Grotius posited that individual human beings had natural rights; Hobbes asserted that humans consent to abdicate their rights in favor of the absolute authority of government
The idea that citizens give up some individual freedoms in order to realize greater benefits from living in society.
Social contract arguments typically posit that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the ruler or magistrate
Not the Declaration of Independence because that did not establish a social contract, but yes the Constitution and the system of law, The submission is tacit because each generation does not revise the social contract that is spelled out in the Constitution and the corpus of laws. Therefore, each generation that wants to live in the US must accept the existing social contract.
According to Hobbes, whenever we benefit from the conditions of security and the goods that are only possible through the social contract, we have consented to the social contract, which includes obedience to the sovereign, even though we did not give explicit consent.
legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual
t also helps them assign the appropriate balance of points in relation to the importance of each target as well as the number of items for each assessed target.
At first when looking at this test plan, I questioned how an English teacher who gives very few "tests" in favor of application essays would create a test plan. However, then I realized that each of the learning targets is really just a criterion on a rubric. Instead of having a certain number of questions, each category is worth a different weight. That makes the test plan idea make much more sense in my mind.
minimizing any bias that might distort estimates of student learning.
Will the users of the results understand them and see the connection to learning?
From a formative point of view, decision makers at the classroom assessment level need evidence of where students are on the learning continuum toward each standard
Feedback, by its very definition, is focused on the past, which can't be changed. Feedforward looks ahead at future possibilities that still fall under our control. Feedback tends to reinforce personal stereotypes or negative self-fulfilling prophecies. Feedforward looks beyond what is in favor of what can be.
Deployed by districts or contracted by individual schools, instructional coaches live alongside the faculty and provide on-the-job support to teams of teachers.
This is happening in some sites I support in my District. I am hoping to bring that to life even more to improve vertical alignment and strengthen the horizontal alignment in course-alikes.
PLCs bring together teachers with shared interests and goals for frequent discussion about and analysis of teaching practices.
misconception that standards and testing are identical has become widespread
Many teachers like the standards, because they invite creativity in the classroom — instead of memorization, the Common Core emphasizes critical thinking and problem-solving.
"The key them to many of these principles is to expand the perceived sphere of possibilities. A static and predictable world leads naturally to one set of strategies. An uncertain and rapidly evolving environment favors an alternative set of practices. As we shift more towards the latter the traditional models will increasingly be disrupted by new approaches that acknowledge the changing reality…
"
This is the thing about creativity that is rarely acknowledged: Most people don’t actually like it. Studies confirm what many creative people have suspected all along: People are biased against creative thinking, despite all of their insistence otherwise.
Staw says most people are risk-averse. He refers to them as satisfiers.
Satisfiers avoid stirring things up, even if it means forsaking the truth or rejecting a good idea.
Uncertainty is an inherent part of new ideas, and it’s also something that most people would do almost anything to avoid. People’s partiality toward certainty biases them against creative ideas and can interfere with their ability to even recognize creative ideas.
Unfortunately, the place where our first creative ideas go to die is the place that should be most open to them—school. Studies show that teachers overwhelmingly discriminate against creative students, favoring their satisfier classmates who more readily follow directions and do what they’re told.
It’s ironic that even as children are taught the accomplishments of the world’s most innovative minds, their own creativity is being squelched.
All of this negativity isn’t easy to digest, and social rejection can be painful in some of the same ways physical pain hurts. But there is a glimmer of hope in all of this rejection. A Cornell study makes the case that social rejection is not actually bad for the creative process—and can even facilitate it.
Truly creative ideas take a very long time to be accepted. The better the idea, the longer it might take.
Most people agree that what distinguishes those who become famously creative is their resilience. While creativity at times is very rewarding, it is not about happiness. Staw says a successful creative person is someone “who can survive conformity pressures and be impervious to social pressure.”
To live creatively is a choice.
You have to let go of satisfying people, often even yourself.
"Cognitive theories of education that anchor approaches like Constructivism have been suggested as preferable approaches for many decades. Unfortunately traditional educational institutions, as well as certification bodies and most notably political administrations have long favored didactic instruction (basically drill and kill, lecture-centric approaches to education) because the results of these methods are far simpler to track and report. "
give state regulators a new option to either act as accreditors or create their own accreditation systems.
“States could accredit online courses, or hybrid models with elements on- and off-campus.”
any new money for those emerging models would likely come out of the coffers of traditional colleges.
cut back on red tape that prevents colleges from experimenting with ways to cut prices and boost student learning.
decentralized, more streamlined form of accreditation.
regional accreditors are doing a fairly good job. They are under enormous pressure to keep “bad actors” at bay while also encouraging experimentation. And he said accreditors usually get it right.
Andrew Kelly, however, likes Lee’s idea. Kelly, who is director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Center on Higher Education Reform, said it would create a credible alternative to the existing accreditation system, which the bill would leave intact.
eliminating bureaucracy in higher education regulation is a top priority
“Accreditation could also be available to specialized programs, individual courses, apprenticeships, professional credentialing and even competency-based tests,”
“The gateway to education reform is education oversight reform,”
broad, bipartisan agreement that federal aid policies have not kept pace with new approaches to higher education.
expansion of competency-based education. And he said the federal rules governing financial aid make it hard for colleges to go big with those programs.
accreditors is that they favor the status quo, in part because they are membership organizations of academics that essentially practice self-regulation.
“The technology has reached the point where it really can improve learning,” he said, adding that “it can lower the costs.”
changes to the existing accreditation system that might make it easier for competency-based and other emerging forms of online education to spread.
offering competency-based degrees through a process called direct assessment, which is completely de-coupled from the credit-hour standard.
Sometimes I think that he tries too hard to separate the intellect from the will. I wonder on a physiological level what this looks like in the brain: are their separate components in the brain for recognition and judgment. Perhaps there are. If so, should those be the terms rather than intellect and will?
Just to be living on this earth in this solar system in this galaxy in this universe is immensely rare and lucky.
to recognize is to accept something as true, but to acknowledge is to have a perspective, or how you choose to view that recognizable truth.
Some people feel the rain, and others just get wet
acknowledgement is perspective.
uses the word surprise as a way of saying be mindful and appreciate the little things in life that go on around you
ollowing this quote the author goes on to
because many of use feel a moral obligation to return our benefactor the favor thus making the seemingly “gratuitous act” a debt that we must repay by giving our own gift.
the bonds of interdependence set us free
once you can acknowledge a gift for a gift and acknowledge dependence then you’re free to go forward into full gratefulness.
yesterday morning my friend, knowing that I’m not an early bird, brought an extra granola bar to class just to give it to me which was a surprise that I had not expected. This was merely a simple surprise that I felt then, but after I thought it over again, this surprise made me realize how grateful I felt for having a such friend
By allowing ourselves to be helped in life and understanding that receiving help is not a show of weakness but in fact a show of mindfulness, we open ourselves up to the surprises and pleasures of communicating with people on a regular day basis
independent vs dependent. Being considered “legally” independent I have truly learned how dependent I am for others.
I always thought why would I hassle someone else for my incompetency
that weak need to feel weak in order to grow. We need to put everything out there and grow and learn from our experiences.
Letting weakness show is one of the strongest things we can do in order to know ourselves at a deeper level
Helping someone, whether it is a friend, neighbor or family member is something one should do out of the goodness of our heart. Everything comes full circle,
it is a personal choice to help others, and my way of reminding myself that I am grateful to be here,
I know what a horse looks like, feels like and moves like, but every time I go visit, I am still surprised and amused just by watching the horses out in the field.
The more grateful you become the more you appreciate life, which in a sense does make you younger because you are embracing living life
When my dad and hundreds of others died on 9/11/01 you could notice something different in the air.
"teindl-Rast inspired me to start working on a project that I have been putting off. (ironically when I chose to read this passage I was procrastinating) There is never an ideal or perfect time for any person to start any task. Instead of taking this moment right now, we co"
Grades, conversely, discourage learning, as students either feel like failures upon receiving low marks or have a falsely-inflated sense of accomplishment based on high marks, which are almost always subjective.
Since disdaining grades in favor of narrative feedback, I spend much more time doing what my colleagues call grading. I evaluate and re-evaluate student work daily. Project feedback is ongoing. I have 120 students so I’m writing seemingly all of the time. I’m often asked by teachers and friends, “Isn’t it a lot of work?” Definitely. Would I ever return to traditional grading? Never.
find ReadTheWords.com to be one of the most useful services on the Internet today. Many LD (learning disabled)
students struggle with auditory processing.
these students are very capable,
they tend to favor auditory processing, versus the more common visual processing. It is important that these students
learn how their mind works and modify their learning techniques accordingly.
5 students incorporate this service for study of their weekly vocabulary words. We started by making an audio file of the words and definition, and turned it into an mp3 format. The students spent 10 minutes each day on the computer. Each student has averaged a minimum of a full letter grade higher. Two students have received perfect scores for the past 2 weeks.
ReadTheWords.com been created to cater to these students.
ReadtheWords.com is an AMAZING SERIVCE for young students.
ReadTheWords.com allows me to create listening material for some learners that struggle a little bit. It allows my
students to read along with the Virtual Avatar Reader. This saves a lot of time so I can focus on certain children
without slowing down the rest of the class.
We create links to audio files that read our
upcoming events, and we use it to help visually impaired patrons read anything - articles, letters they have received,
emails that can be copy/pasted from their email account...the possibilities are endless! On a personal level, I have been
using ReadTheWords toolbar plug in.
service with my university students who are learning English
brings the text to life, and stimulates my second language learners in a
dynamic way. I would recommend this program to all foreign language teachers,
I have been assisting students to create audio files of study review materials. This greatly helps them decode and
analyze the material for comprehension. I have seen a great improvement on test scores
Students listen to a piece of their own writing, so they can
hear if what they wrote sounds correct. It helps students with comprehension, spelling, grammar and structuring
sentences.
This service is godsend for many students, especially auditory learners. I cannot even begin to imagine how many people this will help in the future. We just received approval to offer this service to our entire school. (Email webmaster@readthewords.com to get a special deal like we did.
I believe that the audio could act as a reinforcer of the written word as students read. This could be helpful not only with students who are Language Impaired, but also for students who struggle with reading comprehension.
Something not mentioned by these teachers is the possible benefit to Autistic and Aspergers students. I can this being used as a reward or incentive because the work could be done independently. Since these students generally feel more at ease working independently, it would a motivator to them.
This could be a great tool for Language Impaired students, but also Learning Disabled in reading as well. The audio would act as a reinforcer of the written material. Even though this is learning or reading comprehension tool, students may see it as a reward thereby motivating them to read more. This could a aid to any teacher attempting to motivate reluctant or struggling readers.
Read The Words could be a beneficial tool to students who are Language Impaired and/or Learning Disabled in Reading. The audio can reinforce the written word and increase comprehension. Also, it could be a valuable tool for autistic students who prefer to work independently. They can use this to aid comprehension and also it could be a reward. This tool could also add interest to text for any student.
when they occur within a restricted-access network, do enjoy certain copyright
advantages
we as a society give limited property rights to creators to encourage them to
produce culture; at the same time, we give other creators the chance to use that
same copyrighted material, without permission or payment
Did the unlicensed use "transform" the material taken from the copyrighted
work by using it for a different purpose than that of the original, or did it
just repeat the work for the same intent and value as the original?
• Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the
nature of the copyrighted work and of the use?
If the answers to these two questions are "yes," a court is likely to find a use
fair
whether the use will cause excessive economic harm to the copyright owner
the purpose of copyright—to promote the advancement of knowledge through
balancing the rights of owners and users.
In some cases, this will mean using a clip or excerpt; in other cases, the whole
work is needed. Whenever possible, educators should provide proper attribution
and model citation practices that are appropriate to the form and context of
use.
educators should provide reasonable protection against third-party access and
downloads
educators using concepts and techniques of media literacy should be free to
enable learners to incorporate, modify, and re-present existing media objects in
their own classroom work
Students’ use of copyrighted material should not be a substitute for creative
effort
Students should be able to understand and demonstrate, in a manner appropriate
to their developmental level, how their use of a copyrighted work repurposes or
transforms the original.
but cannot rely on fair use when their goal is simply to establish a mood or
convey an emotional tone, or when they employ popular songs simply to exploit
their appeal and popularity
material that is incorporated under fair use should be properly attributed
wherever possible
attribution, in itself, does not convert an infringing use into a fair one.
If student work that incorporates, modifies, and re-presents existing media
content meets the transformativeness standard, it can be distributed to wide
audiences under the doctrine of fair use.
When sharing is confined to a delimited network, such uses are more likely to
receive special consideration under the fair use doctrine
there are no cut-and-dried rules (such as 10 percent of the work being quoted,
or 400 words of text, or two bars of music, or 10 seconds of video).
Transformativeness, a key value in fair use law, can involve modifying material
or putting material in a new context, or both
Copyright Act itself makes it clear that educational uses will often be
considered fair because they add important pedagogical value to referenced media
objects.
If educators or learners want to share their work only with a class (or another
defined, closed group) they are in a favorable position
if work is going to be shared widely, it is good to be able to rely on
transformativeness
courts have found that asking permission and then being rejected has actually
enhanced fair use claims.
We don’t know of any lawsuit actually brought by an American media company
against an educator over the use of media in the educational process
Lack of clarity reduces learning and limits the ability to use digital tools.
Some educators close their classroom doors and hide what they fear is
infringement; others hyper-comply with imagined rules that are far stricter than
the law requires, limiting the effectiveness of their teaching and their
students’ learning.
So what would our mornings look like if we re-engineered them in the interest of maximizing our creative problem-solving capacities? We’d set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead (with a pen and paper nearby to jot down any evanescent inspirations.) We’d stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, dismissing task-oriented thoughts (“What will I say at that 9 a.m. meeting?”) in favor of a few more minutes of mental dilation. We’d take some deep breaths during our commute, instead of succumbing to road rage. And once in the office — after we get that cup of coffee — we’d direct our computer browser not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer.
courts were asked whether the photographer, amateur or professional, required permission before he could capture and print an image. Was the photographer stealing from the person or building whose photograph he shot, pirating something of private and certifiable value? Those early decisions went in favor of the pirates.
Thomas Jefferson, for one, considered copyright a necessary evil: he favored providing just enough incentive to create, nothing more, and thereafter allowing ideas to flow freely, as nature intended.
In the contemporary world, though, the act of “copying” is in no meaningful sense equivalent to an infringement—we make a copy every time we accept an emailed text, or send or forward one—and is impossible anymore to regulate or even describe.
A great article that challenges what most of us consider acceptable attribution practices by tracing some interesting examples of known works & creators.
Unfortunately, life is not multiple choice; it’s a story problem. If we want to prepare our students for the demands of college and the real world, we cannot afford to whittle away their knowledge to a, b, c, d, or e: all of the above. At the same time, our time as teachers is at a premium and very few of us can afford to spend hours grading essay tests.
Fortunately, the powers that be are aligning in the classroom teacher’s favor, and there are two great tools you can use to reduce your grading time.
So what does QuizStar have that other sites don’t? My favorite feature of QuizStar by far is the “choose all that apply” option. You can create a
Edmodo’s quiz feature allows you to create a quiz that mixes multiple choice, short answer, true/false, and fill in the blank.
But like QuizStar, Edmodo also analyzes results for you.
Rules for ALL Online Quizzes
1. Never, ever, EVER copy a question from a textbook or a quiz you found online. I can almost guarantee that some enterprising student somewhere has copied the question and placed an answer key online.
Getting the Most out of Formative Assessments
1. Set a time limit that will simultaneously allow students enough time to an
Getting the Most out of Open Note Formal Assessments
1. If you are going to permit students to use notes and worksheets from class, design your questions so that they must apply the information they have at their fingertips. I
Getting the Most out of Closed Note Formal Assessments
1. If no notes are permitted, reduce the amount of time students have to take the test. For multiple choice at the high school level, 45 seconds per question is fairly standard.
Experimentation and Feedback
As you play around with online quizzes, ask your students to give you feedback. They’ll let you know what’s working and what isn’t.
Shouldn't the legislators be the ones who are writing the policy?
“Really, it’s not that much different than the way things have already worked for a while,” says Brad Ashwell, Florida Public Interest Research Group’s democracy and consumer advocate. “It’s the same thing as it always was, only now they have more top-down planning, more corporate structure around.”
Yet many people believe these policies will benefit them.
“As a voter, it bothers me to think that if I’m talking to my lawmaker, or sending him a letter – or maybe I’ve been organized with 100 people in my community – that they’re going to overlook that in favor of some corporate vehicle for corporations to get what they want,” Ashwell says.
“As a voter, it bothers me to think that if I’m talking to my lawmaker, or sending him a letter – or maybe I’ve been organized with 100 people in my community – that they’re going to overlook that in favor of some corporate vehicle for corporations to get what they want,” Ashwell says.
“As a voter, it bothers me to think that if I’m talking to my lawmaker, or sending him a letter – or maybe I’ve been organized with 100 people in my community – that they’re going to overlook that in favor of some corporate vehicle for corporations to get what they want,” Ashwell says.
the stage is being set for a corporation-owned future, parcel by parcel.
ALEC, she says, is dangerous.
“They own the government. I knew that they owned a certain amount, that there were certain contributions and certain leaders they owned, but I didn’t realize to what degree,” she says. “Now I’m frightened because they really own a great deal of our government from state to state. I’m not anti-corporation, but I am anti them taking over the government.”
The expert performance framework distinguishes between deliberate practice and less effective practice activities. The current
longitudinal study is the first to use this framework to understand how children improve in an academic skill.
Deliberate practice, operationally defined as studying and memorizing words while alone, better predicted
performance in the National Spelling Bee than being quizzed by others or reading for pleasure. Rated as the most effortful
and least enjoyable type of preparation activity, deliberate practice was increasingly favored over being quizzed as spellers
accumulated competition experience. Deliberate practice mediated the prediction of final performance by the personality trait
of grit, suggesting that perseverance and passion for long-term goals enable spellers to persist with practice activities
that are less intrinsically rewarding—but more effective—than other types of preparation.