Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Rod Berger of RANDA solutions for The Core of Education podcast. We had a great chat about education reform, personalizing education and a bit about my personal journey in education. You can listen to the 20 minute podcast here: The Core of Education.
On Tuesday I had the distinct honor of chatting with @thenerdyteacher on The Nerdy Cast. Nick and I have been buds for years, working on various projects together, talking education and pop culture. You can listen to our whole Nerdy Cast chat which includes our humble adventures in blogging, starting Project PLN , starting a school and my newest project, The Learning Genome.
Okay, here is the thing, we (the collective we) have exactly 25 days to raise $83,570. This number represents change. This number represents personalized learning for our kids. This number represents revolution.
$83,570.
It is big. But not that big. Not that impossible. We can do this. One dollar at a time. When you view this campaign you will see suggested donation levels beginning at $5 and going all the way to $5,000. Those are merely suggestions. If we all take a minute out of our day, chip in one dollar, spread the word to one other person, this project is completed in no time. Are we willing to give up a cup of coffee (and a cheap one at that!) to make education better for all?
We often wax poetic about changing education. This, right here, is your opportunity to really do it. I wish I had a trust fund hiding out somewhere that could make this happen. That just isn’t the case. So here I am, shamelessly asking you for a dollar. Kind of like an internet panhandler.
What it is: History Pin is a really neat website that lets students (and anyone) electronically “pin” historical pictures, videos, audio clips, and stories to a digital globe. There are three main ways to use History Pin: exploring it, adding to it, or curating things on it. History Pin has some great collections and tours that have already been created that can be used in the classroom. Collections bring together content around a theme. Students can explore collections or create one of their own. With a Tour, students can go step-by-step through content, a story, explore a place or walk through time.
How to integrate History Pin into the classroom: History Pin is a neat place for students to learn about history. They can see history through pictures, video and stories submitted by people around the world. History Pin is also a fantastic place for students to demonstrate learning. They can add pins, create collections or tours around their learning. In many states in the US, students have standards that are related to learning about the state history. In Colorado, this is true of our 4th grade students. History pin is a great place for them to demonstrate their learning of their own state. The best part? This learning can be viewed and used by others all over the world. Our students get really excited about sharing their learning when they become the “experts”. History Pin lets them be the experts. Way cool!
Depending on which Collections and Tours your students engage in, there are great opportunities for incorporating other subjects. Our students enjoy comparing statistics from history with statistics of today. They are really enjoying knowing how to use ratios these days!
I love the way that Geography is so ingrained in History Pin. Students can easily see (and track) where history occurred in the world. This helps students understand how movements, revolutions, immigration happen as a result of geography.
Tips: Be sure to check out the school channel on History Pin.
Leave a comment and tell us how you are using History Pin in your classroom.
What it is: Algebra Lab may not be much to look at graphically speaking, but the resources here are pretty stupendous! Algebra Lab was created by Mainland High School teachers in partnership with Georgia Southern University and a host of student assistance. The site includes really well done lessons, activities, practice pages (online), study aids, glossary, and word problems. Algebra Lab is like a free, living textbook. It has enough substance to help students work their way through algebra, while understanding the connections to how that algebra is used in a practical sense. I didn’t appreciate Algebra until I took physics and chemistry. When I saw what those equations I learned were actually used for, I could appreciate the learning requirements in algebra. Algebra Lab does a beautiful job of helping students learn algebra within a context so that they really get a grasp of what these numbers are doing.
How to integrate Algebra Lab into your curriculum: I have enjoyed watching the debate over Algebra unfold in the last year or so. One side of the argument asks if it is really necessary that EVERY child be required to take algebra. The other side argues that algebra has great thinking skills that it develops, it gives students additional tools to understand the world through math. I’m not sure where I land on this debate. I don’t know that I believe that algebra should be a requirement for every child, and yet I think that my exposure to algebra was valuable. Maybe the debate just needs to be reframed…HOW should algebra be taught? I’m all for things being taught within context. If you can teach any subject in a way that sheds light on other learning it is valuable. I love when students make the connections between something like ratios and a site like Miniature Earth. They not only get excited about the math (yes, really) they see a purpose for wanting to learn more about how it works. Sometimes I think our job of teachers is really to help students see the overlaps that occur in learning so that they can make connections and have a cause to want to dig deeper.
I digress…
Algebra Lab is a great resource for math (and non-math) teachers. Here you will find lessons, activities, word problems and practice opportunities for students. Students can directly access the site, or you (the teacher) can pull ideas out to use within any other teaching you are doing. The site is great for students to explore on their own (blended learning algebra style) or with guidance from a teacher. As a non-math teacher, I appreciate the way the site helps me think like a math teacher. It reminds me how all of these pieces connect to other learning.
Tips: If you have a one-to-one setting, students can practice directly on the website for immediate feedback. Very helpful!
***Want to do your part as a CHANGE MAKER in personalized education? Check out, support and spread the word about the Learning Genome Project!
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Algebra Lab in your classroom!
Big, sweeping changes don’t seem to happen overnight, as quickly as we might like. Thirty, forty, or a hundred years go into those sweeping changes: race relations, animal testing, women’s rights, recognition of addiction as a disease. And yet, in each case, there was a turning point. Those handful of pivotal moments when someone(s) decide it must be different and that in this moment in time, change will begin.
For me, this pivotal change happened in October of 2010. Two years ago. That moment of “it must be different” led to a school. Anastasis Academy. In many ways, Anastasis feels like it happened over night (we started a school in 4 short months!) and in other ways, it feels like it will take years before the vision of Anastasis is realized.
Sweeping changes happen over time. Often, they are hardly noticeable as they are happening. This explains the 5 year old, struggling through their ABC’s who is ‘suddenly’ reading. When did that happen?!
People often ask why I don’t write more about Anastasis. The whole process has been incredibly organic and hard to describe to someone who isn’t seeing it unfold with me. I can tell you about students who are becoming fully alive and discovering that they love learning. Until you see this happen before you, until you hear the students talk about it, it is really a weak representation of what is happening. Here we are in year two. In a lot of ways, it has felt like a harder beginning. This is strange in light of what happened last year…starting a school in 4 months from a place of zero. I think it feels harder because the vision of what could be is being more fully defined and dreamed up each day. There is this sense of frustration that it isn’t here yet.
The change is hardly noticeable as it’s happening. It is organic and creeping. Sometimes I overhear students talking animatedly about figuring out ratios, and exclaiming over learning what portion of the population lives on less that $1.25/day, the change is happening. The vision is being realized one moment at a time. These kids are becoming fully alive. Those teaching them are doing the same. We hear parents describe what we do to others.
This is community.
This is family.
This is church.
This is Anastasis.
This is the beginning of sweeping change, where students can be fully alive and learn how to properly manage their freedom.
So, we will go on wishing that we could already see the full realization of this vision, but we will also rest in the hardly-noticeable moments of change in this journey. We will appreciate the moments in time that keep everything from happening at once. We will rejoice as we watch it all unfold in it’s perfection. We will wait anxiously for the day when this type of learning is available to children everywhere in the world.
***While we wait, consider joining in this mission to help students be “fully alive” in their learning. Donate and spread the word about the Learning Genome Project. This is the vehicle we will use to share this vision with ALL children.
Schools often talk about professional development as if it is the key to a successful school. I’m not convinced more professional development is the answer. I think it’s all about culture. When you have people who come together around passion, who enjoy each other, who have a common mission: that changes everything.
Our teacher handbook doesn’t look like most. It was inspired by creative companies like Valve and Apple. We are a group of rebels here. Our handbook had to reflect that.
We are on a mission to humanize learning. We are on a mission to make personalized learning available to EVERY child in the world. Please help us spread the word. Donate, tweet, blog, and email others about the Learning Genome Project.
What it is: ScootPad is a really neat site that recognize that no two students are alike and that they will master skills in different ways. ScootPad helps students gain mastery through gradual and thorough practice that is personalized to teach the student. This personalized practice helps build confidence in learning and keeps students moving forward at a pace that is appropriate to them. Students can expect a fun learning environment. Teachers can expect automated practice, real-time progress tracking and assessments that will help you to formulate next steps for students.
All curriculum is based on Common Core Standards, including math and English/language arts for k-5 classrooms. For students in kindergarten or first grade, there is a voice/read-aloud feature.
The ConceptBank is a free app for Common Core standards and concept review.
Teachers can easily manage a classroom of students from the teacher dashboard. Curriculum can be customized for a class, group of students or for each student individually.
Parents have access to all of their child’s progress and alerts. They can encourage their child using customizable rewards.
How to integrate ScootPad into your curriculum:ScootPad is a really fantastic website for k-5 students and teachers. Here, students can get personalized practice for learning new concepts. Teachers and parents receive immediate data about a student’s progress.
ScootPad is a great first step to personalizing the learning experience for students. I like that it is cross-platform so that it could be easily incorporated into a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) classroom. Regardless of what device students are using, ScootPad works for them.
Scoot Pad is really a practice site that helps you to inform instruction based on student needs. The practice is all drill based (not a lot of room for critical thinking or different ways of showing what a student knows) but this could be a great benchmark tool to help you understand where students have strengths and weaknesses in their learning.
Tips: ScootPad is available as an app for the iPad, Android, Chrome, Mac, Windows, Edmodo, and Schoolology. Like I said, it is perfect for a BYOD environment!
***Want to do your part as a CHANGE MAKER in personalized education? Check out, support and spread the word about the Learning Genome Project!
Please leave a comment and share how you are using ScootPad in your classroom!
What it is: The Miniature Earth Project is a great website that poses the question: “what if the population of the Earth were reduced into a community of only 100 people?” Based on this assumption, the site helps students understand what the breakdown of nationalities would be, religious representation, how many people would live in an urban area, how many people would have the majority of the world income, how many would live without clean world, those that live on less than $1.25/day, etc. The purpose of the site is to break our quickly approaching 7billion people in the world down to a number (100) that we can more easily wrap our minds around. The point of the site is to help kids (and adults) understand the real landscape of the world and cause positive action.
There is a video on the site that breaks down the infographic in a different way. Students can submit their own videos about the Miniature Earth.
How to integrate The Miniature Earth Project into your curriculum: Right now the Jr. High at Anastasis Academy is looking at the following line of inquiry: “Understanding our rights and responsibilities as individuals and the similarities and differences of others helps contribute to the development of world citizens.” The Miniature Earth Project is a great place to put the world’s challenges in perspective for students. We have been having fantastic conversations about the rights that we enjoy as Americans, and the responsibilities to others around the world that come with those rights. Students have also been exploring rights they believe all world citizens should enjoy and what responsibility they share in making those rights a reality for those who don’t currently enjoy them. As you can imagine, the discussion has been fascinating!
A great place to start this discussion is by asking students to create their own personal code of conduct. What standards will they hold themselves to? At Anastasis we talk often about managing our freedom. Freedom comes with responsibility, it isn’t a free-for all. We also ask students to think about what their actions would look like if it were multiplied by 7 billion people. What would the world look like? Is it a place they would want to live? The Miniature Earth Project is a great place for next steps. Looking at who makes up their world, what kind of challenges are faced. We ask our students to think about solutions to those challenges. They are NOT too young to come up with solutions!
Since the 100 person Earth is such a manageable number, ask students to create graphical representations of each figure presented in the Miniature Earth Project. What questions do they have based on the data? What challenges do they see? What common ground do we have? What are our responsibilities? What rights should we claim for all humans? What are ways that we can make the world a better place for all? What impact can a small change make on such a large population (does it change when you think about it on a smaller scale)?
Want to show students how their actions can change the world? Share the story of the 13 year old who has the world planting a million trees! The story of Felix Finkbeiner is an awesome one! Equally cool for our students: we have a Mr. Finkbeiner who teaches at Anastasis.
Tips: There are great links to more information about our population approaching 7 billion. Be sure to have your students dig into those resources to learn more!
***Want to do your part as a CHANGE MAKER in education? Check out, support and spread the word about the Learning Genome Project!
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Miniature Earth Project in your classroom!
*** If you need the cliff notes version of this post, skip down to the Call to Action section!
Last year I had a “hunch” about learning…specifically about curriculum. That hunch turned into a full fledged idea and a mission to do better for kids. Everywhere. Along the line I met some truly incredible people who taught me things I didn’t know how to do before. Like wire framing (thanks @ianchia), and pitching ideas (thanks @houseofgenius), and how to go about picking up programmers (thanks @toma_bedolla). Now I’m ready to share the culmination of all this work with you.
This isn’t just a post to tell you about what I’m doing, it is a call to action for everyone (yes, even you). It is a request for you to join me in this mission in whatever form that may take.
I have a vision: to make personalized learning a reality for EVERY child.
I know, it is big. It is also doable.
For those who are new to following me, here was my original “hunch” written on my other blog, Dreams of Education:
“The problem with curriculum and textbooks is that they complete thoughts. Curriculum and textbooks give the impression that learning has an end. That when you have made it from cover to cover, the job is done. I know in my own schooling this was true, I thought that school was teaching me what was important and that anything outside of the curriculum wasn’t important or relevant to my life…wouldn’t they have included it otherwise? How did curriculum get this way? Well, people realized that there was no possible way to cover every facet of learning, so they stripped it down to what they thought was important. The problem? What is important to you may not be what is important to me. What’s more, something that is very important to me may have been cut all together so I don’t even get the chance to know that it is important to me. Humans tend to like things that are definable, we like things that we can put into a neat, orderly box and carry out in a predictable way. It feels safe and manageable. This is what led me to the following hunch:
What if curriculum was more flexible? What if curriculum/schools/learning looked more like Pandora. If you aren’t familiar with Pandora, it is an online radio station that plays the music that it thinks you will like. You type in an artist or song and it creates a customized radio station just for you. It is remarkably accurate. Pandora almost never gets it wrong for me. It is like they have a direct line to my brain and can predict what song I would like to hear next. When it is wrong, I can give the song a thumbs down and it apologizes profusely for the error and promises never to play that song again on my station. The other thing I love about Pandora: I can have multiple radio stations. Because sometimes I really couldn’t think of anything in the world better than Frank, Dean, and Sammy; but other times I also want a little Timberlake, Whitestripes, or Bangles. What if curriculum looked like that? What if learning happened as a result of typing in one subject or topic that a student was enamored with and a completely personalize learning journey began playing out for them? What if students were led through a journey that was completely customized? What if they had several stations mapped out for them?”
I believe this is possible. I believe it is within our reach to create a completely personalized learning experience to every unique child. I believe that we can honor humanity instead of treating our kids like widgets in a factory. I believe that teachers should be teachers, focused on the needs and development of the child instead of teaching the masses through scripted curriculum.
The Learning Genome Project will empower teachers and parents to become engineers of learning by providing each individual student the exact content they need, at the exact moment they need it. The Learning Genome will enable students to explore the process of inquiry, experimentation, discovery and problem solving. Instead of learning how to pass the next test, we will enable students to construct meaning and learn how to transfer that meaning to new life context. At the hub, the Learning Genome is a platform that aggregates resources and, using a series of algorithms, provide recommendations of the BEST resources to meet the individual learning needs of a specific child. The Learning Genome creates those serendipitous moments of finding just the right learning tool to meet the needs of children at the right time.
Much like Pandora finds that perfect piece of music, the Learning Genome will find the perfect piece of learning material to aid the student in learning. The key to the Learning Genome’s success is crowd sourcing. I will be drawing on educators around the world (that’s you!) to help me tag curriculum, books, lessons, videos, apps, websites and other educational content. This collection of tagged content lives in the centralized “cloud” and wil allow users around the world to find and access materials that best suit student needs. By gathering information about the individual student’s learning style preferences, multiple intelligence strengths, social/emotional levels, interests and passion, the Learning Genome can help teachers to create customized learning maps for each individual. This portion will be free. Every child deserves a unique learning experience.
In addition to the Learning Genome Hub (the aggregate), the site will include a complete Student Information System, planning tools, e-portfolios, e-learning, individual learning plans, assessment and blogging tools. All of these will work seamlessly together for you go-to for learning and planning.
4. Tweet about this project…a lot. Let’s completely take over the Internet with tweets about the Learning Genome and taking over education for kids! Please make sure to link back to the indiegogo campaign so that others can learn about it! Use the hashtag #standagain (because after all, we are helping children “stand again” in their learning)
6. Mention us on Facebook and like us on Facebook!
7. Did I mention spread the word? Seriously, that is SO helpful! You never know who might see that tweet and drop a couple thousand (or more) to make this project go!
8. Time is of the essence. I have 40 days starting NOW to make this happen. eeek! I need your help!
So, what are the perks to helping with this project?
$5 gets your name on the Learning Genome Change Makers page. You are changing education. That makes you a big deal. I want everyone to know what a big deal you are! I know many of you don’t think that your $5 can do anything. Wrong. According to my cluster map, I have hundreds of thousands of visits to this blog. If each of you pitches in…we all win fast!
$10 Remember all those cool Bloom’s Taxonomy posters I made? This campaign is now the ONLY place you can get them. These are 8.5″ x 11″ versions of the poster.
$30 Learning Genome beta tester. You get the inside scoop and ability to play before ANYONE else. I know, pretty cool.
$60 EXCLUSIVE A full size large-format print of my Bloomin’ Peacock mailed to you. That awesome little Peacock looks even better large. Did I mention this is the ONLY place you will get a big version of this?
$500 Even more EXCLUSIVE you get all of my Bloom’s re-imagine posters in the large format. Perfect for your classroom, library or as a gift to your favorite teachers.
$1000 My Searching for daVinci webinar for your school. What better way to spend your professional development dollars than learning how to create a daVinci like culture of learning at your school? Worth it!
$5000 For my corporate friends who want to see their logo in lights as a company that supports education and changing the world. If you have an education company, The Learning Genome Project will be the place to be seen.
We have $85,000 to raise. It sounds like a big number. We can do it together. I figured if I am going to lean on crowdsourcing to transform education, the funding should be crowdsourced too. How awesome will it be to join together as an education community to say, together we transformed the way learning is done. We changed things for every child in the world. Yeah, it’s big.
