Pedagogue Blog

Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Teachers

How to create a collaborative learning environment with technology

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Meghan Zigmund

After two years of having iPads in our first grade classroom, I’ve found a few strategies that work to set up a successful and collaborative learning environment. We use our set of iPads to connect, create, share, and much more. However, without a few expectations and procedures our room would be chaos! So here are a few strategies for successful collaboration that can be applied to just about any technology in your classroom.

1 – Visual Expectations

We use Popplet to set up expectations for iPad procedures. Students generate the expectations, with some teacher guidance to make sure a few key issues are included. Students usually end up thinking of things that I haven’t even considered! Next, we take pictures to represent each expectation, and add them to a web in Popplet. This is usually done on one iPad, displayed through an Apple TV so everyone can see what we’re creating. Then, we print it out and post it around the room. The student’s love seeing themselves, and the visual reminders are really effective. Having these expectations makes creating and collaborating together much smoother.

2 – Time to Explore

Our students arrive with all different types of experiences and ability levels for all subjects, including technology. However, there is no need to “teach” students the ins and outs of every app you want them to use all year. Don’t be afraid to just let them discover and explore, especially together. Demonstrate and app or two, show them something you think they’ll be excited about, or better yet, let a student demonstrate what they know. Then give them some time on their own to just play. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of time, but you’d be amazed at what they discover. You don’t even have to have a device for each student. Let them share and learn from each other.

Students are naturally going to take some time to explore anyway, why not give them some time upfront? They’ll end up being more productive and creative in the end. Time to explore is one of the most powerful strategies I use all year. Be sure you also include time to share their experiences after exploration. It’s well worth it!

3 – Community of Experts

Teachers can’t be the only expert anymore. We must foster a community of experts in our classrooms. Doing this helps students to feel empowered, and encourages ownership in learning. Who doesn’t want to feel like an expert at something? As students explore and discover we add their name and skill to our “Expert List”. If you’re looking for someone to help you record in ChatterPix, edit your photo, or find just the right image in Haiku Deck, then we have an expert for you! No need to ask the teacher, just check out who can help.

We do, however, enforce the rule above. Even though a student might be getting some help, I still want them experiencing the process and learning.

4 – Tweets

Oh, the amazing power of Twitter. If you don’t have a class account yet, get one A.S.A.P. Besides the amazing power to connect, learn and collaborate with others around the globe, Twitter encourages our class to work together. When we post class Tweets, everyone works together to decide what to post, helps edit, and feels ownership in what we’ve shared. There is almost always a discussion about what we want to share, and why.

To help my young learners become ready to Tweet their projects and thinking, we”ll start our year off having a “Tweeter of the Day” so that students gain experience and guide each other on what it means to Tweet and be a responsible, respectful citizen. We’ll collaborate on a set of visual rules to help, and learn to work together as a community in the process.

 

I’m so excited to begin building a new collaborative community of learners in just a few short weeks. What steps will you take to foster a collaborative learning environment this year?

This post originally appeared on Fractus Learning and zigzagstech, and was republished here with permission.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

______________

Meghan is a first grade teacher with a passion for inspiring student creativity and deepening their thinking through technology. She loves learning and creating with her students and hopes to inspire others to do the same.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Teachers

It’s ok to date new technology, you don’t have to marry it!

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**
@GwynethJones – The Daring Librarian 
Education Trends-A-Go-Go 

It’s SO easy to get overwhelmed with all the new education tech and trends going on in the world.
1:1
Flipping
Makerspace
Genius Hour
Common Core
Mobile Learning
Design Thinking
Google Classroom
Brain Based Learning
Project Based Learning
Learning Management Systems
Transformative Brain Based Learning Spaces

Sheesh….I could go on! It’s EXHAUSTING!

Ed Tech Relationship Anxiety

Then….there’s all the new technology that you have to get, use, and master! Don’t have an unlimited budget or a super generous PTA? OK, now you have to get funding from a place like Donor’s Choose. (Which is totally, doable! But does take a wee bit of effort) Once it was Smart Boards now it’s Tablets and 3D printers.

Then what? What happens when you run out of money to buy the supplies? OMGosh, again. Exhausting!

Take a Deep Breath, It’s OK! 

But I’m here to tell you…It’s OK. You don’t have to try to be the expert at everything.  You don’t have to totally flip your classroom making videos yourself to take the place of daily instruction.  You can start by sourcing some great videos already created and add them to your lesson plan. From places like YouTube, Schooltube, & Flocabulary you can add that rich Remix Mash-Up without hours of video editing. I call it the partial flip – having augmented information available for tutorial or reinforcement and to spark student engagement. My Lesson Path (formerly Mentor Mob) on Big Rich Mt. Olympus is an example of this. Curated rather than created content.

Baby Stepping to Change OR Alternative Ideas to Transformation 

Instead of pitching out all of your furniture to create a brain based & friendly learning classroom why not just buy a few bean bag chairs for $39.99 on Amazon to create a comfy reading nook or discussion circle!

Instead of building a whole lego wall or a Makerspace center spending thousands of dollars with expensive equipment. Why not start small and create a Makerspace cart that can roll around the school with bins of Legos, patterned duck tape rolls for crafting, and a couple Makey Makey kits? See below for more ideas & resources.

And if it doesn’t catch on, you lose funding, replacement materials gets to be too much, or it just flops? You haven’t invested all that much! But most likely you will love it, your kiddos will go crazy over it, the parents and admin will be impressed and you will want to expand it. Either way – you win! But it’s OK to start small & grow!

Instead of stressing about not having tablets to utilize mobile media in the classroom, use your own iPad or smart phone and film Vine video stop action animation book trailers, science experiments, art talks, or social studies history snippets!

Or spark the engagement of Twitter and the ease of Google forms to have the kiddos write a #StoryIn140,  do Twitter style book reviews or QR Code Scavenger Hunts!

OR use QR Codes around the school with Loo Reviews & Pocket videos or 10 Things to do with QR Codes at Back to School Night! It’s not the tool it’s how you use it!

It’s OK to date new technology (or teaching inovation) you don’t have to marry it! 

That’s right, the coolest ed tech trends you’ve heard about at conferences, on Twitter, or during a webinar, you know, the ones that may have also been leaving you awake at night feeling stressed out or inadequate for not jumping in with both feet?  Yeah, those. They don’t have to be all done at once! You don’t have to overhaul your life, you can just adapt! You can simply “pilot” and “beta test” new technologies and new teaching ideas on a small scale. Then, when you find one you like – you can go steady. Date a while. See how it goes.
When you’re ready to commit, you’ll know it!

New Tool Trauma
You also don’t have to get each and every new tech tool that comes out. Remember the Laser Disc? Buy one for yourself maybe and get good at it. Bring it to school and try it with small groups. My school isn’t  a 1:1 or total BYOD school or iPad school. Some of the coolest things I did with QR codes and mobile media in the early days (5 years ago) was with 2 iPod Touch Gen 4’s, my own smart phone, & my first iPad. It’s NOT what you have, it’s the creativity of how you use it. It’s the innovation of teaching and not the tool. Tools come and go, the daring spirit to try new things keeps moving on!

Social Media Stress?

Twitter
Flickr
Vine
YouTube
Blogger
Edublogs
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
SnapChat
There’s a LOT of Social Media outlets that are out there – which ones should you join? Which ones should you just be registered to and which should you be actively involved with? Sure, I’ve blogged about Transparency is the New Black and one of my missions is for all educators to model and create a positive web presence so that they become more visible (and less vulnerable) in their schools and in the communities. But gee whiz, there are only so many hours in the day, right?

If you’re a long time reader or follower then you may know that Twitter and Scoopit are my preferred social media tools, that I broke up with Facebook years ago, and that I’m committed to this blog that you’re reading now. So, what’s your outlet of choice?  Years ago (2008) I created a couple graphics to illustrate that life...err Social Media is less like a fancy Table d’hôte menu and more like a Dim Sum experience…or Tapas!

You can just just try small plate here and there – like it? Get another! Not to your taste?  Push it aside and move on.

Funny how the plates have changed over the years! Second Life and Nings are out and Instagram and Vine are in!

Here’s what social media outlets & tools I am active on, followed by those that I have a presence but not a penchant.

The first list means that I’m here at least once a week – if not more.  As a commitment to my profession, I have foregone a personal social media and just maintain a professional one.
That was my choice. I have a formula.
Listed in order of my preference, time, & devotion. Like, we’re in love and dating steady, OK?

Twitter
Wikispaces (Ex: 1, 2, 3, 4)
Flickr  
————–Just starting out? Stop here!————–
Ready for more? Consider Adding these!

Blogger – Professional blog
Edublog – School / Professional blog
Scoopit – Curation Tool
Vine  (Instant street cred w/ kiddos – Lesson Idea)
Instagram  (Why? Read more!)
Slideshare
YouTube 
Skype 

I’m sorta here, I filled out a profile, but I don’t visit very often. It’s more to point you to where I really am. Like, we’re friends, nothing too serious.

LinkedIn – (Whatever you do, fill out the profile & add a picture! Be where your parents are, because you’re a professional, too!)
Google+
Pinterest

I tried it, I don’t like it, You can’t make me do it! Don’t poke me!

Facebook
Snapchat

Now it’s YOUR turn! What social media outlets can’t you live without? What did I miss? Disagree? Bring it on! Agree? I’d LOVE to hear it! What new trends do you love, hate, & want to marry?

This post originally appeared on The Daring Librarian blog, and was republished with permission.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

____________________________

Gwyneth A. Jones, aka The Daring Librarian, is a blogger, a Tweeter, an international Ed Tech speaker, trope and meme archivist, creator of content, a citizen of advocacy, and a resident of social media. Gwyneth is a Google Certified Teacher (#GTAWA11), and the author of the award winning The Daring Librarian blog. In recognition of being a change agent in her field, Ms. Jones was named an Innovator and a Mover & Shaker by Library Journal Magazine in 2011, a Gale/Cengage New Leader 2010, and the Best of the Best and a Visionary Leader by Teacher Librarian Magazine in 2012. She was honored to have served on the 2011-2014 ISTE Board of Directors representing all PK-12 educators and school librarians.  Her work & writings have been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Huffington Post.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Matthew Lynch, Teachers

Teachers: 3 Quick, Simple Tips to Stay Insanely Productive Without Losing Steam

Teachers have strong commitments to their work. Most of them feel passionately about teaching, and see it as a “calling.” The emotions that teachers undergo include love for (most) students, hate for the paperwork, and the feeling of excitement when they see a student finally understand a concept. Then there’s the dread of filling out report cards, the feeling of burn-out in December, and the nervous feeling associated with the first day of school every year.

The intensity of the teaching profession and the chronic stress levels involved can lead to burnout. It usually means the inability to function fully in one’s job due to the prolonged stress related to these jobs. Stress and burnout are linked closely to an individual’s state of mind. Burnout is three-dimensional and includes feelings of emotional exhaustion or tiredness; teacher “depersonalization,” in which they develop a negative and distrustful attitude towards their students, parents, and their colleagues; and a reduced sense of accomplishment and self-esteem.

It also brings about other negative effects, such as increased absenteeism, decline in classroom performance, and poor interpersonal relationships with colleagues and students. Burned-out teachers are usually less sympathetic toward the problems of students, and are less committed to their jobs. They develop lower tolerance for classroom disruptions, are less prepared for class, and are generally less productive. As a result, burned-out teachers can have a negative influence on the morale of new teachers.

Here are some tips for teachers who want to be productive, be impactful—yet keep their health, alertness, and sanity.

  1. Make a list of all the tasks that you have been postponing for some time. Try and identify whether these tasks have something in common. Doing this will help you determine the specific kind of jobs that you tend to postpone. Is it that you postpone tasks that have no deadline or those that involve doing something that you are uncomfortable with?
  2. Keep a list of all the tasks that you need to do and prioritize them. Tell yourself that jumping the priority list is not allowed.
  3. Finally, reward yourself with something that you like when you complete each task. Take a break and sip a hot refreshing cappuccino before you start the next thing, take a walk, or simply pause to look out the window; rewards, both big and small, can help you stay motivated and focused.
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Matthew Lynch published in OpEducation, Policy & Reform

Why Voucher Systems Fail

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding a P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

Slate has the following article on Sweeden’s school voucher system and its failings .I have a few thoughts on this. The Slate author seems to be amazed that a generally left-wing country like Sweden could adopt a voucher system. To the extent that Americans…

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

How Can College Graduates Overcome the Debt?

If the P-12 education system is all about preparing its students for success in adulthood, then college preparation is obviously a must. In the fall of 2012, 66 percent of high school graduates from that year were enrolled in college, and that number does not include students that waited longer to enroll or non-traditional adult students. It seems that P-12 classrooms are getting more students ready for the academic demands of a college education – but what about the financial commitment?

A study by the Urban Institute found that almost 300,000 Americans with master’s degrees were on public relief, along with 30,000 with doctorates. The average debt of a college graduate is $35,200 and that can take decades to pay off.

Making College Affordable

Currently, there is a call for a more affordable college education, which makes sense. It comes on the heels of a recession that undercut the value of a college education. Even those with a college degree were not immune to the financial hit that the economy took and those still paying off their student loans were often left without the very job they had always assumed would pay off their educational debts. A look at the way college loans are distributed and administered was certainly in the cards as the latest generation of college graduates saw the real ramifications of payment in an economy that simply could not support it.

Payment reform, spear-headed by the Obama Administration, goes a long way to addressing this problem.  Initiatives include mandates that new borrowers will pay no more than 10 percent of their disposable income towards outstanding student loans and any student debt remaining will be wiped clean after 20 years.   Furthermore, public service employees, like military members, nurses or teachers, will have their debt forgiven in 10 years if they make their payments on time.

Why is college so expensive anyway?

These actions address the high cost of college attendance as it exists today – but what about that high cost itself? The lifetime earnings numbers show the clear reasons why a particular student benefits from a college degree, but that thought pattern is too narrow. The economy and shared learning of the entire country sees a lift when more if its youth are educated at a college level.  Therefore, efforts at financing college in a more communal way would go a long way toward easing the financial burden of today’s youth.  To this end, there are several plausible solutions.

One idea is to allow private investors to pay for the tuition of college students in exchange for a portion of their earnings later on as outlined by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio. This would mean the students acquired no traditional debt and would not start out their careers in the hole – at least not in a typical way.  However, this approach leaves the student without protection if he/she becomes unemployed or otherwise unable to work.  Similarly, the idea of a state-run repayment program that is similar to Rubio’s private investor one has already been implemented in Oregon.  The Pay It Forward program has been approved (though not yet enacted) and will give students their public college education upfront, free of cost, in exchange for paying the state a portion of their earnings post-college. Supporters bill it as a “debt free” alternative to a college education, but like Rubio’s plan there is still money owed at the end of the college term that does impact actual earnings. It will be interesting to keep an eye on Oregon in the coming years to see how the program impacts the first groups of students who take advantage of it.

What if a public college education was completely free, though? At his State of the State address, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam called for free tuition at Tennessee’s community colleges in order to improve the state’s reputation as one of the least educated. Haslam proposed that the money to pay for it come from the state’s lottery earnings that would be placed in a $300 million endowment fund. While a short-term solution, it is an interesting idea.

I believe that paying something for a college education is reasonable, but the current setup puts an undue burden on the nation’s young people and as a result, the entire economy suffers.

What creative cost and repayment options for a college education would you like to see implemented?

photo credit: Tax Credits via photopin cc

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Teachers

Enriching history lessons with visualizations

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Patrick R. Potyondy

Let’s face it: Harry Potter is awesome. But my major sticking point, the thing that just nettles me each and every time I revisit the books (and I revisit them more often than I’d like to admit), is when Hermione and the gang visit “History of Magic.” Their “teacher” (scare quotes intentional) is so boring, he’s actually dead. He didn’t even notice he died! And he just continues to drone on and on and on and, well, you get the idea.

He represents, for better or worse, the lecture method of instruction. The students are vessels; his job is to fill them up with “knowledge.” Perhaps J.K. Rowling had such a teacher in her primary school days. Perhaps she just thought he was a fun character to write. In any case, we must continue to move beyond the lecture method of teaching history. We must embrace not just digital tools but visualizations to make students engaged.

There is little doubt that writing still dominates academic history. Graduate students must write theses and dissertations primarily presented in text format. Pictures, maps, and other visualizations can certainly be part of the whole, but these are peripheral characters to the star of the play—an original amount of text. Text is great as far as it goes. And as far as it goes is too often a miniscule number of other academic specialists.

But the visual is a different medium from text. And it’s one we’re increasingly working with. David Staley points out as much in Computers, Visualization, and History. Digital visualization, he writes, can be a “main carrier of the meaningful information.”

Visualizations, like maps, communicate information differently—and often more effectively—than text, as seen in this classic example: Harry Beck’s 1933 London Underground map.]
Visualizations, like maps, communicate information differently—and often more effectively—than text, as seen in this classic example: Harry Beck’s 1933 London Underground map.]

The public—and here I include students in this group—seem to wish to find that meaning and information through historical visualizations as much as, even more so, than text alone. Twitter accounts featuring “history in pictures” amass millions of followers. Slate’s popular “Vault” blog features visuals of archival finds that are a mix of the visual and textual. While scholarly historians might decry such fads, is it useful to simply lambast them, or is it more constructive to meet the public halfway, to help provide meaning and context?

A skilled teacher can make her or his lecture on the cruelties of enslavement riveting, but what would a narrative look like that presented itself primarily through pictures, maps, and graphs look like? It is one thing to stoically describe a whipping or lynching, quite another to view photographs of these events. If one aim of studying history is to better understand humanity, we’re only providing a partial view without engaging visualizations to their fullest and expanding extent.

Luckily for teachers, public digital historians have produced (and continue to) a number of excellent visual tools that students can engage with. One of my all-time favorite projects is “Hollow: An Interactive Documentary” found at http://hollowdocumentary.com/. While the phrase can be used too often, this truly is a tour de force. It is interactive and utilizes not only visuals but audio, too. It is heartbreaking yet hopeful. Through it, we connect with the people and their stories. We empathize. We understand. It presents a large amount of factual information, but in an engaging and thoughtful way.

An image from the Hollow: An Interactive Documentary
An image from the Hollow: An Interactive Documentary

Another project I love—a book in fact—that illustrates the power of visual history is Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton’s Cartographies of Time. Asking “What does history look like?” the authors trace graphic representations of history from the 15th century forward. They remind us that only recently have academics made history into a primarily textual discipline.

Visuals have long incorporated circles and tress (and text) to depict time and space as seen here in Girolamo’s Andrea Martignoni’s “Historical map of Italy” (Spiegazione della carta istorica dell’Italia), 1721. As seen in Cartographies of Time.
Visuals have long incorporated circles and tress (and text) to depict time and space as seen here in Girolamo’s Andrea Martignoni’s “Historical map of Italy” (Spiegazione della carta istorica dell’Italia), 1721. As seen in Cartographies of Time.

Students can get in on the act, too, as active participants and not only as more passive viewers. The research paper has long been a staple of high school and college history courses. It teaches skills worth knowing. But why not add in an assignment around presenting a narrative and argument principally through visual materials? Students could craft their own projects using primary and secondary sources, and thus develop visual, organizational, research, and argumentative skills all at once.

First, an example of the type of PowerPoint slide seen all too often in teaching. Can it capture the visual reality of enslavement—the effects of whipping or the gendered violence as seen in 12 Years a Slave?
First, an example of the type of PowerPoint slide seen all too often in teaching. Can it capture the visual reality of enslavement—the effects of whipping or the gendered violence as seen in 12 Years a Slave?

The iMovie app is only one application of many that can be used by history classes to produce projects (WeVideo and Meograph are just two others). As part of a research project (not just a paper), students can utilize a number of online archival sources and libraries for primary source material as they craft historical narratives that utilize textual, audio, and visual elements. For an example of what iMovie can do, just check out some awesome projects which were produced by an undergraduate U.S. history course at Ohio State University as taught by Professor Lilia Fernandez.

Hopefully it’s been apparent that I’m not saying visuals should replace text. Books remain magical things in and of themselves, often without incorporating hardly any visuals at all. I only suggest that maybe it’s time we nudge text a little further to one side, to share the stage with pictures, graphs, maps, film, graphic novels, and any other number of visualizations.

And after all, there’s no reason that Rowling couldn’t have had her history professor spice things up a bit for those poor Hogwarts students. Just think of the visualizations one could do with magic!

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

_______________________

Patrick R. Potyondy is a history PhD candidate and graduate associate at The Ohio State University with interests in Public and Digital Visual History, Modern US History, the History and Foundations of Education, Early American History, and the intersections of race, ethnicity, and nation. He has also published the book chapter “Reimagining Urban Education: Civil Rights, Educational Parks, and the Limits of Reform.”

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

Allstate raises funds for HBCU scholarships

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Anwar Dunbar

The first article I wrote for The Edvocate talked about Financial Literacy, and how it can lead to greater giving by alumni of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) back to their alma maters.  This article will highlight an effort by Allstate and the Tom Joyner Foundation, to rally HBCU alumni, families, friends and supporters to help raise money for students currently enrolled at HBCUs.  In addition to diminished funding from the Federal Government, and increased competition for students from Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), one of the other major challenges HBCUs face is anemic alumni giving.  In the face of these challenges, fundraising for HBCUs is paramount.

For the fifth straight year, Allstate and the Tom Joyner Foundation are partnering for the Quotes for Education program (QFE).  The initiative is designed to raise funding for students enrolled in HBCUs, to ensure that they’re able to stay in school and finish their degrees.  Some key points about the program include:

  • Between August 1 and Nov. 30, Allstate will donate $10, up to $200,000, to the Tom Joyner Foundation general scholarship funds for every person who receives a quote and mentions Quotes for Education to participating agents.
  • For the fourth year, participants can also vote for an HBCU of their choice to receive an additional $50,000 for scholarships.
  • The school with the most votes will receive the $50,000. In 2013 and 2014, Grambling State University won the fan voting competition.  In 2012, Lincoln University won the competition.

The QFE program encourages: students, alumni and supporters of HBCUs around the country to assist the future generation and help raise scholarship funds.  According to a 2013 report by the Council for Aid to Education, only 10 percent of HBCU alumni actively give back to their alma maters, an embarrassingly low number.  Furthermore, the resulting budget cuts and diminishing financial aid options have led to a decline in student enrollment.

For the third straight year, Allstate granted me an interview with their Senior Vice-President and Florida A&M University alumnus Cheryl Harris regarding the program and the current challenges facing HBCUs.  The following are some excerpts from the interview which took place on September 17.

“I can tell you right now that Grambling State University is currently number one on the leader board with Tuskegee University in second place, and Jackson State University in third place.  Grambling State University has won the competition twice in three years,” said Cheryl Harris regarding Allstate’s 2015 Quotes for Education program.  “Again the goal is to get as many people possible engaged to quote and vote, so we can donate up to a total of $250,000 in support of HBCU scholarships”.

“What’s happening with the state funded HBCUs, is that the states have moved more towards a performance based funding model.  Schools can therefore be impacted by their delivery against those metrics,” Mrs. Harris said regarding current issues HBCU’s are facing.  “For that reason a program like ours becomes really important in closing the funding gap for deserving students at HBCUs by allowing them to stay in school.  Our collaboration with the Tom Joyner foundation allows to us donate $10 for every quote received, and subsequently donate up to $200,000.  In addition to that we’re also encouraging supporters to vote for their favorite HBCU so their school can win an additional $50,000 in scholarships funding as a part of the ‘HBC I owe U’ initiative”.

“Seeing what Grambling State University has done in our voting competition makes me smile.  It’s not just the students on campus.  Grambling State University also actively engages faculty and the community and in doing so build awareness and good will for the HBCUs,” Mrs. Harris continued.

At our Johnson C. Smith University Washington DC Alumni Club meetings, there have been numerous stories in the last two years of students being unable to register for classes and even being sent home in some instances.  While HBCUs face challenges on the institutional level, students in some cases face challenges on the personal level in the form of their family’s difficulties financing their educations.  One of their major challenges is thus running out of money and not being able to finish their degrees.  These situations once again underscore the importance of QFE and other similar efforts.

“We need the readers to participate by going to: www.allstate.com/hbcu,” Mrs. Harris said in closing.  “They can go there to find a participating agent.  They can get a quote and while there they’re there, they can take the opportunity to vote”.

Read all of our posts about HBCUs by clicking here.

___

Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist in the Federal Government where he registers and regulates Pesticides.  He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University.  In addition to publishing numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals,  he has also published over one hundred articles for the Examiner (www.examiner.com) on numerous education and literacy related topics in the areas of; Current Events and Culture, Higher Education, Financial Literacy, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).  He actively mentors youth and works to spread awareness of STEM careers to minority students.  He also tutors in the subjects of Biology, Chemistry and Physics.  He is a native of Buffalo, NY.  He can be contacted via email at [email protected], and can be followed on Twitter @anwaryusef.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

How Low-income Adults Access Affordable Education

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Anica Oaks

In high school, teens are told that no matter where they come from, they can go to college. Unfortunately, many low-income adolescents don’t have the opportunity to even apply to universities, since they may not have the money for the application fee, funds for textbooks or enough money to cover the residual tuition not covered by FAFSA.

Many low-income adults began working while they were still in high school. After graduating, they are left struggling to make ends meet with a minimum wage job and wind up feeling suffocated and discouraged early on in life. Despite the fact that they may not be able to afford an Ivy League school, there are accessible education opportunities for low-income adults whether they graduated last summer or 30 years ago.

Free College Classes Online

Sites like Coursera and edX have teamed up with hundreds of renowned universities across the world to offer learners from all backgrounds access to a quality education free of charge. The courses that you can find range from introductory level English and math courses to digital marketing, science, languages, computer science and engineering, and more.

Each site gives students the option to purchase certificates of completion for less than $100 per course, and Coursera even offers financial aid for those who can’t afford the default price. Whether you just want to learn for personal benefit or to gain the knowledge necessary to pursue new career opportunities, getting started at Coursera and edX is an excellent way to do so for little to no cost.

Find a Vocational School

Many schools will teach you how to become a professional at a trade like cosmetology, electricity and HVAC installation and more for a very low cost. The Newgate School in Minneapolis turns donated trucks and cars from citizens into tools for low-income students to work on and learn how to become auto mechanics in under 2 years.

There are other many other vocational schools you can find that offer affordable financing options for low-income students and can provide you with the training you need to get a high-paying career in under 2 years.

Scholarships and Work Study Programs

Many low-income adults write off college before they fully explore all their options. Although it requires some extra research, many people can qualify for special scholarships that can be combined with federal student aid. In-state tuition for many colleges is less than $10,000 a year to residents. A scholarship can open the door to education, and a work-study program that provides you with some income as well as pays off your tuition while you work are all viable options for low-income adults looking to better themselves and expand their career options.

Even if you don’t have money for a traditional education, don’t give up! If you search hard enough, you can find opportunities for free or subsidized education.

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Anica is a professional content and copywriter who graduated from the University of San Francisco. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. She was raised in a big family, so she’s used to putting things to a vote. Also, cartwheels are her specialty. You can connect with Anica here.

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Matthew Lynch

Elements of Strategic Leadership

To determine the traits in schools that provide short term effectiveness and long term success, we rely on a model of strategic leadership formulated by Davies, Davies, and Ellison. The model identifies two elements that make up strategic leadership: strategic processes and strategic approaches.

Strategic processes are a force for change in schools. One saying related to leadership and management that’s relevant here is: “how we undertake an activity is as important as what we do to build long-term success.” Therefore, care and attention should be given to the process of building strategic capability, because “process is policy.” This suggests that policy isn’t simply formed and implemented; there is an interaction of processes that create the complete policy. The “how” part of strategic processes consists of four elements that build strategic direction for the school. These elements are conceptualization, involving people, articulation, and implementation.

Conceptualization mainly focuses on reflection, strategic thinking, analysis, and creation of new ways of understanding. The “involving people” part of the strategic process involves encouraging greater participation, leading to higher levels of motivation and strategic skill. The element of articulation brings out the oral, written, and structural means of communication and development of a strategic purpose. The last element of implementing policy involves turning strategy into action, organization, strategic timing and knowing when to quit.

Strategic approaches are how strategies built through strategic processes is put in place. The Davies et al. model focuses on four approaches. First, it considers the most common approach to strategic planning, the pro-active approach., It assumes that the school understands the desired outcomes, and how to go about achieving them. The method in this approach is similar to the school-development and school-improvement movements. However, it differs s from the reactive approach of emergent strategy, which means using current experience to shape future strategy. This is a common practice in circumstances where schools learn by doing.

If the school is a reflective and learning organization, a pattern of success and failure is formed. The school formulates strategy by repeating successful activities, and avoiding those that caused failures. A pattern of actions emerges that, through collaboration, produces a logical strategic framework. Therefore, emerging strategy is a reflective, reactive process that uses experience to predict and improve future patterns of behavior.

The researchers also considered a redistributed strategy as a model of strategic development. This is where senior school leaders determine values and set the direction of the school, but allow other staff to put the policies in place. This strategy only works if values, and a degree of trust, exist among the various players in the school setting. The last approach is strategic intent, which involves achieving noticeable strategic change by building capacity and ability throughout the school community.

This approach sets clear objectives (intents) that the organization is committed to meeting, but recognizes the importance of building capability and capacity first, to fully understand how and when objectives can be achieved.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

How to Earn a College Degree without the Debt

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Brooke Chaplan

A college degree is becoming more and more important in order to succeed in society and to get a good career. The biggest problem with college is that it often puts many students in massive debt immediately after graduation. Luckily, it is entirely possible to get an education without getting a ton of student loans. These are the four best tricks to get a college degree without going into debt.

Rent Textbooks
Most people forget to factor expensive textbooks into their college budget, which can cause you to spend a lot more money each semester than originally planned. As the price of textbooks continues to rise, there are now several places you can rent your required reading material for a fraction of the cost to purchase new.

Live at Home
Living on your own may be a major part of the college experience, but it can be extremely costly. Going to a local college like UC Clermont College or an online college while living at home may not seem ideal, but it will actually save your thousands of dollars in the long run. All of the money going toward dorm room rent, food, and other miscellaneous expenses can all be used towards your tuition instead.

Get Scholarships and Grants
The great thing about scholarships and grants is they are literally free money. Unlike student loans, you will never have to pay back the money you receive in scholarships and grants. There are thousands of different places you get scholarships and grants from, so you will have to do some extensive research. Most scholarships and grants require you fit a certain criteria in order to be eligible. Applying as much as possible is a great way to drastically reduce your college debt burden.

Take College Courses in High School
Taking the time to plan ahead can go a long way to help you save money on college. Every high school offers college credit courses for their more gifted students. Taking these classes in high school will allow you to start earning college credits without having to pay the high tuition costs. If you do well enough in high school, then it is entirely possible that you can enter your first year of college having already earned a semester of credits.

Nobody should have to go into crippling debt just to get a better education. If you save your money and follow these five tips, then you should have no problem graduating debt free.

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Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking and gardening. For more information contact Brooke via Twitter @BrookeChaplan.

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Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform, Teachers

Report: No improvement in public education since 2009

The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress has some shocking news: since 2009, there has been no improvement in math and reading performance among our nation’s high school seniors.  Despite the trillions of dollars we have hurdled into our schools, our students aren’t better off in those subjects.

How can that be? It seems to me that the problem lies in that we simply teach to the test.  We train thousands of students to learn a few of the “core” subjects so they score well on tests – but that doesn’t really make the students better educated. Higher test scores in any subject does not mean these young adults are smarter. Think about the utterly essential part of success: learning how to write well.  This is a prime example of a subject that no multiple-choice test can measure.

To really learn, students must have the thirst to drink from the fountain of knowledge.  They must feel compelled to understand problems and have the urge to find the solution, even if that means they answer incorrectly.  Yes, the core subjects are important for students to learn – but let’s not forget about literature, music and the arts – and the other subjects that help teach students to explore.

What the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress tells us is alarming. How have ten years passed, and these trillions of dollars not rendered any improvement in math and reading performance among high school seniors?

There are some schools out there that are taking a better approach at teaching today’s diverse student population but so much more needs to be done. What public education needs is the ability to implement more practical models of teaching to guide students instead of following master plans devised to ensure students test well.

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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, list, Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform

3 Reasons to Create a Gender Inclusive Learning Climate for Girls

In a responsive model of instruction, teachers seek out and include examples of achievements from both genders. While women have come a long way since the days of Dr. Edward Clarke, it is still difficult to find a curriculum that reflects an equitable picture of female accomplishments. Progress has been slow to incorporate gender-fair terminology into textbooks.

The accomplishments of minority women, women with disabilities, local women from the community, and working class women all are important to help present a complete, realistic and equitable picture of female role models in society. It is valuable for young women to see the variety of ways in which females can impact their communities and their society, regardless of race, ethnic background or financial status. Teachers help overcome gender inequities and change present perceptions by presenting accomplishments, and experiences, of both men and women.

Let’s look at three reasons to create a more gender-responsive learning climate for girls in our country.

  1. Girls are not yet confident about their math and science skills. As discussed by Daniel Calder, according to a study conducted by Dr. Edith Sand, a Bank of Israel economist and teacher at Tel Aviv University’s Berglas School of Economics, and one of her colleagues, the idea that women are less skilled than men in mathematics discourage women from pursuing STEM careers.

To sum up the study, three groups of Israeli students were given two exams. For one exam, the tests were graded by scorers who did not know the students. For the other, the teacher who was familiar with the names of the students scored them. When the test was graded anonymously, the girls outscored the boys, but when the test was graded by a teacher who knew the student, the boys outscored the girls. Interestingly enough, this effect was absent in tests that did not have to do with mathematics.

Apparently, teachers to unconsciously overestimate the mathematical talents of boys while underestimating the mathematical skill in girls. These same boys tended to score higher than these same girls on matriculation exams, even though these were the same girls who had outscored these same boys on mathematical portions of anonymously graded tests.

  1. Girls are not going to college to pursue STEM careers. Over twice as many boys in high school take computer science advanced placement tests than girls every year. It is not uncommon for the boys at STEM high schools to outnumber the girls by three to one. Yet the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the job outlook in STEM fields is expected to grow at double the rate of other fields. The jobs of today, and the future, are in science, technology, engineering and math. This means that girls could miss out on the best job opportunities for them after college.

From preschool, boys and girls need more encouragement in STEM areas. If both genders are treated equally from the start, and held to the same standards, there will be no need for gender-specific schools as they get older.

  1. Girls need to see their potential and value their accomplishments. Blame the magazines, the movies, the models — blame Barbie — pin it on the pin-up girls, but the fact remains: girls struggle with the mixed messages about body image. Particularly impressionable adolescent girls struggle with bulimia, anorexia and the obsession with weight, and sometimes self-inflict injuries and other damage to their bodies.

Many girls who are bulimics and/or cutters have indicated that these actions are the only aspects of their lives over which they have control. Teachers lack the ubiquitous influence of the media to manipulate girls’ self-image. Advertising often pitches to the fundamental needs of the subconscious mind. Sex sells, to be frank — and while we cannot deny it, we do have some means to counter it.

Girls must be guided to see their potential in areas other than the physical. One helpful strategy is to acquaint young girls with the accomplishments of great women, including: Phyllis Wheatley, Marian Wright Edelman, Rosa Parks, Clara Barton, Mary Shelley, Jane Addams, Shirley Chisholm, Elizabeth Blackwell, Sacagawea, Wilma Mankiller, Isabel Allende, Deborah Sampson Gannett, Dolores Huerta, Frida Kahlo, Maya Angelou, Sonia Sotomayor, Margaret Sanger, Unity Dow, Sally Ride and other women who overcame great odds to be strong and successful.

Each of these women is a standout figure in history or in society because of her hard work, her inner strength and her determination. In a society where supermodels and sex appeal are overvalued, adolescent girls must be reminded of their important inner qualities.

Why do you think girls might need curricula that are more sensitive to their needs?

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