A Conversation with Michael Stoner

A few weeks back I was contacted by Michael Stoner, one of the partners at mStoner, a leading edge marketing and communications firm based out of Chicago.  Michael was researching and writing an article for the January 2010 issue of CASE Currents Magazine. We spent part of a late afternoon on the phone talking about topics ranging from social media, to marketing and communications and trends in these areas with respect to the independent school world.

I really enjoyed getting the chance to speak with Michael and encourage you to consider reading the post he wrote about WA Mash.

Presentation to WA Board of Visitors

I was recently asked to make a presentation to the Academy’s Board of Visitors on Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century. The focus of the presentation was to provide a context of how has the purpose of school changed, what skills, attributes and experiences do students need to be successful and how do we better understand these digital natives as unique learners. It is my firm belief that schools should focus on fostering creativity, collaboration and courage in our students and provide ways for them to demonstrate what they know and understand beyond the traditional assessments and sources we use today. I also looked at how we can learn from innovative companies as well as better understand how to create 21st century learning spaces that better reflect the skills and attributes that our students will require in order to address and solve many of the global issues we face today.

I want to acknowledge the work of colleagues Wendy Drexler, Alec Couros and Kim Cofino whose work influenced me greatly.

I hope you enjoy watching the slide show and feel free to email me with questions.

Sharing thoughts on 1 to 1 Laptop Learning

I was recently inteviewed by members of Worcester Academy’s Board of Visitors regarding 1 to 1 laptop learning.

Monday Morning Meditation – A Great Revolution

I came across this great quote by Daisaku Ikeda, who is president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Buddhist association which claims 12 million members in 192 countries and territories, and founder of several educational, cultural and research institutions. I was searching this past weekend for some inspiration around the idea that change in schools is not a “revolution” but an “evolution.” I think those of us who work in schools often struggle with helping create change. I have heard educators describe schools as “change adverse” and I struggle with idea that we are making an assumption that schools are unable or unwilling to embrace the idea of change. That is where Mr. Ikeda’s quote inspires me.

“A great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind.”

The message I hear in that quote is that in order to change the destiny of our schools, our students and society as a whole, we must begin by seeing ourselves as the catalyst for that change. By embracing the notion that a “great revolution” in just one individual can help the rest of us achieve the change we need or want to see is a powerful motivator. Think about it this way. The ability to inspire one teacher to try something new has the ability and potential to inspire other colleagues to do the same. Creating an environment where people are willing to take risks with their practice requires that as leaders, we need to support these individuals through that process, even when things don’t always go as planned, and we all know that things don’t always go as planned.

But more importantly, I am inspired by this quote in the potential it has for our students. They truly are the revolution that may be needed to solve some of the greatest problems facing modern society. As leaders in schools, it is my humble opinion that the responsibility to provide the necessary ingredients needed for these current students to blossom into the future leaders and creative thinkers of the future begins with our ability to see the change in ourselves and model that change for others around us.

Photo Credit: ecstaticist

Opening Remarks 2009

Good Morning. I am Mr. Viva, the Associate Head of School here at Worcester Academy. And I know for a fact that many of you recognize me more from my voice than anything else. Does this sound familiar? “Good Morning, This is Mr. Viva, due to dangerous weather conditions, Worcester Academy will be closed today.” Your personal 5:45 am wake up call on a cold and snowy February morning telling you that school is cancelled and that you can go back to sleep. For some of you, this may be the first time you are putting a face to that voice.

Mr. Morse couldn’t be here today so he asked me to step in on his behalf, and welcome all of you to the start of the 176th year here on the Hilltop. 176 years. Have you ever stopped for a moment and thought about what it means to be a part of a place that has been around that long? Go back in time with me for a moment and think about how much our world has changed in that time. Consider for a moment, that back then, in the early to mid-1800’s there were a group of creative thinkers, some would call them rebels, who were pushing the envelope by rebelling against what they saw as the current situation and what they were trying to be different from. They were call the Transcendentalists and another way to look at them is to see them as a generation of people who were struggling to define spirituality and religion (our words, not necessarily theirs) in a way that took into account the new understandings that the time they were living in made available to them. This movement brought us some of the most important and influential thinkers of their time. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. And while this moment in history was unfolding, in real time, Worcester Academy students were taking classes and learning from one another and their teachers. It was all happening right around them. Continue reading…

Your Neighbor’s Story

For those of you follow me regularly on Twitter or Facebook, you know that for me, yoga is the “zen” part in zen daddio. I was first introduced to yoga 6 years ago at the UMass Center for Mindfullness training I participated in. Specifically the stress reduction course they offer which is fantastic. It wasn’t until about a year ago that I began to engage in a more serious and committed yoga practice, at a studio, with excellent teachers. In the year that I have been on this personal yogic journey of moving meditation, the transformation to both my body, mind and spirit have been significant and tangible. So needless to say, yoga plays an important part in my personal and at times professional life. The style of yoga I practice is called Vinyasa which is a flow yoga that is usually practiced in a heated room, usually between 92 and 98 degrees and has you moving and flowing from one posture to the next, using your breath as the core of the practice.

Continue reading…

Are we ready?

It really is a simple question, isn’t it? Are we ready? Are our schools, teachers, administrators truly ready to stop talking about teaching and learning in the 21st century and instead, start actually doing IT? I have been thinking about this quite a bit recently, and an email from a colleague prompted me to revisit Wordpress and finish my reflection on this question. He claims he is on a personal mission to “Get folks to re-think the use of the word technology as it is currently applied in school.” He says “Here at Urban, it’s all about how to improve the learning experience/learning community and NOT about learning to use technology.” Powerful right? And I can see where he is coming from when he says that his “given title is NOT Technology Director,  rather Director of Digital Tools and Practices that Support, Enhance, and Extend the Teaching and Learning Process.” Brilliant. There is a paradigm shift for you. Put that job title in your ad in the newspaper or on Carney Sandoe next time you are looking to fill a technology leadership position. For those of you who know or have had the opportunity to work with Howard Levin over at Urban, you know that he means it and is actually delivering on it.

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A Conversation About Social Media & Education

A Conversation About Social Media in Education from Antonio Viva on Vimeo.

I was invited to speak with administrators from the Asheville School this week by my good friend and colleague, Peter Baron from Admissions Quest. The conversation lasted about 30 minutes and we discussed a variety of topics including; using social media in the classroom, understanding how to leverage the potential of social media technology in your communication strategy and changes in school culture.

I hope you enjoy it!

To find out more about Admissions Quest visit http://www.admissionsquest.com/

For information on the Asheville School, visit their website at http://www.ashevilleschool.org/

Using Social Media to Define the New Humanities Classroom

This presentation was made at EduCon 2.1 in Philadelphia on Saturday, January 24th.

Can we harness the power of social media to provide students with a vehicle for exploring and creating original content? WA Mash (Worcester Academy Mashup) is an online magazine where the power of social media is captured to provide creative writing students with a platform for exploring ideas and fostering and contributing to the larger global conversation. By exploring the possibilities offered by the use of social media tools, we explore how one teacher is defining the New Humanities at the secondary school level. Built off the work of Richard E. Miller at Rutgers University, students blog in a timely fashion about a wide variety of cultural, political and economic issues. Most importantly, it is about creating original content and redefining the role of student and teacher. They compliment their work with audio, video, photos and micro-blogging by integrating social media tools like YouTube and Vimeo, Twitter and Flickr. Think Slate or Salon for high school. The conversation will explore the nature and role of the New Humanities in education. How do we define it? What does it look it? What role does it play? And how do we move forward with implementation?

The resource wiki for this presentation can be found at educon21.wikispaces.com/211-3

Using Social Media to Define the New Humanities Classroom from Antonio Viva on Vimeo.

EduCon 2.1 Sunday Morning Reflections

This is my first time attending EduCon and I must admit that it has on the whole, delivered in every way. As I sit here in a Starbucks trying to catch my breath and enjoying a Vanilla Rooibus Tea latte I am thinking about the depth and breadth of conversations I have been able to have over the last two days. From our arrival on Friday afternoon, our tour of the Science Leadership Academy, the panel discussion at The Franklin Institute, the Saturday sessions, my presentation, the networking gathering and Sunday morning panel, the experience has been superb. Continue reading…