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Casey Finnerty

Wired Up: Tuned out | Scholastic.com - 0 views

  • Compared to us, I believe their brains have developed differently," says Sheehy. "If we teach them the way we were taught, we're not serving them well."
    • Tony Baldasaro
       
      Whether their brains have developed differently or not, we still need to teach our students differently than we were taught. They are living in different times with different demands and expectations. If we teach to the demands and expectations of our childhood would not meet our students needs.
  • children were much more likely to have connections between brain regions close together while older subjects were more likely to feature links between parts of the brain that are physically farther apart.
  • "media multi-tasking."
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  • Recent reports from the Pew Internet and American Life Project show that 93 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 go online. Of those kids, 55 percent use social-networking sites (like Facebook and MySpace), and 64 percent are creating their own original content (such as blogs and wikis)
    • Tony Baldasaro
       
      Is this all happening outside of the classroom?
  • Unlike watching television, using the Internet allows young people to take an active role; this move from consumption to participation affects the way they construct knowledge, develop their identity, and communicate with others.
  • "Computers give you different ways to solve problems, the opportunity to run and test simulations, and a way to offload processing. . . . We need kids to think about problems in innovative and creative ways. We need to change the emphasis of education to focus on higher-order kinds of thinking."
  • "It's a shift from how to memorize and retrieve data in one's mind to how to search for and evaluate information out in the world
  • Even if we're duplicating a real-life scenario in a virtual environment, the fact that students are engaged with technology and performing through a semblance of anonymity lends itself to a deeper level of discourse.
    • Tony Baldasaro
       
      Why do we need anonymity to get to a deeper level of discourse?
  • "If we fail to do so, our kids are going to look at what they're learning in schools and see that it is irrelevant to the future they see before them."
  • Davis says today's teachers are seeking information when they need it instead of waiting for more formal professional development workshops.
    • Casey Finnerty
       
      Sounds like a quick learner. Does this 15 minute approach really work?
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    acob is your average American 11-year-old. He has a television and a Nintendo DS in his bedroom; his family also has two computers, a wireless Internet connection, and a PlayStation 3. His parents rely on e-mail, instant messaging, and Skype for daily communication, and they're avid users of Tivo and Netflix. Jacob has asked for a Wii for his upcoming birthday. His selling point? "Mom and Dad, we can use the Wii Fit and race Mario Karts together!"
Lena Darnay

I'm a Teacher and After Tuesday, I Could Be Fired - 135 views

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    This is an interesting perspective blog post from Huffington Post sharing the view of education reform from a High School English teacher in California.
Monica Williams-Mitchell

Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Five Questions to Ask ... - 29 views

  • Daniel Pink observed, traditionally neglected talents, which he refers to as Right-brained directed skills, including design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning, will become more valuable (Pink, 2006).
    • Monica Williams-Mitchell
       
      YES! We need to address these things. I don't see them as incompatible w CC, however.
  • international assessments such as PISA and TIMSS, which are mostly left-brained cognitive skills.
  • Common Core does not include an element to prepare the future generations to live in this globalized world and interact with people from different cultures.
    • Monica Williams-Mitchell
       
      But does that simple fact prevent us from addressing this? I think not.
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  • Common Core, by forcing children to master the same curriculum, essentially discriminates against talents that are not consistent with their prescribed knowledge and skills.
    • Monica Williams-Mitchell
       
      Is this any different from the current situation? Is this author arguing that we should not have common standards, or that we should maintain our current status quo of a patchwork of test-driven standards?
  • A well organized, tightly controlled, and well-executed education system can transmit the prescribed content much more effectively than one that is less organized, loosely monitored, and less unified. In the meantime, the latter allows for exceptions with more room for individual exploration and experimentation
    • Monica Williams-Mitchell
       
      I think the problem lies in seeing this as an either-or question. Any system that relies solely on testing as the measure of success is short-sighted and archaic. Having no identified common ground puts at risk the learners who most need a firm starting point. To say that the current system allows "more room for individual exploration and experimentation" is naive at best and disingenuous at worst. Where in test-crazed American schools do you see this happening??
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    A provocative article by Yong Zhao on CCSS and reflective questions we ought to as ourselves.
Keith Dennison

seven thirty-five a.m. - 61 views

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    I am just starting a blog as part of a reflective practice. I also want to use it to connect with people who are interested in education and interested in smart inclusion of technology into the classroom. It's brand new, but I have a post on there with examples of what we're doing at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, NJ.
Warren Apel

5 Resources for Parent-Teacher Conferences - 50 views

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    For many educators, conferences are coming up soon, and it can be a stressful time of the school year. To help parents and educators prepare for parent-teacher conferences, we've rounded up a variety of web resources. From ideas for highlighting student progress, to questions every parent should ask, these are some of our favorite articles and resources that cover parent-teacher conferencing.
Peter Beens

Who Makes the Rules in a Classroom? Seven Ideas About Rule-making - Teacher in a Strang... - 85 views

  • What made collaborative rule-creation more effective in building a smoothly functioning class?
  • It never felt as if we were wrestling with the really important issues: Building a functioning community. Safety. Personal dignity. Kindness. Order. Academic integrity. Democracy.
  • No matter what rules you put on paper, your most important job is role-modeling those practices, not enforcing them
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  • On the other hand, do give clear instructions about what kids don't know. What to do when a tornado is spotted
  • Rules shouldn't restate the obvious. "No cheating" is a stupid rule. "Bring a pencil to class" is a silly rule.
  • You're shooting for influence, not control
  • Integrity helps build community. The most important directives in democratic classrooms are around ethical practices: A clear definition of cheating, understood by all students, in the digital age
  • Carrots and sticks are temporary nudges toward desirable behavior at best, but ultimately destructive
  • We want kids to behave appropriately because they understand that there are rewards for everyone in a civil, well-managed school.
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    Some guidelines for involving students in the creation of the class rules. 
Enid Baines

What English classes should look like in Common Core era - 99 views

  • The National Assessment for Educational Progress does not measure performance in English class. It measures performance in reading, reading across the disciplines and throughout the school day.
  • research reports that young people ages 8-18 consume on average 7 ½ hours of entertainment media per day: playing video games, watching television, and social networking. These are the same students who tell their teachers they don’t have time to read. Children have time. Unfortunately like Bartleby, they would simply prefer not to.
Jennie Snyder

The Myth About Computer-Based Reading Software? - Finding Common Ground - Education Week - 30 views

  • Dr. Allington made the comment that he would ban computers from an instructional role and that they didn't have a significant effect on teaching students to read.
  • The second-year study included four reading software products for first grade, Destination Reading (Riverdeep 2008), the Waterford Early Reading Program (Pearson School 2008), Headsprout (Headsprout 2008), and Plato Focus (Plato Learning Corporation 2008).
  • students need a more balanced program
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  • There is nothing more important to the reading process than a teacher who can provide high quality reading instruction to students.
  • llow students to choose books that they like AND can read.
  • Every child reads something he or she chooses
  • hat reading instruction needs to be 90-120 minutes which includes a large percentage of time being engaged in reading.
  • must be engaged in reading every day, and it must be authentic and meaningful.
  • Students need to spend time reading texts that are not too challenging.
  • But too often, struggling readers get interventions that focus on basic skills in isolation, rather than on reading connected text for meaning."
Don Doehla

Why don't US elementary schools teach foreign language? | Edutopia - 32 views

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    WL Community Forum discussion @Edutopia
Roland Gesthuizen

Teachers Should Battle Poor Publicity | Edutopia - 40 views

  • teaching must become a profession that demands more positive attention. We can't afford to be modest anymore
  • new teachers to take a course in publicity, learn to pitch and sell what you do, so that people know your worth. Learn how to control your own public relations
  • Teachers have insider knowledge of school successes, so it is our duty to go public with those victories, big and small
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  • So, it's up to you to get it out there. It's not just for the good of you, the individual teacher, but also for the good of the staff, and even the profession. It's now your duty.
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    ".. the more productive way to battle these teachers and the bleeding out of our profession's reputation is for those of us who love this job -- and we are the majority -- to battle the poor publicity with the sword of our own successes."
Roland Gesthuizen

21 Signs You're a 21st Century Principal - SimpleK12 - 180 views

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    Are you a 21st Century Principal?  Find out!
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    LOVED this article! Wish our principal was on board. We move forward with or without her - mostly without her!
maureen greenbaum

The Protégé Effect | Psychology Today - 27 views

  • most cutting-edge tool under development is the “teachable agent” — a computerized character who learns, tries, makes mistakes and asks questions just like a real-world pupil.
  • Stanfor
  • Student tutors feel chagrin when their virtual pupils fail; when the characters succeed, they feel what one expert calls by the Yiddish term nachas.
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  • Betty’s Brain, who has been “taught” about environmental science by hundreds of middle school students. Even though users’ interactions with Betty are virtual, the social impulses that make learning-by-teaching so potent still come into play
  • The Protégé Effect
Patrick Black

Tony Vincent's Learning in Hand - Blog - App Store Volume Purchase Program Ex... - 51 views

  • Apple has recently updated the Terms and Conditions for iTunes and the App Store. In addition, the company has announced the App Store Volume Purchase Program. In the past Apple had no mechanism for downloading an app more than once, so schools would purchase an app one time and distribute it to all their iPod touches, iPads, and iPhones. This arrangement made app purchases for class sets of handhelds inexpensive but was not properly compensating app developers.
Steve Ransom

Middle School Students Find Their Voice with Digital Cameras | Edutopia - 90 views

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    Wow... a must read. When technology is used in powerful ways to make learning and thinking about the world relevant, great things happen!
Karen Balnis

Another Look at the Weaknesses of Online Learning - Innovations - The Chronicle of High... - 86 views

shared by Karen Balnis on 28 Jul 11 - No Cached
  • have been lucky enough to have taught the full range of our freshman / sophmore undergraduate offerings as both an onsite and online instructor. While I have thoroughly enjoyed both formats - and very much so - I must admit that my experiences online have been *much* more positive than onsite instruction. Let me try and elucidate:1. While in the onsite classroom you have the opportunity to think on your feet and challenge and be experiential on your feet to reactions to the students who speak, in the online classroom, you are able to meet *every* class member and challenge their minds and ideas. The students who would normally be lost in a classroom of 35-40 are met and developed each day or week at their level and pushed to consider ideas they might not have considered. 2. I am able to reach the entire class through multimedia exhibits in each of the weekly units - journal articles, non-copyrighted film clips (and many from our university's purchased collection under an agreement for both onsite classroom and online classroom use), photography, art, patents, etc, that the students would not see - or would otherwise ignore - in an onsite classroom. We incorporate this information into our discussions and make it part of the larger whole of history.3. Each student and I - on the phone during office hours or in e-mail - discuss the creation of their term papers - and discuss midterm and final "anxiety" issues - and as they are used to the online format, and regular communication with me through the discussion boards, they respond much more readily than onsite students, whom I have found I have to pressure to talk to me. 4. I am able to accommodate students from around the country - and around the world. I have had enrolled in my class students from Japan, Indonesia, India, England - and many other countries. As a result, I have set up a *very* specific Skype address *only* for use of my students. They are required to set up the time and day with me ahead of time and I need to approve that request, but for them (and for some of my students scattered all over the state and US), the face time is invaluable in helping them feel "connected" - and I am more than happy to offer it. 5. As the software upgrades, the possibilities of what I can offer become more and more amazing, and the ease of use for both me - and for the students -  becomes astronomically better. Many have never known the software, so they don't notice it - but those who have taken online courses before cheer it on. Software does not achieve backwards. As very few of these issues are met by the onsite classroom, I am leaning more and more toward the online classroom as the better mode of instruction. Yes, there are times I *really* miss the onsite opportunities, but then I think of the above distinctions and realize that yes, I am where I should be, and virtually *ALL* the students are getting far more for their money than they would get in an onsite classroom. This is the wave of the future, and it holds such amazing promise. Already I think we are seeing clear and fruitful results, and if academics receive effective - and continuing - instruction and support from the very beginning, I cannot imagine why one would ever go back. The only reason I can think of *not* doing this is if the instructor has his or her *own* fear of computers. Beyond that - please, please jump on the bandwagon, swallow your fears, and learn how to do this with vigor. I don't think you will ever be sorry.PhD2BinUS
  • have been lucky enough to have taught the full range of our freshman / sophmore undergraduate offerings as both an onsite and online instructor. While I have thoroughly enjoyed both formats - and very much so - I must admit that my experiences online have been *much* more positive than onsite instruction. Let me try and elucidate:
  • While I have thoroughly enjoyed both formats - and very much so - I must admit that my experiences online have been *much* more positive than onsite instruction. Let me try and elucidate:
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    I am a graduate student at Sam Houston State University and before I started grad school I never had taken an online course before. My opinion then was that online courses were a joke and you couldn't learn from taking a course online. Now my opinion has done a complete 180. The teachers post numerous youtube videos and other helpful tools for each assignment so that anyone can successfully complete the assignment no matter what their technology skill level is. I do not see much difference between online and face-to-face now because of the way the instructors teach the courses.
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