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Be the Change. Listen. Follow-up » Edurati Review - 42 views

  • 1. Be the change. Leaders of professional development seem to forget that they’re actually teaching, and that part of teaching is modeling the activity you hope to see adopted. A session devoted to equipping teachers to implement more collaborative learning that is presented via “death by PowerPoint” is an oxymoron, a term originating from a Greek word appropriately meaning “pointedly foolish.” As one teacher recently expressed it, “Why does the worst teaching often happen in sessions on how to improve teaching?” Why, indeed? Modeling is a powerful teaching technique. In addition to communicating that the suggested new approach promotes learning, demonstration taps into some of the brain’s natural learning systems: This may be because demonstration actually encourages the brain to engage. Specialized neurons known as mirror neurons make practicing “in the head” possible…When a teacher repeatedly performs a sequence of steps, her students’ mirror neurons may enable their own preliminary practice of the same steps. In other words, as a teacher demonstrates a skill, students mentally rehearse it.1
  • Though we’ve been invited to lead professional development, we do not have all the answers. Professional development involves merging new research findings with current personnel—i.e., bringing ideas and people together. One way I’ve tried to do more of this recently is to ask teachers if any of them have tried something similar to a new approach I’ve explained. If any have, I invite them to share their experience. This invites elaboration, a critical cognitive process for constructing understanding. If the teacher’s experience was positive, we discuss why the approach was successful. If the teacher’s experience was frustrating, we often find together the reason for it and develop a plan for structuring it better the next time. This give-and-take values everyone, respects the experience present in the session, and allows the leader to be a colleague rather than an aloof expert.
  • 2. Listen. I have a tendency to get preoccupied with my preparation and forget that I’ll actually have people in the professional development session. Not just people but colleagues!
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  • 3. Follow up. I’ve written previously about the importance of coaching and the characteristics of an effective coach. A one-time information flood is ineffective, no matter how engaging the session’s leader may be. Teachers need support as they begin to implement new ideas, methods, and approaches. Note that support, not judgement, is needed. Showing up with an evaluation form is a certain way to kill any benefit professional development might yield. Teachers are learners, and we need the time and space to try, to reflect, to try again, to get helpful feedback, and to truly master implementation. We need the opportunity to learn. Coaching provides this opportunity, along with the encouragement and feedback necessary for success.
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Green Faces the Music; Chaochi Repeats His Mistake - Goal Blog - NYTimes.com - 14 views

    • MIchael Heneghan
       
      Jeez, how do you live something down like that, especially in such a soccer-crazed nation?
  • “It’s a mistake from Greenie that could have happened to anyone.”
    • MIchael Heneghan
       
      "(except the other goalkeepers we have that have more experience, who many think should've been in there to begin with)."
    • MIchael Heneghan
       
      The US has to be thrilled with this result, with the toughest team in their group behind them.  Time to put in a real goal now. 
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AALF - Anytime Anywhere Learning - 54 views

  • That beginning meant we had to give everyone access to technology - kids and teachers alike.
  • For too long we have ensured that the power of the engine - technology - was kept down to a level at which it would not do any harm - to curriculum
  • Curriculum must be built around core values: love of learning, lifelong learning, learning how to learn, working collaboratively.
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  • There's not a lot of relevance in much of our curriculum today, and certainly too little purpose.
  • here's not a lot of relevance in much of our curriculum today, and certainly too little purpose
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    Bruce Dixon
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Immersed In Too Much Information, We Can Sometimes Miss The Big Picture : All Tech Cons... - 48 views

  • Although we find ourselves as travelers in the age of over sharing, it turns out we remain quite adept at avoiding the really tough topics.
  • Google’s Eric Schmidt recently stated that every two days we create as much information as we did from the beginning of civilization through 2003. Perhaps the sheer bulk of data makes it easier to suppress that information which we find overly unpleasant. Who’s got time for a victim in Afghanistan or end-of-life issues with all these Tweets coming in?
  • Between reality TV, 24-hour news, and the constant hammering of the stream, I am less likely to tackle seriously uncomfortable topics. I can bury myself in a mountain of incoming information. And if my stream is any indication, I’m not alone. For me, repression used to be a one man show. Now I am part of a broader movement — mass avoidance through social media.
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    A must-read: "Although we find ourselves as travelers in the age of over sharing, it turns out we remain quite adept at avoiding the really tough topics."
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5 Fantastic Ways to Use Wallwisher in the Classroom - SimpleK12 - 138 views

  • 5 fantastic ways to use Wallwisher in the classroom: Writing activities – Wallwisher has a 160 character limit for each comment/post that you leave on the wall. Which is, in a way, a good thing! It allows for short story/collaborative projects, essay plans, note-taking, memos, poems, etc… the writing possibilities are endless! Brainstorming activities – This is a great ice breaker for the beginning of class! And better yet, it’s a great way to post a homework assignment/food for thought for that evening and then discuss it the next day. Vocabulary/Grammar Activities – You could easily use Wallwisher for practicing tenses, definitions, vocabulary matching (you can even use audio or video!), or even find a theme and have the students fill the sticky notes with their ideas for the vocabulary theme! Speaking activities – I was never one to love speaking in front of people so Wallwisher is a great way to create short speaking activities to help students feel more comfortable in front of a group of people. These activities could be to talk about a photo or video for X minutes, create a story based upon X number of photos, or even put debate topics on a sticky note for the student to create. Notifications – That is the original thought, right? You could use Wallwisher for orientation information, classroom rules, student profiles, daily/weekly plan, or even fun messages to other students who might be out sick or on trips with their families.
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The Lottery by Shirley Jackson - 47 views

  • so it could begin
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Worlds End, Worlds Begin: What Is a Paradigm Shift? - 52 views

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    What makes a paradigm shift? Not the kind of car you buy or who you vote for. We're in the midst of one.....
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Worlds End, Worlds Begin: After Abu Ghraib: Standing By in Silence - 8 views

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    Assange profile on dating site released: does this matter? Is this what educators should focus on? 
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Ending America's 'race to the bottom' - International Herald Tribune - 0 views

  • sophisticated examinations that better measure problem-solving and critical thinking.
    • Ed Webb
       
      Good. Devil in the detail, as always, of course.
    • Roland O'Daniel
       
      Interestingly, KY is looking to get rid of their sophisticated examinations because of political pressure, lack of comparibility, and $. In the 90s KY was a leader in attempting to change assessment and accountability, but for a plethora of reasons has fallen back in line. Not trying to be negative, but recognize the difficulty in the challenge and hope he's up to it.
  • Once charter schools have opened, it becomes politically difficult to close them, even in cases where they are bad or worse than their traditional counterparts.
    • Roland O'Daniel
       
      Ed, great example of how not to structure the change. Open more charter schools, make them have a 5 year evaluation plan, have an accountability plan in place that allows the school to stay true to their ideal, make changes that they feel will help them achieve their goals, even allow them additional time if results warrant, and then HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE. If they can't show they haven't at least held their own, then close them, but make that part of the evaluation plan from the beginning. The rub of that plan is that you can't hold them accountable at a level that you aren't going to hold everybody else to. What about traditional schools that aren't working, what do you do with those schools? Isn't that one of the big knocks on NCLB that they are 'being taken over' because of some testing system?
  • Congress will need to broaden and sustain those reforms in the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.
    • Ed Webb
       
      Why reauthorize? Why not tear it up and write something better?
    • Roland O'Daniel
       
      I disagree with tearing it up and starting over, isn't that what we do in education? Try something it doesn't work (for lots of reasons, including lack of implementation), and move on to the next shiny thing. Why not analyze the program, identify the aspects that have shown efficacy, identify the aspects that haven't achieved their goals, make changes that are informed and researchable, put them in place and hold people accountable for implementing. I think NCLB was well intentioned and represented the best thinking of a group of people (in education as in many areas i don't think you can say it represents the best thinking of everyone). I just don't like the idea of letting everyone off the hook by starting over. I believe it reinforces the concept that I don't have to worry about this project because it too will pass.
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Online Education - Introducing the Microlecture Format - Open Education - 4 views

  • in online education “tiny bursts can teach just as well as traditional lectures when paired with assignments and discussions.” The microlecture format begins with a podcast that introduces a few key terms or a critical concept, then immediately turns the learning environment over to the students.
  • “It’s a framework for knowledge excavation,” Penrose tells Shieh. “We’re going to show you where to dig, we’re going to tell you what you need to be looking for, and we’re going to oversee that process.”
  • It clearly will not work for a course that is designed to feature sustained classroom discussions. And while the concept will work well when an instructor wants to introduce smaller chunks of information, it will likely not work very well when the information is more complex.
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  • the microlecture format similarly requires teachers to get the key elements across in a very short amount of time. Most importantly, it forces educators to think in a new way.
  • 1. List the key concepts you are trying to convey in the 60-minute lecture. That series of phrases will form the core of your microlecture. 2. Write a 15 to 30-second introduction and conclusion. They will provide context for your key concepts. 3. Record these three elements using a microphone and Web camera. (The college information-technology department can provide advice and facilities.) If you want to produce an audio-only lecture, no Webcam is necessary. The finished product should be 60 seconds to three minutes long. 4. Design an assignment to follow the lecture that will direct students to readings or activities that allow them to explore the key concepts. Combined with a written assignment, that should allow students to learn the material. 5. Upload the video and assignment to your course-management software.
    • Marsh Feldman
       
      Good luck! Some of my (upper-division college) students don't even read the handouts I give them about assignments. Instead, they come during office hours and ask me to tell them how to do the assignment. When they do read things, like a textbook commonly used in 100-level courses, they misinterpret concepts through their own preconceptions. For example, the textbook says, "In this field there are these eight schools of thought: ...." So one student writes, "All eight schools are good ways to understand. There's no right way." (Even though each school is highly critical of the others.) The rest of the class comments, with things like "Good insight, Oscar." The textbook is about the field, so it doesn't go into any detail about the schools' criticisms ot the others. I can either tell the students or give them additional reading they probably won't do. Unless you can anticipate every student misunderstanding and have time for microlectures on every one of them, I think you'll need to do things the old fashioned way. At least this way you can make a valiant attempt at helping them understand the material correctly.
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From Knowledgable to Knowledge-able: Learning in New Media Environments | Academic Commons - 1 views

  • Marshall McLuhan called it “the rear-view mirror effect,” noting that “We see the world through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.
  • We have had our why's, how's, and what's upside-down, focusing too much on what should be learned, then how, and often forgetting the why altogether
  • I like to think that we are not teaching subjects but subjectivities: ways of approaching, understanding, and interacting with the world.
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  • students quickly realize the importance of their role as co-creators of the learning environment and they begin to take responsibility for their own education.
  • Nothing good will come of these technologies if we do not first confront the crisis of significance and bring relevance back into education.
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Launching Professional Learning Communities: Beginning Actions: Introduction - 1 views

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    A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is defined as a school in which the professionals (administrators and teachers) continuously seek and share learning to increase their effectiveness for students, and act on what they learn (Hord, 1997).
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The Scarlet "P" | TechTicker - 0 views

  • To me “sound pedagogy” isn’t a guarded gateway through which all things must pass before becoming true learning, it’s an ideal that should permeate and inform everything.
    • Ed Webb
       
      nicely put!
  • the perpetual conflict between the educational technology unit and the learning and teaching unit
  • The educational technologist are seen to be tech-obsessed, light on pedagogy and prone to obscure abbreviations; while the academics are stereotyped as waffley anti-technologists with a love of chalk-and-talk. Adding to this complexity, each sphere tends to be characterised by a distinct culture and common language. Often times the divisions are so clearly delineated that, despite units merging on paper, the two spheres operate largely independently of one another.
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  • We won’t always agree with one another, but once we start using language instead of hiding behind it we can begin to actually communicate.
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Wheatley, Margaret J. Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to - 1 views

  • Our willingness to have our beliefs and ideas challenged by what others think.
  • only find those answers by admitting we don’t know
  • We no longer live in those sweet, slow days when life felt predictable, when we actually knew what to do next.
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  • Curiosity is what we need. We don’t have to let go of what we believe, but we don need to be curious about what someone else believes.
  • might be essential to our survival
  • When so many interpretations are available, I can’t understand why we would be satisfied with superficial conversations where we pretend to agree with one another
  • I hope you’ll begin a conversation, listening for what’s new. Listen as best you can for what’s different, for what surprises you. See if this practice helps you learn something new.
  • how many unique ways there are to be human
  • curious rather than certain
  • We can’t be creative if we refuse to be confused
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    As we work together to restore hope to the future, we need to include a new and strange ally-our willingness to be disturbed. Our willingness to have our beliefs and ideas challenged by what others think. No one person or perspective can give us the answers we need to the problems of today. Paradoxically, we can only find those answers by admitting we don't know. We have to be willing to let go of our certainty and expect ourselves to be confused for a time
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Education World ® : Curriculum: You've Got E-Mail -- But Can You Make It Real... - 1 views

  • "Before you begin a telecollaborative project," she said, "Look at the plan critically and decide whether it's worth it in terms of learning outcomes. Ask yourself these questions: Does this use of the Internet allow students to do something that can't be done in another way? Does this use of the Internet allow students to do something in a better way? "If the answer to either of those questions is yes," said Harris, "then your project is probably worth doing." "As teachers, we need to do what is our art and our craft -- which is teaching, not technology."
    • Marsha Ratzel
       
      Judi Harris has been this champion for years...she long ago convinced me that you shouldn't use tech just for the sake of using tech. Her statements gives the compelling questions we should all ask ourselves before embarking on the use of precious time. What's your return on investment????
  • An activity structure, according to Harris, is simply a description of what students do in an activity, without reference to content or grade level. For example, kindergarten students mixing paints, elementary students forming compound words, and high-school students creating chemical compounds are all using an activity structure that involves combining existing elements to form new elements. The content and grade level are strikingly different, but the basic activity, the structure of the activity, is the same. Existing activity structures, said Harris, are usually supported best by existing instructional tools. If Internet tools are going to be used to enable students to do something they haven't been able to do, or do as well, before, new activity structures, structures that are best supported by new instructional tools, must be identified and implemented.
  • Develop a project plan that's specific and logistically manageable.
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  • Establish a clear schedule, set interim deadlines, and send out reminders as deadlines approach
  • Be sure students have regular access to computers. Once a week in a computer lab is not enough time. For students to get the most out of a telecomputing project, they must be able to participate at least two or three times a week.
  • Focus on the use of the tools, not on the tools
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    How to use email in the classroom
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    It is truth
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No Limits, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach - 0 views

  • Additional motivation comes from the opportunity for outstanding posters to be inducted into The Scribe Post Hall of Fame wiki.
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    The speedy evolution of technology over the past 30 years has often outpaced our ability to use it to transform teaching and learning in real and meaningful ways. Much of that time we just tried to keep up, with new technologies often simply bolted onto traditional curriculum practices. However, today, with three decades of digital experience under our belt, the time is ripe to begin instituting true change.
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Weblogg-ed - 2 views

  • no better place for my children to watch that speech (or any other, for that matter) than in a place where ideas are encouraged, where critical thinking about those ideas is a natural part of the conversation, and where appropriate response and debate can flourish. Where the adults in the room lead my kids to dig deeper, to validate facts, and consider the many levels of context in which every speech and every debate takes place. Where the discussion around it is such that it lays to rest the concern that many seem to have about this particular speech in general, that in some way the President will be able to “indoctrinate” our kids into some socialist mindset. If schools are the fully functioning learning communities that we hope they are, they should be the place where our kids learn to make sense of ideas, not to fear them. That, however, is not the message we are sending.
    • C Clausen
       
      Isn't it ironic that the very things that we fought for and received via the US Constitution, Civil Rights, etc. are the very things that students are today losing? As an American History teacher I talk about the past, present, and future and show my students how things have/have not changed throughout time. I begin the year by reading the "True Story of the 3 Little Pigs," and talk about J.S. Mill and his challenge to others to question. Is society truly against the educating of its students to have an open-mind, ask questions, and look at many perspectives?
  • In the midst of all of the “uproar” over the President’s planned speech to school kids on Tuesday, I keep thinking about what all of this says about schools, about what they are for, and about the perception that a lot of people in this country have of them.
    • Michelle Ohanian
       
      My English Language Learners were very positive about the speech and couldn't understand all the uproar. Aren't we teaching in government funded schools? Well my young adults liked the message of responsibilty. I have also taught the true story of the 3 little pigs but my ELLs weren/t really familiar with the original version. It helped with point of view from the orignal version.
  • thin walls
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  • thin walls
  •  
    Education Speech
  •  
    Education Speech
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    Will Richardson is Mr. Utopian Education to a lot of people. Even if you don't agree with everything he says, most folks agree that he offers thought-provoking topics.
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Frames - Animation and Digital Storytelling Software | Tech4Learning - 6 views

  • Introducing Frames 4! Frames is educational software for stop-motion animation, claymation, and digital storytelling. Creating illustrated animations, movies and digital stories engages students in the curriculum, encourages problem-solving, promotes creativity, and helps students develop 21st-century communication skills. Students can use Frames to create movies, animated GIF files, and Flash animations to share with the world.
  • dents more than creating clay animation. With Frames as the foundation in the Clay Animation Kit, this motivating process transforms your classroom into an active learning
  • Clay Animation Nothing engages stu
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  • Communicating visually is an essential 21st-century skill. With Frames integrated drawing tools, students can illustrate their own animated diagrams, graphs, procedures, and more, helping them understand concepts that are difficult to explain using text alone. (L
  • ents more than creating clay animation! Use Frames to transform your classroom into an active learning environment and begin having your student develop exciting cross-curricular group projects that incorporate writing and technology skills. (Learn More)
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    Frames is educational software for stop-motion animation, claymation, and digital storytelling. Frames helps students develop 21st-century communication skills.
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Educational Leadership:How Teachers Learn:Learning with Blogs and Wikis - 2 views

  • What makes professional development even more frustrating to practitioners is that most of the programs we are exposed to are drawn directly from the latest craze sweeping the business world. In the past 10 years, countless schools have read Who Moved My Cheese?, studied The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, learned to have "Crucial Conversations," and tried to move "from Good to Great."
  • With the investment of a bit of time and effort, I've found a group of writers to follow who expose me to more interesting ideas in one day than I've been exposed to in the past 10 years of costly professional development. Professional growth for me starts with 20 minutes of blog browsing each morning, sifting through the thoughts of practitioners whom I might never have been able to learn from otherwise and considering how their work translates into what I do with students.
  • This learning has been uniquely authentic, driven by personal interests and connected to classroom realities. Blogs have introduced a measure of differentiation and challenge to my professional learning plan that had long been missing. I wrestle over the characteristics of effective professional development with Patrick Higgins (http://chalkdust101.wordpress.com) and the elements of high-quality instruction for middle grades students with Dina Strasser (http://theline.edublogs.org). Scott McLeod (www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org) forces me to think about driving school change from the system level; and Nancy Flanagan (http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/teacher_in_a_strange_land) helps me understand the connections between education policy and classroom practice. John Holland (http://circle-time.blogspot.com) and Larry Ferlazzo, Brian Crosby, and Alice Mercer (http://inpractice.edublogs.org) open my eyes to the challenges of working in high-needs communities.
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  • That's when I introduce them to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed readers.
  • If you're not sure where to begin, explore the blogs that I've organized in my professional Pageflake at www.pageflakes.com/wferriter/16618841. I read these blogs all the time. Some leave me challenged. Some leave me angry. Some leave me jazzed. All leave me energized and ready to learn more. School leaders may be interested in the collection of blogs at www.pageflakes.com/wferriter/23697456.
  • A power shift is underway and a tough new business rule is emerging: Harness the new collaboration or perish. Those who fail to grasp this will find themselves ever more isolated—cut off from the networks that are sharing, adapting, and updating knowledge to create value. (Kindle location 268–271)
  • The few moments
  • Technology has made it easy for educators to embrace continual professional development.
  • knowledge is readily available for free
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    Learning with blogs and wikis.
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