Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Wow...how did we get to Christmas so fast? Here's wishing you and yours have a restful, wonderful holiday. Just a reminder that we will be meeting next Wed. January 6, 2010, to discuss Chap. 2 Making the Shift and Chap. 3 Crammed Classroom Computers of Disrupting Class.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Disrupting Class
On page 29, I find it interesting how the author had laid out all of the ways people/students learn and then asked the question "why do schools standardize the way they teach and test?"
This questions should not and could not be answered by teachers, we want to/and do teach other ways, we want our students to be successful, but when March rolls around, our students lose that opportunity to show us what they've learned in their own way and they have to show us on a test that carries a lot of weight on it....I think the people who should be answering these questions are the ones who upholds these rules! And I think they owe our students the explanation!
This questions should not and could not be answered by teachers, we want to/and do teach other ways, we want our students to be successful, but when March rolls around, our students lose that opportunity to show us what they've learned in their own way and they have to show us on a test that carries a lot of weight on it....I think the people who should be answering these questions are the ones who upholds these rules! And I think they owe our students the explanation!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Blogging 101
Hopefully you all received invites to this blog. I'm still waiting for three or four of you to respond.
Wow...what a week it has been! Guidance has moved into the library and it all went smoothly. Eight of us now have our digs in the library (Robin is only here half the time and not at all on Wednesdays), nine if you count Deb Hardy who is here while a wall is being moved in her room. It's kind of fun.
See you this afternoon.
Wow...what a week it has been! Guidance has moved into the library and it all went smoothly. Eight of us now have our digs in the library (Robin is only here half the time and not at all on Wednesdays), nine if you count Deb Hardy who is here while a wall is being moved in her room. It's kind of fun.
See you this afternoon.
Friday, November 13, 2009
New Group Starts Wed., Nov. 18th
Our first meeting will be devoted to Twitter. In Twitter's own words...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Outliers, Final Meeting
We'll be finishing Outliers Wednesday, Oct 14, 2009. Where did the time go? I have really enjoyed the book and the lively discussions. The next book on the docket is Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, by Clayton Christenson. I'll get a reading schedule together and we'll start discussing it on October 21, 2009.
Mondays at noon, some folks who are Venango Chamber of Commerce members, the mayor, Chuck Mowery, Scott O'Donnell, Steph Schneider and I have been meeting to discuss Closing the Innovation Gap by Judy Estrin. We're working on setting up some School to Work experiences for students and teachers. Let's discuss it at the final meeting if you have any interest in this.
Mondays at noon, some folks who are Venango Chamber of Commerce members, the mayor, Chuck Mowery, Scott O'Donnell, Steph Schneider and I have been meeting to discuss Closing the Innovation Gap by Judy Estrin. We're working on setting up some School to Work experiences for students and teachers. Let's discuss it at the final meeting if you have any interest in this.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Outliers, Session Four, Oct. 7, 2009
We're almost there folks. Thanks so much for participating in the group. Hope you're getting as much out of the experience as I am.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
10,000 Hours, 2 Million Minutes, Project 720
720...the number of days we have to educate students from the time they enter ninth grade. 10,000 hours....the number of hours Gladwell says a person needs to spend doing something to achieve true greatness, world-class greatness doing that something. And what about 2 Million Minutes? Read about it....what do you think? Where does this leave us as educators?
Two Million Minutes: The Documentary (Running time: 54 minutes)
http://www.2mminutes.com
Regardless of nationality, as soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking. From that very moment the child has approximately -
…Two Million Minutes until high school graduation…Two Million Minutes to build their intellectual foundation…Two Million Minutes to prepare for college and ultimately career…Two Million Minutes to go from a teenager to an adult
How a student spends their Two Million Minutes - in class, at home studying, playing sports, working, sleeping, socializing or just goofing off -- will affect their economic prospects for the rest of their lives.
Two Million Minutes: The Documentary (Running time: 54 minutes)
http://www.2mminutes.com
Regardless of nationality, as soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking. From that very moment the child has approximately -
…Two Million Minutes until high school graduation…Two Million Minutes to build their intellectual foundation…Two Million Minutes to prepare for college and ultimately career…Two Million Minutes to go from a teenager to an adult
How a student spends their Two Million Minutes - in class, at home studying, playing sports, working, sleeping, socializing or just goofing off -- will affect their economic prospects for the rest of their lives.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Why Not Use Microsoft Live?
I used Blogspot.com instead of Microsoft Live because
- I didn't know if the Middle School folks would have access to Microsoft Live
- I haven't had time to figure out Microsoft Live yet, but I do know how to use Blogspot
Blogspot is Google based and I already use Google Documents, gmail, iGoogle, etc. It was the fastest and easiest at this point. Perhaps the blog for the next book will be a Microsoft Live blog.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Greetings!
Welcome to the OC Professional Development Reading Group blog. It is my hope to weave Web 2.0 applications into our reading group. One or two people wanted to be part of the group, but have other obligations scheduled at the time our group will be meeting. They will be posting to the blog in lieu of meeting face-to-face with the group. Anyone who has to miss a meeting may make a post to the blog in order to not lose credit for the half hour we meet face to face. As a matter of fact, I would like each member of the group to post regularly so that each person can learn how to use a blog. What do you think? Let's talk about it at the first meeting.
I think things are going remarkably well. I barely even notice the construction. Perhaps that is because even though the library is very, very retro, it still has a ceiling! Hope you're enjoying Outliers. See you Wednesday at 2:40 in the Senior High Library (that would be one of the only rooms with, ahem, a ceiling).
I think things are going remarkably well. I barely even notice the construction. Perhaps that is because even though the library is very, very retro, it still has a ceiling! Hope you're enjoying Outliers. See you Wednesday at 2:40 in the Senior High Library (that would be one of the only rooms with, ahem, a ceiling).
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