February 2013 Blog Posts (72)

Found this on Pinterest as well! What a cute idea for art supplies!

Check this website out! Found this picture on Pinterest as well. The "Wonder Wall" is a great way to encourage learning and promote students to ask questions.

Click Me!

Click Me! This is a cute blog I found online while browsing Pinterest! Lots of creative ideas and DIY projects in the classrooms!

Who Influences You?

When my clients start working with me to gain the objectives of improving their lives, one of my first questions is. “How many people have direct influence over your life, such as your spouse, children, friends, relatives, etc.? Asking this question lays down a specific directive for my client to assess.

It’s natural that you would care what your loved ones think. These are the same…

I am worried that educators miss the true meaning of assessment like missing the true meaning of Christmas.

Giving a "test" isn't about devising a 50 question multiple choice, fill-in the blank, short answer, and extended response on paper using a pencil. It isn't using a bank of test questions to deliver the test online and send results to students via email. Testing isn't about having student memorize facts to regurgitate and then say that they have learned. Testing, really…

Collaboration is extremely different on a wiki than in an actual classroom!  It is challenging enough to teach students how to collaborate and all have a part in activities within the classroom, but online presents even more challenges.  First, I found it very difficult, mostly due to my lack of knowledge, to even set up the wiki properly.  I googled and youtubed it and still had trouble.  Then, because I fell behind in getting it properly set up, I had trouble connecting with others to…

This rubric was used to assess the 1st Grade Kite Project.  kite%20project%20assessment.docx

It can also be found at:  Wikispaces

Kathryn Lewter and I worked together on this project.  I divided my 1st grade class into three groups.  They had to work collaboratively within their group to construct a kite.  Parents were allowed to help. 

Check out our link at:  Challenge 8

Go to Pages and Files to find each groups work.

I found this wonderful site that contains rubrics for assessing many different technologies such as tweets, threads, wikis, presentations and even blogs.  Hope you will enjoy it as well.  http://www.schrockguide.net/assessment-and-rubrics.html

I invite you to comment on my wiki for Challenge 9. Also, I want to thank the website's creator, Kathy Schrock for being so open to share with other…

I would think that the best assessments for technology would be the outcome of their task or project. Wow! I looked at Prezi, how awesome! Much more than just a PowerPoint presentation. As educators, we sometimes to think that the digital natives know everything already. We do have to really teach them how to use the technology. They are savvy when it comes to click and find, but not as much when it comes to saving, editing, and linking. I have a fifth grade class, they can make a…

Differences between cooperation and collaboration? Cooperative and collaborative learning have been used in the educational arena interchangeably and with one another for quite some time. Yet, they are very different very different from one another when we begin to dig and research. I found that cooperative learning, which is something I do regularly in my own classroom, is most often accomplished in a small group setting. In this type of teaching arrangement, children work together on the…

The three R’s of global collaboration are receive, read, and respond. When we are working in a collaborative environment we should make sure that we are able to receive the information that should. We should check to make sure that the sender’s email is not sent to a spam folder. In whitelisting, we give senders the privilege of sending us important information regarding projects. We may also want to communicate with those who set up our email delivery systems to let them know of specific…

I have just started a Blog for Special Education Teachers. I would like anyone to visit and post any new ideas they have found for helpign students with autism of other disabilities.

Thanks, Tina

Every Friday on Twitter, Tweeters will make recommendations based on their personal experience of exceptional people to follow on Twitter. As an educator, if I follow those recommendations I will almost certainly improve the quality and quantity of tweets I get on education since educators are the people who I follow for my own Personal Learning Network. Each of these tweets of recommendation will be tagged with the telltale hashtag #FF. This identifies them as such a recommendation and…

As we already know, a gap exists between what we know and what we do.  Successful educators work to narrow this gap between new ideas and implementation.  However, I believe the size of this gap does not necessarily indicate one’s success.  Some educators are terrific at executing what all they know how.   The problem is, their pedagogy is…

I recently added myself to the Twitter nation as a newbie.  I never saw the value in posting trivial information about this and that, but when my current professor required us to get on Twitter and use it to our advantage, I was pleasantly surprised. I don't use Twitter to update my followers on my recent 7-11 visit or my latest viewing of The Vampire Diaries," but rather I use it to keep updated on the latest teaching practices.  This afternoon I joined the #edchat forum for tuesdays.  I…

Lecture ain’t learnership

A common problem among educators is the need to be the expert at everything. Perhaps this stems from the early days of U.S. education where the teacher had to know everything, yet the educators I work with – awesome dedicated people – still have the wit about them to be experts.  A person who has a focus in one area of study can be an expert.  I think of scientists or doctors for instance. Many have a single focus which drives…

here is a survey showing how choice-rich classrooms motivate students

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED504816&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED504816

http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/02/11/throw-out-rules-and-consequences-and-let-your-classroom-manage-itself/

I really enjoyed this article! The classroom that Mark is describing sounds incredibly successful and enjoyable for students. Students should be able to be in an environment where they are free to hold discussions, feel comfortable talking…