Group items tagged

"As I am reading probably my one hundredth CV and letter of application, all for one teaching position, I am reminded of how it is so often the smallest of things, the attention paid to the most obvious of details, that can influence the greatest decisions we make in our lives. I make no bones about how much I love my job. I love the variability, constant challenge and excitement working with children every day offers, and I am thankful that I have had colleagues and employers who have taken a chance and given me the opportunity to pursue my dream job."

"I thought it was appropriate to ask the question to my PLN (or what I perceive as my PLN) via Twitter. I asked if anyone had a definition for a PLN, or if they knew the difference between a personal learning network and personal learning environment (PLE). I received varied responses, and the majority of these are pasted below."

"This essay will explain why I label various technologies as winners, losers, and magic bullets in the table below. My opinions are not based on exhaustive research. They are based on my experience both as a high school teacher and as an entrepreneur." My evaluations are based on whether I view these technologies as supporting a model of education that is one-to-many or a model that is many-to-one. The latter is the model I prefer, as will become clear in the rest of this essay.

There are a couple tools out now that I see bantered around in educational circles that I just hate! And there are some pretty awesome tools out there that are being used in rather old and traditional ways, and I don't hate the tool, but I hate the use of them. Exceptions don't contradict what I'm trying to explain here, but rather prove the point that: A tool is just a tool! I can use a hammer to build a house and I can use the same hammer on a human skull. It's not the tool, but how you use it that matters.

Not that long ago I was a writer of interesting and engaging educational programmes. Fortunately, that is no longer the case. The programmes that I wrote and shared with a team of teachers were generally well accepted and the feedback offered was always politely positive. I enjoyed writing these programmes but in recent times I have enjoyed even more stepping away from this process and in doing so empowering the team of teachers that I learn with. The programmes that this team produces far exceed the quality I could ever have hoped to produce but more importantly the students are benefiting from their experience of highly engaged and thus engaging teachers.

But I have to admit, I LOVE WORKFLOWY

While this site lists some of the limitations of Workflowy, I have to admit I LOVE workflowy

I have a few students who have a very difficult time asking questions and contributing to class discussions, so I thought I would try out a backchannel tool to help them find their voice. I was amazed at how much more these students participated during the lesson. I used this site, it was very easy to use and you don't have to sign-up for an account. Also, the students do not have to sign-in to the site, they just put in the class name I set up.

Taking Yourself Seriously: Processes of Research and Engagement is the working title of a book by Peter Taylor and Jeremy Szteiter that assembles the tools and processes from research and writing courses taught in the Graduate Program in Critical and Creative Thinking. The most up to date version of the book can be viewed at http://cct.wikispaces.umb.edu/TYS (and associated links, including a link to a full pdf of the book). "For your research and writing to progress well, your questions and ideas need to be in alignment with your aspirations, your ability to take or influence action, and your relationships with other people. Shorten these items to head, heart, hands, and human connections. Your efforts to bring these 4H's into alignment is what we mean when we invite you to take yourself seriously." Some comments from former students looking back on the influence of the research courses out of which this book has arisen: Jane, a healthcare professional and story-teller: I learned is to 'hold my ideas loosely', which means accepting my own idea as a valid one but always leaving the space open to take in the counterarguments. I learned to give myself permission to be circular and come back to previous steps or thoughts, and I actually became more comfortable doing so. I was able to get engaged in a project that I was able to actually use in work, which was extremely satisfying. The whole process encouraged me, and I felt very empowered as a change agent, which could be an exhilarating feeling.

"I often find myself discussing "Giving students a voice" in the classroom with people who wonder what I exactly mean.  Sure, giving someone a voice sounds great, but how do I know that I am doing that?  What can I do to do that?  What does it look like?  I am not an expert but here is what it looks like to me."

quotes and quotes and quotes...

I have written about why I think blogging and commenting about blogs are an essential part of learning today in Kaia and Room 10 - Why Blogging and Commenting on Blogs Are So Important.

In a couple of weeks, both Tess and Tucker will be starting their first day at brand new schools. They'll know no one, have all new teachers, new surroundings, and, hopefully, new opportunities. I'm not sure they're totally at peace with these changes, but as I keep telling them, it's the kind of stuff that builds character. (I keep regaling them with school switching stories of my own, the most challenging being when my mom moved us out to New Jersey from Chicago when I was beginning 6th grade and three days before school started I was wading barefoot in a creek, stepped on a broken bottle, and ended up with 10 stitches in the bottom of my foot and a pair of crutches for the first week of classes. Talk about character building.) Wendy and I have been trying to prepare them for this shift as best we can, and while I know it's a bit scary for them, I'm really hopeful the change will be good for them on a lot of different levels.

Actually, polis was greek for city state, often in the idealized sense that we would use the term "state" to refer to a country The word "police" comes from Middle French, for public order, administration - policy is a better parallel Interpolate, as a verb, comes from Latin, and is closer to "polish" - but it usually means to introduce new meaning or to draw new conclusions, sometimes with the implication that they may be false additions (interpret looks at what's there, infer draws conclusions, interpose interrupts with a new topic)

"I often find myself discussing "Giving students a voice" in the classroom with people who wonder what I exactly mean.  Sure, giving someone a voice sounds great, but how do I know that I am doing that?  What can I do to do that?  What does it look like?  I am not an expert but here is what it looks like to me."