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The Toolkit is organized around the same four elements of the Certification Criteria for Linked Learning Pathways: Pathway Design: Quality pathways are designed with a structure, governance, and program of study that provides all students with opportunities for both postsecondary and career success. Engaged Learning: In supportive learning communities, students meet technical and academic standards and college entrance requirements through real-world applications, integrated project-/problem-based instruction, authentic assessments, and work-based learning. System Support: District policies and practices provide leadership, support, and resources to establish and sustain quality pathways. Evaluation and Accountability: A systemic evaluation process documents the pathway's impact on high school achievement and postsecondary success and drives the pathway's continuous improvement plans.

"a guide for selecting and assembling a technological platform to support communities of practice across a large organization. To this end, the report addresses four questions: What makes communities of practice different from garden-variety online communities? Every group that shares interest on a website is called a community today, but communities of practice are a specific kind of community. They are focused on a domain of knowledge and over time accumulate expertise in this domain. They develop their shared practice by interacting around problems, solutions, and insights, and building a common store of knowledge. What categories of community-oriented products exist and what are they trying to accomplish? The ideal system at the right price does not exist yet, though a few come really close. But there are eight neighboring categories of products that have something to contribute and include good candidates to start with. Analyzing these categories of products yields not only a scan of products, but also a way of understanding the various aspects of a knowledge strategy based on communities of practice. What are the characteristics of communities of practice that lend themselves to support by technology? Technology platform are often described in terms of features, but in order to really evaluate candidates for a technology platform, it is useful to start with the success factors of communities of practice that can be affected by technology. The third section of this report provides a table of thirteen such factors with examples of how a technology platform can affect the success of a community in each area. How to use the answer to these questions to develop a strategy for building a platform for communities of practice? Most of the product categories can be a starting point for building a general platform. In fact, this analysis of the field suggests a strategy for approach the task. Decide what kinds of activities are most

Finish Agent is used by coaching organizations, such as the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity. Putting aside the plug for making money, this promo video presents a structure for peer supported, self-monitoring productivity.

"Without a thriving public sphere the people's ability to manage public affairs equitably and effectively is impossible.... The Public Sphere Project (PSP) is an initiative that is intended to help promote more effective and equitable public spheres all over the world. With this site we hope to ultimately support a community of researchers and activists and provide a broad framework for a variety of interrelated activities and goals."

"A Passion for Creative Transformation The Transformative Leadership MA is a uniquely innovative distance-learning program that integrates extensive practical skills with deep self-reflection and an emphasis on creative action in the world. The program prepares students to embody leadership and mobilize their creativity in many different ways, whether in organizations, social movements, or a range of activities requiring personal initiative and dedication to making a difference. Transformative Leadership offers a creative incubator for new forms of leadership in a rapidly changing world. New forms of leadership are needed in all dimensions of life, not just in boardrooms and governments. Transformative Leadership explores leadership along four dimensions: new ways of being, relating, knowing, and doing, all requiring new perspectives, skills, and personal practices. Transformative leadership holds that as we change the world we also change ourselves, and as we change ourselves we also change the world. The transdisciplinary curriculum develops students' abilities to reflect on their mission in life, apply leading edge research, develop new sets of skills, and creatively act in the world. Faculty and students create a rich and supportive online learning community that provides a context where students can create their own approach to leadership, based on their personal values, capacities, and mission in life. This innovative program culminates in a Capstone Action Project that demonstrates leadership in the world and allows students to apply their learning and test their theories and assumptions about leadership in real time. The lessons learned from this project are often stepping stones for new initiatives and life paths for our graduates. The program also offers a unique set of electives, including a set of courses specifically designed to address issues related to LGBTQ leadership and policy."

* supporting learning through design experiences * helping youth build on their own interests * creating an emergent learning community, and * working always in a climate of trust and respect.

A study (pdf) done for the Innocenti Research Center, a research arm of Unicef, found that cutting had only 3 percent support in 2008 - down from 97 percent in 1999. This is a remarkable achievement. There is nothing more difficult than persuading people to give up long-held cultural practices, especially those bound up in taboo subjects like sex. The change happened because of an organization that Gebre and her sister Fikrte started called Kembatti Mentti Gezzima-Toppe, which means "women of Kembata working together." It is now known simply as KMG-Ethiopia.

"In this exceptionally positive and encouraging book, Stephanie Dowrick frees the journal writer she believes is in virtually everyone, showing through stories and examples that a genuine sense of possibility can be revived on every page. Creative journal writing goes way beyond just recording events on paper. It can be the companion that supports but doesn't judge, a place of unparalleled discovery, and a creative playground where the everyday rules no longer count. Proven benefits of journal writing include reduced stress and anxiety, increased self-awareness, sharpened mental skills, genuine psychological insight, creative inspiration and motivation, strengthened ability to cope during difficult times, and overall physical and emotional well-being. Combining a rich choice of ideas with wonderful stories, quotes, and her refreshingly intimate thoughts gained through a lifetime of writing, Dowrick's insights and confidence make journal writing irresistible-and your own life more enchanting. Included in Creative Journal Writing are: u stories of how people have used journal writing to transform their lives; · inspirational instructions, guidelines, and quotes; · key principles, practical suggestions, and helpful hints; · 125 starter topics, designed to help even the most reluctant journal writer; · more than forty powerful exercises; · and much more!"

"CREATIVE HABITS for SYNTHESIS of THEORY and PRACTICE At various points in your life you may take up the challenge of writing something in which you synthesize your ideas and practice. After all, everyone has a voice that should be heard. However, believing deeply that your voice matters and acting on that belief is not easy. You will need support to be able to take yourself seriously and, as the title of Parker Palmer's (2000) book puts it, to "Let Your Life Speak." The frameworks of Phases and of the Cycles and Epicycles of Action Research together with the creative habits below provide a multifaceted structure to help you find your voice, clarify and develop your thoughts, express that voice in writing, and complete your synthesis of ideas and practice. The structure is especially valuable if you want to finish by some defined target date yet do not want to rely on external directions to motivate or reward you." from http://bit.ly/TYS2012

"Capitalism, Polman and Lynn Forester de Rothschild, the conference's organizer, wrote in an introductory essay, "has often proved dysfunctional in important ways. It often encourages shortsightedness, contributes to wide disparities between the rich and the poor, and tolerates the reckless treatment of environmental capital. If these costs cannot be controlled, support for capitalism may disappear.""

"online discussion platform that improves student curiosity, communication skills, and critical thinking. Packback delivers an easy-to-use and engaging discussion experience for students and professors, with powerful support from automated moderation, sorting, and scoring algorithms."