Collaboration for me is like breathing – necessary for growth. I honestly do not remember when I found #sschat but when I did, I was home! I get support, resources, challenge, and friendship with a group of fantastic educators I admire and respect. They are the best of the best. Fast forward just over a year and I was asked moderate #sschat. What? Me?  Just as Elle Woods would say – “I did it!” It has confirmed everything I believe in – global collaboration and student centered learning.

A quick recap for those new tweeters:

• Find a hashtag to start with – #sschat, #edchat, – for a complete list see @cybraryman1 ‘s website.
• Tweet to add to the conversation – find one or two ideas to tweet. For my first retweet, I shut my eyes and hit send, that’s how nervous I was. But it worked, someone noticed.  It gets easier with every tweet.
• Tweeting is like anything else, I was trying to keep up with everyone, but I realized that those who tweet me back and add to my PLN are the ones I care about now.
• Remember that you are an amazing educator and you will be an asset to twitter. Tweet away! Don’t forget the hashtags! It really does add to the experience as it gets to more people. Some of my best follows now are from retweets.

When walking through the building do you see:

• Students in groups, not just talking, but asking questions, using content vocabulary, creating learning together, excited about what they are doing?
• The teacher is involved in student discussion and learning and not the center of learning?
• Students can tell anyone who comes in to the classroom what they are researching, discussing, analyzing?
• There is high expectation for learning, not just test scores? There are student projects showcased?
• Learning is taking place all over, even in the hall with students are spread out using computers, textbooks, library books, other devices as allowed? My favorite pictures in my classroom are those of students putting together a presentation while the textbook, notebook, etc are on their laps and desks. I co-wrote and article for Educational Leadership in 2009 and it is still timely. Here is the link for those interested- http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Anywhere_Learning.aspx
• Learning happening anytime, anywhere and are you, the teacher, a part of it during non school hours?  Are students sharing writing, projects, and anything else with you on Google Docs, Edmodo, etc.?
• Active not passive learning?

As I walk through the halls of my own building, I think about our pulse. What does learning look/sound like to you?

As a Geography teacher, and one who doesn’t have a standardized test at the end of the course, it is getting beyond upsetting that most in the United States don’t understand how education has changed (or should be changing) as our children today will be dealing with all the current events in our world more than ever before. It is a global, interconnected world that only a person who understands all the nuances of those words will be able to work and live in this world. Our students are the future, and as cliché as that is, I have not seen a time when we need our students to understand cultures, geography, economics, science, art, business, communication, government, community, and global awareness more than now.  It is not enough for young adults to come away from high school only being able to pass the standardized tests, to memorize information and not have an understanding to why they need to know that information. When will we wake up and get our students connecting? Understanding? Creating? Learning?

I know there are many great educators out there, but when major newspapers run stories like the one in the Charlotte Observer, it is what the public comes to expect. And all I see in most schools now during spring is standardized test practice because – let’s face it – teachers are judged on who “learned” based on those test scores  (as much as we don’t want to admit it), there is a serious gap between what is important and what it is. As much as my school says they don’t put emphasis on test scores, we still have a faculty meeting about the results of those tests when they come in.

Students need educators who are willing to stand up and adjust the curriculum as world events happen. Students need educators who are willing to get out of their comfort zones and create deeper learning spaces. Students need educators who understand that learning is not memorizing. Students need educators who are willing to help students make connections to the world. Students need educators who are willing to step out and be the change.

The future is at stake.

What does this mean for teaching? For me it means that education MUST become what the kids live. They cannot keep coming to school to “power down.” When they walk into my building they have to turn off all devices – the very things that are an integral part of who they are. It is not just music or phones; it is connection, completion, just… them.

When we will have our own revolution for education? What if students were to really understand the power of what it would mean for them to be able to learn the way they want? What if we really teach the way they learn? What if we really want to know how best students learn? What if we… shhh, take away standardized testing?! I believe that we could unleash the power of the next generation of leaders in this country. How can we have a revolution? I am amazed by the amazing educators who have unbelievable ideas and I want a true revolution… reform isn’t enough. Time is of the essence! Who’s with me? Maybe it’s time to get students involved in the revolution. I think I will invite some of mine to the next school board meeting and take them to the office of the superintendent.

I cannot explain this, but one thing I know is that this isn’t about the guns. It isn’t about the 22 year old who went on a rampage. It is about society. It also takes me back to other trageties, such as Columbine High School, and all other school shootings. We as a society need to become better at making connections with our young people. Kids need to feel they belong to something – a class identity, a sport, a youth group. It seems to me that as more information is locked down,  private, we have less opportunity to help. When I began as a teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio, I was told about students’ home life, had to make home visits, etc. Now, we cannot even know why students get suspended from school. I understand the privacy, believe me, but as the information becomes more private, more teachers don’t get involved in kids lives. It is in this indifference that we miss the moments to become the connection. Our students need our academic attention, but more importantly, they need our believing in them, that someone is in their corner.

When will we get back to community? So, when kids get off track, there are people there to get them back on track. We have been talking about this since Columbine all these years ago. When will we in society learn that we will only get out of kids what we put in?

It’s not about the technology and as I post this I know those that will read this “get it.” But as states and districts grapple with what to do with the technology, these examples are critical. Let’s talk about the final product but let’s also talk about how students get there- researching, writing, editing, and real learning.

What an image to give words to what has been mulling around in my brain! It’s hard to see but there are 45 records (I actually had 45 records and can still hear my father yelling to turn down the music) glued to the door with chains and a lock. I was blown away at the symbolism and beauty in this door.  This photo perfectly represents what is happening in education today – locking down student learning, putting technology behind the bars and calling it innovative. Unless students own their learning, contribute to their learning, and create their learning, they are still like the old 45’s – great, but not brilliant. I am hopeful that some educators are finding ways to unlock student learning. Why am I hopeful?

As some of you know, I have discovered twitter. I have been “lurking” (as it is called) there, slowly getting my feet wet. Over 800 posts later, commenting on linked blogs, and learning to “RT” the good stuff, I am feeling the locks coming off about my frustration of feeling alone in my own school. I am even tweeting within #sschat, #edchat, and participating on eliminate with peers around the world! The coolest thing for me is that I am confident that I can contribute as much as any other educators on twitter. I am one of “them” and every follow is like an affirmation that I can make a difference; I can help unlock what education needs to be about – student learning. I have a renewed enthusiasm to blog, share, and get my students in the conversation.  After all, it’s about them!

Let me explain: She goes to a 3rd grade classroom three days a week this semester to teach and has a wonderful mentor teacher who is guiding her in her dream of teaching. My daughter planned a lesson around a book about being different the students were reading, got rave reviews from the classroom teacher (her mentor), and was then observed by the University professor. The lesson needed to be more in line with what all the other future teachers were doing (there are several at this school)- the lesson was too “radical”. There’s that word again. The professor was suggesting “status quo.”  My daughter’s heart is for those kids in poverty, either rural or urban, and she understands the need for “real life” lessons. She understands these kids need to be taught about diversity, empowerment, and making a difference in the world. She teaches with love, respect, and compassion and knows that students will respond to that and will be able to change the culture of bullying to one of respect. It’s not about being able to answer a multiple choice test about the vocabulary of bullying. It’s living it out – real life.

So, I sent my daughter this great article by Sabrina Stevens Shupe - which of course appeared in Twitter right when I needed it – and told her to send it to her professor. Among other things, Ms. Shupe suggests that you might be a radical if…

“You think school learning should bear at least some resemblance to learning in the real world, instead of being pared down to easily measured (packaged and sold) discrete bits.”

I apologized to my daughter when I sent her this article: I was more worried about her portfolio than I was for her passion. I told her to never compromise her passion and that the most important question to always ask yourself after a lesson is – Did the students learn?

http://huff.to/aDUaHp