I Heart Wordles.....

I heart Wordles ;-)

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by Rdoke: http://flickr.com/photos/cobalt220/4343621338/

What are some of the ways that we can use or have used Wordles in the classroom?

Create your own visual word cloud by going to www.wordle.net.  It is as simple as copying and pasting your text into the "paste in a bunch of text" box.  The clouds give greater prominence to the words that appear more frequently in the source text.  You can customize your word cloud by changing the font, layout and color schemes.  

Check out the SlideShare(www.slideshare.net) presentation below for some ideas:

38 Interesting Ways to Use Wordle in your Classroom

I can't believe Spring is just around the corner.....

cc licensed ( BY SD ) 
flickr photo by timo_w2s: http://flickr.com/photos/timo_w2s/460045024/

I cannot believe how quickly the last few months have passed by.   I have been busy visiting classrooms and enjoying the opportunity to observe the work of our new teachers....what an amazing privilege!  

As we approach the well deserved break, I invite you to take some time to reflect on and think about a few questions & in turn, post some comments:

How can we improve student engagement in learning?

This may be a very ambiguous question to answer, but it is one of the most important issues to consider when working with our young people.  We need to think deeply about our students...the  21st century learner... and their individual learning needs.  We must examine and revisit traditional teaching pedagogy and upgrade our daily classroom practices with student engaging pedagogy.

So, what is student engaging pedagogy?  

How can we create classroom conditions that elevate learning opportunities for all students? 

Our work is sensitive and critical.  How we design learning for our students today, will affect them for the rest of their lives.   Not only is it important for students to learn today, but is equally -if not more - important for students to strengthen and develop the capacity to learn for all of their tomorrows.

cc licensed ( BY NC ND )
 flickr photo by Shopping Diva: http://flickr.com/photos/shoppingdiva/181269963/

I look forward to your hearing about your reflections ;-) Let's get the conversation started....

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2012...

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

I hope that you all had the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful, restful Christmas holiday.  The winter break allows you the time to resume a more balanced lifestyle, with plenty of rest, food, exercise, and time for family and friends.  The past break would have been your first opportunity to think about organizing materials and curriculum with a more informed sense of the work of the classroom teacher.  You really know what this looks like through your first half experiences.   Think about putting past struggles and challenges behind you while embracing your new found acceptance for the realities of teaching.  This is a time for a fresh start, at any level.  Your experiences from the first half of the year will supply you with the knowledge of how to anticipate and prioritize problems that you may encounter in the second half of the year. 

I invite you to celebrate knowing that you made  it through the first half of the 2011-2012 school year and look forward to all that can be accomplished  and achieved in the second half. 

I am looking forward to our classroom observations and conversations for the new year.  

Reflections from New Teachers....

Recent Reflections from New Teachers. 

  It's difficult to believe that almost 4 months of school will be in your past and will become part of your professional learning repertoire.  

At this point in your work, you have had the opportunity to experience many things,"teaching & learning." Just to name a few;  School start up, Report cards, Writing comments, Parent teacher interviews, Parent phone calls,  Lesson planning, Lesson planning for diverse needs, WE day, Halloween activities, Holiday concerts and the list goes on. 

Over the last few weeks, during my classroom visits and observations with teachers I have had the opportunity to have some very meaningful and insightful conversations.   One of the most common statements goes something like this:  

"They really don't teach you about all of these things in the Faculty of Education.  I feel that there is a bit of a disconnect between the theory of teaching and the practice of teaching.  We have beliefs about teaching and learning, and then there are the behaviors of how to do the teaching.  Sometimes, I feel like these two parts do not always come together so clearly."  

What are your thoughts about this?  

What do you think? Ken O'Connor - 15 Fixes to Make Grades More Accurate, Consistent & Meaningful

Our first official reporting period has come and gone.  Marks are entered, comments have been made and plans for the next steps in teaching and learning are being put into action.  Last week, I had the opportunity to host a grading webinar by Ken O'Connor a.k.a, the grade doctor.   A group of 14 educators K-12, consisting of teachers, administrators and coordinators assembled in a common place to listen to the webcast session.  During the web cast, we engaged in an online chat room using Today's Meet.  The technology allowed us the opportunity to post comments, questions and reflections about the content of the webinar.  Ken gave us plenty to think about with respect to our own grading practices. 

What do you think about our comments and questions stated below?  
Please post your comments, to become part of the conversation ;-)

• We need to give all students opportunities to respond at higher levels. 
• Creating safe learning places for students to redo and revise learning in light of descriptive feedback is critical for improving learning.
• We need to really focus on co-creating success criteria with students so that they clearly see the target(s).
•  Fair does not mean equal. It is about providing equal opportunity for all to access the learning.  What are your beliefs on fairness?
• Does everything need to look and sound the same for all learners?
• How can we design the learning environment so that students respect individual differences and needs?

 Learn, by Mark Brannan