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Building positive group work ethics in project-based learning Teach_Tec 4 Nov 2011 8:59 AM 0 Can you think of a job or profession that is done alone? No co-workers to consult, no team responsible for contributing different pieces of a project, no meetings (well, maybe that might be okay ; ) It's hard to come up with many. Artist? Author? (at least during the initial writing process). We could probably come up with a few more, but the list is relatively short. Working in teams, collaborating with others in our work and life is fundamental. Not only do we gain social benefits, but the ability to combine the strengths of a team most often leads to a better end result. Though we've all heard that initial reaction from students as a group project is introduced: 'Can we pick our own groups?' or even worse, 'Do I have to be with him/her?' The skills of working effectively in groups need to be coached, practiced and encouraged. So when you see reflective comments such as these (from real students) it is encouraging: "A good team looks like a team that is on task, getting along and sharing." (5th grade) "A good team looks like a friendly team with members working together. I have learned practical skills that will help me get a job." (5th grade) "A good team looks and sounds like they are working together, improvising, compromising, discussing ideas calmly and working out disagreements." (6th grade) "In the real world you may have to work with people you do not like and you need to know how to still be productive." (6th grade) So how did these students get here? Pauline Roberts, a 5th and 6th grade teacher at the Birmingham Covington School in Bloomfield Hills, MI has made developing these skills a priority. The unique program she and her colleagues have collaborated on at this 3rd - 8th grade public school is called ENGAGE. The focus is to embed 21st century skills across multiple grades and all parts of the curriculum with a specific

Collaborating on a debate assignment with Google Docs and Social Bookmarks This evening I'm in Denton, Texas, and my son is back in Edmond, Oklahoma. He needed some help with his advanced debate class assignment, in which he's researching the definition of "Objectivism" and writing some attacks as well as defenses for it. Thankfully, as a 7th grader he knows how to use both Google Documents as well as Delicious social bookmarks. He called me this evening after our weekly K-12 Online Conference organizer Skype call, and I helped him brainstorm ideas for his assignment. It was REALLY cool for both of us to work synchronously on the same Google Doc, and watch the text in real-time which we were both adding to the document. It was also great to see the social bookmarks he'd already saved on his delicious account for "objectivism," and make some suggestions for other sites he could utilize.

Join us for the LEARN NC fall interactive conference POSTED OCTOBER 20, 2011 · BY EMILY · IN BULLETIN BOARDOn Monday, November 7, LEARN NC will host our annual fall conference. This year, for the first time, the conference will take place entirely online. You'll be able to listen to the presenters, pose questions, and interact with other participants from any internet-connected computer. And, as always, the conference is entirely free! We'll be joined by an exciting line-up of presenters, who will discuss topics like how to reach struggling readers, teaching about North Carolina American Indians, modeling-based science instruction, and the state's adoption of new curriculum standards and professional teaching standards. Presenters include classroom teachers, UNC faculty members, and leaders from DPI. The conference will consist of eight sessions, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. All sessions will be archived for future viewing. For more details and to register, please see the conference website. We look forward to seeing you there!

"Welcome to Wikipedia for Schools! This selection of articles from Wikipedia matches the UK National Curriculum and can be used by school children around the world. 6000 articles, 26 million words and 50,000 images make Wikipedia for Schools bigger than Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia put together! Wikipedia is great, but it wasn't designed with the National Curriculum in mind. And because anyone can edit it, articles sometimes get vandalised. That's why we've put together this special collection to make learning as easy and safe as it can be. Here at SOS Children, we've checked all the articles, tidied them up a bit, and put them together by school subject."

"International Space Station Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur discusses and demonstrates lab safety equipment and techniques. You can mix and mash these video clips with NASA images and your own narration, original video of your science lab, special effects and transitions. Preview the video and download the clips you want to use in your creative masterpiece."

This page lists resources for high-quality public domain photographs. For each resource here, I tell you what you'll find and give you tips for using the photos. What kind of tips, you ask, if the photos are public domain? Aren't they free of all use restrictions? Good question! And the answer is ... yeah, mostly. Here's the deal. Some of these resources have a mix of public domain and copyrighted photos. Also, some of the owners of the physical photos (which, yes, are in the public domain) have placed use restrictions on copies. So you need to know that. But who wants to read all those boring terms and conditions? Well ... I do! And I did, so I can tell you what they are. Often, all that's asked of you is that you credit the photo source. So I've made sure to include any requested credit lines. (Crediting is the right thing to do. You'd like to be credited for your photos, wouldn't you?)

Steve Wheeler shares a presentation Web 3.0: The way forward?. Steve takes a three-fold view of web development: 1.0=linking, 2.0=participation, 3.0=existing data reconnected for smarter uses. Stephen Downes responds "let me be the first to name the new web: Web eXtended (or just Web X)…idea of Web X is that it combines web 2.0 (social web) and web 3.0 (semantic web) to create what I have called, in the past, the semantic social web. But it's more than just that, because it takes these and moves them off the web and into your hand. And more than just that, because it's the web of data, the geoweb, augmented media, the 3D web, and more. The eXtended web - the web, extended from the internet, into your life."

While reading Professional Learning Communities at Work™, I considerably marked up the margins with check marks and the letter U; the check marks meant "this is so important" and the Us symbolized that the ideas, as I saw them, were important because they were actually universal truths. Concepts like curiosity, practice, cooperation, support, reflection, and growth that first appeared in the introduction said to me that this book provided elements that are ageless and timeless. I knew that what was being explored could be meaningful for anyone, in any circumstance, and in any environment.

On this site, you will find several hundred pages of information describing the flow of history, from the evolutionary processes that formed our bodies, to the forces of globalization that exploded in the 1990s. It is detailed, engaging reading-the result of over 25 years of continuous refinement for actual classroom use. Reading about a period will fill your head with facts and names about your chosen topic like any good history textbook. But you won't remember the important lessons-the ones that history classes exist in order to teach us, so that we don't each have to learn them on our own. Good students studying traditional History texts learn much about the past, but even the best rarely take the lessons of the past with them when they leave class. As a history teacher at University High School in Urbana, Illinois since 1979, I have developed a method for teaching history, using a series of about 200 cross-referenced flowcharts and over 100 powerpoint multimedia lecture outlines to help students see history as a dynamic process of causes and effects, not just a meaningless list of names and dates. With this website you can help bring about a revolution in the History classroom, producing students that deeply understand the past and enjoy learning about it. » printer-friendly version

This is a place for free Photos and Wallpapers. Large collection of high resolution stock photos, Thousands of high quality pictures, easy to search, I am offering my photos to be used for both personal and commerical free of any charge as long you agree and comply with my terms and conditions.

A Hub is a rich web page that you write and design. Each time you want to write another article, you'll create another Hub. It's just like in a website, which has multiple web pages. You have the capability to add text, pictures, videos, and links in your Hub.

Instructure Canvas a Free LMS for TeachersInstructure Canvas is a free learning management system that teachers can use to record grades, post assignments, and interact with their students. Students can use Instructure Canvas to communicate with each other and collaborate on assignments. What caught my attention about Instructure Canvas is that it integrates Facebooks, Google Docs, and email systems outside of Instructure. Another neat feature of Instructure Canvas is that students can subscribe to RSS, email, and cell phone alerts to stay abreast of any new content their teachers post.    Richard Byrne

One of the roundtables that I went to at ISTE was about an interesting research project that tracked how teachers and students used wikis and blogs in the classroom - Web 2.0 in the Classroom, Blogs and Wikis.

As the world moves toward more complex interactions, one of the most fundamental aspects of humanity is to enjoy its thoughts and its great works. Our journey has always been one of making classic literature available to anyone willing to listen, and now in this next phase, to expand our scope to include more thinkers, writers and essayists. Although thinking may not seem as relevant today, with advancing technology providing alternative vehicles of entertainment, we are committed to bringing a small part of intellectual enjoyment to the globe.

We received a question about grading, specifically how to balance grading between formative and summative assessments. The author was concerned because the grading practices of the teachers in the school were so different. To answer the question, we need to develop a common understanding of the terms formative assessment and summative assessment. A summative assessment is an assessment that asks, "Did the student acquire the intended knowledge and skills by the deadline-yes or no, pass or fail?" For example, every course at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, ends with a final exam that counts for 25 percent of a student's final grade. This is clearly a summative exam. State exams are another example of summative assessments.

Build Vocabulary Cards with Google Presentation10:32 AM Susan Oxnevad 1 comment There is a wealth of research to suggest that vocabulary knowledge is the single best predictor of student academic achievement across all curriculum areas. Experts agree that vocabulary development is an attainable goal. If given the opportunity to receive effective vocabulary instruction, most students can acquire vocabulary at rates that will improve their comprehension and also their chances for success in school. Technology is an effective and engaging tool that can be used to improe vocabulary acquisition for all learners and engage them in the learning process. Google Presentation offers some features that make it an attractive tool for a lesson in which students work collaboratively to construct knowledge about vocabulary by creating vocabulary cards.

Knowledge-Based Education - We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student's fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.

School change is a challenging, necessary, and sticky business. Too often though, it begins with the search for the negative. Putting on, as thinking expert Edward de Bono would say, our "Black Hat." It's a story that has been told a thousand times. A school needs to improve, to "fix what is broken" and it is up to the principal to identify what isn't working, develop a plan to improve or repair the issues, and maybe hires a few consultants along the way to help.