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.

Category: Research

  • Reporting out and Following up

    I slept a lot yesterday. We shut down our section of the school where I work because 3 of the 4 teachers are sick (including me) as well as a number of the students. I had planned to spend the day correcting at home, but I’m one of the sickies and ended up spending most of the day asleep. Just being. Not a bad thing.


    Its good to just be sometimes. Image posted by me on flickr. Click it to view source.
    It's good to just be sometimes. Image posted by me on flickr. Click it to view source.


    But now I’m up early, so I have time to think while I post about some things I’ve been meaning to post about and follow up on some others.

    Blogher Boston

    Last Friday I got in my little car after work and sped drove down the 132, then the 30, then the 15, I-97, 11, 2, 78, I-89, I-93, I-95…. to Burlington, Massachusetts, 20 minutes away from Boston. I arrived at 10 to a big comfy bed, room service, and a remote control. Nice. (I have no tv at home, so it was a treat :) )

    I had no idea what to expect from BlogHer Boston as I walked into the conference hall the following morning. A few months ago I had signed up for it, thinking it would be nice to connect with other bloggers. I had a great day. For real. It was hot.

    Unfortunately the Internet connection was slightly wonky at the hotel, very slow. So instead of using Dabbleboard, my latest favourite note-taking tool, or live-blogging, I used labyrinth, a mind-mapping software that I have on my computer, to take notes during the day. (This is unfortunate because, since then, I have both upgraded my system to ubuntu 8.10 (beta) and reinstalled 8.04 (the beta is still buggy, big-time). Before re-installing I archived my home folder and saved it on the LG pen/memory stick/lazer pointer I got at the conference. All good, right? The unfortunate part is that the ‘create archive’ function seems to be one of the buggy features. It won’t open. Hence – all is lost.) Luckily my mind is still somewhat intact, so here are my personal memories of the day:

    1 – Great food and stuff – I ate like un puerco, un porc, a pig. And I got all kinds of fun stuff – comfy slippers from Shine,  a retractable mouse from LG,  baby thermometers from Playtex, chocolate from Megan at A Girl Must Shop… and more…

    2 – Hanging out with Liz Henry in the morning and trying to crack the problem code in my blog. I’m going to quote her since she already wrote about it and I’m starting to feel lazy,

    Hacked with leadingfromtheheart.org a long time on her wordpress recent posts plugin. We modified the plugin code that she’d already modified. We broke it, she re-installed it, then we ignored the plugin and went for fixing the styles of the stuff that the plugin spits out:

    li, h3, ul, and a

    . The mysterious space before the recent posts turned out to be a top margin on

    h3

    that was 3em, not 3px. Whoops! I showed her how, if you view source on someone else’s blog, you can search on “css” and find the link to their style sheet, and then paste it into the address bar to see their whole style sheet in the browser. So, for example, I used my spying skills to find her stylesheet: https://leadingfromtheheart.org/wp-content/themes/unstandard/style.css . Anyway, she’s a good hacker and has an amazing, amazing blog about teaching high school. Give it a read.

    It was so much fun to take some time to just examine code with someone else. Something I’d like to do more of.


    3- Attending some great sessions around making the most of our blogs, being part of a community of women who blog, and dealing with information overload. Beth Kanter’s talk on the last subject was fantastic. I wish I had my notes, but luckily she created a wiki-page … so go to it –> Managing Information Overload and Building Your Blog Community. The slide-show is great.


    4 – Meeting some fabulous people. Lizbdavis and JessieNYC were the only two edubloggers I met at the shindig. They rock. Jessie blogs with her students at university as well as for Racism Review and Liz blogs at The Power of Educational Technology. Sherrypardy is another hot blogger I met in Boston. She writes at SherryPardy.com as well as for a living, and she also happens to be the mother of 3-year old twins named Sara and Max. I happen to be the aunt of 2-year old twins named….Sarah and Max! I met many inspirational people throughout the day, though these three, along with Liz Henry, are sticking in my mind past the event.


    5 – The closing session. The day was such a rich exploration of community and conversation. I was quite disappointed to discover that there was no formal closure. The final session was an information session, not a community closure. The fact that it was a full community session, with no other option beside leaving, took away from the value it had as a session as well as from the day. We had begun the day by starting conversations (we had taken about 30 minutes to line up 2-by-2 and introduce each other for 2 minutes, then move on down the line), a meaningful end of the day could have been to put some closure to the conversations that had occurred during the day in a way that set up how to continue them in the future.

    6 – The reception! Luckily, I was able to do that a little bit for myself at the reception. Even more fabulous food and an open bar! I plopped myself down at a small table with a mountain of different cheeses and a glass or two of red wine and chatted with Sherry, Liz D., Liz H., and a few other people. I gleaned some stickers from the stack Liz H. pulled out of her bag and was teased by Liz D. about being Canadeean and using google.ca ;)

    School Research

    Some of you know I began the PhD program in educational technology at Concordia University in January of 08. I’ve got a long way to go before completing, however am starting to think about my research focus and will be submitting a proposal in the near future. My thoughts have been cloudy around this. I knew I wanted to explore learning in a systemic way – organizational learning, group learning, individual learning, and I know I want to look at what works already. There is so much reinventing the wheel in education and I definitely don’t want to do that. But I haven’t sat down and put it into words yet. Until this morning, when I read Jan Smith‘s post Leap and the Net will Appear

    .

    I have decided my action research question will focus on the circumstances and beliefs that lead to student engagement in learning. I really want to use blogging or digital storytelling as the lens through which to explore engagement. I also want to build my own skills in integrating technology so I can help my colleagues do the same.

    And that led me to formulate a comment that rings true to my own passion about learning.

    Your research focus is interesting. I plan on looking at something similar on a systemic level. (I’m a PhD student in educational technology) I’m interested in the circumstances and beliefs that lead to engagement in learning on an organizational level as well as in the classroom, and how each impact the other. And you know what? This is the first time I’ve been able to concisely put into words what I want to research. Thanks!

    In other words – how does organizational learning/action impact teacher and student and how does teacher and student learning/action impact the organization? And this can be extended to the outer areas of the system as well –> school board, government… Obviously still needs to be pounded out some, but I have a start.

    Following Up

    My friend Jenn, from How do you still love teaching? has begun her own blog, Jennyjukebox, and in reading her posts I remember that it is not just because she is in her first few years as a teacher that teaching is hard. It is difficult and exhausting always because we do difficult, exhausting work with children.

    I’m also realizing that, even though I’ve been teaching for about 12 years, it’s my first time in this particular program, with this team of teachers and with this group of kids. It’s a steep learning curve and it can be exhausting. On top of striving for excellence with these kids I’m also teaching new courses and getting used to a new school culture – it’s a lot of work! (my comment to her post Recharged).

    It is the most meaningful work I can think of doing (for me – not the most meaningful for everyone). It my soul purpose.

    I took my Jewish holidays, and will be making up the time on the weekend by attending different school events. I still do not feel comfortable with how the school board is dealing with religious observance. Though feel less queasy having found out that none of the holidays are paid days for anyone. The school board does, however, organize the 200 working days for teachers around the Christian holidays. Only non-Christians have to come in on the weekend or do extra work after school or emergency substitution to ‘pay’ for their holidays. Our collective agreement is up for renegotiation in 2 years. If I am still with this school board I will definitely be making my voice heard on this matter. To be honest, the school board’s track record with dealing with individual needs (not only mine in this case) makes me question whether I will still be there, but that is another post.

    I’ve re-designed tracyrosen.com a bit. I’m liking this new design much better than the old one. It uses the DePo Clean theme, which is a JOY to modify. I have never had such ease in modifying a template. For real. I also created a blog for my Grade 11 class using the same theme. Lovely. Clean. Simple.

    I have a few more things to follow up, but that will have to be in another post. This is one long story already and I need to start thinking about preparing food for someone I care about this evening so I’m going to say good bye for now.

    Have a wonderful day,
    Tracy

  • Human Performance Technology

    I have this quiz to study for. So I decided to make notes using Dabbleboard. Quick impressions:

    • easy to use
    • online
    • creative – not locked into map styles like other applications
    • can insert images
    • easy to share maps – email, link, embed
    • maps are downloadable as images

    Questions for you….
    …what do you think of #3 – a process for designing learning projects? Do you follow this process in your designs? Do you do things differently?

    …what are your thoughts on the different types of assessments?

    …does this resonate with your experience?

    (Click on each image for an easier to read version :))

     
    1) Human Performance Technology – Introduction with some definitions.

     

     

    2) Human Performance Technology – Types of assessment

     

    Carliner suggests that instead of seeking out one ‘best’ approach, assessment programs should encompass all – much like triangulation is used in qualitative research – in order to seek out differing perspectives and gain richer meaning from evidence.

     
    3) Human Performance Technology – A Process

     


     
    4) Human Performance Technology – Why process?

     

  • Computer Literacy for Students with Special Needs: Dewey + Vygotsky

    How can we create a positive future for students with ‘mild to moderate cognitive delays‘ in Quebec’s public secondary schools?At present, Quebec’s education system is in the process of major reforms. At the secondary level that translates into the creation of 3 learning paths for qualification to post-secondary programs:

    1. General Education Path
    2. Applied General Education Path
    3. Work-Oriented Training Path.

    The first 2 paths culminate with a Secondary School Diploma (SSD), while the third path offers 2 options:

    1. TCST – Training Certificate for a Semiskilled Trade
    2. PWTC – Pre-Work Training Certificate

    The students I work with, identified with mild to moderate cognitive delays, have generally not been expected to graduate from high school. The creation of the different learning paths at the secondary level may now offer a much more positive option for these students.

    The question remains, how can we best ensure the success of these students within this framework?

    I believe that by teaching all students computer literacy, how to use computer technology to enhance their learning, we are introducing them to valuable tools that will assist them in creating meaning from the raw material of the world around them. For students with special needs, in this case with mild to moderate cognitive impairments, facility with computer technology becomes even more valuable when we take into consideration the difficulties these students have with communication on a variety of levels and the possibilities that technology can offer them to overcome some of these difficulties.

    I believe that in order to design effective programming we need to look at both the individual and society. In his comparison of Dewey and Vygotsky, Glassman (2002) identified similar questions they both pursued in their work including how we can understand human activity in order to promote and guide learning. The men differed, he argued, in the way in which they viewed the process of human activity. For Dewey he saw the point of entry as human inquiry – essentially we ask a question and search for the tools we need to solve it. For Vygotsky it is the social context that drives inquiry – social history and tools determine what we ask questions about.

    If we look at learning from a systems theory perspective, we understand that every part of a system affects every other part. The individual can effect change on society and vice versa.

    When I consider my question from within a systems theory framework, I come to the conclusion that BOTH Dewey’s and Vygotsky’s views must be taken into account simultaneously in order for authentic, meaningful learning to occur.

    This paper will review the literature pertaining to the use of technology to enhance learning for students with mild to moderate cognitive impairments in light of both Dewey’s and Vygotsky’s views on learning, as each place emphasis on different aspects of a learning system, so as to better consider the whole system.

    Some Articles I am reading…

    Atkinson, T., & Atkinson, R. (2007). Creating learning communities for students with special needs. Intervention in School and Clinic, 42(5), 305-309.

    Day, S. L. (2002). Real kids, real risks: Effective instruction of students at risk of failure. NASSP Bulletin, 86(632):19-32.

    Downing, J. A. (2006). Media centers and special education: Introduction to the special issue. Intervention in School and Clinic, 42(2), 67-77.

    Hardré, P. (2004). Starting from the end: Designing instruction for technol-
    ogy skills. AACE Journal, 12(3), 315-330.

    Kingsley, K. V. (2007). Empower diverse learners with educational technology and digital media. Intervention in School and Clinic, 43(1), 52-56.

    Li-Tsang, C. W. P., Lee, M. Y. F., Yeung, S. S. S., Siu, A. M. H., & Lam, C. S. (2007). A 6-month follow-up of the effects of an information and communication technology (ICT) training programme on people with intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 28(6), 559-566.

    Liu, Y., Cornish, A., and Clegg, J. (2007). Ict and special educational needs: Using meta-synthesis for bridging the multifaceted divide. pages 18-25.

    Looney, M.A. (2005, September). Giving students a 21st century education. Technology Horizons in Education Journal, 33(2), 58.

    Mabry, L. and Snow, J. Z. (2006). Laptops for high-risk students: Empowerment and personalization in a standards-based learning environment. Studies In Educational Evaluation, 32(4):289-316.

    Pierson, J. M. (1999) Transforming engagement in literacy instruction: the role of student genuine interest and ability. Annals of Dyslexia v. 49 p. 307-29

    Popkewitz, T. S. (1998). Dewey, Vygotsky, and the social administration of the individual: Constructivist pedagogy as systems of ideas in historical spaces. American Educational Research Journal, 35(4), 535-570.

    Prawat, R. S. (1999). Cognitive theory at the crossroads: Head fitting, head splitting, or somewhere in between? Human development, 42(2):59-77.

    Prawat, R. S. (2002). Dewey and vygotsky viewed through the rearview mirror-and dimly at that. Educational Researcher, 31(5):16-20.

    Waxman, H. C. and Padron, Y. N. (1995). Improving the quality of classroom instruction for students at risk of failure in urban schools. Peabody Journal of Education, 70(2):44-65.

    Williams, P. (2005). Using information and communication technology with special educational needs students: The views of frontline professionals. Aslib Proceedings, 57(6), 539-553. Retrieved March 9, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 961001831).

    Peter Williams, Hamid R. Jamali, David Nicholas. (2006). Using ICT with people with special education needs: what the literature tells us. Aslib Proceedings, 58(4), 330-345. Retrieved March 9, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1091223451).

    Wissick, C. A. (1996). Multimedia: Enhancing instruction for students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(5), 494-503.

  • creating a whole brain model for education reform

    Image: Brain Dissolving Detail by flora.cyclam made available by a creative commons license on flickr.

    The Information Age we all prepared for is ending. Rising in its place is what I call the Conceptual Age, an era in which mastery of abilities that we’ve often overlooked and undervalued marks the fault line between who gets ahead and who falls behind. (Daniel Pink, Revenge of the Right Brain, Wired 13.02, 2005)

    This is where we need to focus – right within that fault line.

    I believe that it is where current reform, at least in Quebec, is trying to focus. But the fact that we are in a transitional space, the fact that we are trying to implement a reform that highlights right brain activity such as synthesis, emotional expression, and context within a left-brain structure that continues to emphasize the importance of literalness and sequencing through end of session exams…well…this is problematic. It’s problematic because the two notions are competitive. I hear teachers saying ALL THE TIME that they can not afford to focus on collaboration and knowledge management when they are working towards a traditional end of course exam.

    We know that both hemispheres of the brain work in tandem for much of what we do. It would be interesting to extend this concept to educational organizations. Instead of working within a competitive structure we could teach and learn within structures that are whole.

    Questions to ask are

    • How can we create a ‘mashup’ of left and right brain tasks and environments that make sense to kids as learners and teachers as educators?
    • How can we create professional development experiences that not only teach these ideas but model them as well?
    • How can we manage the transitions?

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  • Up for a challenge, anyone?

    here, by accident, at a Physics blog by teacher Dean Baird. I’ve bookmarked it.

    Hmmm – I like this kind of a challenge!

    Helping educators become more supportive of
    students is critical, but doing so produces more significant
    improvements in student learning when combined with high expectations
    and rigorous instruction.

    The challenge
    now becomes how to create the conditions that allow such solutions to
    flourish together and how to get them into the communities and high
    schools that need them the most. High school reform is achievable. But
    if reformers are to be successful, they must leave very little to
    chance.

    from Surprise — High School Reform Is Working By Thomas Toch, Craig D. Jerald, and Erin Dillon, Phi Delta Kappan, Feb. 2007

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