Think Like a Teacher

I love verbal challenges, so what better way to round out this series of “Happy 15th Birthday, TeachersFirst” posts than to use a six word story? Thanks to Jonathan Olsen’s Edutopia post for reminded me of this minimalist challenge for masterful messaging. Reflecting on how TeachersFirst began, what we have done in fifteen years, and what we strive to do into the future would seem to explode the six word limit. But I will brainstorm a few possibilities:

Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers- trench tactics!

Teachers learn, thinkers grow, technology helps.

Internet mysteries evolve to teaching masteries.

(Continuing my brainstorm, I stop to wonder: Is punctuation is allowed? Do six word stories often end up having meter or some sort of rhythm, as mine often do?)

Web-filled minds imagine limitless learning.

By teachers for teachers for years.

Just in time  — for fifteen years.

Learning imagined by friendly, tech-savvy teachers.

Imagine teaching that makes you think.

I could go on for hours, but instead conclude with this personal birthday thank you:

Happy Birthday to TeachersFirst,  the best “workplace” any teacher could ever hope for.  I love all the Thinking Teachers I “meet” in this job  and love imagining those  “out there” whom I will never know. 

(In case you are wondering, you can create your own images from letters on Flickr with this tool.)

This is the  second in a series of reflections as TeachersFirst celebrates its fifteen birthday this month.

TeachersFirst’s non-profit parent company, The Source for Learning, has as its mission:

… to create and deliver high-quality, technology-based content and services that enhance learning for all children, and to empower teachers, child care providers, and parents to support that learning. An important part of the mission is to increase access to our services for underserved children and adults.

Just as all teachers have days when we question our effectiveness, we at TeachersFirst have worrisome days about accomplishing our mission. What haunts me is not whether TeachersFirat empowers teachers.  Thank goodness for the many, many teachers who tell their stories, assuring us that we do have an impact. The monthly traffic and Twitter followers add stats to support the teacher anecdotes. What specifically haunts me is whether TeachersFirst can:

increase access to our services for underserved children and adults

The frustration? If teachers do not have reliable technology, readily available and supported by an administration that understands how technology empowers learning, how can the they access TeachersFirst  — or any other web-based tool for teaching and learning? Each time circumstances build a barrier, whether it is limiting teacher decision making about lessons or having unreliable Internet connections (or computers), teachers lose access. For every real barrier that exists, downtrodden or “underserved” teachers perceive the barrier as four times hugher. Each time we hit our heads against another wall, we decide to delay trying again. Barriers breed excuses.

The barrier I hear about over and over is that students lack access to Internet-connected devices both in and out of school. While some schools have well-planned BYOD/BYOT programs where students can bring tablets or laptops to class, many other schools lack the network capacity or their students lack the financial means to own a device. The gap between technology haves and have-nots gets bigger and bigger. Underserved means unsupported and disconnected.

Gutsy teachers keep on trying, even after they hit repeated barriers. They beg, borrow, or grab computer time for their students anywhere they can. They come in early, skip lunch, or rotate kids through one available machine. Meanwhile, other schools have iPad carts and 1:1 programs.

My birthday wish for TeachersFirst is a wish for all schools: 

increase access to TECHNOLOGY for underserved children and adults.

If I blow out the candles, will it come true?

This is the first in a series of editor reflections during April, 15th birthday month for TeachersFirst.

As a technology “coach” who works with my fellow teachers– albeit at a distance– I struggle with how to encourage, evangelize, and develop a healthy mutual trust while also nudging myself and my colleagues forward to better teaching decisions. Fifteen years ago this month, when TeachersFirst first went online as a service to help teachers understand what the Internet could do and how to use it to inform and support teaching and learning, the goals were pretty easy: help teachers find the best of the web and understand some basic ways to use these resources. Convincing teachers may not have always been easy in the first couple of years, but obviously this Internet thing has stuck. (Duh moment as of the turn of the millennium,  for all but the most hesitant teachers). Long ago, TeschersFirst’s mission moved far beyond a simple Web 101.

As coaches, we are obligated to ask the tough questions, the ones that require both bluntness and tactful support. I share some of them here:

Coach to teacher-colleague (or teacher to self or COACH to self):

Why are you using this (technology-based) teaching strategy?

Are you simply replicating an old way of  teaching, done with clicks instead of pencils? (Is it an effective way, or just a familiar one?)

If you are replacing drill sheets with drill and kill practice web sites, is it any better? (Do you and our students get data, tracking, instant feedback, etc)?

Do you ever go beyond drill and practice?

 Are you treating technology as simply a way to ENGAGE students… and nothing further? What then?

 How have you changed the way you use technology as a tool for learning in your classes this year (or in the last five years)?

 Which did you think about first: the big ideas and goals for your lessons or the technology you wanted to use?

 When is “fun” not just fun? When does it have meaning?

 Are you checking the box: Technology used this week? Check.

How often do you ask about a lesson strategy: Is there a way that is quicker, more flexible, a better differentiator? Does it happen to use technology?

These are just a few of  the sticky starters for the conversation between teacher and self, teacher and coach, or coach and self. A little warmth can soften the stickiness of the conversation and possibly even make it flow more smoothly. Ask these questions with a cup of coffee, the best accompaniment for something sticky, and see where the conversation goes. The nice thing for coaches is that we don’t have to judge our teaching peers. We help you judge (and change) yourself. TeachersFirst will continue to subtly ask the questions. It’s part of our birthday cake’s “sticky” frosting.

It’s poetry month. Take time for a poetry break. Why does poetry matter? Poetry is the literary equivalent of a microcosm and a sound bite all rolled into one. You can find tiny representations of huge ideas and short snippets that resonate and “stick” in your mind like the smell of your favorite cookie baking or the horror of watching Kevin Ware’s basketball injury last weekend. Poetry is distilled insights and sensations not designed to meet a standard or a bottom line. Poetry is the greatest freedom words will ever have.

If you teach math, poetry is the equivalent to the equation you extract from an elaborate word problem.

If you are a scientist, poetry is the DNA that tells a full-blown experience of life how to grow and thrive.

If you are an artist, poetry is the three primary colors we use to express endless pictures through words.

If you are a musician, poetry is your lyrics, your melody, and your counterpoint. Poetry conducts the orchestra of our minds.

If you are an engineer, poetry is the perfect schematic with projections from every angle, forming a three dimensional reality much greater than the sum of its succinct pieces.

If you are a child, poetry is curiosity and music bouncing together.

If you are a pragmatist, poetry is a frivolous moment that suddenly strikes you with meaning.

If you are a gym teacher, poetry is the fluid combination of the word skills that move beyond drill to a slam dunk.

If you are a historian, poetry is the  artifact that tells the story of a lost civilization.

When did you last share a poem with your class? You have 17 school days left.