sbisd early adopters

"In the digital age, kids need to have an understanding of what it means to be a responsible digital citizen. They need to learn the technical how-to's, as well as a more global comprehension of how to navigate the online world. To that end, Melbourne educator Jenny Luca made a commitment to help her students start blogging and to create ePortfolios. Here are five reasons why, at her school, these skills are now a high priority."

"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?"

"Evaluate websites with variations and extensions of skills you use to evaluate print materials."

How do we measure the efficacy of change? What are the benchmarks to prove that we are on the right track? Bascially, a change in the education process boils down to funding and to get funding you have to prove(through control groups) that the concept or innovation is better than the current method of teaching.

"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.

Ideas on using student questions in class and why they are important.

"Coming up with the right question involves vigorously thinking through the problem, investigating it from various angles, turning closed questions into open-ended ones and prioritizing which are the most important questions to get at the heart of the matter. "We've been underestimating how well our kids can think." "We've been underestimating how well our kids can think." Rothstein said in a recent discussion on the talk show Forum. "We see consistently that there are three outcomes. One is that students are more engaged. Second, they take more ownership, which for teachers, this is a huge thing. And the third outcome is they learn more - we see better quality work.""

Shares both positive and negative examples straight from classroom teachers. Good food for thought and consideration if you're attempting the model!

Great visual with tips and suggestions for personal learning networks.

Great questions for anyone thinking about incorporating IPads into the classroom with the focus solely on the instructional piece of technology.

This could be the to do or not to do questions for incorporating technology into a classroom setting.

I laughed so hard when I read this part: First, stop expecting kids to pay attention. They don't owe you anything. They're only in school because it's the law and their friends are there. He also lists some good strategies - none that are new, but it is always good to review!

Here are some links to information about Flipped learning. 

This post made me think about how easy it is to learn something you want/need to learn right now. It also made me think a bit about a conversation I had with a librarian yesterday who was commenting on how all it takes is a little effort on the part of the individual to learn. 

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!

Examples and pitfalls of flipping a class.

Khan Academy has a Coaching feature that allows students to practice a new skill and receive immediate feedback. You can also track student progress. Now the classroom can be used for valuable discussions like how specific skills can be applied in their real world (relevanancy). Or to allow peer to peer teaching, small group instruction, and one on one instruction when all else fails.

Article that references studies on flipping the classroom