When are things actually private

 Some rights reserved by nitot

It's been interesting this year talking to students and other teachers about what is private, and how things are private. 

One of my teachers wants to share more of her work.  She is doing pretty interesting things and wants feedback and ways to share her knowledge.  She is however afraid that her ex will follow her, and she doesn't want anything to do with him.  She's worried about what it means to go public and if sharing is actually worth the stress of knowing he is still watching.  I totally get that, I mean, it's obvious (at times) to see who is watching and when, but if you go public it can be hard to stop specific people from accessing. My wondering is how important is it, I mean as long as there is no harassment, who really cares and if there is harassment we can block and go to the police, however, she feels much safer not publishing. 

One of my students email was "hacked" he was telling people about his personal account, and someone accessed it and sent some not nice email. I guess firstly I don't believe it was hacked, but if it was, that's an interesting story, we keep using the common sense media image where we protect our private information, but that is difficult for younger students. 

My wondering most of this week is, as we continue to be more connected we are less private, and I don't know if we are teaching how to actually be safe to students, or how to live safely in a very connected world. 

Wow?

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I don't often talk about feelings I guess, which is not great; but, this week was crazy.

Two of the things I firmly believed in (not just thought I believed in, but thought everyone believed in) were proven to be untrue this week.  

I believe(d) that people genuinely were starting to care more about our environment, our place, our world, just I guess everything that is involved in our living system.  I thought everyone in the world was moving towards a better (even if it was still far from perfect) world.  Wow, the election proved me wrong.  How can people still deny climate change? How does that honestly still happen?  I honestly couldn't believe it. 

Connected to this, I believe(d) that people are more connected to something in their community or globally now.  I thought that it was more global, but also believed we were just overall more connected to something around us.  Again, isolationism as a result of our election.  How can people seriously believe that we can operate on our own anymore? How can people think that imaginary lines drawn across land mean anything?  What benefits do we have from doing things on our own? 

I don't know.  

I think media failed me and many others, I didn't that this was possible. I understand the role I played, how I was compliant to listen to people who believed the same thing I do, but to not even think of this as a possibility is alarming.  As an educator I have to be more aware of how we actually search and what we intentionally make ourselves available to.  

I think we failed each other.  We haven't really been listening to each other and our problems, we don't know what our community is feeling especially in regard to what they are scared of.  

As an educator I think we have an exciting opportunity to work with students to make sure change is going to continue to happen. But it's been a disturbing week.

Launching our Enviroed

A group of us here have been working on reading this book for a book club.  We've started chapter one, and it talks about some of the barriers to growing, but also to the opportunity for success.  We need to make learning real, and meaningful for our students.  The authors suggest that one of the best ways to do this when making something is to actually release it to the public. 

As always I think back to how does that work for environmental education.  What does that mean for people who don't have a product? 

So I thought that instead of launching a thing, we launch our place.  We need to get our community involved in our place, and how we grow with it, and for it.  By bringing in parents, grandparents and people throughout the community we are sharing our learning and wondering in a more real way, something that transcends the classroom. 

I've been thinking a lot about intergenerational learning in an international school.  Can we show different gardens from around the world, have people walk through their gardens on skype or something and talk about them, why they grow what they grow, how they do it, what their soil is like, how to know when to harvest. 

Bringing people together is so important, with the Launch mindset we need to somehow launch our learning space, and our ideas, get feedback from the community and work on building our community, rather than building a product. 

Unity and standards: What are we aiming for?

        Some rights reserved by Chris Devers

Thanks again to the Place Being Resonance book I've been stuck in a world of wondering.  I apologize in advance. I know at times I am not clear in my writing, and this thought isn't fully formed, so it might not make the most sense. 

While reading it talked about what our destruction of the world looks like, and it looks like progress, parts look like sustainable development, parts look like social justice.  It looks like we are supposed to be doing the things we are doing because that's how people develop.  In order for humans to be unified (economically, socially, etc.) other things have to (and do) suffer.  So, when we are looking at unity, we are often just taking an anthropocentric view of what we need (and people would argue why wouldn't we think of humans first) and we forget about what our system (The Earth) needs. While we are going for unity, I'm not really sure we know who we are unifying with, and who (or what I suppose) we are excluding. 

It's really difficult for anyone to step back from themselves, deconstruct what they think, challenge the dominant culture and make a difference.  Where do those ideas even come from? So how can we expect people to actually protect our planet when we don't even know what we don't know. 

While I was pondering this, I started thinking about school, and how we are trying to hit standards and go through curriculums, and just race through to show progress.  My mind kind of paused for a second, what and who are we progressing and for what end?  Place Being and Resonance wants us to challenge how we teach, why are we moving towards more data? What is growth? Who benefits from our current system of education, and who suffers? I think deep down we know the answers to these questions, but it is difficult to challenge a system that wants to engage and enlighten our learners.  When we have public school systems that want to bring up literacy are we focusing too much on a specific type of reading? So much was flying through my head. 

I'm not really sure where to take it from there.  I know I have to listen more (not just to humans, but I need to be aware of the voices not being heard or acknowledged).  I know I have to slow things down and encourage actual thinking, and actual listening in my students.  I know I have to encourage students to be aware of a multi-vocal, eco-centric (as in not just anthropocentric) view of our planet. 

I guess the real question is how can we see the system we are in and try to fight for that system, while being aware of the multi-faceted aspects of our world.  How we can honestly unify through diversity? 

Frustration then Faith

 Some rights reserved by sarahgb(theoriginal)

Wow, these last couple weeks have been really frustrating. Working with teachers and coaching one on one, a lot of them feel frustrated that they haven't met the particular outcomes they felt they needed to meet.  We've talked a lot about content vs concepts, and moving towards changing our thinking with our culture of thinking model. 

However, what struck me recently was how important documentation can be to bring faith back into the teachers.  Too often when we are in the classroom we are seeing the students as they are, not where they were.  At the beginning of the year, it required so much faith in our students in order to believe they could get as far as they did, now that they are here, we can't be frustrated, we need to know they can get to the next level. 

In teacher's college we talked about the importance of high expectations, and I think this is very similar.  We need to have faith that students will get there, they will understand, they'll be successful in our classes. If we are only looking at the things the students can not do, we foster that kind of thinking, we need to help the students believe that all things in learning are possible. 

Reports are coming up, working with some teachers on how to create more evidence for next year. It's been really exciting so far. I'm glad I've started coaching more than just being in an edtech role.  It has got me outside a lot more, had me more meaningfully involved in planning meetings, and teachers are now asking me a broader range of questions. 

Happy days. 

Finally getting outside

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The past couple of weeks here have been "haze filled" so students couldn't go outside very often, this included recess. 

After reading Richard Louv and learning more about nature deficit disorder and experiencing these last couple of weeks, it's easy to see how a school needs their students outside. More than just running around or getting exercise, students need the connection to other living things.  

Many of the units we've been inquiring into have looked at how we organize ourselves in groups.  The younger students especially had a difficult time with this because they had little time to connect with other living things (at least that's what I think).  By building that empathy with other things we are more able to see ourselves as part of a system. When we see ourselves as part of a system we're more likely (I think) to see how we can work for the benefit of a group of things, rather than just ourselves.

We (as teachers) had never really thought of this aspect before the haze.  Now we are wondering how we can reshape our units, to really look at how other living communities organize themselves, and if that is true, than how can we organize ourselves to benefit the community. 

We definitely had some interesting discussions, and once our term break is over, we're all ready to finally get outside. 

Diversity Matters

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I've been wondering a lot lately about the importance of diversity.  Too often in the classroom teachers are trying to create an "ideal" student, or a student that fits their particular preference.

When we think (or when I guess environmentally minded people think) about the environment we think of the strength of diversity.  How it helps make our system stronger, which in turn helps make us, as humans, better.  I guess I wonder who does this in class, we often talk about how we appreciate different perspectives, and different ways of knowing, but in my trips through classrooms I don't know how this is championed or truly used.

How can we as groups look more towards the diversity of our classroom? How does it push our thinking? How does it makes us better learners? Then, can we look outside, and see how our local community works, see what makes it strong, it's not everyone being the same, it's everyone being different.  

How can we engage learners in our class to focus on diversity? Recently I read an article about student centered learning my biggest takeaway was this.

You cannot counter structural social inequality by good will.  You need to design structural equality into the classroom.  

          Structuring equality in classroom discussion--in a lecture or a seminar--is actually quite easy to do but it is not intuitive. At least, it was not intuitive for me. I learned several tricks from other people and I pass them on every time I give a public lecture and use at least one or two of them every class period.  They work.  They change the dynamic.  They change the way everyone participates.  When the situation is equal, no one hides, no one wants to hide, and no one bullies.

Looking forward to trying to make this happen

What is a school focused on Environmental needs?

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I've been asked to think about what an environmental education looks like, what things we need, what do we want?

For most of these things it was really hard for me to answer.  Mainly because I think it's a lot like EdTech, sure we need things, but more than that we need a shift in how teachers think and interact with students.

More than anything, I think we need time for teachers and students to be outside, slightly unstructured but thinking and looking, this probably isn't the biggest seller in a standards, university focused world.

But students with time develop great systems thinking habits, they are passionately curious and are able to think creatively because their imagination has been developed.  They are used to being bored so they understand more about what it means to create things.  I feel they just understand more, and appreciate more.

We need people to stop thinking about specific skills students will gain, especially in a world where climate change is happening.  What the individual gains for themselves isn't so important, we need to focus on what we will gain for our planet, how we can all make a difference for our shared survival, not my immediate gain.

But still, I need to think about these things.  So any help would be great, what do we need to start something focused on environmental education, what skills will students develop, where do we go from here?

Presentation

So, here's my enviroed story.  It's a story more than a presentation, walking through why I am an environmental educator, and some of the worries I have, it moves to the hope that we collaborate together in a 21st century learning community.

My primary worry is that we are becoming too individual, and as individuals it is harder to make large scale changes.  I love the idea of personalized learning, but worry about how that effects our ability to work as a community and make decisions as a community.  My desire is to  move towards community based learning and problem solving while focusing on individual talents and ideas.

For me though, the formation of this community is key, and a big part of my community is the #enviroed team. So thanks for that.  +Nicki Hambleton has also been a huge part of my community development, and a big reason for my belief in the community based education with individual talents.

Developing relationships

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Just something to think about today, I think this will be the start of my presentation in a couple of weeks.  I'm discussing how to use technology in, and for the environment in elementary school.  I think it's all about relationships, what do you think?

Comm-unity

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For +COETAIL most of my community involvement has been focused on #enviroed.  Since I'm merging the tech and environment.  We talk every Thursday, which is pretty amazing, well Thursday for me Wednesday night for everyone else.  Here is one of my favourite chats , mainly because it focuses specifically on tech and 21st century skills in environmental education.

As a group we explore what each other are doing, ask each other questions to get specifics, I've worked with two other teachers on their specific research project, and have asked a couple of teachers to work with me on my coetail project. 

I've been trying to merge these two for awhile

+Nicki Hambleton has helped me out a ton too. We talk often in person. We bounce ideas off each other with pizza and wine (even if we shouldn't always be eating it).  It's great for us (well me definitely) to be able to see reactions and just check in on and get checked in on.  This personally has been one of the most valuable tools for me, not that Nicki is a tool.  But she has directed me towards other people like Kerri-Lee and Dave, and has directed me towards Cognitive Coaching where I met up with other coetailers as well.  

Mostly I feel like I've moved beyond just messing around, I've built part of my community (especially with #enviroed).  Connectivism is a real thing in my life.  I'm building on my connections, sand still reaching out for others.  

It's been a great journey so far, and I'm looking forward to even more in the last month.

Hybrid Minds

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This week, well the last couple of weeks, have been looking at Richard Louv's idea of Hybrid Minds. Technology is something we have always been working on, and I imagine always will, the natural world, the world we are connected to (without wireless) is always here, and hopefully always will be.  How can we pay attention to both? How can we develop both sustainably? Where do we go from here?

Lots of questions as I started reading these past couple of weeks, and while nothing has been explicitly answered, I feel my original thoughts are being reaffirmed. 

My project with getting the students outside and documenting their spots has taken a smallish turn.  Although they haven't been publishing their thoughts or feelings so much, they have displayed a different attitude towards being outdoors. 

Earlier in the year it was difficult to get them to put the ipads down, they wanted to keep holding on to them, checking out youtube videos, now they want to relax outside.  They've been putting the ipads down, and just laying down, looking at their spots and just being in nature. 

We have to find some way to mix the two of these realities though, and as I continue reading and working with our students, this is the goal.

Always Learning

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Reading George Couros' blog today about being Learning Savvy. In it he was talking about being tech savvy, and how he isn't always comfortable with the term.

As an EdTech coach, people definitely see me as someone who has technology skills (even though I don't necessarily see myself that way). Like George, I want to be more learning savvy.

Part of my action towards this is working on the Cognitive coaching workshops.  I want to be more focused on how we approach learning, with a tech and environmental ed perspective, but the goal is the same, what is best for students' learning.

Through my project on community, we have just finished our stories, and some of our blog entries.  We've talked about our favourite places and people in hopes that we can connect with incoming students, to make their transitions a little easier. It's not really about the tools we used, it's about what we learned about ourselves, our favourite spots, and how we can improve our community.

Thinking about it

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For +COETAIL I am well into the process of collecting evidence and working with students to share spaces.  I'm not sure how successful it will be but the process is enlightening for sure.

With students these past two weeks (the ones who aren't working on my Coetail project) we are exploring digital citizenship, with the idea that it can shape the future of who we are. 

Spencer Harrison and I used to work together, at the time I wasn't as aware of the idea of personal brand.  I was very conscious of displaying the image I wanted to show with the intention of challenge other people's viewpoints. Spencer was one of the first people to tell me, my image or brand could be shaped without shaping me. 

What this means for digital citizenship is that we aren't always who we appear to be online.  We all need to understand that a google search or looking at someone's facebook, linkedin profile or whatever is not who that person really is.  We can create our identity. 

Since we are creating our identity, we should make sure it's the best version of ourselves, and then try to live up to it. Our digital citizenship classes go into who do we want to be (as in what kind of person) and then how do we take action to be recognised as that type of person, what do they do. 

The last two weeks have been pretty interesting to see what versions of themselves each students wants to present.  They are thinking about their future, about who they want to be online, and how they can achieve this reality. 

Stopping consumerism in the Classroom

http://savedbythe-bellhooks.tumblr.com/

Well this Saved by the Bell Hooks tumblr site has me pretty intrigued. I wonder about this all the time, especially regarding tech.

So many teachers (it seems like anyway) are focused on what apps to use for learning, and so many of these apps (it seems like) are about consumerism, or button clicking or "gamification" that involves little learning.  I fully want students to create and connect, not just consume. I want them to create for freedom, and to help them become full participants in our society. 

So, I need to really think about how I'm modelling these traits in my own learning journey.  I think this ties nicely into environmental education too, because most people know about climate change but not many people are taking meaningful action (myself included most of the time) to become the change. I'll be focusing on this through our community building activities online this week.

Working on Community

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I was reading this George Couros blog about smiling the other day about the importance of smiling and being aware of everyone in the learning community. I often think about who I am including when I go about my day, and who I may be excluding.  I know that at times I focus solely on the students, and miss out on support staff and families.  So this past week my goal was to engage them all with a smile.

Smiling made a bigger difference than I thought.  Not only were people more interested in what I was doing, or what I had to say, but I actually felt better about my day too.

Thinking about community

http://savedbythe-bellhooks.tumblr.com/

As an edtech coach, and an environmental educator, I find that most of my conversations happen with people who I think are in my community.

So, I wonder... who am I missing, who am I marginalizing, am I really growing as an educator? 

I hope so, but anyway, it's a wonder.   A crazy busy week, well two weeks, but working hard on my enviroed project. 

It's funny because I always want to push kids to go further, but so often I let teachers feel comfortable.  If we learn from being uncomfortable am I making it difficult for my colleagues. 

Not much to write today, just want to write so I don't forget to keep in the loop.  Next blog post will be about the project.

How disruptive is silence?

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Just returned from a course on Cognitive Coaching with Bill and Ochan Powell where we talked about the power of listening, and being uncomfortable can be to our learning.

One of the things I started last year (and Bill and Ochan mentioned at the workshop) was the idea that as teachers, we don't really teach listening.  Well maybe some teachers do, but things like looking at a person, focusing, and keeping eye contact doesn't really mean listening to me.  I think listening means being able to summarize the thoughts of another, and make connections (without the purpose of summarizing or making connections).  I don't know, I find it hard to fully describe (probably because I was never really taught).  Listening can be powerful, in this course we spent a lot of time listening, to each other, our instructors and ourselves, and honestly, I learned a lot. Mostly because I was quiet. This was incredibly difficult for me, I'm almost always trying to make connections to what people are thinking, and stopping myself from talking was something I had to learn. 

The point is, I think anyway, that making myself uncomfortable, really improved my learning.  Putting myself in a new situation, really trying to figure out someone else's point of view, helped me learn more about them and myself. 

Since my main wondering are with technology and the environment,  I wonder how we can incorporate silence into our learning with technology.  So often we use our tech to distract us from the silence and those uncomfortable moments.  This, I feel, takes us away from those deeper learning opportunities. 

As teachers who use technology how do we initiate and establish those silence moments with a device, first in ourselves and then in our students? How can we make listening (active listening, or reading) a habit online rather than just consuming?