Want Engaged Learners? Sign PBL Contracts

(Originally published at gettingsmart.com)

There was a time when my sole purpose for living and breathing, my ultimate dream, was to sign a contract — a contract to play professional baseball. I simply wanted the opportunity to work hard in order to create a better me for the entire team. “Give me that pen,” I remember thinking. “I’ll sign for a Coke and a smile,” I told anyone who would listen. That day never arrived.
Thanks to two amazing educators and baseball coaches, William Booth of Hartselle High School and Joe “Jabo” Jordan of Southern Union State Junior College, I learned the meaning and value of sacrifices and team rewards. These two, highly positive and tough teachers challenged me to surrender selfish goals in order to accomplish a larger vision, one that benefited the entire team.
Ironically, however, one of their shared techniques for molding a greenhorn baseball student into a selfless teammate was to set up a creative, engaging, and rigorous learning environment that highlighted my various strengths and weaknesses. It was not uncommon to complete a multi-hour practice only to wipe away the diamond dirt and grass and reveal a truer self. Afterwards, I knew what I could do. I knew my talents. I knew my faults. I knew my place on the team.
Although I often marvel at the fact that many of my greatest classes and lessons as a student were encompassed by chain link fences and boisterous team supporters whose loud cheers were muted only by the demands of two, farsighted leaders, I try my best to create a similar environment in our Language Arts classrooms. Only without the dirt, the grass and the fences. So far, the most masterful lesson I have to offer is one that is predicated on signing a contract — a problem/passion-based learning contract.
An American Literature Contract
Recently, our American Literature class began a contract-based, project-based learning (PBL) assignment by determining the required literature and accompanying standards, while offering all students a chance to demonstrate their mastery through any appropriate project of their choice.
It’s as simple as this: The standards and literature are mastered while students ultimately learn about their talents, interests, strengths and weaknesses through student-prescribed projects that challenge, engage and invigorate our team learning environment.
Students often choose to create songs, parodies, video mash-ups, green-screen newscasts, thematic websites, fictitious products, slideshow presentations, and live drama skits. For tech projects, our creative gallery of technology links is shared via a Symbaloo webmix on my teacher page. For any non-tech project, I revert to Coach Jordan’s simple, but powerful, field directive, “Find a way to make it happen.” We do just that. Whether raiding the drama department’s closet for character clothing or bringing in our own props, students in Studio 113 are encouraged to make no excuses while finding a way to make their vision a reality.
Co-Authoring the Contract
After introducing the literature sections, related standards and literary terms, students are encouraged to suggest the structure and guidelines of the project. The decision to include the students during the drafting of the contract is powerful. By giving students a creative voice throughout the entire process, the classroom-learning environment is shared. All present are stakeholders. With their priceless input, we agreed on the following sections for the contract:

1. An abbreviated list of the standards/literary terms
2. An assigned literature section with matching numbers for associated standards
3. The project and presentation grading criteria
4. A larger area for a handwritten project proposal
5. A contractual agreement that solidly sets a foundation for each team’s attitude, project appropriateness, responsibilities, and collaboration
6. Materials and/or additional help needed
7. Names of team members and their mutual responsibilities
8. The due date
9. A link to our Symbaloo webmix of technology resources
10. An area for the teacher’s and students’ signatures of agreement

The Sacrifices with PBL Contracts
Anyone who says project time for students affords teachers time to catch up on grading must be a superhero. Maybe it’s my inquisitive nature, but I continually found myself involved in riveting discussions with individual teams about their shared vision for the original project.
It seems with each new seat I took, I was allowed to share in the excitement and strategic planning of a new rap song, a dramatic rendition of a Puritan love poem, or a silent film set to colorful placards. Simply put, I witnessed the inner workings of creativity. But to be perfectly honest, I would be misleading you if I didn’t list my sacrifices, all of which I will gladly relinquish for a classroom of ecstatic learners:

1. The illusion of classroom control: On any given day, I would rather manage students’ creative energy that originates from an engaging assignment than to discipline minor classroom infractions that stem from boredom.
2. The pressure to be the creative leader: Need a spark for a new lesson plan? Take a look at your students. They will provide the ignition for a real-world project. Just ask them.
3. The door lock: I quickly realized last week the classroom doors were going to be virtually invisible during our project. The day after announcing the assignment, students were beating down the doors before, during, and after school. To my amazement, we had a team of three come to an afterschool help session immediately after a two-hour softball practice. How could I lock the door on such dedication?
4. Time: Whether eating a five-minute lunch, staying after work a few hours to help students, or communicating with parents to invite them to the upcoming presentations, your time will be affected by a challenging PBL assignment.
5. Inflexibility: Yeah, you read that one correctly. However, let’s drop it like it’s hot. Isn’t it quite challenging to work so hard on developing a golden lesson plan for several years only to have it challenged by students’ creative directions? Well, don’t hold on too long lest you get dragged. Besides, the students’ end result will be better than you could ever imagine.

As I ponder the above sacrifices, I am again reminded of my two, kick-butt, hard-nosed teachers who taught me the values of maintaining a selfless attitude in hopes of success for all. When presentation week begins, there will surely be technology glitches, unfulfilled responsibilities, and clarification of the assigned standards. In a nutshell, there will be problems. I am not worried. I’ll coach them through it.
I’m just pumped I finally got to sign the contracts, and I can’t wait to see what our team produces.

5 Apps to Lower Teacher Anxiety & Raise Student Voices

Originally published at gettingsmart.com on August 30th, 2012.

The art of teaching sure has changed since I nervously stepped into my first class of thirty-two, energetic students fourteen years ago. I remember feeling pressure from the prescribed sage-on-the-stage pedagogy. Fortunately, I soon discovered that not only was I far from an academic scholar, but I also wasn’t the most important factor. The students demanded they be a vital part of the classroom and curriculum creation. That was okay with me. Opening up the pressure valve a tad never hurt anyone.
Now, as an experienced educator concerned with implementing the new Common Core Standards, differentiating and blending instruction, collecting standards-based data, growing as a professional alongside the new TKES model, and with balancing my family life amidst the rigorous requirements of a successful classroom, my blood pressure can climb to a level that potentially mutes the very reason I chose to teach: listening to the students’ voices.
In a nutshell, leading six, fifty-minute, high school Language Arts classes (four of which are Honors or Advanced Placement) is a daunting task, especially with one, fifty-minute planning period. It is the type of scenario that has many educators feeling like they are required to be superheroes in the classroom. There is no need to worry, though. All educators have access to a superhero’s toolbelt of time-saving gadgets that lower teacher anxiety while elevating students’ voices. I like to think of them as technology sedatives.

Relax and Let Google Drive Work for You

Although I arrived a bit late to the party, I recognized the power of Google Docs (now called Google Drive) two years ago when a tech-savvy colleague persuaded me to let Google Drive collect any information I deemed important. This media center specialist walked me through the power of this free web resource and showed me how a simple shared survey would morph into an organized spreadsheet of invaluable data and information while I went about my normal day.
Her most influential, persuasive line? She said, “Create the form or document, share the link, and let Google Drive work while you go about your daily duties or while relaxing. Heck, even while you sleep.” And out of that ten-minute tutorial, I hired my trusty assistant, Google Drive, free-of-charge. Here are a few uses.

1. Create a survey asking students to list problematic standards while offering possible learning alternatives and strategies to master those very same objectives.
2. Embed a form on a teacher page requiring students to locate and curate content for a list of study terms.
3. Share a slideshow presentation with students while giving them access to add/edit multimedia examples that augment the lesson plan.
4. E-mail or share a spreadsheet link asking students pertinent questions that relate to project/passion-based learning. (i.e. students’ talents and interests, access to technology at home, ownership of smartphones, favorite technology tools, project ideas, etc.)
5. Share a link via Twitter that “kicks” students to a webpage that allows them to rate/score their peers’ performances in real time during classroom presentations.
6. Post a QR code that sends students to a list of writing prompts. After students have submitted their responses via smartphones or other mobile devices, go to Google Drive, print out the spreadsheet or simply use the Google Drive App on your smartphone or tablet to walk around the classroom while discussing the students’ replies as they work on other class assignments. Believe me when I say, “Google Drive really makes it too simple.”

The only dilemma with using Google Drive is how students will access and record the information. Whether choosing to e-mail a link, embedding a form on a teacher page, directing students to the shared document via Twitter, or by simply writing the address on the board and allowing students to take a cell phone picture, allowing Google Drive to work for you takes hardly no time to set up and share. See how easy it is here.

Use Socrative for Easy Standards-Based Assessment and Feedback

Socrative is a website that allows students to complete assessments via any internet-connected devices. Of course, the main catch with students is their ability to complete a class assignment from their smartphones. It is especially easy with the Socrative teacher and student apps.
While I am still exploring the burgeoning creative ways to use Socrative, one rock solid purpose is the traditional assessment. By taking advantage of the Socrative template to transfer a pre-made quiz from a Word document into an Excel spreadsheet, Socrative is immediately programmed with the testing prompts and answers. Students are given instant feedback when they take the quiz.
Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of this powerful and free website is the feedback. Socrative provides teachers with an Excel spreadsheet that color codes all correct and incorrect responses. By manipulating the columns, teachers get a glaringly obvious representation of the students’ learning and the effectiveness of the lesson. This makes it an efficient tool for formative assessments.
For example, after learning the vast majority of my AP Language students failed the “chiasmus parallelism” question on a recent quiz, a revamping of that particular lesson was much needed. The time spent determining students’ knowledge and my teaching effectiveness in the years past would have taken two or three hours. With Socrative, improving the classroom learning environment is just a downloadable, color-coded spreadsheet away. See it in action here.

Use Polleverywhere to Elevate Students’ Voices

My most valuable uses:

1. Use as a backchannel during a class discussion. This elevates all students’ voices, even those reluctant to speak out loud.
2. Use as real-time criticism for project presentations. Students rate classmates’ performances according to grading criteria. This real-world criticism is visible via a projected screen and encourages standards reinforcement from the audience. I promise your final presentations will be better than your first, especially if presented on different dates.
3. Have students vote for collaborative projects and class direction. Why not encourage students’ input when planning the next unit?
4. Analyze the writing process by posting students’ samples.

Polleverywhere is downloadable as a PowerPoint slideshow and as a .CSV file for Excel spreadsheets.

Increase Your Audience with Voicethread

Students don’t get too excited about expressing themselves to an audience of one. By sharing a Voicethread link, invite other classes from wherever to contribute to the discussion prompt. Parents and students from other classes and schools can contribute to the shared content. Before you know it, your assignment has grown into a viral lesson, but you only need to score your students. To do so, click on their profile pictures and listen. (Click here and let’s talk possibilities.)

Screencast to Teach Colleagues…Just Once

If you have a tech skill to share, whether it is tracking changes in Word or teaching colleagues how to create their own Voki class avatars, use screencast-o-matic to record your tutorial and share with interested co-workers. Teachers can click “play” as many times as it takes to understand, while you relax and let the technology sedatives work for you. All of these free gadgets should allow you to concentrate on hearing what matters most—the students’ voices.

"11 Steps to Gamify Your Next Lesson"

"11 Steps to Gamify Your Next Lesson"

(Originally published at gettingsmart.com)

With so many educators today discussing the possibilities and promises of online learning, one key aspect of education often forgotten in the quest to tear down these learning walls is the ability to create classroom magic within those very same walls. Along with blended learning, flipped classrooms, gamification and many other new instructional buzz words, virtual classrooms are unquestionably valuable educational instruments in a teacher’s pedagogical toolbox.
However, let’s remember the power of an engaging, all-inclusive, in-class learning structure within a traditional classroom. To witness one of these environments where teachers and students interact in a challenging, accountable, spontaneous, and creative atmosphere is to witness a work of art—or classroom magic.

The Game: A “Voting Chips Structure”

One game guaranteed to produce the excitement needed to engage students and achieve the assigned standards is what I call the “Voting Chips Structure,” a learning game that asks students to represent their understanding of an assigned prompt with colored poker chips. Although many of our learning models do not include competition, “Voting Chips Structure” is definitely a competitive game.
Oddly enough, the foundation of this structure in Studio 113 does not originate from the standards. The success is predicated on the students’ choice of final rewards and/or consequences for all participants. Whether it be lip-syncing to Justin Beiber’s “Baby,” performing a version of an arthritic T-Rex dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” or receiving an ice-cold Coke and fresh Milky Way from a classmate, students energetically embrace the consequences and rewards system before diving head first into creating classroom magic.

The “Voting Chips Structure” Procedures

1. Set up the structure. Assign each student a teammate and organize the partnerships in a circle with one student as the front channel representative and the other as the back channel representative.
2. Assign the prompt. The students and I created the “Voting Chips Structure” to apply pressure and prepare our Advanced Placement Language class for the timed, rigorous, multiple-choice section of the College Board exam. However, one excellent feature of this learning model is its “plug-and-play” flexibility. Simply plug in the standard, the algebraic problem, the science experiment, the historical fact, the literary excerpt, the conjugation of a second-language’s verb, the skills needed to perform a physical activity, or anything deemed important by the classroom’s learning family. A teacher should simply ask, “What do I want my students to learn with this activity?” Then, simply plug-in the prompts each round and witness the students play with the learning objectives.
3. Allow thinking time. The amount of thinking time for each round should be determined by the complexity of the prompt. Since we utilized this structure in conjunction with AP Language multiple-choice questions, one-two minutes were given for each team to discuss its answer, and a digital timer was posted on the screen to keep the structure running smoothly and fairly. This may not seem like enough time, but please remember we began this structure the day after each student individually completed the very same questions as a mock portion of the exam.
4. Poll the back channel. When the thinking time expires, the back channel students are asked to indicate their initial answers by raising their hands. If the assigned prompts are not of the multiple-choice nature, students can voice their answers by verbalizing their responses, by posting to Polleverywhere.com, by tweeting with a pre-determined hashtag, or by any other creative measure established by the learning family. The purpose of polling the back channel is to clarify the majority answer within the classroom. This usually entices all students to reconsider their previous answer.
5. Allow limited time to change answers. Giving thirty seconds for students to re-challenge their interpretation of the prompt and their initial responses is a powerful technique that causes them to dive even deeper into the unknowns of the learning cue. Oftentimes, students resurface from the deep with a solid understanding of the assigned task.
6. Ask front channel to announce final answer. After the final deliberation, only the students on the front channel have the authority to announce their final answers. Again, various tech resources may be used to disseminate these answers, however, the old-school method of voicing the answers one-at-a-time is the most efficient method.
7. Ask students to vote their confidence with chips. Using a set of colored poker chips ranging in value from 1, 3, 5, 10, and 25, students match their partnership’s overall confidence of their final answer with a value determined by the offered chips stacked in front of the front channel members. The starting number of chips should be discussed prior to beginning the model. Our teams agreed upon a starting amount of one hundred.
8. Announce/discuss the correct answer. The excitement derived from announcing the final answer is awesome. Be creative and have some fun with it.
9. Ask students to make corrections and re-calculate. After making any needed corrections, front channel students re-calculate their chips by either adding to or subtracting from the trays of organized chips in the center of the circle. If needed, students may use their smartphones or calculators to accurately score themselves. The longer the structure is used, the more complex the numbers may be.
10. Add any necessary clarifications. If further elaboration or clarification is needed to extend the learning moment, either the teacher or the students may be asked to validate the answer with more detail.
11. Reset. An optional announcement of each team’s score is harmless and actually adds to the competitive atmosphere. Periodically rotating the front and back channels is also recommended. All that is left to do now is reset and move to round two.

Take a quick look at the “Voting Chips Structure” in action here.

Simply Plug-in the Standards and Play to Learn Flexibility

Whether it is Math, History, Language Arts, Health & P.E., Computer Basics, Chemistry, Webpage Design, Band, Art, or any class at all, I honestly cannot think of any limitations to implementing this structure. Sure, certain learning environments and disciplines will need to take advantage of the flexibility of this structure in order to create one that better serves them. That is the beauty of this “plug-and-play” design.
Simply determine the standards of focus, give the students a voice in creating the procedures for the “Voting Chips Structure,” and simply plug-and-play to create classroom magic. You may not pull a rabbit out of a hat, make a card “jump” from the middle of the stack to the top like David Blaine, or manipulate a Frisbee with no hands like Chris Angel. Heck, I’m quite sure you won’t solve all the educational problems in our country, but you will wipe out students’ lethargy and boredom by creating an engaging classroom full of magic. You can do it, and I’m betting your class will go “all-in” with the voting chips.
Experience “Voting Chips” and many other learning structures from John Hardison & Studio 113 at Georgia’s Educational Technology Conference in November. Please also add your comments by joining the #votingchips discussion on Twitter.

Life Is Writing: Two Apps for the Reluctant Writer

"Life Is Writing: Two Apps for the Reluctant Writer" (originally published at Gettingsmart.com)

I can’t even begin to quantify how many times I have been blessed with the challenge of working with a reluctant writer. During 14 years in the Language Arts classroom, I have heard “I hate writing” a thousand times. Sure, everybody loves those students who scan the writing prompt a couple of times just before their minds and hearts connect with the pens and bleed ink onto the paper in an effortless representation of creativity and mastery of rhetorical strategies. Taking natural writers to the next level is also a daunting task, but I will forever be grateful for those who stare at the paper with confusion and anxiety while hoping words will magically fill up the empty lines. Their apathy for writing shakes me to the core in such a way that leaves me scratching my hairless head and searching for any angle to prove how essential self-expression is to living. To me, life is writing.

How to Ignite Passion Into Reluctant Writers

Some of my attempts to ignite a passion for writing in my students have failed, and no doubt various students have left my class on the last day of school still detesting the writing process. Any teacher faces this reality at times. However, the one bona fide solution that continues to yield excellent results in our classroom is one rooted in common sense. When prompted by a student’s unintended verbal challenge in the form of “I hate writing,” I smile, take a deep breath, pull out a chair and give it my best shot.
“So, you hate writing, huh?” I ask. After hearing a courageous and honest, “yes,” I continue. “I want you to pretend you’re sitting on a front porch somewhere absolutely beautiful – near a beach watching the sunset, up in the mountains hearing rain tickle a tin roof, wherever.” I pause just before finishing the final touches on a canvas colored with Southern scenery, “And the one person you trust more than anyone in the world, a person who is a solid rock, a person you can tell anything to, is sitting right next to you on the front porch swing. You’re sipping on that ice cold glass of sweet tea, and you begin to talk about anything, whatever is on your mind. You don’t stop and wonder if your grammar is correct. You don’t stop and check your spelling. You just open up the tap and let it flow.” Usually by this time, I sense if my strategy is working, and whether it is or not, I still end with my best writing advice. “Simply talk to the paper,” I say.

How to Leverage the Dragon Dictation App for Reluctant Writers

Where students see empty lines on a paper, I want them to hear a voice – their own voice. This is exactly why the Dragon Dictation App works perfectly. Some students fight the physical part of writing but can’t seem to slow down when allowed to talk about the exact same topic. Think about it. Have you ever had a student in class who was always more than willing to give his impressive insight or opinion on any given topic only to clam up when you offered a silent writing session to the class? This need not be a problem with Dragon. Simply open the app on a tablet or smartphone and ask the student to talk. This technique serves as a kick-starter for the writing process, and a student’s confidence immediately soars once he copies and pastes his text into a writing app and views multiple paragraphs of a rough draft. The editing comes later.

Use the Tripline App to Write Everywhere & Anywhere

As my family so often points out, I am a nerd. I always want to put myself in my students’ shoes, so when possible I test all my theories before implementing them in class. Whether I am grilling burgers on the back porch, spending some quality time with my family, or riding a road bike in the North Georgia mountains, I feel like I am swimming in a sea of imagery. Every sight, every sound, every smell, every sensation is an invitation to fully participate in life and express one’s self. With this foundational belief in mind, I decided to experiment once again. I figured if students could see every present moment as an opportunity to express themselves, their love of writing would grow even greater. If they could “check-in” to the moment wherever they were and simply write about their experience, I knew they would believe in the power of self-expression.
To test my theory, I took my eight year-old daughter, my thirteen year-old son and his out-of-state friend to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. I politely informed them that at each stop I would complete the following steps:

1. Take pictures with my iPhone of any interesting sights
2. Use the Dragon Dictation App to talk about our experience
3. Copy the unedited text from Dragon and paste into the “story” section in the Tripline App; and
4. Send pictures and writing by selecting “check-in” via the Tripline App.

Each time I selected “check-in,” the Tripline website created an interactive, GPS-located map of our travels. Just like the diver we witnessed in the Ocean Voyager tank at the aquarium who was surrounded by whale sharks, manta rays, and other aquatic life, I felt immersed again in a sea of imagery, and I could capture each moment in words and pictures. By showing the pictures, writing and exact location, viewers get a sincere account of our travels. To make my experiment as realistic as possible, I assigned myself the following writing standards during our Georgia Aquarium trip: technical, narrative, persuasive, expository, and descriptive. Furthermore, I chose to keep our trip “private” until I returned home, logged in to Tripline, and edited my writing.
Our trip, and my experiment, was a resounding success. We had an absolute blast. Not only am I excited to jump back in the classroom and offer these tech writing tools to my students, but I am eager to create more opportunities that foster students’ passion for writing. One thing hasn’t changed, however. When I hear on the first day of school, “I hate writing,” I will be prepared.
I will smile, take a deep breath, pull up a chair, and say, “Want to talk instead?” Click here to join the discussion on Voicethread or comment below.

"The Talent & the Agent: My Desired Class"

"The Talent & the Agent: My Desired Class"
(originally published at gettingsmart.com)


The students and the teacher, the audience and the speaker, the players and the coach, the learners and the sage: I could go on forever with the many ascribed labels attached to the occupants of a classroom, and depending on the structure, purpose, and direction of the class, these tags can be negative or positive in nature. Leaning on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s famous “frightening conclusion” quotation, I am Zen-like in my focus on the classroom atmosphere and I intend to create – the talent and the agent this upcoming school year. By developing flexible lesson plans, implementing interactive learning structures, and engaging the customers with passion-based projects, the class of my dreams will be a reality.

Skeletal Lesson Plans

Lesson plans should be skeletal in nature. The assigned curriculum and all its supporting standards and literature act as a strong but flexible framework for the students to continually add muscle and flesh by challenging, playing, and wrestling with the daily tasks. With a supple but fluid approach for each unit, students sense the freedom to suggest further exploration while dropping creative hints for engaging classroom activities. Some of the best lessons I have ever witnessed were ignited by students’ original questions and ideas. Who knows how many times I was too focused on one of my golden lesson plans to hear the heartbeat of the class. Maybe if I slow down enough to learn the likes and dislikes of each student, I will keep a steady finger on the pulse of the class.

Interactive Learning Structures

Drawing from authentic learning structures such as “Doorball,” “Cell Phone and Literary Seismograph,” “Bullet Train,” “The Chosen Ones,” “Voting Chips,” and “Wax Museum,” students participate in interactive classroom designs that foster responsibility, creativity, spontaneity, and collaboration. These learning activities offer an organized but unscripted atmosphere for students to work with the assigned standards in individual and team settings. The energy and level of engagement is quite contagious, and the students oftentimes enter class asking to continue a certain structure from a previous lesson.

Passion-Based Projects

As all educators know, balance can sometimes be a four-letter word. How much time should be given for projects? How many traditional settings are effective? How can interactive learning styles develop mastery of the assigned standards? The questions keep coming and are sometimes collectively answered only after subjecting any teaching theories to experimentation in the actual classroom. One such experiment that continues to yield excellent results is the passion-based project. Whether drawing from our shared Symbaloo webmix or from creative ideas that involve little or no technology, passion-based projects where students merge their personal interests with the assigned standards are a lock. They simply work. I witnessed this truth firsthand this summer when my eighth grade, suburbanite son asked me to help him construct a basic chicken coop with the ultimate conclusion of owning several Silky chickens. The result was more than I could imagine. Not only did we construct a very cool enclosure for a few furry hens, but an engaged middle-school learner and his sister realized the world is the true classroom.

For the last four years in our class, Studio 113, students have blown us away with original paintings illustrating an in-depth understanding of symbolism, with painstaking lyrics for a new thematic song covering Dark Romanticism (scroll down to second song), and with action-packed videos featuring zip-lining superheroes who speak using examples from AP Language literary terms. To drop it like it’s hot, students have talent. They can even take something as mundane as discussing strategies for multiple-choice questions and transform it into a multi-camera movie trailer that has the audience looking for the ticket booth.
Maybe students just want to have fun with the assignments. Maybe it is how they learn best – by creating. Maybe they subscribe to Will Smith’s quotation: “The greatest dreams are always unrealistic.” Whatever it is, students can consistently create original music videos or literary remakes that not only master the standards but also bend and shape the lessons into something new, something that resembles art. Ah, but that would label the students as artists. Fine with me. I will gladly stand back and admire the talent as long as students do not believe the only things they create are the illusions that their level of engaged learning can be qualitatively and quantitatively measured by standardized test scores. As for the talent and the agent, I simply hope my skills match the students’ potential aptitude. After all, who wants to be “fired” by a class of bored students who are hungry to unveil their personal interests and abilities? That would be mismanagement of talent.

"An Energetic Classroom through Interactive Structures"

"An Energetic Classroom through Interactive Structures" by John Hardison (@JohnHardison1 & @Studio113_EHHS)

(This post was originally published at Richard Byrne's website: freetech4teachers.com)

Surely any passionate educator would say the teaching practice is one of trial and error, success and failure. I am no different. Whatever hasn’t worked in our classroom, the students and I have simply altered, enhanced, or sometimes completely overhauled. Quitting is not an option. We collectively supply the energy needed to create a collaborative and engaging atmosphere of shared knowledge. To allude to a favorite baseball great, we “Pete Rose” any challenges in our AP Language or American Literature classes by diving in headfirst and supplying a zest for learning that is clearly palpable in our classroom. The great Ralph Waldo Emerson, who once stated “The world belongs to the energetic,” would surely agree. In essence, our students transcend selfishness, boredom, narrow-mindedness, and unoriginality by embracing an academic setting that demands participation.

Even with the success of our project-based assignments and some traditional teaching methods, the most tested and highly effective solution for creating this active environment is our implementation of learning structures. The students and I totally create them ourselves. With names like “Stage Fright,” “Recording Artists,” “Force Field,” and “Six-Shooter Firing Squad,” these organized but spontaneous designs have been the foundation of our success in Studio 113, an interactive Language Arts classroom that houses a basic recording studio, a hexagonal, raised stage, green screens, a smartboard, and a secondary room for digital production.

One of our top ten structures is one verbosely named “Flip Forum, Unaware Speaker, and Silent Discussion.”At first, it may not appear overly exciting, but the students’ feedback reveals a clearer vision. Actually a conglomeration of three mini-structures, the design is highly effective. First off, the students are placed in one of four teams that will eventually rotate through four structured areas. Stations A & B, circled around our stage in the middle of the room, constitute the “Flip Forum” discussion, where students analyze and discuss the assigned literature by sharing their original ideas, flipping over their assigned numbers located in front of them on stage, and then calling on classmates to continue the thread. A continual backchannel via Polleverywhere is viewable on a drop-down screen, and students are also encouraged to enlarge the discussion audience by using Apple’s Facetime or by simply switching to “speaker” on their cell phones. There is nothing quite like having a student’s mother offer her opinion in real time. Obviously, I remind the students a few days before to prepare any outside audience members with a tentative schedule for our “Flip Forum” discussion. If communication on the assigned prompts needs to be extended, Voicethread is embedded on my webpage for afterschool continuation, or students can use Posterous to send in their video-recorded opinions to our class blog.

Station C, “Unaware Speaker,” invites the students to record a team member to speak to the assigned prompt while pretending to be oblivious to the symbolic and silent acting performed behind him. One particular student, acting as the camera man, will frame the video with the acting appearing directly over the speaker’s shoulder. Students can choose to share camera, speaking, and acting responsibilities in this station. All videos may be later mashed-up into an original video in a style determined by the class after completing all rotations. Ideas range from movie trailers to newscasts to music videos to any original and appropriate student proposals.

Finally, Station D is one that adds a bit of serenity to the bustling learning environment. The “Silent Discussion” asks students to explore the prompt by contributing in a TodaysMeet chatroom or by using a Twitter hashtag. Of course, I follow along on my iPad or laptop as I stroll through the stations and observe the students sharing knowledge in a variety of ways.

A few educators in my PLN question the effectiveness of the “Flip Forum, Unaware Speaker, and Silent Discussion” in their classrooms due to a perceived lack of technology. That may very well be the case. As I have witnessed so many times, students are eager to share tech gadgets, knowledge, and ideas to circumvent any problem caused by technology or the lack thereof. However, no worries. I have used this exact same structure with Post-It notes, dry-erase boards, rolls of bulletin board paper, rotational manila folders, etc. Whether it’s old school or tech-integrated, the students are encouraged to express their original ideas.

But the next structure I want to share with you is way too simple, yet it’s extremely effective. In fact, the “Wax Museum” structure comes with a warning. Although no technology is required, the energy level in the class will skyrocket the moment the students understand the level of freedom allowed to create a motionless, symbolic “wax” statue that successfully addresses the assigned prompt. Here’s how it goes. 1. Students are instructed to use any appropriate items in their possession and any within the classroom (or my storage closet of tech gadgets and props for that matter) 2. While focusing on the prompt at hand, students should plan a “wax” statue that will be held without movement for up to five minutes or more. 3. Students are given roughly 15-20 minutes to discuss and prepare the assignment. 4. Once all teams are ready, students are instructed to hold their positions quietly and as perfectly still as possible while I record their creations with a video camera. 5. Lastly, the students continue to hold their positions while one or more team members explain their rationale while only moving their lips. Simply put…students love it.

Honestly, I am not sure if Mr. Emerson’s quotation stands true for our class. After all, our energetic students in Studio 113 may not actually own the world after an invigorating class, but there is one certainty: I can guarantee you they will share their classroom of knowledge and creativity through engaging structures, project-based learning, and forward thinking. That’s all I ask.


John Hardison is a facilitator of learning in an interactive classroom called Studio 113 at East High School in Gainesville, GA where literature creatively comes to life on a stage with students as the stars. In the past 14 years at East Hall High School, Hardison has taught AP Language, American Literature, World Literature, and Applied Communications. Through original learning structures and a shared classroom concept, students are inspired to connect literature with their own talents and interests. Follow John on Twitter @JohnHardison1 and his class @Studio113_EHHS. Hardison blogs monthly for GettingSmart.com and shares his interactive structures in workshops at local technology conferences.
Blogs from GettingSmart.com
The Structure Factory Blog
John Hardison’s Studio 113 Webpage

"How to Showcase an Army of Talent Through Tech Projects”

“How to Showcase an Army of Talent Through Tech Projects”

By John Hardison (Twitter @JohnHardison1)

(Originally published at www.gettingsmart.com)

Just last week I was fumbling through a cupboard spilling over with drinking glasses and java cups, and I found myself staring at a coffee mug that was given to me many years ago. It reads "The three biggest reasons to teach: June, July, & August." I giggled to myself at the absurdity of the written words. First of all, what happened to three months?
Secondly, I detest that coffee cup. In fact, I never drink from it. Deferring to the unwritten "gift" rule, I am simply unable to discard someone’s present to me, although it embodies the total opposite of how I feel about my job as a high school Language Arts educator in an interactive and collaborative classroom. It has been roughly three weeks since the last students walked out of our classroom, and I absolutely miss them all. I miss their creativity, their hilarious comments, their budding brilliance, and their authentic and innocent unknowing. In short, I miss school.
However, being the diehard optimist that I am, I choose to use the summer as a chance to step back and reflect on the classroom-learning environment I participate in creating. My reflections have led me to a plan of action for one particular area needing improvement, a professional weakness rooted in control.
Project-Based Learning With Technology Threatens the Illusion of Classroom Control and Empowers the “Army of Talent”
Let's face it. The illusion of control is a driving force in many teachers' daily plans. The fear of losing a classroom of energetic students due to lack of control appears real. I suffer from the same angst at times. So with the overwhelming growth of all things deemed educational technology, project based learning, flipped classrooms, and many other new shifts in the teaching profession, my initial reaction was quite common. I was afraid. How do I stay abreast of new apps, web-based resources, and current trends that have students naturally leading their own learning? I asked myself this very question many times during the past school year.
I felt I was standing in the octagon awaiting a duel with Bruce Lee, Jason Bourne, Clint Eastwood, and Rocky Balboa, all at the same time, with the terrifying, "Let's get ready to rumble!" from Michael Buffer ringing in my ears. I was up against a seemingly insurmountable task. Like always, I simply sought to engage my students by making the latest technology available for project assignments, but with AP Language essays to grade, engaging lesson plans to create, professional meetings to attend, and interactive classroom learning structures to implement, I struggled to keep up with the lightning-fast proliferation of educational technology.
My sense of control was quickly fleeting. Even with the on going nurturing of my infantile, professional learning network through Twitter, I desperately needed one of two things: twenty-eight hour day or consistent help from very knowledgeable minds. With the unfading concept of synergy lifting me up and by natural default of my two options, I have chosen the latter.
In my fourteen years of teaching, I have witnessed classroom after classroom of creative and lively teenagers peering back at me for direction and learning management. Musicians, artists, writers, actors, techies, athletes, orators, charismatic leaders, and many other gifted students have blessed our classrooms with their presence. So, if Wikipedia defines synergy as “two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable,” naturally I must turn to my one saving grace to my classroom full of students - the “Army of Talent.”
In order to successfully and efficiently utilize all creative resources available to me, I have devised a plan that will ultimately add “incredibly” to an already “awesome class.” It is a plan to systematically and continually grow a repository of video tutorials that students and teachers can access to support and strengthen their assigned curriculum. And here it is…
Leverage Google Drive and Webmix to Create Personalize Projects
Step one consists of establishing an immediate connection with my students through . Think of it like this: all thriving businesses share the common tenet that accurate feedback from their customers is invaluable. How is this any different than education? After all, aren’t our students the customers? Absolutely. Can I get an “Amen?”
With this in mind, I will continue to ask the “customers” to contribute to a prefabricated survey in Google Drive that collects data on all pertinent student information. I implemented a similar form last year, but my questionnaire categories were not precise enough. This new survey, which can be easily shared via e-mail, Twitter, or a teacher’s webpage, contains prompts ranging from students’ self-evaluations of skills such as acting, writing, leadership, and technology prowess to more writing-intensive cues that invite students to divulge their personal interests, hobbies, and talents. Of course, I always ask students if they own smartphones, tablets, or any other mobile devices that could augment the classroom-learning environment.
Perhaps the most important prompt, one that confronts the current malaise caused by lack of time versus the tech gadgets explosion, is the last survey request that leads students to my to review resources for project based learning. After perusing this evolving collection of links, students are asked to choose a technology tool they either have presently mastered or one they would be willing to learn for the betterment of our collaborative, learning family. If a resource is not listed on the webmix, students are encouraged to suggest other alternative tasks or additional tools to be added. Hopefully, this survey will stand as the foundation for an engaging classroom of shared knowledge.
No longer will I learn in the final three weeks of school that the quiet John Doe student sitting in the back of the room is actually a young guitarist who can play out any Eric Clapton riff upon request. No longer will I wait until the last month of the school year to learn that Justin X. Ample is a young and promising Steven Spielberg. No longer. With the Army of Talent assessed and assembled, I will now kick-start week one with an establishment of priceless familiarity that acts as a springboard into phase two of the plan.
Use Screencasting to Capture and Create New Learning
To me, the next step is powerful and theoretically simple, yet it tap-dances on the nerve of teacher control once again. However, the legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson states that a true leader, one who strives daily to have his students think for themselves and see life as constant learning, is oftentimes “invisible.” With this paradoxical notion in mind, screencasting and video recording are the answers to this overstressed nerve.
After downloading the survey from Google Drive as an Excel spreadsheet and studying the students’ feedback and suggestions, I will spend the next few weeks implementing and encouraging a routine that allows for students to work on screencasting sessions in a rotational, blended learning structure while completing their literature assignments. Using or software from and only when it specifically applies to class assignments, students will create video tutorials roughly three-five minutes in length that guide their peers through previously unknown technological terrain. If students’ demonstrations don’t involve sharing a screen or the concepts somehow require an external recording devices, video cameras, smartphones, tablets, and other recording gadgets are useable.
Many writing, editing, speaking, and presentation skills will be utilized to construct effective and concise video tutorials. Perhaps my hardest task during these times of creation is to manage, curate, and ultimately harness the collective power derived from the students’ shared expertise. Isn’t this an excellent problem to have? To expedite the process, I will continue to open my classroom doors before class hours, after school, and, when appropriate, during my planning period.
As I have learned with many of our students’ projects over the years, an engaged and appreciated Army of Talent will find the time and place to create authentic examples of knowledge. Whether it’s at home, in the school’s computer lab, or patiently waiting at my door at 7:15 a.m., students will find a way. This yearlong process of creating and collecting video tutorials is limited only by one’s imagination.
Students can create tutorials that showcase the construction and editing portions of an essay, guide others through a powerful vlogging site like Voicethread, or demonstrate how to drop a newscast background into a video using Chroma-key technology. The tutorials could be as simple as a thirty-second video that reveals the correct way to insert a header for an MLA paper, or they could be as complex as dropping a pre-recorded MP4 file over a muted video segment in MovieMaker Live. Whatever the tutorial may be, several things are certain: the process will be empowering, and it will certainly ask the teacher to relinquish the illusion of control and participate as a knowledge-hungry student at times.
Create a Video Repository For Future Learning Reference
The final phase, storing the tutorial in a video repository, is one that must be discussed with a school technology or media specialist, and depending on your district’s technology status, a number of possibilities exist. In its simplest form, a video repository could be organized on a shared classroom computer through the organization of a folder system. Aptly named tutorials would be placed in appropriately labeled folders. Compare it to putting up the laundry. The socks go in the socks drawer. Simple.
However, other districts may elect to store tutorials in an area more accessible by a multitude of students and teachers. A video gallery on the school’s website would be perfect, and any additions to the repository could be submitted to a media or technology specialist. Of course, there are numerous options ranging from a YouTube channel to a school’s shared network drive. Whatever the situation, a technology specialist will easily point you in the right direction.
Please don’t misunderstand me. This plan is not in lieu of the mandated curriculum. Preparing students for the Advanced Placement Language Exam and studying American Literature is and always will be the primary focus of our classes. The video tutorials will simply accelerate many assignments. Think on it. How many times have you been asked the same technology question when assisting a class of diligent workers with their projects? Instead of repeating the mind-numbing answer multiple times, a teacher could remind students of the video repository where they could view a classmate’s steps in delivering a coherent, thesis-driven speech, or they could study a team of teenage writers as they render their interpretation of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” in a totally authentic rap song through Mixcraft software. Again, the possibilities are limitless.
Sure, naysayers might say, “There are many tutorials already on the internet. Why reinvent the wheel?” My answer? I want our students to be leaders who spearhead any new challenge with gusto. They should seek to create, to be original, to think forwardly. If a certain video tutorial already exists on the Internet, students may choose to improve it in the name of efficiency and clarity. If our students have an amazing idea coupled with doubt, they should fearlessly dive headfirst into making that vision a reality.
Finally, some educators will argue over the extra time needed to curate an endless video repository. However, I don’t see it that way. I see efficiency, classroom ownership, an effervescent learning atmosphere, true mastery and understanding of the standards, endless creativity, and time well spent. Besides, I would rather manage students’ excitement and energy stemming from an engaging classroom than to discipline boredom’s evil offspring…student misbehavior.
After eight weeks of refreshing and reflecting in the summer sun, I will definitely be ready for day one of the upcoming school year. No doubt I will stare into the next ten months and see before me an intimidating array of challenges. Although it may feel like I am preparing for a bareknuckle brawl with Bruce Lee, Jason Bourne, Clint Eastwood, and Rocky Balboa all at the same time, I will remember to rely on the Army of Talent and defeat my nemesis, the illusion of control. And it really doesn’t matter to me if the leader is invisible.
Works Cited
• Jackson, Phil, and Hugh Delehanty. "The Invisible Leader." Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior. New York: Hyperion, 2006. 147-68. Print.
• "Synergy." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 June 2012. Web. 17 June 2012. .