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Virginia Glatzer

Using Twitter in High School Classrooms - 3 views

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    Education Week Teacher. I like this quote: "What matters is not whether or not teens are speaking in public, but how we support them as they try to learn how to responsibly navigate the networked public spaces that are central to contemporary life."
anonymous

littleBits - 6 views

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    littleBits consists of tiny circuit-boards with simple, unique functions engineered to snap together with magnets. No soldering, no wiring, no programming, just snap and play. Each bit has a simple, unique function (light, sound, sensors, buttons, thresholds, pulse, motors, etc), and modules snap to make larger circuits. Just as LEGOs™ allow you to create complex structures with very little engineering knowledge, littleBits are small, simple, intuitive, blocks that make creating with sophisticated electronics a matter of snapping small magnets together.
Anne Van Meter

Ed schools vs. education - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 5 views

  • "The achievement gap between the U.S. and the world's top-performing countries can be said to be causing the equivalent of a permanent recession," Mr. Hanushek wrote for Education Next.
    • anonymous
       
      What are your thoughts on this?
  • Today we lead the world only in how much we spend per pupil.
    • anonymous
       
      There are many reasons for this, of course. But, why do you suppose we're not getting the achievement?
    • Jimbo Lamb
       
      Is it because we are forcing all kids to fit the same standards rather than develop different standards for different needs of the students?
    • Anne Van Meter
       
      Not in % of GDP we spend... Of course, those other countries spend on pupil support: extended parental leave, full health care...
  • Far and away the most important factor in student learning is the quality of teachers. If we got rid of just the bottom 5 percent to 7 percent of teachers, that alone would lift our kids to Canadian levels, Mr. Hanushek calculates.
    • anonymous
       
      This is a delicate subject. But, we all know folks who don't put forth the effort that they should. What IF we did this?
    • Jimbo Lamb
       
      How do you compare this? In my school, I will have 183 students in my classes this year, and none will be considered advanced math students. Our calc teacher will have a majority of the advanced students and his enrollment numbers are at 93. How does this compare?
    • Anne Van Meter
       
      I only teach the lower level students (no complaints about that, I'm good at what I do) but they will not hit "advanced"!!
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  • Our teachers "do not know anything," according to Terrence Moore, who teaches history at Hillsdale College. That's largely because most have degrees in education rather than in the subjects they teach.
    • anonymous
       
      This statement just TICKS.ME.OFF!
    • anonymous
       
      Teachers are constrained by many different influences. Creativity is stifled, we teacher to the lowest common "core" denominator. Schools are not bold but old. We are rewarded by passing many useless measures, which unfortunately this article is based off of. Standardized test scores have blinded the public to what is important. Being able to problem solve and to be creative has always been the mark of an American, but that is being stripped of this generation b/c of the drive to wards testing.
    • Anne Van Meter
       
      And what are elementary teachers supposed to have degrees in? Do you really want a second grade teacher with a major in history? Or chemistry? In college, I took engineering and business calculus classes, business statistics and accounting, in addition to my education math classes. Does it matter that I didn't get a degree in math? Isn't it better that I also have courses in ancient near eastern history? And Arthurian legends? And American and English literature and American government?
  • "Future teachers are better served by getting good grounding in academic subject matter."
    • anonymous
       
      Is that true? Or, is it better to learn how to teach and to use technology for what its capable of doing, etc etc?
  • Ed schools seem to think knowing stuff isn't important.
    • anonymous
       
      Humbug!
  • "If you confront [teachers] with the fact that they, just as their students, can tell you nothing about the first 10 presidents or the use of the gerund, they will blithely respond that it is not so important for them to know things as to know 'how to know things,' " said Mr. Moore.
    • anonymous
       
      What do you think?
  • The reform needed is to remove state "certification" requirements. The reason for them, we're told, is to guarantee that only the qualified teach. Their real purpose is to keep the knowledgeable out of the classroom.
    • anonymous
       
      This is sounding more and more like a rant instead of a thoughtful argument.
  • "Yet these education schools," Mr. Moore points out, "not only do not impart real knowledge of academic subjects; they are actively hostile to it."
    • anonymous
       
      I need to see facts to support this.
    • Anne Van Meter
       
      The first three out of four years in college were spent taking more non-education courses than education related. We all had to take the full math/English/history/science core courses, then added psychology and sociology in addition to the education courses and several internships as well.
  • If instead of being forced to hire the certified, schools were free to hire the qualified, colleges of education would wither away -- and learning would blossom.
    • anonymous
       
      Many qualified folks lost their positions when they weren't deemed 'highly qualified.' 
    • Jimbo Lamb
       
      Isn't that what certification is? An official statement that the person is indeed qualified?
    • Anne Van Meter
       
      But, wasn't he just complaining several paragraphs ago that 60% of teachers are certified in their subjects? And he wants to add more uncertified teachers?
  • Students learn a lot from the teacher who knows a lot," Mr. Moore said. "They learn nothing from the teacher who knows nothing."
    • anonymous
       
      Now, that's profound.
  • they aren't allowed to teach.
    • anonymous
       
      Why would they? The work is difficult, the pay is terrible and everyone outside of education thinks you're lazy.
    • Jimbo Lamb
       
      A medical doctor teaching in HS? What, around their appointments with patients? 
    • Anne Van Meter
       
      And politicians take cushy jobs as lobbyists. I can't think of many teachers who only need to teach civics. It's only a small part of the full curriculum.
  • Not so many years ago, our schools were the best in the world
    • Jimbo Lamb
       
      I'd like to see the supporting evidence on this.
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    An interesting article, and certainly not without other opinions.
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    An interesting article, and certainly not without other opinions.
anonymous

The TEDxClassroomProject - 5 views

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    "What happens when 80 10th grade students watch, analyze, and reflect upon 640+ TED Talks in pursuit of the answer to the question, "What Matters (To Us)"?"
Betsy Morris

Properties and Changes of Properties in Matter - 7 views

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    Interactives/ simulations to help students understand.
anonymous

The tools of learning have changed - Mind Dump - 4 views

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    "the tools of learning have changed, as have the tools of collaboration, of distribution, of creation, and if our schools do not teach these - and much more - help our students to understand how they must manipulate these tools for their purposes - and the world's - nothing else we do in school really matters, because our students will not be able to effectively work with what they know."
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    What do you think of that quote?
Darcy Goshorn

Stripgenerator.com - Comic Creating Community - 2 views

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    Strip Generator allows anyone, even people who claim they can't draw, to create a good-looking black and white comic strip. To create a comic strip all you need to do is select the number of frames you want then drag characters and objects into those frames. The menus for characters and objects are fairly extensive. Once you've selected a character or object you can adjust the size to fit your scene. Adding text is a simple matter of selecting a speech bubble and typing text. When you're happy with your comic strip you can save it online, print it, or embed it into your blog.
Michelle Krill

Top News - Big district dumps grade levels -- for starters - 0 views

  • There was a sense of urgency to attend to what wasn't happening for kids here," says Roberta Selleck, district superintendent, explaining why she decided to go with a drastic approach. "When [we saw] the stats for the whole school district over time, we realized we are disconnecting [from] our kids."
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    ...when the elementary and middle school students come back next fall, there won't be any grade levels--or traditional grades, for that matter.
Michelle Krill

Switchpod - Podcast Hosting - 0 views

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    A podcasting hosting service that provides both free and premium accounts to our users. You can create a podcast with our technology, upload it to Switchpod and be podcasting to the world in a matter of minutes.
Mardy McGaw

Educational Leadership:Teaching for the 21st Century:21st Century Skills: The Challenge... - 1 views

  • But in fact, the skills students need in the 21st century are not new.
  • What's actually new is the extent to which changes in our economy and the world mean that collective and individual success depends on having such skills.
  • This distinction between "skills that are novel" and "skills that must be taught more intentionally and effectively" ought to lead policymakers to different education reforms than those they are now considering. If these skills were indeed new, then perhaps we would need a radical overhaul of how we think about content and curriculum. But if the issue is, instead, that schools must be more deliberate about teaching critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving to all students, then the remedies are more obvious, although still intensely challenging.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • To complicate the challenge, some of the rhetoric we have heard surrounding this movement suggests that with so much new knowledge being created, content no longer matters; that ways of knowing information are now much more important than information itself. Such notions contradict what we know about teaching and learning and raise concerns that the 21st century skills movement will end up being a weak intervention for the very students—low-income students and students of color—who most need powerful schools as a matter of social equity.
  • What will it take to ensure that the idea of "21st century skills"—or more precisely, the effort to ensure that all students, rather than just a privileged few, have access to a rich education that intentionally helps them learn these skills—is successful in improving schools? That effort requires three primary components. First, educators and policymakers must ensure that the instructional program is complete and that content is not shortchanged for an ephemeral pursuit of skills. Second, states, school districts, and schools need to revamp how they think about human capital in education—in particular how teachers are trained. Finally, we need new assessments that can accurately measure richer learning and more complex tasks.
  • Why would misunderstanding the relationship of skills and knowledge lead to trouble? If you believe that skills and knowledge are separate, you are likely to draw two incorrect conclusions. First, because content is readily available in many locations but thinking skills reside in the learner's brain, it would seem clear that if we must choose between them, skills are essential, whereas content is merely desirable. Second, if skills are independent of content, we could reasonably conclude that we can develop these skills through the use of any content. For example, if students can learn how to think critically about science in the context of any scientific material, a teacher should select content that will engage students (for instance, the chemistry of candy), even if that content is not central to the field. But all content is not equally important to mathematics, or to science, or to literature. To think critically, students need the knowledge that is central to the domain.
  • Because of these challenges, devising a 21st century skills curriculum requires more than paying lip service to content knowledge.
  • Advocates of 21st century skills favor student-centered methods—for example, problem-based learning and project-based learning—that allow students to collaborate, work on authentic problems, and engage with the community. These approaches are widely acclaimed and can be found in any pedagogical methods textbook; teachers know about them and believe they're effective. And yet, teachers don't use them. Recent data show that most instructional time is composed of seatwork and whole-class instruction led by the teacher (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, 2005). Even when class sizes are reduced, teachers do not change their teaching strategies or use these student-centered methods (Shapson, Wright, Eason, & Fitzgerald, 1980). Again, these are not new issues. John Goodlad (1984) reported the same finding in his landmark study published more than 20 years ago.
  • Why don't teachers use the methods that they believe are most effective? Even advocates of student-centered methods acknowledge that these methods pose classroom management problems for teachers. When students collaborate, one expects a certain amount of hubbub in the room, which could devolve into chaos in less-than-expert hands. These methods also demand that teachers be knowledgeable about a broad range of topics and are prepared to make in-the-moment decisions as the lesson plan progresses. Anyone who has watched a highly effective teacher lead a class by simultaneously engaging with content, classroom management, and the ongoing monitoring of student progress knows how intense and demanding this work is. It's a constant juggling act that involves keeping many balls in the air.
  • Most teachers don't need to be persuaded that project-based learning is a good idea—they already believe that. What teachers need is much more robust training and support than they receive today, including specific lesson plans that deal with the high cognitive demands and potential classroom management problems of using student-centered methods.
  • Without better curriculum, better teaching, and better tests, the emphasis on "21st century skills" will be a superficial one that will sacrifice long-term gains for the appearance of short-term progress.
  • The debate is not about content versus skills. There is no responsible constituency arguing against ensuring that students learn how to think in school. Rather, the issue is how to meet the challenges of delivering content and skills in a rich way that genuinely improves outcomes for students.
    • Mardy McGaw
       
      "ensuring that students learn how to think" You would think that this is the essence of education but this is not always asked of students. Memorize, Report and Present but how often do students think and comment on their learning?
  • practice means that you try to improve by noticing what you are doing wrong and formulating strategies to do better. Practice also requires feedback, usually from someone more skilled than you are.
    • Mardy McGaw
       
      Students need to be taught how to work as part of a group. The need to see mistakes and be given a chance to improve on them. Someone who already knows how to work as a team player is the best coach/teacher.
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    A very interesting article. Lots of good discussion points.
Michelle Krill

What Companies Should Know About Digital Natives « Web Strategy by Jeremiah O... - 0 views

  • Forrester’s social Technographics to learn about the data.
  • Opportunities: companies should allow natives to increase creativity to rip, mix, burn content to encourage interaction.
  • They may not be able to identify qualified and expert sources. “If it’s online, it must be true!”
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    The kids born after 1980 are often thought of as Digital Natives but age doesn't always matter as the generation is defined on: access to digital technologies, age, and have the skills to use the skills ~Key Characteristics of Digital Natives~
Ben Louey

100 Best iPhone Apps for Serious Self-Learners - Learn-gasm - 0 views

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    Those who constantly strive to learn more from the world around them, who can't pass up an opportunity to pour over a book or dictionary, or who take classes just to learn a bit more are a special breed. For those with an iPhone, the chances for learning just got a lot greater. No matter if you love literature, science, nature, arts, foreign languages and travel, medicine, or Christian studies, there are apps that will enhance your ability to expand your knowledge base.
Ty Yost

Zundy Junior High | FORD, DEBBY - 0 views

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    It happened again. You took a test and bombed it. You remembered how to do the math, but some of the words looked like they were writen in another language! How did that happen?! You forgot a lot of stuff from last year and now it is causing major problems for you. You have decided that you are going to learn the vocabulary no matter what it takes. Surely that will help your grade!!
Kathe Santillo

CHEMISTRY - FREE presentations in PowerPoint format - 0 views

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    A collection of already-created chemistry PowerPoint presentations!! Includes such topics as periodic table; acids, bases, phScale, solutions; states of matter; energy; lab and lab safety; carbon cycle; forensics for kids; microscopes; nanoscience and mor
Michelle Krill

Education Week: Schools Seen as Inhibiting Student Tech. Use - 0 views

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    Students are using personal technology tools more readily to study subject matter, collaborate with classmates, and complete assigments than they were several years ago, but they are generally asked to "power down" at school...
Ty Yost

Rader's CHEM4KIDS.COM - 1 views

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    CHEM4KIDS.COM. If you are looking for basic chemistry information, stay on this site. It's not just for kids, it's for everyone. We have information on matter, atoms, elements, the periodic table, reactions, and biochemistry. If you're still not sure what to click, try our site map that lists all of the topics on the site. If you surf and get lost in all of the information, use the search function on the side of the pages.
Donald Burkins

Education Innovation: It's Systematic and It's Magic: The Ambidextrous Professional Lea... - 3 views

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    "The ambidextrous Professional Learning Community believes that results come from using a systematic approach to looking at essential learning, collecting and analyzing actionable data, using data to drive instruction, using Response to Intervention to meet the learning needs of all students, and using the best known research based instructional strategies. Ambidextrous Professional Learning Communities know that collaboration is central to their work. In other words, Ambidextrous Professional Learning Communities believe that results are simply a matter of using a systematic process. But the Ambidextrous Professional Learning Community also believes that great results are something more "
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    AmbiPLC No 5
Darcy Goshorn

Science News for Kids - 2 views

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    Science News for Kids is a web site devoted to science news for children of ages 9 to 14. Our goal is to offer timely items of interest to kids, accompanied by suggestions for hands-on activities, books, articles, Web resources, and other useful materials. Our emphasis is on making the Web site appealing by offering kids opportunities to comment on and grade the subject matter, get ideas for science projects, and try out mathematical puzzles. At the same time, we offer teachers creative ways of using science news in their classrooms.
Sean Hardy

How To Make A Fiscal Plan As A Couple- Payday Loans Anywhere - 0 views

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    A lot of the problem that generally arises is from that of how you deal with the expenses. Often there is lack of coordination and there is no account of how much of spending is done by both of you, without any tandem. At the same time, there is also a chance that your better half might incur a huge amount of debt by making use of the credit card. Since the issue is mainly financial, having a discussion to sort out the matter does appear to be a viable alternative.
allisonfuhr

Education World: Humor in the Classroom: No Joking Matter - 0 views

  • umor portrays you in a favorable light. In fact, for college professors, the use of humor has translated to more positive evaluations by students. However, what’s important to note is that these benefits come from the use of “positive” humor.
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    Humor in the classroom has been researched considerably. While the results of humor on student learning is mixed, scholars do point out that there are benefits.
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