‎"There is no evidence that the pencil makes learning faster, easier or better." "I refuse to use pencils in my classroom until manufacturers figure out a way to limit what students can write with them." "If students become so heavily dependent upon pencils, they will never learn to boil berries to create their own medium."

Ode to #Pencilchat: Technology Integration in the Classroom http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/12783558/ode-to-pencilchat-technology-intergration-in-the-classroom

"Here are 5 reasons why we are making student blogging and portfolio development a high priority."1. Positive digital footprints2. Communicating with digital tools3. Transparency for parents and family4. New ways of thinking about Web tools5. Effective digital citizenship++Their world view is changing

It would be interesting to see a group of teachers collaborate over the course of a semester in having each of their students create their own blog. This collaboration wouldn't require common planning / interdisciplinary assignments, but having a common theme to connect the content would make sense.

"The KED program is a concept for personalized education. This means that students, with the guidance of their coach, set and work towards their own personal goals, with the ambition of achieving high final results. Students allocate their study time based on their previous educational experience as well as their individual strengths and weaknesses."

"In Swedish, "Kunskapsskolan" means "the knowledge school." Our name is an expression of our passion for providing excellence in learning and knowledge for the next global generation."

"A continuous research and development program identifies correlations and possible common denominators for achieving excellence. In all these key areas - student outcome, student and parent satisfaction, teacher satisfaction and motivation, and financial performance..."

In December 2010, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel created a national, independent commission to study the teaching profession and make recommendations on maximizing teacher and teaching effectiveness. Drawing on the wisdom and experience of accomplished teachers, expert researchers, policymakers, and academicians, the Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching (CETT) examined the policies and practices governing the teaching profession and crafted a teacher-centered vision of teaching and the teaching profession. On December 8, 2011, CETT presented the NEA with its final report, Transforming Teaching: Connecting Professional Responsibility with Student Learning, which outlines the Commission's vision and recommendations for the teaching profession.

Interesting and short bit of writing that hits on my personal beliefs about where the majority of transformational focus should be...simply supporting good teaching.

"For too long, teachers and classrooms have been ignored in ... changes to the educational system."

"Education reform needs a face lift -- one that includes higher standards for entry into the profession and mentor teachers assisting those needing to improve."

"MIT will make the MITx open learning software available free of cost, so that others ... such as K-12 school systems - can leverage the same software for their online education offerings.

I've used pieces of MIT's open courseware in the past for student ELOs. This could make that work very simple. The platform will be free. Plus, for what they say will be a "modest fee" they will grant a "certificate of completion" to students who demonstrate mastery of the subject.

FAQ's about MITx - http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/mitx-faq-1219

"Ever since Finland, a nation of about 5.5 million that does not start formal education until age 7 and scorns homework and testing until well into the teenage years, scored at the top of a well-respected international test in 2001 in math, science and reading, it has been an object of fascination among American educators and policy makers."

"Critics say that Finland is an irrelevant laboratory for the United States. It has a tiny economy, a low poverty rate, a homogenous population - 5 percent are foreign-born -..." Perhaps irrelevant for the US as a whole, but what about for Vermont?

"Dr. Darling-Hammond said. 'Thirty years ago, Finland's education system was a mess. It was quite mediocre, very inequitable. It had a lot of features our system has: very top-down testing, extensive tracking, highly variable teachers, and they managed to reboot the whole system.' "

"When engaged in consistently, these actions-questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting-triggered associational thinking..."

"Most of us think creativity is an entirely cognitive skill; it all happens in the brain. A critical insight from our research is that one's ability to generate innovative ideas is not merely a function of the mind, but also a function of behaviors."

"Leadership has several aspects, each of which contributes uniquely to school competence and to school excellence. The current focus in leadership theory and practice provides a limited view, dwelling excessively on some aspects of leadership to the virtual exclusion of others. Unfortunately, these neglected aspects of leadership are linked to excellence-a revelation now unfolding from recent research on school effectiveness and school excellence."

Five leadership forces: Technical derived from sound management techniques Human derived from harnessing available social and interpersonal resources Educational derived from expert knowledge about matters of education and schooling Symbolic derived from focusing the attention of others on matters of importance to the school Cultural derived from building a unique school culture.

"These people...aggressively block innovation from happening and will suck the energy out of any organization. When confronted with any of the following three people-and you have found it impossible to change their ways, say goodbye."

SKR Rowland keynote highlights broken down into 8 videos. Videos are 2 minutes long on average.

New England Secondary School Consortium's third annual conference for secondary educators to share success stories, exchange best practices, and build momentum for innovations that will prepare all students for success in the colleges, careers, and communities of the 21st century.

WHEN: Thursday + Friday, March 22-23, 2012 WHERE: Four Points by Sheraton in Norwood, Massachusetts WHO: Educators and teams from high schools, charter schools, and technical schools across New England engaged in school improvement COST: $75 per person (includes appetizers, beverages, breakfast, lunch, and materials) PROGRAM: Click HERE to read the session descriptions

We have been asked if it would be possilble to password protect the Rowland keynote.

For all Rowland Foundation Diigo members the password is: 2011skr
http://www.therowlandfoundation.org/video.shtml

I've posted a number of articles about Flipped Classrooms and Blended Instruction.
I wouldn't generally post this many articles, but I had a couple of people request that I add any information that I had in my personal collection to this group.

Adam,

An idea that I have been bouncing around is NOT requiring students to access the information from home.

What if instead the students were on an A-day / B-day schedule...where on A-days students would be receive class content in a technology lab at school where they would explore and research information needed for the next class. They would wrap up the Content Day by completing an exit ticket on the material delivered that day.

B-days would be Questioning and Application Days with the teacher... who would have modified the lesson based on the levels of understanding expressed by the students at the end of the previous A-day's exit tickets. (Just in Time Teaching)

Essentially this model would allow a teacher to "teach" a class on B-days while also having a full block every other day for planning for that class...and the opportunity for callbacks and/or open office.

Anyhow...just a brief thought about one possibility.

A note to this is that Blended Instruction is important piece for students for many reasons. But, an often overlooked reason is that if we look at the post-high school experience of students we see that colleges and employers rely heavily on technology to deliver content and education. We need to be preparing students to learn how to learn through technology.

Adam...how about providing the lessons on DVDs for those that might not have computers in their homes.

Or, thumbdrives for those with poor internet access.

Or, QR codes for those students with more access to technology?

No lecture in the classroom The FIZZ Lecture professional development program trains teachers to create and publish a series of video lectures in order to make the content of their course completely transparent. "Why I flipped my classroom" - Math Teacher, Katie Gimbar

Why: 1. Flipping the Classroom for Accountability 2. Is this Recreating the Wheel? 3. Better Than A Front Row Seat 4. "Why it has to be me!" - Model Teacher, Katie Gimbar 5. Using Classroom Time to Differentiate 6. Self-paced, Differentiated and Collaborative 7. The Research Behind Flipping the Classroom with FIZZ How: 1. Buying the Lecture Boards 2. Writing on and Cleaning the Boards 3. Camera and Tripod 4. Condensing the Content to 6 Boards DOWNLOAD > FIZZ Lecture Planning.doc 5. Sliding the Boards 6. Setting up the Camera and Tripod 7. FIZZ Lecture: The Fine Print 8. Uploading and Posting Screencast tutorials on using Google Docs: Why use Google Docs? Part 1. Uploading Videos to Google Docs Part 2. Creating a Simple Web Page (click here for the template) Part 3. Sharing the URL with Your Students

Many educators are experimenting with the idea of a flipped classroom model. So what is it and why is everyone talking about it?

In-depth infographic all about Blended Learning. What it is, why it's spreading, and how it works in real and virtual classrooms.

"...suggests that good teaching must 'de-emphasise lecture and emphasise active problem-solving'..."

Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT for short) is a teaching and learning strategy based on the interaction between web-based study assignments and an active learner classroom. WarmUps and Puzzles are the heart of the JiTT web component. These are short, web-based assignments, prompting the student to think about the upcoming lesson and answer a few simple questions prior to class.

"...technology that allows him to easily record his lectures at home, slice them into easily digestible morsels, and make them available for students to watch online prior to class meetings..."