How cool is this? I'm thinking we could use it to make parts of our lessons more interesting and/or give kids a chance to show their learning through this...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
“Learning Chocolate” Looks Good For Vocabulary Development
via Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... by Larry Ferlazzo on 10/24/10
I'm adding it to The Best Sites Where ELL's Can Learn Vocabulary.
Thanks to Christine Burgmer for the tip.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Excerpt from Alfie Kohn's Huff Post Piece
A great piece by Kohn in which he deconstructs the "politics of reform" and the language we use to push our ideological agendas. Here he brings his discussion to education:
Alfie Kohn: How to Sell Conservatism: Lesson 1 -- Pretend You're a Reformer
Consider, finally, the case of education. Seymour Papert, known for his work on artificial intelligence, began one of his books by inviting us to imagine a group of surgeons and a group of teachers, both from a century ago, who are magically transported to the present day. The surgeons visit a modern operating room and struggle to understand what's going on, but the teachers feel right at home in today's schools. Kids, they discover, are still segregated by age in rows of classrooms; are still made to sit passively and listen (or practice skills) most of the time; are still tested and graded, rewarded or punished; still set against one another in contests and deprived of any real say about what they're doing.
Those tempted to point defensively to updates in the delivery system only end up underscoring how education is still about delivering knowledge to empty receptacles. In fact, snazzier technology -- say, posting grades or homework assignments on-line -- mostly serves to distract us from rethinking the pedagogy. Interactive whiteboards in classrooms amount to a 21st-century veneer on old-fashioned, teacher-centered instruction.
But enter now the school "reformers": big-city superintendents like Joel Klein and, until recently, Michelle Rhee; big-money people like Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and a batch of hedge fund managers; Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his ideological soulmates who preceded him in the Bush Administration; Waiting for 'Superman' director Davis Guggenheim; and the reporters, editorial writers, and producers at just about every mass media outlet in the U.S. School reform, as these people understand it, and as I've discussed in a previous post, involves a relentless regimen of standardized testing; a push to direct funds to charter schools, many of them run by for-profit corporations; a weakening of teachers' job protection -- and the vilification of unions that represent teachers -- so that those who have failed to raise their students' test scores can be publicly humiliated or fired; threats to shut down low-scoring schools; initiatives to dangle money in front of teachers who follow orders and raise scores, or even in front of certain (low-income) students; and a contest for funding in which only (some) states willing to adopt this bribe-and-threat agenda will receive desperately needed federal money.
This business-style version of reform is routinely described as "bold" or "daring" -- in contrast to the "failed status quo," which is blamed on the teachers' unions. (With education, just as with parenting, even people who are reasonably progressive on other issues suddenly sound as if they're auditioning for Fox News.) There's much to be said about each of the policies I've listed, but for now the point to be emphasized is that, just as with the Tea Partyers who rally to stop the "tyranny" of mild federal checks on corporate power, or the parenting writers who urge us to "dare to discipline" our children (even though 94 percent of parents of preschoolers admit to spanking their children), the school reformers are in fact accelerating what has already been happening over the last couple of decades.
Even before the implementation of what should be called the Many Children Left Behind Act, states and school districts were busy standardizing curricula, imposing more and more tests, and using an array of rewards and punishments to pressure teachers and students to fall in line -- with the most extreme version of this effort reserved for the inner cities. Before anyone outside of Texas had heard of George W. Bush, many of us had been calling attention to the fact that these policies were turning schools into glorified test-prep centers, driving some of the most innovative teachers to leave the profession, and increasing the drop-out rate among kids of color.
Yet the so-called reformers have succeeded in convincing people that their top-down, test-driven approach -- in effect, the status quo on steroids -- is a courageous rejection of what we've been doing.
Here's what would be new: questioning all the stuff that Papert's early 20th-century visitors would immediately recognize: a regimen of memorizing facts and practicing skills that features lectures, worksheets, quizzes, report cards and homework. But the Gates-Bush-Obama version of "school reform" not only fails to call those things into question; it actually intensifies them, particularly in urban schools. The message, as educator Harvey Daniels observed, consists of saying in effect that "what we're doing [in the classroom] is OK, we just need to do it harder, longer, stronger, louder, meaner..."
Real education reform would require us to consider the elimination of many features that we've come to associate with school, so perhaps the reluctance to take such suggestions seriously is just a specific instance of the "whatever is, is right" bias that psychologists keep documenting. At the same time, traditionalists -- educational or otherwise -- know that it's politically advantageous to position themselves as being outside the establishment. Our challenge is to peer through the fog of rhetoric, to realize that what's being billed as reform should seem distinctly familiar -- and not particularly welcome.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Stenhouse: New Writing Workshop Book Free Preview Online!
Refining Writing Workshop Through 180 Days of Reflective Practice
Ruth Ayres and Stacey Shubitz • Foreword by Carl Anderson
328 pp • Grades K-6 • $28.00 • Available early November
http://www.stenhouse.com/0809.
Ruth Ayres and Stacey Shubitz • Foreword by Carl Anderson
328 pp • Grades K-6 • $28.00 • Available early November
http://www.stenhouse.com/0809.
Teaching writing in a workshop setting is hard work. To plan mini-lessons, understand the diverse needs of a classroom of writers, and lift the level of each writer, while at the same time building confidence, is a tall order.
Ruth Ayers and Stacey Shubitz, creators of the popular blogTwo Writing Teachers, have translated years of wisdom on writing instruction into a cornucopia of practical advice in their new book, Day by Day. Ruth and Stacey provide encouragement and manageable, bite-sized "discussions" that teachers can review daily to continuously improve their practice.
The 180 discussions are organized into 18 "cycles," which in turn are grouped into chapters for each of the pillars of writing workshop: routines, mini-lessons, choice, mentors, conferring, and assessment. The book can be used as a quick reference for inspiration, as intensive professional development on a particular topic, or as a day-by-day guide to teaching writing workshop throughout the year. Questions throughout encourage reflective practice.
As Carl Anderson writes in the foreword, "This is a book that asks readers to take an active stance toward their learning, a stance that will reward them with new knowledge, new teaching points, and new techniques that become a part of their teaching repertoire."
Print copies of Day by Day will start shipping early next month, and you can now preview the entire book online:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0809.
Ruth Ayers and Stacey Shubitz, creators of the popular blogTwo Writing Teachers, have translated years of wisdom on writing instruction into a cornucopia of practical advice in their new book, Day by Day. Ruth and Stacey provide encouragement and manageable, bite-sized "discussions" that teachers can review daily to continuously improve their practice.The 180 discussions are organized into 18 "cycles," which in turn are grouped into chapters for each of the pillars of writing workshop: routines, mini-lessons, choice, mentors, conferring, and assessment. The book can be used as a quick reference for inspiration, as intensive professional development on a particular topic, or as a day-by-day guide to teaching writing workshop throughout the year. Questions throughout encourage reflective practice.
As Carl Anderson writes in the foreword, "This is a book that asks readers to take an active stance toward their learning, a stance that will reward them with new knowledge, new teaching points, and new techniques that become a part of their teaching repertoire."Print copies of Day by Day will start shipping early next month, and you can now preview the entire book online:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0809.
The Learning Network: Rounding Up the Usual Suspects: Interpreting Famous Qu...
via NYT > Education by By SHANNON DOYNE and KATHERINE SCHULTEN on 10/22/10
Lesson Plan | Using memorable lines from film, history and literature as writing prompts.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Guess the Google: A game you'll love to hate!
via Angela Maiers Educational Services by Angela Maiers on 10/17/10
OK, I am really mad at my friends, Doug Pete and Alec Couros, for sharing the link to this wonderful distracting game with me over the weekend!
Guess-the-google is an addictive guessing game based on Google's image search.
Here's how it works: You get 20 images and you need to make the connection between them with just one word. It sounds simple, just imagine what "keyword" would be used to match all the images. The objective of the game is to be the fastest and most efficient at making that connection between search terms and Google's results.(That's where it gets fun!) The game does requires version 9 of the Flash player. (You can get the latest version here.)
This could be a great brain break for your students as well. Give it a whirl, and you can be mad at Doug and Alec with me! :-)
NYTimes: Proofread That Application, Unless You Want to be ‘Excepted’
From The New York Times:
THE CHOICE: Proofread That Application, Unless You Want to be 'Excepted'
Don't count on spell-checker to catch "The Loin King,'' and when applying to Cornell, don't say your dream is to go to Boston University.
http://nyti.ms/bmgQQa
Take The New York Times with you on your Android or other mobile device, free of charge.
For more information, visit: http://www.nytimes.com/services/mobile/apps/
Sunday, October 17, 2010
“7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools for Teachers”
Anyone using any of these?
"7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools for Teachers" is the title of a Mashable post earlier today.
Most of the sites highlighted won't be new to readers of this blog, but it does give a good overview of each one.
via Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... by Larry Ferlazzo on 10/16/10
Most of the sites highlighted won't be new to readers of this blog, but it does give a good overview of each one.
PBS Series On Native Americans
via Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... by Larry Ferlazzo on 10/14/10
I'm adding the link to The Best Sites For International Day Of The World's Indigenous People.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Huffington Post - Sabrina Stevens Shupe: The Ultimate Measure of a Teacher?
Love some of the ideas Sabrina is raising here... reminds me of a conversation I had with a former student recently.
Last week, The Huffington Post readers were invited to share their stories of inspirational teachers. I had many great teachers throughout my public school career -- and when I tried to pick just one, or even a couple, I realized it would be faster to list those who didn't make a difference for me, than to list those who did.
As I think about what made my teachers great, and listen to others' reflections, I notice that for almost all of us, what resonates with us are how those teachers made us feel -- more confident, more capable, inspired or loved -- and the life lessons and values they taught us.
The one thing I don't hear people saying is, "I loved Miss Such-and-Such because she helped me get better test scores!" It seems that what matters most to us can't be easily measured.
And yet, one of the big trends in education right now is value-added measurement (VAM), where a teacher's effectiveness is calculated by measuring the growth in their test scores. On its face, the idea makes sense. If standardized tests measure what students know and can do, and teachers are solely responsible for increasing what students know and can do, then we should keep track of how much students' scores rise while in their teachers' classrooms. That way, we can reward the best teachers and disseminate their practices, and identify the worst teachers for extra help or dismissal. Simple as Simon, easy as pie, right?
via Education on The Huffington Post by Sabrina Stevens Shupe on 10/12/10
Last week, The Huffington Post readers were invited to share their stories of inspirational teachers. I had many great teachers throughout my public school career -- and when I tried to pick just one, or even a couple, I realized it would be faster to list those who didn't make a difference for me, than to list those who did.
As I think about what made my teachers great, and listen to others' reflections, I notice that for almost all of us, what resonates with us are how those teachers made us feel -- more confident, more capable, inspired or loved -- and the life lessons and values they taught us.
The one thing I don't hear people saying is, "I loved Miss Such-and-Such because she helped me get better test scores!" It seems that what matters most to us can't be easily measured.
And yet, one of the big trends in education right now is value-added measurement (VAM), where a teacher's effectiveness is calculated by measuring the growth in their test scores. On its face, the idea makes sense. If standardized tests measure what students know and can do, and teachers are solely responsible for increasing what students know and can do, then we should keep track of how much students' scores rise while in their teachers' classrooms. That way, we can reward the best teachers and disseminate their practices, and identify the worst teachers for extra help or dismissal. Simple as Simon, easy as pie, right?
Monday, October 11, 2010
NYTimes - On New York School Tests, Warning Signs Ignored
Lengthy, detailed, and strong article about the testing debacle in New York from the Times.
The fast rise and fall of students' passing rates came after evidence of flaws that stretched back more than 10 years.
via NYT > Education by By JENNIFER MEDINA on 10/11/10
The fast rise and fall of students' passing rates came after evidence of flaws that stretched back more than 10 years.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
“Some Awesome Free Tools To Make Infographics”
via Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... by Larry Ferlazzo on 10/8/10
I'm going to add it to The Best Infographics — 2010 list.
Very Cool Resource - DocsTeach
via Larry Ferlazzo
Docs Teach from the U.S. National Archives lets you easily create online activities using primary sources. Plus, you can access the interactives that others have created, too. It’s super-easy to register. Creating the interactives is not as intuitive as I would like, but it’s still pretty easy.
Docs Teach from the U.S. National Archives lets you easily create online activities using primary sources. Plus, you can access the interactives that others have created, too. It’s super-easy to register. Creating the interactives is not as intuitive as I would like, but it’s still pretty easy.
Critical Past Video
via Larry Ferlazzo
Critical Past is a new site that has 57,000 “historic” videos from 1893 to the 1990’s — many of them appear to be old newsreels. It seems to be designed to sell them for download, but anyone can view them online for free. It has a very nice search feature.
Critical Past is a new site that has 57,000 “historic” videos from 1893 to the 1990’s — many of them appear to be old newsreels. It seems to be designed to sell them for download, but anyone can view them online for free. It has a very nice search feature.
NBC Learn - Finishing the Dream
“Finishing The Dream” is a new collection of 100 videos from NBC News related to the Civil Rights Movement.
via Larry Ferlazzo
via Larry Ferlazzo
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Huff Post: Aaron Swartz: The Real Problem With Waiting for "Superman"
via Education on The Huffington Post by Aaron Swartz on 10/7/10
Waiting for "Superman", in case you haven't heard, is the hot new film from Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim. While his last film capitalized on liberal guilt over destroying our planet (and maybe voting for Ralph Nader?), "Superman" (yes, the film is weirdly insistent on those unnecessary quotation marks) is for people who feel bad about sending their kids to private school while poor kids wallow in the slums.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
NYTimes: Waiting for Super Principals
Mainstream columnists who kind of get it? Nice@
From The New York Times:
Waiting for Super Principals
If the relationship between students and teachers is key, how does a big school system make sure that kind of experience is available to every child?
http://nyti.ms/cyuxd4
Take The New York Times with you on your Android or other mobile device, free of charge.
For more information, visit: http://www.nytimes.com/services/mobile/apps/
From The New York Times:
Waiting for Super Principals
If the relationship between students and teachers is key, how does a big school system make sure that kind of experience is available to every child?
http://nyti.ms/cyuxd4
Take The New York Times with you on your Android or other mobile device, free of charge.
For more information, visit: http://www.nytimes.com/services/mobile/apps/
Friday, October 1, 2010
Huffington Post - Tabby Biddle: Girl Up: Give a 'High Five' to a Girl in a Developing Country
Tabby Biddle: Girl Up: Give a 'High Five' to a Girl in a Developing Country: "
Did you know that of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women? This illiteracy of course is not because women are dumb, it is because many girls around the world are not given the opportunity to go to school.
'Girls are born with a sense of opportunity, ambition, and spirit.' - Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting 2010
Did you know that of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women? This illiteracy of course is not because women are dumb, it is because many girls around the world are not given the opportunity to go to school.'Girls are born with a sense of opportunity, ambition, and spirit.' - Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)