LCS Innovation

On Sunday, I posted a blog about 10 words that should be banished from our educational vocabulary, which you can read here. The blog post brought in numerous comments that ranged from readers adding to the words that should be banned, and others who thought that I should be ashamed of myself for adding certain words.

Use these quick but powerful 30 second assessment strategies to uncover the strengths and needs of your students without testing.

Teacher William J. Tolley says that education-innovation advocates need to disrupt schools' definitions of success if they are to achieve Sir Ken Robinson's vision for creativity in learning.

Rethink the prioritization of content in your course and use it to provide high quality instruction. Learn new ways to view critical content for your students.

Twitter and OCT Cases to consider

"science has shown that, in many ways, we are all wired to create. The key is recognizing that creativity is multifaceted-on the level of the brain, personality, and the creative process-and can be displayed in many different ways, from the deeply personal experience of uncovering a new idea or experience to expressing ourselves through words, photos, fashion, and other everyday creations, to the work of renowned artists that transcends the ages."

"to increase the probability of long term success and to reduce teacher/instructor frustration, organizations need to ensure that the broader fundamentals are in place before asking teachers to change. This is true whether the organization is a large university or school district, an eLearning business, or a small school of a few hundred students. (Note that I am not talking about the success of the "lone experimenters;" the innovators and early adopters who will implement change no matter what the environment is like. I am talking about organization wide long term success.)"

Unlike the sequels to movies, I hope that part two of last year's Energy and Calm post will continue to strengthen your understanding of how our brains naturally learn, think, and behave. So let's return to the calming yet energizing zone of focused attention practices and brain breaks, a place that would greatly benefit students -- and their teachers -- when revisited frequently.

Unlike the sequels to movies, I hope that part two of last year's Energy and Calm post will continue to strengthen your understanding of how our brains naturally learn, think, and behave. So let's return to the calming yet energizing zone of focused attention practices and brain breaks, a place that would greatly benefit students -- and their teachers -- when revisited frequently.

Many great ideas for improving your teaching approach in the classroom, from pedagogy to tech use

"ThingLink allows you to create interactive images by adding links, text, videos, and audio recordings to any static image that you own" This blog and description includes a quick video to get students started.

"Bloom's Taxonomy Tools is a Google document created by NJ superintendent Scott Rocco and it features a list of 89 web tools and mobile apps that correspond with every thinking level of Bloom's taxonomy."

Good tutorial on how to use Handbrake to reduce video size and download time without sacrificing quality. Almost 11 minutes long - includes an explanation of when to use different settings.