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Speak Up 2009 – add your voice!

Speak Up 2009 will be open until December 18, 2009!

Over the years, the annual Speak Up project has collected and reported on the views of over 1.5 million K-12 students, teachers, administrators and parents representing over 18,000 schools in all 50 states.

Speak Up data represents the largest collection of authentic, unfiltered stakeholder input about education, technology, 21st century skills, schools of the future and science/math instruction.

Sign up now for student, parent, teacher surveys. This won’t take long and EVERY VOICE COUNTS.

Sylvia

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Whole Child – Free e-book download

From ASCD –

What does it mean to “support the whole child?” How important is it to hold high expectations for students? ASCD’s newest e-book, Supporting the Whole Child: Reflections on Best Practices in Learning, Teaching, and Leadership, addresses many of these questions and is available for download free of charge starting today, and running through November 17, 2009.

This third in a four-book series exploring whole child education features articles from Educational Leadership magazine and other ASCD publications that focus on supporting students by differentiating instruction, using scaffolds and interventions, being inclusive and positive, and responding to 21st century learning challenges. Authors include Carol Ann Tomlinson, Thomas R. Guskey, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Robyn Jackson.

With the right supports, students are capable of doing more than even they think they can. Share this opportunity with colleagues, family and friends committed to educating the whole child. Download today!

Want more? Purchase the first e-book in the series, Engaging the Whole Child, and the second, Challenging the Whole Child, for $7.95 ($9.95 for nonmembers) each and share your thoughts on what “support” looks like in the classroom, school, and community on the Whole Child Blog.

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Calling all laptop schools

Are you a laptop school? Want to share best practices, ideas, and resources with other laptop schools? And hear a killer lineup of keynote speakers?

Then come to Irving, Texas Nov 13 & 14! The Irving 1:1 Symposium is the premiere event for 1:1 schools to share and learn alongside other laptop schools around the country, plus, hear great speakers like Gary Stager, Marco Torres, and David Thornburg.

I’ll be there too – sharing some examples of GenYES students who support their school’s laptop programs. Hope to see you there!

Sylvia

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Say hello at T+L

Next week I’ll be in Denver at the T+L conference. T+L is the Technology + Learning conference of the National School Board Association. This year it’s in Denver, Colorado, October 27-29.

NSBA’s T+L conference is one of my favorite conferences of the year. It’s unique in the fact that school teams come to the conference, not just technology folks. This provides a terrific range of perspectives and experience that can’t be matched in conferences that focus on one job title or subject area.

Generation YES is a co-sponsor of the T+L conference, and we’ll be down in the co-sponsor booth area, number 118. I also have a session Wednesday afternoon: Engage Them! Project-based 21st Century Technology Literacy.

Hopefully there will be a T+L Tweetup too – if you’d like to connect, please follow me at smartinez.

See you in Denver!

Sylvia

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THE Journal: NAEP Gets It One-Third Right

Today the THE Journal editor Geoff Fletcher published an editorial, NAEP Gets It One-Third Right, which opens, “WATCH OUT, tech directors. A train wreck is coming your way and you’re sure to receive some collateral damage.” (Read the rest…)

I’m not going to comment on this right now and here’s why. For the past year, I’ve been on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Technology Literacy Assessment planning committee. (See my post NAEP Technology Assessment 2012.) The first phase of writing the framework (which is where my committee contributed) is almost complete. Our final meeting will be next week. Now others will take the framework and turn it into an assessment.

At the first meeting, I asked about blogging along the way, without revealing personal things or anything still in draft form. I was told that this would be detrimental to the process. After some discussion, I agreed not to do it. Although I felt (and still feel) that openness is the best policy, I also felt that this “was not the hill to die on.”

Last month, a discussion draft of the framework was released for public comment. This Ed Week article contains a link to the draft.

Like I said, I’m not going to comment on the draft framework or the THE Journal editorial right now. I made a promise to keep my thoughts and comments within the committee and I intend to keep that promise. However, when I can, I’ll share my thoughts more publicly.

Your comments are welcome.

Sylvia

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Start the year off with hands on

Teacher Magazine: Teaching Secrets: How to Maximize Hands-On Learning.

Good teachers know that students learn a lot more when they get their hands on real materials, and get to do their own projects and experiments. But sometimes we get frustrated thinking about the students who won’t cooperate, don’t clean up, waste materials, or misbehave during our hands-on learning time. In my work as a science teacher and coach, I’ve seen teachers who decide to delay lab activities until behavior is rock-solid. Instead of starting off with a bang, they tiptoe toward inquiry learning.

The author, Anthony Cody is an award-winning science teacher, and this article has some great ideas, tips and practical suggestions for all grades and subject areas.

Some people wonder if computers are “real” materials, thinking that what happens on the screen is virtual, not real. But if students are allowed to use computers as part of their toolkit – making things can include digital things. Making, doing, constructing are all possible on a computer, and part of many student’s everyday lives, outside of school, at least. Empowering students to believe in themselves as capable of making things that matter, both in the physical and digital world, is a crucial part of learning.

So whatever you call it, project-based learning, hands-on, or inquiry learning – the time to start is always NOW!

Sylvia

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President to speak to students

President to Address Students

From the Ed.gov website: President Obama will deliver a national address to students on Tuesday, September 8 at noon ET. He will challenge students to work hard, set education goals, and take responsibility for their learning.

The speech will be broadcast live on the White House Web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/) and on C-SPAN at 12:00 p.m., ET. The Department of Education offers educators a menu of classroom activities—created by its teachers-in-residence, the Teaching Ambassador Fellows—to help engage students in the address and stimulate classroom discussions about the importance of education.

To learn more, please see the following:

To further encourage student engagement, the U.S. Department of Education is launching the “I Am What I Learn” video contest. On September 8, we will invite students to respond to the president’s challenge by creating videos, up to two minutes in length, describing the steps they will take to improve their education and the role education will play in fulfilling their dreams.

We invite all students age 13 and older to create and upload their videos to YouTube by October 8. Submissions can be in the form of video blogs, public service announcements (PSAs), music videos, or documentaries. Students are encouraged to have fun and be creative with this project! The general public will then vote on their favorites to determine the top 20 finalists. These 20 videos will be reviewed by a panel of judges including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The panel will choose three winners, each of whom will receive a $1,000 cash prize.

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My comment: While I hope that many students do have a chance to listen to the President, I also wonder about the mixed messages we send to children and teachers. “Take responsibility” …but all we care about are test scores. “Work hard” … but only on what we say is important.

Telling students to take responsibility without the opportunity and support to do so is worthless. It’s like putting a kid on a sailboat and telling him that if he blows hard enough, it will sail. Students must actually be able to take responsibility by being given important things to do, things they care about. They need to be able to contribute to society as individuals–supported by adults who care about them, not test scores.

I love the idea of the President speaking directly to students. But as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. I hope the Department of Education’s actions start matching the President’s words.

Sylvia

PS Isn’t it ironic that the video contest asks students to upload their videos to YouTube, which is blocked in most schools.

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Back to School – What do students want from teachers

Educational Leadership:Giving Students Ownership of Learning:What Students Want from Teachers

Back to school time is here – and I’m going through the files to find inspiring, practical ideas for nurturing student leadership, creativity, and lifelong learning.

This is a great article from Ed Leadership (ASCD) for back to school. What do students want from teachers? What makes them feel in charge of their learning? Students said:

  • Take me seriously
  • Challenge me to think
  • Nurture my self-respect
  • Show me I can make a difference
  • Let me do it my way
  • Point me toward my goals
  • Make me feel important
  • Build on my interests
  • Tap my creativity
  • Bring out my best self

There are more details in the article, but aren’t these some great reflection starters for the school year?

Sylvia