most successful middle schools recognize learner diversity,
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shared by Melissa Pietricola on 12 Jun 10
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Today's Middle Schools Combining Education with Life Experiences - 0 views
www.odu.edu/...TodaysMS.html
cooperative collaborative student-centered positive learning environment
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collaboration among students and educators, promotes harmony and interpersonal relations among students, and reflects positive communication. Teachers and students listen with empathy and support others in a positive manner.
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ith the elimination of the “students vs. educators” mentality, middle school students perceive the harmonious relationships in the school and see less of a need to engage in hostile and confrontational behaviors.
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shared by Irene Watts-Politza on 01 Jun 12
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Teaching Today | How-To Articles | Using Technology to Motivate Middle School Students - 0 views
teachingtoday.glencoe.com/...otivate-middle-school-students
motivation technology education middle school
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Study hits 'grade inflation' in New York state testing of pupils | SILive.com - 0 views
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middle-school students who passed their math and English Language Arts tests are likely to struggle on their high school Regents exams
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tudents who scored a Level 3 on their state tests -- which is considered passing -- would likely earn a 65 on their Regents exams, but that a score of 80 was typically needed to earn college credit for a course, according to the News.
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Steiner is also calling for longer tests with more rigorous questions.
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Critics have long been saying the tests appeared to be getting easier, and have wondered whether the scoring was adjusted to make politicians look better.
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"But by any measure -- including the highly respected NAEP exams, state tests, and graduation rates -- due to the bold reform agenda implemented by this administration, the significant progress made by New York City students has far outpaced that of students in the rest of New York state."
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Sensation-Seeking | Education.com - 0 views
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Nevertheless, these students still pay attention to tasks, activities, and media messages that are low in sensation-value, if the topic is particularly salient to them. For example, individuals may attend to a seemingly boring documentary on cancer research, if they have close relatives or friends who is suffering from the disease; they may attend to a lecture on the stock market if they have just received the gift of a larger sum of money.
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Students with a high sensation needs benefit from instructional practices that meet those needs. It certainly is not possible to meet the needs of these students at all times, but some lessons can be altered to better hold their attention.
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hese adaptations include: (a) the use of dramatic role-playing activities (including the videotaping of such activities), (b) the incorporation of videos and music into traditional lessons, (c) the inclusion of outside speakers with real-world experiences, and (d) the opportunity for students to facilitate conversations and activities in the classrooms
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Third, educators need to be aware that students with high sensation needs may also experience problems with behavior in the classroom. These students are more likely to get out of their seats, to talk to their neighbors, and to seek attention from the teacher. Thus targeting students with high needs for sensation early on and setting up classroom contexts to provide for these students' needs may alleviate some potential behavioral problems in the classroom.
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Sensation-seeking is characterized by researchers as a basic human need and as a component of human personality. The need for sensation runs along a continuum, wherein some individuals have a high need for sensation, whereas others have a low need for sensation.
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The concept of sensation-seeking primarily has been studied in the domains of clinical psychology, personality psychology, health psychology, and communications. From an evolutionary perspective, attention to novel stimuli in the environment was necessary for human survival
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Individuals who have high sensation needs typically engage in certain predictable behaviors. Most notably, the research indicates that individuals who exhibit a high need for sensation often are more likely to engage in risky or dangerous behaviors, such as abusing substances and having unprotected sexual intercours
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Research indicates that sensation-seeking rises markedly during early adolescence (Donohew et al., 1994). For many adolescents, this increase coincides with the transition from elementary school into middle school. Thus although students with high needs for sensation are present in elementary, middle, and high schools, these students may be particularly prevalent in middle school settings.
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shared by Erin Fontaine on 02 Jun 12
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Techy Lincoln Middle School teachers reaching students' brains through their smartphone... - 0 views
articles.centralkynews.com/...l-phones-online-tools-teachers
middle school smartphones education technology teaching
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Another benefit of Edmodo is that students are encouraged to collaborate in order to solve problems, while the teachers can stand back and observe.
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The students' fingers got busy typing on their cell phone keyboards, and anonymous responses started showing up almost instantly on the discussion webpage for the question: "It could make learning more fun." "We can get our grades quicker." "It makes learning easier for everybody." "It's a lot more hands on and everyone has a voice." "Makes us pay attention and focus more."
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"Our students have been taught a one-dimensional literacy, and literacy isn't one-dimensional — it's three-dimensional," she said. "They need to be able to know what all those dimensions and facets are."
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Learn to embrace and be a part of their world and they will become more of an active learner.
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I found this article as I was researching as to what I wanted to do for my course. I was really debating whether I wanted to do a course for adults or if I wanted to do one at the middle school level. This article was definitely one of my deciding factors.
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Finland is #1! | Scholastic.com - 0 views
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Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Finland’s educational success is the path it took to the top. Thirty-five years ago the country was considered middle-of-the-road or worse educationally. The country eliminated its education inspector and rethought its educational system.
Online classes: A choice for your middle or high schooler? - Managing ADHD | GreatSchools - 0 views
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http://www.kidsconsortium.org/m_hs_language_000.pdf.pdf - 0 views
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Self-Directed Learning for Middle School Students - 0 views
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I am inspired to construct a customized curriculum unit combining years of teaching experience with research studies based in theories of philosophy of learning, educational psychology, and cognitive psychology that is intended to help students become self-regulated learners. Educational research lends relevant information useful to understanding why our middle school students show such a decline in performance and motivation, and how we can fix it.
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This allows us to examine changes in difficulty and identify current strengths and weakness. Most students are pleased to see how well they can perform on both tests, even if their results on the grade-level test were below passing.
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The Technology Source Archives - Ten Ways Online Education Matches, or Surpasses, Face-... - 6 views
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Students are empowered to learn on their own and even to teach one another.
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Students served as instructors to their classmates, and together they worked toward learning goals more effectively than if they had been provided with the answer by the instructor.
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When an instructor posts a question on the asynchronous discussion board, every student in the class is expected to respond, respond intelligently, and respond several times.
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On a more formal note, online tests and quizzes can be constructed with an automatic grading capability that provides immediate feedback and references to text and class notes that explain the correct answers. Assignments, including grades and editorial comments, can be returned to students more promptly and usually with more detail than in the F2F environment.
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This is something to consider with respect to formative assessment, RtI evidence/data, and computer-based grade books. Wondering how it would work in an open source learning platform for collecting data on teacher effectiveness at the university level?
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I have used online homework systems with my middle school students, and it works wonderfully. Many students use the immediate feedback to their advantage, reviewing the questions they got wrong. I know they use it well because whenever I happen to make an error in marking the correct answer, I will receive a flood of emails from students quoting resources stating why they believe their answer to be correct.
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They say that it is common for participants in online courses to develop a strong sense of community that enhances the learning process.
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thrilled
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The thinking, planning, research, learning, and effort that goes into constructing and teaching an online course has rejuvenated many faculty members who were frankly going through the motions after numerous years of teaching the same courses, semester after semester, in the same classroom environment.
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the best way to teach students how to write more effectively is to have them write more often.
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One of my main concerns about creating and online class for a junior high (7th/8th) grade is about how technology is affecting their writing abilities. I was afraid of how all the short hand phrases we all use are affecting students and their abiliity to write. Yes, online courses are writing intensive and a great means of keeping students writing but as the teacher I feel like I have to make sure that the work I recieve is of quality. As I continue to research this fear I am seeing both sides of the argument. Text talk may be both positive and negative. Still looking into this... Here is just one of many articles I have found on this topic: http://www.nst.com.my/nation/extras/zero-to-12-is-technology-deteriorating-language-skills-1.89256
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Thanks for the link. I know with my students, I emphasize the need for using conventional English in typed school work no matter what device they are using. Most of my middle school students are adept at transitioning from the language they would use while texting to the language I expect in their lab report, even if they are typing the lab on their phone.
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Students with family or work responsibilities are often unable to commit to a traditional course because they cannot be in the same place at the same time for 15 consecutive weeks.
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Although some instructors may discover more than they wanted to know about their students, my online teaching experience disproves the notion that online courses are impersonal and do not foster relationships, either between students and instructors or among students themselves.
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In the traditional F2F classroom, the instructor asks a question, and the same four or five extroverted students inevitably raise their hands. They offer spontaneous, often unresearched responses in the limited time allotted for discussion. In the online environment, discussions enter a new dimension.
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. Online education is neither right for all students nor right for all faculty, but it frequently meets the needs of both for an exciting, high-quality educational experience.
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can refer to their course materials and think through their answers
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The goal is for the student to continue learning throughout life, not just for the course. This links back to the Minds on Fire reading: http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/minds-fire-open-education-long-tail-and-learning-20
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However, I have heard from very few faculty members who are not energized by the creative process of achieving the same instructional goals in an entirely new format.
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he first response that comes to mind rather than the best possible response
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Many online students have indicated that this is the first time they have ever "spoken up" in class and that they enjoy the opportunity
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Geared to lifelong learning
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as a result of the relative anonymity
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online education can be done well,
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In their everyday lives, individuals do not have a teacher at their side to direct them in their acquisition of new information. One of the roles that we need to perform as educators, then, is to teach students to find and learn information on their own or in concert with their colleagues. The online environment fosters self-motivated education. Students direct their own use of Internet links, search engines, discussion boards, chat, e-mail, and other media. While such resources cannot guarantee student initiative, they establish a framework that gives precedence to the autonomy of the learner.
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develop course materials among themselves in a manner rarely seen in the F2F classroom.
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In f2f classes at masters public health program, we do extensive group projects. I think that k--12 classes may not have had many project-based classes of which hopefully will be more as we are seeing the influence of online teaching and how for practical learning the online environment can greatly compliment a practical session. But I don't agree that all the practical project based work I have done for my profession with other students and teachers is not as well integrated compared to all the practical group work I have done in my profession with students and teachers. Also the quality of spoken live discussion in group work is very challenging when it is live. Maybe online is helping by giving us more time to think before we say something.
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Social Studies Another Way - 0 views
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don’t use it as a source in research
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. I’m thinking that by creating a mission video that emphasizes their own creativity as the goal that they will see that this is self-directed and endless in its possibilitie
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Having to support my ideas is cumbersome, and it requires work
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I was always annoyed in grad classes when people would just shoot off their mouths about random things, totally wasting class time on their own rants (usually at 9pm). This definitely alleviates that situation!
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I don’t accept laziness or haphazard work, but I usually reject it with a smile and a joke
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At this point, I need stick notes to track down sticky notes
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I resisted activities where the students “taught” each other for fear that they would leave something out
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It will be an enormous challenge for me to let students take the lead and not dominate the airspace. If I want my students to make it to that “performance” or “resolution” stage I see this stepping back as being essential. I want them to “Perform” in the sense that they build their learning into webpages. If I dominate their peer critiques, for example, they might as well become my webpages. The intent is for them to run wild with their creativity, and to step away from me as the direct instructor. He also discusses the steps groups take to make decisions, “forming, norming, storming, and performing.” Garrison emphasizes that groups not only need time, but also clearly stated goals to function productively. I am very familiar with his claim that, “groups do not naturally coalesce and move to integration and resolution phases.” I loathe group work for this very reason! I have avoided it much of my teaching career, afraid of losing control of the classroom and the content, and often seeing little progression in student learning when I do venture to use it. He goes on to argue that, “direction and facilitation is required to establish cohesion and ensure messages are developed.” I guess I assumed this, that you need to give clear directions, state your goals for the activity, and facilitate its progression. I’m concerned with how this will go online.
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time consuming
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me too. you mentioned about this in your earlier blog. Compposing a post felt like writing a mini-essay for me, I just couldn't produce a coherent, educated, and educational post in a matter of minutes. It is time-consuming to produce intelligent work.
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It is! I felt like I would wander through the Internet in a thousand directions, getting irritated with myself for being so scatterbrained. It took me forever!
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I agree! Takes forever - days and days to write. Blogging is agonizing!! But ultimately satisfying :-) We survived.
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wheeew! Now I feel better. For the longest time I thought it was due to my inadequacy that it took me days to pull research together and write up a coherent reply. If you two felt this way, who am I to complain?! Thanks!
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By that I mean it keeps me thinking. I wake up in the middle of the night and wonder on it, it makes me uncomfortable, and it appears on my to-do list in the strangest way. One thing I think of is the idea of student-centered learning. Its not that this is new to me entirely, but it has been a bit of a shocker to learn how to do it effectively and how to readjust my thinking and teaching to make the student at the middle. The idea that my activities should be engaging has always been moderately important, but I’ve thought about it in the past as “entertaining.” I always came back to the thought that I wasn’t here to entertain my students, they get entertainment everywhere else.
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But, as a student, I completely understand and empathize with the idea that they should be engaged and want to be a part of what they are learning. This is a new thought to me. That I should make the activities engaging (by using technology, by encouraging connections, and by making purposeful learning) not simply so students have fun, but so that they learn more!
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whether I’d catch the next episode of the “Backyardigans.”
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It stimulated a different part of my brain and gave me an adult purpose to my day. Very important for my sanity and helpful for me as a mother, as well. I truly agree that being an educated woman makes us better caretakers for our children (especially our girls!)
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Decision Making in MIddle School Social Studies: SOCIALIZATION - 0 views
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Group items tagged module 4 assignment - ETAP640 | Diigo Groups - 2 views
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Teachers' Domain: Pizza Toppings - 1 views www.teachersdomain.org/...vtl07.math.data.rep.pizzatopp Module 4 Assignment Pizza Venn Diagram Video Cyberchase OER teachers domain shared by Catherine Strattner on 21 Jul 12 - comment - like... - No Cached - more▼ Link to this item Edit this item Delete this item Save Send to Disable email alert Victoria Keller liked it In order to organize the preferences, Bianca draws a Venn Diagram and then arranges the pizza toppings according to the diagram. Catherine Strattner on 21 Jul 12 - edit - delete I will be using this video as a resource for students to view prior to engaging in discussion on 2-set and 3-set venn diagrams. <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">I will be using this video as a resource for students to view prior to engaging in discussion on 2-set and 3-set venn diagrams.</div> ... Cancel ... Cancel Add Sticky Note Victoria Keller on 21 Jul 12 This is a great motivation to use for your course on venn-diagrams!! As an added note the pizzeria John's is in NYC and is a franchise from NJ. <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">This is a great motivation to use for your course on venn-diagrams!! As an added note the pizzeria John's is in NYC and is a franchise from NJ.</div> ... Cancel
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Pizza Toppings | OER Commons - 0 views www.oercommons.org/...view Module 4 Assignment Pizza Venn Diagram Video OER Cyberchase shared by Catherine Strattner on 21 Jul 12 - comment - like... - No Cached - more▼ Link to this item Edit this item Delete this item Save Send to Disable email alert Catherine Strattner on 21 Jul 12 - edit - delete Great video on a practical use of Venn diagrams- will use in my course as a resource for viewing prior to engaging in discussion on 3-set Venn diagrams. <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Great video on a practical use of Venn diagrams- will use in my course as a resource for viewing prior to engaging in discussion on 3-set Venn diagrams.</div> ... Cancel ... Cancel
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Do Your Students Know More About Technology Than You Do? | Scholastic.com - 0 views
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For example, 75 percent of teachers say they regularly use technology in their classrooms. However, only 40 percent of students report that technology is used in their classrooms. You have to wonder if “regular tech use” is defined differently by kids and adults.
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53 percent of middle and high school students feel that the restrictions on using cell phones are the biggest obstacle to using technology at school.
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Worse, while 75 percent of teachers feel they understand how students want to use technology as a learning tool, only 49 percent of their students agree.
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Small Town Girl in the Big Cyber City - 1 views
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My original goal was to get an A in the class, and every other class until I reached my objective of my Master’s w/ a 4.0. Now my goal is to become a teacher that is there for my students, who isn’t assuming any good or bad about them, who’s only goal is to help them grow and learn, (and hopefully to get at least a B in this class.)
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Again, I find myself writing for a college professor rather than a middle school student. Even this past September, I handed out my “course syllabus” to each of my classes. Looking back now I wonder if they knew it was one of my course information documents or is they were trying to figure out how to clap out the syllables.
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Why did I need to call it a syllabus? That wasn’t for them, it was for me.
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I want them to know that I understand that some activities will suck and be difficult and that they’ll want to rip their hair out but that I also know which activities are the most fun and how rewarding and accomplished they will feel when it’s all said and done.
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I really don’t know why I do things the way I do. Is it from years of routine as to this is how it needs to be done? Is it from no one stopping and helping me break these habits?
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I was predispositioned to not question, to memorize and regurgitate information. I was scared that I was passing this trait on to my students.
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After Alex asked me to think about how this may hold true in my daily life and routine I realized I really don’t speak up any where let alone in class.
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I think I’m just scared.
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This is a brilliant self-reflection. Now what are you going to do about it? There is NOTHING wrong with being shy, or an introvert ( http://www.diigo.com/user/alexandrapickett/introvert ) WATCH this NOW! http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html You need to get MAD and use that anger to get over the fear that is preventing you from doing/being/experiencing. Anger is a powerful force that can help you stop focusing on yourself -when you flip it to use it to advocate for those less powerful than you - your students!
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Oh, I'd love to get angry and actually stand up for myself and others. Unfortunately that only seems to happen with a few glasses of wine in me. Not too feasible in the classroom, lol. That should be my next goal, find strength without liquid courage!
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Ya know Alex, I love you and all and this class has been amazing but I honestly think you are killing my laptop!!
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Well no more soul searching I have a course to design. Best of wishes to all my fellow classmates as we begin to wrap up this amazing journey!
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Lisa, I can’t believe how amazing your course is! I want to take it!!
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Less than 24 hours later this article appeared in my inbox. At first I was really aggravated by this article because it seemed like it was ripping to shreds everything I have been working at this summer and I felt like he was sitting at home with an “I told you so” smirk. This quote just floored me “In terms of learning on the college level, the Department of Education looked at thousands of research studies from 1996 to 2008 and found that in higher education, students rarely learned as much from online courses as they did in traditional classes.” Really, what study? Everything that we have read seems to be in the complete opposite direction of this statement! I agree that for some there will be a financial obstacles and internet issues like we’ve all had but that’s where as a teacher we come into play and offer solutions and options. Upon reading it for a second time I feel that this article and any other article discrediting online teaching should be looked at as a challenge! I am strong and passionate about this endeavor of mine and no article or fuddy duddy teacher is going to come in the way of that. Well I hope you all have an amazing weekend. I will be attempting to cool my boiling blood as I sit by the calming cool waters of the Kinzua Dam with a delicious glass of Riesling.
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That article prompted response from the online learning community. Here is a particularly excellent articulate and respectful response: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/open-letter-professor-edmundson
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: ) ammunition for your challenge: http://slneducation.edublogs.org/2010/02/16/online-learning-vs-classroom-instruction/
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As this class come to an end and I look back at where I was in May, I can only say I wish I knew then what I know now. This class has given me so much academically, personally and technologicially, lol. In only a short time I feel like I have grown so much as person and as a teacher.
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Constructivist Learning Theory - 0 views
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Lecture = 5% Reading = 10% Audiovisual = 20% Demonstration = 30% Discussion Group = 50% Practice by doing = 75% Teach others / immediate use of learning = 90% It should also be recognized that a person's prior knowledg
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Before we answer this question, ask yourself, "How do I learn best?" For example, do you learn better when someone tells you exactly how to do something, or do you learn better by doing it yourself? Many people are right in the middle of those two scenarios.
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This has led many educators to believe that the best way to learn is by having students construct their own knowledge instead of having someone construct it for them
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This theory states that learning is an active process of creating meaning from different experiences. In other words, students will learn best by by trying to make sense of something on their own with the teacher as a guide to help them along the way.
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Critical Thinking Development: A Stage Theory - 0 views
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We must recognize the importance of challenging our students — in a supportive way — to recognize both that they are thinkers and that their thinking often goes awry. We must lead class discussions about thinking. We must explicitly model thinking (e.g., thinking aloud through a problem). We must design classroom activities that explicitly require students to think about their thinking. We must have students examine both poor and sound thinking, talking about the differences. We must introduce students to the parts of thinking and the intellectual standards necessary to assess thinking. We must introduce the idea of intellectual humility to students; that is, the idea of becoming aware of our own ignorance. Perhaps children can best understand the importance of this idea through their concept of the "know-it-all," which comes closest to their recognition of the need to be intellectually humble.
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recognize that they have basic problems in their thinking and make initial attempts to better understand how they can take charge of and improve it.
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begin to modify some of their thinking, but have limited insight into deeper levels of the trouble inherent in their thinking. Most importantly, they lack a systematic plan for improving their thinking, hence their efforts are hit and miss.
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we must teach in such a way as to help them to see that we all need to regularly practice good thinking to become good thinkers.
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We must emphasize the importance of beginning to take charge of the parts of thinking and applying intellectual standards to thinking. We must teach students to begin to recognize their native egocentrism when it is operating in their thinking.
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since practicing thinkers are only beginning to approach the improvement of their thinking in a systematic way, they still have limited insight into deeper levels of thought, and thus into deeper levels of the problems embedded in thinking.
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Practicing thinkers recognize the need for systematicity of critical thinking and deep internalization into habits. They clearly recognize the natural tendency of the human mind to engage in egocentric thinking and self-deception.
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often recognize their own egocentric thinking as well as egocentric thinking on the part of others. Furthermore practicing thinkers actively monitor their thinking to eliminate egocentric thinking, although they are often unsuccessful.
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have the intellectual humility required to realize that thinking in all the domains of their lives must be subject to scrutiny, as they begin to approach the improvement of their thinking in a systematic way.
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We must teach in such a way that students come to understand the power in knowing that whenever humans reason, they have no choice but to use certain predictable structures of thought: that thinking is inevitably driven by the questions, that we seek answers to questions for some purpose, that to answer questions, we need information, that to use information we must interpret it (i.e., by making inferences), and that our inferences, in turn, are based on assumptions, and have implications, all of which involves ideas or concepts within some point of view. We must teach in such a way as to require students to regularly deal explicitly with these structures (more on these structure presently).
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Recognizing the "moves" one makes in thinking well is an essential part of becoming a practicing thinker.
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Students should be encouraged to routinely catch themselves thinking both egocentrically and sociocentrically.
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advanced thinkers not only actively analyze their thinking in all the significant domains of their lives, but also have significant insight into problems at deeper levels of thought. While advanced thinkers are able to think well across the important dimensions of their lives, they are not yet able to think at a consistently high level across all of these dimensions. Advanced thinkers have good general command over their egocentric nature. They continually strive to be fair-minded. Of course, they sometimes lapse into egocentrism and reason in a one-sided way.
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nsight into deep levels of problems in thought: consistent recognition, for example, of egocentric and sociocentric thought in one’s thinking, ability to identify areas of significant ignorance and prejudice, and ability to actually develop new fundamental habits of thought based on deep values to which one has committed oneself.
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successfully engaged in systematically monitoring the role in their thinking of concepts, assumptions, inferences, implications, points of view, etc., and hence have excellent knowledge of that enterprise. Advanced thinkers are also knowledgeable of what it takes to regularly assess their thinking for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, logicalness, etc.
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a) the intellectual insight and perseverance to actually develop new fundamental habits of thought based on deep values to which one has committed oneself, b) the intellectual integrity to recognize areas of inconsistency and contradiction in one’s life, c) the intellectual empathy necessary to put oneself in the place of others in order to genuinely understand them, d) the intellectual courage to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints toward which one has strong negative emotions, e) the fair-mindedness necessary to approach all viewpoints without prejudice, without reference to one’s own feelings or vested interests. In the advanced thinker these traits are emerging, but may not be manifested at the highest level or in the deepest dimensions of thought.
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our students will not become advanced thinkers — if at all — until college or beyond. Nevertheless, it is important that they learn what it would be to become an advanced thinker. It is important that they see it as an important goal. We can help students move in this direction by fostering their awareness of egocentrism and sociocentrism in their thinking, by leading discussions on intellectual perseverance, intellectual integrity, intellectual empathy, intellectual courage, and fair-mindedness. If we can graduate students who are practicing thinkers, we will have achieved a major break-through in schooling. However intelligent our graduates may be, most of them are largely unreflective as thinkers, and are unaware of the disciplined habits of thought they need to develop to grow intellectually as a thinker.
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have systematically taken charge of their thinking, but are also continually monitoring, revising, and re-thinking strategies for continual improvement of their thinking. They have deeply internalized the basic skills of thought, so that critical thinking is, for them, both conscious and highly intuitive.
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Accomplished thinkers are deeply committed to fair-minded thinking, and have a high level of, but not perfect, control over their egocentric nature.
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To make the highest levels of critical thinking intuitive in every domain of one’s life. To internalize highly effective critical thinking in an interdisciplinary and practical way.
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Accomplished thinkers are not only actively and successfully engaged in systematically monitoring the role in their thinking of concepts, assumptions, inferences, implications, points of view, etc., but are also regularly improving that practice. Accomplished thinkers have not only a high degree of knowledge of thinking, but a high degree of practical insight as well. Accomplished thinkers intuitively assess their thinking for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, logicalness, etc. Accomplished thinkers have deep insights into the systematic internalization of critical thinking into their habits. Accomplished thinkers deeply understand the role that egocentric and sociocentric thinking plays in the lives of human beings, as well as the complex relationship between thoughts, emotions, drives and behavior.
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Naturally inherent in master thinkers are all the essential intellectual characteristics, deeply integrated. Accomplished thinkers have a high degree of intellectual humility, intellectual integrity, intellectual perseverance, intellectual courage, intellectual empathy, intellectual autonomy, intellectual responsibility and fair-mindedness. Egocentric and sociocentric thought is quite uncommon in the accomplished thinker, especially with respect to matters of importance. There is a high degree of integration of basic values, beliefs, desires, emotions, and action.
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For the foreseeable future the vast majority of our students will never become accomplished thinkers
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important that they learn what it would be to become an accomplished thinker. It is important that they see it as a real possibility, if practicing skills of thinking becomes a characteristic of how they use their minds day to day.
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Thus it is vital that an intellectual vocabulary for talking about the mind be established for teachers; and that teachers lead discussions in class designed to teach students, from the point of view of intellectual quality, how their minds work, including how they can improve as thinkers.
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in elementary school an essential objective would be that students become "beginning" thinkers, that is, that they will be taught so that they discover that they are thinkers and that their thinking, like a house, can be well or poorly constructed. This "discovery" stage--the coming to awareness that all of us are thinkers--needs to be given the highest priority. Middle school and High School, on this model, would aim at helping all students become, at least, "practicing" thinkers. Of course, students discover thinking only by discovering that thinking has "parts." Like learning what "Legos" are, we learn as we come to discover that there are various parts to thinking and those parts can be put together in various ways. Unlike Legos, of course, thinking well requires that we learn to check how the parts of thinking are working together to make sure they are working properly: For example, have we checked the accuracy of information? Have we clarified the question?
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We are not advocating here that teachers withdraw from academic content. Rather we are suggesting that critical thinking provides a way of deeply embracing content intellectually. Within this view students come to take intellectual command of how they think, act, and react while they are learning...history, biology, geography, literature, etc., how they think, act, and react as a reader, writer, speaker, and listener, how they think, act, and react as a student, brother, friend, child, shopper, consumer of the media, etc.
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to effectively learn any subject in an intellectually meaningful way presupposes a certain level of command over one’s thinking, which in turn presupposes understanding of the mind’s processes.
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Thinking is inevitably driven by the questions we seek to answer, and those questions we seek to answer for some purpose. To answer questions, we need information which is in fact meaningful to us only if we interpret it (i.e., by making inferences). Our inferences, in turn, are based on assumptions and require that we use ideas or concepts to organize the information in some way from some point of view. Last but not least, our thinking not only begins somewhere intellectually (in certain assumptions), it also goes somewhere---that is, has implications and consequences.
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Thus whenever we reason through any problem, issue, or content we are well advised to take command of these intellectual structures: purpose, question, information, inferences, assumptions, concepts, point of view, and implications. By explicitly teaching students how to take command of the elements of reasoning we not only help them take command of their thinking in a general way; we also provide a vehicle which effectively enables them to critically think through the content of their classes, seeing connections between all of what they are learning.
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if I am to develop my critical thinking ability I must both "discover" my thinking and must intellectually take charge of it. To do this I must make a deep commitment to this end.
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the human mind, left to its own, pursues that which is immediately easy, that which is comfortable, and that which serves its selfish interests. At the same time, it naturally resists that which is difficult to understand, that which involves complexity, that which requires entering the thinking and predicaments of others.
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When we learn together as developing thinkers, when we all of us seek to raise our thinking to the next level, and then to the next after that, everyone benefits, and schooling then becomes what it was meant to be, a place to discover the power of lifelong learning. This should be a central goal for all our students--irrespective of their favored mode of intelligence or learning style. It is in all of our interest to accept the challenge: to begin, to practice, to advance as thinkers.