Adventures in Web 2.0: Integrating Social Networking into My Teaching
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The Summer 2009 issue of Horace discusses the integration of technology in essential schools, emphasizing how digital tools enhance student learning and engagement. It features various educators' experiences with web 2.0 technology in classrooms and outlines the Coalition of Essential Schools' commitment to personalized, equitable education. The issue also highlights the importance of community connections and the use of social networking to facilitate collaborative learning among students.
![Adventures in Web 2.0 7
Acceptable Use Policy for the ISA Internship Ning Ning creates the conditions for students to be self-
directed and responsive to the community’s needs. In
The purpose of this site is for students to communicate with
one another, and with their teachers and mentors, about addition, the Internship Ning is a teaching context
questions and ideas related to their internship experiences in which I can be the kind of educator I believe 21st
and/or career interests. We, the members of the ISA Intern- century students need—a facilitator, collaborator, and
ship Ning community, agree to hold ourselves and each co-learner.
other accountable to the following terms of use: Two weeks after launching the Internship Ning, I
• We will use the site in a safe, legal, and responsible manner. engaged students in a couple of lessons to help them
• We will demonstrate digital citizenship through high stan- understand my rationale and goals for implementing
dards of personal responsibility and ethical behavior. this social networking site. I wanted them to realize
• We will use this site in an academically and professionally how, as Will Richardson writes, “the read/write web
appropriate way. changes everything” (http://willrichardson.wikispaces.
com/page/diff/home/74757129), so that they would
Based on input from the ISA class of 2009, appropriate use
understand why we were doing this and the ways their
has been defined as follows:
participation on the Internship Ning fits into the bigger
In General: picture of what’s happening on the Web. We discussed
• Keep it professional; save the rest for MySpace, etc. the Did You Know? 2.0 video and touched on some
• Use your own good judgment; when in doubt, don’t do it. of the big concepts—exponential change, technologi-
Language: cal innovation, globalization, and mass collaboration
• No profanity, no sexually explicit language, no bashing. (see Resources for Further Reading). I had students
• Should adhere to proper English conventions; no slang. read selected articles from T.H.E. Journal (http://www.
• Should be understandable to all members of the site. thejournal.com/) and Edutopia (http://www.edutopia.
Images: org/) that addressed the benefits and challenges of
• No sexual, violent, or otherwise offensive images. students blogging. We also engaged in a debate around
• Should be used in accordance with copyright laws. the question of about whether or not “social network-
Profile Pages: ing technologies will bring large [positive] changes
• Include your full name and/or photo of yourself only with to educational methods, in and out of the classroom”
parental/guardian permission. using the debate at Economist.com (http://www.econo-
• Customize the appearance of your profile page using the mist.com/debate/overview/123) as a model. We exam-
Ning menu only; no uploaded backgrounds. ined the 21st century standards, especially account-
• If you’re not using a personal photo, other options include: ability, social responsibility, and digital citizenship, and
an avatar or animated version of your own image, a Wordle
discussed how the Internship Ning would be a place
(http://www.wordle.com) creation (using appropriate
to practice those skills. Finally, we co-constructed an
language, of course), a symbol or image related to your
internship or career interests, or an image that represents Acceptable Use Policy for our site.
you in a positive manner. Giving students ownership in the process of defining
Groups: the expectations for the Internship Ning was a critical
• If you create a group, keep it open to all, not restricted. step in helping them grow as digital citizens. Similar to
• Don’t ban anyone from your group. the process of creating norms for classroom behavior,
• Groups should be internship related or deal with other I trusted that the wisdom of the group would generate
topics relevant to the purpose of this space. a sensible policy. And, even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t
Blogs and Discussions: have presented the students with a comprehensive list
• Blogs should be posted to everyone. of do’s and don’ts before allowing them to use the
• Blogs should be related to internship or career interests. Internship Ning. Until everyone started using the site,
• Posts can include school-related questions, but keep it I didn’t exactly know what kinds of questions or issues
constructive. would arise. And since many students are more adept
Important Notes: with these tools than I am, they discovered features
• All hyperlinked sites, images, and uploaded files should and functions I hadn’t been aware of before. Together,
adhere to the guidelines listed above. we were able to address the questions of what it would
• No third-party widgets or rss feeds per district guidelines. mean for a social networking site to be academic and
• Guidelines will be updated as needed; members’ input is professional rather than purely social.
welcome.
Accountability: Challenge #3: Creating Momentum While Keeping it
• Help remind one another to use the site in a positive and Authentic and Student-Centered
productive way so we can continue to have this privilege. Over the next ten weeks, there was very little activity
• Report any misuse of the site to Ms. Moorman immediately. on the Internship Ning. Those weeks included winter
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![8 Adventures in Web 2.0
break, first semester final exams, and a class trip to help bridge the gulf between students’ out-of-school
Washington, D.C. Nevertheless, I was worried that and in-school literacies.
students somehow weren’t buying in to the idea that However, the similarities between the features and
blogging was a worthwhile, much less a “cool” thing functions of Facebook and the Internship Ning have
to do. In response, I presented a mini-lesson on the proven to be both an advantage and an added compli-
role of blogging in our global society and in our indi- cation. One tension between the two sites came as a
vidual lives. surprise to me. When I asked Mario why he thought
We started with “Blogs in Plain English,” (http:// some of the other students weren’t participating
www.commoncraft.com/blogs) a video introduction on the Internship Ning as much as he was, he said,
to blogs, “how they work and why they matter.” “It takes dedication to get on the Internship Ning
Then we talked about the role of blogging in our lives rather than Facebook or MySpace.” He pointed out
and in the lives of people we know. We also discussed that when students sit down at the computer, they
the phenomenon of citizen journalism and the role are tempted to just spend their time on the Internet
it played in the recent presidential election process. socializing, and he said that it was his passion and
Trying to emphasize how ubiquitous blogging has dedication to his internship that made him want to
become, I pointed out how it is integrated into many blog about it so frequently. I had been thinking so
of the tools students use every day, such as Microsoft much about taking advantage of students’ familiarity
Word and Google. I even reminded them that Time with Facebook, that I hadn’t even considered the idea
magazine had declared “You” as Person of the Year that my Internship site would somehow be competing
in 2006. Whether or not it was a result of my lesson, with Facebook for their attention. But of course this
students generated 25 blog posts for February, 13 for makes sense given the “attention economy” we now
March, and 38 for April. One of the most prolific live in.
bloggers since the beginning has been Mario—he’s Another layer of complexity was the fact that many
written 19 blog posts, started five discussions, and students needed help making a distinction between the
contributed to six others. When I asked Mario why kinds of writing typically done on Facebook and the
he liked writing on the Internship Ning so much, he kind of writing that was appropriate on the Internship
said, “Writing an essay just feels like something you’re Ning. Nick, a student who participates in a number
doing for a grade, but writing a blog post feels like a of online communities committed to serious intel-
normal conversation . . . it’s almost like Facebook or lectual discussions, commented “A lot of people’s
MySpace, but it’s school-oriented.” online experiences have been Facebook, so they see
Mario’s comment highlights a key strength of the the Internet as a social tool to mess around on and not
using social networking for education—the connec- much else . . . they don’t see the actual potential of
tion between in-school and out-of-school literacies. the Internet . . . [but] the whole point of the Internet
One of my reasons for implementing the Internship is interconnectivity.” Nick also said, “So many people
Ning was based on the fact that so many students are condemn social networking sites as not being produc-
using Facebook. According to the National School tive that they don’t see that they can be a stepping
Boards Association’s “Creating and Connecting: stone into something more productive . . . that [social
Research and Guidelines on Online Social—and networking sites] have become part of the professional
Educational—Networking,” 71 percent of students sphere . . . [and that] these tool sets and skill sets are
with online access use social networking tools on a important.”
weekly basis, and informal polling of the ISA senior
class indicated about the same proportion. I wanted Future Story: Where Do We Go From Here?
to build on this out-of-school literacy and create an We’re 20 weeks into the Internship Ning experiment,
opportunity for students to engage in professional and it’s already time to introduce the site to the juniors
web-based writing using a site that would seem famil- who will begin their career-explorations this summer.
iar to them and one which they could learn to use From now on, all students will be expected to blog and
more or less intuitively. make additional contributions to the site regularly. And
According to the National Council of Teachers of my hope is that with full participation, the student-
English’s “Writing in the 21st Century,” teachers need to-student interactions will become even richer and
to recognize “that out-of-school literacy practices are more meaningful. The Internship Ning is a platform
as critical to students’ development as what occurs that not only creates a student-centered environment
in the classroom and take advantage of this to better where students are engaged in meaning-making and
connect classroom work to real-world situations that writing about self-selected topics that are relevant and
students will encounter across a lifetime.” I whole- interesting to them. It also provides an authentic audi-
heartedly agree, and my vision for the Internship ence for students, and Faith said as a result, blogging
Ning was that it would be one such space that would on the Internship Ning has improved her writing. She](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/adventuresinweb2-0summer09-111211090512-phpapp02/85/Adventures-in-Web-2-0-Integrating-Social-Networking-into-My-Teaching-10-320.jpg)
![Adventures in Web 2.0 9
explained, “it helped me practice better writing—writ- all of us—students, teachers, and mentors alike—as
ing that I would want a lot of people to read, because co-learners in a virtual community.
I’m proofreading more carefully and using language As Nick so eloquently said, “the only way you can
that I don’t use every day.” really teach someone something is to get them to
Next year, students’ mentors will be invited to experience it,” and through the Internship Ning, all
become members of the Internship Ning. This will students at The International School of the Americas
enable the site to truly become a virtual representa- are experiencing the power of writing in the 21st
tion of the professional network we participate in century, the power of networking, the power of
through the Internship Program. The students seem to participating.
think having mentors participate on the site is a pretty
good idea as well. Jordan said she thought “having the Honor Moorman graduated from the R. L. Paschal Essential
mentors on the Ning with us would force people to School in Fort Worth, Texas, one of the first twelve CES
really look at their internships and think about what schools in the country. She is a National Board Certified
they’re learning from them . . . and getting comments Teacher, a teacher consultant with the San Antonio Writing
from other people would make it more constructive.” Project, a reviewer for ReadWriteThink.org, and the associ-
ate editor for the National Council of Teachers of English’s
I’ll be very interested to see what happens when we
Voices from the Middle. Her previous publications have
have mentors participating on the Internship Ning. been featured in English Journal, English in Texas, and The
My hunch is that it will help students become more ALAN Review. Moorman wishes to thank her students
keenly aware of the site as a public, professional space Mario, Faith, Jordan, and Nick for their thoughtful contri-
rather than a private, personal one. Faith seems to butions to this article as well as her colleagues Julia de
agree, saying, “the fact that professionals can read la Torre for her illuminating feedback on the first draft
our work [will help differentiate it from a Facebook- and Pamela Valentine for her skillful use of the camera.
type environment] . . . that’s definitely not how it is Moorman can be reached at hmoorm@neisd.net.
in my world of Facebook, I mean, teachers are on
Facebook, but they don’t comment professionally References
on our writing.” Although we can’t open the site to
Bianchini, G. (2007, April 11). The story behind the Ning
the World Wide Web at large for safety and security
name. Message posted to http://blog.ning.com/2007/04/
reasons, having more invited members on the site—
the_story_behind_the_ning_name.html
both peers and adult professionals—will increase the
learning opportunities students gain by participating Economist.com. (2008, January 15-27). Social networking.
on the Internship Ning. Students will have a broader Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/debate/over-
audience reading and responding to their posts, which view/123
will maximize the dynamic, generative potential of Hargadon. S. (2007-2009). Classroom 2.0. Retrieved from
the network. As Nick articulated in our conversation http://www.classroom20.com/
about online communities, “when it gets really inter- International Society for Technology in Education. (2007).
esting is when you talk with people who[m] you’ve NETS for Students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/
never met and who have ideas you’ve never thought Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/NETS_for_
about before.” Students.htm
In “Writing in the 21st Century,” Kathleen Blake International Society for Technology in Education. (2008).
Yancey argues that “With digital technology and, NETS for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/
especially Web 2.0, it seems, writers are *every- Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/NETS_for_
where*” and that “In much of this new composing, Teachers.htm
we are writing to share, yes; to encourage dialogue, LeLefever, L. (2007, November 30). Blogs in plain English.
perhaps; but mostly, I think, to participate.” She goes Video posted to http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs
on to explain that “our impulse to write is now digi-
Lombardi, C. (2006, August 7). There’s a blog born every
tized and expanded—or put differently, newly tech-
half second. CNET. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.
nologized, socialized, and networked.” The Internship
com/2100-1025_3-6102935.html
Ning is already a thriving example of writing in the
21st century where students are writing for an audi- Moorman, H. (2007, December 6). Hello edublogosphere!
ence that is networked and participatory and where, Message posted to http://englishteacherteacher.blogspot.
as Will Richardson describes, “publication is not the com/2007/12/hello-edublogosphere.html
end of the process any longer . . . it’s the conversa- National Council of Teachers of English. (2007). A chang-
tion that occurs after we publish those things where ing world for literacy teachers. 21st-Century Literacies: A
the real networking and continued learning occurs.” Policy Research Brief. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/
And our site is quickly becoming more than just positions/21stcenturyliteracy
student-centered, it is becoming learner-centered, with Continued on page 19](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/adventuresinweb2-0summer09-111211090512-phpapp02/85/Adventures-in-Web-2-0-Integrating-Social-Networking-into-My-Teaching-11-320.jpg)
![Through Our Eyes 11
they were trying to figure out where they stood on
the matter. I had taught all these students before in
one capacity or another, and we have good relation-
ships. In the spirit of teacher as generalist, I turned The Crefeld School
the moment into a learning opportunity. I asked ques- The Crefeld School, a longtime CES affiliate, is an
tions, gave perspectives that were not being heard, independent school in Philadelphia serving grades seven
and shared my personal opinion on the matter. As we through twelve. Crefeld is a school of new beginnings,
wrapped up the debate, I appreciated them for their welcoming students seeking an alternative educational
willingness to have hard conversations. I told them program—one that is progressive and college prepara-
how much I liked having such interactions with them. tory. Crefeld supports students to pursue high academic
standards in a relaxed and collaborative atmosphere,
Suddenly, I had an idea: “What do you think about while simultaneously promoting appreciation for artis-
making a dance about something this semester, rather tic creation and civic responsibility in a safe, nurturing,
than my just teaching you some choreography?” and supportive environment that provides learning and
They all loved the idea, but asked, “What would it emotional support, combined with a holistic, systemic
be about?” I didn’t know. I had not thought about it approach to each student.
before that moment. I suggested, “We are all women,
maybe it could be about being female.” No response.
“What about racism?” I proposed. This wasn’t
entirely out of left field. We had had conversations students sharing their experiences. The technol-
in this class before about race. In the past, students ogy passively presented itself as a creative tool—if it
would often unintentionally (but subconsciously?) hadn’t been in my possession to use, I would not have
line up for exercises according to their races. I would thought to find it. The technology became central to
occasionally point it out, and they would laugh the project, but it was not the inspiration in any way.
and comment on how strange it was that they had I needed a replacement computer two years earlier
done that. The girls’ response to my suggestion of a and had requested a laptop so that I could project
dance about race was an excited yes, followed by an movies and other presentations in my theater space.
outpouring of ideas about ways they could show how While I am not here to advertise for Apple, iMovie
racism is stupid and hurtful. I checked and double- and Garageband really welcomed me into the “do-it-
checked that they really wanted to do it. They all yourself” world of creative projects. I requested a
agreed, and we were off. Mac, knowing that my choreographer and other
We started with the personal and the embodied. That performance-related friends were all using technol-
is where I am most comfortable, and that is where I ogy in their work. Even though I didn’t expect to
knew to start the creative process. I asked the students be doing so myself, it seemed wise to have the capa-
to write a list of things from the prompt, “I am white/ bilities, in case any student wanted to make a cool
black/mixed and that means...” (those were all the movie or mixed media project. In fact, the truth is
racial identities represented in our class). Each made that just having the capability allowed me to conceive
a list and shared it with the group. Then I had them of a project that might use such technology. Having
create movement that connected with one of the it so easy and accessible was the key to my bother-
sentences they wrote. That became one of our move- ing to try. That, and a great human being keeping me
ment sections. I also had them write about their earli- company as I learned the ropes. I needed her guidance
est memory of knowing they were their skin color. I and encouragement to get me past my judging, impa-
guided them through another dance-making structure tient voice of “I don’t know how.”
based on the images, feelings, and characters of those As I was watching the interviews, I had the vision that
stories. Sections of those dances became the bulk of our dance project should have a video interlude or
the main movement part of the piece. [video] overlay. I wanted to edit what we had recorded into
It was clear to me that our dance project was going a short documentary. Sara Blattner, Crefeld’s incred-
to need more concrete information in addition to the ibly supportive tech person, sat with me and taught
metaphor of movement and physical expression. I me how to use the program. It was remarkably easy,
was curious to hear more about how race affects the especially because Sarah modeled asking for help. Any
students’ lives now, and what their opinions were about time she couldn’t remember or figure something out,
racism. So I set up some class time for interviews, she would ask the help menu in the program. Together
which needed to be recorded. Enter the video camera. I we taught me all the basics of editing, and I got
had to watch and edit this video. Enter iMovie. going. I stayed for hours after school. I used my free
time to watch and edit our footage. I was engrossed,
The project inspired the use of technology, not the enthralled, and really impressed with myself. Pardon
other way around. I had a creative vision about my
Conti nued on next page](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/adventuresinweb2-0summer09-111211090512-phpapp02/85/Adventures-in-Web-2-0-Integrating-Social-Networking-into-My-Teaching-13-320.jpg)
![22 Technology as a Fence and a Bridge
knowledge construction, seems to be emerging,” write
Related Resource Michele Knobel and Dana Wilber. Once viewed
as the exclusive domain of academe, knowledge is
Read more about Amy Biehl High School in Horace! increasingly accessible and decentralized. Together,
“Small School, Big Influence: Amy Biehl High School these trends may help fulfill the promise of technol-
Tells Its Story,” Fall 2005, http://www.essentialschools. ogy to shift teaching and learning toward the 21st
org/cs/resources/view/ces_res/381 century. However, if employed without a valid learn-
ing theory, educational technologies will not disrupt.
“Translating Success: How Careful Planning Within
a Problems-Based Curriculum Can Prepare Students Transformative disruption is much more likely to
to Enter College-Level Math Classes,” Spring 2007, occur in Essential schools and other schools that
http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ nurture learning communities. The response of teach-
ces_res/446 ers to new technologies, whether they reach out with
a hammer or a curious mind, can be influenced by
schools culture and professional community. When
a school is conceived as a community of learners in
surprising that the notion of disruption generates such which curiosity is nurtured and where teachers are
fervor, and this is not the first time reformers have encouraged to collaborate, take risks, and experiment,
invested their hopes in technology. Seymour Papert technology will more likely disrupt positively. A
clearly had a transformation in mind when he wrote, teacher’s view of a laptop as a fence or a bridge can be
“computers serve best when they allow everything influenced by colleagues and the culture of the school
to change.” Exactly what does a transformation of in which they teach. Where the student perspective is
teaching and learning look like? Françoise Blin and front and center, technological innovation can flour-
Morag Munro put it this way: “When the introduc- ish and contribute to a transformation of teaching,
tion of a new object or of a new tool, such as a VLE learning, and schools themselves. CES schools are well
[virtual learning environment] results in a serious situated to harness technology for the transformation
alteration of the internal structure of the teaching of teaching and learning because the CES Common
activity system, we can infer that the activity system Principles incorporate a valid, student-centered peda-
has been disrupted. If the disruption manifests itself gogy, a teacher-as-coach model, personalization, and
through construction and adoption of new curri- respect for students. Our schools are collaborative and
cula, assessment procedures, teaching methodologies, reward risk-taking.
resources and tasks, we can infer . . . that this disrup- But we have to understand that emergent technolo-
tion is expansive.” In other words, technology has gies are not just tools. These tools are changing us,
been constructively and sufficiently disruptive when our culture, and our schools. As Michael Wesch states.
teaching, learning, and schools look very different “This is a social revolution, not a technological one,
and when we have new answers to questions of when, and its most revolutionary aspect may be the ways
where, and how learning takes place. in which it empowers us to rethink education.” We
Although we need to balance our enthusiasm with should embrace educational technologies as another
skepticism, any potential for meaningful change tool to transform our teaching, learning, and schools.
warrants consideration. A set of recent developments Let’s enthusiastically accept what matters to our
increases the possibility of a real disruption: 1) the students and figure out how to harness their inter-
technology-immersed character of “digital natives,” ests. Let’s not view technology just as a new tool for
known as the NetGen, 2) a bottom-up push for tech- an old task, but as a new tool that can help us think
nology’s place in schools, 3) the interactive and partic- differently about teaching and help our students think
ipatory possibilities of Web 2.0, and 4) an increas- differently about learning.
ing acceptance of the notion of social knowledge One morning, I decided to take a few minutes to share
construction (as embodied in wikis). Primary among with students what I’ve been learning about educa-
these factors is the centrality of technology in the lives tional technology and more importantly, what I’ve
of NetGen. Our students, so-called digital natives, been feeling about the laptops. I have the luxury of
are already discovering educational uses for emergent working at a school with a deliberately built culture of
technologies. They are not waiting for permission. In respect. My students listened. I still have to ask them
the past, technology was introduced by adults, but to close their computers, but only once. Now my
now students carry the devices into our classrooms. colleagues and I need to open ours.
The push is bottom-up. Another critical factor is the
interactive and participatory nature of Web 2.0, which
encourages participation, creation, collaboration, and
distribution. Indeed, a “new ethos” of knowledge and](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/adventuresinweb2-0summer09-111211090512-phpapp02/85/Adventures-in-Web-2-0-Integrating-Social-Networking-into-My-Teaching-24-320.jpg)
Adventures in Web 2.0: Integrating Social Networking into My Teaching
- 1. The Journal of the Coalition of Essential Schools 25.1 SUMMER 2009 CES 2.0: Technology and the Essential School ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Small School, Big Influence Amy Biehl High School Tells Its Story IN THIS ISSUE: Horace Talks with Steve Jubb How BayCES Has Built Alliances Introducing SocialStatus Quo and Challenged the Networking Into Teaching and Learning Strategic Communication Distance Learning and the CES Common for Essential Schools Principles Christine Heenan Advice from Twittering About Learning Digital Porfolios: Documenting Student Growth Race and Identity via Dance and Technology
- 2. The Coalition of Essential Schools: Common Principles Demonstration Commitment A tone of of mastery to the entire decency school and trust Goals apply to Resources Less is more, Learning to all students dedicated to depth over use one’s teaching and coverage mind well learning Personalization Student-as- Democracy worker, teacher- and equity as-coach The Coalition of Essential Schools Horace Imagine schools where intellectual excitement animates every CES publishes its journal Horace quarterly. Combining student’s face, teachers work together to improve their craft, research with hands-on resources, Horace showcases and all students thrive and excel. For more than 20 years, the Essential schools that implement the ten Common Principles Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) has been at the forefront in their structures, practices, and habits. Within four focus of making this vision a reality. Guided by a set of Common areas—school design, classroom practice, leadership, and Principles, CES strives to create and sustain personalized, community connections—Horace explores specific questions equitable, and intellectually challenging schools. and challenges that face all schools in the CES network. The CES network includes hundreds of schools and 26 Subscriptions to Horace are a benefit of affiliating with Affiliate Centers. Diverse in size, population, and program- CES National as a regional center, school, or network matic emphasis, Essential schools serve students from friend. We invite you to visit the CES website at kindergarten through high school in urban, suburban, www.essentialschools.org for information on affiliation and rural communities. and to read Horace issues from 1988 through the present. Essential schools share the Common Principles, a set of Jill Davidson, editor of Horace, welcomes your comments, beliefs about the purpose and practice of schooling. issue theme and story ideas, and other feedback via email Reflecting the wisdom of thousands of educators, the ten at jdavidson@essentialschools.org. Common Principles inspire schools to examine their priorities and design effective structures and instructional practices. Lewis Cohen Jill Davidson Executive Director Publications Director CES was founded in 1984 by Theodore R. Sizer and is headquartered in Oakland, California. Please visit our website at www.essentialschools.org for more about CES’s programs, services, and resources.
- 3. Table of Contents 1 25.1 SPRING 2009 CES 2.0: Technology and the Essential School 02 Notes on this Issue: Horace 2.0 03 Adventures in Web 2.0: Introducing Social Networking Into My Teaching, Honor Moorman, International School of the Americas 10 Through Our Eyes, by Sara Narva, The Crefeld School 15 Learning Technology Skills Through Social Entrepreneurialism, Jean Pendleton Charleston Collegiate School 20 Technology as a Fence and a Bridge, Bryan Wehrli, Amy Biehl High School 24 Distance Learning and the CES Common Principles, Jennie Hallisey, Boston Day and Evening Academy 30 Twittering About Learning: Using Twitter in an Elementary School Classroom, Jeff Kurtz 32 Digital Portfolios: Documenting Student Growth, Matthew Cramer, Camino Nuevo High School 35 Where to Go for More: Resources for Technology Use in Essential Schools 37 Go to the Source: More about the Schools and Organizations Featured in This Issue Notes on This Issue I hope that you experience this issue of Horace as compelling, illuminating, and a significant force for change in and improvement of your practice as an educator. “CES 2.0: Technology and the Essential School” presents insight into and experience from seven educators across the country who have immersed themselves in the world of cutting edge technology in order to improve student achievement; create opportunities for authentic teaching, learning, and assess- ment; and create possibilities for their students that would not otherwise exist. All of these articles feature students as content creators, demonstrating their learning publicly. First and second grad- ers in Washington State use Twitter, Twitpic, and Chirbit to tell the world about their learning—and as they do, they build their literacy skills in immediately relevant, clearly meaningful ways. A high school in Los Angeles is designed from the ground up to teach students digital literacy mastery through digital portfolios. Video technology allows dance students in Philadelphia to grapple with race and identity in their creation and production of a dance piece. And, of course, there’s much more. Undeniably, there is a genuine whiz-bang, supercool quality to the technologies described in these pages, but in each case, this issue’s writers focus on particular technologies for their ability to deepen students’ understanding and create meaningful learning experiences. They talk about their own learning curves as they immersed themselves in the digi- tal waters. If you’re not already in the pool, we invite you to jump in: the water’s fine. And just like swimming, you can’t learning it by reading a book about it. Because of the nature of interactivity, just as the authors in these pages Continued on next page
- 4. 2 Notes on This Issue Notes on This Issue Continued from page 31 have done, the only way to learn about the synergy of tion among friends to deepen your understanding cutting-edge computer, software, and interactive tech- about Fall Forum and CES. nology is to use the these tools and see what happens. http://cesfallforum.ning.com/ As the world goes, so goes Horace. You have received notice of this electronic edition of Horace via email. Twitter Perhaps you printed it out; perhaps you’re reading it We’re @cesnational. Give us a tweet! online (and if you are reading it online, click on a link; they’re live!). We worked hard to create an experi- ence that captures the flexibility of electronic com- Facebook munication with the practicality of ink on paper. CES We’re on Facebook! Search http://www.facebook.com has a few reasons for moving Horace to online-only for “Coalition of Essential Schools” or go straight to publication. We want to be smart with our money, our group at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/ and chose not to spend additional dollars on print- group.php?gid=22085646681&ref=ts ing and mailing costs. As well, we want Horace to have the widest possible reach, and it’s a lot easier to Flickr “pass along” by forwarding a PDF or sending a link Join the CES Flickr group to upload photos of your to a URL than it is to do so with a physical magazine. school, and get happy and inspired with images from That said, if you want to print and read on paper, other Essential schools across the country and world- please do. We chose to preserve the layout of Horace wide. Go straight to our photostream at http://www. so that it would not lose its offline readability. flickr.com/photos/essentialschools. This issue presents the excitement, potential, and chal- lenges of networked, co-created learning, terrain with You Tube which Essential school educators are deeply knowl- For video clips of CES teaching and learning, search edgeable, not only in their classrooms but also as part http://www.youtube.com for “cesnational” or go of their school-based professional learning communi- straight to our channel at http://www.youtube.com/ ties, and the widespread professional learning com- profile?user=cesnational&view=videos. Upload your munity that CES represents. For 25 years, Fall Forum videos of teaching, learning, and interaction that has been a networked, “non-virtual” group learning exemplify personalized, equitable, and academically experience, and more recently, the CES Small Schools challenging education. Network has represented peer-to-peer learning that is the real-time example for interactive technologies, Many thanks to the authors who worked diligently to and Horace, written for and by CES network practi- present their experiences; it’s been a pleasure to work tioners, represents CES’s commitment to the expertise with you! We are grateful, too, to the many thousands and wisdom of CES network educators. CES’s histor- of Horace readers over the years, especially those of ic identification as a network makes our transition to you who are taking the journey with us as we trans- the 2.0 world comfortable and immediately relevant. form and, we hope, continue to improve. Let us know how we’re doing—drop an email, give us a tweet, post In addition to Horace’s new electronic persona, we’re on our Facebook page—we’re eager to hear from you. in the process of recreating our website, http://www. essentialschools.org. We can’t wait to welcome you to Best wishes for a great summer, our transformed online home, which will debut in the coming months. We’re also establishing outposts on Jill Davidson social networking sites in which you may already be Editor, Horace active. Here’s where you can find us: jdavidson@essentialschools.org CES Fall Forum Ning Connect with others interested in Fall Forum’s “Changing Schools, Changing Lives” theme. Join in discussions about CES principles and practices, con- nect with people planning to attend Fall Forum, and take advantage of an authentic and vibrant conversa-
- 5. Adventures in Web 2.0 3 Adventures in Web 2.0: Introducing Social Networking into My Teaching by Honor Moorman, International School of the Americas “As new technologies shape literacies, they bring opportunities for teachers at all levels to foster reading and writing in more diverse and participatory contexts.” –“A Changing World for Literacy Teachers,” 21st-Century Literacies: A Policy Research Brief, National Council of Teachers of English Five months ago, I introduced Web 2.0 technology for educators who are new to Web 2.0 and challenge to my students, and already, there is a story to tell. those well-acquainted with it to take the Web 2.0 Integrating a social networking site into my teaching adventure to the next level. has been even more challenging and will prove to be All students at the International School of the even more beneficial than I could have imagined. By Americas (ISA) engage in a 120-hour career-explora- sharing my story, I hope that I can provide a road map tion internship before graduating. The ISA Internship Program is one of the school’s hallmark real-world learning experiences, providing students with the opportunity to experience the fields they are contem- International School of the Americas (ISA) is a small plating pursuing in post-secondary life. The students magnet high school of choice located in San Antonio, in this years’ senior class are working in many diverse Texas. The demographics of the school closely mirror spheres—medicine, the arts, politics, teaching, busi- those of the larger San Antonio area. ISA’s mission is ness, community organizing, and more. As the ISA “to challenge all members of the school community to Internship Coordinator, it is my privilege and pleasure consistently reflect on and question what it means to be to support these students as they navigate the world acting at one’s fullest potential as a learner, leader, and of work and learn what it takes to be a professional. global citizen.” ISA students explore local and global is- sues from multiple perspectives by engaging in authen- When I first stepped into the shoes of the Internship tic learning experiences that include travel, field trips, Coordinator last August, I quickly realized that the internships, and service-learning. With its project-based, very best aspect of the Internship Program is the fact interdisciplinary, global studies curriculum, ISA is an that students are going to a hundred different places, Anchor School in the Asia Society’s International Stud- working with different mentors (community business ies Schools Network in addition to serving as a Mentor partners and other professionals who agree to super- School for the CES Small Schools Project. vise our students) at different times. They are each Continued on next page
- 6. 4 Adventures in Web 2.0 having their own completely individualized, authentic learning experience. At the same time, I discovered that the most challenging aspect of the Internship Web 2.0 Tools and Definitions Program is this variety of workplaces, schedules, and partnerships, which makes it impossible for students Web 2.0: “Web 2.0 is an umbrella term that is used to to meet as a group and learn from each other in a refer to a new era of Web-enabled applications that are structured time and place. That is, until now. built around user-generated or user-manipulated con- tent, such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, and social network- This year, I’ve integrated the use of the Internship ing sites.” (Pew Internet and American Life Project, Ning, a social networking site that serves as a virtual “Research on Web 2.0,” http://www.pewinternet.org/ classroom where students can discuss their intern- topics/Web-20.aspx) ships, exchange ideas, and offer feedback and support to one another. This gives them the opportunity to Blog: “A blog—short for weblog—is a sort of online benefit from everyone’s insights and experiences in journal, a website that features regularly updated, chronologically ordered posts. . . Blogs vary widely in addition to their own. The site also has the potential purpose, format, and readership.” (Rozema and Webb, to become a learning network that will link our school Literature and the Web) For a list of blogs being used in community with the professional community in new education, see “Links to School Bloggers,” http://sup- and dynamic ways. portblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers. Challenge #1: Gaining District Support and Launching Wiki: “A wiki is a collaborative Webspace where the Ning anyone can add content and anyone can edit content Ning.com (http://www.ning.com) is a free web-based that has already been published.” (Richardson, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for platform that allows users to create their own social Classrooms) For a list of wikis being used by teach- networking sites. The word “ning” means “peace” in ers and students, see “Examples of Educational Chinese, writes Gina Bianchini in “The Story Behind Wikis,” http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/ the Ning Name (http://blog.ning.com/2007/04/the_ Examples+of+educational+wikis. story_behind_the_ning_name.html). Sites created with Ning.com offer many of the same features available on Social Bookmarking: “Social bookmarking is the Facebook or MySpace. Members create profiles, join practice of saving bookmarks to a public Web site and groups, post blogs, share photos, and so on. tagging them with keywords.” (Educause Learning Initiative, “7 Things You Should Know About Social The first obstacle to implementing the Internship Bookmarking,” http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/ Ning was the school district’s Internet filter. In order pdf/ELI7001.pdf, requires login). Examples of social to make the site accessible to students from school, bookmarking sites include Delicious (http://delicious. we needed the support of the district’s Educational com), Furl (http://www.furl.com), and Diigo (http:// Technology and Computer Service departments. Since www.diigo.com). some sites created on Ning.com are inappropriate For short, easy-to-understand video introductions to for students, we didn’t ask the district to unblock the these and other Web 2.0 tools, visit The Common Craft Ning.com parent site, just the Internship Ning (http:// Show at http://www.commoncraft.com/show. isainternship.ning.com). Teachers of younger students should note that the Ning platform is not an option for students younger than 14 as stated by Ning.com’s Terms of Use. point, I needed students to be able to sign on during In addition to the Internship Ning, we requested class so I could give them a hands-on introductory access to blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, and other tour of the site. Web 2.0 tools that would facilitate our internationally- focused, project-based curriculum and enhance our Backstory: How I Discovered This Thing Called Ning ability to engage students in meaningful communica- After teaching ninth and twelfth grade English at The tion and collaboration around global issues. Three International School of the Americas for eight years, face-to-face meetings, four months, and many emails I became a secondary literacy specialist for the North later, we were granted permission to begin using some East Independent School District. This role involved of the tools, including the Internship Ning. sharing teaching strategies and resources with middle Properly unblocking these sites was worth the and high school reading and English teachers across patience and persistence. From an equity standpoint, I the district. I also began teaching pre-service teach- needed to be sure that all students would have access ers at Trinity University and Texas State University to the Internship Ning and related sites by making where I was using web-based learning management them available on campus. From a pedagogical stand- systems to share resources with them and engage them in online discussions. However, the course websites
- 7. Adventures in Web 2.0 5 created using these systems were only available to currently enrolled students. When the students in my university classes began asking if it would be possible for them to access these websites after the semester Ed Tech Innovators’ Blogs was over, I started looking for an alternative way to Will Richardson’s “Weblogg-ed” continue sharing ideas and resources with former http://weblogg-ed.com/ students and colleagues online. Karl Fisch’s “The Fischbowl” I created a blog, “English Teacher Teacher,” http:// http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/ englishteacherteacher.blogspot.com/. I had seen Karl Fisch’s “Did You Know” presentation (http://thefis- Scott McLeod’s “Dangerously Irrelevant” chbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html), http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/ which had led me to Michael Wesch’s video, “The Machine is Us/ing Us,” (http://mediatedcultures.net/ Ewan McIntosh’s “edu.blogs.com” http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/ mediatedculture.htm) and I had been particularly struck by Candace Lombari’s article entitled, “There’s a blog Steve Hargadon’s “K-12 Educational Technology” Born Every Half Second” (http://news.cnet.com/2100- http://www.stevehargadon.com/ 1025_3-6102935.html). In my initial blog post (http:// englishteacherteacher.blogspot.com/2007/12/hello- Jeff Utecht’s “Thinking Stick” edublogosphere.html), I wrote, “I can’t even imagine http://www.thethinkingstick.com/ how many blogs have come into existence while I’ve David Warlick’s “2cents Worth” been writing—and rewriting, and changing, and edit- http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/index.php ing—this first post, but I’m about to push the button and join the edublogosphere! Here goes . . .” Wesley Fryer’s “Moving at the Speed of Creativity” http://www.speedofcreativity.org/ What I didn’t fully confess in that first entry was that I felt very nervous about initially publishing my Vicki Davis’ The Cool Cat Teacher Blog blog. It wasn’t until I got comfortable with this new http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ genre—by reading numerous educational technology blogs—that I felt ready to begin blogging myself. In Lisa Neilsen’s The Innovative Educator http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/ retrospect, this isn’t too surprising. I believe strongly in the reciprocal relationship between reading and writing, and whenever I invite students to try writing in a new genre, I always have them begin by reading our own personal learning networks, but also to intro- “mentor texts” from that genre. duce them to our students and incorporate them into I began reading blogs written by top educational our teaching so students can develop the knowledge technology innovators, zeroing in on those that and skills needed to take advantage of these connective were referenced multiple times or nominated for technologies that are so essential to life-long learning the Edublog awards <http://edublogawards.com/>. in the 21st century. Following in the web footprints Not only was I “reading like a writer” to learn the of the edubloggers I had come to admire, I embedded conventions of the genre, in terms of content, length, my delicious tags into my blog, and linked it to my style, and so on, but I was also learning about the YouTube playlists. I also joined Classroom 2.0 (http:// tech tools and features I could incorporate into my www.classroom20.com/) “the social network for those blog—hyperlinks, embedded videos, cluster maps, tag interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies clouds, blogrolls, widgets, and more. in education.” Participating in the Classroom 2.0 This was my first foray into the world of Web 2.0. community showed me what was possible through It was new and exciting, and as I tentatively stepped Ning.com. forward, I found myself following the electronic breadcrumbs left by the many other educators who Challenge #2: Helping Students View the Ning as a had ventured into this territory ahead of me. Their Personal Learning Network blog posts and wiki pages offered me an interac- Once we finally had the Internship Ning fully tive map of the emerging Web 2.0 landscape, and as accessible on the school computers, I was eager to I explored, I became passionate about the amazing introduce it to the students. Over the Thanksgiving potential these tools offer us to connect learners and holiday, I emailed all 112 seniors and invited them make learning collaborative. The more I read, the to join the Internship Ning. Only five of them did more I realized how important it is for us as teachers so, which was disappointing at first. But since I had to take advantage of Web 2.0 tools not only to create Continued on next page
- 8. 6 Adventures in Web 2.0 National Educational Technology Standards for required to participate in the Internship Ning, but Students (NETS-S) from the International Society most of them wanted to join the site once they saw it for Technology in Education in action. • Creativity and innovation One of the core assignments of the Internship • Communication and collaboration Program is the written reflection. Students are asked • Research and information fluency to regularly document their internships in order to • Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making articulate and analyze their experiences and become • Digital citizenship more aware of their own learning. I urged students • Technology operations and concepts to begin blogging and participating in discussion http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ groups rather than writing their reflections the “old- ForStudents/NETS_for_Students.htm fashioned” way. The students enjoyed customizing their profile pages, “friending” each other, and joining 21st Century Student Outcomes from the groups. But as students began to use the Internship Partnership for 21st Century Skills’ “Framework Ning for non-academic purposes, I realized that if I for 21st Century Learning” wanted them to really engage in this site as a serious Learning and Innovation Skills space for learning, and not just as an ISA Facebook, I • Creativity and innovation needed to share more of my thinking about why I had • Critical thinking and problem solving created this “virtual classroom” and the ways I hoped • Communication and collaboration and expected they would use it. Information, Media, and Technology Skills Teaching Story: Letting Students in on the Big Idea • Information literacy My main purposes for implementing the Internship • Media literacy Ning into the ISA Internship Program were two- • ICT (information, communications and technology) literacy fold. First, since students are engaged in their intern- Life and Career Skills ships outside of school hours, I was trying to create • Flexibility and adaptability a virtual classroom—an online community where • Initiative and self-direction students could converse and collaborate, and where • Social and cross-cultural skills I could support and enrich their learning. Second, I • Leadership and responsibility was hoping to enhance the Internship curriculum in a http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_c way that would help prepare students for the literacy ontent&task=view&id=254&Itemid=120 demands of the 21st century. On both accounts, the Internship Ning has already surpassed my original National Educational Technology Standards for vision, and we have just begun to glimpse its ultimate Teachers (NETS-T) potential. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity As a virtual classroom, the Internship Ning is in many Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and ways a much more flexible and dynamic space than Assessment a physical classroom. Students can interact with any Model Digital-Age Work and Learning member about any topic or question at any time. And Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility rather than being limited to a classroom where only Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership 20 to 30 students are able to collaborate with one from The International Society for Technology in Education another, the virtual space enables students to interact (ISTE) with all 100 plus of their classmates, as well as alumni http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ who continue to participate on the site. Once we have ForTeachers/NETS_for_Teachers.htm mentors participating too, there will be the potential for all students to learn from that mentor, not just the student who is physically interning with him or her. In terms of 21st century skills, the Internship Ning provides an online environment where students can set up the Internship Ning as a members-only, pass- gain the knowledge and skills needed to “to learn word-protected site, there was no way for students effectively and live productively in an increasingly to preview it, and I realized they may not have been digital world” (International Society for Technology inclined to join without knowing more about it. The in Education, 2007) and develop “the skills, knowl- next week, I went into their classes, showed them edge and expertise students should master to succeed the site, and invited them to sign up on the spot. in work and life in the 21st century” (Partnership for Since it’s a transition year, this year’s seniors weren’t 21st Century Skills, 2009). It is a space that encourages students to practice digital citizenship; the Internship
- 9. Adventures in Web 2.0 7 Acceptable Use Policy for the ISA Internship Ning Ning creates the conditions for students to be self- directed and responsive to the community’s needs. In The purpose of this site is for students to communicate with one another, and with their teachers and mentors, about addition, the Internship Ning is a teaching context questions and ideas related to their internship experiences in which I can be the kind of educator I believe 21st and/or career interests. We, the members of the ISA Intern- century students need—a facilitator, collaborator, and ship Ning community, agree to hold ourselves and each co-learner. other accountable to the following terms of use: Two weeks after launching the Internship Ning, I • We will use the site in a safe, legal, and responsible manner. engaged students in a couple of lessons to help them • We will demonstrate digital citizenship through high stan- understand my rationale and goals for implementing dards of personal responsibility and ethical behavior. this social networking site. I wanted them to realize • We will use this site in an academically and professionally how, as Will Richardson writes, “the read/write web appropriate way. changes everything” (http://willrichardson.wikispaces. com/page/diff/home/74757129), so that they would Based on input from the ISA class of 2009, appropriate use understand why we were doing this and the ways their has been defined as follows: participation on the Internship Ning fits into the bigger In General: picture of what’s happening on the Web. We discussed • Keep it professional; save the rest for MySpace, etc. the Did You Know? 2.0 video and touched on some • Use your own good judgment; when in doubt, don’t do it. of the big concepts—exponential change, technologi- Language: cal innovation, globalization, and mass collaboration • No profanity, no sexually explicit language, no bashing. (see Resources for Further Reading). I had students • Should adhere to proper English conventions; no slang. read selected articles from T.H.E. Journal (http://www. • Should be understandable to all members of the site. thejournal.com/) and Edutopia (http://www.edutopia. Images: org/) that addressed the benefits and challenges of • No sexual, violent, or otherwise offensive images. students blogging. We also engaged in a debate around • Should be used in accordance with copyright laws. the question of about whether or not “social network- Profile Pages: ing technologies will bring large [positive] changes • Include your full name and/or photo of yourself only with to educational methods, in and out of the classroom” parental/guardian permission. using the debate at Economist.com (http://www.econo- • Customize the appearance of your profile page using the mist.com/debate/overview/123) as a model. We exam- Ning menu only; no uploaded backgrounds. ined the 21st century standards, especially account- • If you’re not using a personal photo, other options include: ability, social responsibility, and digital citizenship, and an avatar or animated version of your own image, a Wordle discussed how the Internship Ning would be a place (http://www.wordle.com) creation (using appropriate to practice those skills. Finally, we co-constructed an language, of course), a symbol or image related to your internship or career interests, or an image that represents Acceptable Use Policy for our site. you in a positive manner. Giving students ownership in the process of defining Groups: the expectations for the Internship Ning was a critical • If you create a group, keep it open to all, not restricted. step in helping them grow as digital citizens. Similar to • Don’t ban anyone from your group. the process of creating norms for classroom behavior, • Groups should be internship related or deal with other I trusted that the wisdom of the group would generate topics relevant to the purpose of this space. a sensible policy. And, even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t Blogs and Discussions: have presented the students with a comprehensive list • Blogs should be posted to everyone. of do’s and don’ts before allowing them to use the • Blogs should be related to internship or career interests. Internship Ning. Until everyone started using the site, • Posts can include school-related questions, but keep it I didn’t exactly know what kinds of questions or issues constructive. would arise. And since many students are more adept Important Notes: with these tools than I am, they discovered features • All hyperlinked sites, images, and uploaded files should and functions I hadn’t been aware of before. Together, adhere to the guidelines listed above. we were able to address the questions of what it would • No third-party widgets or rss feeds per district guidelines. mean for a social networking site to be academic and • Guidelines will be updated as needed; members’ input is professional rather than purely social. welcome. Accountability: Challenge #3: Creating Momentum While Keeping it • Help remind one another to use the site in a positive and Authentic and Student-Centered productive way so we can continue to have this privilege. Over the next ten weeks, there was very little activity • Report any misuse of the site to Ms. Moorman immediately. on the Internship Ning. Those weeks included winter Continued on next page
- 10. 8 Adventures in Web 2.0 break, first semester final exams, and a class trip to help bridge the gulf between students’ out-of-school Washington, D.C. Nevertheless, I was worried that and in-school literacies. students somehow weren’t buying in to the idea that However, the similarities between the features and blogging was a worthwhile, much less a “cool” thing functions of Facebook and the Internship Ning have to do. In response, I presented a mini-lesson on the proven to be both an advantage and an added compli- role of blogging in our global society and in our indi- cation. One tension between the two sites came as a vidual lives. surprise to me. When I asked Mario why he thought We started with “Blogs in Plain English,” (http:// some of the other students weren’t participating www.commoncraft.com/blogs) a video introduction on the Internship Ning as much as he was, he said, to blogs, “how they work and why they matter.” “It takes dedication to get on the Internship Ning Then we talked about the role of blogging in our lives rather than Facebook or MySpace.” He pointed out and in the lives of people we know. We also discussed that when students sit down at the computer, they the phenomenon of citizen journalism and the role are tempted to just spend their time on the Internet it played in the recent presidential election process. socializing, and he said that it was his passion and Trying to emphasize how ubiquitous blogging has dedication to his internship that made him want to become, I pointed out how it is integrated into many blog about it so frequently. I had been thinking so of the tools students use every day, such as Microsoft much about taking advantage of students’ familiarity Word and Google. I even reminded them that Time with Facebook, that I hadn’t even considered the idea magazine had declared “You” as Person of the Year that my Internship site would somehow be competing in 2006. Whether or not it was a result of my lesson, with Facebook for their attention. But of course this students generated 25 blog posts for February, 13 for makes sense given the “attention economy” we now March, and 38 for April. One of the most prolific live in. bloggers since the beginning has been Mario—he’s Another layer of complexity was the fact that many written 19 blog posts, started five discussions, and students needed help making a distinction between the contributed to six others. When I asked Mario why kinds of writing typically done on Facebook and the he liked writing on the Internship Ning so much, he kind of writing that was appropriate on the Internship said, “Writing an essay just feels like something you’re Ning. Nick, a student who participates in a number doing for a grade, but writing a blog post feels like a of online communities committed to serious intel- normal conversation . . . it’s almost like Facebook or lectual discussions, commented “A lot of people’s MySpace, but it’s school-oriented.” online experiences have been Facebook, so they see Mario’s comment highlights a key strength of the the Internet as a social tool to mess around on and not using social networking for education—the connec- much else . . . they don’t see the actual potential of tion between in-school and out-of-school literacies. the Internet . . . [but] the whole point of the Internet One of my reasons for implementing the Internship is interconnectivity.” Nick also said, “So many people Ning was based on the fact that so many students are condemn social networking sites as not being produc- using Facebook. According to the National School tive that they don’t see that they can be a stepping Boards Association’s “Creating and Connecting: stone into something more productive . . . that [social Research and Guidelines on Online Social—and networking sites] have become part of the professional Educational—Networking,” 71 percent of students sphere . . . [and that] these tool sets and skill sets are with online access use social networking tools on a important.” weekly basis, and informal polling of the ISA senior class indicated about the same proportion. I wanted Future Story: Where Do We Go From Here? to build on this out-of-school literacy and create an We’re 20 weeks into the Internship Ning experiment, opportunity for students to engage in professional and it’s already time to introduce the site to the juniors web-based writing using a site that would seem famil- who will begin their career-explorations this summer. iar to them and one which they could learn to use From now on, all students will be expected to blog and more or less intuitively. make additional contributions to the site regularly. And According to the National Council of Teachers of my hope is that with full participation, the student- English’s “Writing in the 21st Century,” teachers need to-student interactions will become even richer and to recognize “that out-of-school literacy practices are more meaningful. The Internship Ning is a platform as critical to students’ development as what occurs that not only creates a student-centered environment in the classroom and take advantage of this to better where students are engaged in meaning-making and connect classroom work to real-world situations that writing about self-selected topics that are relevant and students will encounter across a lifetime.” I whole- interesting to them. It also provides an authentic audi- heartedly agree, and my vision for the Internship ence for students, and Faith said as a result, blogging Ning was that it would be one such space that would on the Internship Ning has improved her writing. She
- 11. Adventures in Web 2.0 9 explained, “it helped me practice better writing—writ- all of us—students, teachers, and mentors alike—as ing that I would want a lot of people to read, because co-learners in a virtual community. I’m proofreading more carefully and using language As Nick so eloquently said, “the only way you can that I don’t use every day.” really teach someone something is to get them to Next year, students’ mentors will be invited to experience it,” and through the Internship Ning, all become members of the Internship Ning. This will students at The International School of the Americas enable the site to truly become a virtual representa- are experiencing the power of writing in the 21st tion of the professional network we participate in century, the power of networking, the power of through the Internship Program. The students seem to participating. think having mentors participate on the site is a pretty good idea as well. Jordan said she thought “having the Honor Moorman graduated from the R. L. Paschal Essential mentors on the Ning with us would force people to School in Fort Worth, Texas, one of the first twelve CES really look at their internships and think about what schools in the country. She is a National Board Certified they’re learning from them . . . and getting comments Teacher, a teacher consultant with the San Antonio Writing from other people would make it more constructive.” Project, a reviewer for ReadWriteThink.org, and the associ- ate editor for the National Council of Teachers of English’s I’ll be very interested to see what happens when we Voices from the Middle. Her previous publications have have mentors participating on the Internship Ning. been featured in English Journal, English in Texas, and The My hunch is that it will help students become more ALAN Review. Moorman wishes to thank her students keenly aware of the site as a public, professional space Mario, Faith, Jordan, and Nick for their thoughtful contri- rather than a private, personal one. Faith seems to butions to this article as well as her colleagues Julia de agree, saying, “the fact that professionals can read la Torre for her illuminating feedback on the first draft our work [will help differentiate it from a Facebook- and Pamela Valentine for her skillful use of the camera. type environment] . . . that’s definitely not how it is Moorman can be reached at hmoorm@neisd.net. in my world of Facebook, I mean, teachers are on Facebook, but they don’t comment professionally References on our writing.” Although we can’t open the site to Bianchini, G. (2007, April 11). The story behind the Ning the World Wide Web at large for safety and security name. Message posted to http://blog.ning.com/2007/04/ reasons, having more invited members on the site— the_story_behind_the_ning_name.html both peers and adult professionals—will increase the learning opportunities students gain by participating Economist.com. (2008, January 15-27). Social networking. on the Internship Ning. Students will have a broader Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/debate/over- audience reading and responding to their posts, which view/123 will maximize the dynamic, generative potential of Hargadon. S. (2007-2009). Classroom 2.0. Retrieved from the network. As Nick articulated in our conversation http://www.classroom20.com/ about online communities, “when it gets really inter- International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). esting is when you talk with people who[m] you’ve NETS for Students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/ never met and who have ideas you’ve never thought Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/NETS_for_ about before.” Students.htm In “Writing in the 21st Century,” Kathleen Blake International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). Yancey argues that “With digital technology and, NETS for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/ especially Web 2.0, it seems, writers are *every- Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/NETS_for_ where*” and that “In much of this new composing, Teachers.htm we are writing to share, yes; to encourage dialogue, LeLefever, L. (2007, November 30). Blogs in plain English. perhaps; but mostly, I think, to participate.” She goes Video posted to http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs on to explain that “our impulse to write is now digi- Lombardi, C. (2006, August 7). There’s a blog born every tized and expanded—or put differently, newly tech- half second. CNET. Retrieved from http://news.cnet. nologized, socialized, and networked.” The Internship com/2100-1025_3-6102935.html Ning is already a thriving example of writing in the 21st century where students are writing for an audi- Moorman, H. (2007, December 6). Hello edublogosphere! ence that is networked and participatory and where, Message posted to http://englishteacherteacher.blogspot. as Will Richardson describes, “publication is not the com/2007/12/hello-edublogosphere.html end of the process any longer . . . it’s the conversa- National Council of Teachers of English. (2007). A chang- tion that occurs after we publish those things where ing world for literacy teachers. 21st-Century Literacies: A the real networking and continued learning occurs.” Policy Research Brief. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/ And our site is quickly becoming more than just positions/21stcenturyliteracy student-centered, it is becoming learner-centered, with Continued on page 19
- 12. 10 Through Our Eyes Through Our Eyes by Sara Narva, The Crefeld School I am a dancer. A teacher. An improviser. My peda- gogy is centered on the concept of embodied educa- tion, a model that invites students to bring their whole bodies to the learning experience. I invite students to learn with their minds, bodies, spirits, and emotions all present, intertwined, and interrelating. I pay attention to the energy in the room, the relationships between people, the body language in response to information, the inter- and intrapersonal, the kinesthetic. Needless to say, computers have not had a big place in my classroom. Another important thing to know about me as a teacher is that my toolbox is well honed. I have a set Through Our Eyes was a multimedia performance of core activities that I use to teach different units of created in collaboration with my five modern dance dance and theater and I can adjust them, expand them, students. Through video, sound, and dance, the piece scaffold them, and implement them flexibly on the shows some ways race has affected their lives. I did spot depending on how students are responding. I am not set out at the beginning of the semester to make often skeptical about other people’s methodologies; this project in my dance class. It was born out of a many of the lesson plans I find online or read about hard conversation, good listening, and a lot of faith. do not meet my standards of interesting, engaging, A big part of my role as an educator, whether I am complex, embodied learning. I like to be good at what teaching dance, theater, social justice, or sex educa- I do, and I am good at teaching with the tools in my tion (all of which I teach at Crefeld), is to help young toolbox. I am (embarrassed to say) sometimes hesi- people find their voices, their opinions, and their tant to try new things. It overwhelms me, throws me ideas. It is also vital to me that I figure out ways to off my course, and causes change in my comfortable, support my students not only to know what they effective teaching practice. But, in the fall of 2008, I think, but also to help them find ways to express did just that. I overwhelmed myself by learning new themselves. When I have choreographed dances for things. Two new computer programs, in fact. This did my modern dance class in the past, I used a theme to throw me off my course, make me uncomfortable, inspire movement. The pieces contained images and and challenge me more than I had been challenged in a energetic qualities related to that theme. The focus long time. However, taking on the technology opened was on performance skills, ensemble building, and doors, offered me a chance to figure out new ways movement execution. This time, however, we decided to interact with my students, and provided entirely to make a dance that was really about something. new modes for my creative process. Working with One particular day, instead of asking my students to technology also raised a new set of questions about change their clothes and get out to the floor to warm time, power, collaboration, and ownership. The tech- up, I joined the conversation they were having as they nology provided many opportunities for me to feel entered the theater. They were engaged in an animated overwhelmed, frustrated, and inept… and then with dialogue about the issue of whether or not our school help and practice, I was able to feel successful, accom- should have a Christmas tree in the lobby. There was plished, and proud. a lot of debate going around school at that time, and
- 13. Through Our Eyes 11 they were trying to figure out where they stood on the matter. I had taught all these students before in one capacity or another, and we have good relation- ships. In the spirit of teacher as generalist, I turned The Crefeld School the moment into a learning opportunity. I asked ques- The Crefeld School, a longtime CES affiliate, is an tions, gave perspectives that were not being heard, independent school in Philadelphia serving grades seven and shared my personal opinion on the matter. As we through twelve. Crefeld is a school of new beginnings, wrapped up the debate, I appreciated them for their welcoming students seeking an alternative educational willingness to have hard conversations. I told them program—one that is progressive and college prepara- how much I liked having such interactions with them. tory. Crefeld supports students to pursue high academic standards in a relaxed and collaborative atmosphere, Suddenly, I had an idea: “What do you think about while simultaneously promoting appreciation for artis- making a dance about something this semester, rather tic creation and civic responsibility in a safe, nurturing, than my just teaching you some choreography?” and supportive environment that provides learning and They all loved the idea, but asked, “What would it emotional support, combined with a holistic, systemic be about?” I didn’t know. I had not thought about it approach to each student. before that moment. I suggested, “We are all women, maybe it could be about being female.” No response. “What about racism?” I proposed. This wasn’t entirely out of left field. We had had conversations students sharing their experiences. The technol- in this class before about race. In the past, students ogy passively presented itself as a creative tool—if it would often unintentionally (but subconsciously?) hadn’t been in my possession to use, I would not have line up for exercises according to their races. I would thought to find it. The technology became central to occasionally point it out, and they would laugh the project, but it was not the inspiration in any way. and comment on how strange it was that they had I needed a replacement computer two years earlier done that. The girls’ response to my suggestion of a and had requested a laptop so that I could project dance about race was an excited yes, followed by an movies and other presentations in my theater space. outpouring of ideas about ways they could show how While I am not here to advertise for Apple, iMovie racism is stupid and hurtful. I checked and double- and Garageband really welcomed me into the “do-it- checked that they really wanted to do it. They all yourself” world of creative projects. I requested a agreed, and we were off. Mac, knowing that my choreographer and other We started with the personal and the embodied. That performance-related friends were all using technol- is where I am most comfortable, and that is where I ogy in their work. Even though I didn’t expect to knew to start the creative process. I asked the students be doing so myself, it seemed wise to have the capa- to write a list of things from the prompt, “I am white/ bilities, in case any student wanted to make a cool black/mixed and that means...” (those were all the movie or mixed media project. In fact, the truth is racial identities represented in our class). Each made that just having the capability allowed me to conceive a list and shared it with the group. Then I had them of a project that might use such technology. Having create movement that connected with one of the it so easy and accessible was the key to my bother- sentences they wrote. That became one of our move- ing to try. That, and a great human being keeping me ment sections. I also had them write about their earli- company as I learned the ropes. I needed her guidance est memory of knowing they were their skin color. I and encouragement to get me past my judging, impa- guided them through another dance-making structure tient voice of “I don’t know how.” based on the images, feelings, and characters of those As I was watching the interviews, I had the vision that stories. Sections of those dances became the bulk of our dance project should have a video interlude or the main movement part of the piece. [video] overlay. I wanted to edit what we had recorded into It was clear to me that our dance project was going a short documentary. Sara Blattner, Crefeld’s incred- to need more concrete information in addition to the ibly supportive tech person, sat with me and taught metaphor of movement and physical expression. I me how to use the program. It was remarkably easy, was curious to hear more about how race affects the especially because Sarah modeled asking for help. Any students’ lives now, and what their opinions were about time she couldn’t remember or figure something out, racism. So I set up some class time for interviews, she would ask the help menu in the program. Together which needed to be recorded. Enter the video camera. I we taught me all the basics of editing, and I got had to watch and edit this video. Enter iMovie. going. I stayed for hours after school. I used my free time to watch and edit our footage. I was engrossed, The project inspired the use of technology, not the enthralled, and really impressed with myself. Pardon other way around. I had a creative vision about my Conti nued on next page
- 14. 12 Through Our Eyes the crassness, but it felt really bad-ass to be making a they not inspired by their own work? How did they movie. not realize how revolutionary our piece was?! And It was during this editing process that I had my first then it occurred to me: I had taken their project away moment of reflection about media consumption, and from them and made it mine, all mine! my first glimpse at the challenges of being a direc- I realized quickly that my own excitement about tor of a complex creative process intended to portray using iMovie and my role as the director to move the multiple perspectives. I was spending hours editing piece forward had gotten out of balance with the ulti- the video after school and during my free periods, mate goal: for the students to share their experiences while in class, we collectively spent our time working and thoughts on racism. While the students’ voices on the dance section of the piece. I was sculpting were the heart of the project, they were not in charge the video into what I thought our piece should say. of the project. Though I was facilitating a progres- I was choosing which lines and stories to take and sive – perhaps radical – project, I had lost track of the which to cut. The most striking aspect of the editing equally progressive and radical value of keeping the process was how much power I had to represent—or students in charge of their own learning. Their artistic misrepresent—someone’s ideas. In one clip, one of the voices had to be part of the design of the project, not white young women was talking honestly about privi- only their stories as the content. The students had lege and her whiteness. If I clipped her segment in one to be workers, guides. I prompted them by asking , spot, she could easily be misinterpreted as a rude, even “What do you want this project to say?” When they racist, white person. If I clipped her section just a few were in charge, the students were actually rather resis- words or a sentence later, her words had context and tant and shy about creating a piece that would chal- she appeared thoughtful and insightful. I was shocked lenge their audience. I wanted the piece to rile people and disturbed by the power I realized I held in that up, make them think, make them uncomfortable. The moment. And yet, I still wasn’t able to see how much girls wanted to raise awareness, but they were not of the power I was holding on to. interested in making big waves. Despite their powerful I shared my insight about editing with the class. and sometimes painful stories, when asked what they They listened, and we had a short conversation about wanted to say they would reply, “Race isn’t that big editing in the media that they consume—reality TV of a deal.” I had to step aside a bit and let them decide shows, news shows, advertisements. It was a fruit- what the piece should say. ful conversation that never would have come up Garageband was the tool that allowed the students to in my class without this project. Or if it had come have more agency in the design of the project. We all up, it would have been abstract and theoretical, not agreed that we needed more voice in the soundtrack personal. In this case, however, it was not theoreti- and that was easy to record on the spot with this cal. They were exposing their personal ideas and they audio recording program instead of all the steps and had a stake in these concepts because it wasn’t just a editing necessary with the video recording. After we critical analysis discussion; they were expressing their recorded more of their thoughts, I did the grunt work voices, and their real, vulnerable stories and ideas. of going through all the material and edited out the We were about halfway into the creation of the piece. content that was clearly unnecessary (the repetitive I was so excited about “my project.” I was talking talking, the umms, and the giggles). Then, we took to friends, family, and colleagues about it. I was so class time to sit with the computer and listen to the impressed with the interesting stories and insights of useable clips. The students chose which parts to use my students. I was equally impressed with my own and what order to put them in. Also, we realized we ability to make a new kind of creative expression, needed to create sections that didn’t exist that would and to use this piece of technology that I had previ- feature voices that we wanted to be present in the ously assumed was out of my reach. My story in my piece but had not come up naturally. At this point, the head was that making movies was either too cool, girls encouraged each other to say the harder stuff, to too complicated, or just not what I did. But here I speak up with loud, strong voices, to say what they was, successfully figuring out how to make a movie. meant. When the students were more in charge and I discovered tricks and tools that Sarah hadn’t shown when they were leading each other, the project was me, having a deep and authentic learning experience of at its most vibrant. They gave me permission to do exploration, trial and error, and remaining completely the final editing and use my judgment. In fact they interested in both the content and form of my learning. desperately wanted me to stay in charge of the big picture, perhaps because I had accidentally set it up And my students were getting apathetic. that way and they were scared to have more control I could not for the life of me understand why the girls and agency. I ran the final product by them several were so lazy and uninspired. It was like pulling teeth times for comments, feedback, and tweaking. Finally, to get them to work on the dance in class. How were we settled on the soundtrack and set out to rehearse
- 15. Through Our Eyes 13 sound and movement together. Sara Narva has been teaching at The Crefeld School for four years. Using the model of embodied education, Narva In the performance of Through Our Eyes, technol- invites participants to bring their physical, emotional, ogy allowed the students’ voices to be heard in a way personal and intellectual selves into the learning space. that they would not have otherwise been comfortable She has worked as an artist and educator with elementary, sharing. They were able to speak openly, honestly, middle, and high school students, as well as undergraduates and deeply in the context of our group. They showed in the United States and Israel. Narva earned her Masters of and shared parts of themselves that they had not Education in Dance from Temple University in 2004. been comfortable sharing in public. They delved into discussions and critical thinking that were not other- wise part of their social lives. Being able to record these intimate conversations allowed them (or me, really, with their permission) to have their voices heard on a larger scale. The students gave me permis- sion to facilitate a question and answer section after the show. In the moment, however, the students were very shy and reluctant to discuss their experiences of race and racism. They were proud of the dance piece, and of their ideas, but in some real way, they needed the technology to do the talking for them. This experience challenged me on so many levels. Learning to use the new technology feels like a huge success. I feel proud and impressed with myself, and thrilled to have mastered these new tools. I contin- ued to use iMovie to edit the recording of our winter show, allowing students to have copies of the perfor- mance, something we’ve never done before. I am using Garageband again in my current dance class, as the students work on a project that answers the question, “What is it like to be your age?” This time I simply offered it as an option in their creative processes and I only recorded when and what they suggested and organized. I only edited with them by my side. I continued to struggle with how much of my opin- ions and direction made sense to put into the process, but I think that is a lifelong learning process for any educator-director. The questions and challenges posed by the technol- ogy within my performance classes were interesting, provocative, and helpful for my growth as an educa- tor. I don’t think, however that those challenges were unique to the use of technology. I think they were a product of being awake to the experiences of my students while co-creating a performance piece. This attentiveness was heightened because I was trying new things, using new tools, causing my teaching to be fresher and perhaps messier. In addition to providing the stumbling blocks that woke me up, the technology also offered my students a medium to express them- selves in a way that they were not otherwise comfort- able doing. Whether because of their familiarity with media, or the distance and safety it gave them to share their ideas, the technology allowed my students to push themselves and to challenge our community about racism, an issue we all need to be more awake to.
- 16. 14 Fall Forum 2009 Changing Schools, Changing Lives for 25 Years New Orleans, Louisiana November 5-7, 2009 “This kind of innovative school…is an example of how all our schools should be.” – President Barack Obama, visiting Essential school Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. on February 3, 2009. Fall Forum 2009 celebrates CES’s 25th anniversary with powerful exchanges of innovative practices and demo- cratic policies that increase equitable student achievement. What: Fall Forum is CES’s most important networking and professional development event, bringing together several thousand educators, students, family members, and leading thinkers in education from around the world to exchange ideas, ask questions, and share insights about effective school and educational system practices and designs. Who: You! The wisdom, experience, questions, challenges, and successes of educators, students, and their supporters create Fall Forum. In addition to hundreds of sessions from practitioners, Fall Forum features speak- ers who will add fire and inspiration to your efforts to create the best conditions for teaching and learning, including Gloria Ladson Billings, Grant Wiggins, Deborah Meier, and more. When: Visit CES’s website for specific schedule information, and don’t miss our preconference sessions and school visits scheduled for Thursday, November 5! Where: New Orleans, at the fabulously located Sheraton New Orleans. Thursday, November 5, will offer opportunities to join in the learning life of the city with a service-learning collaboration with the Crescent City Art Project’s Paint the Change Program, designed to transform school landscapes from mundane environments to colorful, artistic places of learning. Or spend a day learning at a New Orleans school as part of a uniquely designed day-long Fall Forum school visit. How: There are two ways to get involved now. Visit our website and create a CES Interactive account so that we can send you bulletins with updates and information on this and other CES events. And join the CES Fall Forum Online Ning, which creates opportunities for you to connect with others interested in Fall Forum’s “Changing Schools, Changing Lives” theme. Join in discussions about CES principles and practices, connect with people planning to attend Fall Forum, and take advantage of an authentic and vibrant conversation among friends to deepen your understanding about Fall Forum and CES. For more details about conference logistics or general Fall Forum information, contact Amy Rodriguez Lee at arlee@essentialschools.org or 510-433-1925. Fall Forum info @ CES: http://www.essentialschools.org/fallforum.html Fall Forum Online @ Ning: http://cesfallforum.ning.com CES organizes the inspiration and know-how of an accomplished and innovative network to guide schools through the complex process of transformation. Get the tools, knowledge, contacts, and vision to create and sustain personalized, equitable, academically challenging schools that prepare all students for successful lives—“how all our schools should be.”
- 17. Learning Technology Skills Through Social Entrepreneurialism 15 Learning Technology Skills Through Social Entrepreneurialism by Jean Pendleton, Charleston Collegiate School The only complaint I heard at the ninth grade Applied Technology final exhibition was, “Only $3,000? But I want to make a donation to every organiza- tion!” I had to agree. It was a dilemma, and a frustrating one, at that. Do you give your money to HALE (Hispanic Americans Learning English), the organization which teaches young Spanish-speaking children on John’s Island to speak English or to Hoops for the ‘Hood, the nonprofit which takes kids off the streets and teaches Technology With (and Without) Context them teamwork, goal-setting, and a healthy lifestyle When I first arrived at Charleston Collegiate School, I by giving them a chance to play basketball? Should was handed a college-level Microsoft business applica- you donate to Power for Life which builds wind tions textbook and told I’d be teaching a one-semester farms and installs solar panels across the United States ninth grade technology course. Since the course had or to A Better Life for Abused Women and Children never been taught before, I was given little more which provides shelter, loans, and a new start to direction than: “Teach them Office and anything else victims of domestic abuse around the world? And you think they need to know about computers for the what about the other nine worthy causes represented Upper School.” I looked at the beast of the 944-page at the exhibition? textbook and sighed; I had been teaching technology since 1991, but always in the context of the students’ The final exhibition was a nonprofit fair, although core subject classes. My previous students had learned none of the organizations were real; each had been spreadsheets in math, word processing in English, and created over the semester by a ninth grader. Visitors multimedia presentations in history—or sometimes, to the exhibition—students, parents, and faculty— spreadsheets in history, multimedia presentations in were given three $1,000 “donations” to make to the English, and word processing in math. Suddenly, in three causes of their choice. It was up to the visitors this new environment, I was context-less. to decide where their money would go; it was up to the exhibitors to persuade visitors that their cause The textbook was full of exercises based on scenarios was the most worthy. The visitors and the organiza- involving a shopping mall, a business intern, and a tions’ founders quickly learned that whether you’re travel agency. The students learned the technical skills, on the giving or the receiving end, you have to work but they didn’t find the assignments interesting (when within people’s economic realities; very few people was the last time you went to a travel agency?). And have as much money as they would like to donate to I was troubled by the approach: the students sat at nonprofit organizations. It was just one of many “real computers, and I gave them a task. They were not life” issues the Applied Technology students learned learning when and how technology could solve prob- this past semester. lems; they were being given problems pre-designed to Continued on next page
- 18. 16 Learning Technology Skills Through Social Entrepreneurialism be solved by technology. The exercises seemed unnat- ural, random, and irrelevant. My essential questions for the course were: After a year of this, I decided I needed to change • When is a computer the best tool for the job? things significantly. Scheduling issues and limited resources made teaching the technology skills in the • What makes a cause worth supporting? context of subject areas difficult; I needed to come up with my own context which would help students I started the course with a unit on Wikipedia and recognize the many practical applications for technol- validating Internet information. This was my way of ogy, as well as those situations where a pencil sketch, letting the students (whom I had not taught previ- a 3-D model, or a face-to-face encounter might be a ously) know my expectations and teaching style. I better approach. wanted to establish a foundation of trust in the class- room so that students felt secure in exchanging ideas My first instinct was to have the students create small freely and discussing issues of importance to them. I businesses. I looked for curricular materials and knew this would be important when we began talking found a few textbooks and programs I could use. As about the causes that our nonprofit organizations I browsed through these, a couple of things hit me. would be addressing. Since there are many opinions First, I am a nonprofit person. Both of my parents on how (or how not) to use Wikipedia, I thought spent their entire lives working for nonprofit organi- discussing and writing about this would be a great zations, and except for a short stint in the corporate way to let students know I valued all viewpoints. Our world, I have always worked for nonprofits. As I discussions were rich and the viewpoints varied; at looked at the chapters on the production/distribution the end of the unit, each student proposed a policy on chain, return on investment, and supply and demand the use of Wikipedia for CCS students, secure in the in the small business curricula, I began to feel uncom- knowledge that, as far as I was concerned, there was fortable. I couldn’t relate to what I was reading, and no “right” answer. while I knew I could learn it all, I thought why not teach what I already know so well? Second, and more When we moved into the nonprofit curriculum, I important, I realized that this could be a wonder- started with the question: “What is a nonprofit orga- ful opportunity to teach a lesson much larger than nization?” “It’s a company that doesn’t make any spreadsheets and marketing or even how a small money,” was the unanimous answer. I shouldn’t have organization runs. If, instead of creating commercial been surprised at their initial lack of understand- businesses, the students created nonprofit organiza- ing; most of the parents of my students work for tions, they could get some insight into why people local companies or are in business for themselves as choose to work for a cause rather than a profit. At a real estate agents, landscapers, house cleaners, and time in their lives when they naturally put themselves other small business owners. I realized I had a lot of at the center of their worlds, maybe I could help my groundwork to cover. students to begin to look outside themselves. So we started out by comparing nonprofit and for- profit entities. I created a website of links to dozens Building a Nonprofit Curriculum of organizations and quickly learned that the ones When I couldn’t find any curricula for creating that were of most interest to the students were those nonprofit organizations, I went about building my created by children as well as those in the Charleston own. I looked at several books on starting your own area. International groups with far-reaching missions nonprofit and decided (much to my own dismay like Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund proved to because I hate the title) that The Nonprofit Kit for be overwhelming at this point. We analyzed mission Dummies was the best book for my purposes. My statements and the types of services offered, and we course objectives were that the students would: looked at how different groups raised money. We • Learn to utilize technology—including talked about why people start or choose to work for Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet, nonprofits and watched videos of nonprofit found- Google Earth, RSS, blogs—productively in ers telling their own stories. At the end of this unit, I Upper School and beyond asked the class to brainstorm a list of adjectives that they felt described nonprofit employees. Expecting • Be introduced to all aspects of designing and descriptors like “selfless,” “compassionate,” and running a nonprofit organization “dedicated,” I couldn’t keep myself from laugh- ing when the very first contribution to the list was: • Apply critical thinking skills to all projects “tired.” That was when I knew they were beginning to get it. • Demonstrate independent learning and prob- lem-solving After all this exploration, the students began design- ing their nonprofit organizations. For most, identi-
- 19. Learning Technology Skills Through Social Entrepreneurialism 17 fying a cause was easy since they had been thinking they had to weigh their own needs and desires against about it for a few weeks. Others, however, found this the needs of the organization. Every day in the news step challenging: they didn’t know a lot about the they were hearing about the multimillion dollar sala- problems in the world, they had never volunteered ries of auto industry executives and the astronomical anywhere, or perhaps their parents had not made bonuses of bank employees, yet no one gave them- such issues a priority. I asked these students to focus selves more than $50,000/year. on what they cared about or were interested in, or to reflect back on a difficult personal experience that The Cause Becomes Central might have been made easier had a supportive orga- By now we were about eight weeks into our study of nization been available (such an experience served as nonprofits and many things were becoming second the inspiration for the creation of the aforementioned nature to the students. They understood the financial HALE). constraints that nonprofits were under, and they did everything with that in mind. When they designed Creating an Identity and a Budget publications, for example, they kept the colors to a With causes identified, each student created a mission minimum and the designs simple. More and more, statement, name for the organization, logo, slogan, I saw their cause become their primary concern. “I a title for him or herself, and a business card. They need to hire two teachers that I can rely on to be there used Word, Publisher, Paint, and GIMP to accomplish every day, so that’s two salaries with benefits. Do you these tasks. They signed up for new Gmail accounts think I could make some money if I sold teddy bears with appropriately chosen email addresses. They and t-shirts with our logo on it? Maybe I should start searched online classified ads to identify an actual an adult ESL program and charge a small amount for piece of property they could rent or buy for their it.” “What if I had the homeless people work in the organization, and then looked up that location on kitchen and around the shelter? It would help teach Google Earth. The student with the animal shelter them responsibility and give them some job skills, chose a house with several acres of land while the while saving us from having to hire someone else.” student whose organization was providing basketball “If I got a big name like Michael Jordan to be on my opportunities found a warehouse in Chicago that he board, then maybe it would be easier to expand to planned to convert into courts. This step gave them a other cities so we can help more kids.” real address for their literature as well as realistic rent/ The classes began to run themselves. I would intro- mortgage payments for budgeting purposes. Finally, duce the “problem” and the students would use the they found an appropriate, available domain name on knowledge they had accumulated—and the technol- a site such as godaddy.com. ogy—to help solve it. You need to communicate with Using Microsoft Word’s Résumé Wizard, the students the public . . . “We’ll create a newsletter!” You need then created résumés, which were based on reality to raise some money . . . “We’ll make a PowerPoint! except that they included their nonprofit position as But we won’t make a student PowerPoint with lots of their most current employment (some did not have bells and whistles and images zooming around. We’ll any real employment yet in their young lives, so this make one that’s appropriate for the business world, was good practice). Not only would these résumés for people or companies who might be able to support become part of their final exhibition, but this assign- us.” I watched with pride as they became more and ment also gave the students an opportunity to take more independent, tackling increasingly complex stock of their experiences and accomplishments problems with very little guidance. to date with an eye toward enhancing those in the coming years for college application purposes. CES Principles in Action Budgeting came next, and students learned about This curriculum was intentionally built upon the expenses and income, particularly earned income “student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach” principle; it and contributed income. They created Excel spread- was designed, as the Common Principle states, “to sheets which included the rents/mortgages they had provoke students to learn how to learn and thus to found earlier and estimated expenses according to the teach themselves.” Each day, students added a build- services they were offering. They decided how they ing block to the structure of their organization, were going to staff their organizations: whom did and each student designed each block individually. they need to pay and what could they use volunteers Each decision they made was based on the decisions for? They learned about benefits, insurance, utilities, they had made previously; their fundraising efforts and all of the expenses involved in running a business. reflected their budgets, for instance, and their organi- They had to decide on a salary for themselves; in a zational “look” was based on the color and design of society that relentlessly sends the message that making the logo they had created early in the semester. Not a lot of money is the ultimate definition of success, Continued on next page
- 20. 18 Learning Technology Skills Through Social Entrepreneurialism Nonprofit Organizations Created by we had the luxury of looking at our organizations CCS Ninth Graders through many lenses: What is the founder of this organization concerned about? What are the clients’ The nonprofit organizations created by the ninth grad- ers broke down along gender lines, with the girls creating concerns? What do the donors care about? What do organizations that helped children and animals and the boys these have in common and how do they differ? How creating organizations involved with sports or alternative can you, as the founder, address all three? We weren’t energy. Having recently heard Michael Thompson speak on bouncing from shopping malls to business interns how schools can unwittingly be hostile environments for to travel agencies; the students learned one cohesive boys since they often squelch some of their natural instincts system in depth. and interests, I was thrilled to be able to give both boys and girls a chance to pursue something that was personally A Demonstration of Mastery—With Some Technology meaningful. Their organizations included: Backup • HALE (Hispanic Americans Learning English) – Provid- The final exhibition, ironically, didn’t include any ing ESL services for young children technology at all. It was exclusively face-to-face salesmanship and tri-fold display boards. The boards • Hoops for the Hood – Giving low-income youth an op- portunity to play basketball displayed the products from the semester: business cards, résumés, budgets, graphs, newsletters, mission • Thoughtful Threads – Improving self-confidence through statements, etc. Some students brought in props and giving students nicer clothing incentives to lure visitors to their area. Hoops for • A Chance for Childhood – Providing opportunities for the ‘Hood had a small basketball hoop where visi- homeless children to participate in athletics tors could make a basket and win a Hershey’s Kiss. It • A Better Life for Abused Women and Children – An was brilliant marketing, especially when a lot of the international organization providing shelter and loans for audience was younger than 15 (although the adults women who need a new start enjoyed showing off their basketball prowess too!). In • Backwoods for Kids – Providing hunting experiences to two 45-minute blocks, H4H’s founder received more underpriviliged youth than $50,000 in “donations.” • Make a Goal Foundation – Bringing soccer equipment, The most common question I got from visitors to coaches, and training to the children of Africa the exhibition was, “Are these organizations real?” It • Race 2 a Change – Giving retired race horses a chance to was the ultimate confirmation of the Coalition’s sixth live out their natural lives peacefully principle: “demonstration of mastery.” By the end of the semester, the students had constructed their • Power for Life – Providing alternative energy solutions to towns and businesses organizations so solidly and had internalized their messages so completely that visitors to the exhibition • The Nuclear Environment Center – Lobbying for a reduc- found it difficult to differentiate between our real and tion in the use of nuclear power invented worlds. The nonprofit founders could speak • Organizations sheltering abused and abandoned animals: with confidence about specific people or animals that - Peace 4 Pets their organizations had served. They could outline the biggest challenges that they were facing. They could - NEFFA (No Excuse for Animal Abuse) hypothesize about what the future held and what the - HASC (Helping Animals in South Carolina) attendant financial implications might be. They could formulate an answer to any question, and they did it with great composure. They believed in what they were doing, and they got potential “donors” to believe in it too. And everything they talked about was supported, only did this structure encourage creative and critical resolved, or illustrated by technology. Graphs and thinking, but it took the dark shadow of cheating and charts showed their current and projected financial plagiarism out of the picture completely. Everything status. Newsletters told the stories of those who each student created was original; it couldn’t be copied benefited from their services and announced upcom- from a classmate or cut-and-pasted from the Internet. ing events. Business cards gave contact information The other CES principle that was central to the should someone want to make a future donation. curriculum was “less is more.” With a few digressions, Résumés answered questions about the backgrounds we stuck to the nonprofit curriculum all semester. By of the founders. The curriculum redesign had keeping the content narrow, students were able to succeeded; the students learned the technology skills, explore the same issue from a variety of angles and all within a much larger context, one that was rooted perspectives (i.e., depth over coverage). For instance, in real life and positive global citizenship.
- 21. Learning Technology Skills Through Social Entrepreneurialism 19 New Students, New Ideas Jean Pendleton is the Director of School Renewal at As I begin the second semester with a new group Charleston Collegiate School in John’s Island, SC. She is of ninth graders, I am excited to introduce them to responsible for overseeing the school’s curriculum, profes- nonprofit organizations and explore their ideas for sional development, community service program, and making the world a better place. One boy has decided all things environmental – in other words, as she says, that his organization is going to be affiliated with “anything that involves change.” She has worked in schools HALE and will offer free translation services to adults for nearly 20 years, eight of which were spent at Brimmer who need them when visiting doctors, legal offices, and May School in Chestnut Hill, MA, one of the early and other offices and agencies. Another student is independent school members of the Coalition. trying to figure out a way to rescue the abandoned Charleston Collegiate School is a preschool-grade 12 inde- female Chinese babies they’ve been reading about in pendent day school with an enrollment of 275 students. English class. Located just outside Charleston, SC, the school is one of I hope that this social conscience stays with them the most progressive in the area. CCS’s mission is to have through their school years and into adulthood. For a positive impact on its students, so that they may posi- now, I can say that they’ve already been successful in tively impact the world around them. The school prepares turning around one life: mine. I was a teacher trapped students to face life’s challenges with confidence, strong in a dissatisfying curriculum who now feels renewed problem-solving skills, and a solid ethical foundation. CCS is a community of cultural and economic diversity and reinvigorated by the engagement with learning, which fosters compassion, social awareness, and respect for innovation, and genuine empathy I see in the class- community and environment. room every day. Adventures in Web 2.0 Continued from page 9 National Council of Teachers of English. (2009). Writing Richardson, W. (2007-2009). A shifting notion of what it in the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/ means to teach. Retrieved from http://willrichardson.wiki- press/21stcentwriting spaces.com/page/diff/home/74757129 National School Boards Association. (2007). Creating & Richardson, W. (2009, April 9). Writing to “build the larger connecting: Research and guidelines on online social—and conversation. Video part 3 posted to http://weblogg-ed. educational—networking. Retrieved from http://www.nsba. com/2009/writing-to-build-the-larger-conversation/ org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf Yancey, Kathleen Blake. (2009, February). Writing in Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009). Framework the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/ for 21st century learning. Retrieved from http:// press/21stcentwriting www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content &task=view&id=254&Itemid=120 Donate Now to Celebrate 25 Years of CES CES has launched an Individual Giving Campaign to raise $25,000 to honor and celebrate the 25 years that CES has given collective voice to educators working for personalized, equitable, and academically challenging schools. Your contribution will allow CES to expand our charge of developing innovative teaching and learning strategies and tools that bring the Common Principles to life, continue to publish Horace to tell your stories, and sponsor the gatherings that help you grow as an educator, such as Fall Forum and Summer Institute. CES needs your help, in whatever amount you can afford, to spark the next 25 years of innovative, student-centered, teacher- powered education. Please visit the CES website to click on the Donate Now button at the top of every page, and encourage your colleagues and others who care about creating and sustaining great schools everywhere for everyone to do the same. Visit www.essentialschools.org to Donate Now. Thank you.
- 22. 20 Technology as a Fence and a Bridge Technology as a Fence and a Bridge by Bryan Wehrli, Amy Biehl High School Note from the author: Over the past few years I’ve become increasingly curious about the role of technology in the classroom. I’m interested in teacher attitudes toward new technologies and whether technolo- gies can help us think differently about teaching and learning. This article is adapted from a paper I wrote for a doctoral course on technology, society, and education at the University of New Mexico. Reading and research helped me understand what I experienced in my classroom and school. At a recent meeting of humanities teachers, my Amy Biehl High School (ABHS) colleagues shared their restricted on the premise that listening was antisocial frustration with our students’ use of laptops. “They sit and eroded community. But my observation revealed down, open up the screen, and it feels like a fence.” I that students were splitting headphones and talking to shared their discomfort. I get tired of asking students each other about music. The only sense in which their to close their laptops and attend to the lesson, the behavior could be deemed antisocial is that students discussion, the reading, the white board, the screen, were not socializing with adults. A safety concern was and most important, me. I want my students’ eyes also cited as a reason to ban headphones in hallways, fixed on me and everything I present in the classroom. despite the fact no one could cite an example of an My feelings are hurt when it appears that my students injury. Instead of asking, “What are you listening to?” would rather be doing anything besides engage in it was, “Hand me your headphones.” This knee-jerk my scintillating lesson. “I say we take them away,” response is ominously similar to the policies of tradi- a colleague suggested. “Let’s use the mobile labs and tional high schools nearby. We’re essentially telling have students check out laptops as needed.” Although our students, “What maters most to you—music, our agenda didn’t permit further discussion, I know pop culture, your phone, social networking—doesn’t we’ll think about this more deeply and set aside our belong in school.” In banning the devices, we ban perception of laptops (and the new technologies that the conduit for the culture that matters to students. will appear in our classrooms tomorrow) as a threat to We may as well stick our heads in the sand. Cathleen classroom order, teacher authority, and our traditional Norris and Elliot Soloway put it bluntly, writing, position (figuratively and literally) at the front of the “Change is coming; the impending mobile disruption classroom. As Nicholas Burbles and Thomas Callister will without question impact K-12. Educators can remind us, changes that accompany technology are continue to be enforcers, battling with students over neither good nor bad, they are both good and bad. their mobile devices, wasting a unique opportunity The laptop is both a fence and a bridge. in time . . . schools have a choice—build (and patch and patch) a Maginot Line against impending mobile Cell phones, laptops, the Internet and social network- disruption, or use the energy inherent in the disrup- ing sites make us anxious and magnify the gap tion to revitalize education.” between teacher and student. The influx of devices creates a clamor, but little clarity for schools. We’re When I began investigating the issue, I discovered a not sure what to do. At ABHS, headphone use was heated debate and a spectrum of views. On one end is
- 23. Technology as a Fence and a Bridge 21 a professor who confiscated a phone, then “produced teaching, classrooms, and schools desperately need a hammer and proceeded to smash the offending disruption. In terms of where, when, and how learn- device,” describes Samuel Freedman. On the other ing takes place, too little has changed in the past 100 end is a professor who “prefers to teach in class- years. Most teaching and learning, even in charter rooms with two screens—one to project his slides, schools, is based on an antiquated pedagogy. A and another to project a Twitter stream of notes from Harvard Business School professor, Christensen students.” Although many teachers would consider coined the term disruptive innovation and developed this a recipe for disaster, the professor found that it a theory explaining the failure of once-prominent enhanced his classroom. These two teachers repre- businesses in the computer and automobile industries, sent opposite ends of the continuum of educators’ among others. As so frequently happens, educators responses nationwide. became interested in this theory and its application Most schools have policies that limit or ban student to education reform. Perhaps technological disrup- use of devices and/or the Internet. Why are we tion could disrupt a torpid public school system, as so apprehensive? While administrators and teach- Christensen explains, “The most promising reforms ers cite safety concerns and the distractions devices hold the potential to move us away from the current bring, another answer is that teachers “often see new monolithic education system to one centered on indi- technologies as threatening their scholarly author- vidual student needs. Efforts that have made noise in ity, precisely because these technologies require a this challenging time focus on “disrupting class”— re-thinking of roles,” writes Henk Huijser. When changing our fundamental assumptions about how knowledge is no longer scarce, what is a teacher’s learning occurs, when it occurs, and where it occurs. role? Will students need us? If students can easily They are challenging and improving upon the long- access information at home, why come to school? In established learning interaction between student and a trenchant analysis, Michael Wesch writes that “in teacher in the traditional classroom setting, which has some ways these technologies act as magnifiers . . . remained strikingly unchanged for generations.” by allowing students to tune out more easily.” What Although theories originating in the corporate world problems are being magnified? Wesch’s answer is can be problematic in terms of their applicability for that we’re facing a crisis of significance, “the fact that schools, parts of this theory make sense. A helpful many students are now struggling to find meaning and element—frequently missing from ed-tech debates—is significance in their education.” I disagree with Wesch the need for a valid, if basic, pedagogical framework. only slightly. It’s not so much a problem of students Christensen understands that students learn differ- finding meaning in education. They want to learn. ently and that a central problem is the way school is It is a problem of finding meaning or significance in arranged “in a monolithic batch mode system where our schools and in my classroom. No wonder my all students are taught the same things on the same students’ laptops make me uncomfortable. day in the same way.” Unfortunately, Christensen Then a colleague sent me Clayton Christensen’s neglects the social and emotional aspects of a teacher’s Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will work, for example, suggesting that new educational Change the Way the World Learns. The term “disrup- technologies, a new structure of the school day and tive” immediately resonated because I believe our a new role for the teacher will enable schools to “increase the number of students per live teacher.” This is Christensen’s cost-efficiency thinking, but the ways a teacher could personalize learning for larger numbers of students remains a question. Amy Biehl High School transforms young people from Christensen does not address race, class, gender, all walks of life into civic-minded college students and language, and this is problematic: assuming that while they are still in high school! Located in the heart disruption will be driven by teachers, parents and of downtown Albuquerque in a 100-year-old historic students, Christensen neglects to consider whether building, ABHS is redefining the value of a high school diploma by providing a challenging curriculum and cul- everyone will have equal access to the necessary tools. tivating close relationships with students and families. Consideration of culture is similarly lacking, which is In addition, close coordination with UNM, CNM and important to note as no tool is culturally neutral. a host of community partners enables habits needed to Disrupting Class captures perpetual enthusiasm for successfully complete two relevant college classes and technology’s potential to transform education. Given service initiatives. Our students are primed for success the myriad problems facing our schools, frustrations in life, wherever that may lead them, and their presence with reform efforts, and the phenomenally rapid benefits our communities in Albuquerque and beyond. development of new educational technologies, it is not Continued on next page
- 24. 22 Technology as a Fence and a Bridge knowledge construction, seems to be emerging,” write Related Resource Michele Knobel and Dana Wilber. Once viewed as the exclusive domain of academe, knowledge is Read more about Amy Biehl High School in Horace! increasingly accessible and decentralized. Together, “Small School, Big Influence: Amy Biehl High School these trends may help fulfill the promise of technol- Tells Its Story,” Fall 2005, http://www.essentialschools. ogy to shift teaching and learning toward the 21st org/cs/resources/view/ces_res/381 century. However, if employed without a valid learn- ing theory, educational technologies will not disrupt. “Translating Success: How Careful Planning Within a Problems-Based Curriculum Can Prepare Students Transformative disruption is much more likely to to Enter College-Level Math Classes,” Spring 2007, occur in Essential schools and other schools that http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ nurture learning communities. The response of teach- ces_res/446 ers to new technologies, whether they reach out with a hammer or a curious mind, can be influenced by schools culture and professional community. When a school is conceived as a community of learners in surprising that the notion of disruption generates such which curiosity is nurtured and where teachers are fervor, and this is not the first time reformers have encouraged to collaborate, take risks, and experiment, invested their hopes in technology. Seymour Papert technology will more likely disrupt positively. A clearly had a transformation in mind when he wrote, teacher’s view of a laptop as a fence or a bridge can be “computers serve best when they allow everything influenced by colleagues and the culture of the school to change.” Exactly what does a transformation of in which they teach. Where the student perspective is teaching and learning look like? Françoise Blin and front and center, technological innovation can flour- Morag Munro put it this way: “When the introduc- ish and contribute to a transformation of teaching, tion of a new object or of a new tool, such as a VLE learning, and schools themselves. CES schools are well [virtual learning environment] results in a serious situated to harness technology for the transformation alteration of the internal structure of the teaching of teaching and learning because the CES Common activity system, we can infer that the activity system Principles incorporate a valid, student-centered peda- has been disrupted. If the disruption manifests itself gogy, a teacher-as-coach model, personalization, and through construction and adoption of new curri- respect for students. Our schools are collaborative and cula, assessment procedures, teaching methodologies, reward risk-taking. resources and tasks, we can infer . . . that this disrup- But we have to understand that emergent technolo- tion is expansive.” In other words, technology has gies are not just tools. These tools are changing us, been constructively and sufficiently disruptive when our culture, and our schools. As Michael Wesch states. teaching, learning, and schools look very different “This is a social revolution, not a technological one, and when we have new answers to questions of when, and its most revolutionary aspect may be the ways where, and how learning takes place. in which it empowers us to rethink education.” We Although we need to balance our enthusiasm with should embrace educational technologies as another skepticism, any potential for meaningful change tool to transform our teaching, learning, and schools. warrants consideration. A set of recent developments Let’s enthusiastically accept what matters to our increases the possibility of a real disruption: 1) the students and figure out how to harness their inter- technology-immersed character of “digital natives,” ests. Let’s not view technology just as a new tool for known as the NetGen, 2) a bottom-up push for tech- an old task, but as a new tool that can help us think nology’s place in schools, 3) the interactive and partic- differently about teaching and help our students think ipatory possibilities of Web 2.0, and 4) an increas- differently about learning. ing acceptance of the notion of social knowledge One morning, I decided to take a few minutes to share construction (as embodied in wikis). Primary among with students what I’ve been learning about educa- these factors is the centrality of technology in the lives tional technology and more importantly, what I’ve of NetGen. Our students, so-called digital natives, been feeling about the laptops. I have the luxury of are already discovering educational uses for emergent working at a school with a deliberately built culture of technologies. They are not waiting for permission. In respect. My students listened. I still have to ask them the past, technology was introduced by adults, but to close their computers, but only once. Now my now students carry the devices into our classrooms. colleagues and I need to open ours. The push is bottom-up. Another critical factor is the interactive and participatory nature of Web 2.0, which encourages participation, creation, collaboration, and distribution. Indeed, a “new ethos” of knowledge and
- 25. Technology as a Fence and a Bridge 23 Young, J. “Professor Encourages Students to Pass Notes Bryan Wehrli is a service-learning supervisor and teacher of During Class—via Twitter.” The Chronicle of Higher Humanities and Economics. He has been teaching at ABHS Education, April 8, 2009. Available online at http://chron- almost since its inception nine years ago. His doctoral icle.com/wiredcampus/article/3705/professor-encourages- studies are in teacher education. students- References Blin, F., & Munro, M. (2008). “Why Hasn’t Technology Disrupted Academics’ Teaching Practices? Understanding Resistance to Change through the Lens of Activity Theory.” Computers and Education. 50, 475-490. Burbles, N. & Callister, T. (2000). Watching It: The Risks and Promises of Information Technologies for Education. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Christensen, C. M., Horn, M. B. & Curtis, W. J. (2008). Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. New York, New York: McGraw Hill. Christensen, C. M. & Horn, M. B. (2009) “The Best Education Disruption 0f 2008?” available online at http:// blogs.harvardbusiness.org/on-innovation/2009/01/the-best- education-disruption.html Conole, G., de Laat, M., Dillon, T., & Darby, J. (2008). “ ‘Disruptive technologies’, ‘pedagogical innovation’: What’s new? findings from an in-depth study of students’ use and perception of technology.” Computers & Education, 50(2), 511-524. Huijser, H. (2008). “Exploring the Educational Potential of Social Networking Sites: The Final Line between Exploiting Opportunities and Unwelcome Imposition.” Studies in Learning, Evaluation Innovation and Development. Available online at http://www.sleid.cqu.edu.au/include/ getdoc.php?id=708 Freedman, S.G. (2007, November 7). “New Class(room) War: Teacher vs. Technology.” New York Times. Available online at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/ education/07education.html?_r=1 Knobel, M. & Wilber, D. (2009). “Let’s Talk 2.0.” Educational Leadership. 66(6) March, 20-24. Norris, C. & Soloway, E. (2009). “The Impending Mobile Mega Disruption.” District Administration. January 2009. Papert, S. (n.d.) “Technology in the schools: To support the system or render it obsolete.” Available online at http:// www.mff.org/edtech/article.taf?_function=detail&Content_ uid1=106 Papert, S. (1993). The Children’s Machine: Rethinking Schools in the Age of the Computer. New York: Basic Books. Staley, D. J. (2009). “Managing the Platform: Higher Education and the Logic of Wikinomics.” EDUCASE Review. 40 (1) January/February, 36-47. Wesch, M. (2009, January 7). “From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-able: Learning in New Media Environments.” Academic Commons. Available online at http://www. academiccommons.org/commons/essay/knowledgable- knowledge-able.
- 26. 24 Distance Learning and the CES Common Principles Distance Learning and the CES Common Principles by Jennie Hallisey, Boston Day and Evening Academy Sometimes our classroom is quiet. You might hear the tapping of the computer keys and an occa- sional chuckle or a sigh. Two or three students sit at separate tables; one is focused on the laptop screen diligently writing her second draft of her science report. In the other room, a student meets with Mr. D. about his math project. Sometimes it’s crazy! Music comes from a computer. Students discuss their video. An alum sits at the table helping another student with her digital project. A teacher works with a student who is there with her newborn, discussing her work plan for home and the other teacher talks with a few students truly demonstrated the required skill set students about political philosophies. Meanwhile, rather than just attending specific courses met the some students wait their turn to confer with the teach- school’s mission. Initially, the DL program was ers, and others are packing to leave after a few hours designed for a specified group of students who met of work. This is our classroom at any given time, on the criteria of being able to demonstrate indepen- any given day. dent study skills and had issues that kept them from attending school regularly. BDEA aimed to lease Like every classroom, we have students with varied school-owned laptops to them so they could complete learning styles, interests, and backgrounds. However, a competency-based program from home. In the DL our students, who very much want to be in school, program’s first year, I was its coordinator and only have constraints on their schedules that make it chal- teacher. I was going to be the students’ advisor as lenging for them to be present during the typical well as their program manager, assigning “tests” and daytime school hours. We have young moms with and practice programs that students “tested into” from the without daycare. We have students who need to work Plato Learning program. Then reality set in. to help their families pay the rent or simply to survive on their own. We have students who have health condi- At that time, the installed version of Plato was not tions that flare up, causing them to be in and out of compatible with the Apple iBooks laptops. As an school and disrupting their academic progress. We have immediate remedy, we switched to Plato’s web-based students who simply are “too old” to sit in a regular version. Inner-city networking was in its early stages, classroom with other students. They all have a mission: and there were many Internet glitches that occurred to finish school and receive their high school diplomas. during our time in school. Our access to technical support was limited; because we were an evening Our History: What Worked, What Didn’t program, when we had problems at 6:00PM, the In 2001, Boston Day and Evening Academy (BDEA) Office of Information Technology was closed. started its Distance Learning Program (DL) to serve As well, computers at home were not as accessible to students who could not come to school on a regular students as they are now. The idea of leasing laptops basis. Because we are by design a competency-based was well-intended, but sending students home with school, the opportunity to have a program where brand new computers was not wise. First, though
- 27. Distance Learning and the CES Common Principles 25 students had computer bags, they became walking targets for theft within their neighborhoods and on the bus. Second, wireless connections were not widely available. The best way for students to get Boston Day and Evening Academy on the Internet was through a dial-up connection, Boston Day and Evening Academy (BDEA) is a year- which proved to be a nightmare for students without round public high school with a unique mission: to a landline. Even those that had active landlines faced serve 350 students who are over-age for grade level and challenges because of the poor quality of the phone who are either at high risk for dropping out or have al- connections in their living spaces that often had not ready dropped out of high school. BDEA began serving benefitted from telecommunications upgrades for students in September 1995 as the Downtown Evening some time, if ever. Academy, Boston’s first evening, diploma-granting, public high school. In 1998, the school became a Horace In addition to acclimating ourselves to Plato and Mann Charter School and was renamed the Boston Eve- troubleshooting our technology challenges, I still had ning Academy. In 2001, the Distance Learning Program to help students who were trying to do school in a was added and now operates at full capacity with 50 stu- “flexible” manner. They needed work to do and to dents. In 2003, the Day program was added, strengthen- feel that they were making progress. In that first year, ing our ability to serve at-risk, over-age, and academi- with 12 students, I created “homework packets” that cally under-prepared eighth grade students who may not only provided skills practice, but also opportuni- be as old as 18. During the same year, BDEA became ties to demonstrate competence. Our school-wide a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES). competency-based program was “product-based,” All three of BDEA’s programs use a competency-based curriculum, and progress is assessed through a variety meaning that students could demonstrate competen- of methods, both quantitative and qualitative, includ- cies through designated assignments. I created what ing written and oral exams, research projects, meeting I could and borrowed the rest from the math depart- over 300 benchmarks, internships, capstone projects, ment. (I am not a math teacher.) This survival mode and field work. BDEA’s curriculum and assessment does helped the students, but I wanted more quality within not include traditional grade levels or Carnegie units the program. for grading, but meets all students “wherever they are” Moving from year one to year two, I had two major in their education using a combination of individual learning plans and differentiated instruction to meet and worries: math (did I mention that I am not, by surpass graduation requirements. training, a math teacher?) and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). Massachusetts was coming down hard on trying to implement the mandatory, standardized MCAS tests English-language arts and math. Students also needed more schedule options for check in and instruc- Dimagiba, but we grew in numbers; first to 30 students, tion. To alleviate my worries, my own hours were and then to our present 50. expanded and the program was able to hire a part-time math instructor. The DL Program Today We are available for students to come in to work or We continued to use Plato because we were under check in for nine and a half hours a day, Monday contract, but its value and practicality diminished for through Thursday, with five hours on Friday. Students us. It wasn’t that the program wasn’t good, but it didn’t are not assigned a schedule. Instead, their “required” fit our needs. We came to understand that even though time varies, case-by-case, student-by-student. We do our students could not and did not always come to ask that students come in and/or check in via email or school, for some, school was the one thing in their lives by phone at least once a week. Certain students have that they could count on; it’s always there. Sending particular situations in which they truly are unable them home with a program and assigning a web activ- to come in, so we establish an alternate schedule and ity to teach them equations isolated them even more. means of communication. Ultimately, we rely on trust: Our students needed and wanted human contact; and even though we don’t see them frequently, we know I committed to providing that contact as an advisor they are doing their work, and their proof is in the and teacher. From year two on, BDEA realized the full work itself that they bring when they do come in. value of the program. Students who once thought they were not going to finish because they couldn’t come to BDEA students have had interruptions in their high school were now making progress on their own time school careers; generally speaking, our students have and schedules, and they were graduating. In 2003, when had a rough road of it. Because of the independent BDEA physically moved across the city to its present nature of the DL program, we prefer that students are location, the program was given a chance to grow. at least 18 years old, have had some time in high school, We not only got a permanent math instructor, Ray Continued on next page
- 28. 26 Distance Learning and the CES Common Principles have passed at least one if not two of the required plan. Through each of these competency opportu- Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System nities, technology is used as a support and a tool. (MCAS) tests, and have a significant reason for not Students use the Internet to research, and enhance being able to attend school regularly. If students are their research and presentations using PowerPoint, currently enrolled at BDEA, their teachers and advisors iMovie, and GarageBand. Students use Google tools will recommend them to the DL program if they have to email and collect their work, and participate in a demonstrated they are capable of working indepen- social network, the Ning. Over the years the program dently and have had legitimate lapses in attendance. As has experimented with other online sites such as well as, the admissions office will note particular new Nicenet (free) Knowledge Forum (not free) and students who are older than the age of 18, have been in Blogmeister (free). Nicenet and Knowledge Forum school at least two years, and have not had success in were great for posting assignments and holding their attempts to finish high school. discussions, but lacked the luster to hold high school When students enter the DL program, the program students’ attention. Blogmeister was an excellent instructors design an academic plan based on what the teaching tool to introduce students to the skills of students’ transcripts and progress reflect. The program blogging, webpage management, and commenting is not a “one-size fits all” curriculum. Each student on each other’s work online. However, the Ning has has his or her own academic plan and schedule, based been the most successful with DL students because it on the school-wide, competency-based Individualized offers the “glitz” of posting photographs and music, Learning Plan frameworks. If there is a “little noted similar to MySpace and Facebook. The Ning is both history,” a plan may take more time to develop. a creative opportunity for students and suitable for Competency development and assessment includes the classroom purposes of discussion, blogging, and “testing” the student’s skill level through introduc- sending messages. As well, the Ning is private; all of tory projects or assignments in the required compe- the students’ work is password protected and acces- tency areas as well as observation of the students’ sible by “invitation only.” commitment to the program in their efforts to attend The final school-wide requirement, the Capstone school and maintain communication. The example of Project, is a larger project with research, writing, a student who enters the program with a transcript experiential, and digital components that focuses on filled with “F’s” for two years, but who has passed a student-generated essential question. We encourage MCAS tells us that the student has the basic state students to create a question around a career, creative required skill set, but there might have been issues or social interest. BDEA students begin the Capstone that kept the student from coming to school. We Project after completing competency demonstrations. establish a schedule for this particular student, while In the DL program, the Capstone Project is the center providing him/her with basic projects that include of students’ academic plans. Once we get a handle on writing and research skills. In math, Ray might give “where the student is” in terms of competency levels the student a department-created diagnostic corre- and the particular skills s/he has demonstrated, we sponding to the student’s last successful math course initiate conversations about the Capstone Project. as well discuss a specific math problem in order to The Capstone project is designed to be scaffolded: assess the student’s level of understanding and ability for example, a more novice student may be months to explain the concepts. away from completing the Capstone Narrative Essay, Once we establish our students’ status in terms in which the students connect themselves to their of demonstrated competencies, we can establish a selected questions, but she/he can do a more basic “prescription for completion.” BDEA students must narrative retelling of a life experience so that s/he can complete three major requirements in order to gradu- learn and practice the writing process. In the Ning, ate; competency demonstration, MCAS passage, students write blogs about their real-life experiences and Capstone Project completion. In the regular connected to their essential questions, and read, programs, the students take module-like courses that comment on, and learn from their classmates’ blogs. allow them to demonstrate competency. For example, Pulling all students into the Capstone experience the math competency course options are broken down helps condense the academic plan by combining into number sense, algebra I, algebra II, and geom- the remaining skills with the topics students want etry. Depending on a student’s diagnostic test results, to focus on—this beckons students into finishing the student will take the mapped courses to meet all school as they become more invested in what they of the math competencies. DL students demonstrate are doing. Shaniqua, an 18 year-old mother and soon competency through one-on-one teacher-student to be graduate, enjoyed her Capstone experience. conversation sessions, integrated projects, individual She says, “The Capstone is good because you get to assignments, and group discussions. As necessary, we make up your own questions and study things you incorporate MCAS prep into the student’s academic want to learn about.”
- 29. Distance Learning and the CES Common Principles 27 The CES Common Principles Enacted in BDEA’s examples of personalization. Nearly every component Distance Learning Program of the program is personalized from individualized What happens every day in the DL space is differ- learning plans to the content of the Capstone Project. entiated and structured, calm and crazy, creative and DL students understands that their experiences will be consistent. These qualities make us a unique program distinct as they proceed toward graduation. that reflects what the Common Principles intended. Student-as-Worker, Teacher-as-Coach Learning to Use One’s Mind Well Much of the success of DL students is based on their Our academic mission is to have students think for individual drive and commitment to finishing high themselves using the information that is around them school. The teachers are there to teach when and and become life-long learners. The DL program’s what is needed, and to support students as they work instructors honor the principle “learning to use one’s through their academic plans. As soon as students mind well” by talking to students about their work enter the program, we tell them “It’s on you! We are and consistently encouraging them to think deeply here to support you where you need it, to direct you about what they study. Even on the Ning, students can and guide you through your academic coursework. respond to and question their classmates, encouraging But when it comes down to it, your success depends one another to dig a little more into their own ideas. on you.” Accountability, self-direction, and inde- pendence are attributes of a successful DL student. Less Is More, Depth over Coverage Sometimes guidance is more important than content. Because our students have various obstacles that keep Marie, a 19-year-old mother, came to DL at BDEA them from coming to school on a regular schedule, after trying to return to a regular high school to finish we understand their time is valuable. They have real her senior year after having her baby. Feeling like grown up things to take care of—school is another she couldn’t focus all day in a regular classroom, she thing on the list. But they still have their eyes on the took the advice of her cousin who just graduated from prize: the diploma. For every one of them, earning the DL program. Her impressive record and demon- that high school diploma has been a struggle. Our strated learning from her previous school meant that format of a flex schedule combined with a curriculum she could complete the Capstone Project. “What that is based on the demonstration of competency and works for me is the flexibility,” commented Marie, embedded interdisciplinary projects demonstrates that “Rather than worry about all my classes all day, every less is more. Students can get more done in less time. day, I can focus on one project on my time. It’s on Their education is not about a number of hours in the me to keep in touch and know what I need to do. seat but about the quality of work that students can But whenever I need help, I know where I can find do on their own schedules. The less is more concept it.” Marie now is applying to colleges and is ready to also applies when students take their personal interests graduate in June. and the issues they care about and use that content to fulfill their academic requirements. Math instructor Demonstration of Mastery Dimagiba comments, “Acquiring the ability to focus The whole point of a competency-based educa- on one thing is important not only for the information tion comes down to the ways students demonstrate but also, and more importantly, for the experience in mastery. The majority of the ways students move being able to focus so much of yourself in that one through the curriculum plan is by talking about their thing. Less is more; it’s about process. The journey is work and demonstrating what they have completed the destination, the experience of getting there, not the to get to the final point of competency. As a means actual graduation.” of doing a final assessment at the end of a trimester, students in the Distance Learning Program participate Goals Apply to All Students in the Habits of Mind summit, in which they are given It is the goal of every high school student to earn the a small reading, topic, or question to discuss from a coveted diploma. In DL, it is understood that the number of perspectives. They are required to apply means by which each student reaches the same goal their work and experiences to the theme. This summit will differ from student to student. According to experience allows students to demonstrate compe- Dimagiba, “There is something amazing about each tency and to identify the BDEA Habits of Mind and and every student. We’re simply setting up the proper understand what skills they need to master in order stage for it.” to graduate. The Capstone Project is also a culminat- ing experience that focuses on students’ ability to Personalization research, write, and communicate ideas regarding a Because students in the DL program have different topic about which they are passionate. “The project situations that keep them from coming to school on a regular basis, their highly individualized schedules are Continued on next page
- 30. 28 Distance Learning and the CES Common Principles Jesse also added that he does hope to finish, assisted by the DL program’s calming atmosphere that helps Related Resource him focus. Read more about Boston Day and Evening Academy in Horace Commitment to the Entire School Though one of the DL program teachers specializes in “Conditions for Small School Success in Boston: Les- sons from the Pilot Schools,” Summer 2005, http:// math and the other in humanities, our all-encompass- www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ces_ ing advisory is what truly makes this program work. res/368 We talk to the students about their work and their progress. Most important, we find time during every “Principled Principal Development: The Greater student visit to talk to all students about themselves. It Boston Principal Residency Network,” Spring 2008, is all about them. And for us, it’s not just about teach- http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ ing, but it’s also about listening, supporting, and offer- ces_res/502 ing options to help them be successful. Ray and I have our academic specialties, but we are generalists in our approach with each student. We can’t work effectively with students until we know and understand them is the umbrella that holds all the competencies,” says and why they aren’t able to attend school in a regular Karen Cowan, acting Co-Head of School at BDEA. program. Our academics are embedded in the advi- ”When they open the umbrella, they can look up and sory model and we know that “life” is a reality that see the spokes that flow from their topic and see how should be embraced in their education and at school. they can all can connect.” Kristin, an 18-year old senior, appreciates that her Capstone Project on personal health not only helped Tone of Decency and Trust her finish her science requirement, but also provided When others hear a DL student talk about the an opportunity for her personal growth. “The project program, they often become alarmed. One of the wasn’t just about one subject or another. It was about many comments students frequently offer about their learning more about me.” She adds, “The program success is that we don’t push them, nag them, or get was more than just school. My schedule works around on their cases if they have a “momentary lapse.” It’s getting things done. It’s a great prep for college not that we don’t care. We care. We care a lot. But our because it teaches you how to manage your time.” philosophy is that we support and we always empha- size students’ personal responsibility. We respect their Resources dedicated to teaching and learning choices knowing that if they choose to be consistent, The DL program exemplifies “resources dedicated to they will succeed. Many of our students often have teaching and learning.” With 50 students, two full time no choice but to set school aside for some time, but teachers, and two post-grad advisors housed in two they trust us to allow them to pick up where they left connected classrooms, our “department” resources are off. We trust them to keep us in the loop as to what is mostly spent on technology equipment and mainte- happening with them and know that when they can, nance in the service of learning and student progress. they will be back. It is this sense of trust that allows Other materials include art supplies, random books for the students to find success in more than just their reading, and snacks. We like to keep snacks on hand for assignments. Curricular flexibility combined with our students, who appreciate this token of TLC. teacher availability gives students confidence in school and sets the “tone of decency and trust.” Students Democracy and Equity understands and trust that when they do come in they The DL program truly works for students who are not “punished” or reprimanded for what time run into obstacles that have kept them from finish- they have missed, but instead are welcomed because ing high school. While the program works best for they returned. Karen Cowan states, “The program students who work independently, have a strong skill is not the perceptive notion of what distance learn- base and are very committed to their education, not ing is; ‘distance’ is the time they spend away from every student in the program has these qualities. If a the classroom, because they still come in to connect.” student wants to finish school and is committed to Jesse, a 20-year old senior who struggled to focus this goal, we will do our best to serve that student. and complete his work, knows exactly why he hasn’t We believe that everyone needs something different had success. “I know I can do the work, but times I to be successful. Some students may need more skill- haven’t been committed to what I need to do. But it building but their life circumstances keep them from is the flexibility that has kept me from dropping out. going to school. We try never to turn kids away; they The flexibility is awesome. You either use it or abuse all deserve a chance. If there is room on the roster, it. For me, if I don’t finish I can only blame myself.” if they are close to the age of 18, and they have the
- 31. Distance Learning and the CES Common Principles 29 potential to work independently, we do everything we committed to meeting the goal of “when there’s a will, can to give them a shot. Individualization plays a huge there’s a way.” If we can get a student to commit and role in this: each student’s program may differ and it work hard, we will develop a plan that will get them may take some longer to complete their plan, but all to where they want to go. It’s an unconventional, but students gets a chance. with the right combination of personal attention and technological support, it works. Conclusion As any classroom teacher can understand, it is diffi- Jennie Hallisey has been a faculty member with Boston Day cult to meet each and every student’s individual and Evening Academy since its inception as the Downtown academic needs on a daily basis, let alone be flexible Evening Academy in 1994. She has taught in high schools when it comes to dealing with personal issues. The in California and Massachusetts. As coordinator of the CES Common Principles encourage all of us to reach BDEA Distance Learning program, Hallisey emphasizes beyond the daily classroom structure to do our best to all of her students the importance of passion in reach- to put the students first as a group and as individu- ing their academic potential, as well as continuing to use als. Life is not fair for many of our youth. And for their strengths and passions to grow and learn after gradu- ation. Hallisey holds a B.A. in Speech Communication some, it seems no matter how hard they try, chal- from Purdue University, an M.A. in Guidance Counseling lenges constantly plague their intentions to do better. from Bridgewater State University, and has a certification in As instructors and advisors in the DL program, we are Speech Communication, ELA, and Guidance Counseling. • Growing a professional learning community • Utilizing data-based inquiry to inform decisions • Creating a student-centered school culture Building District Capacity for Change CES supports districts to establish the vision, leadership, To improve instructional practices, turn around and know-how to create a high performing system that a failing school, or revamp an entire district, the closes the achievement gap. Using a framework for Coalition of Essential Schools can help. district-wide learning and data-based decision making, Leading the way in educational innovation for 25 years, we’ll guide you through exercises to: CES principles and practices have been successfully • Assess your readiness for equity-focused work implemented in hundreds of schools and have changed • Create a strategic plan for raising student achievement the lives of thousands of students, paving the way for • Build a cadre of transformational leaders to implement successful transitions to college and careers. the plan Drawing from a national network of coaches who use In addition, we’ll partner with you to establish a a proven, research-based framework for coaching for comprehensive coaching program that invests in the equity, CES has developed a wealth of information and human capital of your district to support continuous strategies to help districts and schools improve instruction improvement in your schools. We’ll help you to identify, and meet AYP targets. By building the capacity of district train, and position your staff to: and site leaders and increasing effective instructional practices at your schools, we can help you dramatically • Align curriculum to standards and skills improve outcomes for English language learners, students • Implement peer-to-peer professional development from low-income backgrounds, and students performing focused on effective teaching in the lowest quartiles. • Create job-embedded professional learning opportunities Creating 21st Century Schools • Benchmark organizational and instructional practices CES can support individual schools or whole districts to • Establish equitable school cultures raise academic expectations, shift the culture of failing • Facilitate meetings, institutes, and trainings schools, and increase student achievement across all • Lead classroom observations and school quality reviews groups. We work with schools to develop improvement For information: Contact CES Program Associate Kyle plans that include the following strategies: Meador at kmeador@essentialschools.org or 510-433-5970 • Developing standards-based, 21st century curricula On the web: http://www.essentialschools.org • Implementing proven instructional and assessment practices
- 32. 30 @Room302: Using Twitter in an Elementary School Classroom @Room302: Using Twitter in an Elementary School Classroom by Jeff Kurtz Many years ago, when I first started teaching, a colleague showed me a great technique for communicating with families: At the end of the day, she used a 24- by 16-inch chart tablet to produce daily news in shared writing with her students. She, and then I, chose one student each day to take the tablet home. That student illustrated the news from that day. The student’s family read the news, along with all of the previous news reports. The students took turns, so families saw it about once a month. I just loved the idea because it encompassed writing for a real reason, and the kids loved sharing their so many qualities that are present in good writing work with families. For a couple of years I also tried instruction: it taught kids to write using authentic, using our class web site. These approaches had advan- meaningful topics; it was written for a real audi- tages, but both were very time-consuming for me, and ence; there was a clear purpose; it was accessible neither offered easy ways for families to participate. to, and useful for, the entire range of abilities in my classroom. Even the kids who didn’t get to take the This year, I decided to try using Twitter, and the more tablet home that day were participating in the shared we use it, the more power I have found in it. Our class writing, which means they were reviewing that day’s Twitter site now has more than 350 entries (called learning and were more likely to have something tweets), and we manage to add four or five each day. specific to answer at home when someone asked “What did you do in school today?” Students loved the writing, illustrating and sharing their work, and they were highly motivated to do well because they About Our School and Access to Technology knew many people would be viewing their efforts. I teach at an elementary school in Washington State with Over the years, I’ve gotten away from that tablet a wide range of family income levels. We are keeping technique, but I’ve never stopped looking for ways the school anonymous for the purposes of this article to to get kids to write about real things with a real audi- preserve students’ privacy. We’re a small school of around ence in mind. I’ve never stopped thinking of ways to 300 students. Our technology access is limited: most keep families in the loop about what we’re doing in classrooms have document cameras, but few are con- school. I’ve continually tried to make it a regular part nected to computers. We have no computer lab, and my of our day to review what we’re doing. I’ve continued classroom has the only teacher-dedicated computer. and to use modeled and shared writing, and integrated and I make CDs of students’ Twitter writing to allow families guided writing, as powerful teaching tools. without Internet access to read students’ work. Using a public site such as Twitter allows families to access us on One year I ended each day by writing a blog with my public computers at libraries and community centers. class. We discussed the events of the day, chose one to focus on, and brainstormed details. We wrote and published on the spot. It was a great way to work on
- 33. @Room302: Using Twitter in an Elementary School Classroom 31 Almost every entry was composed by my first and Sometimes I just type the tweet as written; sometimes second grade students. Along with text, there are I type it in the company of the student, who can then photos taken by the students and posted on Twitpic, advise me on details to add or change. Often I type and audio of kids reading which we post on Chirbit. the message into Twitter in front of the class, as the Now that the class has had almost a year of experience author reads aloud. If the tweet falls short of 140 using Twitter, they know the routine, and composing characters, the author can take suggestions from the is pretty easy for most of them. class on what to add. If it’s too long, the author can We began the year with me posting a few tweets just get help from the class on what to delete or change to get started and try it out. I wasn’t sure if it would to get down to the limit. Whether with the student work, or if if the time spent would be worthwhile, or in front of the class, I’m continually and quickly since time devoted to one thing means less time for explaining what I’m changing and why, and I’m something else. Next, I modeled posting on Twitter asking the students to do the same. Using Twitter in front of the class throughout the day, usually right this way embeds writing instruction all day long. I’m before a transition while we met to share and review teaching as we go, in the moment, and the instruction whatever lesson we were working on at the time. It is intrinsically meaningful and relevant. Rather than didn’t take long for them to catch on, and we were saying, “Today we’ll talk about ‘describing’ words,” at soon composing shared pieces. Students watched the a random time in the year, we talk about about what projected image from my computer as I typed, watch- we need, when and as we need it. This negates the ing the Twitter character counter descend from 140 to question, “When are we gonna use this?” As a matter zero, and then into negative numbers as our expres- of respect to the author of that tweet, I generally get sions passed the character limit. their approval before making changes, so there is always the feeling of ownership and the message that Once we typed the message, it was then time to edit each voice is valued. and revise so that the tweet would fall into the range of 140 or fewer characters. I love that character limit My class is becoming quite adept at adapting the feature for teaching; it provides a real and powerful original message to fit within the Twitter parameters. way, and need, to teach word choice, ideas, and punc- They discuss, debate, listen, and work together, often tuation. Twitter also creates an authentic requirement with great passion, as they explain and defend points to consider the needs and background of our audi- of view. Of course, with a class of 28 first and second ence in a way that most of the students didn’t have to graders, we rarely have 100 percent of their attention confront in writer’s workshop, or math, or science, or 100 percent of the time, but since each entry is so other writing we did. I find first and second graders short, it usually doesn’t take long to figure it out and are still so egocentric that considering others is a fairly move on, so most of them can stay with us most of novel concept. Editing and revising the messages often the time. I’ve also noticed that the more we do it, the takes longer than composing, as the class debates more most of the students understand what’s going which items are essential, which are implied, which on, making it more likely they’ll participate. can be assumed that our followers (mostly family Tweeting throughout the day means that writing has members) know, and which we can hint at, with the become an integral part of whatever we do, rather than assumption that family members can ask for more a separate subject that is given some attention and then information if they want it. put away to be forgotten until the next day. It has also After about 50 messages written as a class, I had the taught the students to see their lives and activities as kids start composing the tweets themselves. I have a worth sharing. And it is extremely rare that anyone simple chart that shows whose turn it is. That student tells me they don’t know what to write about. writes the tweet into a spiral notebook. Some students The messages we post to Twitter can be read right do it alone; some have a classmate help. I expect the away, or once a day, or whenever the reader wants. students to write/revise/edit before bringing the book Parents who want frequent updates on class activities to me. They do so without complaint because they are have them. Those who want to check in periodically eager to get their entries posted and they have been can do so. Relatives near and far can stay in touch taught that revising and editing are part of the process. in meaningful ways. I have wondered whether it is I have found this to be more effective than my efforts crushingly boring to read about the mundane activi- to get them to revise and edit in Writer’s Workshop, ties of our classroom, but parents and family members where the length of the stories can be overwhelm- don’t see the tweets from Room 302 as boring. They ing, and where there is often no real reason for them seem to enjoy the windows into their children’s days. to revise and edit beyond “...because I said so.” The And the brief nature of the tweet makes it easy to read notebook entries clearly show me what each student and move on. understands about revising and editing, and give me ideas for next steps in instruction. Continued on page 36
- 34. 32 Digital Portfolios: Documenting Student Growth Digital Portfolios: Documenting Student Growth by Matthew Cramer, Camino Nuevo High School The digital portfolio process at Camino Nuevo High School (CNHS) offers an essential 21st century skill to our students. All students are trained in basic web design to build and maintain their digital portfolios. These skills equip them with tools they will likely use in their future endeavors in college and the profes- sional world. We believe using the Internet as a tool to communicate and present ideas is a basic requirement of students heading into a future with a greater reli- ance on technology for a range of different careers. We ing aspect of the school culture and community. All also believe that the digital portfolios give the students students are required to build and maintain a website the skills necessary to be independent and use their reflecting their academic work and growth. These own knowledge to present themselves. We are also portfolios are used across the curriculum of the school addressing the digital divide that exists between pros- for these purposes. At the end of tenth grade, the perous communities and less affluent, minority, or students are required to present their digital portfolio immigrant communities. We feel the digital portfolio to a panel of teachers, students, parents, and members process provides the students with two sets of skills: of the surrounding community. Tenth grade humani- self-presentation and technology know-how. As ties teacher Phalana Tiller notes, “Preparing for the Scott Weatherford, CNHS’s principal and founder presentation of the digital portfolio helps students to says, “Digital portfolios seemed a natural fit for our reflect on their work and, in many cases, review and new school. We knew that students would be using relearn material that they didn’t master when it was portfolios as part of our ongoing assessment of their originally taught. Last year one student added images progress as learners, and integrating the technological to an essay so the audience would have a visual focus piece created an authentic and public way for students while she discussed the work. DP presentation time is to display their work while demonstrating a mastery when we’ve seen students really step up and do some of some basic new media skills.” excellent work.” These presentations are a right of passage into the eleventh and twelfth grade “Graduate Through creating and maintaining digital portfolios, Academy.” The students are required to present these CNHS students are engaged in a process of synthesiz- digital portfolios again at the end of their senior year ing and presenting their academic work and growth in as a culminating graduation requirement. an increasingly professional manner. These skills asso- ciated with web design competence are an important The Camino Nuevo digital portfolio is rooted in the way we give the students the technological and profes- traditional art education model of portfolio develop- sional resources that they will draw upon throughout ment. Approaches to portfolio development differ, their lives. depending upon its purpose: student portfolios are different from the professional portfolios the students In use since 2004, Camino Nuevo’s digital portfo- will likely create as they move out of high school and lios have been both an educational tool and a unify- into the professional world. Largely intended to be
- 35. Digital Portfolios: Documenting Student Growth 33 a reflection of personal and academic growth over “DP,” as the digital portfolio is often referred to, in this time, the digital portfolios at our school are designed way gives the students practice updating and improv- to reflect the process of learning students engage in ing their skills in presenting work online. Much of the during their formative high school years. Portfolios work the students complete in class is posted on the contain sections that correspond to each school digital portfolio for grading. The students are engaged year and contain work demonstrating the skills and with their classmates’ digital portfolios on a regular basis. concepts developed during that year. As the students For example, the students will look up another student’s progress this accumulation of work is a valuable digital portfolio to grade projects and assignments. The record of the their abilities and improvement. For students will also look at each other’s work online to each assignment on their digital portfolio, students offer critiques and reflections. This peer assessment is a also must include a reflection about the content and regular classroom practice that creates dialogue between skills they were supposed to master as well as the students regarding their work. If a student’s work does quality of their effort and product. We have really not appear or if necessary links do not work, they are focused on lifting up the quality of these reflections. encouraged to act as coaches, helping each other post Students claim to hate them (like broccoli), so it must and making suggestions for presenting the work online. be good for them. This provides a forum for the students to share their In the classes that I teach at CNHS—graphic design, understanding and help check each other. “Our digital journalism, and senior seminar—I have linked the digital portfolio is a showcase for our students’ schoolwork as portfolio closely with classroom expectations for posting well as for webpage design skills. Most students person- work for critique, grading, and presentation, making the alize their pages and take a lot of pride in the work. The portfolio an integral part of the class routine. Using the intense work of creating all of the links is, in itself, a feat of concentration and persistence,” observes Jeanmarie DeQuiroz, Camino Nuevo’s tenth grade biology teacher. I have used my own interactive teacher website as a tool to teach Graphic Design. It is a place to experi- Camino Nuevo High School (CNHS) is located in the greater MacArthur Park area just west of downtown ment with posting daily assignments, linking to exam- Los Angeles. Our students are a microcosm of the ples, and providing resources. A page called “Today’s area’s population. 92 percent of the students qualify Assignments” is a daily log of classroom agendas, for free or reduced-price meals. The population is 92 inquiry, and direction for the students. It is an impor- percent Hispanic, one percent African American, five tant part of the classroom routine. Student use the site percent Asian, and two percent mixed origin/other to get directions for class, view examples, and link to ethnic groups. Our students and their families face other resources within the context of projects. I have substantial economic challenges and the social reali- also developed the site as a resource for technology ties that accompany poverty and marginalization. The skills, links to outside resources, as well as posting greater MacArthur Park census tracts have the high- assignments, projects, grading rubrics, and other est percentage of severe overcrowding in the city, the information about the requirements in class. My own greatest concentration of single-parent households (50 to 88 percent, more than twice the city average), highest teaching website is a continuous work in progress, non-fluency in English (40 to 66 percent speak English with which I experiment with new ideas to engage “not well” or “not at all”), and the lowest availability students and offer resources. I use the site to provide of automobiles (housing units with no vehicle avail- links to examples of work we are doing in class. It is able ranges from 46 to 90 percent, more than three also a good way to post examples of student’s work times the city average). Sixty-one percent of residents that is a model for current projects and assignments. are foreign-born, compared with 11 percent in the U.S. At the very beginning of the ninth grade, or as soon Annual income within this district is the lowest in Los Angeles: the median income is $11,475. The poverty rate as they enter the school, students are given a basic in the area is 35 percent, compared with a citywide rate series of lessons to create a folder structure and web of 18 percent. Eighty-two percent of housing units in pages aligned with their classes. Each school year that the neighborhood are rentals versus 34 percent nation- follows begins with the creation of that year’s port- ally. CNHS is a community-based school, and, as such, folio, which is linked to ones from the past. At the our mission is driven largely by the needs and popula- beginning, we scaffold this portfolio creation process tion of the surrounding community. CNHS’s results are very closely and incrementally each year, we expect dramatic. CNHS ranks 16th among all schools within the students to exercise more independence. By the LAUSD, both charter and traditional. When compared time students reach their senior year, creating and to similar schools, CNHS scores a 10 out of 10 ranking updating this portfolio are seen as expected norms from the State of California. of the school experience and an important way of demonstrating mastery of the school’s expectations. Continued on next page
- 36. 34 Digital Portfolios: Documenting Student Growth content. We use Dreamweaver to teach the basics of web design, and to create the structure of students’ sites. Students have accounts that provide access to Related Links two different drives to store class work. Students use Camino Nuevo High School website: the H drive for storage. The W drive is the online http://highschool.caminonuevo.org server that contains the student’s website. The W drive is intentionally limited to teach students ways Digital Portfolio Handbook: to create websites that are streamlined, using images http://highschool.caminonuevo.org/digitalportfolios.htm and files that are optimized for easy access. We emphasize presenting work in the most accessible Matthew Cramer teacher website: http://highschool.caminonuevo.org/staff_website/mcra- manner for all Internet users by using photos that are mer/index.htm reduced to proper sizes and saving files in Internet- compatible formats, like PDF and HTML versions of papers written in Word or presentations created in PowerPoint. Our goal is to help our students become literate, criti- The digital portfolios have had a positive impact cal thinkers, and independent problem solvers who on student achievement across the curriculum. The are agents of social justice with sensitivity toward the public, high stakes of the digital portfolios is a power- world around them. ful motivator. Parents, as well as members of the community are able to access students’ work and There are many challenges making the digital portfo- students are able to share their work with possible lio process work on a school-wide scale. Uniformity, employers or internship providers. The public, real consistent standards, the quality of work, and a wide world applications of creating and maintaining DPs as range of web design skills by both staff and students a long term process has also proved to be a powerful are some of the ongoing challenges that we deal tool for the student to reflect on their growth through with. Creating and maintaining the digital portfolios high school academically and personally. is often confusing and difficult. As a staff we have developed an in-house teacher training as part of our professional development. This professional devel- opment consists of training program in basic web design as well as an ongoing conversation about the uses of technology in the classroom. As a staff, we Social Networking in Education have worked hard and continue to develop consistent We also use technology in the classroom by tapping into approaches and standards for these digital portfolios various social networking forums. The three most suc- and the presentation of them. We frequently meet in cessful so far are: committees to develop rubrics and other scaffolding The CLIC Network, http://www.theclic.net, is a college tools to guide the students through a complicated focused social network. process. Teacher checks and student-to-student checks are a continuous process in classes to help fix broken Good Reads, http://www.goodreads.com, is a social links, spelling and grammar issues, and develop a clear network centered on books and reading. professional design. In terms of design, the students are exposed to websites that are models for presenting Threadless, http://www.threadless.com, is a t-shirt printing company with a community for critique and work in a professional manner, combating what we scoring t-shirt designs. call the “MySpace aesthetic,” which is often the model students are familiar with coming into the school. I have used threadless.com in my classroom as both a A digital portfolio handbook, located on the digital platform to exhibit student work and as a forum to de- portfolio website page, is a comprehensive guide that velop critical thinking skills. Threadless.com is a t-shirt is used in addition to classroom guidance and practice. printing company that encourages artists to post their This handbook gives technical guidance and contains own designs and, potentially, get them printed through rubrics used for classroom checks for functions, a scoring system from an online community of other design, and content. It also includes guidelines for designers. presenting at the end of tenth grade. The tools we have been using are Dreamweaver and Adobe CS3 graphic software. Dreamweaver is an intuitive visual program that requires little under- standing of HTML code to create pages and add
- 37. Where To Go For More 35 Where to Go for More T.H.E. Journal T.H.E. Journal is an online destination and a print publication dedicated to the intersection of education Technology that Enhances Powerful Teaching and and technology. The website has a distinctly “Web Meaningful Learning 1.0” feel with few interactive features, but its informa- Honor Moorman, whose article “Adventures in tion is nonetheless quite useful, particularly for those Web 2.0: Introducing Social Networking into My looking for descriptions and reviews of products and Teaching” is featured on page 3 of this issue, suggested particular technologies. There is not much content many of these resources for incorporating technolo- on the impact of technology on the quality of educa- gies that increase interaction into the classroom. tion, and there is extensive reporting on classrooms, schools, and districts that have implemented specific Classroom 2.0 technologies. If you’re wondering how Bluetooth- Classroom 2.0 is a social network devoted to the use enabled interactive whiteboards work, or which states and impact of collaborative technologies in educa- are considering open source textbooks, T.H.E. Journal tion. More than 24,000 members, led by several savvy is the place to go. hosts, ask, answer and co-create information and http://www.thejournal.com/ insight on the Ning platform. Whether you need to get a grip on what this “2.0” deal is, want to research a Edutopia’s Digital Generation Project specific tool, and—especially—if you’re seeking other Edutopia’s Digital General Project looks at technol- educators working with collaborative technology in ogy and education with a particular perspective: young their classrooms, Classroom 2.0 is a vibrant, happen- people are “digital natives” from whom educators and ing online resource. parents have much to learn. The Digital Generation http://www.classroom20.com/ Project’s aim is for adults to understand the ways that collaborative technologies inform learning, allowing Did You Know? 2.0 powerful opportunities to harness students’ orientation “Did You Know? 2.0” is an eight minute video to technologically mediated learning. The site provides presentation that elegantly and powerfully describes profiles of young content creators and overviews of the world for which we are educating young people the tools and technology that can transform teaching, now. It invites educators and parents to make their learning, and collaboration. own decisions about what 21st century skills should http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation be, and is a dynamic way to start conversations in Honor Moorman also suggests several books (pages your school community. In addition to the video, and ink: also technology!) that serve as guides to the available on YouTube, creators Karl Fisch and Scott economic, social, and technological terrain into which McLeod have collaborated on the “Shift Happens” students and educators are heading: wiki, which provides additional background for using The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first and understanding “Did You Know? 2.0.” Century by Thomas Friedman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/the- http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/ world-is-flat The Machine Is Us/ing Us A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule Cultural anthropologist Michael Wesch created “The the Future by Daniel Pink Machine Is Us/ing Us,” a four and a half-minute video http://www.danpink.com/wnm.html presentation that is an extraordinarily clear descrip- Here Comes Everybody: A book about organizing tion of what Web 2.0 is, and what it really means for without organizations by Clay Shirky communication, interactivity, and collaborative infor- http://www.herecomeseverybody.org/ mation creation. The entire Mediated Cultures site on The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter which the video resides is a fascinating tour through than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes cutting edge interactive technology and its impact on Business, Economics, Societies and Nations by James education, society, and our lives today. Do not miss Surowiecki the World Simulation Project, an amazing example of http://www.randomhouse.com/features/wisdo- authentic assessment that provides groups of students mofcrowds/ with the opportunity to demonstrate their answers to the question “If you controlled the world, what Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes would you do?” Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams http://www.wikinomics.com/book/ http://mediatedcultures.net/mediatedculture.htm, second video on the list.
- 38. 36 @Room302: Using Twitter in an Elementary School Classroom Twittering about Learning Continued from page 31 Room 302 Twitter and Other Sites The experience has been amazing for the students: Room 302’s writing on Twitter: enjoyable, beneficial, and motivating. They are proud http://twitter.com/room302 to see their initials at the end of a tweet, and they’re Room 302’s audio micropodcasts on Chirbit: willing to do the writing work needed to make it http://www.chirbit.com/room302 happen. They’re reading and rereading over and over again, working on things like fluency, phrasing, rate, Room 302’s photographs on Twitpic: intonation, to get good enough to be recorded on a http://twitpic.com/photos/room302 digital audio recorder, which helps them to be better readers. They’re excited about learning to use the digital camera so they can add a picture to their topic, and they’re looking at each event in class through and writers, and that they value reading and writing. the filter of “What can I tweet about this?” and “Is They’re learning the real purpose and power of there a picture I can take and tweet about?” Some of literacy: communication. If they’re using language and the students and families have now created their own technology in this way in first and second grade, there Twitter accounts, and the students are able to commu- is no telling what they’ll be doing in years to come. nicate with one another. This means they are volun- Those who care about the students find value in our tarily reading and writing away from school, which Twitter site, too. Simply by following our class, or by shows me they consider themselves to be readers taking the time now and then to read through the site with their child, they support the idea that the students have important things to say; they convey the idea that writing is worthwhile, as are the students’ efforts to Room 302’s Parents on Twitter and Chirbit’s write, revise, and edit. They are able to have meaningful Impact discussions about what is happening all day in the chil- Twitter has been a great way for us to stay in touch with dren’s lives, and they can avoid asking “What did you what Sam is doing in school. When asked what he did in do in school today?” The text, along with the pictures school he often replied, “I don’t know.” But now he is and audio, make our work public, making it easy for excited to show us on Twitter. families and friends to stay in touch. Last night we listened to Sam and his classmates singing. I remain aware that this a very public and far reaching The kids get such a kick out of hearing themselves on forum, and I try to maintain privacy for the students. the computer, and I know parents appreciate it, too! We’re careful on our site not to use last names of students; we include no names attached to photos; Twitter has created a connection among the parents, and we try to be careful to not post information that our children, the classroom, and the teacher. This might be too personal. Twitter allows me to block exchange of information allows us as parents to watch our children develop and grow throughout the year. I any followers I don’t know, and I do. I could stop believe our children will receive a better education by people from accessing the site anonymously by using creating a connection between everyone. With a more the “Protect my updates” setting, but I decided not to unified interaction and knowledge we can all work to- because that would not allow me to use the automatic wards a common goal, increasing the value of their edu- update feature on my school web site. The reality is cation. The kids have learned extra skills that they may that in this day and age, kids need to be aware of how not receive anywhere else: Taking pictures, telling about to navigate these issues, and it only makes sense to their daily events and learning about all the different me to embed the learning as we create the product. I mediums that are available to them for communication. remind families to help with this by supervising the With our day-to-day busy lives, parents want to con- students while they use Twitter at home. nect with their children and feel a part of their daily I regularly print tweets for any family that would experiences. Often an inquiry is met with “Not much like a hard copy and at the end of the year make CDs happened today..” or the ever popular, “I don’t know...” for each child with the entire record of our Twitter Twitter in the classroom allows parents to be a part of writing. This makes it easier for families without their children’s learning experience and more important- Internet to access the tweets, and ensures that the ly, offers a prompt to begin discussions at dinnertime or enroute to baseball practice. writing will be preserved. Imagine being able to go back and read what you did in first or second grade, as told by you and your classmates? I think many of
- 39. 37 Go To The Source: More about the Schools and Other Organizations Featured in this Issue Amy Biehl High School Charleston Collegiate School 123 Fourth Street SW 2024 Academy Drive Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102-3201 John’s Island, South Carolina 29492 telephone: 505 299-9409 telephone: 843-559-5506 http://abhs.k12.nm.us http://www.charlestoncollegiate.org Boston Day and Evening Academy The Crefeld School 20 Kearsarge Avenue 8836 Crefeld Street Roxbury, Massachusetts 02119 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19118 telephone: 617-635-6789 telephone: 215-242-5545 http://www.bacademy.org http://www.crefeld.org Camino Nuevo High School International School of the Americas 3500 West Temple Street 1400 Jackson Keller Los Angeles, California 90004 San Antonio, Texas 78213 telephone: 213-736-5566 telephone: 210-442-0404 http://www.caminonuevo.org http://www.neisd.net/isa Twittering About Learning Continued from previous page them will find it to be an interesting artifact. some anxiety and increase eagerness for school to start When I began using Twitter with my class, I again. I’ve come a long way from when I started using wondered if it would be worthwhile. As this year that 24- by 16-inch tablet with my class, but I feel ends, I believe it was. I’m convinced that literacy is with Twitter I’ve managed to maintain and amplify all the foundation to everything else we do in school, and the best parts of it. I think my colleague from all those having literacy embedded in our days has helped to years ago would be impressed. implant literacy in who the students are. They have both the knowledge of how to use literacy to enhance Jeff Kurtz teaches a combined first and second grade class at their lives, and they have the disposition to do so. An an elementary school in Washington State. Kurtz has been additional benefit of this endeavor is that my incom- teaching for 20 years and is always looking for ways to meet ing students and families will be able to get a sense of individual student needs. what the new year will be like, which may help ease Affiliate with CES National If CES stands for what you believe in—personalized, equitable, intellectually vibrant schools—we invite you to CES National affiliate with CES National. Affiliating with the CES network as a school, organization, or individual gives you a number of benefits, including subscriptions to Horace and our newsletter In Common, discounted fees and waivers to our annual Fall Forum, and eligibility to apply for research and professional development grants, and more. For more information about CES National Affiliation, visit www.essentialschools.org
- 40. Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Coalition of Essential Schools Tel 510 433 1451 1330 Broadway Suite 700 Fax 510 433 1455 PAID Permit No. 421 Oakland, California 94612 essentialschools.org This Year in Horace 25.1: CES 2.0: Technology and the Essential School Horace looks at infusing social networking into pedagogy, learning technology skills through service-learning, distance learning and the CES Common Principles, using social networking for literacy development, implementing digital portfolios, and other topics that explore the relationship between emerging technologies, meaningful teaching and learning with an equity focus, and student achievement. 25.2: Voices of Educators of Color Horace features voices of CES educators of color in “open forum” to discuss their racial, cultural, and class identities in relation to their roles as teachers and school leaders. 25.3 and 25.4 (double issue): Changing Schools, Changing Lives Horace looks at CES’s past, present, and future in commemoration of CES’s 25th anniversary and CES’s road ahead. This issue brings together voices of CES founders, new educators, students, Essential school alumni, and other stakeholders in CES as a movement to transform schools and systems of education. Cover image: International School of the Americas seniors Jordan Birnbaum, Faith Rathman, and Nicholas (Nick) Coltharp blogging about their internship experiences. Photo credit: Pamela Valentine, ISA global art teacher and technology coordinator The national office of the Coalition of Essential Schools gratefully acknowledges support from the following: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, our individual donors, and our many schools, organizations, and individual affiliates