Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Modern Leadership (An Opportunity!)

An idea that our team has been planning is finally coming to fruition and I am so excited to be able to share it with you!

Our Curriculum21 team has been talking for months about how to leverage social media with instructional design and practice, specifically for teacher and district leaders. We live in a new time, with new rules, and new considerations. We have a responsibility to not only KNOW what is on our collective horizons, but also how to infiltrate the new world in a way that is personally meaningful and relevant.

Which has lead us to our first regional event we’re calling LEAD21. (Click the link to see the online flier!) It will be in Birdsville, Texas (just outside of Dallas) on March 6th and 7th, 2012.

This all new Curriculum 21 Regional Conference brings together some of the best of the 21st Century networkers, including Angela Maiers, Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano, and Heidi Hayes Jacobs, along with Bill Sheskey and yours truly for a two day curriculum, networking, and 21st Century Leadership extravaganza!

In Curriculum 21, Heidi Hayes Jacobs talks extensively about “New Forms.” We will be exploring New Forms of leadership, New Forms of Learning Communities, and what “Just in Time” professional development is all about. We’ll be rooting all of this in curriculum and how these forms of leadership and virtual interactions enhance curriculum maps and strengthen curriculum conversations.



Click here to register! Hope to see you there!

-Mike

Also--you can follow us all on Twitter LEADing up to the conference. We are already sharing some resources and having online conversations related to the event!
MIKE on Twitter
SILVIA on Twitter
ANGELA on Twitter
HEIDI on Twitter
BILL on Twitter

Additionally you can JOIN THE CURRICULUM21 NING for even more information, resources, and networking. (Note that you will need a school based/professional email account to join.)


http://www.curriculum21.com/conferences/texas/
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

New Web Stuff 10/19/2011

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Monday, October 17, 2011

New Web Stuff 10/18/2011

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Sunday, October 16, 2011

New Web Stuff 10/17/2011

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Thursday, October 13, 2011

New Web Stuff 10/14/2011

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Monday, October 10, 2011

New Web Stuff 10/11/2011

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Saturday, October 8, 2011

New Web Stuff 10/09/2011

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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Clickable NY Common Core Standards by Grade Level (ELA)


Free website - Powered By Wix.com

If you like the NY Common Core ELA Learning Standards that is clickable by grade level, please consider contributing to keep it freely available. The web service WIX charges for bandwidth monthly and I will purchase a premium plan if folks find it useful! Otherwise, once the bandwidth for the month is used, it will not be available until the beginning of the next month. Contribute below:



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New Web Stuff 10/07/2011

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iCommit

Like me, I’m sure many of you were shocked yesterday to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple and idea man of the century. (I linked to the Apple homepage so you could see the memorial they posted on their website.)


There’s been a flurry of news bits and tweets and wall posts around his death, but all of them have a similar theme and I think that theme is as good as any to honor the man who changed our digitial landscape: Commit fully to your passions.

My family and I watched many different clips last night of people commenting on how committed he was. How he would come up with an idea, and regardless of what others thought, implement it with tenacity and courage, believing wholeheartedly in its success.

I wondered about how that looks in education, how educators commit themselves to the children they are responsible for. Perhaps now is a good time to take another look at our commitments, an opportunity to prioritize what is important...an opportunity to re-commit ourselves to doing what is best for kids.

Education, nationally, is in a constant state of turmoil and I know that many of you, like me, are overwhelmed with new standards, new pushes for teacher evaluations, value added growth models, etc. It reminds me of Eckhart Tolle’s book THE POWER OF NOW, and what he says about how we can really only control what is in our zones, in our reach, and in our immediate moments. There may be other minutiae that we have to deal with but we can’t control the future, only the present.

We can shape the future, though. Steve Jobs did with his commitment to his passions, his ideas, and the future he imagined for us all.

What are your passions? What can you commit or re-commit to today? In honor of Steve Jobs, I’d like to challenge each of you who read this blog to commit to something you are passionate about in education and share it here. Then follow through with your commitment.

I’ll start with my commitment for today:

I commit to working in the NOW zone. I want to do a better job of managing those things I can control in the moment and start pushing the “What Ifs” off of my plate. With all of the work I do with teachers around many different elements, the “What Ifs” sometimes bog me down and mask the scope of the real work to be done right now to benefit teachers and students. That’s what I’m committing to right now.

iCommit. What about u?

Godspeed to Steve Jobs. His family, both personal and professional, remain in my thoughts...
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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

New Web Stuff 10/06/2011

  • Greggs - Halloween

    @fisher1000 Fun Spooky Stories writing competition for ur students - they could win a kindle & get published! http://t.co/iOjHN4f6 R/T!

    tags: twitter digigogy

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Monday, October 3, 2011

New Web Stuff 10/04/2011

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Saturday, October 1, 2011

New Web Stuff 10/02/2011

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Friday, September 30, 2011

Should You Be Replaced?


In a recent coaching conversation, a teacher told me that her 12th grade students should be able to just be assigned work with the expectation of completing it. She was tired, she said, of lazy students who didn’t do what they were told and were so disengaged from the learning process that they barely did any assigned work, choosing instead to accept D’s and F’s.

I didn’t agree or disagree with the teacher, but asked what she thought her role was. She told me that she was the one who helped the students learn but was frustrated that they didn’t complete assignments. In the most respectful way possible, I asked the teacher about the possibility of putting all the students in the auditorium, and having someone just assign them tasks. Whether they did them or not, it might help alleviate her frustration.

She asked, “Who would teach the kids?”

I said, respectfully, “Who’s teaching them now?”

I told the teacher that I wasn’t intentionally being snarky, but wanted to drive home the point that assigning tasks and teaching were two different things. Teaching is a skill, a hard one. Assigning tasks is something anyone can do. Assigning tasks is what I imagine early teachers on the prairie would do because they had multiple ages in the same one room schoolhouse. It is not the hallmark of the 21st Century Teacher.

The 21st Century teacher is an expert guide, an expert in questioning techniques, and an expert in designing instruction that meets the needs of the 21st Century learner. Those needs must involve communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creative problem solving.

I talked with this teacher about transforming her classroom from a place where tasks are assigned to one where problems are solved, where students work together to investigate issues, where exploration and mistakes are valued over rote answers on worksheets. It was a powerful conversation.

It reminded me of the quote that floats around Twitter often, “Any teacher that can be replaced by a machine, should be.” (Arthur C. Clarke) When we take a critical look at our professional practice, and really delve deeply into what we do as educators, what parts of our practice are automated? What parts could be done by anybody? In the 21st Century, how can we adequately prepare our students for college and careers with 20th, and perhaps 19th Century notions about what teaching is?

There’s no denying it. Our students have changed. They live in a new world. It’s not the world we grew up in, but we still have a responsibility to prepare them adequately. Have you considered what you do as an educator that makes you irreplaceable?
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New Web Stuff 10/01/2011

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Thursday, September 29, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/30/2011

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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/29/2011

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Monday, September 26, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/27/2011

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Sunday, September 25, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/26/2011

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Saturday, September 24, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/25/2011

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Friday, September 23, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/24/2011

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Thursday, September 22, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/23/2011

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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/22/2011

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Monday, September 19, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/20/2011

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Sunday, September 18, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/19/2011

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Common Core for Social Studies Teachers!

I had the opportunity this week to interview Bruce Leader, a 10th grade Global Studies teacher at Starpoint High School in Lockport, NY. This interview is the newest podcast on the Curriculum21 Podcast Channel.


Hear/Download our conversation here: http://blog.curriculum21.com/?p=239


You can subscribe to the Curriculum21 Podcast channel on iTunes here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/curriculum-21-podcast/id419480932


In this podcast, I ask Bruce questions about integrating the literacy standards for writing and reading from the Common Core into his professional practice. Bruce is an educator who has taught all over the world and brings a global literacy perspective to his students.


As we peel back the layers of Common Core integration nationwide, I think it's important that we share conversations and best practices around the ways we implement the new standards. In the near future, I'll be blogging and producing podcasts around literacy in Science, Physical Education and Health, Art, and Music.


Also, I'd like to publicly thank Bruce for sitting down to talk with me. He's a phenomenal teacher and offers a modern, global view of educating his students!


-Mike

@fisher1000 on Twitter
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Friday, September 16, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/17/2011

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Thursday, September 15, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/16/2011

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/15/2011

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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/14/2011

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Sunday, September 11, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/12/2011

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Friday, September 9, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/10/2011

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Thursday, September 8, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/09/2011

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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

'Twas the Night Before Pre-K


'Twas the night before Pre-K

and excitement rang out,

going to bed early,

I was beginning to doubt.

The supplies were all ready,

The backpack was full,

With gluesticks and pencils,

And notebooks for school.

Her mom and I are ready,

To start her school path,

We're excited she's learning,

Reading, writing, and math,

And new languages,

And Science, and History too,

All to get ready

For whatever she'll do.

New Common Core standards,

New ways to prepare,

We want her to be ready,

And world-aware!

We've anticipated

The things that she'll learn

As a student in school,

With much to discern.

We're proud of our child,

We want her to thrive

Beyond traditional constraints

Always flying high.

To her teacher, we pledge,

Our support to the max,

To her journey, we hope,

There is nothing she lacks.

As we begin our new life

Of bright public ed,

We wish Lily success,

In her journey ahead.

We love that she's ready,

Excited and glad,

To begin a lifelong love

Of the world to be had.

Every opportunity,

That this world can provide,

Is now in your reach, child,

Just step inside...

*Your mother and I love you very much, Lily, and are so excited for you to begin your educational journey. We know the value to your life that learning brings, and we hope that you take advantage of it. We're so proud of you already, and look forward to many great things filled with wonder and passion.

* "Once you learn to read, you will forever be free." - Frederick Douglass

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Monday, September 5, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/06/2011

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Sunday, September 4, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/05/2011

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Friday, September 2, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/03/2011

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Common Core Standards Crosswalk EZ

I created a video this morning to help teachers with a quick way to familiarize themselves with the Common Core standards, compare them to current practice, and help to make alignment to the standards practical and efficient.

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Thursday, September 1, 2011

New Web Stuff 09/02/2011

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