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LESLIE PRALLE OSBORN
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Failure: Edcamp style

2/28/2015

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About a month ago, I attended my 3rd #edcampiowa, this time in Iowa City. 

The first question we pondered; trying to gain common understanding of the concept:
How do we define failure in our classrooms? How do we define failure?
  • Failing grades
  • Failure in making a connection or relationship
  • When somebody else thinks you’ve failed despite all your best efforts (IEPs)
  • FAIL - First Attempt In Learning
  • Not there YET
  • Give them a chance to come back to learning, make it better
  • Failure = not trying
  • Grading on accuracy vs effort
    • Don’t let kids get discouraged by lack of perfection
  • Failure to take risks, make mistakes, see progress of mistakes, learn from mistakes
  • There is a difference between education and learning - education is done to you, learning is something
  • Teaching kids how to LEARN
    • Helps move away from “F”, all or nothing, move toward bigger picture of how you see learning and transfer

The conversation quickly moved from how students deal with failure to how parents view failure, and how that gets embedded back into children.
How do we communicate with parents? How do we manage their expectations?
  • If you are going to focus on learning vs grades, that must be communicated to parents/stakeholders
  • Parents expectations can be hard to manage Good grades vs Real learning
    • Don’t want Fs
  • Some kids celebrate their D-, others cry about a B
  • Culture of competition loads this
  • We celebrate the kids who are doing well, the kid who is struggling doesn’t get “featured” and they compare themselves to each other, our system of competition is set up to put kids in this position
    • BUT in reality, we are going to face this in life - how do you prepare kids for that?
    • How do we teach kids to persevere through those difficult times?
    • Shift competition to self vs peers - what can I do to get better MYSELF (like track)
  • Do some kids have a fear of success?
    • Set a standard, work toward a goal
    • We fear success because then we have a bar we must maintain

So we brainstormed. How do we create a culture that accepts, needs, and perseveres through failure?
  • Standards based grading/redos?
    • Can my student get the skill??
  • Goal setting is a HUGE conversation, progress monitoring - we have been doing this in special education for a long time; why aren’t all kids on an “IEP” of some sort?
  • We need to bridge a gap between fostering a culture that is accepting of failure in kids so that they can learn and not shut down when they experience this - this will lead to more successful adults who know who to deal with failure and persevere in its existence
  • Failure - think about the WHY; if you’re going to be intentional to figure out why kids are feeling the way they’re thinking it is going to take a lot of time. Teachers want to do this, but cannot do it alone; it’s too time consuming. From a systemic standpoint, how can we build teams and groups around offering different avenues of success - WHAT does this look like? And then HOW do we get there? 





How do we build a toolbox for this?
  • Find a way to physically represent/show how a problem can seem so big 
    • Help kids understand that they have some control over things
    • Model failure - what does it look like? How do we recover from failure?
    • Want a good model of how failure can work well?  Watch Curious George
    • Make the students accountable for their behavior, follow through with expectations
    • Think long-term, not short term
    • High expectations

One of my own favorite pieces of advice offered:
    • Call it a “pilot” - there is a built in cushion for “acceptable failure” built into the foundational premise of a “pilot program” that gives enough leeway to take risks and not fear punishment, as well as to fail and be able to work to #makeitbetter 

One school board member in attendance, whose name I desperately wish I had caught, shared her "outside of ed" point of view:
    • Process Deconstruction - point out all failures; it’s overwhelming to get a list of generalized failures, but if you break down the process and point out the successes in the process, then you are able to pinpoint where the “system” as gone off course - where in the math equation? It’s not total failure, it’s one process that needs to get tweaked 


Other tools for our failure toolbox:
      • Situation autopsy
      • Error Analysis - create the errors on purpose
        • Habits of mind, habits of interaction - take the pieces apart to look at; focus on the process vs the content
    • Design Thinking Process
    • Focus on PROCESS vs PRODUCT



J
immy Casas opened discussion about the role of LEADERS in a culture around failure
  • Find the why
  • Build on these conversations with your leadership teams
  • We have to believe that we can make a difference
  • What was MY role in this child’s failure? What didn’t I do that I should have?
    • You can control the answers, you can control how you react in the future


This is truly an example of the "the smartest person in the room is the room" in action. Lots to ponder here...

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So what is a connected educator, anyway?

2/18/2015

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Unofficially, being a “Connected Educator” has come to mean utilizing social media and web tools to connect with, learn from, and collaborate with others – and don’t get me wrong, that in itself has a tremendous amount of merit.

But being a connected educator isn’t about the tool, it’s about the mindset. It’s about embracing our ability to reach out to others, form relationships, and forge new ground and new ideas on a level that transcends tools and devices. I can connect with the teacher across the hall and the businessman across the country and the student across the globe.

I am a connected educator because when I want my students to present their work on community planning, I call up the local city council members.

I am a connected educator because when I need an expert on agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, I email my uncle who works for John Deere, who sends me email addresses of 2-3 other people who might be able to help me.

I am a connected educator because when I don’t have an answer I reach out to my Twitter PLN and use hashtags effectively to find somebody who has the knowledge I need.

I am a connected educator because I have a Voxer group that listens to my crazy rants, latest ideas, and pushes my thinking.

I am a connected educator because when I need somebody to help us learn about cultural differences in Europe, I used Skype to bring in my sister who was traveling abroad.

And when it comes right down to it, I am a connected educator because I want to model for both students and teachers what it means to have the world at your fingertips; to embrace the idea that I am not an expert but I know how to find those who are.


Cross posted from rethinkredesign.org

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LOSE WEIGHT NOW! A diet plan for a healthy classroom

2/4/2015

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So many times, especially in December and January, I find myself grabbing the remote to fast forward through the latest diet fad or workout program Judgment of my lack of workout ethic aside, go with me on this for a minute. These commercials, combined with a recent conversation from some of my most respected colleagues got me thinking. You can see the thought that prompted it on @mrbarnerwcms’s blog: Around the Corner Thinking.

So here’s my thought. When I’m looking to get into better shape after the holidays, I have a couple options.

1. Stop eating crap. This goes some way toward helping me bring the numbers on the scale down, but eventually I will plateau. Not only do I stop losing weight, but just eating healthier does nothing for muscle tone, and who needs that when you’re getting ready for swim suit season?!

2. Start working out so that I can continue eating crap. This doesn’t really work. At best, I maintain, at its worst, it gives me a stomach ache to down a plate of chili cheese fries after my run. But at least I feel like I was “allowed” to not feel guilty about the chili cheese fries, right?

3. Find a healthy balance of diet and exercise that includes a variety of cardio and strength training, lots of water, vegetables, and protein. The occasional treat is okay, and with a little hard work people start noticing a difference within a few weeks. And sure, it would be easier to lay in bed watching Gilmore Girls and eating ice cream, but when we’re looking for results, you know what they say…. No pain, no gain! Besides, hopefully that pain where you can barely walk or laugh or breathe without crying only lasts the first week or so.

So where am I going with all this?

Classroom change isn’t just about adding a few deep learning opportunities here, or simply getting rid of those low-level, recall based multiple choice tests. Substantive change in the classroom comes from finding a healthy balance between removing (or scaling back) less effective practices – the crap, ramping up deep learning and more effective practices – the exercise, and allowing yourself a few treats (Pajama day? A game?) along the way to keep it fun and interesting.

It might be tough at first, implementing meaningful change usually is. There’s a learning curve; you’re using muscles that may be out of shape or underdeveloped, and they need some time to adjust. Ease into it if you need to, but don’t be afraid to set big, marathon sized goals to push yourself.

You with me now? Good.

Cross-posted from rethinkredesign.org

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