Copy / Paste by Peter Pappas tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-203494 2009-11-09T13:46:22-05:00 Dedicated to relinquishing responsibility for learning to the students TypePad How to Teach Summarizing: A Critical Learning Skill for Students tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef012875678fa9970c 2009-11-09T13:46:22-05:00 2009-11-09T19:49:52-05:00 Summarizing is an essential skill for learning, but too often in school we simply ask students to "guess" what the teacher (or author) thinks is important. An essential part of a summary is that it needs to be expressed to... Peter Pappas Teacher-Led Professional Development: Eleven Reasons Why You Should be Using Classroom Walk Throughs tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a63ea7db970b 2009-10-30T13:57:23-04:00 2009-11-04T09:12:46-05:00 Over the last 3 years I have developed a classroom walk through (CWT) approach that works. When I return to a school my goal is to serve as a catalyst for dialogue that can be self-sustaining (read - no consultant required). Peter Pappas Essential Questions in American History: "The Great Debates" tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a67251c9970c 2009-10-24T11:45:07-04:00 2009-10-31T12:06:30-04:00 The Great Debates feature consists of twelve essential questions. Each of these debates contains an introduction that states the topic of the debate, examines the background of this issue, provides information about both the readings and the debaters, and discusses the debate topic from a contemporary perspective. Peter Pappas Picturing the Story - An Interdisciplinary Approach to Culture, Environment, Language, and Learning tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a5eda6d2970b 2009-10-16T14:02:33-04:00 2009-10-16T14:02:33-04:00 Picturing the Story uses works of art as a springboard for an interdisciplinary approach to culture, environment, language, and learning. Interactive site includes includes layered information on the work of art, the story that inspired it, the culture where it originated, the techniques used to produce it, as well as extensive lesson plans, activity suggestions, and recommendations for further reading. Peter Pappas The "Simpsons" Debate the Role of Social Media and Cell Phones In the Classroom tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a61cd989970c 2009-10-06T16:29:52-04:00 2009-10-31T12:07:31-04:00 The latest episode of "The Simpsons" (Oct 5, 2009) nicely satirizes the debate over social media in the classroom. Much of the debate over the role of technology in the classroom is clouded by stereotypes of Luddites vs. Techies. What's often missed is the point that it's not about the technology, but the level thinking that technology can support. Peter Pappas Defining Creativity - Higher Order Thinking for All Students tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a575bc06970b 2009-09-16T15:53:10-04:00 2009-09-16T15:56:20-04:00 "Why Creativity Now? A Conversation with Sir Ken Robinson" notes three misconception that people have about creativity. I agree with Robinson, but he defines creativity rather narrowly as "a process of having original ideas that have value." I define creating more broadly as "a new combination of old elements." The distinction between the two definitions is important. Peter Pappas Harness Twitter and Your Audience Backchannel with Wiffiti tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a593a9e7970c 2009-09-01T11:53:04-04:00 2009-09-01T12:00:17-04:00 Recently I posted about trying out Wiffiti in my professional development sessions. "Use Wiffiti to Engage Your Audience." Since then I've used it a few more times with great success. I thought I'd share a live Wiffiti screen with my... Peter Pappas 18 Literacy Strategies for Struggling Readers - Defining, Summarizing and Comparing tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a514f58d970b 2009-08-25T13:08:50-04:00 2009-08-25T13:10:14-04:00 I've been working with teachers on learning strategies to support the literacy and comprehension skills that students commonly use across the content areas. This pdf includes 18 lessons organized in two ways: by comprehension strategy - defining, summarizing and comparing... Peter Pappas First Day of School? Don't Pass Out Books - Problem Solve! tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a50d52d7970b 2009-08-21T14:54:39-04:00 2009-08-21T15:01:21-04:00 I first published this post at the start of the 08-09 school year. It proved to be very popular and I've had thousands of downloads of the murder mystery students were asked to solve. I've added a second mystery -... Peter Pappas Learn Mathematical Thinking From the Wrong Answer tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a5059912970b 2009-08-19T17:05:06-04:00 2009-08-19T18:12:45-04:00 I recently saw this video clip from an old Abbott and Costello film (thanks to my Twitter network). It reminds us that math isn't simply about learning a computational process, or getting the right answer. It's pretty clear that Lou... Peter Pappas Inspire Your Students To Tell A Story With Prezi tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a5546007970c 2009-08-17T06:09:34-04:00 2009-08-17T06:09:34-04:00 I've been using Prezi in my workshops and have written a few posts illustrating it's features - brainstorming with Prezi and embedding Prezi in your blog. Enjoy "Create a Prezi" - a fine video that demonstrates the process in under... Peter Pappas Use Wiffiti to Engage Your Audience - Big Screen Live Presentation of Feeds from Twitter, Flickr and Text Messages tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a4ec0b7e970b 2009-08-12T19:48:59-04:00 2009-09-01T11:45:59-04:00 I'm always looking for ways to make my presentations more engaging and interactive. (A must if you're advocating more student-centered instruction.) I've been using a TurningPoint ARS for years with great results and have tried live blogs at my larger... Peter Pappas Innovative Teaching is to Sustainable Farming as Test Prep is to _____? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0120a4c747ad970b 2009-08-04T20:20:23-04:00 2009-10-31T12:10:59-04:00 The testing regime is turning our kids into a high-yield, uniform commodity. Rows and rows of competent, standardized students, that can be delivered according to employers' specifications for a "skilled workforce.” Children “force fed” in test prep programs in efforts to quickly “fatten” the scores to meet AYP. Peter Pappas All Points West 09 Music and Arts Festival - APW 09 Liberty State Park, NJ tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0115715b4c60970c 2009-08-01T04:01:36-04:00 2009-08-01T17:26:36-04:00 My son is on the production team at All Points West, a three-day, 60-band festival this weekend in Liberty State Park in Jersey City. APW 09 opens on Friday August 31st with Jay-Z, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Vampire Weekend... Peter Pappas Creating - a New Combinations of Existing Elements (Sour's 'Hibi no Neiro') tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef01157231a3b2970b 2009-07-24T18:04:34-04:00 2009-07-24T18:28:17-04:00 Here's a startling example of what happens when someone gets a great idea to combine music, webcam shots, dedicated fans and some thoughtful planning / coordination. Watch carefully and enjoy! "Crowdsourcing art. More proof that the hive can make art,... Peter Pappas School Board Leaders Reflect on Essential Questions and 21st Century Learning tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef011572290a12970b 2009-07-23T14:00:43-04:00 2009-07-23T14:03:30-04:00 Last week, I did a 90 minute keynote at the New Mexico School Board Association's Leader's Retreat. I used a "Socratic approach" and framed my talk around a series of themes and sample questions in a talk called "What Questions... Peter Pappas What Questions Should School Boards Be Asking about 21st Century Learning? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef011570e67f6a970c 2009-07-08T13:09:34-04:00 2009-07-23T23:40:29-04:00 Essential Questions for Educational Leaders Peter Pappas Students Tell Us About “Living in a Digital World” tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0115709993a0970c 2009-06-30T06:50:38-04:00 2009-06-30T06:50:38-04:00 Congratulations to Karen Rose and her 3rd grade class from the Melissa, Texas. Selected by attendees at the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) as "Best Picture" from among digital shorts produced and edited by students and teachers from across... Peter Pappas Motivating Students - A Make and Take Workshop for Teachers tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef0115717ff1b6970b 2009-06-28T17:15:04-04:00 2009-08-23T18:32:06-04:00 This week I head back to Edison School of Engineering & Manufacturing, to conduct a two day follow up workshop. Our previous work together identified four target areas: Motivating students Making learning relevant Student-centered learning strategies Effective use of technology... Peter Pappas Follow the NECC 09 Conference on Twitter tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d880253ef011571715775970b 2009-06-27T13:04:57-04:00 2009-07-03T16:22:43-04:00 Back in March, I used Twitter to virtually attend the ASCD conference. Unfortunately the visualizing tool I used (TwitterCloudExplorer) is now off line. Here's a new tool called StreamGraph that I'm using to visualize the latest 1000 tweets which contain... Peter Pappas