Disqus - Latest Comments for plugusin

Re: 4 Simple Rules For Attending Any Conference

plugusin — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 07:52:49 -0000

Love this, Pal.

Hope we can cross paths while at ISTE. I'll be there Friday night through Monday afternoon.

Rock on,
Bill

Re: The Vulnerability of the Web

plugusin — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 07:15:48 -0000

Hey Pal,

One of the things that I think we need to constantly remember is that being vulnerable and open and transparent in social spaces is essential if we really want PLNs to be "personal" learning networks.

The fabric of human relationships is built on so much more than curating killer resources for each other. When we forget the vulnerability and transparency and honesty, we become nothing more than the infomercial guys -- peddling crap and drawing attention, but never truly connecting with one another.

Thanks for modeling that.
Bill

Re: Goodbye My Sweet Girl

plugusin — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 06:43:01 -0000

Hey Pal,

If Shaq taught you to be the unconditionally giving guy that you are, then we all owe her one. Give her a kiss from all of us.

Sending love your way,
Bill

Re: Why Formative Assessments Matter

plugusin — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 18:50:04 -0000

Love this, Pal.

Really practical and well written.

Hope you and I cross paths at ISTE. I''ll be there for a few days and am excited to reconnect.

And hope that your summer birthday parties are as fun as mine is going to be!

#dadchat

Bill

Re: The Value of Everyone Else

plugusin — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 08:33:15 -0000

Hey Pal,

Thanks for the reminder. We do a great job in most schools celebrating teachers. It's important to remember, though, that teachers can't do their jobs alone.

It would be hard to work for schools and never be recognized. Simple recognition goes a long way towards increasing motivation.

I needed that.
Bill

Re: It’s not you Twitter, it’s me.

plugusin — Sat, 10 May 2014 08:13:47 -0000

Hey Pal,

I think that Twitter is dying simply because it promotes laziness in social spaces. People think that by lurking or retweeting or simply sharing links to posts that they are "participating in a global learning network."

Lurking, sharing and retweeting are the simplest forms of participation -- and they do little to build relationships or to make us truly "social" beings. And when those simple patterns of participation become the norm rather than the exception -- as they have with Twitter -- then a social space becomes less valuable and interesting.

Long story short, the common patterns of participation that have taken over Twitter -- the notion that other people will do the heavy lifting for us and that all we need to do is find content to use and hit the favorite button or retweet messages in order to be a "contributor" -- has turned Twitter into something that is less valuable than it once was.

Any of this make sense?

More importantly, how do we encourage people who have "grown up" in this watered down version of social learning to embrace something more in whatever new space replaces Twitter for folks who want to learn together?

Finally, what consequences will these patterns of participation -- which so many teachers have embraced -- have on the kids in our classrooms? Can we really expect teachers to show students the potential that social spaces provide for learning when "potential" means "finding great content without having to work hard and hitting the Like button a whole bunch of times"?

You've got me thinking...
Bill

Re: Jumping to Conclusions

plugusin — Sat, 10 May 2014 07:56:34 -0000

Hey Pal,

First, here's to hoping you're well and happy and digging wedding planning! You deserve it.

And I think you're on to something here: "It's Stupid" statements are a reflection of what you currently believe. They are your preconceived notions. When those notions are challenged by evidence -- like the help that Pinterest is giving you or this Seeds video -- you are forced to wrestle with those preconceived notions.

That mental wrestling is genuine learning.

Now the question becomes how often do the kids in our classrooms have the chance to experience that kind of learning in action? How often do we challenge their preconceived notions and then challenge those conceptions with contradictions?

Those are the learning spaces that we need to be trying to create.

Thanks for making me think...
Bill

Re: The Thing that Bugs Me

plugusin — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 09:51:37 -0000

Hey Buddy,

So much of this resonated with me simply because I've always wondered at what point students should be held accountable for not following through on their assignments.

Here's an interesting bit of push back: Do you think your novel approach to grading is actually failing some of your students?

As much as it sucks, the majority of the kids in your classes spent 12 years in a system where they learned that grades were cudgels used by teachers/parents/principals/universities to "incentivize" certain behaviors.

For many of the kids in your room, moving away from that sad reality is probably refreshing. For the kids you are talking about here, though, isn't it possible that the only context they have for courses is "I'm only going to work as hard as I need to to get the grade I want?"

And if you don't use grades as a motivator for those kids, is it possible that your choices are resulting in the kinds of uninvested behaviors you describe here?

My struggle with changing grading practices in my own room has never been about changing MY attitude towards the role grades play in learning. My struggle has always been closing the gap between what I think about grades and what parents and students expect grades to be.

Any of this make sense?
Bill

Re: 6 Months

plugusin — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 19:02:14 -0000

Hey Buddy,

This picture is just plain beautiful. Made my day.

Thanks for sharing.

Bill

Re: #Socks4Dean

plugusin — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 12:06:32 -0000

Hey Dean,

Thank you for reminding us all that learning together SHOULD be personal and that relationships DO matter.

And thanks for being a mentor for a long, long while. You influence me and that's pretty darn cool.

Rock right on,
Bill

Re: Innovative thinking needs to lead to innovative action.

plugusin — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 17:45:11 -0000

George wrote:

Encouraging risk taking is not that effective unless you are willing to model risk taking.

---------------------

As classroom teacher guy, I couldn't agree with this statement more, George. It's always funny to me to hear principals bemoan the lack of innovation and risk taking in their schools when they aren't modeling that same behavior themselves.

So why doesn't this happen more often? Why are school leaders so hesitant to be public risk takers? What is it about their positions that make risk taking so darn risky?

Hope you're well,
Bill

Re: | Ideas and Thoughts

plugusin — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 06:33:07 -0000

You've got me thinking again, Darren: I should REALLY change my categories, too.

Add things like, "These will make you mad" and "Sunshine and Candycorn Posts" would help people to choose previous reads based on their emotions rather than on content.

I'd probably have a category for "Arne Duncan Stinks" and "Really, North Carolina?!" too.

This could be fun.
Bill

Re: | Ideas and Thoughts

plugusin — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 18:41:48 -0000

Hey Pal,

Wouldn't it be cool if the "Publish" button in a blogging platform could be edited to read whatever you wanted it to read?

I'd put, "Reflect" on mine.

Someone else might put "Just Do It"

Someone else might put "Why Not?!"

What would yours say?!
Bill

Re: Will · How Common is the Common Core, Really?

plugusin — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 18:30:49 -0000

Will wrote:

My guess would be that “success” is much more based on dispositions than it is on content knowledge and the ability to have a conversation about Mesopotamia.

------------------
Come on, Will -- you can't test dispositions without better tests, and better tests means raising taxes. But we gotta have a test. You can't fire those damn useless teachers who are suckling from the teat of the evil union without a test. So we'll stick with the sucky test we have, thank you very much kind sir.

#sheeshchat

#onlyHALFkiddingchat

#thatscaresmechat

#mesopotamiaforever

Hope you're well,
Bill

Re: | Ideas and Thoughts

plugusin — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 17:18:05 -0000

Dean wrote:

I think one thing to remember is that each of us write in this space for different reasons. For me, it has always been a place to push mine and other people's thinking. With that as my primary goal, push back is essential. But that may not be everyone's goal and I need to remember that. As well it doesn't make my blog any more valuable or important that the person who uses this space to simply share their favorite websites.

-------------------------
This is SO key, Dean. And it's all over my mind right now.

I wonder what we do to teach kids to think critically and to understand that the intentions of the creator of digital content drive their choices -- and that judging content without understanding intentions can put a reader in a prickly spot.

Another question I am wrestling with is whose job is it to make those intentions clear? Does the author bear the responsibility to clarify their purposes to readers? Or do readers bear the responsibility to give authors the benefit of the doubt when they aren't sure what the intentions are?

The answer is probably "a little of each," right?

Either way, the conversation is an important one.

Right now, I'm stuck on the notion that I don't automatically know a person through their contributions to social spaces. I just know the content that they create.

I'm also stuck on the notion that if I can follow a person in more than one space -- Twitter, Instagram AND their blog, for example -- I'll get a better sense about the whole of who they are, given that most people use different services for different purposes and reveal different sides of themselves in different spaces.

This stuff is all over danah's It's Complicated. Totally great read.
Rock on,
Bill

Re: | Ideas and Thoughts

plugusin — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 18:13:56 -0000

Hey Pal,

Your bit has me thinking today because sometimes the "I couldn't agree more" comments are most important to me. External validation of my thinking is often the fuel that drives me simply because I am SO isolated on a regular basis. "I couldn't agree more" means "holy crap, maybe I'm not crazy."

I also wonder how our positions influence our willingness to write posts that challenge. As a classroom teacher in crazy-land, every time I write a post -- or a comment, or a Tweet -- I'm nervous that someone will take it the wrong way and I'll be marched into the Principal's office for a NYPD Blue Talking To.

Do you think that folks with more organizational juice are also more likely to tackle topics that generate heat? Do you think the Meh-ness in teacher posts are a result of our fear of making someone with organizational juice angry?

Finally, I'm driven by the LACK of blog comments in today's world. The vast majority of posts that I read in my network go comment-less. People seem to think that the Like button is enough nowadays. They forget that blogs aren't about content creation -- instead, they're about conversation.

Any of this make sense?
Bill

Re: More Homework Meme

plugusin — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 06:31:54 -0000

Hey Pal,

First, thanks a ton for playing along! This meme has been a lot of fun for me simply because I've learned a ton about people that I've "known" forever.

Second, my sole goal in life is to see you and Ross Perot dancing the robot together! That would be a viral video forever. And we could cash in on it and retire fat and happy!

#matteroftime

Hope you're well -- and wishing you the Merriest of Christmases.

Rock on,
Bill

Re: More Homework Meme

plugusin — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 06:30:08 -0000

I am totally waiting for a Cancellieri, Goerend, Townsley collaboration, that's for sure. You'll sell at least one copy.

#guaranteed

Bill

Re: In the Trenches | molehills out of mountains

plugusin — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 06:52:24 -0000

Great bit, Pal -- and if leaders did half the stuff you talk about in this post, they'd have NO trouble at all recruiting and retaining teachers, that's for sure.

Doug Reeves compares school leaders to lifeguards. Lifeguards have to constantly monitor the waterfront, making observations and identifying places where intervention is needed. There are a thousand competing priorities trying to carve out a bit of the life guard's attention at any given time -- the child screaming because he dropped his ice cream cone, the fisherman casting dangerously close to the swim area, the retiree flying a kite from the back of the beach.

Give too much of your attention away to any of those "priorities" and you are likely to miss the struggling swimmer who REALLY needs your help.

Principals have to get better at figuring out which of the thousand signals competing for their attention -- and for the attention of their teachers -- is actually worth paying attention to.

Any of this make sense?
Bill

PS: I have a slide about this lifeguard metaphor on Flickr. I'd share it with you, but I'm at school and Flickr is blocked!

Re: Leading Innovative Change Series – Learning First, Technology Second

plugusin — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 08:13:55 -0000

Hey Pal,

First, here's to hoping you are well and happy!

Second, I can't WAIT to read your book. Glad you're finally working on one.

Finally, this statement is brilliant:

“Managing” is for “things,” not people.

If we could only get that through the heads of technology services departments all over the planet, now.

Just got a new computer from our school and it is on total lockdown. I can't install any software OR browser buttons. I'm sure that's because the tech services folks want to make sure that "us teachers" don't "corrupt the machines." It's a hassle-saving move for them.

The problem is that lockdown creates a TON of hassles for me. I can't bookmark to Diigo, I can't share freely to Twitter, I can't curate content with Scoop.it and I can't access my password manager program.

When technology services folks make hassle-management their priority, teachers stop dreaming about what they can do with #edtech -- and when teachers stop dreaming about #edtech, the learning losses are HUGE for everyone trapped inside of traditional schools.

Rock right on,

Bill

Re: And I Walk Away, or How I Finally Decided to Quit Teaching

plugusin — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 18:37:45 -0000

Justin wrote:

Teaching wasn't just what I did, but it was also part of who I am. I feel I've lost something profound. I don't regret the choice, but I am deeply saddened by it.

- - - - - - - - - -

Hey Pal,

First, know that I'm thinking of you. As a guy who has gone through the professional meat-grinder that is teaching for 20 years -- and who has spent the better portion of the past two years thinking about walking away as well -- I know only too well what you are feeling.

But I need you to remember something: You will ALWAYS be a teacher. Walking away from schools -- which are horribly underfunded dysfunctional places working in horribly underfunded dysfunctional systems -- doesn't change that.

You aren't walking away from TEACHING. You're walking away from SCHOOLS. The chances are good that your decision will actually free you to be a teacher again -- instead of to be an email-answerer, a paper-grader, a meeting-goer, or a curriculum-implementer, which is probably how you spent the last few years.

Does any of this make sense?

Your decision doesn't REMOVE you from what it is that you are. It RELEASES you to be what you've always wanted to be.

I'm jealous, I'm hopeful, and I want to see you do well.

You ARE planning on continuing to write, aren't you? I can deal with you leaving the classroom. I can't deal with you not writing anymore!

Rock right on, Friend.

Bill

Re: 5 Questions For Every Leader-#LeadershipDay13

plugusin — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 10:04:18 -0000

Hey Pal,

Just wanted to let you know that I love it when you write about this video. Not only is the video great, but your articulation of what it means for us as change agents in our own buildings is great too.

Hope you're doing well, by the way -- and getting lots of sleep and/or Starbucks!

Rock on,

Bill

Re: The Greatest Gift

plugusin — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 16:05:10 -0000

Dean wrote:

I guess I'm wondering if, like you did when I challenged you about
letting your students assess themselves, if you might find a way, even
in a small sense to gift your students time in a way they notice and
appreciate it.

- - - - -

I've got to give it a try, right Dean?

Last year, I tried having students write down questions they were curious about each class period and then setting aside a few days at the end of each quarter for kids to study one of the questions that they'd generated during our unit. It was definitely cool, it definitely sent the right message about who owns the questions, and it definitely fit the Common Core learning standards.

But I also ran out of time before the end of grade exam. Didn't get to an entire unit, actually.

I shouldn't care about that stuff. If my state wants to fire me for actually giving kids the chance to ask and answer their own questions instead of spending every spare minute jamming content into their minds, maybe it's time to find another job.

Wish it was easier to do what I know is right.

Thanks for the challenge. Always love thinking alongside you.

Bill

Re: The Greatest Gift

plugusin — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 19:42:44 -0000

Nodded my way through your entire bit, Dean. This quote resonated the most:

Autonomy over time is part of what makes us human.

Then, I felt a crushing sadness because I have a massive freaking curriculum to grind through before the fact-driven standardized test in June that is used to hold me accountable for my "performance."

The tension between giving students time and having to cram too much knowledge into their minds simply because if I don't, I can lose my job is the worst part of teaching in the States.

Hope you're well...
Bill

Re: Reassessment in a standards-based grading system [student perspective]

plugusin — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 08:19:07 -0000

Hey Pal,

First, here's to hoping that you're well and happy! It's been a while.

Second, thanks again for being one of the best writers about standards based grading and reassessment on the web. Every time that I come to your blog to read one of these bits, I'm both thankful and impressed.

Finally, I think this introduction to students is FANTASTIC. We do regular reassessment on our learning team, but I've not done a terrific job explaining to parents or students what the process is or what the reasoning behind reassessment is.

I've got to create something like this for my kids.

Rock on,

Bill