The Sometimes Misleading Nature of Social Media

Most of what we see on social media offers only one perspective. 

One topic that continues to resonate with me following ISTE 2017 surrounds the misleading nature of social media feeds.  What we see in the posts of those who we friend or follow are typically the highlights of their lives.  People tend not to share the more mundane aspects of their lives, nevermind the negative moments.  So given the fact that our lives are a series of peaks and valleys, we need to take the time to remind students of this phenomenon.


Think about your old photo album...

George Couros' great session on Digital Leadership reminded me of the process that used to be followed to produce and organize photos. Many of us have photo albums around the house from when we were younger.  The albums contain only the best pictures from the photos that were taken and developed by our parents. They didn't throw in all those pictures that weren't good enough to take a slot in the photo album. What percentage of the pictures taken with a roll of film do you think actually ended up in the album?


We need to help our students keep perspective on what they see posted

There are so many articles referring to the links between student depression and social media.  It is no wonder given the fact that students may not realize that social media feeds are typically a highlight reel of a person's life. Most people share all of their best moments on Facebook while keeping their low-points to themselves.

In her ISTE Keynote, Jennie Magiera highlighted this point while referencing a recent New York Times article by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz titled Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable.  In the article, Stephens-Davidowitz discusses his work analyzing Google search data and how the terms people enter into the Google search bar are the polar opposite of what they are posting on Facebook. Here is one example he cites:

On social media, the top descriptors to complete the phrase “My husband is …” are “the best,” “my best friend,” “amazing,” “the greatest” and “so cute.” On Google, one of the top five ways to complete that phrase is also “amazing.” So that checks out. The other four: “a jerk,” “annoying,” “gay” and “mean.” 

  

The excerpt above, which Jennie highlighted in her keynote, also comes from New York Times article and it is something that we need to ensure all of our students understand. I have no doubt that many students look at all of the beautiful pictures that their peers are sharing on various social media platforms and then begin to feel that their own lives are inferior in some way. As educators, we need to ensure that our students have a balanced perspective.

Is Your School Like United Airlines?

Image via https://www.flickr.com/photos/brentdpayne/

A sub-headline from the Wall Street Journal's article about the recent viral incident aboard a United Airlines plane immediately had me thinking about some of the things we do in schools. The headline about the situation where a United passenger was forcibly removed from his seat for refusing to give it up was the following: 

"Airline’s rules-based culture in spotlight after man was dragged off flight by law enforcement."

As I read through the article a few other lines had me thinking about what we sometimes do in schools. Feel free to substitute school for airlines and students for passengers wherever appropriate:

"Like most Airlines, United Continental Holdings Inc. follows strict rules on every aspect of handling its passengers... "

"Deviating from the rules is frowned upon..."

“Employees followed the policy,” said a person familiar with United’s executive suite.

On Wednesday morning, in an interview with ABC, United CEO Oscar Munoz called the event a “system failure” and said United hasn’t provided its front-line managers and supervisors with “the proper tools, policies, procedures that allow them to use their common sense.”

These quotes and the entire sad situation that played out on the United Airlines flight reminded me of the theme of chapter 4 of The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros. Chapter 4 is titled Relationships, Relationships, Relationships and the main point that George makes is the need to establish a culture of trusting relationships where employees feel empowered to make decisions that are in the best interest of the customer (students). 
He goes on to explain the fact that this is not the individual employee's fault, but it is more of a leadership issue due to the establishment of a culture that does not trust employees to make common sense decisions.

Let's face it, we see a number of embarrassing stories from schools each year that are caused due to rigid compliance to an outdated set of rules. If we are truly interested in having learning environments where staff and students are comfortable taking risks and thinking outside the box then we need to revise these ridiculous sets of rituals. The following quote from George in Chapter 4 sums up the rationale for this shift perfectly.

"As leaders in education, our job is not to control those whom we serve but to unleash their talent. If innovation is going to be a priority in education, we need to create a culture where trust is the norm. This must be modeled at the highest level of the organization if we expect teachers to create the same culture in their classrooms."

Monday Must-Reads - April 3, 2017 (Volume 1)

As a means to try to get myself writing in this space a bit more, I am going to start each week by sharing three posts that I came across during the previous week that struck a chord with me. While my intentions are mainly self-serving, I am also hoping that a few folks might catch a post that they missed. 

Let's see how many weeks I can keep this up. Ready...set...go


1. What We Ask of Our Students and What We Do - George Couros

In this thought-provoking posts, George Couros calls upon educators to reflect upon whether they are walking the walk or just talking the talk when it comes to setting the stage for innovation in their schools and classrooms:

"We can’t continue to ask for creativity, innovation, and collaborative cultures with deep, independent thinking, while not acknowledging that compliance driven environments prevent these from happening."

Be sure to check out the post for the great scale that is included to help educators answer the question of whether their students are compliant, engaged, or empowered.  


2. Leadership…The Biggest Issue in Education?' - Jimmy Casas

Iowa Principal Jimmy Casas calls upon educators to avoid the long list of hurdles available to them when it comes to education's shortcomings and to look to the one source where they can guarantee improvement...themselves. 

"You see, everyone here has the capacity to lead and everyone here is responsible for the culture and climate of your organization. No one person is responsible for determining your success or failure as a teacher but you and no one is responsible for your morale but you."

For some reason, I have Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror echoing in my head now. 


3. Feedback is a GIFT - Matthew Arend

With Summative Evaluation season on the horizon, this post from Texas Principal Matthew Arend was quite timely. There were a few things in Matt's post that I continue to reflect upon, but the most important one for me was the following obe about ensuring that we have someone who is providing feedback to us that will push us:

"...if you are giving feedback, you should have someone providing feedback to you also. Feedback is by no means a one way street. We all need someone to “push us to come up with better and brighter ideas.”

An Interview With George Couros About The Innovator's Mindset

This post originally appeared on my EdWeek Blog

One of the hottest new education books is The Innovator's Mindset by my friend George Couros a Division Principal of Teaching and Learning with Parkland School Division, located in Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada, as well as a highly sought after innovative teaching, learning, and leadership consultant. I caught up with George recently and had the chance to ask him some questions about his first book. Check out the interview below and grab this must-read for you and others in your school community!

What was your motivation in writing The Innovator's Mindset?

"Innovation" in education is in danger of becoming a buzzword because we use it without really thinking what it means and what it can look like in our schools today. The other trend that I have seen lately is that "innovation" is just used to replace the world "technology, and it can be so much more than that.  Ultimately what the word really means in education is about creating new and better ways of learning, which is something educators should all get behind.  I wanted this to be more than an "education" book though, but really something that made connections through telling stories, because that is what helps people move forward. If I can help more educators see themselves as "innovators", and help them embrace this mindset, our students will not only have better opportunities in learning, but we as educators will find opportunities for ourselves that are more rewarding. This book is meant to empower people to embrace change and the opportunities that are in front of us.

Who do you see as the primary audience for the book?

What I am hoping is that this book really reaches leaders, but when I use that term, I am not reserving it for administrators, but any educator that sees the need for creating something new and better for our students.  It is meant to not only help see change as something we embrace and model ourselves, but help create the foundation where change is more likely to happen with others.  I try to weave in and out between ideas for leadership and things that can happen in the classroom because I truly believe that every educator has the potential to be a leader and make a difference on a larger scale, no matter their title.

Why do you think it is important for educators to focus on Innovation?

If you look at organizations around the world, if they do not innovate they die.  Blockbuster actually had the opportunity to buy Netflix but there thinking was that they were good with their current business model, and obviously ended up losing an opportunity to become a truly global organization.  Yet many people believe that "innovation" is for someone else, not our own organizations.  If school stays the same while the rest of the world changes, people are going to either find or create something better for our kids.  My parents saw education and school as a way to something better, because it was vastly different than what they experienced, so I want to continue to make sure that we support this idea and develop not only our students as innovators, but also our educators. We cannot expect our students to become innovative, if we do not create the opportunities for them to do this within the context of school.

Is this more of a mindset for upper grades or is this something that we need to do K-12?

This meant for any level of educator.  I share stories from kindergarten to high school, of educators who are really trying to challenge the traditional notion of school and develop something better.  What my hope is in this book is that we move from "pockets" of innovation, to a "culture" of innovation.  These stories should not be the "outliers" but become the norm, and if we don't see this as a whole system emphasis, we will spend more time trying to catch up as opposed to moving forward.  Innovation has no age barrier, and as discussed in the book, it is about a way of thinking more than anything, that can be a part of what we do at all levels.

As a school and district leader, how would you recommend that educators use this book to engage their schools and communities in a constructive dialogue regarding change?

One of the things that I wanted to do is model innovation even in writing the book.  Often authors will provide some type of guide, but I wanted it to be a living and breathing opportunity for not only others to discuss this at their school, but to also be a part of the conversation as the author.  By using things like the hashtag #innovatorsmindset, and also creating a list of resources for each chapter on my blog to continue discussion, as well as a Facebook page for the book, I am hoping that I can learn alongside readers.  There is also questions at the end of each chapter that is meant to spark conversation and push the idea of innovation in teaching, learning, and leadership within each school.  I did not want to write a book that told people how to become an innovative school, because that is the exact opposite of the idea.  It is meant to push conversations forward, while also providing ideas and inspiration for schools to become places where creativity flourishes.  This will only happen if this book becomes the start to a conversation, not the end of it.

What was your biggest takeaway from writing this book?

One of the things that I talk about in the book is the ideas of "networks" being crucial to innovation, and as I was writing it, I realized how much I have learned from connecting with others and blogging about my learning over the last six years.  Stories can truly become the fuel for innovation, and my thinking has been pushed by so many across the world that share their experiences with others.  I know that this is not a book I could have written six years ago and that because my thinking was isolated, honestly, because I chose it to be that way.  One of my favourite quotes is from Linus Pauling who says, "the best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas", and this book would not have been possible without the connections to so many amazing educators to which I am truly grateful.

Three for Thursday (Volume 2)

This post originally appeared on my EdWeek Blog

Previously, I posted Three for Thursday (Volume 1), a weekly series that will highlight three web-based resources that are popular with educators.  Before I share this week's edition, I want to draw your attention to some thoughts on organizing all of these resources which I posted yesterday.  Finally, I will organize all of these Three for Thursday resources in my Diigo bookmarks by tagging them ThreeforThursday.

Here are this week's three shares:

My first resource is George Couros' great blog, The Principal of Change.  George is  Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning with Parkland School Division in in Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada. While I admit George is a good friend, I also admit that his blog is one of a few that I am sure to read daily. Whether you are a classroom teacher or a school or district leader, George will push your thinking on education and what is truly best for students.

My second share is Common Sense Media's great Graphite website.  Graphite is a free platform that highlights the latest digital resources for schools. The resources are reviewed by educators who also share insights on how teachers can integrate these tools in their classrooms.  Graphite also contains over 1,000 technology-infused lesson plans developed by educators. Before you leave the Graphite website be sure to also subscribe to the Graphite Blog which publishes daily posts from educators on countless topics surrounding best practices for integrating technology in a meaningful way.

My final share this week comes from Lisa Monthie, a Technology PD Specialist in Waco, Texas.

"I subscribe to this site and receive a weekly email, Lisa shared. "The ideas and featured sites are resources I share and use almost immediately!"  

Thanks for the share Lisa! I hope that other educators will share their favorite resources for future Three for Thursday posts! Please add your favorite digital resources here. 

The Best Of This Week's Burlington Public Schools Weekly Twitter Paper

Did you know that Burlington Pubic Schools has a weekly Twitter Paper that is published each Monday highlighting the Tweets on our #bhschat hashtag from the previous week? So whether you use Twitter or not you can stay up to speed on the top tweets and blog posts that appear on our hashtag. Click on the tabs on the right hand side of the paper to check out the top posts in each category. I have also shared a few of my favorite excerpts from the blog posts highlighted in this week's paper below.

"The idea that we could cram all we hope our students could learn and know into a “common core” set of skills would be laughable if it weren’t for the fact that we’re trying to do it. In the end, the problem with the Common Core isn’t that it is too broad, it is that it is too narrow. It makes no attempt to teach kids the most important thing there is to understand: "The idea that we could cram all we hope our students could learn and know into a “common core” set of skills would be laughable if it weren’t for the fact that we’re trying to do it. In the end, the problem with the Common Core isn’t that it is too broad, it is that it is too narrow. It makes no attempt to teach kids the most important thing there is to understand: There is always more we can learn." (from Chris Lehmann's post - We Really Don't Know What To Teach)

"If we don’t help kids connect to the entire world, not just information, but to people, are we not limiting the opportunities for these dreams to become reality? There are more opportunities for our students, not just in their future, but right now, then we could have ever envisioned. When we don’t help our students connect to those opportunities for learning and the experiences that they can have, then we are doing them a disservice." (From George Couros' post - Our Thinking Has To Change)

"Our school system doesn’t need to create kids who are good at school. Instead, we need to create an environment that engages learners, fosters creativity, and puts responsibility for learning where it belongs – with our students." (From Shelley Wright's post - Academics: What Is It Good For?)

Following #ISTE13 From A Distance - Thank Goodness for Hashtags!

I first noticed the power of following a conference hashtag two summers ago during the Building Learning Communities Conference in Boston. While I was unable to attend the event due to a number of schedule conflicts, I was amazed at the number of resources that I was able to access by following the tweets of the attendees during the conference.  With this in mind, I decided that I would spend some time going over the stream of tweets from ISTE's Annual Conference to try to fill some of the void that I am feeling from missing out on the biggest Ed Tech conference on the planet.

As I began to look through the Twitter stream on the #ISTE13 hashtag and save some of the more interesting links to my Diigo bookmarks, it struck me that I should be sharing them here as well. I am sure I missed a number of great resources trying to follow the action in San Antonio from so far away, but here are a few that piqued my interest.

Leading Innovative Change - Google Doc from presentation by George Couros (Thanks to @wfryer for tweeting it!)

Changing Our Vocabulary As Technology Integration Coaches
This post from Wes Fryer reinforced the point "that non-techy terms are important when we want to win the hearts and minds of parents as well as other teachers." Check out the great list of alternatives that Wes gives to help schools make this transition.

10 Killer iPad Projects Students Will Love #ISTE13 - from Sandy Kendell (AKA EdTech Sandy), an EdTech Specialist in Texas.

Toolkit Helps Students Become Responsible Digital Citizens - from EdTech K-12 Magazine

The Persistent Appeal of Technology in Learning - from Edutopia

Sustaining School Wide Tech Integration - Report From ISTE

Free Resources for Better Content Creation - from Horry County Schools in South Carolina

Stay tuned for more...

More Chatter about Cheating

Cheat sheet in a juice box. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The conversations around cheating have taken off since yesterday's post Cheating is Cheating, but why does it happen?

My good friend George Couros nailed one of the key points from my perspective with the comment below. Those of us who have spent any significant time working in schools need to make sure that we have not lost touch with what is happening outside of schools. If we are preparing students exactly the same way as we always have then there is a problem

This morning I was excited to see a blog post from a Paul Huebl,  a teacher in Adelaide, Australia who wrote a great post titled Cheating v. Inspiration.  While I encourage you to read the entire post, the portion that stuck out for me was where Paul talked about assessments.

"What are we assessing when we give a test? Is it whether a student has good memory? Whether they can apply knowlwedge  to a new situation? Whether they can perform well on tests…? I propose that any situation where a child is able to cheat, is not a very good assessment (*most of the time)."

Finally my friend Tony Baldasaro shared a story from his first year as a teacher this morning in a post titled One of the Worst Decisions in my Career... . Tony recounts his experience having "no mercy" on a student he caught with a cheat sheet and giving an otherwise top student an insurmountable hole to dig himself out of as one of his veteran colleagues urged him to hold the line.

Again, I am thankful for a PLN with so many lifelong learners (like Tony, Paul and George) who reflect on their practice and are flexible in the interest of students. Tony's question is one that all of us who have ever given a zero to a "cheater" should consider.

"What would have happened if I taught differently, assessed more creatively, and engaged the (student) in the learning in such a way as to emphasize learning and not the grade?"

While I know there are many different directions that this conversation can take based on the unique circumstances of individual cases, I think we need to ensure that we are emphasizing learning and not punishments.