Another really great thing on the web today is James Cameron’s AVATAR teaser trailer. I have posted about this before but I think this film will revolutionize film making. Really interesting. I suggest you go to Apple Trailers website to watch the video in High Definition. It is that cool!

The school, Hogwarts, is different than other schools. The basic foundation is for meeting students who are different than normal students. It is a school for the exceptionally gifted but those gifts aren’t necessarily tied to knowledge or passing a state exam. Some will become wizards but there are other roles they can prepare for as well.

The paintings of historical contributors to the wizarding world are interactive. They speak and move about in their frames.

Students are sorted not by grades or scores (but by a hat!). If you read the book, the students are sorted into houses based on their personalities and what they may develop into.

The hallways are ever-changing with stairwells moving around and changing direction. Some classes take place outside and in forests.

Teachers interact with the students in the hallways and during dining times. They are ever-present in the hallways and available at all hours of the day. They answer questions and refer students to the library to find more information on what they are searching.

All classes in this school use project-based, interactive learning. Students make potions, learn to fly on a broom, how to levitate objects, and how to plant screaming vegetables.

Textbooks are common in the Harry Potter world. In a previous story, a book on monsters was a monster itself complete with eyes and teeth. But a common thread in all the stories is how the textbooks are the same today as they were for previous generations going through this special school. One such book on Potions in the current movie references how many errors are in the book based on the writing by one of the previous owners of the book.

A scene in the movie has Harry prepare a potion that no one else in the class can solve based on their notes in their textbook; but Harry has notes written in to his book that allow him to solve the task.

All of this said, there is a certain “magic” about Hogwarts that does make it a place of wonder while still being a school. I wonder if the millions of children who read about this wonderful place realized that it was….school. I think this is one of the major reasons JK Rowling made such a successful storyline because most of the story takes place in a school. Not just any school though – a school built on imagination.

The storyline that carries the most themes surrounding public education can be found in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. There is a character by the name of Dolores Umbridge who really personifies the danger of state-controlled education. Most of the Hogwarts scenes concern Harry fighting against a teacher who wants to discredit him and get more control of the school itself. Miss Umbridge removes the things in the school that make it so special. She restricts student access and even limits the teacher interaction and lessons they can teach. It is a very dark storyline but I think Mrs. Rowling didn’t just throw this in as a sub-plot. She really is saying something about education and schooling in all her stories.

Based on the wonder of Hogwarts and the world of Harry Potter, can our schools become more like these magical schools?

Can our foundation for schooling be for teaching each child as an exceptional child?

Can our schools have interactivity with images? Is there technology available to make this happen?

How do we sort our students?

Construction issues aside, can we change our hallways? Must the classrooms all look the same? How many classrooms have the same things posted on the walls each year?

Do teachers eat lunch with students? Can teachers be more interactive in the hallways? When students are not in the classroom, where do they go to get answers? Who pushes them to libraries and resources for learning?

Are we teaching kids to fly? Are we letting them learn by doing? Are they getting hands-on experience in a guided practice? Are classes taught outside the classroom?

I like the books because they take you to a place of wonder and imagination but constantly reinforce the need for education. A style of education not seen in public schools. The last book takes the characters out of the safety of their school where they must use all they have learned to fight the ultimate battle. They are tested.

What can we do to make learning, education, and our schools a place of wonder and imagination?

Again, I cannot put in words how valuable this academy has been to me. I am a first year CTO with minimal training in everything I do. This academy is something I see as valuable to my day-to-day role; but I can see how valuable it could be to the “old-timers” out there too. Just plugging it again again – take this academy. It is really a rich resource for all of us. Both Lori and Kari have been a great team for teaching us. They also provide us with TONS of resources we get to take with us and use.

I think today’s biggest influence on me was the idea of developing a district research model and then how to share it with staff and stakeholders. Lori didn’t get to show how they developed their model but shared how to instruct others to use it. She showed how Bastrop ISD gathered librarians, tech apps teachers, and CTE teachers together in groups to apply the research model to solve a problem. A project-based learning model in staff development.

It is interesting to me because many districts develop a Writing Model but it is rare to have one based solely on research. Personally, I feel that this model is key to our students living in the 21st century. The ability not only to research but to ask good questions to find good answers is such a demand for everyone. We need to teach our students not only to research for classroom projects but to answer those questions we all face in the future:

• What is the best cell phone for me?
• Where should I go to college?
• How can I finance my new car?
• Where is the best place to go on my vacation?

Being able to ask good questions and to find information in a variety of methods is key to survival outside the walls of our schools and the homes of our parents.

What Lori shared was the first meeting with the teachers and librarians – she gave them a problem-based learning scenario and outlined the research method. First she had participant gather in their group: librarians, CTE teachers, and Tech-Apps teachers. Then they were all presented the problem which was that the President needed a brief on Global Warming – what it was and how to solve it. Each participant had a laptop and had to assemble the brief.

After they had their information and shared presentations, these groups mixed together so that they could share how each group researched. The discussion among these groups was about the method for implementing good research. Then the discussion continued to be about how students could implement the research model. And on even into how to incorporate the research model into curriculum and instruction.

This is something I want to take back to my district to develop. It seems so fundamental and that it could be that missing link to connect curriculum, libraries, and technology on a foundation shared by all.

Today’s session was about a lot of stuff but my brain got stuck on this one. I really think this is going to be key to our staff development process. Now we just have to develop that research model. Good thing Lori shared her resources with us in the Academy!