Anything that can be learned falls broadly into two categories: things you need to understand intellectually, and skills you need to be able to perform. Most things you want to learn involve a mix of the two.
ee the distinction between skills and concepts, you can devise two separate learning strategies for each.
Rule #1: Practice for Skills, Connections for Concepts
Patterns make concepts useful, patternless concepts tend to have a very limited use, so they aren’t studied that much.
But it needs more time to mature in the back of your head while you do other things. Worse, it utterly fails when put under intense stress or time constraints.
Rule #4: Concept Checklists are Useful
Then create a second-order list under each of the larger bullet points with sub-concepts.
Write out (I suggest on a word document, since it allows multiple levels of bullets) all of the major concepts covered in your course.
Heuristics for Learning Better
A concept checklist is a good way to handle those scary, “I don’t understand anything!” moments that many learners face. It allows you to dissolve the frightening implications of total ignorance into a step-by-step guide that can allow you to slowly conquer any subject.
Tactic #1: The 5-Year Old Method
Tactic #2: Metaphors
I recommend brainstorming for metaphors. Start with open-ended questions like:
This idea reminds me of…?
This idea is used in real-life situations, such as…?
What phenomenon mimics this idea?
If I wanted to tell a story about this idea, it would go like…?
Tactic #3: Visceralization
combine smell, feeling and motion into an image, not just a picture.
Tactic #4: Deep Linking
if you know you don’t actually have to deeply learn the material, going deeper into a subject can actually make the original idea easier to understand.
1. How to Learn Faster - The basics of learning better
2. How to Learn Anything - Rules of thumb to master hard subjects
3. Tactics for Learning Better - Specific methods to learn faster
"You are violating copyright if you have not gotten express PERMISSION from the copyright holder OR are using pics that are public domain, creative commons, etc. I didn't know better and I had to learn the hard way. So I want to let you all know now so that you don't have to be a cautionary tale as well."
Thank you so much for sharing this! As an educator, I always believed that if I posted a picture on the district site and just gave credit to where I got the picture I was clear with copyright. Now I know better. Perhaps you've underwent this experience to help so many others like me to better understand copyright...
Three Elements of Great Communication, According to Aristotle
by Scott Edinger | 9:00 AM January 17,
2013
Comments (78)
In my nearly 20 years of work in organization development, I've never heard
anyone say that a leader communicated too much or too well. On the contrary, the
most common improvement suggestion I've seen offered up on the thousands of 360
evaluations I've reviewed over the years is that it would be better if the
subject in question learned to communicate more effectively.
What makes someone a good communicator? There's no mystery here, not since Aristotle identified the three critical elements —
ethos, pathos, and logos. — thousands of years ago.
Ethos is essentially your credibility — that is, the reason people should
believe what you're saying. In writing this blog I made an effort to demonstrate
my ethos in the introduction, and here I'll just add that I have a degree in
communication studies (emphasis in rhetoric for those who want the details) for
good measure. In some cases, ethos comes merely from your rank within an
organization. More commonly, though, today's leaders build ethos most
"Conversation is
key
. Sawyer succinctly
explains this principle: "Conversation leads to flow, and flow leads to
creativity." When having students work in groups, consider what will spark rich
conversation. The original researcher on flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, found
that rich conversation precedes and ignites flow more than any other
activity.1 Tasks that require (or force) interaction
lead to richer collaborative conceptualization.
Set a clear but
open-ended goal
.
Groups produce the richest ideas when they have a goal that will focus their
interaction but also has fluid enough boundaries to allow for creativity. This
is a challenge we often overlook. As teachers, we often have an idea of what a
group's final product should look like (or sound like, or…). If we put
students into groups to produce a predetermined outcome, we prevent creative
thinking from finding an entry point.
Try not announcing time
limits.
As teachers we
often use a time limit as a "motivator" that we hope will keep group work
focused. In reality, this may be a major detractor from quality group work.
Deadlines, according to Sawyer, tend to impede flow and produce lower quality
results. Groups produce their best work in low-pressure situations. Without a
need to "keep one eye on the clock," the group's focus can be fully given to the
task.
Do not appoint a group
"leader."
In research
studies, supervisors, or group leaders, tend to subvert flow unless they participate as an
equal, listening and
allowing the group's thoughts and decisions to guide the
interaction.
Keep it
small.
Groups with the
minimum number of members that are needed to accomplish a task are more
efficient and effective.
Consider weaving
together individual and group work.
For additive tasks-tasks in whicha group is
expectedtoproduce a list, adding one idea to another-research suggests that
better results develop
good list of edtech blogs, some better than others. The list seems to have a wide scope to include all levels and subject areas rather than the best blogs.
Feed readers
are probably the most important digital tool for today's learner because they
make sifting through the amazing amount of content added to the Internet
easy. Also known as aggregators, feed readers are free tools that can
automatically check nearly any website for new content dozens of times a
day---saving ridiculous amounts of time and customizing learning experiences for
anyone.
Imagine
never having to go hunting for new information from your favorite sources
again. Learning goes from a frustrating search through thousands of
marginal links written by questionable characters to quickly browsing the
thoughts of writers that you trust, respect and enjoy.
Feed readers can
quickly and easily support blogging in the classroom, allowing teachers to
provide students with ready access to age-appropriate sites of interest that are
connected to the curriculum. By collecting sites in advance and organizing
them with a feed reader, teachers can make accessing information manageable for
their students.
Here are several
examples of feed readers in action:
Used specifically as
a part of one classroom project, this feed list contains information related to
global warming that students can use as a starting point for individual
research.
While there are literally dozens of different feed reader
programs to choose from (Bloglines andGoogle Reader are two
biggies), Pageflakes is a favorite of
many educators because it has a visual layout that is easy to read and
interesting to look at. It is also free and web-based. That
means that users can check accounts from any computer with an Internet
connection. Finally, Pageflakes makes it quick and easy to add new
websites to a growing feed list—and to get rid of any websites that users are no
longer interested in.
What's even
better: Pageflakes has been developinga teacher version of their tooljust for us that includes an online grade tracker,
a task list and a built in writing tutor. As Pageflakes works to perfect
its teacher product, this might become one of the first kid-friendly feed
readers on the market. Teacher Pageflakes users can actually blog and create a
discussion forum directly in their feed reader---making an all-in-one digital
home for students.
For more
information about the teacher version of Pageflakes, check out this
review:
While reading about Martin Luther King, Jr, students chose a quote from his work. Students wrote the quote on an index card and explained why they chose the quote or what they thought about the quote. Then we passed the card to the student on the left, and that student read the card and added a sticky note comment. The note needed to be at least three sentences, refer or quote something from the original text, and be “overly positive.” We handed the card and comment to the left again, and that student read the comment and the card. We continued passing to the left and adding sticky note comments, which could comment on the original text or any of the comments.
As we passed the work along, student comments became longer and better as they read other comments that were better than some who had not followed our protocol and simply wrote, “I agree.” By the time every one had commented on every one else’s card, all students had written at least one good comment.
When the original writer received the card, they chose and shared the comments that helped them think more or caused them to want to add to their original ideas.
new site called Tween Tribune (http://tweentribune.com/), a site for students and teachers with kid-friendly news feeds on which to comment or add their own stories. We read comments and critiqued them, noticing some grammatical errors and mostly that some comments did not add to the conversation.
Votetocracy was created by regular citizens who decided it was time for Americans to have a better, actionable and measurable way to interact with Congress. This is not just a blog with commenting forums. We are about action. By providing Americans the ability to vote on bills in Congress we create a measurable repository of citizens sentiment towards each bill. That's good for all Americans and good for Congress. Truth is - Congress wants to hear from you.
Votetocracy was created by regular citizens who decided it was time for Americans to have a better, actionable and measurable way to interact with Congress. This is not just a blog with commenting forums. We are about action. By providing Americans the ability to vote on bills in Congress we create a measurable repository of citizens sentiment towards each bill. That's good for all Americans and good for Congress. Truth is - Congress wants to hear from you.
The reflective writing has been valuable but definitely the nearly 4,000 comments have been even more of a learning experience. This is the single best professional development experience I've had.
Hire a teacher, give them a blog. Get them to subscribe to at least 5 other teachers in the district as well as 5 other great teachers from around the globe. Have their principal and a few central office people to subscribe to the blog and 5 other teachers as well. Require them to write at least once a week on their practice. Get conversations going right from the get go. Watch teachers get better.
AbstractNormal subjects
and patients with adult-onset diabetes received 10 gm. of aspirin in four days.
On the fourth day, the fasting serum glucose and the glucose response to oral
glucose were decreased in both groups. These changes were associated with
increased levels of serum insulin and pancreatic glucagon, although the glucagon
responses to oral glucose were unchanged. In the diabetic patients, aspirin
therapy was followed by a decreased glucose response to I.V. glucose and by the
appearance of an early insulin peak, which could not be demonstrated before
treatment. Aspirin did not affect the I.V. glucose tolerance in normal subjects,
although it did enhance the early insulin peak. A decrease in the fasting levels
of free fatty acids was noted in both groups, whereas the fasting level of
triglycerides decreased only in the diabetic patients. Cholesterolemia did not
change in either group. A few preliminary observations indicate that, in normal
subjects, ibuprofen and ketoprofen, two other presumed prostaglandin inhibitors,
did not affect fasting glycemia, glucose tolerance, or the insulin response to
glucose. No changes were noted after the administration of placebo.
Last A1C
4.8No Rx, Diet modification, exercise, Supps and HerbalsI
am a retired
HYPOGLYCEMIC
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11-08-2010 #2
trinitarian3n1
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T2 dx 3/07, tx w/very lo carb D&E Met, bolus R
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That's a
hefty dose of aspirin.
John
C.A clean house is the sign of a broken computer.Last HgbA1c - 5.5%
2/2011
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11-08-2010 #3
MCS
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Yes it
is, 650mg 4 times a day. I wonder if they did that to make sure they had a
response and if there is a break point of some lower dose. I am on 325 once a
day now. Been that high in the past for other things, lots of ringing in the
ears when you get that high of a dose.
Last A1C
4.8No Rx, Diet modification, exercise, Supps and HerbalsI
am a retired
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11-08-2010 #4
furball64801
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type 2 25 yrs mother aunt type 2 thin 50 yrs
Blog Entr
The therory is that it helps to
regenerate the once turned off Beta cells, not over working the exiting ones.
This is just one article I found, they are many, most of them concern Salsalate
a drug used for arthritis. It works by lowering the inflammation of the liver
and pancreas. Lowers IR, its a pretty interesting concept based largerly on
inflammation of one muscles and organs.
Originally
Posted by jeanne wagner
i know for heart health they recommend the baby 81 mg a day.
I would think you wouldn't have a stomach lining left if you took that on a
daily basis. Also just because it stimulates insulin doesn't mean it is a good
thing. Sulfonyureas also overstimulate insulin and there is some thought they
lead to beta cell burnout. I think it is better to find things like metformin
that make you more sensitive to the insulin you naturally
make.
Last A1C
4.8No Rx, Diet modification, exercise, Supps and HerbalsI
am a retired
HYPOGLYCEMIC
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11-08-2010 #7
MCS
D.D. Family
Join Date
August 2010
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T2, trying to live a healthy life
Here is
a few more articles concerning NSAID's and insulin if you are
interested.http://www.annals.org/content/152/6/346.abstracthttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...026.x/abstracthttp://www.theannals.com/cgi/content/abstract/44/7/1207
Last A1C
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am a retired
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MCS was thanked for this post by:
Nan-OH
11-08-2010 #8
CalgaryDiabetic
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Calgary,Canada
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diabetic since 1997, on insulin 2000
Guarantied tummy
ulcer with so much aspirin.
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11-09-2010 #9
MCS
When students are prepped and prepped and prepped to pass the state tests, they aren’t necessarily better educated, just prepared to take a specific test. Too much prepping distorts the value of the test.
"An important new study by Professors Adam Maltese of Indiana University and Craig Hochbein of the University of Louisville sheds new light on the validity of state scores. This study found that rising scores on the state tests did not correlate with improved performance on the ACT. In fact, students at "declining" schools did just as well and sometimes better than students where the scores were going up."
A traditional “A-F” report card doesn’t inspire that type of insight for the students or the people they need to share it with in order to get into high school or college or get a job. A collection of badges from classroombadges.com would be much more like sharing a personal “yearbook” of academic accomplishments. I love that idea.
"I admit this title makes a pretty bold statement for a society that pretty much uses the first five letters of the alphabet to define every child from about age 5 until adulthood. But, I am hearing more and more about the use of badges in the classroom, especially in conversations about gamification and self motivation."
I have been trying out some grading apps and am intrigued by ActivGrade because instead of being focused on a letter grade A-F, I could see students being more concerned with mastering a goal. Their "grade" is a color toward mastery of a standard. Red means I have a lot of work to do to master this, yellow means I'm making progress toward mastery and green means I've mastered this goal at this point. One grading algorithm to choose from in the app is a calculation which puts a 75% weight on the student's most recent assignment for a given concept. This means that as I get better at a skill, my most recent attempt at showing my mastery over the skill is worth more for my grade than my prior attempts. This seems like smart grading practice to me.
We need to ask good questions so that students see the importance of questions—how they make us think and help us learn. Eventually students may start asking better questions themselves, including ones we can’t answer. And those are the best questions of all.
"Good questions make students think, they encourage participation and I think they improve the caliber of the answers students give and the questions they ask. To achieve those worthwhile outcomes more regularly, I'd like to recommend three actions that have the potential to improve our questioning."
To me, reflecting as an administrator is not an option. I believe that doing it through a blog or openly is better as your learning can help others, but reflection is vital to learning.
As a result, we’ve wasted 15 years avoiding incremental improvement, and instead trying to upend a reasonably successful school system.
But the reason it hasn’t narrowed is that your profession has done too good a job — you’ve improved white children’s performance as well, so the score gap persists, but at a higher level for all.
Policymakers, pundits, and politicians ignore these gains; they conclude that you, educators, have been incompetent because the test score gap hasn’t much narrowed.
If you believe public education deserves greater support, as I do, you will have to boast about your accomplishments, because voters are more likely to aid a successful institution than a collapsing one.
In short, underemployment of parents is not only an economic crisis — it is an educational crisis. You cannot ignore it and be good educators.
equally important educational goals — citizenship, character, appreciation of the arts and music, physical fitness and health, and knowledge of history, the sciences, and literature.
If you have high expectations, your students can succeed regardless of parents’ economic circumstances.
That is nonsense.
health insurance; children are less likely to get routine and preventive care that middle class children take for granted
If they can’t see because they don’t get glasses to correct vision difficulties, high expectations can’t teach them to read.
Because education has become so politicized, with policy made by those with preconceptions of failure and little understanding of the educational process, you are entering a field that has become obsessed with evaluating only results that are easy to measure, rather than those that are most important. But as Albert Einstein once said, not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted, counts.
To be good educators, you must step up your activity not only in the classroom, but as citizens. You must speak up in the public arena, challenging those policymakers who will accuse you only of making excuses when you speak the truth that children who are hungry, mobile, and stressed, cannot learn as easily as those who are comfortable.
An important read for anyone who truly wants to understand what's really important in education and the false reform strategies of our current (and past) administration.
academia is just scratching the surface about the implications of social networking and what exactly it is, what it means, and how it happens
scholarly speculation
"Has social networking technology (blog-friendly phones, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) made us better or worse off as a society, either from an economic, psychological, or sociological perspective?"
"students were using Facebook to increase the size of their social network, and therefore their access to more information and diverse perspectives. "
"Powerful new technologies provide great benefits, but they also change the way we live, and not always in ways that everyone likes. An example is the spread of air conditioning, which makes us more comfortable, but those who grew up before its invention speak fondly of a time when everyone sat on the front porch and talked to their neighbors rather than going indoors to stay cool and watch TV. The declining cost of information processing and communication represents a powerful new technology, with social networking as the most recent service to be provided at modest cost. It can be expected to bring pluses and minuses."
social networking technologies support and enable a new model of social life, in which people’s social circles will consist of many more, but weaker, ties
Social networking technologies provide people with a low cost (in terms of time and effort) way of making and keeping social connections, enabling a social scenario in which people have huge numbers of diverse, but not very close, acquaintances.
A brief look at social networking theory with interesting views of SNs and where academia are "at" with regards to the emerging field. The post is a little old (Aug 2010) but much is still relevant and the link through to the Freakonomics blog is worthwhile following.
1. How to Learn Faster - The basics of learning better 2. How to Learn Anything - Rules of thumb to master hard subjects 3. Tactics for Learning Better - Specific methods to learn faster
