A Principal's Reflections
SEPTEMBER 10, 2011
'"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire" - William Butler Yeats I am across this video recently and wish I had it for my opening day with teachers. It is definitely a discussion starter in regards to what should be occurring in the classroom, our respective roles in the profession, and how we should be working with our students to unleash their potential.
The Web20Classroom
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
'This is the second in a series I am doing all about Twitter. You can read the first post here , where I discuss the need to change the way we teach about Twitter. Today, lets go back to the beginning and look at what we wish we had known. If you have read any of my leadership pieces before, you know I am big on reflection. As educators, looking back on our practice is one of the most important things we can do.
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The 21st Century Principal
SEPTEMBER 17, 2011
'Note: I posted a variation of this to my parents in my Parent Weekly Email Update. This version, I address more to educators and 21st century educational leaders. In her book Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats , Nancy Willard states, "Cyberbullying and cyberthreats are new concerns that have not been fully addres by the academic community." In fact, our students are receiving very little instruction from anybody regarding responsible online behavior and being an effective online citizen.
SpeechTechie
SEPTEMBER 19, 2011
'If I were to make an FAQ page--I can''t think of questions that I get asked frequently enough to form a critical mass--one that would be there would go something like: "We just got an iPad. What do you recommend?" This is an understandable but unfortunately sort of prohibitively broad question. I usually point people in the direction of the collaborative SLP Apps List (top of my blog), but from now on I am also going to be recommending Joan Green''s The Ultimate Guide to Assistive Technology in
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EdTechSandyK
SEPTEMBER 4, 2011
'With the 10 year anniversary of September 11th just one week away, it is difficult to imagine any classroom in the United States not discussing a day that challenged and in some ways forever changed our country. It is possible that the events of September 11th will be discussed in other parts of the world, too, as most parts of the global community were eventually touched in some way by the events which transpired that fateful Tuesday.
wwwatanabe
SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
'Several mentioned that even though they knew Bloom''s Taxonomy , they hadn''t put a Bloom''s microscope to their lessons until designing PBL. Once they designed a PBL, they realized a rigor boost in Bloom''s Taxonomy was needed. Some rights reserved by Mantid Man Bloom''s Taxonomy and a Praying Mantis About ten years ago, I had a third grade student bring a praying mantis to our class, and we placed it in a terrarium.
EdTech Update brings together the best content for education technology professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Web20Classroom
SEPTEMBER 30, 2011
'This is the last in my series on everything Twitter. You can read this first on How I do Twitter PD and the second on What People Wish They Had Known Before They Started. Today lets look at all my tips, tricks and resources for getting more out of Twitter. I get asked all the time one of three questions: 1) Where do you find all those links you post?
The 21st Century Principal
SEPTEMBER 10, 2011
'NOTE: I included this segment in my weekly staff email update for this past week. Writer Parker Palmer has so much to say about the importance of taking care of the inside as we go about the business of being educators. I hope readers will find these words helpful. Celebrated author of the book The Courage to Teach once wrote: "We became teachers of the heart, animated by a passion for some subject and for helping people to learn.
SpeechTechie
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
'Picking up a caseload of, say, 35 kiddos can be a bit daunting. You do your best to schedule and group, read IEPs, and then you have your first sessions. Actually working with the kids is at once a reminder of why we do this work, and also sort of scary.that many kids at that many different grade levels and developmental zones- I have found my iPad to be a huge help.
The Learning Revolution Has Begun
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
'Working in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Education and Emmy Award Winning Director, Allyson Rockwell, the Mason-Lake and Oceana ISDs are working on a documentary film chronicling the success in the pilot kindergarten and second grade iPad classrooms in Ludington, Michigan. The classroom pilots, funded by 21st Century Learning Environments, have had "tremendous success" and are gaining much attention at the state and national levels.
Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape
The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.
wwwatanabe
SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
'In my last post, I reflected on a conversation that clarified PBL. When we crafted the Driving Question or Essential Question , the teachers became comfortable with their PBL. What is an Essential Question? The purpose of an essential question is to connect relevance of the main concept or big idea back to the learner. It focuses the learner on what''s important.
A Principal's Reflections
SEPTEMBER 25, 2011
'The other day I was fortunate to attend a training session on the new Chromebook at Google''s New York City offices. The Chromebook itself turned about to be an intriguing device that clearly has an upside as an educational tool in schools. It boots up in 8 seconds, has a sleek user interface, is very light, and allows you to pick up right where you left off when you log onto another device.
The Web20Classroom
SEPTEMBER 26, 2011
'This week I am going to do a series of posts on Twitter. I get asked a lot of questions about it so I though, why not write about it and put all the details in one place. You can read Part 2 here and Part 3 here. Today I am starting with Twitter Professional Development. As many times as I have talked to folks, done workshops for and even preached about Twitter, there are some that just won''t (for whatever reason) jump in.
The 21st Century Principal
SEPTEMBER 24, 2011
'John Medina, developmental molecular biologist, has written an extremely readable book entitled Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. In it, he provides readers with a list of "12 Brain Rules" to guide them in getting the most from their own brains. The first principle he discusses in the book is "Rule #1: Exercise boosts brain power.
This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.
SpeechTechie
SEPTEMBER 12, 2011
'The beginning of the school year is a great time to talk about essential concepts around being part of a group(see the Social Thinking ® approach)- whether that group be a pull-out or private social skills group, or an entire classroom. One of my favorite resources in this regard are the opening lessons of Think Social! , the character of GlassMan (for younger students) and The Incredible 5-Point Scale.
Learning with 'e's
SEPTEMBER 26, 2011
During my keynote for the Zukunft Personal event in Cologne, I publicly announced that I would no longer publish my work in closed journals. In truth, the last time one of my papers was published in a pay-to-subscribe journal was quite some time ago. I'm not the first academic who has made this stand and hopefully I won't be the last. Many others now only publish their work in open access journals, and I intend to do the same.
wwwatanabe
SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
'Blogging is a fabulous way to connect with an authentic audience. Like everything else, there is a transition process for learning how. Some rights reserved by T Hall Foundations for Blogging Houses need a sturdy foundation to remain standing. Likewise, blogging needs a sturdy foundation of digital citizenship and quality commenting. Digital Citizenship Introducing your class to digital citizenship is the first step.
The Daring Librarian
SEPTEMBER 18, 2011
'Back to School Night is Coming: Marketing to My Parents In a couple weeks we''re having our Back to School Night (BTSN) at my middle school & it''s a GREAT opportunity to start my year off right by giving my parents ALL the resources they need to be in constant communication with us! A friend & fellow teacher librarian in my district Barb Randolph mentioned that the teachers who posted QR codes in their classrooms had parents lining up to scan them on BTSN!
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The Web20Classroom
SEPTEMBER 19, 2011
'I dunno about you but I spend a lot of time looking for instructional and technology resources for use in the classroom. I spend lots of time using Twitter and Facebook and various other social networks. For some, using all or any of those sites can be overwhelming, intimidating, or time consuming. And it''s true. There are lots of places to look for "stuff" for the classroom.
The 21st Century Principal
SEPTEMBER 15, 2011
'A recent 2010-2011 study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research had some interesting statistics regarding social media use in universities and colleges: 100% of colleges and universities studied are using some form of social media (up from 95% the year before and 61% in 2008-2009) 98% of the colleges and universities had Facebook pages (up from 87% the year before) 84% had Twitter accounts (up from 59%) 66% had a blog (up from 51%) What the study also stated
SpeechTechie
SEPTEMBER 22, 2011
'Smyface is a simple interactive website you can use to emphasize feelings vocabulary and the connections between real-world events and internal responses. Use the slider to view a huge variety of facial expressions, match them to emotional vocabulary, and work with students to link feelings to events. Smyface is a great stop to use in conjunction with a storybook or chapter book in order to target story grammar: the relationship between characters, initiating events/problems, responses and even
The Learning Revolution Has Begun
SEPTEMBER 22, 2011
'Today, Blackboard Collaborate has announced the end-of-year closing of the LearnCentral.org social network for educators. I''m posting the full announcement, plus the FAQ, below. As well, a discussion forum has been set up at [link] to answer any specific questions and provide transition help. As you can imagine, this is a tough day for all of us who''ve been involved with LearnCentral.
Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions
There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.
Learning with 'e's
SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
There seems to be a growing divide between teachers who share their content, and teachers who don't. In a recent blog post, I gave seven reasons why teachers should blog. It was subsequently expanded to 10 good reasons by the contributions from readers - which is actually an eleventh reason why teachers should blog - you get back such great comments, suggestions, arguments and advice, it would be crazy not to share your content.
wwwatanabe
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
'After experiencing the EdubloggerCon ISTE 2011 Web 2.0 Smackdown , I knew I wanted to see this in our district during professional development. To add to that idea, I read a post by Patrick Larkin , Burlington High School Principal, about their flipping the Smackdown to the beginning of their Professional Development as a preview for their breakout sessions.
The Web20Classroom
SEPTEMBER 23, 2011
'I am an admitted Googler. I probably do about 300 Google searches a day and rely on it for all facets of my life. From looking for definitions and spellings to directions, to research for my teachers I Google and I Google a lot. But did you know there are some really cool, specialized search engines that can really narrow your searches and help you discover some really nifty things about this world we live in.
The 21st Century Principal
SEPTEMBER 25, 2011
'A few weeks ago I began using a great new Chrome App called the Kindle Cloud Reader. Every once in awhile someone develops one of those simple, but have to have applications and this is one of those. I already have access to my Kindle library from my iPad and my Kindle. I also have access to my books on both my laptops through Kindle e-reader apps that I''ve downloaded and installed.
Speaker: Amanda Davis, Chief Experience Officer and Liam O'Malley, VP of Association Solutions
The "new normal" is now a little less new, a little more normal. Does that mean your current LMS strategy is in need of a refresh? Is your organization or association leaning into the always-evolving eLearning environment to ensure you have the tools and content to remain relevant through all this change? There are many complex decision-making processes within your learning & development strategy and LMS lifecycle management, including: Selection.
SpeechTechie
SEPTEMBER 14, 2011
'Hi folks- I am really excited to be presenting a 4-hr workshop for the Massachusetts Speech-Language Hearing Association (MSHA) that will be looking at mobile (iOS) apps "through a language lens." It will be taking place on Saturday, October 15 at Northeastern University. Here''s the basic description and objectives: Many great apps were developed specifically for SLP interventions, but countless treasures in the App Store were designed for other purposes!
EdTechSandyK
SEPTEMBER 11, 2011
'These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. - President George W. Bush, Address to the Nation , September 11, 2001 Ten years after the words above were first spoken, they have been proven true over and over again in large and small ways. These are some of the ways I noticed their truth just today.
The Learning Revolution Has Begun
SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
'I wrote this letter last week to Marc Andreessen after seeing him quoted ( originally in the WSJ ) as actively backing aggressive start-up firms, with plans to disrupt health care and education "by great new software-centric entrepreneurs." I''m going to call a little hubris here, but I want to be clear that in my view Marc''s not alone--it''s just that I happen to have corresponded with him before so I had somewhere to vent.
Learning with 'e's
SEPTEMBER 29, 2011
"You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people". Matthew 5:13 (New Testament) The Delicious social bookmarking site used to be one of my favourite social media tools. Not any more. When Yahoo bought Delicious back in 2005 for an estimated $18 million, we all expected great things, and we got them.
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