We teach KIDS not CONTENT

This is the philosophy of Science Leadership Academy (SLA) in Philadelphia. I had the opportunity to hear Chris Lehman speak about what fundamental changes need to happen in schools based on the trends of web 2.0. In an open forum, the following points were made:

We finally have the tools to realize Dewey’s dream=they are available…do we all have them…? If so, what are the top 2-3 structures that need to change?
These are the words / ideas of the many fantastic minds in the room…These are my notes…thoughts from around the room

• Time: Change how we use our time: Streamline paperwork, give teachers time to adopt new things. Cant do it on top of already packed curriculum
• Use data differently
o What we collect
o The way we collect
o The way we use

• Planning has to change: can’t just start a blog—expectations won’t be met
• Need more models of that kind of planning. 5 point lesson plan doesn’t fit school2.0
• Teacher attitudes not only about the structure of the day, but the structure of the year: Jump into school year rowing as fast as you can without the pre-preparation—paid teacher time during summer, end of year, mid year. ONLINE CAN BE HUGE WITH THIS…C Lehman met with teachers 1 ½ hours in back yard then online in moodle—weekly chats, live talk then threads etc…When we break down the walls of the schools, need to think who we can invite in: F Institute Wed pm… every week have time to meet and plan—be creative with common planning time

• Vision of Principal: Help learning
• CURRICULUM: Spiral Curriculum needs to be ocneected UBD curriculum planning tool
• GRADING: Stop using grades and grade books as weapons against children: learning and starting and stopping
• Location: physical location? Does it need to happen in building—What about the layout—want starbucks layout
• Role of teacher / student: Break down the wall between students and teachers—parent expectations & student expectation

HOW…
Start in kindergarten
Squarely on our shoulders teachers being willing to learn from students
Tell the kids that we don’t have all the answers
Starts with vision
Can we create a school that is different for each student—end user experience—if you get out of
1:1 laptop initiative so kids have equity home / school

Part of school 2.0 is we teach KIDS before we teach subjects
How do you evaluate teacher performance? Admin in every class every day…no evaluation of lesson plans Goals based assessment
Not using evaluation as weapons
Teacher learning must = student learning
George Lucas site…Sherman oaks elementary school…time is built in every day to review what you learn
Connect with the parents: Schools have been black boxes for years if you enter a students id # in moodle, you get a list of HW, can see website, announcements,
If you make your school transparent, parents will get involved 63 % of kids on free and reduced lunch—95 % have computer access…when told parents progress reports are ONLY available online they came flooding for tech help…
In SLA don’t make p.report available through tech as they want the teachers to come in the more we can do when use the tools: we track attendance on line, hw,
The more we can teach….
More we can get the UPPER ADMIN to blog & put themselves out there…
http://www.leadertalk.org

What is the WORST consequence of your BEST idea…what will happen if you let kids blog? what if we don’t disable ichat? You tell me…