New Directions



I have been asked to be the educational blogger for The Balancing Act. The Balancing Act is a show on the Lifetime network and they needed someone to write about some education for parents. Since I'm always up for something new, you will find me posting once a week on different topics that would concern parents, teachers and students. Sometimes I will focus on the great web based tools available for parents to use to support the work teachers do in the classroom and other times I will write about simple strategies teachers use to help student be successful that parents might not know about. I'm excited about the chance to bring a teacher's view of education to parents. I don't think the average teacher is heard and this is chance to speak. Not much is going to change from my end of the site. My posts will be doubled up here on TheNerdyTeacher and at my page on The Balancing Act. I think this officially fills my schedule, but I'm sure someone (Kelly, Shelly, Shannon, Kyle, Tim, etc...) will convince me to do something else awesome. :-) I hope I provide a good voice for teachers across the country. For all of my new readers, buckle up for a Nerdy ride.


Can You Hear Me Know?

“Hello world!” That’s how I started my very first blog post on a long forgotten blog years ago. I’m really excited to share my thoughts with everyone in The Balancing Act family and can’t wait to see what parents from around the country have to say on important educational issues. I hope to create an open dialogue with parents to discuss ways to increase student achievement. I’ll be answering your questions, sharing studying tips, showing you learning strategies and other great ways technology can be used to help students in school. Like all things, we need to start at the beginning. The teacher and parent relationship needs to be established to truly help students.
I am often asked by parents, “What can I do to help bring up my son’s grade?” It is such a great question, but only if it is asked at the right time. When I receive that question in mid-September, I can help the parent help the student and things tend to work out. When I receive that question three days before report cards are sent home, there’s not much I can do. Communication is the best way to save a student from falling too far behind in school.

Like any relationship, communication is key. As a parent, it’s important to start the school year asking teachers what they use for communication. Does the teacher have a class website? Do they respond quicker to email or phone calls? Do they use Twitter? Does the class have a blog that tracks assignments? Are grades posted on-line? These are important questions to ask a teacher early in the year. Sometimes “Back to School” night is a month into the school year and that might be too late for some students. Once a parent establishes contact with teachers, it is important to keep in regular contact and keep the teacher informed.

As a teacher, there have been too many times where I have tried to work with a struggling student and found out they were dealing with problems outside of school. One time, I found out a student was completely deaf in one ear 4 months into the school year and he sat in the back of the room! Keeping the teacher informed of life outside of school is very helpful. It allows teachers to keep an eye out for things or bad habits that could form. One parent emailed me to let me know their son was going through a bad break-up with a long-time girlfriend and he has been bummed out lately. I took that info and made sure to include him a little more in class conversation and pay extra attention to his behavior. Like all teens, it lasted for a week or so and he moved on. Keep the teacher informed and many problems can be prevented in the long run.
I’ve always said, “If my biggest problem is an over-involved parent, I’m doing ok as a teacher.” Don’t be afraid to make contact with teachers and create a healthy relationship. Parents and teachers want what is best for kids and communication is a sure fire way to see that students are successful.

- @TheNerdyTeacher

"All right, then, I'll go to hell"

I was typing up a document to share with my kids on how to properly embed a quote in a paragraph for an essay. I needed to create a paragraph off the top of my head centered on a different story so the students could see what it would look like in practice. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of my favorite books and that is what came to mind when I thought about writing a paragraph.

The one quote that came to mind was this one from Huck near the end of the book, "All right, then, I'll go to hell" (Twain 210). I love this quote because Huck has decided to help free Jim despite what society says about slavery. It's an act of independence. Huck says his moral compass is more important than that of others. I was struck by this and thought about the work I've been doing in class with my kids and realized that the quote has been my motto all year. I needed to post my thoughts now before school started.

As more and more people continue to pressure teachers to follow the standardized testing routine, I decided I'm going to be project based and have fun while I do it. If teachers want to shake their finger at me and suggest that I'm doing kids a disservice, let them. I'm going to do what I think is best for the students in my classroom. I feel that is my responsibility. I feel so much better that this quote came to mind. I've been worrying about my decisions to go this way, but Huck reminded me that society doesn't always know what is best.

For all of the teachers out there doing something different, know that you will have a nice seat in hell next to me and Huck Finn. Have a great Tuesday.

Calling all Admins to #ProjectPLN

Are you an Administrator? Have you always wanted to share one good piece of advice to other Administrators? Do you want to give one special little tip to teachers that could help them with the administration in their building? Then you have come to the right place! Project PLN is looking for articles from administrators that give advice to other admins or suggestions to teachers. There are many great admins out there and we would love for you to share your thoughts and ideas with a wider audience. These articles do not need to be very long or even new. If you have an old post that you would like us to post in the November issue of Project PLN, please send it to ProjectPLN10@gmail.com

If you would like to write a brand new post just for us, that would be great too! The new posts do not need to be very long, just long enough to impart some of your wisdom. Please pass this along to other admins you know so they can share their wisdom with teachers and admins from around the world.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and I hope you will consider sharing your thoughts with the rest of the PLN. Please send all submissions by Sunday November 7th.

Social Media, Technology and Education

I was thinking about posting this on my blog that goes out to my district. Does this sound too harsh? Thoughts would be appreciated.
I was honored to be asked to speak at the 140 Character Conference in Detroit on Wednesday. I was asked to talk briefly about the impact Social Media is having on education. The interesting thing about this conference was that it was not an education conference. I was not surrounded by like-minded teachers preaching to the choir. I was surrounded by business men and women from all walks of life. These were people that were coming into this conference expecting to hear about best business practices they could incorporate into their work. I realized that I was going to speak to an audience that had already formed some opinion on education. If recent news is any indication, the opinion might not be a good.
The talk went really well and my ideas and lessons were well received. I was actually a trending topic on Twitter in Detroit. MLive.com even wrote about what I said here. I was shocked by all of the positive feedback because it was so quick through Twitter. People let me know how they felt as I talked. Imagine if our classrooms ran that way. Think about the possibilities of instant feedback from students as we lectured. Questions could be asked by anyone and everyone. Conversations could be had without speaking up while we talked. These things are possible through social media.
One thing that really struck me at the conference was how positive everyone was. I have found that too many teachers are negative when new ideas are presented. I know I have been guilty of this from time to time and need to work hard to stop. However, maybe it is time to start looking at how things could work and how we can try to make them work instead of all of the reasons things are going to fail. As a certain Science teacher said at a recent staff meeting, we learn as much from failing as we do from our success, if not more. Not every new idea is going to apply to every teacher in every content area. However, that does not mean that all new ideas should be blocked out. Education is getting a bad reputation because there are bad teaches out there in the world. These are teachers that refuse to grow and change. Education is a constantly evolving world. I'm not doing the same thing I did 10 years ago because the kids are not the same and I'm not the same. Yes, it will take hard work and some long hours. If you became a teacher expecting it to be easy, you are in the wrong job.

Lastly, I really think I started to understand why people have such an issue with education. We (The entire educational system) are usually the last adopters. We are the last ones to look at new ideas or technology and incorporate them into the schools. There is a struggle to get everyone on board. By the time it finally happens, the idea is old and something new is already here. As teachers, it is our job to accept some change and see how we can connect with our students. I'm not suggesting everyone throws out all of their amazing lessons and replace them with new ones centered on gadgets. Technology, ideas, innovation are not “all or nothing” concepts. Everyone needs to look at what works for them and take baby steps in the right direction. The problem as I see it is that too many people have their heels dug in.
Challenge

I challenge all teachers to pick one new tool out there and work with it. Play with it. Find out how it works and how you can use it in your class. By the 4th marking period (April or May) incorporate that tool into a lesson in your class. It doesn't have to be something super complicated. Everyone should choose a tool for their own skill level, but commit to mastering something and using it in class. No matter what content area you are in, there is a tool out there that can make class a little more exciting for your students. There is a tool out there that can inspire students to think differently about a project or idea. If every teacher picked one tool every year and shared that tool with others, we would all be masters of technology and students would be better for it. Who's willing to take the challenge?