Liz Davis writes "Edubloggercon 2009: Notes and Reflections"

[Connie Weber]

Liz Davis writes "Edubloggercon 2009: Notes and Reflections"--from The Power of Educational Technology

"I started the day by offering a session on Professional Development. I was worried that no one would come because the great Vicki Davis ran her Web 2.0 Smackdown during the same slot. But it was a very nice group of about 25 people. We split into smaller groups of about 5, to envision our ideal Professional Development experience. When we came back together we shared our conversations. Here are some of my notes:

* Time for reflection should be built into PD
* Take the PD that teachers are already doing and use technology to support it.
* PD should be purposeful
* We need to include administration in PD
* Administrators have to trust teachers to be professional and allow them to take control of their PD.
* The pressure for accountability is misapplied to the disadvantage of teachers.
* It is important to look at how we frame the PD - selling it to teachers/administrators standards based instruction
* Back channel - Being off task doesn't only happen with technology. The backchannel can be a powerful support to PD.
* Model back channel with teachers so teachers will be able to use it properly with students.
* What is your focus for back channel?
* What is your focus for PD?
* Who do you target for PD? Power users beginners trickle down? Build scaffolds.
* Engage admins to use one tool at a time as models and lead the changes
* Coach in each department in the high school
* Sign up to demo lessons to teachers - 20 minutes Taste of technology
* Unprofessional development (unconference)
* PD On demand
* Speed geeking (speed dating) 3 min pitch of what you are doing
* Individual technology education plan (support plan) Take NETS standards revisit goals reflect on strengths and weaknesses.
* Tools potluck come with an idea and we will match you up with a tool.

Next I went to the Social Networking in Education session lead by Steve Hargadon It was another interesting discussion. More of my notes:

* Instead of asking what happens if we use social networking in education, ask what will happen if we don't do it?
* Instead of worrying about how bad it can make us look, think about how good this could make us look!
* Isolation breeds superstition
* Socialization breeds learning
* Authenticity is important, if the network is closed and the kids see each other face to face anyway, it loses its authenticity.
* If you talk about the world in the third person, it is a scary place not so if you talk in the first person.
* Etwinning - an English initiative pairing schools 60,000 schools in Europe Part of European school net
* Find author to be part of book - social networking collapses hierarchy
* What are the real dangers? Bullies and predators are not really as much of a risk as the media makes them out to be."



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Wouldn't you just love to be at the conference?

I hope we can get Liz to continue some of her thoughts here, or at least to cross-post.
I'm just loving these reflections, especially the ones about Professional Development.

Any reactions to what Liz or Steve said, that's posted here? Do we have questions for them, thoughts to add?

[Connie Weber]

Another post from Liz, this time about Gladwell's talk"

Liz wrote:

"Gladwell spoke about a "compensatory" model of education, where we encourage students to learn how to compensate for their weaknesses, rather than capitalize on their strengths. In our discussion we talked about what this would look like in the classroom. This is what we came up with.

A compensatory classroom would focus, not on where the student is, but instead on how far a child has traveled in his or her learning. Assessments would be self-referenced, rather than norm referenced. It doesn't matter how students compare to each other, but rather how they compare to where they were before.

Teachers would encourage students to look at how they are learning, not just at what they are learning. It would be important to assess learning styles and encourage students to work outside of their preferred style. Students would reflect and share the strategies that worked best for them, taking a metacognitive approach to their own learning. Teachers would differentiate instruction, asking students to try less comfortable learning places and suggesting strategies to help them succeed in those places.

Students would have more control over what they learn – they would be constantly asking themselves to think about what they are learning and to be looking for their own weaknesses and looking to strengthen them. Mixing kids up would make sense – kids can help each other to compensate

Finally, and most controversially, failure would be valued as much as, or more than success. If you aren't failing, if you aren't taking risks, then you aren't learning. Assessments would look for weaknesses, rather than strengths, to encourage students to build on their deficiencies. The things we praise and the ways we praise them would need to change.This is a major cultural shift and would require us to learn to find joy in failure."

What do you think? What would a "Compensatory Classroom" look like to you? Please share your ideas."

"Putting Gladwell's Compensatory Model Into Practice"

I think Liz Davis is an inspiring educator... a leader for our time. Check out her amazing blog!

[Maria Williams]

Thanks for the peek over your shoulder - it's good to get a sense of what's stirring among the activists and specialists in our field..