Eclectic Technology

Technology has many benefits, but it can also cause harm. Edudemic shares updated information on some of the harmful effects technology may bring, as well as five ways you may address the harmful impacts. Two of the harmful effects are below.

1. Technology changes the way children think. Research shows that "the use of technology can alter the actual wiring of the brain." There may be benefits to this, but there are some known issues that are discussed in the post.

2. Technology changes the way children feel. A study of two groups of 6th graders showed that those who "no access to technology for five days" were more empathetic than those who were using it. Studies also show that children who use technology  more than 4 hours a day may experiences difficulties in "social skills and emotional reactions."

In addition to two additional negative impacts the five suggestions include:

* Teach responsible usage.

* Use classroom technology intentionally.

These are issues that are impacted by how students use technology outside of school. You may want to include some of this information in a parent newsletter.

We often hear of growth mindset and fixed mindset. Is there also a creative mindset? Jackie Gerstein suggests that there is a creative mindset in this post. Why? If a mindset is defined as "ideas and attitudes with which a person approaches a situation"  there is a list of "ideas and attitudes" that may be part of a creative mindset. The visual above provides Gerstein's list of some items she considers important for a creative mindset. The list is also below.

* Believes in one's own creativity

* Embraces curiosity

* Suspends judgement - silences the inner critic

* Tolerates ambiguity

* Persists even when confronted with skepticism and rejection

* Taps into childlike imagination; a child's sense of wonder

Each of these is described in more detail and links to additional resources are provided. There is also a short discussion conditions necessary to facilitate creative mindset in a classroom.

Jackie Gerstein has written quite a number of posts that look at The Other 21st Century Skills and Attributes. This post provides an infographic that includes two or three questions that you should ask yourself to see if you are 'facilitating these skills and attributes in the learning environment.

Gerstein also includes links to previous posts where she discusses the specific skills and attributes in more detail.

This post shares three techniques you may want to incorporate into your classroom. Each has a short description as well as a section on why it is effective and how to implement the technique.

* Incorporate frequent brain breaks

* Make time for social and emotional learning

* Teach smaller chunks

As new research is published on the brain the impact it may have on the classroom is significant. If we know that providing short brain breaks (and movement breaks) may allow students to come back refreshed and ready to learn then we need to consider how we can provide these opportunities.

How can you, as an educator, help students develop a growth mindset? This infographic from Jackie Gerstein provides provides a  look at:

* "the common beliefs of an educator who promotes a growth mindset"

* "common beliefs of an educator who promotes a growth mindset"

She also discusses the need for a teacher to become a coach when we look at mindset, providing a link for additional information that you may find helpful, as well as links to some of here previous writings on mindset.

Do you discuss growth mindset with your students? Do you also discuss what a fixed mindset is? In this post Jackie Gerstein provides her insights into these areas, and also talks about the grwoth of what she defines as a "toxic mindset" where a students might think:

• Mediocre is often good enough for me as long as I get the work done.

We are fortunate that she has also provided a "Personal Accountability and Reflection" series of questions, which is shown in the infographic above, and also listed in the post. Below are two of the questions.

• Did I work as hard as I could have?

• Did I regulate my procrastination, distractions, and temptations in order to complete my work?

These are great questions to use with your students. How do you think  your students would answer them? Would they acknowledge how they are working accurately?

Although our jobs as educators is to teach our students we must also be aware of their other needs. In this post Jackie Gerstein explores how Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs intersects with education and technology. The infographic above (from the post) shows how each of the area of needs intersects with technology and some of the 21st century learning skills.

The post looks at each area Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and provides additional information in the six areas that may be addressed through technology. (Physiological needs, the base of the needs, is not addressed via technology.)

This great visual shares Jackie Gerstein's look at the 21st century skills suggested by Tony Wagner. Along with the four listed above, effective communication, critical thinking and problem solving, curiosity and imagination, and agility and adaptability learn a bit more about:

* Collaboration across Networks

* Initiative and Entrepreneurship

* Grit and Perseverance

* Resilience

* Hope and Optimism

* Vision for the Future

* Empathy and Global Stewardship

* Self Regulation

Gerstein has written more on each of these areas and links to her work are also available on this post.

We live in age with many distractions. What happens to students when they are constantly being interrupted by one digital device or another? What impact might this have on their ability to cultivate "skills of attention...if students don’t learn how to concentrate and shut out distractions, research shows they’ll have a much harder time succeeding in almost every area."

What should we do to help students learn to focus? Should learning to focus become a part of the curriculum? Learn more about this topic by clicking through to the post.

Jackie Gerstein continues to share her thoughts on the other 21st century skills students need discussing empathy and global stewardship. After sharing her reason for combining empathy and global stewardship Gerstein somes of the characteristics or dispositions related to empathy (see image above).

You will also find a video from National Geographic, Perspectives = Empathy; a video from RSA, The Six Habits of Highly Empathic People; a list developed by the state of Washington ( specifically "a think tank for education for sustainable communities") that provides " characteristics that define folks who are equipped for sustainable futures"; a look at a connection beweeen empathy and design thinking, a look at a connection between empathy and grit as 21st century skills, and many resources for educators.

Gerstein has provided a post that will make you think about empathy and global stewardship as well as resources that may help you work with these concepts in your classroom this year.

Are you interested in learning more about how grit is a 21st century skill? Jackie Gerstein provides an in-depth look at grit in this post. You will find an image with a great definition, a TED Talk by Angela Duckworth on grit, as well as a link to a quiz that allows you to measure your grit level compared to others, and a list of some of the "characteristics or dispositions of Grit."

Perhaps you are asking yourself how can I work grit into my classroom? 

For example, project based learing, or having students work on independent study projects (think passion-driven) provide opportunities for students to use some of the dispositions discussed, such as tenacity, self-control, self-discipling and long-term goal oriented. 

As always, there is a robust list of additional resources.

Once again Jackie Gerstein has written a post about a topical issue that has great depth in both vision and resources. 

Some of the quotes from research include:

"Engaging in various forms of social media is a routine activity that research has shown to benefit children and adolescents by enhancing communication, social connection, and even technical skills."

"Social media sites allow teens to accomplish online many of the tasks that are important to them offline: staying connected with friends and family, making new friends, sharing pictures, and exchanging ideas. Social media participation also can offer adolescents deeper benefits that extend into their view of self, community, and the world,"

Along with the bibliography she also provides links to other posts she has written on this issue (and links to some posts by others) as well as links to a new website she has created that has activities that use technology to enhance social-emotional skills.

Jackie Gerstein shares her thoughts on what beliefs a growth mindset facilitator will have. From my experience we seem to have a growing number of learners whom may struggle with growth mindset. As an educator you may find some suggestions that you could incorporate into your classroom.

How different is the mind of a middle school learner? This infographic is divided into the following sections:

* Who are middle school students?

* How do they learn?

* How can you teach to reach them?

* How can we change that statistic?

There is also a white paper that you can receive a copy of (although you will need to provide your contact information). The white paper, Nurturing the Middle School Mathematical Mind, will provide additional information.

Should schools "teach kids about emotions and conflict negotiation in the same way they teach math and reading?" There are many who say yes to this question, and this piece from  NPR provides a look at why it should be considered.

There is a program called Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) that helps students recognize and express their emotions. Twiggy the Turtle is a key character, and with Twiggy students learn skills to use, skills that help them with social-emotional learning.

The program has been around since 1980. In 1991 Kenneth Dodge, a psychologist at Duke University, began a long-term study to see how programs that helped teach about social-emotional learning actually worked. His work was recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry and the data shows they are successful.

The joy of finding great resources on PBS is that you can choose to read the text or to listen to the program. To learn more about this work click through to the post.

Jackie Gerstein shares a number of posts she has written that discuss growth mindset as well as an interview with Carol Reiley, who is publishing a book, Making a Splash, which is designed for children to learn more about growth mindsets (as well as parents/teachers). Along with the great image (shown above) that compares growth mindset and fixed mindset there is an interview with Carol Reiley as well as two short video clips.

You can also check out her website, GoBrain, to learn more the book and to find a larger version of the visual and information on growth mindset.

Where does growth mindset and maker education meet? Jackie Gerstein had created a great visual (see above) that looks at areas where both of these concepts come together.

Would you agree that valuing effort is a part of growth mindset and maker education? How about failure being approached as interactive?

Learn more about these intersections on two resources listed in this post and click through for a larger version of the image above or for a typed copy of the list.

Teaching students to ask questions is not an easy task. This is the first in a series of two posts that will explore ways that teachers may ask questions to help their students "learn more from text and from the world around them." He is using the book Goldilocks and the Three Bears to model a number of strategies to use in the classroom

* Tell - Read the story or have them read the story. Ask questions that refer back to the text

* Suggest - Provide "children with choices about what might happen next or possible opinions they might have."

* Ask a closed question - "These questions generally elicit yes or no answers. They can bring students to different temporal areas or elaborations of details, but the extent of this is structured by the question."

* Ask an open ended question - questions that provide lots of options.

* The two-question rule - follow the first question with a second question allowing students to probe more deeply (and sometimes a third question).

Find examples of questions for each area listed above as well as the reasoning behind why the two-question rule is a good one to use.

Jackie Gerstein reviews the skills identified by Tony Wagner as well as six additional skills and attributes she believes learners need today.  She then looks at a recent Gallup Poll that looks at Americans expectations of schools today. Quoting from the post:

"While student success may depend on mastery of content in core subject areas such as math and reading, it also depends on more than knowledge of core content. Critical thinking, creativity, communication, and other soft skills, as well as student physical and social wellbeing, are also necessary for future success in higher education and in the workplace. Americans Say U.S. Schools Should Teach “Soft” Skills"

The post continues and explores how the other 21st century skills may be classified as social-emotional skills and how the growth of these skills may positively impact students in other areas. As always Gerstein has provided a post that pushes boundaries and provides a variety of resources.

Jackie Gerstein returns with a post on Hope and Optimism, another 21st century skill. Why hope and optimism? There are important skills/characteristics in this area:

* Positive View About the Future

* Can Do Attitude

* Personal Agency

* Engage in Positive Self Talk

* Belief in Ability to Solve Problems

* Belief in One’s Ability to Impact Positively on One’s Situation.

* Maintaining Perspective

* Sense of Efficacy

She then provides information and links to articles that have researched how hope and optimism impact students' lives in many areas, research based guidelines on how to build skills of hope in students, and more. This post provides much food for thought.

Early in this post Gerstein states:
"Often, though, in schools the following tends to occur surrounding executive functions:

     1. There is an assumption that students possess these skills and 

         abilities.

     2. Students are punished if they fail to practice and use the skills.

As teachers when we think of executive thinking we may think of learners on IEPs or 504s, yet the tools that work well with students on IEPs and 504s also provide great support to our "regular ed students."

So the question of how we can help our learners who struggle with expectations that they may not have learned, such as "be organized" or "stay in your seat" or "raise your hand to speak" may not be understood.

In most schools the teaching of executive functioning skills is not the priority. Yet we do support technology and today technology provides a wide variety of support that is not expensive. This post goes on to share a presentation made by Karen Janowski, a teacher whom works with students with disabilities and knows her "stuff." (You may also be interested in exploring her website UDL Tech Toolkit at http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/).

As always Gerstein has included additional resources which include a link to the Newton Public Schools Assistive Tech website (and at this site they have a presentation designed for parents on the same subject) as well as a detailed list of tools to assist learners with to do lists/task management, time management, productivity and note taking, organizing, and more. Read through the post and find some tools to suggest to parents and learners that may help the learner be more successful in school this year.

Jackie Gerstein continues to discuss "the other 21st skills" addressing resilience in this post. As you read this post think about your students. Do you provide them with opportunities to grow these skills/dispositions? 

Research in this field shows that teachers make a difference. Below are a few of the points from the post.

* All individuals have the power to transform and change

* Teachers and schools have the power to transform lives

* It’s how teachers do what they do that counts

* Teachers’ beliefs in innate capacity start the change process

As you read through this post think about your classroom, your students, and ask yourself if there are new ways you might help your students build their resiliency. As always additional information as well as links to resources are available by clicking through.