Kiddos, Start Your Engines!

On Friday I finished preparing the room for the first day of school. Everything I could think of is where it should be. Of course, after a couple of weeks with the kiddos, things will change because of the unique preferences and needs of this group. I wanted to make sure that our classroom was movable, collaborative and interesting for the kids. I want them to feel at home and at ease in our environment. We'll see how it goes.

Designing Collaborative Spaces

In the days leading up to the opening of a new school year, I began redesigning my classroom to allow for more collaboration among my kiddos. I have always been a fan of kids working together when they want and finding a quiet space to work alone when they want. It is the particular learning experience that drives a student to make that choice. I like open spaces in class, lots of tables, use of floor space, nooks and crannies in which kids can hunker down, and a free-flowing climate where the approach to learning is fluid.

Our classroom is visually stimulating - some would say TOO visually stimulating. Dozens of posters adorn the walls, country flags hang from the ceiling, street signs are strewn about and all kinds of funky decorations can be found in the room. There is one whiteboard in the front of the room, but that's about it for accessible, collaborative space. Since my mission is to get kids learning more through collaboration, I knew I had to do something to make the classroom more conducive to group learning. So...I painted the table tops with Dry Erase paint (whiteboard paint). I bought one kit at Home Depot for about $20.00. Now, each table will have a tray of Dry Erase markers and an eraser in the center. Kids will be able to articulate their ideas right there at their table and can work together to design and execute, show their thinking and demonstrate their knowledge. At the end of the class period, it can all be erased.

The first table turned out pretty well (I painted four tables so far and one Dry Erase kit was enough to paint all four table tops). Now the kids, sitting in their office chairs around the tables, can use the space to enhance their learning. I am eager to see how the kids use these table tops to teach, learn and work with each other.

Becoming a Google Educator

My name is Don and I'm slightly addicted to Twitter chats. I have to say that I get really pumped up talking to educators from all over the globe about ideas to implement in the classroom. I try to attend at least 2-3 Twitter chats per week. One of my favorites is #sunchat. It is on Sunday morning at 8am CMT. I'm usually awake and on the porch with coffee, lots of coffee. During the #sunchat this morning, the topic of Google Certification came up and was of interest to many in the chat. I touched on the certification process in my last blog post "Summer Learning, Having a Blast" (sung to the tune of "Summer Lovin'") but there were a lot of questions still so I thought I would go through the process here for anyone who wants to know more.

The most helpful resource that I found was the Google Training Center site found here: http://www.google.com/edu/training/. I completed the basic training and took the basic exam. No problem. We've been using Google Apps at school for a little over a year so I knew the basics pretty well. Then, it was on to the Advanced Level. This is the level upon which certification is based. I had to pass exams (with at least an 80%) on Docs & Drive, Calendar, Sites, Gmail, and one elective which, in my case, was Chrome Web Browser (because I thought it was the most useful for me).

Each exam is $15 to purchase, so the entire outlay was $75. I took my time going through the materials for each exam, starting with Calendar. It took about a day and a half to read through the materials and prepare to test. After taking the test, and passing (phew), I moved on to Docs & Drive. Same process. Then, on to Sites, Gmail and Chrome Web Browser. The time investment for each exam was different based on the apps with which I had the most experience. We use Docs & Drive all of the time at school so it took less time for me to master that one. Calendar, on the other hand, took longer. All in all, about 9-10 days was what it took for me to go through the site and master the material. The results of the tests are instantaneous. Click the "Finish" button and your score pops up. It is a nerve-racking two seconds :)

When you've passed all of the tests, you get one of these certificates:

I feel a great sense of accomplishment. The week and a half of immersion into the Google Apps will pay big dividends for myself and my students. The biggest surprise for me was Google Calendar. I had no idea that I could do so much with Calendar and use it for so many things in class. If you undertake the certification process, you'll see what I mean. One of the great things about learning all of the nuances of Google Apps is that I can take seemingly unrelated things from one App and apply them in unique ways to solve challenges in class. A little creativity and a little knowledge makes me a little dangerous! Uh oh, look out!

Summer Learning, Having a Blast!

As we all do, I set some learning goals for myself this summer. I wanted to become a better-prepared teacher for my kids this coming year, especially when constructing a collaborative, student-driven, PBL classroom environment. To that end, I have been faithfully attending a few Twitter edchats each week, and read Drive by Daniel Pink (@DanielPink) and Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess (@burgessdave). Both were extremely motivational and validating. I know that, now more than ever, building a classroom in which the students' natural curiosity and intrinsic motivation are nurtured will allow them the autonomy they need to pursue their own creativity and learning. My push to transform my classroom into a PBL environment is in hyper-drive thanks to all of those from whom I've learned this summer.

A second learning goal I had for this summer was to become a Google Educator. In order to do this, one must learn the four base Google for Education Apps (Drive, Sites, Calendar and Gmail) and one "elective" App, in my case Chrome Web Browser. There was a test over each App and I had to score an 80% or above to become certified in that App. I had to pass all five to become a Google Educator. I was able to accomplish that about two weeks ago. Phew!

Now it is time to finish mapping out the first couple months of the year, continuing to develop a blog that will serve as the main communication device for our team parents, immerse myself in Google Classroom (we will be using that as our LMS this year) and putting the finishing touches on other technology odds and ends. The fact that we are moving to a 1:1 Chromebook environment has increased my urgency because I want to give my kiddos the best classroom experience that they've had to date. To do this, I have to know the technology well, map out a logical plan that allows for individual learning and growth and make sure the kids have a fun and rewarding experience this year. With three and a half weeks left of summer break, I am beginning to feel ready for the new school year to begin. 

Project-Based Learning (PBL)

I came across this short video that introduces what Project-Based Learning encompasses. I will show this to my kiddos at the beginning of the year and together we will explore the subject of experiential learning. I hope to fire up their curiosity about PBL at the beginning of the year.

The Move To PBL

This summer, one of my goals is to complete the transformation of my classroom to a student-driven, project-based learning environment. To that end, I'm immersing myself in PBL resources in the hope of creating something for my classroom that is based on the successes and failures of others who have walked this path before me. I am currently reading Philip Cummings' blog (@Philip_Cummings) which details his PBL process and it has been extremely helpful. I'm also going to look into PBL University (@PBLUniversity) and work through some of the courses on that site in order to better prepare myself for a PBL learning environment. Oh, there is so much to learn.

One of the things that excites me about moving to a PBL environment is the increased student voice. Kiddos will have more of a say in what they learn, how they learn it and how they will demonstrate their learning. One thing I must keep in mind is that kiddos will need an authentic audience so early on, I will have to teach them how to create a Google Site and use it as a portfolio of their learning this year and a showcase for their learning as well. In fact, a Google Site should allow them to have a page for each content area and also a link to their 20% Time Project Blog (Harmonized Learning). Since we have gone paperless on our team (Team Harmony - myself and Melissa Hellwig @melissahellwig4), we have used Google Docs to share, collaborate and turn in assignments. The Google Sites will also allow publication and portfolio creation as well. Indeed, the Google Apps for Education will be integrated more fully this year into our program.

From my reading, I have learned that it is more important to create the learning environment than it is to create the learning outcomes. If I am able to create an environment in which kids feel empowered, know that their natural curiosities will be supported and feel that their creativity will be nurtured, then real, authentic learning will take place.

How Schools Kill Creativity

I just watched Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk called "How Schools Kill Creativity". I could not agree more with his premise - traditional schooling normss out much of our creativity in favor of conformity. Our values as a society are reflected in our public schools and those values seem to be attention to task and conformity.

While attention to task is important, if the task is not worthwhile to the person performing that task, then what good is it? So often, trying to get kids to learn in a traditional setting is like beating our heads against a wall. Those settings do not honor the talents and abilities of the kids. In schools where students' talents and abilities are honored, those same students perform well within their own creativity/talent spectrum.

The traditional school model may show some kids to be a failure at school but those same kids may turn out to be huge successes once they are removed from the school environment. We must do a better job at helping kids discover their talents, nurturing their creativity, and personalizing their learning to develop their strengths. Once schools do these things, our student population will be much more successful.

Here is the TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson