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The Reflective Principal: A Taxonomy of Reflection (Part IV) Reflection can be a challenging endeavor. It's not something that's fostered in school - typically someone else tells you how you're doing! Principals (and instructional leaders) are often so caught up in the meeting the demands of the day, that they rarely have the luxury to muse on how things went. Self-assessment is clouded by the need to meet competing demands from multiple stakeholders. In an effort to help schools become more reflective learning environments, I've developed this "Taxonomy of Reflection" - modeled on Bloom's approach. It's posted in four installments: 1. A Taxonomy of Reflection 2. The Reflective Student 3. The Reflective Teacher 4. The Reflective Principal It's very much a work in progress, and I invite your comments and suggestions. I'm especially interested in whether you think the parallel construction to Bloom holds up through each of the three examples - student, teacher, and principal. I think we have something to learn from each perspective. 4. The Reflective Principal Each level of reflection is structured to parallel Bloom's taxonomy. (See installment 1 for more on the model) Assume that a principal (or instructional leader) looked back on an initiative (or program, decision, project, etc) they have just implemented. What sample questions might they ask themselves as they move from lower to higher order reflection? (Note: I'm not suggesting that all questions are asked after every initiative - feel free to pick a few that work for you.) Bloom's Remembering : What did I do? Principal Reflection: What role did I play in implementing this program? What role did others play? What steps did I take? Is the program now operational and being implemented? Was it completed on time? Are assessment measures in place? Bloom's Understanding: What was

", new research demonstrates that spending does matter. The authors-C. Kirabo Jackson, associate professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern University, Rucker C. Johnson, associate professor of public policy at University of California, Berkeley, and Claudia Persico, a doctoral candidate in human development and social policy at Northwestern University-show that "increased school spending is linked to improved outcomes for students, and for low-income students in particular…Increasing per-pupil spending yields large improvements in educational attainment, wages, and family income, and reductions in the annual incidence of adult poverty for children from low-income families. As they also show, it matters how the new money is spent-such as on instruction, hiring more teachers, increasing teacher pay, hiring guidance counselors and social workers. Money well-spent "can profoundly shape the life outcomes of economically disadvantaged children and thereby reduce the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Money alone may not lift educational outcomes to desired levels, but our findings confirm that the provision of adequate funding may be critical.""

It is no surprise that professional development improves student achievement. This incredibly well written piece is something to use and give to those who think that cutting teacher professional development is the first thing that should happen when budgets tighten. A great PDF to give your school board.

"Deliberate practice is essential for improving a wide range of skills important for everyday life, from tying shoelaces to reading and writing. Yet despite its importance for developing basic skills, academic success, and expertise, we know little about the development of deliberate practice. A new study from Australia found that children spontaneously practice skills to prepare for the future starting at the age of 6. The study, from researchers at the University of Queensland, is published in the journal Child Development."

Think of ThinkingGear as an online toolbox for educators who are interested in developing lessons and assessments that put the cultivation of good thinking and deeper understanding up-front as instructional goals. ThinkingGear's general mission is to develop situated tools and technologies to address some of the most intractable problems in education and to improve the depth and quality of learning.

Advancing Excellent Teaching in American Schools Annenberg Media uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation's goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge. Annenberg Media's multimedia resources help teachers increase their expertise in their fields and assist them in improving their teaching methods. Many programs are also intended for students in the classroom and viewers at home. All Annenberg Media videos exemplify excellent teaching. Annenberg Media resources can be accessed for FREE at Learner.org, or can be purchased through the Web site or by calling 1-800-LEARNER.

"With a major focus on wellbeing and mental-health among many communities around the UK, staff and pupils at Bradford Grammar School are taking things one step further, with a 'Spotlight on Happiness' focusing on actions that can improve the mental resilience of all. In tandem with the England government's pledge of £1.25 billion to improve children and young people's mental health services, the Department of Health and NHS England published 'Future in mind', with a proposal to encourage schools to continue to develop 'whole school approaches' to promoting emotional well-being and mental health."

Executive Office of the President Council of Economic Advisers Unleashing the Potential of Educational Technology September 16, 2011 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Educational technology holds the promise of substantially improving outcomes for K-12 students, but there are significant challenges in bringing new educational technology products for this population to market. It is difficult for producers of these technologies to demonstrate the effectiveness of their products to potential buyers and market fragmentation creates barriers to entry by all but the largest suppliers. The spread of broadband Internet and Common Core State Standards have improved the landscape for educational technologies, but these factors alone are likely insufficient for a "game changing" advance. Working together, stakeholders can form a plan of action to provide local school systems with easy access to good information about the effectiveness of various educational technology products and give prospective developers of these products access to customers on a scale sufficient to make it worthwhile for them to enter the market. The payoff - in the form of more effective and more widely utilized educational technologies, leading to better outcomes for students - could be enormous.

Neurologist and educator Judy Willis on the importance of igniting and developing students' executive function -- a part of the brain that controls critical thinking, creativity, and complex decision-making.

"There's no doubt about it - getting students involved in their own assessment and marking has a wide variety of benefits. Take this great summary by Rosario Hernandez at University College Dublin for example, which explains that peer-assessment benefits students in four key ways: Promotes high-quality learning Contributes to skills development Furthers personal development Increases students' confidence, reduces stress and improves student motivation"

Two studies were released in an attempt to "quantify the benefits of mobile technology in education and the infrastructure needed..." In these students students had tablets and Internet access at home and at school. Of course, I'm not sure that it is tablet computers that give benefits, Internet access, cloud computing, or a combination, but I'm sure these studies will be touted by many far and wide. Of course, remember if they had strapped the tablets to the kid''s back and hadn't used them - they would have had lower scores. All improvement is all in how technology is being USED to teach. "The studies put Android tablets in the hands of students and their teachers in two schools - eighth-graders at Stone Middle School in Fairfax County Public Schools and fifth-graders at Falconer Elementary School in Chicago Public Schools - and provided wireless access to the students both in school and away from school. (The devices were HTC Evo tablets.) Researchers then followed the students' activities over the course of a year, with the aim of evaluating "how access to these devices for communication with teachers and classmates increases comfort with technology, extends the learning day, and allows students to develop digital citizenship skills within a safe and secure learning environment.""

Southern Worlds 2010 is a collaborative project organised by the University of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Polytechnic, The Hutchins School and the Tasmanian Department of Education. The conference seeks to connect primary, secondary and tertiary educators, students, managers and developers to share, learn and explore the potential of virtual worlds to improve educational outcomes for individuals and institutions. The event is scheduled for Monday the 25th of October to Thursday the 28th of October and includes virtual sessions as well as a full day get together in Hobart on Wednesday the 27th.

New center for researching information and digital technologies and the impact on learning has been created.

Comprehensive research on how advanced computer and communication technologies can improve all levels of learning has been funded. This National Center was created and signed into law on August 14, 2008 in the United States. I think that research is a great thing. I they will involve all educators in developing their primary questions. Research based best practices underlie all we do and we do need more. I hope, however, they don't get too hung up on the technology (i.e. wiki, blog) and focus on what technology lets us do.

Expand your curriculum with our timesaving educational resources that use technology to improve instruction across all content areas and grade levels. Find current resources that align with standards, promote higher-order thinking, and support the development of writing skills. Monitor student research and writing, evaluate student performance, and create bilingual online lessons, classroom calendars, and quizzes in less time than traditional methods

One strategy for teaching science concepts is through the use of student developed newsletters. This approach involves students in the learning process as they research information, write articles, and present these articles in an individual or class newsletter format. This newsletter project helps students improve their writing skills as they learn how to write in science.

Social Studies Central is intended to provide resources with a focus on the Social Studies, to support teachers as they improve their instruction and to help educators engage kids in learning. You will find lesson plans, new web sites, links to standards and assessment advice, technology integration resources and information about workshops and staff development.