Giving Thanks | The Fluency Project: The First Quarter PBL

Despite having just crossed the threshold of the first quarter, our enthusiasm is still pretty infectious. We are entering the time of year that we’ve looked toward with mounting anticipation, and perhaps just a modest amount of apprehension: project proposal and action plan season! Needless to say, everyone in Cultural Literacy III has something to look forward to over the next few weeks.

Cultural Literacy III students at Holy Family Academy are encouraged to explore literature and life… to utilize numbers, narratives, and the arts in order to tell powerful stories. (Photo credit: Jennifer Lanas)

In quarter one, our juniors in Cultural Literacy III (Contemporary American Issues) read Kekla Magoon’s How It Went Down and paired it with close-reading and empathy building techniques. Along with preliminary research and narrative storytelling strategies, our Holy Family Academy students ideated wrestled with real-world issues present in the novel and inspired by their own experiences. In turn, students submitted project proposals ideating upon these issues with the goal of bringing the story to a wider audience, promoting awareness, understanding, and empathy. Ultimately, to become change agents we must first be ambassadors of deeply personal stories inspired by literature and life. 
​


Keshawn is critiquing a proposal using the “think-puzzle-explore” peer-review sheet. Inspired by Agency by Design and Project Zero, this “Think-Puzzle-Explore” method of peer review yielded thoughtful, targeted feedback. (Photo credit: Jennifer Lanas)

To evaluate each other’s work, we adapted a tuning protocol by Agency by Design. It is a systematic way to look at student work and offer feedback to reflective practitioners. My dear friend and colleague, Kristin Alvarez is a member of ABD’s Pittsburgh cohort. When she taught this to our Holy Family Academy teachers, I immediately began thinking of how I might be able to hack it for our Cultural Literacy students to use. The resulting activity yielded some of the best peer-review conferences that I’ve witnessed in my teaching tenure.



Our Holy Family Academy Juniors selected their own topic of exploration and the medium by which they would bring their projects to life. This falls under Trev Mackenzie’s definition of “Guided Inquiry”. (Photo credit: Trev Mackenzie)


Admittedly, it is a challenge facilitating so many different projects among three sections of Cultural Literacy. In a few instances, I am coordinating meetings with teams of students spanning multiple class periods. Moving forward, we are utilizing at least one class period per week (70 minutes) as well as taking advantage of our flexible schedule that gives all juniors a one-hour block of lunch and Independent Learning Time (ILT) three-days per week. Some teams and individuals are more enthusiastic about continuing this process of guided inquiry and project-based-learning than others. These motivated teens are writing podcast scripts, blogging at home, and sketching-out plans for storyboarding mini documentaries or constructing robotics projects. In order to facilitate the project and continue the pacing of our contemporary issues curriculum, we have project benchmarks throughout the month of November and the early part of December. 



Manor New Tech High School located near Austin, Texas is an example of a school pioneering a dynamic PBL model. Their story is featured in this video highlighting PBL success from start-to-finish. We are not quite there, yet… (Photo credit: Education Week / New Tech Network)

I would be a liar if I said that 100% of our students are on-board with this departure from the traditional “culminating project” model that we are all accustomed to. We spend one class period per week studying a mentor text or conducting primary source investigations in addition to the one period that we devote moving forward on our PBL goals. Considering that we only meet three sessions per week, it is imperative that everyone do their collective part to stay focused. I have to be a reflective practitioner and flexible in terms of timing and scheduling. It’s not as though I pitched the project timeline to our juniors and their joyous shouts of approval ensued a celebratory parade down Ohio River Boulevard… Had that occurred, I would request that we ride unicorns and invite sasquatch, chupacabra, and a leprechaun to preside over the festivities.

Botticcelli's Bigfoot will serve as the grand marshall of the parade celebrating teenagers applauding a school initiative that doesn't involve extended vacation and/or the addition of nap pods to the classroom. In all seriousness, my students really seem to enjoy this departure from the ordinary, but it is admittedly more work compared to what they were previously accustomed. (Photo credit: fullfrogmoon.com)

Without a doubt, I consider it a preliminary victory for our students to take control of the story of their learning. They are engaging in deeper learning, becoming experts in the topics that they have selected.  I have become a student in the world that they creating--whereby they are expert researchers and designers of an experience that will educate others. At this phase in the process, our juniors are now looking for an authentic audience to share their work and expert knowledge. I could not possibly be more proud of our students. Needless to say, perhaps I have the most to look forward to and to be thankful for this November.


This post can also be found on #thefluencyproject blog.

Digital Badges - Training on the LRNG Platform

The other afternoon, I wrapped-up my second day of training on the LRNG platform. The design and functionality are just extraordinary! This summer's roll-out of Pittsburgh - City of Learning is certainly something that we want to plug out kids into immediately.


Though I am not currently a part of the City of Learning program in Pittsburgh, I am working alongside Holy Family Academy's Head of School / Chief Learning Officer and our Career Coaches to develop pathways and playlists to expand our networked learning ecosystem into the surrounding community.


Digital badging has been an interest of mine for the past two years, however I only (officially) entered the badging process just this year at Holy Family.  My intent is to utilize digital badges in our innovative field-based learning program.

Check out this video out of Chicago--it offers a comprehensive view on the power and potential of badging.

Rationale for the Importance of a Digital Badging Proposal that Unites PGH Careers + PGH Teens

Recently, I was involved with a team at HFA in submitting a grant proposal helping to link students from the region with plans for badging our existing Corporate Work Study Program. We have +50 partners throughout the region, and we are in the midst of creating playlists of experiences introducing teens to a cariety of careers that feature prominent roles into this region's future. Consisting of both local and digital experiences, these playlists expose teens to a variety of careers, help to connect teens with information to learn about the specific avenues for growth in each sector, and the experiences unlocs opportunities for young people to pursue these careers in greater depth.

This is a good time to be a young person in and around the City of Pittsburgh. With so much attention being placed upon corporations, nonprofits, and educational institutions comprising the Remake Learning Network, there are abundant opportunities to expand a networked learning ecosystem in and around the city. Local census data shows that a proposal has the ability to have a far reaching impact within the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

2014 Census: Youth Under Age 18


48,800 - City of Pittsburgh


246, 250 - Allegheny County


The topography of southwestern Pennsylvania is unique with respect to how urban hubs of innovation border rural, even remote communities. The time is right to make serious attempts to establish solid connections with Beaver, Butler, Armstrong, Westmoreland, Fayette, and my own native Washington County. These counties surrounding the City of Pittsburgh vary greatly with respect to a diverse make-up of urban, suburban, and rural schools.

I am proud to work with the committed leaders at Holy Family Academy. Our vision is to connect the youth of the Pittsburgh metro area with expansive real world opportunities. The goal is to provide students with deeper learning experiences beyond the four walls of the classroom. In this manner, we will remake learning by expanding on real world partnerships and future ready opportunities for the young people of this region to become informed and inspired by the pathways and playlists on their journey to success in school, careers, and life.

Holy Family Academy - An Established Network Provides a Pathway for Discovery

This would enable HFA to broaden the reach of an existing networked learning ecosystem of +50 partners in industry, higher education, and corporate sectors. 

We have constructed multiple playlists consisting of local and digital experiences that will make learning authentic, relevant, and personal.

As we move forward, it is my goal to work closely with our leaders in the Career Hub and fully implement this digital badging program in a way that can benefit our students and the community at large.

Futures Thinking + Design Fiction = Integrated Design Lab

What might the future look like? How might we harness the power of creativity to develop innovative solutions to problems that do not yet exist???

Welcome to the world of futures thinking.

Intermediate Integrated Design Lab (11th, ½ credit)

Only at @HFApgh... 

But I can see how you would think a class like this would be offered at CMU.

I am excited to pitch our 2016-17 course catalog to the students at HFA. In addition to Cultural Literacy and Introduction to Game Design, I am looking forward to teaching Integrated Design. I have been contemplating possible routes for taking our students' work in human-centered design to the next level... And pondering future problems and a world of possibilities looks like the perfect "sandbox" for our juniors to envision their roles as 21st century citizens and collaborators.

A Brief Course Overview: Futures Thinking & Design Fiction

In this course, students will envision the world as it might appear in the future. Together, students will collaborate upon defining the issues facing our society. They will then use design fiction to develop solutions to these problems. Considering the roles of urban planning and human centered design, students will utilize digital media to showcase and share their vision.


An emphasis will be placed upon understanding the current measures that businesses, governments, and philanthropic organizations are taking to improve the quality of life for individuals in our world today. 

Moonshot thinking is strongly encouraged for our students to develop the solutions for the world of tomorrow.



A Key Concept: To freely & frequently engage in moonshot thinking.

As long as your solution doesn't involve magic, it can be the creative spark to stoke the fires of curiosity and wonder

Video credit: Moonshot Thinking | Google

A Vision for Stakeholders in Our Future: Using Technology to Tell Our Story

This is a project-based learning, media production class focused on human centered design, design fiction, social justice, and futures thinking. 

We will rely upon technology to bring about our visions for the future:


Animoto, iMovie & Movie Maker: To create futuristic trailers, commercials, and public service announcements to present a vision of the future


YouTube: To upload digital media to the web and video-blog ideas for prototypes and reflections


Google Drawings: To create concept posters, infographics, and visuals to imagine future scenarios


Blogger: To collaboratively author and share posts presenting research, videos, and project updates

Google Hangouts On Air: To record and archive team meetings and empathy interviews with experts & community stakeholders

Google Forms: To survey individuals and collect data to use in creating design fiction and digital media

Google Maps: To map places where we will innovate and focus on futures thinking and design fiction

Google Slides: To construct a vision deck to present a glimpse of the future and solutions for tomorrow



A Key Concept: To use fiction, improv & role-play as a means of creating the suspension of disbelief.

Imagine a (near) future where anything can happen

Video credit: Productivity Future Vision | Microsoft

The Big Picture: A Showcase of Pitches & Prototypes

We will use our Gallop Strengths Assessment results as well as personality inventories to assemble into "idea teams" that will work cooperatively throughout the course of the semester. Idea teams will meet benchmark dates for submitting proposals, pitches, and prototypes. 

The culmination of the class will be a showcase of student learning. The students will present their vision for the future to our school as well as to an authentic audience of stakeholders from the community. 

Now, the specifics for this will vary, but the idea is that we will utilize a network of local partners and others within out expanded networked learning ecosystem. These experts will serve as consultants at different phases of the planning portion of the project, as well as offer guidance as mentors in their areas of expertise. 

Again, it is all dependent on the subjects that the students wish to explore and the mentors connecting with our students.

A PBL Rubric for Design Thinking and Process Evaluation:

Our Head of School / Chief Learning Officer shared this dynamite rubric that I've based the skeleton outline of this course upon. It comes from the Urban Assembly Maker Academy <www.uamakernyc>

Urban Assembly Maker Academy Design Thinking Rubric | Bauer, Hackett, Goldberg

1) Discover

2) Define

3) Design

4) Develop

5) Deliver

This is another portion of the course that is still in the "idea phase"... Hence the legal pad snapshot :^)

A Plausible Scenario: Making The Vision a Reality - Step by Step from Inception to Completion

1) Idea teams formulate a problem facing the City of Pittsburgh within the next 25 years.

2) Students begin an email correspondence with officials in Mayor Peduto's office and arrange a Google Hangout "focus-group panel" todiscuss issues

3) Students plan, make, and iterate based upon the initial discussion and subsequent research; they keep track of ideas via blog posts featuring written reflections, snapshots of prototypes, videos, etc.

4) Experts from the mayor's office (and new stakeholders/experts wanting to invest in our students' work) comment on the blogs, offering insights, guidance, and general mentorship

5) Students iterate and improve upon their vision, using design fiction and futures thinking to "flesh-out" problems and develop solutions

6) Idea teams construct video prototypes via Legos and/or other resources to make a low resolution prototype articulating this vision

7) All collaborators compile their work to assemble a vision deck to present at the showcase

8) We take the show on the road... first practicing and presenting in school, then making our way to the City County Building on Grant Street

Inspiration for Intermediate Integrated Design Lab

Thomas Steele-Maley 

- GEMS World Academy, Chicago, IL

Speculative Futures in Education: Using Design Fiction to Suspend Disbelief in Change

Backstory: Holy Family's Head of School / Chief Learning Officer Dr. Lisa Abel-Palmieri introduced me to Thomas Steele-Maley at the Active Learning Summit in July, 2015. Both are leaders in educational innovation. Like a moth to a flame, I am drawn to passionate leaders with a bold vision.

So, when I found myself in Chicago the following week, I was honored that Thomas took time out of his busy schedule to show me the view from the 10th floor of GEMS World Academy Campus, just bordering Millennial Park. The school has the look and feel of Google or IDEO's offices, like something out of Stanford's d-school. I was intrigued...

The week after that, I had a very similar experience back in Pittsburgh. Though Holy Family's Campus and program may not be in the heart of the Chicago financial district, it has heart and soul that makes it unique in every possible way.

I was not so much intrigued as inspired. This is a start-up high school of ninety students in two grades. The Pittsburgh equivalent of High Tech High, HFA is helping teens to build a new vision of themselves... I had the chance to be a part of something spectacular, to get in on the proverbial ground floor.

Lisa's vision to make Holy Family Academy an innovative independent Catholic High School serving families of limited economic means is a mission I subscribe to. Once upon I was a Theology student and President of the Students for Social Justice at St. Vincent College. This school was not just an opportunity for me to transform my practice in my eighth year of teaching... It represented an invitation to rediscover my vocation.

Now, I had a decision to make--would I leave my position of nearly 8 years as a teacher in a rural-suburban public high school (which happened to be in the town where I grew up) to become a part of Lisa's team at this new educational start-up school?

Needless to say--I saw a near future that could only become a reality if I took this chance. So I dove in, head first... I'm still swimming, navigating new and challenging waters of remaking learning. 

Looking back, as this school year draws to a close, it was the only choice that I could make.  I believe in the bold vision that is Holy Family Academy--our mindsets and the ability, as a teacher and coordinator of field based learning, to transform my own practice for a group of students who stand to benefit the most from an innovative and empathetic approach to maker-centered ed.  

This is the shorthand version of how I became a teacher and Coordinator of Educational & Cultural Affairs at Holy Family Academy. It began with a bold vision. Lisa and Thomas are the living embodiment of design thinker leaders, and I am immensely grateful for the both of them.

Intermediate Integrated Design Lab as a class is inspired by Thomas' presentation on "Design Fiction" and an "Aha-Moment" of clarity that I had (in the shower) thinking about taking action on this notion. And so, have been combing and cultivating resources for months. It's my educational head-nod to innovative design.

It is also a great reason to justify my income tax write-off of my subscription to Fast Company... Check out the haiku that I submitted on creativity - a concept we can all relate to!

Conclusion: Anab Jain's Thoughts on the Future & Unintended Consequences - The Need to Develop Context

How Will We Live? | Next Conference

The Above video from the Next Conference is a talk by Superflux's Director, Anab Jain. She is a rockstar, my friends. 

Jain’s video “How Will We Live?” is a bold vision in near futures thinking featuring an elderly man fed-up w/the smart fork & cane that his well-meaning children gave him to eat better & exercise. He gamed the sensors & ended up worse off than before. It is a paradigm for the way that unintended consequences can spiral out of control, especially when we merely focus on the "optics" of a situation--like big data taken out of its proper context. It can get very messy, very quick...

Every story needs to be framed within its proper context. Most importantly, to borrow a page from Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hirdle, we must not neglect the "human analytics" of things as we begin to dream of innovating for the world of tomorrow.

More thoughts on this topic after we pitch the courses to students in mid-May.

-j

--As Detective Columbo would say, "Just one more thing..."

How might you inspire students to build, make, and create a world in which they are the new generation of innovators, social entrepreneurs, leaders, dreamers, and doers???

JFK's Moon Speech | Festival of Curiosity | Courtesy of JFK Homecoming

Video Pick: Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset - An RSA Animated Talk

Developing a growth mindset entails developing a predisposition to learn constantly and continuously. Carol Dweck's extensive research in this field leads the way in our investigation of what it means to develop a growth mindset.

In this animated talk, Dweck investigates the effects of praising intelligence vs. process.

A few items to take-away:

1) Praising intelligence leads children to develop a fixed mindset...

Thus, a student grows to believe that s/he is "smart" or "dumb" when it comes to a certain academic subject or skill that s/he is in the process of developing.

2) Astonishingly, praising intelligence turns kids off to learning...

Furthermore, these children often reject the chance to learn in favor of the chance to do well at something much less challenging.

3) Those praised for the process overwhelmingly want to take-on hard tasks...

Undaunted by momentary setbacks, these students work-through challenges, remain confident, and often enjoy tackling problems

This video features Harry Potter All Stars... not too shabby!
-j

Tech Tips: Advanced Search Techniques Help Students to Get the Most from Googling

Advanced search techniques are yet another #AwesomePossum way that Google helps teachers and students find and curate content.

A few years back, we used Google Image look-up to track down the artist behind the Possum with Ukulele. The artist gave us permission to use the design for our high school's anti-bullying assembly, and the little guy has been either ever since. I'm a big fan of AwesomePossums.

A few ways that advanced search techniques can be used include placing restrictions on an active search. These restrictions can be a variety of factors used to distill the best results for whatever the circumstance dictates.

-Date

-File type

-Region

-Creative Commons and other copyright licenses

Here are some helpful links to get started 

Advanced search for websites & images:

http://www.google.com/advanced_search

Tips on filtering search results:

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/142143?hl=en&ref_topic=3081620

Finding "free-to-use" images:

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/29508?hl=en&ref_topic=3081620

Next week, I will update this post with a YouTube tutorial using some of the advanced search techniques listed above.

-

I'm looking forward to teaching our students how to use the filters to curate images for their 1950s American Life YouTube video project. Cultural Literacy students will begin making annotated YouTube videos about the different themes that we have explored:

-The Cold War & The Red Scare

-American Consumerism & Women in the 1950s

-The American Dream Deferred: Segregation & The Start of the Civil Rights Movement

-j

Find Your Tribe: Celebrating Digital Learning Day - #DLDay

To mark #DLDay 2016 I'm sharing "super" Twitter chats. Far from a definitive list--Think of this as a PLN on-demand: no superhero costume necessary.

Spider-Man, Sprout, & Lanas... Now there's a formidable crew! Holy dangling modifier, Batman! We rapidly prototype our way to justice and stop to SketchNote the bad guys for the real crime fighters.

A Definitive List of Twitter Education Chats & Days/Times:

https://sites.google.com/site/twittereducationchats/education-chat-calendar

Some of my favorites:

#bfc530 - A Daily Dose of PD & Inspiration

#dtk12chat - Design Thinking in Education

#2pencilchat - Innovative Ideas, Analog Tools = Celebration of Creativity

#tlap - Teach Like A Pirate 

#totallyrossome - Off the Wall Communal Celebration of Learning

#sschat - Social Studies Chat

*#sstlap - Social Studies Teach Like a Pirate... I just learned about this today via reading last night's archived #totallyrossome

#libchat - Librarians & Information Science for the Digital Age

#edtechbridge - Bringing Ed Tech Developers & Teachers Together

#badgechatk12 - Digital Badges in Education

#sunchat - Sunday AM PD

#ditchbook - Toss Out Your Expensive Textbook & Opt For Digital Media & Tools 

#aplangchat - AP English Language & Composition

#aussieed - Aussie Ed Chat

Some of these chats occur way too late (or early, mates!) for a high school teacher sleeping/waking on Eastern Standard Time...

But that's the beauty of Twitter: Conversations are archived using the hashtag. So, I'm more likely to participate in #bfc530 or #2pencilchat... But I find myself reading the highlights from the previous night's #tlap or #drk12chat the very next day.

The key is to find your tribe!

Because It Is The Right Thing To Do, Right Now: #CSforAllStudents & #PDforAll Educators

The White House's #CSforAll initiative is a forward-thinking call to action. It extends across the aisle and can easily be championed by all political parties.

I'm especially fortified in making this claim, seeing the recent push to democratize the STEM field and to tear down the bro-culture of silicone valley's coding world. Whether it's featuring Lego kits with female scientists or Hollywood making a commitment to showcase STEM roles for actors and actresses from underrepresented minority groups, we are moving in the right direction. Couple this with grassroots efforts by groups like Black Girls Code and we have the inspiration for the next generation of problem solvers.

A snapshot with the ladies during Hour of Code. They made unbeatable versions of Flappybird & Star Wars games.

HFA students participated in Hour of Code in December. Witnessing exponential growth in only its third year, this global movement highlights access to CS initiatives. Schools need not have a mega lab to join in--just a willingness to try to code. Our students made games and even crafted binary code bracelets--mine being green and yellow, go SVC Bearcats!

Checking Out Game Design

Today I joined the sophomore Game Design students in Dr. Brandaõ's class. The students began the year modifying games, or creating mods. Already halfway through the course, their growth is impressive. I checked out the video games that they designed for the arcade-a-thon. Similar to the Mario of my youth, the game design students used Floors to create six level games that can be designed and played via the Floors app. There is even an option to design it on-paper, then snap a pic and upload your creation. Pretty groovy if you ask me!

CS for All Students - PD for All Teachers

Computational Thinking for Educators

(I sketched this note upon completing my Google class... As a child after a hard-fought victory on the softball diamond, I hopped on my bicycle and grabbed a celebratory ice cream cone.)

I'm serious about this initiative--as I believe that the White House and other vested stakeholders are. If we want it to happen, for real, we need to get more teachers on board. The best way to do this is to open up quality, free PD. 

For example, I took a free Google class over the summer--Computational Thinking for Educators. It was awesome: at its completion, I felt proud, knowledgeable, and empowered. I even designed my own CS project that can be used to track the frequency of word use across decades. This will be incredibly useful as we begin to study the rhetoric of the Civil Rights era.

Teachers will buy-in when they see the opportunities presented before them--the world that our students are entering is vastly different than the one that we stepped into upon graduating from high school. We need to equip our teens to meet these diverse challenges.

Looking Toward the Future

I'm proud to work at a school that prioritizes professional development. I'm optimistic that there are districts that feel the same way. Perhaps, while the house and congress wrangle over the dollars and cents behind making this CS for All initiative a reality, companies like Google, Microsoft, Intel, and others will continue to offer high quality PD. 

More than that--lets advocate that they open these PD sessions to educators and other stakeholders with a vested interest in our children's futures. That these corporations see that this is critical is a no-brainrd... But will they finance the PD for the teachers shaping and molding the next generation of innovators, that remains to be seen.

Final thoughts: as I listened-in on the #CSforAll teleconference earlier this week, I was delighted to hear the questions about adaptive technologies for the visually impaired and others living with disabilities. We need to be mindful that the progress that we make in STEM fields acknowledges the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities.  As our nation marked 25 years since the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we need to make strides to incorporate better design and accommodations for the disabled. Furthermore, we must ensure that individuals with disabilities make up the diverse workforce of highly sought-after careers in STEM fields.  

Equity and access is key.

#CSforALL students

#PDforALL teachers

Catholic School Remixed: An Innovative Approach That's Making A Difference

This is my first year teaching at a parochial school. The differences between teaching in a public school vs an Independent Catholic school are numerous--but at the end of the day, it still comes down to solid pedagogy and compassionate teachers doing whatever it takes to place their students' learning at the head of the class... I just have a feeling that it will be a lot easier to score a tuna fish sandwich on Fridays this year.

First Impressions:

Catholic Schools Week kicked off with a fascinating discussion on the Catholic educational tradition in the US. Father Tom captivated our students' attention when he chronicled the settlement and history of California with the missions spanning the state's majestic coast. He continued to tell tales of settlements among French speaking peoples in the parishes of Louisiana and the founding of the first diocese in Baltimore.

Our students were genuinely intrigued when he spoke of the Sisters of Providence and their order consisting entirely of African American women--the pivotal link to a broader theme: Catholic Schools are not just for Catholic students... But rather are for all students.

This is the point where Father Tom broke from his "spoken from the heart" portion of his homily and hit us with data... The type of numbers that made everyone sit up and listen.

Parochial Schools: Improved Outcomes For Urban Youth

In his article published in September, 2015, Andy Smarick cites, "Catholic schools have an unusual ability to help underserved kids succeed. Newer research suggests that longstanding urban Catholic schools foster social capital outside their walls, helping decrease crime and other societal ills."

Smarick details a host of innovations that parochial schools leverage in order to help "an overwhelmingly low income, minority student body, underscor[ing] the Catholic Church's centuries-long commitment to the disadvantaged." One program that he cites is the establishment of Christo Rey schools that have students enlisting in the workforce one day per week.

Our school, Holy Family Academy is built upon a similar model--all of our high school students are employed by corporate partners across the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. This innovative corporate work study internship program provides our young people with many opportunities for growth. Our students develop valuable skills at the workplace, gain the additional support of having supervisors and adult mentors, and in most instances the CWSP pays almost the entirety of our school tuition. 

Our students reap the benefits of a world class private school education and have experiences few, if any teen could boast... And this is for families of any means.

To accomplish this bold mission, we are working toward expanding our flipped learning opportunities, so that our students may have learning opportunities that are portable, on-demand. Additionally, we work very hard to establish the connection between school and careers. 

Our school is only two years old...It's a start-up for all intents and purposes. But it is one that we are all betting on.

When breaking the news that I was leaving my position at another school to take a role at HFA, I joked with my friends citing that this was like getting a call from Sergey Brinn and Larry Page: 

"Hi, Lanas--stop by the garage and check out this cool thing we're working on... We think you would like it. We're gonna call it Google."

That was almost six months ago. It's good to know that very little has changed in that span of time. Sure... The learning curve for me has been steep--and now that I'm back to blogging that would make an excellent post... But I step into the parking lot at the end of the day with a renewed sense of urgency in my vocation as a teacher and mentor.

A lot of that was put into words today... Funny that they weren't mine. Those syllables belonged entirely to Father Tom, whom I dedicate this post, my first ever on Catholic Schools Week. Cheers!

Check out Andy Smarick's piece "Catholic Schools Are Back" (Yes, it gets a little political at the end... "the next administration, etc." I will not inject politics into this blog... this just happens to be a really sound article from a publication with political leanings... Next time, I'll throw-in an article from Huff-Post to balance out the National Review.)

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424409/catholic-schools-are-back

Forthcoming update to the post: running the numbers on Catholic Schools vs Public Schools, via the US Dept of Education

- graduation rates 

Catholic > Public

- median salaries for graduates

Catholic > Public

-socioeconomic data on Vatholic vs Public

Creative Synergy: Good Partners In Crime & Adventures in Curriculum Hacking

Freshly picked ideas are worth climbing to the highest branches. Luckily, we need not always scurry up a tree, but rather we can find inspiration in much closer confines. Today's post is about the brainstorming and spitballing that makes classroom magic happen.

Cultural Literacy at Holy Family Academy

As part of a dynamic duo teaching Sophomore Cultural Literacy at HFA, I work closely with my partner in crime and co-conspirator, Ro Vigilante @vigilantewords. Together, we integrate American literature into the cultural context of 20th century American history and culture. 

This means that the students are truly developing a sense of the world in which they immerse themselves. In a way, we develop a taste for what it was like to live within the world that once was--to test its boundaries and limitations... To tackle it's challenges and embrace it's opportunities. 

For example, our exploration of the 1930s demonstrates a good mix of complimentary content, skills, and dispositions needed for students to connect with the world of the past, and engage the present moment via 21st century skills and design thinking.

Ro selected a bold play, Clifford Odettes Waiting for Lefty. Together we conducted a table read of the play--I thought this was neat on so many levels: Ro has an extensive background in theatre, so the students experienced Ms. Vigilante not just in her teacher costume, but as a real person, passionate about drama and the arts.

On the heels of this discussion, focusing on the nascent labor movement, a push to unionize, and the plight of young people facing a bleak and uncertain future, we transitioned to the Works Progress Administration and the Alphabet Soup programs designed to get us out of the Great Depression. 

Instead of focusing on content alone as in a traditional history class, we looked closely at the principles of human centered design and embarked upon a collective journey--project based learning and role play. Our students explored the way both the Depression and WPA affected the lives of real Americans. 

Want to learn more? Check out my blog post on using the principles of design thinking to develop Depression Era persona profiles. There's a groovy YouTube video of student perspectives on the making of the persona profiles, too.

The tech skills that we acquired using GAFE and our knowledge of the Depression helped students to build persona profiles. This also helped us to focus our attention on the disposition critical to being a good amateur historian: empathy. 

After students shared their work and posted their persona profiles to our learning management system, they recorded reflections discussing the critical need for empathy when embarking upon a venture such as this. Our students really developed context spanning the bounds of time, geography, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Where else could all of this be possible but in Cultural Literacy, an integrated classroom.

Inspiration comes in many forms... It helps to have a good partner and to work at an innovative school that empowers teachers to have the creative confidence to "go for it" and take their moonshot ideas from the drawing board to the classroom. Needless to say, I have rediscovered my teaching vocation at HFA this year.

At my former school and alma mater, Trinity High School, I worked closely with a cohort of teachers whom happened to be my lunch buddies, too. In a public school, there are fewer opportunities to modify the curriculum, unless you get the chance to write curriculum. 

I took advantage of this offer when designing the curriculum for AP Lang & Comp a few years back. Last year I shifted gears again, when I jumped at the chance to incorporate 21st century tech and active learning strategies in the 9th Grade Academy. This lead to a bit of curriculum hacking and creative use of resources to build a low resolution Makerspace in my classroom. 

First, it should be noted that freshmen are in a precarious state of knowing all of the answers and being terrified that they will be exposed for not having all of the answers... They are miniature versions of the juniors and seniors that I taught for years, only more malleable. I jest... But with lots of elements of the truth.

In the 9th grade academy, there were no opportunities to rewrite curriculum, but as previously reported, plenty of chances to "hack-curriculum " existed. For instance, Vonnegut's Harrison Burgeron was teamed up with NPR stories about an autistic classroom and their iPad band... The classic short story The Most Dangeroous Game was coupled with a podcast on street violence and a gang of teenagers on Long Island profiling and hunting Latino youth.

My students, predominantly Middle-class teens living in a rural suburb of Pittsburgh, were transfixed. Their ability to make relevant connections to both fiction and the new media that I presented them with skyrocketed. From here, we began to supplement the existing curriculum with digital media that highlighted the relevance of the text. It was 9th grade English remixed and reimagined... 

The addition of digital media and relevant, real world content transformed a short story unit into a decisive turning point in our classroom--to work within the confines of curriculum and Common Core Standards familiar to all public school teachers, but find ways to remake learning for our students.

Again, it goes back to having good partners--people that you can trust with your both your heart and your thoughts: because for teachers, we live a thousand lives within our classrooms, and the spillover into our personal world has few boundaries. 

Case in point: I keep tablets and post its around the house (and in my car's cup holder) to jot down ideas for school--I happen to be blogging at the stove on a Friday night, seasoning a pot of chili...but duty calls! 

Yes, and... It comes down to this: To be a teacher is to be fully alive in your vocation. For you and your students are on a path of learning and discovery; it was written in the eternal dream of God. Your mission is to author that story for future generations. A future of wonder and possibility.

Thanks for looking back with me... 

There are so many of my former colleagues that I wish to thank--and maybe that will be a post down the line. But I really want to tip my cap to special Ed teacher and my partner for over 4 years Jen Rakoczy, my best friend across the hall and Empress of Empathy Diana Denman, my Chewba writing creative consultant Swarrow, my Pirate game companion and the golden voice of Trinity Athletics Matt White, my difference-maker/ keeper of perspective and Frida Khalo fan club president Marna Day, my trifecta of oracles of insights at the far end of the school Erin Helmkamp, Nicole Welch, and Gretchen Mountain, my history pals who always encouraged me to brainstorm about World Affairs Council and to bridge the gaps and help students make the connections between our two fields--Mary Ellen Jutca , Joe Dunn, Lou Majoris--and my carpool partner and rogue educator in constant search of ways to improve educational practice and get kids to actually speak another language "German Josh" Baringer, aka Herr Bear.

These folks, as well as a huge cast of characters from all over the district, helped me to brainstorm some of the most interesting and creative projects for our students. I loved my time at Trinity and I grew so much as a watched eight classes of students graduate... I am forever grateful.

So, find your tribe--in your department, in your school, in your world. Next week, I'll write about online PLNs via Twitter.

Design Thinking: Using Persona Profiles to Gain Empathy & Understanding

Persona Profiles are instrumental to gaining empathy & understanding: Luma & Stanford's d-school offer exceptional resources to help teachers begin to use the principles of design thinking in the classroom.

After sharing a few classroom artifacts via Twitter, I was asked to post a few of my lessons in which I used these principles of design thinking in our Cultural Literacy classroom. One of my favorite examples of using design thinking strategies from this first semester of teaching at Holy Family Academy is the 1930s Great Depression Persona Profile project. 

Our Cultural Literacy students studied aspects of American society in the 1930s. This included learning about the "Alphabet Soup of the Works Progress Administration" and reading Clifford Odettes' groundbreaking play, Waiting for Lefty. 

Props to my partner in crime and co-conspirator, Ms. Ro Vigilante for bringing Lefty into our world--tremendously insightful view of life in the 1930s and labor demonstrations integral for ensuring the rights of workers everywhere.

Stakeholder Map - This is the "low-resolution" starting point for our project. We began by thinking of different types of people who would be affected by the economic hardships of The Great Depression. It became evident that the damage inflicted upon American citizens crossed boundaries of class, gender, race, and ethnicity. Everyone was caught-up in the wake of this economic crisis that swept the nation and broader global community.

Demo - WPA Employee: Zora Neale Hurston, Federal Writer's Project

(I taught Zora's "How It Feels To Be Colored Me" for six years as an AP Lang & Comp teacher... I just had to honor her spirit! What an inspiration.)

Demo - Average American Woman

Students really needed to consider factors such as class, gender, race, ethnicity, geography and other social circumstances as they pertained to 1930s American life. Talk about digging into serious social implications of "who we are" and "where we are from".

Student Produced Persona Profiles - The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Domzy, Mason & Tyrell (The Mayor) created dynamic persona profiles to examine the WPA's affect upon a community in Texas. To achieve their objective, they needed to know information about the mission of the CCC and they had to create a stakeholder map identifying the individuals whom would be affected by this WPA program.

We created an Animoto video as a trailer to inspire other classrooms to try using the principles of human centered design and design thinking in education. Warning: the jazz flute in this video is powerful.

I want to thank #dtk12chat, #BFC530 & #remakelearning for connecting me to a global network of educator-innovators. We are passionate about reforming education: to educate this generation of students for the innovation age. It begins with stoking the fires of learning. 

Our Persona Profiles sparked student curiosity about what it meant to live in the 1930s... How life was radically different for individuals based upon their class, gender, race, ethnicity and other social demographics. It was a tremendous opportunity for growth.

Digital media resources, such as the Depression-Era cartoon "Confidence: Starring FDR & Oswald the Lucky Rabbit", helped my students to connect with a topic as big as the Great Depression. Additionally, this video sparked an intriguing discussion on how cartoons are a perfect medium to convey complex ideas for a wide audience. Children and adults of any age can get something out of the subtle and overt messages within this cartoon from 1933. It is an exemplar text for primary source analysis.

The template for the lesson was designed using Google Apps for Education. This prototype is my first iteration of the project--so, it is nice starting point, but definitely a work in progress. Please pass along your adaptations and ideas for improvement. 

-Enjoy!

-1930s Depression Era Persona Profile Template

Power to the Tweeple - Democratization via Twitter

Is Twitter democratizing our schools in a way that outpaces the acceptable use policy? We are living in the Information Age--social media echoes the sentiments of Marshall McLuhan who proclaimed, "The medium is the message." As we strive to be stewards of educational innovation and improvement, shouldn't we embrace the power of social media in our ever-expanding learning ecosystem?

Think about it: When social media is used to promote the free exchange of ideas and showcase student creativity and innovation, that goes beyond "acceptable". It is downright exceptional!

Twitter Moment: Capturing "That Time Our Students Met Governor Wolf"

Twitter Moment: Introducing "The Child I Was" to the Students I Teach

Twitter Moment: Embodying "The Essence of Teamwork" and "Resilience in Defeat"

#PowerToTheTweeple

For those bold educator-innovators whom are in violation of their district's acceptable use/social media policy, I dedicate this post to you. As of this date, I am you... My district's official policy is opposed to teachers tweeting--but it sure is nice when colleagues, administrators, and students stop by my classroom because they saw the tweets showcasing the "cool and creative" things we do.

I am the high school representative on the Trinity Area School District Education Committee. To me, putting educators in the lead is one of my highest priorities as a committee member. We see the power of sharing and showcasing student creativity and achievements both in the classroom and our community. As a digital innovator, I want this to be as much a part of our culture and identity as reading, writing, and arithmetic. 

Teaching our students to be digitally responsible, 21st century citizens isn't an option: it's what the age of innovation demands. It is my honor and duty as a teacher to lead the way.

Let's make a push to democratize our schools and allow educators to responsibly post classroom artifacts, best practices, and student achievements... Without the fear of violating the same district policies that strictly forbid students from wearing "jams and Zubaz pants". 

The '90s called... They want their acceptable use policy back.

*Note: 

As a sophomore, I was assigned detention for going on the Internet without a signed and approved permission form. It was a beautiful spring afternoon in 1999, and I was locked in the after school detention dungeon with class skippers and bathroom stall smokers.

The website I accessed was a 10th Grade Chemistry Review Guide that I created using Tripod: I was so proud of myself--and so busted by our school's librarian!

My parents did not challenge the penalty, citing that it was a ridiculously silly policy, yet I knew what might happen if I went online. It was my folly for trying to learn independently between the hours of 7-3.

I am still amazed that I found my vocation as a teacher... The beauty and irony of it all. Life is a gift, and a sense of humor is a blessing!