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"The e5 Instructional Model was recently introduced in Victoria and Vermont Secondary College has been trialling it for the past 12 months. We are also on the first phase of a 1:1 iPad program beginning with Year 7 in 2013. As one of the Teacher Librarians I am keen to evaluate and recommend resources of any sort to support quality teaching and learning so last year I began reading blogs about apps for education."

"We're finishing up the first semester this week, and, as usual, I'll be sharing the results of anonymous student evaluations of our classes and of me. I'll probably get to tabulating them over the weekend. I've also already shared many of the finals I'm giving to students this week. However, I haven't shared all of the projects I have students do. One of their final semester projects is to write and draw a picture saying what they thought was their best classroom moment over the semester, and what they had done to make it happen."

"As the new school year begins, it's already time to start mapping our your professional development for the 2013-2014 school year. While the traditional pillars of curriculum, assessment, and instruction get the lion's share of attention in professional growth plans, education technology-or #edtech-is increasingly common in PD as experienced teachers seek to integrate it more deeply, new teachers see what's out there, and skeptical teachers can stand on the periphery and evaluate what they see."

"Our school is evaluating how assessment works across all faculties. We are doing this to improve pedagogy and help student learning. Of course, there are prescriptions from the state that must be adhered to as part of the rules and regulations that govern student assessment (and reporting). However, there's plenty of freedom to innovate in schools, especially within faculties, if we have a coherent plan for change and professional development with more than just a passing nod to best practice."

""The single most important thing I learned in this class is that I don't have to have tons of homework to learn a lot." Mid-year or more frequently, I ask students to complete an evaluation form. I craft the questions carefully so simple answers are hard to write. Instead, I try to create specific, complex questions that cover the material, the classroom activities and the students-peers and the individual. Many teachers shake their heads and avoid these exercises. They scoff that students would actually take the forms seriously or that the students will say anything useful. But I find the nature of the questions often elicits a straight answer-short, but helpful."

"25 Things Successful Educators Do Differently - If you ask a student what makes him or her successful in school, you probably won't hear about some fantastic new book or video lecture series. Most likely you will hear something like, "It was all Mr. Jones. He just never gave up on me." What students take away from a successful education usually centers on a personal connection with a teacher who instilled passion and inspiration for their subject. It's difficult to measure success, and in the world of academia, educators are continually re-evaluating how to quantify learning. But the first and most important question to ask is:"

"So your district or school is planning or in the process of implementing some sort of 1:1 device initiative. Seeing as these are all the rage, seems like it's a given that your deployment will be a smashing success, right? Here's the truth…. …it will fail. It may not be monumental failure, but parts of your deployment will not work. Whether it be the MDM that manages them or the rising stack of parent concerns, you will be faced with a choice as a district: retreat or carry on. In the wake of the LAUSD story and the recent Ft. Bend ISD news here in Texas about 're-evaluating' their deployments, I thought it'd be a good time to reflect on why some deployments work and some don't work. I'll let you know that our deployment was far from flawless, as I've listed here, but we had tools in place to overcome issues before they became an "Implementation Killer"."

"Finding interesting ways to evaluate, reflect and report on work and projects can be tricky. Many students struggle to engage with the reflection properly as it is often a dry, unentertaining end to any unit or project. But that's where the Green Screen App can help. (How-to help sheet below) Remember: People don't learn from experience. People learn when reflecting on experience. People learn more when they can witness their own reflection."

"When we think of digital literacy, we usually think of research-finding, evaluating, and properly crediting digital sources. The "research" connotation makes sense, as it is the sheer volume of sources and media forms on the "internet" that stand out. But we are living in a world where the internet is disappearing, replaced by sheer connectivity. Are you "on the internet" when you tweet? Skim through a social reader like Flipboard? Send a text? Mark up a pdf and sync it with the cloud so you can access it later? Are the cloud and the "internet" the same thing? As the internet dissolves into something more seamless-that no longer requires a clunky web browser to make itself visible-we might adjust our perspectives in parallel."

"Habits of Mind are dispositions that are skillfully and mindfully employed by characteristically intelligent, successful people when they are confronted with problems, the solutions to which are not immediately apparent. When we draw upon these mental resources, the results are more powerful, of higher quality, and of greater significance than if we fail to employ those habits. Employing Habits of Mind requires a composite of many skills, attitudes cues, past experiences, and proclivities. It means that we value one pattern of thinking over another, and therefore it implies choice making about which habit should be employed at which time. It includes sensitivity to the contextual cues in a situation signaling that it is an appropriate time and circumstance to employ this pattern. It requires a level of skillfulness to carry through the behaviors effectively over time. Finally, it leads individuals to reflect on, evaluate, modify, and carry forth their learnings to future applications. It implies goal setting for improved performance and making a commitment to continued self-modification. While there may be more, 16 characteristics of effective problem-solvers have been have been derived from studies of efficacious problem-solvers from many walks of life. (Costa and Kallick, 2009)."

""Creativity isn't about music and art; it is an attitude to life, one that everybody needs," wrote the University of Winchester's Professor Guy Claxton in the lead-up to the 2014 World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) dedicated to creativity and education. "It is a composite of habits of mind which include curiosity, skepticism, imagination, determination, craftsmanship, collaboration, and self-evaluation." Sounds like the perfect skill set for equipping young people to navigate an increasingly complex and unpredictable world. Encouragingly, there's plenty of evidence -- from both research and practice -- that most of the above can be taught in the classroom. In fact, innovation and education experts agree that creativity can fit perfectly into any learning system. But before it can be incorporated broadly in curriculum, it must first be understood."

"3 Reasons Why Faculty Meetings Are a Waste of Time By Peter DeWitt on April 10, 2015 6:50 AM Faculty Meeting.png Many school leaders walk into a faculty meeting with a single idea of how they want to move forward and walk out with the same idea. That's telling... John Hattie talks a great deal about the Politics of Distraction, which means we focus on adult issues, and not enough time...if ever...on learning. That is happening around the U.S. for sure. Recently the Assembly of NY State only furthered those distractions, which you can read about here, which means that school leaders and teachers have to work harder to maintain a focus on learning. Quite frankly, well before mandates and accountability, school leaders focused on the politics of distraction and not on learning. Compliance is not new in schools. Faculty meetings were seen as a venue to get through and something that teachers were contractually obligated to attend. During these days of endless measures of compliance, principals can do a great deal to make sure they don't model the same harmful messages to staff that politicians are sending to teachers. Jim Knight calls that "Freedom within form." In Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo quotes Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo) when he writes, "Creativity is often misunderstood. People often think of it in terms of artistic work - unbridled, unguided effort that leads to beautiful effect. If you look deeper, however, you'll find that some of the most inspiring art forms - haikus, sonatas, religious paintings- are fraught with constraints. (p. 190)" Clearly, constraints have a wide definition. There is a clear difference between the constraints of compliance and the stupidity of the legislation just passed by the assembly in NY. As we move forward, principals still are charged...or at least should be...with the job of making sure they offer part...inspiration, part...teacher voice...and a great deal of focus on learning. There is never a more important tim

"WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which students get all information from the web. Teachers provide their students with the documents that include links to websites to use the information, according to the activity. The purpose of using WebQuest is to encourage students to use information rather than gathering it and participate in meaningful classroom discussions. WebQuest supports critical thinking through analyzing, creating, and evaluating. Also, it integrates technology into learning and foster cooperative learning. Below are examples of WebQuests in a science classroom:"

Formative assessment is a process that takes place during the learning experience. When it is done right, the findings immediately inform feedback and instruction. Grades are never taken, and the stakes remain very low. I see formative assessment as the ultimate best practice, but I may be part of a small group of educators who feel this way. It's not uncommon, after all, for some teachers to sandwich formative assessment into their already packed lesson plans simply because someone else has expected them to do so. Some just "get it done" because they're afraid of "getting dinged" on their teacher evaluations."

"Last week we shared with you ' Evaluating Apps for the Classroom' a free interactive guide from Apple Education to help you make the best of educational apps in your instruction. Today we are featuring with you some interesting materials from 'Get Started Teaching with iPad' series.These are courses created specifically for teachers. Each of these courses provides tips and resources for integrating iPad in the instruction of one of these subject matters: elementary math, elementary science, and elementary literacy. We have also added two more resources for high school physics and chemistry teachers."