Signing Off

After six years as Principal of North High School, I have accepted a position as Chief Academic Officer and Director of the Upper School at Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, MI. DCDS is one of the top schools in the nation, and this opportunity and challenge is one I couldn't turn down.

It has been a great run at North, and I have been blessed by the many wonderful young people, faculty members and community members who have been part of the Norseman nation during my years at North. I want to sincerely thank each of you for your support, and for your commitment to North High School. I will be moving the Principal's Office blog off the North website soon, but plan to continue blogging under a new address. Hopefully those of you have found some interest in my all too infrequent posts will continue to follow as I will continue to follow my many friends at GPN.

Grosse Pointe North is a wonderful school of caring, compassionate educators, and devoted, dedicated students and parents. I wish success and happiness to everyone wearing the Green & Gold.

Thanks and Best Wishes,

Tim Bearden

Let's Fight It Together - Joe's Story - Cyber-Bullying

Cyber bullying is a real issue that impacts young people in today's social media environment. Almost every conflict that arises between students at North either began online or through texts, or is prolonged electronically. Yesterday I went with members of the North staff to a Cyberbullying workshop and saw this video. It is a poignant look at the kind of daily issues with which our students are faced.

The week after Thanksgiving we will be holding class assemblies to discuss a variety of issues with our students, and this is one of our topics. I urge parents to discuss cyber bullying, online etiquette, and online safety with their sons / daughters and to closely monitor their social network profiles and activities. The benefits and potential of social networking are limitless, but the potential pitfalls and inherent dangers are real concerns.

Flipping the Classroom

Recently there has been a lot of discussion in the world of education regarding the concept of "Flipping the Classroom". Essentially, the idea is that instead of students practicing that which they've learned as part of a homework assignment, they do the practice in class under the tutelage of the teacher, and use time outside of the classroom to investigate concepts either through video, text or web based resources. This idea is analogous to the coach of an athletic team who has his players study the playbook on their own time, but uses practice to actually perfect their work. While I'm not sold on the concept as a wholesale change from the way we use class time now, there are certainly some possibilities for this approach.

The Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org) is dedicated to providing a free education to anyone, anywhere in the world. The website offers thousands of videos on a wide variety of topics - especially mathematics - that can be used as the presentation of new material, or as reinforcement of lessons introduced in the classroom. In some schools which have adopted the "Flipped Classroom" teachers from the school are creating videos and podcasts to deliver instruction, and using class time to practice what was presented.

Students and parents will experience some lessons where teachers experiment with this approach, and we would love to hear feedback. In the meantime, visit the Khan Academy site for resources to augment instruction here at North. For more on the Khan Academy approach view this clip.

21st Century Skills Culture at High Tech High

Often I hear adults bemoaning the fact that kids text more than they talk. Many adults believe that students' digital communications have resulted in them being less effective in interacting face to face. While that may be true, and to a certain degree I agree that face to face interaction is a real skill that we must teach, it is also apparent to me that the advent of social media and various technologies has not only not hurt our students' ability to interact - these technologies have enhanced that ability.


Our students are more thoroughly connected, and more broadly connected to a variety of people, than ever before in our world's history. Almost every student is a content creator - volumes of content is published every day on Facebook and various social media sites. Kids are writers on Facebook and blogs, filmmakers on You Tube, critics on all these sites, composers on Garage Band and iNudge, graphic designers on Glogster, moderators in various groups, and content creators in any number of wonderful ways. They interact with one another in both surface, superficial ways and deep, meaningful ways. Adults who do not see the relevance and importance of social media and available technologies run the risk of losing valuable relationship opportunities and credibility.



Every generation of adults has pined for the "good old days" when things were the way they remembered as a kid - sometimes with good reason, and other times through rose colored glasses. A critical lesson we need to learn from history is that change will occur - we can't slow the sands of the hourglass nor the evolution of human ingenuity. As educators, the greatest "fail" with today's students is to resist the technologies that are the lifeblood of our young people. By embracing those technologies, we not only gain their potential benefits, we build credibility, empathy and engagement opportunities with our students.



For a look at a "school of the future" to see that embracing technology, creativity, and project based learning is a way to not only cultivate confident, competent, creative problem solvers, but also a way to build strong relationships, see the video of California's High Tech High:

Relationships and Technology

Often I hear adults bemoaning the fact that kids text more than they talk. Many adults believe that students' digital communications have resulted in them being less effective in interacting face to face. While that may be true, and to a certain degree I agree that face to face interaction is a real skill that we must teach, it is also apparent to me that the advent of social media and various technologies has not only not hurt our students' ability to interact - these technologies have enhanced that ability.

Our students are more thoroughly connected, and more broadly connected to a variety of people, than ever before in our world's history. Almost every student is a content creator - volumes of content is published every day on Facebook and various social media sites. Kids are writers on Facebook and blogs, filmmakers on You Tube, critics on all these sites, composers on Garage Band and iNudge, graphic designers on Glogster, moderators in various groups, and content creators in any number of wonderful ways. They interact with one another in both surface, superficial ways and deep, meaningful ways. Adults who do not see the relevance and importance of social media and available technologies run the risk of losing valuable relationship opportunities and credibility.

Every generation of adults has pined for the "good old days" when things were the way tehy remembered as a kid - sometimes with good reason, and other times through rose colored glasses. A critical lesson we need to learn from history is that change will occur - we can't slow the sands of the hourglass nor the evolution of human ingenuity. As educators, the greatest "fail" with today's students is to resist the technologies that are the lifeblood of our young people. By embracing those technologies, we not only gain their potential benefits, we build credibility, empathy and engagement opportunities with our students.

For a look at a "school of the future" to see that embracing technology, creativity, and project based learning is a way to not only cultivate confident, competent, creative problem solvers, but also a way to build strong relationships, see this video of California's High Tech High:

21st Century Education - Really???

North teacher Andrew Taylor recently sent me a link to a blog post at http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/ that was an actual final exam from a paperless social studies classroom. The concept is intriguing, and I think that after looking at the exam most people will have two reactions: one - this is a great authentic assessment - very true to the work historians might have to do, and the methodologies they would employ, and two - can anyone really do all of this in two hours and fifteen minutes?!?





View the exam post at http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2011/06/exam-day-demonstrating-understanding.html.





As I perused the page, elsewhere under favorite posts I found a great post speculating what things in education will be obsolete by 2020. While the technology world evolves this rapidly, I'm not sure I believe education will (it never has...), but one could make an argument that at least some of these changes will happen, and perhaps should. Take a look, and please feel free to comment on those changes you expect to happen, or others not included on this list:


21 Things That Will Become Obsolete in Education by 2020

Last night I read and posted the clip on '21 Things That Became Obsolete in the Last Decade'. Well, just for kicks, I put together my own list of '21 Things That Will Become Obsolete in Education by 2020'.

1. Desks
The 21st century does not fit neatly into rows. Neither should your students. Allow the network-based concepts of flow, collaboration, and dynamism help you rearrange your room for authentic 21st century learning.

2. Language Labs
Foreign language acquisition is only a smartphone away. Get rid of those clunky desktops and monitors and do something fun with that room.

3. Computers
Ok, so this is a trick answer. More precisely this one should read: 'Our concept of what a computer is'. Because computing is going mobile and over the next decade we're going to see the full fury of individualized computing via handhelds come to the fore. Can't wait.

4. Homework
The 21st century is a 24/7 environment. And the next decade is going to see the traditional temporal boundaries between home and school disappear. And despite whatever Secretary Duncan might say, we don't need kids to 'go to school' more; we need them to 'learn' more. And this will be done 24/7 and on the move (see #3).

5. The Role of Standardized Tests in College Admissions
The AP Exam is on its last legs. The SAT isn't far behind. Over the next ten years, we will see Digital Portfolios replace test scores as the #1 factor in college admissions.

6. Differentiated Instruction as the Sign of a Distinguished Teacher
The 21st century is customizable. In ten years, the teacher who hasn't yet figured out how to use tech to personalize learning will be the teacher out of a job. Differentiation won't make you 'distinguished'; it'll just be a natural part of your work.

7. Fear of Wikipedia
Wikipedia is the greatest democratizing force in the world right now. If you are afraid of letting your students peruse it, it's time you get over yourself.

8. Paperbacks
Books were nice. In ten years' time, all reading will be via digital means. And yes, I know, you like the 'feel' of paper. Well, in ten years' time you'll hardly tell the difference as 'paper' itself becomes digitized.

9. Attendance Offices
Bio scans. 'Nuff said.

10. Lockers.
A coat-check, maybe.

11. IT Departments
Ok, so this is another trick answer. More subtly put: IT Departments as we currently know them. Cloud computing and a decade's worth of increased wifi and satellite access will make some of the traditional roles of IT -- software, security, and connectivity -- a thing of the past. What will IT professionals do with all their free time? Innovate. Look to tech departments to instigate real change in the function of schools over the next twenty years.

12. Centralized Institutions
School buildings are going to become 'homebases' of learning, not the institutions where all learning happens. Buildings will get smaller and greener, student and teacher schedules will change to allow less people on campus at any one time, and more teachers and students will be going out into their communities to engage in experiential learning.

13. Organization of Educational Services by Grade
Education over the next ten years will become more individualized, leaving the bulk of grade-based learning in the past. Students will form peer groups by interest and these interest groups will petition for specialized learning. The structure of K-12 will be fundamentally altered.

14. Education School Classes that Fail to Integrate Social Technology
This is actually one that could occur over the next five years. Education Schools have to realize that if they are to remain relevant, they are going to have to demand that 21st century tech integration be modelled by the very professors who are supposed to be preparing our teachers.

15. Paid/Outsourced Professional Development
No one knows your school as well as you. With the power of a PLN in their backpockets, teachers will rise up to replace peripatetic professional development gurus as the source of schoolwide prof dev programs. This is already happening.

16. Current Curricular Norms
There is no reason why every student needs to take however many credits in the same course of study as every other student. The root of curricular change will be the shift in middle schools to a role as foundational content providers and high schools as places for specialized learning.

17. Parent-Teacher Conference Night
Ongoing parent-teacher relations in virtual reality will make parent-teacher conference nights seem quaint. Over the next ten years, parents and teachers will become closer than ever as a result of virtual communication opportunities. And parents will drive schools to become ever more tech integrated.

18. Typical Cafeteria Food
Nutrition information + handhelds + cost comparison = the end of $3.00 bowls of microwaved mac and cheese. At least, I so hope so.

19. Outsourced Graphic Design and Webmastering
You need a website/brochure/promo/etc.? Well, for goodness sake just let your kids do it. By the end of the decade -- in the best of schools -- they will be.

20. High School Algebra I
Within the decade, it will either become the norm to teach this course in middle school or we'll have finally woken up to the fact that there's no reason to give algebra weight over statistics and IT in high school for non-math majors (and they will have all taken it in middle school anyway).

21. Paper
In ten years' time, schools will decrease their paper consumption by no less than 90%. And the printing industry and the copier industry and the paper industry itself will either adjust or perish.
Posted by Shelly Blake-Plock at 9:45 AM

Schools of the Future

In coming weeks at commencement exercises across the nation, speakers will make the point that commencement means the beginning of something rather than the end. In keeping with that idea, while we are at the end of another school year, schools are embarking on plans for the future. There is much discussion in the education world today about "Schools of the Future" and what form(s) they might take. Through the years, public education has changed very little in some respects, and dramatically in others. As the world and our technologies change more rapidly than any time in the world's history, I thought this article abstract was an interesting look at the possible paths the schools of tomorrow might take:


What Will Schools of the Future Look Like?

In this thoughtful Education Week article, Richard Elmore and Elizabeth City of the Harvard Graduate School of Education ask us to think ahead 10-15 years and guess the proportion of student learning that will take place in schools (versus elsewhere). “The availability of relatively cheap technologies offering direct access to knowledge of all types creates opportunities for students to experience a dramatic increase in the choice of what they learn, with whom they choose to learn, and how they choose to learn,” say Elmore and City. Right now, most schools have resisted the digital revolution, sequestering computers to special labs, using laptops as digital typewriters and presentation producers, and treating social networking as a subversive activity. Will that change in the years ahead? Here are three possible scenarios for 2025:

• Fighting for survival – Schools look much the way they do today, but expand the use of laptops, interactive whiteboards, digital lessons, digital grading, and new ways to communicate with parents and schedule meetings, while teachers continue to control access to content and learning. “In this instance,” say Elmore and City, “schools will increasingly become custodial institutions, isolated from the lives of their students and the learning environment beyond their walls.”

• Controlled engagement – Schools define learning goals and map out the best pathways, then use technology to open portals for students to learn from a wider world. For example, a school in Alabama participates in a two-way bilingual cooperative with a school in Shanghai, with teachers using video technology and shared materials to alternate between English and Mandarin lessons. “Teachers are less gatekeepers of knowledge and more knowledge brokers,” say Elmore and City. “School leaders become less managers of instruction, and more entrepreneurs connecting their organizations to the broader learning environment. Schools become less places where students go to learn from adults, and more places where adults and students get together to enter a broader learning environment.”

• Open access to learning – There are broad standards for content (like the Common Core) and general guidance on how students and parents can get access to learning, speculate Elmore and City, but schools “are on their own, competing with other types of service providers and learning modalities for the interest and loyalty of students and their parents. A family might combine services from two or three different organizations into a learning plan for its children – tutoring for ‘basic’ academic content, active learning and access to the digital environment at an experiential learning center, and physical and kinesthetic development from sports and recreation center.” Students might take as long as sixth months in one learning environment – a language program or a biology expedition – accumulating digital learning portfolios of their learning that would be used to apply to colleges. All this would be funded by per-student grants adjusted to family income, language status, and disabilities.

“Schools, as we presently know them, would gradually cease to exist and be replaced by social networks organized around the learning goals of students and their families,” say Elmore and City.

Which of these scenarios makes the most sense? The authors suggest that we find our way toward the answer by:

• Talking with students and educators about what school could and should look like;
• Visiting schools that are breaking the mold;
• Using new school construction and renovation projects as opportunities to think differently about what configuration will maximize student learning.
“Beyond Schools” by Richard Elmore and Elizabeth City in Education Week, May 18, 2011 (Vol. 30, #31, p. 24-26) http://www.edweek.org