Reverse Engineering: An Essential Literacy

I just had a discussion with my College Accounting class the other day about preparing them for a workforce that doesn’t currently exist. With it being an honors class, they are pretty smart kids and quickly understood my point. They know that the days of “Go to school, get good grades, get a good job” (Rich Dad / Poor Dad) are long gone. They understand that they will not go through life working for the same company or even in the same industry.

What today’s kids aren’t seeming to understand is how a good, well structured (not spoon fed) education will actually prepare them for an unknown. The tragedy is that they are learning something without knowing that they are learning it. Being aware of what you learn makes you much more likely to use it in the future. The lack of awareness of a skill will naturally result in atrophy of that skill. If we are helping kids learn how to learn, preparing kids for unknowns, teaching them how to grow in an environment that doesn’t yet exist, they should be able to identify “it” for future use.

“It” = “Reverse Engineering”

Adaptability is simply the skill to get somewhere you’ve never been before. Sometimes we are forced to adapt and sometimes we choose to adapt. Either way, we adapt. The more successful adapt more often and more easily. Those who don’t fall behind. As James York said, “The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.”

Knowing your end goal is such a key component to knowing that you are on the right track. I ask so many kids (and adults), “What’s your end goal?” This most often results in blank stares. I rephrase “What do you want the outcome to be as a result of this?” This most often results in “Ummms” and “Uhhhs”.

As humans we seem to be great at reverse engineering simple things, subconsciously.
End goal = getting to work... must drive car... car is low on gas... must get gas... head to gas station.

So much more rarely do we see people using this in a longer term, bigger, layered approach.
Final End Goal = Earning 6 figures... get job x (end goal = get job x... excell at job y (end goal = get job y... get job z (end goal = get job z... excell in College ABC (end goal = get into College ABC))))

We need to teach kids that they know how to use this approach. We need to teach them the power of using this approach for bigger “end goals.” We need to show them that they are learning these skills in our classes, how they used them, and how they can use them in the future. The more comfortable kids are with this, the more comfortable they will be taking on the future. The more laid out the path, the easier it is to adapt when a step goes awry. If I know my “sub end goals”, I know what I need to get back to when (not if) something doesn’t go according to plan.

We are giving students these skills. Let’s not keep it a secret from them. Projects with checkpoints is a great place to start. The project being complete is the Final End Goal and the checkpoints are the layered end goals. Don’t have them just do it to get the project done. Have them do it to learn how to do it!!

Projects: 3 Ways to Write 'Em Better

Project Writing... Sharing Selfishly!!

I often struggle with writing what I feel is a quality project for my students. However, I also stumble across myself writing one I feel is worth implementing in class. My requirements for what I deem to be a "great project" are pretty simple: 1.  Facilitate learning  2. Fun for the kids to work on  3. Easy to grade objectively (writing a rubric should come naturally with it)

As an accounting teacher, I am not necessarily the most naturally creative person. I want to be, desperately, but I'm realistic and know that it's a challenge for me. So, I have become uber-aware of the times I've "nailed it" (and more often aware of the times I haven't) and have identified three commonalities that have been in place during the development process of these projects. I think they may be the keys to my project writing success. Here they are!! 

1. Promise To Share

Before you start writing the project, commit to giving the finished product to someone else. If you know that other professionals are going to be using your work, you are more motivated to produce a high quality product. Find a person (or group of people) who you know would use it or use some version of it and decide that you WILL share it with them when you are finished. If you are not great at keeping your word to yourself, let them know that you will be sharing the project with them. This will hold you more accountable to sharing it.

2. Write it for Your Own Child

What kind of learning do you want your son / daughter to experience? For me, this is a biggie!! As my son and daughter are getting older, I become more and more aware of learning experiences I'm providing to someone else's sons and daughters. When I focus on whether I'd want my child to be spending their time in school on this, I find a way to cover all three qualities that I think makes a project "great".  If you don't yet have kids (you young whipper snappers out there), think about your niece, nephew, godchild, or whatever kid you absolutely adore.

3. Visualize Yourself Grading Them

Alright, if the first two aren't enough, then think about how awful it is to grade awful projects!! Holy smokes, it made me cringe to just type that last sentence. We've all graded awful projects and those of us who are reflective probably has admitted that it may not have been the best written / developed project we've ever created. Set yourself up for a fun grading (oxymoron?) experience. I have not done any research (and nobody should because it would be a waste of time and money), but I guarantee you that there is a direct correlation between the amount of fun and learning that a student has during a project and the enjoyment the teacher gets from grading it.

I hope this helps your project writing and your students' project experiences! Feel free to post comments and share any projects of yours that you are proud of!

Why Do We Buy?

When my son wants something, my first response is "why?" He's gotten to the point that he knows it's coming and now, most of the time, he doesn't even make me ask why. What's nice is that he's not yet socially influenced enough to use "everyone else has one" as his reason. His requests are usually supported with a (if not multiple) solid example of how he'd use it.

It seems, based on my PLN, that a lot of schools are buying technology BEFORE asking that question. I often see articles about "what to do with your school's (fill in the device)". I hear from people who’ve had technology purchased for them and then don't use it because it's too confusing. I see teachers trying to use something simply because they're told they are supposed to be using it. The accounting & finance teacher (and all around frugal human being) in me cringes at this. I can't help but think about the purchasing decision-making process that I teach, that I pound into the heads of my students, that my poor, poor, poor children and wife are subjected to every day, and wonder why this is so often ignored by our profession. I don’t think that schools need to treat the purchasing process exactly the same as households. R&D, tinkering, testing, and exploring with new devices bring strong value to educational entities. However, it seems that the moderation of this activity has been swallowed up by premature excitement for "it" because "it" is technology and MUST be good for our kids. In today's (rightfully so) closely watched spending and usage of public resources, it's so crucial that we maintain a respectable decision-making process when purchasing anything. The last thing we can afford is to buy another iThing or gThing with no dedicated purpose, vision, or plan for which it will be used. We must figure out where we want to be BEFORE we start moving there. We have to envision the end and reverse engineer our buying decisions to ensure they actually will enhance our journey to that destination. Responsible consumers naturally do this. We are really pretty great at it. We buy food because we're hungry (unless I’m face to face with a Snickers bar at the grocery check out) and we need to be un-hungry. We work backwards (subconsciously) and get to the tool that will make us "un-hungry"... food. Reverse engineering is a great process that, for decades, educators have been applying so well to curriculum design, emotional intelligence development, and student success planning. If we commit to leveraging this strength with digital purchasing decisions, we’ll set our teachers & instructional coaches up for a more meaningful and clear implementation experience. So, let's make sure we maintain our credibility with our tax payers' money and give our teachers and students a more clear path for success. Let's make sure we are able to answer the questions my son knows he has to answer BEFORE buying. Why are we buying this? How are we going to use it? We can create a building full of “why do we have these?” or one that’s asking “why didn’t we get these sooner?” In which building would you rather teach? More importantly, in which building would you rather your own child learn?

Your Motivator: Love Winning or Hate Losing?

I think that everything we do is driven by one of two things. We do something either because we want to get it done, or we don’t want to not get it done. I know that sounds like semantics, but I believe there’s a big difference. I cut my lawn because I don’t want to fail in keeping my lawn cut. I don’t want to be the guy in the neighborhood who’s lawn looks like poo. However, the guy across the street from me loves his lawn and cuts it because he wants to have the nicest looking lawn in town.

As an accounting teacher, I frequently have CPA’s & other business professionals come in and talk to my kids. Years ago, I had one in that was discussing the interview process. He said that a question their firm asks everyone is, “Do you love to win or hate to lose?” He had the kids answer that question to themselves and went on to explain that they like to hire people who hate to lose. He said that they found that if a person hates to lose, they’ll do anything to avoid not getting the job done.

This has stuck with me for almost a decade now. I still think about it and am fascinated by it. A buddy of mine often says, “It’s not fun unless there’s a loser.” He hates to lose! We laugh all the time when he says it, but I think that it’s funny because there’s truth to it. I am sure that I’m a “hates to lose” (HtL) person. I find myself most driven when someone tells me I can’t do something rather than when someone gives me encouragement. On the other hand, my wife definitely “loves to win” (LtW) and she’s way smarter than I am (I swear I’m not saying that just in case she reads this).

I often think about this with my students and what gets them going more. I know for sure that they are more into something when it’s a game. However, what I don’t know, is which kids are trying to win and which kids are trying not to lose. Can we, as teachers, differentiate our lessons / games / competitions to target the “LtW” kids in one way and the “HtL” kids in another? Should we? What are our classrooms more full of? What do you think? If you have time, ask your kids and comment back with results for us?

Technology & Socks in Education

This is my first professional blog, so bear with me! I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but decided to "just do it" when a fellow blogger pointed out that it forces you to polish your thinking. That locked in my decision, so here we go.

Yesterday, I was in a discussion about technology as a motivator in education. I, without thinking (which is not rare) said "I think technology is like socks for today's kids. It's something they just put on when they wake up and it doesn't really impress them." This got a decent reaction from the people involved and caused me to think more about it.

Extrapolating on that thought, I believe that technology doesn't motivate my students because for them, it's an expectation. I think that things we expect do not impress us. As a result of this, I believe that the lack of technology in education is a de-motivator! When we have expectations that aren't met, we become disappointed, frustrated, and disengaged.

As a classroom teacher, technology is a tool for me to use while motivating my kids to learn. It's as much of a tool as my voice, my energy, the whiteboard in my room and glue sticks. But ultimately, it's up to me to use these tools to provide "good teaching" and many opportunities for kids to become motivated.