August 2012
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Seven Keys to Effective Feedback →
It’s easy to overlook the importance of some resources, so I really want to point something out:
This article was written by one of the pioneers of Backwards Design. It’s outstanding, and I strongly recommend a read (maybe over lunch so you can spend some meaningful time with it).
Here’s one of the seven keys:
Goal-Referenced
Effective feedback requires that a person has a...
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How to Write Like Your Teacher Told You Not To →
A fascinating (if not slightly eyebrow-raising) post on student writing for digital media. Here’s an excerpt:
Don’t use long blocks of text
Chances are that your teacher told you to use long paragraphs so you can explain your points in great detail. Long blocks of text are easy to grasp on a piece of paper, but not on a computer screen.
Use a maximum of four to six lines of text per...
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Graphics Tips from an Instructional Designer →
Some interesting advice.
Use job related graphics as they help the learners to relate to their jobs and thus promote easy analysis of content.
Simple graphics like line diagrams help the learner more than the 2D or 3D graphics.
Using illustrations, we can effectively explain the internal parts of any machinery or the anatomy of the human body, which is NOT easy using real photographs.
Show an...
Surrounding Myself with Excellence →
coolcatteacher:
fcpcoordinator:
I love the idea of surrounding myself with excellence whether it be experts in pedagogy, school technology, good cooks, and master gardeners. The idea is - excellence breeds excellence and though it doesn’t happen through osmosis, somehow the mere idea of being in the presence of excellence transcends and I start exhibiting behaviors that suggest I’m getting a...
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Standardized Testing the Video Game →
Some fascinating testing possibilities with Common Core. Definitely worth a look.
I ended a previous SmartBlog post with this caution: “Remember that the day of any test, students work alone. Without us. They employ not what we have ‘taught’ but what they have ‘learned.’” In regards to computer-based testing, this is even more true.
Consider one fourth-grade example found in that SMARTER...
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“The incidents occurred in February at Gig Harbor Middle School, but cell phone...”
– Let me clarify something:
The man involved in this incident is not a teacher. He is a disgrace, and he should be gone.
John Rosi, Washington Middle School Teacher, Led Bullying Incident ‘Of Epic Proportions,’ Family Lawyer Says (VIDEO)
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Best Practices and Tips for Twitter in the... →
An outstanding article. Plenty of these lessons could easily stretch over into K-12 (especially the 9-12 part). Here’s one of my favorite parts (click through for the rest):
Make the course hashtag part of the syllabus.
As cool as you are, your students may not want to follow you. Besides, as cool as you are, most of your tweets have nothing to do with your class! Besides, Twitter...
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I think it's entirely possible that Google...
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iknowimamess asked: I teach in a self-contained special ed classroom. I have a student with a family-provided iPad--his parents want him using the iPad daily--I like many apps that he has available and his parents are exceedingly willing to add apps upon my request. My issue: my student is very fluent with using his iPad--as in, he can't be trusted to use it independently, b/c he closes out of the assigned app...
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Hey you! →
I love you!
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Who inherits your iTunes library? →
infoneer-pulse:
Many of us will accumulate vast libraries of digital books and music over the course of our lifetimes. But when we die, our collections of words and music may expire with us.
Someone who owned 10,000 hardcover books and the same number of vinyl records could bequeath them to descendants, but legal experts say passing on iTunes and Kindle libraries would be much more...
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“51 percent of respondents, including a majority of Millennials, believe stormy...”
– Most Americans Confused By Cloud Computing According to National Survey
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Google-Proofing Assignments
holtthink:
In a recent article “Are we Outsourcing our Memories?” Rabbi Aaron Ross, Ed.D. writing in Free Technology for Teachers began his blog post by quoting from a slide that hangs in his office: ““If your students can Google the answer, then you are asking the wrong question.” At almost exactly the same time, and without knowledge of his quote, I posted this on Tumblr:
“Teachers often...
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“How do we change this mindset going from high school into college?”...”
– This Isn’t High School: Advice for Faculty Teaching First-Year Students
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Cheat Sheet for the First Days of School →
Here’s an excerpt:
1) Develop an easy slogan for expectations in your classroom.
Having a slogan that everyone can remember will remind kids of the rules you clearly set in the beginning of the school year. Few of us (teachers included) look up at the rules and cite them in our punishment. Most teachers have a general guideline of behaviors that we expect and pull up quickly when a student...
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“I am worried that some schools are simply spending thousands of dollars on...”
– Denise Jeffs, Australia | daily edventures
A thousand times: YES.
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12 Characteristics Of An iPad-friendly Classroom →
An awesome overview. I’ve included three below. Click through for the rest!
Assessment is…
Authentic (less academic) Seamlessly transfers to physical and digital domains of learner, with useful artifacts, products, and applications in the “real world”
Frequent & Formative (less intermittent and summative) A climate of assessment that yields simple data digestible to all...
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Five Ways to Bring Innovation Into the Classroom →
Here’s one:
1. INFUSE PASSION INTO LEARNING.
Nine Tenets of Passion-Based Learning. Educators who focus on integrating kids’ own interests and passions into the curriculum will see them flourish as learners. Educators can think about integrating such practices as showing relevance of what students are studying to life outside school, connecting with parents, and using digital media as a...
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Is a $675,000 fine for sharing 31 pirated songs... →
Yes. I hope that answers the question, but here’s an excerpt anyway:
Joel Tenenbaum is out of options. A Massachusetts District Court judge ruled the $675,000 fine levied against him is indeed appropriate and refused calls for a new jury trial, meaning the former Boston University graduate student will pay a staggering $21,774 for every song he shared over P2P networks.
The case has made...
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50 Creative Ways to Use Skype in Your Classroom →
Here are four:
Art crits:
Schedule time with professional artists and receive thorough crits about how to improve a piece. Because Skype allows for screen sharing, anyone working in digital media will appreciate the convenience!
Interviews:
Rather than a lecture, try hosting a Skype interview with professionals and – if the money’s right — game-changes happy to answer student questions.
...
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Back to School Tips for Parents and Teachers →
An interesting column. This piece of advice for teachers caught my eye:
This next tip is going to seem strange but I speak from experience. Purchase refuse and recycling containers with lids. One year, I had a little boy who would get physically sick every day after lunch. Since we had math right after lunch, we thought perhaps he was riddled with math anxiety. He loved school and was always...
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One small death for man,
One giant loss for mankind.
gildahmesh asked: Don't compromise your values and beliefs for somebody, friend or lover. If they love you and care about you, they won't push. If they push after you've already said no, walk away. Have fun but put your studies above all else. Remember, you're paying for this round.
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103 Things to do Before/During/After Reading →
miss-teacher:
Pantomime a scene you choose or the class calls out to you while up there.
Dramatic monologue for a character in a scene: what are they thinking/feeling at that moment—why?
Dramatic monologue for a character while they are out of the book: where are they? why? thinking?
Business Card Book: write the story in the most compelling way you can on paper the size of a business...
nigeltherobot asked: Don't let the outer dictate your inner. Do the opposite.
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What advice would you give to incoming college...
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“The project relies upon a sophisticated analysis by powerful computers of...”
– Romney Campain Uses Secretive Data Mining
I don’t mean to be political. This is just very scary stuff.
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Short Video Suggestions For Meeting Openings (with... →
Exactly what it says :o)
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Daily Walkthroughs with Google Apps and the iPad →
I love novel uses of an iPad like this. Click through for more, and a demo form he uses:
One of the mandates for high school principals in the School District of Philadelphia is to give more frequent written feedback to teachers based on the teaching and learning we see on a daily basis on our walk-throughs. It is one of those mandates that is pretty much indefensible in theory, but the devil,...
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What's one book would you require every teacher to...
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