Dogfooding your iPad 1:1

Dogfooding. Wikipedia defines it as:

...a slang term used to reference a scenario in which a company (usually, a software company) uses its own product to demonstrate the quality and capabilities of the product

The term's been around for a while, but it first came on my radar when Facebook asked their devs to switch to Android phones to experience the atrocity that is (now was) their Android app. Almost as soon as I heard about the idea of "eating your own dog food" I thought about iPad 1:1 programs. 

The Wikipedia page goes on to say:

Dogfooding can be a way for a company to demonstrate confidence in its own products. The idea is that if the company expects customers to buy its products, it should also be willing to use those products. Hence dogfooding can act as a kind of testimonial advertising. 

That's a perfect way to frame my claim: if you're not willing to use an iPad as your sole digital device during the school day, you should not expect your students to do the same.

I'm not sure what else there is to say about it. I'm sure there are contextual arguments and other reasons why this "isn't possible." Rectifying that stuff is up to you, dear reader.

My goal is just to get that word -- dogfooding -- and the implications into your head.

A second look: Please don't buy your students iPads

+Matt sent me a note saying he'd be interested in an update to this post from two years (and three iPad generations) ago: Please don't buy your students iPads.

The conclusion of that post was this:

But I can get students a creation tool (netbook) and a consumption tool (iPod Touch) for the same price as an iPad. Another is that the next version of the iPad might have a webcam. The next iPad OS might have multitasking. Apple might allow Flash in Mobile Safari at some point. These things might come true, but they aren't true yet. 

Schools cannot be beta testers for Apple's newest projects. Not when there are better alternatives already out there.

I told him it would be a short update:

iPads are now faster, better, have webcams, multitasking, are creation tools, etc. go for it!

Are there better devices than the iPad? Sure. Get a Chromebook and an iPod touch. Or get them a real computer. Or maximize their use of the iPads. Seriously, I'm all for devices in students' hands. Just get them in their hands.

At that point, I didn't think there'd be a need to update the post. All the concerns I had in the original post have been fixed by Apple or app developers.

A few minutes later, I sent him this message:

I think the updated post would be about how 1:1 is the wrong 'equation.' OK so maybe it would be worth an update.

I've got an iPad within arm's reach of me. I'm typing this on a MacBook Air. My smartphone is in my pocket. I live my life 3:1. I'd be shocked if the majority of people who read this post aren't at least 2:1. I'd be surprised if you're not living life at the same equation as me.

And yet 1:1 is our goal for students.

I understand some of the arguments against this 3:1 idea.

1. Schools are working to "get every student on a level playing field."
2. Schools shouldn't provide everything. They're essentially a social program. They provide a baseline and families provide the rest. 

I'm sure there are more. I don't think I'm saying that the school should pay for every student to have a smartphone, tablet, and laptop. I don't think that's what I'm saying. I'm not really sure. 

Again, I'm all for devices in students' hands. Just get them in their hands.

Let's look at one of the most fashionable ways to -- seemingly -- do just that: the Bring Your Own Device program/policy.

BYOD makes me scratch my head. There are no good reasons we should stop students from bringing their devices to the place where they learn during the day in the first place, so not stopping them from doing that isn't a policy.

BYOD is just not having a policy that restricts students.

Of course, I'm happy when schools do reverse restrictive policies and open up "BYOD" programs. Perhaps their existence will push other decision makers to rethink they're own restrictive policies. I'd really like to see the conversation shift from "We're opening this up to students" to "We've decided to stop restricting our learners."

This isn't nearly all there is to say about this conversation. Not by any stretch. I do hope I can push the conversation forward a bit, though. There's still plenty to talk about.

I resolve...nah. My goal is...no. I'm going to read more.

I don't usually do resolutions. I'm just not that into SMART goals and that's what resolutions usually feel like. I've written mantras for myself to start new school years, but there's nothing smart about them. They're just two-word...they're mantras. 

So, I don't consider what I'm doing a "resolution" and I haven't set a SMART goal for it, I just want to read more consistently. 

I need to be a better model for my students. And I like reading. So I should do it more often.

The first step was to contact a couple of my close friends who I know are in the same boat as I am: letting life get in the way of reading consistently. +Seth lives close, +Luke lives a few states away. Seth and I are working on getting a book club together with a couple other guys. Pick out a book, read it, get together, talk about it. Maybe drink some tea. Mix in some Ticket To Ride. Guy stuff. And, selfishly, I want to be able to model that for my sixth grade boys: this is an option for what guys do with a part of their lives. Read books and talk about them with friends. Luke and set up a private Google+ community to have our discussions. We'll do Google+ Hangouts to talk about the books after we're done reading them. 

I'm pretty excited about it.

Tomorrow I'm going to show My Ideal Bookshelf to my students. It's got ten books I'd like to read in the near future on it. 

This weekend, they're going to make their list of ten books they want to read the rest of the school year. Tuesday, we'll go to library, they'll pull the books off the shelves, and they'll draw their ideal bookshelves.

Should be a good time.

The Unofficial and Unwritten (but if you really want to make a career out of it, you better follow them) Rules of Teaching Middle School

As a writing activity, we each chose a topic and wrote "the unofficial and unwritten rules" for that topic. It's from Kelly Gallagher's Write Like This. To model it, I wrote these. Your mileage may vary. 

Note: This is one of the few times I'll write in the 2nd-person. Normally, I abhor an author telling me what I will feel or how I will react (You'll this and you will that). It's basically the only way this writing activity works, though.

cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo by Krissy.Venosdale: http://flickr.com/photos/venosdale/5974107265/

1. Your students' struggles are your struggles.
2. If a student asks when they're getting a new seating chart, it means the class needs a new seating chart. Just because the seating chart seems to be working from your view, doesn't mean it's working for them.
3. Eating lunch by yourself isn't a bad thing, on occasion. Don't make it a habit. 
4. You know how you start to see your children as little mirrors reflecting the things you say and do? Same with your students. 
5. Your 6th graders will become 8th graders much more quickly than you expected. 
6. You'll have students who don't love your class. They may even say they don't like it. They may use stronger language than that. You won't take it personally. You'll work to help them find the one thing they like about your class. It may take all year. But you'll show them you care. And they'll swing by your room randomly over the course of the next few years.
7. The word "rebuttal" will get laughs from sixth graders because it says "butt" in the middle of it. That's right: in the middle of the word.
8. If they didn't learn it, you didn't teach it. And that's hard to swallow. 
9. If they didn't learn it, you have to ask yourself why didn't they learn it? Because, often, it wasn't because your lesson was bad. It's because there was something in the way between them and your lesson.
10. Work with that something that gets in the way between teaching and learning.
11. You will be asked questions. Oh, there will be questions. 
12. "I don't know" is an appropriate response, if used sparingly. Yes, I know "I don't know" shows them that you're not perfect and you still have things to learn, but let's not kid ourselves. We're talking about 6th grade English. There really isn't much I don't know about this stuff. And that's a good thing. 
13. In August, you will be introduced to your students. In May, you will say goodbye to your kids. 

Always Learning: Podcasts

I like to learn. I don't know if I know anyone in particular who would say they don't like to learn, but I do know that I like to.

One of the things I've learned while teaching reading and writing to 6th graders is that some -- many? -- of them don't realize how much they read and write. So, I figured I'd create a label on this blog for posts about how I learn and maybe it'll help get some people to realize that they too enjoy learning. Or maybe I'm just over-thinking it and I should get on with the goods.

I end up behind the wheel a fair amount. My parents live four hours from us and Becky's are two hours away. While driving, I end up listening to a lot of podcasts. I've rotated a few in and out over the past few years and I finally have a decent lineup to choose from. I'm always looking for more, so please share in the comments what you listen to.

Here's my current lineup. They're not in any "favorites first" type of order. I just put them into loose categories.

On the Media

My first degree is in media, specifically radio and television. I've always had an interest in media, though, which is why I find the conversation in On the Media so fascinating. Brooke Gladstone's manifesto is worth checking out to get a feel for the theory behind the show.

This American Life

Story Corps

This I Believe

The Writer's Almanac

We've quickly moved into the "stories" category in my podcast lineup. I love stories. I love reading them, listening to them, and telling them. Just love em. These four podcasts give me all the stories I need. There's always room for more, so let me know if I'm missing some storytelling shows.

Talk of the Nation

Intelligence Squared U.S.

Wait wait...Don't tell me!

Marketplace

Planet Money

Science Friday

I don't consider myself political, but I do like feeling knowledgeable about the current events shaping our world. This is how I fill that bucket.

Freakonomics

Maybe this should go under "stories." Or maybe it fits under "current events." Not sure, but it's one of the few of which I never miss an episode.

This Week in Google

I can't say that I always -- or even usually -- finish the full episode of TWIG, but I enjoy the perspectives of the hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Gina Trapani. The show is not all about Google. They cover all kinds of technology news and also go deeper into what that news means.

Baseball Today

Mr. Cheatsheet.com's Fantasy Baseball Performance Enhancing Discussions

While I've begun to grow tired of football and I haven't paid attention to the NBA since high school, baseball will always have a special place in my heart. Baseball Today is where I go for news and discussion. Mr. Cheatsheet's PED is where I go to talk baseball with my buddy Luke. Yup, he's Mr. Cheatsheet. And I am the Mrs. to his Mr. You'll need to listen to the first episode for that to make sense.

With Students In Mind

The Center for Make/Hack/Playcast

Write on Through

The Learning Grounds Podcast

Hack Education Weekly Podcast

It wouldn't be a podcast list without a little self-promotion. Besides the self-promotion from the previous paragraph, of course. Matt and I have recorded With Students In Mind off-and-on for more than three years now. Three years! Check it out if you're interested in education topics. The other education podcasts I keep up with are from Bud Hunt, Steve Moore, Zac Chase, and Audrey Watters and Steve Hargadon.

What are you listening to? Feel free to share in the comments.

Compliance and Responsibility: Feeding the kitty

I've been having a few conversations about compliance lately. When those conversations arise, I like to bridge the conversation into one about how compliance -- both practically and theoretically -- is a stepping stone to something bigger, better, and more important: responsibility. Scott McLeod tweeted about compliance tonight and I responded:

@mcleod Having a conversation around “being compliant vs. being responsible” lately.
— Russ Goerend (@russgoerend) December 7, 2012

@mcleod Compliance = doing what you say I’ll do. Responsibility = doing what I say I’ll do.
— Russ Goerend (@russgoerend) December 7, 2012

That's the definition I brought up in a meeting the other day and I could see the wheels turning for a few people.

I advocate for students having as much choice, voice, and agency in school as possible. One way to put that into practice in the traditional classroom is to tweak the "big projects" students do in a couple of ways.

First, give students choice in the topic of their project. When our students do their major research project at the end of the year, they have full control over their topic. You can see some of the choices they made in this video -- pay special attention to the looks on their faces as they share their topics:

Another practical way to give allow? recognize? prioritize? students choice, voice, and agency is through flexible due dates. Doing this for the first time was how I recognized the difference between compliance and responsibility. 

When students do their research projects we have a three or four day window where projects can be presented. Students sign up for the day and time they'd like to present. In a setting where the project won't be presented live, there could be a "publish week" where students choose the day they'll publish their work on a blog or in a portfolio. It's through choosing that day that students go from "doing what you say I'll do" to "doing what I say I'll do." They are given the chance to take ownership of the project from start to finish. 

I readily admit I don't have all of this figured out. I've got a broad noncompliant streak in me. It's one of the reasons my former teachers laugh so hard when I tell them I've become a teacher.

What I want our classroom to look like and what I'm able to release control of are two different things. I am constantly asking myself would I want my son to be in this room, doing this work, listening to this teacher, working in this group? The answer is "no" more often than I'd like it to be.

-----

Our almost-three-year-old has one "job" at home: he feeds the cat. There's a scoop in the cabinet that he uses to take the cat's food back to its dish. When he does it, he's being compliant. I realize this. We gave him the job. Most of the time, we have to ask him multiple times to do it.

We were talking tonight as I rocked him before bed. The lights were off in his room and we were talking about how he has a little baby brother or sister coming in April. "I want to be a good big brother, Daddy," he said. We talked about what that could look like. He could show the baby how to put away his toys or how to read. He could hold the baby or help feed it.

"I'll show him how to feed kitty," he said. "You won't have to tell me. I'll show him how because I'm a big boy."

We're getting there.