I have one week of school left (the district has 1.5 weeks but my last week will be with my team at cheer camp). It’s time for year to be over, 6th graders can only be around each other for 9 months then their nerves & hormones need a break from everything. It’s now that time! Of course this time of year you start focusing on success and failures of this year. I think this year was a success. The students learned 2 things that as the year went on I wanted them to learn: to present well to others and to begin learning on their own. Yes, I wanted them to learn Earth science and I think they did. I wanted them to learn how they are effected by every fact that was taught (they have become awesome “environmentalist” and read their blog posts about the April tornado – they were in their safe places, something they had an assignment/blog on just 3 weeks before). But of all of those being able to present and take responsibility for their learning was the most important to me. Last week I attended TEDxRedMountain and it completely reiterated my beliefs of the importance of these two skills.

I’m breaking this post into two parts, so here’s part 1 – why presentation skills are so important:

My kids all will roll their eyes and say in unison “No one wants to be read to, especially by a 6th grader” when time to present. I know it’s harsh but that’s the #1 rule when presenting in my room. Stop judging, itt’s true and you know it. Being read to is boring and demeaning. If you are an expert at what you are presenting and want to share it (especially if you have a passion for it) you shouldn’t have to read anything. Who cares if you miss a sentence or two if you can share your knowledge. TEDxRedMountain was like anything that had presenters, some were more interesting than others. When it came down to it the ones who were there to deliver information could not compare to those who were BOTH experts and had an obvious passion about their topic. It was amazing to pay attention to the room when Scott Pierce spoke. The place was silent and still. He didn’t have fancy bulleted slides, didn’t speak loudly, didn’t pace the stage, he isn’t a local superstar, he stood there and spoke about what he knew and how he felt about it. And I sat there drawn to it completely. I kept thinking, wow, that is what makes a wonderful presentation. Every time we preset in my classroom over and over I tell them, no one wants to hear rehearsed facts. It’s so funny because now the kids interrupt or tattle on their classmates is someone spouts off a book definition. But just over the past month they have become better at knowing more than basic facts but have started inserting their opinions and ideas as well as information. This has been a huge corner for them to turn.

“Teaching” presentation skills is not easy and frustrating. It is something that has to be practiced over and over.
At least once every two weeks they are assigned to present something. Never make a big deal, but give them many opportunities. It has been interesting to see their progression over the year. Also I never have them to present alone, always with a group or partner, cuts down on the stage fright. And I never let them use a written script. They used to get so frustrated but I now don’t see that as much.

All year I have tweeted “anyone know how to teach presentation skills?” and no one has ever responded. I am pretty sure I am NOT doing it perfectly, but it is such an important skill I have to keep trying and pushing it. Students need to know the difference between a bad, good, and great presentation and what makes them different.

Part 2 on student learning later. 🙂

Yesterday was Awards Day at our school. 1 1/2 hours of awards to the same 30 or so students. Do you remember awards day in middle school? I do. I remember sitting there hoping that I would get something, then realizing that my parents aren’t there so probably not. I remember leaving thinking, how did I get so dumb? I remember all my friends checking out bc their parents had to take off of work and so they go to lunch in their pretty dresses while I go back to class in flannels and jeans (hey that was awesome in the mid 90s). I remember thinking even if I was smart, the teachers hate me bc I talk too much in class so I probably won’t get one anyway. I am sure not everyone can associate a pit in their stomach with awards day, but there are some who do. Now I will admit that my senior year I did get a lot of awards and it felt great, but during the ceremony I still had that pit.

Yesterday I felt the pit. I teach general level classes. My students’ success are different than highest grade in a course. When a student is reading on 3rd grade level, being able to tell the class how a sedimentary rock is formed, that is a success. I can probably point out 3 or 4 successes that each of my 120 students have had this year. They aren’t silly number grades or getting elected or chosen to something, it was a small event in their life where they felt successful. Some of these successes did not even happen at school, and that is ok, life happens outside the walls of a classroom. I hope someone celebrated those moments. I wish I knew about each one. I wish there passions and triumphs were on display.

So maybe I’m just a little biased because of my life story, but I sat there and watched over 100 awards being given out yesterday and of the 300 kids I have taught over the last 3 years that were in that gym, only 6 received an award.  Those that did not, so many bust their tails for C’s and sat their with that pit in their stomach wondering when, if ever, they will be smart/good enough. I am not saying the gifted/Pre-AP students should never be recognized, but we all know who they are, and are very proud of their accomplishments, I just feel for that under-dog with the pit.

OK I am geeking out on you. I really want (and need) to reflect on Edcamp Bham, but having so much trouble finding a way to do that with out going on and on and on (which I will probably still do). So since I always tell my kids the scientific method fits everything they do, I’m gonna try to use it here.

Observation: So a year ago Edcamp tweets were coming out from my Philly Twitter friends and it caught my attention. It wasn’t until the tweets the day of the event that I totally got what Edcamp was really about. It was a free event and I saw the crazy-everyone signs up day of – board and how the session were done by teachers not people paid to attend.  Everything about it was different than most conferences (I guess that is why it is an “un”conference) yet I was watching tweets from Edcamp and something about them were different.  I knew from that day Edcamp was something I wanted to attend. So I started sending out the “Someone in the Southeast needs to do this” tweets, yet no one was really jumping to do so. I figured there was no way I could, so I was as usual waiting on someone else. Finally Dan Callahan said I should get with Chad Brannon. And that is where Edcamp Bham began…

Gather Information/Research: So it was a no brainer of who else we wanted on the Edcamp Bham Team. Chad & I immediately thought of Bryan Philips, Jeff Richardson, and Suzan Brandt. This is where I really started researching what Edcamp was and the more that happened the more I realized this is an amazing PD model. It was teachers teaching each other. It was informal, social, and full of learning. There wasn’t presenters preaching at people, there wasn’t people who are hocking their products, just teachers learning from one another.  This is what would make Edcamp Bham so unique. This is what would make it the perfect PD.

State Hypothesis: We wanted Edcamp Bham to something that everyone who attended took something away that would be used in their classroom. In November held our breath as we opened up registration. I remember Chad and I discussing, if we can just get 50 people it would be a success.

Design: This part is just the details, not sure how it all came together lol. We decided on a date, April 30, 2011(it got moved around some) a place, Samford University, and a hope that this would be a success worth the time and effort.  We asked for sponsors to pay for things needed. Do not think we ever even meet as a complete team, event the time we had burnt steak. We had location issues, the stresses of all finding a time to meet, food details getting messed up, etc. But the design of Edcamp that is is supposed to be simple and informal, or at least that is what I told myself as I started to stress. I think I answered 168 (that was my last count) emails from Sunday, April 24 to Wednesday, April 27 before everyone in the state lost power and couldn’t email. So many off periods were dedicated to phone calls and writing up info. But the team pulled it together and by 8:00, April 30 we were ready to go – though I hold a grudge to all who showed up early 😉 **I didn’t tell you this to bore you with details or to say look what I did, just letting you know what the “design” entails and that it was totally worth it!**

Perform Experiment: Edcamp finally got here and was a sigh of relief. Towards the end of the first session I finally began peaking in the rooms to see what was going on. I could hear convos and questions. This is what Edcamp is about! As the day went on I was totally loving hearing the convos, seeing the tweets that all focused around learning.  I only got to go to one entire session (mine), hate I miss the one rated NC-17, but it was awesome seeing it from the outside. Seeing people get excited, seeing people help each other – THIS IS WHY EDCAMP BHAM WAS A MUST! People were actually excited about the Web 2.0 Smackdown, laughing, cheering. I keep saying convos here but it was a constant. As teachers we all know you learn bet from others, this was happening all around. Conversations lead to relationships.

Collect Data: Ok all I have is the qualitative data of observing people that day. I saw constant collaboration, discussions, and so much positive talk about education. I worry so often when educators get together there will be the more negative tone, it was not there.  Through conversations with others I heard some positive feedback. I would love to have even more feedback from others.

Summarize Results: I think Edcamp Bham was a success, I am glad I got to be part of it. I hate that I did not have a chance to really spend time meeting new people or join in discussions.  I am a very social person and love learning so it was heart wrenching to be working and missing it, but the work was worth it to see so much come together and see others learn. Most of  you know my passion is professional development and seeing teachers learn new things that will be used in their classroom, so I did enjoy that! I hope everyone took something away that they plan on using just once.  I did miss 2/5 of our team, they were helping friends and family that was affected by the devastating tornado to our community just days before (how you can help). Also, many people who were coming had horrible damage in their areas and were not able to make it. I hate that these key members did not make the event, I am sure they would have been huge assets.

Retest: Of course there will be an Edcamp Bham next year! Not the last week of April, last 3 yrs we have had tornadoes that week. Keep a look out for new dates!

This week has been a week like no other. I have been wanting to share with my followers, but not sure where to start. How do you share a broken heart? How do you not make reflection shallow? How do I write this and it not look like it is about me, because it is not. But it must be shared, the world must know that the tornadoes that hit the state of Alabama on April 27 is not just a special report on the news. We must not forget what has happened as we move into the next week.

Last Thursday, the day after the disaster, Dean Shareski sent out a tweet asking people to send a picture  to a flicker account that somehow directly connected to learning at the moment. My first thought was, what a shame, no school during last 2 days and probably no school tomorrow. Then it hit me I had probably learned more involuntary during the last two days than I had ever before.  I sent him a picture my friend took in the neighborhood he grew up in and for the first time I put my thoughts into writing. It was not as easy as I thought. Many typos as I pushed through tears and heart break to share what I am learning. We push as educators that we need to taking learning outside the classroom. Learning is best if hands on or through global communication. Isn’t that what we hear preached everyday? We talk about how the global community is important in so many ways. I saw this all come full circle this past week. I have seen my state become this small community via Twitter and Facebook.

The sharing started during the storm following the hashtag #alwx, the tweets and RTs were informing the area, most of which was already without power and cable from the storms earlier that day, what was happening and which areas were about to be hit. I felt as though James Spann‘s tweets where being watched by everyone the entire state with a twitter account. People started tweeting links to live streams as we all just sat there helpless and watched the tornadoes live on webcams rip through Cullman and then downtown Tuscaloosa.  I next saw the use of these mediums as well as YouTube  to show the damage before the sun went down in Tuscaloosa. Tweets about Pleasant Grove (the city I taught in before my current job) and how bad the damage, as well as other near by cities.  I then watched it change again to people using the mediums to look for people dear to them, to DM me that someone may no longer be with us or to tell me someone was OK. Now the use of the medium has changed again, it is being used to tell the story and mostly to help get supplies to/from volunteers. It is amazing to see tweets or FB post “This area needs ___” and by time you RT the post they have found someone with the supplies.  I watched my friend Casey Graham who grew up in Pleasant Grove raise $100,000 in 24 hours from his home on crutches in ATL, all spreading the word through social media. The small world this week got smaller.  And I am so thankful for it.

I get frustrated again and again that I do not get the opportunity to use social media to connect my student to others for learning. This week was reminder of how important these tools and teaching students how to use them safely. It is our world and it is important. It takes our learning from 8-3 to 24/7.

On a personal note, my family and home is safe. I cannot be more thankful than I am today. Many families are not together right now. Many are hurting.  Some of the communities destroyed are very close to me, only few miles away, while though Tuscaloosa though 35 miles away, is a place that I visit on many occasions.  Please remember the families who have lost their homes and/or loved ones.  Please remember rescue workers, like my brother a Tuscaloosa Firefighter, who has to leave his family everyday and work 12 hours straight to help other families who lost everything on the street lived on in college.  Please remember the teachers like my friend Jenny who no longer have a classroom to return to. Remember my friend April who must go back and teach kids who lost everything.

Also remember our students as they return to school on Tuesday. Not sure how that is going to go. I know they have been sitting at home for a week and watching the events on TV all day.

Alabamians are strong people, we bounce back from hurricanes, oil spills, and  tornadoes and we will bounce back from this one as well.  We are hurting, we are all effected some way or another. Through the hurt the out pouring of volunteers, donations, workers has been amazing. I have always felt I lived in the greatest state/city and I know that is now a fact. It is amazing the spirit of people who have lost everything and on TV interviews start with “We are thankful/blessed.” #WeAreAlabama

Please considering helping others during this disaster:

Alabama Tornadoes: How to Help

Mid Alabama Red Cross

Edcamp Bham Red Cross Donations

Thank you all for inquiries over the past week, you are a wonderful family of people!

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