Leading From The Heart

by Tracy Rosen, teaching & consulting since 1996, blogging about it here since 2007. All views are my own and you should take them with a grain of salt, I do.

Author: Tracy Rosen

  • Calling for help in high school tech workshop development in English and en français

    I will be facilitating two workshops, essentially identical though different ;) , on integrating technology into secondary school classrooms. Specifically Language Arts, History, and Science.

    When it comes to workshops, teachers want practical ideas that they can use in their classrooms so I will be organizing the workshops by practice first and then filling the theory in as we go, as it is needed.

    Oh, they are identical but different because one is for English secondary teachers, one for French.

    Ideas I have so far:

    Digital Storytelling as the basis for integrating tech not only in the language classrooms but in the other classrooms as well

    Demonstrating examples using:

    • VoiceThread
    • Video
    • Blogging
    • Collaborative creation (using googledocs kind of things)

    Here are the workshop descriptions:

    Technology as part of the learning process: Specific activities that integrate technology in the Secondary classroom.

    In this workshop we will explore specific ways to integrate technology into Secondary Language Arts, History, and Science classrooms. It used to be that technology was an add on, something extra that many of us believed we did not have time for given the reality of rigorous curriculum and time constraints. Now, technology use is part of the curriculum, part of the learning process. We will look at specific ideas that can be used in the classroom – digital storytelling, blogging, voicethread, video, and other collaborative or individual activities – and how they are related to curricular competencies.

    The material we cover, as well as ideas for further exploration, will be added to the website Teaching is a Verb – Enseigner, C’est Agir. The website is set up as a blog and I welcome your comments and questions as they can help me to design a workshop that best addresses your needs.

    ———————-

    La technologie et le processus d’apprentissage: des activitĂ©s spĂ©cifiques qui appuient l’intĂ©gration de technologie dans la salle de classe secondaire

    Il Ă©tait une fois que la technologie en salle de classe Ă©tait une activitĂ© supplĂ©mentaire, quelque chose qu’on faisait si on avait le temps aprĂšs le ‘vrai travail’ du curriculum. Maintenant, la technologie fait partie du curriculum, du processus de l’apprentissage. Durant cet atelier je vais vous prĂ©senter des activitĂ©s spĂ©cifiques que vous pouvez utiliser dans vos salles de classes – le rĂ©cit numĂ©rique, des blogs, VoiceThread, vidĂ©o, et d’autres activitĂ©s de collaboration et non – et comment ces activitĂ©s sont liĂ©es aux compĂ©tences du curriculum.

    Le contenu de l’atelier, en plus que des idĂ©es pour l’exploration supplĂ©mentaire, sera affichĂ© au site web Enseigner, C’est Agir – Teaching is a Verb. En fait, ce site web est un blog alors je vous invite Ă  me laisser vos commentaires ou vos questions, car ils pourraient m’aider Ă  crĂ©er un atelier qui rĂ©pondra plus prĂ©cisĂ©ment a vos besoins actuels.

    Any ideas for me? Things you think are must haves? Things I should avoid?

  • Stop talking about classrooms that don’t work

    This morning I read a thoughtful post about what ADD may or may not be. Despite the timeliness and depth of thought present in the article, I was stricken by one paragraph about the perils of classrooms on our children. How our young children today, so rife with creative potential, are doomed to a future of diagnosis and boredom because they will be subjected to school.

    I was not only stricken but insulted.

    Does all of the work that I and many of my colleagues have done over the past years have no bearing on the future of education? Do all of those teachers out there in schools all over the world who care about their children not count?

    I feel we need to get beyond the system is broken kind of thinking and focus on what is working. We see what we look for and if we keep focusing on a broken system we will only succeed in creating more broken system.

    Instead of creating a doomsday effect by telling ominous stories of the proliferation of ‘traditional’ classrooms that stifle creativity and connectivity, I prefer to point towards learning that does the opposite, learning that works and educators who ‘get it’.

    George Couros
    Michael Doyle
    Lori Centerbar
    Kevin Hodgson
    Glenn Moses
    Linda Clinton
    Elona Hartjes
    Darren Kuropatwa
    Kelly Hines
    Karen S.
    Dea Conrad-Curry
    Zac Chase
    Angela Maiers
    Chris Lehmann
    Jose Vilson
    MRW
    Damian Bariexca
    J. M. Holland

    .
    .
    .

    You get the point. There are good educators who foster good learning in good classrooms in good schools. I keep this in mind as I work towards hope for the future within (and without) the walls of my own school.

  • mid-night invictus, a story of inspiring leadership

    I woke up at 2 am, couldn’t fall back asleep, so began to watch Invictus, the story of Nelson Mandela’s call to Rugby to begin healing South Africa in 1995. Watch the film for the final game. I think it’s one of the best EVER. Even though I knew the outcome, I was on the edge of my seat, cheering with the crowd, admittedly with tears on my cheeks.

    That game happened because of Mandela’s inherent leadership. He knew what was needed to inspire his country – his family, as he called its citizens – to begin to become a nation undivided and he did not let anyone get in the way of that vision, no matter how unpopular it was.

    These are the words that inspired his powerful vision, throughout his 27 years in prison and his presidency:

    Invictus by William Ernest Henry

    Out of the night that covers me,
    Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
    I thank whatever gods may be
    For my unconquerable soul.

    In the fell clutch of circumstance
    I have not winced nor cried aloud.
    Under the bludgeonings of chance
    My head is bloody, but unbowed.

    Beyond this place of wrath and tears
    Looms but the Horror of the shade,
    And yet the menace of the years
    Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

    It matters not how strait the gate,
    How charged with punishments the scroll,
    I am the master of my fate:
    I am the captain of my soul.

    Those final two lines, a reminder that no matter what we control how we are in the world.

  • How to get them to speak the language they are learning?

    (cross-posted at Enseigner, c’est agir – en français)

    How do you get your students to speak French (or whatever the 2nd language is that they are learning) in class?

    I am not interested in offering rewards. I don’t want to raise a group of trained seals who will do anything for a candy.


    click image to view source

    I think the answer lies somewhere in here:

    If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.— Antoine de Saint-ExupĂ©ry

    in creating learning situations where they must speak the 2nd language in order to participate and where they will want to participate


    Have you been able to do this? Tell me your story!

  • On becoming a teacher

    Kevin had a great answer to the question, “should I become a teacher?”

    Yes, if your passion is to change the lives of young people one day at a time and if you’re willing to see the results of your daily work only years into the future, then yes, you should become a teacher.
    But don’t do it for yourself. Do it for that lonely child whose family is in shambles and your classroom is the only safe place to be. They may not show the appreciation now, and maybe won’t show it ever, but you could be the most important anchor in their lives. Do it for the gifted child who is bored and needs someone thoughtful to pull and push them in new directions. Do it for the kid who always pays attention and does their hardest, no matter what you ask of them. Do it for the ones who resist you at every turn. They all need you.
    Yes, become a teacher. It won’t make you financial rich like your Wall Street friends, but being a teacher will allow you to sleep at night, knowing you are making a real difference in the world (unless you are wide awake, wondering about tomorrow’s lesson plans)

    – Kevin

    I became a teacher because I wanted to make sure every kid had a chance to learn how to read. I’ve stayed a teacher for many more reasons but mainly because I still want every kid to have an equal chance at being their best selves.

    You?