The Schoenblog

Where are you right now? Whether it’s #ISTE17, #ModelSchools, hard at work in an office, or sitting on your couch enjoying summer, how, when, and where you learn has changed. I’m become more and more fascinated at how your location has less power on your learning.

Once again, I’m #NotatISTE. Once again, sitting home, with major FOMO (fear of missing out), watching the learning, connecting, and fun pass me by. Full disclosure: I’ve never been to #ISTE. I’ve been fortunate to learn and present at so many conferences in my region, but rarely branched out beyond that. It’s something I’m eager to change, but until then, I’m stuck following along on Twitter.

And what I’m seeing makes me excited not just for teachers, but for students. Maybe I’m blinded by the hype--I don’t even know if my ideas about these conferences are accurate--but there looks to be a positivity and excitement that’s powerful. What if our schools were as exciting as #ISTE? What if our students learned in schools like I do even when #notatISTE?



From the other side of the country, as I watch #ISTE’s Ignites on Periscope, read announcements on Twitter, and see pictures of poster sessions, friends, and events all across social media, here is what I see:

• A world where educators are excited about learning together.
• A conference where the learning is passion-based and fun. Participants have to think critically and make good choices about what to learn, when, and with whom.
• A place for learning presenters can choose how to show what they know through keynotes, ignites, presentations, conversations, poster sessions, and more.
• A week where connecting with other learners is half the fun, filled with #CoffeeEDUs and meetup events, connecting like-minded educators.
• And most importantly, everyone is sharing it all.

I’m not even following any #ISTE-related hashtags. I’m just opening up Facebook, Twitter, or education news, and it’s there. The education community is documenting every step of the learning, connecting, and fun. And it’s shared for everyone, so that anyone, anywhere can follow along, too.

For me, this means that I can learn asynchronously and grow. I can reply to Tweets and comment on posts so that I can connect with the real-time learners, too. I can read press releases, sure, but more importantly, I can talk with the people that are there--both face-to-face friends and members of a growing PLN.

Whether what I see about #ISTE is right or wrong almost doesn’t matter, especially from a far. What matters most is the take away from these ideas: we can learn anywhere and anyhow--and so can our students. While I sit at home on my couch, I realize that my fear of missing out has likely skyrocketed with the growth of social media. But I also realize that maybe I’m not missing out after all. The personal connections and face-to-face learning can’t be replaced--and for that, I’m jealous for sure, but what about the learning?

I can’t help but wonder if conferences like #ISTE and the conference-culture of education aren’t just about the adult learners, but are more telling towards the future of our students and schools. For all of our talk about 21st Century Learning, maybe these events are already showing us the way? And they should be. Maybe we’re a lot closer to that world that we think.

What are your takeaways from #ISTE and education conference culture? How can it teach us about our students, schools, and learning? And does social media help or hurt our FOMO and learning? Please share your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter @MrSchoenbart.

I’ve seen a lot of discussion lately about the concept of delaying grades based on Kristy Louden’s awesome article, Delaying the Grade: How to Get Students to Read Feedback, over at the equally awesome Cult of Pedagogy.

She argues that if you have students focus on reading feedback and self assessing their work before addressing the grade, the feedback becomes more meaningful. I wholeheartedly agree, and have seen many educators jumping into the conversation with their own practices and strategies. I’ve thought a lot about my own grading and feedback beliefs and policies this year, and done a lot of work to be better.

Louden writes, “Wow, glad I put so much time into that assignment, said no teacher ever.” We spend so long grading and providing feedback, but too often it ends up crumpled in backpacks or garbage cans. Online feedback is great because it’s harder to lose or misplace, but it still can be a struggle to get students to read it. We need to stop doing the same thing and expecting different results. We need to stop the insanity.

Louden explains her methods, continuing, “The simple act of delaying the grade meant that students had to think about their writing. They had to read their own writing—after a few weeks away from it—and digest my comments, which allowed them to better recognize what they did well or not so well. The response from students was extremely positive; they understood the benefit of rereading their essays and paying attention to feedback. One boy said, ‘Mrs. Louden, you’re a genius. I’ve never read what a teacher writes on my essay before, and now I have to.’”

For more on grades and feedback I recommend checking out ”Changing the Conversation: Grades vs. Learning” by Starr Sackstein and ASCD’s Seven Keys to Effective Feedback from Grant Wiggins.

Feedback Conferences

I wish I was better at face-to-face, individual conferences about student work. Louden conferences with her students--and this is fantastic--but it’s never been my strong suit. What I’m really good at is using technology to provide specific, focused, and timely feedback to students. This shouldn’t entirely replace the conference--I wish I did this more often and better--but it can be a nice tool to help make the feedback process easier in delaying grades.

Google Tools to Delay Grades

In addition to delaying the grade, I like to delay the feedback. To do so, I generally return digital or hard copies of student work without any comments. Then, I ask students to read, comment on, and assess their work using a rubric. Usually, I do this a few days or even a week after the writing is turned it--this time creates a separation from the student as the writer versus editor. With distance, my students are often about to be more objective, thoughtful, and constructive about their own work.

Sometimes, the student’s self-assessment makes it easier for me to provide feedback. I can reference their own comments and thoughts, and learn more about their understanding of their progress. Other times, I want to return my feedback immediately and use it to help them assess their own self-assessment and reflection. To do so, I turn to Google.

Google Classroom: Return with Purpose

Let’s start with the simple option: use Google Classroom to promote self-assessment and feedback and delay the grades. When a student turns work in on Classroom, they lose rights to edit. Use this transfer of sharing rights to have them provide feedback on paper or to add suggested comments about their own writing. Then, return the work to a class or any number of students to share your comments and/or grades.

Looking for more control and specificity in your feedback? Explore Google Forms below and its power to help delay the grade.

Google Forms and formMule

With my students’ most recent work, I created a feedback form to organize and maintain my feedback digitally. I read students’ writing and used this simple form (see below) to provide the feedback. Notice the drop down list of student names and the checkboxes for common feedback items. This makes it quick and easy to make the process effective--the same options repeat with a heading for improvement.

On June 11, 2009 I taught my demo lesson at Ossining High School. That first lesson focused on creating six word stories, and was the start of my full time teaching career. And eight years later, I ended the school year with the very same lesson--I’ve come full circle.

Back then, we read a few stories together, examined the literary tradition, and created our own. Students wrote them on sentence strips, decorated them, and presented them to the class to publish. I even tracked down my original lesson plan in my files--a screenshot is below. As the legend has it, Ernest Hemmingway was asked to write a story in six words. His response: “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.”




I’ve revisited six word stories a few time since, and enjoy teaching them. They are a fun, low-stakes, and creative way to explore word choice, syntax, and storytelling. This year, I had one last day after our final exam for teaching, and decided to return to the six word story, making connections to the English 9 big idea of identity.

The Activity

Tell your story. Who are you? How have you changed this year? Find your six words.

Those were the directions for the last day of school this year. We started with a funny picture of Steve Carell from the office--the more ridiculous, the better. I asked students to write the story of the picture. Then, we shared some and revised, making them shorter and shorter. Next, they were challenged to reduce their stories to just six words.

We then introduced Hemmingway’s story and talked about its meaning. Next, we looked at other examples of six word stories and visual creations, curated from online sources. Find the slide deck for this lesson here.



Finally, students were asked to write and create. They took their stories and published them online by creating a visual representation. We briefly discussed the power of backgrounds, colors, fonts, and more, and students used Google Draw and Canva to create their work. Some chose to keep it simple and use paper and markers, too. We hadn’t used Canva in class, so students jumped in and taught each other.

In the end, we downloaded the files and uploaded them to our class’s Google Community. I’ve been Tweeting some out, too, to share students’ work and stories. You can see some throughout this article and many more below.

Six word stories are fun and creative, and to do them well requires an unexpected amount of critical thinking. Tying them into identity, memoirs, and change throughout the year also added a nice lens of reflection and brought closure to our year together. I also appreciate their versatility--this lesson and activity worked for me, but the concept could be so easily adapted throughout subjects, age levels, and purposes.




Revisiting six word stories to end the year in the same way I started my career was a fun and somewhat bittersweet teaching moment. It was a nice way to close out the school year with a creativity that really wasn’t there in enough of my class. If you’re looking for an activity in these final weeks of the school, give the six word story or memoir a try. We found our six words; ask your students to find theirs.

How are you ending the school year with your students? How have you made the six word story work for you classes? Please share your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter @MrSchoenbart.

As a teacher, one of my favorite things about today’s world is how easy it is to collaborate and share. Whether I’m teaching a new class, a new book, or just want to shake up my lessons, I turn to the power of the internet and my PLN. My Google search history is probably half full of lesson ideas and resources. I research, search, find, and adapt, using the resources that inspire me most to create something new and appropriate for my classes and students. And in turn, I share here, on Twitter, on Voxer, and in every way possible to help inspire others in their work, too.

I do this because I believe in the power of sharing. I believe that all of us are smarter than one of us. And I recognize that if I’m isolated in my classroom and teaching the same lesson over and over--rather than teaching my students--I’m not as effective as I could be. I believe in the power of my work and yours.

More and more, though, I’m noticing a price tag attached to that work. As I’ve explored new professional networks and groups, I’ve seen sites like Teachers Pay Teachers gain popularity at the expense of free and open source resources. Let me be clear: teachers deserve to get paid for their work. We work hard--harder than most people realize--and we certainly deserve the credit, financial or otherwise.

This is not a rant against Teachers Pay Teachers. I’m all for the teacherpreneurs out there who help make a difference in their audience’s teaching and for our students. If you have something great to share, can build an audience, and can be compensated for your work, the more power to you. And I’m sure there’s so much great content out there that’s worth paying for for many educators.

But every time I see an educator promote a paid resource like a lesson plan or worksheet, my first reaction is concern. And my second, often, is frustration. I’m concerned and frustrated because too often, these paid resources promote mindless duplication of a stock resource that’s not easily adaptable in meaningful ways.

Quote from John Spencer and image from BAM Radio Network

Full disclosure: while I’ve never posted any of my resources for money, I’ve sure thought about it. Like you, I believe that I have some great materials worth sharing, and maybe even worth paying for. But I decided not to for the very reasons I explore here--I want to promote innovation, collaboration, and open source sharing throughout education.

But too often, the resources I see shared are online worksheets that promote little-to-no higher level thinking. Too often, they are devoid of collaboration and creativity, too. Too often, it looks like a page from a textbook was digitized, described with buzzwords, and posted for profit.

Before pulling the trigger on that purchase, ask yourself how that worksheet or resource is going to help prepare students for the worlds of today and tomorrow. How is a worksheet going to prepare them for the world today? Why is it this the best way to teach these skills and contents?

Then, make sure to follow up with questions that promote adaptation and creation rather than duplication. Remember, what works for someone else might not work for you the same way. Ask yourself: How can I adapt these materials to make them more effective for my students? Or even better, how can I use this as a starting point for active learning experiences?

And if you’re posting and sharing your resources, please continue to do so. But do it well. If we’re going to privatize and monetize educational resources, we need to help educators do things better. We need to be better.

What’s your stance on teachers paying teachers? Please share your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter @MrSchoenbart.