Ecology of Education

One hundred forty characters, times 100 people, times 10 posts per day, and multiplied by the number of pages on the internet (at least 7), equals Unlimited Possibilities for professional development at best and mundane hyperactivity bordering on incoherence at worst.  Twitter can be both and neither. The truth is, on the surface, Twitter sounds […]

Sir Ken Robinson spent a considerable amount of time at Monday’s ASCD’s Annual Conference General Session talking about Elvis (did anyone else realize The King wasn’t allowed in Glee Club?!), but his vision for the future was, by no means, lost in the past. With the deftness of an experienced presenter confident with his subject […]

What’s the problem with P21? Ken Kay, Amie Ciluffo Larson, Kathy Welling, and Dr. Harvey Dean make for nice window dressing, concept wise. Their Framework makes for a compelling model, but the criticism (here and here) stands to stall its momentum. Why? For some reason the skills P21espouses come across as empty calories. People like the ideas, but […]

Web 2.0 for younger students: Glogster For younger kids use the “edu” version for elementary.  Use plain old dot com for standard teenage angst. Weebly Free website design that students can use to do a bit o’ blogging. Simply Box Cool tool for grabbing pieces of sites and compiling them. Kerpoof Site for creating animated […]

A few notes from Carol Ann Thomlinson’s presentation on defensible differentiation. Flexible grouping: by Readiness, Interest, and Learning Profile by Group or Make up (student similarities, size, variance) by Teacher Choice, Student Choice, or at Random Thomlinson recommends creating Pre-Assigned “Standing” Groups (by color, by hours on a clock, etc.).  “Meet up with your _________ group.” […]

What is differentiated instruction (DI) according to Carol Ann Tomlinson, professor of education at University of Virginia? “Differentiation is teaching with planned responsiveness to learner needs in order to ensure maximum growth of each learner in — and hopefully beyond — essential learning outcomes.” 12 Non-negotiables of Defensible DI: Teacher-kid connections An environment that is a […]

Sarah Martabano and Linda Brandon‘s presentation on using Web 2.0 to differentiate in the classroom had the potential to do one of three things for participants: Open the floodgate of excitement for the myriad options (go2web20.net). Open the floodgate of fear of the unfathomable options (go2web20.net). Paralyze with options (go2web20.net). For those already in the know about Web […]

During the course of Greg Mortenson’s winding tale of his journey from a childhood in Africa to international builder of schools he asks the question, “Why is education so hard to sell?” Dr. Carter, Executive Director of ASCD, supplies the hard truth of it: Even through research shows a return of 8-10 dollars for every […]

Moving toward a goal seems quite intuitive. Toddlers demonstrate profound awareness of this concept daily. “I want to pet (i.e. manhandle) that cat up there. With a chair, a box, and a bit of climbing, I can. Go-go Gadget Toddler-Ingenuity.” Ideally, we move beyond this form of immediate gratification to a more complex, intentional set […]

After attending a session on Professional Learning Communities,  presented by Mark Greenfelder and Mark Merrell (powerpoint pdf here), I’m left wondering about the flexibility of those communities.  With words like “craft, collaboration, and formative assessment”, I’m sold.  However, I find myself nervous about the focus on data, data, data. How can PLC’s be utilized to meet […]

Yvette Jackson, CEO of National Urban Alliance, opens her session, titled Transforming Urban Classrooms Through Strengths: Making Students Smart Again, with helping the audience to understand the disconnect between students’ lives and what goes on in the classroom.  How do many inner city students think about content? “You guys are talking about 1779, but this is today.” She […]

The sprawling convention center, with its vast ceilings and long, imperial halls, hints at the grandness of this conference. At first glance, the conference attendees seem both daunted and entranced by the size and scope, not just of the space, but of the conference ambition.  With hundreds of options for professional development, ASCD continues to […]

This weekend I’ll be posting blogs from the ASCD Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. Just looking at the incredible array of sessions and presenters I find myself feeling like a kid in a candy shop, a climber in Yosemite, a Trekkie on the deck of the Starship Enterprise, or a dog in a fire hydrant factory. Anyone […]