EdCamp

       EdCamp is sweeping the nation!  Have you heard about EdCamp? Check out this quick (1 minute) video:

       EdCamp is like a huge faculty room with teachers from all over your school district (or state) coming to one place to talk about whatever education topic they want to talk about; and to do so with other teachers who are interested in sharing ideas and hearing from others on the same topic.

       I often tell our new teachers that an important way to grow and to improve professionally is to talk with and hear from other teachers.  Everyone has ideas; everyone has something to contribute.  Different teachers have different experiences; different teachers hear about and use different resources.  One teacher uses Desmos (for example) to demonstrate attributes of graphs and equations; another teacher uses PearDeck to gather quick formative information from students (and to enhance student engagement); a third teachers uses TenMarks to determine the level of understanding her Algebra 1 have of a particular standard.  (And so on.)  The teachers using these resources may feel like they don't have anything special to share, but these resources that they use everyday might be completing new to someone else.  Everyone gets better at what they do when they hear from other teachers.

       EdCamp brings together teachers to talk about teaching.  And the teachers that come to EdCamp are the teachers that want to share their knowledge and want to hear from others.  Contact your state education office or your district's Office of Professional Learning.  See if there is an EdCamp being planned near you.  Or host your own EdCamp.

       Better teachers make better students; and EdCamp makes teachers better.

"I Can Barely Read"

       "I can barely read."  

       You never hear anyone ever say this with pride.

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       Last week I attended a Professional Learning session about Blended Learning.  Three English teachers were presenting.  One of them said, "...and we're all English teachers, so when we put grades into the grade book, we are all bad at math so we look for shortcuts."

       I am a mathematics supervisor and everyone in the room knows who I am.  When the teacher made this statement about being bad at math, another teacher looked at me and sort of made a face that said, "I think you just insulted the math supervisor who is sitting over there."  The speaker saw this face and looked at me; and then other people in the room began to realize what was going on.  Slowly people started to laugh at the slightly embarrassing situation that this teacher put herself in.

       I didn't want this presenter to feel bad so--with everyone looking at me and wondering how I was going to react--I said, "It's OK."  And then I said (with great pride), "I can barely read."  And the whole room broke out in a loud laugh.

       Why is it perfectly acceptable in our society for grown, educated people to say (out loud and in front of other grown, educated people), "I can't do math."?  But it is completely unacceptable and cause for embarrassment to say (in front of other people; and with great pride), "I can't read."  Why aren't people embarrassed that they can't do math in the same way they would be embarrassed to not being able to read?

       Teachers, parents, coaches, and all leaders need to speak up when they hear children (and adults) proudly saying that they can't do math.  It reinforces to students that it is OK to be bad at math.  This leads to students who refuse to put in the effort to learn mathematics.  Students begin to believe that they really can't do math AND they believe that this is perfectly OK and it's not OK.

       Math is important.  Math is reasoning.  Math is thinking.  Math is problem solving.  Math is perseverance in the presence of difficult situations.  And everyone can do math.

       What you say is important.  People are listening.  If you would never say, "I can't read.", then don't ever say, "I can't do math."

Teachers Learning from Colleagues

       The National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics have just released a new feature on their website called It Worked!.  Stories and videos of Math Coaches talk about situations that have occurred in our public schools in which professionals learn from other professionals and (together) they gain more experiences and expand their abilities to help students to learn.

       The opportunity to hear from colleagues is a valuable professional learning opportunity.  Teachers and Teacher Specialists grow in their profession in many ways:  coursework, membership in professional communities, reading journals and articles.  But to hear from a colleague is particularly nice because we can see ourselves in their stories and in their situations.  We can think about similar situations that we have encountered and how we might handle those situations.

       The It Worked! feature is filled with Elementary and Secondary examples of how mathematics coaches faced challenges and found productive ways to address them.  NCSM is to be commended for building this community of professionals that has the capacity to assist other professionals in a profound way.  It is important for our leaders--at all levels--to share their knowledge and their experiences.  You never know who will hear your story and will use it for their own professional growth.

      

We Must Do Better - Part 3

       This post is part three of a three-part series titled We Must Do Better.

       I love public schools; and there is a lot to cheer about when it comes to the ability of public schools to prepare students for their futures.  But there are three major areas in which public schools must improve if we want to see ourselves as providing a world-class education to our nation's children.

       1) We must raise the achievement of poor children.

       2) We must increase graduation rates.

       3) We must provide continuous, high-quality professional development to our teachers.

       It isn't that there aren't other areas that can and should improve in our public schools.  But improvement in these three areas are absolutely critical if we truly want our school system to be exceptional and of the highest quality for all of our students.

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We Must Do Better

Part 3 - Continuous, high-quality professional development for teachers

       The subjects of the first two parts of this series--the achievement of poor children and the need to increase high school graduation rates--dealt with issues of which many people are aware.  They are discussed in journals and newspapers often.  The subject of this part is considerably less well discussed in the mainstream press and much less well known among the general public.

       When discussing elements of the education that influence student achievement, researchers agree that the ability of the teacher is among the most important factors.  The Center for Public Education has stated:

A growing body of research shows that student achievement is more heavily influenced by teacher quality than by students’ race, class, prior academic record, or school a student attends. This effect is particularly strong among students from low-income families and African American students.

Of course, just about any person who has ever had the experience of being a student can tell you that good teachers have helped them to learn much better than poor teachers that they have had.  Hence, there is very little debate that high-quality teachers in the classroom will lead to higher student achievement.  And so the next logical question is, How do we ensure that every teacher will be highly-able and highly-effective in every classroom?

       A good place to start is the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.  In January of 2013, the NBPTS celebrated its 100,000th National Board Certified Teacher.  After 25 years of looking at the teaching profession and looking at research on developing high-ability teachers, the NBPTS has established five core propositions that represent what "all accomplished teachers share in their expertise and dedication to advance student achievement."

       We know that the best teachers are constantly learning and constantly improving.  They build on past successes and even learn from past mistakes.  They constantly search for better ways to reach every student.

       Teachers need regular opportunities to meet with other teachers to talk about what they do with other teachers.  This professional learning community helps to build teacher ability--which, in turn, leads to higher student achievement.  Its hard work to constantly improve.  You can't merely give a teacher a book or article to read.  They have to think about students; think about classroom strategies; think about questions to ask students; anticipate answers and areas where students will struggle.  They have to try new things and make mistakes and try again and make new mistakes...and try again.

       As a nation, we need to help to provide all teachers with high-quality professional development.  And it needs to occur on a regular and ongoing basis.  It can't be one or two days a year.  It must be ongoing if we really intend to see improvement over time.  Its hard.  It costs money.  It can look different for different teachers or for schools that teach to different student communities.  As with so many things in life, professional development is understood to be necessary, but delivering it in a meaningful way is a challenge.

Great Learners make Great Teachers

       In education, collaboration is powerful.  Teachers who seek out advice and ideas from multiple sources--within their school, within their school district, on twitter, via journal articles, etc.--probably have the most engaging classrooms.  Teaching is not a profession that expects perfection in the first year.  Indeed, it takes three to five years to develop the skills necessary to become a truly effective teacher.

       Hence, schools that allow for and encourage time for teachers to meet, are really encouraging teachers to constantly improve.  Our best teachers are always looking to improve and always searching for better ways to reach their students.  That's why teachers who love learning become great teachers.  They study how students develop ideas and they help students to build on what they know.

       The TEACH100 website has recently developed the Teach100Mentors.  They have honored me by allowing me to be part of this special group.  I am always glad to impart whatever wisdom I may have collected over the past 20+ years that I have been in education.  But I truly appreciate hearing and learning from others that are part of this group.  My learning will never end--there's so much to know.

     Similarly, our best teachers know that they have so much to gain by hearing from others.  As a younger person, I used to think that only people older and more experienced than me could help me to improve.  But today (at 50), I know that professionals of all ages help me to learn and to grow.

       Thank you to all of our teachers.  And thank you for continuing to teach each other.  It's more than important; it's necessary as we build a community of professionals who will lead the next generation of students who will (in turn) live and work in our futures.

This is How We Learn in the 21st Century

      We know that good teachers become great teachers when they collaborate with other teachers.  No matter how good you are, you can always improve when you share ideas with other teachers and listen to ideas from other teachers.

     Today "other teachers" doesn't only mean the teachers in your building.  It could mean other teachers in your school district, or other teachers in your state, or (really) anywhere.  Social media makes it possible to communicate with teachers virtually anywhere and virtually at any time.  And when we do, we improve.

     Yesterday, the middle school math specialists in my school district met with their counterparts in a neighboring school district--along with math specialist from other surrounding districts.  We call ourselves the Mid-Maryland Math Specialist Group (Twitter hashtag #M3SG).  The theme of the day was Preparing for a 1-to-1 Learning Environment.  It was a great professional experience in which we got to hear ideas and plans from people in nearby school districts. 

     The highlight of the day was a virtual panel discussion with help from Google Hangouts.  The people on the panel were from Arkansas, Illinois, and Utah.  One principal, one middle school teacher, one technology resource teacher, and one school-based technology coach.  All but one of the panel members were people that I "met" on Twitter (never in person) who have had some experience with a 1-to-1 learning environment.

     We were in a big room with a large screen in the front of the room.  The panel members were visable on the screen.  We could see and hear them and they could see and hear us.  This isn't "cutting-edge" technology, but it is a new way to learn and gain professional knowledge in a very "21st century" fashion!

     This is how we learn today.  Blogs, twitter, edmodo, and lots and lots of other similar venues are the new "teacher lounges" of today. We still learn from teachers at our school, but we are no longer limited to such a small group of professionals.  Today we learn and improve by communicating with everyone and anyone who has knowledge to share.

     This is how we learn today.

Why Do You Blog?

     Recently a number of people have asked me, "Why do you have a blog?"

     I have an answer--that I will share with you below--but it got me thinking about why other people blog.

     In my case, my blog is about my thoughts and ideas about my profession of education.  Additionally, I blog because I believe that my own professional development comes from reading and listening to other people in the education field (and outside of the education field) who talk about issues that I care about.  I blog because I want to contribute to this professional conversation.

     In the 21st century, learning comes from a large number of sources.  Ordinary people who are passionate about something become experts at that something.  People like me hear about these self-made experts and seek them out for their knowledge on the subject.  To me, blogging and the associated contacts that I make via blogging help me to gain a much wider perspective on the issues that I care about.

     What about you?  Why do you blog?  Send me an email (cincottapeter@gmail.com) or a tweet (@cincottapeter) and tell me why you blog.  I may compile your answers and share (in a general way) the responses I receive in an upcoming blog post..  I will not share anyone's email or other contact information.

Learning From Experts - Wherever They May Live

     In a couple of weeks, the middle school mathematics leaders in my district will meet with their counterparts in a neighboring district to talk about and think about and make plans for the day when every student will enter school with their own device for learning.  We are calling it a 1-to-1 Learning Environment.

     Part of the day will include a panel discussion with four educators from around the country who will join us via Google Hangout.  A principal, a teacher, a technology specialist, and an education technology coach from four different states in the U.S. will make up the panel and will share their experiences with our group.

     I believe that this is what we mean by 21st century education.  We want to learn from the experiences of others who have "been there".  This discussion--in real time--will help us to think about the things we haven't thought about yet.  It will help us to plan for the rollout of 1-to-1.  And we will make connections with other educators from far away who don't have to be so "far away" given the tools we have today.

     Also, the people participating in this panel discussion are all people I have "met" on Twitter--I've never met them in person and I probably never will.  Yet I was able to contact them and tell them what we are planning to do and they were able (and very much willing) to be a part of it.

  I can't wait; it's going to be great!  We even have a Twitter hashtag for the day: #M3SG for Mid-Maryland Math Specialist Group.  I hope this event will encourage others to do the same--and more.  If I can do (with a lot of help [!]), anybody can do it.

Thanks Twitter for All the Good News about Education!

Twitter is filled with Good News about Education

I've been on Twitter for about 20 months, and throughout that time I've learned more and more about what I can do and what I can learn from Twitter.  I use Twitter as a professional, and I like to follow other teachers and educators from around the world.

Since beginning this blog, I've been on the lookout for positive stories about education.  My Twitter feed is a treasure-trove of such stories.  On a daily basis I read about students and teachers doing amazing things in their schools and in their communities.  I see pictures of teachers learning new strategies to help students in their classrooms; and I see pictures of students engaged in learning in a variety of settings.

Of course, I also gain a lot of ideas from reading the posts from the people I follow.  Sometimes they direct me to articles or blogs on particular topics.  Other times they direct me to hot-button topics that lead to great discussions.

As always, we don't want to ignore the problems of public education in America.  I am very aware that the way I use Twitter tends to encourage "the positive".  It is what we call The Echo Chamber--only follow people who agree with me.  I know that the people I follow (while diverse) do not represent all points of view.  I wouldn't say that I exclusively hear positive things, but most of the people I follow (including me) tend to follow the rule "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."  This doesn't lessen the truth about the good things I read on Twitter; but it is necessary to recognize there are lots of stories that I am not reading.

My point is that it is very easy to only hear the negative about public school education in America and it is important for educators--and especially non-educators--to know that there is a lot of good going on everyday in our public schools.