Pecha Kucha or Digital Storytelling?

If you know me at all, you know about my love affair with the process of Digital Storytelling as a means to create community and to give students an authentic voice to share experiences and life lessons. The idea of developing a personal narrative and adding images, voice, and soundtrack and then recording it in a “permanent” form has developed into one of the most engaging activities for students (and others) to do.

While conducting a workshop on DST last year, I had a teacher who was rather ambivalent about the whole DST concept.  While he embraced the idea of melding words and images, he would have preferred an activity that incorporated a “live” presentation; he wanted to make sure that teachers did not substitute a Digital Storytelling assignment for a speech. I couldn’t agree more. There is no substitute for a live performance; an entire set of skills and learning targets come into play with any public speaking. I had told him that DST would “replace” something like a written narrative, not a live speech.  But the more I thought about it, he had a point. Could there be another possibility that was as engaging as DST yet live (And no, I am not referring to a speech with never-ending, bulleted list Powerpoint slides)?

Then I heard about Pecha Kucha (Pronounced: puCHA kuCHA).  First conceived as a Japanese bar game, (like Karaoke) the Pecha Kucha concept is deceptively simple: twenty consecutive images, each displayed to the audience for twenty seconds while the speaker presents live to the audience. For more information on Pecha Kucha and a sample from me (sort of) please go to my Digital Storytelling page.  Actually, the inception of Digital Storytelling by Dana Atchley and Joe Lambert stemmed from live performances anyway!

Last year at a conference in Illinois, I was asked to try my hand at Pecha Kucha. As a Digital Storyteller, I must say that the experience was quite a departure for me. The live concept was both exhilarating and a bit intimidating. I mean, in DST if something didn’t sound right or my timing was off, I could re record. But with Pecha Kucha, I was out there.  On the other hand, it was much more engaging for me the performer. I could respond to the audience and “ad lib” when appropriate. I performed it twice live and expectedly, each performance had its own subtle uniqueness.

True, there is not the “polished” feel of a Digital Story, but what it lacked in polish; it excelled in spontaneity and audience interaction.  What I found interesting was how the audience’s attention went back and forth between the screen and me, as if watching a tennis match. At times, they needed to watch the image while listening to my voice and at particular animated moments the attention was all on me. The other new sensation was that clock ticking in the back of my head. Pacing and development of ideas were always on my mind, and the question always loomed, “Is it going to change…now?”

So where does this all fit for teachers? Is there a place for it in my classroom? Can kids do it? Does it need to be 20 images? First I think there can be a situation for students doing Pecha Kucha, or at least a form of it.  Instead of a six-minute plus performance, maybe try ten images. I do like the twenty-second intervals; anything less does not allow for much development on the part of narration. The other point is that when assessing, I believe there needs to be a certain allowance for spontaneity. To me, a speaker engaging with the audience, for the sake of speaking in a “polished” manner should be rewarded. But maybe you feel think otherwise.

So your question may be “Which one should I have kids do?”  My answer would be both. You can NEVER have too much student creation.

More Than Just a Spark

August is rapidly approaching, which means more of our thoughts turn to the upcoming school year. For me, that means lots of staff development planning. In a three-week period I will lead a Digital Storytelling workshop, a Blackboard seminar, a new-teacher training day, and a “Technology for PLC’s" session.
I do have one more workshop that has been occupying a great deal of my time and efforts. In three weeks I will be leading a District-Wide Administrator’s Academy on the topic of Web 2.0 Tools for Educational Leadership. The audience will be all District and Building-level administrators, department chairs, and lead teachers.

Whoa.

Needless to say, I am thrilled with this opportunity, yet I also know the importance of this day. I must admit, that I did not want the focus to be on “tools” but at the same time, many administrators “don’t know what they don’t know,” so an “awareness” might be a good starting point for all of us. Like your district, we have a wide variety of “tech” abilities, and the last thing I want to do is leave some of those folks in the dust…especially considering the influence they have.

In developing the plan for the day, I have come up with a dozen ideas for creating powerful staff development sessions. Here they are:

Build on prior knowledge: Develop a system that allows participants to share and discuss what they already know prior to the first session. In the spring, I set up discussion groups who followed a handful of blogs of innovative educators, and had them comment on what they read. I must admit, priming the pump took a while; I discovered that several of the people had never read blogs and were apprehensive about putting their comments “out there.” In the last two weeks, with the encouragement of others, the discussion boards have really been picking up steam, and will give us lots to discuss next month.

Know your audience: In my case, I will be working with all of the district leaders. Since the focus is on modeling best practices, many of more examples need to be “administrative” rather than “classroom.” Also, since participants have such a wide range of abilities and prior use, I need to rely on the “power users” to help the novices to create a “differentiated” learning environment.

Start with home-grown best practices: Like all districts, we too have pockets of some great innovative teaching and leading going on “right here in River City.” What better way to model this innovation than to showcase our own innovative leaders. Two byproducts result. First, it draws attention to those who are doing great things, and second, it adds credence to what we are trying to accomplish, and anticipates the skeptics who think we can’t do it here.

Walk the walk…Go paperless: One of the criticisms I hear about using any sort of content management system is that “kids don’t use it.” The answer is twofold. First, design lessons that are more inquiry driven and less “drill and kill.” The purpose of Moodle or Ning is not just to have a place to put worksheets. Inquiry-driven experiences better lend themselves to a paperless environment. Second, make sure the ONLY place to get information is in the content management system…in other words, don’t give a paper option. Keeping this in mind, your staff development sessions should be paperless as well. NO HANDOUTS. Hopefully, you’ll avoid the situation I had. I was running a session entitled “The Paperless Classroom” and had a teacher ask me for the handout for the session. Seriously.

Root it in sound pedagogy: Make sure the delivery of the staff development session reflects the pedagogy and vision of your district. Our District requires all teachers to be trained in Cooperative Learning (Johnsons and Kagan), Assessment Literacy (Stiggins), and CRISS Strategies. Needless to say our workshop will infuse Positive Interdependence, Formative Assessment, and require the use of several graphic organizers during instruction.

Empathize: Many educators have been doing great work for many years, and may question “why change now?” In some respects, they may have many strong arguments. Also, there will be feelings of uncertainty, which leads to fear and rejection of new ideas. Rule of thumb: NEVER start with technology. Instead, begin with a product, or a skill, and work backwards to show how it can be done. A traditional teacher may use lit circles. Show a product of students creating a set of “Cliff Notes” for that book collaboratively. THEN introduce the concept of a wiki. Understand that those people have a great deal to offer, and using that expertise to bridge the gap can go a long way.

Embrace the “leaders”: By “Leaders,” I don’t mean formal leaders. In every educational culture there are those whom others follow. They may be the more vocal or most experienced members of a faculty. If you can showcase work by those people, you are well on your way to create a tipping pint for the whole faculty. Here’s an idea: if you have teachers who are embracing your ideas and also happen to be active in union leadership, definitely showcase their work.

Talk less: As an Instructional Tech Coordinator, the whole school knows where I’m coming from before I speak. Sure, I will introduce ideas, but the more I have others present work, and the more I get them to discuss, question, and practice ideas, the more successful the day will be. I am invited to present at department meetings during the year to demonstrate tools and ideas. . I have learned that the most successful meetings occur when all I do is introduce other department members and let them demonstrate. My role is then to answer questions.

Inspire, don’t preach: We have all seen many videos that focus on how education has to change. However, the in-your-face, we’re-hurting-kids videos seem to do more harm than good. Instead focus on positive approaches that make people what to change. Will Richardson started with this great video a kid created, and his sole purpose was to solicit help on how to build a fire with a bow drill. Another one shows how a guy dancing on his own illustrates how a movement attracts followers. Both are non threatening to the viewer and inspire instead of wave a finger.

Make ‘em laugh: We all learn better when we’re happy, right? When my group is learning how to podcast, my intention is to give them lines from movies, and allow them to do a dramatic reading to share with others. Let’s face it, for the workshop, the content isn’t the issue, it’s learning how to use the tool. Right now I’m thinking lines from Animal House, Airplane, Caddy Shack, Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, and Dirty Harry… Am I showing my age?

Build in follow up: Yes, in my opinion, the last is the most important. We have all endured the “one and done” method of staff development. And we all know how meaningless it becomes. My District is making a commitment to transform our students’ education. I couldn’t be happier. We have already built in time during department meetings, institute days, and planning time to further explore thes ideas that will be introduced. Ongoing, formal and informal transformation is vital.

I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to these opportunities. But one of the first things I learned in my new position is that I can’t do it alone. I can ignite, answer questions, and bring people together. With the help of those people we can continue the exciting journey of doing what’s best for our kids.

Assessing Collaborative Writing

Tools like Google Docs and a variety of wikis have spawned an explosion of collaborative writing possibilities for students. However, too often teachers are puzzled and dismayed when the results are less than expected. Questions I often hear from teachers are “How do I know all kids are working?”  “How do I keep them from cutting and pasting?” In other words, “How do I assess collaborative writing?” Keep in mind that “wikis” and “collaborative writing” are not synonymous. The former is a tool, and the latter is a process. Many teachers have used wikis for massive collaborative data collection with the entire class participating in a single purpose; while this is a valuable process, it is not collaborative writing. Here are a few tips to ensure success in a true collaborative process

Create an Authentic Audience and Purpose Too often, we as teachers ask students to write or create for no other reason than to have them prove that they can master the skill. The teacher is the only audience. Why not create an activity that other students need to succeed in the course? In an English class, have small groups read Lord of the Flies, and each group read the book through a particular “lens” (Social Darwinism, Biblical Allusions, Freudian Psychology) and publish their interpretations for the rest of the class to read and analyze. A math class could take the same concept solve a particular kind of problem and share their findings. I got this idea from Darren Kuropatwa, who calls it his “Wiki Solutions Manual.”  A French class could study regions of France and share those results. The idea is that someone other than the teacher will read the product, and more importantly will rely upon it for success. Also, students become “experts” in a particular field.

Form Small Groups For a collaborative writing task, I would recommend no more than four members per group, with the ideal number being three. The Johnsons and Spencer Kagan are two of the leading experts in Cooperative Learning, and both stress the importance of matching group size to the task. The first reason is that the larger the group, the more complicated the communication becomes. Simply adding one person to a pair triples the lines of communication. The second reason is that the smaller the group, the greater the individual accountability. It’s much easier to “hide” in a group of six than in a group of three.

Develop Precise Learning Targets Prior to the activity, develop a set of specific, measureable learning targets and share them with the students. Ideally you want to have students help develop these as well as the rubric you will use to assess the project. Rick Stiggins has done groundbreaking work in developing learning targets.

Assign SPECIFIC Roles When students are faced with a collaborative task, often their solution is to “divide and conquer.” “Linda, you write the first part, Thomas, you do the second, and I’ll do the third,” is usually what transpires. Unfortunately, Linda often never even reads parts two or three. Instead of a collaborative writing experience, we have a patchwork of individual ideas. Instead of a “quilt” we want a uniform “blanket.” During the first draft, it’s ok to parse out these segments, but to achieve uniform writing, and to expose all students to the entire document, assign revision roles that permeate the entire document. After the draft (and your subsequent comments) Linda can revise the entire document for support, Thomas for organization, and the third student for mechanics. Then the next time around you can assign “format” roles such as “images,” “hyperlinks” and “citations.” The key is that ALL students are responsible for the ENTIRE paper. You can assess students individually that way as well.

Offer Frequent Formative Assessment Stiggins also is an advocate for continual Formative Assessment (Assessment FOR Learning). Begin by setting target dates for steps in the process of the collaborative writing experience. As each date approaches, monitor the progress of the documents and offer suggestions for improvement. Make sure to offer suggestions ONLY on what is being measured for that segment. In other words, you should refrain from noting spelling errors during a brainstorming phase.

Consider Assessing More Than Just Writing As a former English teacher, my emphasis, of course was on evaluating the writing. However, even the NCTE recognizes “text” as more than just words. Consider images as being a requirement for the document. Using hyperlinks correctly can also be a valuable addition. Even embedding video or podcasts may be used to make the project multi dimensional, and as a result, more engaging. Also, this affords a great opportunity to teach ethical use of material and proper citation.

Be a Teacher All wiki tools have a History function, and some can even break down the “lines modified” by users to determine who added what to the document. While these can be handy as a guideline, I recommend that you avoid using these numbers as gospel. If students think you are looking at only the results on the history, two negative byproducts may result. First students will fight over who enters what so they get “credit” for writing it. Second, students will enter the editing mode of the document and leave without making changes, or merely add and delete a period. To discourage this, you need to schedule regular meeting times during class for kids to discuss, face to face, their progress. During that time, you need to be carefully observing their progress to make sure kids are on task. You can keep track of those kids who offer ideas in the process, but may not be doing the typing. Stress to your class that you will not be “nit picking” about who wrote what line, but are more interested in the entire product. The Johnsons offer many suggestions to ensure Individual Accountability. 

Plainly stated, Collaborative Writing is difficult work. Assessing it can be just as hard. These tips can help raise standards as well as make the assessment task more manageable. 

Ten Burning Questions

Lee Kolbert's Blog is subtitled "Ask lots of questions."  And, true, most educators today know it's all about asking good questions.  So I decided to walk the walk, AND encourage you to participate.

The last week or so, several questions have been simmering in my head. I have been observing  instances that make me wonder "why?"  I would like to share those questions with you and allow for a more interactive discussion.

http://tinyurl.com/burningquestions


Yes, after becoming a Google Certified Teacher I am making use of my new fave tool: Moderator.


Please click the link, check out the questions, my responses, respond on your own, add more, vote, whatever.

Staff Development Woes? Google Can Help

This post also appears in the Digital Learning Environments blog.

Last week I had the opportunity to present at Tech Forum, Midwest. As always, it was a lively exchange of ideas with some of the more forward-thinking professionals in education. One of the recurrent topics was staff development. How do we accomplish our goals? How do we bring teachers together? Is formal training less important now than relying on PLN’s? Several ideas were discussed, but the two biggest dilemmas: time and money seem to loom large. Specifically, the biggest impediment stems from the inability for teachers to “connect” with colleagues to develop ideas.


As many of you know, I attended the first Google Administrator’s Academy last month. As I continue to process what I learned there, I would like to share with you a handful of Google applications that can transform staff development in schools.

Docs Google Docs contains word processing, spreadsheet, presentations and even draw on line. Google Docs enables you to create documents “in the cloud” and collaborate easily with others. Inviting collaborators is as easy as sending an email. New features include a more robust “word processor” interface, faster uploads, group folders, and the ability to upload virtually any document. Many educators (including me) are saving more documents on Google Docs, and fewer on a “hard drive.” The big advantage is if I need multiple people to collaborate, give feedback or just proofread, I simply invite them to the document, instead of sending multiple emails and collating responses.

Forms Let’s say you need to collect survey-type information from your colleagues. Sending out a Google Form is a great solution. Housed in a Google Doc spreadsheet, a Form allows the creator to choose from a variety of question types, create a survey (or quiz for that matter), send out the url, and allow participants to complete the survey on their own time. The data collection is simple; as the responses come in, the information is gathered on the spread sheet, and with one click, the creator can view results for each question in an easy-to-read bar graph. This is quite a relief for a spreadsheet-challenged user like myself.

Moderator This is quite possibly my favorite new application. Let’s say your staff development group has to brainstorm a list of resources to help teachers develop strategies in Assessment Literacy. Moderator allows the creator to set up a “series,” invite users, allow them to add links to sites, comment on the sites, and vote for which ones are most valuable. At any time, viewers can see the vote tally as well as the comments made by colleagues. This is a great brainstorming tool that allows everyone in the group to voice her opinion and be heard.

Calendar OK, so an online calendar is not new, but I have found the Google Calendar to be very powerful and easy to use. There are many, but my favorite feature is the ability to create multiple calendars, and overlay calendars with other users. This can do wonders to resolve possible conflicts. You can also sync your Google Calendar with Outlook or your phone.

Groups Increase your PLN in two ways. First, create a group including the people on your staff development team. Groups allows you to discuss and share ideas in a universal location. More importantly, browse Groups to connect with other teachers across town or around the world to ask questions or respond to others.

Wave Admittedly, I have used Wave on a limited basis. Several people I know have used this real-time collaboration tool with great success. Think of it as a cross between a wiki and Twitter. Please share any feedback.
Staff development is a continual, arduous process. We have a tough enough job developing the ideas to transform education. Getting together with colleagues should not impede our progress. These applications help take us in the right direction.

Fine Arts Teachers "Get It"

Photo Courtesy of Scott Ableman

Yesterday I read about yet another school district possibly cutting fine arts programs in order to save money. I always cringe when I read this—the fact that many still view art, music, and theatre as “add ons” instead of an essential component in a child’s education. The preponderance of research that shows the correlation between fine arts education and student achievement is staggering.

But this post isn’t about that.

Clearly, many of the arts classes are not valued by some pencil sharpeners and belt tighteners. But what about the fate of those professionals who teach art, music, and theatre? I’m sure that most of them will migrate to a district that either values or can afford them, but I believe we are all missing out on something very special.

In today’s education landscape, change is in the air. We are looking to make classes more “student centered, ” projects more relevant, and assessment more formative. Some of these changes are met with less-than-exuberant responses by some more “traditional” teachers. Districts are spending thousands of dollars on staff development to teach “Project-Based Learning,” “Authentic Assessment” and “Collaboration.” Unfortunately, these initiatives are sometimes piecemeal, and too often fall on deaf ears. I have observed that sometimes fine art teacher seems to be politely passive during these sessions. Why? The reason is because fine arts teachers have been teaching this way all along.

Consider some of the pedagogical changes that visionaries are suggesting to transform our schools, and how fine arts teachers have already embraced them:

Project-based learning with specific goals: For the choir, it’s preparing the Hallelujah Chorus for the winter concert, the jazz band will perform at half time of the basketball game, opening night of Guys and Dolls is only two weeks away. For arts students, every action, every repetition, every procedure is geared toward fulfilling a very precise, focused goal: the performance.

Emphasis on formative assessment: The majority of assessment in a music class is formative. Daily rehearsals (not lessons) are met with continual scrutiny and suggestions. Groups work hours upon hours to prepare for the upcoming event. Missing a beat at the rehearsal can be remedied before the performance. Early in a semester, very few grades exist in the art teacher’s grade book because the teacher recognizes that the student is still working, experimenting, and learning... how can you put a grade on that? Isn’t the end result more important to evaluate? Because of this atmosphere, kids are more likely to experiment, fail, and try again, resulting, ultimately, in higher achievement.

Purposeful homework: The oboe player must practice on her own outside of class, the photo student must compose images in “the field” and Stanley Kowalski must practice his lines. Since students see a direct connection between the hours spent and the quality of the performance, they are much more motivated to spend extra time on tasks.

Professional Learning Community (PLC) Model: Whether it be planning the upcoming concert, coordinating the set, score, lighting, and direction of a musical, or putting together an art show, by definition, fine arts teachers must work together seamlessly to develop their performances and products. The fading notion of teaching in “isolation” was never an issue with teachers of The Arts.

Building a Collaborative Classroom: By virtue of the activities, fine arts students MUST work together; they develop Positive Interdependence organically. The first violinist realizes he needs the rest of the section as well as the other instruments to perform the piece; he can’t do it alone. Also, you probably find that in your school (like mine) music kids hang out together in the music hall because of the common bonds and interests that have developed. The culmination of this is that they trust each other.

Teaching Visual Literacy: Even the NCTE recognizes that “text” no longer is limited to words, but includes a variety of media. Who better to address visual composition than a 2-D art teacher? Have we tapped these resources to teach the rest of the faculty concepts such as line, contrast, value, vanishing point, and rhythm? What about the photography teacher to share expertise in lighting, framing, and the difference in effects of a low and high-angle shot?

Of course when you talk about Portfolio Assessment, and Authentic Audience…need I say more?

I consider myself very fortunate to work in a school that not only values The Arts as an essential component in education, but also is blessed with a talented, dedicated group of fine arts teachers who inspires, ignites, and, motivates students to develop their own potential. Perhaps some day everyone will “Get it” the way fine arts teachers do...and instead of cutting out programs, they can be expanded.

Or at very least, can share some of their teaching methods with the rest of us to embrace.

"Drink the Koolaid"? Not me.

I don’t like buzz words. Nothing trivializes an idea more than the overuse of a phrase. Some of you have heard my rants on the wearing out of the word “amazing.” However, artfully constructed, a fresh metaphor can really harness a hurricane.

The phrase du jour seems to be “Drink the Koolaid,” which has devolved into simply meaning to “believe in something,” or “have faith in something novel.” Really? Of the last four people I heard turn this phrase, only ONE knew the origin. I always ask, “Have you ever heard of Jim Jones?” From many, I get blank stares. How about “Jonestown?” In 1978, cult leader, Jim Jones brainwashed his followers in Guyana to drink Koolaid laced with cyanide in a mass “revolutionary suicide.” Nearly 1,000 people took their own lives on the word of a charismatic sociopath when he told them to “Drink the Koolaid.”

Recently, I have heard some advocates of changing our educational system use the phrase “Drink the Koolaid” to get people to buy in to student-centered classrooms, inquiry-driven research, world-wide collaboration, and leveraging technology to facilitate learning.

Is this the phrase we want to use? Have we forgotten the sinister, diabolical connotation of this phrase? Charles Manson’s followers “drank the Koolaid,” Bernie Madoff’s investors “drank the Koolaid,” to a certain extent we all “drank the Koolaid” when it came to Tiger Woods’ perceived image.

And this is the phrase we want to use to help show fellow educators, administrators, parents, kids, and community members how we can change schools for the better? Especially in the wake of President Obama’s plan to transform education, is this the proper stance?

Perhaps we need another phrase. How about “See the light”?