Picture of a Path with Text "The 20 Mile March"

The 20 Mile March Part I

October 17, 2014October 17, 2014Leave a comment

Great By Choice

Great by Choice, by Jim Collins, delves into the question: What does it take for a company to thrive in times of uncertainty and chaos? The book got me thinking about a lot of things (he is good at that). One key concept Collins introduced continues to gnaw at me, even months later. I see it at play seemingly everywhere–the idea of the 20 mile march.

More Than A Philosophy

The 20 mile march is about “fanatic discipline” as Collins refers to it. It is about getting up every day and taking the little, non-exciting, but very necessary, steps towards attainable goals. It is about doing so with fierce consistency and unwavering determination. Collins explains, “the 20 Mile March is more than a philosophy. It is about having concrete, clear, intelligent, and rigorously pursued performance mechanisms that keep you on track.”

Amundsen & Scott

One of the stories Collins uses to model the elements of the 20 mile march is that of Roald Amundsen & Robert Falcon Scott and their contrasting journeys in 1910 to be the first to reach the South Pole. Amundsen and his team trekked between 15-20 miles each day no matter the conditions. When Amundsen’s team encouraged him to go further on days when weather was ideal, Amundsen would say no, knowing the importance of rest and recuperation for the team and the overall journey. In contrast, Scott pushed his team to the brink of exhaustion (and eventually over the edge) going farther on days when conditions were good and wallowing in his tent on stormy days, complaining in his journal about their misfortunes. The story details and comparison are quite incredible. If you want to read more, here are a couple places suggested to me by others:

Captain Scott by Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford

20 Miles Not Just For Business

As I read about Amundsen & Scott, I kept thinking about all the ways the story applied, not only to the business world, but to my pursuit of goals in edtech, education, writing, learning, exercising, eating well, relationships, and a whole bunch of other stuff. In each case I was still searching for an easy button, a shortcut, the secret–to make it all work. Well, here is the secret–there is no secret. All those things we seek to improve, from our classroom culture and technology integration practices to our exercise consistency and depth of relationships, they are all going to take a commitment to 20 mile marching. Things that are worthwhile take a while.

The Next Questions

Once I came to terms with the myth of the shortcut, the next logical question became: How could I plan and execute a 20 mile march to make it to my equivalent of the South Pole(s)? And secondly: How could I help educators make it to their South Pole(s)? Lucky for me, Collins specifically outlines 7 elements to the 20 mile march that I found strikingly applicable to educational goals. I think this post is long enough for now… so, I’ll going to stop here and pick up next time with the 7 elements.

Hexagonal Thinking & Sketchnoting During Keynote Session

10 Reasons to Try Hexagonal Thinking

September 23, 2014August 10, 20151 Comment

I made this to try out some Hexagonal Thinking activities. The colored tags could be used for different concepts within the thinking map such as: potential solutions, resources, people involved, or anything else that makes sense in your activity.

1. It is simple.

Hexagonal Thinking is simple yet powerful. Students can make their thinking visible by writing ideas on a hexagon and forming connections.

2. It enables empathy.

As groups rearrange the hexagons in a variety of ways, they begin to see how others view the world–the very definition of empathy.

3. It brings new ideas to light.

I wasn’t convinced of this until I tried it, but the shape of the hexagon itself allows for more creative connections due to the number of sides and the way your eyes and brain search over the whole thinking map to seek connections. When you make a list or work in boxes, the linear thinking that follows can be quite effective and speedy, but for creativity–hexagons win.

4. It stimulates rich discussion.

Communication skills are strengthened since the thought experiment ideally requires collaboration. Students must communicate and petition one another while they reposition ideas and ultimately come to a consensus.

5. It makes big problems digestible.

The original context for hexagonal thinking as far as I can tell was actually in the corporate world. Author, Arie de Geus wrote about using the problem solving strategy in his book, The Living Company. Bite-size pieces not only help solve corporate headaches, but also give students structure and space to make sense of big concepts.

6. It gets students moving.

Discussions can get pretty lively as students reposition different hexagons to represent new connections.

7. It gives everyone a voice.

Students who may not feel comfortable responding to a question in front of the whole group are able to contribute and discuss connections in smaller groups as the map unfolds. English language learners and students with exceptionalities can participate at their level of comfort too.

8. It is not reserved for a specific content area or age group.

The driving question could be related to any topic for any grade level. Just be sure to have a question or problem with enough meat to stimulate a variety of perspectives and solutions.

9. It can become a visual support for future learning.

Students can refer back to the thinking map either as a visual on the classroom walls, or as a digital artifact. This can help bring back mental models around the concept or inspire new connections, continuing learning on topics far beyond their scheduled coverage time.

10. It makes metacognition tangible

The physical act of writing down an idea and placing it into the connected thoughts of peers is powerful and supports not only individual metacognition, but also nurtures a collaborative culture of thinking.

Nurturing a Culture of Thinking Reflection Activity

Nurturing a Culture of Thinking From the Start

August 27, 2014August 27, 2014Leave a comment

Visible Thinking is about helping students become better thinkers. The way our students think and their disposition towards thinking, are each greatly influenced by the culture of our schools and classrooms. When thinking is valued and protected, students and teachers will come to realize that real learning is not about facts, but about the exploration of ideas*.

Ron Ritchhart identified eight forces that impact the culture of thinking, each with the power to stifle or promote thoughtful learning. Below are Ritchhart’s Cultural Forces, his commentary, and some of my thoughts mixed in there.

8 Cultural Forces

1. Time: Allow students time to explore ideas and time to respond to questions asked. Don’t forget about the second wait time students need in order to reflect after a response is given.

2. Opportunities: Create purposeful activities to explore ideas. Implement learning design that promotes inquiry. Students can’t deepen their thinking if they are only given shallow requests.

3. Structures & Routines: Use Thinking Routines, patterns of conversation, and other tools to make student thinking visible. Over time, these routines can become engrained habits that will stay with students for a lifetime of learning.

4. Language: Use a language of thinking and reflection with your students. Ideas like metacognition and wait time could be explained to your students (no matter their age).

5. Modeling: Model who you are as a thinker to your students. Share, discuss, and make your own thought process visible.

6. Interactions & Relationships: Create a safe place for thinking and sharing, through collaborative inquiry and continual reaffirmation of the value of thinking.

7. Physical Environment: Arrange the space to facilitate thoughtful interactions. The way a room is set up can say a lot to our students about whose ideas are valued.

8. Expectations: Share clear expectations for the level of thought required for a learning activity. Keep the priority on thinking and learning, not on regurgitating information and completing work.

I believe it is important to reflect on these forces as they apply to the culture we create in our classrooms, schools, boardrooms, presentations, and any interactions we have with “learners”. I created the reflection activity to help myself and the educators I work with, as we strive to nurture a culture of thinking. I spent some time trying out the activity and ended up with some changes I’d like to implement in every single category.

A culture of thinking doesn’t develop spontaneously. It takes intentionality. I hope this reflection activity will encourage my teachers to experiment with, and be mindful of, the forces that impact student thinking.

Sidenotes:

Ron Ritchhart’s newest book, Creating Cultures of Thinking, is due out in 2015

*This is a paraphrasing of a quote from Rosamaria Díaz-Vélez, professor in the online Making Thinking Visible Course- Fall 2013

Why I can’t stop talking about Visible Thinking

August 16, 2014August 16, 20141 Comment

Many approaches to encouraging better thinking are abilities-centric, but Visible Thinking is about fostering dispositions of thought, creating a Culture of Thinking, and bringing students to the center of the learning conversation.

I think it is vital to share the message and practices of Visible Thinking, especially as they apply to innovation and creativity in the classroom. Visible Thinking promotes the simultaneous development of non-cognitive and cognitive skills, something few other instructional frameworks can truly claim. The strategies are also not dependent on a certain subject area, curriculum, student demographic, or technology infrastructure. Visible Thinking can be implemented in a class with one iPad, a thousand Chromebooks, or ten sticky notes. There are no excuses to limit adoption.

One of the basic tools of the Visible Thinking framework is a series of Thinking Routines, simple patterns of conversation, or protocols, which encourage a spirit of inquiry, reflection, and metacognition. I created the resource below to help the teachers and students I work with as they pursue a Culture of Thinking. My plan is to use it when introducing Thinking Routines as part of an exploration activity. I am hoping these routines will become part of their reflective toolkit, a natural part of their questioning strategy and, eventually, a given in their classroom culture.

This can be cut and folded into one of those fortune teller things or you could punch a hole and put a spinner on it and have teachers or students explore the routines they land on and share where they might be best used.

For the VT Research Buffs: I know they aren’t really prompts, but I thought the word protocols might scare people.

Clarification: Since I plan to use this when teaching about the routines the randomized selection works. When using to actually select a routine to use… the randomized deal doesn’t so much work since there are more appropriate times to use each routine. Proceed with caution–you’ve been warned.

The Visible Thinking framework and Thinking Routines can be found at http://visiblethinkingpz.org

Three Benefits of Being an Amateur

August 5, 2014Leave a comment

This quote from Austin Kleon’s book, Show Your Work, continues to challenge me. Maybe it is because I strategically placed it on my desk, as if to watch over me, or maybe because it is just so divergent from the side of ourselves we prefer to show the world, but I can’t stop thinking about it. We show the world our finished products, our accolades, the gourmet dinners, and perfected presentations, but not the mess, the tears, the burnt chicken, and crumpled papers. We want to be thought of as anything but amateurs. Even if we are.

This is especially true in education where the question, “How long have you been teaching (or administrating)?” stems more often from a place of superiority and judgement than genuine curiosity. The wounds of this question (and the associated implications) are still healing from an academic intervention meeting, over five years ago.

Kleon’s definition, however, gives new hope for the amateur. Reflecting on his words, here are three benefits of being an amateur:

1. Amateurs are willing to experiment. As a result, they often innovate without realizing it.

2. Amateurs haven’t already developed bad habits. As a result, they are coachable.

3. Amateurs bring love and joy to their work. As a result, they inspire and encourage others.

With a new school year comes a whole round of new experiences and lots of folks who feel like amateurs. You might have a new position this year, be at a new school, in a new state, be a brand new teacher, or at least have a new teacher on your campus. Instead of focusing on all the things amateurs have yet to learn, let’s adopt Kleon’s definition and embrace the amateur. Starting off the year as enthusiasts who approach our work with a spirit of love certainly can’t hurt.

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play

Returning to Play

July 30, 2014July 30, 2014Leave a comment

At one of those college fairs in high school I remember my mom talking to a recruiter from an art school. The standard parent might try to dissuade their children from going that route for fear of the starving artist fate. Instead, my mom went on about how I drew an elephant or something and it was the most incredible thing she had ever seen #thanksmom. At the time, the vision I had of my future self was anything but a starving artist. My pursuit of perfection and “success” blinded me to the possibility that art, play, and creativity could be part of my work. There was even a time I thought I wanted to be a lawyer—enough said.

I can’t remember exactly when I started painting and drawing again, but I quickly classified these as weekend activities and put them (quite literally) in a box I would get out and store in rhythm with the weekend workweek flow. It was as if I thought work time had to be hard or taxing to count. Surely this fun and carefree Tracy couldn’t be “working”.

“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”

– François-René de Chateaubriand

We are guilty of the same misclassification in our schools, cutting out art, music, and free play for fear students don’t have enough time to “learn”—when that is exactly what they are doing through play. What might our students learn when we give them time to play without specific structure and direction? What might we, as educators, learn and model to our students as we play and experiement ourselves?

One of my own experiments started recently, when I began to play with sketchnotes, visual note taking, or whatever you want to call it—and bingo! It didn’t take long to figure out this was clearly compatible with the way my mind worked. I had really been doing a rudimentary form of it for a long time. I just didn’t know it had a name, gurus (@Braddo, @AustinKleon, @MikeRohde to name a few), books, and a whole movement of folks who also thought, created, and reflected in this way. Playing with this medium of reflection and making connections has not only had a positive impact on the work I’m doing, but even the spirit with which I approach work.

Austin Kleon, in his stellar book, Show Your Work, defines the amateur as “the enthusiast who pursues her work in the spirit of love.”

When someone is talking about me and my work, I hope that can be said.

I hope to see educators approach teaching and students, learning, with a spirit of love: I believe a big part of that will come when we learn to play again. When we allow ourselves to be amateurs at something again. When we learn to experiment and create and provide time and space for our students to do the same.

So, as we gear up for a new school year… What will you experiment with that will encourage you to play?

Some ideas for play this school year:

Test driving new technology
Redesigning your learning space
Learning some basic coding skills
Implementing a new teaching technique
Connecting with educators across the globe
Updating your centers, activities, or a couple lessons
Giving students the freedom to work in new mediums
Scheduling “play dates” with a friend to try out new things
Drawing, doodling, playing with art or testing out sketchnotes
Taking an online course in something you’ve always wanted to learn

Playing with Sketchnotes: Adopting a Posture of Experimentation

July 25, 2014August 5, 20142 Comments

Sketchnotes: Adopting a Posture of Experimentation

Testing out sketchnotes as a reflective tool for presentation development.

Playing with Sketchnotes: Sugata Mitra Keynote

July 25, 2014Leave a comment

Sketchnotes from the Sugata Mitra keynote at Ipadpalooza 2014.

5 Activities That Helped Me Survive the End of the School Year

May 23, 2014May 27, 2014Leave a comment

This piece is cross-posted here on Getting Smart.

Snow cones, slip ’n slides, and other summer staples may be on the horizon, but surviving those last days of the school year and all that it entails can feel simultaneously like a sprint… and a marathon… and one of those crazy color covered runs… all rolled into one. So, here are a few activities from my classroom time that helped me not only survive the end of year, but maybe even provided a head start on training for next year’s race.

1. Student Organizational Gurus

Judge me if you will, but I had some students that LOVED to help me organize and create systems for everything from my rubber bands and staples to math manipulatives and our class library–all as we were under deadline to get everything packed up on those last days.

I don’t think I am stretching too much to say I saw the continued development of problem solving, spatial reasoning, and good-ole organizational skills and habits forming for my students who took on these tasks. I certainly remember the little treasures found when unpacking the following year like the handwritten student note on my rubber band collection with a little smiley—“Have a great year! We will miss you! Love, Patty”.

2. Preview Challenging Content

Vertical planning may not supersede “getting horizontal” to avoid passing out from exhaustion in the last moments of the school year, but a quick, informal meeting could set the tone for a whole new round of students.

Ask the teachers in the grade level ahead of you what students often struggle with in the first weeks of school. Give students a little preview of the content, let them explore and make connections and ask questions in a pressure free zone.

If feasible, set up a time to visit the students who are coming up to your grade level and give them an overview of what to expect and things they can do to prepare.

3. Let Your Students Share Your Class Expectations

Creating a classroom culture takes time and a lot of energy. Let your students give you a hand by creating videos, blog posts, letters, or other projects to share what will be expected of your next group of students when they arrive.

My students made quick videos in the sharing a secret tone as we called it—whispering into the camera “secrets for success in Mrs. Clark’s 4th grade bilingual classroom”. It was pretty funny and actually quite reflective for me to hear what they took away from our classroom culture. Apparently, I was a stickler for positivity with several students ending the stem, “Whatever you do” with “don’t ever ever say I can’t…”

And my students the next year? They were way more attentive to this style of sharing success secrets than any list of expectations I could have made.

4. Curate Summer Content to Continue Learning

I remember the feeling of shock and awe when I got a message from one of my students the second week of summer asking me why I wasn’t updating our class website with new activities and learning links. Oh how we sometimes underestimate our learners!

So, instead of being surprised when your students actually want to continue learning, be one step ahead and provide lists of books, websites, videos, apps, or any content you think might be relevant to them as they spend their summer days looking for ways to occupy themselves.

Students can get involved by sharing their own favorites or collaborating to develop a class crowdsourced group of resources to share.

Here are some tool options that might help:

5. Create a Portfolio of Learning

I remember being frustrated by the fact that much of the work we accomplished in that year together would be summed up on a report card with a final grade and maybe a sentence or two of accompanying comments. My room would be empty and my students would move on to a whole other world (middle school).

Wanting more reflection, more emotional closure (at least for myself if not them too), more thinking about their learning, and hoping to inspire a new set of goals for the next year, I asked my students to put together a portfolio of their work (we had kept much of it throughout the year) accompanied by their thoughts on a couple of questions such as the following:

Portfolio Reflection Questions:

What progress do you see in your work?

How have you grown?

What was the hardest thing for you?

What work are you most proud of? What makes you say that?

What was a challenge you persevered through?

How do you think you got through that challenge?

Would that strategy work if you got stuck on something in the future?

What goals do you want to pursue next?

What steps might you need to take to meet these goals?

These Moments Matter

During those final days of school, in between the Field Day events and the zoo field trip and the student placement meetings there is only so much one’s brain can handle. But these moments DO matter. So, may we not just survive the end of the school year, but use the last interactions with our students and colleagues to set the pace for next year’s race.

10 Spring Cleaning To Dos for Your Digital Abode: Part II

May 2, 2014May 22, 2014Leave a comment

Part II: Input–stuff related to the learning and growing you do.

Check out the first 5 To Dos Here!

6. Change the Filter on Your Feeds

Are the people you follow today the same as when you first signed up for Twitter, Google Plus, and other social media sites? Have you grown and changed since then? If so, it may be time to filter your feeds and update who you follow.

Who posts things that are of interest and relevant to the work you do? Who are you looking to connect with? Who will push your thinking? Who will share new things? Who is just making noise?

Take a moment to go through your Facebook, Instagram, and other feeds too and customize them considering those who have earned a place in your feed. Whether for professional or personal use, filter what gets your attention and make the most of every moment.

ToolTip: Instead of following based on the number of followers or likes (#Sheeple), spend time looking at the type of content posted and how they interact with others. Carefully consider in that moment, “Is this someone I want to bring into my digital abode?” Try a service like JustUnfollow to help speed up this daunting task.

7. Dust off Digital Friendships

After step number five, did you uncover connections you hope to maintain, or grow? Try some of the tips below to reconnect or just make someone’s day!

ToolTip: Make someone’s day!

Tweet a Treat: Starbucks Tweet a Coffee

Handwritten Notes (via a digital service): Send handwritten notes (real ones) through this Handiemail or try Felt App.

Box subscriptions: Whether they are into dogs, babies, beauty, or just about anything, there is a monthly subscription service to make them smile.

8. Freshen Up Your LinkedIn (& other online profiles)

Don’t wait until you are looking for the next endeavor to update your online resume, LinkedIn, and other online profiles.

ToolTip: Adjust your privacy & sharing settings, so your current employer doesn’t think you are preparing for an exit.

9.Redesign Learning Sources

Input matters. Inspired by task number six, think about not only the people, but also the sources from which you get information, content, and expand your thinking and knowledge.

ToolTip: Take advantage of your commute or solo exercise time with audio sources like Umano, Stitcher, andAudible. Track your literary consumption with sites like GoodReads so you can reflect on your growth, model that lifelong learning stuff to your students or kids or colleagues, and think about what’s next.

Not a fan of audio? Ok, then update your Flipboard, and/or ScoopIt feeds with some new content to push your growth and prepare for summer reading by the pool (Is school out yet?).

10. Create Clear Space

Arguably the most important task of them all. That is… if you want to be sane enough to keep doing the work you are doing. Be present, disconnect, and schedule margin (time when there is nothing scheduled).

ToolTip: A good read on this topic— Margin.

So, as you tackle your spring cleaning list, don’t forget your digital life! Then when you have rested and disconnected for a bit, you can come back to a clean digital abode and do work that matters.

What spring cleaning todos are on your digital list? Start the conversation in the comments below!