Next School Year Will Have Big Challenges (and Huge Opportunities)
Here in the United States, some of us are in the middle of our summer break (like my family on the East Coast), while others are getting ready to set their classrooms up and welcome students back.
A new school year is right around the corner, and the challenges many of us faced last year are rearing their heads again!
It’s about this time that I hear the words of my good friend, and author George Couros: “Change is an opportunity to do something amazing!”
Our kids, and us, live in an era of distraction. We can see the challenges of teaching and learning in this reality as insurmountable, or we can use them as an opportunity for change.
In my new book, Meaningful and Relevant: Engaging Learners In An Era of Distraction (available for Pre-Order right now), I look at each of the challenges we are faced with, and how they may lead to a better opportunity for our kids.
Challenge #1: Kids don’t pay attention
It’s true, we live in the most distracted era in human history. Sure, we can take away the phones as many schools are heading in this direction, but we’ll still be left with an entire generation of students who are living in a world of continuous partial attention.
The phones and social media are not the only issue. When school is set up to be a compliance-based experience that most students find boring, we can either blame outside factors (phones etc), or look at what we can do differently right now.
This challenge is a huge opportunity to move away from compliance and towards engaging learning experiences that start with high attention and continue with high commitment from the learners throughout the process.
Challenge #2: Most curriculum is outdated and static
In order to move towards an engaging learning experience for all learners, we have to confront the challenge of our current curriculum and standards focus.
There has never been a better, or more pressing time, to redesign curriculum. We must build organic curricula that can be modified as needed to support meaningful and relevant learning experiences.
The good news? Plenty of schools all around the country and world are doing amazing work within the confines of standards, policies, and high-stakes assessments. Let’s learn from each other and share what is working to keep learners engaged.
Challenge #3: A.I. can do assignments
Yes, it is true. Artificial Intelligence has been used by students to cheat, plagiarize, and completely upend homework assignments.
Despite the fact that students have been cheating well before November 2022 (when ChatGPT popped onto the scene), much of the narrative around A.I. has been that it can (gasp) be used for these negative purposes.
So what can we do?
First, we can start to acknowledge that A.I. will be a factor in learning and we should always address it. For this, you can use the Traffic Light Protocol, or a host of other ways to start this process.
Second, we can begin to create AI-Resistant and AI-Compatible assignments and learning experiences.
Third, (and probably most difficult but also most important) we can focus on the purpose of our assignments, and the context in which A.I. can/should be used if at all.
Challenge #4: Kids are struggling socially
We know this because we see it everywhere. Best-selling books like The Anxious Generation go into the details and research, but if you are anything like me, you have noticed this struggle for kids (and adults).
In a world of distraction and artificial intelligence, we should make learning as human, social, and meaning-centered as possible.
In most of our jobs and work outside of school, we collaborate with other individuals on our team to finish a task or do the work. What might happen when kids take collaborative learning journeys together, and accomplish something of meaning? This is what it looks like to empower our learners and truly facilitate an experience that goes beyond grades.
Challenge #5: Too many standards and units of study leave no time
Teaching classes of 30 students and 14 with IEPs was one of the most challenging times of my career. I see teachers around the country who are dealing with all kinds of difficult classroom situations, and when we throw in hundreds of standards and a jam-packed scope and sequence, it can feel outright impossible to “cover” everything.
It is time for curriculum change, but if that is not happening we still have to teach in the midst of standards and assessments.
Enter one of my favorite ways to reach long-term learning goals: project-based sprints. It also works in a world of A.I. and distraction!
Project-Based Learning is a fantastic way to run AI-resistant and AI-compatible experiences in and out of the classroom. The reasons I love “Sprints” as a truly AI-compatible practice is two-fold.
First, a Project-Based Sprint is about the learning process (not the final product). Students research, create, and iterate in short, time-constrained bursts.
Second, a Project-Based Sprint can leverage A.I. for research help, feedback, ideas, and quick prototyping. It can serve as a creative learning partner during the sprint (which is one of my favorite use cases for artificial intelligence in the classroom).
Use as either a introduction to topic(s), mini-lesson inside a unit, or review/demonstration of understanding of topics.
I’ve written about this approach extensively, but a simple way to start at Project-Based Sprint is by using the three step process below:
Begin by selecting a topic, partner, and beginning to research what your audience needs to know, and what you need to find out more to share.
Next step is creating a PSA presentation (various formats) to showcase your understanding, and teach your audience based on the stated purpose.
Final step is getting feedback, adjusting, improving, and launching your PSA to an authentic audience!
Challenge #6: Poor use of insight and disconnected metrics
We have more “data” at our fingertips than ever before. More meetings looking at metrics and spreadsheets.
And yet…I’d almost always rely on the opinion of a teacher in the classroom who is working with the learner everyday, then a standardized benchmark.
This is the issue many teachers and school leaders are facing right now. We are drowning in data, but missing some of the key conversations around making learner-driven decisions.
Let’s use the data to inform our conversations, but make sure we are having human input that matters most!
Final Challenge: The One You Have To Deal With
Every year is different. They each come with new challenges. Sometimes we know it is happening, and other times (like a pandemic) it can come out of nowhere.
Teachers and school leaders just happen to be some of the most adaptable and flexible people in the world. We don’t always get credit for what we do each year, and how we take those challenges and obstacles as opportunities, but here we are again, ready to take ‘em on!
I’ll leave you with this message that I’m always reminding myself of when things aren’t going as planned:
Can’t wait to see all the amazing things you and your learners do this year!
