Group items tagged

This is the video that Candace shared in her email. "If we invest in programs that promote learning beginning at birth, the statistics will change, the stories will change, the future will change."

"Teaching for Change provides teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write and change the world. By drawing direct connections to real world issues, Teaching for Change encourages teachers and students to question and re-think the world inside and outside their classrooms, build a more equitable, multicultural society, and become active global citizens."

"I asked myself, what if homework was really valuable?  Better yet, what if homework was life-changing?  What if it could teach students - prove to students - that with effective effort and time, they could achieve anything? I set out to design a homework system with that goal in mind.  Since I first started four or five years ago, it has changed many times.  My earlier blog posts on the subject are now way out-of-date, so I'm going to describe what I do these days.  This is the best iteration of my homework plan so far, and over my two-year loop with a group of children from second to third grade, I saw amazing results."

"Change is complicated... Instructional coaches can help alleviate some of the burden of change. Instructional coaches are on-site professional developers who teach educators how to use proven teaching methods. Some problems are too big for one teacher... Instructional coaches are partners in the change process. They work one-on-one with teachers to make it easier to adopt the instructional methods that can make a difference to students' success. Instructional coaches are team members, who help pull together and lead the right combination of school staff to reach common goals. Building networks for change in schools... Drawing from lessons learned during nine years of research on coaching, KU-CRL offers Instructional Coaching Institutes to explore issues and ideas related to this popular and effective form of professional development. Click here to learn more"

"This issue of Changing Schools focuses on the third of five "high-leverage, high-payoff" areas for improving students' chances for success identified in McREL's report, Changing the Odds for Student Success: What Matters Most: Guaranteeing challenging, engaging, and intentional instruction Ensuring curricular pathways to success Providing whole-child student supports Creating high-performance school cultures Developing data-driven, "high-reliability" systems"

"My challenge to you, the unions, Mike Klonsky, Diane Ravitch, and all the others who take issue with me when I say that the unions must be clearer about what needs to change is this: If we really want to change the direction of reform then we have to articulate a clear strategy on how it can be achieved. "

"If you're like me, your change efforts focus on raising awareness. Maybe on rewards and even penalties. But "Influencer" describes how to tap into 6 very different sources of influence to change specific "vital behaviors"  (also known as "keystone habits")."

Today, education is caught in the trap which suffocated medicine 150 years ago. Pedagogy and the structure of schooling does not change because so many of those who practice and lead it refuse to confront their egos and their self-images - and this ranges from the teacher who still uses worksheets and grades compliance to Arne Duncan, Michael Gove, and even Barack Obama. And the result is... we are "killing" kids - both figuratively and literally. Educators get caught in an awful "Anti-Virtuous" Cycle. So many did well in traditional schools for very traditional reasons. They were born to wealth and privilege, or they were born to educationally successful families. And/or, they simply are the kind of student "school" - that culture of compliance and passivity - enables."

"Can ICT redefine the way we learn in the Networked Society? Technology has enabled us to interact, innovate and share in whole new ways. This dynamic shift in mindset is creating profound change throughout our society. The Future of Learning looks at one part of that change, the potential to redefine how we learn and educate. Watch as we talk with world renowned experts and educators about its potential to shift away from traditional methods of learning based on memorization and repetition to more holistic approaches that focus on individual students' needs and self expression."

Great series of blog posts on education change

"In a time when technology is drastically changing the way that we work, learn, and play, it is essential that school leaders have a clear plan for driving digital change in their classrooms, districts and communities. "

As full implementation of Common Core State Standards nears, educators are searching for answers to three questions: 1) What are the CC State Standards? 2) How will they change what I do? and 3) Why are they here? Some of the details are frustratingly elusive as various groups -- publishers, school districts, states, and universities -- jockey for positions in the first post-NCLB initiative. Here's

"There are lots of changes that are occurring in education that will have an impact on students currently enrolled in the Hamilton City School District, around the State, and across the Nation. The information on this site is designed to provide you with more information about what students will be expected to know and do at each grade level in this era of increasing standards. The District is committed to working with parents to provide a world class education that will enable all students to be college and career ready upon graduation from Hamilton High School."

"Founded in 2004, Games for Change facilitates the creation and distribution of social impact games that serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts."

"I don't know which side of the fence you are on in regard to inclusive education. And for all intents and purposes…it does not matter. This post could just as easily have been called, No…Really…I'm Not Crazy…Inclusive Education Works! Usually when I talk to people who are not familiar with the idea of having students with disabilities (including significant disabilities) in the general education setting they say they are having a hard time "wrapping their head around it" or want to see "what it actually looks like". So…just for those of you who need to see it to believe it, I have picked out five videos that will most definitely change your mind about whether inclusive education is really a good thing or not (or at least they should)."

"ZERO TO EIGHT: CHILDREN'S MEDIA USE IN AMERICA 2013 COMMON SENSE MEDIA Even a casual observer of children and families today knows big changes are afoot when it comes to children and new media technologies. This report, based on the results of a large-scale, nationally representative survey, documents for the first time exactly how big those changes are"

"This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it's change for the better."

"People change what they do less because they are given analysis that shifts their thinking, than because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings."

"The way to turn schools around and transform the education of at-risk students is to invest in the professional ability of the faculty, making its members a mission-driven, skilled force for change. This strategy necessitates a reorganization built around faculty collaboration, intensive and embedded professional development, and personalized instruction. Working from this premise, the Jefferson County, Ky., public school system, which includes the city of Louisville, designed and implemented a fifth model"

Arne Duncan's address to an ASCD group