Sticky Ideas

Entry #8

Last night I was lurking around David Warlick's blog where I came across an interesting entry, Reading and Becoming.
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2007/07/22/student-panel-at-njelite-leadershp-conference-2/

His blog considers the question of what educators are reading today and why. He says: "What's got my head itching is the reading that we are doing - we, being educators." He continues "what are we reading now? Are they business books? Are they philosophy books? Are they lifestyle books?"

In the last few classes I have taken at SU, I have had more insights into how we need to teach based on my reading of business books. The Flat World and Wikinomics described the world around me that I didn't even know existed. They have informed me of the workplace skills my students desperately need and the consequences they will face if we fail to give them these skills.

I personally, believe educators are reading more literature outside of the field of education because the world is changing so quickly due to the technology we now have. The U.S. educational system is known for being one of the last to change with the times, we seem to always be behind the eight ball. We are struggling to connect with the Net Generation in our classrooms because we don't understand the life they live. They talk to each other in the hallways in a language we have never heard. We need to learn what they already know. Where are we going to find this information? How are we to understand how they are spending their time online and their motivations behind it? Books like Wikinomics help to explain this. And better than that, by reading these business books we learn what we need to teach our students to prepare them for the real-world. A real-world that most educators have never been a part of. I myself, went from my mom's house to college to my high school teaching career. What do I know of the real-world, other than a few waitressing jobs? The only way for me to learn is to read outside of my field.

What should we read? Why not start with what the experts in our field suggest. At the beginning of David Warlick's blog he sends his readers to Doug Johnson's blog in which Doug discusses the book Made to Stick; Why Some Ideas Survive and Other Die written by Chip and Dan Heath. http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2007/7/21/are-your-ideas-sticky.html.

This book is about how to sell our points of view, ideas, etc. to others so that they will remember what we told them and make decisions based on the ideas we give them. While this book was written by a business professor and a business consultant, it sounds exactly like the job of an educator, doesn't it?

Doug Johnson lists what the authors of this book state are some common characterists of 'sticky ideas.'

"Sticky ideas:
are simple
have elements of the unexpected
are concrete
come from a credible source
contain emotional appeal
use stories to make an impact."

While I was reading this list, nothing on it seemed new to me, but I felt this is a call for me to get back to basics. I need to remember to keep my focus simple and concrete. "Being simple means getting to the core of your message. Not burying the lead. (It's about improved learning, stupid. Not the operating system or the size of the print collection or the latest 2.0 application.)" Sometimes I get so wrapped up on a new set of manipulatives or software, I may miss the educational point. It is easy to do an activity or to play with the technology and forget the simple, concrete concept that was supposed to be taught. Technology is a tool to use to better communicate and problem solve, not just a new toy.

As teachers, we must first focus on what we need our students to learn from the unit. I guess I have been working with the Understanding by Design (UbD) method so long now that I have finally internalized that concept. The idea behind UbD is to first, decide what needs to be learned by the students, second, decide how to assess students' understanding, and lastly decide what teaching methods, activities and technology will help students achieve these learning goals. As educators in today's global economy, we need to remember to teach our students the skills they need to compete in today's world. Blogs can be motivating, wikis seem cool, games are fun, but the point is to learn how to communicate and collaborate with peers in order to problem solve not just to play with the technology. Keep the learning clear, simple, and concrete and then students are more likely to buy into them.

How does this relate to what educators are reading? We need to read what the experts in our field suggest. David Warlick and Doug Johnson both suggested the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die which tells me this is probably a good place to start. Afterall, we need to learn how to catch the attention of our audience (aka students) so that they will "listen to us, believe what we say and remember to act in ways we'd like them to act." (Doug Johnson) Additionally we need to read what CEO's of today's companies are reading to find out what skills are necessary of tomorrow's employees. For example, "The ability to use wikis will be a required job skill in five years." (Wikinomics by Don Tapscott, page 254) I had never heard of how power wikis can be in the business world before this book, now I know that I need to have my students use this tool to study mathematics while helping them get ready for the workplace.

Current Issue: how to connect with the Net Gen and prepare them for their future

Possible solution: read, read, read... read educational experts blogs, read what these experts read, read what the CEO's of industries are reading