enabled an email notification so I’m extra-sure I don’t miss them. I asked each group member to write out their goals within the time frame of the next year, so in each reminder’s description area I put a narrative of where we should all be in our goals at that point.

I’m hoping that this external reminder will give me the little jolt I need to hold myself and the other group members accountable for those goals we made. I’ll let you know how things are going when I get the first reminder!

Quick thought: what works in public schools?

 As an independent school teacher, I’m often grateful that I don’t have to deal with the bureaucracy and brokenness of public school.
Lately though, I’ve been wondering about the parts of public schools that do work, and how I can export some of those elements to my own practice.

I know I don’t want grades, but there’s something to be said for accountability that goes beyond pass/fail. I know I want students to be engaged and hands-on learners, but there’s something to be said for learning how to listen to a lecture and take notes. Being an independent school gives me the freedom to do things completely differently from “traditional” school – but does that mean I should, all the time? 

Balance is key, of course.  But this quick thought is one I’m going to carry with me planning for the fall.

photo credit: I, Timmy via photo pin cc

Tools for small schools: Microsoft Security Essentials

Anti-virus – it’s a given that you need it, but the market is swamped with options. So  many computers come pre-installed with heavy versions that take up a lot of space and need to be renewed for lots of money in a few months or a year. Then there’s a variety of open-source versions like Avast or AVG. But it’s the newest kid to the playground that I’ve started using on all my school’s computers: Microsoft Security Essentials

It’s lightweight. It’s free. It’s a trustworthy name. It updates and scans automatically. Most importantly – it works. I use a combination of MSE and Malwarebytes for the occasional stubborn infection. 

What makes this particularly good for small schools? It works on most versions of Windows, from XP on up  - nice when you have a wide range of operating systems on various ages of machines, like we do. It also doesn’t require registration. That means I can install it on every computer and don’t need to worry about registering or updating licenses the way I did when I used Avast! on all our machines. 

Try it out! And remember, you never need more than one real-time anti-virus program running at the same time – it doesn’t give you extra protection and it slows down your machine. Click here to go download MSE.

Essential Conditions: How do I get there?

There wasn’t a technology plan or department at my school before I started working there. I don’t want to discount the work that many teachers have done there over the years and the expertise of my coworkers in the area of tech. We have hard jobs, and we have a lot on our plates without taking on tertiary responsibilities. I just mention the lack of structure as context for talking about the Essential Conditions.

This Essential Conditions list comes from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) in relation to their NETS standards, which outline essential skills for students and teachers, much like state standards or Common Core standards do for subject areas. Here’s the list (or view it at the source):

ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS: NECESSARY CONDITIONS TO EFFECTIVELY LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY FOR LEARNING

Shared Vision	Proactive leadership in developing a shared vision for educational technology among all education stakeholders, including teachers and support staff, school and district administrators, teacher educators, students, parents, and the community
Empowered Leaders	Stakeholders at every level empowered to be leaders in effecting change
Implementation Planning	A systematic plan aligned with a shared vision for school effectiveness and student learning through the infusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) and digital learning resources
Consistent and Adequate Funding	Ongoing funding to support technology infrastructure, personnel, digital resources, and staff development
Equitable Access	Robust and reliable access to current and emerging technologies and digital resources, with connectivity for all students, teachers, staff, and school leaders
Skilled Personnel	Educators, support staff, and other leaders skilled in the selection and effective use of  appropriate ICT resources
Ongoing Professional Learning	Technology-related professional learning plans and opportunities with dedicated time to practice and share ideas
Technical Support	Consistent and reliable assistance for maintaining, renewing, and using ICT and digital learning resources
Curriculum Framework	Content standards and related digital curriculum resources that are aligned with and support digital age learning and work
Student-Centered Learning	Planning, teaching, and assessment centered around the needs and abilities of students
Assessment and Evaluation	Continuous assessment of teaching, learning, and leadership, and evaluation of the use of ICT and digital resources
Engaged Communities	Partnerships and collaboration within communities to support and fund the use of ICT and digital resources
Support Policies	Policies, financial plans, accountability measures, and incentive structures to support the use of ICT and digital learning resources for learning and in district school operations
Supportive External Context	Policies and initiatives at the national, regional, and local levels to support schools and teacher preparation programs in effective implementation of technology for achieving curriculum and learning technology (ICT) standards

This resource makes sense to me. Before I can start holding teachers and students accountable for digital literacy, I need these conditions to be met. I need all these things to support the best learning, so that technology makes life easier and more fulfilling, rather than technology being a source of frustration or anxiety.

Without going into detail, I’ll say that these conditions are not being met right now in my school.  I would assume that’s common among most schools; you can imagine the added challenges in a small non-profit independent school. Last summer I collaborated with a couple of other teachers to look at the NETS for students and the Vermont tech standards to create a pared-down list of essential skills for our particular students. This Essential Conditions list was an afterthought in our group –  brought up with the “Oh, we should probably talk about this more” comment that rarely leads to it actually being talked about more.

I think I went about that process backwards. This summer, as I get more time for professional development and long-term planning, I think it’s time to really take apart these conditions and start advocating for what we’d need to get them met. While some of those items seem big – like the “External Context” – I need to remember that as an empowered educator, they are all within my scope of influence. I can advocate to my legislators. I can raise awareness in my community. I can network with other professionals to fill in the gaps in my own program. I just need to start.

Anyone have experience with really digging into the Essential Conditions? I’d love to hear your thoughts and perspectives.