Today I am in a very wet and very windy Manila to attend the 2009 EARCOS Administrators' conference. I am currently participating in a workshop focused on how leaders can create a culture of learning in the 21st century. This is wonderful opportunity to engage in some face to face discussions and sharing of ideas with educational leaders from around the world - at my table I am working with Principals and School Heads from Korea, Cambodia, Beijing, and Singapore.
Our workshop presenter Chris Troy (www.christoy.net) is facilitating our discussion as we explore issues of change, refelction, and modeling within a context of teaching and learning in the 21st century. One very interesting notion is that 21st century teaching and learning is not reliant on technology, however having the skills and tools to effectively utilize the available technolgies has the potential to enhance and expand the learning experiences for our students.
I am very excited about the next few days and the opportunity to be challenged and inspired by colleagues from the east Asia region.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
How do you utilize technology?
Many of the discussions I have with parents and educators, both here in Korea and around the world, center around controlling student use of technology. I enjoy these conversations and steering them away from being focused on control and towards an emphasis on utilization.
So how do you utilize technology with Middle School students? Our Tech Coordinator, Mr Frank Peterson summarizes it eloquently - communication, collaboration, and sharing.
These 3 components of tech utilization are not mutually exclusive, but rather they are part of an ever revolving circle. It is difficult to communicate without sharing - whether I am communicating ideas, opinions, or even just information. It is impossible to effectively collaborate without communicating, or without being willing to share. It is also true that when we share we communicate - even something as simple as sharing a cookie communicates a great deal.
Do you need technology to be able to communicate, collaborate, and share? The simple answer is no. The more complex answer is no, but............ With the utilization of technology our students now have the opportunity to communicate, collaborate, and share with other students in their classroom, with the teacher, with students in other classes, in other schools, even in other countries. Students are encouraged to utilize the available technology to collaboratively solve problems, to collaboratively create presentations, and to share their ideas, thoughts, knowledge, and understanding in new and exciting ways that are helping education to become more personal. Learning becomes more real and more important when students know that their intended audience is wider than the teacher and their peers in the same room. Have you ever witnessed how many times a student will independently revise a podcast if they know it will become available through iTunes?
Teaching and learning can certainly occur, as it has always done, without the use of laptops and the internet in classrooms. However, if we neglect to utilize these available technologies then we take from our students the opportunity to develop the important 21st skills of communication, collaboration, and sharing.
So how do you utilize technology with Middle School students? Our Tech Coordinator, Mr Frank Peterson summarizes it eloquently - communication, collaboration, and sharing.
These 3 components of tech utilization are not mutually exclusive, but rather they are part of an ever revolving circle. It is difficult to communicate without sharing - whether I am communicating ideas, opinions, or even just information. It is impossible to effectively collaborate without communicating, or without being willing to share. It is also true that when we share we communicate - even something as simple as sharing a cookie communicates a great deal.
Do you need technology to be able to communicate, collaborate, and share? The simple answer is no. The more complex answer is no, but............ With the utilization of technology our students now have the opportunity to communicate, collaborate, and share with other students in their classroom, with the teacher, with students in other classes, in other schools, even in other countries. Students are encouraged to utilize the available technology to collaboratively solve problems, to collaboratively create presentations, and to share their ideas, thoughts, knowledge, and understanding in new and exciting ways that are helping education to become more personal. Learning becomes more real and more important when students know that their intended audience is wider than the teacher and their peers in the same room. Have you ever witnessed how many times a student will independently revise a podcast if they know it will become available through iTunes?
Teaching and learning can certainly occur, as it has always done, without the use of laptops and the internet in classrooms. However, if we neglect to utilize these available technologies then we take from our students the opportunity to develop the important 21st skills of communication, collaboration, and sharing.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Professional Networking
Today I had the opportunity to host Middle School Principals from International School Songdo, Korea International School, Seoul International School, and Yongsan International School Seoul for a Middle School Principals' Network meeting.
This was a very productive time where we collaborated and discussed issues within our schools and brainstormed some very exciting ideas about how we can build professional learning communities amongst the international schools within Korea. We all agreed that we have some of the world's best teachers here in Korea and that through sharing and collaborating between schools we can help all of our teachers develop and grow.
This meeting certainly proved that 2 heads are better than 1, and when you put 5 experienced and dedicated international educators into a room together the discussion is inspirational. I really am excited about following up on some of the initiatives that were discussed today.
This was a very productive time where we collaborated and discussed issues within our schools and brainstormed some very exciting ideas about how we can build professional learning communities amongst the international schools within Korea. We all agreed that we have some of the world's best teachers here in Korea and that through sharing and collaborating between schools we can help all of our teachers develop and grow.
This meeting certainly proved that 2 heads are better than 1, and when you put 5 experienced and dedicated international educators into a room together the discussion is inspirational. I really am excited about following up on some of the initiatives that were discussed today.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Connecting Learners in a Global World
This week I am participating in an online conference entitled "Connecting Learners in a Global World: why is this important? This conference is sponsored by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, and provides a great opportunity for me to engage in some discussion with educators and leaders from around the world.
After my first day of participation I have added the term 'next-practice' to my vocabulary. I have long been aware of best-practice and have actively read current educational research and stories from succesful schools and organizations to ensure that my teaching and leadership is an example of current best-practice. The term next-practice refers to taking what is current best-practice and applying a futures focused planning approach to ensure that what you are doing in 3-5 years will be the current best-practice of that time.
It is very important that we continue to look ahead - if we don't we find ourselves in a continual game of catch up. When the current GSIS Kindergarten students arrive to the Middle School in 6 years time what will their MS education look like? Is our current best practice going to serve the educational needs of this group of students in 2015? I don't believe so. Therefore we must continue to implement, evaluate, reflect, and revise so we can use where we have come from, combined with where we are now, to map a path for where we are going.
At GSIS I sincerely believe that we are utilizing current best-practice, and this makes me very excited because it means that our next-practice will ensure that we continue to provide high quality learning experiences for each individual student.
After my first day of participation I have added the term 'next-practice' to my vocabulary. I have long been aware of best-practice and have actively read current educational research and stories from succesful schools and organizations to ensure that my teaching and leadership is an example of current best-practice. The term next-practice refers to taking what is current best-practice and applying a futures focused planning approach to ensure that what you are doing in 3-5 years will be the current best-practice of that time.
It is very important that we continue to look ahead - if we don't we find ourselves in a continual game of catch up. When the current GSIS Kindergarten students arrive to the Middle School in 6 years time what will their MS education look like? Is our current best practice going to serve the educational needs of this group of students in 2015? I don't believe so. Therefore we must continue to implement, evaluate, reflect, and revise so we can use where we have come from, combined with where we are now, to map a path for where we are going.
At GSIS I sincerely believe that we are utilizing current best-practice, and this makes me very excited because it means that our next-practice will ensure that we continue to provide high quality learning experiences for each individual student.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Quality Time
I have just returned from 3 days in the mountains of Seorak National Park on the east coast of Korea - without doubt one of the most beautiful places in the world!
During these 3 days my family and I spent some very precious quality time together hiking through the trails and up the mountains. As we walked we engaged in some wonderful conversations - not parent to child, or teacher to student, just person to person. We talked about our dreams and our fears, our loves and our concerns, and we even tackled some of the universe's philosophical questions.
One of the highlights was seeing my 6 year old daughter and my 8 year old son really challenge themselves and get beyond their comfort zone. We did some challenging hikes and when things got tough the two of them were telling themselves that they could do it and to just keep going. They were even encouraging each other and when we made it to our goal they displayed real pride in themselves and in each other.
As busy parents it is often hard to find this sort of quality time to spend with our children, and it seems that as our children enter middle school and become teenagers that this becomes even more difficult. One question to consider is, "When was the last time I sat down and talked with my child just to talk and listen?" Often our conversations revolve around questions like, How's school? Have you done your homework? Have you cleaned your room?
During this Chuseok break I hope you have had lots of opportunities to sit down, or walk, or ride with your children and engage in some deep and personal conversations - you never know what your children may teach you during these conversations.
During these 3 days my family and I spent some very precious quality time together hiking through the trails and up the mountains. As we walked we engaged in some wonderful conversations - not parent to child, or teacher to student, just person to person. We talked about our dreams and our fears, our loves and our concerns, and we even tackled some of the universe's philosophical questions.
One of the highlights was seeing my 6 year old daughter and my 8 year old son really challenge themselves and get beyond their comfort zone. We did some challenging hikes and when things got tough the two of them were telling themselves that they could do it and to just keep going. They were even encouraging each other and when we made it to our goal they displayed real pride in themselves and in each other.
As busy parents it is often hard to find this sort of quality time to spend with our children, and it seems that as our children enter middle school and become teenagers that this becomes even more difficult. One question to consider is, "When was the last time I sat down and talked with my child just to talk and listen?" Often our conversations revolve around questions like, How's school? Have you done your homework? Have you cleaned your room?
During this Chuseok break I hope you have had lots of opportunities to sit down, or walk, or ride with your children and engage in some deep and personal conversations - you never know what your children may teach you during these conversations.
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