Shake Up Learning: Ch. 5: Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

My students and I are always taking risks. I model risk-taking. Last year I tried sketch-noting on the whiteboard. It was my first time trying it out, and I let my students know that. It didn’t look great, but we tried it again later, and I improved. By showing my students that I’m willing to try something that didn’t go very well the first time, I showed them that it’s ok to fail. Try again, and you will improve. If my students don’t grasp a concept or skill right away, we reflect. I reflect on my teaching and preparation of the lesson. My students reflect on their understanding and their effort to understand. We do this together as a class. Again, modeling reflection is key. Once we figured out what we have to work on, we work on it. It doesn’t pay to scrap everything and start over if the students have mastered some of the material.

My students are given opportunities to take risks often. My classes are gamified, and my students can take risks without worrying about affecting their grade. They can try a more difficult assignment for XP (experience points), or present their project in front of the class for XP, even when that isn’t required. They can be creative and earn XP for going above and beyond. Students are encouraged to try different mediums in making projects so they can expand their horizons.

I model risk-taking by trying new things myself, and making it clear to my students that it is something new. I start out by telling them we’re trying something new, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll give it a try another time. Just because it doesn’t work one time doesn’t mean it can’t work a different time. I will be starting at a new school this year, and much of what I will be doing there will be a brand new risk and adventure.

I currently do National History Day with my students. These projects are started in September and the contest is in February or early March. Students are encouraged to set their own goals, but I mostly provide weekly assignments for them. I think it would benefit my students if I provided more independence in this regard. I would like to try some long-term learning experiences that provide students with more independence and control over the topic they are interested in researching in order to increase motivation; I’m just not sure what to start with!

Honestly, I’m a risk taker. I am rarely in my comfort zone. I almost avoided applying for the White House History Teacher Institute, but took a leap. Due to my risk, I spent an amazing week in Washington, D.C. with 29 other educators, learning all about the White House and collaborating on lesson plans. I learned an incredible amount, and that is where I discovered the power of using Twitter to grow my PLN. I can’t imagine how stagnant my teaching career would be without having taken that risk. Since then, I leap at opportunities that can provide me with a similarly spectacular experience. I vowed to push myself and ignore my limitations, as they will disappear if I work to surpass them. Even my new position in a new district next year is a leap. I was teaching US History, Civics, Government, Geography, and APUSH at my previous district. Next year I will be almost starting from scratch, teaching US History still, but switching to World History, Psychology, Sociology, and Economics. I am seeking certification in Economics on top of it all. It will be a busy year, but a great adventure!

Shake Up Learning: Ch. 4: Technology Is Not a Solution

Technology has offered so many opportunities. I have been in a 1:1 classroom since I started teaching in 2014. Out of the seven different classes that I have taught in my four years in the district, only two classes have had textbooks. Both of those classes were Advanced Placement classes. Technology has opened a world of information to my students. It has also allowed them to publish their findings online, collaborate remotely, and share their work with others. My students have become creators, not just consumers.

My district is not a wealthy district. There are some students that don’t have access to the internet outside of school. Other students are actively involved in extracurricular activities or work that take up their time after school. I have been working to solve this problem by allowing my students more collaborative time and work time in class. This allows me to give feedback while they are working instead of only when their projects are complete. Other than that, I haven’t encountered many issues with technology that my students and I couldn’t fix or be flexible about.

I think it is ideal to have one device per student. I don’t think that they should always be on that device, and they sometimes should share devices to better collaborate, but it is ideal to be able to have all students working individually on their device if needed. This also allows students to bring the device home and collaborate from there.

Shake Up Learning: Entrepreneurial Learning Challenge Board

Shake Up Learning: Entrepreneurial Learning Challenge

I haven't incorporated entrepreneurial learning much into my classes, but that will change this year. I have a few ideas as to how to incorporate entrepreneurship more:

• Have students collaborate, peer review, and create together, while taking on various leadership roles
• Publish student work to a website or blog, and share out on Twitter
• Have students publish children's books or short stories or self-help books
• Publish e-books or hard copy books
• Can put online to sell, as well
• Create a fictional business that sells historical inventions
• Shark Tank with historical inventions
• Re-think a historical invention with a new, futuristic purpose
• Create a new product and market it
• Reflect on how the product fits into the economy as a whole, who the intended market is, create an advertisement, etc.

All of these ideas fit into the curriculum of my classes, which are as follows:

• US History
• World History
• Economics
• Sociology
• Psychology

My classes are already student-centered, but projects such as these will allow students to take more ownership of their creations and will hopefully motivate students to try such ventures in the future.

Shake Up Learning: Ch. 3: The Rise of the Entrepreneur

My current curriculum does not support the entrepreneurial mind set. I’m not quite sure how to get it there, especially with classes such as Sociology and World History. This will be much easier to do in my new Economics class, where students can create businesses to simulate our larger economy. I do encourage my students to think for themselves and use their creativity, but that alone is not entrepreneurship. It sounds like a lot of educators feel similarly; we just aren’t sure where to start! A couple of ideas that I liked from other educators were:

• Collaboration
• Self-publishing (students publish their work)
• Publish Choose Your Own Adventure Stories

Students need the following to survive in this changing economy:

• The ability to collaborate, yet to work productively on their own
• Curiosity
• The ability to learn a new tool on their own
• Willingness to try something new
• Resilience and flexibility - the ability to bounce back when something doesn’t go according to plan
• Willingness to ask for help when they need it

Shake Up Learning: Ch. 2: Technology Has Changed the Way We Learn

Technology permeates my daily life. I currently don’t have a smart phone, but even without one, I can still check Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, E-mail, etc. Technology fascinates me, yet overwhelms me. I love learning about tech, but sometimes I just need a break. I didn’t realize how nice it was to disconnect until my smart phone broke. Having a phone that can’t access the internet actually feels freeing. Technology can make so many things quicker and easier, but I do realize the benefits of using it sparingly. My professional life hasn’t changed too drastically due to technology, considering that I am entering only my 5th year teaching. I started in a district that had 1:1 MacBooks and iPads, then moved to 1:1 Chromebooks. I can definitely say that I have a preference, but that’s for another time. The changes there were minor. Students could still perform the same tasks, just on a different machine. I foresee that things will continue to change, but I have always been adaptable when it comes to technology.

In order to make a lesson into something that will prepare students for the future, I have to consider the task that I am asking them to do. Regardless, the standards are set in stone for the time being. If I can insert the learning targets into an activity that fits into the context of my students’ lives, I can do a much better job of reaching them. Similarly, if I can put the learning targets into the context of a future career or skill they need (such as trying something new without any guidance), then my students can learn valuable abilities such as learning to problem-solve. If students are given all instructions word-for-word, chances are, there will be some that don’t read them anyway. Last year I started something new. I gave my students a new tool at the beginning of the year, knowing that we would be using it all year, and I didn’t give them any instruction. I simply gave them a task to do. Some failed miserably. Some succeeded. All were not graded. Starting with low-risk activities such as this give students an opportunity to try something and fail without fearing for their grade in the class. Long story short, in order to prepare students for the future, I have to let them loose. Set them free. Have them try something that they have never tried before without any hand-holding. We can’t teach students how to do everything, because there is too much and it changes every day. The best I can do is teach students how to figure things out on their own. I’ll be there to support them, but they are capable of doing a lot more than they let themselves believe.

I suppose I could spend hours on reddit, twitter, etc. to learn the new "vocabulary" of this generation, but often it just takes showing a little bit of interest, such as talking to students before class starts or taking a few minutes to ask them how their day is going, even (gasp) in the middle of class. Stop to watch a YouTube video that a student is watching during class. Ask them about it. Show some interest, build some rapport, and lead that student back into the task at hand. Who knows, maybe the students might be less likely to get off task later, and I will have learned something in the process.

I barely remember learning before the 21st century. I was 9 when Y2K came around. 21st Century Learning has been my entire life, and shouldn’t be set aside as something “new.” As Kasey said, it’s been 18 years. It’s time to accept technology as a part of what we do, and just start calling it “learning.”

There is a place for memorization, but not a sole focus on memorization. Luckily, the new Social Studies standards for Wisconsin reflect this. There is more emphasis on the skills that historians (or simply, informed citizens) need to know how to do, versus what date this significant event happened. One thing that I really struggle with is citation. It changes every year. I teach my students the importance of citation and why we give credit to those who provide information for us. I teach them the important information to look for (author, title, etc.). Then I teach them how to use citation machines and how to know if your citation looks correct. Memorization of citation formats is absolutely unnecessary in my opinion, though citing sources is absolutely necessary.

Both of these things (balancing the needs of the “system” and preparing students for the future) can happen simultaneously. One way to prepare students for the big test is to help them get accustomed to the way that it will work, and to ease their fears. Practicing protocols can make standardized test tasks become muscle memory. The best part is, the practice does not always have to apply to the content. Simply practicing the skill is useful. In my gamified class, I intend on using questions that are similar to those on standardized tests as an incentive for students to gain XP (experience points). They will be optional, and some will be based on pop culture rather than content. I am willing to give up a couple minutes every week for something that can help students ease test anxiety. This practice will be minor, but will hopefully help. This way I can spend more time working on preparing my students for the future, rather than spending all of my time trying to convince students to do boring homework that looks like a standardized test.

Shake Up Learning: Ch. 1: 21st Century Change

I have joined Kasey Bell's book study for her book, Shake Up Learning: Practical Ideas to Move Learning from Static to Dynamic.

Here is my reflection on Chapter 1, 21st Century Change:

Last summer I took part in an incredible opportunity in the White House History Teacher Institute. It was there that I created my Twitter account and gained my first followers. Since then, my eyes have been opened to a whole new realm of possibilities. I discovered individuals such as Kasey Bell who inspire me to be the best teacher I can be. I want to break the mold and be inspiring. My goals are to beef up my repertoire and to learn new ways that I can try new things and, most importantly, encourage my students to be fearless and do the same.

In the 21st century, learning is primarily self-paced. It is based on the interests of the individual. It is instant. If I suddenly have the urge to try a new DIY project, I can look up how to do it online and find hundreds of thousands of results on Pinterest, YouTube, etc. If one method doesn’t work for me, I can simply try another method. This is how people learn now. We don’t always wait for someone to tell us what we should know, and how we should learn it. Once we are interested, we go for it and try to accomplish our goals on our own. Some people continue on their own. Others find more people in the same situation and collaborate in order to meet their goals. In general though, one thing is the same: Self-motivation is necessary to begin a successful journey of learning.

As for my students, I am trying to help them realize this. As their teacher, I am a facilitator. It is not my job to stand in front of the room and tell my students what they should know. Instead, my job is to spark their curiosity, and to get them interested in learning the subject(s) that I am teaching. Once they are interested, the rest comes easier. I model the skills that they need to continue learning on their own, and let them loose. Students need to try things, and to fail, in order to learn. Absorbing information is not enough. All students must be willing and able to try new things in order to reach their goals, or to perfect the methods that are most useful to them individually.

I embrace change, and I work with my students to help them to do the same. Change is inevitable, and things are changing faster than ever. All of us (teachers and students) must be prepared to adapt to these changes and to make the best of it. This doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel every time something changes. This is changing what works well to fit the new model, or changing the new model to fit what has been working well. Keeping this in mind, not all changes are good changes. I also hope to help my students learn how to tell when to jump toward a new change and when to resist a bit. We have to have our goals, priorities, and what is best for us in mind before blindly starting a new initiative.

Sometimes I do feel like part of the “factory.” Every school has rules to follow, and even if some are a bit silly, they are there for a reason. Enforcing silly rules sometimes makes me feel like part of the factory, but if, even in minor ways, the silly rule helps my students learn, I will stand behind it in order to help help keep up the cohesion in our school staff. On the other hand, I encourage my students to push back against rules that they don’t like, as long as they can prove a foolproof, ironclad reason for not liking the rule. Encouraging my students to think for themselves is essential, and sometimes friction is a good thing.

I am beginning a new chapter at a new school this year, and I can’t wait to make this classroom into everything I’ve dreamed of. The new classroom will belong to my students and myself. It will be a collaborative environment where students feel safe to share and collaborate, while still providing quiet spaces for students who need to be alone to work some of the time. Student work will decorate the classroom and students will help me design the space. Lighting will include a variety so we can adjust lighting easily: a floor lamp, some table lamps, overhead lights, and/or a wall of windows. I have inviting, warm, colors to bring in; navy blue, brown, a cream color, mostly colors that I would like in my living room because they are relaxing and comforting. Once my students feel at home and comfortable, learning can become less stressful. I will allow them to find the spot that helps them learn the best. Students who enjoy a traditional school environment can sit in a desk, whereas other students can use the kitchen table or the window seats. I also have a desk built into the wall that will seat 2-3 students. The rule here will be that students in this area prefer to be left alone to work. No one will be allowed to disturb them there. My favorite change is that there is no teacher desk, and there is no front of the room. The learning is focused in the center, right where my students sit.