#TCRWP - Cornelius Minor Session on the BYOT Movement

This is another post with my notes from a session I attended at the March 9th Teachers College Readers and Writers Project Saturday Reunion.  This session took place in the afternoon and was conducted by Cornelius Minor.  It was entitled, "That's the Way of the World: The Bring-Your-Own-Technology Movement and What It Means for Reading and Writing Workshops."

First let me say that Cornelius Minor is a fascinating guy and you can get more insight into his work and passions on his blog: Kass&Corn.  As I mentioned in my last post on #TCRWP, I am fond of the bullet point when I take notes. The notes begin with some background and information regarding the movement and then some practical ideas for implementing, starting, and fostering use of technology in Workshop and beyond.  I have cleaned up the notes a bit, but they are mainly in their raw form.  My comments are at the end.  If you
have any questions or would like to discuss further, please leave a comment.

Cornelius Minor

• What is the BYOT Movement?
• The movement has always been around
• Socrates had a stick and that was high tech at the time
• Movement has begun to shift from legislating what comes into the classroom to building teaching around it
• Modern BYOT has been around for about 5 years
• The Digital Divide has been changed by mobile devices
• There are more ways to have access
• It is important that kids know how to leverage the technology they have (xbox?, etc.)
• Those who know how to use tech tools well are the most economically successful in our current economy
• Who you are as an economic being is cemented by age 14
• Producer
• Consumer
• We need to invite technology into our classrooms so we can help teach kids how to use it so they can go out and feed their families
• We need policy to shift  to relieve teachers of the legal responsibility for student devices if brought in for BYOT
• Resources and steps
• Get smart on using various items
• cell phones
• tablets
• Google Suite of applications
• blogging
• Do schools have a point person for all of this stuff?
• We should be thinking about hiring people who know how to "speak the digital language."
• We have to have a decent classroom culture in place
• We have to have high expectations in place
• We need to welcome kids to our classes with their devices

• How do I get the devices out of pockets and onto desks and back?
• This is basic classroom management - but updated!
• Should take 3-4 days to teach
• Make sure you have a way to reach each child
• Many districts have student email addresses
• If not, collect them.
• Make sure kids know how to check email
• mini-lesson
• assignment
• Make sure kids understand that the work of tech in the classroom has wider implications in the outside world
• The idea is not for everyone to have "one of those" devices
• It is to know how to get access to "one of those"
• "Part of teaching technology is teaching the hustle"
• Curricular Stuff
• 1st 5-8 days are more procedural and cultural than curricular in a BYOT program
• How does tech find its way into the workshops we discuss each day?
• Writing
• In the traditional analog version, the process is thus:
• collecting - 4-6 days
• rehearsal/draft - 1-2 days
• revision - 4-6 days
• editing - 4-6 days
• publish/share - 1 day
• In the technological version:
• publishing/sharing is the most important thing
• How can i position that published piece in the world so that people this kid cares about have access to it? (younger kids = teacher, older kids = peers, etc.)
• Teacher blog?
• post student work
• get it in the world
• parents need to sign a form
• C. Minor feels that the best thing he has done is to publish his kids to the world.
• Don't "select the best work" to go online
• There is no community in that
• Publish 3 pieces per month
• provides consistency for student and readers
• 3 imperfect attempts is better than one perfect attempt
• Learning is in the attempts
• Use pseudonyms for writing
• then only those who know the pseudonym (classmates, families, etc.) know who wrote the piece
• greater safety
• targeted audience

Time ran out on the session; I could have participated for several more hours in this discussion.  Cornelius Minor helped me to see that BYOT is not simply a high school idea that does not translate to elementary schools.  As an elementary principal I am seeing more and more children come to school with some sort of device (eReader, smartphone, iPod touch, handheld games with wifi, etc.) and I hear stories of their game systems, computers, and devices at home.  With all of this technology at their fingertips, it seems almost wasteful to ignore the potential of using them for greater learning opportunities.

Recently, I listened to my daughter and her friends at her 7th birthday party discussing how I should put the video I was taking on YouTube.  They commented that it would probably get 100 hits or 1000 hits and they would be famous!  This idea of "being out there" on the Internet is the modern version of mom and dad posting our work on the refrigerator for all who visit the house to see our accomplishments when we were kids.  The suggestions that Cornelius Minor provided in this session were practical and safe ways to do this.  

As educators we need to use the tools at our disposal to continually improve the way that we meet our educational goals while connecting with the modern child.  This is not to say that at times Socrates writing in the dirt with his stick is not effective; however, I believe that if Socrates had access to what we do, he would have taken his questioning digital.

Once again, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.

Related articles

• #TCRWP Saturday Reunion - March 2013 - Laurie Pessah's Workshop (principalarc.blogspot.com)
• #TCRWP Saturday Reunion - A New Can't Miss for Me! (principalarc.blogspot.com)
• New Units of Study (twowritingteachers.wordpress.com)
• Embracing Bring Your Own Technology #byotchat #byod @mysa @ectechhornet (mguhlin.org)
• BYOT Bring your own technology to work? (dealarchitect.typepad.com)
• BYOT with Fotobabble/Educreations (lgb06.wordpress.com)
• Byot (thesmallstreetjournal.wordpress.com)

#TCRWP Saturday Reunion - March 2013 - Laurie Pessah's Workshop

It has been several weeks since the Teacher College Reading and Writing Project Saturday Reunion at Columbia University; however, I am just getting a chance to sit down and write some of my reflections on the sessions I attended that day.  This first post is about a session by Laurie Pessah.  The full title of the session was Systems and Structures that Administrators and Literacy Leaders Can Put in Place to Create School-Wide Change: Learning Walks, Feedback, and Other Supports.  It is quite a mouthful and the session was full of practical ideas that can be implemented immediately.

Laurie Pessah

Laurie began with a focus on walkthroughs indicating that traditional ones have been used by administrators for evaluation and supervision purposes.

• Walkthroughs should be done by a teamTeams should consisted of teachers, administrators, and coaches
• There should be a teacher from every grade level
• More people=Better Conversation
• They should not be about supervision, but about Vision

She talked about three types of walkthroughs: Common Core Curriculum Walkthroughs, Bottom Lines Walkthroughs, and Environmental Walkthroughs.  I have summarized my notes below.  In case you were wondering, I am fond of bullet points in my note-taking.

Common Core Curriculum Walkthroughs

• CCSS are meant to push students and teachers higher
• Guiding Question: "Is our school teaching high enough to the CCSS?"
• Walkthrough observers walk around with common core sheets/rubrics
• Administrators need to learn the standards by grade level
• The same lessons often occur in 1st grade and 4th grade
• We need to look at how the 4th grade lesson deepens the learning.

Bottom Lines Walkthroughs

• These walkthroughs are designed to see where professional development needs to be directed.
• The walkthrough team is looking to see that foundational Writers Workshop skills are in place
• Is it happening every day?
• Is conferring occurring?
• Are conferring records being kept?
• Is there a place for meeting to confer? as a group?
• Looking at the classroom through this lens will assist in seeing what essential Workshop skills need to be reinforced through PD.

Environmental Walkthroughs

• These walkthroughs are about the patterns seen in the rooms throughout a school
• The entire staff can/should participate in these walkthroughs
• The group goes into different classrooms and walks the rooms
• The group looks at the things that go into each room
• Is there a writing center?
• Are desks arranged to support conversation?
• What do kids leave outside?
• It is surprising what teachers learn from each other's rooms

The next portion of the session focused on Learning Walks.  These are a bit different than the various walkthroughs discussed above.

Learning Walks

• These walks can be done twice per year for maximum goal setting

• Sept/Oct and May/June
• Teams should be inclusive
• 8-10 people
• Member roles
• Each person has a focused "look for"
• The areas of focus depend upon what the school is working on
• The members only look at that one thing with "tunnel vision"
• sped modifications
• teacher language
• cooperative structures
• etc.
• The team decides upon topics for the walk and assigns each member's focus before the walk
• These walks are non-critical
• Having members from different grade levels gives more perspectives in the discussion

The final major structure that Laurie Pessah discussed during this session was Feedback.  Her contention was that feedback is the most important component to student success in the classroom; more important than class size, student-teacher relationship, explicit instruction, socio-economics, and inquiry instruction.  She showed a video of Lucy Calkins giving feedback to a child and then discussed the following principles of feedback.

Principles of Feedback

• It doesn't allways need to be about something new
  
• • can continue something old
• We should do research to know the bigger picture
• • what is teacher working on?
  • stay longer to figure out
• We should give direct and honest feedback
• • it is not negative to redirect in the moment
  • it should be based in evidence
• Always compliment
• • this makes conferree more open and receptive
  • make a practice-focused compliment

At the end of the session, Laurie briefly discussed several other structures and practices.  These included Lead Teachers, Professional Learning Communities, Reciprocal Classroom Visits, Common Planning time, and the two below that I will be starting on this Spring.

• June Visits
• every teacher goes down one grade level for a visit
• teachers can see what the students know in June
• eliminates September's preconceived notions of what students DON'T know
• "Quote Study"
• Instead of doing book studies at faculty meetings
• Choose 4 quotes to discuss.
• Can be given in advance or not
• Eliminates asking already stressed staff to do homework for faculty meeting.

Hopefully, these notes are somewhat clear and provide a glimpse into what was an excellent session.  As I have said in previous posts, the Saturday Reunion is an amazing day of learning about all things Reading and Writing.  I have a couple more posts to come regarding our March 9th visit to Columbia University.  Stay Tuned.

If you are confused by anything in my notes or if you want to discuss anything, please leave a comment!

Related articles

#TCRWP Saturday Reunion - A New Can't Miss for Me! (principalarc.blogspot.com)

Slice 2013 9 of 31 My Day at Teachers College Saturday Reunion(readingtothecore.wordpress.com)

#Slice 2013: 10 of 31- The TCWRP Saturday Reunion (tworeflectiveteachers.blogspot.com)

#Slice 2013: 12 of 31 - Two More Saturday Reunion Workshops (tworeflectiveteachers.blogspot.com)

#Slice 2013: 13 or 31 - Kate Roberts Workshop (tworeflectiveteachers.blogspot.com)

Depths of Knowldege (DOK) is More Than an Acronym!

It has been several weeks since I spent a wonderful Saturday in New York City learning with my colleagues at the  Teachers College Readers and Writers Project 83rd Saturday Reunion.  I attended several energetic and informative sessions that day with colleagues from my school district who decided it was a great idea to spend a Saturday sitting in workshops learning how to enhance and improve their craft.  I just love that!!

One of the best workshops that I had the pleasure of attending was Chris Lehman's session entitled: Depths of Knowledge (DOK) is More than an Acronym: Use this New Lens to Revise Our Teaching so That Students Are Working at the Top of Their Game.  I must say that this was the first time that I had the pleasure of attending one of his workshops and I look forward to attending future sessions.  One thing that I have learned after many years of attending PD sessions is that the presenter is as important as the subject matter and in this case both were exceptional.

Webb's Depths of Knowledge Wheel is familiar to many of us as a way to look at student understanding that is a bit different than Bloom's Taxonomy; however, it basically still amounts to a list of verbs. Not so! While the session focused on Webb, Lehman spent some time explaining the connection between the two, including Webb's work with Bloom on the taxonomy.  But, most of the session focused on how educators could use Depths of Knowledge to reflect upon their students and themselves.

Here are some of my takeaways from the workshop.  I was typing furiously, so I hope I caught everything.

1. Most assessments do not necessarily assess what we think they do.  The majority of assessments are at lower levels (levels 1 and 2).

2. Chris Lehman used a wood shop analogy that helped me to understand the levels of DOK more clearly.

• Level 1 - Recall is largely teacher dependent. 

• "This is a hammer.  This is a saw.  Now go back to your stations and name your tools."
• Here we have very basic factual retrieval
• Level 2 - Skill/Concept is also largely teacher dependent 
• "I am going to show you how to hammer two pieces of wood together." I show you and explain steps and repeat.  I send you back to your table and ask you to hammer two pieces of wood together.
• This level assumes a basic knowledge of vocabulary and concepts.

In levels 1 and 2 students do things whether they are right are wrong.  They essentially don't necessarily know why they are doing the task just what it is and how to do it.

• Level 3 - Strategic Thinking is highly learner dependent.
• "I am going to show you how to make a bird house.  You are going to make any kind of birdhouse you want based upon my instruction."
• In this level students must put together concepts they already know and steps they already know, but they must also make choices with that information.
• Level 4 - Extended Thinking is also highly learner dependent.
• "There is a flood coming and we need to close the workshop and build a dam for the town."
• In this level the teacher is expecting the students to make their own plans, think strategically, and create something.
• This level essentially asks students to "problematize things."  This is a skill that we need to teach children.  It causes questions along the way and then students must come up with the solution(s).  (The dam could leak, what do we do?)

3. DOK allows us to see our students more clearly.  Looking at their thought processes by questioning them about it gives us a glimpse into their thinking.  We should be teaching children to think meta-cognitively.   We need to know what they are thinking, even from the start in September.  "We have to think of September as not the first month of school but the 11th.  It is the 11th month of everything else they have ever learned before."  We need to see what kids are drawing on to do today's work. We do this through questions:

• Can you teach me how to...?  Show me an example of what you were just talking about.
• Have you done this before?
• What have you learned that can help you complete this learning task?

4. If students cannot talk meta-cognitively about what they are doing, are they learning?  This concept is key in the classroom.  We don't want students who can simply mimic what they have seen demonstrated or heard in a rote fashion; we want students who understand what they are learning, how they are learning, and how they can build upon previous learning skills to learn new and different things.  With this understanding of their own learning process, they have the capability of tackling the level 3 and 4 tasks because they have more than facts and concepts, they have deeper thinking skills.

5.  DOK allows us to reflect upon our students and in turn upon ourselves.  This involves building a reflective cycle.  The teacher teaches something and then looks to the students' DOK levels as an assessment of how they taught it.  This leads the teacher to ask the questions, "what did I do? what can I do to move you forward from your current level?"

6.  Before having students start independent work, get them in the habit of writing two things that they already know that could help them do this work.  This is a kick start to thinking about thinking.

7. Apply Webb's Depths of Knowledge to the questioning used during Writers Workshop conferencing to determine the students' level and then base each conference on the appropriate level.  This method allows for differentiated conferencing.  The example used involved conferencing about character development.

• Start at level 4 - "What are you thinking about as you revise today?"  If the student takes off into a well thought out explanation of their process and how they intend to move forward in revision, continue the questioning at this level and extend.  If not, move down to the next level.
• Level 3 - "One thing I think about is, 'do my characters seem like real people?'  There are many ways to do that.  What are things that you already know how to do to make your characters seem real?"  With this question, the conference is at the strategic thinking level and if the student can respond to this prompt the conversation can remain at this level.  If not....
• Level 2 - "One way to make your characters seem more real is to describe micro-actions, you first picture the scene, then...."  This is much more skill based and it does not ask for as much thought process.  The teacher takes the child through the process of visualizing and then the student can work through the character development.  If the student can do this, then the conference stays at level two, if not...
• Level 1 - "Let's talk through doing this for your character.  First, what was the scene? Tell me what you see.  Okay, write that."  At this level of conferencing the teacher is holding the hand of the student and helping them work through the character development.

In this 50 minute workshop Chris Lehman moved quickly though Webb's Depths of Knowledge, provided real examples of how DOK is a useful tool for reflection, and culminated with an application in Writers Workshop conferences.  It is important for teachers to understand the level of their students and help them along the continuum as they grow in their writing and in their thinking.  I am looking forward to learning more from Chris Lehman through twitter (@ichrislehman), his blog,  and future workshops!

(Everything in this post is based upon my notes from Chris Lehman's presentation at 2:00pm on October 27, 2012 at Teachers College in New York City)