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The Reflective Principal: A Taxonomy of Reflection (Part IV) Reflection can be a challenging endeavor. It's not something that's fostered in school - typically someone else tells you how you're doing! Principals (and instructional leaders) are often so caught up in the meeting the demands of the day, that they rarely have the luxury to muse on how things went. Self-assessment is clouded by the need to meet competing demands from multiple stakeholders. In an effort to help schools become more reflective learning environments, I've developed this "Taxonomy of Reflection" - modeled on Bloom's approach. It's posted in four installments: 1. A Taxonomy of Reflection 2. The Reflective Student 3. The Reflective Teacher 4. The Reflective Principal It's very much a work in progress, and I invite your comments and suggestions. I'm especially interested in whether you think the parallel construction to Bloom holds up through each of the three examples - student, teacher, and principal. I think we have something to learn from each perspective. 4. The Reflective Principal Each level of reflection is structured to parallel Bloom's taxonomy. (See installment 1 for more on the model) Assume that a principal (or instructional leader) looked back on an initiative (or program, decision, project, etc) they have just implemented. What sample questions might they ask themselves as they move from lower to higher order reflection? (Note: I'm not suggesting that all questions are asked after every initiative - feel free to pick a few that work for you.) Bloom's Remembering : What did I do? Principal Reflection: What role did I play in implementing this program? What role did others play? What steps did I take? Is the program now operational and being implemented? Was it completed on time? Are assessment measures in place? Bloom's Understanding: What was

Gives suggestions for sites that may be of interest, aligned with you del.icio.us tags

My colleagues and I have used this many of times.

Lots of good suggestions for a differentiated project to go along with Catcher in the Rye.

A community of users who discuss the site and offer suggestions and even tips on how to use it. Don't forget to get the Google/wolframAlpha plugin for firefox!!! https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12006

A community of users who discuss the site and offer suggestions and even tips on how to use it.

MPAA suggests teachers videotape TVs instead of ripping DVDs. Seriously.

"Abstract: This paper reports on the design, development, and application of a Checklist intended to assist educators in recognizing strengths and weaknesses in their technology-based programs at their institutions. The Checklist sampled public and private schools to validate the existence and impact of the Technology Facade. Initial findings indicate that schools have masked the effective use of computers labs and classroom computers behind the auspices of teacher activities, student participation, and parental involvement. The study and suggests possible courses of action to address deficiencies in the use of technology, the construction of the necessary infrastructure, and the design of a viable instructional strategy."

This resonates with me because I see it time after time. Even one-to-one districts aren't doing anything with the computers that they weren't already doing without them. The technology is a Facade. Interesting notion

The author of this book was my professor at Duquesne University during the time he was authoring it. He, at the time was the head of the Instructional Technology Deptartment. As an assignment, we helped to "proofread" and make suggestions...so excited to see it mentioned here. Larry has been ahead of his time in this field for years. Great read, and highly recommended as it offers a different, yet crucial perspective on things.

IconBug.com has some of the hottest icons and clip art images online in an easy to search database that is available online 24/7 for free. If you are looking for something special use the search box to the right. Start typing and our engine will generate search suggestion based off our most popular content.

A couple of weeks ago, Megan Allen, a fifth-grade teacher in Tampa who blogs at transformED, wrote a post entitled "I've got my teacher evaluation. Now what?" In her post, Allen shared six suggestions that would help link teacher evaluations to effective professional development. The following post is our response to Megan.

"The open-access.net platform aims to meet the growing demand for information on the subject of Open Access (OA). Our editorial team gathers information which is scattered across many sources and bundles it thematically for presentation to various target groups. Since we wish to progressively expand and optimise open-access.net in response to user needs and feedback, we welcome your input. So please don't hesitate to send us an E-Mail if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. You are also welcome to participate in the current debate on OA by joining our experts forum which takes the form of a moderated mailing list. "

""Our research suggests a strong correlation between kids using technology and wider patterns of reading and writing," Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, told BBC News. "Engagement with online technology drives their enthusiasm for writing short stories, letters, song lyrics or diaries." "

Shared today on Twitter. Article from 2009

This addon to Microsoft Excel 2007 analyzes your spreadsheet data (up to 8,000 cells worth) and suggests chart layouts for you.

Neat time-saver for the data crunchers

Wes Fryer describes how Wikipedia suggests citations for Wikipedia entries

Nice post on the use of images in student work, with practical suggestions for getting around issues of appropriateness and copyright.

In their report, The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age, Cathy N. Davidson and David Theo Goldberg investigate the internet's transformation of shared and interactive learning. They suggest the following 10 principles as "fundamental to the future of learning institutions". Provides link to the 82-page pdf-formatted report, as well.

Post with links to free images and sounds for student projects. Multiple websites for public domain images and sounds that are safe for student searching. You will find glorious photo landscapes, character illustrations of fairy tale characters, tornado sound effects, and more. In addition, the writer included suggested curriculum units that could be supported through the use of the websites.

Revizr is a new way for content creators to interact with their audience, in public or in private. You decide if you want to communicate privately, socially, or wiki-style to improve and update your work. Your revisers don't change your documents directly. They provide you with contextual comments and editing suggestions you can use at your discretion. You have the control you need when you're responsible for the results.

Explore how technology can be a helpful tool that enhances and supports students' performance with their writing. Below you will see technology listed with the suggested grade level posted next to the title. The grade levels are separated in three groups: primary (K-2 grades), intermediate (3-5 grades), and secondary (6-12 grades).

Privacy and security concerns are among the many barriers holding back the use of social networking tools in schools, new research suggests--but a number of child-friendly applications have emerged. Among these are...