Antonio Viva

At the beginning of this summer I picked up a copy of “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need” by one of my favorite authors Dan Pink. I had the opportunity to see Dan speak at the 2008 NAIS Annual Conference in New York in February and during his keynote, he referenced a new book he was working on that would be coming out in the spring, a career guide of sorts, done in the style of a manga. Sounded interesting. It was originally part of my “summer” reading list and even though the book takes no more than an hour to read, I didn’t get to it until last week.

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There is no question that the rest of the world will continue to forge ahead with adopting new technology and implementing new marketing and communication strategies well before those of us in the education world will. However, I have spent some time recently thinking and Twittering with friends and colleagues (@steveritchie @ernestkoe @alexragone @AdmissionsQuest ) about how the shift to “social technologies” is going to reshape the way schools work with students, communicate with parents and alumni and forward their mission. Social media technologies function to further the digital conversation and connect groups of people with one another in ways that traditional web based technologies cannot.

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A colleague recently asked me how I set up the WA Mash Twitter account so that it allowed for students to be able to post to that account. While I feel strongly that Twitter needs to find a way to set up groups, waiting for that to happen may have you waiting a long time. After searching for other options, I landed across a service called GroupTweet.

Group Tweet essential asks you to set up a generic Twitter account that you specifically intend to use for this function and register it with their site. Once the site is registered with GroupTweet, you then ask the group, in my case, my creative writing class to follow that Twitter account. Once they are following all they need to do is send a direct Tweet to that registered account and unlike a regular Twitter account where it sits in a private inbox, it will post to the group account publicly.

I know that there might be a danger with allowing this to happen because anyone who follows that account can send a direct message to it and have it display publicly, but it does show who sent the post and in 3 months of using the service, I have fortunately had no problems. If you are a teacher looking to use Twitter for group discussion/collaboration I suggest you check it out.

http://grouptweet.com

Photo Credit: mfilej

Lately, most of my time has been spent working with my creative writing students on the development of a new online magazine called “WA Mash” (Worcester Academy Mashup) and in short, it has re-energized my teaching practice. In 1996 I began my first year of teaching and was given as part of my teaching load, taught senior level creative writing. As an English major at Union my focus was on creative writing and in many ways, I was taught in a traditional, “old humanities” paradigm that truly served me well. My focus was and continues to be on the creative process. But back then, the reality was that the ability for my students to publish beyond the structure of our class or even school community was limited. We were tethered to the world of old media. Print publications.

Enter the fall of 2008. After being inspired by a presentation on YouTube by Richard E. Miller, Chair of Rutgers English, The Future is Now: Presentation to the RU Board of Governors challenged the comfortable, and somewhat traditional notion of why and how we should teach students writing. The birth of the “New Humanities” where the focus is on creative non-fiction prose fit nicely with the work I had been exploring in the past few years with blogging and journaling. And so, WA Mash was born. I gave each student an account on our Wordpress blog, they were given contributor access and were set off to find interesting ideas that would culminate in original content.

Almost 9 weeks later, the hits on our blog are reaching between 100 to 300 hits daily. Close to 50% of our users are returning visitors, we have over 85 followers on Twitter and several student articles have received thought provoking comments from our readers. What is most important, is that students are serving as content creators, they are writers and critical consumers of information. We read magazines like Slate.com, Salon.com, the New York Times Opinions & Editori

als section and the latest, The Daily Beast. The experiment is still ongoing, and as the end of this first trimester begins to reach its climax, I find myself reflecting on what has worked and what has not, adapting and modifying so that Mash can continue to grow. But what brings me the most joy and satisfaction is that 19 juniors and seniors have left their mark on the digital world. They have shared their thoughts, their ideas and they have engendered conversations. That is truly the power behind the new humanities, social media and teaching and learning.

Photo Credit: b_d_solis

I am typing this from my Blackerry Curve in a futile attempt to get around the fact that I don’t own a iPhone. Part of the reason my personal blog suffers from a lack of fresh content is that I have not found a decent way of blogging when I am away from my laptop.

Come on Apple and Verizon. Or at the very least can we start seeing some serious application development for the Blackberry platform?

Starting to really give serious consideration to using my iPod Touch, I just don’t feel like carrying another device around with me. Wordpress and RIM or Verizon and Apple need to come through soon. It’s starting to get a little ridiculous.

Is there anyone else out there who feels my pain?

I want to thank Peter Baron of Admissions Quest for asking me to speak with him on the Boarding School Podcast about my work on WA Mash. Part of the reason I have been far to busy to post here on my regular blog is because much of my energy has been devoted to getting WA Mash off the ground. Consider watching the podcast and find out more!

WA Mash: Social Media in the Classroom from Peter Baron on Vimeo.

Welcome back!

I have been asked to speak briefly this morning about the renovation and restoration of Kingsley Laboratories.Before I begin.  I wanted to ask all of you, what do you think about how Kingsley turned out?

Yeah, I am pretty excited about it too.

It may seem that somehow, magically, the building went from being tired, and in need of some TLC to being shiny, new, state of the art and smelling clean and fresh.
But it didn’t happen so easily, it took over 18 months of planning and hard work to pull the project together and complete it on time.

Behind me you will see a slide show that starts on the day the project began, with the hard work of the Kingsley faculty and staff packing and preparing to move out. It took over 8 tractor trailers, 15 movers and two days to store the hundreds of boxes, furniture and materials.  Furniture that was no longer needed was recycled so that it could be sent to areas devasted by natural disasters. And on Friday, May 27th 2008, the building was empty, exactly 1 year earlier to the date that we sat in the Library seminar room looking at the first set of architectural drawings.

In the days and weeks that followed, an army of contractors, workers, foremen, laborers, project managers spent countless hours in the middle of the summer heat, through countless wet and stormy afternoons working on a scope that included restoring the entire exterior and interior of this beautiful and historic building. For those of you who do not know, Kingsley Laboratories was built in 1897.  Dr. Abercrombie, who was the headmaster, had spent time in Europe studying the education system. He realized that in the United States, we were failing to adequately prepare students in the study of math and science. He came back from his travels with a bold vision. He recognized that Worcester, a thriving industrial city during that period was also home to WPI, which was at the forefront of creating the future scientists and mathematicians of the time. He decided that Worcester Academy should take a bold step and create a shift in they way it educated its students, and so Kingsley Labs was born. In 1897, it was state of the art and many came to visit and learn how they could replicate this type of learning resource at their own schools. Over the 100 plus years that has passed, Kingsley and the other historic buildings on our campus have served to inspire our students and faculty to achieve great things.

Today in 2008, Kingsley is again state of the art. It makes use of new technologies designed to decrease our use of power and make better use of natural sunlight through lighting fixtures that can sense the amount of sunlight entering into a room and automatically adjust to keep the level consistent throughout the day. It contains renewable materials such as the flooring and cabinet fixtures.  It has been equipped with the latest technologies designed to give all of you the ability to explore, create, investigate, design, and solve important problems.

But most importantly, Kingsley now serves to remind us of two very important aspects of what it means to be a part of this amazing school. First, that it would be irresponsible of us to forget our past, to ignore our tradition and to push aside our history. It is this rich history that inspired the future leaders and creative thinkers of their time. But it is also there to serve as a reminder of our bright and innovative future. It is there to remind us of our responsibility to engage with one another as a learning community. Our belief that each of you, every student in this gymnasium represents infinite and vast potential.  So consistent with our core values I charge you this year with the following.

Respect the hard work and dedication of those people who spent countless hours working, restoring, preparing and cleaning the building so that it would be ready for all of us at the start of the school year. Take care of it and all the buildings on this campus. It is our campus and it is our place. Let us show each other and the campus the respect it deserves.

Challenge one another in your courses of study. Push yourselves to find that which inspires you. I believe that in this room exists the potential for great things. I often wonder, which of you will someday find the cure to AIDS or Cancer. Which of you will discover the ability to find an inexpensive and sustainable energy source. Which of you will be inspired by either your math or biology teacher to explore the new area of study known as computational biology. Which relies on the ability of mathematicians to combine their skills with those of other scientists, bringing powerful perspectives to problems that were once thought to be too hard to solve. Is there a Pulitzer or Noble Prize winner in literature or poetry? The road to that potential begins with your willingness to engage with one another and your teachers. At the same time, think of the cleaning staff or carpenter who made the room you are in conducive to learning.

And lastly, let us Honor the legacy of Dr. Abercrombie, whose vision to create a school that was innovative and leading edge led Worcester Academy to 175 years of rich tradition and excellence.
I hope that you love the building as much as I do. There are far too many people to thank, and for each of you that was involved in some way, Thank you. But I want to leave you with this thought. Without all of you here, Kingsley is nothing more than a very beautiful but very empty building. It is wonderful to have all of you back and have a great year!

I thought I would share my introduction to our first experience with Open Space Technology. For those of you not familiar with OST is “is a simple way to run productive meetings, for five to 2000+ people, and a powerful way to lead any kind of organization, in everyday practice and extraordinary change.”

Open Space Technology Initative Writing Exercise (Note that summaries of the OST principles came from OST resources)

Welcome Everyone!

“Our theme for this gathering is to talk, collaborate and write initiatives for the Academy’s Strategic Plan.  Over the course of the afternoon, we are going to develop our best thoughts around the issues and opportunities associated with our theme. Each of you is invited to draft initiatives for our plan. I want you to keep in mind that you should strive whenever possible to write initiatives that you or your cohort (department, division, team etc) will be directly associated with. That is not to say that we cannot take advantage of the creative potential of this group but that whenever possible, it is wise to generate initiatives that you feel you will have some direct role in.  We want you to know that while we cannot guarantee that every initiative that is drafted today will make its way into the final action plan, we can guarantee that a sub-committee will be charged with reviewing it and giving it full consideration.

As we start, I want you to notice that there is no specific agenda and there is no one in charge. I am serving as the facilitator of this process and nothing more. There are 4 principles to OST and one law.

Whoever comes are the right people. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have. Whenever it starts is the right time. When it is over, it is over. The first principle reminds everyone of the obvious fact that those of us present are the only ones here. Whatever gets done will get done by us, or not at all. There is little point, therefore in worrying about all those who should have come, might have come, but didn’t come. It is essential to concentrate on those of us who ARE here.

The second principle is yet another statement of the obvious. Given the theme or task at hand and the people in attendance, whatever happens is the only thing that could have. If we were to change the people, time, place, or theme, and something different would result.

If you are wondering at all with is the deal with Open Space Technology and clearly it is a new approach for Worcester Academy, it is not untried. Groups all over the world, some as large as 400, regularly create their own agendas for multi-day meetings in less than one hour. They then proceed to self-manage the whole affair. While this is not a contest, there is no reason for you to do less well than those who have gone before you.”

Lastly the one and only law of OST is the rule of two feet. It is a law only in the sense that all participants must observe it or the process will not work. We call it the Law of Two Feet. Briefly stated, this law says that every individual has two feet, and must be prepared to use them. Responsibility for a successful outcome in any Open Space Event resides with exactly one person — each participant. Individuals can make a difference and must make a difference. If that is not true in a given situation, they, and they alone, must take responsibility to use their two feet, and move to a new place where they can make a difference. This departure need not be made in anger or hostility, but only after honoring the people involved and the space they occupy. By word or gesture, indicate that you have nothing further to contribute, wish them well, and go and do something useful.

Review Format of afternoon and materials:
Room setup – each goal and corresponding strategy is broken out by individual table. You will notice that they are labeled and will have at them a copy of the strategy as well as the initiative writing template.
I would ask that you look at the handout each of you has received; it contains a copy of the plan in its entirety as well as a set of guidelines for writing initiatives.
(Review both)
Thank you for being here. And thank you for participating. If anyone wishes to remain at the end, we can spend some time debriefing the afternoon and the process.

Note – Close to 65 faculty and staff participated. The event was over in under 2 hours and over 100 initiatives were written. initial feedback was positive and on the whole, people enjoyed the exercise.

Photo Credit: Laughing Squid

If you are anything like me, the end of the school year is marked by key moments and regular rituals intended to assist in the ushering in of summer. So my box of summer books arrived from Amazon today. Most of these books I have not read yet. I hope to write thoughts and reflections throughout the summer as I work my way through the list. Has anyone read any of the titles? Other suggestions worth adding to the list?

The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business, Media, and Technology Success of Our Time By: David Vise & Mark Malseed

• A colleague of mine David Bill suggested this title to me last week during lunch. Looks like a great beach read.

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures By: Dan Roam

• An Amazon generated suggestion that looked good. I will let you know what I think.

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need By: Daniel H. Pink & Rob Ten Pas (Illustrator)

• Daniel Pink was one of the keynote speakers at NAIS in NYC this year. I read “A Whole New Mind” last summer and loved it, in fact my entire middle school faculty will be getting a copy of AWNM on Wednesday. During his keynote, he mentioned that he was in the process of finishing “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko” and that it was geared to students. Can’t wait for this one to come in.

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything By: Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams

• Another Amazon generated suggestion.

The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect, Completely Updated and Revised By: Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiel

• This is one of the texts I will be using next year in my Journalism class, kudos to my English Department colleague Christina!

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success By: Carol Dweck

• Carol Dweck is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at NAIS in Chicago in 2009. I was fortunate enough to hear Pat Bassett, President of NAIS at The Principals’ Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education this past November. The book sounds fascinating and worth reading.

Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter) By: Garr Reynolds

• I am big fan of Garr Reynolds work. I have had a copy of this and poked through it periodically before I give a major presentation. A must have for anyone who communicates in front of groups and is looking for a way to declutter and simply the power of your message. Garr has written some in depth posts on both “The Back of the Napkin” and “Brain Rules” you should check them out.

A Short History of Nearly Everything By: Bill Bryson

• Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors. I have heard good things about this book and I think it will be one of the first books I read.

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD) By: John Medina

• Again, my colleague Dave Bill suggested this one to me. Kudos Dave.

Photo Credit: chotda

I have spent some time recently thinking about how our schools look and feel very much like they did over a century ago. Our school began a major construction project last week intended to refurbish and renovate one of our major academic buildings. Kingsley Laboratories, built in 1897, is one of our oldest buildings and houses Math, Science and English classes. Dr. Daniel J. Abercrombie who was the Academy’s headmaster during the time that Kingsley Hall was built had been working in European schools where classical curriculum had given way to the study of the conceptual and applied sciences and mathematics. His vision at the turn of the 19th century was to create a facility on our campus where students would begin the study of chemistry, biology, anatomy and physics. The building was state of the art for its time and attracted many of the neighboring colleges and universities, eager to see how learning laboratories could be designed.

Over 100 years later, the work on Kingsley Labs has begun, part of the scope of this project is to redesign and update our science facilities that they may once again be state of the art. Our labs will include fully integrated technology resources, AV, LCD, SmartBoard and a fleet of portable laptops for data collection. Lab benches are designed to allow groups of five students to work together as well as independently. Yet, many other classes at our school as well as other remain unchanged. Rows of desks or tables, the focus of the classroom is often directed toward the front of the room, blackboards remain popular at our school as I am sure they do at many others, technology is not yet fully integrated but requires a process of signing out etc. I am pleased to report that we are beginning a 1 to 1 pilot program in our Middle School with the hopes of a school wide implementation in the fall of 2009.

Innovative companies like Google, Apple, 3M, Starbucks, Toyota, IBM and General Electric are recognized for their ability to foster innovation and creativity. So what do they have in common? These companies are known for creating environments that cultivate and foster creativity, innovation, collaboration, new designs, and 21st century problem solving. I recently had the opportunity to hear Sir Ken Robinson speak. He was fantastic. Many I am sure have seen his presentation on TED on “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” and his speech at the NAIS Annual Conference in New York touched upon many of the same themes. One idea that really struck me was the analogy he drew between farming and teaching. He said that farmers know that they don’t actually get things to grow. What they do is create the right conditions and environment to get their crops to do what they will naturally and inherently do on their own. Farmers understand that what they are responsible for is creating the optimal conditions. Schools could learn a thing or two from farmers. Schools need to recognize that students have enormous potential and are capable of amazing things and if given the right environment and the proper conditions will rise to the occasion. However, if we continue to subject students to a early 20th century industrial model we will continue to do nothing more than stifle all but those at the top 15% of the class. Preparing our students must begin by rethinking our teaching and learning environments. By looking to innovative companies such as Google, Apple and 3M, we can adopt their workspace philosophy to reshape the nature of how we work with students and how teachers collaborate with one another.

So how will our schools catapult innovative teaching and learning in the 21st century?

A few suggestions:

1. Design rooms that are properly equipped and can function as flexible spaces to support different teaching modalities. Rooms should not focus on one method of teaching versus any other. Create rooms that are designed to meet different purposes.
2. Rethink traditional scheduling practices – Rooms should be signed out and used as they are needed by a group of students and their teacher. Rather than continue to schedule classes as we currently do, consider creating teaching clusters where groups of teachers have access to these different rooms when they most need them.
3. Create comfortable, well equipped and contemporary faculty work rooms. A teacher who has their own classroom finds it very easy to become isolated and close their door and teach. Making spaces available to teacher groups/teams where faculty can collaborate, obtain resources and materials, make phone calls and get snacks and good coffee, cold beverages and talk with one another can encourage colleagues to design and create innovative curriculum and teaching strategies with one another.