Dr. "TKA" Kulla-Abbott's List: Educational Leadership

Teacher Learning

Brain Friendly Learning

[ "http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/rmfYsOfIDhkrAYfCyZdwfCDVbc?format=standard"style ]More states are moving toward 21st-century curriculum
■ An increasing number of states have pledged to incorporate more 21st-century skills in the classrooms. Under the Partnership for 21st Century Skills initiative, districts aim to improve their standards in educational technology to engage students in lessons and improve their skills in information literacy, critical thinking and problem solving. [ http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/rmfYsOfIDhkrAYfCyZdwfCDVbc?format=standard ]eSchool News (6/22)

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"If you could reinvent the American education system, what would you do? It's a question we think about a lot here at Google. This week we're exploring possibilities with Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age, a forum organized in cooperation with The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and Common Sense Media, with the support of the MacArthur Foundation. This event will bring together 200 of the nation’s thought leaders in science and technology, informal and formal education, entertainment media, research, philanthropy and policy to design a strategy for scaling up effective models of teaching and learning for children, with an emphasis on technology. The forum will showcase new research, proven and promising education innovation models to challenge decision-makers to refresh and reboot American global leadership in education.
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"Presentation and workshop documents


During the last six or so years I have created a number of 'how-to' documents and presentations for a variety of web based and related technologies. They are available from the various workshop web pages however I thought it might prove helpful to link to all the documents from a single page. Some of my workshop participants have referred to these documents as 'cheat sheets'.
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"DecideAlready leverages the web to make it simple for organizations and groups to come to a decision about anything in a timely manner. "

"Solve your problems step-by-step
What's your problem? "

Teacher Behaviors Communicate Expectations

Robert Marzano's, The Art and Science of Teaching
Chapter 9: What Will I Do to Communicate High Expectations for All Students?

Summary:

In this second-to-last chapter (wow—in the home stretch, readers!) Marzano summarizes the extensive research on this topic and recommends five action steps that walk the teacher through her expectations of her students, examination of the interactions with those students that result, and corrective actions to take if necessary.

"How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class
When students let their minds drift off, they're losing valuable learning time. Here are ten smart ways to increase classroom participation.
by Tristan de Frondeville
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Illio of a boy thinking in his own bubble in class
Credit: William Duke

Have you ever plunked yourself down in a staff meeting where some of your colleagues were, for lack of a better phrase, not paying attention? Grading homework? Having private conversations? Texting?

As we know all too well, kids aren't a whole lot different than adults: If they aren't absorbed by what's going on, they'll find something else that interests them.

Getting all your students focused, eager, and on task at the beginning of class is challenging enough. Equally problematic, once you have them locked in to the lesson, is watching them zone out. There's nothing unusual about that. After all, anyone who has to sit through a long routine -- including a teacher's presentation -- is bound to drift off at some point.

Still, unless you manage to capture and keep students' focus, whether at the beginning of or midway through class, the engine of student learning that you are trying to drive simply isn't even in gear. "

"PISA: It's Poverty Not Stupid

"There are three kinds of lies; lies, damn lies, and statistics."--Mark Twain

The release of the 2009 PISA results this past week has created quite a stir and has provided ample fodder for public school bashers and doomsayers who further their own philosophical and profit-motivated agendas by painting all public schools as failing. For whatever reason, these so-called experts, many of whom have had little or no actual exposure to public schools, refuse to paint an accurate picture of the state of education.

Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, should be providing the nation with a proper vision and focus for public education. He knows our challenges all too well. He confirmed that he gets it when he recently wrote me saying, "We must build a culture nationally where great educators ... choose to work with children and communities who need the most help." I believe his message is sincere and heartfelt and it is spot on. However, overstating a problem in order to increase the sense of urgency around school improvement is just as bad as understating the problem. "

"The New Humanism"