Group items tagged

"As I continue to work with groups, I focus on the importance of reflection and how it is crucial to moving forward. The challenge I have received (as with many initiatives) is that there is no time. My response has been that reflection is part of your work. It is important that you make it part of your day, as it should be a part of your student's day. We cannot just continue to dump information into our (and our student's) brains without giving or making time to reflect. It is essential that there is creation and connection along with consumption."

"In an information-hungry world, there will always be a need for expert content. And there will always be more readers and "retweeters" than there will be creators. If you want to have an impact, you might as well be the one setting the agenda by blogging your ideas. "

"all it "The Triumph of Nerds." Poll statisticians have risen to rock star status. One of the most famous is New York Times' wunderkind Nate Silver - or as Jon Stewart put it, "Lord and god of the algorithm." He may be best known for predicting the 44th president, but Silver could be the one man who can save mathematics education in America. Silver, who first gained notoriety for forecasting the performance of Major League Baseball players and for correctly predicted the winner of 49 of 50 states in the 2008 election, can save the tattered reputation of math subjects. For students across the country, there's clearly an engagement deficit in the subject. Paul Lockhart, a math teacher in New York, writes in A Mathematician's Lament [PDF] that if he had to design a system for the express purpose of destroying a child's natural curiosity and love of pattern-making, he couldn't possible do a better job than is currently being done. He explains that he simply wouldn't have the "imagination to come up with the kind of senseless, soul-crushing ideas that constitute contemporary mathematics education.""

"We've all been there. Those meetings that drag on, and on, and on. Seemingly pointless meetings that, while they may have had a purpose, it got lost in the message. Many meetings are just information transfer. What are the dates for training for administering the next state exam? Who is going on the field trip? Remember to walk your kids to the cafeteria. But think about if that hour/90 mins/half day was spend on meaningful, embeded professional development that was participant driven? We complain we don't have the time for that really good PD. Why? Because we are meeting all the time. So instead, lets flip it. Let's front load with all the basic information we all need, freeing up that faculty meeting time for more learning, PLCs, sharing, etc. But what can you use to share the information. You need something easy. Something that won't take a whole lot of time. But will communicate what you need it to."

"So what's Twitter actually like? how many tweets are sent in a single day? How many tweets are sent per second? How fast is it growing? These are all useful questions as you try to ascertain whether to join the service … or if Twitter will be around for another few years. While I have no idea about the answer to the last question, I know the answers to the first few thanks to this helpful infographic that details some interesting Twitter stats you should know about."

"As a teacher, it is a wonderful feeling to see students being engaged and interacting in their learning. Since our school's 1:1 iPad initiative in all Math and Science classrooms, I have become passionate about finding technology tools that will motivate and inspire my students to learn. Great use of iPads technology tools directly impacts the learning environment of the classroom. The following is a list of free apps and websites that I have found that really motivates and inspires my students to be actively engaged in their learning."

"A fabulous new infographic spells out exactly how undergraduate students are using technology, what they prefer, and how they want teachers to use tech. In other words, this infographic is beyond useful and worth passing around to your colleagues. Some of the stats might surprise you. I was personally surprised by the fact that more than half of students wanted their teachers to communicate more using face-to-face methods (as opposed to a digital manner). What surprises you?"

"So you might be asking yourself, what is Edmodo? Edmodo is a social network designed for education. While it looks like another popular social network the differences are clear. See for yourself."

"My point is that neither the iPad nor any other new gadget or gizmo will allow students the type of discoveries that Adam describes in his post unless it is coupled with a mindset that is still atypical in most schools. This change I am talking about is one that does not lead students in step-by-step processes to complete the most rudimentary task, instead it is a learning environment where students have clear outcomes to achieve, but are left with many ways to achieve these outcomes."

"The use of social media in education continues to be something of a hot topic with arguments both for and against. So I carried out a small survey of 27 teaching professionals in order to create a baseline of understanding into the use (or not) of social networking in schools, and also any concerns over some of the e-safety risks. The full survey results can be found here. There are many uses of social media in education - below are just a few of the ways they can be effectively used."

"The main point of writing this is to encourage more teachers to have a go. Whatever your role in a school, there will be people interested in your thoughts about what you do all day and how you think you can be more effective. Here are my tips: Top 10 don'ts when starting your blog:"

"Are we helping children develop into respectful, caring, empathetic human beings who can resist the urge to use profanity and hateful speech when remarking on the work of others? (I wondered how many of the commenters, particularly those who attend the same school, would consider sharing their comments in a face-to-face conversation with the video creator. Is it easier to be disrespectful online?)"

Great graphing website. Think about importing into Voicethread. Math blog example

A nice example of how blogging -- particularly using the #comments4kids hashtag to elicit comments for student reflection -- can change traditional writing experiences for the better.

A great video from a group of 2nd and 3rd grade students about how to leave good blog comments for other people.

"After returning inspired and ready to change the world only to be thrust back into the invariable cycle of desks, worksheets, textbooks, and lockers, education's expectation for me hit me painfully hard. I realized that apparently my job is to shut up and study hard. If I'm so inclined, I can go out for a sport or join a club, but my schoolwork should trump all. I'm not supposed to contribute anything noteworthy to the world, but instead lay low and consume it until after I've graduated. Sure, adults applaud when we do something great outside of school."

""Second source" is more a journalist's jargon than part of a teen's everyday vocabulary. But with information so readily available via social media, the internet and traditional news sources, educators say news literacy - teaching students how to identify credible information and good journalism - is increasingly important. News literacy programs are expanding in classrooms across the country, with a growing nonprofit sector dedicated to the cause and new education standards that require students to read and analyze more nonfiction text. "