I recently took four students down to Chino Hills HS to see Janet Roberts and her high school put on an amazing rally. If you have not been, it is worth the visit. A connected and spirited campus is a high academically performing campus. What got me the most excited is not the rally nor the great conversation with my spirit and rally commissioners, it was a text from my ASB president, “We are going to have a picnic next Wednesday during lunch, easier to explain if you call.” So I did call, and what I heard was slightly short of amazing.
One of my students was walking across the common area when she saw many students sitting and eating alone. She came back to class rather upset where the kids had a conversation about inviting students to have lunch in the ASB room each Wednesday. The kids thought this was great, then another student suggested, “why don’t we bring some blankets and just invite people to sit with us each day on the grass?” We have four large grass areas in our common area, and all of the kids thought this was great.
So, every other Wednesday we are going to have an ASB picnic where all students are invited to sit in an area. The brilliance of the idea is its simplicity as well as the execution each week. Kids show up, take out blankets, sit and eat while we play some music and hang out. At the same time, our students, mentors and other leaders on campus are invited to go out and invite kids who normally do not have anyone to sit with out to our grass area to sit with other students.
This year my students have a strong sense of reaching out to kids on campus and improving the culture and climate. The old saying, “if you know someone’s story it’s hard to hate them,” is holding very true. We brought this idea up and one of my kids said, “if you know someone’s story it’s hard to forget them.” My kids dont’ want to forget any one on our campus.
I had something interesting happen to me that I have not seen in a long time, a person actually went out of their way to tell me I was not good at something. In this day and age where teenage bravado is only matched by anyone’s desire to share or overshare whatever they are thinking whenever they are thinking it, I’m still amazed at how far someone will go out of their way to put others down. I got an email the other day that read, “Hey Guess What” in the subject line with the message of “Your videos are really bad.” I was a bit shocked. More so because these were not my videos, these were my students’ videos; and much like an overprotective parent, I was ready for battle. Then I was a reminded of a great poem I was exposed to a few years ago, and I asked myself, which are you, a builder or a wrecker? Continue reading →
There is a landslide of comments online on the various social media networks proclaiming, “Let kids use their phones.” It makes sense, there is more computing power in the current smart phones than there was on the space shuttle that landed on the moon in 1969. However, when I hear this phrase thrown around, I feel as if people have this mental image of a technological Moses descending upon their school with tablets and smart phones where he will utter the prophetic words, “Principal, let my students learn.” And in that one moment a pantheon of learning will take place unparalleled in the history of the world. We will enter a new renaissance which will foster in an age of discovery and advancement through mobile learning. I wish this was true. We give kids a lot of credit for being tech savvy – and we should – as they have not known any other way to live than with phones and computers. We should not get carried away in this “let them use tech they have” mentality because without training and good instruction, the technology will quickly run away on us and there will not be much teaching and learning going on in schools.
Looking at the recent history of social media, starting with MySpace, the internet was about creating a life you wish you had. Notice in the beginning it was about the number of friends kids had – even if you didn’t speak the same language – and the running gag was that everyone was Tom’s friend. Don’t have many friends in life, you can have 5000 online right now. Play a game, build up a farm or mafia. What, you got an A on your test, well my farm is bigger than yours and my mafia robbed you last night while you were studying, take that. Social media was about creating what you thought your life could be and then showing it off.
When Facebook came around, it was more about making connections. I went to a party or was at a bar, met this person I liked, when home and looked them up, “Hey, remember me, we met last night, let’s hang out.” Now, there was an evolution as Facebook, when it started, was more about connecting with people you already knew or had just met. Now, social media was about enhancing your already functioning life. Did you get a phone number? No worries, I’m sure he/she is on Facebook.
Phones have made this extended reality even more inviting. Currently, about ninety-six percent of college students on Facebook, it’s no surprise that most young people spend their time on the site. Email is no longer the primary way to communicate digitally. With a group of friends, about sixty percent of teens are more interested in the virtual friendships they have online then they are with the friendships of those sitting next to them. The phone has made it easier to be connected to more people at once. Remember that iconic scene from Bye Bye Birdie, right after Ann Margaret gets pinned in the bus (a while new meaning with today’s youth) and the whole teenage population is buzzing with excitement over the phone lines to learn the news and talk about it. Our kids are like that now, only with more typing than talking.
Talk to most safety experts, increased phone use leads to more communication between kids on campus over fights, between gangs (if you serve that population), drug sales in the bathroom and more instances of cyber bullying on campus. A few years back teacher-bating was a sport, where kids will try to make a teacher so mad they would blow-up, the kids could record it and then post to the web. These events and others are a direct result of having absolutely no plan on our campus to handle phones other than, “The handbook says they should be off, so I will take it if I see it. But since it’s off I don’t have to worry about it.”
This has been the plan for years, phones are a distraction so turn them off, end of story. The problem is that we are fighting a higher power. Parents buy phones for their kids so that they – the parents – can get a hold of Johnny or Suzy whenever he/she wants. Looking for proof, how many times has a student bypassed the office and met a car in the parking lot – usually mom – with lunch or a change of clothes for PE, between classes or at lunch? Sound like a safety concern, it is, but remember, en loco parentis may be true, the parent still out ranks you.
Then there is the friends, so many friends: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Kik, texting and the list goes on. There are so many ways for kids to stay connected that they want to, all the time, “I just had this idea, we must talk about it now!” In fact, kids spend so much time connected they don’t know how to turn it off. A 2007 study by the New York Times found that their employees who stopped what they were doing to answer an email or take a call spent, on average, about 15 minutes getting back on task. For many of our students this is all day.
While our students may spend all day online, many of our staff members do not. Some may or may not have Facebook, almost none of them Tweet and very few if any text unless they have kids or are under forty. In any workshop I do, there is always one comment, “go slow on this Twitter thing, I don’t even know what a tweet is and I’m not sure if I get it.” So now we have a staff that is unprepared to handle the tech demands of students who are so far ahead we can’t tell if the kids are texting or learning.
A little over a year ago I did a lesson with my students – focusing on my AP students. Embedded in the lesson was a QR code that would pop up at random times. Finally, a student asked what those boxes were. I explained, “That’s a QR code.” Out of sixty students only one knew what that meant. Many studies suggest that only about thirty-five percent of the population know what those QR codes even are when they see them. As with anything in school, kids need to be trained. Staff needs to be trained, and there needs to be systems and procedures in place to monitor and control the learning taking place in the classrooms.
As it is now, only about one in three students even knows how to use social networks for educational purposes.
One of the age-old arguments in education and technology is supplementation vs integration, it’s been around for a long time. The second argument is equal access which has been around a little bit longer. Sure, kids have phones, but how many students have smart phones? Most studies show fifty percent, but how many have smart phones on your campus? How many of your staff members have smart phones? What apps do your students and staff have on their phones? Do they know how to use them? I use Evernote to take notes in my class, before I made my students use it most of them didn’t know they could take notes on their phones or iTouch devices.
If we want kids to start using their phones we have to show them how. We need to have conversations about what is right and what is wrong to post online as well as conversations about when we can use our phones for personal time and when we need to be professional. Tell your kids to turn off their phones – and not just put them on silent – and when to turn them back on. We cannot assume they know anything. Show your students how to take notes, send a professional text to a boss – like yourself – and to use Twitter to gain insight into careers and research he/she may be interested in pursuing. We need to teach our students the value of a personal conversation and how the conversations we have online are direct extensions and enhancements of the ones we have in person.
I am a huge proponent of cell phones in the classroom and technology integration. I preach this constantly at staff developments, leadership trainings and anywhere else the conversation is taking place. Still, I hope people know it’s not as easy as “Just let them use their phones.” If technology use is not part of your classroom procedures then cell phones and BYOD (bring your own device) may not be for you. We have this fear of liability and students accessing sites they should not be on at all let alone at school – but kids are doing that anyway on their phones with 4G. That’s why we need AUP’s that state it is the student’s fault for accessing sites and not the gatekeeper who does not have much control any more.
Have these conversations with your students, have them with staff and have them with your parents. Having a smart phone does not make one smart, but utilizing a smart phone to gain access to information, produce content, track notes and collaborate just might make one a little more intelligent and successful.
In building classroom community you can do very well by creating a shared experience. If you are daring, it’s a trip to the Tolerance Museum or listening to a speaker. An ice breaker, game, or a rock,paper or scissors tournament is another way to have your kids find a common ground to connect. I recently came across a new one that I would not have ever thought of that my students love, Just Dance. While looking at a video on YouTube, my kids asked if we look up the song “Take on Me” from Just Dance 3. Within five minutes I had thirty leadership students dancing to the 80’s classic; they were laughing, smiling and having a great time.
Having just returned from CADA (California Association of Directors of Activities), I want to recap one of the more important themes I try to drive home with technology: social and emotional intelligence is one of the most important things we can teach. It’s not new, as activity directors we address this every day through our project planning, group communication/interaction, and mass communication with the campus. Jamie Casap – Google Education Evangelist – said it best last year during his keynote when he said, “If kids are getting hit by cars, we don’t ban automobiles. We teach kids how to cross the street.” With technology, we do the opposite, constantly banning that which wold make a great teaching tool. Continue reading →
Being a parent, I am amazed at the growth and development I see in my daughter on a daily basis. This could be the new words she learns on a daily basis, today it was “hippo” and “zebra,” to starting to hear her put words together to make sentences, such as “more melon.” She has also surprised my wife and I, saying “doggy” or “moon” when she sees these items, often when my wife and I do not. My favorite was when my daughter referred to the moon as a “big ball.” With some practice, she learned moon, so anytime we read a book or go on the swings and she sees the moon, she is sure to point it out to everyone within ear shot.
Today was a unique day in that it was the first time my daughter actually climbed around the jungle gym at our local part. The jungle gym at this park is blue with red slides and yellow poles and contraptions leading up to the top which is about ten feet off the ground. Virginia was more interested in climbing the stairs, pointing out the one other baby, or playing peekaboo with a nine year old named Cadence. We went back and forth, sometimes crawling, sometimes walking, up and down the stairs, across the bridge, gazing out at the slides towards the swings (which I think was the real goal, but they were full).
At one point, the nine year old Cadence was acting as a guide trying to get Virginia to go down a slide that we made our way to the end of the line on the other side of the suspension bridge. At this point, there were two ways down, a spider web of yellow poles, or a giant string of climbing bars; neither one ideal for a fourteen month old. At this point, another little girl came up and stood in front of Virginia – not menacingly – somewhat protective saying “this is for big kids only.” At this point, Virgina reared back on her heals to a squatting position, and quite excitedly stood up and started clapping saying, “Big Girl!” With a giant grin on her face, looking to me for validation – I was clapping and cheering too – the little girl shrugged, grabbed her friend and started to walk the other way.
Virginia and I stood there clapping for a few more seconds before she turned around and started to walk the other way before dropping down to her standard bear crawl. What I find interesting is Virginia’s view of her world. Big Girl is a game my wife started while I was in Australia, it was a way to work with my daughter to get her to stand and walk. I’m impressed because my daughter stood up amidst these other older children and celebrated her accomplishment just like we do at home every day. Since Virginia does not know any different, she knows that she is a big girl because the two most important people in her life have told her that consistently over the past month. If I can convince a fourteen month old to stand up and celebrate her big girl status, I’m sure there is so much more I can do for her self confidence over the next few years and longer. This small experiment is a great memory in my day, and I am so excited I had a chance to be there and share this experience with my daughter, she is a happy baby.
With the push of a button I had just spent $20 for 500 MB of internet. I’m so used to wifi in the US, completely oblivious to the cost of wifi abroad, paying for the bandwidth and data vs. actual time on the web. I was successfully able to upload some more pictures, share them, and share a Skype call with my wife on our anniversary. As my wife positioned the camera I could see my daughter staring, and with a brief pause, she yelled “Daddy!” The rest of the conversation was either a “daddy” or “mommy” or “Gingy” as she could see her own picture on the screen. Not a bad way to start the day than hearing and seeing my beautiful family. Continue reading →
Day 2, or day 3 if you are playing the home version, came with the leadership group Fullon out of New Zealand.
The three sisters in the Blue Mountains of Australia
We took a two hour drive up into the Blue Mountains of Australia. Weather, perfect. Slightly cloudy, but warm, and fog in the valley’s which created some wonderful views of the mountain range and the scenery below.
We did a quick stop to see the three sisters. The story goes that two tribes were fighting. To bring peace, the father of one tribe wanted his sons to marry the daughters of the other tribe. This accord did not come to fruition and so the groups went to war. To protect the daughters, a medicine man turned the daughters to stone. Unfortunately, the medicine man was killed, and being the only one who could turn the sisters back, the sisters have remained in their current form for eternity.
At this point, I cannot say enough good things about Fullon, a highly interactive and well put together program. We were fortunate enough to have Paul, founder of Fullon, lead our group of intrepid high school students. We were also endowed with a couple of young leaders with a few years of experience with Fullon, Susan and Sandy, all from New Zealand. Fullon runs programs in several countries: New Zealand, Australia, Italy, England, Scotland and many other parts of Europe. Needless to say, if you are traveling abroad with a group, they are worth the call. Continue reading →
The Ever Popular Burger King Starbucks Franchise at LAX
Day one of Australia took off on a jet … like a jet … as fast as a jet could go minus the six hour lay over in LAX (anyone else pick up on the shortened term for Los Angeles International – it’s like a laxative running through you sapping all of your resources and energy). The main terminal was not bad, Burger King/Starbucks, Chili’s to Go (still haven’t figured out that name) and a few book stores. The international side, whew, absolutely nothing there with the construction going on. Not much to choose from, a decent amount of space, and lot’s of waiting. Oh, and be prepared, not too many places to plug in appliances, probably part of their huge remodeling project.
Still, the kids were in a good mood, we were all excited to be on our way. The girls hit on the cute dumb boys and made fools of themselves, the rest of the group formed their cliques (mostly by groups of boys and girls). I’m still amazed to watch the boys and girls interact – the girls who are flirting will pull all of the same old tricks, the guys pretty much sit there and flex – like peacocks – not really saying anything. It’s fairly awkward, but I guess that’s how it is in these early years. Continue reading →
As I go back listen to that first podcast I am overwhelmed with how terrible the recording quality is, especially compared to what I have today. You will also notice that a majority of the first podcasts were audio, now I am dealing a lot more with video. My development was purposeful, I started with audio technology developing my skill on Garageband to get the best possible edits. I even developed my own theme song (yah, I’m that nerdy). However, as time went on, I knew that the quality of my podcasts needed to improve or I would not be able to gain more listeners. So, I set out to research and learn all I could about sound recording.
Cyber Cafe 