Elementary Laptop Visit

It's been several weeks since our visit to three elementary schools. The purpose of the visit was to get a first-hand glimpse of the pilot schools where 5th grade students were given netbooks to enhance their language arts skills.

Well, there's a lot more to it than that. It's not as if the netbooks were just plopped down without guidance, support and training for the staff and their students. I'll not dwell on that part of the task, but sufficed to say that the students and teachers are showing proficiency and expertise. There seems to be a general enthusiasm for the tools and the expanded emphasis on writing for these students.

We were able to chat with students at each school and observe their writing. It was a fantastic opportunity for our 6th grade LA teachers to get an advance look at the project AND the students who will be attending our school in the fall. I found the trip to be rewarding for many reasons. It got us talking together as a team about the netbook project, it gave us an opportunity to see it in action, and it helped our teachers to bond with other teachers who have been doing this and paving the way. In a way it showed our teachers, who are already doing a lot with their smartboards, other ways in which LPS is making 21st Century Learning a possibility for all students.

Here's a few pics taken during our visit. If you click on them, they will get bigger.

Vision

On my bike ride yesterday I stopped along the Platte River at a bench and saw the following sign on a rock. I snapped a photo with my cell phone, emailed it to me work account and went on my way. This rock seemed to be telling me something with the sign and I'm glad I saw it when I did. The message on the rock is: "Vision without action is merely a dream".

I believe the message on the rock was meant as a follow-on message to my prior post on this blog about our Mission at EMS. As our plans for the fall solidify we definitely have a mission and a vision for where we want to be in years that follow.

Have you ever had something cosmic like this happen? A coincidence that seems like it's more than just happenstance. That's how it felt when I leaned back on the bench and saw this rock.

Finally, I'll ask the obvious question: What is your vision for education in this 21st Century?

The Mission - Future is Now

This post is all about the mission defined by our district, Littleton Public Schools, and how technology supports and helps make that mission possible. I have had a fair amount of experience with mission and vision statements. I'm a founder for a successful web-based start-up, I've led teams in quality-driven corporations where understanding the corporate mission is vital to success, and I've held numerous positions as 'leader' throughout my life.

As an employee of LPS and a proud parent of students here I believe in our Mission - stated below.

The District Mission is defined as:

To educate all students for the future by challenging every individual to
continuously learn, achieve, and act with purpose and compassion.

LPS' Information Technology Department's Mission is defined as:

To define the 21st Century Learning Space, to assure Universal Access to that space, for all learners to master new frontiers in communications, information and literacy.

and IT's vision is:

LPS will support the necessary technology for world-class student learning and professional practice.

I believe these missions and visions are in alignment. They are all forward-looking. They have great potential for everyone involved and "on board" with our Mission. These phrases aren't just words, they are a call to action to all staff and students. We are in a time of rapid change. We are embracing that change in a positive way if we execute our mission. It is my belief that everyone needs to be part of this mission or make way for those who are. The time is now!

The three statements are all forward looking as I mentioned earlier. They all have as their end-game a focus on the future. But as we are aware the future is just out of our reach, but it's the 'carrot' that is dangling outin front of us and it moves us forward. All we have is the present to grasp and deal with. We must focus our immediate energies towards in the present. So I ask you staff and students: What are you doing today to make the Mission as success?

How does the district ensure success? Our district leaders must "walk the talk". The mission must be communicated clearly. The district leaders (at all levels) must not just say the words. They must also embrace them in their actions and they must convey a sense of urgency to everyone.

Who are the leaders in a public school district? I answer this question by stating that everyone is a leader at some level.

• Naturally, we have a superintendent of schools and the school board who are leaders at the highest level.
• We have building principals and the administrative staff that establish school vision and lead the school to success.
• We have teachers who lead their students every day in the classroom.
• And we have students leaders as student-body presidents, classroom leaders and squad leaders on sporting teams.
• Each student must self-lead in their learning - -they are responsible to themselves for their learning too.

So what I'm saying is that everyone is a leader and a responsible team member in the Mission. I think this is THE most exciting time in our school district. The future is now!

Long Now Foundation, Time and a Book

I read the book Anathem by Neal Stephenson awhile back. It's long, very long at over 900 pages. Once I got a handle of the tweaked language he was using I found myself falling into the book and his writing style. I loved the story and concept of living in a "Mathic world" where one could devote their life to the study of math and philosophy. And I thought that would be the end of it, but then here's where fiction meets reality...

People here on Earth are actually doing and thinking about stuff like this. They have founded an organization to ponder life with long-term thinking in mind. Here's a piece of the real clock design being built in a remote area of Eastern Nevada. It is based upon the designs mentioned in the fictional world of the aforementioned book.



So I mentioned that there is an organization founded upon the principle of long-term thinking and its name is the Long Now Project. Much of what the book discusses is being thought about for this group and I think that's pretty cool. Reality meet Fiction meets Reality!

I just happen to have been interested in this artist Brian Eno for MANY years now and have followed his music, seen some of his art exhibits and enjoyed much of what he does. He has worked with U2, David Bowie and many music artists over the years. And not to my surprise he's involved in this foundation too. How weird is it when all these different pieces of one's life (some even fictional) meet together as one?

The Age of Composition

I don't think I can add much insight to this post by Jeff Utretch. If you have time read both his post and the NCTE article that is linked there/here. I think they both hit the target with what we're talking about at Euclid with writing, netbooks and our plans for 6th grade LA in the fall. BULLSEYE

We can talk about it more if you like, but it seems to combine where I think our vision is taking us WITH what we value at Euclid.



I love the notion of "The Age of Composition" in the 21st Century. It feels like a renaissance is taking place in our lifetime. Jump on board and enjoy the ride! I think this is going to be fun...

[Okay, so I did add a little]...

Language Arts 6th Grade

Yesterday was PLC day and I met with the 6th Grade Language Arts team to discuss some preliminary plans for next year. The district has a proposal that will be presented to the Board tonight. The proposal is called the Educational Technology and Information Literacy Plan (ETIL).

The plan calls for embedding netbooks (Asus eee PCs) in every 5th, 6th and 9th grade Language Arts class next fall with follow on plans for grades 7 & 8 in future years and the high school grades too.

The team seemed real excited with where this is going and very open to taking the next steps. We have arranged for a field trip next week to see the process in action at three elementary schools where the 5th grade class has been piloting this project this year. I know there have been successes at Hopkins and East and we will be visiting a third school too. It will be wonderful to see how classroom management is handeled, how productive the kids are and to tap into the teachers experiences after using the netbooks for the past year.

This is a great opportunity for our students and I feel encouraged with how our teachers are showing interest in how to tackle this new opportunity for next fall.

So teachers, how does this roll into your plans for next year and beyond as these netbook-enabled students (focused on writing) begin to fill your classes?

What follows are some links to the 5th grade pilot programs and samples of what they students have been producing.
East Elementary
Moody Elementary Class Blog
Hopkins Class Blog
Hopkins Class Web page