Whit's Blog

When I Say iPad, You Say Ka Chow!!

2012-02-10T14:32:00.001-08:00

Presenting at the OTAEM12 was an honor. I am including in this post a link to the wiki, When I Say iPad, You Say Ka Chow!! This is the wiki we viewed during our presentation. Please look thoroughly through it. It has a TON of information including links to other wikis that categorize apps by content, grade, etc...On behalf of Mrs. Magby and Mrs. Lowry (and Mrs. Thompson whom we Skyped with) thank you for attending!! See you at OTA in November, 2012.

When I say iPad, You Say Ka Chow!!

2012-02-03T09:43:00.001-08:00

Research and Instruction in Elementary Language Arts Mini Lesson Assignment and Resource

2012-01-29T18:58:00.001-08:00

via tolerance.org

My assignment is to complete 2 mini lessons for elementary language arts. This resource from the State Department of Education popped out at me and goes along with the lesson idea I retrieved from Reading Rockets. I will activate prior knowledge by asking the students what they know about Martin Luther King, Jr. followed by creating a post card from the past after going on a civil rights road trip. This post references a map from the 1950's and 60's indicating where travel would be dangerous for a Negro. Students will also learn how to connect to the book they are reading by using sticky notes while reading. The students will then be asked to use the sticky notes to guide their journaling. We are also required to bring 3 multicultural books to class on Tuesday evening. This all seems to go together well.

http://globaloria.org/index.php/games-front-page/item/elemental-elegance

2012-01-26T18:45:00.000-08:00

http://globaloria.org/index.php/games-front-page/item/elemental-elegance

TLE March 7th Workshop

2012-01-22T10:33:00.001-08:00

via ccosa.org

Jersey Jazzman: One Study Does Not a Policy Make

2012-01-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

Jersey Jazzman: One Study Does Not a Policy Make: And so it begins: one working paper comes out - a study that hasn't even been published yet in an academic journal - and we're supposed dr...

Cyber Charter Schools

2011-12-27T09:34:00.001-08:00

Cyber Charter Schools

2011-12-27T09:32:00.000-08:00

ASA and HUGS

2011-12-09T08:22:00.001-08:00

Jamie Oberg, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Hugs Project did not think they had enough to meet their 4,500 care package goal.

Wednesday, with the help of soldiers and civilian volunteers young and old, they exceeded their goal shipping off 5,000 boxes to troops in Afghanistan.

"We have a brigade of soldiers, civilians and kids, elderly, young, employed, unemployed, all of the above, doing the same thing," Ret. SSGT. Ted Krey said. "Supporting our troops."

Retired Staff Sergeant Ted Krey knows what it's like to be on the receiving end, opening up one of the special Christmas boxes...sent with love and care from the Hugs Project."I was actually overseas they sent out a care package for a soldier who wasn't there," Ret. SSGT. Krey said. "[It's like] like Christmas... I love getting something from my wife or daughter, but it's what comes from a complete stranger, reminds you how great this country is"

It took a lot of work local volunteers their hard work paid off, they exceeded their goal of sending 45 hundred Christmas boxes; Five thousand are on their way to Afghanistan, going to all different branches of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines.

"It's nice to know you're supported and loved back home and what you're doing makes a difference," Navy MA1, Richard Crowell said. It took hundreds of hour of packing, not to mention...donations and time.

Darth Vader, Superwoman and Adjutant General Deering even stopped by Wednesday to help ship out the boxes...down to the littlest volunteer who says he know how important the recipients of the Christmas boxes are and to Oklahomans.

"We're proud of them and this is how you do it right here, you're awesome and they might not have another Christmas with their families, and they come back and you say good job we're proud of you," Jackson Oplotnik said.

It cost $67,000 to ship all 5,000 boxes overseas, and the hugs project could still use some help.

Find out how you can help The Hugs Project with your donation!

The troops should receive those care packages just in time for Christmas!

via news9.com

Literacy Instruction with Digital and Media Technologies | Reading Topics A-Z | Reading Rockets

2011-12-06T17:35:00.000-08:00

Literacy Instruction with Digital and Media Technologies | Reading Topics A-Z | Reading Rockets

Music Mixers

2011-11-09T03:21:00.001-08:00

via freetech4teachers.com

Scaling up STEM Learning with the VCL

2011-10-29T10:35:00.001-07:00

via itestlrc.edc.org

Interactive Simulations

2011-10-16T08:59:00.001-07:00

Click to Run

</div>

B is for Boomerang, Bernoulli, and Bowie

2011-10-14T20:58:00.001-07:00

B is for Boomerang, Bernoulli, and Bowie

2011-10-14T20:52:00.001-07:00

What does center of gravity have to do with a boomerang? As the Asher GT 9-12th found out, everything!! On September 27th, Mr. Bowie, a physics teacher originally from Putnam City HS now with the State Department of Education, presented a most interesting lecture on why the boomerang flies. We found out center of gravity and gyroscopic motion are essential to the aerodynamics of a boomerang. Bernoulli's principle states, as the velocity of an object increases, the pressure of that object decreases. Of course, it's inversely proportional. Also significant is the fact that the center of gravity of an object does not have to be physically part of the object. Probably the best part of all of this, Mr. Bowie shared all of this information long distance from OKC via Skype. Here is our 29 minute video. Notice the students taking notes on their iPads. Truly a 21st century classroom!!

Steve Jobs Dies

2011-10-05T17:36:00.001-07:00

via usatoday.com

Learning with the iPad

2011-10-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

This student is using the phonics app ABC Phonics. It introduces and reinforces letter/sound recognition. It presents single letters and progresses to blends. It promotes self directed learning and engagement!

The American Dream or Dreams of the Lottery?

2011-10-04T03:26:00.000-07:00

The American Dream or Dreams of the Lottery?

Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

2011-10-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Asher GT Skype with Classical Indian Musician

2011-09-21T15:12:00.001-07:00

Asher GT 1st - 5th spent the morning with Jayshri Prakash, a music teacher from India. She shared clips of classical Indian music and explained the instruments used and their names. She categorized 4 different types of instruments: wind, string, wood, and electronic. We also sang along with her as she instructed us in the key (pitch) to use. This is a 6 minute clip out of a 21 minute video. We appreciated Jayshri being so gracious to share her time and her talent with us. This was a unique experience for our students

Asher GT Skype with Classical Indian Musician

2011-09-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Plastic bottles made with plants

2011-09-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

Plastic bottles made with plants

The Dewey Decimal Rap

2011-09-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

The Dewey Decimal Rap

2011-09-18T15:21:00.001-07:00

The Dewey Decimal Rap

SafeShare.TV

via safeshare.tv

I like!

GT Skype with Jayshri Prakash

2011-09-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Untitled

2011-09-06T19:07:00.001-07:00

The National Safety Council released a new video series called “Understanding Distracted Driving,” available for free on YouTube or for download here. The 12-segment series answers the most frequently asked questions surrounding cell phone use while driving, including:

Why cell phones are different than other distractions

The myth behind multitasking

How conversations with passengers differ from cell phone conversations

Details on employee policies and elements of effective policies

How to set an example as a parent

The video series is just one of many free resources NSC offers. Check out other offerings:

Cell Phone Policy Kit – This kit has everything you need to implement a comprehensive cell phone policy that employees embrace.
“Understanding the distracted brain” white paper – A look at the research behind distracted driving, which shows why our brains are incapable of multitasking and why hands-free devices offer no safety benefit.
Posters – These PDFs can be downloaded and shared or printed out.
Advocacy videos – Share these stories of families who have lost loved ones because of drivers distracted by cell phone conversations and texting.
Distracteddriving.nsc.org – Find even more research, information about state laws and more at the NSC site.

What can you do with these free resources?

Download the videos and post them to your company intranet

Promote the video series through your company website

“Share” the videos via Facebook so your friends and family can learn more

Encourage others to share the materials too

We encourage you to share these resources widely! Help put an end to this deadly behavior.

Tags: cell phone fact sheets, cell phone posters, distracted driving, distracted driving fact sheets, distracted driving posters, distracted driving videos, free

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 6th, 2011 at 8:00 am and is filed under News, Resources, Victim story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

via blog.focusdriven.org

Another Amazing Find!!

2011-09-05T10:42:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at abcya.com

Cool Book Trailer

2011-09-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

Seth's Blog: The warning signs of defending the status quo

2011-08-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

Seth's Blog: The warning signs of defending the status quo

One Transformed Classroom

2011-08-28T09:54:00.001-07:00

Student%26%238217%3Bs+Spoken+Word+Gives+Voice+to+Students+and+Teachers

2011-08-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

Student%26%238217%3Bs+Spoken+Word+Gives+Voice+to+Students+and+Teachers

Student’s Spoken Word Gives Voice to Students and Teachers | ED.gov Blog

2011-08-28T09:31:00.001-07:00

via ed.gov

E-verything! | Edublogs webinar overview – Quick & easy online tools

2011-08-27T07:00:00.001-07:00

via johart1.edublogs.org

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: QR Code Classroom Implementation Guide

2011-08-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: QR Code Classroom Implementation Guide: Licensed for use from iStockPhoto QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) are just barcodes. There is nothing fancy about them. Just like the g...

Education Week: States Target Early Years to Reach 3rd Grade Reading Goals

2011-08-22T09:07:00.001-07:00

Published Online: June 29, 2011

Published in Print: July 13, 2011, as P-2 Years Targeted to Achieve Grade 3 Reading Proficiency

Updated: July 12, 2011

States Target Early Years to Reach 3rd Grade Reading Goals

Chris Canady, 10, reads from Monsters Don't Scuba Dive at the All-America City event last month in Kansas City, Mo., sponsored by the National Civic League. In 2012, the league will for the first time bestow awards on education initiatives, specifically early reading.

—Garvey Scott for Education Week

By Catherine Gewertz

Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org.

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In a bid to help more students read proficiently in 3rd grade—a skill considered critical to their future educational success—new laws and initiatives springing up around the country require educators to step up their efforts to identify and help struggling readers even before they enter kindergarten.

It’s not unusual for states or school districts to consider 3rd grade reading proficiency a key goal; research suggests it’s a pivotal skill. Policies against social promotion have hinged on it, and the earliest testing requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act attach to 3rd grade.

But the recent buzz of activity around early reading is notable for the way it looks backward from 3rd grade, articulating plans and requirements designed to ensure that pupils and teachers in preschool through 2nd grade are doing what’s necessary to reach the desired reading results in 3rd grade.

“We’re seeing far more attention now to identifying the kids who are behind and intervening quickly,” said Kathy Christie, the chief of staff at the Education Commission of the States, a Denver-based group that monitors state legislation and has noted an uptick of activity in early reading. “People are trying to align [policies] from the time kids start preschool. They’re being far more proactive.”

In trying to line up the early-literacy dots, policymakers are responding to increasing political pressure to boost achievement as the NCLB law’s 100-percent-proficiency deadline of 2014 approaches. They’re also increasingly uneasy about lackluster national reading performance: Only one-third of 4th graders scored at or above “proficient” on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, in 2009. (“Little Progress Seen in Student Results on Reading NAEP,” March 31, 2010.)

“There is such a push for pre-K-3 now, and the time is right,” said Linda Sullivan-Dudzic, the director of special programs in the Bremerton, Wash., school district, which has drawn notice for boosting its youngest students’ reading skills by teaming the K-12 system with nearly every early-childhood program in the city.

“A lot of people are seeking it out in part because of frustration about student achievement,” she said. “They’re working really hard, and thinking, ‘Gee, if only we could reach kids earlier.’ ”

State Initiatives

In drafting laws and designing initiatives, politicians and educators are relying on a growing mound of research that points to 3rd grade reading proficiency as a crucial milestone. One of the latest studies found that children who aren’t reading on grade level by 3rd grade are four times less likely to graduate from high school by age 19 than peers who are. If those struggling readers are poor, they’re 13 times likelier to be high school dropouts than their wealthier, reading-proficient peers.

In the past year, a handful of states have adopted laws requiring schools to diagnose reading difficulties in the grades leading to 3rd.

A new law in Utah
, for instance, requires a system of diagnostic reading tests at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year for K-3 pupils. Results must be reported to parents, and interventions provided to address weaknesses.

“This is an attempt to have a statewide program so we don’t wait until the end of 3rd grade to see whether students are reading on grade level,” said state Rep. Merlynn T. Newbold, a Republican and the chief sponsor of the bill. “It’s all about ‘the earlier, the better.’ ”

Some of the new laws require retention of 3rd graders who can’t clear a proficiency bar on a state reading test. Typically, such laws also include exceptions for pupils with disabilities and those learning English, and sometimes, for those who can demonstrate proficiency by other means. A few of the measures allow parents to appeal or override retentions.

A law enacted in Arizona
in May 2010 includes dual mandates of retention and early identification: It requires screening of the reading levels of all children entering kindergarten and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. Guided by a special task force, the state will soon provide guidance to districts on ways to do that, said Sen. Rich Crandall, a Republican who worked on the bill when he was a state representative, and who now chairs the Senate education committee.

In Oklahoma, a new law requires schools to screen K-3 pupils for reading difficulties and provide help if they aren’t on track. Parents must be notified if their 3rd graders are reading below the “limited knowledge” level on state tests. If those difficulties aren’t remedied, pupils won’t be promoted to 4th grade. The law mandates intensive intervention for children held back, but also requires help for those identified as struggling readers.

The law aims to reach children long before their struggles become damaging, said state Rep. Ann Coody, a Republican who co-sponsored the bill. A companion measure that became law in April requires all teachers of reading in K-3 to incorporate into their teaching the five key elements of reading instruction identified in 2000 by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary.

“I think most teachers really do think about where kids need to be in 1st [grade], and in 2nd, in order to be reading well in 3rd grade,” Ms. Coody said. “But in some cases, folks have not been thinking about it. We need everyone to do this.”

Another law, passed in March in New Mexico
, requires early-grades teachers to have knowledge of “the science of teaching reading” in order to obtain licensure.

Appropriate Interventions

The crop of laws on 3rd grade reading has renewed strains of worry, however, even among those who applaud the building of strong early-reading skills.

Sherry Mee Bell, who heads the department of theory and practice in teacher education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said a key consideration is what methods are used to identify and help the youngest struggling readers.

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“There is a danger that we could focus too much on narrow, word-level skills to the detriment of language development and appreciation of literature,” said Ms. Bell, whose work focuses on training teachers to assess children, especially those with special needs, in reading. Her state adopted a law last month requiring retention of 3rd graders whose grades or test scores don’t demonstrate adequate reading skill.

“The challenge is in matching the assessment and intervention with what the child needs,” Ms. Bell said. “We need to do that according to their developmental stage, too. And we need to know the children we teach, to be able to draw on their own needs and experiences to make reading and writing meaningful to them.”

Other experts have long cautioned that reading instruction can’t be separated from acquisition of content knowledge. A 2008 evaluation of the now-defunct federally funded Reading First program found that its approach, which focused on discrete reading skills, improved students’ decoding ability, but made little impact on their comprehension.

Still others have urged educators to expand their K-3 reading focus to older students, arguing that those in grades 4-12 need a unique set of strategies geared to deepening understanding of informational and more-complex texts.

The uptick in activity on building a pathway to 3rd grade reading isn’t limited to the state level.

A new federal Race to the Top competition dangles $500 million over states that show a commitment to early learning.

In Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Kevin Johnson has made early literacy a top priority. In March, he announced a campaign to improve reading in the state’s capital. Only 39 percent of the city’s 3rd graders are able to read at grade level.

A Broad Reach

The campaign will involve city libraries, community-service providers, preschools, and five school districts that serve Sacramento, the mayor said. While plans are still being formulated, the campaign will likely include finding a shared way for all five school systems to conduct diagnostic reading assessments on their kindergartners, he said.

“We are engaging the entire community,” Mr. Johnson said in a telephone interview. “This is a topic all mayors and people around the country can rally around.”

Sacramento’s priorities reflect those of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a national group of more than 70 philanthropies and other funders that was launched this year in hopes of renewing attention to the importance that school readiness, attendance, and summer learning play in reaching 3rd grade reading proficiency.

One of the programs cited as a model by that campaign is in Bremerton, where the 5,500-student district has provided curriculum and monthly training to nearly all preschool and child-care programs in the city for 10 years to align early-reading skills with those required of 3rd graders. District officials and teachers meet regularly with the early-childhood partners to monitor progress, discuss instructional strategies, and plan smooth grade-to-grade transitions. Early-childhood programs that participate fully display a seal indicating their commitment to the goals and practices of the initiative.

The initiative expanded to provide universal all-day kindergarten in 2006. Four years later, state test results showed 75 percent of the district’s 3rd graders reading on grade level, up from 64 percent in 2006. In 2001, when the initiative began, only 4 percent of entering kindergartners knew the alphabet; now 63 percent do.

Educators are so inspired that they are expanding the work to mathematics, said Ms. Sullivan-Dudzic, a leader of the program. Other districts are clamoring for Bremerton’s guidance on early-childhood literacy; Ms. Sullivan-Dudzic and her colleagues have trained more than 50 districts across Washington state.

The National Civic League announced last month that it would base its 2012 All America City award on communities’ “comprehensive, realistic, and sustainable” plans to boost reading proficiency by 3rd grade. The 10 winning communities must demonstrate strategies for better school readiness, attendance, and summer learning. It’s the first time in the 63-year history of the award that the organization has taken education as its theme.

“This is the first time we’ve seen such urgency on an [education issue] that we’re going to take a break from the classic themes of previous awards, like environmental or fiscal sustainability, to focus on this issue instead,” said NCL President Gloria Rubio-Cortés.

Because the award emphasizes community collaboration and long-term change, it’s well suited to the early-reading theme, since addressing that problem requires cross-sector cooperation and long-term commitment, she said. The U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, and United Way Worldwide will partner with the National Civic League in helping cities prepare their bids for the award.

Coverage of “deeper learning” that will prepare students with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in a rapidly changing world is supported in part by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, at www.hewlett.org.

Vol. 30, Issue 36, Pages 1,23

Related Stories

"Study: Third Grade Reading Predicts Later High School Graduation," (Inside School Research Blog) April 8, 2011.

“Analysis Ties 4th Grade Reading Failure to Poverty,” May 18, 2010.

“Panel Urges Attention to Adolescent Literacy,” September 15, 2009.

“No Effect on Comprehension Seen From 'Reading First',” November 18, 2008.

“America Idles on International Reading Test,” December 5, 2007.

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via edweek.org

States Target Early Years to Reach 3rd Grade Reading Goals

2011-08-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

States Target Early Years to Reach 3rd Grade Reading Goals

Students fare better reading from screen than paper - Latest News, Education - Independent.ie

2011-08-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

Students fare better reading from screen than paper - Latest News, Education - Independent.ie

Study: Third Grade Reading Predicts Later High School Graduation

2011-08-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

Study: Third Grade Reading Predicts Later High School Graduation

Science NetLinks: Driving while Distracted

2011-08-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

Science NetLinks: Driving while Distracted

What a "Shooting Star" looks like #FromSpace Taken ... on Twitpic

2011-08-14T20:03:00.001-07:00

via twitpic.com

Thanks to Astro Ron via Twitter for this TwitPic. This is what a shooting star looks like from outer space. Gorgeous view! I wonder what he wished for?

Welcome!!

2011-08-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

Whits Blog: Why Teachers Should Join Twitter

2011-08-14T15:09:00.001-07:00

via whitcanblog.blogspot.com

Why Teachers Should Join Twitter

2011-08-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

This resource is from Pernille Ripp's blog, a teacher from Wisconsin, whom I appreciate for her insightful observations and experiences from being a public educator. This short Animoto will hopefully encourage those of you who haven't joined Twitter. I follow Ms. Ripp on Twitter learning from each Tweet she contributes.

: PBS LearningMedia

2011-08-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

: PBS LearningMedia

From the archive:

2011-08-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

From the archive:

Districts Confused By School Turnaround Data Researchers - Inside School Research - Education Week

2011-08-05T09:19:00.001-07:00

The Race to the Top and School Improvement Fund grants are generating a potential goldmine for researchers, with hundreds of schools producing in-depth data about their students, teachers, and the ways they are trying to improve.

Yet at a roundtable Thursday afternoon of state directors of Title I, the federal poverty education program, officials voiced concerns that some researchers are taking the wrong approach to getting that data.

Monique Chism, the innovation and improvement division administrator at the Illinois state board of education, said she has received complaints from districts that have been contacted by researchers asking for data and saying they were working with the U.S. Department of Education. Both Race to the Top and the school improvement grants require schools to provide information to researchers for the official evaluations of those programs, but the district administrators were getting confused about who the researchers were and how they were connected to the federal evaluation study.

Carlas McCauley, the U.S. Department of Education's team leader for school improvement grants, noted that other states have also voiced similar concerns: "We've talked to a lot of states, and this is becoming problematic."

McCauley noted that the American Institutes of Research has been awarded a five-year contract to study the effectiveness of school turnarounds under the federal program, and Mathematica Policy Research will be taking up a portion of the research. The groups now are identifying 50 case study sites for the project.

While AIR and Mathematica may subcontract other researchers, "they are the ones, the only ones, who have the official contract," McCauley said. He said that researchers who are studying school improvement in other ways using Institute of Education Sciences grants are technically working with the Education Department, but they should make clear to schools and districts when they request data that they are not part of the official evaluation.

Which is not to say that some states and districts aren't looking to partner with researchers to make sense of their schools' improvement processes. For example, Anne Hansen, a consultant with Michigan's state office of education improvement and innovation, said the state has set up its own experimental pool of schools which may make it easier to study the effects of different turnaround strategies.

The state passed a law requiring all schools identified as persistently low-performing to adopt one of the four federal turnaround options identified in Race to the Top and the school improvement grants: closure; restarting the school under a charter; a "turnaround" process involving replacing at least half of the instructional staff; and "transformation," involving replacing the principal and meeting regular interim benchmarks. The identified schools must implement and report on their chosen models, regardless of whether or not they received additional grant money for the improvement plan through one of the federal grants.

Michigan set aside money to conduct its own evaluation, through WestEd, comparing the 28 schools who received federal improvement money in 2010 to those who didn't, Hansen said.

via blogs.edweek.org

Prizes for best “geo-tweets” (+ FB wall posts)

2011-08-04T05:23:00.001-07:00

Prizes for best “geo-tweets” (+ FB wall posts) June 10, 2011
Posted by ClustrMaps Team in : Uncategorized , trackback
Get a top listing from our high-page-rank site, plus a free upgrade to ClustrMaps+ (better maps, no ads).

We know how enthusiastic our users are about their ClustrMaps. Now we’re going to reward you for that enthusiasm.

Each week we will reward the best tweet(s) [or Facebook wall posting(s) to http://www.facebook.com/ClustrMaps] about specific map/visitor information with an upgrade to ClustrMaps+ (better maps, no ads), plus links and announcements on our site, notably all of our large map pages, thereby guaranteeing more than 100,000 views of the winning link(s) each week .

[UPDATE: see winning entries here]

All you need to do is tweet some relevant/motivating/proud/curious information about your own map. Here’s an example of such a tweet, and further below we provide details of the rules, judging and prizes:

Indonesia overtakes US with 1240 visitors tracked by our #clustrmaps http://bit.ly/k0zLSr

(That’s a real example from 10th June – normally Twitter itself will automatically shorten the URLs for you… the above URL expands to http://www2.clustrmaps.com/counter/maps.php?url=http://clustrmaps.com)

Other examples, using that same URL as of 10th June 2011 (the numbers involved may of course change by the time you read this):

First visitor this month from Iraq! #clustrmaps http://bit.ly/k0zLSr

Will my Africa visitors ever overtake South America #clustrmaps http://bit.ly/k0zLSr
(inspired by a tweet from @HurikaneElSwiss)

Need 1 visitor from Guyane to complete S. America #clustrmaps http://bit.ly/k0zLSr

Rules:

1. The tweet must be a normal-length tweet (140 characters or less). [For Facebook wall posting(s) to http://www.facebook.com/ClustrMaps, keep it similarly short].

2. It must have something to do with the map of visitors to your own (normal) website, blog or page, i.e. that site itself need not be connected with Twitter in any way other than that is the one where you normally publish or write something.

3. It must include ~~the hashtag #clustrmaps~~ @clustrmaps to come to our attention (be careful about the spelling: there is no letter ‘e’) – NOTE: we previously specified the hashtag #clustrmaps, which we will still look for, but strongly urge you to use the Twitter ‘reply’ convention @clustrmaps instead to bring your posting more easily to our attention.

4. It must linclude the URL of your big world map, i.e. the one that looks something like this:
http://www2.clustrmaps.com/counter/maps.php?url=http://clustrmaps.com
(… of course the full URL can be shortened by any URL-shortening service like bit.ly or indeed Twitter itself will shorten it for you)

5. You must NOT tweet about this subject more than once per day, to avoid spam/overload

6. Judging will be provided by the ClustrMaps Team. The decision of the judges is final.

7. No one connected to the ClustrMaps Team in any way (personal real-world/face-to-face friends or relations) will be considered for a prize.

Prizes

A winner (or winners if there are more than one) will be selected weekly, on Monday each week beginning 20th June 2011.

The prize each week will be an upgrade to ClustrMaps+ (better maps, continent zooms, no ads, more frequent updates), and a link and listing via a combination of blog posting, Twitter and Facebook mentions, and (most importantly) a link and announcement on all of our large world map pages for the week following the announcement. This link means that the notification will be seen on more than 100,000 page views that week.

Look back to our home page, this blog, or any large map page for the winners.

OK… start tweeting!

-->

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via blog.clustrmaps.com

The Classroom Is Obsolete: It's Time for Something New

2011-08-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

The Classroom Is Obsolete: It's Time for Something New

SOS

2011-07-30T12:33:00.001-07:00

The Classroom Is Obsolete: It's Time for Something New

2011-07-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

The Classroom Is Obsolete: It's Time for Something New

Educators Evaluate Learning Benefits of iPad

2011-07-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Educators Evaluate Learning Benefits of iPad

Education Week's Digital Directions: Educators Evaluate Learning Benefits of iPad

2011-07-30T11:39:00.001-07:00

Published Online: June 15, 2011

Published in Print: June 15, 2011, as Tablet Culture

Gadgets & Games

Educators Evaluate Learning Benefits of iPad

Jennifer Sloan, a 4th grade student at Summit View Elementary School in Independence, Ky. uses an iPad during a lesson. The northern Kentucky elementary school class received $30,000-worth of the tablet computing devices in late 2010 from the Duke Energy Corporation, for use in math and science assignments.

—Amanda Davidson/The Cincinnati Enquirer/AP

With the release of Apple’s iPad 2, educators are still determining best practices for the classroom

By Ian Quillen

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The Virginia Department of Education is phasing in the second wave of a pilot program that uses Apple’s iPad tablet computers as the centerpiece of a social studies curriculum that blends online and face-to-face learning.

The Chicago school system is expanding a pilot program that last fall awarded a classroom set of 32 of the devices to 23 schools in the 409,000-student district.

And Irving, Texas, school officials are exploring weaving the iPad or another tablet-computing device into their district’s 1-to-1 high school computing program.

Every day seems to offer another story about a district or school that’s buying iPads—a development that astonishes some ed-tech experts since the device is less than 15 months old, and K-12 educators are traditionally slow adopters of new technology. And they’ve adopted it for classroom use despite the fact that Apple is still revising its product, with the second version of perhaps several issued in March, while many other manufacturers had only released their tablet competitors at the beginning of this year. Further, Apple products are not compatible with Adobe Flash Player.

See Also

For a look at the Apple iPad's competitors, read the related story, "Educators Eye iPad Alternatives," June 15, 2011.

Excluding the fad factor, experts say there are legitimate reasons for educational interest. With a battery life of eight to 10 hours and a weight of just over a pound, the iPad offers more portability and less startup time during the full school day than laptops or netbooks, while its screen size facilitates more flexibility using the Web and easier input than smartphones.

The iPad “beat every specification schools thought was important,” Thomas Greaves, the chairman of the Greaves Group, an education consulting firm based in Encinitas, Calif., says of the device, which now retails for about $400 in its first version—similar to the cost of a netbook.

But such rapid adoption of a device with such a short history means that figuring out the best educational use can involve a lot of trial and error. That reality has some educators wondering whether the investment is wise.

“I sometimes question if everything has really been thought through,” says Rob Residori, a literacy and technology coordinator with Chicago’s Striving Readers project. Three of the schools participating in that soon to be defunded federal reading program obtained one of the city’s 23 classroom iPad grants last fall, with several more winning money to use this spring, Residori says.

“Is this the best use of our funds, or is it simply a tool to engage and motivate our students?” he asks. “Of course, technology has that capability, but is that always the best angle?”

The Virginia Experiment

Through a pilot program that is part of the Virginia education department’s broader “Beyond Textbooks” initiative, Tammy McGraw, the state’s director of educational technology, is hoping to find the answer to Residori’s question.

In September, Virginia announced the purchase of 350 iPads for 4th, 7th, and 9th graders in four counties to test the use of the device as a 1-to-1 computing tool in social studies classrooms. The 7th and 9th grade classes used gaming and assessment applications created by Pearson to supplement the publisher’s American and world history textbooks and an e-text feature that let students read those books from their devices. The 4th graders used an app version of a portion of Five Ponds Press’ Our Virginia textbook that focused on the colonial settlement of Jamestown, Va.

The same textbook was the focus of a flap last fall about erroneous statements in a later chapter that said thousands of black soldiers fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. The controversy occurred after the publishers involved in the iPad pilot were decided.

“Is this the best use of our funds, or is it simply a tool to engage and motivate our students? Of course, technology has that capability, but is that always the best angle? ”

Rob Residori

Literacy and Technology Coordinator

Chicago’s Striving Readers project

After implementing the pilot during the second quarter of the school year, the state in April was “still working on final reports,” McGraw says, but adds that most teachers and students supported continuing the pilot. Pearson officials say their material would be more refined a second time around after learning their own lessons about designing content.

“The nice thing on the iPad is you have more real estate to present content, visuals, and to physically navigate,” says Jim Doris, Pearson’s director of emerging markets for the humanities. “But that can lead you to want to overload the presentation.”

Teachers in the pilot also reported having to learn on the fly. At Drew Model School in the 21,000-student Arlington, Va., district, Joshua Henry says Five Ponds’ content for the iPad was too advanced for his 4th grade science and social studies class. So Henry says he spent much of the quarter creating PowerPoint slide presentations and other content based on the structure of the unit, but that was easier for students to digest.

“The community we have here, you have reading levels that are very low,” Henry says of his school, where just over half the 550 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and 28 percent are English-language learners.

“So the Jamestown content that was on it was a little rich. … For this to work, really, next year, you need to have a team—one or two or three teachers—who will just sit down and go through this and put stuff on there that’s going to matter,” he says. “Trying to do it during the school year is just crazy.”

With 4th and 5th graders switching classes for core subjects, the iPads travel as well.

English teacher Erin Upton tries to personalize reading assignments based on proficiency, and uses a feature of the iPad to help highlight key vocabulary words for students.

Math teacher Amreen Alvi has found some apps to help students understand fractions and decimals, and also has the students open worksheets off the Blackboard Inc. classroom-management site and complete them with a stylus pen during a classroom exercise.

But “it’s definitely a work in progress,” she says.

‘Frustrating at First’

The question may be whether the iPad is best suited as a 1-to-1 device or to be shared as part of a stable of digital classroom tools.

For example, on the other side of Arlington, Jamestown Elementary School’s instructional technology coordinator, Camilla Gagliolo, has stashed the nearly 60 iPads at her school in technology cabinets across classrooms in the 550-student K-5 school. About a half-dozen sit in each cabinet, next to a similar number of netbook computers and iPod touch media players.

During English in Heather Blake’s 2nd grade class, students can choose which device to use for an ongoing book-publishing project. During math in Bill Donovan’s 4th grade class, students rotate between workstations working on quick-response math exercises. Some are using math-drill apps on the iPad, iPod touches, or laptops. And some are using old-fashioned pencil and paper.

“We’ve been using mobile devices for a very long time, all the way back to Palm Pilots,” says Gagliolo, whose iPad purchases have been financed through a combination of county funds and school PTA contributions, and not as part of the state’s pilot program. “This is just our last step in doing this.”

Debra Griffith, a literacy-intervention teacher at the pre-K-8 Ruben Salazar Bilingual Education Center in Chicago, first introduced a set of 32 iPads—won as part of the city’s pilot—to an 8th grade class as a research and production tool to help students write their own mock grant proposal aimed at solving a community problem. She’s since shared the iPads with 6th and 7th graders, largely to give them some means for connectivity during the school day without a trip to the computer lab.

“It was very interesting for me, and I’ll be honest, frustrating at first, tounderstand it’s not a laptop,” Griffith says of the iPad. “There’s no file structure on the device itself. Much of this year has been me understanding, and working with other teachers to understand, ‘How do we get around that?’ ”

And in Texas’ 34,000-student Irving Independent School District, where all high schools follow a 1-to-1 computing model, about 10 students and 20 administrators are testing an assortment of tablet-computing devices to see how they would meet their daily needs. The district plans to buy 3,000 devices for the next school year, but in April had yet to commit to a make or model.

And, according to Sam Farsaii, the district’s director of instructional technology, for some functions—such as high school-level document writing—no tablet would suffice.

Administrators and iPads

As for the administrators, Farsaii says they’ve come to appreciate the ability to use the tablets to access their calendars and email while on the run through campus, as well as how to use their touch-screen capabilities to check off rubrics for teacher evaluations like they would with an evaluation form.

Nashville, Tenn.-based RANDA Solutions, which makes education intelligence software that helps teachers and other educators evaluate what and how students learn, is trying to capitalize on that sentiment by developing a pilot app that allows administrators to mark evaluation rubrics on the device even without Internet access in a classroom. The app is expected to be available for general purchase before the next school year.

RANDA’s president and chief executive officer, Marty Reed, says that an evaluator will need to use a desktop or laptop computer for part of the work, but that the app itself will be able to cut three hours—and loads of paperwork—from every teacher observation.

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Way outside the box: Innovative programs allow students to direct learning - Loveland Reporter-Herald

2011-07-30T06:38:00.001-07:00

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Rocks for Sale

2011-07-29T14:22:00.001-07:00

I am an avid Twitter consumer. By that I mean I read Tweets, I post Tweets, and I re-Tweet posts. I read articles about education, about student learning, about current events in our world, about cutting edge technology, and educational leadership. I read to be a well informed professional in my field. I read to better understand changes that are a constant reality. I read to better prepare myself as an educator so I can better prepare my students. I read because I'd like to think that I am a visionary leader as opposed to a myopic manager. Visionary leaders create visions built upon a foundation for which to implement and act upon these visions. Learning is not stationary. To be effective today, an educator must be prepared to act. We learn by doing. We know learning and memory retention is best achieved when put into action. To be more specific, according to a past professor of mine, we retain 85% of what we do and 95% of what we teach others. This summer I traveled to Durango, Colorado, where my friend and I rode the Silverton train to the old mining town known as Silverton. The train ride that required 3 tons of coal up and 1 ton of coal back down the Rocky Mountains, took some three hours to creep along the scenic route that was complete with breathtaking mountainous landscape. I blogged in a earlier post while on the train about this same trip. Upon arriving at the train depot, I ran into a young boy that was selling rocks. Selling rocks that he had collected. I decided to do a Wesley Fryer, Film on the Fly, and film this boy, whose name is Raul. What is apparent while interviewing Raul is his knowledge of rocks. I could quickly see I was no match for Raul who was proficient in his knowledge regarding rock formations and types. It wasn't, however, until I got home and refreshed my own memory regarding the three rock types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic that I felt I was Raul's equal. Raul is a perfect example of how proficiency is mastered. Proficiency is mastered by doing, exhibiting, presenting, acting out, constructing, applying. Sounds like Bloom's doesn't it? Authentic learning occurs here. It doesn't occur by circling an item on a worksheet. For your enjoyment I am including the video clip of Raul. There's more to selling rocks. Just ask Raul.

Whits Blog: Rocks For Sale

2011-07-29T14:18:00.001-07:00

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Rocks For Sale

2011-07-29T11:41:00.001-07:00

Survey: Alternative Teacher Certification on the Rise

2011-07-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Survey: Alternative Teacher Certification on the Rise

Open The Door For New Learning

2011-07-28T10:21:00.001-07:00

I love Alfie Kohn's book, "The Schools Our Children Deserve". I have 32 sticky notes, a reading strategy you should introduce to your students, attached to pages for easy reference to what I felt were profound statements. Kohn, a former teacher, reader of research, and parent, writes to explore and expose the differences between traditional schools and nontraditional schools. Today on Twitter I came across this post that very clearly demonstrates what Alfie Kohn boldly attempts to explain regarding the extreme differences between traditional schools and nontraditional schools. As public schools make the transition from PASS Skills to Common Core Standards, it is imperative they open their hearts, minds, and souls to exploring the power and influence technology can and does have for the learners of today. Not the learners of yesterday. Not the kind of education I received. The world economy will require workers to have a wider range of skills and resources. Whether you're a business owner operating your own fence company or commercial lighting company, technology know-how is a MUST!! During visits with friends in both lines of work support this comment. For example, my friend, Paul, owns his own fence company and uses Mobile Me to communicate with all of his customers for quotes, bids, and other basic business operations. Another friend, Heather, has used Google Earth to obtain measurements for bids for new customer projects on the occasion they're unable to physically measure the construction site. With the preoccupation of controlling operating costs, the use of technology provides huge potential for businesses. Here is a clip from TEDx of Chris Kennedy, a school superintendent in Canada, who shares a project students at his school recently engaged in during the Winter Olympics at Vancouver in 2010. This project, I would consider, nontraditional. I can't help but acknowledge and applaud the authentic learning these students walked away with. Here is the link: http://youtu.be/ERZ4MEYXXB8. Watch please. I would appreciate any comments you feel obliged to share. It's time to open new doors for our students of today.

My Issue With Rewards | The Wejr Board

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More Federal Dollars for Charter Schools

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Check out this website I found at jacksonville.com

More Federal Dollars for Charter Schools

2011-07-22T07:39:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at jacksonville.com

Math teacher keeps kids engaged - Omaha.com

2011-07-17T10:11:00.001-07:00

Katie Garcia's classroom at Omaha Bryan High School has everything a math teacher needs: desks, posters, a traditional blackboard, a modern digital whiteboard and, of course, a Fisher-Price basketball hoop.
Her teaching style emphasizes activities to get kids physically involved in classroom lessons.
"If I'm bored, then they're going to be bored," Garcia said. "I try as much as I can to do hands-on activities and keep things interesting."
The math department head was recently recognized as one of 22 teachers across Nebraska to receive a Robert Noyce National Science Foundation Master Teaching Fellowship from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The five-year fellowship will provide Garcia a $10,000 annual salary supplement while she continues to teach in Omaha Public Schools, which UNL classifies as a high-need district. She will also be able to take 24 graduate-level credit hours at UNL at no cost.
"It's a way for me to brush up on my own skills and benefit my students and my school and benefit myself at the same time," Garcia said of the fellowship. "It's partly math, it's partly education and it's partly leadership."
Garcia said she likely would pursue a master's degree in curriculum and instruction instead of a doctorate because she plans to stay in the classroom rather than become an administrator.
She said she hopes to bring back what she learns from the program to help other teachers in her department.
"We at Bryan, I think, do a really great job of making sure that we pay it forward," Garcia said. "The things that I learn, I can pass on to the other 10 (math teachers)."
After attending high school in South Sioux City, Garcia started teaching at Bryan 12 years ago right after finishing her bachelor's degree at UNL.
Garcia earned her master's degree in mathematics teaching through a grant. She also did a stint as a curriculum specialist, but realized she was happier as a classroom teacher and department head — where she combats poor attitudes toward math with positive energy and creativity.
"We've always focused on illiteracy, but it's somehow still OK to not like math," Garcia said. "That really bothers me. No one is ever going to say, 'Oh, reading, I don't need that; it's OK if my kid's bad at it.' But somehow it's OK with people if they're bad at math."
Garcia teaches a yearlong algebra course for students who would struggle with a faster-paced curriculum. She also teaches a standard-level geometry class.
Bryan High uses a block schedule, with students taking 90-minute classes.
"Even if you like math, 90 minutes is a long time," Garcia said. "We really focus on incorporating activities and group work and all of those different things to keep kids engaged in class."
Garcia uses activities like review basketball — where students get to shoot a basketball to earn points if they correctly answer a geometry question — to engage students in learning.
"To be a really good teacher," she said, "you have to put in the extra time and effort."

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Gallery | Animals use frozen fruit to cool down in Italy | Photo 2 | ajc.com

2011-07-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

Gallery | Animals use frozen fruit to cool down in Italy | Photo 2 | ajc.com

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2011-07-15T05:54:00.000-07:00

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Report Reveals Ways Brain Science Could Improve Special Ed. - On Special Education - Education Week

2011-07-14T04:26:00.001-07:00

Neuroscience research could provide new insights into teaching students with disabilities, but more needs to be done to connect the scientists studying the brain with special education researchers and to educators, concludes a new policy analysis from Project Forum at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education.

The report offers several examples of how helpful brain-based research could one day be to special education, with the caution that "translating brain research into classroom practice must be handled methodically."

Despite that note of caution, the analysis emphasizes the importance of using brain research in special education—and all—classrooms.

"Perhaps the most important lesson is that educational policies and practices ... should be guided by our knowledge of how brains (both typical and atypical) work and learn," writes Eve Mueller, who researched the connection between neuroscience and special education for Project Forum.

The analysis offers some examples of the promise of brain research in the lives of students with disabilities, such as:

• A better understanding of dyslexia. Brain imaging could help distinguish among students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, cognitive impairments, and limited language exposure. Teachers with this information could determine which brains would respond best to which therapies.

• So-called "biomarkers," visible through brain imaging, can show cognitive or learning impairments even before a child exhibits those impairments through behavior. Research on biomarkers is now underway on specific language impairment, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, and learning disabilities, including dyslexia and dyscalculia. Another note of caution: While early identification can benefit children, premature diagnoses could lead to discrimination or stigmatizing of children.

In addition, the paper explores three programs that base they way they teach in part on findings from the field of neuroscience. They are the Model Asperger Program at Ivymount School in Rockville, Md.; the Specialized Transition Program at Kennedy Krieger Institute, which is for students with a traumatic brain injury and is in Baltimore; and New York City's Gillen Brewer School, which serves students who have learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, language issues, and emotional and behavioral challenges.

Ms. Mueller found that experts agree that the primary risk of linking neuroscience and education or special education is that people hear the term "neuroscientific" and assume that means "evidence-based." But there is limited evidence that many "brain-based" software programs are effective in improving outcomes for students with or without disabilities. "Another concern is that general and special educators will hail neuroscience as a panacea," she writes.

"Neuroscience is a sexy topic. Everyone is selling it, and the field is being
seduced," Carol Kochhar-Bryant, a special education professor at George Washington University, told Ms. Mueller. The university has a doctoral program in applied neuroscience in special education. "But we have to be very cautious," Ms. Kochhar-Bryant said. "The field of education is so hungry for answers. The major message is that we must make sure findings are well grounded in research."

But when that research does catch up to the classroom, the results could be dramatic, said Monica Adler-Werner, who works at Ivymount School.

"My guess is that as much as what we're doing now is cutting edge, we'll look back in five years and see it as very primitive," she said. "We're at the beginning of a revolution in human understanding."

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Pack Iron (and Stay Slim!) with this Tasty Green Smoothie - Whole Living Daily : Whole Living

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Pack Iron (and Stay Slim!) with this Tasty Green Smoothie - Whole Living Daily : Whole Living

There's An App For That

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Miss Utah USA takes on texting and driving - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

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Miss Utah USA takes on texting and driving - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Connected Vehicle Driver Acceptance Clinics coming soon to a community near you - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

2011-07-13T05:47:00.000-07:00

Connected Vehicle Driver Acceptance Clinics coming soon to a community near you - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Frog Dissection with Pencasts

2011-07-13T04:44:00.001-07:00

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Tennis Legend Andre Agassi Finds New Calling in Education - Schooled in Sports - Education Week

2011-07-12T17:41:00.001-07:00

After nearly two decades of magic on the tennis court, Andre Agassi is ready to tackle his next big challenge: giving large numbers of underprivileged children a chance to succeed through charter schools.

The Los Angeles Times reported last month that Agassi planned on teaming up with a group of Los Angeles bankers to create a for-profit investment fund dedicated to raising money for charter school construction. The group hopes to raise upwards of $750 million for the construction of 75 charter schools serving 40,000 students across the U.S. over the next four years.

Agassi already runs one charter school, the Las Vegas-based Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, which helped inspire this grander project.

"There are 650 children in my school," Agassi said earlier this year at the French Open. "The satisfaction is only momentary, however. There are still over 1,500 on the waiting list. Even though I am helping 650 kids, I feel like my failures are twice as great, because there are 1,500 kids that I haven't been able to help."

The first charter school associated with this project, located about a mile from Temple University in North Philadelphia, is scheduled to open in the fall.

ESPN.com tennis writer Greg Garber recently spoke with Agassi about his commitment to education, as he was "dogged by [Agassi's] comment [from the French Open] for weeks afterward, wondering if Agassi was being truly honest."

Agassi's responses say it all:

"I think that I've always tended to revel in my failures more than my successes," Agassi said. "It's what the game taught me. In tennis, you never had to be good. You just had to figure out how to be better than one person. And as a result, you never stop pushing yourself.

"When I look at my work off the court, it's never enough. Because you never know when that child you help is going to change the world. That's how it is with these kids. You wouldn't believe the results they get when expectations are high."

"They don't fail us, but we can fail them," Agassi said. "So when I look at 1,500 kids on my waiting list, I truly say that I'm failing more kids than I'm helping."

For what it's worth, Agassi admits that charter schools (as a whole) haven't proved to be high-performing. That said, he believes that the top 10 percent of charters—the types of schools he's after—have proved themselves.

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Video: Creating Pencasts for Student Instruction

2011-07-12T05:20:00.001-07:00

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edReformer: 10 reasons teachers love blended learning

2011-07-11T04:32:00.001-07:00

10 reasons teachers love blended learning

by Tom Vander ArkJuly 11, 2011

Teachers have tough jobs—lots of kids and lots of responsibility—and budget cuts are making things worse. They have administrators telling them to boost achievement and personalize learning, but most of them are on their own without tools. But that is beginning to change as schools are beginning to blend traditional teaching with online learning.

Blended learning is a shift to an online environment for at least a portion of the student day made to improve learning and operating productivity. In two important ways, this definition is different than layering computers on top of how we’ve always done things. First, this definition of blended learning means that technology is core to instructional delivery and it incorporates some student choice over time, location, and/or rate. Second, it requires differentiated (different levels) and distributed (different locations) staffing.

Blending the best of online and onsite learning can work better for students and teachers. Here’s ten reasons that blended learning makes teaching a better job:

1. You teach students ready for your lesson. At School of One, when students participate in small group instruction, it’s the right lesson, on the right day, in the right modality for each student—and that’s magical. Success for All has attempted to do something like this for twenty years with performance grouping.

Competency-based policies, dynamic scheduling, and smart recommendation engines will make it easier for more schools to incorporate these strategies. What a gift to teachers to be able to work with small groups of student that share specific instructional needs.

2. Motivate hard to reach kids. We all know that kids learn in different ways for different reasons. Blended learning makes it easier to provide multiple learning strategies. The new developmental math courses from the National Repository of Open Content feature a variety of strategies for each sub-skill including instructional videos, tutorials, voice-over-text, and games. More engaging and more personalized content will help more kids learn difficult topics.

Like Big Picture schools have done for more than a decade, blended learning is making it easier to leverage individual student interests through internships and projects.

3. Focus on deeper learning. At Rocketship Education, students spend about two hours each day doing online skill building exercises. That allows teachers to spend more class time on critical thinking and problem solving.

Blended learning makes it easier to ‘flip the classroom’ and send home a playlist of instructional resources that deliver content so that class time can be spent solving problems

4. Extend the day. Rocketship features an eight hour student day—something they could only do by incorporating a two hour learning lab. Another option is an afterschool blended learning partnership with a community-based organization.

5. Extend the year. Blended learning can help extend the school calendar. If a school operates with two less teachers and spreads pay over the other 18 teachers, they may be able to shift to a 195 day school year. They can also extend the school calendar and add more breaks that become periods for extra academic time and/or enrichment—some of which can be provided by community based organizations.

The After School Consortium (TASC) is hosting a conference in New York on the 27^th to explore how community based organizations can help extend the day and the year. The combination of CBO extensions and blended learning have the potential to double productive learning time for the students that need it most.

6. Achievement analytics. Teachers that have signed up for MangaHigh can assign free middle grade math games as homework and review a full achievement dashboard in the morning. Students that Write to Learn get instant writing feedback and the teacher gets a standards based gradebook full of evidence. In addition to extended access and more variety, the shift from print to digital curriculum will includes embedded assessments and powerful dashboards that will allow teachers to more easily monitor student progress.

7. Advanced diagnostics. Adaptive testing, like NWEA’s MAP, can quickly zero in on learning levels. Scantron can turn a quick math diagnostic into a customized tutorial. Aided by lots of content-embedded assessment, comprehensive portable learner profiles will share information with everyone involved in promoting an individual student’s growth—providing similar benefits to electronic health record in medicine.

8. Teaching in teams. Blended learning is a team sport. It allows an instructional team to work together to support 1000 math students moving at their own pace. It allows a great physics teacher to reach hundreds, perhaps thousands of students. Blended learning can make learning more social and more transparent.

9. Earn more. New staffing patterns, new roles, and extended learning time will allow many teachers to earn more.

10. Work at home. In some cases, teachers will be able to work remotely. Blogger Mike Shumake teaches English online to kids in North Carolina and Washington State. The first online teacher of the year, Teresa Dove lives in Virginia and teaches kids in Florida. Speech therapists for Connections Academy can live anywhere and work when they want.

Teachers appreciate that blended learning makes a difficult job more doable.

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So What do you Call a Textbook that isn’t a Book? : 2¢ Worth

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Self-made digital curriculum isn't a new concept for me. Is it for you? Post your comments please!! I would love to hear from you!!

FCAT Results: Charter Schools Have High Failure Rate « CBS Miami

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Dyslexia linked to difficulties in perceiving rhythmic patterns in music

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Note-Taking at ISTE : 2¢ Worth

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New Race to Top Stresses Pre-K Tests, Early Ed. Program Ratings - Politics K-12 - Education Week

2011-07-01T10:25:00.001-07:00

To win a grant in the U.S. Department of Education's new Race to the Top competition for early-childhood education aid, states will have to develop rating systems for their programs, craft appropriate standards and tests for young children, and set clear expectations for what teachers should know.

That's according to the proposed rules released today by the Obama administration that will govern the $500 million competition, which was made possible by the fiscal 2011 budget deal Congress passed in April.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was given $700 million in new Race to the Top money, and chose to put most of it into early education, while keeping a $200 million slice to award to runners-up from last year's competition. (Details of that separate contest have yet to be announced.)

The Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge awards will range from $50 million to $100 million, depending on a state's population, and the contest is open to all states, not just the winners in last year's competition. This could be especially attractive for small states, which were eligible for maximum grants of $75 million in the first edition of Race to the Top. For big states, $100 million won't go as far; the biggest states in the original Race to the Top won $700 million each. For this early-learning competition, four states—California, Florida, New York, and Texas—are eligible for $100 million.

In crafting this new iteration of Race to the Top, the Obama administration is building upon the success of last year's $4 billion competition, which pushed states to embrace charter schools, merit pay for teachers, and better data systems. This competition is designed to improve the quality of and access to early-childhood programs, and to eliminate some of the "vast inequities" in care, said Special Assistant to the President for Education in the White House Domestic Policy Council Roberto Rodriguez, speaking in a call with reporters Thursday afternoon.

"We believe this Race to the Top can have the same kind of impact," Rodriguez said. "How do we really do more to boost the quality of our early-learning programs?"

Under the competition guidelines developed by the Education Department—working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—a winning state must:

• Come up with and use early-learning and development standards for children, along with assessments;
• Develop and administer kindergarten-readiness tests, and develop rating systems for early-education programs;
• Demonstrate cooperation across the multiple agencies that touch early-childhood issues (from departments of health to education), and establish statewide standards for what early-childhood educators should know;
• Have a good track record on early learning, and an ambitious plan to improve those programs;
• Make sure early learning and prekindergarten data is incorporated into its longitudinal data system.

(And no, states do not have to develop pay-for-performance plans for early childhood teachers—which was an important component in the first Race to the Top competition.)

In a nod to rural districts and advocates, who often feel overlooked by the department, the Obama administration says it may go out of its way to reward states with large rural populations, potentially bypassing a higher-scoring urban state in favor of lower-scoring rural state.

Just as in the original Race to the Top, this competition will rely on outside judges to pick the winners. But the ultimate decision rests with Duncan.

Because the department has to get these awards out the door by the end of this year, officials have waived the typical rulemaking process. But they are asking for input. The public can comment on the proposed criteria through July 11. Applications will be available in late summer, and awards will be made by the end of the year. States will have until Dec. 31, 2015 to spend their winnings.

via blogs.edweek.org

Thinking about next year's lesson plan? Try these digital tools - Related Stories - ASCD SmartBrief

2011-06-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Thinking about next year's lesson plan? Try these digital tools - Related Stories - ASCD SmartBrief

2011-06-27T12:54:00.001-07:00

Thinking about next year's lesson plan? Try these digital tools

Summer is a great time for teachers to start considering new ideas and resources to include in their teaching this fall, writes elementary-school computer teacher Mary Beth Hertz. Services such as Symbaloo and LiveBinders allow you to create your own website or online storage of links, videos or photos you might find useful. Social-bookmarking tools such as Diigo and Delicious also are helpful for organizing resources.

Edutopia.org | 6/25

This story published in ASCD SmartBrief on 06/27/2011

via smartbrief.com

Dr. John Medina's Keynote @ ISTE

2011-06-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

HighPoints Learning Announces Unlimited Summer Math Tutoring for Just $59

2011-06-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

HighPoints Learning Announces Unlimited Summer Math Tutoring for Just $59

Boulder Valley expands online credit recovery option - Boulder Daily Camera

2011-06-27T05:19:00.001-07:00

via dailycamera.com

Boulder Valley expands online credit recovery option - Boulder Daily Camera

2011-06-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

Boulder Valley expands online credit recovery option - Boulder Daily Camera

Power Walkthrough® - Classroom Observation Seminar & Software

2011-06-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

Power Walkthrough® - Classroom Observation Seminar & Software

SpeEdChange: The art of seeing

2011-06-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

SpeEdChange: The art of seeing: "How do you see a classroom? What do you see when you look at a “learning space”? What questions do you ask when you watch someone teach..."

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php

2011-06-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php

AddThis Social Bookmarking Sharing Button Widget

2011-06-25T06:56:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at addthis.com

Young driver races for a good cause - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

2011-06-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

Young driver races for a good cause - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

The Role of Socratic Questioning in Thinking, Teaching, & Learning

2011-06-23T04:37:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at criticalthinking.org

CriticalThinking.org - The Role of Socratic Questioning in Thinking, Teaching, & Learning

2011-06-23T04:34:00.000-07:00

CriticalThinking.org - The Role of Socratic Questioning in Thinking, Teaching, & Learning

A Taxonomy of Reflection: Critical Thinking For Students, Teachers, and Principals (Part I) - Copy / Paste by Peter Pappas

2011-06-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

A Taxonomy of Reflection: Critical Thinking For Students, Teachers, and Principals (Part I) - Copy / Paste by Peter Pappas

Disney's Pixar, Cars 2 PSA On Distracted Driving

2011-06-17T15:36:00.001-07:00

Faces of Distracted Driving: John Sligting, 56 "Distracted driving cost me my father" - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

2011-06-13T06:05:00.000-07:00

Faces of Distracted Driving: John Sligting, 56 "Distracted driving cost me my father" - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

The Future of Teaching - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

2011-06-06T07:28:00.001-07:00

Bill Ferriter has a great piece up this morning, musing--as we all do, endlessly--about how our national love affair with standardized test data has bent and twisted the creative, purpose-driven art and science of teaching. Not to mention genuine student learning, school creation, rich curriculum, professional collaboration and a lot of careers and lives.

In what I hope is the phenomenon of great minds thinking alike, I had my own epiphany on this topic last weekend, in a homegrown think-tank retreat with some trusted educator friends. We've all worn various hats and worked for an array of edu-orgs, but at heart and core, we're teachers. Ten years ago, if you'd asked us what the future of teaching and teacher leadership looked like, we would have conjured up a rosy vision of an inexorable march toward true professionalism: a higher bar for admission, standards-based practice and evaluation, relentless pursuit of equity.

"None of the above" would not have been an option. All of us were National Board Certified Teachers (as is Ferriter); we were convinced we were looking toward a decade where teachers were--finally--going to rise to authentic leadership, controlling the heart of their work: curriculum, instruction, assessment. That was then, of course.

Ferriter now suggests that one of three models of teaching will eventually triumph (and I'm paraphrasing):

#1) The Brilliant Temp model, where public school teaching becomes a competitive short-term career for our best and brightest grads, who will last in the classroom as long as the job market for professional work keeps them there. Teacher training will be truncated and limited to "tools;"education will no longer be a scholarly, philosophical discipline. Simply a service, subject to efficiency testing.

#2) The Teacher as Technician model, where the person in front of the room (or, more likely, cost-effective virtual room) is following pre-set "protocols" to dump content into kids' heads, then testing for memorization.

#3) The Teacher as Skilled Professional model (see paragraph two)--which can only come about through serious investment and recreation of "teaching." A national paradigm shift.

Last weekend, fueled by a lot of wine, my edu-posse saw only two prospective models--a combination of #1 & #2, the Young, Smart, Enthusiastic & Compliant Technician model, and the increasingly unlikely Professional Teacher. Two roads, diverging.

So what happened, on the way to the promised land?

The Tempered Radical blames this reductionism on testing--and he's right. But he doesn't go far enough. Mandated Extreme Testing is just one super-tool--it isn't the only force pushing teaching into a corner. It's a complex mix of political power, fear of a rising public sector, and a desire to make money by converting a massive public service into a wide-open market place.

[Full disclosure: I am of the opinion that some things should not be for sale, but are human rights. This is why we have government, and public services. Justice, general welfare, domestic tranquility--you remember, the blessings of liberty?]

How could we turn the bus around and start taking the Professional Teacher path? And would it be worth doing so?

First--we can't buy and sell our way into a future of teacher professionalism. Genuine leadership isn't entrepreneurial, as much as we'd like to reward the dynamic and creative reform and practice ideas coming out of the teaching profession. Leadership comes from a desire to serve and a vision for productive change, not offering ideas, skills and tools on the educational market.

As it happens, Linda Darling-Hammond wrote a detailed record of how other nations have found their way to the teacher-professional path: "The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future." In this wonderful book, Darling-Hammond shares a wealth of information on how the paradigm shift toward professional teaching has yielded demonstrable results in student learning, around the globe. It's a great companion piece to Diane Ravitch's "The Death and Life of the Great American School System"--providing a road map for positively addressing some of the messes and causes Ravitch outlines.

Have you noticed that the scorn once heaped on Darling-Hammond is now aimed at Ravitch?

Have you noticed the mere mention of Finland as desirable educational model--a place where teachers are truly seen as nation-builders--now draws immediate negative commentary, ranging from "I'm so tired of hearing about Finland" to "What worked for Finland would never work here?"

Have you noticed the increasingly bitter and vitriolic debate over what research is clearly telling us?

What's the way out? Maybe it's time to take to the streets.

via blogs.edweek.org

FAA goes the extra mile to honor Doolittle pilot - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

2011-05-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

FAA goes the extra mile to honor Doolittle pilot - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

The Gateway to 21st Century Skills: Making the Most of Online Resources: The Abuse of Apostrophe’s and Other Sad Grammar Ta...

2011-05-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Gateway to 21st Century Skills: Making the Most of Online Resources: The Abuse of Apostrophe’s and Other Sad Grammar Ta...: "English grammar can be tricky stuff. Students (and many adults) labor over the correct usage of “lie” and “lay,” as well as when to use “who..."

David Truss :: Pair-a-dimes for Your Thoughts » Broken or Transforming

2011-05-30T05:58:00.001-07:00

« Perspective

Please help our flat classroom students »

Broken or Transforming?

Hello & welcome! If you like what you see...
Please comment. You can also subscribe via RSS or e-mail, and then send a tweet this way too. Thanks! ~Dave Truss

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Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly,
fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly.
I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou.
Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again.
Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly,
or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.

Education is NOT broken.

Let’s start using language that is constructive rather than counterproductive. Let’s use models based on questioning, innovation, and learning rather than complaining, alarming, and whistle-blowing. Our language shapes us and what we do. Try as we may, we do not find peace through a war on terror; We do not mend relationships with litigation; We do not ‘fix’ schools when we use a ‘broken’ model.

I understand why outstanding and outspoken educational leaders like Chris Lehmann say it is broken. I understand the need to create an urgency for change. Things move too slowly. But language matters. The metaphors we live by shape us.

When there is a transformation happening it doesn’t necessarily look good on the ‘outside’. There is a transformation happening in education… and it’s exciting, and filled with potential. If you were to classify the state of a caterpillar as it transformed to a cocoon, you might say it’s broken… even dead, but on the inside of the cocoon there is an incredible amount of promising changes occurring.

Let’s face it, what we want for our children to gain in schools is different than what the factory model of schools was designed to deliver. So why measure success based on the old model? Shall we put our children back into rows, have them memorize the content of the curriculum and fail them when they can’t sit still while they have their education delivered to them by one-way delivery of content from the authority in the front of the room? No.

Imagine having track and field judges, with their stop watches and measuring tapes, judging rhythmic gymnastics… Imagine having higher order thinking skills and in-depth portfolio studies measured with standardized tests based on a curriculum ‘a mile long and an inch deep’.

Here is a ruler… I want you to measure how I’m feeling right now.

When I see school leaders coming together and sharing ideas about moving our schools forward,

…I see a transformation of leadership.

When I see educators speaking out against standardized tests, and joining in to abolish grades,

…I see a transformation of assessment.

When I see students connecting to other students around the globe and collaborating in shared learning spaces,

…I see a transformation of practice.

We are far more innovative when we are in a ‘creating’ rather than ‘repairing’ mode.

Broken language: smashed, shattered, fragmented, splintered, crushed, snapped; in bits, in pieces; destroyed, disintegrated; cracked, split;

Transforming language: change, alteration, mutation, conversion, metamorphosis, transfiguration, transmutation; revolution, overhaul; remodeling, reshaping, reconstruction, rebuilding, reorganization, rearrangement, reworking, renewal, revamp, remaking;

Stop accepting the idea that a schools can be broken:

“If we change the vocabulary and consider schools as learning environments, however, it makes no sense to talk about them being broken because environments don’t break.” (Thomas & Brown)

Stop fixing schools and start creating the schools we want to see. Follow along as educational leaders develop school-wide plans to create learning environments in classes and in schools that are innovative, in line with what technology permits at this time, and flexible enough to adapt as new technology and concepts emerge. Contribute to the conversation about how we can bring all interested parties into an authentic conversation about how a collective ‘we’ can provide an open, transparent and meaningful educational model that promotes inquiry, a love of learning and empowered learners.

The Finnish Way is to prioritize “Professionalism”. Is the current language about the field of education professional? Are we approaching our own profession in a way that inspires other professionals to rise to the challenges we face today?

What language do we use?
Broken, or Transforming.
Fixing, or Creating.
Struggling, or Striving.
Failing, or Evolving.
Repairing, or Resolving.

What guides us?
Frustration, or Passion.

And what do we dream of?
Mending, or Metamorphosis.

Let’s transform education.

Our perspective matters. Our attitude matters. Our language matters. Let’s choose the language we use wisely. Let’s transform our language and let’s transform education. It is the struggle during transformation that gives the butterfly it’s strength to fly. So, let us also accept that transformation is not easy, but worth the effort.

(Cross-posted on Connected Principals)

Tags: Angela Maiers, Chris Kennedy, Chris Lehmann, Chuang Chou, Connected Principals, datruss, David Truss, Dean Shareski, Douglas Thomas, education, Finland, George Couros, George Lakoff, Joe Bower, John Seely Brown, John T. Spencer, Jonathan Martin, Karl Fisch, Kim Cofino, Mark Johnson, metaphors, pairadimes, Patrick Larkin, Scott McLeod, Steve Farber, teaching metaphors, transformation

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at 6:47 pm and is filed under books I like, Connected Principals, education, future, leadership, Learning Conversations, metaphor, pairadimes, Pedegogy, restructuring, School2.0, Square Peg, storytelling, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

11 Responses to “Broken or Transforming?”

Darcy Mullin shares:
May 12th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
David, thanks for that post. I think too often the conversations focus on the negative and fail to look at all the great things we are doing in education. Is there things that are not working, sure, but there is still much work to do. Moving forward being positive always gets us further than by looking backward negatively.

Shelley shares:
May 12th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Love this, David!

Makes me think about appreciative inquiry and the power of a positively oriented question.

(http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/intro/whatisai.cfm)

And also about the power of storytelling. (e.g. http://www.facesoflearning.net/, http://nocountryforyoungwomen.com/, http://storycorps.org/listen/ )

Thank you for continuing to learn out loud here.
** Shelley´s last blog post… butwait- @wstites Thought of you- Turn Your Evernote Notes into Study Guides &amp Flashcards with StudyBlue by @audreywatters http-tco-2flCRFd

Ann Morgester shares:
May 13th, 2011 at 2:32 am
This is a very powerful thought – I am getting ready to work with a group of librarians from my district to re-evaluate our Library and Information Literacy Standards. One of the questions we need to answer is whether we stay with the standards that we have or move to the new AASL National Standards. The conversation surrounding this idea has been interesting. And a lot of it couched in the negative paradigm. When I took the job as the Library Curriculum Coordinator for our district the librarians had a fairly negative communications reputation. My response was to repeatedly emphasize that anything can be stated in a Positive, Polite, Professional and Proactive way. It has worked to change the perception of how the librarians in the district communicate and this post is a great reminder to me that how I construct the discussion around this newest endeavor. Thanks for this timely post.

George Couros shares:
May 13th, 2011 at 8:07 am
Progress is needed, not necessarily what the word “change” invokes. We should always try to get better as we expect the same for our students. There are tons of great things happening right now in education; we need to build upon these as opposed to throwing everything out. Thanks for your post David
** George Couros´s last blog post… When Ideas Go Viral

Daryl Bambic shares:
May 13th, 2011 at 9:54 am
Your post felt like a soothing balm after a difficult week. I agree that the language we use is so important in framing our experience. Thanks for reminding us to be mindful of that reality.
** Daryl Bambic´s last blog post… Summer Learning

Bruce Wellman shares:
May 13th, 2011 at 10:35 am
David: Transformation is an interesting word — trans – meaning across or beyond in its Latin root and formation – an act of giving form or shape to something or of taking form — ultimately and act of development. While there are many developments taking form in education these days, the ultimate challenge is the challenge of scale. We seem to be at the stage of noting and celebrating the outliers — the exemplars of the new possibilities. A fundamental question still remains: What needs to happen to make these exemplars the new normal?

Dave Truss shares:
May 14th, 2011 at 11:57 am
Shelley,
Thanks for the links, I think storytelling is very underutilized in education.

I like the point George makes that we want progress, not just change.

Bruce,
I looked back to the post I did of a pro-d session with you on Promoting Inquiry and found this:

Positive Presuppositions
Finding and focusing on the positive aspects of the message being communicated… it encourages an “on-going willingness to engage with each other and with ideas”.

The fundamental question you asked does indeed remain. I wrote a post a while back asking if we shouldn’t look to ‘Edupunks’ as our Eduleaders… it does seem to be the ‘outliers’ that are leading the way, but even there I think we can start to frame our language a bit better. I think ‘we’ can focus more on asking:

‘What works really well?’ instead of ‘Why is this taking so long?’; and,

‘How do we replicate what’s working?’ instead of ‘Why doesn’t this happen in more places?’; and,

‘What professional freedom do I have to make this work?’ instead of ‘Why is the system working against me?’

Innovation usually happens on the fringes, that’s not new, so how do we frame our language to promote (and scale) positive changes in a more efficient and effective way?
And that’s sincerely a question I’m grappling with, as I think even my own language on this blog has sometimes been framed with frustration and even futility as opposed to possibilities and promise.

Norman Constantine shares:
May 14th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
The problem is not the caterpillar….the problem is the butterfly! It is all the same organism. The paradigm of the caterpillar and the butterfly are the same! We need to change the paradigm!

Monday, May 16 » Traveling with OCB Title IID shares:
May 17th, 2011 at 12:47 am
[...] Additionally, as I always ask teachers to shift their paradigms when talking about technology usage in the classroom, here is an interesting excerpt from Dave Truss’ blog post entitled Broken or Transforming (5/12/11): [...]

[...] So, using what Dave has to say… let’s go out there and transform education!

Students for Ed Reform | Today's Must-Read shares:
May 17th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
[...] David Truss discusses the idea of “transforming” rather than “fixing.” How does the jargon we use in education news, debate, and discussion influence the way we approach ed reform at large? Perhaps the best way to bring meaningful change is to abandon the burdensome idea of “fixing” a broken system, and instead take on the exciting challenge of creating, innovating, and inventing to truly transform [...]
** Students for Ed Reform | Today’s Must-Read´s last blog post… Today’s Must-Read

Walter McKenzie shares:
May 18th, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Well said David! The “broken” hyperbole is pushing a very different agenda. The transformation of education is what it’s all about! We are looking at 2011-2020 as the “decade of educational transformation” d.e.t. and I’ve put together a page of resources promoting the idea at http://surfaquarium.com/det/

Walter

Please join the conversation...

via pairadimes.davidtruss.com

Please help our flat classroom students

2011-05-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

Please help our flat classroom students

Whit's Blog

When I Say iPad, You Say Ka Chow!!

When I say iPad, You Say Ka Chow!!

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http://globaloria.org/index.php/games-front-page/item/elemental-elegance

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Whits Blog: Why Teachers Should Join Twitter

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: PBS LearningMedia

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