Skip to main content

Home/ SMS Connections/ Group items tagged meaning

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Patrick Higgins

Langwitches Blog » What does it Mean to be Literate? - 0 views

  •  
    What do we think of our current definition of literacy? Does it effectively encompass all of the changes we have undergone as readers and thinkers?
Patrick Higgins

Invitations to Learn // Carol Ann Tomlinson - 0 views

  • I am accepted and acceptable here just as I am. I am safe here—physically, emotionally, and intellectually. People here care about me. People here listen to me. People know how I'm doing, and it matters to them that I do well. People acknowledge my interests and perspectives and act upon them.
    • Patrick Higgins
       
      Some great lines here regarding the needs of the learners in your classroom.
  • I understand what we do here. I see significance in what we do. What we do reflects me and my world. The work we do makes a difference in the world. The work absorbs me.
  • when students discover meaning and relevance implicit in books, ideas, and tasks. Without meaning, schoolwork is purposeless for students.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • What I learn here is useful to me now.
  • "Other teachers told us what to think. This one is different because she showed us how to think and that we can think."
  • Rubrics and work samples help students understand the hallmarks of quality work.
  • I accomplish things here that I didn't believe were possible.
  • the actions of those excellent teachers consistently convey invitation.
  •  
    Tomlinson article detailing the emotional needs of learners in the classroom.
Patrick Higgins

ASCD - 0 views

  •  
    This one is a no-brainer--meaning that not only should we be reading it, we should also be creating our schools in its likeness.
Patrick Higgins

ASCD - 0 views

  •  
    This one is a no-brainer--meaning that not only should we be reading it, we should also be creating our schools in its likeness.
  •  
    I'd like to think that we are doing this through the Connections class.
Patrick Higgins

TagCrowd - make your own tag cloud from any text - 0 views

  •  
    Totally ripping off John Becker's latest post for ideas here, but imagine using tag clouds to show meaning in public speeches this election season.
  •  
    There is some value in this one. See me and I'll explain.
Patrick Higgins

Daily Media Use Among Children and Teens Up Dramatically From Five Years Ago - Kaiser F... - 1 views

  •  
    If we ever thought we didn't need to help kids understand context and meaning in media, we were mistaken.
Patrick Higgins

NSFW: After Fort Hood, another example of how 'citizen journalists' can't handle the truth - 2 views

  •  
    This author brings up the question that I've wrestled with before: just because we can, does it mean that we should? Or should our abilities always go to make us more human?
  • ...1 more comment...
  •  
    This is such a scary topic but something that needs to be thought about. This has happened in our own town, instead of helping, people are video taping someone being beat up. I wonder though how this happens? Does it happen because it can or we have the technology to allow it or has the moral compass of our nation changed so that we don't see anything wrong with it? Crazy article.
  •  
    Did you watch the "This American Life' cartoon? That is exactly what you are describing, where even the premise of creating news shows altered how kids behaved in the face of a situation that called for social action. It raises the question for me of "should the kids know more how to operate the high tech camera, or when to step out from behind it and act?"
  •  
    Yeah I watched the cartoon and saved it in hopes that I can show it to my students one day and have that discussion. I think they NEED to know how to step out and act - being a good person and citizen should always be number one and if they do that then they will use their technology for the best things! I love these diigo posts - thanks!
Patrick Higgins

Can You Become a Creature of New Habits? - New York Times - 0 views

  • “The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide,’ just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider.’ ” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”
    • Patrick Higgins
       
      This is the part that we can really instill in our students: a sense of wonder that permeates all they do. How do we do it? My idea would be to tap into their passions. What do they go for? Also, one of the jobs of schools is to expose students to things they would not normally be exposed to. This can create new habits and new wonder.
  • The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought.
    • Patrick Higgins
       
      This is where we come in.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Ms. Ryan and Ms. Markova have found what they call three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs.
    • Patrick Higgins
       
      This is Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development where our students are stressed to the point of learning, but not beyond it.
  •  
    I am dropping this in your mailboxes today.
Patrick Higgins

SMS Text News » Archives » Mobile web users to reach 1.7 billion - 0 views

  •  
    Thanks to Ewan McIntosh for this link. Great stats available for phone penetration worldwide.
  •  
    mobile phones again. What does this data mean?
Erica Hartman

Official Google Blog: Our Googley advice to students: Major in learning - 0 views

  • ... communication skills. Marshalling and understanding the available evidence isn't useful unless you can effectively communicate your conclusions.
  • .. analytical reasoning. Google is a data-driven, analytic company. When an issue arises or a decision needs to be made, we start with data. That means we can talk about what we know, instead of what we think we know.
  • . a willingness to experiment. Non-routine problems call for non-routine solutions and there is no formula for success. A well-designed experiment calls for a range of treatments, explicit control groups, and careful post-treatment analysis. Sometimes an experiment kills off a pet theory, so you need a willingness to accept the evidence even if you don't like it.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • ... team players. Virtually every project at Google is run by a small team. People need to work well together and perform up to the team's expectations.
  • ... passion and leadership. This could be professional or in other life experiences: learning languages or saving forests, for example. The main thing, to paraphrase Mr. Drucker, is to be motivated by a sense of importance about what you do.
  •  
    Great article from the Google Blog about who they want and how to promote thinking skills in the classroom.
  •  
    Read this. It's worth it.
Patrick Higgins

Lexipedia - Where words have meaning - 0 views

  •  
    Visualizing definitions and synonyms.
Patrick Higgins

95895d1229374265-funny-strange-random-pics-24mcj1g.jpg (JPEG Image, 500x667 pixels) - S... - 0 views

  •  
    Yes. Combine this with Taylor Mali's poem "Like, You know?" and you've got an interesting summation of modern culture.
  •  
    Great timeline of thought?
Patrick Higgins

Glogster - Poster Yourself - 0 views

  •  
    How about trying this with your students as a means to let students write.
  •  
    I just think these are cool.
  •  
    Let your students try these.
Patrick Higgins

Pseudoscience - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

  • Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific or made to appear scientific, but does not adhere to the scientific method,[2][3][4] lacks supporting evidence or plausibility,[5] or otherwise lacks scientific status.[6] The term comes from the Greek root pseudo- (false or pretending) and "science" (from Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge"). An early recorded use was in 1843 by French physiologist François Magendie,[1] who is considered a pioneer in experimental physiology.
  •  
    A good entry point to the study of pseudoscience.
  •  
    Wikipedia entry point on pseudoscience
Patrick Higgins

Technology Literacy & GIS Mapping - 0 views

  •  
    I think this has some great implications for teaching geography. I know we don't expressly teach geography in Connetions but we could let them play with this stuff as a means to represent some other data.
  •  
    I think this has some great implications for teaching geography.
Patrick Higgins

Portfolios (Authentic Assessment Toolbox) - 3 views

  • Portfolio: A collection of a student's work specifically selected to tell a particular story about the student
    • Patrick Higgins
       
      This is what I am really leaning towards: students telling the story of their work. Can we accomplish that?
  • A portfolio is not the pile of student work that accumulates over a semester or year. Rather, a portfolio contains a purposefully selected subset of student work. "Purposefully" selecting student work means deciding what type of story you want the portfolio to tell.
  • 1. Growth Portfolios a. to show growth or change over time b. to help develop process skills such as self-evaluation and goal-setting c. to identify strengths and weaknesses d. to track the development of one more products/performances 2. Showcase Portfolios a. to showcase end-of-year/semester accomplishments b. to prepare a sample of best work for employment or college admission c. to showcase student perceptions of favorite, best or most important work d. to communicate a student's current aptitudes to future teachers 3. Evaluation Portfolios a. to document achievement for grading purposes b. to document progress towards standards c. to place students appropriately
    • Patrick Higgins
       
      Which one do you think fits our purposes? Or should we leave that up to the students?
1 - 16 of 16
Showing 20 items per page