July 2009 Blog Posts (175)

" Ten Truths for Teachers" : A Reflective Classroom Teacher 19

Ten Truths for Teachers

1. There is a power in my life greater than myself. I have an obligation to seek direction from that power.

2. If you don’t like flowers don’t plant flowers and if you don’t love children don’t try and teach them. Please leave the teaching profession. You are eventually going to do more harm than you are good. Not everyone can be a teacher even thought the pay we receive for our services, contradicts that statement.

3. In spite of all of your efforts, some… Continue

Added by Ronald Bovill on July 21, 2009 at 7:42am — No Comments

What's the problem?

Developing a problem statement. Looking for a direction for my ARP. I would like to focus on developing metcognitive skills using technology.

Problem statement breakdown.

Suggestions are welcomed and encouraged!

Added by Don Robinson on July 21, 2009 at 7:40am — No Comments

"What is new in education?" :A Reflective Classroom Teacher 18

In the day, collaborative learning was something the students did while the teacher worked with some other child who was in need. One has only to research the techniques of the one room country school teacher, to realize that much of what is new has been around for such a long time. We continue to reinvent the wheel, when at time, small improvements would suffice.

The teacher across the hall knew some things and so did the one next to us and we shared what worked and threw out what didn’t.… Continue

Added by Ronald Bovill on July 21, 2009 at 7:37am — No Comments

I smell the future!!

In the war of digital vs. paper books, it looks like the paper tigers actually keep packing punches no one might have quite suspected they held in their arsenal. 8 tracks buckled like an accordion at the sight of cassette players. VHS tapes folded like a beach chair at the sight of DVD's. But paper books, what have they done as the digital enemy intruder sought to encroach upon their territory?

Simply fire back more shots across the bow than anyone might have expected they… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 21, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Costco Pairs With Gazelle for Old Tech Trade-Ins

I hadn’t heard this yet. What a great idea. Not in small part because it’s difficult to get rid of old computer monitors and CPUs. Thanks, Costco.

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

Last week, Costco quietly rolled out a new partnership with Web site Gazelle to encourage its legions of discount shoppers to trade in their old… Continue

Added by Jacqui Murray on July 20, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Media Technology and Educational Technology Retreat

Dickens' Tale of Two Cities starts: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…" This type of dichotomy mirrors how I feel about cyberspace. It is seriously the best and the worst. It is hard to imagine how we got along before the Internet. The Internet changed Information literacy the way the industrial revolution changed domestic production. It is amazing to have unlimited knowledge just a click away. I have been involved in a… Continue

Added by Susan Huff on July 20, 2009 at 8:55am — 3 Comments

Internet resources for teaching students with special needs

This week I begin a series of posts focused on web based tools and resources for educators who work with students with special needs.

My first challenge is to determine what sorts of categories of “special needs” I will investigate. There seem to be endless groupings and subgroupings of special needs and learning disabilities. After researching and discussing it with some colleagues, I have settled on the following special needs areas to look into over the next few weeks (I… Continue

Added by Kelly Walsh on July 20, 2009 at 8:30am — No Comments

" Teachers are our heroes." :A Reflective Classroom Teacher 17

Highly effective teachers have always been our heroes. They are always quick to respond to the needs of others, especially ours needs. Without their counsel and encouragement, the journey into teaching would have been so much more difficult, if not impossible. If we have achieved any creditability as teachers, it is because of the feedback of our peers. Our peers taught us to do things in the classroom that were yet to be researched because they were effective.

We are reminded that before… Continue

Added by Ronald Bovill on July 20, 2009 at 8:01am — No Comments

"Flowers and Children":A Reflective Classroom Teacher 15

Shared thoughts of Dr. Jane Ziebarth/Bovill

I retreated to my parent’s farm and my mother’s garden for most of that first summer away from teaching. I was determined to become an effective teacher. I needed time to collect my thoughts and to contemplate the vast amount of educational research that I had purchased to read during my twelve-week hiatus away from school.

I have always found a peace in gardening that I cannot duplicate with any other setting. My fondest memories have been… Continue

Added by Ronald Bovill on July 20, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Facebook Makes Me Feel Like a Wee Bit of a Jerk

I can't say I am the biggest fan of Facebook. Maybe I am just from a different era, whatever. And not to sound like a snob (I know, too late for that, right?), but I can't say that I am all that into striking up really long social network conversations with people I only kind of knew as bare associates 20 years ago. But ever since I joined Facebook once upon a time ago, I get all these "remember me" notes that seem to require 15-20 minutes of thoughtful written response if I am going… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 20, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

Are librarians leaders in collaboration and professional development?

Started a teacher librarian program in July. Amazed at all I have learned in a few weeks. Class discussion centers around how teacher librarians should be leaders in technology use through collaboration and professional development within their schools. In your experience are the librarians leaders in technology, collaboration, and PD? I already have much to share, but I don't want teachers to tune the message out. What approach works best to convince teachers the web tools interactive features… Continue

Added by Ann Knipper on July 19, 2009 at 3:10pm — 2 Comments

the oldest profession in the world...

Yesterday we had a fundraiser for our Lego Robotics team - it was a car wash at a local bank. I donned my shorts, team t-shirt, swim shoes and a visor and got excited about raising enough money for an educational kit and field kit. The kids were eager to hold up their car wash signs and I volunteered to be the adult- to supervise the kids by the busy street.

It was fun trying to get people to wave! Then we made a sign that said "Honk if you love Legos". The kids counted the number of… Continue

Added by Candace Townsley on July 19, 2009 at 7:45am — No Comments

Home School Software

Some friends of mine are going to try homeschooling and asked me for advise on computer programs to use for homeschooling. I found some Education software online, but I'd rather recommend something that others have used. Does anyone know of some good programs to recommend or sources to search through?

Thanks!

Lincoln B

Clarian health indianapolis… Continue

Added by Lincoln Builds on July 18, 2009 at 4:30pm — No Comments

" Our Preparation to Teach ":A Reflective Classroom Teacher 14

Our preparation to enter the teaching profession was good but it was just not complete. This was in no way the fault of the College of Education that we attended, nor was it through any fault of our own. The college perceived our needs as a first year teacher and presented it in a nicely packaged sequence of course work starting in our sophomore years. We were often told that we would learn more in our first year of teaching, about teaching, than we had in the past four years of college. This… Continue

Added by Ronald Bovill on July 18, 2009 at 8:00am — No Comments

Hybrid High School? k12 Online Learning Apps

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to share this video I created and posted on youTube this week. I created it to express my views and summarize the training I gave this week in Ellicottville, New York. I am a high school social studies teacher of at risk students and am using Moodle to turn my classroom into a hybrid course. I still see my kids the same number of days and my classroom really looks just as it did before. I have added an online component in Moodle and have basically extended… Continue

Added by Sue Palmer on July 18, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

Free Collaborative Platforms for Teachers Part 4 - the Wikis

Reposted from Meg's Notebook.

Wikis have become the tool of choice for many teachers, it provides an easy way to create web pages and to link them up, and allows one to do all this using a wysiwyg editor. And with the number of free wiki products available on the web, many of which now integrate social or widget elements to entice users and… Continue

Added by Meg H on July 17, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

Launch! Forty Years of Space Exploration

Forty years ago yesterday, Apollo 11, the spacecraft that would put the first man on the moon, took off from Cape Kennedy, Florida. On Wednesday, just the day before the anniversary of this historic launch, another space shuttle, the Endeavour, broke through earth's atmosphere, this time to further construction of the International Space Station.

America's exploration of the interplanetary unknown really began in 1957, the year that the Soviet Union launched the first artificial… Continue

Added by Erika Johansson on July 17, 2009 at 5:30pm — No Comments

"Not Another Theory Please": A Reflective Classroom Teacher 13

Before there were models for just about everything in education, there were teachers standing naked in front of their classes without so much as a hypotheses to cover themselves. Before there was stress management, there were teachers dealing with difficulties who did not have personal days for renewal. It was called being resourceful; being a teacher. The professional was, just that, professional. They had not yet learned how to surrender to self-pity and narcissistic burnout; effective… Continue

Added by Ronald Bovill on July 17, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Parellels between mobile devices in K-12 and post secondary

Participated yesterday in ACU's Exploring Mobile Learning Online Conference, spoke on mobility in K-12. http://www.acu.edu/technology/mobilelearning/conferences/online/index.html

It was interesting to learn that surveys of students at both levels had similar results. Students using mobile devices found learning more interesting and reported they were more engaged in learning. Another reason to listen to our students...

Added by Susan Wells on July 17, 2009 at 9:01am — No Comments

Sneaking Down the Stairs

I just caught my ten year old son sneaking down the stairs, trying to surprise me this morning. He likes to do that once in a while. He'll wake up, come down as quietly as possible, see if I'm on the computer and then crawl as far as he can without being caught. He DOES know, however, NOT to jump up and yell "Surprise!" at me after doing that ONCE. Now he just quietly announces his arrival with a "Good morning, Mom," and a hug.

Hmmm.... I really need to savor these… Continue

Added by Michelle TeGrootenhuis on July 17, 2009 at 8:32am — No Comments