Sir Ken Robinson: Are schools killing creativity?

This is Sir Ken Robinson's well-known TED talk on changing educational paradigms--animated version! Wonder what E.D. Hirsch thinks of this...?  

Socratic Seminars: Discussion as a tool for learning

An Overview of the Socratic Method

This strategy guide explains Socratic seminars and offers practical methods for applying the approach in your classroom to help students investigate multiple perspectives in a text.

Mid-Year Job Posts for Teachers

My friend, Dr. Kate Kelly, has a helpful blog for teachers in the Twin Cities. Her most recent update takes you to links for job posts--a useful resource for those looking for mid-year jobs! Check out this and other information on TC2!

http://tc2teachertalk.blogspot.com/2012/12/job-opportunities.html

Speaking of Rick Wormeli... He's speaking in MN!

If you're free this Thursday and/or Friday, Rick Wormeli is speaking at the Minnesota Middle School Association's conference on December 6th and 7th in Bloomington.

Registration is discounted for students!

Here's information about the conference

Here's a link to Registration

AdLit.org

This is the resource I've referenced with great pre-made resources! By popular request:

http://www.adlit.org/

If it's worth assigning, it's worth getting done...

We will be viewing this video in class tonight. For more information on Rick Wormeli, check out the following links: https://twitter.com/RickWormeli http://www.stenhouse.com/html/authorbios_235.htm

Miracle Workers

"All I did was give you what you needed before you knew you needed it."

Fun with technology!

Here's the app Karen showed us!
http://www.explaineverything.com/

And the site Tom told us about for creating class videos:
http://www.educreations.com/

Why blog?

As I prepare to offer a staff development session for the teachers at my school on the benefits of blogging (which means your audience is about to get bigger as I'll be sharing our site with them!), I came across this post that reaffirms why we are using blogs as an instructional tool for our class.

Since you have participated as a student blogger, check out the list at the link below and see how many of the benefits of blogging that she lists apply to you!

What does student blogging exactly do?

Also, connected to the blog linked above is another blog Notes From McTeach that describes a lesson on teaching students how to blog before actually hitting the keyboard! I love this idea for scaffolding and direct instruction.

Literacy and Math

This week, I'm presenting literacy strategies to the math department at my school in response to the literacy needs they've observed in their students. In the process of researching, I've come across several resources I thought math teachers in EDUC 355/TEGR 585 might also enjoy!

https://sites.google.com/site/literacymath/home 

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/105137.aspx

http://teach.clarkschools.net/jbernhard/Literacy_Web/ContentAreaLiteracy/MathQ&A.pdf

http://www.dayofreading.org/DOR10HO/McDonald_Smith.pdf

http://www.mathsolutions.com/index.cfm?page=wp10&crid=154&contentid=519

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide.aspx?sid=16

http://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra/ck12-algebra-1/v/word-problem-solving-strategies

Teaching Portrayed on Televesion: What does Glee Get Right?

A fun blog post by Teaching Channel's Sarah Brown Wessling analyzing the ways in which the television show GLEE portrays teaching:

What does Glee Get Right?

Seven Keys to Effective Feedback

Here's a link to a new article by Grant Wiggins on providing effective feedback from ASCD's Educational Leadership journal.
Seven Keys to Effective Feedback

Wiggins also has a great blog! 
http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/

Tread softly on the dreams of others

Sometimes I treat myself to a TED talk while I sit at my desk and eat lunch, especially on days when I need to feel 'filled up' and want to combat the feeling of being drained of energy and resources.

You've likely seen Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk on how we kill creativity in education. I've seen it (and used it in presentations) dozens of times.

But I until lunch time today, I had never seen this TED talk of Sir Robinson's from 2010 about the learning revolution. Treat yourself to 18 minutes. You deserve it.

TEGR 585 Book Club Choices

I will discuss each of the four books choices in class tonight. After you've heard about them, please complete the survey by midnight on Sunday, September 23rd. Thank you!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Smartphone Apps for Teachers

50 Smartphone Apps Every Teacher Should Know

Welcome Fall 2012 UST Students!

Blogging. I know it's not new. In fact, some of you may be thinking, "Not another page to maintain!" or "Holy buckets, she wants me to publish my writing for all to see?!"

This is a course about literacy, after all.

At a minimum, your blog will be a personalized, professional space to document your learning experiences this semester. In addition, you now have an authentic audience--not only your instructor, but your classmates, as well. Eventually, you may decide to share your blog with family, friends, and classmates from other classes. Your blog might even evolve into more than reflections on your learning--links to educational resources, websites, videos, your own digital creations...the possibilities are literally endless. Could it become a site to share with your advisor, supervising teacher, potential employer? Maybe.

Or, it can simply be the space in which you reflect on your learning this semester. That's okay, too.

What Teachers Make - Text Version

Prezify your PPT Presentation

Interested in trying Prezi, but haven't checked it out yet? It can be overwhelming to create content in Prezi from scratch, but now, Prezi has the option to import existing PowerPoint presentations. 

What I like about this tutorial is that it shows you how Prezi can be a visual learning support for your students in addition to being an engaging presentation format. Similar to the function of graphic organizers, you can use Prezi to show the 'big picture' of how your content is organized and connected. Then, you can 'zoom' in for more detailed information.

Differentiating Instruction Using Learning Menus

Teaching Channel Video: Differentiating Instruction

Retakes, Redos, Do-overs: Enabling or Empowering?

I love the series of videos from teacher and author, Rick Wormeli. Here's one related to differentiation about the controversial topic of retakes, redos, and do-overs.
Link to Rick Wormeli's Video

Check out this link to learn more about Digital Citizenship
Several questions came up tonight about giving students the freedom to create and publish online. Here's a great article on teaching digital citizenship!

Engagement & Making the Right First Impression

In an attempt to address the unanswered questions you have about motivation, engagement, and classroom management, I came across this video by Michael Grinder. Grinder is the author of ENVoY and several other educational resources about the art of teaching.

This short video addresses the way teachers' non-verbals, in particular, hand motions, can make or break a first impression.

Things my hipster teacher says

I promise I discovered this site through a legitimate educational article on ASCD.org. With that said, it's pretty hilarious. Two high school students decided to create a blog (to which other high school students can contribute) capturing snippets of odd things their teachers say. It will make you chuckle and might make you think twice about the things that come out of your mouth when you're teaching! :)
Click the link: My Hipster Teacher

What does it mean to scaffold for students?

Watch this 5-minute video for a clearer understanding of gradual release of responsibility to enhance student learning and promote autonomy.

Taking a moderately sized jump off the cliff...

Blogging. I know it's not new. In fact, some of you may be thinking, "Not another page to maintain!" or "Holy buckets, she wants me to publish my writing for all to see?!"

This is a course about literacy, after all.

At a minimum, your blog will be a personalized, professional space to document your learning experiences this semester. In addition, you now have an authentic audience--not only your instructor, but your classmates, as well. Eventually, you may decide to share your blog with family, friends, and classmates from other classes. Your blog might even evolve into more than reflections on your learning--links to educational resources, websites, videos, your own digital creations...the possibilities are literally endless. Could it become a site to share with your advisor, supervising teacher, potential employer? Maybe.

Or, it can simply be the space in which you reflect on your learning this semester. That's okay, too.