Below is my curated collection of videos for general Common Core info, as well as videos to teach the close reading, text complexity and informational texts standards
The Social Media Myth
The myth about social media in the classroom is that if you use it, kids will be Tweeting, Facebooking and Snapchatting while you're trying to teach. We still have to focus on the task at hand. Don't mistake social media for socializing. They're different -- just as kids talking as they work in groups or talking while hanging out are different
So in the face of a challenge, what do your students "retreat to"? Below are four questions they can use to begin this kind of reflection and self-awareness:
How do I respond when I'm challenged, both inwardly and outwardly?
Which resources and strategies do I tend to favor, and which do I tend to ignore?
What can I do to make myself more aware of my own thinking and emotions?
What happens if I don’t change anything at all?
So how can we know if we are developing minds -- and citizens -- for the future? The right kinds of assessment tell us far more than whether or not students are gaining knowledge.
Would the students have created a Facebook group rather than sneak off to a cave? Or would Mr. Keating have told the students to turn off all devices and leave them in their bags, maintaining the traditional classroom setting? I think it would be more of the former.
In the movie, students shouted quotes to music blasted from a record player while on the soccer field. They explored alternative learning spaces by walking the halls of the school. The students from Mr. Keating's class found relevance in their study of poetry because he taught them (3):
Students learn a lot from this portfolio process. By presenting their work to peers, they get a different perspective on it. They begin to understand how they learn (what educators call metacognition). They realize that revising a project -- sometimes even starting over -- and collaborating with others are natural parts of real-world work.