On Friday, August 3, the US Department of Education hosted Transforming the Teaching Profession: A Teacher Leader Convening. The purpose of the meeting was to gather teacher leaders from various education organizations to identify priorities and develop strategies to move the RESPECT Project vision forward.

The participating organizations included the AFT, NEA, NEA Foundation, Pearson Global Fellows, Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows Program, America Achieves Fellowship for Principals and Teachers, Center for Teaching Quality, Center for Inspired Teaching, DCPS Common Core Math Corps, DCPS Human Capital Team, E4E, Hope Street Group, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, National Network of State Teachers of the Year, National TOY, New Leaders for New Schools, Teach Plus, VIVA Project, Teach for America, LEE, New Teacher Center, TEACH, TNTP, TURN, and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Teaching Ambassador Fellowship. Over 130 educators attended.

I had the opportunity to attend this event in my new position as a Director of Educator Engagement at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and as a former Teacher Ambassador with ED. (Disclaimer: the views represented in this blog are my own opinions.)

The RESPECT document has evolved to be an impressive document. Through teacher input, the document describes a powerful vision for the teaching profession including plans for teacher leadership, distributed school leadership, teacher preparation, multiple career pathways, better evaluations, and compensation.

There are different perspectives on these issues, and it's critical to have these thoughts articulated in a single document to guide discussions. All organizations have the common goal of improving student learning through strengthening the teaching profession.

Us and Them...

During the morning part of the convening, teachers and other educators from the various organizations discussed what the US Department of Education (ED) needs to do to advance the components outlined in RESPECT. This was an opportunity for teachers to network and share the goals of their respective organizations. From my organizational perspective, I was particularly interested in learning more about other organizations and how their goals matched our own.

Building on the networking between organizations from the morning, the afternoon session encouraged educators to meet within their own organization to present how they could advance RESPECT from their perspective.

Afterwards, each organization presented to a panel that included ED and White House officials who listened, then gave follow up remarks and comments.

Then WE & ALL...

During the opportunity to ask questions to the panel, the most interesting question came from a teacher, who asked the panel, "So, what's next?"

This was a critical question for teachers, who want to know that their expertise, time, and energy will lead somewhere.

Joanne Weiss, Chief of Staff to Secretary Duncan, explained that this event was an opportunity for teachers and groups to convene, network, and discuss their own respective efforts to propose solutions. These discussions must also continue- especially outside ED.

The teacher asked a powerful reflective question. Ultimately, it's what happens at the state, district, school level, and in each classroom that determines if these solutions are effective. In this regard, perhaps there are two answers.

First, ED should continue hosting these opportunities where different organizations can share their common goals around RESPECT. ED has convening power, the ability to highlight issues at a national level, and promote exemplars. They also have the power to frame how challenges are understood. These organizations need to help shape that framework.

Second, and most importantly, these organizations should continue networking and collaborating to increase their impact exponentially. It's what happens next within each organization and how each develops additional relationships and partnerships with others that will make the difference for teachers at the classroom level.

After all, complex problems demand multiple solutions from multiple organizations. In launching the RESPECT project, the Secretary noted, "This new vision will not appear overnight... It will proceed in different ways in each state and district. There will be no single formula for success."

And as each participating organization promotes solutions from their own unique and shared perspectives, we all look forward to the next ED-hosted event, and we should create our own opportunities during the time in-between.

To be continued....

Follow me on Twitter at @Patrick_Ledesma

NBCTs representing various organizations gather for a group picture.

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

On Tuesday, July 10, the US Department of Education (ED) hosted "What Teachers Need to Know about Personalized Learning" as part of their Teacher Summer Seminars.

Richard Culatta, Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology, Matthew McCrea, Science Instructional Lead Teacher at G. James Gholson Middle School in Maryland, and I discussed our perspectives on promoting personalized learning in schools from the policy, classroom, and staff development perspective.

What is Personalized Learning?

ED describes Personalized Learning as:

1. Adjusting the pace of instruction so that instruction is more individualized.
2. Adjusting the learning approach so that instruction is differentiated.
3. Leveraging student interests and experiences so that learning is more... personalized.

Richard emphasized the following points in his presentation:

• The traditional teaching model treats all learners the same despite unique needs and strengths.
• We need a new educational model that takes classroom learning beyond a one-size fits-all mentality.
• Personalized Learning is not about technology, but technology helps.

Richard gave some examples of how technology empowers personalized learning from 1:1 computing, use of handheld devices, classroom response systems, and learning management systems.

Matthew shared the wonderful examples from his classroom including a blended learning model in 7th grade Algebra class with 1:1 laptops and a project based learning in 7/8 STEM class with 1:1 laptops.

More than Technology Required

From my perspective, with this new emphasis on Personalized Learning, any special education teacher understands that Personalized Learning is not new. It's what is done everyday in special education classrooms where services and instructional delivery are designed from the needs of the individual.

This focus on Personalized Learning is exciting because we've combined the emphasis on individual needs and empowered this approach with the power of technology.

But, with our focus on technology, one should hope that educational leaders will not view the purchasing of devices as providing quick and easy solutions. More importantly, Personal Learning demands a shift in how lessons are designed, which requires certain levels of knowledge and skillsets.

I posed the following question to the teachers:

"Let's say that a delivery truck shows up at your school and suddenly you have all these devices such as iPads, netbooks, classroom response systems, and learning and data management portals.... Will teachers in your school teach any differently?"

Teachers understand that change does not happen so quickly and easily.

Personalized Learning, like all other models of instruction that attempt to introduce innovation in schools, is about professional development and support.

Teachers need to have certain skills for Personalized Learning to use these technologies. It's about pedagogy and content:

Personalized Learning requires that teachers should:

1) Know their students: Teachers should know their students ' interests, know their learning styles, and know their ability levels.

In Personalized Learning, the teacher needs to be personable to the students. Teachers who already do this will be prepared for that shift; teachers that do not have this knowledge may not see the value in the technology. In order to "leverage student interests, one must first know the interests of their students and know how to act on it.

2) Know their pedagogy and content: Teachers should be able to implement multiple paths to knowledge- having a variety of ways to help a diverse group of students learn rigorous standards. This means having more than one resource or activity to teach a lesson and meet a goal or objective. This means teachers should be able to differentiate instruction, find all opportunities for remediation to help struggling learners, and understand how to provide enrichment to challenge the advanced student.

Simply giving a teacher an iPad will not guarantee this level of expertise.

3) Manage student learning: As teachers will now have classrooms where multiple activities may be occurring at the same time, this requires a level of classroom management, data keeping, and use of a variety of assessments. Not to stereotype, but elementary school teachers are more familiar with managing a classroom with lots of movement and activities going on- those teachers who rely on lecture only may need additional resources and support, as well as seeing other teachers in their subject and grade level who have this level of flexibility.

4) Access available resources
These can be tremendous challenges if teachers work alone. There is no need for teachers to reinvent the wheel. A teacher should not have multiple preps for a single class period.

As Mathew suggested in his presentation, teachers should beg, borrow, and steal the great lessons whenever possible.

In this regard, district and schools will have to provide curriculum support and ensure that all teachers have the resources to focus on student learning.

Transforming the Teaching Profession

Ultimately, just as Personalized Learning transforms student learning, it can transform the teaching profession as opportunities will be created for teachers to be design the instructional resources and provide support for teachers in schools.

And in this regard, Personal Learning has exciting potential for both the student and the teacher.

It's time. And with technology and our information-on-demand society creating opportunities for more students to learn academics outside of school through opportunities such as through Udemy, Khan Academy, and LearnZillion, perhaps this change is inevitable.

It's time to harness the power of technology to start meeting the needs of the individual during the school day.

So, if that delivery truck appears at your school and delivers these technologies for Personalized Learning, are you ready?

For a similar discussion on Personalized Learning, join me on July 26 for the Alliance for Excellent Education's Webinar: The Role of Teaching in a Learner-Centered, Digitally Empowered Environment from 2:00-3:00PM.

Follow me on Twitter at @Patrick_Ledesma

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Teacher leadership can take many forms. Some teachers lead within their schools and districts. Others lead within their unions and professional organizations. With the National Education Association Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly occurring this week, Steve Owens, an occasional guest blogger here, writes about his efforts to improve student learning through his union work.

Steve is a National Board Certified Teacher and union leader from Vermont. His opinions are his alone, and do not represent the views of any organization with which he is affiliated. He writes about progressive unionism and education policy on his blog, Education Worker

The second United States Department of Education Labor Management Collaboration Conference (LMC) convened in Cincinnati last month, with a theme of harnessing the power of collaboration to advance student achievement. I attended the last conference in Denver as a researcher, part of a team of Teaching Ambassador Fellows, and had the opportunity to network with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), which promotes sound and stable labor-management relations.

Back in Vermont, in 2011 I was entering my fourth cycle as a negotiator and second as local president. Our negotiations had always been protracted and contentious, requiring thousands of hours of teacher and school board member time. The traditional process goes through a predictable sequence: bargaining, impasse, mediation, fact finding, crisis buildup, and, in rare instances, imposition and strike. Mediation and fact finding employ private consultants costing thousands of dollars. Boards often call on private attorneys to negotiate, the costs of which often exceed the amount needed to settle the economic issues.

This scenario is repeated dozens of times all over Vermont. Each negotiation is for a small number of teachers by national standards, resulting in minor changes to "mature contracts." It is a time consuming and costly way to preserve the status quo.

Our previous negotiation had required at least 200 hours of each of the ten teachers on our team. The board commitment was similar. Rancor adds no value. Unions, boards and administration should be partners in the cause of student learning, but are instead trapped in a ritualistic process.

I returned from Denver determined that our pending negotiation would be collaborative, and facilitated by FMCS. It took months of persuasion - one board member could not believe that FMCS services were free. Finally, a pair of skilled FMCS mediators trained both teams together in the techniques of Interest Based Bargaining.

We invested in success. The results?

• Zero dollars spent on a board attorney, mediators or fact finders


• Settlement will be achieved in 6 months rather than 18


• Team members expending 60 hours rather than 200+


• No rancorous crisis buildup


• A labor-management committee to deal with issues as they emerge.


• Respect between board and teachers, a result of "tough minded collaboration."

Is this process reform sustainable? Can it become a template for our state?

An innovation of this year's LMC is critically important in answering these questions: the presence of state leadership teams, both as presenters and participants. Three states, Delaware, Kentucky and Massachusetts, presented. Their teams highlighted work they have done to support local collaboration.

Vermont sent a team of statewide leaders. We need structures and supports at the state level to sustain and expand the collaborative work already happening at the local level. I am confident that our state leaders found inspiration and practical ideas at the conference.

Process reform is not enough. Sustainability depends on connecting to a greater goal: excellent student learning. In Vermont, dealing proactively with contemporary policy challenges requires this focus. Collective bargaining agreements must shift away from emphasis on salary and working conditions, management prerogative and taxation, and become education improvement plans in which the traditional concerns become tools.

The tremendous civic engagement which goes into our teacher negotiations in Vermont is a gold mine of effort and commitment which could be harnessed to the cause of great student learning.

Our children deserve no less.

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 5:29 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

In 2001, Mark Prensky coined the terms "Digital Natives" and "Digital Immigrants" to describe the differences between adults and students in using technology. Educators are the "Digital Immigrants" who have to adapt and learn how to integrate technology into their lives. Students are "Digital Natives" born into a culture and lifestyle where technology immersion is the norm.

Although I know a lot of educators who argue that immigrants can use technology in the same ways as the natives and that being a native does not necessary guarantee proficiency, I have found the Digital Immigrant and Native comparison to be helpful in understanding the essential differences in childhood experiences that separate educators from the students.

To explore these differences in perspectives, this occasional series features a discussion between me, a tech savvy old immigrant, and, GSD, a high school aged tech savvy native. This year, we've discussed the ideal technology device, firewalls, technology examples in the curriculum, and Cloud Computing.

GSD and I recently had the opportunity to visit the Innovation and Integration Center at MicroTech, a technology firm specializing in a variety of services from cloud computing, communications, network systems integration, social media analytics, and other products. We are thankful for this powerful learning experience.

GSD, the Digital Native, writes:

My head is still spinning days after the visit.

I learned that there was software that could search through the content of videos in a foreign language, create English transcripts, and provide contextual searches. I learned that you could build a parking-spot sized server system that could meet the needs of two hundred thousand people in dozens of buildings with just power, a gardening hose for cooling, and an adequate Internet connection. I learned about the ever-growing field of social media management and analytics to understand what was being discussed on the Internet.

Leaving MicroTech, I couldn't stop thinking about how much more motivated I would have been throughout the entire school year in my AP Computer Science class had I toured a company like MicroTech at the beginning of the year.

The technology was amazing, yes, but a huge part of what stood out to me was getting to see what jobs were available in the real world. It was eye-opening to see that there was a job in the real world similar to my work managing social media accounts for my school' student government.

Real world careers was something that's never really been discussed in any detail in my computer science class. It's one thing to hear that you can become a "IT professional," but it's another thing entirely to see that someone designed a parking-spot sized system that can handle petabytes (about 1,000,000 gigabytes) of data.

And, it's very exciting to understand how these technologies can have life saving applications, such as in large-scale disaster relief. I can imagine being part of a response team someday that would be responsible for setting up a temporary network infrastructure for the relief efforts for, say, when a natural disaster cripples a large city.

And how many more students would be inspired to pursue Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) careers if they had seen what I had?

And, what about all these other emerging jobs that are empowered by technology?

Take my friend Sarah, for example. High school to her is largely pointless and irrelevant. But I swear, this girl knows everyone at my school. She's connected with over 2,000 people on Facebook, and nearly 1,000 on Twitter. She loves to write about fashion and trends, and has a large following because of it.

Yet she has no idea that the audience she's built on the web and how she curates it is a skill that could earn her a job at a technology firm someday.

More students should have real world opportunities to explore their interests and careers. I think there is a huge disconnect between schools and the real world. Little is talked about in regards to how technology is changing traditional careers. Why not? I don't have the answer, but it's a question that's worth discussing.

The Old Digital Immigrant Says:

Many high schools have internship programs and special academies that both educate and prepare students for specific careers. Many students apply or choose to enter these specific courses or programs and often graduate high school with certifications ranging from automotive to network administration. Career and work awareness is also an emphasis in special education meetings with students and parents to prepare for life after school.

Perhaps schools need to find ways to ensure that ALL students have similar opportunities to envision their future.
Educators also need to better understand the real world employment conditions and opportunities in our respective subject areas. If we aren't aware of these jobs, we can't help students learn what we don't know. To that end, there is some learning on our part.

My takeway questions from the visit:

1) How can schools provide more real world learning opportunities for possible careers to ALL students?

2) What role can technology serve in this purpose? Many teachers in various subject areas use technologies like Skype in classrooms to interview professionals in the field.

3) What kinds of projects can educators give to help students pursue their own career interests?

4) And most importantly, for educators working with students with diverse socio-economic backgrounds, how can we help students understand that the careers they see in these technology companies can be their future?

Tough questions, and more business-school partnerships are needed to find the solutions.

Follow me on Twitter at @Patrick_Ledesma

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

As a classroom teacher, does the idea of a learner centered environment sound new to you?

The Alliance for Excellent Education recently released Culture Shift: Teaching in a Learner-Centered Environment Powered By Digital Learning.

The report advocates that a culture shift to a learner centered classroom environment is needed to prepare students to meet the challenges and demands of a global economy, that:

1) Learning needs to be rigorous and based on college and career-ready expectations.

2) Learning is personalized.

3) Learning is collaborative, relevant, and applied.

4) Learning is flexible, taking place anytime, anywhere.

This insightful report confirms and expands on what many teachers know are challenges in classrooms. I was fortunate to be part of an Alliance for Excellent Education panel that discussed the transformations needed in teaching in order to create this culture shift.

Then, a few days later at the Content in Context conference, presented by the Association of Educational Publishers and Association of American Publishers School Division, I had the opportunity to join a panel of publishers as an educator representative to discuss Organizing for the Future: Making the Learner the Focus of Your Business where we talked about the importance and challenges of creating products to support a learner-centered future.

From an educator perspective, we all welcome the emerging discussions on how publishers can support teachers in creating learner-centered classrooms.

And, if it involves meaningful integration of technology, so much the better!

Here are my take-aways from both events:

1) Effective teachers have always created a learner centered environment.

How do you survive teaching a group of students with learning disabilities and others with emotional disabilities? Hint: Know them as individuals, understand their strengths, needs, and learning styles, and be able to differentiate the ways they learn grade level content.

Create this learner-centered environment, one builds a learning community and manages behaviors of the class.

Fail to do so......watch the chaos unfold!!!

In other words, effective teachers with students with diverse socio-cultural and learning needs have always been learner centered.

Perhaps, the concept of learner centered environment actually originated in the one-room school house- where the teachers had students of different ages learning different content.

On the other hand, when discussing a culture shift, more is needed to scale this philosophy....

2) We need meaningful publisher and teacher collaboration

With the wide availability of multimedia and other resources on the Internet, the focus on the textbook as the sole source for information is decreasing. Many teachers supplement the textbook with additional resources to meet the needs of students.

In the emerging era of flipped classrooms, Khan Academy, iTunes U, You Tube, and other on-demand Internet resources that empower students to learn outside of the classroom, publishers will need to collaborate more with teachers to be able to create more relevant and meaningful products to support teachers.

This collaboration is essential in meeting the needs of an ever-increasing student diversity within the context of classrooms with higher and more rigorous standards.

At the same time, publishers have also experienced challenges with providing resources for teachers due to differences in state standards and the thousands of school districts, each with their own procurement timelines and adoption cycles.

Hopefully, the adoption of the Common Core Standards will facilitate the development of closer publisher and teacher collaboration to create more meaningful and relevant resources for students.

3) Learner centered environments will require technology.

How can a paper based textbook compete with dynamic, interactive, and on-demand digital resources?

It can't.

When I taught high school English literature at an elite private high school, the (general education) students did fine with the grade level textbook. But, in my 8th grade public school (special education) classroom where the reading levels of students ranged from 3rd to 6th grade, trying to learn 8th grade content with a textbook that had a reading level ranging from 8th to 9th grade was challenging.

My students needed, what the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards describes as, multiple paths to knowledge- being able to have a variety of resources that meets the learning needs of each student in order to access the grade level content.

As I shared at the panel, what we need is a "device" that can present the grade level content, but has features that can change the reading level of the text as appropriate for the student, integrate video and other appropriate multimedia content, and interactive simulations. The content should be updated regularly and have assessment features.

Soon, there will be Apps for that.

Paper doesn't cut it. A learner centered environment requires technology.

4) New roles are needed for the teacher profession.

The Alliance for Excellent Education report highlighted new professional responsibilities and roles for teachers:

a) Teachers as Facilitator of Learning
b) User of Data and Assessments
c) Collaborator, Contributor, and Coach with Peers
d) Curriculum Adapter and Designer

The teaching profession will also need to adapt in order to sustain these transformations. Since these roles require additional skills and knowledge, the teaching profession will need to better understand how to develop and support these differentiated roles to establish a professional culture with multiple levels of expertise and skill sets.

5) Transparency in classrooms will drive the change.

Will the public demand this cultural shift in teaching and learning?

During the Alliance panel discussion, Peggy Brookins, a National Board Certified Teacher and Director of the Engineering and Management Institute of Technology of Forest High School in Florida, and Erin Frew, Principal of New Tech West High School in Ohio showed videos of student activities that exemplify the potential of a learner centered environment.

Videos of student activities and projects in learner centered classrooms need to become viral. The public should demand that their children do similar activities at their school.

Schools should feature the types of learning that goes on in classrooms. Transparency can restore a healthy balance of relevant instruction and meaningful assessment, to "turn around" the narrowing of curriculum and learning associated with the test prep era.

Then ALL teachers, publishers, and other stakeholders can make that culture wide shift to create that learner centered environment that prepares All students for the future.

Follow me on Twitter at @Patrick_Ledesma

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

As educators begin to discuss the knowledge, skills, challenges, and opportunities associated with teacher leadership, one question often overlooked is why teachers should aspire to become teacher leaders.

This week's guest blogger is Erin Kelly, a middle school science department chair in Fairfax, Virginia.

Why Should Teachers become Teacher Leaders?

Who is a teacher leader? A teacher leader is someone who impacts students and teachers outside his or her classroom.

Teacher leaders are the heart of a school. We are the silent partners in decision-making. We are the ones informing administrators of the specific needs of our students and families. We are always available to offer advice, support, or simply to set an example. Through our daily commitment to students and teachers, we sustain the life and culture of a school.

Here are three reasons why I became a teacher leader...

1. I wanted more opportunities to "have my voice heard." I'll admit, I have a lot of opinions. Through leadership positions at my school, I am able to voice these opinions to the final decision makers. Whether you are an expert teacher who leads informally, or a department chair with formal responsibilities, teacher leaders collaborate with administrators to make decisions about curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

After becoming a teacher leader, I found that I was often asked, "What do you think?"

I enjoy being an instructional resource to others; this makes teacher leadership FUN.

2. I wanted to impact students outside my classroom. As a teacher leader, my impact on student learning has multiplied. By helping and mentoring other teachers in my school or district, my knowledge impacts the students in their classes. Students throughout my school are impacted by the professional development workshops I lead, the discussions I facilitate, and the decisions I make on behalf of my colleagues.

Being a mentor to other teachers and helping them grow professionally makes teacher leadership COOL.

3. I wanted to grow and learn as a professional. As a teacher leader I get opportunities to learn from others and meet new people. I attend district meetings and workshops outside my school where I collaborate and interact with teachers and administrators. I also participate in professional organizations and attend national conferences. Through discussions at these events, I build my own knowledge, which I pass on to teachers in my school.

Through teacher leadership, I am continually inspired to improve my own practice and to support others in improving theirs'. This makes teacher leadership EXCITING.

So why become a teacher leader? I say that being a teacher leader is fun, cool, and exciting. Not only do you broaden your impact, but you gain experience and opportunities to challenge yourself and grow as an educator.

Erin Kelly is a middle school science department chair in Fairfax, Virginia. She is an active teacher leader in her school and district.

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

As an educational technology geek, what is more exciting than reading about predictions and rumors if the next iPhone will have a larger screen or if the next Macbook Pros will be sleeker and without a CD/DVD drive?

Reading about predictions about technology in schools- of course!

After all, it's online testing season here in Virginia, where all students are taking their state standardized tests online.

So imagine entire districts and schools this month preparing the computers to test all students. Yes, for many schools that means taking away all those desktop and laptop labs for setting up individual testing stations. I remember one picture of a gym in a high school with over 350 laptops on tables setup as testing stations- complete with manila folders tapped to the sides of the screen to prevent cheating. And some schools close their libraries so students can test on the computers.

And for the network folks, it's geek fun time to see if the wireless network has enough bandwidth for all those multiple choice "A, B, C, or D" answers zipping through the air.

Fun times.

So, during testing season when all our technology is focused on giving online multiple choice tests, reading about the future technologies in the New Media Consortium Horizon Report K-12 Edition is almost fantasy inducing.

What else should students be doing with technology besides year long online test preparation and taking high stakes multiple-choice tests online for several days in May?

The NMC Horizon Report > 2012 K-12 Edition is a collaborative research effort between the NMC, the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). This report contains the preliminary results of the "top emerging technologies, trends, and challenges that the advisory board believes will have a major impact on teaching, learning, and creative inquiry over the next five years."

The full report will be officially released in June at the 2012 NMC Summer Conference in Boston, hosted by MIT, but we get a preview now. Last year, I wrote about the 2011 report.

What will be the technologies in schools one year from now?

• Cloud Computing: The ability for educators and students to access services and files from any device at any time.


• Collaborative Environments: The ability for educators and students to easily work together online anytime and anywhere, usually through a web browser.


• Mobiles and Apps: Computing anywhere at anytime through multiple devices, as often seen through the emerging Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives happening everywhere.


• Tablet Computing: Student access to tools and information, anywhere at anytime, using iPads, smartphones, eReaders.

What will be the technologies in schools in two or three years?

• Digital Identity: Access to all your stuff through one login anywhere.


• Game Based Learning: Because students learn best through simulations and problem solving of complex scenarios.


• Learning Analytics: Using a wide range of student data to improve learning and make informed instructional decisions.


• Personal Learning Environments: Self directed and group based learning.

What will be the technologies in schools In four to five years?

• Augmented Reality: Using technology and information to learn and interact with your environment in real time.


• Natural User Interfaces: More efficient human interaction with technology


• Semantic Applications: Allowing educators and students to more effectively sift, query, and gather relevant information.


• Tools for Assessing 21st Century Learning Skills: Finally learning to better assess the skills needed for the century that began 12 years ago. :-)

The report identifies some key trends, including:

• The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators.


• As the cost of technology drops and school districts revise and open up their access policies, it is becoming increasingly common for students to bring their own mobile devices.


• Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning and collaborative models.


• One-to-one computing is spreading to a large number of countries and regions.


• People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to.

The report also identifies challenges, including:

• The demand for personalized learning is not adequately supported by current technology or practices.


• Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession.


• Economic pressures and new models of education are bringing unprecedented competition to traditional primary and secondary schools.


• Institutional barriers present formidable challenges to moving forward in a constructive way with emerging technologies.


• Learning that incorporates real life experiences is not occurring enough and is undervalued when it does take place.


• Putting 21st century technology into 19th century schools is a major undertaking.


• We are not using digital media for formative assessment the way we could and should.

I'm looking forward to the full report. Until then, here are more questions to chew on:

1) Do you believe these technologies will be in your school or classroom in the near future?

2) Given the learning potential of these emerging technologies, does your school have a healthy balance between how technology is used for high stakes test preparation and for activities that integrate higher-level thinking, collaboration, problem solving, and creativity?

3) Are ALL students in your district benefiting from technology?

If you answer "Yes!" to all these questions, congratulations, you and your students are maximizing the power of technology. This report will be a "I do it and I'm ready for it!" checklist.

If you answer "No!", then what accountability policies will we need beyond our current fixation on high stakes multiple choice test scores to drive these innovations in schools? Is a balance possible?

Follow me on Twitter at @Patrick_Ledesma

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

A blog that's entitled "Leading from the Classroom" should have blog posts about teacher leadership. So, as the application window for the Teacher Leadership Online Community remains open, I've posted various blog articles from the past that explore questions of teacher leadership.

As the Teacher Leader Model Standards website continues to add exemplars, research, and other articles about teacher leadership, we can develop a single resource for all things Teacher Leadership so our understanding of the knowledge, skills, and supports required for this evolution in the profession will be easily accessible.

Teacher Leadership or Teacher Extra Duty?

When Do Teachers Transform From Teacher to Teacher Leader?

Three Questions to Begin Transformation to Teacher Leadership

Teacher Leadership and Implementing the Common Core Standards

What is Missing in Teacher Leadership? A Roadmap & Destination

Technology Experts in Schools: Teacher Leaders or Technicians?

See you in the community!

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 8:08 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Dear Educator,

How do you define teacher leadership? Do you consider yourself or any teachers with whom you work to be teacher leaders? What roles do teacher leaders currently serve within the educational community? How can teacher leaders help to move education forward and provide our students with 21st century skills?

We, as practicing teacher leaders, are excited to invite practicing teacher leaders to join us as we launch the Teacher Leader Model Standards Community this spring. We can't wait to virtually explore, discuss, and promote the Teacher Leader Model Standards.

The Teacher Leader Model Standards represent the various forms teacher leadership can take on a school, district, state, or national level.

These standards were created by the Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, an assembly of partner organizations devoted to spreading the message of teacher leadership and its impact on student achievement.

Check out the website created for these standards (http://www.teacherleaderstandards.org/), launched in October of 2011, and see what the buzz among teacher leaders is all about.

The community will be housed on the Teacher Leaders Network, a virtual platform monitored by The Center for Teaching Quality. Members of the community will have the opportunity to participate in a number of ways, including sharing examples of teacher leadership, participating in asynchronous virtual discussions, and engaging in webinars around topics of teacher leadership reform, policy, and practice.

As a community, our goals are modeled after those of the Teacher Leader Model Standards. We aim to:

• promote awareness of teacher leadership and what this looks like in action
• analyze research to expand our understanding of teacher leadership
• contribute experiences and examples of teacher leadership in development

To achieve these goals, we again invite you explore this community, which we hope will inspire you and other teacher leaders and provide a vehicle for your expertise to be shared beyond your own classroom.

Please consider encouraging teacher leaders to join the Teacher Leader Model Standards Community. For additional information, please visit the website (http://www.teacherleaderstandards.org/) . Interested teacher leaders may visit http://www.teacherleaders.org/member-survey to complete the survey. (Please note: When prompted to select a Teacher Leaders Network community, applicants should select "Teacher Leader Model Standards".)

Sincerely,

Sarah Henchey, Anne Jolly, Danielle Kovach , and Patrick Ledesma,
Virtual Community Organizers for the Teacher Leader Model Standards Community

Join Teacher Leader Model Standards on Facebook
Follow Teacher Leader Model Standards on Twitter @teachlead .

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 7:12 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Mrs. Carmenates, school librarian and guest blogger, and I recently had a discussion about Linda Braun's article Next Year's Model in the School Library Journal.

Next Year's Model tells the story of Sarah Ludwig, a former school librarian, who later became a technology coordinator at a school in Connecticut. Realizing that librarians are experts in information literacy, she was in a unique position to help students and teachers.

The article concludes:

"Once you remove yourself from the physical constraints of the library, you have more freedom, because you aren't limited by the title and the expectations of the job. If you get out of your library and take your knowledge everywhere, then you become a resource--no longer the keeper of a physical space or objects. You can focus on the most important skills that students need. You can take a fresh look at your curriculum and decide what's really important for your students to experience."

Braun asks, "Is this the future of the profession?" Is Sarah the model of the librarian of the future?

This week's blog post dramatizes our discussion.

Mr. L: "Hmmmm. What would it take for librarians to get out of the physical library and no longer focus on their responsibilities as Master of the Dewey Decimal System and the Art of Shelving Books?"

Mrs. C: "Very funny 'Mr. I-Fix-Printers All Day.' Well, helping teachers in the classroom has advantages, but can the space that we call a library ever become obsolete? What needs to happen?"

Mr. L: "Paper based books will have to be become obsolete."

Mrs. C: "Well that's already happening. People are reading more and more e-books. Libraries actually 'loan' e-books and are spending more of their budgets on e-books".

Mr. L: "OK. A library loans books so people don't have to buy them. So a place for loaning books will have to become obsolete."

Mrs. C: "I can share books on my Kindle. And, many books over 70 years old are free online and in digital form when their copyrights expire."

Mr. L: "Paper based books are accessible to everyone. Many students can't afford a device like a Kindle, iPad, or some e-reader, but more districts are adopting 1:1 laptop or iPad programs where every student has a device. And price of technology is always coming down. The cheapest Kindle is $79! And what about those $249 iPad Mini rumors?"

Mrs. C: "But how could every student in a district have a tablet?"

Mr. L: "What if textbook publishers developed some kind of mobile phone subscription model where they might just give away a cheap e-reader for every student in a district in exchange for a multi-year contract for exclusivity with digital books in a school system? And, what if all students were allowed to download or maintain up to, for example, three digital books of their choosing at any time? Sort of like the DVD model at Netflix or a book rental model like Books Free."

Mrs. C: "Loaning digital books? We'd solve the problem of not having enough paper books of a popular novel- no more wait lists for students waiting to read the popular books."

"Most kids approach me at my library desk to ask for book recommendations. If my desk was gone and if I had a school library blog and Twitter, they could get my recommendations for what is good to read."

Mr. L: "And students could get other recommendations from student crowd sourcing or an open online rating systems of novels by students... So, perhaps the role of the librarian as a keeper of the library is becoming obsolete."

Mrs. C: "Maybe, but teachers and students still depend on me for help. I think as long as I help teachers and students link information and media to the curriculum and be a resource where people can go for expertise, librarians as information experts will be more relevant than ever, in the library or in classrooms."

Meanwhile a student walks in the library...

Student: "What are the library hours?"

Mrs. C: "7:30AM -4:00PM.......Getting access to books only when the library is open....Now that should be obsolete!"

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend