Whatisschool October 16, 2014

Thank You! For another amazing conversation.

Every week when we get together I am surprised and overwhelmed by the amount of passionate educators and concerned people who join the conversation.  These ideas we are sharing are important! Get fired up about how you are teaching, what you are focusing on and how the students you educate will effect the world they will one day join as adults. Your influence could be exactly the inspiration a student who doesn’t fit the mold needs and who knows, that student could be the one whose great idea changes the world! We owe it to ourselves, our students and stakeholders, to re-imagine school in a way that continues to make it evolve, creating a richer and more nourishing environment than ever before.  The archive from tonight’s chat is posted below. 

Homework and Learning, #WhatIsSchool

 October 16,  2014 7PM EDT

Children learn in many different ways, through play, lessons, repetitive drills, critical thinking and problem solving.  But where does homework fit into all of this?  Are the lessons learned in school being reinforced or are we taking away time from personal growth that would lower stress, increase grades and add to family time by providing more opportunity for play, conversation and invention? This week #whatisschool examines the association between learning, testing, homework and play by exploring what works and what doesn’t in schools around the world.

Alfie Kohn, author of thirteen books on education and parenting had this to say…

Questions for this week's chat #WhatIsSchool

Thursday, October 16, 2014 7PM EDT

1)  Do students learn by doing homework? Why is it given?

2)  Would student learning increase or decrease with more time for exploration, play and peer interaction during or after school?

3)  What impact does class size, differentiated leaning and free time have on student success?

4)  How can technology be used in student learning after school?

5)   Does standardized testing help students learn? Does it help teachers teach?

6)   If you could change one thing immediately to increase student success and your ability to teach, what would it be?

Bring the Great Story World Mix-Up to your classroom and discover the magic, and science of a  helping the world

Whatisschool October 9, 2014

Join #whatisschool Thursday, October 9 7PM EST

as we tackle the basics of"based learning" 

Looking at education today we can find many teaching styles based on specific teaching methodology, many which begin with a name followed by "based learning." Project based learning, problem based learning, inquiry based learning, game based learning even zombie based learning (yes, that's right) has come into vogue. As we steer our students and classrooms towards a future workforce focused on critical thinking, problem solving and technological solutions it's easy to find yourself wondering, which "base" is best.

Join us this week as #whatisschool explores that basics of "bases," what works and what doesn't and how to create your own out of the box learning base that integrates core competencies and technology to engage and enrich your students.

Here's a look at the Ted Ed lesson that explains the learning behind ZBL, one of the latest bases, which focus' on understanding how geography and the push and pull factors of geographic movement, (ideas, resources, people) can save your life in case of, say, a zombie apocalypse.

Questions for #whatisschool Thursday, October 9, 7PM EST

Q)1What "based learning" style have you tried that made you and your students say "WOW!"

Q)2 How can learning bases be integrated with technology to solve real world problems?

Q)3 What benefits do you reap or see your students gaining from a learning base that is out of the box?

Q)4 Are learning bases something new or just a new way to repackage old ideas?

Q)5 What impact has technology had on the learning base you use the most, how can it be integrated to enhance the experience.

Q)6 What learning base, real or imagined would you like to try? (Pirate-BL, Alien-BL, culinary-BL, Pet-BL...)

Co-moderated by children's book author and education thought leader Laura Hill @candylandcaper and international educator Craig Kemp.   Please contact either of us with your questions and ideas, we'd love to hear from you!

Whatisschool October 2, 2014

Bring the Great Story World Mix-Up to your classroom and discover the magic, and science of a  helping the world

#WhatIsSchool Is Connected For Learning!

Thursday, October 2, 2014 7PM

What makes parents tick? Get students engaged? Helps teachers foster learning and keeps administrators informed? 

Simple communication that used to be accomplished by a conversation, phone call or meeting isn’t so  simple anymore. As we speed into the digital age parents, students, teachers and administrators have more choices on how to connect than ever before…and in some cases it is making them more disconnect than they ever were!  Join us as #whatisschool celebrates connected educator month by exploring the best, and the worst ways to connect with stakeholders, peers and the ones who rely on you most, your students. 

In our special connected edition of #whatisschool Gold Star innovator Mark Weston and AussieEd founder Brett Salakas will be bringing their expertise and powerhouse connecting skills as guest co-moderators of this week’s #whatisschool chat.  Don’t miss it!

Questions for #whatisschool Thursday, October 2, 7PM EST

1) Communication in a digital age is the most important skill students can learn for success, how can you foster and model these skills?

2) In what ways do you let your students tell their story in the scholastic community and the digital arena?

3) How can students build their communication skills through real life experience tied into the curriculum, will this help them succeed?

4) What benefit does real world feedback provide to students, teachers?

5) How can communication be re-imagined to create beneficial opportunities in the classroom?

6) As a connected community, what tools can we bring to the classroom to best serve each other, parents, administrators and students? 

Mark Weston

Brett Salakas

Co-moderated by children's book author and education thought leader Laura Hill @candylandcaper and international educator Craig Kemp @Mrkempnz  Please contact either of us with your questions and ideas, we'd love to hear from you!

Bring the Great Story World Mix-Up to your classroom and discover the magic, and science of a  helping the world

Whatisschool September 25, 2014

Bring the Great Story World Mix-Up to your classroom and discover the magic, and science of a  helping the world

Today #whatisschool honed into discussing one of the biggest issues on all educators minds. Digital Citizenship and Cybersafety!  As usual, the #whatisschool PLN didn’t disappoint with a trend setting display of inspirational tweets and discussion threads based around the 6 weekly questions. 

For those of you who are new to Twitter Chats or #whatisschool, we meet every Thursday 7pm EDT to discuss the important issues in Education and this discussion forms an impressive archive of learning for everyone involved. All you have to do is jump on twitter at this time every week and use the hashtag #whatisschool and contribute (or just lurk).

#whatisschool continues to grow and it is an absolute honour to have created this space and to see the development within it. Thank you for being a part of it and please continue to share and engage your PLN as well. It is great to see new people coming along every week and actively participating in what is quickly becoming one of the most engaging chats on the twitter calendar.   

As #whatisschool grows, so does our ability to connect, collaborate and network – keep inviting your PLN - It is always a pleasure to have you here! We have done our best to create an edchat space where people can express an unbiased response to questions about schooling, where educators have a voice in shaping the future through their experience, recommendations and interests.

Here is the archive of our chat.  Please share and make sure you join the conversation next week.  Every Monday we will also share the questions for the upcoming session via twitter and our blogs.

#Whatisschool Thursday, September 25, 2014 7PM

What does it take to be a great leader, thinker and creator in a digital world? Join #whatisschool Thursday 9/25 7PM EST as we tackle the possibilities and pitfalls of opening the classroom to digital global technology.

What images do the words global student bring to mind, how about digital citizen?  Do you see a classroom full of students working on PEDs? Or a twitter style PLN where learning continues 24/7? Maybe a glimpse at students on the other side of the world sharing stories about their classroom and what's in their lunchbox; or maybe you see something much more sinister even dangerous?  In a world where technology transfers information faster than we can consume it we have realized learning opportunities that amaze and excite both student and teacher in their richness and complexity.  We have also seen poor judgement and grievous interaction that has lead to injury, even death.  So how can we encourage students to become masters of technology while teaching them to safely share in arenas where information they post lives on forever? 

This week #whatisschool tackles the opportunities and problems of opening the classroom to digital media as we explore how to help students become leaders, thinkers, creators and digital citizens in a global arena.

Questions for #whatisschool Thursday, September 25

Q1) What is digital citizenship and how can it encourage students to be great leaders, thinkers and creators?

Q2) How would you set up your class to create ongoing even self-directed opportunities for students to interact with others in their global community?

Q3) What safeguards need to be instilled in the classroom and technology setting to ensure good digital citizenship?

Q4) How could you grow a student driven, twitter style PLN that would be a safe place to learn 24/7?

Q5) How could you teach students to use open (global) or closed (district defined) social media to solve big problems working together?

Q6) What values need to be instilled to eradicate cyberbullying and the attitude that anonymity brings acceptance to damaging, even deadly behavior?

Co-moderated by children's book author and education thought leader Laura Hill @candylandcaper and international educator Craig Kemp @Mrkempnz  Please contact either of us with your questions and ideas, we'd love to hear from you!

Bring the Great Story World Mix-Up to your classroom and discover the magic, and science of a  helping the world

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Whatisschool September 18, 2014

Thank you and @web20classroom for another amazing chat!

This was a conversation I was really sore to miss, but back to school night is a must do and also yielded a great time and great information!  I want to send out a special thank you to Steve Anderson for joining us and sharing his knowledge and experience in educational technology.  It is an exciting time to be a teacher and learning from each other will ensure our students have the opportunity to master the skills they will need the most when they graduate.  The archive is posted below.

 #WhatIsSchool Fuels The Educational Technology Fire With Edtech Expert Steve Anderson,

September 18, 2014 7PM EDT

Last week #whatisschool began to explore the importance of integrating technology into classrooms to ensure the best possible future for your students as they enter a global workforce that uses technology as it's hub.  Tonight we take a deeper look at how to use specific technologies to enhance learning and broaden the scope of  education to create schools without walls and global classrooms. To help us we'd like to welcome edtech innovator Steve Anderson to share his thoughts on implementing your ideas!

Questions for this week's chat #whatisschool

Thursday, September 18, 2014 7PM EDT

Q1) Educators use social media to enhance professional development 24/7 how can you bring this experience to your students?

Q2) What portable devices or programs would you use to increase student learning and engagement?

Q3) How would teaching change in your classroom if all students had 1:1 access to technology?

Q4) How can you cultivate digital citizenship using the global classroom concept?

Q5) How can the use of new teaching models including flipped classrooms and "expert reversal" nurture learning 24/7?

Q6) In the future, what new devices or wearable technology, real or imagined, would you use to enhance learning?

Steve Anderson @web20classroom

Steven W. Anderson is an educator, speaker, blogger and Dad from Winston-Salem, NC.  As a former Director of Instructional Technology and Instructional Technologist and Classroom Teacher, Steven is a recognized expert in the infusion of technology in teaching and social media for learning.  He has been a presenter at several educational technology conferences, served as a panelist and was a featured speaker at the first ever #140Edu Conference. He is also responsible in helping create #edchat, In 2012 he was named an ASCD Emerging Leader, recognizing young, talented educational leaders in their field.

Co-moderated by children's book author and education thought leader Laura Hill @candylandcaper and international educator Craig Kemp @Mrkempnz  Please contact either of us with your questions and ideas, we'd love to hear from you!

If you missed EDCampLI…

Saturday I attended my first EDCamp, which was held in my own backyard on Long Island. 

Growing up on Long Island is a real experience.  From it’s humble clam digger roots to the mansions and millionaires of the Hamptons, miles of white sand that make the pristine beaches of Fire Island, and orchard upon orchard of grapes where some of the best wines in the world are produced, there is really something for everyone.

 Fire Island 

If you don’t know where Long Island is, let me clue you in. Long Island juts off the east end of NYC and has long been a mecca for artists, innovators, the rich and famous boasting residents like Jackson Pollack, Teddy Roosevelt, Charles Lindbergh, Walt Whitman, Natalie Portman, Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy, Billy Joel, Calvin Klein, Francis Ford Coppala, and Steven Spielberg. Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister fame lives down the road.   It's the home of famous movie scenes like the "horse head" scene from the film The Godfather (1972), which was lensed at Sand’s Point Preserve; North By Northwest (1959) 
and The Manchurian Candidate (2004) at Old Westbury Gardens and Arthur (1981) staring Dudley Moore at Caumsett State Park.  

It is no wonder that education innovation has a hub here.

Entering EDCampLI, I was greeted by Carol Varsolona of NYEDChat who interviewed me (and many others!) about #whatisschool and the impact it is having on teachers and the way they thinking about education.  Change in education and integrating technology were the big themes of the day. 

Laura Hill #whatisschool interviewed by NYEDChat

Co-hosting NYEDChat was Tony Sinanis who also spoke of telling your school story by branding with technology and social media. Look for his book, The Power Of Branding, out now. Talks with Teachers creator Brian Sztabnik, who lives nearby and is just brilliant was there, along with Doc Sheilah, who presented a talk title “What does your Vox say?” And the list goes on. Tom Whitby, Gwen Pescatore, Dan McCabe and even Starr Sackstien showed up to share their knowledge with packed rooms of educators. It was truly a day of learning and connecting.

Laura Hill #whatisschool and Tony
Sinanis on branding your sch

So if you have a chance and there’s an edcamp near you, why not go!  It got me revved up to do some spectacular author talks on the Great Story World Mix-Up series I write with my daughters and inspired me to share more widely my ideas on the shift needed in teaching to prepare students for a technology based workforce in a #whatisschool lecture series.

The organizers are amazing and you never know who you will bump into. Innovative like-minded educators are right next door, take the leap and head out to an EDCamp, you've got so much to gain and nothing to lose!

-Laura

Laura Hill #whatisschool and
Doc Sheilah on Voxing

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Original Post: Excited To Go To EdCampLI

This weekend Long Island is hosting it’s first EdCamp, Saturday, September 13 and it couldn’t come at a better time!  Long Island is home to a wealth of educators, educational institutions and students of many faces, all poised and ready to use and infuse the system with new models of educational technology and methodology.  What better way to network, share ideas and experiences than a face-to-face meeting with people you’ve been speaking to all along!  

My question to you going into this weekend is what do you expect to get out of it? 

I know my goals are simple; I connected on Twitter to better understand what educators are experiencing in order to add direction to my in-school author talks and workshops, to share my insights on how education is changing to meet the needs of students entering a communications based economy with #whatisschool and to enrich my own children’s education by understanding the opportunities available. 

What I hope to get out of EdCampLI is a deeper enrichment and a connection to educators who are striving towards the same goals, right here in my own backyard.

I hope if you see me you will stop and say hi, introduce yourself and let me know how I can help you, I’ll do the same!  It will be a fantastic day; I hope to make it as meaningful as possible and to see you all there.

-Laura

Whatisschool September 11, 2014

Amazing Conversation on EDTECH in the Classroom

The archives are up for tonight's #whatisschool edtech chat, it was truly amazing.  The ideas flew by so rapidly it was impossible to keep up, and this was the easy week!  Mark your calendar for next Thursday when Steve Anderson @web20classroom brings his edtech expertise to the #whatisschool forum.  I'll be posting the questions early so you can get this most out this great opportunity to ask an expert how and why edtech can work in your classroom.  Tonight's archive is posted below. 

Educational Technology, #WhatIsSchool

 September 11, 2014 7PM EDT

As we race towards graduating our first classes of digital natives into a workforce that is evolving as quickly as technology; educators find themselves excited, confused, determined and frustrated as they try to infuse their curriculum with technology and teaching methods that will provide students with the skills they will need.  It is no longer a question of should we add technology, it's an obligation that comes with giving students their best chance in success.  So what technology should you be adding, taking away or ignoring all together?  For the next two weeks #whatisschool will explore the evolving role of technology in classrooms and how its changing the way we teach, think and interact.

Questions for this week's chat #whatisschool

Thursday, September 11, 2014 7PM EDT

Q1) What technologies have you used in your classroom, what do you wish you could use?

Q2) What is your biggest hindrance to using technology in the classroom, how can you overcome it?

Q3) What would you say to peers, administrators or parents who are skeptical about the value technology adds to class?

Q4) What strategies and technologies could you use to increase student engagement and student voice?

Q5) How would these strategies and technologies better your school and the community it is in?

Q6) How could you create a support system of educators, students and parents to make your classroom technology successful?

Co-moderated by children's book author and education thought leader Laura Hill @candylandcaper and international educator Craig Kemp @Mrkempnz  Please contact either of us with your questions and ideas, we'd love to hear from you!