NOW Classrooms, Grades 9-12. Meg Ormiston

received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a minor in secondary education from Elmhurst College, an endorsement in special education from Lewis University, and a master’s degree in educational technology from Concordia University Chicago. When Tom is not working on creating a more rigorous and cohesive mathematics curriculum, he can be found on the golf course, going somewhere on vacation, or spending time with his friends.

      To learn more about Tom’s work, follow @TALubbers on Twitter.

      Gretchen Fitzharris teaches mathematics at a high school in the Chicago suburbs. She has co-taught special education classes and has been privileged to teach in a district that emphasizes technology and encourages educators to think outside the box to try new technology and expand student learning. Gretchen has also taught the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program at her school and experienced the benefits of technology use outside her core content area. Gretchen’s school has a 1:1 learning environment, and she is passionate about holding her students to a high level of rigor that 1:1 complements. It excites Gretchen to try new things in the classroom and be a leader in her department and to encourage her colleagues to do the same.

      Gretchen received her bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University and her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Concordia University Chicago. When Gretchen is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her daughter, running, sewing, and cooking.

      To learn more about Gretchen’s work, follow @gmfeldma on Twitter.

      Ellen K. Lawrence is a certified leader, librarian, and technology specialist with experience teaching elementary school, high school, and college students. As one of two library directors in her district, Ellen focuses on ways to support student and teacher performance across the curriculum.

      The American Library Association named Ellen’s current district’s library program the 2012 National School Library Program of the Year. Also, Ellen dedicates time to presenting at local and national conferences on the topics of libraries, technology, and professional development.

      Ellen earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education at Illinois State University. After teaching first grade for two years, she obtained two master’s degrees, one in instructional technology from Northern Illinois University, and another in educational leadership from the University of St. Francis. Passionate about education, Ellen is currently pursuing a doctorate in instructional technology at Northern Illinois University. In addition to having a passion for teaching and learning, Ellen is an avid sports fan torn between Chicago hockey and St. Louis baseball.

      To learn more about Ellen’s work, follow @LawrenceEllen on Twitter.

      Katie N. Aquino is an instructional coach for a high school district in suburban Chicago. She served for several years as a high school English and video-production teacher and technology integration coach. Katie focuses on integrating innovation into education curricula to best support and develop student learning. She is passionate about growing 21st century learners and thinkers by leveraging inquiry, creativity, and problem solving in the classroom.

      Katie is a Google-certified teacher, trainer, and innovator and speaks at many local and national conferences, focusing on helping other teachers seamlessly incorporate new and emerging technologies into a variety of high school curricula. She also works with teachers to use technology to maximize their efficiency and be more present in their classrooms.

      Katie has a bachelor’s degree in English education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, both from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She also holds a master’s degree in instructional technology from Northern Illinois University. She is certified in English language arts, instructional technology, and library media for grades 9–12. When Katie is not at school, you can find her at home with her daughter and husband, likely cheering on her world-champion Chicago Cubs, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, or curling up with a good book.

      To learn more about Katie’s work, follow @edu_katied on Twitter.

      To book Meg Ormiston, Scott D. Parker, Tom Lubbers, Gretchen Fitzharris, Ellen K. Lawrence, or Katie N. Aquino for professional development, contact [email protected].

       Introduction

      Walking out of high school in 2017 looks much different than it did twenty or even ten years earlier, and these students will head for jobs that look and function very little like those of the 20th century. They will become user-experience designers, roboticists, nanotechnologists, and social-marketing mavens. In an interconnected world, students must have the ability to communicate and collaborate not only with their peers but also with people they have never met who live halfway around the world. It demands that students function not just as information consumers but also as creative content producers. Students of the 21st century have access to so much information that it is imperative that they know how to think critically about where that information comes from, what it means, and how they will use it.

      As teachers, we want to fill classroom work with magical teacher-student partnerships. In these classrooms, students own their data, and they set individual and group goals based on the projects they are working on. Looking around these classrooms, you see what we call messy learning or organized chaos. Think of the vibe of a busy coffeehouse, everyone chatting or working independently, depending on each person’s goals. Digital devices are everywhere, but so are collaboration and all types of communication as everyone gathers for different goals.

      Like in a coffeehouse, when you walk into a magical classroom, you feel the energy as all students are laser focused on their personal learning targets and as they collaborate with each other. The teacher has set high expectations for each student, and he or she continuously monitors data using a variety of technology interfaces. Parents and other professionals are part of the communication loop with access to goal-focused data. We call these magical classrooms NOW classrooms. We selected that term because our students deserve to thrive in rich learner-centered classrooms now, not in a few months or years. We believe schools are ready to create this type of NOW classroom, typified by technology-supported teaching and learning, and the evidence we’ve seen bears this belief out. Our goal with this book and this series is to help you create them.

Building Super Skills for College and Career

      You may ask, “How can I use technology in my classroom to better prepare my grades 9–12 students for college and career?” This book answers that question by demonstrating the opposite of technology misuse. It features students productively using technology, not as a new toy, but to create, to collaborate, to explore, to investigate, and to share their creations beyond classroom walls. This book structures critical thinking and problem solving into every lesson by ensuring each lesson establishes meaningful, purposeful technology use that directly ties into the 2016 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Students. ISTE (2016) education technology experts have developed seven standards that call for students to become the following.

      1. Empowered learners

      2. Digital citizens

      3. Knowledge constructors

      4. Innovative designers

      5. Computational thinkers

      6. Creative communicators

      7. Global collaborators

      In addition to these ISTE student standards, when we think about engagement and our learning targets, we must think about the important skills of what the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (2015) calls the four Cs: (1) communication, (2) collaboration,