I’ll first state that I have personally subscribed to the framework of 21st Century Skills proposed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.  I find them to represent a wide range of skills which I believe to be necessary for success in navigating the world of the 21st century.  One of the skills listed is the theme of global awareness.  Walking around NECC I saw many vendors taking advantage of 21st century buzz words, but didn’t necessarily see the vendors “walking the walk” though they had certainly been coached in “talking the talk.”

The best example of global awareness was at Tuesday’s keynote event with Jim Carleton and Mali Bickley.  Jim and Mali described themselves as educators who had lost their fire and passion for teaching, but were lit up again by global connections through technology.  A theme of their conversation was that their connections weren’t so much about the technology, but about the connections technology afforded them.  It wasn’t about specific products, and it wasn’t about which tools are better tools.  It was about the end result: students learning about students from other parts of the world.

Learning about students from around the world sounds like an easy thing to do, and on a surface level it probably is.  Jim and Mali described how at first their students were writing to their international student colleagues about day-to-day things like favorite foods and favorite colors, but then it got interesting.  Suddenly themes like war, peace, and culture came into play in ways that Jim and Mali probably only half anticipated.  THIS is where the true global awareness developed.

Global awareness is like reading comprehension.  In reading we talk about surface understanding, and really deep comprehension.  I think most educators would agree that we need to develop surface understanding to get to the really good thinking around what students read, and we should never settle for surface comprehension to be good enough.  Mali and Jim started with global awareness at a surface level and took it much, much deeper.  It wasn’t good enough to have students trading trivial information–though this is an important first step in building the relationships–the global awareness their students exerienced built true global awareness about the lives and experiences of students with vastly different lives than many students living in North America.

Jim and Mali’s presentation inspired me to think more about global awareness and the power it brings.  I look forward to seeing true global awareness in the years to come, and hope we all can remember not to settle for the surface, but get to the good stuff!

Wikipedia’s definition of a blog is a pretty good one because it incorporates the idea that blogs are essentially logs of information which tend to be organized in chronological order (most often with the most recent information listed first).  It also indicates that blogs often provide commentary on a particiular subject, and very often solicits comments from site visitors. 

In Will Richardson’s (a popular blogger and Web 2.0 enthusiast) book, he suggests a continuum of blogging.  At one end is using a website or blogging site for listing information, and at the other end of the continuum is the concept of blogging to tap into higher order thinking skills like synthesis and evaluation (the continuum mirrors Blooms Taxonomy in some ways).  “High Blogging” might include activities such as linking to an article or another blog, analyzing the information from that link, and then synthesizing information or beliefs from that source with your own information or beliefs. 

Edublogs, a popular free blogging tool for educators, suggests ten possible uses for blogs in the classroom.  They present a range of activities such as posting assignments, organizing, professional development, and even using it as a free website. 

Whatever you decide to use your blog for, just remember that some people would argue that “true” blogging only occurs when higher order cognition is being demonstrated.  This shouldn’t discourage you from using a blog.  There are many creative uses of blogs as portfolios or showcases that don’t necessarily tap into synthesis, evaluation, or critical thinking. 

Also remember to think about the types of specialized tools blogs incorporate:

• Blogs present “posts” of information in reverse chronological order.
• Blogs allow for comments from site visitors.
• Blogs are usually set up to archive the information as months or years pass.
• Some blogs (like edublogs) allow information to be easily categorized and searched so that entries or posts with similar themes can be easily located.
• Blogs, like many websites, allow for hyperlinks to be contained within the text of any entry.

One of my responsibilities is to compile, distribute, and facilitate discussions surrounding student data from the state assessments.  While this is a worthwhile endeavor, it’s important to point out that data is information that can only take you so far.  There are so many variables associated with every assessment and how students perform on that assessment, that putting all of your eggs into one basket and trusting only the assessment data is a potentially hazardous practice.

One of the first things I make clear when working with teachers is that it’s not my job to interpret their data, only to ask questions to help them interpret it.  I emphasize that teachers are the experts when it comes to their curriculum, their students, and any external variables that might have impacted student performance.  For me to state that I know students performed poorly on an item because they clearly didn’t understand order of operations is to undermine the expertise of the teachers who taught that content to that group of students.

By taking my hands off of their data, the conversations teachers have with one another regarding data, instruction, and students amaze me.  These conversations exemplify the expertise, professionalism, and care for children that most teachers have when given the opportunity to display it.  Given the opportunity to examine the data and being empowered to make changes for the benefit of students, most teachers rise to the occasion and willingly admit when they feel they taught something poorly or could have designed activities that engaged students in deeper understanding of concepts and thinking skills.  It’s at this point when I’m often asked for resources that might support students in different ways.

What I’ve realized that it’s not about the data, but the conversations that come out of talking about the data.  In the wide world of curriculum, there isn’t always an easy starting point regarding how things are taught and assessed, but assessment data can be a good start.  Once the data have been introduced, it’s often helpful to sit back and listen to teachers’ reactions to it.  Most of the time teachers don’t fight the data, but accept it on an “it is what it is” basis and move on to trying to find ways to improve instruction.  They also reflect on their formal and informal classroom assessments to determine if the data from the state assessments is consistent with their exisiting thoughts around student performance on a specific set of skills and content.

When I walk through the halls of the schools I’ve worked in the last few weeks, I can smell the aroma of freshly constructed bulletin boards and see the shine of freshly waxed floors.  I hear the chatter of teachers as they discuss the new this or the new that, and who had the most weddings, births, and vacations over the summer.

What I think I miss the most about the start of a new school year is the clean slate you can begin with each year.  Even if some of the students are the same, you’ve had the summer to recharge and get excited about changing something just slightly so that you can reach one more student in a better way.  I was happy, though, to see that most of the teachers I’ve worked with in the last three weeks are truly excited about getting back into their classrooms and getting into the daily shuffle with kids.

I love my role as a staff specialist.  I guess I’m writing this because I get asked often whether or not I miss working with kids on a daily basis.  My answer is yep, but I’m also glad I took a chance on something different.