by David Andrade, http://tinyurl.com/edtechguyMonday, Teach Paperless had a blog post asking readers to finish the statement, "If I were an administrator, I would...". I replied with "encourage teacher collaboration, support teachers in every way possible, encourage projects and team work, visit classrooms and talk to students, work WITH the faculty, parents and students to make the school the best it could be."I wanted to expand on this idea and list what I would do if I were in charge of curriculum or educational technology for my district.1. Implement Project Based Learning throughout the curriculum and in every grade. I would also want it to be interdisciplinary. 2. Change the curriculum to be more in depth, and less breadth of topics (complaint of colleges). I would still have to make sure students are prepped for standardized testing (unfortunately), but I would look at better ways of having students learn and be able to do well on a test without resorting to teaching to the test.3. Make sure the curriculum applies what students are learning to the real world. They won't remember a lot of facts and details, but if things apply to real life, it can make them better consumers and better citizens (by being knowledgeable). 4. The curriculum should emphasize discovery, inquiry, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving, not remembering tons of facts. 5. Ala Carte Professional Development for teachers - let them pick and decide what they need and want for training and support them throughout the year. 6. Research, find, implement, and support new technologies that can improve teaching and learning. Find free (or cheaper) resources to replace paid or more expensive resources. (Ex. Google Apps for Education and Open Office instead of Microsoft).7. Provide year-round support to teachers who are using and implementing technology resources. Make sure that they have both technical support and integration support. Ask teachers what they need or want for resources and help them find it. This is my short list of what I would want to do as an administrator. What would you do if you were in charge of curriculum or educational technology for your district? (and if you are in charge, what you do?)

by John T. SpencerI have a kindergarten memory that I carry around with me, reminding me why students sometimes wander - both physically and philosophically. Station time begins and I'm lost in the chaos and the movement and the sense that everybody but me knows where to go. It's not that I wasn't listening. It's that I didn't find the directions important. I listened when she read the story. I paid close attention to the explanation of patterns. I thought I listened when she gave directions, but then, I don't know, they slipped away somehow. I wander toward the window and stare at the hallway."What are you doing right now?" the teacher gently asks."I'm looking out the window," I tell her without the slightest bit of eye contact."What are you looking at?" she asks."I'm looking at the orange-haired boy . . .""Red-haired?" she asks."Nuh huh, it's orange. Take a look," I point."Why are you looking at him?" she asks."Because he has no idea what's going to happen to him. Soon he'll be in kindgergarten and then it's going to be forever when he finishes school and then right when he finishes it, he's going to have to go to college. Then some day he'll sit down at a desk and won't be allowed to leave that either.  It's like it never stops," I say."I thought you liked this class," she says with a pained expression on her face."I do. School is fun. But I wish I could run out there and tell him to enjoy the freedom. I'd tell him to get out of the stroller and run around, because pretty soon he'll be told where to sit. I would tell him to play while he has the chance," I say.It's not as if I love learning and hate school. It's just that I recognize, in this moment, that school is a broken gift.I sigh, turn around and find my way to my station with the low group. We're not supposed to know that we're the low group. After all, we're the tigers. But if we are the tigers, we're either defanged or in a zoo, yearning for a chance to be wild.John T. Spencer is a teacher in Phoenix, AZ who blogs at johntspencer.com.  He recently finished two books, Pencil Me In, an allegory for educational technology and Drawn Into Danger, a fictional memoir of a superhero (that you can download on Kindle for $1.00.  Seriously, a buck. That can't even buy you a decent cup of coffee)

Today's question of the day:What is the best professional development experience you have ever had as an educator? Why?This could have been something f2f, something online, a mixture of the two, something handed to you by admins, something that came from the ground up, faculty-driven, student-driven, driven by a desire to have a mad good lunch buffet...Let' share; comment away!

Question of the Day:While filtering software might be a necessary CYA for many schools, in reality how does the spread of http://www.internetfreedom.org/UltraSurf and other ubiquitous and undetectable anti-filter and anti-censorship tools change the way school leaders need to think about blocking and monitoring access? And how do such tools fundamentally alter the kind of conversation we need to have about access?

by Steven W. AndersonIf you have read any of my leadership posts in the past you know I am all about reflection. One of the most important things good leaders do is reflect. Time must be taken to think about the direction our organizations are going and if any adjustments, at any level, need to be made. Many leaders, schools and districts have done a great job with reflection. They have looked at everything from the way kids get to school to what is done with them while they are there to teachers and the types of professional development offerings. But...There is one place that maybe we don’t think about much. Or it might be an afterthought. Or in some cases ignored all together.ParentsI will admit, when I was in a leadership position (School Improvement Team Chair) when I was at the school level I didn’t think about it. Our group worried about test scores, staff morale, bullying and other topics. But, like any leader should do I have since reflected on that time I spent in that position and realized we missed chance to really think about parents and what their perceptions of our building were.Parents should be advocates on our side. But sometimes they are seen as the enemy rather than our ally. There are lots of terms out there. Absent parents. Helicopter Parents. Parents We Love To Hate. But they are still parents. We still want to believe they have the best interests of their child in mind, just like we should. And it isn’t just schools. Individual classrooms are that way as well. When I was in the classroom I had a teammate that refused to call parents, sit in on conferences, just about have nothing to do with them. She said her job was to teach kids and didn’t get paid enough to "deal" with parents. The whole point of this is we have to think differently about our parents. The best ally you can have in your classroom is your parents. Think about it. When you want to do something "outside the box" it is easy for your admin to shoot you down. It’s a lot tougher for them to shoot down a room of 30 parents. (Now don’t go doing anything against your admins wishes and said it was ok because I told you so. I will deny everything.)There is a cliche about flies and honey and vinegar that fits in here... One of the issues with parents and schools that comes up time and time again is that many parents are bitter towards schools because of their own experiences growing up. In the current reform movement the battle cry is that our schools have virtually remained the same for the past 100 years. So this argument makes sense. I was talking to a teacher the other day about another teacher at his school. He was saying there is a teacher there that has been there for 34 years. Quite amazing and something to be proud of. Except every year the admin in this school has trouble putting kids in her class because many of the parents had her as students and remembered their experiences and don’t want their child to have the same. I dunno about you but I don’t think I would want to be remembered that way. There are a lot of issues at play here with parents. But I think there are some things schools can do to be more parent friendly. And this isn’t even a list of things you can necessarily do. Just some things to think about.Look at your building from your parents point of view. When they get there do they know where to go? Who greets them? It all comes back to customer service. Silly I know but it’s true. Even if your school secretary (or teacher) has had a bad day, the parent walking through that door doesn’t know that or the circumstances around that. Each parent that walks through those doors is a guest. We have to remember that. When was the last time we asked parents what they really though about the classroom, teacher, school or district? If we want to be better we have to understand our weaknesses. By asking the parents what we are good at and what we could be better at we can begin to change our school culture, for the better and perhaps change minds. How many parents are involved in major school decisions? Sure there might be a PTSA. But I mean on your School Improvement Team or Leadership Team. Do they have membership there. In NC we are required to have a parent involved on our teams. Perspective is important. And they can sometimes see things we don’t when it comes to our buildings. What do you think? What works well in your building or your classroom when it comes to parents? What could you be doing better? Leave some comments below. You may also want to checkout the archive from this week’s #edchat. It was all about parents and there were some really great things said and ideas toss around. Image CC DoctorStrange

by Mike Kaechele We had some interesting pushback in the comments of my last post about creating a culture of responsibility in schools. As I read and responded to comments I realized that some people were interpreting my post as one change to make to a traditional school setting. But what I observed at the school was a re-interpretation of how to do school.  So I thought I would share the values of a New Tech school by comparing it to a traditional school. Changing only one of these things in a school will not have the same effect as all of them working together.Click here for enlarged viewWhat would you add or subtract to these values? Does seeing all of these things clarify how this school creates a culture of responsibility? Leave a comment and I will share what I think is understated in my next post.

by Shelly Blake-PlockNothing provides a better forum for learning to understand what the new media is all about than the discussion tabs on Wikipedia articles related to current events. Here's a starting point, for example:Hello students, today's topic is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Osama_bin_LadenObjective: Students will be able to demonstrate digital media literacy by analyzing and explaining the discussion that has surrounded the decision-making process in the editing of the Wikipedia article on Osama Bin Laden in the wake of his death.I'd like to know what you all could/would do with this sort of thing. I'd love to see a wiki resource developed to help teachers use the Wikipedia discussion tabs in planning and facilitating lessons designed to help students learn new media and develop their digital literacy.Anyone interested in a project?

by Shelly Blake-PlockMy Latin III students and I sat around this afternoon chatting about what to do with the last month of their high school Latin career. They decided they wanted to write and publish a book about their favorite Roman poet -- Catullus.And they don't want to fake it.By the end of a 45 minute session, they had chosen two editors-in-chief, worked out assignments ranging from writing and translating to public domain picture vetting. Two students took the lead figuring out how to publish an eBook that would be available on Amazon; by the end of class, they had figured out how to get an ISBN number and were talking about how to distribute any money from sales to charity.They set up a Google Group for organizing, and a Tumblr and Twitter account to promote their work and to connect with folks interested in what they are doing. As I understand it, they want to set up a video streaming channel to talk to other Latin students; and they are looking at different ways of putting a book together.Finally, they are going through all of the translation and critical analysis they've done all year and they are editing it all into something that can stand on its own.This is authentic assessment. It's assessment directly integrated into the process of "the making of the learning". It's assessment that will likely live on in Amazon comment boards and archived chats long after I've done the work of giving grades. And it makes something as potentially arcane as ancient poetry into something with which the students can work and make new things.They'd love it if you followed their progress at @CatullusDivided and soon on the YouTube channel where they will be documenting their experience.

by Shelly Blake-Plock Yes or No:It is the duty of the teacher who believes in networked learning to, if necessary, hack and proxy and to encourage hacking and proxying for the purpose of getting students into a place where they can connect freely online despite whatever institutional filters and blocks might be in place in the school, district, etc...

Dear readers,If you could take a moment to fill out the following short survey, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!- ShellyClick here to take survey