Milobo’s Musings

I’ve moved. I’ve started a new job. I’m (almost) settled into my new routines. And yet.

It’s been a while since I’ve shared on this space.  The longer I wait for “the time” or “a good idea” to reveal itself, the harder it becomes to just get back into the rhythm of reflecting and writing and sharing.

That cycle of reflecting on an idea, writing about it, and sharing our thoughts to invite discussion lies at the heart of learning and growth. Good teachers know this.  It’s important to remember that this process has to be nurtured and practiced often in order to become something students do instinctively.   It’s also something that’s important to model through our own public voice.  Students pay attention to how we interact with information. They pay attention to how we interact with one another. They can learn much by seeing how we learn.

For me, blogging has been a way to honor the cycle of learning publicly and to become part of a global community of learners. I’ve missed that lately.

I’ve spent way too much time trying to figure out how to begin my own learning cycle again. And so, I’ve decided that the best way to get started again is to just get started again.

Here goes.

Creative Commons photo from Chris Lopez via Flickr

I’ve long been a fan of Tom Woodward’s insanely creative method of developing units, so when he gave the green light for an IronTeach challenge, I had to jump on board.

The basic premise of Iron Teach is based on the show Iron Chef America, where two teams of chefs battle to develop recipes that include a “secret ingredient” revealed shortly before the challenge begins. The dishes often fit a theme and the final results are judged by a celebrity panel who rate each dish on Originality, Taste, and Plating.

Iron Teach will follow the same basic premise. Two teams of educators (more if you’re interested in joining us) will battle to develop a unit or lesson plan to meet the requirements of a selected teacher. Each team will share their lesson along with the process they used to brainstorm and develop the idea. A panel of judges, including the teacher who issued the challenge, will rate the lesson on Originality, Student Appeal, and Ability to Meet Outcome.

For Battle 1 of Iron Teach, two teams – Team Milobo and Team BionicTeaching have been issued the following challenge:

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The Audience: 2 classes of 10th grade General Level Literature students.

The Secret Ingredient: The novel “A Separate Peace”

The Challenge (as defined by the teacher): Students are beginning a book discussion of the novel “A Separate Peace.” These particular students struggle to demonstrate understanding of content through writing, but have recently become more motivated to read and respond to literature as their teacher has incorporated audio books and modern literature into the curriculum.

The teacher shares that the class performs better when asked to discuss personal experiences and would like to incorporate the book themes of envy/conformity into the book discussions. These students in particular are not easily motivated to participate in class activities. Their teacher is looking for an original and fun way to have the students discuss and share while demonstrating understanding in a way that goes beyond writing an essay or taking a multiple choice test.

Two weeks have been dedicated to class reading and discussion of the book.

The Deadline: It’s due by midnight- Sunday, April 26th. Post the content to your blog and link back in the comments here and on Tom’s blog.

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We’re making up the rules as we go along, and I hope that it’s something we can develop into a long term project, but for now, it should be a great way to have a little fun while helping out fellow teachers. If you’re interested in joining in the fun as a team member or judge, or want to issue a challenge for a future Iron Teach Battle, leave a message here or on Tom’s blog.

Game on.

Technology is Hard. That’s the mantra that keeps many teachers from reaching out and really exploring technology tools in their classroom.  It’s hard to manage 30 students when they all have a laptop in hand. It’s hard to integrate it meaningfully because the activities need to have structure and guidance to be successful. It’s hard to step aside and hope that your goals are met when you no longer are on center stage in the front of the room.

This week, Mathew Needleman’s post entitled “Five Reasons Why We Aren’t Integrating Technology in School” listed the reasons technology often isn’t incorporated into the learning cycle. It’s a good list and one that will resonate with many technology coaches, teachers, and administrators.  But like any list of reasons, it could quickly become a list of excuses that lead down the road to inaction.  Matthew asked for solutions to his reasons and I know there are great ones out there, but I’m going to take a different turn.  I’d like to turn the tables and use his list to rationalize why we should stop using textbooks in the classroom.  I’ve already argued previously about the dangers of allowing students unfiltered access to paper.  This seemed like a natural follow-up…

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