Group items tagged

"As teachers, we all know that we should create time to reflect on our professional practices… we need to experience the process of reflecting, in order to be able to guide our students… ….but what get's cut the easiest from our schedule if there is little time available? How can we see reflection as a high priority item on our never ending list of things to do? How can we get into the habit of making reflection time?"

"Established Goals (ISTE NETS Standards) 2. Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. 4. Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving & Decision-Making: Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students: b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project. 5. Digital Citizenship: Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students: d. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship. 6. Technology Operations and Concepts: Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems and operations. Students: b. select and use applications effectively and productively. d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies. Enduring Understandings: Students will understand that: Responsible digital citizens demonstrated shared characteristics, habits and attitudes. We can work together to teach others what we have learned. We can use web 2.0 tools to collaborate and communicate with a global audience. Essential Questions: What are the characteristics, habits and attitudes of a responsible digital citizen? How can we work together to teach others about responsible digital citizenship? How can we collaborate and communicate with others online? Assessment Evidence GRASPS Task Goal: Your goal is to produce a multimedia handbook about basic technology tools and digital citizenship for ISB

documentation & reflection prompts

"Reflective practice is an important sub-component of teacher research. It includes journaling and talking about one's instructional practice. However, doing reflective practice is not the same as doing teacher research. Teacher researchers hypothesize and systematically test their ideas. They look to triangulate their ideas with multiple forms of evidence multiple perspectives (inside and outside of their research group) the research literature on this topic Teacher researchers also write about their projects. Writing is an important part of the process because it requires organization of ideas within a framework."

Reflection/Debriefing questions for the kids

"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.

"n his classroom, Musallam follows three rules: curiosity comes first, embrace the mess, and reflect and revise. "

a thought provoking blogpost about Where's The Authentic Audience? The author takes a closer look at the buzz word circulating among blogging educators and classrooms and asks tough questions: What happens when there is no audience coming to your or your students' blogs? She elaborates her point by reflecting on the importance of quality work, connected teachers, give and take, writing with an audience in mind, digital literacy and humility."

"Grit." A four-letter word that every teacher and student should know and use. 3 Steps: Powerful Words, Weekly Reflection Journals, Community Meetings

"This is the first of several reflections from Wisconsin elementary principal Matt Renwick on digital and passion-based learning in a new afterschool program. "

"I see posts and videos about great educators and the great things that they're doing almost every day. And, being the self-reflective person that I am, it often makes me have the same reaction: "Wow, that's great! Look at what that teacher is doing. Look what her students have created. Look at the impact his classroom is having on the world. "Why am I not doing that? Why aren't my students doing that? Man, what kind of a teacher am I if we're not doing that?"

"All I Really Need to Know (About Creative Thinking) I Learned (By Studying How Children Learn) in Kindergarten * Mitchel Resnick MIT Media Lab Cambridge, MA 02139 USA +1 617 253 9783 mres@media.mit.edu ABSTRACT This paper argues that the "kindergarten approach to learning" - characterized by a spiraling cycle of Imagine, Create, Play, Share, Reflect, and back to Imagine - is ideally suited to the needs of the 21 st century, helping learners develop the creative-thinking skills that are critical to success and satisfaction in today's society. The paper discusses strategies for designing new technologies that encourage and support kindergarten-style learning, building on the success of traditional kindergarten materials and activities, but extending to learners of all ages, helping them continue to develop as creative thinkers. "

Insightful.

Students doing their own research! Students teaching each other! Shelley Wright now focuses on helping her students learn to learn. She models her journey and helps them develop their own skills. Reminds me of our work together!

This is basically another "attack" on the way education is "done". I love the sarcastic approach to the prep for the "real world" that is the dominant excuse for rule following. This article reflects why I think the whole notion of "grades" and a "grade book" must be re-examined if we are to really shift instructional practice toward genuine and authentic student learning.

"The first thing we attempted to clarify was what exactly is a grade? If I were to look in my grade book and see that Johnny has a B, what picture does that actually paint? That B should tell me that Johnny is pretty proficient. He obviously has some flaws, but I would venture to say he is fairly well-versed in the subject at hand. The question is, however, what actually went into that B? "

Great information on personalized learning. This site is really packed with good reads!