Play Games. Really! It's okay!

A while back, we put up a post to spread the news about Edutopia. I’ve become a self-proclaimed junkie (with a name like Edutopia, how could I resist?). I get their weekly newsletter and love to peruse their site. The March 25th update was about computer games and teaching social issues. It had such valuable resources that I just had to pass them along. The update was based around this article titled “Computer Games Explore Social Issues: The fluid, interactive nature of simulations makes them ideal for tackling complex subjects.”

If you’re interested in trying some games out in your classroom, here are a few to explore:

• Games for Change – Real World Games, Real World Impact. You’ll find games in many academic areas.
  


• Operation Climate Control. You’ll find games to help students grasp climate changes and carbon emissions. There are even lessons plans and helpful links to accompany the game!
  


• Play the News! Here are games to engage students in what’s currently happening in the world.

…and there are more!

Do you like what you see, but aren’t sure how to manage teaching through games? Here’s some great advice.

Are you still trying to convince your administration that games are good? Check this article (“Serious Gaming: Computer Games Become Potent Student Motivators and Evaluators: A new generation of video games sneaks into assessment tools”) out.

Classroom Engagement Tip for March 30, 2009

High Tech High

Wow! That’s all I can say. If my roots weren’t already planted with my family and our careers, I’d drop everything and move to San Diego to be part of this phenomenal charter school system. While in San Diego for the NASSP convention, I made a stop to tour High Tech High. They started in 2000 as a single charter high school – they’ve quickly grown to include eight schools ranging from elementary to high school. A little background (according to their Web site): “HTH combats the twin problems of student disengagement and low academic achievement by creating personalized, project-based learning environments where all students are known well and challenged to meet high expectations. HTH schools attempt to show how education can be redesigned to ensure that all students graduate well prepared for college, work, and citizenship.”

There is so much that excited me about the schools and their philosophy! They’ve taken a holistic approach to school reform. There are no baby steps being taken to try to change the environment students learn in – it’s an “all or nothing deal” unlike any school culture students have been in before. And that’s why it works! We were told that there have been students who were so committed to being a part of it, that they drove over 80 miles one way to attend.

I was most impressed by the results of the education model they have in place. Every student we talked to was articulate, confident and highly knowledgeable about the project and content she was immersed in. Other things that struck me:

• The schools and staff are now approached by colleges and outside partners with project ideas and resources. Through organic growth, teachers provide students incredible real-world experiences while facilitating academic content.


• The staff is a group of positive, solution-oriented teachers. They have to be! It’s part of teaching in a project-based environment.


• It’s a very intense educational experience. Students and teachers alike gain huge knowledge and experience. As a product of the environment and its demands, the average age of teachers is below 30 and their tenure is typically short (as compared to the traditional school environment). Not everyone is cut out to work here, but those who rise to the top do a tremendous job!


• The HTH system recognizes that, in order for the schools to operate as they’re supposed to, much attention must be given to new teachers. Since the teaching staff typically hasn’t seen anything but a traditional education culture, a new paradigm must be built. Even with the fast growth of the charter schools, they’ve been deliberate about how to make sure all the support systems are in place to replicate the philosophy of High Tech High strategies.



• All of the schools are full of open, transparent spaces. They are very flexible environments. Classroom walls are filled with glass panels, there are “white” boards on most wall surfaces, many classroom walls slide into storage so larger spaces can be created and commons areas serve multiple purposes.

• How do they afford to do all of the projects in the schools? They forgo textbooks. All of the money saved on books is available for teachers to purchase needed materials for the projects they have going on.

If you have the chance to see one of the schools, grab it. I applaud those who teach in and administer the HTH system. Well done!

• Want to see what they’ve accomplished to-date?
• Want to learn more about the schools? Check out their FAQs .
• Check out some of the projects their students have made happen.
• Want to experience the school? Take a tour, be a part of a professional development institute or apply for their graduate school program!
• This isn’t’ your typical summer school!

Credits: All photos are from High Tech High’s Web site.

Professional Development Tip for March 30, 2009

Making the Most Out of an Online Group Project

When I received the syllabus for my most recent online graduate course I noticed that the final project was a GROUP project. I thought, “How in the world?” Like many of you, my experiences with group projects has been a mix of both good and bad. I have to admit, my impression of working in a completely online work group has changed. Our group has found a nice stride and we meet each of the milestones with high quality products and time to spare! I thought I would share some tips and tools we’ve employed to make it work. Try some of these tools out in your own classroom or your next online course with group work.

Tip #1 - Chunk up the Project and Assign a Leader to each Chunk
Our project is divided up into several chunks. For each chunk we appoint a leader. This person’s role is to set a schedule for completing the chunk and start the discussion about the content we plan to include in that piece of the paper we are writing.

Tip #2 – Use a Discussion Board to Collect/Discuss Content Before You Develop a Draft of Anything
We use the discussion board provided as part of the course management system to start our discussion about the content to include in each section (Blackboard in this case). If you don’t have a discussion board you might consider using a tool like Google docs or even set up a Wiki on Wet Paint. We each post a few things we want to see in our finished section of the paper. After a couple days on the discussion board, the “leader” for that piece uses the content we’ve identified to draft up a version of the section to be included in our final report.

Tip #3 – Use Web 2.0 Tools to Allow Everyone to Edit/Revise the Draft
The draft copy of the section is then uploaded to Google Docs and shared with everyone. (Just a side note, Google docs is completely free. All you have to do is sign up.) The benefit of using a tool like Google Docs is that each member of the group can see and edit the exact same version of the paper. The most current file is always on Google Docs. The editing tools in Google docs allow us to edit the document in a way that looks a lot like the track changes feature in Microsoft Word®. We each edit the paper using a different color of text so it’s easy to see who added what. We also make it a point to leave a comment using the tool provided so that it’s easier to understand why we thought something needed to be stated a certain way. After a few days of editing the draft copy the leader takes the edited copy and starts to clean it up.

Tip #4 – If You Need to Meet, Keep the Meetings Short and Focused on Making Decisions
If there are some significant questions the entire group needs to weigh in on then the leader sets up a really short web conference using a free service called OOvOO or Skype. OOvOO allows up to six people to video chat at the same time for free! Skype offers a nice multiple person chat feature too! During the brief meeting we make decisions about the lingering questions and then the leader produces a near final draft.

Tip #5 – Take Advantage of the Extra Eyes Available to Proofread
The rest of the group proofreads the paper and makes edits as needed. For the most part, we’ve found that by this point there are usually few, if any significant changes. After the proofreading phase, the leader pulls the content off Google Docs and submits it in the format required for the class.

Professional Development Tip for the week of March 16th, 2009

Free, Printable Success Cards from Relevant Classroom

We've been promising a PDF version of our Success Cards for months. Well, here is the link!

The Stimulus Package: WIIFE (What’s in it for Education?)

There’s been a lot of hoopla and media coverage over the stimulus package. One of CNN’s favorite clips to show was the 1100 pages of it sitting on a desk and to talk about how no member of congress has read it. By the way, the text for the final bill (called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) is a mere 407 pages. There are 230 instances of the word “education.” I turned to the Federal Fund Information for States report on the bill to gather information as it was only 58 pages and included some great tables noting the funds that will funnel through state programs. Additional summaries, available to the general public are available via the whitehouse.gov site.

I’ve tried to note all funding listed specifically under education as well items in other areas that are directly related to education. Have I missed something? Probably, but I believe the list will still help to clear up the question as stated in the title of the post.

The final total on the package was $787 Billion. In the chart I’ve created--which excludes a few items for adult skills training and independent living items—the total for preschool thru higher education is roughly $95 billion.

(Clicking on the chart will bring up a larger version.) Here's the brief, bulleted version:

• Education Portion of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund: $39.5B
• Title I $13B
• IDEA/Special Education $12.2B
• Education for Homeless Youth $670M
• Teacher Incentive Fund $200M
• Impact Aid $100M
• School Lunch Equiment $100M
• SNAP (school lunch) $20B
• Head Start $1B
• Early Head Start $1.1B
• Job Corps $250M
• Pell Grants $6.6B

Professional Development Tip for March 2, 2009