ChisholmCC

"I knew where I wanted the question to lead but decided I was more committed to giving my students a voice than I was to accomplishing my project idea. I wanted our projects to be about "work that matters," but it needed to matter to the students not just me. I wanted their project-based learning to stem from their own empathy."

"Perhaps the most difficult aspect of project-based learning for me was figuring out how I was going to assess it. I'm sure some teachers love assessing and marking student work, but honestly, I'm uncomfortable with most grading and scoring. I appreciate feedback and I don't mind giving feedback, but I hate reducing it to a letter, number, or score. To me, it undervalues the learning."

"Once the students had selected a topic from our over-arching theme of civil/human rights, and I had a rubric, it was time for the real work to begin. We started our project-based learning by making a list on the board of things we know about the topic followed by a list of things we "need to know." Basically, we completed the K and W of our KWL chart (PDF)."

"I decided to use the teacher console on Diigo to create groups for each of my classes. I used handouts and tips from Bill Ferriter's Digitally Speaking Wiki to get everything set up and explain to the student how I wanted them to find, annotate, and share resources and information. (I highly recommend Bill's resources. They saved me a ton of time.) The students had used Diigo for research on a project during a previous school year so I thought with Bill's handouts and the boys' previous experience we were in good shape to begin. I soon learned differently. We have a 1:1 laptop classroom and the boys have a natural tendency to head straight to Google any time they have a question, but it was obvious after the first day that they weren't finding the quality resources they needed. Additionally, some boys still didn't know (or forgot) how to share to a group while others didn't know how to write a quality annotation. I had assumed too much. They needed what Mike Kaechele calls a "teacher workshop" on searching for information and on how to use Diigo. They needed me to model what they should do."

Starting with the known and moving to the unknown sounds relatively simple-if everyone in the group has a similar level of existing knowledge. But everyone in a given audience or classroom brings a different set of experiences and thus a different body of existing knowledge. In some cases the difference is relatively small; in other cases it is immense.

"direct my energy and attention on what worked, what went well, and what I feel was successful. I've discovered that this strategy is critical to build my emotional resilience. One of the only things in life that I have control over is how I tell my story -- how I interpret my experiences and make sense of them. If I create a story that is one of learning, growth, and empowerment, I feel better. So how are you telling the story of this school year? "

"The ParentCamp experience, by design, is a hybrid "unconference" opportunity for parents and teachers to come together and model the four core beliefs highlighted in Beyond the Bakesale by Anne T. Henderson, et al. The experience levels the playing field, putting all stakeholders in a circle for actual, face-to-face discussion about what is best for kids. It's important to understand the difference between a traditional conference and the unconference feel we worked to bring to ParentCamp. "

"The following is an excerpt from the book Every Child, Every Day: A Digital Conversion Model for Student Achievement, published by Pearson. Edwards is the superintendent of Mooresville (NC) Graded School District (MGSD), whose districtwide 1-to-1 program earned it the 2012 Sylvia Charp Award. "

If you haven't heard of 20% time in the classroom, the premise is simple: Give your students 20% of their class time to learn what they want. Yes, that's it. Below is a list of the 10 reasons you should consider 20% time in your school, and you will not regret making that choice!"

"Administrators across the United States are recognizing that the education system needs fundamental changes to keep pace with an increasingly complex global society. Yet, the deeper we get into the process of change, the more confused we can become. We need some sense of what to expect and what direction to take. Seeing the patterns of change can be difficult; stakeholders in a system tend to see change primarily from their own perspective. Often teachers may not understand what is seen by administrators and parents, nor do administrators or parents see change from a teacher's perspective, or from each other's. To give stakeholders an aerial view of the shifts occurring in educational systems, the matrix "A Continuum of Systemic Change" defines six developmental stages and six key elements of change (see fig. 1). A composite of experiences in systemic change from across the United States and at all levels of education, the matrix provides stakeholders with a common vantage point for communicating and making decisions about change."

"In many schools, project-based learning happens in isolated cases: in certain teachers' classrooms here and there, or in the contexts of specific subjects. But for students to benefit from project-based learning, ideally it's part of a school's infrastructure - a way to approach learning holistically. For one quickly growing network of schools, project-based learning is the crux of the entire ecosystem. New Tech Network, which was founded 15 years ago, is taking its school-wide project-based model to national scale. The organization, which offers a paid program for schools to use its model, began with a flagship school in Napa and has grown to 120 schools in 18 states, most of which are public schools."

"teach nonfiction reading skills in my sixth grade science classroom. Each lesson is tied directly to a standard in the Common Core Literacy in History, Science and Technical Subjects curriculum -- and each lesson is designed to be used in tandem with a current event connected to the concepts that our students study. If you like the lessons, all you'll need to do is find a current event to teach them with!"

"Teachers at Mount Desert Elementary School in Northeast Harbor, Maine, use proven Responsive Classroom techniques -- such as relationship-building morning meetings and engaging student-led activities -- to get students focused and ready to learn. "

"If we want to empower students, we must show them how they can control their own cognitive and emotional health and their own learning. Teaching students how the brain operates is a huge step. Even young students can learn strategies for priming their brains to learn more efficiently; I know, because I've taught both 5th graders and 7th graders about how their brains learn."

"Learn how to harness students' natural curiosity to develop self-directed learners. Discover how technology allows students to take ownership of their learning, create and share learning tools, and participate in work that is meaningful to them and others. Real-life examples illustrate how every student can become a teacher and a global publisher. The embedded QR codes link to supporting websites."