CHANGEd: What if we dreamed (and attempted) the impossible? 60-60-60 #32

Posted on April 8, 2012 by boadams1

New school formats and structures are emerging all over the planet. Starting a new school seems to be “easier” than changing existing ones. I wonder how the economic principle of “creative destruction” will play out for the school market. There are some (many?) who think school is “perfect” as it is. Suggestions for change, improvement, and enhancement are sometimes (often?) met with, “That would never work. That’s impossible.” What if we dreamed the impossible…and made it happen?!

PLEASE READ Seth Godin’s February 25, 2012 post (121 words long) – “Perfect and Impossible.”

Happy Easter!

CHANGEd: What if…60-60-60 Project Explained

CHANGEd: What if we educators behaved like our “student ideal?” 60-60-60 #31

Posted on April 7, 2012 by boadams1

What if we educators behaved like the students we want to see the children in our classes become? This is aspirational thinking – modeling the ideal. How would we act in meetings (our “classes”)? How would we treat professional learning or in-service days (more of our “classes”)? How would we talk about such learning opportunities as meetings and in-services? How would we listen, risk, engage, encourage, and trust? How would we ask questions? How would we prepare and organize? How would we view and feel about quizzes and tests – assessments – of our learning? How would we empathize?

Be the change you wish to see in others.

CHANGEd: What if…60-60-60 Project Explained

CHANGEd: What if we really utilized learning portfolios? 60-60-60 #30

Posted on April 6, 2012 by boadams1

My amazing mother keeps a HUGE Tupperware container full of stuff that I made in my childhood. Oh…your mother does that too?

What if we really utilized learning portfolios to do the same in schools? I can imagine using the wonders of technology to archive and catalog various artifacts of learning as students travel through the journey called school. With 2.0 tools, teachers, parents, advisers, peers, etc. could comment and cross-link with learning of their own, feedback, constructive criticism, and so on. What amazing potential for positive digital footprints and a living history of one’s learning – full of podcasts, movies, pieces of writing, etc.

CHANGEd: What if…60-60-60 Project Explained

CHANGEd: What if we crowd sourced assessment? 60-60-60 #29

Posted on April 5, 2012 by boadams1

Those who know me well understand that I think more school curriculum should be geared toward grand challenges and innovation opportunities. With such project-based learning comes the need for “authentic assessment with real-world audiences.” What if we crowd sourced assessment? What if more student work was published in 2.0 ways so that the work could be assessed with feedback from hundreds of available and willing relative experts? When we utilize more eyes and ears than just those of the classroom teacher, the students gain multiple perspectives for enhancement and growth – like the increase in vision with multiple windows and mirrors on a car or bus! (Not to mention – “many hands make light work!”)

School 2.0 just “lens” itself to taking advantage of the power of crowd sourcing.

CHANGEd: What if…60-60-60 Project Explained

CHANGEd: What if students self-assessed more and initiated progress reporting? 60-60-60 #28

Posted on April 4, 2012 by boadams1

I know what it’s like to be “talked around.” You know, when others discuss your strengths and/or shortcomings, but they leave you out of the conversation…the one who needs to be involved the most is more “third party.” When school progress reports initiate with adult-to-adult conversation, I wonder if we are talking around our students. What if students self-assessed more and initiated progress reporting? What if the driver’s-seat learners took the wheel and posted updates about how they are performing relative to the learning standards? What if teachers and parents then JOINED the conversation started by the lead learner in the equation? I bet the long-term benefits would be profound!