The Man or the Degree? A Reflection of Chapter 2

I feel this ongoing debate of paper vs. person is one of my innermost turmoils that I struggle with all the time.  My family values education and I am quite proud of my academic accomplishments, however, some might say that the particular individual in this chapter, Kirk, did not "quit" but rather found his purpose a lot earlier, before graduation.

I felt a little frustrated reading this chapter, though, because he seems to have lived a charmed life and unfortunately, that is not a reality for most students in our schools.  Kirk is close to the same age as myself and I couldn't help but compare my childhood and chosen paths.  My parents probably would have called it "floundering" if I'd wasted their money at Exeter or Standford.  My mom would always tell me not to major in psychology because what on Earth would you do with psychology degree!?  They did encourage me at a young age to seek out many interests and these varied between horseback riding (I wanted to be a horse jockey), the first woman president (as Clinton was being inaugurated, Girl Scouts, and then again as a high schooler involved in leadership programs), and even a classical pianist (ten years of lessons and I can only remember Fur Elise).  Not that these extra curricular activities were a waste of time, money, or effort on my parents' part, but I eventually grew out of believing that I would become someone famous.  Like Kurt, I did not grow up in front of a TV.  I didn't have cable until my junior year of college.  My parents just bought a non-console TV this past summer. They barely turn it on.  I tried to keep them from throwing their wood-paneled, 1970s era, rabbit-eared set away because it held true value to the time period, but they wouldn't hear it.

I digress.  My point is, I believe in the PBL model and I believe in setting up our students for the real-world experience of working with others, developing those soft skills, and nurturing the creativity.  I want my classroom to glow with the excitement of learning, buzz with the busy hum of great minds thinking, and help them see their true potential.  I just also think that on the other end of the K-12 spectrum, there is a high level of risk that students take when they do not pursue an advanced degree.  I realize not everyone is right for college and the most innovative people that we're reading about in this book did not fit the mold.  So I guess that's why, we, as the "mold," should be changing, right?  It kind of goes back to the first video by Sir Robinson we watched after our first class this summer about how this generation is moving further and further away, whether we want them to or not, from the prescribed setting of a traditional classroom.

On a personal note, I have actually seen this entire concept of the millennial generation finding their way in the world playing out in real life.  My husband and I were raised quite differently, especially in the monetary sense.  He saw no boundaries growing up and I was made to believe "you can't squeeze blood from a turnip."  This became my personal mantra and not that I went into teaching for the money, but I did have a strong sense of budgeting, planning, and held my education degrees with the utmost regard because I'd worked hard for them and persevered through college.  My husband, on the flip side, entered college with some interest in technology and earned degrees in broadcasting and digital media without spending too much time in the books.  He took Biology 2 for pre-med his senior year as a bet and aced it.  He's held several jobs with pretty large companies as their creative directors (Fossil, Match.com, etc.) and is currently working at the Peace Center.  He's comfortable changing jobs and moving to where the best leads take him.  I am the total opposite and do not adapt nearly as well.  I took 2 years just to think about moving to Greenville County Schools.  About a year and a half ago, he started to dabble with YouTube and Twitch and hosted a show on both channels broadcasting sports video games and people can subscribe to become commentators on the show, receive updates, giveaways, etc.  He turned one of our bedrooms into a green room and set up a studio to broadcast his show.  He took a break from it for about 6 months, however recently, as of the last 3 weeks, he has been offered a job with the NFL Network in LA.  They started a new show called "Madden NFL Live" and it airs on the NFL channel at 4pm Fridays.  He is one of the main hosts and will be traveling every week to California for the next 5 months to tape the show.  While it is extremely exciting to see him on TV and he's doing what he's always dreamed, I am just fascinated how much this entire experience is playing out while I'm reading this book.  One conversation he and I recently had was about the amount they are paying him and he asked my opinion in which I said "well, what do you think?"  He replied "I'd do it for free!"  This is exactly what Wagner stated in the first chapter about this generation of innovators not being motivated by money and extrinsic rewards.  He is purely motivated by fulfilling a dream.  I am guilty of thinking my husband as being "lazy" and not having a strong work ethic like me.  And to think he actually made it somewhere playing video games!  Ha!  I am just still amazed it's all becoming a reality and am seeing him in a whole different light as I'm learning more about how differently people think and work.  He was not the best student in school, but I think if he had been offered a setting that nurtured that creativity more and really pushed for him to develop his sense of self, he would have sought out what he was truly interested in earlier in life.  Not that it's too late for anyone, but maybe if we provide classrooms that see value in each child as having worth to the conversation and not always looking for the "right" answer from the perfect student, we can help them achieve higher goals and maybe develop some life-long learners that will change the future of our world.

Chapter 2 Reflection

As I read Chapter 2 of Creating Innovators I found myself asking plenty of questions of myself and wondering how much we, as educators, can change how parents see “school”. Kirk Phelps and his parents say they had a different way of parenting, how many parents would be willing to do that today?  When I talk with my seventh graders, I hear how late they stayed up playing video games and no one pays any attention.  I hear about how they are going home to empty homes, can they accomplish what Phelps’ accomplished?

If it truly is nurture versus nature, how can we change the way parents “parent” their children? How many parents actually would encourage their children to try new experiences and not be worried about the end result.  I can honestly say that wouldn’t be me.  I was raised by a father who did not graduate from college and he saw the discrepancy in pay and advancement that lead to. He encouraged his children to get college degrees because he saw the lack of advancement from not having a degree, a mere piece of paper.  As a parent I also encouraged my children to get their degree.  I wonder how many companies will really hire someone without a degree?  So many still ask for that degree when you are filling out the applications.  Does this make me a bad parent? Does it make my students’ parents bad?  Do I have the right to expect them to change?  So many questions that I cannot answer just yet.

When I read about Kirk’s first year at Apple I wonder how many people would be that dedicated?  How do we create workers who would be willing to travel and dedicate so much to their job?  And is it really what I would want to strive for with my students?  To me it doesn’t seem what I would want for someone I cared about.  As a parent of two young adults it is not what I would encourage my children to do.  Would I support them if they did, of course.  Phelps’ says this is what he wanted but again I really wonder how many of our students would have that drive.  

How do we empower our students?  How do we create students who are not merely motivated by a grade when that is what their parents care about?  How do we change the culture of parenting?   More questions than answers for me this week, with this chapter. Leads me to wonder what the next chapter has in store for me and my quest to grow.

Peer and Self Evaluation

I know that this is not what we are supposed to be blogging about but I am going to ask anyways.  I gave my students this evaluation form after we completed our Car Project.  How do you keep students from giving themselves and their friends good grades?  This was a very simple form and I asked them to be honest.  Of course just about everyone gave A's and their projects were not even that good.


https://drive.google.com/a/greenvilleschools.us/file/d/0B5Glk0Om0vhEOW1DZ1RPaFJsT3c/view?usp=sharing

Thanks for the input.

Empowerment, Whimsy and an Expanding Sense of Purpose: Homage to Ben Franklin

Empowerment and Whimsy: 
     Why is it he said that he has never heard of a teacher at any level say that they want to "empower" their students? I have to be honest here, there are teachers screaming out that they want to empower their students. But are under a stranglehold of expectations and deadlines, standards, and evaluations, administrative and legal barriers that have their screams drowned out. I know that he is using hyperbole to make his point, but it leaves a bad taste as I stay late, come in early, work summers, talk to parents, lift up, preach and teach to my peers, endure difficult meetings and accusations, all the while educating myself in an attempt to realize the empowerment of my kids.
     I was that kid that was not empowered, and I knew I had interests and I knew that I was so far away from investigating those interests because of the classrooms I was in that I gave up. It wasn't until I enrolled in a community college that I realized that I was only as limited as I allowed myself to be. The rest is history.
Expanding sense of purpose: 
     Kirk's goals in life are more about how he can contribute rather than learn- the evolution of an innovator. It must be the historian in me but I feel like I am reading a life and times of a modern Ben Franklin.  Ben Franklin was the model of American innovation, integrity, and learning, for more than 200 years of American history. Learning was not a means to an end for Franklin either, but a way to innovate and ensure the development of the most risky of innovations, democracy. He left his families work, to be an apprentice to a printer, and information driven business, much like Apple. Where he learned not only to run a printer but the power of the words printed. Like Kirk's journey each phase of life, each choice was based on what he would learn and gain, so that he might attain a higher understanding. And like Kirk later in life he began to look to how he could contribute, employing his knowledge to causes that bettered life for all. What we have here is a return to the original ideals of our forefathers.

Chapter 2 Response

The second chapter of  Tony Wagner's Creating Innovators really grabbed me from the beginning.  Since it was about an actual student's experience it seemed more meaningful.  Kirk Phelps was an amazing student that shows exactly why the PBL model is truly the most effective for students.  Kirk summed it up well when he said  "What you study is not important.  Knowing how to find those things you are interested in is way, way more important."   We want our students to be lifelong learners.  The profile of the SC Graduate focuses on developing World Class Skills, World Class Knowledge, and Life and Career Characteristics.  International Baccalaureate is a worldwide program and focuses on the development of the "whole child" with the learner profile http://www.ibo.org/en/benefits/learner-profile/ .   We no longer can expect students to just simply memorize and regurgitate facts and figures for a test.  While we as an educational system are driven by standardized tests, scores and graduation rates, Kirk showed that truly meeting the needs of the student is so much more crucial for success in life.  

Helicopter parenting is more prevalent than ever.  Parents know the importance of their child having success in the classroom and the coloration of success in later life.  Wagner eluded to this on p. 102 when he comments "For parents to give children more unstructured, supervised playtime is to take  a risk." It was refreshing to see that Kirk's parents had a different approach than many others.  They believed in play and it inventing.  Kirk and his siblings didn't need an XBox or cell phone to keep occupied.  Instead, they routinely went outside and made up their own games to play.  I especially loved on pg. 98 in the iPad version, Wager remarked that " A child has to get bored before he can figure out how to get himself out of boredom." Translated to PBL, we must first come up with the problem, and then we can focus on the solution.    Instead of having him only play soccer on the "privileged" teams, they enrolled him in a suburban blue color neighborhood team where everyone spoke Spanish.  It gave Kirk the opportunity to experience another culture but still with a common goal.  In short, it gave Kirk experiences.  I literally laughed when Kirk's mom described the prep work that she laid for the family's upcoming trip to New York City.  She had planned every moment and tried to give them every tool to have a successful trip.  It reminded me of how of I as an educator try to plan for every moment in my lesson.  Sometimes I forget the "play" part in all the content that I'm trying to give them.  

Kirk commented on the important of the process when he said that "they(his parents) didn't care all that much how what I was interested in, they were far more interested in the process of my find out what it was that I was interested in." p.104 in the iPad version.  Kirk's parents always supported exploration and discovery.  That is what sparked his knowledge in engineering.  He commented several times that he didn't know at all what kind of engineer he wanted to be.  It was only later in his educational career and with an amazingly innovative teacher, Ed Carryer that he determined that he loved to make things.  I found it terribly sad that Wagner commented on p. 126 that "I rarely hear a teacher at any grade level talk about wanting to empower their students."  I disagree with him on that front in that I think most teachers want to empower their students but at times don't know how to go about doing it.  

We must continue to "drink the kool-aid" and lead our fellow teachers to it.  I know I have struggled with PBL as it is more chaotic and I have a hard time dealing with chaos in my classroom.   When I went to school, the chaotic classrooms were usually the rooms in which learning wasn't necessarily taking place.  It's a shift in mindset to see that this is the best way to foster true student learning.  We are giving students the tools, not the answer. 

Ch. 2 Response

Wagner identifies self-confidence as “one of the most important qualities of an innovator” (39) and points to Ed Carryer’s classroom as one in which self-confidence is an ultimate goal. Although I would like to explore Kirk’s self-confidence as a manifestation of inherent social factors (looks, privileged background, athletic ability, personality, etc.), I will proceed as though self-confidence can be limited to parenting and education. Much of the underachievement and negative performance that I see in the classroom could definitely be attributable to the lack of that essential trait. When students rely on me to answer a question, for example, or when they prematurely give up on a task, I’m not sure it’s because they lack resourcefulness or persistence per se; instead, those behaviors could be derivations of a root cause, specifically a lack of self-confidence. We see the implications of this all the time. It’s why students are often crippled by constructive criticism. I am reminded of Amy Chua’s statement that the ‘tiger mother’ assumes strength on the part of the child, whereas the Western parent assumes fragility - perhaps the Western teacher as well? I see the lack of self-confidence with un-submitted assignments and that pesky non-answer, “I don’t know,” which, of course, is nothing more than a student’s reluctance to take a risk. I am convinced that many of my students know the right answer or have insightful ideas but are too self-conscious about being wrong to proffer an answer. Even within the brainstorming session that was built into my current PBL unit, I saw students shut down after an idea was rebuffed instead of motivated by a new challenge. This goes back to Wagner’s nod to the ‘fail early, fail often’ advice for entrepreneurs back in chapter one, but I wonder at what point failure becomes self-defeating? More importantly, how do I help students trust their own ideas and decisions and empower them to overcome setbacks and pursue innovation.

If self-confidence is built on past achievements, the ability to control situations, and the affirmations of peers, parents, and teachers, then PBL should naturally foster self-confidence; thankfully, I am seeing some evidence of that. First, my scaffolding for the narrative writing project set up small successes that allowed students to engage in low-risk, no-wrong-answer assignments that built on one another. For students accustomed to failure, this seemed to be a huge relief and allowed for an early achievement to propel them forward. Additionally, I was able to affirm students’ answers (plus remind them to provide justification) even if I disagreed with their answers. Finally, completing tasks at each group’s own pace seemed to bolster student attitudes about the project. That bit of student choice in terms of deadlines as well as the students’ ability to determine the requirements of the project gave them some self-confidence. However, when students were required to storyboard their own photo essays (creation), I felt like many of them reverted to learned helplessness, which is the educational opposite of self-confidence. So while I gave students successes and practice with the four exact skills needed for their own photo essays (arrangement, photo types, text/image connection, and narrative arc), the skills did not necessarily carry over. Even though this was a ‘near transfer’ of similar tasks, not all students felt confident with the creation of their own product.

In thinking about how best to instill self-confidence, I cannot help but think that there is a direct correlation between expertise and confidence. Even though Wagner minimizes the expertise component of the equation, I think professionals who are experienced and knowledgeable exude confidence not naturally but by being relied upon, looked to as a leader, and having the knowledge needed to confront any situation. Without knowledge, options cannot accurately be weighed, connections are not made, and discussions are limited, if not eradicated. I understand Wagner’s point in downplaying knowledge, but there is no immediate substitute for the internalized information that informs decisions and enriches projects. 

I want to interview Kirk too!

    I had a smile on my face nearly the entire time I was reading about Kirk, the former Apple product manager, because so much of what he was telling the author Tony Wagner seemed to dovetail with information I've learned over the years from my husband who is a GE engineering manager and with so much of Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat, one of my favorite books of all time. I felt like I had read it all before, especially about the insanely dedicated lifestyle where a product manager goes into the field traveling to vendors in order to facilitate synthesis and immersion in component manufacturing (display glass to the very edge of the device). To be sure, Kirk had a NEED to find a way to be a producer of value rather than merely a consumer of value. The author finds this to be so at the end of the chapter in his conclusion. Kirk also had a NEED to constantly be expanding his talents and learning no matter what situation he found himself in. His parents had a style of parenting which enabled him to be comfortable learning new things and that exposed him to a variety of alternative ways of approaching the world, while his mentor at Stanford, Ed Carryer, sealed the deal with a hands on integrated learning environment which gave Kirk the confidence to approach most any engineering issue in his post-university pursuits.
     I found it very interesting that Kirk left both his high school and his college studies without taking with him the credentials-- the diploma and college degrees--to which he was certainly entitled. One analogy that came to mind when I was reading that part would be a couple who lives together as common law husband and wife  while eschewing an official marriage license. For a couple like that, and for Kirk, it is the process not the paperwork that matters. 
    I especially like the author's conclusion about the parenting style they employed in raising their son, that the learning was the focus, not as a means to an end but as a pursuit in and of itself. It made me think of Maslow's chart with self-actualization the highest form of living. I tried to empathize with how they were understanding of Kirk's choices to leave high school and college early, and I admired how the author was moved by that. As a parent of a current college student, I would be very frightened were my son to tell me that he wanted to leave college early and drop out. The author also says he was moved by the parents' appreciation of Kirk's desire to "give back" and "to contribute" to society. As a parent of a college student, I would be thrilled were part of my child's reason for wanting to learn and to succeed was a desire to give back. 
   As to the author's fears about the lacking or faltering of traditional STEM classes when compared to hands-on courses such as that in Ed's classes, I think one should employ a balanced approach. One must have the basics in order to master the synthesis required in a Smart Product Design class.  Also, I would add that I like the idea of allowing for the creating of play or whimsy in a hands-on course. I can see how many students would find more interest in that approach than in a meat and potatoes approach to their learning. 
    Lastly, I find it very telling that the Stanford students became a network from which HR at innovative corporations such as Apple could draw employees. Our students need to know and understand that the relationships they forge throughout life, even in high school, can help them make a way in the world later on.  Kirk certainly took advantage of all of his connections and authentic learning.  I want to interview him too. I bet he has some incredible stories to tell about his time at Apple and after.

Chapters 1 & 2: The 3 P's of The Innovator

I had some time this week to read quite a bit into the "innovators" book and I have to say that it was rough reading at first, only because much of the intro and fist chapter focused on building buy in and credibility. I am already sold on the concept, a true believer.

So as I read, I took notes. When I sat down to flesh out a blog response I found that there are 3 P's that go into the realizing of a true innovator, personality, parenting, and play. 

I am almost certain of the order of development, but since I am not an expert I will begin with the beginning... personality. I have always believed that a child is born with a predisposition of nature that is either smoothed over or roughed up depending on the next P: Parenting. According to the author, an innovator needs to be possessed of a nature that is optimistic, collaborative, empathetic, able to accept and even master mistakes and criticism. It makes total sense that the more open and flexible an individual is the more likely they are to become an innovator. 

Again, the author expands his research outward to parenting as another key ingredient for a successful innovator. Taking the individual that comes with all or even most of the above mentioned personality traits or key dispositions one can also be nurtured into the complete package through a Montessori style learning environment both at school and home. The author speculates that the individual he is referencing not only had a well rounded nature, but his parents were also of the nature to encourage alternate means of self expression and educational discovery. The father spoke of how he approached parenthood as a case study that he himself learned through trial and error. There were some humorous failures and some stunning successes, and much like the innovator he raised, the father (and mother) embraced parenting on a very deep and committed level. 

Another portion of the parenting element that was interesting and impacting was that the parents had "...no assumption about what he was to become other than the expectation that he would peruse his passion." The parents supported this by having set protocols for bedtime, reading, homework, and play. Play turns out to be another key tool in the development of an innovator. 

The author really focused in on the importance of the kids playing, and the parents encouragement of personal discovery. the author stated that play was a huge element of developing innovators. I found the parents belief that their kids needed to "get bored in order to figure out how to become un-bored." fascinating and very true. In my own household we do not have cable TV, we have a similar night of the week where we watch BBC television together, fold laundry, eat pizza and do nothing. This family had a super clear balance between structured time and unstructured. That flows directly to the child's educational journey that took on a very similar pattern of structure and unstructured, following passions until they led him to the innovators capital, Apple.

So personality, parenting and play are the necessary tri-fecta to raising and encouraging a true innovator.

Room for Play

It is clear in his chapter 1 that Wagner is interested in the commonalities among innovators. What I found myself wondering about was how he would address the resistance of our well-rooted educational institution in this country. The skills of associating, questioning, observing, experimenting and networking (p.14) are critical for innovation. Empathy and optimism, integrative thinking (p.13) - yes, yes, yes! Fostering curiosity and imagination - absolutely. Making room for play, for creativity, for tinkering no doubt fosters innovation. We do need room for play in schools - at all ages. So what is it that is stopping us?

Wagner's comment that "Too many teachers and employers still reward the "old school" behaviors of deference to authority and striving for 'success'" (p.19)  concerns me and I am eager to see where he takes this text. While I'm sure there are teachers who prefer "sit and get" and a quiet classroom aligned in rows, many teachers would welcome the opportunity to provide room for play for their students. In the current era, our educational institution is built on these old ideals, The systems and structures in place that teachers are told to follow and are evaluated on do not leave time for play. Anyone who attempts to create something new realizes that creativity does not necessarily happen on someone else's time frame. Yet pacing guides tell us how many days to spend on particular content, strongly suggested activities tell us how to deliver material, getting in the right number of grades at the right time... Our educational system attempts to control the masses rather than provide a true collaborative space for innovation.

I love the idea of genius hour, of solving real world problems. Yet, our current system forces teachers who want to do this to battle against constraints that are in conflict with fostering innovation, imagination and creativity. As I said, I am eager to see how Wagner frames his argument and his work and what suggestions he has within our current realities.

Richard Cere's Blog Post 1

After reading Building school communities one brick at a time and Navigating the intricacies of PBL. I feel that implementing PBL is possible. As we are laying the foundation one brick at a time I believe that we must be flexible and not so rigid. The intricacies of PBL and grouping is the laying of the foundation bricks by brick. Once we assess our students with a formative test we can then spread them out into PBL groups. At this point we need to have a hands off approach and be the facilitator.
We also need to build teacher buy in. We need to share PBL until the whole school buys in. When this happens amazing results will happen school wide and further as time goes on.
We need to reach out to our community. Once we get the community to buy in then we can make some real world connections

Bryant reflection to Wagner Chaper One

After reading the first chapter of Wagner, I am still perplexed as to how to create innovators.  I feel like one of those people whose creativity was quenched and was forced to fit into a mold of good grades and doing what is right and acceptable so I do not feel completely equipped to foster innovation.  As the mother of a two children, I have constantly wondered how to teach my children to change the world and at the same time keep them safe.  It is a fine line that I walk while I also try to work full time and take care of the other duties of wife and caretaker.  My children are smart and both qualify for gifted and talented programs.  The are great gamers and even create their own videos of themselves and animated characters.  I have had nothing to do with this other that I try to help them purchase the products to create these things.  I also encourage them to play sports and get involved but I don't know very much about encouraging passion or creativity.  I struggle with these areas as a parent and as a teacher.

Social Studies does not automatically lend itself to innovation when you are teaching something that happened in the past and that cannot be changed.  Many of my students are the ones that live in poverty and have very little stability or encouragement other than what they get at school.  As an educator, I struggle with these concepts especially when I am being measured by what my students can do and how do you measure creativity?  I can see it but how do I put a number on it and how do I put that in a gradebook?  I don't want to be boring but I haven't really been equipped with any tools not to be.  I realize from Wagner that people must be adaptable and have the ability to communicate well.  I can do these two things and I do have curiousity about why things happened and what motivated people to want to lead their people or die for them.  How do I transfer that to teenagers?

I am anxious to read the section on social innovators and to see if maybe that is where I can fit in.  It is very easy to talk about these ideas but it is complicated to implement them.  I became a teacher because I wanted to make a change in the world and to be a motivator to my students.  Even after many years in the classroom, I still want to do that but the struggle is real as my students say in how to do it.  My hope is that Wagner will inspire me and these new units will help me see the reality.

Creating Innovators' first chapter did not say much that is new. I agreed with what Wagner said and the comments and expertise of others, yet I felt some of it has been said in the past.  Yes, it is true that "What we urgently need is a new engine of economic growth for the twenty-first century," but the twenty-first century is here and many have cried out for the need for years.

Let me explain.  Many years ago - back in the late 90's, early 2000's, I served as the Business Education Director for all of Greenville County Schools.  At that time, we had one central office, with a team of 4 support staff and we placed over 2000 high school students and 600 middle school students, in one-on-one shadowing opportunities.  We also helped place speakers and provided information on the SOFT SKILLS businesses were crying for -- those skills needed for the workplace on the horizon.  Businesses were already talking about the communication skills, the critical thinking skills, the motivation needed to succeed in the marketplace.  Businesses were already complaining about ill-prepared students and the lack of innovation.  Obviously that is just one small example, but the heads of Michelin, GE, 3M, Cryovac, and later BMW were already concerned with the lack of student motivation.  Later the department was folded and the new Career Development Facilitator program was started.  That has now dwindled.  Career Center offerings rose.  Now many of the programs are coming back to the school level, for example, Greer High just got several of the programs formerly offered at Bonds And Enoree Career Centers.

Our speaker perhaps hit the nail on the head, when she said it needed to come from the school level.  Maybe the mistake has been that much of what has been done has been pushed down from the top.  Maybe the answer is changing teaching to help students regain the creativity of yesteryear and develop critical and strategic thinking skills.  I agree that creativity is in short supply.  The instant gratification of video games, smart phones, amazing graphics and special effects - students do not seem to "imagine" and "pretend" as they once did.  As Wagner quotes the 3M exec as stating, "This generation comes in wanting to have an immediate impact."

The Seven Survival Skills listed by Wagner are important and certainly mesh well with a PBL approach to student learning.  I do not mean to be cynical.  I do agree with Wagner and hope, as I move through the book, I will glean new insight.  And, as the book points out, "you cannot innovate from nothing," so good teaching will still be important.  We need to lead the students as they innovate.

Building School Communities One Brick at a Time

After reading this article I can see how it will be a little easier for elementary schools to implement PBL units because of the year long opportunities with students.  Plus some teacher teach more than one subject so they can work across  the curriculum.  In high school there are so many students taking a different path and different courses it is harder to collaborate with another subject.  All students do not take English in the same semester.  Plus in science class you have several different grade levels.  I truly believe that I am completely supported in my PBL efforts at Greer High School.  The administration does not want students sitting and taking notes all day. I try to incorporate projects in everything I teach but again they are only projects.  PBL has taught me to think outside the box and have students do more of the work.  I am truly there to help guide them, grant them permission to take risks and support their efforts.  

Navigating the Intricacies of PBL Through Flexible Grouping

After reading this article I have realized that this first activity I am trying with my Physics students I should have been a little more specific in the task that I had them accomplish.  I should have had each student build their own car instead of two so that I could see how they worked independently and where their strengths and weaknesses are.  When classes are so large and you have them for such a short time it is hard to really get their personalities and abilities to come out until a few weeks into the semester.  I personally choose activities on the 1st couple of days of school to see what they remember from past science classes as well how they interact with other students.  I did use the exact lesson Chris Burras did with the pipe cleaners on the 1st day.  It was amazing to see that the students wanted to know everything we did and worked really hard.  I offered some bonus points on the lab safety test for the tallest tower.  The one in my Physics class was taller than anyone's in the PBL class.

After reading Ch. 1 of Wagner’s book, I was most intrigued by the last few pages in which Wagner isolates Montessori education as the common thread in the educational experiences of several high profile leaders and thinkers. First, I do not doubt that the Montessorian ideals of creative play and self-directed exploration are the hallmarks of a genuine education. However, I am concerned that teachers of PBL at the secondary level are retroactively trying to apply a model of learning that requires students to already be equipped with the Montessorian mindset of curiosity and engagement. While I wholeheartedly believe that PBL is the model of the future, it seems that we are in a transition period in which many students are so unaccustomed to actively pursuing their own learning that we are forced to devote an inordinate amount of time habituating students to the behaviors of lifelong learners that should have been developed throughout their educational journey. In short, is PBL enough to compensate for the sense of wonder and curiosity about the world that has been internally and externally squelched over the years? Are there skills that must be fostered from kindergarten on up that are necessary prerequisites to the richer learning experiences of PBL at the secondary level? Can PBL work with students who do not fit the profile of a Montessorian learner? Ultimately, I think so and that PBL at least moves students toward adopting those soft skills that are necessary for innovation (questioning, observing, collaborating, etc.) Accountability assessments and protocols will take care of a lot of the deficiencies that most often manifest themselves in off-task behavior, but I still fear that PBL’s end products can only be commensurate to the more inherent indicators of students’ initiative, adaptability, and satisfaction of learning.

I appreciated Wagner’s nod to Gladwell’s oft-cited statistic of expertise at 10,000 hours, which supports PBL’s mantra of less but more. If I can present richer learning experiences for my students that require them to seek out and understand more challenging texts and ideas, then by all means, I must reduce the number of units offered and dig deep for content with less ground to cover. 

Are those 10,000 hours achieved through passion or perseverance? Does one presume the other? How do we teach passion? If innovation’s linchpin is passion, then do we simply expose students to all areas of knowledge through PBL and hope they find something that they become super interested in? Not exactly. I believe it is the processes that students go through when engaged in PBL that allow them to stick with something, pursue it at a deeper level, test it, experiment with it, and ultimately immerse themselves in it.

On the whole, I am not an economist, so I will not try to evaluate Wagner’s overall argument that innovation (and innovation’s resulting jobs) is the only way we can solve our current and future economic woes. However, I am confident that students who both fail and succeed with PBL are more capable of responding to the changing skillsets of the 21^st century.

Navigating through PBL

As I read the article "Navigating the Intricacies of PBL..." I found myself saying "YES" I agree, PBL is the way to go.  I moved to a school that is PBL, I believe that students can learn better through PBL, this class is going to help me!

But I am struggling, so I kept reading trying to figure out where I can improve.  Then I read, differentiation is both an art and a science.  OH NO!!!! I am not good at art or science. (Maybe I can blame my struggles on this! Not really but a thought.)

I am trying to figure out where I go and how to get there.  I know that I need to re consider how I do my groups.  I did create them prior to any sort of testing so that wasn't my focus, although I have normally started with MAP results but this never stayed throughout the year.

So where do I go?  I can honestly say that I am feeling overwhelmed this year.  I changed schools and even though I stayed in the same grade level my standards have changed so I'm trying to navigate through those and through trying to come up with projects.  I honestly do feel that my lack of creativity is a hindrance here.  So, anyone with ideas on projects for 7th grade math or Algebra would be welcome.

How do you create a math project when you have always focused on the rules as a student?  There has to be a way I can take a baby step to gain the confidence in me to do this.  There must be a project already out there that I can pull to start and then start to improve on but how do I find it/them?  I can't give up on myself before I start or I cannot do this with the kids who will also want to give up before they start.  So here I am trying to figure out how to improve what I do to help my students.  This is why I chose to teach, to make a difference in a child's life.

Creating Innovators

Whewww, today was a day!  After spending 12+ hours at school Monday due to Open House and then attempting to launch the rest of my literacy centers this week while benchmarking 20 first graders for reading, I'm ready to throw in the towel for this week.  Anybody else feel this way??

Don't get me wrong--we've had a great start to the school year, but I'm going in with a whole new set of lens after taking the PBL class this summer and have been more vigilant in my decision-making as far as project-based learning goes.  I have to remind myself that PBL is a methodology, not just a specific time of the day/week/month that I'm "doing" project-based learning.  It's all about my approach in my classroom and I need to be okay with not having these huge, wonderful, amazing "projects" planned out as we've done in the past.  We've definitely gone straight to the dessert table on several occasions and missed the meat of the projects, so it's been interesting trying to plan this year with my grade level.

I've spent a large chunk this year assessing, observing, and recording behaviors of my students and their work ethic.  This is my tenth group of students, which is unbelievable.  Each group has been very diverse but I've wondered if it has to do with the changing of schools, districts, or truly in the short passage of time.  My first group of students are seniors in high school, ready to take on the real world.  With my first group of students and my group this year, there is a comparable shift in their approach to learning.  The increase of technology, expectations from parents, and hyper focus on standardized testing, learning seems to happen faster and there is a higher demand for me to be "on" all day.

Which brings me to Chapter 1 of Tony Wagner's book.  I remember Chris showing it to us this summer and thinking "that looks like a great book, I should read it next summer when I have free time!" :)  He is a very thorough writer and has some pretty radical ideas, so I'm curious to see how the rest of the book is organized.  I liked his take on play, passion, and purpose.  As an early childhood educator, I whole-heartedly believe that play is lacking in the modern-day classrooms.  We are all expected to be "on-task" meaning students are quiet, doing individual work, and not being disruptive.  Anyone talking or not sitting in their chair is acting out and receives a negative consequence.  It's so sad that this is the reality of many classrooms.  I believe in solid classroom management, but I also believe we can learn through play and talking (about the subject at hand).  I think this is what leads to the disengagement syndrome the author addresses in the introduction.  

One last reflection I had after reading the first chapter is introspective in nature as I started wondering if I fall into the millennial generation.  It seems the general opinion (and I've heard this from more than one source--not just the portion from Mr. Wagner's book) is that this generation is independent, but lacking in motivation; intelligent, but not using it correctly; innovative, but wasting it on unproductive ideas.  In my chosen vocation, even if I do fall into the millennial category and these opinions are believed to be true, I feel that teaching lends itself to using creativity and making the most of my skills and abilities.  I love it because it does require me to think outside the box when facing a challenge.  I had a rough day today with students not cooperating, collaborating, or communicating like I wanted them to during math, however, instead of taking away the activity, I'm attempting to change it--ever so incrementally--so we can move forward tomorrow.  Isn't this how it should always be in the classroom?  Especially the PBL classroom?  We have to forge new pathways to making learning fun again for our students and I believe it is through PBL that we'll find that path.    

The first article titled Navigating the Intricacies of Project-Based Learning Through Flexible Grouping was very interesting to me.  I too loved the phrase that "Differentiation is both an art and a science."  Differentiation has been been used as "buzz word" in education far too often, but rarely has it been broken down in this way.  While its well known that effective differentiation requires that we work to meet each student based on their specific needs, the how to do it in a classroom is often the question.  I literally laughed out loud however when the article asked "Can all of this be managed for a class of 25 students each and every day."  How many of us have many more than 25 students in a class and how grateful would we be if we had to differentiate only 25 souls at one time?!

One thing that particularly spoke to me was the permission that this article gave for varying the tasks that students create.  What may be one student's strength, may be another's greatest weakness.  While it is our job as educators to help them improve on their weaknesses, its also nice to be able to play to their strengths by allowing different tasks for different students.  It may take a little out of the box thinking for the educator but at the end of the day, the student is going to greatly benefit.  I do wonder however how to construct a rubric that would meet a variety of tasks?  While I love the idea of giving students a wide range of choices, we also have to have something concrete to for assessment. I'm hoping that this class will help clarify that for me.

The second article titled "Building School Communities One Brick at a Time" very much hit home for me.  This year I am in a new school, with a fairly new administration and instructional team, where the veteran teachers have only been in this school for a year.  While change is amazing and I'm loving the new opportunity, it has also caused me a bit of anxiety.  I came from very much a "Machine Culture" school where we had always done things the way that we were doing them, thus we were going to continue to do it that way.  I even saw it in my own teaching which is what really spurred me to make a change.

My new school is incredibly forward in it's thinking and wants teachers to implement new ideas that will help student achievement.  One of the major focuses is the PBL model.  We are encouraged to collaborate on a regular basis.   The article mentioned that the school re-purposed funds to pay for substitutes to allow for teachers time to collaborate and develop units and that allowed the teachers to feel ownership for the process.  So often in education we see a bandwagon that is jumped upon.  To see a school leadership team give up one of their most important resources (money), shows the teachers how important the initiative is.  I so often have heard teachers say "I'd do this if I had time but I have absolutely no time to work on this on top of everything else that is expected of me."  To see a school not only tell the staff but to show the staff the importance is refreshing.

Allowing stakeholders to understand it's importance is also essential.  I loved how the school leaders highlighted moments on social media and in the newsletter.   Student and teacher buy in is of course important, but the parent buy in is essential.  Parents have to know the why of what we are doing.

Creating a new culture in a school is a scary thing and kudos to the instructional leaders  at Oakland Elementary and the Spartanburg SC District 2 office.  Through a clear vision and implementation of a a mission, the students are gaining essential knowledge that far outstretches the walls of the classroom.

Personality Testing ( Myer`s and Briggs as a basis of grouping)

I have adapted a system where I use personality testing by Myers and Briggs as a basis of my grouping in my classes.
There are mainly 16 different personality types and I believe that a student should know his/her personality type to consciously think about his/her behavior and reflect. Also, personality typing helps a student understand their weaknesses and strengths better. Students can proactively work on their weaknesses and focus on their strength to efficiently use their mind, body and spirit to further their educational experience. I grouping, it is very important to work together as a team knowing each other`s strengths and weaknesses. I provide a good framework through personality testing for discussions around one`s nature and brain sets in my classes before putting them in groups.
I liked the idea of differentiating the instructions based on what students know and doesn't know. I like the idea of creating different stations to provide the need to know to the students.

Meeting Students' Needs

I am interested in writing about a couple of components of the first article on flexible grouping, and am struck by the "art and science" analogy the authors use to describe how teachers need to differentiate instruction.

When I am creating the group assignments I will need to go back to my student questionnaire responses from the first day of school, and I will have to assess the value of placing like-minded students in the same group. Do I want all of my "love social studies" respondents to be in one group, or shall I place these students in several different groups to spread the love around as it were? Similarly, do I want to place my "social studies is not my favorite" students to be spread around as well? My initial thought is to spread these students around.

The authors tend to think that like-ability students should be spread around in various groups rathar than placed on one group. I will go and check the district's resources on middle school grades and testing events to ensure that I have placed varying abilities around the groups in each section of the course.

One thing I can do in the class to ensure that groups have varying abilities and interests is to have the students complete a writing piece before placement. I would be able to estimate the writing ability from a formative assessment such as this.

Authenticity is a big component of PBL according to the authors. We have had some experience writing authentic performance tasks from our school's usage of common core persuasive writing assignments in the last two years. I prepared a huge performance task assignment base on Argentina's Peron family for history class a couple of years ago, so I am familiar with creating performance tasks. The PBL requirement of a "product" is quite similar to the performance task assessment in common core. I will lead the students toward creating their deeper-connection  end task "product" as the authors indicate. Working to meet the needs of each student is the prime goal of the PBL differentiated instruction, and providing an authentic assessment is the tool to ensure that each child's needs can best be met.

In the second article about Oakland Elementary, I am struck by a couple of pieces of information. 

The authors write that Rome wasn't built in a day and the process of laying a brick at a time was arguably more important than the end result. This reminds me of the conversation I had with my PLC when we met with Mr. Winney, our Freshman Academy AP. 

When I explained the PBL to Mr. Winney. I let him know that in PBL while the standards are important the process of reaching the standards is just as important, the process being the way in which the students learn the soft skills that are essential to the "Profile of the South Carolina Graduate," and the 4 C's. "Students must extract information to communicate their own personal understanding in an original way," as the authors said, was the essence of what I told Mr. Winney. He understood and agreed that World Geography is a good place to undertake experimental learning processes such as via the PBL format.

I also met later with our building CRT Mrs. Jenny Norris and explained to her about what our PLC is working toward in terms of authenticity and PBL. She agreed with Mr. Winney's idea that 9th grade social studies is a great place to begin the process of setting PBL as a building priority for instruction. 

The authors of the piece talk about establishing and re-establishing  goals for the school's continuous improvement. Implementation of PBL can, for Woodmont HS, be part of the SIC program, and I am reminded that I still need to contact the leaders on this committee at our school.

As a side note about schools that are implementing PBL, I want to acknowledge Monarch Elementary, which like Oakland may be transformative. Our neighborhood happens to be zoned for Monarch Elementary's geocode group in Greenville County. The word has gotten around that Monarch is a wonderful school, and now many many families with young students are seeking too enroll in Monarch. The only real way in which a family can do this is by buying a house in the geocode that attends the school. Thus, demand for homes in our neighborhood have skyrocketed with a resulting price increase for homes in the neighborhood! PBL is paying off for our neighborhood! And the realtors in the area sell the Five Forks area as a Monarch geocode! Funny, isn't it? I love it, and I hope when my husband and I downsize in a couple of years it pays off for us! PBL rocks! I hope that eventually people want Woodmont HS because of the PBL instructional format as well!

Welcome!

Welcome to our course blog! For those of you new to blogging, hopefully this experience will expand your ideas for online communication to use in your classroom or for personal use.

For you bloggers out there, please feel free to use options you are already familiar with such as adding links or other helpful media to your posts. Following each course meeting, you will be logging in and posting your thoughts and comments related to our course reading.

This is a place where you can share and discuss how what you are learning from your course readings, from our discussions in our meetings, and your interactions with your professional learning communities and your colleagues as you collaborate to find strategies and solutions to apply best practice strategies and structures for project based learning.

Please share successes and failures as you work to implement what you are learning into your classroom practice.  Most of all, reflect on your learning process. In order for us to extend our classroom community to an online setting with this blog, it is important that you also read and respond to the posts of your peers. After each course meetings, please post your thoughts and then also choose two of your colleagues to respond to as well. Please also feel free to share any questions, comments, or suggestions.

We look forward to the learning process that will occur from this online community.

Sincerely,

Dawn Mitchell & Josh Patterson