Category Archives: 21st C Learning

Presentation Zen and The Blessings of Science

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Because I make numerous presentations* in my line of work, I am committed to kaizen – continuous improvement – in this area. Garr Reynolds is one of my virtual mentors in the area of story-telling design. His recent post, “Science & the importance of having a sense of wonder,” led me to this TEDxTokyo talk by Ken Moji. In his ten minutes, Mogi-san reminds us of some critical elements of learning: a sense of wonder, curiosity, explanation, exploration. His concluding lesson is tremendously powerful! What a strong reminder for us pursuing the science of teaching, the science of learning, and “presentation zen” in the classroom.

* By “presentation,” I mean being an organizer, coordinator, and facilitator of ideas. As much as possible, more and more, I try to avoid simply standing and delivering.

Finding New Places to Learn

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Recently, two blogs that I follow posted lists of other blogs to follow. Between them, they listed 125 possible new places to learn. As a result, I have discovered a number of new, regular watering holes for me. I hope you will find something for your learning thirst as well.

Jonathan E. Martin’s “A Few of my Favorite Blogs”

Alexis’ “Top 100 School Administrator Blogs”
[Alexis is working on Top 100 Teacher Blogs next.]

When We Choose to Learn…What We Choose to Learn

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In Atlanta, we have missed an entire five-day week of school. Snow and ice! I have been so fascinated to read and hear about what some professional educators are doing with their found time. Of course, I only know about a small handfull. Of those who are making their actions known, the activities are relatively diverse. Some have spent the time entirely immersed in family – reclaiming missed opportunities from when work was too busy. Others have bathed their brains in intellectual pusuits. Here’s a small sample:

Teacher A: http://ayearwithhenrietta.com/2011/01/15/not-henrietta-but-cool/

Teacher B: http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/an-amazing-week-for-professional-development/

Teacher C: Been practicing recording my lessons so that I can post on Internet.

Teacher D: Enlisting feedback about a student-journal idea…http://jplgough.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/ever-feel-like-you%e2%80%99re-in-the-wrong-place-part-1-the-questions/

Teacher E: School’s out. I am not doing any work or learning while I am off.

Some have probably combined found-time-with-family and unexpected-moments-to-explore-an-idea. Not either-or, but both-and. Isn’t it curious what we do when we find time – maybe the most “precious commodity.” I wonder what each of these admired teachers would say to students when learning of what the 11-14 year olds would choose to do with found time. It’s interesting the “homework” we assign ourselves, isn’t it? I wonder how each of these teachers treats homework in his/her classes?

The World Becomes What You Teach

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Yesterday, in a Center for Teaching brainstorming meeting, one of us suggested some curriculum-design work that would go beyond traditional subject-area or departmental curricula. Then, this morning I read David Wees’s blog post about Zoe Weil’s TEDxDirigo talk. In the 17 minutes and 24 seconds, Zoe explains the brainstorm idea perfectly…

Contagious…I Can…We Can

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Jonathan Martin’s post “Project Based Learning for the 21st Century: A Disappointing Video” has been “haunting” me a bit – in a positively good way. I responded with a comment on his blog, and I “thought out loud” by posting this early reaction – “Wanted: PBL ‘Coffee House.'” Even earlier, during Christmas vacation, I posted a vlog in order to contemplate some elements of PBL (“Vlogging is Thinking – PBL“) inspired by the same BIE video that spurred Martin’s “disappointing video” post.

More recently, Martin has posted “8 High Quality Project Based Learning (PBL) Videos.” Also, my learning and teaching partner, Jill Gough, has gotten into the blog-comment discussion, too. I am hoping for even more ripples in the pond…more learners and teachers entering the coffee house for PBL (see Steve Johnson’s TED talk if you are unfamiliar with the coffee house reference).

Now, I would like to offer another response to Martin’s blog post and provide an additional thread for the coffee house discussion about PBL. I am making an hypothesis that Kiran Bir Sethi’s TED talk comes closer to what Martin was hoping for in the BIE video about project-based learning.

Through the video story of Riverside School and “infecting India,” I believe that Sethi hits at the heart of what Martin says he finds to be missing from the BIE video – a meaningful and tangible connection of the student project to a real-world issue…and through media/experiences that make an impact on the issue (as opposed to just making posters for the viewing of members of the class). Relevancy – first-hand-involvement style relevancy – provides the “rigor” (I prefer “vigor“) that Martin wishes for the BIE video.

In the near future, I hope to publish a series of posts about PBL, what stands in the way of PBL implementation, and how schools can overcome those obstacles and integrate more PBL into their curricula. Engaging in this virtual discussion with Martin and others is invaluable to me as I think through the complexities of PBL. Additionally, I find the “What is 21st Century Education?” post to be particularly enlightening about the discipline of quality PBL. And, of course, Linda Darling-Hammond pubishes outstanding work about PBL. For me, the most revealing has been Powerful Learning: What We Know About Teaching for Understanding.