giving students the freedom to find their sentence
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Find their sentence
Creating schools that empower students to
By Lisa NielsenThe Innovative Educator
Lisa Nielsen Author of The Innovative Educator blo
g and soon-to-be released, “Teaching Generation Text.”
Writer for: Tech & Learning, Leading & Learning, Huffington Post, EdReformer, MindShift, ISTE Connects
Passionate about Passion-driven learning Thinking outside the ban
Supports schools in helping students learn in real and innovative ways.
Speaker at conferences such as Tech Forum, EduCon, BLC, various webinars and radio shows.
Audience response and all presentation materials reside at
http://tinyurl.com/findyoursentence
This is an interactive presentation
We all have something in common.
Our Kids
Are bored!
It hits close to home.
Why do I care?
8 million U.S. students are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD
I’m one of them!
Starting in Preschool
Listen to my mom’s story about my psych eval at UCLA at http://Tinyurl.com/momstory
Common Solutions
This is what happens when school’s out
It’s hard to distinguish school from another state institution.
The Innovative Educator: The War on Kids. Zero Tolerance.
School Prison
Stripped of freedoms X
Stripped of dignity X
Told exactly what you must do and when X
Do not have the right to the freedom of speech even if the speech is not disruptive. -Bethel School District v. Fraser
X
Can be searched without probable cause-New Jersey v. T.L.O.
X
Do not have freedom of the press-Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
X
How many of these characteristics does your school have? (Please count. There will be a test - Really)
School Prison
Controlled by time and bells X
Associations are strictly controlled and can occur only in public places
X
Cut off from the general society X
Cut off from raw experience with people, projects, and ideas
X
Personal passions, talents, and interests are of little importance
X
Trained dependency X
Attendance is compulsory X
How many of these characteristics does your school have? (Please count. There will be a test - Really)
Disconnected from the outside world School Prison
Punished for failing to comply X
Unable to make phone calls X
Unable to use social media X
Unable to create and publish to the outside world with real names
X
Unable to access sites like YouTube X
Unable to communicate with staff off premises
X
How many of these characteristics does your school have? (Please count. There will be a test - Really)
http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/LTQ0MTg2MTQ0Mw
Results at: http://tinyurl.com/freedominschool
# of Characteristics schools share with prisons
Some schools are very comfortable treating students as prisoners
Deven Black, Teacher Librarian –High School Dropout@ devenkblack
“Can it be made any clearer that one of the few differences between school and
prison is that the students get
paroled every day at a set time?”
Two views…
Clarence ThomasSupreme Court Justice
Sandra Dodd, Parenting Guide and Author
"I think the worst thing about school is the
powerlessness of the students. They have to be
there whether they want to or not. There's no virtue in those who want to be there, and no joy in those who do
not want to be."
“In light of the history of American public education, it cannot seriously be suggested that the First Amendment “freedom of speech” encompasses a student’s right to speak in public schools.”
What do you want from school for your students?
"What I want from my kids’ school is to help me identify what they love, what their strengths are, and then help them create their own paths to mastery of their passions.
How’s this?
Will Richardson (weblogg-ed.com)Former New Jersey English teacher
Schools are not designed to provide this.
Unfortunately….
School Tools
To help students like my cousin escape
What can you do?
How will you help my cousin?“School is torture because I am
required to spend all my time doing menial tasks, worksheets, and rote memorization. This takes too much
time away from being able to discover my hobbies, interests, or passions. I’m
in 10th grade and I don’t foresee having the ability to do that before I
graduate high school.
Honors society student . #1 in his class.On the path to becoming valedictorian
It’s not surprising that 7000 kids escape school each day by dropping out!
When the kids at the top feel school is torture
Schools should not feel like a sentence!
Instead of keeping them locked up and silenced.
Schools should be places for students to find their sentence.
url: http://vimeo.com/8480171
What is your sentence?Click here.
Share
Take your picture with your cell phone (or from your computer) and email it to [email protected]
In the subject include: Name, title, organization, Twitter alias
In the body share your sentence
How are you helping students find their sentence?
Need change agents like you!
Your students!
to fix the schools and
ensure we are creating conditions and policies
that prepare them to succeed in our, real, connected, exciting world.
“I lost something very important to me”
Student after they did a “sweep” with metal detectors at a middle school on the Upper West Side of New York City where they confiscated 404 cell phones from the kids, some of whom were put to tears.
What does this teach kids?
1.They don’t deserve to be empowered with technology the same way adults are.
2.The tools that adults use all the time in their everyday lives to communicate are not relevant to their own communication needs.
3.They can’t be trusted (or taught, for that matter) to use phones appropriately in school.
If we don’t model the appropriate use of these technologies, for accessing information, for communicating, in safe, ethical, and effective ways, can we really be surprised when our worst fears come true?
“I lost something very important to me” Will Richardson Weblogg-ed.com 01 Jun 2007 07:55 pm
What kind of schools do you think our kids
deserve?
Those where educational leaders…
Ban & Block
Empower &
Prepare
A Tale of Two Principals…A principal who bans and blocks.
A principal who embraces and
prepares
Click video to watch.url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtGY-SVZRRY
http://budtheteacher.com/blog/2009/10/10/on-modeling/
Modeling is perhaps the greatest teaching tool that we have.
Who do you want leading your schools?
Social Media Has No Intent.But It catches people who do.
Are we afraid of knowing the truth?
If we really wanted to keep kids safe,
we’d consider these facts
Shattering Myths
Social networking, giving out personal information, or having an online presence does not put kids at risk.
What puts kids at risk are things like: having a lot of conflict with your parents being depressed and socially isolated communicating with a lot of people who you don't know being willing to talk about sex with people you don't know having a pattern of multiple risky activities going to sex sites and chat rooms, meeting lots of people
there, and behaving like an Internet daredevil.
Online Safety Myth
Crimes Against Children Research Center Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee
More than 80% of child predators are family
members, close family friends, or clergy.
Consider this!
There are no laws addressing that which puts our children most at risk.
We do not ban
Family picnics
Playgrounds
Family reunions
Church functions
Should we ignore what we know?
Or should we accept our responsibility to keep students safe and prepared.
Strengthening the Home-School Connection
Using Social Media
With First Graders!
There are people who are not afraid
It just takes one brave writer…
Read full article: (http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/07/8-real-ways-facebook-enriched-ms.html )
And one brave teacher…I can't thank you enough for your blog posting about our project. I can't believe how
many people have contacted me about trying it out. You helped
turn what I was doing in a remote 1st grade class in
Nebraska into a global conversation!
To globally re-envision the way we work…
Click video to watch.URL:
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/tech/2010/09/08/dnt.facebook.in.class.ketv.html
Most parents are already using it. No training required, but available (from
their children!) if they need it.It’s FREE!It’s EASY!It’s POWERFUL!It’s real world.Social media is a 21st century literacy.In-depth privacy settings.
Why Facebook with First Graders?
What does using Facebook with First Graders Look
Like?
Provide parents and families a window to the classroom
Provide event information with a way to RSVP & ask questions
Use notes for important alerts and easy two-way communication
Send private messages to parents who don’t have to log into anything else.
Share photos of students at work and of student work
Share and celebrate student’s online projects.
Easily capture & share video where parents and students can comment.
Perfect for that moment when a student really wants to share something they’re excited about.
Parents and students can communicate during school.
Using Social Media to
Strengthen the Teacher-Student Connection
With Secondary Students
What does this look like
Group of students speaking to teachers at a Philadelphia public school
“What helps us do best in school is knowing that our
teachers are relating to us as ‘people,’ not
just ‘students.’”
Group of students speaking to teachers at a Philadelphia public school
“They do that by having an interest in our lives beyond
the classroom. We run races together, attend local events,
and keep the conversation going in places like
Facebook.”
Incidences of inappropriate teacher-student relations – in four years…
O
Relationship development is key to student success. Why are we panicking when it’s online?
Using Facebook with Secondary Students.
Read 10 Ways Facebook Strengthens the Student - Teacher Connection at http://t.co/mvUSl0K
1. Reaching out to a student in need2. Getting a peak into the lives of students3. The family connection4. Instant learning and homework support5. Snow Day - Update!!!6. Facebook lets teachers create a no excuses
environment7. Snow days and sick days don’t hold you back8. Using Facebook teaches you how to deal with the
world and the way it works9. Facebook can serve as a learning portal10. Facebook enables you to mobilize in an instant
Students explain why they like when their teachers use Facebook
What does using Facebook with Secondary Students
Look Like?
Reaching out to a student in need of words of encouragement
You can get your assignments even when you’re out sick.
Use Chat for instant homework support from teachers or classmates
Mobilize in an instant. Even on a snow day.
Chris Lehmann There's going to be a horde
of kids at SLA tomorrow. This is EduCon, and this is *their* school, and a little snow isn't going to stop them.
A High School where websites aren’t filtered and no technology is banned.
Learning in a No Filter or Ban Zone!
Students using their own devices.New Cannan High School, CThttp://vimeo.com/23007367https://fcschoolsga.eduvision.tv/default.aspx?q=3SfVi13wT7SmZEIpTemLWg%253d%253d
Here’s what students are saying about using free Facebook for learning vs. Moodle or Blackboard.
A platform for learning that students know and love
http://vimeo.com/20090262
New York Times feature: Friending Students on Facebook
Keeping in touch with special students even after they are not in your class.
“Hey Ms. Nielsen, I had to find you because you
made a wonderful impact on my life. If
people only knew how great of a teacher you
are.”
“I know it’s been at least 10 years since you
took me under your wing.”
“Let’s talk, I got a lot to say!”
Friending Students on Facebook - July 13, 2010
If…
Do we want to block or empower students to use the
tools they’ll need
They want to win a political election?
John McCain’s Facebook Page
Barack Obama’s Facebook Page
The Republicans underestimated the power of social media. -Educators should not!
760,589People like McCain
18,748,654 People like Obama
If you want to empower civically minded students, social media fluency is a must.
Are we afraid they can do this…
Why are we afraid to give students a voice?
Tell us they hate the curriculum software we purchased?
Organize a protest against injustice?
Start a revolution?
The power is in your hands
your students to serve?
What sentence are you preparing
This one?
Or this one?
