March 2007

March 03, 2007

SUPER TAGS and TAG WEEDERS: It's time for blog tags to grow up!

SUPER TAGS
Call them Super Tags, Übertags, meta tags, tagging tags, umbrella tags, call them what you will but I WANT THEM!

I did a little search on Technorati, so is it K-12_Online, K-12Online, K12Online, or K12OnlineConference? I haven't even considered the year yet k12Online06... The fact is that some of these searches are similar, but at the same time some posts are being missed because of the writer's choice of tags. Also, there are other searches, as explained below, where a combination of very different tags would be beneficial.

In my post about a portal needed to connect classrooms to the world I made up a mock site: Fieldfindr on wikispaces. At this site a field expert who would like to help out in a classroom puts her grade interest as K-12 and makes this a tag. The teacher in the mock-up has a Grade 4 class, and she uses the tag Grade4. In helping the teacher find an expert in a particular field, shouldn't she be able to search the tag 'Grade4' and have the 'K-12' tag be part of the search? (I didn't even consider K12 rather than K-12 or Grade-4 rather than Grade4).

It is time for tags to grow up and be smarter! In my first example, wouldn't it be great if a conference organizer were able to create a Super Tag that would allow a search of any number of tags to also include the many possible variances? Depending on the site, some of these could be end-user controlled, participant controlled, contributor controlled or organizer controlled, but regardless of who gets to create these Super Tags, they are long overdue!

TAG WEEDERS
Many blog sites don't have a means to use the 'and' boolean in tag searches. I find that the need for this is growing as more and more people use the same tags. A perfect personal example of this is how I narrow a search of my del.icio.us account links. I now have several tags with over 50 links and rather than searching for a link through 50+ sites, I just do a 'your bookmarks' search with two tags that I think the link would have. This will usually narrow the search down to 5-15 links. (I can't show you this here since the 'your bookmarks' search can only be done when you are logged into del.icio.us)
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So there you have it, Super Tags and Tag Weeders, two features that I think many bloggers would like to see!

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New voices: Following Miguel and Kelly, I am seeking out 7 new voices in 7 posts, here is #2.
Serendipitous Moments isn't really an edublog, but the posts that author Subbarman tags with Education are a treasure for educators to read. Enjoy!

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Photos: Tagged gate by Steve Roe on Flickr and Tagged Door by Sam Judson on Flickr

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March 05, 2007

David Truss

Licensed To Pill: We live in an over-prescribed (and over-labelled) society.

Licensed To Pill

Comedy or social commentary?

- - - -

New voices: #3 of 7, this blog is probably better read than mine, but again I think it is invaluable for eduactors to read: The Genius in All of Us by David Shenk.

In a recent post, Labels and Limits, David quotes a Washington Post article, "Increasing numbers of children are given increasingly specific labels, ranging from psychiatric and neurological diagnoses such as Asperger's and attention-deficit disorder to educational descriptors including "gifted" and "learning disabled." He argues that students don't deserve 'fixed limits' or labels placed on them.

I think this fits with the idea of us living in an over-prescribed society... every teacher has met a kid that 'needs' medication to 'fit into' the classroom, but I wonder how much of this is an issue of placing square pegs in round holes? At what point do labels hinder rather than help?

After reading Christian's Stop Blogging Because You're an Educator over at think:lab, I have been more compelled to look for new voices outside of edublogs. I will continue to call it new voices, but really I am seeking out different perspectives whether new or not.

Keywords: Christian Long, datruss, David Shenk, David Truss, education, food for thought, genius, Genius Blog, gifted, humour, labels, learning, learning disabled, medication, new voices, pair-a-dimes, think:lab, video

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March 11, 2007

David Truss

Marking What Counts and Reporting on Report Cards

"Just because something can be counted,
doesn’t mean it counts,
and just because something is difficult to count,
doesn’t mean it doesn’t count."

Subbaraman Iyer

In my first year of teaching, another first year teacher on my team, Ken Andrews, designed a marking system for Humanities (English and Social Studies combined). In his system students chose projects based on which outcomes they most needed to demonstrate. Like all teachers, he had assignments based on the curriculum and prescribed learning outcomes (PLO's), and then during the year he would have 'choice' projects. The means of output/presentation were determined by a student's need to demonstrate skills they had not shown yet, or that they were still developing. Ken had 4 or 5 categories based on the PLO's, and to give you an idea of how this worked, some students might have had to do an oral presentation whereas another might have needed to write an essay, and still another student might have had to write something creative as their choice project. Without going into greater detail, he basically followed the notion of:

Not counting marks,
but marking what counts.

Ken Andrews

As we start to look at different skills, 21st Century Skills, and get kids thinking beyond what is on the test, it gets harder to mark what really counts. Report cards will have to change as our assessment does. How valuable is it to measure a student's ability to solve a Numeracy Task? How do you weight this evaluation next to quiz and test marks that are based on a student's ability to follow the steps in adding fractions, or their ability to follow the algorithm for solving an algebra equation? What about their ability to Synthesize and Add Meaning to what they know?

These are questions I am grappling with on a number of levels... but while I think about these things, the reality of having to write report cards is still there. After just completing my second term report cards, I have been thinking of the changes that I have helped to make on our district's middle school report cards. They don't directly address my concerns above, but the changes have created an opportunity to look at learning skills as much as we do marks... I think this is a step in the right direction!

Report Cards. They can be a challenge! Especially for teachers in our school where, in the last 6 report card periods over the last 2 years, we have had 6 different report cards with different formats.

We've been a pilot school for the District Middle School Report Card. As a member of the Learning Team in charge of this, we instituted the Learning Skills section seen here, from our first term report card last year.

It wasn't perfect but it was a chance to say a bit more about a student than a simple work habit evaluation of G, S,or N (Good, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement).

With hindsight being 20/20, I now wonder how we could have included some 21^st Century Skills into these learning skills? Of course then we would need to ensure that all students were given the opportunity to develop those skills.

The idea behind these Learning Skills was a driving force of what we as not only teachers, but also as parents, wanted to see on a report card. A theme that kept coming up was that we wanted to know that the teacher knew or understood who our kid is! We also wanted to know what areas of learning we, as parents, could help with at home.

We changed the evaluative language from G, S, and N to M-Mastering, D- Developing and E- Emerging. This has subsequently been changed back. I like the more positive description of M, E, and D, but that's also partially because it signaled a difference in approach from the umbrella term of Work Habits we used to have on our report cards, and also because I think that the old scale carried a bit too much baggage with it. "How does it look when I give a grade of an 'A' with an 'S' for work habits?" (My response is that what it looks like doesn't matter! Add an anecdotal comment to explain this.) However, it seemed to me that students who get an 'A' and who are still 'Emerging' in certain learning skills would have very appropriate feedback if his report card mentioned this. I'll stab at a more humourous aspect of this after looking at where we are now.

Our district rolled this report out for our first term this year.

It was to be... "The last format we are going to work with"... but it wasn't. Three key flaws to our design: 1. Teachers hated the Learning Skills; 2. Teachers of individual courses did not have a say regarding behavior and/or work habits in their individual classes;and, 3. Students portray these skills, or lack thereof, quite differently from class to class/teacher to teacher.

What I really hated was the drop-down menu for Social Responsibility, now mandatory for us to report on. Here are the options from the drop-down menu from which we were (and still are) to choose from:

On our current Report Card cover page it states,

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Social Responsibility is reported on in one or more of the following areas: contributing to the classroom and school community, solving problems in peaceful ways, valuing diversity and defending human rights, and exercising democratic rights and responsibilities."

Even with student input, I found these difficult to use for all but the most inclusive/cooperative students. The menu is based on the BC (Provincial) Performance Standards for Social Responsibility (find the rubric here). Although I like the rubric and use it for students to reflect on, I think the drop-down menu needs to be revised to make the comments more meaningful to students, teachers, and parents. (I couldn't imagine putting, "tends to be egocentric, apathetic, feel powerless" on a student's report card!) There is a 65 character space also provided for further explanation by the teacher.

Also from our report card cover we have an explanation of the Learning Skills. For the Term 1 report above the 5 skill areas were simply identified as learning skills, (including social responsibility) whereas there is greater detail in this term's new cover page, (with Social Responsibility being separated out, as described above). Notice the combining of the learning skills from the Term 1 report:

LEARNING SKILLS
Acknowledging the development needs of early adolescents, Learning Skills are reported on as: Work Habits & Effort, along with Behavior & Attitude.
Work Habits & Effort relate to completing work on time, coming to class prepared, asking for help when needed, seeking appropriate challenges, and putting forth a best effort.
Behavior & Attitude refer to being respectful towards peers and adults, adjusting behavior to suit various situations, making positive, independent decisions and working with an appropriate level of supervision.

Older report cards simply had 'work habits' to encompass all of these. Before I say that 'I really like this new format', let me say that after our school learning team ended last year and I have had nothing to do with these new changes, so this isn't a case of me tooting my own horn.

I really like this new format! Work Habits & Effort fit well together, as do Behavior & Attitude. Yes a student could have poor work habits and still put in a great effort, or have a great attitude and still be a behavior issue, but these difference can easily be touched on in the anecdotal section of the report card. The separation of work habits from behavior is the most noticeable change for me. As a parent I think this information is much more meaningful, and as a teacher I feel that I can better inform parents as to where I see areas of need and, hopefully as the year progresses, areas of growth.
Also, now the kid with an 'A' in a class but with both Satisfactory Work Habits & Effort as well as a Satisfactory Behavior & Attitude can be referred to as an "A with a double S" :-)

Here is this term's report card. Due to the unexpected change we were told that we did not have to go back and re-fill in the grades/skills for Term 1. This would have been a little challenging and time consuming since we'd have to combine the learning skills that we originally looked at separately.

Technology will make this format for a report card easier, as time progresses. The technology is indeed already present, but the pace of adoption is painfully slow. Currently we are using a word document and that has limitations. Soon this will be an on-line document that all teachers can access. Soon we will add some 21^st Century Skills to the fray... and hopefully soon we can have a report card version that we can use for more than one term!

What would a perfect report card look like?

What skills would it measure? How will it measure Learning Skills and/or 21st Century Skills?

What needs to change so that we are more effective at marking what counts rather than just counting marks?

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New Voices #4 of 7: Check out Dan Meyer's dy/dan blog, specifically his post How Math Must Assess which relates very specifically to my topic, marking what counts. I also like his post Why I Don't Assign Homework... a must read, whether you agree or not!

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March 12, 2007

David Truss

it brought tears to my eyes

The power of the human spirit at its' best! "CAN": World's Strongest Dad.

Keywords: dad, faith, family, fatherhood, human spirit, inner strength, love

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March 13, 2007

David Truss

The Web2.0 Prophecy: An Adventure

It has been eerie. Unsettling.
I've been restless. Dissatisfied.
... and I don't think that I am alone.

Wesley Fryer is scaring people with Karl Fisch’s presentation “Did You Know” remixed by Scott Mcleod

“Shock and awe” may not be the best formula for conversations and learning. Maybe I need to craft and share a more basic, simple message, and avoid overwhelming people with too many scary statistics and ideas."

Will Richardson is 'Stuck'.

"There’s nothing new here, really. I know. What’s new for me at least is that if feels like my lens for all of this is changing. And that’s why I’m stuck as to what to write about here. My learning and classroom learning look very different. I will never enter another physical classroom as a “student” again, and that’s by choice. That physical space just doesn’t cut it. And schools are all about physical space. And control. And content."

Kelly Christopherson feels stuck too.

"Really, we, as educators, live in a world of dichotomy - where one part of our world is moving so quickly it takes our breath away while the other side hardly seems to move at all. There we are, stuck in the middle trying to somehow bring these two together. Some people are doing a fantastic job while others are so overwhelmed that they stick with what they know, which, we are finding, doesn’t fit with our present students which is causing some serious problems."

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach sees schools with more walls than windows. (Read this!)

"Let's Rethink It
Order and discipline in a time of tremendous social change in the 19th Century. Well, It is the 21st Century and once again it is time for social reformers to rethink the reasons and ways we are educating our young."

Tangled in the web I find Stephanie Sandifer, who thinks Action Plans are Overdue. She points me back to Sheryl and Will (whom I had already read), as well as Miguel Guhlin, who in turn writes about Sheryl's post.

Miguel's post (overall) is more upbeat... yet this paragraph sticks with me,

"At the risk of sounding cynical, here's a quick response on Saturday morning: Schools fail miserably about instilling democracy in our children...voting, democracy education are distractions from the REAL curriculum schools teach from and about. Democratic values are also antithetical to our schools since they are restrictive, controlled environments...they are top-down controlled, in the "strict father frame" that George Lakoff describes that tolerates no back-talk, no discussion, no questioning. Socrates would not only be drinking Hemlock, he'd be...well, you can only execute someone once."

Miguel's optimism comes later when he says, "...let their voices, that of the learners, ring throughout our schools, voices that speak of relevance, authenticity, and human connections...in ways that cannot be denied."

This sounds like my friend Dave Sands who says 'it is students who will change education'. But it isn't coming fast enough, there are too many 'walls' denying our students, too many flame snuffers.

This isn't new. I've been here before.
From my first post:

"In a hundred years or so, everyone now alive in the whole earth will be dead - is this not so?"... "It would therefore be possible for the human race to run its affairs quite differently, in a wise and benevolent fashion, in a relatively short time."
..."And so?"
"The purpose of education," said Wizard Prang, "is to make sure this doesn't happen." ..."The purpose of a system is what it does."

To my first collection of other posts, where I found so many people writing and talking about how schools don't fit kids: Square Peg, Round Hole... Time and again I am finding myself in these lulls of impatience, frustration and dissatisfaction.

- - - - -

But it is all making sense to me now.
Well, that might be overstating things... but I have found some clarity.

Have you heard of The Celestine Prophecy?

book cover

Well now I give you, 'The Web2.0 Prophecy'

My little mock-up of the Celestine Prophecy cover

What spurred this comparison on? My thinking can jump around quite a bit, it went something like this:
We are reaching a group consciousness around 'where we are' compared to 'where we should be' with the use of technology and schools... 'reaching a group consciousness' reminds me of the 100th Monkey Effect... actually, this is like a web version of the Age of Aquarius... which reminds me... what were the '9 Ideas' or 'Agreements' I read about in The Celestine Prophecy about 10-12 years ago?... No wait, they weren't Ideas or Agreements, they were... (Google search the book)... 'Insights'! ...(reading) ...Wow, I can really see some parallels here!

So, here is my comparison. I will box in the text about the Celestine Prophecy Insights from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Celestine_Prophecy, Monday Dec. 12, 2007 - I'm just realizing that a date is essential when quoting a changeable text). I will then put my slant on how '"WE" are progressing through the insights in relation to the 'WEb'.

The Web2.0 Prophecy

THE FIRST INSIGHT . . . A CRITICAL MASS A new spiritual awakening is occurring in human culture, an awakening brought about by a critical mass of individuals who experience their lives as a spiritual unfolding, a journey in which we are led forward by mysterious coincidences.

A New Web Awakening

Thank you to Alan November, Stephen Downes, Will Richardson, David Warlick and others, for leading the way and helping to awaken us.

THE SECOND INSIGHT . . . THE LONGER NOW This awakening represents the creation of a new, more complete world view, which replaces a five-hundred-year-old preoccupation with secular survival and comfort. While this technological preoccupation was an important step, our awakening to life's coincidences is opening us up to the real purpose of human life on this planet, and the real nature of our universe.

The awakening to a whole new era.

Thomas Friedman paved the way in print,

and Karl Fisch added his multimedia presentations.

(2020 Vision - A thought provoking look at the future - 15:45)

THE THIRD INSIGHT . . . A MATTER OF ENERGY We now experience that we live not in a material universe, but in a universe of dynamic energy. Everything extant is a field of sacred energy that we can sense and intuit. Moreover, we humans can project our energy by focusing our attention in the desired direction...where attention goes, energy flows...influencing other energy systems and increasing the pace of coincidences in our lives.

We = Energy

Time Magazine tells us that WE are

Time's Person/People of the Year.
Time Magazine Cover

Professor Michael Wesch shows US that WE are the power of the web.

THE FOURTH INSIGHT . . . THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER Too often humans cut themselves off from the greater source of this energy and so feel weak and insecure. To gain energy we tend to manipulate or force others to give us attention and thus energy. When we successfully dominate others in this way, we feel more powerful, but they are left weakened and often fight back. Competition for scarce, human energy is the cause of all conflict between people.

The Struggle for Power: Elitist -vs- Ubiquitous

On the one hand we have Four Eyed Monsters' video

"Humanity Lobotomy": Net Neutrality Open Source Documentary

and on the other, $100 Laptops.

THE FIFTH INSIGHT . . . THE MESSAGE OF THE MYSTICS Insecurity and violence ends when we experience an inner connection with divine energy within, a connection described by mystics of all traditions. A sense of lightness--buoyancy--along with the constant sensation of love are measures of this connection. If these measures are present, the connection is real. If not, it is only pretended.

Web Mavens rather than Mystics

We have the pioneers: Vicki A. Davis has soared, so has Darren Kuropatwa.

We see the potential!

(I had a glimpse.)

THE SIXTH INSIGHT . . . CLEARING THE PAST The more we stay connected, the more we are acutely aware of those times when we lose connection, usually when we are under stress. In these times, we can see our own particular way of stealing energy from others. Once our manipulations are brought to personal awareness, our connection becomes more constant and we can discover our own growth path in life, and our spiritual mission--the personal way we can contribute to the world.

We are Connected

Personal (public) blogs (with others commenting) rather than personal (private) diaries.

MySpace, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Explode.us, Flickr, YouTube, and personal

connections as described in A Story About a Tree.

THE SEVENTH INSIGHT . . . ENGAGING THE FLOW Knowing our personal mission further enhances the flow of mysterious coincidences as we are guided toward our destinies. First we have a question; then dreams, daydreams, and intuitions lead us towards the answers, which usually are synchronistically provided by the wisdom of another human being.

THIS IS WHERE WE ARE STUCK!

On the bright side:

We have the Creative Commons;

We used to only dream of flying,

and;

We see the potential for providing wisdom to others.

But we seem to have impediments to our dreams; challenges and limitations that stall our dreams.

All the quotes at the start of this post belong here... they are symptomatic of how (not why) we are not collectively moving forward. This isn't about blame or excuses, rather it is about recognizing that things are not necessarily FLOWing as well as they could.

THE EIGHTH INSIGHT . . . THE INTERPERSONAL ETHIC We can increase the frequency of guiding coincidences by uplifting every person that comes into our lives. Care must be taken not to lose our inner connection in romantic relationships. Uplifting others is especially effective in groups where each member can feel energy of all the others. With children it is extremely important for their early security and growth. By seeing the beauty in every face, we lift others into their wisest self, and increase the chances of hearing a synchronistic message.

THIS IS WHERE WE NEED TO BE NOW!

We need our 'guiding coincidences' to be ones that are nurturing and powerful.

We need to collaborate, empower one another, and see potential rather than roadblocks. This is important for our children/our students, but it is equally important for us. Our 'synchronistic message' can't be "impatience, frustration and dissatisfaction" as I mentioned earlier.

Our message must be uplifting. But an uplifting message isn't enough!

We need financial support, visionary leaders, moral compasses, inspiring role models, enriching professional development, and meaningful collaboration. We also need minimally restricted content and unlimited access... these are all building blocks that 'increase the frequency of guiding coincidences'... these are the things that inspire us, fuel us, connect us, and allow us to see the potential in ourselves and each other. We truly can 'Be the change we want to see in the world.'

THE NINTH INSIGHT . . . THE EMERGING CULTURE As we all evolve toward the best completion of our spiritual missions, the technological means of survival will be fully automated as humans focus instead on synchronistic growth. Such growth will move humans into higher energy states, ultimately transforming our bodies into spiritual form and uniting this dimension of existence with the after-life dimension, ending the cycle of birth and death.

Web3.0 or Web3D

Gary Hayes has some ideas about where are we going next.

This is both a scary and an exciting time... but mostly it's exciting!

Reading what I have said regarding the Seventh and Eighth Insights, I am keenly aware that some of us are not 'stuck', and that some of us are experiencing those 'guiding coincidences' where everything is coming together. However, I think currently this is the exception rather than the norm.

My question to you is this: When we are stuck, when things aren't coming together, when our universe is not unfolding as it should, how do we make things FLOW?

I ask this since we are heading map-less into new, and uncharted territory.

Posted by David Truss | 2 comment(s)

March 16, 2007

David Truss

SUCCESS(full) Presentation

success: Richard St. John (From TED)

This isn't only a presentation about what leads to success... it is also about presenting successfully.

It is about how to use Powerpoint (or another presentation tool) effectively: Simple graphics, purposeful movement/animation, a single key word, effective use of bold font, a minimalist quote, good pacing, simple humour, and a message that we could all benefit from.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

Keywords: effective, focus, good, ideas, learning, life lesson, passion, persist, Powerpoint, presentation, push, Richard St. John, serve, success, work

Posted by David Truss | 2 comment(s)

March 20, 2007

David Truss

Reflections: Visit Counts, Technorati, Comments and Ego: A Good, Bad, and (almost) Indifferent Post

An honest look at my blog.

The Good: • This site, elgg.net, is not going to be called EduFilter (seems my e-mail wasn't the only complaint). Elgg is now EduSpaces, a name a number of us recommended - though I bear no claim to my voice being listened to since I also offered a dozen other alternatives.

The Bad: • All my links to the site need changing, this isn't necessary since elgg rather than eduspaces in the address still works, but I would rather that my Flickr, Curriki, LinkedIn, & other blogs etc. all had my updated links.

The (I wish I was) Indifferent: • My Technorati URL needs to change. THE BIG QUESTION: Why did this bother me?

There are two reasons that I can think of: TIMING and EGO.

Timing:
My blog is getting more attention than it ever has. Some noted bloggers: Stephen Downes, Scott McLeod, Wesley Freyer, Miguel Guhlin, and Vicki Davis (on EdTech Talk ) have all given my Web2.0 Prophecy: an Adventure a plug and linked to it with my old elgg address. This attention has doubled traffic to my site and I thank them for this! Yet I sit here pretending it didn't bother me that they are linked to my old Technorati address rather than the new one. This leads to the main reason the URL change bothered me...

Ego:
I while back I e-mailed Scott McLeod in response to his top edublogs? post and wrote this:

"As I said in my comment, thank you for doing this and being honest about your interest in your ranking.

I think a significant number people care and don't admit it, and I admire someone who openly admits it. I haven't really paid attention to my rank- being new myself- I have had my blog for almost a year, but would consider myself a 'blogger' a la Will Richardson for only a few months now. However I have been watching my number of visits and my clustrmap religiously... not the ranking itself, but it shows my concern in the same vain." [Link added for this post]

Here comes the honest part: I like to go to my sitemeter and see where people visit me from. I like seeing the dots grow, in number and in size, on my clustrmap... and I like when I see new links in Technorati. Why?

The fact is, that I want to be well read, and I want my blog to be recognized. Scott McLeod says it best at the end of his 'top edublogs?' post:

"P.S. I unapologetically admit that I care about my Technorati ranking. Why? Because I'm trying to make change. The bigger audience I have, the more readers I reach directly and the more people I can influence indirectly through those readers. I'm on a mission. Aren't you?"

So, not only have I mulled over the change in URL, I have also reflected on this blog quite a bit.
After having this blog for almost a year, this is what I know...
Besides my Web2.0 Prophecy post, the posts that get attention are:

1. Square Peg, Round Hole - a collection of other people's ideas around schools not fitting kids that I have been adding to until recently, now a second post is in the works.

2. Portal Needed to Connect Classrooms to the World: Global Citizens can Share Talents and Skills with Students and the accompanying wiki fieldfindr, (yesterday fieldfindr had more hits than my blog... almost a month after I created it as a mock-up to go along with the post). When will someone make this a reality?

3. The digital native, the digital naive, and the digital divide - among other things, the idea that maybe students of this generation aren't fully at the digital native stage... yet.

4. Leadership Lesson Plans - found in my files rather than my blog. Thanks mostly to Curriki, these get visited and downloaded a number of times daily. I am glad I can offer these resourses that I have found useful in teaching Leadership.

And in my opinion, the most under-rated post: School 2.0 Participant's Manifesto - Manifesto's are big in education and schools2.0 but they mostly focus on the changes needed to the system. Here, I look at the responsibilities of the learner- remember them?... the people we are 'doing this stuff to'. (ok, that was a bit cheeky!)

To anyone reading my blog for the first time, Learning Conversations is a post that quotes a lot of my other posts and gives a sense for what this blog is about, and what it means to me.

And now, in case this post hasn't been self-indulgent enough,
I will reflect a little more on this blog.

The Good:
•Quality. I take pride in my posts and although I still do them primarily for myself, I am keenly aware that I have an audience. This has made me a much better writer... (and it can do the same for students!)
•Recognition. My site is slowly growing in readership. Fear not 'A list' bloggers your position is safe, I'm not tilting the blogosphere on its' head here, but I do consider myself an agent of change, and I will make my world a better place!
•Meaningful dialogue. I have enjoyed the learning conversations that I have had online. I have not been this excited about learning- ever! Was it like this in school for anyone? Not me.

The Bad:
•In-click/Out-click. I am amazed at how ridiculous some of the Google Searches are that lead to my site. For example I have the phrase 'Webkinz-dot-com' in a post that happens to touch an image of a (totally unrelated) bridge. 2-5 times a week I get hits from Webkinz (stuffed animal) image searches - Hardly what I would call a meaningful hit.
•Time. I spend too much time on the computer. I can't keep up with my feedreader. Both reading and writing are slow processes for me. I started highlighting 'New Voices' but have stopped recently because I haven't read any recently. I resolve this by sleeping less, but I can't keep this up much longer. Who is doing all this well? And what is your secret???
•Comments. I spend a bit of time each week commenting on blogs... continuing the conversation. But I seem to generate very few commenters on my blog. This might be a result of my next point.
•Post length. I am long-winded. Most of my posts are lengthy. Are readers even getting to the end of them? I think it was Vicki Davis who wrote 'write it, then cut it in half.' I have to learn to do this... it won't be easy for me. Even this post is probably too long!

The Indifferent:
•Technorati. It took a few days but I'm over it. I really don't mind that I am starting over. I will enjoy watching the links grow again. I have never gone to Technorati to see someone else's ranking and judged their site as a result. In fact, in a comment on Christian Long's post Stop Blogging Because You're An Educator I state: "...Warlick and Richardson seem to be more about post-cards than edu-posts." I've noticed that many of the really meaningful posts that I have read recently have not come from the 'big boys' but rather the boys and girls- like me - that are in the trenches, trying to make sense of where schools are now, and where they need to be.

Speaking of the trenches, here is a new voice for you (#5 of 7): Read Claudia Ceraso's The Price of Evolution in your Teaching Practice.

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Images: Foster City Reflections and Under The Bridge 2 are both by Peter Kaminski on Flickr.

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Posted by David Truss | 6 comment(s)

March 23, 2007

David Truss

Assessment & Rote Learning: Math Conundrums

Read and comment on this post
at the new Pair-a-Dimes location here:
http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/math-conundrums/

Multiply Two Negatives and You Get a Positive.

So, I take 'Rote Learning' and multiply that by 'Teaching to the Test' and that equals 'Better Standardized Test Results'? Well, that's not exactly what this post is about... but this is a good lead in. And for those of you that don't know why -3 x -4 = +12, I do provide a link that might help.

In some ways I think this really should be two posts, one on Assessment and one on Rote Learning of Multiplication/Division Skills, but I also think they fit well together.

Find X I'm in the process of marking some Algebra tests.

Just so you know, 7 x 4 = 32 and 6 x 8 = 52.

I just want that on the record.

In both cases the student's algebra was correct.

In fact, in both those cases the error made the algebra much more difficult, with the variable becoming a fraction rather than in integer.

So, how would you evaluate these two questions?

Algebra Nightmare Assessment

Before you read this, Dan Meyer's How Math Must Assess, and his linked mini-thesis are worthy reads.

I remember doing a Math/Assessment Pro-D at the start of a Staff Meeting a few years ago. I gave everyone a Fraction Quiz and an answer key for a ficticious student. The quiz was out of 20. (I have the questions, but need to track down the answers I created to add to this post.)

The first question asked the student to reduce fractions to lowest terms, (4 fractions for 4 marks - they included 2 proper fractions, & 2 improper, one of which reduced to a whole number).

The second question said, "Solve. Put all answers in lowest terms. (2 marks each)". There were a total of 8 questions, 2 each for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions.

The student made one consistent error when reducing.

Staff members had many questions including, "Can I give half marks?" -All of which I answered, "You are marking the quiz, you decide."

On the low end, one teacher who had never taught Math gave the student 8/20 - I think he gave 1 mark each for getting the first parts of the 2nd question correct. On the other end of the spectrum, our LAC (Learning Assistance Center) teacher gave the student 18/20. All other teachers varied within these two scores, with no single score being an obvious favorite.

To be honest, the quiz answers were very contrived, and I doubt a student would make such an error so consistently without making others, but the point was well taken.

What are we assessing? Is our assessment measuring what we say it is? Are we assessing the right things?

Rote Learning (for Multiplication Tables... and Related Division Questions)

If you teach Math, here is a New Voice (#6 of 7). I stumbled on to Amanda Waye's Understanding Multiplication blog doing a Google Search for this post. Her Opposing Views on Teaching Methods has made this post easy for me... read her post and I can get down to the 'nitty gritty' without a whole lot of background details.

Rote learning. I know the opposing arguments. I even agree with them as I will demonstrate later. But when a kid arrives in my class in Grade 8 and doesn't know their times tables it drives me crazy... When they can't multiply 4 x 7, or can't see that 7/28 can be reduced... I have to wonder... how can I meaningfully teach them integers or algebra?

Multiplication chart

Now, I'm neither suggesting that students sit at one table and memorize another table for hours on end; Nor am I suggesting that rote learning is a singular approach to learning multiplication. But in order to get students to be more numerate, we need not have the pendulum swing completely away from drilling some basics.

Multiplication is repeated addition, it is about adding 'groups of' a number. It is a simple concept.

If a student just has rote comprehension of their multiplication tables in their early years, it will help them more than it could possibly hurt them. For those of you that had multiplication drilled into them, did it scar you? Are you wounded by it? If so, I would argue that it was a result of poor delivery, not the actual memorization. I know that I memorized my tables, but as an adult I have no recollection of the process... just as I don't remember learning to read. Furthermore, as a Social Studies trained, Arts Degree student, I know that a strong foundation in basic skills helped make my transition to teaching Math a lot easier than if I had lacked such a strong background.

multeplying integer rules

Here is the crux of my point: When you have a solid understanding of Math fundamentals, it is easy to build new, more challenging concepts on to your base knowledge.

Example: When multiplying integers I teach the 'rules', the algorithm, but I also teach 'Why?'. A student who has rote understanding of their times tables will see within my Multiplying Integers lessons that multiplication is repeated addition... a student lacking basic multiplication skills usually cannot go beyond the 'rules' since the multiplication itself is a neuron-taxing challenge to them.

You need an understanding of basic skills before you can move on to more challenging tasks.

You can't teach a skateboarder to do a Ollie when they still have issues staying on their skateboard... They need to be competent on their skateboard- without thinking about their balance, timing etc. before they learn the more complicated moves. Once a skater has the fundamentals of an Ollie within their repertoire, they have the foundation to perform even more skills/tricks.

Integers and Algebra both build on a foundation knowledge of multiplication skills.

Use rote memorization, flash-cards, games online... make it fun... do a song and dance, stand on your head... but what ever you do, don't let your kids get to Grade 8 without knowing their multiplication tables!

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Image of Skater: IMG_8459 by Outside the Box on Flickr

Keywords: algebra, Amanda Waye, assessment, basic skills, Dan Meyer, datruss, David Truss, DavidTruss.com, division, evaluation, Grade 8, integers, learning, Math, Math rules, Mathematics, multiplication, pair-a-dimes, Pro-D, quiz, rote learning, teaching, testing

Posted by David Truss | 1 comment(s)

March 28, 2007

David Truss

Vandals, Vulgarity and Victims

Until last year, this odd negative/neon image was the only public image you could find of me on the web. In fact currently, many of my online sites still have this image. I like the photo, people who know me recognize me in it, and it was taken on a hot air balloon trip with my wife, so it has fond memories attached. But I decided that since I have been very public with my thoughts and ideas, (as seen on this blog), I would share a bit more of who I am, while on the web. Slowly but surely I have been putting photos on the web with a greater likeness to me. Now I wonder if I should go back to this image? I wonder if I should make my family photos private again? Also, I am keenly aware that at some point in the future I may need to moderate comments on this blog, and I find that sad.

Today I read a horribly upsetting Kathy Sierra post on the Creating Passionate Users blog. Kathy has been the victim of some anonymous, vulgar, sexist vandals... that have gone so far as to issue death threats. I am not linking to the actual post since, although I truly empathize with how difficult this has been for her, I don't like the approach of the post. Kathy shares, in detail, all of the words, images and internet pseudonyms of the people that have put her in considerable distress. Personally, I think that gives the vandals too much credit/recognition that they certainly don't deserve (I said this in one of the 1,000+ comments currently on this post).

This comes after reading Kelly Christopherson's post Masked Commentors just over a week ago. As he states about the first comment on his school blog, "it wasn’t necessarily positive and it used a bit of profanity... I know that even these comments have nuggets that I need to mine and use to become a better leader and person."

I must admit to having difficulty seeing the nuggets sometimes. Instead, I see the miner covered in soot.

These are filthy crimes. They are not victimless. They are not funny. They are hurtful.

I got hit with this kind of abuse a couple years ago. I have a website that I go to for drawing faces in art. I used to sign my work with a pseudonym rather than my real name when I saved portraits that I created into the public gallery, (I expected the same from my students). I would use these saved images in the following years as examples of what students could do. Two years ago when I did a search for my pseudonym in the gallery there were derogatory sketches and comments that came up in the search that were directly aimed at 'Mr. Truss'.

Neither of these last two situations compare with the anguish that Kathy is experiencing... in fact she may very well depart from the blogosphere as a result of this... (which would be horrible, and I am saddened by the potential loss). However, these situations do make me think of the potential perils of teachers and administrators having a public face on the internet. It only takes one malicious person to be hurtful, one 'bad apple' to spoil the pie.

There is a saying I love to use:
"Don't wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it."

This is fairly easy to do with an angry person... simply choose not to engage in their dirty approach.

However these kind of hurtful, hateful on-line vandals bring the mud to the fight. They hurl it at you and get you dirty whether or not you choose to engage. Combating this is not easy: It takes courage, it takes thick skin, it takes effort to choose a moral stance; to avoid slinging mud. As a result, it leaves me wondering... How do you stop these malicious people from getting the best of you? Beyond not giving the offenders any credit or notoriety, and beyond 'turning the other cheek', what else can be done?

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Anti-Cyberbullying Day - Friday, March 30th, 2007

Keywords: abuse, blogging, challenges, comments, courage, Creating Passionate Users, cyberbullying, datruss, David Truss, hate, Kathy Sierra, Kelly Christopherson, Miss Profe, Pair-a-Dimes, sexist, solutions, stop cyberbullying, stopcyberbullying, teaching, vandalism, vandals, victims, vulgar

Posted by David Truss | 1 comment(s)

March 30, 2007

David Truss

on being a blogger...

How is a post inspired? Where do the seeds of thought that blossom into these very words come from?

The seeds

• I have a student in my class that is currently on a very unhealthy diet. I know that I cannot convince her to get off of it without replacing it in some way. I hunt down my copy of Anthony Robbin's 'Unlimited Power' because I remember that it has a very well executed, healthy eating strategy. I find the book and it has a few paper bookmarks in it from a couple decades ago. From the page with the first bookmark:

... you will enrich your world and enrich your work if you bring to it the same curiosity and vitality you bring to your play.

• I read Claudia Ceraso's insightful post, Blogging So Far , (I like her blogger's view of Google). I realize that like Claudia, I too have had my blog for 1 year. I follow the links and come across a few "5 reasons I blog" posts... not my kind of post to write, but interesting to read. [From Claudia's post]

A blog is a learning engine
A node in your PLE (personal learning environment ). A virtual zone of proximal development . Learning happens when you connect to other people (other, meaning diverse , not just a group of different people). Reading alone with my books is half way to learning. I need to ask. If the author cannot be consulted anymore, I'd much rather find what their readers are writing in blogs. Always connecting, constructing, learning.

• I re-read Christopher D. Sessums' How Do Educators Learn Successful Practices Using Social Media/Social Software? and I comment: [Exerpt from the comment]

In my attempt to (im)migrate into a web2.0 user/participant it has been the informal learning that has been most beneficial/rewarding.
For example, your post: Competing Paradigms and Educational Reform struck a chord with me almost a year ago, and prompted me to quote you on my fledgeling blog. It was one of a number of influences that has made me questions my practice and the practice of schools.

I am now trying to bring Science Alive for my students in a way I never dreamed I could before... But this did not come from any formal community. It came from a loosely bound community of learners, unequally nurturing and feeding off of each other. It came from a digital web-path of hyperlinks which has helped construct meaning and relationships not easily discovered in a linear learning environment.

I think it is the informal learning experiences: the resourceful, interest-driven meandering between, among and within more formal communities/conferences/platforms and collaboration opportunities that has been most meaningful to me.

In essence I have become an empowered learner!

... This comment isn't just another seed, it is the roots. It is what this post is about. It is why I blog.

The gardening

I start to make the connections between these seedling ideas.

• 'Vitality'. My blog is not work, it is play. Play from which I have the benefit of enhancing what I do in my classroom, in my daily job... which in turn provides even more vitality.

• 'Always connecting, constructing, learning'. I haven't been able to finish my book for our book club because I read for 5 minutes and my eyes/my brain are craving a hyperlink... the lateral shifts in thinking that help me synthesize and add meaning to what I read. I want to interact with my r

'P a i r - a - D i m e s' h a s M O V E D ! C l i c k h e r e .

David Truss :: Blog :: Archives

March 2007

March 03, 2007

SUPER TAGS and TAG WEEDERS: It's time for blog tags to grow up!

March 05, 2007

Licensed To Pill: We live in an over-prescribed (and over-labelled) society.

March 11, 2007

Marking What Counts and Reporting on Report Cards

March 12, 2007

it brought tears to my eyes

March 13, 2007

The Web2.0 Prophecy: An Adventure

March 16, 2007

SUCCESS(full) Presentation

March 20, 2007

Reflections: Visit Counts, Technorati, Comments and Ego: A Good, Bad, and (almost) Indifferent Post

March 23, 2007

Assessment & Rote Learning: Math Conundrums

March 28, 2007

Vandals, Vulgarity and Victims

March 30, 2007

on being a blogger...