Group items tagged

"Guy Kawasaki last week wrote an item describing 'ten things you should learn this school year' in which readers were advised to learn how to write five sentence emails, create powerpoint slides, and survive boring meetings. It was, to my view, advice on how to be a business toady. My view is that people are worth more than that, that pleasing your boss should be the least of your concerns, and that genuine learning means something more than how to succeed in a business environment. But what should you learn? Your school will try to teach you facts, which you'll need to pass the test but which are otherwise useless. In passing you may learn some useful skills, like literacy, which you should cultivate. But Guy Kawasaki is right in at least this: schools won't teach you the things you really need to learn in order to be successful, either in business (whether or not you choose to live life as a toady) or in life. Here, then, is my list. This is, in my view, what you need to learn in order to be successful. Moreover, it is something you can start to learn this year, no matter what grade you're in, no matter how old you are. I could obviously write much more on each of these topics. But take this as a starting point, follow the suggestions, and learn the rest for yourself. And to educators, I ask, if you are not teaching these things in your classes, why are you not?"

Some very applicable skills for our pupils! An apt read for today.

"What is Spotlight? Spotlight is a daily 15 minute radio program. It uses a special English method of broadcasting. This makes Spotlight easier for many people to understand, no matter where in the world they live."

What is Spotlight? Spotlight is a daily 15 minute radio program. It uses a special English method of broadcasting. This makes Spotlight easier for many people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

"I have to tell you that it was a tough call to make these decisions, especially when we're talking every teacher no matter what grade level or subject, but I hope that you find a couple of gems to put away in your virtual treasure box. You may have others you'd like to add to the list. Please post them in the comments for all of us to explore."

"By now, YouTube's value in the classroom should be rather self-evident. No matter the subject or grade level, the website offers up excellent videos to supplement lessons and provide windows into different facts and concepts."

Youtube and science clips, good for that frontloading session!

How to integrate Bloom's Taxonomy of apps into the classroom: Bloom's Taxonomy is by no means the best or only way to categorize websites, apps or other educational tools. However, I often find that for my purposes, it is a really nice way to organize tools so that I can find them later. It also keeps me (and my students) thinking about the learning process and keeps us all from getting stuck in a one-type-of-learning rut. Bloom's is also extraordinarily handy for categorizing apps that don't fit neatly into a subject matter or that fall into several different subject categories. In the apps, I have given you a little guide. If an app cost money, I've added a $$ on the app. The others are free. The free apps are just as wonderful as some of the paid!

The workshop was great and without a doubt all tools used during the workshop are Web 2.0. However teachers who attended the workshop are constantly reminded, what matters most is HOW teachers used Web 2.0 for teaching and learning but not WHAT Web 2.0 can do. Pedagogies, instructions and learning outcomes always come first.

Concept: Creating a small, paper blogging community gives students a chance to understand "blogging" and safely practice having an "online persona."