Karla Murray's Blog (13)

Curriculum....it’s like molding clay. It's moving all the time, never linear, never ending.



Those of us addicted to learning and working in our passion have a responsibility to help others understand the power of …… (fill in the blank)



We need to design playgrounds and learning environments that are High Touch & High Concept. Terms from Daniel Pink, who writes so eloquently about this whole new awakening that HAS to happen.



High touch involves

the ability… Continue

I came across these three words, during some some off-road political reading which made me think about organizations and how they're built.



Rethinking. Reframing. Changing.



Re-imagine!



All of us have similiar and yet somewhat different circumstances in our individualized communities. How each one builds where they're at with what they have will determine success.



I believe our district has a lot of success coming up if people will step on-board and get out… Continue

I feel so far behind in my reading! Working on technical stuff....



One of the best read journals for my own thinking and learning is the journal of online education called Innovate.



A quoted snippet:



The Net Generation (N-Gen) is defined as the population of about 90 million young people who have grown up or are growing up in constant

contact with digital media (Tapscott 1998). Tapscott has, through

extensive interviews, identified a number of changes in… Continue

Where has discovery learning taken you? What does discovery learning look like for our students?



I'm thinking about diversity....are we building in diversity within our curriculum's?



Thinking about community....



I believe it may be a different solution for each community based on race, ethnicity, first language, socio-economic status, geographic, bio-technical, green living...the list is limitless. We have no choice. Our communities are already diverse!



In… Continue

Don't get me wrong, I love/loved the concept of Classroom 2.0 but it just occurred to me that the only way I can interact with a person on their page is limited to one click which makes it seem one-directional to me.



Kevin Honeycut ROCKS! His ideas continue to inspire those in the trenches. Make sure you subscribe to "Driving Questons" in the iPod Directory through your iTunes! ......and his website if you please.



Learning is an… Continue

I can't take too much time to think about this or I could get caught in all of the messy mistakes we experience as parents.



In my earlier post I referred to a book I bought in 2003 called "The Monster Under The Bed". It's purchase was influenced after reading from a recommended book list from a cohort group of individuals who struggles with resistance to mediocrity in the continuous work of building and sustaining learning communities (aka. EdTech programs). I continue to learn from… Continue

I have been thinking about my experiences this year with our teachers in Laptop Focus Group, my Lead Tech Team, and Kal-Tech and I can't help but think about the growth we all have made ..... as an individual, contributor, creator, teacher. Wow!! My brain can't hold it all :-)



My Kal-Tech team is made up of a great group of educators from Ellis, Kansas. They are excellent educators struggling… Continue

Tonight I learned yet more about the “crisis” we face in education. We have only introduced a small slice of the “big picture”. The one all of us write about collectively and passionately in this space in the Blogoshpere.



Are we powerful enough in our own districts, when our social networks fail us, and they will fail us like everything else does, can we survive longer than our opponents who are of such forceful voice?



I hope I am not disappointed this time. I loved this… Continue

This post started out as an e-mail reply to my own message about an idea to create a space for "shared dialog" in our district. I called my idea "Thursday Morning Tech Talks". I know, it should/could be more creative but I don't think I created the mental model I have of these sessions because I had this reply from one of my most creative team-teachers:



"Sounds good on paper- like staff meetings? Logistically it probably wouldn't be good for our staff meeting as we have to watch… Continue

If you have not listened to/read Thomas Friedman's book "The World is Flat", better hurry! The next "great" book you need is "Wikinomics"

by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. Wow! I find it very empowering

to listen to these books as a change agent in Education....well, in any

economic role!



Tom Peters talks about "disruptive technologies" in… Continue

"If we recognize that change and uncertainly are basic principles, we

can greet the future and the transformation we are undergoing with the

understanding that we do not know enough to be pessimistic." - Hazel

Henderson, The Politics of the Solar Age



The hubbub in the headlines of a Western Kansas community this week could be found in the BOE news of 04.19.07 at the Hays Daily.



Did the… Continue

I love this space...the whole existence of Web 2.0! For me, it was heartwarming to come to this space this morning and see the pictures of my very good friends whom I work with on a daily basis and especially those who have moved on to other districts :) How cool is it to "hang out" with all the new "connections" I'm creating both in person and virtually? To quote… Continue

This is a GREAT teaching tool! It amazes me when I think about the knowledge and "design" of this space called Classrooom 2.0 and I would iike to presonally thank those who have been involved in it's creation.



I'm excited about what is happening in our district right now! Among some great "tipping points" is the possibility of passion to learn with our teacher learning initiative. My question: Can they sustain the momentum?



One thing we are doing this summer: We have two… Continue