Creative Schools: A Book Review by AskteacherZ

Educational Assembly Lines still pump out Model "A" Grades to 21st Century Students!

Little doubt remains that the current emphasis on standardized education squelches creativity. In the book Creative Schools author Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D. argues masterfully that the industrial aged, one-size fits all, the educational structure of yesteryear exists in our schools still to this day but in a most destructive manner. To curb this continued course and positively transform education it will take a revolution of the masses.

Revolts begin with disseminating information to crystallize the unity of the many. Identifying curricular outcome flaws is often not enough to sway involvement. However, presenting the political purse of maintaining ancient industrial education testing techniques is a powerful motivator.

The sticker price to clone learning costs billions of dollars. Testing and supporting students in the United States is a booming big business. It finances political electioneering and drives the education systems. In 2013 the revenue was $16.5 billion. To put this in perspective Robinson points out that in the same year the U.S. domestic cinema box office grossed a little less than $11 billion and the National Football League (NFL) is a $9 billion business (pg. 165). Moviegoers and football fans would never continue to pay for tickets if their return was anything like what's put in front of students in the form of standardized tests. The current educational system shortchanges consumers. We're purchasing an inferior end product for our students.

Student engagement, learning outcomes and success of career preparedness depend upon allowing individuals the opportunity to pursue their interests, innovate and collaborate within the realm of educational curricula. Now with over 8 million views on YouTube Ken Robinson's TED Talks presentation from 2007 titled Do Schools Kill Creativity is an introduction to this very topic that is expanded upon in his 2015 book. In short, Creative Schools contains all of what he was unable to say in 18 minutes 8 years ago.

The Heart of Education is the Relationship between the Students and the Teacher

As a mission, all teachers enter the profession with the intent of making a difference in the lives of those whom they serve. Regardless of the age, subject or role in education (as I described in my "Bad" blog post in June 2015) all educators want students to become compassionate, innovative and active citizens in the future. Ken Robinson explains and expands upon this perspective very well with his humorous analogies, sarcasm, school and classroom observation examples and educational data.

The drill and test industrial aged education model of old must give way to a modern-day creative one. Project-based learning, maker spaces and a technology integrated curriculum need to be advanced, promoted and implemented in schools. Factors such as motivation, class size and funding can no longer be the crutch to explain the lack of student success. Schools and staff need to be supported and valued more by government leadership to allow for the building of quality relationships with students, parents, and community.

Education, as Robinson eloquently writes, is "...cluttered with every sort of distraction. There are political agendas, national priorities, union bargaining positions, building codes, job descriptions, parental ambitions, peer pressures. The list goes on. But the heart of education is the relationship between the student and the teacher. Everything else depends on how productive and successful that relationship is. If that is not working, then the system is not working. If students are not learning, education is not happening. Something else may be going on, but it's not education (pg 71-72)." Simply put, the priority in education needs to be about discovering individual talent not determining deficiencies. Discovering the gifts of each individual student is accomplished only through the building of positive relationships.

Creative Schools needs to make an appearance at some point on everyone's nightstand. Sir Ken Robinson doesn't disappoint. He's crafted a brilliant, inspiring and thought-provoking book on where education needs to be and how to get there. When finished you'll have a more profound understanding of the education world.

Teachers and Superman: Adapting to a World of Cell Phones

Superman: Where's the Phonebooth?

Superman fan? I've always enjoyed superhero movies. One particular scene from the 1978 original Superman movie, starring Christopher Reeves, stands out and inspires me to be a better educator and person.

A disguised superman, portrayed as a mild mannered typical white-collared worker, needed to switch into his blue spandex and red cape uniform to save the citizens of Metropolis from harms way. No worries. A quick change of clothes in a phone booth is the patented move for the son of Jor-El. On the street he immediately finds a phone but there's no longer a booth; it's a small receiver station with no door. What now? Adjacent to where he stands is a revolving-door unit. Problem solving in the heat of the moment is his forte. He acts quickly and uses the turn-style door to make his transition from Clark Kent, the reporter for the Daily Planet, to Superman, the hero of the people.

Metaphorically this superman movie snippet encapsulates the world of education in several ways. For starters, in this ever changing world, educators, like Clark Kent, must problem solve and determine alternate strategies to accomplish tasks so frequently it's beyond measure. Both also serve the people; for better and worse Superman and Teachers are servants to those whom they've dedicated their lives. Successfully working on behalf of the people depends upon the acclimation to one's surroundings and the constant retooling of ones craft.

If classrooms are preparing students with the skills necessary to meet the rigor of the 21st century work place then conformity to ancient learning practices will not cut it. Teachers are lead learners. Leaders promote innovation, critical thinking, collaboration and risk taking. To promote these skills teachers must understand and employ them.

This mind shift is necessary.

Pedagogical Adaptability is a choice; albeit it's not a difficult decision or is it? We've all come in contact with people that dismiss giving change a chance. That person, for whatever reason, that's resistant to attempt a new instructional tactic or use a new technology tool. Perhaps you've overheard someone that's quick to point out to others "You don't have to do that because -insert negative result here- is going to happen when you try it."

What drives and motivates these individuals to be this way? Maybe it's fear. Maybe it's because they're overwhelmed. Maybe they need help and they're not accustom to asking for it. Together we must move forward and overcome these obstacles because the people we all serve can't afford the result.

The "Set-In-His-Way Superman" would've missed a chance to save a life. If Clark Kent were reticent to change and resistant to adapting to his environment something as simple as a covert outfit transformation would result in tragedy. If he'd have continued to look for a phone booth rather than use the revolving-door the chance to help and save humanity would've past. Likewise, a new clothing conversion technique is lost. A new learned tactic that'd serve him and mankind well in the future. These same decisions exist more often for teachers and school administrators than for fictional superheroes. Revolving doors are everywhere for educators.

Those that work in education are superheroes. Their endeavors often go unnoticed. In one day as a middle school administrator, on top of all the spectacular learning I'm privy to experience from my daily classroom visitations, I also witnessed: secretarial and custodial staff rush to the aid of a student having a seizure; an educator walk a student to the clinic that had a bloodied nose; a teaching-assistant walk the entire playground with a distraught student until they found their missing cell phone; and a school administrator save a choking student in the cafeteria by performing the Heimlich Maneuver.

There's little doubt that educators are quick to act when someone is physically, socially and emotionally in harms way. Lets apply this same principle to when someone is intellectually in harms way. As educators we must be quick to act on trying a new form of acquiring professional development -- maybe it's being involved in a Twitter EduChat. As educators we must be quick to implement a new learning tool and attempt a new learning strategy. We must, as educators, be quick to collaborate with others. Be that Clark Kent Educator that's quick to take a risk, try that revolving-door and enter into a new, more profound world of pedagogy.

Resources and Credits:

Superman the Movie. 1978. Warner Brothers.

Superman - DC Comics.

Oxnevad, Susan. Getting Smart. The SAMR Ladder Through the Lens of 21st Century Skills. 17 July 2013.

YouTube Superman Clip. https://youtu.be/VhCm66QhW_Y

BUILD a Box of 21st Century Learning

Guide your students to BUILD a "Box of Learning."

Each lesson and unit of instruction you plan is spread out across a wide range of mandatory teaching topics; including the necessary curricular content of Common Core State Standards (CCSS), State and local learning benchmarks, as well as, standardized tests that evaluate not just their knowledge but our teaching ability. As a result, hours of time are spent meticulously managing each curricular item and learning benchmark to ensure that it's incorporated on the surface area of the instructional unit. Your plans are written, developed and these items are checked off. When it's all done your lessons cover every curricular need and learning benchmark -- proud you are and proud you should be. Your due diligence has allowed you to embed curriculum across your content. But after some careful self-reflection you realize these lesson/s and/or those of the past are missing depth or mastery of the material and are perhaps uneventful activities. Are you tired of your lessons falling flat on their face like a piece of cardboard? Are you looking to expand your teaching style?

Flat card board lesson planning is many times the result of our fear -- the fear of not covering everything. As educators we become cognizant of the fact that standardized tests contain certain, bench-marked items. Therefore ALL of this earmarked material must be covered or students will perform poorly on the "test" and then we all "fail" -- figuratively and literally.

Let's overcome our fears; let's transform our flat card board lesson planning into a 21st Century learning opportunity. We all start our planning with a flat piece of card board. It's necessary to know the learning benchmarks and the curricular content -- this is the most grueling and time consuming part. Here's our goal: take that flat piece of card board (aka your old lesson/s) and work with students to demonstrate or show them how they can fold it, change it's shape and make it into a box that will hold their knowledge until it can be released, used and then restored again. ALL teachers have card board, the question is how are you presenting it for their learning?

Is it necessary to have a "test" to assess learning? When we utilize diagnostic, formative and summative evaluations it doesn't need to be in the form of a pretest, quiz then a test. Project Based Learning (PBL) using a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), or if fortunate enough to be in 1:1 environment, is a more powerful mode of learning.

Don’t Stifle Learning Paths -- Open New Ones

Embed those curricular and learning benchmarks into an innovative BYOD-PBL Activity using a rubric and let students create from a flat piece of card board their own unique box. Allow students to demonstrate their learning in whatever mode they choose. Perhaps in the form of a screen-cast, a TEDx style presentation, a live puppet show, or they can publish their work to the internet in the form of a blog or web site, etc. Encourage students to collaborate with other students. Open it up not just to work with with those directly in class but perhaps with others across the world using social media. Leave open the option to work individually for those that choose such a route - don't stifle learning paths open new ones.

The goal of 21st Century learning is to allow students to develop career skills within our classes. Let students develop their arsenal within your midst. Unleash student creativity. Consider the box of knowledge to be their portfolio; something that will assist them at the next level and be built upon for years to come. Don't be handcuffed in your planning by curricular demands and benchmark prioritization -- allow students to delve into the content and extrapolate it through their own research, communication, collaboration and development of a product. Be the Lead Learner of Box Building.

Teach Like A Pirate: A Book Review by AskteacherZ

What is a Pirate Movie Rated? Rrrrrrr. My vivacious 9-year-old daughter told me this joke when she saw me reading the book written by Dave Burgess titled Teach Like A Pirate. After the joke she began questioning me about the content of the book. A lively discussion on teaching ensued. She finished by announcing "It takes a lot of work to teach well Daddy."

A captive title, a cute joke, then a student-led, student-centered teaching style is what Teach Like A Pirate (#TLAP) is all about. In this book Dave Burgess has provided teachers with methods, tactics, and strategies that he has found successful. To be completely forthcoming, this is the first edu-pedagogical book I've read since I was forced to do so in my undergraduate studies. Postive twitter traffic and #TLAP chatter on this book sparked my curiosity. And when gifted with an Amazon card from a student I decided to make a pirate purchase. From the time the book hit my doorstep I began to devour it.

In less than 48 hours I finished reading TLAP. Before opening the book, from our tweet exchanges, I knew the author and I had some similarities. Both of us are Social Studies teachers with near the same number of years of experience, we're both coaches, as well as, professional development presenters that utilize twitter as a forum to share, collaborate and perfect our craft. Little did I know, we had more in common than I thought; I had been TLAPing my entire career. Most profound throughout the book is the promotion of an essential attribute of a pirate educator: a never stop learning, never stop creating and never stop collaborating work ethic. Pirate educators are relentless in their pursuit of mastering the craft.

Standing out, among all of the incredible teaching topics covered; that varies from passion, rapport, feedback, analysis to lesson development; is creativity. What struck me when reading Teach Like A Pirate is that some teachers brush aside innovative lesson planning in much the same way a weight-watcher client may fail to lose pounds: excuses. George Washington once wrote, "It's better to offer no excuse than a bad one." Dave Burgess masterfully presents this perspective in a "six-word" paradigm that remains ingrained in my mind. He explained that a teacher once told him "It's easy for you. You're creative." Being creative, innovative, imaginative and inspirational in your practice as a teacher is hard work. Creativity, as he brilliantly demonstrates, isn't an innate attribute or talent that people are born with; one doesn't simply pick up a brush, paint and a few days later show some on-lookers their completed work on the ceiling at the Sistine Chapel. Success is determined by pursuit, dedication, and effort towards mastery of a specific form of art. Creative teaching is an art form; like any form of art, to be highly effective at it, one must put in the time needed to achieve it.

Teach Like A Pirate is about sharing these creative lesson planning strategies. It's about learning how to be a creative teacher. We're all a creative genius in one form or another, but maybe our genius needs to be developed more. Dave Burgess is, within the pages of his work, essentially teaching teachers to do what it is that they do on a daily basis; he's advocating his readers to learn creativity. Even if you're a creative teacher this book will still open up a new world to you. It's with the highest of recommendations that AskteacherZ gives a #TwoThumbZup to Dave Burgess' book Teach Like A Pirate. Pedagogy is all about continued professional development, sharing, and self-advocacy. Get yourself out-of-the-box, put on an eye patch and get into the Burgess Boat as we have; you'll be a better educator as a Pirate.

Project Based Learning (PBL): A Teacher Tutorial

8 Easy Steps to Engaging Learning

Traditional Learning; What is this and how would you define it? Is "traditional learning" when students work independently at their desks with a text book and a worksheet? Or is it when a teacher presents a topic to the entire class while students dutifully take notes on paper? Maybe, a better, more concise, definition is that students learn from the teacher and take a test to prove how much learning occurred? Truly, I submit, to me Traditional Learning is all of the above. Furthermore, just to be clear, in my opinion, these approaches to education are fine. Here's where the traditional methodology of learning, as well as ALL methodologies in education, falter and go wrong: not varying or changing up the teaching techniques or pedagogical styles. Project Based Learning is a tremendous form of teaching…

In the world of education students can't get enough: individual attention from the teacher; support for their learning; care for their well being; support from home, school and community; LOVE! But like some other things in life too much of something isn't always a good thing. I submit that this is where differing styles of pedagogy rest. Project Based Learning, as already indicated, is a phenomenal method of instruction but it can be overused. Students need various modes of learning to allow them to be able to adapt to an ever changing world. Now that I have provided my thesis on Project Based Learning (PBL) allow me to now assist in creating such a lesson plan structure.

PBL is student outcome positioned education. The work of the educator is more on the planning end. As the teacher your role is to set the students on a path at the start and then be willing to "let-go" until the end. Honestly, this can be difficult for an educator because, let's face it, a teachers' effectiveness these days is tied to the students success on a standardized test. Educators you must put this fear behind you and be confident in implementing this form of learning. Students will learn just as much as in the PBL manner as in the traditional but may retain it better because they were more empowered.

1. Create a goal. The goal should be very specific and directed to the outcome of the PBL. After making a main goal add several subsidiary goals depending on the length or size of the PBL Activity.
2. PBL Activity(s) must provide a pyramid structure of expectation. Set students up for success not failure. The difference between a PBL Activity working versus bombing-out is in how you develop the directions. Here's an example, and bare this in mind as you develop the project: if the educator has to answer ANY questions from students after the initial directions are provided it is NOT up to par. A pyramid structure of expectations provides students with all the basics while allowing them to soar to unimaginable heights; there's no ceiling on a great PBL Activity. Don't be specific; be broad.
3. Provide students with daily goals to meet. This provides structure but ensures that the goals allow for individual creativity. These means developing goals that can be accomplished within the class period for all levels of learners. In my experience, the high level learners are the ones that struggle with time because their depth of content will be greater.
4. Make the PBL Activity adaptable. Students should be allowed to work in groups or alone. Students should be able to accomplish the task using technology but maybe without it; students should be able to complete the work in school but also be able to complete it outside of the school day if they choose too. Allow students to interact, work together, collaborate. Create an atmosphere that is conducive to students helping each other, even if they're not working in the same group for the PBL Activity.
5. Clearly define how students earn a grade. Utilize a rubric to show students how they'll be held accountable for the work they do. Another important attribute is to itemize the grading structure. Break down the PBL Activity into several pieces like a: daily grade for individual work, performance, conduct, etc.; grade for the final written portion; grade for a presentation to classmates at the end; grade earned on a assessment or test. Using several different evaluatory methods allows for less opportunity for student failure.
6. Show students an example when you introduce the PBL Activity and have examples available throughout. It's one thing to describe what it is you want students to accomplish it's even better to be able to show them. This will allow you, as students work on the "project," to refer them to the example/s if they have a question; it eliminates spoon feeding answers and directs them to problem solve.
7. Imbed throughout the PBL Activity benchmarks or goals of ALL the varying curriculums that you as an educator need to meet. Familiarize yourself with your local and State curriculum, as well as, the National Core Standards. It is amazing how many of these items you can cover in one PBL Activity.
8. Develop the guideline packet or instructions in such a manner that it is accessible in and out of the classroom. Technology today allows for this to occur with relative ease. Post information on a class web site; use Twitter to disseminate material; and use email as a mode of further communication.

Here are two examples of some PBL Activities I utilize in my 8th Grade United States History classes:

Selling the 13 Colonies Project - This is a short, 2 class period, PBL Activity. Students choose groups or may work individually. Each group is randomly provided one of the 13 original colonies. The activity is based around the cable TV programs titled Selling LA and Selling NY. The main objective is for the students to familiarize themselves with the colony they are assigned to create a sales pitch. Then present the pitch to thier classmates. The PBL Activity is left very open-ended. Students spend the first class period preparing their sales pitch for next class period. Limit the sales pitch presentation(s) to a minute or two. Here's how the activity can be made into something far more agressive without using up any more class time (which is invaluable these days): Assign the activity at the end of the week so that the weekend can be used for students that really want to "go for it." What I mean by this is that I provide a competitive component to the activity; there is a minimum criteria but extra credit can be earned by the best sales pitch in each class. Students vote on the best sales pitch using PollEverywhere, an online poll developing program that is free in its basic formatting. This may inspire some students, over the weekend, to video tape themselves, make power point presentations, develop a TV commercial, etc. The results will be ridiculously incredible.

Create A Government Project - This is a more in depth, 5 class period, PBL Activity. Students choose groups or may work individually. Group positions are selected (president, secretary or recorder, sergeant at arms, representatives, etc.) Students create, from scratch, their own nation or country. They develop the land (geographic items like rivers, lakes, oceans, mountains, etc.); establish the nations borders; develop states (one state per group member minimum); and populate the nation by developing pie charts and/or graphs for the demographics. After completing these tasks students then hold a convention to create a government for their fictitious nation. They'll first be prompted from the directions to create a preamble. The Activity Packet then persuades student discussion to occur by providing open ended questions in which the responses need to be developed and then recorded in an answer booklet (or on a computer or other technological device). The entire project culminates with a five minute presentation to their classmates. If possible do not limit students to pencil and paper; encourage students to bring in their technology devices (smart phones; iPads, laptop computers, etc). Briefly demonstrate the apps available to assist them in this endeavor such as Whiteboard, educreations, Evernote, Jing, Aww, etc. Allow students to record their presentations, put it on YouTube, etc. Make the project even more aggressive by having students vote on the country they would most want to live in by voting on line using the PollEverywhere program and whatever group gets the most votes earns extra credit. Education is so much fun and PBL Activities can take this enjoyment to an entirely new level. Please contact us at AskteacherZ if you need any help with PBL Activities, to make a comment or gain access to the lessons described in more detail. We welcome any and all interaction.

Here is a tremendous resource to help you on your PBL journey. We're big fans of the "Hacking Education Series."