Twitter is beginning to catch on with many educators, schools are
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Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: Twitter In Schools-A Getting Started Guide - 12 views
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Thanks for sharing this article. I have used Twitter for some time, but on a personal level. I have a side business as a portrait photographer and have used it to stay connected and for some marketing. I was interested in how the article described the use of Twitter for a school community.
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Great ideas! Our school just launched a Twitter and Facebook account this school year. We are still in the beginning phase and this will help push it!
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I too liked this...helping my learning curve rise much faster as I develop my PLN using Twitter and Diigo etc..
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This article has really made me think about how I can use Twitter in the Art room... my brain is overflowing with ideas!
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I used to be against twitter but now I am starting to see the possible benefits of using twitter for the classroom.
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Wednesday, June 15, 2011 Twitter In Schools-A Getting Started Guide The end of the school year is upon us however many are looking forward to next year. You may be thinking what can you do differently next year? How can you stand out above the crowd? How can your school become a larger part of the school community?While Twitter is beginning to catch on with many educators, schools are lagging in their adoption of the platform. But let's think about it. Twitter is a quick and easy
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I see the increasing interest in the use of twitter, but I am having a difficult time convincing other colleagues to use it. It seems to take fire only when twitter is an 'all in' tool for a staff of teachers. As much as I like twitter and see the usefulness so this as a tool of education, it has a significant amount of growth to do in order to be the mainstream tool within a school.
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I see a use for Twitter by our school's Administration to push out notifications for: meeting reminders, congratulatory messages, weather related school closings, and sports scores. However, I believe schools and teachers need to be conscious of how much we push out -- having multiple posts a week by each of the seven or eight teachers that a high school student has in a day could be obtrusive. Our system uses PowerSchool and individual teacher websites to post: assignments, scores, and additional course specific information. Parents and students should be able to look up what they need when it is convenient for them as opposed to being messaged when it may not be.
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along.
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Oh my! I am not a current Twitter user, so I am not familiar with exactly how it works, but I think I have an idea. This is probably a good examply of the "line" that separates those who are used to this technology and those who are good at technology but at the point of trying to figure out how and when to apply it. WHen I read the "Think First" section, I just kept picturing in my head classes/students/teachers being bombarded and interrupted all day long if they possibly hoped to keep up with Twitter posts. But as I read farther and saw it might be more intended to tweet to the public, I thought "ok", but ...... So, while I'm not turning my reception off to Twitter, I am interested to know how, when and for what purposes Twitter can be used in education. Interesting notion! I look forward to hearing more about its application.
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While Twitter is beginning to catch on with many educators, schools are lagging in their adoption of the platform. But let's think about it. Twitter is a quick and easy tool
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What do you want to do with this account? What do you hope to accomplish? What do you want to communicate? So, you are going to have a Twitter account. Great! Why? What do you want to tell people? The possibilities here are really endless. But think beyond the basic stuff like picture day and what's for lunch. Consider taking pictures of kids doing collaborative projects or highlighting staff of the month. It can really go beyond all the regular communication and show the community what your school (or district) is all about. Who will be in charge of the account? Will there be just one person who will post or will you have multiple people who post? This is all situation dependent. I would say more than one person is great but too many and things can get out of hand and duplicate information could easily be posted. Keep it simple and experiment to find what works for your group.
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Pertaining to the use of Twitter in the classroom and as part of the curriculum, I believe these questions to be paramount. Too often, with technology, especially networking sites we seem to jump in without much thought or planning as to how this will affect us and what kind of effect it will have on our intended users/viewers/public.
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This is a great introduction to using twitter in the classroom and answers many questions I wouldn't even have thought to ask. It would make using to it more focused.
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I think using Twitter in the classroom would be a great addition. Our school is planning on going to 1-on-1's next year, making it easier for everyone to access. I agree with the idea of being able to share some of the cool things the kids are doing with the rest of the community. Kid's get a bum wrap sometimes, when in fact they are doing a lot of really great things both in and out of the classroom that deserves recognition from the community. It would also be a nice way to update people about events going on at the school. For example, our softball team did a soup supper to raise money for the year. While they advertised in the more traditional sense, posters, e-mail's to the faculty, etc., many community members had no idea that this was happening. It would have been nice for them to be a part of the activity, if they would have had more information.
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I never thought Twitter would be used in the classroom, but the more I use it and more I read about it, I am beginning to see the benefits of it
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I can see where this would be good in the regular public schools. However, I teach at a detention facility and technology is a hard thing to incorporate with students, but think it could be a perfect communication tool for teachers involved with these students.
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I am not apposed to using Twitter in the classroom but am failing to see the benefit of having it in the classroom. We seem to have other tools that have a wide variety of uses. Twitter seems limited in comparison.
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I am excited by the possibilities of this. But my problem is getting staff and families on board. We have a population where many families don't have internet. And many staff don't get their emails read so how do we add more things for them to look for? I would like more information on getting people on board. I don't want it to be a two-tiered system, where a small click in in the know and the rest are out.
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We have a school wide Twitter account but I am not sure how I would use it in a kindergarten classroom. Any suggestions?
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Parents in your class could follow your twitter account to see what you are doing on a daily basis!
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We have a district twitter account and have the possibility of a school account. I'm trying to picture my principal and lead teacher with time to tweet with everything else going on around them. I can see teems communicating this way which would help them to get input from other sources.
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Communication is always the complaint that is registered by parents and students when it comes to schools. Having a school update come to you via your phone would be awesome. As always, decisions have to be made on what is the most effective way to communicate. Twitter could really bridge the gap in some cases.
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Great way to utilize the tool/resource instead of trying to block kids off of it at school. Will be sharing!
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Iowa Schools Online Communities - Online Communities for Iowa educators - 0 views
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For those visiting, this online community is right now in the developmental stage. Some of what you see is only there to test the different features of the ning.
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Can you give us an update on the Iowa Schools Ning, Evan? Still on track to roll ou at SAI conference in the fall?
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We've had some setbacks on the Iowa Schools Ning. We'll be talking about online communities and have examples of the current communities in the state at ITEC, but as far as having the whole Ning set up at that point, I'm not sure we'll be there.
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Education Update:Taking the Fear Out of the First Year:Professional Learning Communitie... - 4 views
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What do we want each student to learn? How will we know when each student has learned it? How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?
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My school system has been doing PLC groups for 2 years but I think we need to think about these questions while decided what we want to do in them. I think we jump from one thing to the next and do not think about the students.
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I believe that thiese are important questions you must think about when deciding what you are going to discuss. My PLC group really tried to think about what we wanted the students to learn and how we were going to help them!
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My school is also in the second year. Getting better at working together rather then just complaining. Will take commitment from everyone.
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We are in the first year of our PLC groups, and these are the questions that our groups are focusing on. Our goal is to help every student, no matter if they are in our class or not. I think these are great questions to help us help all of our students!
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PLC groups (as defined by DuFour) seem to be easier to implement in a larger school with more than one teacher teaching a specific class. Developing a true PLC will not be an immediate process. After hearing speakers at the PLC conference in St. Louis, it is amazing what some districts have done with these.
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These are questions that our administrator has had us ask ourselves for two years now. It keeps us focused on our students and what we need to do for each of them.
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I'm hoping that my school will consider a real PLC within the next year or two. These questions would be a good jump point.
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So what is the true definition of a PLC? On its Web site, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory explains that the term describes "a collegial group of administrators and staff who are united in their commitment to student learning." Administrators and staff work collaboratively to create shared goals, assess student understanding and learning, and improve their own teaching practices.
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These PLC groups will become ever more important as the dynamic of a teacher's responsibility continues to change. As in, not only are we teaching these children together, but in some cases playing father, mother, role model, confidant, etc.
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Julie Crotty from AEA267 explained that there are essentially two terms we are confusing. There are plc's (lower case) that are the more informal learning communities where the community can explore any goals. Then there is the PLC (upper case) which represents the definition you describe. As I understand it, in a PLC, a group of educators would be analyzing student data, determining goals, and deciding how to attain measurable student achievement.
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Because of teachers' busy schedules, it is important for administrators to allot specific time for teachers to meet as groups. "It's absolutely immoral to tell teachers they need to collaborate and not give them the time to collaborate,"
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This is so important. I agree with Mike Mattos comment about being immoral, but more importantly, it does nothing but bring down staff morale.
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Very important point - additionally this must be a priority for all teachers in the district. Too often non-required classes (music, PE, vocational, special education) are skipped or seen as a low priority for collaboration time.
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when teachers participate in a learning community, students benefit as well, as indicated by improved achievement scores over time
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Iowa Core Curriculum - Literacy - 0 views
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Literacy — defined by Meltzer, Smith, and Clark as the ability to read, write, speak, listen, and think effectively — enables students to learn and to communicate clearly about what they know. Being literate gives people the ability to become informed, to inform others, and to make informed decisions (2001). Literacy is synonymous with learning. The partnerships between reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing — connecting with the ever-increasing knowledge base for each content area — provide the means for thinking among and between concepts and ideas. It is an active process.
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By its nature, literacy is social. In being effective critical members of a literacy community, students collaborate with others. Whether it be engaging the ideas of an author or actively discussing and debating issues about their lives with their peers, this collaboration helps students gain an appreciation of themselves, others, and the world. There is a cumulative advantage to the reciprocity of sharing ideas. The more students engage in literacy, the deeper their conceptual understanding and motivation to learn becomes.
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"By its nature, literacy is social. In being effective critical members of a literacy community, students collaborate with others. Whether it be engaging the ideas of an author or actively discussing and debating issues about their lives with their peers, this collaboration helps students gain an appreciation of themselves, others, and the world. There is a cumulative advantage to the reciprocity of sharing ideas. The more students engage in literacy, the deeper their conceptual understanding and motivation to learn becomes. "
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Education Update:Taking the Fear Out of the First Year:Professional Learning Communitie... - 13 views
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Being a part of a collaborative culture helped to take my first year from being a complete, disorganized disaster to a year of successful learning for both the children and me. I felt the mentoring process was a form of collaborative culture.
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The time for groups of teachers to work together is key. This can be difficult at the secondary level, districts and administrators are getting more creative about finding ways to make this happen.
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Specials teachers also like to be included in these communities. It seems like we get placed in the position of working with students while other collaborate in our building. Not sure how to solve this scheduling issue.
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Allysen is right! key is time for teachers to work together and learn the technology available
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Because of teachers' busy schedules, it is important for administrators to allot specific time for teachers to meet as groups. "It's absolutely immoral to tell teachers they need to collaborate and not give them the time to collaborate," says Mike Mattos, principal at Pioneer Middle School in Tustin, Calif. His school implemented the Late Start Wednesday program, in which students come to school late on Wednesdays (the other days are longer to make up classroom time), allowing teachers time for collaboration.
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I think it's great that this article points out the importance to allot time for collaboration! We have implemented an early out once a month this year for basically this reason. We are using the time to work on AIW, Authentic Intellectual Work, with co-workers. This focuses on working together to improve tasks, student work and instruction.
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It is important to provide time to collaborate. In some schools the teachers only see each other at lunch, in the hallway, or at an already structured meeting. There should be an opportunity for teachers of all subjects to get together to talk about what they have been doing, what has worked, and what has not worked.
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an easy-to-read article describing the professional learning community philosophy
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Here is a great article I found during a PLN class I am taking and it talks on how to use twitter. Our class on Personal Learning Networks fits right with PLC's. Our school in Grundy Center, Iowa just finished it's second year. Here is the sight for the twitter info. http://cooper-taylor.com/2008/08/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-education/
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http://www.allthingsplc.info/wordpress/?p=2105 Here is an article to see if your school is doing a good job with PLC's. Our school thought it had a great first year and the second year we didn't. We followed the steps the second year and didn't personalize it as much and we regretted it later. While assessing PLC's don't ever forget to make it your own.
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I am taking a class bout this concept of PLN's and we have been investigating multiple social media outlets in order to help contribute to the students' learning environment. Below is a link to the 2006 Time magazine "person of the Year" article. It's a good read and offers great perspective and it would be a great resource to explain to kids and other teachers (PD) as to what direction "learning" is heading and why is it important to continue to evolve our methods. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html
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The PLC team I was on this year really felt like we were successful at helping our first graders. We were able to focus on what we wanted to do to help our students and have the time to discuss if it was working. We were also able to have the time to discuss what we can all do to make things better.
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There is no question that a collaborative culture encourages improved student achievement. When we all work together, it's always better for the students and for us.
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I look forward to creating that collaborative culture in our district. I feel we have it, but turning the focus on to the student's actual learning will be very powerful and beneficial to all of our students. Providing the time for our teachers will be critical, and getting everyone to buy into the change in thinking.
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Perhaps because I am taking a class on and learning the power of PLNs, I am really impressed by the potential of this. And beneficial to teachers AND students.
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Iowa Department of Education 21st Century Skills - 0 views
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Friedman
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(1) critical thinking and problem solving; (2) collaboration and leadership; (3) agility and adaptability; (4) initiative and entrepreneurialism; (5) effective oral and written communication; (6) accessing and analyzing information; and (7) curiosity and imagination.
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I think these are all great...but think back to the '5 essential characteristics' and formative assessment, etc. How will we be able to "assess" these skills? It's tough to assess these soft skills, in my opinion.
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Yes, these are definitely broad topics. What underlying, assessable skills make up these survival skills?
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shared by Susan Sandholm-Petersen on 10 Apr 10
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Key Ingredient Missing in 21st Century Education | Asia Society - 0 views
www.asiasociety.org/...ent-missing-21st-century-educa
world languages 21st C Skills global awareness
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Mastery of world languages and the weaving of global awareness into core subject areas are key components of their definition of success. Yet too often, as in President Obama's call to arms this week, the notion that part of a world-class education includes knowing something about the world gets left out of the reform rhetoric. It's time to include global competency—knowing how to compete, communicate and collaborate with the world—as a core 21st century skill that all students, indeed, have a right to learn
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One of the best ways to learn global competence and to develop global literacy is to learn another language. Communication and collaboration are embedded and experienced via the target language
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Although World Languages is listed as a key 21st Century Skill (second on the list of key competencies, after English, reading and language arts), World Languages instruction is currently not part of the Iowa Core Curriculum. Will our Iowa students be fully prepared to work on a global level without this competency?
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5 Tips for Sparking a Grassroots Movement Online - 0 views
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Anne Driscoll is the vice president of business operations at Ning , where she is responsible for marketing, communications, creative services and human resources. Prior to joining Ning, Anne led communications and brand initiatives at Google. “Social action” comes easy to those who understand the value of service, helping others and devoting themselves to making the world a better place despite challenges.
Learning Communities - 0 views
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Best content in Iowa Core Discussion | Diigo - Groups - 0 views
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While Kay doesn't address the Common Core specifically, he does address the changes that need to occur for schools to become viable in the 21st Century. He specifically refers to the 4 Cs, which are found in 21C Skills/Standards. Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Communication. Be committed to the 3 Rs and the 4Cs. Good article of reform-minded individuals. Susie P
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TeachPaperless: What Makes a Great Teacher a Great Teacher in the 21st Century - 11 views
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When it comes to educational technology, the great teacher isn't the one who merely uses technology in education. The great teacher is the one who experiments and who teaches the spirits within students to experiment. It's sad to see many teachers still thinking they are using technology with their classes but are still not getting it into the students hands.
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When will the state catch up? It would be wonderful to concentrate on guiding students in self-inquiry through technology if our feet weren't mired in standardized testing.
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I think it is very hard for teachers to trust new technology and give it to the students to use. The students are most likely ready and willing to try the technology, now we just have to jump on board.
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I think the districts need to provide more technology in the classroom in order for teachers to take advantage of the new technology to go paperless. I currently have two computers in my classroom and we do not have a computer lab.
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I know my district is in need of providing technology to teachers and students so that we can use technology more. It makes it more difficult when you only have two computers in the classroom and no computer lab for students to experiment.
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Sometimes its the fear of the teacher to let go- give the students the opportunities to try to use the technology! I still struggle with how do you go paperless at the early elementary level? Love to incorporate more technology and get it into my students hands!
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Teachers a educational coaches, gleefully running amok admist constantly changing technology, leading their students to think and act outside of the box. Whould be interesting.
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This article had a great point about the use of Web 2.0. It isn't just that we progress to a new level and use the newer technologies. Rather, we allow them to be used as a tool by students to encourage them to become more engaged learners.
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What great teachers do with technology to extend learning opportunities to students.
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I love this article. I thought is was right on with what makes a great teacher great! I'm not sure where you found it but thanks for sharing!!!
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This is a great article and I am taking a class right now on PLN's to help push me in the right direction of doing more and having the students do more with technology.
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This is a good read. We do need to become 21st Century educators in this brave world of technology.
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I think the hardest part for me is where to begin and what the first step is.
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Articles like this make you think. Paperless? Is that the goal? I believe the goal is to help our students become better learners. Learners that can discover, adapt, create, communicate, lead and follow. Technology has a huge role in this. More than time to jump on board.
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At the company I work at - we are paperless in handling claims and I do have to say it is nice. The system we use - you can mark pages, highlight, attach sticky notes, and several other options. It is a great system and can fax and email right from your desk - so if the paperless in school can correlate - it could be a great addition. I do think that when it is in teaching - you can lose the benefit of face to face, etc as well as penmanship could become a lost art.
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Paperless Tiger « buckenglish - 0 views
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Does this jettisoning of time-honored titles mean that the paperless classroom is also lacking a creator, controller and grader? Is the paperless classroom also a teacherless paradigm? The answer is in some regards, yes. I have removed myself from center stage. I have relinquished the need to control every class. I have stopped seeing work as stagnant…completed and submitted by students and then graded by me. I have let go of my need to pre-plan months at a time, in favor of following the path that unfolds as we learn together. My classes are not, however, teacherless, just less about the teaching and more about the learning. The students know that I am ready and willing to be student to their insights, that they can teach, create, control and even evaluate their own learning. This shift has inspired a true spirit of collaboration, critical thinking, and communication in B304–it has been an amazing semester and has changed the course of my career for good!
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Iowa - 21st century curricula | Dangerously Irrelevant - 7 views
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The ICC is definitely working hard to get us where we need to go. We need to get our staff, school board, and community to understand that doing nothing is not an option.
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We also need to be very supportive of each other during this process. It will definitely be a change for many (most?) teachers. We need to celebrate our successes and build upon them. We also need to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it when things do not turn out how we hoped/planned.
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The change can be the toughest part, sometimes it is just a different way of doing things can make the biggest impact.
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I know I should be more positive, but I am still not sold on it. I don't have the answer,and agree we need to do something, but I don't know if this is it. Time will tell.
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With the research that shows the importance of building student creativity, it is concerning to see so many districts eliminating or de-funding arts programs.
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While watching the video, I had kind of an a-ha moment (many of you have probably reached this point years ago). I imagined the schools of long ago -- think one room prairie school houses. For many kids this was the only place they would see books or be exposed to anything beyond merely existing. At some point, school and home began switching places. As stated in the video, without allowing the new available technology into the classroom and teaching them how to manage it, school will become a one room schoolhouse and home will be the place they can explore the world and expand their intellect. What we need to work for is a seamless meshing of the two. They come to school to get inspired and motivated to continue learning on their own time.
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The Changing Face of Education in Iowa: Call for Action: Get Rid of Grades - 5 views
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We never get a chance to have students compare themselves to... themselves. Never to look at how much they have grown, or what they have left to do.
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I find this very interesting and it's such a great point that I took some time to reflect on. As a teacher, I can see how this may benefit some students. Some of them would really enjoying seeing how far they've come or what they don't know yet. Not all of them look at their ITEDs scores and really understand them. I guess this would be a good reason for some form of pre/post testing. I really like the idea of having students take pride in seeing what they've gotten out of the classroom since so many of them degrade themselves and what they're learning anyway....thanks for the food for thought.
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I teach special education and I compare my students to themselves all the time. The skill areas we work on are charted and monitored twice a month at a minimum. I think it is an extremely valuable tool to have them see a visual of how they have grown (hopefully!) through the year. I agree that grading is subjective in many areas and can be inconsistent. Grades are most important in high school for getting into college and scholarships.
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The way textbooks and goals are set up normally, the tendency would be that students assess themselves against a pre-concieved standard. This will take a lot of re-thinking.
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Many college drop outs have substantial debt - yes kid's expense in more than one way!
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The Iowa World Language Association is working on the materials for a language passport or portfolio which could be used to document what a student knows and can do. This language passport can be used by universities and future employers to attest to a student's competence with a particular language--something that grades don't always show. Perhaps other areas could develop similar tools to showcase a student's competence in that area.
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Wow...well written. I have been of the same school of thought for some time, but it seems like such an 'out there' concept for so many people.
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I heard Doug Reeves speak on Monday and he spoke to the very same issue. He offered an activity in which he provided a set of five different grades and asked each individual in the room to "average" them in some fashion and then decide on a final grade. In a room of around 75 educators, individuals took the same grades and came up with As, Bs, Cs and Fs for the same set of five posted grades. Doug's point was that grading is so subjective, inconsistent and doesn't provide useful information to students, parents or others.
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I have never thought of grading being so subjective and inconsistent, but this is very interesting school of thought.
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Pretty far out; I like it. Thinking about the depth to which grades are in the system - credits, transcripts, GPA - both as a sign of progress and or understanding. Also thinking about assessment and grading - assessment of learning versus assessment for learning...... Great post!
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I often think of how valuable this has been for my own children. They have had a Montesouri education and have been graded on challenging themselves and not compared to the other students. We have now switched back to traditional school and I find that my children are becoming a bit lazy. They now say things like who cares I always get A's. Is this what learning is about? I try to make sure to stress challenging yourself to my own students and I downplay grades.
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Great piece and the discussions we must be having as an education community. AND the discussion we should have with students and parents. Often we have this belief that the status quo is just fine, but often do nothing about challenging our system and how it supports learning as a journey. This concept and discussion should be kept alive and I believe we need to keep this discussion open.
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TeachPaperless: 21st Century Skills: My Personal Mission Statement - 0 views
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In schoolhouse lingo, I could only declare teachers and students 'absent' from the board of P21. And until that absence is rectified, the board will only symbolize the top-down old-fashioned 20th century style of management that's gotten us into so many of the problems that as a nation we currently face.
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building collaborative partnerships between families, communities, and educators independent of any proprietary business interests.
Introductions! - 26 views
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Best content in Iowa Core Discussion | Diigo - Groups - 11 views
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Give students a list of the learning targets they are responsible for mastering, written in student-friendly language.Show students anonymous strong and weak examples of the kind of product or performance they are expected to create and have them use a scoring guide to determine which one is better and why.Administer a nongraded quiz part-way through the learning, to help both teacher and students understand who needs to work on what.Highlight phrases on a scoring guide reflecting specific strengths and areas for improvement and staple it to student work.Have students identify their own strengths and areas for improvement using a scoring guide.Have students keep a list of learning targets for the course and periodically check off the ones they have mastered.Give students feedback and have them use it to set goals.Have students graph or describe their progress on specific learning targets.Ask students to comment on their progress: What changes have they noticed? What is easy that used to be hard? What insights into themselves as learners have they discovered?
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I agree that identifying their owns strengths and areas of improvement can be a useful tool
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Student self assessment is becoming both more important and more difficult in classrooms. It seems as though students sometimes aren't ready to admit their faults or concerns when it may help the teacher conduct formative assessment tasks. Sadly, teachers often rely heavily on that very self-assessment, which may or may not be entirely accurate.
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I have actually found that those students who take their education seriously (and there are more than I think) are almost fault finding rather than confidence building. That is when I take the opportunity to build them up and point out their successes.
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I agree with Kevin's comment that students do not want to admit fault. They are also timid about asking for help. We recently had a student who did not hand in an assignment that was a substantial part of his grade for the term. We asked several times if he wanted/needed help. His response was always no. Finally, after about 3 weeks the teacher made him come into her room during study hall and work on the assignment. He failed to understand one of the key steps and after it was explained, he finished the essay. It was a failure on both our parts. The student should have asked for help, but if we had a better system in place to check for understanding at key points, it would have been less stressful for both parties. We need to consider doing more of these things at my school.
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I really like the last question, especially with students I work with. It is most important that the student see their progress, for the sole reason they don't believe anyone. Also, the fact they are to see themselves as learners and what they have discovered. Love it!!!
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I think if students are given their expectations a head of time, you will see progress in their work. Their are special cases where this is untrue, but we all like expectations that are obtainable.
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I agree with Chrisine. Students are quite honest and critical of themselves and it gives them the oportunity to see growth within themselves.
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I agree that if we let the students know from the beginning what the expectaions for the class are, they can follow their progress in the class and see their improvment. Also, giving a norgraded quiz is also a good idea but I'm wondering if they would do their best knowing it isn't graded at the beginning.
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These are all excellent components to learning and helping students move forward with learning. Could there also be a parent component which would allow for more communication opportunities?
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I use non-graded quizzes regularly -- the word "quiz" helps them take it seriously -- to assess where students are. I think I will try adding the self assessment of where they are on the learning targets to the end of the quiz. Rather than collecting and going through myself, I will let them assess what they know and what still needs to be worked on. When I collect them, we will both be on track to fill the gaps.
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I like having students identify their own strengths and goals...gives them ownership and accountability.
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I like the idea of "student-friendly" language and for students to look at their own progress would be very helpful. Using rubrics would be similar but adding it into technology would make it more engaging for students plus it would be paperless.
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A big part of DuFour (Solution Tree, PLC) is non-graded formative assessment. The claim is that, once a student sees a grade, the learning stops. No matter what amount of feedback you give, all they are concerned about is the grade.
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As a high school teacher, I have found that students generally don't take seriously non-graded assessment. I do though strongly agree that incremental formative assessment is key to developing desirable levels of skill and understanding. Over the years I've developed two different schemes for addressing the need for incremental formative assessment, while avoiding the barriers that "grades" can impose. For Junior and Senior students, it has been useful for the students to allow them retakes, so they may retake any incremental formative assessment whose score is not what they would like it to be. I take the most recent score for better or worse. If they wish to retake a third, forth, or umpteenth time then they may do so (with the same better or worse consequence). Though this scheme is helpful for them, allowing them to see how the prep work leads to assessment items, and thus focusing their instruction to make them more efficient test-takers, it is somewhat burdensome in paperwork (as every incremental formative assessment has multiple versions -- many tailor-made to suit specific learning preferences). As the Freshmen student class sizes are so much greater and as Freshmen are less mature in the ways of the grades, the aforementioned retake scheme has not proven useful with them. Many Freshman consider that a nongraded assignment is "busy work" and don't give it their best effort. More importantly, the results of such nongraded assignments are considered to be unimportant primarily because the students knew they didn't utilize their best effort. The scheme that has proven to be most successful with them is "risk ratcheting". Students are given prep work which is designed to help them with note-taking skills. the answer to all the prep-work material is reviewed in class with the understanding that if the prep work was done poorly, then it is a sign that your notes need to be fixed (corrected, culled, or added to). The next assessment item is small and each ind
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I agree with Todd here. We have done it both ways and we went to teach another school about PLC's where they would be assigning groups. I do not think they would find as much joy and success that way as DuFour says in his book having a choice is key!
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Van Meter has given teacher flexibility when doing PLC. Meeting at Early but allowed to leave early of whatever the group works out.
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Gladbrook-Reinbeck Elem teachers have been having their PLC's on Wednesday mornings before school. Unfortunately, we didn't have much focus or direction. Some of our teachers are going to a training this summer, so hopefully next year will be better.
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In the article, one district had late starts on Mondays. Our district is having teachers meet for 30 minutes once a month. I'd like to hear how other schools are setting up planning time for their PLCs.
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At Charles CIty we are have late starts on MOnday. Teachers will have 80-85 minutes to work in PLC's that are being 'dictated' this year with the idea that they will 'breakout' next year.
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Discussion and ideas contributed by the group members as to activities, use of technoogy and curriculum changes adn modifications are all great to hear from others, especially when I am a 1 person curricular area teacher in our small school
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Charles City has set a late start on Wednesday for PLC. This is are first year and groups were asigned. I think being able to choose you own team would make descussion and topics more useful.
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