A Principal's Reflections
AUGUST 31, 2011
'This morning I read a great article on PBS Media Shift by Audrey Watters entitled " Why Schools Should Stop Banning Cell Phones, and Use Them For Learning." Up until this past year the rule of thumb was that students could bring their phones to my school, but they could not be on, seen, or heard. This rule applied throughout the school day, on or at any school-sponsored functions, and was strictly enforced.
The Web20Classroom
AUGUST 2, 2011
'One of the areas of focus for me in my district this year is teaching teachers and students how to take control of their digital identity and turn it into something positive and something they can be proud of. Too often each year students find themselves in situations that could be easily avoided if they understood what a positive digital footprint is and how to manage it.
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The 21st Century Principal
AUGUST 15, 2011
'Since the state of Missouri passed a law banning teacher use of online social media communications with students, states and districts across the country are stepping up their examinations of social media and its place in schools. Social media in general, and Facebook in particular has become the tool of the boogeyman and predator to lure children to do things they wouldn''t do otherwise.
SpeechTechie
AUGUST 28, 2011
'Whiz Kid Games is a British resource of repetitive, well-paced and language-based games designed for kids with autism, but adaptable to other populations of students. Games such as "A Day at the Market" teach about scripting, sequencing, and schema, as well as being a context for vocabulary and sentence development. I have often found resources such as Whiz Kid Games to be great pairings with activities designed to build play scripts and interaction.
Generative AI holds tremendous promise for all stakeholders in higher education. But guardrails are needed. Strong governance that empower instructors are at the core of a responsible approach to using generative AI in academia.
EdTechSandyK
AUGUST 14, 2011
'Summer break is over and schools are starting up again in the U.S. over the next few weeks. As you contemplate the upcoming school year, I want to issue you a challenge. But first, sit back and watch the video I have linked below. Watch it from start to end (six minutes isn''t a lot to ask). Watch even if you''ve seen it before - it''s probably been a while.
The Daring Librarian
AUGUST 1, 2011
'We need to talk. I''m seeing other people. I know I''ve been distant lately. In fact, we never really talked about why I walked away from you for a while two years ago and I really feel bad about that. You wanna know why? You''re like that studly rockstar surfer / skatepunk boyfriend I dated in college who threw those really AWEsome parties?! He was so cool but Oh so unreliable!
EdTech Update brings together the best content for education technology professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Web20Classroom
AUGUST 17, 2011
'Last week I asked what you do to have a great start to the year. The results are pretty cool. Loads of great ideas you can take into your first couple of days with your kids. Here are a few of my favorites: Take the time to smell the roses! Listen - really - listen to the kids and enjoy the moment of the first few days. There will be plenty of time to catch up after the first few days.
The 21st Century Principal
AUGUST 3, 2011
'Next week, I will be presenting to a group of educators in my district on the subject of "Must-Have iPad and Smartphone Apps." I did a blog post a short time ago, and that list hasn''t change much, but there have been a few additions and deletions, mostly due to suggestions of those in my Personal Learning Network. Below is my current list of must have iPad apps that I will be sharing next week.
SpeechTechie
AUGUST 1, 2011
'The big buzz in the Appleverse lately has centered around the recent release of Mac''s new operating system OSX 10.7, better known as Lion. I thought it might be a good topic to post about, to let you know why you should care about this if you are a Mac or iDevice user. Chiefly, if you have a newer Mac, you might want to consider upgrading- Lion''s features are way cool!
Learning with 'e's
AUGUST 27, 2011
This week's eAssessment Scotland Conference was an interesting and thought provoking event. Hosted by the University of Dundee , the conference attracted almost 300 delegates from all over the UK, and farther afield and as could be expected, saw a number of papers presented on all aspects of technology enhanced learning and assessment. These included presentations on the use of blogs, peer collaboration, mobile assessment, serious games, Google forms, Mahara and other e-portfolio applications, a
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The Daring Librarian
AUGUST 16, 2011
'It''s back to school time again! Darn those Target & Office Depot commercials! Last year around this time I blogged about using Google forms to create community conversations and decorating your library media center & classroom. This year I''d like to invite you back by popular demand to a FREE TL Virtual Cafe webinar called Back to School Special: Savvy Starts to a New Year!
A Principal's Reflections
AUGUST 24, 2011
'Earlier this month I was fortunate to speak at #140edu in New York City. The title of my 15 minute presentation was "School Improvement One Character at a Time." I used this opportunity to discuss the positive impact that social media has had on the culture of my school and professional growth as a school leader. Here are 6 ways I am using social media in education to improve teaching, learning, and leading: Communication.
The Web20Classroom
AUGUST 26, 2011
'In most places students are either starting school or getting ready to go back. But before we get to far into the year it is a good idea to step back and reflect a bit about our place in the classroom and the year ahead. Here are five questions to consider as we start this new year: 1) What''s my hook? Everyday is an opportunity to capture the attention of our students.
The 21st Century Principal
AUGUST 20, 2011
'This fall, I return to the classroom. Well, partially return to the classroom. I am going to be teaching Theater Arts this year, and serve as school principal. I''ve heard all the arguments over the years about administrators returning to the classroom to teach once in a while. The argument usually goes that administrators sometimes forget what it''s like to face a classroom full of students.
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How can we actively engage learners 24/7, on their level and according to their interests, while respecting their learning styles? It’s not impossible. In this guide: Explore how to transform traditional, one-way videos into two-way interactive learning experiences Understand different types of artificial intelligence (AI), including - Generative vs.
SpeechTechie
AUGUST 22, 2011
'Planet Orange is a robust interactive site from ING investing company that teaches kids about money. After a quick free registration, you can guide kids to complete missions on 4 different "continents" in order to earn "OBucks." Because you have registered, you can save your progress within a group session and return to continue the activities. The site is fun, simple, and practical, and besides all of that, I really like orange.
Learning with 'e's
AUGUST 7, 2011
Picture the scene. You walk into the reception area of your local primary school and you see the wonderful displays of artwork created by the children. There are paintings and drawings, and there are mobiles and models made from cardboard, silver paper and other materials, all resplendent in their vibrant colours. It is a bright celebration of learning and it showcases the creative talents of the children.
The Electric Educator
AUGUST 15, 2011
'"Travelanche" by Chiot''s Run via Flicker. Exam Cram by zslibrary via Flickr. Everyone thrashes. The question is when do you thrash? You''ve had this vacation planned for months. Your travel reservations were made well in advance. Yet despite your careful planning and preparations, you still find yourself up to 3am the night before you leave taking care of last minute details.
A Principal's Reflections
AUGUST 11, 2011
'Cross-posted at Edutopia. School leaders across the country are meticulously planning for the upcoming year. This process has become more difficult as mounting challenges such as budget cuts and what seems like a relentless attack on the profession of education have taken their toll on staff moral. With this being said, quality leadership becomes even more essential in order to cultivate a school culture whose primary focus is on the learning and achievement of each and every student.
Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape
The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.
The Web20Classroom
AUGUST 5, 2011
'Watch this video. Did you really watch the video or are you just keeping reading? Come on, watch it. I promise you will like it. (This is my favorite You Tube video by the way.) Now ask yourself some questions. 1) Do you have guts? This guy is my hero. He felt something inside his soul. The music made him want to move. He didn''t care what others would think.
The 21st Century Principal
AUGUST 10, 2011
'One of the most difficult decisions in tight budgets and deciding how to spend what little technology money we have.If your school or district is like mine, you just don''t have money to spend on iPad apps that won''t be used. I am not sure how useful these Smart Rules for Selecting iPad Apps are, but they have guided my decision making when looking for iPad apps.
SpeechTechie
AUGUST 10, 2011
'B-Movie TV is a fun site that features clips from old, silly American commercials and films that are overdubbed in another language. You can type in subtitles narrating or dialoging the scene, and can also choose to use text-to-speech or record over the clip. For more fun, you can switch to Bombay TV (see "switch channels") and do the same with Bollywood movies, which, not to be culturally insensitive, are notoriously over-the-top in terms of costumes, plotlines, and even frequent choreography.
Learning with 'e's
AUGUST 3, 2011
There is a story of a woman who wanted a talking bird so she went to the pet shop bought a parrot. After a few weeks, she returned to the pet shop and complained to the owner that the parrot wasn't talking. 'Does he have a mirror?' asked the shop owner, 'parrots love mirrors. They see themselves and start up a conversation'. So the woman bought a mirror and the next day she was back again.
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The Electric Educator
AUGUST 12, 2011
'As a die-hard Internet user I live and die by the bandwidth of the network that I am using. The capacity of the network determines what I am able to accomplish. The principle of capacity applies to other areas of life as well: You can only serve someone else if you aren''t overextended. You can only demonstrate love to someone else if you aren''t emotionally drained.
A Principal's Reflections
AUGUST 17, 2011
'Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would be here writing my 100th blog post. I never considered myself much of a writer. To be quite honest, I actually hated it. As I began my journey into the world of web 2.0 two and a half years ago, I found myself reading blogs for the first time. In my mind, reading was as far as I ever wanted to go and I literally swore that I would never become a blogger.
The Web20Classroom
AUGUST 22, 2011
'Using Google Docs to Support Your PLC tags: googledocs plc Ten ideas for interactive teaching tags: pedagogy favorite Ten tips for using social media in school communications tags: socialmedia communication favorite eFront Learning: Introduction to Evaluation in eLearning tags: evaluation e-learning favorite What''s Working:Let Me Learn My Own Way tags: differentiation favorite Using Twitter to Build Your PLN tags: Twitter PLN favorite 7 Elements Of Writing A Differentiated Lesson Plan tags: di
The 21st Century Principal
AUGUST 5, 2011
'Recently, a colleague suggested I try a web site called Symbaloo. Symbaloo is a visual interface that allows users to create what are called "Webmixes." A "Webmix" consists of content gathered from around the web. Each web site in a Webmix is represented with a tile and an icon, either selected by the user or derived from the web site. It is basically a tool to organize web sites and web services on one page.
Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions
There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.
EdTechSandyK
AUGUST 22, 2011
'This video from Birdville ISD in Texas is well done and covers several digital citizenship and online safety situations which are relevant to the young students in our classrooms. Additionally, it serves as a great example of a student project. Think how much these young ladies must have internalized about digital ethics by participating in this video!
Learning with 'e's
AUGUST 1, 2011
Everyone on Earth is a teacher. We all have the ability to help others to learn. This is exactly what Vygotsky had in mind when he proposed his famous Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory. Children (and adults too) can learn more broadly, deeply and extensively if they have a knowledgeable person by their side, than they can on their own. In our society, we often think of that knowledgeable other person as a professional educator, a tutor, lecturer or classroom teacher.
The Electric Educator
AUGUST 3, 2011
'This week I traveled to Wisconsin to help teachers at University School of Milwaukee flip their classrooms. In preparation for the event I built out a Google Site with tips, ideas, projects, and examples to help teachers get started in flipping their classrooms. Please feel free to browse the site and use the resources that I put together. Thanks for subscribing to my blog.
A Principal's Reflections
AUGUST 2, 2011
'I routinely blog throughout the school year about my staff and the great work they are doing to create learning environments that are engaging, rigorous, and student-centered. Social media has allowed me to share my staffs'' continuous development of innovative learning activities to a diverse audience of stakeholders in my community and well beyond.
This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.
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