Group items tagged

There are games and lesson plans designed by retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor . I suggest teachers choose a grade level as some of the subject matter could be for older students. Students can take the role in a court and argue an issue. I tried a sample and it was arguing for or against locker searches in school (students got to choose their side) Good for critical thinking. Many lesson plans about how our democracy works and history including branches of government, voting, and other civic topics.

Maryellen Weimer, in her article sets out clear reasons why collaborative work, enhances creativity '. Students can see how different perspectives, constructive deliberation, questioning, and critical analysis can result in better solutions and performance.' Working effectively in groups demands students to think outside the box, and use multiple creative skills.

It was many years ago that I attended a seminar at the former GE Plastics headquarters here (now Sabic) outlining what for years has been obvious. Two key points included: 1) the need to adjust the school calendar, both in number of days and hours per day from the agrarian-based schedule which so many districts and schools still follow; 2) the need to include more group work in syllabi and lesson plans. The presenter emphasized that companies do not want to hire a person who is intelligent if that person cannot work well in a collaborative group situation. Opportunities abound to prepare our students for higher education and careers through group work in face-to-face instruction, the flipped classroom concept and the design of VHS courses.

An Interesting "brochure" categorizing Ipad apps using Blooms taxonomy of thinking skills; remembering, understanding, creating,  applying, evaluating & analyzing. A handy guide for how to use in the classroom.

I am glad for the realistic easy viewing of Bloom's taxonomy of skills. Using the iPad in the classroom it is a good quick reference to see what apps I am already using and promoting that my students use as well as which apps I would like to promote with enhancement of other skills.

I am not sure I agree with the categorization on many of these and I definitely do not think it is all inclusive. It is interesting though.

This was recently published by CBS and explains what Web 2.0 is and how it involves higher order thinking skills

"Kurt Wootton, co-author of A Reason to Read. "In my view, the repetition must not come before allowing students to participate in the creative tasks, but rather repeated practice walks side-by-side with the creative process."" I find this statement to "hit the nail on the head" as the debate between rote memory and creative "aha" moments continue. The analogy of the musician practicing for hours playing scales as well as note for note renditions of other's work is appropriate to this discussion. The book, "Outliers",by Malcolm Gladwell, addresses the 10,000 hour rule. To paraphrase; To become world class at anything, it takes 10,000 hours of focused practice. The author's examples range from Bill Gates to The Beatles. When two sides are set up as an US vs THEM debate, it misses the oppoprtunity to combine perfect practice with creative inspiration. Putting together a perfect meal is based on proper choices of various food combinations. Putting together a perfect learning environment is very similar in that a combination of repetitive learning and creative opportunity helps the learning as well as creative process.

"Kurt Wootton, co-author of A Reason to Read. "In my view, the repetition must not come before allowing students to participate in the creative tasks, but rather repeated practice walks side-by-side with the creative process."" I find this statement to "hit the nail on the head" as the debate between rote memory and creative "aha" moments continue. The analogy of the musician practicing for hours playing scales as well as note for note renditions of other's work is appropriate to this discussion. The book, "Outliers",by Malcolm Gladwell, addresses the 10,000 hour rule. To paraphrase; To become world class at anything, it takes 10,000 hours of focused practice. The author's examples range from Bill Gates to The Beatles. When two sides are set up as an US vs THEM debate, it misses the oppoprtunity to combine perfect practice with creative inspiration. Putting together a perfect meal is based on proper choices of various food combinations. Putting together a perfect learning environment is very similar in that a combination of repetitive learning and creative opportunity helps the learning as well as creative process.

This article gives great examples of Twitter being used as an educational tool. Communicating with a person from Egypt on the eve of President Mubarak's speech to get a reaction that was not created by the international press is a very exciting opportunity. The responsibility of the student to interpret the value of this response becomes a critical part of the Twitter experience.

This post highlights the effects of digital technologies on student research habits. It is a good article to debate whether continuing new technologies and media are adding to the quality of student education.

This article introduces a contest which promotes reading and media skills that began in 2008. It is sponsored by major publishers such as Simon and Schuster and Scholastic and 5 regional libraries, The contest is for students in grades 1-6. The students need to create a storytube on a book they have read. It is important to point out that teachers are not replacing a written report or are using this to enhance the report. I reviewed some of the winners and it is so great to see kids excited about what they read and using technology so easily. With students creating video media at such an early age and being so comfortable doing it only leads me to believe that when these students reach high school the work that they will create will be fantastic.

This article originally appeared in SLJ’s Extra Helping. Sign up now! By Jennifer Pinkowski -- School Library Journal, 07/09/2008 Funny accents, strange wigs, and spoiler-free plot summaries are the common elements in the winning videos made by contestants in StoryTubes, a new contest for kids that promotes reading-and new media skills-by capitalizing on the popularity of YouTube.

This link explains how libraries are using the power and popularity of YouTube to promote learning, literacy, creativity and technology. StoryTube is a great project idea that uses the power of the contest as a wonderful motivator.

Article on the College and Work Readiness Assessment which measures problem solving and analytical skills.

Blog post by Ken Kay of EdLeader21 outlining strategies for administrators to assist teachers in implementing 21st century skills (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity) into classroom practices .

Discusses how to enhance the classroom by using a discussion board in a skills-based course by allowing students the chance to use information literacy skills.

This article offers insight into the process of appropriately constructing class discussions online. It cautions that discussions should be based on critical thinking than on sharing facts or answers. The author notes that problems can result if a student posts incorrect information and then other students respond thinking that it is correct.

November 11, 2010 Making Online Discussion Boards Work for Skills-Based Courses By: Rob Kelly In this article, an accounting teacher described how he used online discussion boards for study groups in his course. I appreciated this suggestion...online "study groups" could be a great way to motivate students to study and also for faculty to monitor their studying. Teachers could step in to clarify information a group appears to be confused about based on their discussion strand.

Student debate has the capacity to both deeply engage the students in relevant learning, and to encourage students to be deep thinkers. Debate is more than simply arguing. It has structure and rules that are designed to keep both sides calm.

This article highlights the academic and intellectual benefits of student debate activities. According to the article, students who study and practice debate are able to think more deeply and critically and defend their opinions with evidence--definitely elements of HOTS.

Preparing students for a 21st Century education in a global society. This website and its documents explore the 4 Cs' of education: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Communication.

This is a great resource by ASCD to help teachers assess those higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, creation, logic, reasoning, judgment, problem solving, creativity, and creative thinking.

This news article begins by pointing out that "online digital technology has empowered users in ways that were unimaginable twenty years ago." Social media sites, for example, allow the average user to persuade and influence others on a global scale. The author argues that with this power comes the responsibility to apply a media literacy framework that will ensure that we are not perpetuating harmful media messages and ideas. The framework developed in 1987 by the Center for Media Literacy is still relevant in today's media landscape, and its five key concepts should serve as guidelines for all those currently engaged in online social networking.

This blog explains about the key concepts in social media and by reading this blog you understand Key Concepts explained further in this article. List of 5 key Concepts: All Media Messages Are "Constructed",Media Messages Shape Our Perceptions of Reality, Different Audience, Different Understanding of the Same Message,Media Messages Have Commercial Implications and Media Messages Embed Points of View

This article spells out the five key concepts of media literacy (created in 1987) in order to gain a critical understanding of social media. Now that we are creators and not just consumers of media we need to think more about what we are putting out there and the influence that has.

This blog contains the first 3 steps (out of 7) for website evaluation.  The author is using letters to represent each step.  Thus far, he has A for author; B for bias; and C for currency.  Each step is explained and a poster is included for teachers to print and use in the classroom.  This is very important information for students in order to become responsible digital citizens.  Students need to think about who is writing, why they are writing, and when they are writing.  I am anxious to see what other steps the author will include.

Very useful resource for teaching information and digital literacy. The idea of A to G is brilliant and inspirational! I think the break-down steps of each aspect can be truly helpful for students to understand what exactly they're looking for in terms of author, bias, or currency (and soon more). For teachers, each aspect could be introduced and focused in each topic or project, and the posters can serve as visual prompt in classroom.

Skeptoid is a weekly science podcast dedicated to furthering knowledge by blasting away the widespread pseudosciences that infect popular culture, and replacing them with way cooler reality. Each weekly episode focuses on a single phenomenon - an urban legend, a paranormal claim, alternative therapy, or something just plain stupid - that you've heard of, and that you probably believe in. Skeptoid attempts to expose the folly of belief in non-evidence based phenomena, and more importantly, explains the factual scientific reality. From the sublime to the startling, no topic is sacred, politically incorrect though that may be.

A great perspective on the similarities between the initial transformation from folk culture to commercial culture and the same transformation back from commercial culture to folk culture. Everyone can produce, but, at the same time, it requires that we be more critical of what we consume. It discusses the transformation from high schools of the past to the present.

Some fun problems to solve interactively. Students have to plan the best way to transport items across a river. Fun and challenging.

In this article, a school is implementing Ipad use in classrooms to encourage students to go beyond the box for education. The article mentions the need for a global learning environment and articulates that this move is allowing students to be more team oriented, less distracted, and think more critically in their learning.