Monday, March 14, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
FUN 21
photo © 2008 woodley wonderworks | more info (via: Wylio)I wanted to share a couple of really cool ideas that I’ve heard from school districts in the last week. It seems that many people are really getting on the Curriculum 21 Train and creating new forms of instruction, assessment, and design. These teachers I’m describing here are great role models for making a 21st Century difference! They are implementing relevant, authentic, collaborative, and creative ideas that are engaging and motivating their students - launching them into an orbit beyond their boxes!
The first FUN 21 idea comes from a Science Teacher in Western New York who was doing a research project on Space. The traditional mode would have been for the kids to look at teacher-selected resources, decide which ones they would use, and write a research paper around their findings.
The new FUN 21 model was for the kids to collect their own resources in a collaborative Web 2.0 tool called TypeWith.me. All of the students contributed resources (and made themselves accountable to each other in the process as they made their decisions!). You can see their original document here: http://typewith.me/38yAlaOyft
Next, they sorted and organized their resources into a LiveBinder so that they had quick access as well as a visual representation of their resources. You can see the student created LiveBinder here:
Now that their information is selected and organized, they will use their information to create comic books online, which they will then publish through a web service like Lulu.com and add the REAL book to their classroom library! (Note that some of their products will be available in the LiveBinder shortly!) Awesome, awesome idea!
The second FUN 21 idea is from a school system in Montana.
This school district is working on a technology and communications plan for all of their stakeholders. I was reading through the proposed plan and saw a little light shining out in one of their ideas.
They are proposing “workshops” for their students AND parents: after school times for additional instruction that students and parents can CHOOSE to participate in. Part of this plan includes the district wide usage and integration of social technologies such as Skype, Twitter, Social Bookmarking, Google Docs, Edmodo, etc.
This is innovative. This is valuing the instruction on a brand new level and evening the playing field for these students. In a conversation with one of the teachers in this district, there are conversations around considering which kids will be able to stay after, perhaps some weekend events, additional busing, and parent support and participation.
There is a lot of heat on the Education world right, but there are also a lot of bright spots. It’s those creative and innovative folks in our school system that we really need to focus on--and replicate what they are bringing to our new educational order. It may be hard to see with what is in the news right, but we really are on the brink of an “awesome” we’ve never seen before!
Kudos to these two school systems! Excellent ideas!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
New Web Stuff 02/28/2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Flat Classroom Conference Glimpse in Beijing 2011
A brief glimpse into the Flat Classroom Project Conference in Beijing, China.
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Monday, February 21, 2011
An Educator's Brief Guide to 21st Century Tools
(click to open bigger)
This weekend, Heidi Hayes Jacobs posted THIS BLOG POST on the ASCD Edge blog. While her post was about the way we continue to assess the kids with decades old methods...my brain had a little brainstorm and came up with the image above. Lately, I've been working in districts where a lot of tools are blocked, but the old standards are still there--though the kids are bored by them. I understand the need for safety, but that is something that is taught through experiences, not through a veneer of protection that ultimately teaches only avoidance behaviors.
Remember that scene in the 5th Harry Potter book where the "Defense Against The Dark Arts" teacher wanted to teach the students text-based things, versus the real defenses they needed and were dealing with outside of school? Pretty decent metaphor for 21st Century skills and learning.
Do you remember how that ended up? Ultimately, the kids just taught themselves, and the teacher was carried off by centaurs.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Social Justice LIVE!
Social Justice LIVE! is a global action research project where 8th Grade Students in a North Carolina school collect and interact with information from multiple people, as they seek solutions to problems of justice.
Participants, anywhere in the world, can contribute their thoughts anytime between now and Tuesday, and can also join us for the live classroom event on Monday. In order to participate,
CLICK THIS LINK to go to the LiveBinder of resources.
Inside the Binder, you can choose a particular Social Justice issue by clicking on the relevant tab, each of which has subtabs for different ways to interact. You can choose to pose a question/answer in the Today’s Meet subtab. You can choose to leave a comment, relevant image, or response to others’ comments/images on the Wallwisher subtab. Or, you can choose to write a comment or leave a web resource link in the Google Doc subtab.
You can participate in any way, at any level, at any time between now and next Tuesday.
Students will be responding to, interacting with, communicating and collaborating during the LIVE event on Monday, February 21st between 12:00 and 1:00 PM. (EST) The event will be USTREAMED Live (click the link here or in the Binder...) and students will be able to interact with the world audience through live streaming chat and video.
Social Justice LIVE! is open to all...individuals, classrooms, both local and international, kids, adults, EVERYONE! The comments, questions, responses, resources--all interactions, will be data that these students (and anyone else who wants to use it!) will organize and write about in the days after the LIVE event. You can access the students’ blogs by CLICKING ON THIS LINK.
We hope you can join us for this Global Event, as we engage 21st Century Fluencies, New Forms of instruction, and unlimited opportunities for learning!
Participants, anywhere in the world, can contribute their thoughts anytime between now and Tuesday, and can also join us for the live classroom event on Monday. In order to participate,
CLICK THIS LINK to go to the LiveBinder of resources.
Inside the Binder, you can choose a particular Social Justice issue by clicking on the relevant tab, each of which has subtabs for different ways to interact. You can choose to pose a question/answer in the Today’s Meet subtab. You can choose to leave a comment, relevant image, or response to others’ comments/images on the Wallwisher subtab. Or, you can choose to write a comment or leave a web resource link in the Google Doc subtab.
You can participate in any way, at any level, at any time between now and next Tuesday.
Students will be responding to, interacting with, communicating and collaborating during the LIVE event on Monday, February 21st between 12:00 and 1:00 PM. (EST) The event will be USTREAMED Live (click the link here or in the Binder...) and students will be able to interact with the world audience through live streaming chat and video.
Social Justice LIVE! is open to all...individuals, classrooms, both local and international, kids, adults, EVERYONE! The comments, questions, responses, resources--all interactions, will be data that these students (and anyone else who wants to use it!) will organize and write about in the days after the LIVE event. You can access the students’ blogs by CLICKING ON THIS LINK.
We hope you can join us for this Global Event, as we engage 21st Century Fluencies, New Forms of instruction, and unlimited opportunities for learning!
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