Moving at the Speed of Creativity - Notes from LoTi Administrator Institute led by Dean Mantz (afternoon)

Notes from LoTi Administrator Institute led by Dean Mantz (afternoon)

Published by Wesley Fryer in assessment, edtech, leadership, schoolreform on August 3rd, 2009

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This is part 2 of my notes from the 3 August 2009 LoTi Administrator Institute led by Dean Mantz in Kingman, Kansas. My part 1 (morning) notes are also available.

Dean’s July 23, 2009, post “Turning up the ‘HEAT’ in Education” is very important to understand what we are discussing today

LoTi levels 0-3 are very much teacher controlled
- LoTi levels 4a – 6 the teacher is becoming the facilitator

Big shift to level 5 is connecting outside of the classroom, bringing in outside resources with places like ePals, Skype in Schools, Global Education Collaborative, etc. (more links on this available)

National average of LoTi survey is just 2-3

talking with teachers about “dressing up lessons” with not only technology but also this focus on the first three parts of HEAT

Now looking at the LoTi Sniff Test

Now looking at Tracie Skoglund’s lesson on the Promethean website

What is the relationshiop between HEAT and LoTI?
- LoTi is the framework for designing your lessons
- as LoTi levels increase, your HEAT levels increase
- HEAT is used by administrators for walkthroughs and feedback with teachers following classroom observations

Now watching “Out of This World: Students Take an Eco-Friendly Field Trip to Mars” from EduTopia

How amazing, Mrs. Campbell (the teacher) has created with her husband a bike that is connected to a wind turbine
- key in her mind: helping get the kids curious
- carefully crafted, interdisciplinary lesson
- fun learning experiences for students

ISTE observation tool focuses more on time spent using technology tools, doesn’t include the instructional elements

LoTi surveys are free and resources are free
- there is a charge if you want to see the LoTi survey results

Dean is using Filesanywhere to access files for our workshop

This was a GREAT day of PD and I’m really looking forward to the follow-up activities and interactions on the LoTi Moodle. I recorded a podcast interview with the Kingman superintendent, Scott Carter, which I’ll edit and post as a podcast here soon.

Technorati Tags:
education, kansas, loti, school, technology

On this day..

5 Comments »

http://stager.tv/blog Gary Stager, Ph.D.

Wes,

I find LOTI extremely problematic and have written a couple of papers urging the creation of an alternative. The most recent paper may be found here: http://stager.org/articles/71_Stager.pdf

Best,

Gary
http://www.wesfryer.com Wesley Fryer

I will take a look at your article, Gary in greater detail. LoTi has been substantially updated with the H.E.A.T. framework, and based on what I read initially on your concerns (wanting educators to focus on higher order thinking skills and uses of technology which advance thinking) I would guess you’ll like its newer iteration.

I’d love to see you develop a framework for classroom observations and share it. I think these kinds of tools are really needed by teachers and administrators to change expectations for teaching and learning in schools. ISTE has released their Classroom Observation Tool and I haven’t had a chance to study it yet, but I heard today (via a Tweet) that TCEA is going to be doing training on this in the fall. According to what Dean Mantz said today, that instrument is much more focused on just tech/tool use rather than learning and thinking. I’d value your thoughts on it as well, along with the revised LoTi/HEAT frameworks.
http://stager.tv/blog Gary Stager, Ph.D.

Hi Wes,

LOTI can’t seem to differentiate between teaching and learning, plus it has almost nothing to do with computing. In fact, I found published examples by Moersch that didn’t use a computer at all.

I really have no interest in developing an observation rubric for lots of reasons.

The primary reason is that the goals of groups like ISTE and TCEA are so meager. Lots of effort is put into designing assessment rubrics to be used as quickly as possible by folks (administrators) without background knowledge – all to rank, sort and judge teachers in the callous fashion we now too readily treat children.

I’ll let someone else create the 21st Century SRA kit for school teachers.

Gary
http://www.smithclass.org/edet Terry Smith

Sorry – but another rubric? Another thing to “train teachers” on – what are they, assembly line workers? I for one am weary of the endless training and tools and rubrics piled on teachers; it all distracts from concentrating on anything, for example deep thought about about meaningful, interesting, engaging lessons. I was just watching a TED talk Stuart Brown about learning and play and there is no mention of checklist training. Maybe teachers might benefit more from experiencing a philosophy than an ISTE rubric.

Additionally – note to above – bringing in the outside world. Large orgs like ePals are not needed. I believe they have their own roadblocks, rules, procedures, etc all of which teachers can bypass and just join projects on their own, strike up conversations (virtually) and proceed from there.
http://www.wesfryer.com Wesley Fryer

Terry: What are the best, practical ways you’ve seen to help administrators change their expectations for teaching and learning in their buildings, as they conduct observations and teacher evaluations– to expect high levels of critical thinking, inquiry, and knowledge product creation from students and the teachers who lead them?

I’m not suggesting LoTi and the HEAT framework are a panacea– of course nothing is– but I think it has great value in helping administrators learn to ask different questions and look for authentic, engaged learning in classrooms instead of quiet students working problems from the end of the chapter at their desks, or simply taking notes quietly in a fully-compliant classroom as the teacher lectures from the front.

What are your practical suggestions for professional development / learning initiatives for administrators that can do this better than LoTi? Inquiring minds want to know.

On the topic of ePals, I agree there are multiple organizations and websites which teachers can use to get connected for global projects. I see ePals as being a valuable catalyst for classroom collaboration, however, and their website facilitates searching for partner classrooms and projects in ways many other sites do not.