Flip2Facilitate

Why do I need to go to parent/teacher conferences?  My son/daughter has an acceptable grade.  I've never heard anything negative from his/her teacher, so why bother?  It can be a hassle to show up and stand in line. It's another evening that I have to sacrifice away from home after a long day's work. You'd rather just check off tonight as a "pass," but as your student's teacher, I have some very good reasons for you to attend, so here's some food for thought: 1) What IS your child learning? Even if your student is performing well, what does that performance mean?  You need to attend your student's conference and find out what curriculum is the driving force behind your student's progress.  What content is involved with this performance? How is your student being assessed? What did your student's teacher learn about your student and his/her skill sets during the process? THESE are significant questions that should be addressed during co...

This post is inspired by two comments that rocked my day today.  I have at least four hours of work ahead of me as I write this, but THIS cannot wait.  It just cannot wait.   (I'll add my wit and needed details HERE!) Comment number one came from a site council meeting held after school.  These meetings are attended by parents and teachers who discuss issues and address goals for the school.  We were discussing our desire to expand course offerings in STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics ) without funds ( the ongoing issue in education ).  New laws allow us to hire anyone with a degree in these areas to teach such courses even if they don't have a background in education. We had an interesting and engaging discussion with valid points being raised on all sides. One of the parents m the group mentioned that she had considered teaching such courses at one point. "You would be great at it," I said. ( And she would.  She is that kind ...

This year will be my thirtieth year in teaching.  Thirty years.  When I began teaching there wasn't internet, cell phones, or Miley Cyrus.  Hard to believe, I know. I entered the professions with a preconceived set of beliefs that have been chiseled and modified by experience.  I thought I would share the BIGGEST revelations with you here.  There have been many, but these are the most moving. 1)  Content is not as significant as delivery of content. I know I will raise some eyebrows with this little gem.  No matter how well you know your content, if you don't take the learner into account, that content will remain with you.  I had a GREAT education, but my most useful experiences came from learning about student engagement techniques. I also learned to trust my gut.  I learned to know my students and what could reach them.  I think we all know people who know their content, but do not know how to share that content. That is the key t...

Dear Friends, During my very first year of teaching, I ventured into the girls' restroom rather than using the teacher's rest room. It was a random choice that almost resulted in the end of my teaching career. In the restroom was one of my students. She had tried to harm herself after an abusive act by a parent. (She showed me the physical scars on her back from a beating and shared her account of the abuse.) I carried her from the restroom (since passing period was approaching) and took her to the school's office. Since she had confided in me the abuse, it was my legal responsibility to report the event, and in doing so, began the battle. The parents denied the abuse, and openly attacked me for reporting it. I am a good teacher. I am a better teacher today than I was in 1986 when this event occurred. However, I would NOT be a teacher today had it not been for tenure laws that protected me during my first year of teaching, and that continued to protect me up unti...

Pretty strong opening, eh? When FDR delivered his first inaugural address, our nation was gripped by an economic stranglehold. Fear and desperation permeated our very culture. Doubt and paralysis infected our banks, our businesses, and the American psyche. FDR's famous "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" was both insightful and prophetic. While change did overcome fear, it was change through radical policy shifts. Only by embracing new policies, new methods, and science did we transform fear and paralysis to growth. Are we brave enough to do the same today? I wonder. The model we trained ourselves in is antiquated. The generations we educate do not learn, function, or exist in a world that we knew and worked within. How are we changing our educational practices to meet these changes and are we doing so in a timely manner to prepare for WHERE our students are going? I don't think we are; furthermore, we are not doing so fast enough. There. I...

I remember Mrs. Jira, my freshmen English teacher/librarian.  You do remember librarians, right?  Those unicorn-like creatures that are being eliminated from school systems because ALL they do is check out books.... Okay.  So I'm bitter.  I am a former librarian....turned technology teacher....turned consultant.  I love my job, but I have to poke with my stick every now and then.  BACK to topic. Your librarian taught you some great stuff, and you might not have even noticed.  Librarians have been finding things no one else can find for years.  So here we are in the Twenty-first Century (living in a world with more information before), and we don't teach people how to FIND things on the Internet.  Logical. Here's a few things EVERYONE should know about finding things on the Internet.  Most people "google" information.  They type a few things into the Google search engine and peek at the results.  Most people only access in...

So did that title catch your attention? I bet it did. It's rather like beginning an essay with the word "sex" or anything connected to the word "sex." So, using this heading is for a reason. I want to talk about "Core Curriculum." You've heard about it. Your administrators have been tossing it your way, and you've been examining it in your professional learning communities. You either have a grasp of the changes heading your way, or you don't. I am one of those in the first category. Hence the title. Core Curriculum will change the way we teach. If it doesn't, we're not doing it correctly. That's why it's like war. Tell a large group of committed stakeholders that all of their lives must change and there will be chaos, pure and simple. Some are excited, others are fearful. Some are angry, others simply plan to do nothing at all. So for those of you who know nothing of the changes to come, here are my thought...

Social media, social networking and "socialnomics" are mainstays in today's business world. Those businesses who want to stay ahead of the curve are using social media tools to tap into the Internet network to launch campaigns, entice customers, and recruit employable talent. What are schools doing? Blocking these sites with filters. If we don't teach our students who will? We need to teach our students the following: 1) How to use social media as a tool. 2) How to protect one's self while using social media. 3) How to leverage information and data in social media, and 4) How to use social media to make positive connections with the world of work. That means we as teachers have to be social media experts. Most teachers fear this task. Fear no more. We must wade into the social stream and navigate its depths. It is our job to protect, educate, and enlighten our students. Since common core curriculum emphasizes "college and career readine...

"By better integrating academic, career and technical education, and work-based learning, the nation’s secondary schools can increase student engagement, boost student achievement, and provide students with more options after they graduate from high school, according to a new policy brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education." ---from Alliance for Education We all want to prepare our students for the future, a future we cannot see. We want our education to be work relevant and we aspire to make our assessments authentic. We are ever more aware of the push for this environment. In my state, Kansas, I am looking at multiple movements in this area: Kansas Common Core Standards and CTE (Career and Technical Education Pathways) . I, like many, find myself in this mix. Here's what I know. First, we need to look for methods (and tools) to help us shift accountability of learning from a teacher-based model to a student-learning based model. Please understand, I a...

So you want to flip your classroom, but where do you start? I encourage the "sandbox" method: play in it. I am going to list what I feel are some of the best free technology tools out there. I'll tell you what they are and how I use them. Then, it's time for you to play. :-) Dropbox - Dropbox is a great cloud technology storage tool. It's also cross platform, so moving items between operating systems is a breeze. Simply download the application, install, create an account, and you are on your way. You can create public links from the public folder. Drop a video in the public box, right click (or control click if you're on a Mac) and copy the public link from the video. Send it away for others to view. I actually create folders for all of my students. When they join dropbox, I get more free storage. They drop all of their projects here for me to grade. This is a very helpful tool since many email applications have attachment size limitations. ...

My students don't wear wrist watches. Neither do I. Do you? Chances are if you are, you are not living the the mobile digital technology world that our teens and twenty-something users are. Before you cry, "Foul," realize this isn't a condemnation or a judgement. It's just a different style of living. I cannot listen to Ke$sha or Wiz Kahlifa without experiencing real pain, so I don't buy all of their lifestyle as well. We're different. That, however, does not excuse us from an awareness of that lifestyle and how we must harness it to stay current in the classroom and in life. Mobile technology is the future. The major computer companies know this and are planning accordingly. While we celebrate this move, I would like to know where your school's technology plan falls in this reality. If you are still existing in the world of a few scattered computer labs that teachers jockey to use, you can count your school clearly in the dark ages o...

Technology has its buzz words. If you've been in education long enough, you have heard a great many of them: QPA, NCA, Graphic Organizers, Content Area Reading....the list goes on and on. Real veterans...cough...can point to cycles in the jargon. One of the most current in the last decade is the use of technology or one-to-one laptop initiatives. When the initiatives were launched, many looked to computers like a savior. Some wished to claim that use of technology could even boost test scores. Lots of hoopla followed. Fear was also part of the recipe. Often schools divided into two camps: those who supported technology and those who clung to the "days of old." Some saw the new technology as "the devil" in that it corrupted minds, lead students to possible "bad deed," and distracted from classroom teaching. Time has lead to a more middle ground. I teach technology. I use technology. I advocate for technology. But like all tools, it clea...

Did you lose a student this year? I did. It always hurts my heart to say, "I lost a student."  I  had earnest talks about "motivation" in my classroom with him.  His parents and I had an earnest talk at conferences about "potential" and "motivation."  They looked at me with concern, nodding seriously. I lost him.  More than that, I believe it's my fault. So I'm the exciting, overly dramatic, nerd teacher.  Most kids love my class, but I have a few....some challenging few....whom I don't reach.  I believe I know why.  It's me.  As radical as I am.  As challenging as my program is.  As unique as my flipped curriculum is....I need to find ways to reach those gamer kids who would rather be playing Minecraft than learning how to use social networking.  But don't they NEED to learn some things besides Minecraft or Skyrim?  Of course.  BUT IT'S HOW I REACH THEM THAT MATTERS.   It's true.  The student I lost...