Find their sentence

Creating schools that empower students to

By Lisa NielsenThe Innovative Educator

Lisa Nielsen Author of The Innovative Educator blo

g and soon-to-be released, “Teaching Generation Text.”

Writer for: Tech & Learning, Leading & Learning, Huffington Post, EdReformer, MindShift, ISTE Connects

Passionate about Passion-driven learning Thinking outside the ban

Supports schools in helping students learn in real and innovative ways.

Speaker at conferences such as Tech Forum, EduCon, BLC, various webinars and radio shows.

Audience response and all presentation materials reside at

http://tinyurl.com/findyoursentence

This is an interactive presentation

We all have something in common.

Our Kids

Are bored!

It hits close to home.

Why do I care?

8 million U.S. students are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD

I’m one of them!

Starting in Preschool

Listen to my mom’s story about my psych eval at UCLA at http://Tinyurl.com/momstory

Common Solutions

This is what happens when school’s out

It’s hard to distinguish school from another state institution.

The Innovative Educator: The War on Kids. Zero Tolerance.

School Prison

Stripped of freedoms X

Stripped of dignity X

Told exactly what you must do and when X

Do not have the right to the freedom of speech even if the speech is not disruptive. -Bethel School District v. Fraser

X

Can be searched without probable cause-New Jersey v. T.L.O.

X

Do not have freedom of the press-Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier

X

How many of these characteristics does your school have? (Please count. There will be a test - Really)

School Prison

Controlled by time and bells X

Associations are strictly controlled and can occur only in public places

X

Cut off from the general society X

Cut off from raw experience with people, projects, and ideas

X

Personal passions, talents, and interests are of little importance

X

Trained dependency X

Attendance is compulsory X

How many of these characteristics does your school have? (Please count. There will be a test - Really)

Disconnected from the outside world School Prison

Punished for failing to comply X

Unable to make phone calls X

Unable to use social media X

Unable to create and publish to the outside world with real names

X

Unable to access sites like YouTube X

Unable to communicate with staff off premises

X

How many of these characteristics does your school have? (Please count. There will be a test - Really)

http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/LTQ0MTg2MTQ0Mw

Results at: http://tinyurl.com/freedominschool

# of Characteristics schools share with prisons

Some schools are very comfortable treating students as prisoners

Deven Black, Teacher Librarian –High School Dropout@ devenkblack

“Can it be made any clearer that one of the few differences between school and

prison is that the students get

paroled every day at a set time?”

Two views…

Clarence ThomasSupreme Court Justice

Sandra Dodd, Parenting Guide and Author

"I think the worst thing about school is the

powerlessness of the students. They have to be

there whether they want to or not. There's no virtue in those who want to be there, and no joy in those who do

not want to be."

“In light of the history of American public education, it cannot seriously be suggested that the First Amendment “freedom of speech” encompasses a student’s right to speak in public schools.”

What do you want from school for your students?

"What I want from my kids’ school is to help me identify what they love, what their strengths are, and then help them create their own paths to mastery of their passions.

How’s this?

Will Richardson (weblogg-ed.com)Former New Jersey English teacher

Schools are not designed to provide this.

Unfortunately….

School Tools

Help students escape

What can you do?

Schools should not feel like a sentence!

Instead of keeping them locked up and silenced.

Schools should be places for students to find their sentence.

url: http://vimeo.com/8480171

What is your sentence?Click here.

How will you help my cousin?“School is torture because I am

required to spend all my time doing menial tasks, worksheets, and rote memorization. This takes too much

time away from being able to discover my hobbies, interests, or passions. I’m

in 10th grade and I don’t foresee having the ability to do that before I

graduate high school.

Honors society student . #1 in his class.On the path to becoming valedictorian

They need change agents like you!

Help all of our students!

to fix the schools and

ensure we are creating conditions and policies

that prepare them to succeed in our, real, connected, exciting world.

“I lost something very important to me”

Student after they did a “sweep” with metal detectors at a middle school on the Upper West Side of New York City where they confiscated 404 cell phones from the kids, some of whom were put to tears.

What does this teach kids?

1.They don’t deserve to be empowered with technology the same way adults are.

2.The tools that adults use all the time in their everyday lives to communicate are not relevant to their own communication needs.

3.They can’t be trusted (or taught, for that matter) to use phones appropriately in school.

If we don’t model the appropriate use of these technologies, for accessing information, for communicating, in safe, ethical, and effective ways, can we really be surprised when our worst fears come true?

“I lost something very important to me”   Will Richardson Weblogg-ed.com  01 Jun 2007 07:55 pm

What kind of schools do you think our kids

deserve?

Those where educational leaders…

Ban & Block

Empower &

Prepare

Who do you want leading your schools?

A Tale of Two Principals…A principal who bans and blocks.

A principal who embraces and

prepares

Click video to watch.url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtGY-SVZRRY

http://budtheteacher.com/blog/2009/10/10/on-modeling/

Modeling is perhaps the greatest teaching tool that we have.

Social Media Has No Intent.But It catches people who do.

Are we afraid of knowing the truth?

If we really wanted to keep kids safe,

we’d consider these facts

Shattering Myths

Social networking, giving out personal information, or having an online presence does not put kids at risk.

What puts kids at risk are things like: having a lot of conflict with your parents being depressed and socially isolated communicating with a lot of people who you don't know being willing to talk about sex with people you don't know having a pattern of multiple risky activities going to sex sites and chat rooms, meeting lots of people

there, and behaving like an Internet daredevil.

Online Safety Myth

Crimes Against Children Research Center Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee

More than 80% of child predators are family

members, close family friends, or clergy.

Consider this!

There are no laws addressing that which puts our children most at risk.

We do not ban

Family picnics

Playgrounds

Family reunions

Church functions

Should we ignore what we know?

Or should we accept our responsibility to keep students safe and prepared.

Strengthening the Home-School Connection

Using Social Media

With First Graders!

There are people who are not afraid

It just takes one brave writer…

Read full article: (http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/07/8-real-ways-facebook-enriched-ms.html )

And one brave teacher…I can't thank you enough for your blog posting about our project. I can't believe how

many people have contacted me about trying it out. You helped

turn what I was doing in a remote 1st grade class in

Nebraska into a global conversation!

To globally re-envision the way we work…

Click video to watch.URL:

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/tech/2010/09/08/dnt.facebook.in.class.ketv.html

Most parents are already using it. No training required, but available (from

their children!) if they need it.It’s FREE!It’s EASY!It’s POWERFUL!It’s real world.Social media is a 21st century literacy.In-depth privacy settings.

Why Facebook with First Graders?

Using Social Media to

Strengthen the Teacher-Student Connection

With Secondary Students

What does this look like

Group of students speaking to teachers at a Philadelphia public school

“What helps us do best in school is knowing that our

teachers are relating to us as ‘people,’ not

just ‘students.’”

Group of students speaking to teachers at a Philadelphia public school

“They do that by having an interest in our lives beyond

the classroom. We run races together, attend local events,

and keep the conversation going in places like

Facebook.”

Incidences of inappropriate teacher-student relations – in four years…

O

Relationship development is key to student success. Why are we panicking when it’s online?

Using Facebook with Secondary Students.

Read 10 Ways Facebook Strengthens the Student - Teacher Connection at http://t.co/mvUSl0K

1. Reaching out to a student in need2. Getting a peak into the lives of students3. The family connection4. Instant learning and homework support5. Snow Day - Update!!!6. Facebook lets teachers create a no excuses

environment7. Snow days and sick days don’t hold you back8. Using Facebook teaches you how to deal with the

world and the way it works9. Facebook can serve as a learning portal10. Facebook enables you to mobilize in an instant

Students explain why they like when their teachers use Facebook

A High School where websites aren’t filtered and no technology is banned.

Learning in a No Filter or Ban Zone!

Students using their own devices.New Cannan High School, CT

Here’s what students are saying about using free Facebook for learning vs. Moodle or Blackboard.

A platform for learning that students know and love

http://vimeo.com/20090262

New York Times feature: Friending Students on Facebook

Keeping in touch with special students even after they are not in your class.

“Hey Ms. Nielsen, I had to find you because you

made a wonderful impact on my life. If

people only knew how great of a teacher you

are.”

“I know it’s been at least 10 years since you

took me under your wing.”

“Let’s talk, I got a lot to say!”

Friending Students on Facebook - July 13, 2010

If…

Do we want to block or empower students to use the

tools they’ll need

They want to win a political election?

John McCain’s Facebook Page

Barack Obama’s Facebook Page

The Republicans underestimated the power of social media. -Educators should not!

760,589People like McCain

18,748,654 People like Obama

If you want to empower civically minded students, social media fluency is a must.

Are we afraid they can do this…

Why are we afraid to give students a voice?

Tell us they hate the curriculum software we purchased?

Organize a protest against injustice?

Start a revolution?

The power is in your hands

your students to serve?

What sentence are you preparing

This one?

Or this one?

It’s up to you.

What will your sentence be?

Take your picture with your cell phone (or from your computer) and email it to forces94pool@photos.flickr.com

In the subject include: Name, title, organization

In the body share your sentence

How do you want to be remembered?