GlobalSkillsCC

Speaker: Sir Ken Robinson on Feb 2010; posted May 2010.

TM shared this and several other TED videos in the context of innovation in her classroom.

An RSA "Animate" presentation based on a speech given by Sir Ken Robinson. RSA is the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, a "cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress." This animated presentation is a favorite of the KPI team.

TM shared this and several other TED videos in the context of innovation in her classroom.

From On Course by Skip Downing, posted by College of San Mateo. Downing argues that the difference between "victim" and "creator" helps students take greater responsibility for their education.

DW shared the link to victim/creator chart after a discussion of Downing and specifically of this concept.

Website run by Skip Downing, author of On Course: Strategies for Success in College and in Life. The site provides practical applications of the On Course principles (free of charge). Strategies are designed with the goal of empowering students to become active, responsible learners. There are links to descriptions of workshops and to registration options.

KG took the On Course course and says "Skip's program changed my life and the way I deal with my students...."

Produced by the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Minnesota; no author, last modified December 2009. This page provides suggestions for how to end the semester, in order to provide closure for students and to think about what students have done --and learned -- over the course of the semester.

TM feels that ending the semester effectively also provides her with some opportunity to have the students assess her work and teaching effectiveness; she shared this page with thoughts on ending the semester.

Posted by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Iowa State University, authored by Lee Haugen, February 1999. This page provides a great definition of CATs as well as a chart with examples of different assessments, what they test, and why they are important.

TM provided this link and other resources as she discussed using CATs in her own classroom.

By Nadine Dolby, Commentary column, The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 9 2012. In this commentary piece, Dolby describes a panel in which she invited her undergraduate education students to meet with a panel of "real" parents in the hopes of getting some new perspectives on K-12 education. As a matter of course, she required them to refrain from using cell phones, texting or tweeting. And she observed that these students then had a great deal of trouble just listening. She argues that, in a democracy, it's not enough just to share your own opinions, you must also listen to those of others. She concludes, "Teaching our students how to truly listen may be the most important multicultural lesson of all."

Website of John Taylor Gatto. According to his biography (on this website), Gatto was a long-time schoolteacher, eventually winning New York State Teacher of the Year (also multi-winner of NYC Teacher of the Year). He then very publicly quit teaching (that same year) and launched a public-speaking and film-making career, exploring what he feels is wrong with K-12 education.

SB mentions Gatto in a post describing readings that he's used that are critical of the current educational system.

Posted on website ClassTools.net, this tool helps instructors (and others) to select names from their class list at random. No creator name (or date) is given.

KP used this tool to help her select students at random when going over answers on the first day of class, week 1, semester 4.

By Kim Parker, Amanda Lenhart and Kathleen Moore, published by the Pew Research Center/Pew Social & Demographic Trends, August 28, 2011. The big take-away seems to be that 51% of college presidents surveyed find that "online courses offer an equal educational value compared with courses taken in a classroom," but only 29% of the general public agrees with this statement.

By Anya Kamenetz in the Education column of GOOD magazine (Online), August 29 2011. The idea behind the Edupunk concept is a DIY approach to education in order to make education truly student-driven, and to make good use of the great variety of resources available on the Internet. To that end, Kamenetz, author of The Edupunk's Guide (a free ebook) offers these ideas regarding online research.

Much as the Edupunk movement fails to value the importance of a good teacher to guide and support the student's learning experience, this post fails to take librarians and libraries into account. That said, there are some great sites and sources on this list, though no mention of how students should evaluate the accuracy, currency, or authority of these sites. What do you think?

new offering from Cengage Learning. Suite of digital products and services.

Collection of free writing exercises from the publisher Bedford / St. Martin's

Online learning solutions that extends the work Cengage textbooks.

Web based assignment and assessment platform that extends publisher's textbook offerings.

By Lucille Clifton, originally published in Quilting: Poems 1987-1990 by Lucille Clifton, 2001. Reprinted on poets.org.

Part of LC's lesson, What is Good Writing, week 2, semester 3.

By Cynthia Hawkins, an emerging writer award runner up on the site Our Stories.us.

Part of LC's lesson, What is Good Writing, week 2, semester 3.

By Mark Twain, posted on the website American Literature. Originally published 1882.

Part of LC's lesson, What is Good Writing, week 2, semester 3.

By Tasha Eichenseher in Mo'orea for National Geographic News, Feb 18 2011. This is a special report on biodiversity and indigenous knowledge.

Part of LC's lesson, What is Good Writing, week 2, semester 3.

By Alexis Madrigal in The Atlantic, March 14 2011.

Part of LC's lesson, What is Good Writing, week 2, semester 3.