7 Billion: How Did We Get So Big So Fast?

I first saw the 7 Billion video as a post from Phil Wagner on google+. Do you have concerns about the population on our planet? Most of us do. This video will give you a picture of where population growth is taking place. It was just over two centuries ago that the global population was 1 billion - in 1804. I think you will find this youtube video very interesting.

Teaching with Technology: Innovative Instruction or Wasting Time?

Here is another technology guest post. This one comes from Elaine Hirsch – elainehi86@gmail.com .

When you think about the term "educational technology," you probably think about computer labs and digital presentations. You probably don't think of simple things like pens and overhead projectors, and you may not think about tablet computers and social media. However, all of these things are educational technologies. This range of examples illustrates that educational technology is a changing field that will continue to alter both what and how students learn. However, whether in elementary school or PHD online, only when used in conjunction with appropriate teaching methods can educational technology really make education more effective.

Educational Technology Then and Now

While "educational technology" may be a rather new term, teachers have always used technology, and that technology has always affected what and how students learn. Before mass-produced writing tools were widely available, students learned the techniques involved with writing using quill and ink. Next, they learned to use pens and pencils when writing by hand. Since the advent and spread of the typewriter, we have had typing classes. Film projectors, overheads, computers, iPads, and calculators are also all examples of educational technology. As new technologies are created, what educational technology is in particular will continue to change.

However, today's use of classroom technology is significantly different from educational technology in the past in one key way: today's educational technology is more social than ever before, and indeed this is proving to be a point of controversy. When teachers integrate technologies like Facebook, blogs, YouTube and text messaging into their classrooms, parents and administrators wonder how instructors could be using these technologies to do any real teaching. Aren't teachers just allowing kids to waist time?

Administrators and parents often go to great lengths to ensure "time-wasting" sites like Facebook are blocked within school networks and make sure cell phones stay off during the school day. Restrictions like these are much to the chagrin of teachers who insist students are actually learning using these technologies.

Resolving the Controversy

The solution to this controversy, surprisingly, comes from looking not at what technologies teachers use but at how they use them. If technology is used appropriately, it can greatly enhance learning. In fact, the learning needed to succeed in the 21st century working world isn't possible without educational technology. If students don't learn how to use computers and even social networking sites effectively, they won't be able to communicate with coworkers and bosses or do research when they enter the real world.

Further, with so many of today's students being exposed to technology at home long before they come to school, learning via technologies such as video games, blogs, and online activities can help students better understand concepts and become more engaged in what they learn. In fact, Facebook can be successfully integrated into the classroom in a number of ways that would engage at-risk students as well as better facilitate most other students' learning as well.

However, teachers also cannot teach effectively when they use technology for technology's own sake. Instead, they must harness the power of technology to present information in a useful and education-centered way. Allowing students to text, play on Facebook, or blog during class is obviously pretty pointless unless students are doing it in conjunction with a lesson. For example, English teachers could have students compose text messages as part of a grammar lesson, showing students how texting grammar works in the context of a text message but not an academic paper. Lessons like this can be hugely effective. Simply turning a blind eye while students text their friends is not.

Whether they are using computer labs or Facebook, teachers need to embrace educational technology to be effective, but they must embrace it in the context of good pedagogy. Technology without substance is just as ineffective a teaching tool as substance without technology is to this digitally native generation.

Let’s hear from you. Innovative Instruction or Wasting Time?

The Great American Teach-Off

GOOD is hosting the Great American Teach-Off.
Ten inspiring teachers are competing for one $10,000 CLASSROOM GRANT and it's up to you to decide who will win! From October 3 through October 30, we'll upload a new video every Monday at 9AM (PST) from the finalists. Come back here each week to watch teachers responding to questions about education, then vote for your favorite educator to advance.
http://www.good.is/great-american-teach-off-voting

Yes, I do have a favorite but the most importantly we need your vote.

My favorite:
Pernille Ripp
Grade 5 at West Middleton Elementary School, Middleton, WI
Pernille Ripp is a fifth grade teacher in Middleton, Wisconsin. Passionate about having students find their voice, she gets to have the best job in the world. She blogs fervently about education at www.mrspripp.blogspot.com.

Help Pernille win $10,000 for her school and classroom! Vote today and each day until Oct. 30, 2011

"The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking."
-Albert Einstein
"If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn."
-Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Estrada

This is RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

My last post was on relationships trumping data. I was not saying to forget data because it is a tool that successful teachers learn how and when to use. I was saying that relationships are more important to student learning than data. I now have a wonderful example of what I was trying to convey. Mrs. Ripp is one dynamic fifth grade teacher in Madison Wis. She knows that to maximizing student learning she must connect with her students and build personal relationships. Look at the activity she has for her students on the first day of school. Do you think these kids will be jumping out of bed on day two just to see what will be happening at school? Wouldn’t you love to be in this classroom? What relationship building activities have or did you plan for the first week of school? Wishing all teachers and students an exciting, engaging year of learning!

Relationships Trump Data

Those of us growing up in the card-playing era of Bridge and Pinochle really understand the value of trump cards. These cards rule in other words they have the most value. To be successful at these cards games you must not only having trump cards but also knowing how to play them. I see the same connection with the ingredients that make for successful students learning in our classrooms. Most of us as parents and educators would agree that planning, curriculum, data, organization, and relationships are essential elements successful teachers use to assist students with their learning. As an educator, my mantra over the years has been that to maximize our effectiveness as teachers we must make connections and build relationships with our students. As a principal, my charge to teachers was to have their students tightly bonded as a family unit by the end of the first three weeks of school. It is so affirming when one’s belief is validated by others and especially in this day and age of research based demands. Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post offers a new report from the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago giving key findings on the value of relationships in school. Others in education feel the same. Salman Khan on the Forbes Names You Need to Know: Khan Academy video has this quote, “Internet-based video lessons are great to help ….., but it takes a relationship with a real teacher to educate deeply.” This is why I believe the relationships you build with your students to be the number one factor in their successful learning while in your classroom. I observe most schools today living in a data driven mode. What do you think will promote the following: a warm, supportive classroom climate; students taking responsibility for their own learning; an environment where students feel safe, take risks, and make mistakes; a place where play in valued; honesty and openness is observed between students and teacher; and most importantly students that are happy and enjoy coming to school; data or relationships? The answer comes to me loud and clear: RELATIONSHIPS!

How would you rate relationships on your value scale? I look forward to your comments.

To help with building relationships @tombarrett offers this google doc: “20 Interesting Ways to Get to Know Your New Class”.
PS: As I am finishing this post on relationships, what should appear in my google reader? Mrs. Ripp aka @4thGrdTeach posting this: “Kids Shouldn’t Feel Like Tourists: How Every Classroom Should Be a Tribe”. This feels, smells, and taste like relationships to me. What is your take?

Summer Fun and Technology

Kevin Jarrett is a dynamo technology teacher in Northfield, NJ. He loves kids and technology. This is a perfect combo for connecting with his students. Knowing that learning doesn’t stop at the classroom door or when summer vacation comes along, Kevin is busy creating a fabulous site for kids to use during the summer. Here is the title of his recent post: Summer’s here. You’ve got plans. Amplify the fun with technology! He is creating a place to share FREE technology tools so that kids and their families can use the technology they have to create wonderful digital memories of the Summer of 2011. What an awesome idea. Don’t you just love teachers with passion!
Check out the summer tech fun at: http://tiny.cc/t7fp2 and then share it with your family. The first post is coming soon and he guarantees it to be a hit!
Photo Flickr - Creative Commons

Your Birthday Can = Clean Water For Someone

When I first came across Nathan Hidajat and the plans he had for his eighth birthday, I was touched by this young boy’s desire and commitment to help others obtain clean water.
Nathan Hidajat, a second grader at St. Cecilia School in Iowa, has something different planned for his recent eighth birthday. He is dedicating his birthday to a campaign to raise money to get people clean water. His goal of $1000 is to help 50 people have clean water for the next 20 years. Instead of a party or gifts, he is asking for donations to the cause.
I was moved but did not make a contribution at the time thinking I will come back later to make my donation. Before getting back to Nathan’s web site, I am checking my google reader and find this from Digital Literacy Resource/e-Learning Today TV via Tips, Tools and Technology for Educators.

Nathan Hidajat Charity
· Little boy who is dedicating his birthday to a campaign to raise money to get people clean water. His goal of $1000 is to help 50 people have clean water for the next 20 years. Instead of a party or gifts, he is asking for donations to the cause.
· Donors will see their name on the Donors page of the website that Nathan’s parents helped him make. They will also receive a signed picture from Nathan, mailed using stamps from his own savings.
· In his plan, he states that for every $100 of his goal reached, he will play the piano, another passion along with drawing, at the retirement home in his area.
· This is a great example of how a little bit can go a long way. This young child is already passing on his generosity and kindness to the people around him. More acts like this in the world will hopefully make a lot more people more generous too!
Through exploring e-Learning Today TV, I come across what I think is the source of the inspiration for Nathan Hidajat’s birthday charity project. It is Charity:Water and Scott Harrison. This is a must view video from Omaha of Scott giving history of Charity:Water.

Scott Harrison - charity: water from Big Omaha on Vimeo.