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Dennis is a former English teacher and administrator in urban and suburban schools for many years. Dennis has always gravitated toward K12 leadership, learning and technology topics. He has graduate degrees from Middlebury College's Bread Loaf School of English and Harvard University's School of Education. In addition to blogging about K12 learning, leading and web 2.0 tools/pedagogies at innovation3.edublogs.org, he is president of the Massachusetts affiliate of ASCD, a member of the Leadership Council for ASCD; a member of the Massachusetts Working Group for Educator Quality; Co-Facilitator of the Massachusetts High School Redesign Task Force; and a member of Massachusetts STEM Summit V Planning Committee. The web 2.0 conversation is not about technology tools; it is about student learning. Dennis subscribes to the definition of Professional Learning Communities that Rick and Becky DuFour and many other leaders of education have espoused. In simple terms, * learning (for us and for students) is our purpose, * we can improve student learning if we learn together collaboratively, and * monitoring student learning is the only way to know: 1. what students are learning, 2. how we are teaching and 3. how we get better at it. A former English teacher and administrator in urban and suburban schools for many years, he has always gravitated toward K12 leadership, learning and technology topics. He has graduate degrees from Middlebury College's Bread Loaf School of English and Harvard University's School of Education. He is married with three children and four grandchildren. Among other things, he loves running, cycling, kayaking, contemporary poetry, photography and the outdoors. In the summer of 2007 his professional life changed when he attended the Building Learning Communities Conference 2007 and in three days experienced, for the first time, the power of Web 2.0 tools and their potential for transforming schools and learning. That experience

"Leadership 360 will examine issues affecting today's educational leaders. We will invite different lenses, always remembering that our democracy depends on the success of public education. It is foundational to the fabric of our society and the values that reveal who we are in the world. "

Check out this blog for topics related to leadership in our schools.

"2009 was a great year for education on the web and each of these blogs was selected for helping lead the charge forward with shared personal experiences, leadership, and social media. Every single one of these blogs are worth reading in 2010, so we hope you'll check them out. The list is categorized into different education subtopics such as education technology, higher education, education reform, and more. To all the blog owners, keep up the good work and congratulations on a great year!"

To future generations, Americans' current educational myopia is likely to appear, at best, a negligent failure to anticipate and meet the needs of the nation and its citizens. And for the sake of those future generations, the short-sighted practices and parochial policies that have delayed significant improve-ment in the nation's educational advancement must change. To provide students with a world-class education, the United States, beginning with strong leadership from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), must adopt a more global outlook. The tools and opportunities already exist; indeed, the United States has even subsidized their creation. Now the nation needs to participate in, learn from, and act on the results of internationally benchmarked assessments.

You must read the student assessment instructions prior to completing all assessment tasks. After you have completed all the tasks, you must declare that the completed assessment tasks are authentic and completed by yourself by checking each point in the table below. You will also be required make an electronic declaration of authenticity prior to submitting your completed assessment tasks. STUDENT DECLARATION Core units HLTAHW061 Engage in community health research HLTAHW066 Manage the delivery of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander HLTAHW067 Manage health education and promotion HLTAHW068 Develop work plans HLTAHW069 Develop health care policy HLTAHW070 Manage human resources HLTINF004 Manage the prevention and control of infection HLTWHS004 Manage workplace health and safety BSBMGT605 Provide leadership across the organisation BSBMGT608 Manage innovation and continuous improvement Elective units CHCADV005 Provide systems advocacy services CHCCDE007 Develop and provide community projects CHCDIV001 Work with diverse people CHCEDU002 Plan health promotion and community intervention CHCEDU008 Share health information CHCMGT007 Work effectively with the Board of an organisation CHCPRP003 Reflect on and improve own professional practice HLTAHW025 Provide information and strategies in health care HLTAHW032 Supervise individual workers HLTAHW033 Maintain community health profile HLTAHW034 Provide healthy lifestyle programs and advice HLTAHW043 Facilitate access to tertiary health services HLTAHW050 Develop a healing framework for social and emotional wellbeing work HLTAHW051 Respond to loss, grief and trauma HLTAHW061 Engage in community health research HLTAHW062 Supervise health care team HLTAHW063 Implement office systems HLTAHW064 Manage budgets HLTAHW072 Provide guidance in social and emotional wellbeing HLTAHW073 Practice social and emotional wellbeing in a clinical setting HLTAHW0

An an era driven by globalized relationships, innovative social technologies, and fueled by accelerating change, how should we reinvent schools?

Instead of forging superficial connections, starting where your students are is about showing kids how to learn in ways that work best for them. It's about creating spaces in the classroom where our students can feel comfortable being who they are rather than conforming to who we think they should be. It's about helping kids feel safe enough to bring with them their skills, strengths, culture, and background knowledge-and showing them how to use these to acquire the curriculum.

"Putting technology first-simply adding a layer of expensive tools on top of the traditional curriculum-does nothing to address the new needs of modern learners."

Teachers who use technology frequently in their classrooms perceive greater benefits to student learning--particularly learning 21st century skills--than teachers who are less frequent users. That's one of the major findings from a K-12 technology study released Monday by researchers out of the Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership at Minnesota's Walden University.

"New research indicates educators view Web 2.0 technologies as a means to transform education and meet 21st century learning goals, but district leadership and support are critical to ensure safe and effective use"

CoSN Receives MacArthur Grant: Exploring Policy and Leadership Barriers to Effective Use of Web 2.0 in Schools
The $450,000 grant began July 1st and over the coming year CoSN will focus on the following key objectives:
1.Identify findings from existing empirical research relevant to the use of new media in schools and the barriers to their adoption and scalability.
2. Assess the awareness, understanding, and perspectives of U.S. educational leaders (superintendents, district curriculum and technology directors/CTOs) and policymaker's on the role, problems, and benefits of new media in schools within a participatory culture context.
3. Investigate and document the organizational and policy issues that are critical obstacles for the effective deployment of new media.
4. Develop a concise report of findings and construct an action plan for intervention.

"21st Century District Leadership: Leading Change in Changing Times March 15 - April 26, 2011 We are pleased to offer a unique online institute for superintendents, principals, curriculum designers, and other educational leaders, focused on preparing how to use new technologies to foster 21st century competencies in students."

Google is beginning to disregard academic educations altogether: they're just not a good predictor of success at the company.  According to the Times, Google is putting its money where its mouth is: they've actually increased their hires with no college education-14% of some of its teams have never been to school, according to Bock. Instead, the emphasis is on hiring candidates who are leaders, and work well in teams.

This post pointed out reviews, and included "a portion of my [Larry's] Introduction that explains the parts of the 'Organizing Cycle': Building Strong Relationships with Students ... Accessing Prior Knowledge through Stories ... Identifying and Mentoring Students' Leadership Potential ... Learning by Doing ... [&] Reflection.

Games are a regular part of students' lives, no matter what their grade level. Students play games throughout the day on their computers, the Internet, and their cell phones. One of the few places they don't regularly play games is in their classrooms. Although some teachers use games as a part of their instructional repertoire, most teachers do not, and those who do include them may not be using them to their potential.

In partnership with Elluminate, we are in the process of organizing a free virtual online global education conference to hopefully take place November 15 - 19, 2010. Our conference strands are *tentatively* set to include: Teachers (professional development, training, etc.), Students (student-led initiatives, exchange programs, service learning etc.), Pedagogy (curriculum, digital citizenship, assessment etc. ), Policy and Leadership (exemplary schools, ICT infrastructure, government initiatives etc.), and Change (peace and social justice, equity, etc.).

As educators, we could stand to do some of this with students. I wonder what this would look like in the classroom? I wonder what it would look like from an administrator towards an educator?