LeaderTalk

Communicating Across the World!

This Blog post comes directly to you from Sparta, Greece a small town about four hours south of Athens where I'm visiting relatives. The home in which I'm staying belongs to my mother's family and is about 100 years old. I decided to bring a small laptop with me so I could do some work while everyone is napping in the afternoon. Much to my amazement, when I turned the laptop on, I connected to the Internet wirelessly! Now, mind you, there's no air conditioning in the house (100 degrees today) but there is connectivity.

The time in Greece is seven hours ahead of the time in Michigan meaning that when I wake up at 6 a.m. it's 11:00 p.m. the previous night at home. So, this morning I turned on my laptop and opened IM and, lo and behold, one of my team members was on IM. So, across the world, we communicated for about 1/2 hour.

Subsequently, I checked and responded to email and did some work for my program - all before my first cup of Greek coffee. And, here I sit 5500 miles from home and am writing my Blog post.

So, what's my point? It is this....with technology as accessible as it is globally, I don't have to put an "away" message on my email server, I don't have to be inaccessible to my colleagues, I can respond immediately to important email queries, I can blog long-distance and, most important, I can keep in touch with what's happening back home. Not only is it a flat world, but it is definitely a small world- thanks to technology!

I have befriended a wonderful little 10-year old boy, Pantele, who lives downstairs from my aunt. He comes upstairs each day to use my computer and connect to the Disney website. He is learning English at school - although he says he's learning "American." In school, the children study throughout the summer going to a Frontistirio, commonly known as "cram" schools where they study specific subjects so that they can pass annual exams to progress to the next grade. Pantele is studying "American" this summer and I'm helping him so he can pass on to what we would consider 6th grade. Today, he and I read chapter 1 & 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which I had brought with me to read ....some things are the same no matter where you are in the world.

OK - can't Blog more because it's time for my Greek coffee and baklava!

Madeline Hunter 21st Century

The newly published ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) book, Improving Student Learning One Teacher at a Time, by Jane E. Pollock, provides a synthesis of best practices for instruction and shows teachers how making the right adjustments in curriculum, planning and delivery, assessment, and record keeping and reporting can significantly improve learning. The book references theories of instruction from some of education’s finest thinkers over the past years.

In reading the book, I was delighted to see that Madeline Hunter’s Mastery Teaching Model was included. For those too young to recognize the name, Madeline Hunter (1916–1994) was a professor of educational administration and teacher education and the creator of the Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP) model for teaching and learning that was widely adopted by schools during the last quarter of the 20th century. An ITIP professional development program was typically a 5-day workshop with intersessions intended to establish a common body of knowledge as a foundation for an understanding that the teacher and her/his decisions are the keys to effective instruction.

Some criticized the ITIP model as too structured and methodical with little room for creativity while others have institutionalized her work with one Indiana University Instructional Designer labeling it as “ Madeline Hunter's White Sauce Recipe for Instructional Planning.” Regardless which side of the argument one sat on, for several decades Madeline Hunter’s work was education’s most widely quoted. In 1985 Ron Brandt, executive director of the ASCD, said that Madeline Hunter "has had more influence on U.S. teachers in the last ten years than any other person."

In the early 1980’s I had the good fortune to train with Madeline Hunter and subsequently became an ITIP trainer in Michigan. During my time with her, she exuded a sparkling optimism about the future of education and genuinely believed that teaching was both an art and a science.

"I believe the future of education is bright! We are beginning to unlock the mystery of the human brain and how it processes and learns. We, now, can enable teachers to use that knowledge to accelerate that learning process….it has become a profession that combines science with art to create a better and a more productive world for humankind." (Madeline Hunter in response to being asked to assess the current educational situation in the 1990’s.

How different would the ITIP model of instructional delivery look if what we know today about instructional technology was used to accelerate the learning process and empower educators to deliver 21st century skills that students need to succeed in today’s global economy? The model might look something like this:

ITIP Lesson Design		21st Century Skills
Anticipatory Set	Use audience response system to determine what the students already know about the topic. Show a relevant video if applicable. Use visual imagery.	Visual & Information Literacy
Objectives/Purpose	Explain to students the relevance of what they will learn to the “real” world. Have students discover the skills they will need as they work on an assigned project. Permit them to create a timeline for longer projects.	Cultural Literacy and Global Awareness Effective Use of Real World tools Prioritizing, Planning & Managing for Results
Input	Just in time learning units, such as teaching a grammar item as a class is editing their blog posting for the day.	Adaptability/Managing Complexity and Self-Direction
Modeling	Show a “real-life” application of what students will be working on. Connect students with an expert in the subject and Skype or email them	Effective Use of Real World tools High Quality Results with Real-World Application
Monitoring (Checking for Understanding)	Have students generate rubrics so they will clearly understand what concepts/skills will be evaluated and how; response systems, online surveys	Higher Order Thinking and Sound Reasoning Self Direction Managing for Results
Guided Practice	Use of a Webquest as a guided collaborative activity to help students understand concepts and develop skills	Teaming & Collaboration Higher Order Thinking and Sound Reasoning
Independent Practice	Students work together online in groups on a project both in/out of class	Teaming & Collaboration Interactive Communication
Closure	Students create blog posting/podcast for an authentic audience – teacher invites authorities in the field to comment on postings. Teacher markets student work product through a blog or personal start page to engage parents.	Teaming & Collaboration Personal & Social Responsibility Interactive Communication

I think Madeline Hunter would approve.

Marion Ginopolis

Technorati Tags: Madeline_C_Hunter 21st_Century_Skills Mastery_Learning

Extreme Makeover: School Edition

The original Extreme Makeover was a television program from ABC in which individuals volunteer to receive an extensive makeover in Hollywood involving plastic surgery, exercise, new hairdos and wardrobes. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition began broadcasting in 2004 as a regular TV series in which a family's house, including all rooms, exterior and landscaping, is made over by a team of builders and designers in seven days while the family goes off on vacation.

The idea behind EM: Home Edition is to put together a very run-down house, a deserving family, a team leader and several opinionated designers to build a new house, all in a race against time. The end result is that the lives of the lucky families are forever changed.

I am advocating for a spin-off of this series titled Extreme Makeover: School Edition where the makeover doesn't just change faces or facilities, it pushes the limits of what's possible in transforming education and the lives of the lucky students are forever changed.

We have all the necessary "ingredients" to validate the need for Extreme Makeover: School Edition -- outdated systems and deserving kids. We also have a ton of experienced (and, yes, opinionated) educators. And we certainly are in a race against time. Graduation rates are falling, we are losing our edge internationally, and evidence suggests that schools are a long way from leveraging technology's potential.

Our current system of education is not meeting the needs of our students. Statistics show that students dropping out of school don't do so because they are failing; they do so because they are disengaged, disinterested, and see their time spent in school as irrelevant.

We are in a state of urgency to provide 21st century solutions so our children can successfully compete in a new global economy. Here’s my challenge: If you could contribute to the new series, Extreme Makeover: School Edition, what would you recommend for the next-generation school and why?

Technorati Tags: school_reform Extreme_Makeover_School graduation_rates dropout_rates

What's Good for the Goose...

Recognizing the importance of education to improving the economic well-being of Michigan, on April 20, 2006, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed into law the Michigan Merit Curriculum. This new set of statewide graduation requirements is viewed as a step toward making high schools more rigorous academically and better preparing students for post-secondary education and an increasingly competitive global economy. Among the requirements is the inclusion of an online course or online experience in each student's middle school or high school coursework, making Michigan the first state in the nation to require an online course or online experience for high school graduation.

If this is a requirement for students then it is imperative that teachers and, more importantly, administrators participate in online courses so they are, at the least, conversant with the concept of online learning, the pedagogy and its value to their students both in post-secondary education and in the work world.

Does an administrator's participation in online courses influence her/his attitudes towards online learning? An evaluation completed by administrators in four online courses offered through the LEADing the Future program in Michigan (part of a statewide initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) showed 100% of respondents indicating that participating in online courses positively influenced their attitudes towards online learning. Some indicated that their experiences with these courses had actually changed their attitudes in favor of online learning and dispelled preconceived ideas about the difficulty and technical requirements involved. Most respondents indicated a high level of interest in continuing online learning for professional development purposes. They also expressed interest in learning more about how to implement online courses in their schools and districts.

More and more administrators recognize the value of online learning because many of them are already pursuing their professional learning via online courses. A recent survey of over 300 Michigan administrators was conducted by the MI-LIFE leadership team (Michigan Leadership Improvement Framework Endorsement funded by a grant to the Michigan Department of Education from Microsoft Partners in Learning) to determine their interest in taking online courses as part of the leadership curriculum that is being developed for the MI-LIFE program. The results were very encouraging. While only 42% of those responding have taken an online course, 82% of those who have not taken one are interested/willing to do so.

This data prompted us to include two instructor-led online courses in the MI-LIFE curriculum, not only for the modeling benefits, but for the convenience of the participating administrators.

A November 2006 report written by the National American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills builds the case for online learning as excellent preparation for any career choice: "Today's graduates must be adept with the tools of collaboration and communication that are the reality of a global, web-driven workplace. Online learning affords unprecedented opportunities for students to complete their work using applications that are common to today's workers.."

If experiencing online learning is what we believe is good for students then it only makes sense that it is equally, if not more, important and good for administrators.