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Michael Walker

Progressive Education - 0 views

www.alfiekohn.org/...progressive.htm

progressive education alfiekohn

shared by Michael Walker on 11 Jul 09 - Cached
  • As Jim Nehring at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell observed, “Progressive schools are the legacy of a long and proud tradition of thoughtful school practice stretching back for centuries” — including hands-on learning, multiage classrooms, and mentor-apprentice relationships — while what we generally refer to as traditional schooling “is largely the result of outdated policy changes that have calcified into conventions.”
  • Progressive educators are concerned with helping children become not only good learners but also good people
  • Learning isn’t something that happens to individual children — separate selves at separate desks. Children learn with and from one another in a caring community, and that’s true of moral as well as academic learning. Interdependence counts at least as much as independence
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • Progressive schools are characterized by what I like to call a “working with” rather than a “doing to” model.
  • A sense of community and responsibility for others isn’t confined to the classroom; indeed, students are helped to locate themselves in widening circles of care that extend beyond self, beyond friends, beyond their own ethnic group, and beyond their own coun
  • “What’s the effect on students’ interest in learning, their desire to continue reading, thinking, and questioning?”
  • Alfred North Whitehead declared long ago, “A merely well-informed man is the most useless bore on God’s earth.” Facts and skills do matter, but only in a context and for a purpose. That’s why progressive education tends to be organized around problems, projects, and questions — rather than around lists of facts, skills, and separate disciplines
  • students play a vital role in helping to design the curriculum, formulate the questions, seek out (and create) answers, think through possibilities, and evaluate how successful they — and their teachers — have been
  • Each student is unique, so a single set of policies, expectations, or assignments would be as counterproductive as it was disrespectful.)
  • they design it with them
  • what distinguishes progressive education is that students must construct their own understanding of ideas.
  • A school that is culturally progressive is not necessarily educationally progressive. An institution can be steeped in lefty politics and multi-grain values; it can be committed to diversity, peace, and saving the planet — but remain strikingly traditional in its pedagogy
  • A truly impressive collection of research has demonstrated that when students are able to spend more time thinking about ideas than memorizing facts and practicing skills — and when they are invited to help direct their own learning — they are not only more likely to enjoy what they’re doing but to do it better.
  • Regardless of one’s values, in other words, this approach can be recommended purely on the basis of its effectiveness. And if your criteria are more ambitious — long-term retention of what’s been taught, the capacity to understand ideas and apply them to new kinds of problems, a desire to continue learning — the relative benefits of progressive education are even greater.[5]
  • Students in elementary and middle school did better in science when their teaching was “centered on projects in which they took a high degree of initiative.
  • For starters, they tell me, progressive education is not only less familiar but also much harder to do, and especially to do well. It asks a lot more of the students and at first can seem a burden to those who have figured out how to play the game in traditional classrooms — often succeeding by conventional standards without doing much real thinking. It’s also much more demanding of teachers, who have to know their subject matter inside and out if they want their students to “make sense of biology or literature” as opposed to “simply memoriz[ing] the frog’s anatomy or the sentence’s structure.”[12]  But progressive teachers also have to know a lot about pedagogy because no amount of content knowledge (say, expertise in science or English) can tell you how to facilitate learning. The belief that anyone who knows enough math can teach it is a corollary of the belief that learning is a process of passive absorption —a view that cognitive science has decisively debunked.
Vicki Davis

Late Nite Labs - 20 views

latenitelabs.com/products.php

education science_teacher science curriculum

shared by Vicki Davis on 31 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 31 Mar 11
     
    Virtual Biology and Chemistry labs. These have a lot of potential in science education!
Martin Burrett

Primary Treasure Chest - Teaching Resources - 8 views

www.primarytreasurechest.com

primary teaching resources English Maths Science Geography history printables

shared by Martin Burrett on 05 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 05 Dec 11
     
    A 'must try' vast site with a irresistible bounty of downloadable and printable resources for across the curriculum that you will come to treasure. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Cross+Curricular
Martin Burrett

WatchKnowLearn - Free Educational Videos - 8 views

www.watchknowlearn.org/default.aspx

resources education Maths Science history English mfl Art Video videos

shared by Martin Burrett on 11 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 11 Dec 11
     
    A vast educational video site with thousands of videos on subjects across the curriculum and beyond. Search by age, topic and keyword. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Video%2C+animation%2C+film+%26+Webcams
Dean Mantz

Molecular Workbench - 0 views

workbench.concord.org

workbench science chemistry biology physics molecules interactive atoms education curriculum web2 technology techintegrator

shared by Dean Mantz on 22 Jan 09 - Cached
  • Dean Mantz on 22 Jan 09
     
    Molecular Workbench provides software to create your own activities or view ones already created. Curriculum is also offered and searchable within their database.
Vicki Davis

Welcome to Blue Zones Community - 1 views

www.bluezones.com

education learning health_teacher health science

shared by Vicki Davis on 29 Jan 09 - Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 29 Jan 09
     
    Here is some information on the blue zones project that some of you may be interested in participating - I received this over email today: "2009 Blue Zones Quest Fact Sheet Program Name Blue Zones Quest Description Dan Buettner leads the third of four annual expeditions to the world's longevity hotspots, called Blue Zones. Under the direction of an online student audience, the team unlocks the secrets of longevity and gives students a cross-cultural recipe of the world's best health and lifestyle practices. Location Northern Aegean Sea. The island name will be announced in January, 2009. Date April 20-May 1, 2009 Targeted Audience Students of all ages Features Blue Zones Challenge, which teams students, parents and educators in a month-long program of healthy habits. Blue Zones Legacy Project in which students interview long-lived "super seniors" and share information with scientists (optional) Free Curriculum guide of activities for grades 4-8 Daily online delivery of dispatches, videos and photos Educators Web section with online classroom resources Evidence Tracker worksheet for tracking quest clues Sponsors & Partners Davisco Foods International, Inc. National Geographic Society National Institute on Aging University of Minnesota School of Public Health"
Suzie Nestico

Father: Why I didn't let my son take standardized tests - The Answer Sheet - The Washin... - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...ABkgICTB_blog.html

edu_news administrator all_teachers curriculum education reform education standardized tests standardized testing

shared by Suzie Nestico on 27 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • My wife and I had Luke “opt out” of No Child Left Behind standardized testing (here in Pennsylvania known as the Pennsylvania System of School Achievement, or PSSAs).
  • Last week I did just that. I looked at the test and determined that it violated my religion. How, you might ask? That’s an entirely different blog, but I can quickly say that my religion does not allow for or tolerate the act of torture and I determined that making Luke sit for over 10 hours filling in bubble sheets would have been a form of mental and physical torture, given that we could give him no good reason as to why he needs to take this test.
  • ch a reason for opting out of the PSSA testing will negatively affect the school’s participation rate and could POTENTIALLY have a negative impact on the school’s Adequate Yearly Progress under the rules of No Child Left Behind.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • I asked Luke what he thought about it all. He just smiled. I also asked him what some of his friends were saying. According to Luke, they did not believe that NCLB and PSSAs were going to be used to evaluate the school. They didn’t know about AYP and the sanctions that came with it. Luke’s friends just thought the tests, “were used to make sure our teachers are teaching us the right stuff.” My guess is that is what most parents believe. Why wouldn’t they believe it? They’ve been told for nine years that we are raising standards, holding teachers accountable, and leaving no children behind. Who wouldn’t support that?
  • This time, instead of having Luke sit through another meeting, he researched the Japanese earthquake and tsunami as a current events project.
  • The point was to give Luke some experience in how to conduct planned civil disobedience in a lawful manner.
  • That, of course, is the real problem. NCLB and the standards movement is a political bait and switch. Sold as one thing (positive) to the public and then in practice, something radically different (punitive). This is probably one of the biggest reasons I decided to do the boycott—to make my community aware and to try and enlighten them of the real issues.
  • My answer is that the government is not listening. Teachers, principals, teacher educators, child development specialists, and educational researchers have been trying to get this message out for years. No one will listen.
  • Civil disobedience is the only option left. It’s my scream in a dark cave for light. I want teachers to teach again. I want principals to lead again. I want my school to be a place of deep learning and a deeper love of teaching. I want children exposed to history, science, art, music, physical education, and current events—the same experience President Obama is providing his own children.
  • Maybe civil disobedience will be contagious. Maybe parents will join us in reclaiming our schools and demand that teachers and administrators hands be untied and allow them to do their jobs—engage students in a rich curriculum designed to promote deep learning and critical thinking.
  • Suzie Nestico on 27 Mar 11
     
    Another PA parent opts his child out of PSSA standardized testing as a measure of civil disobedience.  Word of caution:  This can very much hurt a school's Adequate Yearly Progress and ultimately the school may suffer.  But, what if this movement spread amongst parents?  What then?  Would the government take over the school?  
Fabian Aguilar

What Do School Tests Measure? - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com - 1 views

roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/...what-do-school-tests-measure

nytimes all_teachers math science

shared by Fabian Aguilar on 12 Aug 09 - Cached
  • According to a New York Times analysis, New York City students have steadily improved their performance on statewide tests since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took control of the public schools seven years ago.
  • Critics say the results are proof only that it is possible to “teach to the test.” What do the results mean? Are tests a good way to prepare students for future success?
  • Tests covering what students were expected to learn (guided by an agreed-upon curriculum) serve a useful purpose — to provide evidence of student effort, of student learning, of what teachers taught, and of what teachers may have failed to teach.
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • More serious questions arise about “teaching to the test.” If the test requires students to do something academically valuable — to demonstrate comprehension of high quality reading passages at an appropriate level of complexity and difficulty for the students’ grade, for example — then, of course, “teaching to the test” is appropriate.
  • Reading is the crucial subject in the curriculum, affecting all the others, as we know.
  • An almost exclusive focus on raising test scores usually leads to teaching to the test, denies rich academic content and fails to promote the pleasure in learning, and to motivate students to take responsibility for their own learning, behavior, discipline and perseverance to succeed in school and in life.
  • Test driven, or force-fed, learning can not enrich and promote the traits necessary for life success. Indeed, it is dangerous to focus on raising test scores without reducing school drop out, crime and dependency rates, or improving the quality of the workforce and community life.
  • Students, families and groups that have been marginalized in the past are hurt most when the true purposes of education are not addressed.
  • lein. Mayor Bloomberg claims that more than two-thirds of the city’s students are now proficient readers. But, according to federal education officials, only 25 percent cleared the proficient-achievement hurdle after taking the National Assessment of Education Progress, a more reliable and secure test in 2007.
  • The major lesson is that officials in all states — from New York to Mississippi — have succumbed to heavy political pressure to somehow show progress. They lower the proficiency bar, dumb down tests and distribute curricular guides to teachers filled with study questions that mirror state exams.
  • This is why the Obama administration has nudged 47 states to come around the table to define what a proficient student truly knows.
  • Test score gains among New York City students are important because research finds that how well one performs on cognitive tests matters more to one’s life chances than ever before. Mastery of reading and math, in particular, are significant because they provide the gateway to higher learning and critical thinking.
  • First, just because students are trained to do well on a particular test doesn’t mean they’ve mastered certain skills.
  • Second, whatever the test score results, children in high poverty schools like the Promise Academy are still cut off from networks of students, and students’ parents, who can ease access to employment.
  • Reliable and valid standardized tests can be one way to measure what some students have learned. Although they may be indicators of future academic success, they don’t “prepare” students for future success.
  • Since standardized testing can accurately assess the “whole” student, low test scores can be a real indicator of student knowledge and deficiencies.
  • Many teachers at high-performing, high-poverty schools have said they use student test scores as diagnostic tools to address student weaknesses and raise achievement.
  • The bigger problem with standardized tests is their emphasis on the achievement of only minimal proficiency.
  • While it is imperative that even the least accomplished students have sufficient reading and calculating skills to become self-supporting, these are nonetheless the students with, overall, the fewest opportunities in the working world.
  • Regardless of how high or low we choose to set the proficiency bar, standardized test scores are the most objective and best way of measuring it.
  • The gap between proficiency and true comprehension would be especially wide in the case of the brightest students. These would be the ones least well-served by high-stakes testing.
Suzie Nestico

Teaching and Assessing Creativity - WeAreTeachers - 1 views

community.weareteachers.com/...730

teaching creativity assessment education rubric rubrics high school innovation PBL bestpractices curriculum

shared by Suzie Nestico on 29 Mar 12 - No Cached
  • Suzie Nestico on 29 Mar 12
     
    Useful rubrics for assessing creativity & innovation Catalina rubric on critical and creative thinking (as well as several other fantastic rubrics): http://www.cfsd16.org/public/_century/centMain.aspx   Metiri's creativity rubric http://akron4.metiri.wikispaces.net/Creativity+Rubrics   A great blog post on the subject by The Science Goddess, one of my favorite Twitter people to follow: http://blog.whatitslikeontheinside.com/2009/10/curiouser-and-curiouser.html   Good perspective from a career cluster perspective: http://www.careerclusters.org/resources/institutes/cci2006/pre-institute/Creativity-InnovationFinal....  
Vicki Davis

Future of Education - Charting the Course of Education and Learning in a Networked World - 0 views

www.futureofeducation.com

education learning edu_news curriculum bestpractices all_teachers

shared by Vicki Davis on 16 Jan 09 - Cached
  • Vicki Davis on 16 Jan 09
     
    From Steve Hargadon: "I've started a new community at http://www.FutureofEducation.com to providing an opportunity for those who care about education to share their voices and ideas on charting the course of education in a networked world. It's a place for thoughtful discussion on an incredibly important topic. The site will launch officially at the end of the month with the start of a weekly interview series, but I'm inviting some participation now because of an email Carol Broos (http://www.classroom20.com/profile/beatechie) sent out. Carol is one of twelve teachers who have been invited to participate in a round table discussion concerning the direction of education the new Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Jan 21. She was sent the following questions, and is asking for feedback and ideas. You can respond either at the new http://www.FutureofEducation.com site or her wiki at http://education20.pbwiki.com/FrontPage. Here are the questions: 1. What is the one most important education issue you wish Secretary Duncan to focus on during his tenure and why? 2. How shall the tenets of the No Child Left Behind act be altered or invigorated? What are its positives? How can its negatives be improved? 3. How should the new administration respond to the nation's need for better prepared and more qualified teachers? 4.What should the new administration do to increase student engagement in mathematics, the sciences and the arts? 5. How should funding equity issues be addressed? There is also a discussion topic on what questions were not asked that might have been." This seems to be a great thing!
Dean Mantz

:: SCOPE :: - 0 views

www.csiro.au/episodes.htm

curriculum education episodes science scope video

shared by Dean Mantz on 29 Aug 08 - Cached
  • Dean Mantz on 29 Aug 08
     
    Video episodes are classified by the main focus of science technology being covered.
Peggy George

LD LIVE! - 0 views

ldlive.blogspot.com

all_teachers best_practice curriculum ld professionaldevelopment specialeducation

shared by Peggy George on 09 Apr 08 - Cached
  • Peggy George on 09 Apr 08
     
    LD LIVE! Living with Learning Disabilities Connecting Innovators, Ideas and Individuals in the Field of Education and Learning Disabilities! Melinda Pongrey, MSED, hosts a weekly conversation exploring learning, learning difficulties, and learning disabilities with featured leaders in the field of medicine, science, education, ADHD, and various learning disabilities, including dyslexia.
  • Peggy George on 09 Apr 08
     
    Excellent resources for teachers/administrators who are looking for support for special education, best practices and differentiation strategies. Podcasts, live shows and archive of previous shows. Melinda Pongrey is the weekly host.
Dean Mantz

A Study Community for Homework Help in Physics, Math, Science, and Engineering - 0 views

www.cramster.com

science math education elearning homework physics chemistry community all_teachers curriculum technology language literature history digitalcitizenship web2

shared by Dean Mantz on 17 Dec 08 - Cached
  • Dean Mantz on 17 Dec 08
     
    Online homework support community.
Ted Sakshaug

sing? at Science (and more) to Music - 6 views

www.iamlodge.com/beans

music science math songs sing Resources all_teachers curriculum history literature technology language elementary middleschool

shared by Ted Sakshaug on 11 Mar 10 - Cached
  • Ted Sakshaug on 11 Mar 10
     
    Standards  based songs for k-12 topics Discussion of use in the classroom
Ted Sakshaug

Digital Library for Earth System Education - 12 views

www.dlese.org/library

earth science science education activities technology curriculum

shared by Ted Sakshaug on 25 Jan 11 - Cached
  • Ted Sakshaug on 25 Jan 11
     
    The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) is a distributed community effort involving educators, students, and scientists working together to improve the quality, quantity, and efficiency of teaching and learning about the Earth system at all levels.
Anne Bubnic

Free Digital Textbook Initiative [California] - 0 views

www.clrn.org/index.cfm

technology edu_trends edu_news curriculum

shared by Anne Bubnic on 14 Jun 09 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 14 Jun 09
     
    Governor Schwarzenegger, Superintendent O'Connell, and the State Board of Education have announced the Free Digital Textbook Initiative, a project to provide a list of standards aligned free digital textbooks for high schools that cover the course content in mathematics and science subject areas.
Jackie Gerstein

Online Professional Learning Program - January 2010 - News and Events - Research and In... - 10 views

www.education.vic.gov.au/...jan2010.htm

technology curriculum resources tools web2.0

shared by Jackie Gerstein on 11 Feb 10 - Cached
  • Jackie Gerstein on 11 Feb 10
     
    In January 2010, the Department offered a program of free, online conferences to support teacher professional learning. The program of web conferences covered the domains of Literacy, Maths, Science and ICT
nate stearns

The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete - 1 views

www.wired.com/...pb_theory

curriculum data mining essay google science theory

shared by nate stearns on 01 Jul 08 - Cached
  • This is a world where massive amounts of data and applied mathematics replace every other tool that might be brought to bear. Out with every theory of human behavior, from linguistics to sociology. Forget taxonomy, ontology, and psychology. Who knows why people do what they do? The point is they do it, and we can track and measure it with unprecedented fidelity. With enough data, the numbers speak for themselves.
  • nate stearns on 01 Jul 08
     
    This is a world where massive amounts of data and applied mathematics replace every other tool that might be brought to bear. Out with every theory of human behavior, from linguistics to sociology. Forget taxonomy, ontology, and psychology. Who knows why people do what they do? The point is they do it, and we can track and measure it with unprecedented fidelity. With enough data, the numbers speak for themselves.
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