Making Learning More Meaningful

Why have we placed such a high value on sense-making over meaning-making? Sense-making involves understanding and demonstrating a content or skill. Much of the work we do in school is related to sense-making and there is nothing inherently wrong with this. We need to know facts and learn skills. But why don't we make greater efforts to connect sense-making with things that bring meaning? Meaning is what helps us to really make sense of the world. It's coming to a place where we understand why our sense-making matters. Meaning gives relevance to our learning.

Daniel Pink explains in his book Drive that people are more effective, more motivated, and more connected to the work, and all areas of life, when conditions exist that allow for autonomy, mastery, and purpose. When we have autonomy we feel we have a voice and a choice. When we are able to do things well (mastery), it makes us want to try even harder and do even more. And when we have a sense of purpose, we feel our contributions matter and that what we contribute is bigger than ourselves.

These conditions are far more powerful than extrinsic rewards, because deep down we know that things that are most meaningful are ones that stand the test of time. Extrinsic rewards satisfy for a moment, but they don't deeply satisfy. They only feed appetites for more recognition, more rewards, or more pleasures. We need meaning, not more stuff, not better grades, not more rules or policies.

In our hurried, success-driven, hyper-connected culture, there is a hunger for meaning in ways like never before. We need something greater than ourselves and our shallow appetites (more stuff, more fame, more instant gratification).

So how does this all translate to the classroom? Let's ask students to do stuff that really matters, to themselves and to others. Learning shouldn't happen in isolation from real impact. Open the world and find ways for students to make a difference now. Give students the freedom and flexibility to do something amazing. As I think about the learning experiences from my school days that I remember the most, they are ones that were personally meaningful to me. We can't expect sense-making to last beyond the test if we don't help students have personal meaning connected to the learning.

Make learning personally meaningful and students will find their passions and become self-determined, lifelong learners.

Tech Geek or Teaching Geek?

I think it was during a Twitter chat I first made the comment that you don't have to be a tech geek to use technology effectively to support learning in your classroom. I later polished the wording a bit and asserted that "Classrooms don't need tech geeks who can teach, we need teaching geeks who can use tech." Several thought-leaders on Twitter have also shared the quote, like most recently @ToddWhitaker.

Classrooms don't need tech geeks who can teach, we need teaching geeks who can use tech. @DavidGeurin

— Todd (@ToddWhitaker) November 19, 2015

The message seemed to resonate with educators. But I also received some push back. What's wrong with being a tech-geek? Can we not aim for both? In the end, are the results any different? It seems there is plenty to discuss regarding approaches of using technology to support learning. So I wanted to address these issues and clarify the thinking behind the quote.

Why teaching geeks?

1. It's more important to get the instructional design right and develop engaging, highly effective learning experiences, with or without tech. Unless the central aim of your curriculum is technology, the tech should support the learning and not the other way around. It's not good practice to find a nifty tech tool and then contrive some way to get it into your lesson, just to wow or impress. That would be akin to using technology like a cool party trick. Not exactly the professional practice that will develop consistent and quality learning for students.

Retrieved: http://tinyurl.com/q6zw4w3

2. Teaching geeks are concerned with more than technology. A teaching geek will do everything possible to increase learning and help all students be successful. They love to learn about teaching, talk about teaching, join with other passionate educators on Twitter, and just be geeky about all things related to their profession. Most of all, they are passionate about student learning. I love to attend EdCamps because the teaching geeks are drawn to these events. Geeks go to Comic-Con. Tech geeks go to CES. Teaching geeks go to EdCamps!

3. You don't have to be a technology genius to use tech in the classroom. Many teachers think they can't use technology to support learning because it's not a strength for them. But even if it's not a strength, every teacher can take small steps to utilize technology for learning. Pick just one digital tool that has the potential to enhance your lessons and learn more about it. Our school is in the first year of 1:1 with Chromebooks, so a tool that nearly all of our teachers wanted to learn is Google Classroom. It was a good place to start because it serves as a hub for classroom stuff and allows for increased sharing and collaboration.

4. Don't wait, start somewhere. For teachers who lack confidence with technology, it's easy to avoid taking steps to learn new ways to use technology. And this is exactly what we don't want our students to do, to shrink back in the face of something that doesn't come easily. I'm very proud of teachers in our building who have stepped out of their comfort zone to learn new methods with technology even though it's not their strongest area. It models the type of growth mindset we want to encourage in students.

5. Turn the technology over to your students. Even if you don't know all the ins and outs of using technology, many of your students do. If you give students choice about how to use technology to support their learning, you can incorporate tech even though you aren't the source of all the tech knowledge. It's actually a great thing when students and teachers can learn from each other.

6. So you're a tech geek? That's great. It can actually be very beneficial to your teaching if you couple your knowledge of technology with an array of other tools that are important to effectiveness in the classroom. How do you build relationships, set expectations, empower learning, and support diverse needs? There are so many factors that contribute to an effective classroom. Technology alone won't result in an excellent classroom experience. But if you can leverage your knowledge of technology to support all the other components of an outstanding classroom, you're a top draft pick for sure!

7. If you are one of the distinguished educators who are both tech geek and teaching geek, you have an obligation to share your knowledge with others. We all want to learn from you.

Question: What makes you a teaching geek or a tech geek? Respond on or .

You don't have to be a tech-expert to find ways to make digital tools relevant in your classroom. #edtech #edchat pic.twitter.com/I4mb2CINNn

— David Geurin (@DavidGeurin) June 24, 2015

Great quote from @davidgeurin via @teachprof pic.twitter.com/jWFbxF47jY

— EdTech K–12 Magazine (@EdTech_K12) November 12, 2015

Classrooms don't need tech geeks who can teach; we need teaching geeks who can use tech. via @DavidGeurin #edchat pic.twitter.com/OoAkLCyb3k

— Dr. Justin Tarte (@justintarte) October 11, 2015

Why building commitment is better than gaining compliance

Education seems to be the worst about trying to 'fix' the system with the latest program or the next big thing. Ask just about any teacher who has been in the profession a few years and they will trace how this program came and then faded and then the next thing came along, and it seems like a never ending cycle. I've heard this same narrative for the 20 years I've been an educator, both as a teacher and as an administrator. And, it's frustrating.

We keep trying to improve by implementing a new thing, a new policy, a new set of standards, when these strategies are not ultimately the most important thing to improve. Todd Whitaker has been quoted widely, proclaiming "it's not about programs, it's about people." And we know, almost intuitively, instinctively, that this is true. But the programs and 'accountability plans' keep coming. And the very thing that is intended to improve education is killing creativity and hindering innovation.

But don't we need new ideas in education? Aren't our schools in need of a major update to meet the challenges of today? Absolutely! But the answers to the questions we face aren't found in external mandates. We need to unleash the problem-solving power of the people who have their boots on the ground, the educators working every day in schools. What we need is to find ways to empower teaching and build even stronger commitment among educators.

Building commitment will always be better than gaining compliance, and here's why. Commitment results in buy-in, belief, investment, ownership, and extra effort. Compliance, on the other hand, is little more than checking a box or filling out a form. It may result in some change in behavior, but it may only get the appearance of a change in behavior. As soon as the new thing isn't monitored closely, old ways return. There isn't any lasting change.

So how do we get more commitment? We remove the barriers to true collaboration and communication in schools. We ask teachers their opinions. We value their ideas. We get everyone at the table. We set goals, but we get the goal-setting as close to the action as possible. The graphic below suggests that classroom level goals have far more impact than district or school goals. So why do we continue to write comprehensive school improvement plans that are longer than Gone With the Wind?



I believe the greatest thing we can do to improve our schools is invest in people and their ideas--cultivate innovation and risk-taking within schools. When we have compliance-driven cultures, teachers are often afraid to try something new. What if it doesn't work? What if my test scores are lower? What if my principal doesn't like it? This type of thinking sucks the passion out of being an educator. Educators are thinkers and problem-solvers and need the opportunity to explore whatever ideas they believe have the potential to improve learning.

When rich conversations are happening in schools, it becomes the source of amazing synergy. This idea was magnified in my thinking by the book Crucial Conversations (2012). It details how we need to have more authentic, completely honest conversations in organizations, and even in families and other relationships, where we share ideas openly and confront problems constructively. The authors shared how synergy develops:

"As everyone on the team began to explain his or her opinion, people formed a clearer and more complete picture of the circumstances. As they began to understand the whys and wherefores of different proposals, they built off one another. Eventually, as one idea led to the next, and then to the next, they came up with an alternative no one had originally thought of and that all wholeheartedly supported. As a result of the free flow of meaning, the whole (final choice) was truly greater than the sum of the original parts." (p. 25)

And so we need to get more input from teachers, and even students and parents, as we seek solutions that are unique to our individual schools. And here is the best part. This is really important. As people develop a shared meaning and have a voice in the solutions they develop, they willingly act on whatever decisions they make. They get behind the decision and put the full measure of their conviction behind it.