5 Things I Would Change About Education

I was tagged by three great educators to post my 5 things: abeam, Technorth, and RickH.  Honestly, I’ve been tossing this idea around for over a week so I could reflect on what I considered should be altered.  I came to the conclusion that I would focus on the positive opportunities teachers and students could have with the best talent we all share – imagination.  I love to see teachers become giddy with new ideas.  Do you know that feeling?  The one where you walk a little lighter,  your mind wheels turn much faster, and best of all the your energy virtually soars.  Just like the moment of screaming, “Surprise!” at a secret birthday party, adrenaline builds and builds until you can say, “Guys, I can’t wait to share what we are about to do in class!”  I almost get giddy writing about it.  It is that feeling that I’m hoping some of you get when you consider these five things and hopefully get to put them into action.

• Exposure to more cross-classroom collaboration (aka telecollaboration).

A handful of school districts have the resource of professional video conferencing equipment.  Those that do, have even a smaller number of classrooms take advantage of what it can do.  Did you know that you can have your students talk to scientists at NASA, watch live heart surgeries take place, and dialogue with museum educators at the National WWII museum?  The possibilities are truly incredible.  The Center for International Learning and Collaboration (CILC) is your one stop shop to discover more about how to better utilize your equipment and even give your students the opportunity to teach other classes.  I subscribe to their weekly email digest to view current and upcoming collaborative projects.

For the remaining districts without video conferencing equipment, collaboration still has a valid and capable place in your classroom, especially now with the onset of many Web 2.0 tools and a simple webcam purchase for less than $30.  The video feed quality may not as professional, but is improving rapidly, and actually does rather well if you have a strong internet connection. With the classroom use of Skype, DimDim, or Ustream the doors have finally opened for everyone.  A great video of how these tools could be used in the classroom can be found at K-12 Conferencing. Caveat – I strongly urge you to work with your tech support staff in determining which of these tools work best for your district.  You might be surprised to know they have one of these or something better in place. 

• Grade and Subject Level PLN’s (Professional Learning Networks)

No matter grade level you teach, odds are you are following the same or at least very similar content standards with thousands of teachers all over the world.   Yes, quite possibly the reading skills a third grade teacher is covering in Kansas will be similar to a Year 3 teacher in Australia or South Africa.  Now imagine having the opportunity to pull resources from those thousands to use in your classroom.  With the development of online PLN’s it’s happening right now.  You just need to know where to find them or start your own group.  I simply love the idea of Ancient Civilization teachers, Kindergarten Teachers, Reading Specialists, Auto Shop Teachers, Psychology Teachers, or Autism Teachers being able to build networks to strengthen every child.  Imagine it as a worldwide teacher workroom with teachers of similar content areas sharing, discussing, and building projects together.

Where do you find these, you may ask?  They are popping up in many places, and although they were simply great ideas at first, they are quickly becoming the center for real time professional development.  Twitter, PBS Teachers Connect, Apple Learning Exchange, Plurk, Diigo, Classroom 2.0, Delicious, and the Discovery Educator Network (DEN) are just a few that many educators explore, but more are on the way.  There are even groups for Promethean and SMARTboard users that are excellent.  All I can tell you is I LOVE MY PLN!  I twitter, plurk, and diigo on a regular basis. 

• A Television Show Targeted for Teachers

What do all of these have in common: chefs, hair dressers, small business owners, designers, police officers, deep sea fishermen, mechanics, and real estate agents?  Yes, they all have their own television show where they can have some entertainment, but also learn how to improve the way they work.  Unfortunately, there is not one for us, which I find rather amusing as there are how many teachers on the planet?

Here’s my pitch.  The show would be two fold – one half covering teacher virtual field trips to areas that are content based (ancient ruins, museums, zoos, science testing labs, national parks, or significant historical locations) and the other half featuring tips to teachers, pre-service teachers, and possibly home school parents on the latest innovations in education.  As more and more districts are cutting back on professional development and students field trips, this would be a tremendous resource for all of us, especially if the hosts were passionate educators and not actors.

Bill Nye was an early pioneer to do something similar, but his target audience was ages 9-14.  I loved the energy of his show and am thrilled to see many of his episodes recently added to Discovery Education Streaming.  Why not expand on that energy and really offer something fun and educational for teachers?

Any volunteers to host this with me?  J

• One Day a School Year Set Aside for Community Service with a Twist

Your school may already be doing wonderful community service projects.  Perhaps the school has a holiday food drive, donates time to clean up trash, or visits a retirement community for book buddies, but my idea would be bigger than that.  First the students would conduct surveys with local charities and social service centers to determine what areas of need are the most critical.  For example, a children’s youth facility needs suitcases for foster children, a food center needs cleaning supplies, an organization would benefit from receiving framed teen artwork for its lobby, or a retirement home needs a small garden started for their residents to maintain.  Quite possibly, your school could be involved with multiple projects that day if every student were participating.  That’s making a difference, my friends.

The students would partner with these organizations to determine what is needed, organize the event, and publish accounts of the work on the school webpage.  Can you already imagine the standards that you would be covering and, best of all, the students would be personally attached to the learning, especially if the students were put on committees based on their interests or talents. 

Many of the grants available for teachers and schools are related to community activism.  Be sure to check out Grant Wrangler to see what grants are currently available.

• Technology Training Would Be Based on Classroom Projects

Through no fault of anyone, technology training has been completely skills based from the onset of computers in the classroom.  We all had new equipment and someone had to figure out how to train the teachers to use it.  We have all gathered in the computer lab, learned how to insert tables in Microsoft Office or how to make animated text fly in with the oh so familiar “whoosh”, given the basics of our interactive whiteboard software, or even how to do something really cool like play with audio software for podcasting .  Everyone did the ooh’s and ah’s and then we all go back with the intent of using these tools at some point, but not sure when.  Plus, I’ll dare to say we all truly learned how to do PowerPoint when we created a family reunion or anniversary slideshow, and we definitely became knowledgeable in Word when we were taking university courses.

On the flip side why not make tech training based on what works for the unit you are teaching, since we all honestly learn when personal interest is involved.  If your students are studying Ancient Rome, this would be a prime opportunity in discovering how the Ancient Rome layer in Google Earth works.  If your health students are researching teen health issues and would like to create a PSA podcast, then investigate how Gcast service allows students to podcast with cell phones.  Perhaps your primary students are creating their own illustrated story and you would like to record the students reading aloud.  No worries.  Explore the benefits of Voicethread in the classroom.  Your government students are to debate current economical conditions, uncover how the Intel Showing Evidence Tool visually prepares students to gather research and form an argument.  In any project scenario both you and your students will receive technology professional development in real time, and the experience will be richer.

Now, I know the argument is coming where one says, “MrsSmoke, how will we ever know about what tech tools are available in the first place?”  My response is,”Reread to number two and all will be well.”

I hope my 5 things brought some enthusiasm, resources, and thought provoking ideas to alter education.  I do believe just as every student can learn every teacher can be nerdy and excited about teaching (including those who have lost the spark).  Teaching is fun.  I still get a kick out of it even if I’m teaching teachers.  Return to that feeling I described at the beginning of the post.  Hold onto it and get those wheels turning for you and your students.   Oh, and I’m totally serious about the television hosting thing. J