Alfie Kohn on homework

interview with Alfie Kohn

cut and paste of my fav parts:

The idea that the point of school is not to help kids become deep thinkers who love to learn but rather to take standardized tests better than their counterparts in other countries represents a warped set of priorities if I've ever seen one.

More and more homework is being required of younger and younger children as the tougher-standards fad trickles down. This is part of the horrific tendency to remake schools in the image of factories, where kindergarten now comes to resemble the worst first grade classrooms, where the only question that matters is how will this raise the test scores and make the adults look better.  

Parents have to start asking the questions that matter. This drives me nuts, that parents confine themselves to asking piddly questions about whether kids are allowed to use the Internet for a certain assignment, or when it's due, instead of asking questions like, "What reason is there to think that this assignment is worth doing, what evidence exists to show that traditional homework is necessary for children to become better thinkers?"

________________________________________________

hard fun

Hard Fun by Seymour Papert

__________________________________________________________

super empowered hopeful individuals

Jane McGonigal on Ted - Gaming Can Make a Better World

games were invented during a time of famine... they invented dice games.

on one day everyone would eat

the next day everyone would play  (ignoring they had no food)

they survived 18 years

today - we're getting what we need from games... we're surviving

what if...

cool post - thanks tom

_______________________________________________________

Sir Ken Robinson {teacher - ed is broken}

you can not improve on education by ignoring the essential focus on personal development..

we need to fix it..

we have a 4 year plan to fix it... join us....

redefine school - save the world

https://innovation.ed.gov/my-portal/ - find - innovation lab




another video from Sir Ken Robinson - while he's on the Bonnie Hunt show:

________________________________________________________

yes.. this is it

 - here's the link
thanks to Bonnie H who i met on ed.gov.
my fav part of the video..

via Seymour Pappert..
1st - need to give up the idea of a curriculum... meaning - you learn this on a given day. and exchange that with - you learn this when you need it.

this was never possible before... it's the mutli-faceted abilities and opportunities of web access that is allowing this personalization in public ed.
we have infinitely greater ways of individualizing.. so kids can really learn knowledge by using it.
 
standardization is a guarantee of low standards.
the standard i would like to see is thinking differently   (via Pappert)
the individual having the right to
if you want to excel and push yourself - there is no school that can give you what you can give yourself.

the standard is individualization....

___________________________________

so...the innovation lab - is this - only each student picks their own project
and lap tops, etc, well - tools are individual as well... no bulk buying.
and this can be done in public school... doesn't have to be a charter or magnet, etc...

right?

so let's do it.

_______________________________________________

authentic assessment

excellent article i just found on redefining assessment.

written 4 years ago by Grant Wiggins.

what are we doing? what are we thinking?

why can't we make change happen.. more widespread... and more timely?

take a listen..

two more of his articles

___________________________________________________

foreign language

ya... there's more.

someone keep my running shoes from me. my think tank.

julie (@techfacil) - yay - i think we have a direction for k-8.

1. what if we think that things that really matter in this world all have relationships at their base.

i believe they do.

2. what if we think that all relationships that really matter in this world have communication at their base.

i believe they do.

3. what if we think that all communication boils down to unlimited foreign languages.

i believe it does.

4. what if we believe the research that shows that kids learn foreign language best at a young age.

here's the plan/idea/model:

pre-k: 1 foreign language is suggested - either from home or pre-k

kindergarten: those that come in w/two learn another, those that come in with/one learn their first

first: most are on their 2nd foreign language, 3rd language.

second: focus - reading as a foreign language

third: writing and programming as a foreign language

fourth: science and logic as a foreign language

fifth: math and gaming as a foreign language

sixth/seventh/eighth: further acquisition of what we deem foundational fixed content (standards) - 

so - all fixed content exposure happens by the end of 8th grade

9-12 - quasi college - branching off to fields w/in pln - solving real world problems (ie: urgentevoke style perhaps)

beyond 12 - quasi career - hired/interning for companies they hope to work for upon grad - if hired

___________________________________________________

my kids never believe me that math is a foreign language - one that is really designed to make the incredible happens of the world simpler...

what if they got that?...

what if getting that - allowed for more play time... more creativity... more natural learning.

and school became real life...

is this why the foreign language gang on twitter is so stinking strong?..

_____________________________________________________

schools that are doing it

the main component of every student's education is the Learn Through Internships program, in which students complete authentic projects with the guidance of expert mentors 

Projects are designed to tackle complex problems requiring critical thinking. The school's strategy is simple:

• To learn collaboration, work in teams.
• To learn critical thinking, take on complex problems.
• To learn oral communication, present.
• To learn written communication, write.
• To learn technology, use technology.
• To develop citizenship, take on civic and global issues.
• To learn about careers, do internships.
• To learn content, research and do all of the above.

Examples of projects include presenting a plan to Congress on solving the oil crisis, addressing economic issues as a team of the president's economic advisers, or inventing, under contract from NASA, new sports that astronauts can play on the Moon for exercise.

This is what we're talking about. It's that simple..

more on schools that work.

____________________________________________________________

i love to read a good book

Gotta Keep Reading - Ocoee Middle School

______________________________________

i got soul

more invisible children footage...

we just had the pleasure of meeting Tony at our school.

__________________________________________________

i am a roadie

you get one life but a million different ways to live it..

invisible children rock..

i am poor - but my life is rich.

life that matters.

____________________________________________________

why you can't work at work (school)

take a listen...to Jason Fried on how the common workplace optimizes on interruptions and makes us all work longer less focused hours

we need to redefine seat time in school...

_______________________________________________________________

redefine school - save the world

what do you think?

_________________________________________________

bravo van meter

very cool things happening here...

based on personal learning networks

students as tech interns

love it...

___________________________________________________

so what if

what if... we really listened to each other... so that we spent less time repeating conversations and more time acting them out.

here's an example of what i mean going on in my little world...

we take this silly, crazy little idea created by non-linear folks, mostly kids, so not real polished, which is ok, but also not a real user friendly message to the masses, which is not good at all.

but..

we ship it.. many eyes and heads wrap their brilliance around it and we tweak it and remix it - wikipedia style, until we end up with authentically rich world changing problems - school that matters.

ie: at the first meet up of cape town and colorado students, the biggest connection was jk rowling. which was cool. however, cooler still, what transpired after we shared that experience and listened some more...

here's the resulting remix..

take 2 (to the x as x goes to infinity) communities and put something in their hands like urgentevoke - where they really are solving world changing problems. [or dang... what if we give kids time during the school day to be creative and innovative and they create something even better than evoke.]

so really.. the government or the world is now our employer - they direct us to world problems (or better yet - allow us to determine them) they facilitate connections (free wifi) we need and they remove roadblocks (standardized tests as they are and the hours we spend together in a room.)

and each one of us is in the incubator/innovation lab. the problems we work on in school are real life. school becomes real life.

it's really that simple.

ok. so please come back for this last point if i've lost you...because 

______________________________________________

we don't need more money

we don't need more time

we don't even need more resources

we are all genius individuals in a world that now allows passion/value inspired collaborations/ple's.

if we just start coming together and sharing process (today's standards) and shipment (for ubiquitous tweaking) we have the means to solve:

hunger

health care

peace

budget

etc

seth godin says in linchpin, that we don't need to be more creative, we are all plenty creative, we just need to ship more.

and for those that might think this could never happen because (lazy) people will take advantage of a system like this, with really no rules, take a listen to this 7th grader's thoughts on what happens when more doors are opened, and this 10th grader's response to more opportunity. both are saying... it ends up breeding more responsibility.

come on now - we have nothing to lose.. and everything to gain.

video version of this post:

 _______________________________________________________________

.

flow

Csíkszentmihályi' mash-up of work and play... complete focus/immersion... like the runner's second wind.

the realization in your head, that the things that you are doing are the things that truly matter most...worth losing sleep over.

____________________________________________

wondering around

great observation and post by Seth Godin.

Wondering around is the act of inquiring with generous spirit.

of course... Keri Smith always has a great take on things as well.

maybe her brand of wandering for effective wondering?... 

just wondering.

_________________________________________________________

csap

one way our kool beans school address csap (our state test) with grace...

awesome video once again Lexi...

______________________________________________

sicc act of kindness

In a recent and ongoing conversation with students about how to improve school, we generated this list:

.....incorporate community service into every class
.....don't buy in bulk, ie: make purchases per individual, or class, or school, that is intending to use it, ----textbooks, laptops, calculators, promethean boards, etc.

.....guide students more toward future goals - careers - and colleges, help with scholarships and apps

.....train more at a younger age - especially foreign language

.....value clubs and all sports

.....etc

i like the community service idea..

some were recently involved in this:

SICC - Student's in Community Club - taking hot cocoa to bus drivers and crossing guards at wee hours in the morning..

 

awesome job on the video Lexi... grazie.

____________________________________________________

why do we connect

excellent @shellterrel

bravo.

________________________________________________