This year I have been honoured with nominations in two categories for the 6th Annual Edublog Awards. I won’t ‘win’, nor do I deserve to, but that really doesn’t matter. I put a lot of time and effort, (and love) into this personal learning space of mine, and to be placed in categories with bloggers and friends that I both admire and respect is wonderful.

Two things come from these awards that I really value: First of all, (hopefully) a bigger audience. My thinking is often challenged by my readers and commenters, and so more readers means a greater personal value to me as a lifelong learner, and an educator who wants to make a difference. Secondly, these awards introduce me to amazing people doing interesting, thoughtful and compelling writing and sharing. I’ll be spending the next few months expanding my network thanks to these awards.

I would like to thank Bryan Jackson for his nomination for Best Individual Blog. Bryan is a fairly new blogger who deserves a bigger audience and could easily have fit into both the best teacher blog and best new blogger categories. Add him as one of your regular reads, you will enjoy his thoughtful, reflective posts.

I would also like to thank Jan Smith for her nomination for Best Teacher Blog. Being an Administrator, it is such an honour to have a teacher like Jan, (doing amazing work with her student bloggers and someone who belongs firmly in this category herself), include me in this category. In my heart I am and always will be a teacher first and I think there can be no better honour than to be nominated in this category.

So, if you are new to my blog, explore some posts and see if you are interested. There are a few popular posts, and some of my favourites highlighted in the right-hand sidebar… and be sure to Subsrcibe if you like what you see!

Also, here are 4 of my favourite categories to check out in the awards. As I said, it will be months before I get to all the reading and learning that these awards serve up to me.

Make a commitment to click on at least one new blog from each category and if you see something you like, don’t just subscribe, take the time to comment and participate in the learning of others. Thanks again to so many of you for taking the time to read and comment on my blog, and for being my teacher and a co-learner.

Introduction
I have just spent my 2nd of 3 days with Bruce Wellman of Mira Via in a Pro-D session tittled Developing & Facilitating Collaborative Groups. The first session had a focus on facilitating groups and my personal learning focus centered around two main ideas:

1. Being deliberate about when we use Discussion and when we use Dialogue.

• Discussion is most effective when a decision needs to be made.
• Dialogue is most effective when we have a Change Initiative.

2. Effective paraphrasing with two powerful concepts: 1. Identifying the ‘baskets’, the key themes, and not getting lost in the ‘noise’, the content, that people get stuck talking about without meaningfully moving the conversation forward; and, 2. Shifting the Level of Abstraction. Either shifting down to concrete points or examples, or shifting up to Values, Beliefs, Goals, Assumptions, Concepts, Categories, or Intentions.

An example for this second form of paraphrasing given was a student in a VP’s office going on-and-on about his car troubles being the reason he keeps coming to school late. A shift down would be to figure out the specific problem, brakes or alternator, that needs to solved. A shift up would be, “Oh, so what you are saying is that you have transportation problems. We need to sort out if walking, a bus pass, or friends picking you up will be the best possible solution until issues with your car are solved.” (This could also be considered ‘identifying the basket’ in the first form of paraphrasing mentioned).
The idea is to use paraphrasing as a means to direct the conversation towards meaningful discussion.

In the second session the emphasis was more on ways to Promote Inquiry. Each of the sub headings below have specific skills that can be practiced, and focused on, in order to be more effective at promoting inquiry.

Inviting Thinking
“We are wired to detect threat in the communication of others.”

Think about our language:
Decision has the same root as Incision, Precision, Recision… Cutting Away
Decide other ‘cide’s… suicide, pesticide, herbicide …killing [ideas]
(note: coincide- co-incident- these have a different root than above.)

So… We can not confuse People with Ideas – kill ideas not people!
Separate People from ideas… Neutralize it linguistically
‘The Idea’ not ‘Dave’s Idea’, ‘The key point is’ not ‘Your point is’

We are wired for psychological safety – so HOW we inquire is as important as the topic of inquiry. We need to reduce the potential for threat in our questions.

The following Elements of Invitation aid in promoting the spirit of inquiry.

Attending Fully
The idea here is congruence… both our physical and our verbal elements of communication demonstrate full presence.
How many times do we have conversations with people while trying to pay attention elsewhere? I am horrible at talking on the phone with my computer in front of me, whereas I am pretty good at having students wait a moment while I complete a task so that I can turn and face them and fully engage in helping them.
I am reminded here of the SOFTEN Model I use with students at the beginning of each year: Smile, Open posture, Forward lean, Touch, Eye contact, Nod.

Approachable Voice

An interesting parallel to this is the universality of our body language across cultures…

‘Palms down’ is authoritative and controlling “Settle Down/ Listen here/ You need to know…”.

Whereas ‘palms up’ is inviting, “What do you think?/ Tell me…/ In what ways…”.

Here are some Approachable Invitations:

How might…
What would…
What are some…
What might be some…
In what ways…
How might you…
What seems…

We spent some time looking at how we might use these Invitations with Cognitions, (predict, recall, select, describe, sequence, compare/contrast, analyze, prioritize, summarize, conclude, generalize, connect, apply), in order to inquire, and promote meaningful discussion on specific topics. (These all work well when paraphrasing as described above).

“How might you summarize the results from the grade-wide assessment?”

“Given these issues around student behavior, what are some generalizations that we can make?

When asking such questions an Approachable Voice will invite much better responses than a Credible Voice.

The ‘gift’ is to bounce between these two voices, and use them to your advantage.
Think of a new teacher telling the students in a questioning, approachable voice, “Today we are going to …[?].” -Credible Voice is important too!
Not enough of this is focussed on with student teachers!
A pet peeve of mine is when people use uptalk and make statements sound like a question?

Use Plural Forms
…to invite better inquiry.
-observations
-options
‘The’ is singular, ‘Some’ is plural. (See below)

Exploratory Language
…is psychologically safer.
These promote more meaningful responses. They reduce the need for confidence/surety and the need to evaluate and sort ideas, until after several ideas are fully developed.
Switch:
The… to Some “What are some key ideas here? (Plural Form)
Could… to Might
Is… to Seems
Why… to What “What are some of your thoughts about that?”
Can anyone tell me… to What are

Positive Presuppositions
Finding and focusing on the positive aspects of the message being communicated… it encourages an “on-going willingness to engage with each other and with ideas”. This reminds me again of paraphrasing by shifting up- with the purpose of finding a positive belief or assumption.
Example:
Statement: “Our students just can’t do the work.”
Facilitator/Group member: “So, you’re concerned about helping all of these students be successful.”

Non-dichotomous Questions
Ask question that can not be answered by Yes or No.
“Did you notice…” becomes “What are some interesting or unusual things that you noticed…”
Avoid these dichotomous question starters:
Did you… Will you… Have you…

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I used information from both of my Pro-D sessions with Bruce Wellman to create the post above, with most of the information coming from notes on a page that was:
Adapted with permission from: B. Wellman & L. Lipton, (2004). Data-Driven Dialogue: A Facilitator’s Guide to Collaborative Inquiry. Sherman, CT: Mira Via LLC.
Thanks to Bruce for allowing me to share this information… please cite appropriately.

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My thoughts:
What happens to most Professional Development (Pro-D) resources? For me it often gets tucked in a drawer, or piled onto a filing cabinet for later reference… and then it is forgotten! This is part of an on-going attempt to make the learning more meaningful. By reviewing and synthesizing the session for this post, I start to ‘own’ the material, or the concepts taught.
There is actually quite a lot of very useful information here not just for facilitators of groups, but for any member of a group. Things I can immediately work on:
• Effective paraphrasing in order to move the conversation forward, rather than just to summarize.
• Being a little more deliberate/aware of when to use my Credible vs my Approachable voice.
• Making questions more inviting, exploratory, and positively framed.

Depending on what the third session is like, I might write another post, or I might just add to this one.
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Photo Credits:
untitled by gregw,
???DESIRE by ah BOB lee — the JiuHuKia,
and Katie by me.

Learning Conversation_ Part I

It was refreshing to hear Maureen Dockendorf, our staff development co-ordinator, (Director of Instruction), speak at our Building Leadership Capacity (BLC*) series introduction.

She encouraged us to become ‘intellectual companions’ that enter into ‘learning conversations’. The part I liked most about her talk was the direction of the conversation. She spoke of:
Not the Knowing, but the Process of Inquiry.
Not covering the curriculum, but ‘uncovering’ the curriculum.
A focus in innovation and creativity… how do we model this… every day?

Maureen also spoke of the 5 needs that we (students/teachers/learners) have:
The need to feel confident,
The need to feel like we belong,
The need to be potent- feel you have made a difference,
The need to feel useful, and
The need to have a sense of optimism.

(She identified her source for this, but I didn’t write it down.) ["The reference to the needs of the 21st learner were from the former president of ASCD , Martha Bruckner." -Thanks for passing on this information in your comment Maureen.]

I think that when using technology in the classroom, it would be prudent to keep these needs in mind!

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Learning Conversations Part II

I started by saying Maureen’s presentation was refreshing. I think I felt that way because when I look back at my blog, I can see parallels to what she spoke about. I think that it is significant that the Director of Instruction in our district is prioritizing these ideas when talking to teachers interested in leadership… especially as more and more pressure is being placed on districts to perform well on standardized tests. So here is my take on what Maureen said relative to what I have written about, (here in this blog so far). Also note my Meta-Analysis of these two parts below.

Not the Knowing, but the Process of Inquiry:

Articulate your Thinking
The BIG IDEA:
One overall school goal of”Articulate Thinking”.
Building the skills necessary to develop articulate students who can express their thoughts in meaningful, articulate ways.

The Philosophical Bent:
I don’t really care if my daughters, upon graduation, can identify the subordinate clause in a sentence or if they can tell me how to find the volume of a cone… I do care that they can express themselves in thoughtful, meaningful ways and demonstrate social responsibility in their decision making.

Sharing and Engaging: Web 2-point-0h-Yeah!
Vanja both wanted, and demanded a learning conversation. For me it was wonderful to see a student expecting more from her peers, or should I say, from her community of learners.
Reflections:
From Cynthia, “I learned more by sharing than by searching.”
From Mona, “You actually get to learn with each other and help others learn.”
From Lily, “It was fun doing this project and I enjoyed this kind of learning experience when you get to find your own knowledge rather than laying it all out for you. I feel that I have achieved something really good each time I’ve found some interesting facts on the blog and the dialogues, which made me put more time into these things. I realized that this could be another way of learning new things and also communicating with each other rather than finding information by yourself.

“How do you know when your students are learning?… When they are asking the right questions.

“the use of blogs to learn not just to teach”
I need to ask myself:
‘Am I adding technology to my teaching or providing students with new learning and new ways to learn?’
‘Am I creating an environment where students will express, synthesize, and reflect on their (and each other’s) learning, or am I creating a new way to report out?’ (A glorified poster board).
‘Am I encouraging students to be lifelong learners?’

A side note: The curriculum does not come up in my line of questioning… it seems almost insignificant in this meta conversation. Does it matter what the content is, or isn’t the process far more important?

I think that if we want students to be lifelong learners, and we want them to take ownership of their own learning to any extent, then subject discipline must be, at the very least, ‘loosened’ up. [Which leads us to...]

Not covering the curriculum, but ‘uncovering’ the curriculum:

David Warlick’s K12 Online Conference Keynote (Derailing Education)
“This is why the foundation of education systems today should not be the rails, but it should be the side trips. It should not be the central standard curriculum, but it should be those directions that students, that learners, both teachers and students, can navigate to on their own.” (David Warlick)

…the teacher as the compass. We point in a direction, (not necessarily the direction that the student is going), and we are a reference point or guide to the learning. As students sail (rather than ride the rails) they must choose their destination, (what they want to learn), and tack and adjust their path as they go… using the teacher as a compass that keeps them on their ‘learning’ course.

The way of the teacher is a practice in trust- (Stone Soup)
“In keeping with “the Stone Soup” metaphor, the teacher brings the cauldron, builds the fire, puts the “magic” stone into the boiling water and trusts that eventually the audience will engage enough to bring their own hidden ingredients to the process.” (Mia Lobel, Michael Neubauer, Randy Swedburg)

Christopher D. Sessums :: Competing Paradigms and Educational Reform
(Linked above to his post, not my short exerpt)
“The crucial elements that will sustain school improvement is not high-stakes testing, standards, or reactionary accountability programs – “it is simple human trust… that rests on four supports: respect, competency, integrity, and personal regard for others” (George 2006). “
In terms of education, the alternate paradigm acknowledges the following broad perspective:

• Curriculum is best derived from the needs and interests of the learners.
• Developmental appropriateness should supersede national assessment.

“The developmental needs for learners are widespread and cannot be easily or meaningfully reduced to a pencil-based exam.”

Articulate your Thinking (again, but this time from Gary Kern)
I would differentiate all learning, but I would try to cluster learning objectives so that teachers can continue to play a crucial role in learning and still be the main facilitator for learning. The computer, in its ideal form, is the tool that allows us to individualize student work. It will allow us to communicate in real time, learn in real time, and assess in real time. It will be the lever to better learning. Teachers, however, will need to be better than ever before. They will be the fuel for the flame.

…Teams of teachers would still work together to deliver the curriculum, but the interaction and model would be much different than today. Some genius will lay out the curriculum into standards and objectives that are clear and easy to follow. Teachers will bring the objectives to life, and technology will allow students to demonstrate their learning in ways unimaginable only a few short years ago. Problem based learning and rich task learning will be for the masses.

A focus in innovation and creativity… how do we model this… every day?

Square Peg, Round Hole
Sir Ken Robinson, Ted Talks: Do schools today kill creativity? (Worth watching again!)

Many of the Square/Round Peg Students (that don’t fit into our other-shaped schools) are the future thinkers/dreamers/innovators that are going to meaningfully change our world. We need to recognize their future value… We have an obligation to nurture them, and to develop their enthusiasm for learning. It isn’t just about not stifling creativity or not making schools so alien… it is about creating an environment where every child can thrive… Not making the misfits fit, but rather helping them create a space that fits them.

Application of Constructivist Principles to the Practice of Instructional Technology

• Think in terms of designing learning environments rather than selecting instructional strategies. Metaphors are important. Does the designer “select” a strategy or “design” a learning experience? Grabinger, Dunlap, and Heath (1993) provide design guidelines for what they call realistic environments for active learning (REAL); these guidelines reflect a constructivist orientation:
  • Extend students’ responsibility for their own learning.
  • Make learning meaningful.
  • Promote active knowledge construction.
• Think of instruction as providing tools that teachers and students can use for learning; make these tools user-friendly. This frame of mind is virtually the opposite of “teacher-proofing” instructional materials to assure uniform adherence to designers’ use expectations. Instead, teachers and students are encouraged to make creative and intelligent use of instructional tools and resources. (Bonnie Skaalid)

Synthesize and Add Meaning [To some extent, this fits in the above two categories as well.]

But there is a dichotomy here: Our ‘educational language’ around standardization and accountability juxtaposed with differentiation and flexibility… we seem to have two mutually exclusive camps, yet there seems to be a move to embrace both. To embrace both is to accomplish neither.

We need to be adept at creating flexible, differentiated learning environments.

We need to be computer literate, and also be able to teach a new kind of literacy. (Warlick)

We need to challenge students by asking questions, guiding their learning, and helping them to develop their own personal learning environments.

We need to teach students to synthesize information and add new meaning.

We must change what we do. (And we need visionary leaders to lead the way!)
“We need visionary educational leadership that understands and effectively communicates the importance of emphasizing student CREATIVITY and the creation of original (and remixed) knowledge products.” (Wesley Fryer)

A Story About A Tree
…This started out as a story about a tree, and it will end with the planting of some seeds…

How will we use the community building aspects of the internet to foster learning in schools?

How do we make schools into ‘modern day’ learning communities?

How do we get students to engage rather than escape?

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Meta-Analysis: Hyperlinks fuel the fire

At first, this post was going to be a short reporting-out of my BLC meeting, or more specifically Maureen’s talk. Then I reflected on her words and created Part II, which was going to become this post… but the process of creating Part II ‘planted the seed’ for this post to evolve as it has.

In creating Part II, I tried to put enough information into each section that it really wasn’t necessary to follow a link unless the reader had a personal interest in the specific topic. The ‘effort’ to create this section, in itself, was a meaningful learning experience. Searching for relevant connections and following the hyper-linked-thoughts transformed the post from a simple learning conversation to multiple learning conversations… it allowed me to synthesize ideas and add meaning to the words that I originally heard at the meeting. It took hours to do this, but it was worth it – I became a participant in the learning process – I created internal learning conversations and expressed them externally here.

How does the presence of hyperlinks change the experience of this post for the reader? I can answer that for myself having been consumed by my own reading of edublogs over the past few months. The challenge I now face is being selective on which hyperlinks, which side trips, I choose to go down… this is proving to be a skill that I am learning/honing… but the decision-making process has more to do with personal interests than a logical/deductive process. In keeping with the theme of this post, the act of effectively following hyperlinks is in and of itself a process of inquiry, it requires taking tangents from the curriculum and seeking to ‘uncover’ what is interesting, and it requires the participant to creatively select (personal) relevance. Teaching this skill will be a challenge… one that cannot be measured by standardized tests, but will be a necessary skill for the 21st Century.

Feb. 5th… I have to add hyperlinks to this section! Jesse Lubinsky from Irvington School District in NY sent a video link to Jennifer Cronk. Her post was picked up by Will Richardson who is in my Netvibes feedreader. The video is from, “Digital Ethnography @ Kansas State University“. It is a fantastic video that exemplifies how web2.0 is changing how we connect, what we do… and who we are. I have tried to ‘say’ things on this video… it doesn’t just speak what I have tried to say, (a number of times on this blog), it breathes it!

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*What is the BLC series?
The Building Leadership Capacity series is open to teachers interested in both formal and informal leadership. The four sessions will focus on inquiring and exploring the building of personal leadership capacity through a variety of experiences. The series puts a high priority on opportunities for participants to talk about leadership, bringing the unique perspective of a diverse group of educational professionals together in one room (using the School District Learning Team model**).

**What is a Learning Team
Learning teams are small groups of educators that meet to engage in a professional growth experience focused on improving instructional practice and student learning. Learning teams are facilitated by a variety of educators who have expertise in the topical/curricular area, and in facilitation. Two to three hour meetings occur six times in the year and take the following format: individual write, sharing, discussion, work-time, reporting back and a commitment for the next meeting.
Learning teams offer an opportunity for teachers to meet in a meaningful learning environment. My last post on Articulate Your Thinking came out of a conversation in a learning team. They are an innovative approach to Professional Development in that they provide teachers with an opportunity to engage in ‘learning conversations’ that we want to have, but never seem to be able to find the time to have!