August 2012 Blog Posts (33)

I have been consulting with districts for the last few years regarding the need for incorporating social media into daily instruction. We, as a connected community, have heard all the truths as to why and why not use this mode of teaching. As we are famous for doing in education, we list out these truths and then pick the ones that best meet the needs of some group. I say some group here as there are times when the truth that we as individual teachers or administrators may focus in upon are not… Continue

Are you looking for FUN new ideas as your plan your back-to-school curriculum? I've been working on lots of new resources and {FREEBIES} to share with my PLN!

Check out my newest blog posts at http://msjordanreads.com:

Amazing Author Studies!…

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Facts About Packaging

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As the new year approaches, it's worth re-examining one or more of the core ideas behind Room613. I have written in previous newsletters of my vision of Room613 as more than just a place where kids can take classes, but as a "virtual learning community." One system that can help create this ideal of the learning community is called the "Personal Learning Network." 

Just what is a PLN? Personal Learning Networks, which have become very trendy, are described by Wikipedia as…

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I am gathering feedback from teachers about technology. Please take a few minutes to contribute your perspective and pass this along to your teacher friends. http://tinyurl.com/9xwobgl

Much appreciated

www.drgentile.blogspot.com

Yeah! It's Connected Educator Month!

After reading numerous articles and tweets over the past year, I am getting an idea. An idea, that may be a misconception on my part. Is there a belief that teachers who are passionate about tweeting and/or…

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Watching the Olympics has been a mixture of admiration and frustration. Like many Americans, I was caught by the story of 15-year-old swimmer Katie Ledecky who is the same age of many of my students. At 11:00 PM Friday night, there was engaging hype leading up to her 800 meter freestyle event. The NCB sports commentator noted, "The race will be about eight minutes," before the digital buzz sent the line of swimmers simultaneously into the pool. By the end of the first two minutes, Ledecky…

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A short time ago I attended a meeting where members of a college English department were doing a presentation to the faculty about their writing program. As I listened to about a 30-minute presentation of the types of writing required by this program, it became obvious to me that two words in this presentation of a college writing program were never uttered. They were two words that as an educator I come in contact with almost every day. Two words that have changed the way information is…

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Last week, I walked through the halls of a Boston area Jewish day school. The rooms had most of their belongings filling boxes in the hall, as the rooms were probably were being readied for a fresh coat of paint. The rooms were dark, and nobody was around. A thought ran through my head, which struck me as somewhat odd as I considered it. I thought, as I peered into the empty rooms, how strange that kids are expected to come every day to these little rooms, and sit there and learn.…

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