Braaaiiins or The Zombie Metaphor

Img Credit: http://colecciondegifs.blogspot.com.es/2016/08/imagenes-de-plants-vs-zombies.html

I searched my blog posts today for keyword "zombies", and to my horror, no results were found.

How could I have never written about zombies?! So here it is - the zombie post.

But first: How do I approach writing the educational equivalent of zombies? Well, how do we define zombies? Usually traveling slowly (You hear me, World War Z? Slowly!) in hordes, zombies are the undead walking the earth with a singular hunger for human flesh. Usually, we associate their hunger with brains. Generally, we believe them to be slow moving, never changing, and unwilling to listen to reason when it comes to the previously mentioned hunger for human flesh.

There's a metaphor in here somewhere.

Option 1:
Zombies are like those teachers of old, who think that rows are where the learnin' is. They like paper worksheets, and they know the information, so they firmly believe they are the best ones to sling that knowledge to the students!

Option 2:
The zombies are the children! They come to us each day, exhausted from the endless barrage of things that barrage children - play dates, sports, enrichment classes (if they're lucky), or neglect, empty bellies, and poor sleep patterns (if they're not). They can barely hold a pencil or an eyelid open in their exhaustion. Don't get me started on the coast-to-coast televising of every sporting event in the country. East coast teens are not going to bed until the last whistle blows in Portland at the Trailblazer game on a Tuesday night. How are we to prevent this horde-building energy drain? It's basically the origin story for zombies in general.

Option 3:
The zombies are the early adopters. They have heard of a cool new thing that's going to change the way learning is done! They go after it immediately, put in their class right away, and chastise you for not doing the same. And get ready - there's a cool new way to teach without any books and without talking to your classes and without desks and without paper and without a school and without students and all you need is an Chromebook and the right suite of apps and the ability to write your own lines of code and you're good to go, and these early adopter zombies shout about how amazing it is and how much better it will be when we don't recognize a school anymore but then that's all they'll say, and it's like you can hear them hording up and saying, "Braaaaiiiiinnnnssss. Braaaaaiiiins."

So I think all these metaphors are apt. I like the notion of zombies. I like to think that zombies are simply the most robotic parts of ourselves and that part is in there somewhere in us and sometimes we are all capable of just going on autopilot. Sometimes we're the zombies because we know what to do, we know how to do it, and it just falls on us to execute a simple task that requires no new, critical thinking. But if we're going to really evaluate this metaphor, we need to be willing to have hard conversations with where and when we go on autopilot. Be honest with yourself. Are you just out there trying to get brains? Fill brains? Make brains grow? Or are you willing to legitimately challenge yours?

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Thoughts, come share at #totallyrossome, which can be found on Tuesday evenings at 9:00 PM Eastern.

10 Things You Should Be Doing with Forms

img credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/31333486@N00/1977134004

Forms is one of the most versatile tools in the Google Apps For Education tool kit. With this one tool, districts are able to impact the efficiency with which they communicate with the community, present material to students, assess the efficacy of instruction, and streamline the library of paper forms that districts need to have filled out by all stakeholders. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I look forward to hearing from you as to how you're using Forms to make your school run better.

The following examples are aligned to the presentation I'll be giving at TeachMeetNJ on August 11, 2016.

Forms for Paperwork

Forms for Formative Assessment

Forms for Voting

Forms for Surveys

Forms for Business Office

Forms for Benchmarks

Forms for PD Feedback

Forms for Homework

Forms for Quizzes

Forms for Walkthroughs

Play or: How I Learn Best (a Revisit)

(This was originally posted on 11/16/2015 as a part of a #slowchated. With schools around the country reporting back, it bears repeating. The closing paragraph has been amended. Best of luck to all you for successful, fun 2016-2017 school year. -RL)

(img credit: https://pixabay.com/en/playground-children-kids-game-417615/)

"Here you go. Make it work."

Those were the instructions I gave to the algebra students when I showed them the 3d printer our school recently acquired. I hadn't opened it. I didn't want to do anything with it until I knew what it would mean to the instructional lives of our students. There's no point in having something for the students unless there's a plan for how the tool will build on their experiences.

So that became the plan. I gave the unopened box with a laptop to a small group of students, who - through a glitch in scheduling (read: a mistake I made) - have an empty period in their day. They unpacked, explored, Googled, watched videos, made mistakes, aligned pieces, and printed a little heart pendant. The looks of satisfaction on their faces were priceless, and it was a result of their freedom to play with a goal.

Play is not about a lack of direction. It's about sampling, poking, prodding, and finding ways to fail and ways to succeed within parameters. Games are designed with ends in mind. So is learning that utilizes play. Assessments are done along the way. You understand how much a participant is capable of grasping of the play while observing them in it. When one skill is mastered, it generally opens the door to more sophisticated opportunities.

We've spent so much time trying to figure out as adults how much our students have actually learned that we have strayed away from what it means to be a child. They play, they touch, they learn, they grow, and then it repeats. It happens a little at a time, and it happens all at once, and it sometimes it takes a while for it to happen at all. Let them play, and don't be afraid to play a little for yourself. You're going to be shocked at your own growth.

Pokemon GO or How Toys Can Be Toys and That's Okay

Img Credit: http://www.wsj.com/articles/pokemon-go-why-you-should-play-1468430960

(see Doug Robertson’s post on this topic here!)

There are times in our world that we are lucky enough to have titans unite for events of unprecedented awesomeness. Batman v Superman (well, maybe awesomeness is too strong a word). Cookie dough and fudge brownie fro yo (Half Baked by Ben and Jerry’s). Laverne AND Shirley!

And now this: #weirded - father of the irreverent, topical, challenging, fun educational twitter chats is teaming up with #totallyrossome - derivative, irreverent, seeker-of-balance, pop-culture-infused educational chat to bring you a special two-night event.

It’s just like when Horatio got to come to New York and see Gary Sinise whenever CSI Miami needed a ratings boost from CSI New York. (So you’re aware - a typo whilst writing this gave me an idea for a hip TV show about challenging work with students featuring Child Study Teams from different geographic locales!)

But I digress - Doug and I want to know about toys and play. Specifically, we’ve been discussing the move to make Pokemon GO an educational tool. The one idea that we keep coming back to is -

WHY CAN’T A TOY JUST BE A TOY?!

I look through the apps on my phone, and I have some great stuff for my edtech side. I have some great organizing tools, and I have SimCity Build It, Clash of Clans, and Words With Friends. They’re not work. I can argue that they have value in terms of city planning, resource allocation practices, and developing my near-thesaurus-like mind further, but I know the truth. They’re my games. My distractions from the work.

Students need that. They need something that’s not for us. They need something that we’re not attaching standards to and trying to jam into place so that we can write a new blog post or a book or do an edcamp session on. They need the ability to just be a kid with their new toy. And so do we.

So that’s what we’re talking about this week. Both chats will feature different questions with the same overarching theme. Come to both and receive your limited edition #weirdlyawesome commemorative pin! (Due to lack of supply - pins may not be available at time of chat. Or in reality.)

• #totallyrossome is Tuesday nights at 9 PM EDT/6 PM for our friends on the west coast.
• #weirded is Wednesday nights at 10 PM EDT/7 PM PST.

Going to Extremes

Why iron a shirt when you can engage in Extreme Ironing!
 (img credit: http://www.oddee.com/item_97001.aspx)

Roller-skating? Too lame.
Take those wheels off and put them single file? EXTREME!

Wooden planks attached to each foot? Sure - if you're cross country skiing.
Put both feet on a single board and surf down the mountain? EXTREME!

Jumping out of a plane? Passe.
Jump off a building barely tall enough for a parachute to be effective? EXTREME!

It occurs to me that extremists and fanatics are dangerous. When one adheres to one side of a spectrum only, they risk entering a world of fanaticism. It's not unlike current attitudes in education.

Educators are often asked to do more. To be more. If they use older strategies, they are labeled dinosaurs who have opted to not keep up. Worse, they are treated as though they want to harm their students. This is a disservice to all involved. It wrongfully vilifies swaths of teachers who are working hard to ensure their students understand basic principles. It wrongfully - nay, dangerously - elevates teachers who now feel as though their decision to "go paperless" or "no homework ever" or "worksheets are the devil" has given them some sort of pedagogical superiority over the plebeians in their midst.

It hasn't. For the most part, there's not tremendous difference between the teacher who knows how to utilize the tools she's always used combined with developing relationships and the teacher who is trying a newer strategy with not much proven success combined with developing relationships. The outliers are - on one end - the ones who have a real knack for understanding exactly how much new their students and community are capable of dealing with, and - on the other end - the ones who can't see that their students are craving more but continue to put demeaning work full of low expectations in front of them.

Please stop putting the EXTREME up on this pedestal. There's never been a time when 100% of anything is the best way to go. Balance in your work and personal life is a goal to feeling well-rounded and happy. Balance between the use of old and new techniques can allow your students to experience varied things, which will, in turn, create more well-rounded, capable adults.

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Stop by #totallyrossome on Twitter for our weekly chat, Tuesdays at 9:00 Eastern.

Stuck on You: An Ode to the Gym Wall

I learned a few things today, and I have some numbers to support my learning.

3, 150, 18, 3000, 5, 280, 60, 10.

• It takes a committed community 3 days to hit 3000 dollars in sales at a buy-one-get-one book fair.
• This committed community cleared their never-before-hit, projected sales goal by approximately 10%.
• It takes 150 students approximately 60 minutes to cover their principal in duct tape.
• 5 pounds of duct tape is enough to suspend a 280 pound superintendent 18 inches above the gym floor.

Our students, our staff, and our community came together this morning to do something that wasn't in our curricula. We won't be able to report the day in our test scores. The grade books won't be updated by the day's events. Truth be told, I couldn't be more thrilled about the way the day went.

If you're an educator, your students need to know you're capable of being silly, goofy, and human. Sometimes, it's good to let your hair down. (Yes, even the bald superintendent knows this.) 

It's Okay To Be Not Happy

The many moods of the author.

This isn't going to be my most popular blog post. It occurs to me that connected educators - those educators who reflect on their work through blogging and engage in upbeat edchats on Twitter and sharing all their students' activities on Instagram - are relentlessly cheery. Like to the point that it's possible their not being real with themselves.

I've decided that I'm not going to single out any one super cheery individual - they know who they are, and for whatever the reason, they've determined they're not letting their bad mood out to breathe. If you're not sure who I'm talking about, just find anyone who talks about motivation, inspiration, making a difference, or being a superhero teacher (another chat covered this recently).

It's not that there's something wrong with a positive outlook, but let's face it. There are days that are hard. There are days that we don't want to get out of bed, and there are Sundays that seem to move way too quickly. The pay is small, and the demands are many. The gratitude comes intermittently. Fellow teachers throw each other under the bus, are resistant to change, seem unwilling to grow. There's any number of reasons to be in a bad mood, and each is valid.

I guess what I'm really saying is it's okay to be in a bad mood. No, you shouldn't let yourself get bogged down with bad moods. But you don't have to be unbearably chipper at all times. That's lying. And you're better than that.

The Dissolution of Resolutions

What do you do when The Great Egg White Experiment doesn't pan out? Add BACON!

In honor of the official end of resolution season! That’s right! If you made your resolutions for the new year, January 17 is the date that the majority of those resolutions fall apart. So long, gym trips! Adios, grading those papers early! Sayonara, early bed time!

You know the spiel up to this point in the year. It’s the new year! Make your new year’s resolutions! Gonna be a great year to change it up! New year, new you! Pick one word that exemplifies what you’re gonna be about for the whole year! Stop sucking so much at being you and be a better version of you!

Bleh. Okay, maybe that last one isn’t so much a sales point as the others, but let’s just talk about what works. After all - that’s what we do, right? We keep doing what works. So, what’s good and what you do now that you did last year and the year before? How much of what you do is actually new? How do you bring in small amounts of new to the old to make it feel just different enough not to lose your mind?

I try to keep the following things in mind as I move forward, and I don’t feel like I’m reinventing anything. I actually feel like I’m reflecting and adapting.

Identify your successes:
Chances are you’re doing something well. You’re fostering relationships, building rapport, You have great methods for imparting knowledge. You know your content forward and back. Find the things you do well. They’re the things that you’re going to take with you forever. Hold on to them. They’ll help you grow.

Find 1 or 2 new things to attach to things you know:
You’re clearly connected. Now it’s time to harness that connection. Find someone who is doing what you do differently. Talk to them. Pick their brain. What are they doing differently? How is it working for them? Can you use what they do? Can they use what you do?

NEVER teach a new tool with new material:
When you find a new tool you want to teach your students, you cannot teach it at the same time you’re teaching new material. It doesn’t matter the age. If they don’t understand how to use the tool, you’re not going to know if they understand the material, and the assessment value will be lost. Teach them the tool. Let them fail with it a bit. Then let them use the tool to show you they understand how to leverage it to demonstrate their content knowledge.

Thinking strategically about how you approach your early [or even late] adoption will allow you to keep your changes sustainable.