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"The pyramid represents the amount of time we spend teaching different types of literacy. Print Literacy is still the bases of our teaching in schools. Some of us and some schools are starting to bring digital literacy into the equation, but few of us are touching on or teaching Networked Literacy."

I have been thinking a lot lately about the challenge we face as educators when well-intentioned learners make incorrect, inscrutable, thoughtless, or otherwise off-the-mark comments. It's a crucial moment in teaching: how do you respond to an unhelpful remark in a way that 1) dignifies the attempt while 2) making sure that no one leaves thinking that the remark is true or useful? Summer is a great time to think about the challenge of developing new routines and habits in class, and this is a vital issue that gets precious little attention in training and staff development. Here is a famous Saturday Night Live skit, with Jerry Seinfeld as a HS history teacher, that painfully demonstrates the challenge and a less than exemplary response. Don't misunderstand me: I am not saying that we are always correct in our judgment about participant remarks. Sometimes a seemingly dumb comment turns out to be quite insightful. Nor am I talking about merely inchoate or poorly-worded contributions. That is a separate teaching challenge: how to unpack or invite others to unpack a potentially-useful but poorly articulated idea. No, I am talking about those comments that are just clunkers in some way; seemingly dead-end offerings that tempt us to drop our jaws or make some snarky remark back. My favorite example of the challenge and how to meet it comes from watching my old mentor Ted Sizer in action in front of 360 educators in Louisville 25 years ago. We had travelled as the staff of the Coalition of Essential Schools from Providence to Louisville to pitch the emerging Coalition reform effort locally. Ted gave a rousing speech about the need to transform the American high school. After a long round of applause, Ted took questions. The first questioner asked, and I quote: "Mr Sizer, what do you think about these girls and their skimpy halter tops in school?" (You have to also imagine the voice: very good-ol'-boy). Without missing a beat or making a face, Ted said "Deco

Sophia is a free social teaching and learning platform that offers academic content to anyone, anywhere free of charge. The website, which has been described as a mashup of Facebook, Wikipedia, and YouTube focused solely on education, also lets educators supplement their teaching methods with tools to create a customized learning environment in a private or public setting. Sophia uses Web 2.0 tools and methods to create a credible, crowd-sourced platform where information is organized in "learning packets"-bite-sized tutorials tagged to specific academic subjects or topics, including standards-aligned objectives.

"A New School Teaches Students Through Videogames A school uses videogame-based lessons to teach a new generation of kids "

The resources on this website provide information and sample test questions to familiarize Texas educators and the public with the design and format of the STAAR assessments. The information is intended to help educators understand how the new STAAR program measures the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum standards. These resources are intended to support, not narrow or replace, the teaching of the TEKS curriculum. The resources on this website provide information and sample test questions to familiarize Texas educators and the public with the design and format of the STAAR assessments. The information is intended to help educators understand how the new STAAR program measures the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum standards. These resources are intended to support, not narrow or replace, the teaching of the TEKS curriculum.

Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) uses properties listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. TwHP has created a variety of products and activities that help teachers bring historic places into the classroom.

"It is a different time for teaching and learning. The unfortunate reality is that much of what we do in schools and in our own teaching practice is still grounded in thinking that has ruled the day for more than a century. " So what can we be sure of? Well, we can be sure that abundance brings a host of opportunities for learning, and we can be sure that if we are going to make sense of those opportunities in ways that benefit our students, we're going to have to unlearn and relearn much of our own practice. In short, it has to start with a willingness to reflect on what the larger changes mean in our own learning.

"Top 10 Mistakes Educators Make When Using Technology: What process changes are you making? 4.) Not giving the kids a choice. Give guidelines and options ... but give up some control. Let them choose what technology to use, allow them to take charge of their learning. 3.) Not changing your teaching style. Kids have access to information instantly and can look up facts ... how do you see this changing how you teach in the classroom?

"It's Not a Pipe: Teaching Kids to Read the Media"

"In their book, Turning Learning Right Side Up: Putting Education Back on Track, authors Russell L. Ackoff and Daniel Greenberg point out that today's education system is seriously flawed -- it focuses on teaching rather than learning. "Why should children -- or adults -- be asked to do something computers and related equipment can do much better than they can?" the authors ask in the following excerpt from the book. "Why doesn't education focus on what humans can do better than the machines and instruments they create?" "Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth learning can be taught." -- Oscar Wilde"

"The new building blocks for learning in a complex world This important resource introduces a framework for 21st Century learning that maps out the skills needed to survive and thrive in a complex and connected world. 21st Century content includes the basic core subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic-but also emphasizes global awareness, financial/economic literacy, and health issues. The skills fall into three categories: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills. This book is filled with vignettes, international examples, and classroom samples that help illustrate the framework and provide an exciting view of twenty-first century teaching and learning. Explores the three main categories of 21st Century Skills: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills Addresses timely issues such as the rapid advance of technology and increased economic competition Based on a framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) The book contains a DVD with video clips of classroom teaching. For more information on the book visit www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com."

Best Websites for Teaching and Learning

"One of the questions that I'm asked all the time as an advocate for both professional learning communities and teaching with technology is, "How can digital tools be used to support the learning of singletons in our schools?" The answer is that there are two steps in any effort to develop electronic learning teams. First, many singletons need help simply finding peers who teach similar content areas and grade levels. Tackling that challenge can start with Twitter."

"teacher-ready tips for stimulating curiosity in others. First, she suggests starting with the question, rather than the answer-which teachers will recognize as the foundation of inquiry-based or discovery learning (see: math teacher Dan Meyer's take on how to make math "irresistible" to students). She then suggests offering some initial knowledge on the subject. "We're not curious about something we know absolutely nothing about," she writes. Again, teachers may know this as "activating prior knowledge" or "setting the stage" before a lesson. Finally, she says it helps to require communication, or "open an information gap and then require learners to communicate with each other in order to fill it." The think-pair-share technique and vocabulary activities that require students to teach each other their words both exemplify this. What would you add to the list? How does stimulating curiosity gel with other motivation tactics-or should teachers think of curiosity and motivation as one and the same?"

"Getting the school year started right can mean calling home with a positive message, stepping out of your comfort zone or simply asking for help. The connections you make in August can serve you well through the trials of K-12 education. You never know when you're going to need help -- from an encouraging smile to a better way to assess a standard. While the Internet and social media are great, they are merely tools to connect you with the people behind all of the accounts. With so much to do, it can be easy to push collaboration back, but this can have a long-term erosive effect on your happiness in teaching. The earlier you start, the easier it becomes. "

This is a continuing series on Web2.0 and other web-based tools for educators. This information is specific to math educators, but there is some crossover into ccience. Math educators will find a large number of useable interactive companion web sites for the teaching of math concepts and skills.

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"Educators discuss the nation's biggest misconceptions about teachers and their profession"

Intel® Education enables 21st century teaching and learning through free professional development, tools, and resources that help K-12 teachers engage students with effective use of technology.

"Get the complete lesson plan for this video at http://flocabulary.com/fivethings Flocabulary teaches about the 5 elements of the short story in this song. That's plot, character, conflict, theme and setting."