10 Years of Blogging: Time for a Change and a Book
So last week it marked 10 years since my first blog post, a full decade of writing and sharing online. As I’ve said many times before, it’s been an amazing journey. I don’t think I could have imagined the many ways that blogging was going to change my life, in a learning sense, in a professional sense, and in a personal sense. I still find all of it strangely bizarre, like I’ve been pulled along on this most excellent ride that has simply been a privilege to experience. I’m so very fortunate to be doing something that I love, something that constantly challenges me and keeps me on the edge of my brain, and something that connects me to such passionate and smart people both online and offline on a regular basis. I am, in a word, humbled. Thanks to all of you who have supported my learning these last 10 years.
That said, I’ve been thinking for quite a while now that I need to change things up a bit in terms of the way I’m sharing with the world. It’s become a struggle to blog in long form here. Yet I’ve not found the short form of Twitter to be anywhere close to a substitute for the extended conversations that take place here. (And to be honest, Twitter is a totally crappy archive of reading and thinking.) While I’ve tried to like it, Facebook just is not a place that I find myself wanting to spend much if any of my time. (I have a theory as to why , but I’ll share that in another post.) More and more as I think about “curating” my learning world, I find myself wanting to stow all the good stuff in one place, all the blog posts, quotes, pictures, graphics, photos, bookmarks, videos and other snips that I find interesting. I know I could do that here. But here’s the other thing…I’m also in constant need of fresh voices an perspectives. I’ve been pretty much connected to the same fairly small group for a long time now. Not that there’s anything wrong with those folks, but I need, I want to branch out.
So, I’ve decided to pretty much bring my run here at Weblogg-ed to a close. I’m not taking the site down, but for all of those reasons and more, I’m moving my writing over to a new space on Tumblr that feels like, to me at least, a better space for the kinds of writing and curating and linking that I want to do. I’ve been playing there for the last month or so, connecting with some of the people in that community, and I’m looking forward to connecting even more. I’m feeling a sense of energy that really appeals to me, and while there are some drawbacks (lack of rss feeds for individual tags, for instance) it’s just seems like the space I want to be at the moment. I know there is some danger in the all eggs in one basket model…but I’ve got a post brewing about that as well. And I’m not ignorant of the effects the switch may have on my “findability” in the larger webspace. But I’m also not so worried about that. I sincerely hope you’ll follow me there and continue to engage in these conversations around change.
And finally, another new book.
Before you say it, I completely understand the irony of a book of collected blog posts, which is exactly what Corwin Press is publishing in August with about 40 or so of the most commented on pieces found here in this space over the last 10 years. The idea for doing the book was broached by my editor at ISTE last year, and at first, I blanched at the prospect. But I came around for three main reasons. First, while it may seem kind of strange to those who have read this blog in the past, there are still lots of people out there who have yet to entertain the notion of change that this collection argues for. It’s the kind of “meet them where they are” strategy, and if this book can help do that, great. Second, it will give me a chance to help some schools that might be in need of technology or infrastructure to make those changes happen. I’ve decided that all of the after tax profits that this book may generate will be used to fund learning initiatives at deserving schools or organizations. We’re not talking Bill Gates dollars here, obviously, but I’ll report out next April or May what the totals are and what the projects look like. (If you have any suggestions on how that giving might be structured, let me know.) And finally, on a personal note, as much as I talk and write about the future of the written form, I find great honor in being asked to put this book together. It may be an anachronism by the time my grandkids are around to see it, and I know there is little or no real reason to print it out, but there’s still a piece of me that finds a printed book inspiring. Maybe it will spark some conversations about grandpa down the road.
To all of you who have stopped by here over the last decade, I can’t thank you guys enough for reading and sharing with me. Here’s to new beginnings and even more powerful conversations ahead. Keep changing the world.
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Tags: Blogging, education
The UnCommon Core
(Warning: Elitist, preachy, liberal, rantish stuff ahead.)
Lately, I can’t seem to get out from under the feeling that a) this country has pretty much lost its way and that b) at the end of the day, our education system carries much of the blame. No question, my parenting lens is coloring some of this; I’ve been reading Umair Haque and Climate Progress and the occasional Thomas Friedman essay, and I’m simply getting depressed at the picture of the future that’s being painted. And, I’m even more distressed at not being able to know how well my kids will be able to deal with the boatload of crap that is coming their way. Let’s just say things feel pretty dire right now, and to me at least, it seems like our society is offering up one part denial, one part lack of interest and one part ignorance in response. The first is a choice, but those second two? I blame our all consuming love affair with the test.
Not kidding.
It’s bad enough that we’re bleeding kids to the tune of 7,000 a day from the system, 2,500,000 1,200,000 a year. (See note below.) That’s not all due to the test, certainly, but much of it is due to being subjected to a curriculum that is driven by the one size fits all outcomes that we’ve set up for them. Read Seymour Papert’s list of 8 Big Ideas for Constructionist Learning and ask yourself seriously how much of that goes on in your school. My guess is not much, and the primary reason is we don’t value that stuff more than we value making sure kids pass the test. We don’t give kids time to go deep, we don’t honor failure, and we’re not about “learning to learn” as much as we are about “learning to know.” So many of our kids are disengaged or simply not interested in learning because they see no benefits past the exam. Are we really surprised that so many adults in our society aren’t learners? So many teachers, in fact? That’s not our emphasis in schools.
Similarly, is anyone surprised that a huge swath of our population can’t speak intelligently about the larger issues that face us? No doubt, the financial mess we’re in and climate change and the Middle East and the rest are complex, fast changing issues that can be difficult for anyone to keep up with. (I’m no exception.) But again, have our schools really been cultivating the learning dispositions needed to grapple with those topics as they evolve? We give a lot of lip service to problem solving and critical thinking and the like, but I’m not convinced that those and other really important skills and literacies are showing up meaningfully in more than 10% of classrooms in this country because in large measure, they’re not on the test. It’s about content and knowledge, not learning.
Here’s the deal: Right now, the test is forcing us to spend too much time on stuff that we don’t really need to be spending time on any more. I used to joke about open phone tests, but I’m not joking as much any more. I keep looking at my kids’ tests, especially Tucker’s state NJ ASK stuff and see way too much stuff on there that he could answer with his phone. Not getting it.
And it’s not getting better. I just spent a couple of days out in Seattle working with a group of pretty amazing educators helping to write problem based curriculum that aligns with the Common Core. Their main motivation is to engage kids in learning, and I got a chance to observe one of their modules being implemented in a local high school classroom. It was good stuff. But in general, what bothers me about the Common Core is what bothers me about the traditional curriculum as well, namely that there is still way too much emphasis on things that I just don’t see as all that important in the information and knowledge filled world in which we live. I totally get that there is not one part of most K-12 curricula that isn’t relevant to some kids in the system, but the idea that every child has to get every part of the standard curriculum is silly. And even more, there is still a decided lack of emphasis on the types of skills and dispositions and real world knowledge and thinking that my children are going to need to best exist in a world filled with what more and more appears to be some pretty dire problems.
So I’ve been building a list of my UnCommon Core, the things I think we can expect every child to understand regardless of interest and passion. I know some will read a liberal bias into this, but I find these hard to argue against, to be honest, regardless the political viewpoint you bring to them. So here’s a baker’s dozen:
1. Living softly on the Earth (Our global impacts.)
2. Gender equality equity (Note #2) (With a particular emphasis on the objectification and sexualization of young girls and women.)
3. Developing expertise (Understanding what it means to go deep intellectually)
4. Public participation (Both online and off)
5. Managing, analyzing, synthesizing and sharing multiple streams of simultaneous information (Thank you NCTE)
6. Physical fitness and health (Real fitness. Real health.)
7. Consumerism and finance (Understanding the systems of money)
8. Networked online learning (And all that goes with that)
9. Reputation management/becoming a trusted source/online safety
10. Participating in a democracy (Online and off)
11. Embracing and learning through change (Too much of schools is about stagnation.) (Added after original posting.)
12. Embracing diversity (Our changing cultural influences)
13. Problem solving and programming solutions
I’m sure there are others…feel free to extend the list.
And here’s the thing…we can teach math and science and even Shakespeare in those contexts, not as discrete, never the twain shall meet disciplines or units that are mostly aimed at checking the test prep box. If you don’t believe that, have you seen the vision for school that MaryAnn Reilly is working on?
Students do not take traditional courses tied to seat time or discrete disciplines and are encouraged to work virtually, as well as in person. Utilizing Option 2 (N.J.A.C. 6A:8-5.1(a)1ii), personalized learning plans are developed with students and their parents/guardians that fulfill the Morris School District graduation requirements while emphasizing students’ interests, emerging as well as established. These experiences can result in: project-based courses, virtual offerings, community-based internships, college courses, and capstone projects.
Like MaryAnn and her cohorts are doing, I think it’s time to start thinking uncommonly about education, for the sake of our kids and our futures. What do you think?
(Note: I miscalculated the number of dropouts in the initial version as 7,000 per day, not 7,000 per each school day. Apologies.)
(Note #2: As per the suggestion of Alec Couros.)
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Tags: education, learning, schools
A Different Path
So it’s been about five years now since I wrote this to my kids:
Dear Tess and Tucker,
For most of your young lives, you’ve heard your mom and I occasionally talk about your futures by saying that someday you’ll travel off to college and get this thing called a degree that will show everyone that you are an expert in something and that will lead you to getting a good job that will make you happy and make you able to raise a family of your own someday. At least, that’s what your mom and I have in our heads when we talk about it. But, and I haven’t told your mom this yet, I’ve changed my mind. I want you to know that you don’t have to go to college if you don’t want to, and that there are other avenues to achieving that future that may be more instructive, more meaningful, and more relevant than getting a degree.
And today when I read this, I still think that old post is pretty relevant:
Of the 2 million graduates in the class of 2011, 85 percent will return home because they can’t secure jobs that might give them more choices and more control over their lives.
Ok, then.
The other day at Tucker’s basketball game, I overheard two moms talking about the “plan” for college. The one mom was very passionate about her son NOT going to a traditional college right after high school. “My kid has no idea what he wants to do, and I’m not sending him to some $25,000 a year school to have him figure it out,” she said. “He can take all the standard requirement courses at a community college, transfer out when he’s ready, and in the meantime see where his interests are.”
The funny thing was that the other mom was shaking her head slightly in agreement but I could tell by her questions that wasn’t going to be an option for her child. “What if he can’t transfer the credits?” “Don’t you think he’ll miss a lot of the ‘college experience?’” “You mean he’s going to live at home?” The horror.
I have a theory, and I may be wrong, but I’m willing to bet that the 15% who do get a job out of college are not necessarily the smartest kids out there; they are the ones who are the most passionate and committed to the life’s work they know in their hearts they were meant to do. It’s not like every kid from an Ivy school is getting a job; plenty of kids from what Newsweek or U.S. News would consider third tier colleges will go on to find fulfilling work that will give them “more choices and more control over their lives.” Or, they will be the creative, self-motivated, problem solvers who will start their own businesses, carve out their own paths to success.
Look, I’m somewhat swayed by the statistics that show kids with college degrees are dealing with much less unemployment that those without, and that they make more money. And I know there can be amazing learning that happens in some university classrooms. But I’m also swayed by the fact that neither I nor even one of my friends from college ended up doing what they got a degree from school to do. Way too many of us are going to college because we’re “supposed to” without any real clue what we want to do with our time there. Thirty years ago when I was in school, that wasn’t such a big hit in the pocketbook; there was always grad school, right? Today, I think that mom at the basketball got it right. Who can afford to waste a couple of years in college? And unless you really want to get saddled with debt, grad school’s not as much of an “hey-I-finally-figured-out-what-I-want-to-do” option.
I’ll say it again: Tess, Tucker, you don’t HAVE to go to college. Nor should your schools have to prepare you to go to college. What they and me and your mom need to help you with is finding your passion, going deep into learning about it, becoming an expert, and then using that expertise to change the world and make a living. We need to help you learn how to cobble together your own education, and you don’t have to wait until college to start down that road. And odds are pretty good that 10 years from now when you are looking to strike out on your own, your passion and your portfolio will take you as far if not farther than a degree that came at a great expense and in all likelihood with only a slice of relevance.
So, college? Maybe. But we’re keeping our options open.
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“There are Some People Who Don’t Wait”
This quote from Robert Krulwich of NPR caught my eye yesterday:
But there are some people, who don’t wait.
I don’t know exactly what going on inside them; but they have this… hunger. It’s almost like an ache.
Something inside you says I can’t wait to be asked I just have to jump in and do it.
He was talking about beginning journalists, but I couldn’t help thinking about the many teachers who I have met over the years who haven’t waited. People like Shelley Blake-Plock and Dolores Gende and Anne Smith and Kathy Cassidy and Brian Crosby and Shannon Miller and Shelley Wright and Jabiz Raisdana and a whole slew of others who had some type of hunger overcome them, something that made them jump right in and really change the way the thought about teaching and learning and classrooms. For some, I know, what’s happened over the past decade or so has simply afforded a way for them to do more of what they always believed, to give kids the reins and let them learn about learning. But for others, and I would count myself in this second category, the last 10 years have brought to life a way of thinking about education that is decidedly different from the lens we originally carried into the classroom. For us, this has been a real transformation, not simply a shift in methods or pedagogy.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of teachers are still waiting…for something. What is it? Permission? Direction? Inspiration? Enlightenment?
I know this is a crappy time to be in education. Maybe as crappy as it’s ever been. Thousands of people are losing their jobs, their benefits. The profession is being dragged through the manure. The onslaught of tests and data collection and standardization is doing the same thing to teachers as it’s doing to kids, driving the creativity and the passion and the enjoyment of real learning right out of them. I am not unsympathetic to these realities…not at all.
But we can’t use this moment as an excuse to continue to wait. Technology aside, our educational systems are not creating the learners that we want our children to be. And it’s not about layering whiteboards or blogs onto a narrow, one-size fits all curriculum that has marched along undeterred for what seems like forever. It’s about fundamentally changing what we do in classrooms with kids.
The good news is that many have acted on their hunger. They’ve put kids ahead of the system, redefined themselves as learners first, teachers second, found the courage of their convictions and made learning, not test scores, the focus. The bad news is that far too many teachers still don’t even know that the traditional model of education is failing kids when it comes to learning. But somewhere in the middle, there are those that know there is a different path, yet they won’t make the leap.
What, I wonder, are they waiting for?
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Tags: change, education, learning
One year ago: Constructing Modern Knowledge