Media Literacy – #saskedchat
Media Literacy is our topic for #saskedchat Thursday May 25th at 8pm CST.
The Power of Media
Too often, when discussing media literacy, the concept is often framed as just a set of skills but, in a world that is constantly changing and requiring people to do things differently, Media Literacy goes beyond just a set of skills. It requires individuals to be critical of media in all it’s forms and to be aware of the influence and impact of what they not only watch but also what they create.
Alvin Toffler’s quote above captures the essence of learning of the 21st century. As so many seek to provide a list of skills or actions or observations of a “21st Century student, classroom, teacher, school, ….” often missed is that there is no “one” list or skill or framework that can comprehensively capture the complexity of learning at this time. And that is key – it’s not about some time in the not-to-distant-future but the here and now.
According the Media Literacy Project
Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. Media literate youth and adults are better able to understand the complex messages we receive from television, radio, Internet, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, video games, music, and all other forms of media. Media literacy skills are included in the educational standards of every state—in language arts, social studies, health, science, and other subjects. Many educators have discovered that media literacy is an effective and engaging way to apply critical thinking skills to a wide range of issues.
Notice it says “Media literate youth and adults”. This isn’t just for children and youth but for everyone – continuous and ongoing. It covers all forms of media, some of which are just beginning to become mainstream like Virtual Reality. In Literacy in Virtual Reality: a New Medium, Sherman & Craig (1995) discuss the “new” medium of Virtual Reality.
There are many forms of communication, each has specific issues of literacy, as well as general issues that pervade all media. As a new medium, the “language” of VR is still in its infancy, therefore, the study of VR literacy must look both at the content receiver and the content creator.
This continues to be true of VR plus many of the other forms of communication that have spawned in the past two decades. With access to the internet becoming easier for many people on a global scale, continuous learning is necessary for people of all ages.
Media Literacy
The message of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs. The railway did not introduce movement or transportation or wheel or road into human society, but it accelerated and enlarged the scale of previous human functions, creating totally new kinds of cities and new kinds of work and leisure. This happened whether the railway functioned in a tropical or northern environment, and is quite independent of the freight or content of the railway medium.
(Understanding Media, NY, 1964, p. 8)
According to Media Smarts, there are 5 Key Concepts for Media Literacy
- Media are constructions
- Audiences negotiate meaning
- Media have commercial implications
- Media have social and political implications
- Each medium has a unique aesthetic form.
Today’s information and entertainment technologies communicate to us through a powerful combination of words, images, and sounds. As such, we need to develop a wider set of literacy skills helping us to both comprehend the messages we receive and effectively utilize these tools to design and distribute our own messages. Being literate in a media age requires critical thinking skills that empower us as we make decisions, whether in the classroom, the living room, the workplace, the boardroom, or the voting booth.
Given the changing state of communities, knowledge, and education, however, citizenship is no longer contained by physical location, so we need to expand our definition of citizenship to take into consideration who we are as members of the global, online communities in which we now find ourselves. Digital citizenship asks us to consider how we act as members of a network of people that includes both our next-door neighbours and individuals on the other side of the planet and requires an awareness of the ways in which technology mediates our participation in this network. It may be defined as “the norms of appropriate and responsible online behaviour”14 or as “the quality of habits, actions, and consumption patterns that impact the ecology of digital content and communities“15
- Exploit “teachable moments”
When students have free time, take an opportunity to listen to what they’re talking about. Most likely, it’s related to the media they watch, play and listen to! Breaking news stories, blockbuster movies, and celebrity meltdowns are all great opportunities for media analysis.- Give students a chance to create media, not just analyze it
Although there’s more to media education than just creating media, this is a key part of it: there’s no substitute for hands-on experience to help kids understand how things like editing and music can influence the way a movie or TV show affects us emotionally. Camera phones, storyboards and even magazine collages are all affordable and easy options for bringing media production into your classroom.- Start and end with the key concepts
Media education, and the media world, can feel overwhelming when you start to analyze it. By always coming back to the key concepts of media literacy you can keep from getting sidetracked as you analyze media products or cultural artifacts.- Recognize that kids – and adults – enjoy media
It’s important not to take a negative approach to media education. Teach kids that critiquing is not necessarily the same thing as criticizingand that we can identify and talk about problematic issues in the media we love without losing our enjoyment of them. Don’t forget to look at positive examples when discussing things like gender, stereotyping and so on.- Teach about media, not just with media
It’s not enough to use media in your classroom unless students are learning about media as well. Any time you’re using media in the classroom, look for a media education opportunity: for instance, if you’re showing the movie version of a play or book, have students analyze the differences between the two using the key concepts. How are the commercial considerations of a movie different from those of a book or a play? What technical differences change how the story is told? How are the expectations of a movie audience different from those of a play or a book? How are the film-makers’ values and assumptions similar to, or different from, the original author’s? How do all of these differences affect the explicit or implicit meaning?- Make media education about asking questions, not learning answers
Even though you may feel strongly about an issue or a media product, give your students room to come to their own conclusions. This is especially important when you’re dealing with issues such as stereotyping or body image, where your students (and you!) likely already have strong opinions: you need to model the practice of keeping an open mind and using a critical analysis, not your emotions, to lead you to a conclusion.- Fight the perception that “It doesn’t matter”
Students often try to avoid talking about the implications of media products by saying “it’s only a TV show” – or a video game, or a music video, or so on. Remind students that media can have meaning even if the creators didn’t plan it, and that we rely as much on the media as on anything else to tell us about the world. For instance, research has shown persuasively that media consumption can affect how we see others and how we see ourselves, even if we don’t realize it – a condition known as implicit or unconscious bias – and the presence or absence of different groups in media has been shown to affect how people feel about those groups.- Assess and evaluate media literacy work
“Will this be on the test?” By doing formal assessment and evaluation of the media literacy work students do, you communicate to them that it is valuable and important. Make sure that your evaluations are as well thought-out and objective as they are for all your other assignments, and keep them consistent: when in doubt, return to the key concepts to gauge your students’ knowledge, understanding, insight and skill. See Assessing and Evaluating Media Literacy Work for tips on how to do this.- Let students bring their own media to the table
To get students more engaged, look for opportunities for them to do media literacy work with their choice of media products. You can deal with concerns about content issues by making your expectations clear and a part of the evaluation scheme (ethical and responsible use of media is a key part of media literacy) and by having students only present excerpts of media products in group or whole-class settings.- Keep up-to-date with media trends and developments
You don’t have to be a media expert to teach media literacy, but it helps to be current about what kids are watching, playing, reading, wearing and listening to, not to mention what they’re doing online. This is a great opportunity to let kids be the experts and teach you about the latest thing!
What do you do to integrate media literacy in your classroom?
What tools do you use to support student media literacy?
How important is media literacy in your teaching?
What are some ways you can begin to integrate more media literacy in your own classroom?
I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas about media literacy in your classroom and school.
Assessment – for, as, of
This Thursday at 8pm CST #saskedchat will be exploring Assessment – As, For, and Of Learning.
As often happens in education, the discussion of assessment seems to result in polarization of ideas where individuals take an Either/Or stance. This can be seen on the discussion of homework vs stop homework, where discussions often take the well-worn path of the all-in/out stance. Inevitably this type of discussion polarizes the issue(s) which really doesn’t help anyone, except maybe those people trying to sell something (another little issue that is steadily creeping into educational discussions lately).
Assessment is a part of schooling and people seem to agree that assessment needs to change but, depending on your point of view and who you talk to, the way it needs to change is not necessarily clear. There are calls for eliminating high stakes testing as they are currently used while others point to their use around the globe with mixed results.
Assessment As, Of, and For Learning
There are many times during a day in which I am ‘assessed’. If I’m driving and a police officer is watching traffic, I will be assessed on how well I am following the rules of the road and adhering to the laws, at that particular instant. When I cook for my family, how well I do is ‘assessed’ by whether people like what was cooked or not. Depending on how you view assessment, each day we are assessed in a variety of ways, some more directly than others. Drive over the speed limit in a zone where there is photo-radar, you will probably receive a ticket for failing to follow the posted speed limit.
For teachers, ePortfolios, Project Based Learning, Problem Based Learning, Inquiry, Genius Hour, Maker Space, Kahoot, Socrative, Google Classroom, Freshgrade, Flipgrid and a variety of other tools and strategies are changing how teachers are engaging in assessment with students and is changing how teachers are using assessment in the classroom. As a way to frame the discussion of assessment, looking at “Why” one assesses can help to frame the discussion in a different way. In order to facilitate this changing assessment landscape, discussing assessment As, Of, and For Learning helps to differentiate the role of assessment and how it is used.
These are not new terms, nor are they necessarily new ways of looking at assessment. This differentiation does help to see how assessment has shifted from an end-of-unit exam or a 5 paragraph essay to something much more dynamic and complex.
Assessment As Learning
Assessment As Learning focuses on students self-monitoring their own learning. This is described as meta-cognition – the knowledge of one’s thinking.
Assessment as learning emerges from the idea that learning is not just a matter of transferring ideas from someone who is knowledgeable to someone who is not, but is an active process of cognitive restructuring that occurs when individuals interact with new ideas. Within this view of learning, students are the critical connectors between assessment and learning. For students to be actively engaged in creating their own understanding, they must learn to be critical assessors who make sense of information, relate it to prior knowledge, and use it for new learning. This is the regulatory process in metacognition; that is, students become adept at personally monitoring what they are learning, and use what they discover from the monitoring to make adjustments, adaptations, and even major changes in their thinking.
Helping students to understand their own learning is key in helping them develop skills to be life-long learners who will be able to meet the demands and challenges in a world that continues to rapidly change. No one is really sure what will happen in the next 10 years but it will probably be very different than it is today while remaining very similar in many ways.
Assessment For Learning
Assessment For Learning takes place throughout the learning process from the beginning of the school year until it ends. With the use of different digital platforms, this process can continue throughout the entire time a student is in school, with learning events and reflections occurring in a variety of ways all the while parts of these events being digitally captured to allow teachers, students, and parents to see the growth over time and identify areas that might need further development.
Assessment for learning occurs throughout the learning process. It is designed to make each student’s understanding visible, so that teachers can decide what they can do to help students progress. Students learn in individual and idiosyncratic ways, yet, at the same time, there are predictable patterns of connections and preconceptions that some students may experience as they move along the continuum from emergent to proficient. In assessment for learning, teachers use assessment as an investigative tool to find out as much as they can about what their students know and can do, and what confusions, preconceptions, or gaps they might have.
Organization such as Canadian Assessment for Learning Network support teachers, schools and parents with Assessment For Learning and work to provide great understanding about the role of Assessment For Learning and it’s use within the learning process.
Assessment Of Learning
Assessment of Learning can be described as a snapshot of a person’s learning at a particular point in time. This has traditionally been what was reported on a traditional report card with a grade.
Assessment of learning refers to strategies designed to confirm what students know, demonstrate whether or not they have met curriculum outcomes or the goals of their individualized programs, or to certify proficiency and make decisions about students’ future programs or placements. It is designed to provide evidence of achievement to parents, other educators, the students themselves, and sometimes to outside groups (e.g., employers, other educational institutions).
Assessment of learning is the assessment that becomes public and results in statements or symbols about how well students are learning.
Various school divisions in Saskatchewan, in Canada, and around the globe have begun to adopt a report card that focuses on feedback and growth as opposed to grades. As with all change, there is resistance of this form of reporting and, in some cases, a call to return to traditional grades.
What do you think?
This is just a very general overview of Assessment As, For, and Of Learning. There are many more nuances to assessment that often are not discussed. I would highly recommend you check out these resources for a much greater discussion of assessment:
Softening the Edges – by Katie White – an great book about many of the parts of assessment that don’t often get discussed. I highly recommend this book as it will challenge you to think of assessment in new ways.
Checking for Understanding – by Doug Fisher & Nancy Frey – A great book that highlights the use of Formative Assessment at all grade levels.
Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design – by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe – this has been my go to book for addressing the whole assessment piece – planning like an assessor not like an activity planner.
What do you think? What are your thought about assessment? How would you like to see things change?
Join #saskedchat Thursday night at 8pm CST as we explore this topic.
Formative Assessment – #saskedchat
Formative Assessment – Key to Learning
This week, #saskedchat will explore Formative Assessment – Key to Learning a topic suggested by Dawn Bick an elementary science teacher from Fishers, IN.
Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment has become an important part of classroom assessment, providing teachers with a variety of information to support student learning. One of the most important aspects of FA is that it needs to inform upcoming lessons and be used by the teacher to make adjustments to meet the needs of the students. Using FA without using the information it provides is akin to checking a weather app but wearing shorts no matter the forecast.
There are a variety of different FA instructional strategies that teachers can use at all stages of a lesson – Before, During, or After learning.
Susan M. Brookhart’s Formative Assessment Strategies for Every Classroom: An ASCD Action Tool, 2nd Edition is a good resource for all teachers. It not only describes FA but provides a variety of strategies for developing FA, strategies for developing FA, and describes how to use FA in the classroom.
The article 5 Fantastic, Fast, Formative Assessment Tools by Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) describes Formative Assessment tools that teacher can use with technology including Kahoot, Socrative, and such tools as Plickers and QuickKey.
Natalie Regier, M. Ed. provides 60 Assessment Strategies that teachers can use –
This is a good resource for all teachers as it provides strategies that can be used at different age/grade levels.
What is Formative Assessment?
FA is the use of different assessment strategies to gather data about student learning to determine what students know and what they need to learn to meet a goal or outcome, using that information to plan and make adjustments to meet the learning needs of students.
According to Susan M. Brookhart (2010)
The best formative assessment involves both students and teachers in a
recursive process. It starts with the teacher, who models the process for .
the students. At first, the concept of what good work “looks like” belongs to
the teacher. The teacher describes, explains, or demonstrates the concepts
or skills to be taught, or assigns student investigations—reading assigned
material, locating and reading materials to answer a question, doing
activities or experiments—to put content into students’ hands.
Formative Assessment helps students to develop meta-cognitive skills – learning how to learn – which are important as the student becomes an independent learner. “Learning how to learn—that is, learning the metacognitive skills that will ultimately contribute to lifelong learning—begins with specific acts of self-assessment” (Brookhart, 2010). Helping students to develop skills as independent learners is important in a world that is undergoing intensive changes and requires people to be ‘always learning’ in order to be active and informed citizens in a connected global society.
Formative Assessment is not graded. It’s used to inform instruction, provide feedback about what student’s know and where learning gaps exist, and help students improve and grow. This reduces ‘grading anxiety’ that many students have as they focus on the grade they received and not on the feedback or how they can improve. FA helps to reduce anxiety about a ‘grade’ and provides students the opportunity to improve their work through an iterative process of feedback and self-assessment.
Formative and Summative Assessment
“Formative and summative assessment should both serve the same learning goals. This is how they are connected. The assessments students use as they develop, practice, and learn should be based on the same knowledge and skills they will ultimately demonstrate for a grade” (Brookhart, 2010). Formative Assessment provides students the opportunity to practice and improve without the pressure of attaching a grade to the work and prepares them for summative assessment.
Formative Assessment is part of the planning process and needs to be developed during the process of planning. By planning for FA, teachers shift their focus from planning activities for students to planning growth and feedback loops for students. The activity, whatever it might be, is part of the learning process which includes opportunities for students to demonstrate learning in a variety of ways and receive feedback for improvement before any form of summative assessment takes place.
Sharing – #saskedchat – Week 4 Summer Blogging Challenge
Sharing
As parents, one thing that we have tried to impress upon on children is the importance of sharing, whether it is with siblings, friends, or other people, we have tried to help our children understand the importance of sharing while at the same time helping them to understand that they must be careful with what they are sharing through their social networks, the different social apps that they use, the people with whom they engage and the relationships they have with others.
It’s Not That Simple
Being a “modern” educator, for some, means having a PLN, integrating technology, and, through various means, “sharing”. However, too often educators who aren’t integrating, twittering or blogging or aren’t seen as embracing technological advancements are often described as somehow being “less” as teachers, as being not as worthy,
“And, sadly, some people write off technology as a chore or passing fad”
This attitude, unfortunately, continues to reinforce the binary of the “good/bad” teacher which does little to explore the strengths of people but, instead, serves to limit people and continue traditional power structures that have dominated educational discourses throughout history where certain groups are described as “less worthy” because of their lack of knowledge or talent or whatever can be used to create the power binary. We have to remember throughout time, “good/bad” teachers has meant things very different from the present.
The idea that it is right to be a student-centered and caring teacher rather than a self-centered teacher is one that, while strongly held at this point in time, is contingent as any other idea about good teaching in any other historical period. McWilliam, 2004
Sharing, as an educator, has now become what “relevant teachers” do because it is now “right and proper” to do so. But the definition of “sharing” continues to change and morph as can be seen in the continual changes found in the Terms of Service of apps like Facebook and Twitter and the use of various social networks for various types of sharing.
In fact, there are numerous examples of people who have made poor decisions when sharing online, examples of how sharing and privacy have become issues and the harmful effects that happen when things are shared without people’s knowledge or their consent such as the numerous examples of phishing scams where people have had their information used by scammers and the harmful and destructive consequences of people who have pictures stolen and shared against their consent.
Sharing is Important
Learning to be generous with time and resources is something I want my children to develop and appreciate. However, it’s also not quite as simple as Mark Zuckeburg makes it out
“Facebook’s mission and what we really focus on giving everyone the power to share all of the things that they care about,”
Yes, sharing is important and something that needs to continue, especially for teachers. However, it’s not as simple as “just sharing”. There are many instances when, although I wanted to share, doing so would have been unethical or might have had negative consequences. Like many others, I’ve been on the receiving end of nasty trolling from taking a particular point of view. It’s not always possible or positive to share one’s experiences.
In a world dominated by the digital, sharing online seems to be the ONLY way that some people consider to be real sharing. Yet, in many instances, the intimate conversations that take place between two people, or in a small group, can be what really cements and binds our socially mediated relationships.
As educators, relationships are so important and, although having digital relationships and learning to live in a world where digital discourse, literacy, citizenship, and relationship are important, there is a place for people who are more comfortable with the less-digital, less-technological. If we believe that each person’s development is important, then genuinely respecting and honouring them should allow us to feel anything but “sad”. In fact
Good teachers will one day feel differently about progressive teaching, just as they have done in other times and places. McWilliam, 2004
What do You Share? How do You Share?
How do you share? What do you share? How does sharing fit in your lifestyle as a teacher? Parent? Partner? Individual?
Change – #saskedchat – Week 3 Blogging Challenge
How Do You View Change?
Change is constant.
Change is inevitable.
Change can be positive or it can be negative.
Change can be hard to describe and its effects can be even harder to put into words.
A Summer of Change
This summer has brought about a number of changes for many people I know – some are moving to new jobs, some are moving to new schools, some are moving to new communities, some are entering new stages of their lives and a few are doing all of the above!
Having gone through the process of moving (9 times), a new job (8 times), a new school (10 times) and community (6 times) and the change brought on by having children (8 of them) or having children leave (3 of them), I’ve come to view change as the way life is lived. I’ve recently had to begin to care for my parents as they age, something with which I have little experience which means that, like many things, I’m learning as I go.
Change
As I read various articles that are geared at examining changes that might be experienced by teachers, either by new technology or new strategies or new assessment or different expectations or the recent online phenomenon or …. it goes on, I notice that there is a natural tendency to generalize things across a population, something that tends to happen quite often in education. People speak of “teachers” needing to “…..” because of their particular worldview and point of view. Not that’s it’s bad but that really is theirs and, sometimes, if it’s the dominant societal one, it goes without question.
However, in my experience, this tendency masks the individual responses that people experience as they go through change. Generalizing that this change or that change will have this effect or that effect misses the point – the change will be individual and will have a different affect depending on the person. What I view as a positive change, others will deem negative and, surprisingly, many won’t even register nor care about.
How do You envision Change?
Usually we begin with something like “How do you mange change?” Or “How do you deal with Change?” Or “9 Ways to Deal with Change”.
However, if Change is happening regularly, maybe taking a different approach might help.
The diagram at the beginning of the post is from the Design Thinking approach to problem solving and innovation. Having read Tim Brown’s book Change by Design a number of years ago and reread parts since then and taking the Stanford Course on Design Thinking, I began applying the principles to how I view change and the changes taking place around me. Eventually, applying these principles, I determined that change was not only okay, but desirable – part of the reason that I headed off to the University of Regina to begin a PhD with Dr. Alec Couros.
As this image from the Change by Design site shows, looking at change from different perspectives not only can help one to determine the What and How of change but give you different options for addressing change.
Change By Design at IDEO | IDEO http://buff.ly/2a1Xkk7
In combination with the work of Todd Henry – Accidental Creative, Die Empty, Louder than Words – and Cal Newport – So Good they Can’t Ignore You, Deep Work – and others, I have shifted my thinking about my work, the impact of change and the process of development from one that “happens” to one I am able to be part of the solution process and make decisions that help me to continue to follow my unique path.
Instead of always looking to innovate, adopt a new mindset or flip something, I can be open to new ideas and new processes but not always looking for the “next big thing” because my focus isn’t being distracted by my peripheral vision – something I borrowed from Todd Henry. So, yes there are many things going on – change is all around us but, for many people, it’s a distraction from doing their great work, a distraction from the path they are creating and building. Learning from/with others is important, such as doing a book study with others to expand ideas and push oneself, reading different authors and listening to TEDtalks and other forms of learning but it’s just as important to be creative, to question what people are saying, and to build your own – isn’t that what everyone seems to be saying needs to happen?
Often many of us are pulled this way or that, always looking for the next “new thing, great book, interesting method and innovation” instead of focusing on the path we are building. Yes, something might be interesting and worth exploring – but make no mistake, many who are commenting on it and writing about it are interweaving it with their path – seeing how it can add to their message – which is what you need to do.
You are on your own journey – one unique to you.
Jana Scott Lindsay, in her last post Consumed explores the impact of being connected and how she is seeing a need for change …
I think that it is time to work at finding balance. Leave your devices out of sight, to encourage out of mind for a time & space each and every day.
Change – yes, it’s always happening.
Change – what about you?
#saskedchat Summer Blogging Challenge
Week 2 of the #saskedchat Summer Blogging Challenge
Our topic this week is Supporting. Tribe, a post by Jana Scott Lindsay, has me pondering how do we support ourselves and, just as importantly, be part of a support system for others. Jana starts her post off with a great quote from Seth Godin – go check it out. I’ll wait.
Pretty great quote isn’t it? Great post too!
Seth Godin constantly reminds me that I don’t have to write a short story to get a point across. In fact, sometimes less is more. In his post today, The Top of The Pile he asks
We need an empathy of attention. Attention is something that can’t be refunded or recalled. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
So, what have you done to earn it?
In his latest book What to do When It’s Your Turn (and it’s always your turn) Godin reminds us that
Now, more than ever, more of us have freedom to care,
the freedom to connect,
the freedom to choose
the freedom to initiate
the freedom to do what matters,
If we choose.
It’s that choice part that I need to pay attention to and remind myself about. As Jana discusses in her post – you read it right? – being conscious of others is a choice, being part of a tribe is a choice, being involved is a choice
for most of us.
There are others, however, that don’t get to have those choices.
How do we support them? How do we make others aware of this fact? How do we get to the top of their pile?
And not just because it’s part of being an educator but because we have the freedom to care, connect, choose, initiate –
we have privilege.
Support – what does it mean to you?
#saskedchat Blogging Challenge
Image by Amielle Christopherson
Summer Challenge
Most people like a good challenge, something that pushes them to reach beyond where they are at the moment, to reach a new level or develop a new skill.
This summer a number of people from #saskedchat have indicated that they are interested in taking on a blogging challenge in order to kickstart their blogging and get back into the habit of writing. To help with this, the #saskedchat Blogging Challenge will offer weekly topics for blogging and, hopefully, provide an opportunity for people to encourage and support others who are taking the challenge.
Why Blog? Why Write?
Last January, one of the #saskedchat topics was blogging and I wrote a post about blogging as a professional. In that post, I discuss 5 habits to develop as a blogger:
1. Plan for it.
2. Make it part of your routine
3. Say “NO” to something else
4. Set yourself up to succeed
5. Check on your progress, adjust, and move forward
These five habits will help you to develop your writing habit. The one thing I would suggest BEFORE you begin is to develop a “”WHY” I blog” statement in order to ground your work with “why” – what is the purpose of your blogging? Why will you commit to doing this and developing this habit?
Developing Habits
How do we form habits? Where do they come from? Why are they so darn hard to change?
Because for reasons they were just beginning to understand, that one small shift in Lisa’s perception that day in Cairo – the conviction that she had to give up smoking to accomplish here goal – had touched off a series of changes that would ultimately radiate out to every part of her life…. and when researcher began examining images of Lisa’s brain, they saw something remarkable: One set of neurological patterns – her old habits – had been overridden by new patterns. They could still see the neural activity of her old behaviours, but those impulses were crowded out by new urges. As Lisa’s habits changed, so had her brain. (Location 95)
In the book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We do in Life and Business, Charles Duhigg explores how people develop habits and how people like Lisa change their habits.
By focusing on one pattern – what is known as a “keystone habit” – Lisa had taught herself how to reprogram the routines in her life, as well. (Location 104)
Making blogging a “habit” needs to fit in with who you are as a person. If you make it another “add-on”, it becomes something else that you try to ‘fit’ into your schedule and, unless it is a priority, it often ends up something you think about as you doze off to sleep. Like exercise, eating, reading and a whole host of other habits, what you do in one area affects your life in other areas. Want more energy? Look at your eating and sleeping habits. Trying to reduce stress? What habits do you have for organization, sleep, etc.?
There are many articles written about the habits of famous people. Although we can learn from these, it’s important to not try to be them but, instead be your best by developing your own success habits.
I Started Running
Last year I began running – again. I’ve stared running a number of different times in the past but usually it fell to the side – I just didn’t have the time to do something healthy! What was different this time? Partly I needed to take my health a bit more seriously. However, the biggest part, the part I usually don’t tell anyone, was that I needed to replace an unhealthy habit – smoking – with a healthy habit.
But first, I had decided that I needed to change. That change was hard. But by replacing one unhealthy habit with a healthy habit I have been able to make changes in my life that are helping me be a healthier person. I now plan my days to include exercise and healthier eating. I’m still working on adopting other healthy habits – it takes time to develop a new habit.
Like any other habit, writing and blogging needs to be planned and you have to have a “why”. Now, there is no “you must do this or else” part to this challenge. As I wrote in January:
Now, there has been a great deal written about the benefits of blogging and many connected professionals who do a great deal of blogging will attest to the benefits. Teachers who have a classroom blog discuss the many benefits to the process of blogging for their students.
If, however, you wish to develop this into a consistent habit, then developing your “why” is important. As Simon Sinek points out in Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Knowing your WHY is not the only way to be successful, but it is the only way to maintain a lasting success and have a greater blend of innovation and flexibility. When a WHY goes fuzzy, it becomes much more difficult to maintain the growth, loyalty and inspiration that helped drive the original success.
For me, I have been blogging on and off again for a number of years. I just haven’t decided how it fits. Because I don’t have a resounding “WHY”, I often start off with great gusto only to fade quickly into the dark “It’s been 3 months since my last post?”. It’s not that I don’t have topics I could write about – I do have an opinion on almost everything! (Just ask my wife and kids). It’s actually been a case of “Who cares!”. Unlike others who can write because, I need some feedback, something to tell me that I’m not just screaming into the storm. Yes it’s good to work through things but if there is not feedback then the same thing could be accomplished through journaling.
Part of this blogging challenge is to encourage others to not just read but also comment on what people are writing, to provide feedback and offer suggestions. It’s not to do this with all the blogs – that would become onerous and even I would feel too anxious to get involved. Instead, I suggest interacting as part of a habit you develop for reading blogs. We hope to have all the blogs curated at the Saskedchat blog site so people can read through the posts in one place.
Ready for a Challenge?
For the next 2 months, each week a new topic will be posted for those who wish to take part in the weekly blogging. If that’s too much, then choose to do whatever works for you. If that isn’t enough, then use the topic as a springboard to help you. If the topic doesn’t resonate, do your own thing – this isn’t about prescription but support and encouragement. As Chris Brogan says:
“Be a very clear and true version of you that helps others in some way.”
So this morning as I sip my coffee with Southern Pecan creamer, I encourage you to join the challenge. To make a space in your life to share and interact with others through blogging and help and support others on this journey.
This week – tell us about your “WHY” if you can. Why are you wanting to take this challenge? Why are you motivated to join? Why is this important to you? Why do you need to change?
For me, part of my reason is to develop this into a habit that will last long after the challenge is completed. As I have made changes in other areas, I know that I need to have a “keystone pattern” that I can focus upon. I will use this challenge to develop a writing habit that will become integrated into my life-habits.
What’s your “WHY”?
It’s Okay to Share Your Work
It’s tempting to sit in the corner and then, voila, to amaze us all with your perfect answer.
But of course, that’s not what ever works. Seth Godin
The other day I gave a presentation in an undergraduate class about using social media in teaching. During the discussion, I was asked if students should continue to blog when they are done classes.
Yes. Continue to blog and share your learning. Make it a part of your professional practice. Don’t see it as an add-on but as part of your daily learning practice. Everyday is a Professional Development day. See your blog as part of your PD practice.
Blogging helps me to put my ideas down and work through them. Part of my online Portfolio shows the work that I am doing. It is also a place where I can share what I am thinking about, pondering, exploring,….. Blogging is a part of my Professional Development. Sometimes I blog openly about it but other days I write just to work through ideas and thoughts. Not everything needs to be published.
Ship before you’re ready, because you will never be ready. Ready implies you know it’s going to work, and you can’t know that.
The purpose isn’t to please the critics. The purpose is to make your work better.
Polish with your peers, your true fans, the market. Because when we polish together, we make better work. Seth Godin
This is the part with which many, including myself, struggle. When is it “ready”? That’s not easy to decide. Harold Jarche recent post a half-baked idea discusses why blogging is important for everyone:
“I’m thinking of doing some coaching in a few years and helping people make decisions around food and nutrition”, I was told the other day by a young man working in a shop. My advice was to start a blog: now. While he had no intention of freelancing for the near term, he needed to get his thoughts in order. A blog is a good place to do this over time. You can start slow. The process builds over time. My early blog posts were pretty bad but they helped me see what ideas I could revisit and build upon. And it took time.
“And it took time.”
In my post Blogging as a Professional I discuss some of the reasons teachers should blog and some of the things to consider when you start out one of which is “why” you want to blog. This is important for keeping your focus. It’s easy to begin blogging but it takes time to develop your voice and produce your best work. Todd Henry discusses this in his latest book Louder Than Words. He calls this the Aspiration Gap
“When this gap exists, it’s often due to high personal expectations founded in your observation of the work of other people you admire. When you are incapable of producing work that meets those high standards, it’s tempting to give up far too soon. For this reason, many people either quit or move on to something more “reasonable” simply because they were frustrated by their temporary inablility to achieve their vision”
One reason I blog is because it’s part of my professional mission
“To relentlessly pursue supporting educators to develop creativity and innovation in the classroom through connections, relationships and effective professional development.”
There are many people whose work I admire and follow. I don’t see my own work meeting those standards. Many days I hesitate to push “publish”. I know that being consistent is important just as it in any other aspect of life because it helps to improve your skills. To make progress we have to consistently practice. As Seth Godin says,
What works is evolving in public, with the team. Showing your work. Thinking out loud. Failing on the way to succeeding, imperfecting on your way to better than good enough.
George Couros, in his latest post The (Nearly) Invisible Portfolio, discusses his development of a portfolio (portfolios & sharing are today’s hot topics!)
The interesting thing about this idea is that my portfolio may have found you, or you may have found it, but in both cases, anyone can see it. There are different ways I can share my learning through different mediums. I love to write, but I also am able to share through visuals, podcasts, video, or things that I couldn’t even imagine.
But, as George points out, not all the learning he does makes it to the portfolio to be published
I also have the option of allowing you to see it or not. I do have spaces where my learning is for my eyes only, or in what I choose to share.
This is a crucial point. Not all we do is ready for shipping. The learning process isn’t about publishing everything. Some works are in the incubation stage, some are in the development stage and some are at the sharing stage.
You should ship when you’re prepared, when it’s time to show your work, but not a minute later. Seth Godin
Sharing our work isn’t easy but it is necessary for growth and development. Feedback from others helps us to reflect on the work being done.
How are you continuing to develop and learn as a professional? Are you sharing that with others and getting feedback? Do you have an online portfolio? Are you shipping?
Your mindset and attitude influence your success. What’s yours?
I’d love to hear your comments and feedback so leave comment. Thanks for taking the time to read
Go Ahead – Try It On!
Trying Things On
I have a confession.
I like to go shopping.
Yeah, it’s a bit weird but I like to wander around stores and look at what’s new. I use to enjoy going shopping with my girls when they were younger (and would let me go along!) Now, my boys and I sometimes just spend an afternoon wandering around and looking at different things.
Sometimes, I even try things on. Things don’t always fit like I think they will. My mind’s eye doesn’t always give me an accurate image of what things will look like once I actually try them on. Sometimes things that I did’t think would look that great look pretty good.
It’s like that with many things in life. We don’t know how things will really turn out until we overcome our fear and try them.
John Spencer’s latest post The Unintended Consequences of Doing Creative Work explores what happens when someone is working through the creative process.
More often than not, the unintended consequences are actually both negative and positive at the same time.
It’s neither all positive or all negative, unlike how we often imagine things working out – we tend to see things as either/or not a messy both.
It’s Scary – the Fear is Real
It’s is scary and difficult to try new things. We don’t know how they will turn out and we tend to imagine things that don’t happen – we convince ourselves that it’s not worth the risk. We talk ourselves out of trying something on because, well, we just know it won’t fit.
Polish less
Polish more
Average it out
Respect the status quo
Wait
Don’t even bother Seth Godin
This is spills over into the classroom. Instead of trying something different or giving students different options, we stick with what we know. It’s less scary. Our students learn that taking chances and trying things on is scary and, well, not really worth it. Yes, there are sometimes negatives that come along from trying things and being creative but, often, they aren’t what we think. The world does not end. In fact, if we are open to learning, we grow and develop from these experiences whether they are positive or negative.
Rejection Proof is one person’s experiment in learning to deal with rejection – in trying to things on that they were scared of doing. Jia Jing asks
What is this rejection? What is this monster that cripples us?
Try It On – It Just Might Fit
Trying things on is taking an opportunity to see how something might fit. It doesn’t always fit but sometimes things fit that we didn’t think would. And sometimes, things we thought would be great, well, just don’t turn out that way.
Often, we take someone along with us to get their opinion. We value the input of others. We get insights about how things look from a different perspective.
What if we did this in school? What if we asked someone else for their opinion as we try something new? What if we asked our students what they might think would fit?
Do we give them feedback after they try it or do we discourage them before they even try?
Your mindset and attitude influence your success. What’s yours?
I’d love to hear your comments and feedback so leave comment. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Student Engagement – #saskedchat March 10, 2016
Another Edu-Awesome #saskedchat! Our topic was Student Engagement and our guest moderator Jade Ballek (@jadeballek) a principal in the Sun West School Division at Kenaston Distance Education Learning Centre.
We had over 40 participants take part in the chat. For some, this was their first experience joining a chat which can be a bit of a shock with how fast the chat moves and the number of different conversations that take place.
With this number of participants, missing part of a conversation happens and that is why we archive all the #saskedchats!
Student Engagement
What does “Student Engagement” mean to you? Over time, my ideas about student engagement have changed. As a young teacher I was focused on the lesson and my teaching, on creating lessons that were, I thought, “engaging”. Later, as I developed confidence as a teacher and began to explore different teaching strategies, I became less worried about “my teaching” and more focused on “student learning”. In Matt Head’s post Learning or Teaching? he states
As I reflect on my own teaching I have come to realize that what and how I am teaching is usually my first priority.
It is what teachers are doing, focusing on their teaching because that is part of the job. There is the focus on planning, assessment, planning, classroom management, planning, classroom design, planning, student interaction, and planning. During a recent episode of ITTNation, Dave Bircher and I discuss Cross-Curricular planning and how the act of deeply understanding the curricula can open up opportunities for learning that allow for FLOW to take place.
Focus, Learning, Observation and Wonder.
Teachers are able to allow the Focus of the lesson to emerge from interaction with students. The Learning take place through the interactions and is driven by student ideas, interests and passions. Through Observation the teacher is able to guide students in their interests while making connections to Learning Outcomes. This allows students and teachers to Wonder – exploring different topics and concepts from a place of Wonder.
The current focus on the state of education on a global scale is on what teachers do in the classroom. Debates between Reformers of all types draw different ideas about what needs to happen in the classroom in order for students to be prepared for their future. Sometimes, missing from the debate, is what is happening NOW . How many educators are wondering about how the recent two wins by Google’s AlphaGo over the world champion Go player will impact schools? What will this mean for students?
Overall, Google’s DeepMind is calling on a type of AI called deep learning, which involves training artificial neural networks on data — such as photos — and then getting them to make inferences about new data. Venture Beat
Are we preparing students for today? Are we engaging them in a discussion about what is happening in the present? Too often the mantra is “Prepare for the Future”. In some respects, today isn’t even close to what I thought it was going to be 10 years ago. In other way, it is.
“Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.” Yoda
This is not a call to toss out all of what is currently happening in schools and classrooms. In the present reform cacophony, it’s hard sometimes to even hear oneself think never mind trying to make sense of what is being proposed especially when there is more and more being added to the discussion. This isn’t just about what tools to use in the classroom or if there should be interactive whiteboards or not, whether teachers should adopt flipped learning or embrace blended learning or Project Based Learning. The discussion includes environment design, learning design, social justice, content bias, differentiated learning systems, game theory, makerspaces, content diffusion, digital citizenship, digital literacy and other pedagogical and theoretical discussions/issues each with their representatives and lobbyists.
Education, it’s a serious business.
There are no simple answers and stopping schooling until things get figured out isn’t going to happen. It is a work in progress. Yes the shuttle is being built as it is being flown – it is the only way learning can continue.
Engaging or Empowering?
Our chat briefly touch on is engaging someone the same as empowering them? What do we want to happen in schools? Why is this important to discuss? As we live in the midst, it is struggling with such questions that help us to make sense of the noise.
If we want people to feel empowered, then releasing control and giving ownership is the only way this can truly happen. George Couros
Are teachers being engaged or empowered? Are administrators? Are parents? Do we allow people to have ownership of their learning? How do we mange such a shift?
Like other such discussions, everyday implementation is, itself, a work in progress. As an administrator, providing input from students and parents was important but so where division and provincial policies. Providing leadership opportunities and helping people develop their strengths was important to developing a school culture of learning and growth. Shifting school culture from a top-down model to a collaborative/shared leadership model isn’t just about “sharing responsibility”. It involves creating a culture of shared growth, trust, learning and collaboration. Such development takes time and, in an environment of efficiency and improvement, can often be overshadowed by “what the data says”.
The #saskedchat provided a great many things to think about, some of them I’ve touched on.
Your mindset and attitude influence your success. What’s yours?
I’d love to hear your comments and feedback.
