Managing Your Online Footprint

On June 16th, I participated in an online conference called PD in your PJs hosted by The State of Tech Podcast. The conference consisted on video streams that were captured live using Google Hangouts recently unveiled On-Air feature. The conference proved to be a great use for Google Hangouts and it also gave me the opportunity to talk with some really cool educators about a subject I feel is generally ignored in today's classrooms.

Despite spending up to 11 hours online each day, students still do not understand that what they do now will affect them forever. The Internet - Google especially - never forgets. It also fails to understand how elapsed time affects search results. This means the kid who adds pictures to his Flickr account showing off his beer pong prowess at his 18th birthday party is the same person 10 years later who has graduated from law school and passed the bar exam with flying colors. The beer pong picture and the picture of the grad standing with a proud mom and dad will appear on the same page of an image search. That's some scary stuff.

Everyone does stupid things as a kid. That's part of growing up. The danger now is that those stupid moments are saved eternally.

Below is the finished State of Tech podcast featuring our presentation on the topic of online identity and managing your online footprint. Enjoy!

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Should Teachers Assign Homework?

A few days ago, teacher (and founder of the short lived but hilarious #pencilchat hashtag) John T. Spencer wrote Ten (Really Useful) Ways to Cheat-Proof Your Classroom. Cheating - especially in the form of plagiarism - is a demon I am constantly trying to exorcise from my students and I think nine of Spencer's suggestions do just that. There's only one that I find disagreeable.

Spencer suggests that cheating takes place largely on homework assignments so the easiest way to solve the problem is to simply stop assigning homework. This is the equivalent to sawing off your hand to ease the pain of a hangnail. Homework is needed not only as a summative assessment but also as a means of teaching responsibility and accountability. What standard are we setting by making students responsible for nothing more than physically showing up to class?

While I agree that there are still far too many teachers assigning crosswords and word finds, meaningful homework absolutely has a place in the classroom. Perhaps there needs to be discussions in schools about what homework is and why it should be assigned in the first place. If a teacher struggles to answer these two questions regarding a particular assignment, then it's probably not worth assigning in the first place.

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How do we Fix the Outdated Education Model?

Last August, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion at the #140EDU Conference in New York City. The topic of the discussion was the Alternatives to the Outdated Education Model; the premise of which was that the current education system isn’t broken, but rather completely out of touch with the needs of today’s learners and therefore ineffective. Because of the limited time allowed for the panel, we could only offer general ideals and best practices rather than practical solutions for change. After all, updating the very structure and purpose of education would mean a massive overhaul in a legacy system embedded within U.S. culture – not really something that can be accomplished in a 20 minute panel discussion.

I thought about this experience last night while browsing through a friend’s photo album on Facebook. He’s a bit of a political junkie, which explains why the album was from his trip to the Jimmy Carter Historic Site and Museum located in Plains, Georgia. Among other uber-nerdy shots, one was of a replica of Carter’s sixth grade classroom, circa 1937 under the direction of teacher, Ms. Julia Coleman.

 
 Look past the inkwells, hardwood floors, and dusty chalkboards and you’ll notice something rather profound – the layout is not unlike many of today’s classrooms. Sure, 75 years have brought significant change in technology and ergonomics (I assume those wooden benches were less than comfy), but the essential geography of the classroom has stayed the same. How can we bring about fundamental change when the teacher remains at the head of the class, and students remain isolated in evenly spaced rows?

I know what you’re thinking – My classroom doesn’t look like that! - and you’re probably right. But understand that you are not the norm. To prove my point, I did a quick Google search for “2012 Classroom.” Below is the first classroom picture to come up. Notice any similarities to Carter's childhood stomping grounds?

Much like my brief time as a panelist at #140EDU, I am unable to offer an answer to the problem of our outdated model of education within this meager blog post. Instead, my goal was to use visuals to help better illustrate that despite fancy projectors, cell phones, social networking, etc., we are still doing education wrong. 

How do we fix this?

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The Lasting Impact of Teachers

As teachers, we can never be fully aware of the lasting impact our words or actions may have on our students. I often lament, for instance, that I dread open house or parent conferences because I can only imagine what stories my students bring home to their families. Will they tell mom and dad about the incredible lesson I taught, or that I did so without realizing that one of my pants pockets was hanging out all period like a floppy dog ear? My instinct is to assume the latter.

Last weekend, I shared one of my favorite stories with a small group of college students enrolled in my English Methods course at Medaille College. I think about that story often and it serves as a constant reminder that everything I say or do while in school has the potential to make a monumental impact on my students. Afterward, it got me thinking about some of my own experiences as a kid, and there’s one above all the others that stands out.

In 7th grade, one English assignment required us to write an original poem to demonstrate our understanding of mood and imagery. I don’t remember much from the assignment other than procrastinating until the night before to actually put something down on paper. The result was actually quite good. I remember being proud enough to show my parents before submitting it the next day.

I didn’t realize it then, but that assignment would ultimately shape my life and help shape my career as an English teacher. Below is a scan of the original poem. Read closely the red-inked comment from my teacher.

I was devastated by my teacher’s remarks. By suggesting that the poem was too good to be my own, I felt that he was implying that I was stupid. Whether this was his intention or not, it has stayed with me and I think of it every time I write critiques or constructive criticism on my own students’ works.

Your job as a teacher is to influence. The scary part is that you don’t know how or when that influence will happen.

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Why Schools Should Embrace Social Networking

Back in early 2011, I posted details and resources for creating a fictional Facebook wall for characters in S.E. Hinton's classic adolescent novel, The Outsiders. The post has become one of the most visited on my blog - statics as of this post indicate more than 43,000 views!

Tonight, the Outsiders/Facebook post received an interesting comment. My first impulse was to assume it was someone looking for a flame war and simply delete it, but on second thought, it was just too passionately written to dismiss. Instead, I choose to reply to it. I hope it encourages you to think about the value of social media in education and what fundamental skills we should be teaching students.  Mr. Wildern's comment and my reply are below. 

Dante Wildern,

I appreciate your vehement opposition to my post. Anytime someone shows that much passion, it deserves to be commended.

With that said, I must disagree with you. First, this project was only one assignment in a long series of activities, all of which required face-to-face interaction that included peer groupings, large-group discussions, and Socratic seminars, to name a few. By no means was a classic work of fiction demoralized by what you refer to as "psuedo-social interactions." Pedagogically speaking, the Facebook assignment was an excellent way for students to demonstrate an understanding of complex concepts such as characterization and analysis of plot elements.

Secondly, I disagree that this assignment "goes against everything I should be teaching." Look at any mission statement from any school district in America and you will find something regarding the importance of creating lifelong learners who leave school equipped with skills needed to be successful. Whether you like it or not, online social networking is how the world interacts. If schools don't embrace this, then they risk becoming irrelevant in an ever-increasing digital world.

Again, I appreciate your comment. Conversations like these are what make me proud to be a teacher. Regardless of whether I agree with your opinion or not, you are an articulate and intelligent person. Clearly, your teachers did a good job preparing you for the world of social interactions (which is exactly what this blog is).

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PD in your PJs Virtual Conference

I'm excited to announce that I have been selected as one of eighteen educators to present at the PD in your PJs Online Conference hosted by The State of Tech podcast on Saturday, June 16th from noon to 5pm EST. The conference will include 28 sessions on topics ranging from Google apps to tablet integration to BYOD deployment. Here's the cool part - the conference is completely free and will stream live for all the world to see. If you would like to watch, simply click on the live stream link on June 16th.

My presentation is titled Managing Your Online Footprint and will focus on the importance of maintaining a positive online identity. Complete presentation details are available here. In addition to watching the presentation, 9 lucky folks can join me in the video chat and contribute to the event. If you're interested, you can sign up here. Act fast - spots are limited!

See you on the 16th!

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Holocaust Survivor Lesson Plan and Resources

I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.

Back in 2006, I worked with the Holocaust Resource Center of Buffalo to bring Holocaust survivor Mr. Joe Diamond in to speak with 8th grade students at my school. I had the foresight to recognize that stories like Mr. Diamond's deserved to be documented, so I set up a few cameras and a small audio recording rig. I'm grateful that I did this, because I have been able to share his story with every student to pass through my door in the past six years. Other teachers have also asked for copies so they could use it with their classes too.

For some reason, I never thought to upload the video. Duh.

It's a bit delayed, but below is the complete presentation by Mr. Joe Diamond from February 23rd, 2006. Hearing firsthand accounts of discrimination, hardships, and murder coming directly from his mouth is far more impacting than from any textbook.

If you'd like to use my pre-viewing assignment, it is available here.

If you'd like to use my post-viewing assignment, it is available here. 

 "The only way I can get even is to educate and speak to students like yourself. Because you’re the future, and we want to make sure that these things don’t reoccur."  

                    - Joe Diamond

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