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Few people enter the teaching profession because they are passionate about controlling behaviour or disciplining prospective pupils. Most become educators because they want to make a positive difference in students' lives. However, countless well-intentioned yet potentially ill-prepared teachers find themselves in situations during the school year where they feel compelled to use forms of intimidation, manipulation, bribery, yelling, scolding, or even false praise to make students behave. These archaic classroom management techniques often backfire- as they did for me early in my teaching career-and result in students losing respect for and disliking the teacher.

Stupski Fndtn staff + McREL researchers ask 2 questions: (1) How can teachers adapt the principles of effective pedagogy to differentiate instruction and meet the needs of all learners in order to help Our Kids be challened, motivated, and successful? (2) How can teachers create structured, challenging, yet nurturing classroom environments to ensure that Our Kids are engaged and successful learners? KEY FINDINGS: adaptive and differentiated instruction (theory and methodologies) in culturally relevant classroom that allows for student "role fluidity" + teacher skill in finding gaps in knowledge/skills + motivating students through engaging projects and targeted instruction (academically rigorous and nurturing) PLUS fac devt must be supported by and inclusive of school leadership. a Design Collaborative might act on 5 options: (1) Support teachers to better utilize methods and theories of culturally relevant pedagogy and differentiated instruction, (2) Implement a pedagogical program based on the notion of "role fluidity" to give students a central voice in the classroom, (3) Use technology to engage students and enhance pedagogy, (4) Guide teachers in creating academically rigorous and positive classroom learning environments, (5) Implement pedagogical programs based on developing higher order thinking and subject-specific skills. Report by Kerry Englert, Helen Apthorp, Matthew Seebaum. Dated Oct 2009

Learning Forward has established standards for teacher and administrative leadership and publishes resources for the implementation of various initiatives, including professional development for developing professional leaders in many educational capacities. A good resource to check out!

[WATCH] #PBL at ACE Leadership High School http://t.co/FN5kAY63a2 #Education #Students #EdReform *students formerly at-risk

The NETS help guide technology planning and curriculum development for all grade levels and provide a roadmap for digital age learning, teaching and leadership .. Recently, educators working on a NETS web page for staff and students tackled the challenge by translating the NETS for Students into action verbs .. Here's what they've come up with:"

Great to see these technology curriculum standards broken down into easy to digest verbs!

"The Office of Educator Preparation, Innovation and Research (EPIR) of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia serves as the Intermediary for the Georgia Early College Initiative -- a partnership between the Georgia Department of Education and the University System of Georgia. It is the Intermediary's role to offer leadership and support for Early Colleges in Georgia; provide technical assistance for each site to help ensure a successful experience for the Early College students; and study the model with an eye towards replicating the program across the state."

Ten practical suggestions for regular-education teachers as they plan instruction with their special-education, Title I, or English language specialist co-teachers

Teachers in Catholic settings can get $6000 scholarships towards certificates in Computational Thinking and Coding, Digital Video, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Literacy Leadership, STEM, Technology Integration, or Special Education for General Education Teachers. Teachers in traditional settings can get scholarships for the same for up $2500 for certificates or $5000 towards MAED.

This website discusses the standards of effective teacher leadership. It also outlines and defines the role of a teacher leader. Progressive perspective on the teaching profession and its potential future of differentiated pathways. 

Leadership and Technology

This article is one of the many written by D. Randy Garrison on the value of e-learning both as an independent entity and (as in this article) part of the blended learning environment. The authors are Dr. D. Randy Garrison, professor and academic director of Learning Commons at the University of Calgary; and Dr. Heather Kanuka, professor and academic director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Alberta. Both authors have written extensively on the topic of e-learning, distance education, and adult education. This article discusses the potential of blended learning in higher education. The authors conclude that blended learning can have a substantial benefit for the student both in terms of logistics and educational satisfaction. "Blended learning is about rethinking and redesigning the teaching and learning relationship." However, it requires that the program's administrative and leadership issues are addressed and a solid action plan is in place. A "community of inquiry" must be formed by good course design which can be at the same time quite simple and yet complex. This topic is of great interest to me as I would like to reinstate a successful blended learning program at the college where I teach.

So some thoughts on how to affect change in a timely, and yet, deliberate fashion. * Know why you are changing... and know what you are giving up by making this change. Every change creates winners and losers, so be sure to think through what you gain and what you lose (thanks to Neil Postman for that framework.) which leads to... * Always ask "What is the worst consequence of your best idea?" Do it for two reasons - one, because if you can't live with that consequence, don't do what you planned, but two, because the process of thinking this through will help you (and your team) mitigate the problems and you won't be as surprised when the thing you didn't think of comes up. * Research like crazy. Who has tried what you are doing? Who has tried something close to what you're doing? Who is talking about it? Who is writing about it? Who says the idea is already crazy? There aren't many truly new ideas in education, so figure out the history of your idea and learn from who has come before you. * Get lots of opinions - Come up with a smart, sensible, honest way to explain your idea and then listen. Listen a lot. Listen to the folks who don't like the idea, and ask them why. * Be honest - Don't oversell, don't overpromise, and don't pretend that the idea is perfect. * Build consensus - If only a few people are on-board with the idea, it won't work. But consensus doesn't mean taking something from everyone and sticking it onto the original idea until what you have is the worst of committee-based decisions. It means listening for the truths in what other people are telling you and being willing to make substantive change when it makes sense. * Know when to move forward. Don't let ideas die in committee because the team gets hung up on the final 5% of an idea. * Set realistic expectations for initial success, and then set up a plan to get there. If it's a tech idea -- get the tech right. (Nothing worse than getting everyone excited about a n

So some thoughts on how to affect change in a timely, and yet, deliberate fashion. * Know why you are changing... and know what you are giving up by making this change. Every change creates winners and losers, so be sure to think through what you gain and what you lose (thanks to Neil Postman for that framework.) which leads to... * Always ask "What is the worst consequence of your best idea?" Do it for two reasons - one, because if you can't live with that consequence, don't do what you planned, but two, because the process of thinking this through will help you (and your team) mitigate the problems and you won't be as surprised when the thing you didn't think of comes up. * Research like crazy. Who has tried what you are doing? Who has tried something close to what you're doing? Who is talking about it? Who is writing about it? Who says the idea is already crazy? There aren't many truly new ideas in education, so figure out the history of your idea and learn from who has come before you. * Get lots of opinions - Come up with a smart, sensible, honest way to explain your idea and then listen. Listen a lot. Listen to the folks who don't like the idea, and ask them why. * Be honest - Don't oversell, don't overpromise, and don't pretend that the idea is perfect. * Build consensus - If only a few people are on-board with the idea, it won't work. But consensus doesn't mean taking something from everyone and sticking it onto the original idea until what you have is the worst of committee-based decisions. It means listening for the truths in what other people are telling you and being willing to make substantive change when it makes sense. * Know when to move forward. Don't let ideas die in committee because the team gets hung up on the final 5% of an idea. * Set realistic expectations for initial success, and then set up a plan to get there. If it's a tech idea -- get the tech right. (Nothing worse than getting everyone excited about a n