Independent School Collaboration

A great article out of the New York Times entitled: Can You Become a Creature of New Habits? Has had me thinking today about creating creative cultures in our schools.

personal (and personable) support in the classroom is the key to the success of any technology-rich program, and 21st century literacy is no different.

Alan November adds, "The best thing to invest in right now is collegiality. The number one skill that teachers will need is to be team-based, collegial, sharing their knowledge and wisdom."

Dedicate a portion of your day to honing your professional practice

Establish a professional learning network

When students created Facebook pages that viciously attacked a teacher, and when their wealthy parents on the school’s board defended them, Horace Mann was forced to confront a series of questions: Is a Facebook page private, like a diary? Is big money distorting private-school education? And what values is a school supposed to teach?

Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally

This categorized and ordered thinking skills and objectives. His taxonomy follows the thinking process. You can not understand a concept if you do not first remember it, similarly you can not apply knowledge and concepts if you do not understand them. It is a continuum from Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS) to Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). Bloom labels each category with a gerund.

The development of a personal learning network (or PLN) is absolutely essential for any successful 21st century educator. This interconnected network of learners whom you select based on interests, skills, or experience will soon become an integral part of your daily learning and thinking.

conventional practices, including homework, grades, and tests, prove difficult to justify for anyone who is serious about promoting long-term dispositions rather than just improving short-term skills.

Some of the features that I’ve listed here will seem objectionable, or at least unsettling, to educators at more traditional schools

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. Progressive education isn’t just more appealing; it’s also more productive.

The study also goes against previous research from Pew in 2005 that suggests a "digital divide" where low-income students are technologically impoverished. That study found that Internet usage of teenagers from families earning $30,000 or below was limited to 73 percent, which is 21 percentage points below what the U of M research shows. The students participating in the U of M study were from families whose incomes were at or below the county median income (at or below $25,000) and were taking part in an after school program, Admission Possible, aimed at improving college access for low-income youth.