Digital Citizenship Summit Heads to Twitter HQ in October

This week’s announcement about the Digital Citizenship Summit being held at Twitter Headquarters on 28 October is such an incredible opportunity for the entire digital citizenship global community that I wanted to write this post to thank all the people who have supported us from the very beginning. There have so many people behind the scenes, volunteers, speakers, and supporters from around the globe. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being part of this critical conversation and continuing to move it forward into your classrooms and communities.

Believing that nothing happens in a vacuum or by accident, I also wanted to write this post to thank all the people who have personally supported me from the very beginning of my digital citizenship journey. I am indebted to numerous people for casting light on my journey and am so grateful to my PLN for graciously sharing their time, talent and passion with my students over the years.

For me, the making of the Digital Citizenship Summit happened long before our inaugural event last October at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut. In fact, my journey started years ago before I even had my first email address or mobile device. As a middle school teacher, I was always student-centered and focused on meeting the developmental needs of young adolescents. My interest in amplifying student voice has always been my True North and reason behind any and all decisions I’ve made during my educational career.

Although Tyler Clementi was the student who changed my perspective and inspired me to change my practice, he was never a student in my classroom.

I did not know Tyler, but his suicide made me determined to focus on a solution. Tyler Clementi could be my son, your son. He was a brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend, neighbor, and most importantly, a human being. This perspective launched me into uncharted territory. I am the mother of a son. What if this was my son? What can I do to make sure this doesn’t happen again? How can I make a difference?

In many ways, Tyler Clementi was the impetus behind my First Year Seminar course, Pleased to Tweet You: Are You a Socially Responsible Digital Citizen? My definition of digital citizenship is a direct result of the iCitizen Project which asks students to think and act at a local, global and digital level simultaneously. By 2011, I was tired of digital citizenship being an add-on to the curriculum, as well as edtech and bullying conferences. I knew digital citizenship needed its own space and that’s why I created and designed 3 credit courses specifically around the nine elements of digital citizenship at both the undergraduate and graduate level. In February 2012, I also planned and hosted my first livestreamed event, the iCitizenship Town Hall Meeting for both a live and virtual audience and just like the Digital Citizenship Summit, none of this would have been possible without the support of countless people.

As I reflect on the people who have supported me, I am reminded of just how many students and educators have virtually joined my digital citizenship courses and participated in the #digcit chat on Twitter over the years. Week after week, members of my PLN graciously shared their time, talent and passion with my students through Twitter, Skype and Google Hangout. I could seriously write a book on the entire experience, but for this blog post, I’ll share one of my favorite virtual guests, Jeremiah Anthony, a high school student from Iowa. Jeremiah Skyped and live tweeted, Stand Up & Speak Out with Digital Citizenship with my undergraduates. He demonstrated how it takes just one person to make a difference in your community both on and offline.

There have been so many people over the years who have been that one person to me and I just want to publicly thank anyone who has ever supported me through all my digital citizenship courses, projects, Twitter chats and conferences, including the iCitizenship Town Hall Meeting, Digital Citizenship Summit and the Digital Citizenship Summit UK. It has been a privilege and an honor to learn alongside a global network of students, educators, parents and the edtech industry as we collectively continue to solve problems and create solutions together.

So, from my middle school classroom in the early 90’s to my college campus in West Hartford to Bournemouth Univeristy in the UK to Twitter Headquarters — thank you, thank you for being part of this incredible journey.

My heart is full.

All It Takes Is One

Photo Credit| Mia Celik | TEDxYouthBHS 2016

All it takes is one person to stand up, to make a difference, to be the change. Just one and before you know it, one becomes many. My son just recently stood up and shared his story with a global audience. At the age of nine he delivered his first TEDxYouth talk, My Wish: Digital Access for All Students Everywhere about the difference between how he learns at school and at home. Just one student standing up and speaking out about the need for digital access to be like air and water for all students.

Today, he made his wish become a reality and with permission from his third grade teacher, he invited connected educators, Derek Larson and Sarah Thomas to help him break down the classroom walls in his school. Today was the first time in four years that Curran had an opportunity to learn with digital access in school, not just at home. Today, one student became a classroom full of students who were eager and excited about this new way of learning.

It’s like skipping stones, one student becomes one classroom which becomes an entire school, which eventually includes the district and ultimately influences the community and once that happens, we have caused the most positive ripple effect.

 

A special thanks to Derek and Sarah for helping Curran introduce connected learning to his teacher and his classmates. These tweets say and capture it all:

TY for making learning at school like learning at home. I had so much fun & so did my class! It was 200% awesome! https://t.co/Gp6VOmidaX

— Curran Central (@CurranCentral) May 27, 2016

Trying to figure out where @lars3eb is located! @CurranCentral @sarahdateechur #ThisIsAFirst pic.twitter.com/iLUDkm0TJV

— Marialice BFX Curran (@mbfxc) May 27, 2016

TY @lars3eb @sarahdateechur 4 being the very best #ruckusmakers we know! TY for #breakingdownclasroomwalls with us! pic.twitter.com/4wibD6c1Ci

— Marialice BFX Curran (@mbfxc) May 27, 2016

As a mother, I am so happy that Curran has been authentically engaged through so many connected learning opportunities. But, as a connected educator, my heart breaks for the students who do not have digital access at home or at a school. As a mother/son #digcit team, we have made it our mission to continue to stand up and speak out until all students everywhere have access to learn about the world with the world.

We won’t stop until ONE becomes EVERYONE.

The Problem With Privilege in Higher Education: Walking Away from Promotion and Tenure

As I reflect on my growth as a learner and an educator this year, I am compelled to share my story since I spent the last decade of my professional career in higher education. Even though I was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure, I walked away from it all at the end of the fall semester. Why? Perhaps it’s because my learning curve is always in the curved position and it was time for me to learn new things in a new environment or because I know I can create more substantial change outside of a tenure track position?

The truth is there’s a privilege about being an academic and I no longer wanted to be a part of it. With privilege comes exclusion and I want to be a part of an inclusive community. Don’t get me wrong, I have great respect for academics, my problem lies with the institution.

During my ten years, it was generally the adjuncts who brought real-world experiences to our college campus not the tenured faculty. There was a glaring disconnect between the traditional (tenure track) faculty and today’s networked students. Unfortunately, the lecture is still alive and well, as is the statement in syllabi to ensure devices are off and not visible during class. This was not the case in my courses. I never passed out a syllabus on the first class, in fact no papers were ever passed out (I was a paperlesss professor) and I encouraged devices. We live tweeted in class, connected with experts on Skype and Google Hangout and participated in as many connected learning opportunities as possible.

My call to arms for more connected teacher educators, Wired for Collaboration highlighted why higher education is no longer “higher” when it comes to innovation.

This week, this tweet is the impetus of this blog post.

Virtual #mentors could soon become a pivotal component of the #teacher training process. https://t.co/9x9l7Shs1i pic.twitter.com/Lg6TrspzZg

— Education World (@education_world) May 20, 2016

I love that this is happening since I implemented iMentors, virtual mentors from my PLN into my teacher prep courses in the fall of 2011. But again, I question why this is not coming from higher education? This latest innovation is coming from the startup, Edconnective. Last week I blogged about education being more like a startup and this confirms I made the right move to walk away in December.

As I said during my Connected Teacher Educator presentation at ISTE 2015, I am a connected learner who thrives in an active learning community. I will always see myself as a connected teacher educator whether I am in higher education or not because empowering teachers empowers students.

Just recently, I presented at a university and a full professor shared with me, “You just brought the UNIVERSE to our university.” I thanked him and shared how I had just recently left higher ed and he said with a smile, “Well, you can’t keep a saddle on a maverick.”

As I reflect on my decision to leave a tenured track position, I continue to question the status quo and privilege in higher education and look forward to the conversation that will result from this post.

Classroom Culture, Startups & Starbucks

Classroom Culture, Startups & Starbucks

This post has been brewing in my head for awhile now.

About a month ago, I had the opportunity to visit an incredible think-tank incubator session for global entrepreneurs at Station Houston. From the moment I walked into the building, I knew I was experiencing something unique. Although the startup language was foreign to me and I was nervous about being in a business environment, the atmosphere was electric and the collaborative nature of the team eased my nerves as they were bustling with new ideas, positivity and tons of potential. I was warmly welcomed and fell in love with the industrial look to the space — it was sleek and sophisticated and had multiple seating arrangements that were moveable and whiteboards which replaced the walls. I was surrounded by an eclectic group of brilliant people who were listening and bouncing ideas around while capturing the conversation on a whiteboard. This collaborative environment was exhilarating because every voice was a piece to a puzzle that was collectively part of solving a problem and creating a solution. I knew immediately that I was witnessing learning at the highest possible level.

Station Houston opened up an entirely new world to me. #WhatIf all classrooms could be like Station Houston? #WhatIf we treated every student as an entrepreneur? Station Houston’s logo, CONNECT. BUILD. LAUNCH. has the perfect ingredients to support and encourage a Makerspaces classroom. #WhatIf more classrooms focused on building community starting by redesigning their learning environment and their curriculum?

Burlington High School Help Desk

Luckily, there’s hope, my friend and colleague, Jenn Scheffer lives the CONNECT. BUILD. LAUNCH. motto and has cornered the market when it comes to creating authentic learning experiences for her high school students. Her BHS Help Desk program is leading the way on connecting students with real experiences. On a weekly basis, her students prepare, interview and host Help Desk Live with industry leaders. This should be the norm for every high school student. How do we encourage more school districts to carve out time and space for teachers to adopt this type of innovative mindset, so more classroom learning environments are designed to encourage and foster such collaboration?

Just last week, I had the opportunity to visit Buncee, a powerful yet simple digital literacy tool at their Alley location in NYC. The Alley reminded me of Station Houston with an international community of entrepreneurs sharing collaborative coworking spaces. I immediately felt comfortable and was not nervous about being out of my element. In fact, this collaborative space confirmed my initial thoughts about bringing out the entrepreneur in every student. Buncee’s logo EAT. SLEEP. CREATE. got me thinking further about K-12 education. Are our classrooms designed to have students create and are we preparing them to collaborate with a global world sharing coworking spaces? I continued to wonder, #WhatIf all classrooms looked like Station Houston and the Alley? #WhatIf educators thoughtfully designed classrooms and curriculum to bring out the genius in every student?

Kayla Delzer’s 2nd Grade Classroom

#WhatIf second grade teacher Kayla Delzer has already created a learning environment that takes the startup mentality and makes you feel like the 21st Century Classroom is like Starbucks? Walk into her classroom, read her blog, follow her Twitter feed and you’ll feel like you’re at Station Houston or the Alley. At the end of the day, nothing is more important than building community in a classroom, at school, in your neighborhood, at your workplace. In many ways, it’s like the T.V. show Cheers because when you gather day after day at the same location with the same people and “…everyone knows your name,” the possibilities are endless.

On Monday night, the stars were aligned and I was inspired once again to think about classroom design and students as entrepreneurs. I joined the #edtechafterdark chat on classrooms as startups and during the chat, I knew I would write this post and try to connect the dots from my experiences at both Station Houston and the Alley. These are some of the gems that were shared by connected educators during the chat:

Q1. CULTURE. How would you describe the unique culture typical of many start up companies? #edtechafterdark pic.twitter.com/QFep5KDYVF

— Jennifer Williams (@JenWilliamsEdu) May 10, 2016

A1: Startups at their core are created to solve a problem. Therefore a shared passion to problem solve is key #edtechafterdark

— Alex Stubenbort (@alexstubenbort) May 10, 2016

A1 #InnovatorsMindset #edtechafterdark

— Julie Burroughs (@WriteOnJulie) May 10, 2016

 

A1: They have to have the drive, the ability to be resilient!! In one word: MOXIE! #edtechafterdark #tlap pic.twitter.com/Mz9zf5CZaZ

— Melanie Hutchinson (@gvtechteach) May 10, 2016

The moral of this post is that it is our responsibility to help prepare today’s students for jobs that don’t even exist yet. The only way we can do this is to follow the lead of connected educators like Jenn Scheffer, Kayla Delzer and all the amazing educators who participated in the #edtechafterdark chat last night. We need to create more opportunities for our students to be entrepreneurs by designing environments that are highly collaborative and provide students ample opportunities to be problem solvers and community builders.

It is time for some serious action and MOXIE because our students are counting on us!

 

 

 

The #TEDxYouth Talk I Didn’t Give on Perseverance #ThankATeacher

 

“Dare to do what you dream. Search your heart to know what you most desire to do; then do it, for you can become, by perseverance, what you long to be.”

This is the story I did not get to tell this weekend at @TEDxYouthBHS, so I’d like to share it during National Teacher Appreciation Week. I have lived these words since I was in high school. Back then, college catalogs were sent to your home. I remember running to check my mailbox, I mean the mailbox outside my home. I used to love flipping through those catalogs wondering if I had what it took to go to college. I actually used this quote as my college essay and it has guided me ever since.

When I was in the third grade, I was diagnosed as being dyslexic. What an awful word diagnosed is. It is a label that has haunted me the majority of my academic career. It has tried to define me and limit my opportunities. To compensate, I used the smoke and mirror approach and perfected the art of storytelling. This was my secret weapon, my ultimate super power because it kept my secret safe. But the fact is, I struggled in a traditional classroom.

I could tell you all about the people in my life who treated me as my diagnosis, but I’m going to focus on the people who believed in me.  Just like the children’s author, Patricia Polacco, also diagnosed as dyslexic thanked Mr. Faulker for being the teacher who changed her life, I’d like to thank my parents, my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Lane, my seventh grade teachers, Mr. McGrath and Mrs. Cronin, my high school soccer coach, Mr. Mac, my high school English teacher, Mrs. Howard and a student teacher named Ms. Loeb who literally saved me during Latin I.  

If you notice, I did not have one teacher on my side until I was in the sixth grade. My most fundamental years when all students should be building their foundation, the only people who believed in me were my parents and unfortunately, when you’re young, you think your parents have to feel that way. You don’t realize until years later that they were right all along. Up until the sixth grade, I saw myself the way the majority of adults in my life did.

But, I remember every moment of the sixth grade because Mrs. Lane saw me as extraordinary. Every student should feel this way.  Each of us is a gift to the world.  Imagine how different our world would be if we took the time to notice and recognize the talents that we individually bring to the classroom everyday.  It was that year that I remember bringing home a great report card. I remember sitting at the head of the table and having a special dinner and a cake in my honor. I distinctly remember having my first real dream, I wanted to be an actress like Barbara Streisand in Hello Dolly. The idea of being an actress was so attractive because I could be anyone I wanted to be.

When I was in junior high, I remember hiding in the bathroom because I didn’t want anyone to see me walking down that hallway to that room where only those kids went. I cried every day in the seventh grade and my parents pulled me out of special ed. Although I never had to walk down that hallway to that classroom with those kids again, the label remained. As a level 3/4 student, there was really no expectation from the majority of my teachers for me to go to college. Even my high school guidance counselor told me college was not an option. But, my parents encouraged me and so, when those college catalogs came in, I devoured them because in many ways, they were part of my dream.

My dream continues as I have pursued my education to the highest possible degree.  As a Doctor of Philosophy, a Ph.D., I have made it my life’s mission to empower others and amplify student voice. It should come as no surprise that I began my teaching career in a middle school as a sixth grade teacher modeling myself around the teachers who saw me as extraordinary. Since I began my career in 1993, I have been a middle school teacher, principal, associate professor in a school of education and an ambassador for student voice.

Looking back and reflecting on my learning style, I was a connected learner way before social media even existed. If I was growing up today, not only would I have digital access to learn with the world like my son described, but I’d have access to learn with tools that level the playing field for all students.

I stand here today to share with you the importance of dreams and aspirations. To encourage you to expect more than others might expect from you and to know that anything is possible. I stand here today as an example that your risks will be your reward. I stand here today proud that my diagnosis and label has not defined me or limited me. For anyone who learns differently, my story is your story and I dare you to do what you dream. Search your heart to know what you most desire to do; then do it, for you can become, by perseverance, what you long to be.