October 2008 Blog Posts (121)

How Boys and Girls Learn Differently

At a primary school Manning, a small town 65 miles east of Columbia, South Carolina, second grade teachers Holly Garneau and Anna Lynne Gamble are convinced that segregating elementary-age boys and girls produces immediate academic improvement—in both genders.

Eager to capitalize on their past progress, the two created a teaching plan for the upcoming semester. The kids will be in a coed environment for homeroom, lunch, and recess, then divide up for four hours each day to learn… Continue

Added by Kevin Chilton on October 17, 2008 at 6:00am — 1 Comment

Formal V Informal

How do the formalities of teaching help build a learning community? What's more important in a school informal or formal learning? Can there be a balance between the two?

Some of my "big questions" right now - see more of my thinking on the matter in my blog post, "Formal V Informal"

Added by Mobbsey on October 17, 2008 at 5:44am — No Comments

Any help from someone familiar with interactive Whiteboards!

I am a University of Maryland College student. As part of a writing assignment I was asked to pick a subject that interests me and write a pitch about it. I chose interactive whiteboards. I was then asked to find a critical reader familiar with my topic to view and answer a few questions. My pitch appears below.

I would be interested in your opinion or ideas about my view of this topic. Please help me by answering the following brief questions.

Is the idea I have proposed a good… Continue

Added by Kelly Cook on October 16, 2008 at 7:05pm — 5 Comments

Mashup, current events, and the elections

My latest mashup is on news-related podcasts and the upcoming elections. I hope some of you can use these resources.

Please encourage everyone in your sphere of influence to vote this Nov.!

Added by Karen Fasimpaur on October 16, 2008 at 5:16pm — No Comments

Inspire. Do.

I found this Inspirational Image to be both interesting and "spot on." Darren Draper share a few others, but this one really resonates with me and a post I shared a while back — Stop Lurking and Do something! Blogging for me, is something that I decided to do a while back as a result of this — knowing is one thing, doing is something else. I think our… Continue

Added by John Costilla on October 16, 2008 at 8:00am — No Comments

2008 Final Presidential Debate Commentary About Education Reform

2008 Presidential Debate Final Commentary

Please provide feedback. Thank you in… Continue

Added by Rachel Armour on October 16, 2008 at 2:56am — No Comments

Sharing at State Education Association convention

I am looking forward to sharing with teachers during my session at tomorrow's State Education Association convention. My session is titled "Westbroek's Top Ten Internet Tools for 21st Century Skills." I plan to start the session by showing the video clip "A Vision of K-12 Students Today." It is possible that this will result in some teachers feeling slightly uncomfortable from what they see and hear. During the session, we will review 21st Century skills as defined by ISTE including both the… Continue

Added by Glen Westbroek on October 15, 2008 at 9:22pm — No Comments

The Power of Nintendo DS

For the past month I have been using a set of Nintendo DS systems within the Alternative Program class that I teach here at Boort Secondary College. The program is run during the normal scheduled French class and is aimed at improving the literacy and numeracy skills of the students. Each week we set time for a variety of activities including homework catchup and skill builders over a variety of subjects along with a double period working on a community or school based project. Across the… Continue

Added by Jarrod Robinson on October 15, 2008 at 7:30pm — 7 Comments

A Web 2.0 Halloween

Last night America, went out for weekly Tuesday meeting and so I had the kids at home to myself. After giving the critters their baths and getting them into their pjs, we got into the Halloween spirit. With that, we pulled out all the gear from the attic and decided to create a haunted hallway. The kids love making tents with blankets and such so we… Continue

Added by John Costilla on October 15, 2008 at 7:00am — No Comments

Building 21st Century Skills

Today’s life and work environments require far more than thinking skills and content knowledge. The ability to navigate the complex life and work environments in the globally competitive information age requires students to pay rigorous attention to developing adequate life and career skills.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is pleased to offer Route 21, a one-stop-shop for 21st century skills-related… Continue

Added by Kevin Chilton on October 15, 2008 at 4:00am — 2 Comments

What sort of workers should schools produce? Do I care?

Continue

Added by Gwyneth on October 14, 2008 at 5:47pm — 3 Comments

Video to go

Brightcove.tv has released Platform 3, the latest of their online video distribution service. Read the complete review by Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins from Mashable. Improved publishing system and media management tools… Continue

Added by John Costilla on October 14, 2008 at 8:12am — No Comments

Fund-MyEducation – College Scholarships

Scholarships can come from different sources and have various awarding criteria.

* Adult Scholarship

* Best Buy Scholarships

* Coke Scholarships

* Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship

* Engineering Scholarships

* Harvard… Continue

Added by gui on October 14, 2008 at 4:29am — No Comments

Fund-MyEducation – Student Loans

Student Loans are a form of financial aid that many students use to help bridge the gap between their personal resources and the cost of pursuing a college degree

* Student Loans

* Student Loans - Co-Signer and No Co-Signer Loans

* Student Loans -… Continue

Added by gui on October 14, 2008 at 4:25am — No Comments

Smartboards--whose using them and how

Are you using Smartboards? How is it enhancing instruction? What reaction are you getting from teachers? How are you supporting them in training/professional development? What's the learning curve and who became your "expert" resouces for integrating the technology into your curriculum/school?

Added by judibea on October 13, 2008 at 8:10pm — 3 Comments

K12Online Conference Underway

The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference run by volunteers and open to everyone. The 2008 conference theme is “Amplifying Possibilities”. This year’s conference begins with a pre-conference keynote… Continue

Added by John Costilla on October 13, 2008 at 8:04am — No Comments

Free Manuals for Free Software

FLOSS Manuals, located at flossmanuals.net, is a collection of manuals that explain how to install and use a range of free and open source software.

The FLOSS acronym stands for Free/Libre/Open-Source Software. The manuals are friendly and simple, and they are intended to encourage people to explore the wide range of free, open source alternatives to expensive and restrictively licensed software.

Added by Kevin Chilton on October 13, 2008 at 5:19am — No Comments

Today is my birthday: about Education in a globalized world

Today is my birthday. I'm 44. It means that i have spent 40 years of my life, around 16 000 days, into various schools, first as student, then as teacher. But I wasn't an ordinary student because i hated the walls of my schools, and i'm not an ordinary teacher because i continue to hate the walls of the schools... I'm teaching in a public middle school in South of France, Provence... I like it, i need to talk every day with my students. I teach… Continue

Added by Vincent Mespoulet on October 12, 2008 at 6:02pm — 3 Comments

Looking for teens to take tech use survey

I am working with Anne M from Australia. We are looking for participants for a tech use survey for teens. Please pass this along to anyone who teach teens and might be interested in joining us. I have 3 surveys on tech uses all set to go, please pass it along to any friends who teach teens. Let me know their email and when someone is interested, I'll add their location to the form and give them access to the data spreadsheet.

Thanks for helping me on this!… Continue

Added by Alison Saylor on October 12, 2008 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

Who you gonna call?

You, that's who! I need your input answering this question:
What my PLN means to me, how SL helps develop it, helps me to be a 21 century teacher?
Please go to Durff's Blog and leave your comments on that post. That way all the answers are in one place for that day. Thanks so much!

Added by Durff on October 12, 2008 at 7:30am — No Comments