A Principal's Reflections

FEBRUARY 17, 2014

'Mrs. Westbrook and Mrs. Morel continue their collaboration to address the Common Core literacy standards within our fine arts program, with the goal of increasing the rigor of the writing assignments across the curriculum. Building on the success of their past work with students writing artist statement''s for exhibition of their work, this semester Explorations in Art students will create photo essays to demonstrate their knowledge of the progression among styles and techniques from ancient to

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Common Core Secondary Analysis Assessment 228

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

FEBRUARY 15, 2014

'As a work around for not having screencasting capabilities on my Chromebook, I would do a Google Hangout by myself, capture to YouTube, and screenshare to record the screencast. Then I''d have to go back and edit out my initial clicking around to screenshare. While this worked, it was cumbersome and inefficient. I''ve been patiently waiting a Chrome screencasting app that doesn''t use Java, and have instead been using Screencast-o-matic on my school and home computers.

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Edmodo Chromebook EdTech Google 131

The Mobile Native

FEBRUARY 17, 2014

'Rube Works is the official Rube Goldberg invention game. This app is quite impressive. It is designed for ages 9 to adult, but my six year old son is able to manipulate the contraptions to solve the puzzles. The game is based on all of the cartoon inventions that Rube Goldberg has made famous. I have used this app within my classroom to promote problem-solving and critical thinking skills that go above and beyond the core curriculum.

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Mobile Learning Android iPad Mobility 95

The 21st Century Principal

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

'Yesterday, I posted about the many issues we are struggling with North Carolina’s roll-out of the Pearson’s PowerSchool student data system. Today, there was an article of interest on the News and Observer web site entitled “NC Schools Dealing with Problem-Plagued State Computer System.” According to the article, North Carolina is spending $7.1 million dollars implementing PowerSchool this year.

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Pearson Data System Secondary 81

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The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

'Last week I shared ways to showcase teacher effectiveness via digital portfolios using a wiki and eduClipper. This week I bring you another great tool to showcase teacher effectiveness courtesy of elementary school teacher Rodney Schneider. The tool is called Padlet. Padlet is a free tool that gives you a blank wall on which to share files, videos, photos, videos, and more.

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Wiki Elementary Video Groups 78

My Paperless Classroom

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

'Green Screen App by Do Ink This is a walkthreough of the Green Screen App by Do Ink, starring Wokka, but not really.

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The 21st Century Principal

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

'I have always fundamentally understood that when it comes to implementation of new innovations, whether technological, instructional or organizational, it is a cardinal rule to “Not implement too much at once!” I’ve heard that mantra during my whole career as an educator, and even as a classroom teacher we have been cautioned not to try to change too much too fast.

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Pearson Data Software System 65

The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 16, 2014

'As a gift to members, for its ten year anniversary, Facebook is giving us its latest recap app. It's called "A look back" and it provides you with a 60-second overview of your life on Facebook from the beginning. Here's mine: A look back over my six years on Facebook. Click here to watch. I want more ».

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Social Media Facebook Education 77

Connecting 2 the World

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

'My students have been accepted into our university through a competitive vetting process. Many are top in their schools which vary from large urban, to small rural, to large centralized rural, to small town, to well-endowed suburban. They are the product of the current testing environment of K-12 which in New York state means they have had to write essays since 3rd grade (whether it is developmentally appropriate is another question).

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Analysis How To Groups Examples 63

Saving Socrates

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

'Much has been written about failure and the failure floor allowed by schools in their grading policies. I recently worked for a public school district that literally combed through every teachers failure for each marking period with a fine tooth comb trying to prevent any teacher from failing a student less face termination or reassignment of classes.

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Policies Assessment Strategy Course 58

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.

Training

Learning with 'e's

FEBRUARY 16, 2014

'In his blog on Learning Ecosystems, Daniel S. Christian claims that a new pedagogy is emerging that is directly driven by the upsurge in online activity. I believe him, because I see similar outcomes wherever I travel, in schools, colleges and universities around the world. Christian identifies three key changes in pedagogy that I want to discuss over my next three blog posts.

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Flipped Classroom MOOC Mobility Trends 61

The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 15, 2014

'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews Looking to create a social media or BYOD policy?

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BYOD Social Media Policies Twitter 72

The Learning Revolution Has Begun

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

'The 2014 School Leadership Summit is Thursday, March 27th, online and free. This is the second year of this global, virtual event to help school leaders gather and share thinking and best practices. Keynote speakers this year will include Scott McLeod , Pam Moran , and Ira Socol ; plus we''ll have a special track of sessions from the Association of California School Administrators ( ACSA ).

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Conference Meeting Technology Classroom 53

Technology Tidbits

FEBRUARY 17, 2014

'Little Story Creator is a wonderful new iOS app for creating digital scrapbooks or storytelling. As w/ similar apps a user can add text, images/stickers, backgrounds, and even import video into their project. Best of all, a user can record audio to narrate a story. A finished project can then be shared via email or viewed on the web. This can even be used for guided instruction or filliping a classroom.

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Video Classroom 52

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.

Technology

Learning with 'e's

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

'In my last post I discussed Daniel S Christian''s three trends of an emerging pedagogy. I speculated on whether a new social divide might also emerge as a result of the new pedagogy he outlines. Christian argues that much of the change we are currently witnessing in teaching methods is driven by new technologies. His second trend reflects the changing roles of some teachers and professors.

BYOD 54

BYOD Trends Social Media Groups 54

The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

'What are the most successful teachers doing differently? How is that experienced being shared, and how can new teachers best learn from those that have come before them? Teachers are progressively forming broader and richer professional learning networks that extend far beyond their schools boundaries in many cases. Innovative New York City educator Chris Casal (@mr_casal) and I (@InnovativeEdu) will dig in to how personal learning networks or PLNs are formed and what is exchanged by impactfu

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Personal Learning Network Personalized Learning Professional Learning Twitter 64

The Learning Revolution Has Begun

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

'The Learning Revolution Weekly Update February 4th Education is soul crafting. - Cornel West Welcome to the Learning Revolution. The technologies of the Internet and the Web are reshaping where, when, and from whom we learn. The Learning Revolution Project highlights virtual and physical events from Web 2.0 Labs and its partners. These events bring together educators, learners, leaders, and others to rethink and reinvent education.

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Conference Video Blended Learning MOOC 51

Technology Tidbits

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

'Hideout: Early Reading is a wonderful free iOS app for young readers to help them w/ their Reading skills. This is done through a series of educational activities/games that has students trying to sound out words, find the correct letter, word recognition, and more. Also, this game features a wide variety of things that engage young learners, such as animations, music, and more.

Education 48

Education 48

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Classroom

Educator Innovator

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

By Jane Park, Project Manager, Creative Commons. Following on the heels of “ Writing Wikipedia Articles: The Basics and Beyond ,” three more School of Open courses are now open for sign-up. These free courses are: 1. Copyright 4 Educators (AUS). This course will equip Australian educators with the copyright knowledge to confidently use copyright material in the classroom.

Course 28

Course OER Case Study Education 28

StratEDgy

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

'I have several favorite videos and films that I use in teaching and am wondering about others’ favorites.

Video 28

Video 28

The Learning Revolution Has Begun

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

'If you''re in the Americas, the inaugural (and free) OZeLive virtual conference starts today, Friday, at 4pm Eastern. If you''re in Australia, New Zealand, or the South Pacific, the conference starts tomorrow, Saturday, at 8am Australia Eastern Time. Or if you are anywhere else in the world, you can see all of the sessions in your exact time by using the conference schedule page: [link].

PLE 38

PLE ePortfolio Digital Badges Mobility 38

Technology Tidbits

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

'EDpuzzle one of the best and most popular sites around for creating a "flipped" classroom has just released a free Android app on the Google Chrome Store. This is a fantastic site/app for taking a video, editing/cropping it, and then adding questions to it. This is ideal for Guided Learning and Flipping instruction. Also, a user can upload any of their own videos to turn into their "own" or even record their own audio over it for narration purposes.

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Flipped Classroom Android Video Google 48

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.

Comparison

Technology Tidbits

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

'FluencyFinder the popular iOS app for Reading Assessment/Comprehension has just gotten better w/ their recent update. The latest update allows for educators to now search through the 1st-8th Grade Reading passages, bigger buttons on the assessing screen, easier exporting features to share assessment/comprehension reports via email, and a new sleeker redesigned look for iOS 7.

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Assessment Data Report Tools 47

Technology Tidbits

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

'GuidedVideo is a excellent iPad app that is free right now (normally $30) for creating video lessons for students. This is done by recording yourself asking a question and then use your own photos as buttons for the answers to the questions. For example, if you were asking a student what shape is a rectangle or tap the correct month, all the answers (up to 12) would be either different shapes or the different months, where they tap the correct one.

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Mobile Learning Mobility iPad Video 47