Do Small Wins Lead to Big Change or Preserve the Status Quo?

The day after Edcamp Philly 2013, I opened my Tweetdeck to find a concern from Brad Campbell about shifts he noticed in the schedule board this year. 

@kristenswanson idk, know its not my place but each year I feel like I come away w less things "I could use on Monday". Worth thinking about
— Brad Campbell (@BrdCmpbll) May 19, 2013

I have great respect for Brad, and he is a fervent supporter of the Edcamp movement. His tweet came from a place of collaboration and respect. He actively wants to make things better for himself and his fellow educators. With that being said, his request inspired quite a bit of reflection on my part. As I began to consider the implications of his idea, here are some questions I considered:

• Should conversations focus on tiny steps or massive leaps?
• If we only focus our learning on the types of things that we can do "on Monday", are we simply propagating the status quo?
• Are things that can't be implemented "on Monday" irrelevant to most educators?

Personally, I think the educational reform required to accommodate the cataclysmic changes in our world necessitates gigantic, unconventional shifts. If we simply compile a series of small upgrades, then we will end up with a revised version of our current system. (Which is virtually irrelevant in today's information-rich society.)

small shift + small shift + small shift = 

more of the same, only a little better

Given that this is what I believe, I think PD should encourage teachers to shift their understanding of what school looks like in its entirety. All of these changes may not be viable "for Monday," but they MUST become viable VERY SOON. 

So, maybe PD shouldn't be able to help us on Monday. 

Maybe PD should help us re-imagine the future of school.

Unfortunately, we don't know what that looks like yet. Let's find the way forward together.

Photo Credit:
  by  alwright1 

Ice Cream Sundaes, Field Mice, and Ghettofabulous Educators: The Edcamp Philly 2013 Recap

As expected, Edcamp Philly was EPIC this year. I met some amazing people, brainstormed about how to change the world, and picked up a few new tools. The ingenuity and innovation possessed by my fellow educators always amazes me. Here are a few of my biggest takeaways:

1. Play and relationships are key to learning.
To celebrate Edcamp's third birthday and kick off the day at Edcamp Philly, we showed the EPIC EDCAMP LIP DUB. This was a project that Bill Selak and I put together over the last few months. (Bill did the heavy lifting; I just organized it.) While the video was shown, I watched the crowd. Many were smiling and some were cheering. It instantly created the feeling that we had all piled into a sandbox together to build something cool. An atmosphere of play is so critical to learning, and this feeling pervaded the entire day. #eduawesome


2. Show what you are made of AND what you are afraid of.
I ran a session called Professional Development Smackdown with Chad Evans and Tom Murray, former colleagues from Quakertown Community School District. We did very little talking and tried to engage the crowd in a collaborative design challenge around PD. The notes and ideas from the session are available here. It was clear that new PD models need to emphasize choice, and they need to empower teacher leaders.

As I innately believe in all of these ideas, it was easy for me to participate and add my voice to the conversation. Until a MOUSE scurried across the floor in the middle of the session, that is. As the mouse was DANGEROUSLY close to my feet, I did a backflip over Tom and let out a pretty loud scream.

We have a MOUSE in F70.I repeat, a mouse! #edcampphilly BEST jumping/screaming presentation ever. @kristenswanson @thomascmurray
— Ellen Zschunke (@ontheshelf4kids) May 18, 2013

So, I need to remember that it's ok to share expertise as well as to show what your weaknesses are. Balance is good. (Mice are NOT good, by the way.)

3. Make more green bean casserole this year.

During day, session participants discussed the idea that Edcamps are only one viable form of professional development among many. In many ways, Edcamps are the ice cream sundaes of the professional development menu. We get to choose all the toppings, and they may not be related to the explicit goals of our organizations. Participants get to be selfish-- in a good way, of course. However, we all recognized that there are shared experiences that districts must deliver to meet mandates or build a shared vision. These required learnings were termed the "green beans" of professional learning. Knowing that these are needed from time to time as part of a balanced PD diet, I commit to making green bean casserole as much as possible. By using interactive formats, engaging media, and provocative questions, I hope to add a little flavor to my least favorite vegetables!

Yes, you have to eat your vegetables (get your PD), but why not make green bean casserole? @kristenswanson#edcampphilly
— Justin Staub (@MrStaubSTEM) May 18, 2013

Photo Credit:  by  dolescum 

Yo, Philly Edcampers-- I'm Calling You Out!

I can't wait for the 4th Annual Edcamp Philly this Saturday. As I've spent most of the year living in Toledo, Edcamp Philly will be a homecoming for me. I can't wait to see old friends and meet new ones. I plan to eat at least 5 cheesesteaks (wiz wit, of course) in a 24 hour period. And, most importantly, I can't wait to deepen my learning about this crazy experiment we call SCHOOL.

Edcampers, I've got HUGE expectations. 
I know you can meet them.

Here are 5 tips to make Edcamp Philly be even MORE awesome:

1. Show up ready to share and listen, NOT present.
2. Put student learning first, NOT tools.
3. Play. Take Risks. Experiment.
4. Remember, you ARE an expert.
5. Empower yourself to vote with your feet if you're being talked at or sold to.

I really, really, really don't want to sit in any sessions with mere lists of tools or "how tos".  Instead, I want to engage in thoughtful conversation about what it means to be a successful learner in this world. I want to exchange stories and experiences that will benefit kids.

How can we make kids and adults competent beyond our wildest dreams? 

Well, I need YOU to help me figure that out.

Remember, YOU (and only you) hold the keys to success for a great day at Edcamp Philly!

See you on Saturday!

Breaking Up IS Hard to Do: Why Gradual Release Feels...Weird

As the words of the famous Neil Sedaka song reminds us, breaking up IS hard to do. Ending a relationship or specific pattern of behavior can leave us feeling unsure, awkward, and very uncomfortable. You remember middle school, don't you?

However, "breaking up" (and all of its emotional baggage) isn't limited to our pimple-faced past. Educators grapple with this issue every day. Consider the questions I asked myself while teaching a lesson last week:

• When should I... 
• help students? 
• pull back? 
• talk? 
• be silent?

When, exactly, are we going to break up?

As teachers, we are always trying to build relationships. It is very hard for us to step back and watch kids struggle with complex problems. It's our JOB to help students, right?

However, if we overscaffold and overprompt, we can actually inhibit students' ability to transfer their learning to new situations.

Consider this passage from the recent research report from National Academies Press:

Over a century of research on transfer has yielded little evidence that teaching can develop general cognitive competencies that are transferable to any new discipline, problem or context, in or out of school. 

Direct instruction and explicit teaching doesn't support the transfer of learning to new situations. Letting students solve problems does.

As you approach your students today, try to wait a minute longer before jumping in. Try to let students get started without you. Make small changes that put learners in the driver's seat.

Breaking up might be hard to do, but your students will be better for it!

Photo by  jasoneppink 

Using Reflection as a Tool to Embrace Change

Note: This is cross posted at Education Is My Life.

  by  Ozh 

Familiarity doesn’t breed contempt then, 

but more like contentment.

~Dan and Chip Heath

For years, psychologists have been exploring the “mere exposure” principle which states that people have preferences (often emotional ones) for things that they’ve seen or heard before.

Consider your favorite song on the radio. (You know, the one that sounds JUST LIKE all your other favorite songs? Yes, that one.) You likely enjoy it because it reminds you of another song that you enjoy.

Consider your favorite shirt. (You know, the one that looks very similar to 10 other shirts you own? Yes, that one.) You likely gravitate towards clothes that remind you of your favorite items.

It’s clear that we tend to prefer things that are largely within our comfort zone. We even react to our own reflections more favorably than actual replications of our own face! Consider the excerpt from Decisive below:

This may sound odd, but you’re actually not very familiar with your own face. The face you know well is the one you see in the mirror, which of course is the reverse image from what your loved ones see. Knowing this, some clever researchers developed two different photographs of their subjects’ faces: One photo corresponded to their images as seen by everyone else in the world, and the other to their mirror images as seen by them. As predicted by the mere-exposure principle, the subjects preferred the mirror-image photo, and their loved ones preferred the real-image photo. We like our mirror face better than our real face, because it’s more familiar!

So… if we’re hard wired to prefer what’s familiar, it’s very difficult for us to embrace experiences and situations that are DIFFERENT. This has important implications for effective reflection.

Often, new pedagogies and practices require us to try things that are NOT familiar. If we enter these situations on autopilot, it’s likely that our initial reactions will be unfavorable. This often happens EVEN IF the new strategy or practice actually improves outcomes for students. (Anecdotally, I see this very often when I work with teachers across the nation.)

However, we do not need to be victims of the “mere exposure” principle in our practice. If we go into new and innovative situations EXPECTING that we’ll be biased towards the familiar and comfortable, we are much more likely to reflect honestly, critically, and constructively.

So, don’t let the “mere exposure” principle cripple your ability to innovate and reflect.

Reflect honestly—even about the unfamiliar.

Using Google Hangout On Air for an Open Webinar: A How To

If you've been following my work over the past several months, you know that I've been hosting Open Webinars with Grant Wiggins, Nick Provenzano, Don Buckley, and Mark Barnes, among others. Grant and I quickly realized that more people were interested in these conversations that the capacity of our current WebX subscription, so we decided to try Google Hangout On Air as our platform. 

If you've been attending these webinars, you know that the technical end of things was a bit bumpy at first. However, I *think* that I have this ALL figured out now. As it took me lots of tries and lots of experimentation, I thought I would share my process to benefit others facing similar challenges. It's somewhat complex, so leave any questions in the comments. Enjoy!

How to Host an Open Webinar Using Google Hangout

3 Weeks Before the Webinar

• Publicize your open webinar. We used SMORE as a way of sharing information about our event, and we used Ticketleap to give away tickets to the event. (I think Google + Events would also work well for this.)

60 Minutes Before the Webinar

• Upload any slides/visuals to presentations in Google Drive.
• If you are comfortable sharing your slides/visuals, create a link for others to VIEW your slides/visuals and add it to your information page about the event. (For us, that was our SMORE.)

30 Minutes Before the Webinar

• Email everyone who signed up for a free ticket (for us that was via Ticketleap) and remind them of the webinar. Remind them of the link to your information page about the event (again we used the same SMORE page). 
• Start the Google Hangout On Air and invite the guests for the webinar. Make sure all the guests get into the room and the audio is clear.
• Have the moderator install the CAMERAMAN app in Google Hangout. (It's one of the apps on the left side of the panel in a Google Hangout.) This allows the moderator to choose which screen is "big" when the hangout is in action.
• The moderator should open the slides/visuals via Google Drive in a separate browser on his/her screen.

Once You Start the Broadcast

• At the starting time, click the BROADCAST button inside Google Hangout to begin broadcasting your webinar. As soon as the event goes live, click on the EMBED button and embed the live video onto the information page for your event. (Again, we used SMORE because it was very easy to quickly embed a video on the page.)
• Welcome guests and kickoff your awesome webinar!

During the Webinar

• If you want to show slides/visuals during the webinar, have the moderator turn on the SCREENSHARE feature in Google Hangout and select the browser with the Google Drive Slides. The moderator should also click on their small screen at the bottom with CAMERAMAN enabled so that the slides stay in the large box regardless of who is talking during the webinar. (NOTE: Members of the webinar will have to verbally tell the moderator to advance the slides.)

After the Webinar

• Embed the recording onto the information page for the event. Email anyone who signed up for a ticket with the link for the event page where the recording is available.

The big key for this process to be successful is to have 1 flexible access page where you add the embedded video on the night of the webinar. This allows for everything to be at a single link (slides, video, registration, etc.) and that link can easily be shared at any point before, during, or after the event. As this is a bit different from how traditional webinar services work, try to provide your audience with as much information via email and on the page itself about how it will work on the night of the webinar. 

Anyone have a better way to do this? I'd love to learn from you!

Making Learning Designs Viral

Note: This is cross posted at Smart Blog on Education.

This post begins in a place that’s far away from, well, just about everything. We’re traveling to place called Zuniland, a reservation in northern New Mexico. Zuniland is miles away from McDonald’s, Walmart, and many other corporate flagships that permeate our society. For example, it’s a 45-minute drive down a one-lane road just to find a grocery store! 

After arriving at this remote destination, I decided some exercise was in order. I popped on my bike shoes and headed to the Zuni Wellness Center for a biking class. The studio was about half full, and most people were already on their exercise bikes when I arrived. Within moments, a tanned, inked instructor with a long black braid entered the room. He told everyone to “Get ready!” and started blasting music.

He played Gangham Style. 

Yes, Gangham Style.

Everyone in the room cheered in response, and the class was instantly in motion. I was stunned that this tiny germ of an idea had touched such a remote place.

Clearly some ideas are viral.

A virus is defined by Wikipedia as:

“a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of an organism”

But, viral ideas should be much more than funny music videos or cat pictures. Our lessons and learning should be viral in the classroom.

So, how can we make important ideas and skills replicate them once they’re inside our learners? Well, based on my research and teaching experience, three qualities reappear in every instance of viral learning I encounter. They are:

1. Participatory

2. Plain

3. Powerful

A learning experience that’s participatory invites people to join and contribute. There are access points for both the most novice and the most expert person in the room. Clay Shirky, in his text entitled Cognitive Surplus, reminds us that humans are hardwired to get involved. We don’t want to watch life; we want to live it! Therefore, something to which you contribute increases the likelihood that it will be spread and shared. To cite the example of Gangham Style, almost anyone can do the dance yet others may create their own spoof. There are different degrees of participation.

A learning experience that’s plain means that it’s simple. The entire concept must be distilled into a few key ideas that others can easily understand. This helps to preserve the message as it spreads from learner to learner. Again, to cite my experience with Gangham Style, it’s a fun song that you can dance to. That’s it!

A learning experience that’s powerful has the ability to make a large impact on culture and the way that people live their lives. This is especially important for our learners. What’s the point of learning and spreading this information? How will it impact society in the years to come? Gangham Style appeals to our sense of play and brings joy to others. Viral ideas help learners to engage in something that bigger than themselves.

Viral learning idea isn’t new. Years ago, John Dewey spoke about the need for doers and makers in school. He said,

“Learning has been put into circulation…. Knowledge is no longer an immobile solid; it has been liquefied. It is actively moving in all the currents of society itself.”

These three tenets of viral learning design have important implications for education. They also create some boundaries that we should enforce. Viral learning does NOT happen when we:

·      Expect students to give us back exactly what we’ve given them.

·      Talk AT, not WITH students.

·      Fail to give lots of different ways to engage with a simple, elegant message.

So consider the learning you’ve planned for next week. Is it participatory? plain? powerful?

Make it viral.

PS- If you came to my TEDxNYED talk, you know that I changed my 3 points to participatory, personal, and powerful. After some reflection the "personal" part really stuck out to me. My thinking is always shifting in light of good feedback!

PPS- Want to read more? You can see my thoughts on viral interactions here.