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Learning and Laptops: A Learning Adventure
Great discussion everyone. I’m going to refrain (for now, and for once) from addressing Gary’s question directly, but I noticed several references to math class and math in general that I wanted you guys to think a little more about. As one example, carolineb2012 wrote "In math there is one answer and one answer only."(I’m not meaning to pick on carolineb, I think she just stated it the most succinctly.) I’m curious if all of you agree with that.
I’d ask you to consider two examples.
1. Global Climate Change – this is one humongous math problem. What’s the one right answer?
2. For folks that would argue that’s not relevant because it’s too “big” of a problem and we don’t address those in school (which is a rant for another time), here’s a simpler one. Multiple choice, even.
2 + 2 = ?
A. 4
B. 10
C. 11
D. All of the above.
E. None of the above.
If you choose to answer that one, I’d ask that you simply state your answer without explanation until everyone has had a chance to think about it.
Keep up the great discussion – I know I’m learning from it.
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Michele's CIT blog: Retake a Quiz? No problem!
So it's really assessment at it's best? You get an idea of where they're at, and it actually helps them learn. Sounds good to me.
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Weblogg-ed » Back to School
@Christian I have to (have to, I say!) disagree with one thing you said - that you weren't hired to be a change agent. I think that's exactly what you were hired to be.
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Maximizing Our Time with Students « JustRead!
Good point. I should've mentioned in the blog post that we offer to any students that need it to copy the podcasts to a flash drive or CD (for use on a computer), or we'll burn them a DVD (to play on a plain old DVD player). We're lucky enough that pretty much 100% of our kids do have computers at home, and pretty much all of them have Internet access as well.
But even for schools that aren't so lucky, I gotta think there's almost 100% penetration of DVD players in students' homes (and, if not, we could pick up a few $20 ones and distribute if we had to). (Our students also have unscheduled time at school that they can choose to use to view the podcasts if they wish.)
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BH's Weblog o' blog: What am I doing?
Give it some time, Brian. We've fixed the projector problem. I think you've solved the Bluetooth problem. The technology will all come together just fine with time.
The more important question is whether it's working better for students, and that will take time to tell as well. Plus, we will adjust and tweak as it goes along to hopefully make it better. Give yourself some time. Remember, Nobelium wasn't created in a day . . .
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» An Open Letter to Teachers Bud the Teacher
Nice. Very Nice.
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The Fischbowl: Questions for Senators Obama and McCain
@Jude – Perhaps something more along the lines of, “Explain your views on why school libraries are important? What do you think school libraries should look like and why?”
@Nate Barton – I like the creativity angle. I wonder if the other part of your comment might also spur an interesting question, something along the lines of: “Everyone is talking about making students ‘college ready,’ yet the undergraduate degree appears to be becoming more and more irrelevant. Do you believe the college degree, as currently conceived, is still relevant and, if so, explain why?
@Dr. B.A. – I’m thinking you’d get talking points on that one.
@FCPS – Nice. I, too, wonder how a system that is designed on 2, 4 and 6 year election cycles can address long-term solutions to complicated issues.
@Ben Nuebel – Hey, how’s it going? Great questions, but I also think those would elicit the canned talking points on alternative energy.
@Mike – Might be the best question yet.
@Ian – Interesting and relevant, but I wonder about the implicit assumption that those from the top third of their classes would automatically be better teachers.
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The Fischbowl: Google Maps, Google Earth and the Summer Games
@dan - Thanks. How about "Rank the countries by medals won per budget amount spent on training Olympic athletes?"
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“They have more honors kids than we have kids.” - By the Numbers - Opinion - New York Times Blog
Thanks for the kind words. If folks want to know more about the presentation, including seeing Version 2.0 and other remixes, they can visit the Shift Happens wiki.
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Digital Ethnography » Blog Archive » “An anthropological introduction to YouTube” video of Library of Congress presentation
Very nice. You are helping all of us get a better handle on "networked individualism" and the power (and challenges) of these new communities.
Would you be willing to post the text of your "Little Glass Dot" poem? I know I can listen enough times and write it down, but if you have it . . .
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The Fischbowl: Should We Be Teaching This in "Social Studies?"
@etalbert - Thanks for the Aussie "history" lesson. It's good to learn that we're all thinking about these issues.
@barbara - I have been working on my mind reading skills, thanks for noticing. I predict that right now you're wondering if I'm going to answer your reading list question. I'm not, but simply because I need to think about it some more. Because it's fresh in my mind, I think Here Comes Everybody would be on that list, as well as several of our favorite bloggers.
Looking forward to that hug.
@justread - Thanks for the link - looks interesting, and I'll pass along to some of our Language Arts teachers. I definitely agree that this discussion doesn't belong just in Social Studies classes, it cuts across departmental lines. But, given the disconnected and subject-specific approach that typifies many of our current high schools, "social" studies seems (to me) to be the discipline where it most fits as a topic of academic study.
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Syers' Blog: Thinking About...Group Work
There's a lot of great research on effective group work out there, I'm sure Ray and Melissa could hook you up with some of it if you want to go that route.
And, while I think learning how to work effectively in groups is of vital importance, I think your second point is spot on - it has to be meaningful and relevant group work, and they have to know that they are ultimately responsible for their own learning.
The group grading part is a tricky area, but I think it's one we have to think more about. I was just listening to someone the other day who talked about how our metrics aren't matching up with some of our values. That we value collaboration and the importance of teams and organizations to accomplish more collectively than we can individually, yet we still measure our educational success using tests of individuals working alone.
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Syers' Blog: Biology, Art, & A Better Classroom
I agree, we need much more imagery in our lessons, as well as much more directed inquiry on the parts of our students. I read a book this summer titled Brain Rules that really reinforced how important it is to include visuals in our instruction, so you're on the right track.
I think Dan Meyer (dy/dan) would suggest that you need to make sure your visuals are tied fairly close to your curriculum and what you are wanting your students to learn and understand. Your first example can be tied pretty closely to learning the scientific method, which I presume is something you'd like them to learn. The second example seemed a little more loose, so I would make sure you had something a little more definite in mind when using that - or other - images.
For all my railing against too much curriculum that has to be covered, you do want to make sure that there's a purpose behind each of these visuals. Dan is constantly looking at visuals and thinking about how they relate to his content and what he wants his students to understand. While I'm not quite as big on the content as he is, I still think that's important. Start looking at images and situations and see how they can relate to the essential learnings you want kids to get, and then I think they will connect nicely. Much like you've been seeing letters in images everywhere, I think you can begin to see Biology in images everywhere.
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When does Average Joe become Joe Expert? - Teach42
Hmm, I thought people always went out in a blaze of glory . . .
Yes, I think it’s very interesting how the concept of expert appears to be changing somewhat (well, at least for some folks). I now fairly regularly get asked to do speaking engagements – and it still surprises the heck out of me. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think I have something to add to the conversation, but I find it interesting that because of my blogging – and the Presentation That Shall Not Be Named – I’m apparently considered an “expert” – or at least someone worth listening to (and , even more amazingly, worth paying to come be listened to) – even though I don’t think I have the “qualifications” to be considered an expert (nor do I consider myself one).
I’ve said yes to a few speaking engagements, but no to probably five for every one I’ve said yes to. I think what I have to talk about is very important, but most of the time I think I’m not a particularly good fit for the audience, or that due to the setup I wouldn’t get a chance to really accomplish anything of value. I often think that there are probably many folks in the audience that do know more than I do about the topic, but I guess I hope that perhaps I spur them to do a little bit more with what they do know and take action. In the end, I’m not sure if it matters that much if someone is an expert or not (at least in the areas we’re talking about), as long as they are able to further the conversation and make a difference for our students
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» Web Presence. On Purpose. Bud the Teacher
A lot to think about here, but I only have time for a quick comment.
You said "Luckily, I’ve got plenty of smart folks here to learn from and with. We should all be so lucky." Well, in many ways, given our ability to create, join or even just passively observe learning networks, aren't we all so lucky?
Oh, also wanted to mention how pleased I am that you've been blogging again the last month or two.
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The Fischbowl: World Book's 21st Century Research Skills
@Bill - Yes, your thoughts definitely make sense. Although I would quibble with one point - I think we always should've been teaching our students to look for bias, even when we supposedly had better validation.
I think a lot of our issues in this new information landscape stem from all of us assuming for a long time that "respectable" sources have been giving us correct and unbiased information. I'm not suggesting any conspiracy theories here, just that bias is a natural part of this and we should be alert to it.
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What am I teaching?
Just a tip, never assume when blogging that you don't have an audience. Good luck on your paper.
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A GeekyMomma's Blog: What Posts Stimulate Readers To Comment?
I’ve given up predicting which posts are going to receive comments. I agree with you Lee, some of the posts that I like the best don’t receive comments, while others I thought were barely worth posting received a ton. You won’t be surprised that the most commented on posts were Did You Know? and Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? (hmm, maybe the key is to put a question mark in the title).
One of the posts I like the best that only received a few comments was 2020 Vision on DesignShare, but that’s partially because it included things that I’d already posted. But at the time it brought a few things together for me and I was surprised at the lack of comments. And there have been other posts that haven’t received any comments that I really liked as well. I think different ideas resonate differently with different folks, and I think that’s a good thing.
For me, all comments are still pretty much a surprise because, in the end, I think I mostly blog for myself anyway (shh, don't tell anyone). It’s a way to help myself think more deeply about issues, a kind of forced personal staff development. When I get comments, it’s a bonus, because it adds to my thinking and hopefully indicates that perhaps my thinking has helped someone else.
As far as commenting on my own blog, I recently wrote this on a post on Carolyn’s Foote’s blog:
For me, commenting on my own blog is a tricky thing. Part of me feels like I’ve had my initial say in the post, so I try to let the conversation play out a little bit in the comments before I jump in. I worry that if I reply too often, then it runs the risk of me controlling the conversation.
This is particularly true for my blog, since it was initially setup as a place to continue the conversations in my staff development efforts. I wanted the teachers in my staff development - as well as others that might drop by - to be able to drive the conversation somewhat, so I tried only to reply when asked a direct question (or when I just couldn’t stand it). Ironically,
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The Fischbowl: The Need for Textbooks
@lgaffney - I wasn't implying that kids shouldn't read text in paper form. But I see very little evidence that textbooks have much educational merit. Take this article, for example.
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The Fischbowl: RPI and The Shift
@jacquio - It sounds like you know quite a lot about engineering education - I'd love to hear more (although it's a little depressing if what you said is accurate).
@diane - thanks for sharing that story. I can't help but think that something like the GI bill - with that scope and scale - would be impossible in today's climate. I know there are proposals that purport to be like a GI bill, but I don't think they come close to matching the ambitious goals and implementation of the original.
@lori - I was surprised as well that RPI didn't require a second language, but I wonder how many students take one anyway? And I agree, often it's not really learning the language that's important, but the history and the culture of the countries where it's spoken.
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