Technology Teacher

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR TEACHERS

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:56:00 +0000

Over at A Difference by Darren Kuropatwa there was discussion that was similar to my recent post of Learning Now. At least it reminded me of that post.
Darren talks about reading George Polya’s 10 Commandments for Teachers and how that has affected his teaching.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR TEACHERS

In chapter 14 of Mathematical Discovery Polya lists his Ten Commandments For Teachers. They have been a guiding light for me as a teacher since I first read them.

1. Be interested in your subject.
2. Know your subject.
3. Know about the ways of learning: The best way to learn anything is to discover it by yourself.
4. Try to read the faces of your students, try to see their expectations and difficulties, put yourself in their place.
5. Give them not only information, but "know-how," attitudes of mind, the habit of methodical work.
6. Let them learn guessing.
7. Let them learn proving.
8. Look out for such features of the problem at hand as may be useful in solving the problems to come — try to disclose the general pattern that lies behind the present concrete situation.
9. Do not give away your whole secret at once — let the students guess before you tell it — let them find out by themselves as much as is feasible.
10. Suggest it, do not force it down their throats.

Darren continues

Polya identifies the single most powerful and infallible teaching method: "If the teacher is bored by what he is teaching it is a certainty that all his students will be too." I believe the inverse is also true: If a teacher is interested in what they are teaching their students will be too. Actually, "interest" by itself may not be enough; passion is a virus. There is a contagion in passion that can be passed on. I would rewrite Polya's first commandment as: "Be passionate about your subject." If you can't do that then I guess interest will have to do but if you don't have even that, do something else.

Passion for teaching is very important. Passion for learning is very important. Teachers must show a passion for what they are teaching.

When students see that teachers are passionate about their subject, passionate about learning, then the students will see a reason to learn.

Teachers who are passionate about learning do not always get every page of the curriculum finished, but their students can carry on the learning on their own, for the rest of their lives.

Rather than making good marks on a true-false/multiple choice test at the end of each grade, students progress should be measured by how well they know how to learn, how well they can compete for the job that they have a passion for, how well they can convey that passion to their customers when they have that job. These are true measures of learning and value. We are not trying to prepare our students of the 21st century to be able to spout facts verbatim when asked. We are preparing them for their futures, their lives, their livelihoods.

If we, as teachers, can ignite a passion in our students to learn, to know how to learn, to know when it is necessary to learn more, we have succeeded as teachers, no matter what the test scores say.

How do you show

your passion for life,

for learning, and for teaching

so that your students know

its importance

in their own lives?

[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s!]

Technorati Tags: learning,passions,life,education,Darren Kuropatwa,George Polya

Fall …. Sunset in the Mountains

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:03:00 +0000

Either I am getting wobbly with my hands, my camera is set wrong, or my camera is dying a slow death… Nevertheless, I persevered and got an interesting fall sunset photo… or two. It was beautiful and the weather is beautiful, cool, but nowhere near COLD.

Enjoy these last beautiful days of the fall season before the winter winds arrive with snowflakes…Probably not here, but perhaps where you live!

Technorati Tags: fall,leaves,winds,snow,sunset,enjoy

Learning Now

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:39:00 +0000

Angela Maiers has an excellent post on her site about Learning Now.
It is a “new” way of starting the day in the classroom.

As students walk into the classroom, the following opening question is posted:

What have you learned since yesterday?

Students need to be excited about their learning and realize how much they have learned and how much there is out there to learn.

Learning is not an endeavor just for school. It is learning that fuels our lives. It brings the outside to the inside of the classroom and vice versa. Learning is perpetual, continuous, and requires us to be active. Learning – as we know it, and as we wish our students to know it - is infectious and contagious. It is PASSION-DRIVEN! Passion-driven learning is not contained in boxes, covered in textbooks and will not be reduced to checks on a list. It must be experienced.

We are always talking about being Lifelong Learners,” but that phrase, that name, is not just a bunch of fancy words. It should have meaning.
Until we can get students excited about learning and excited about their learning, we have not done our job.
There will not always be a teacher there next to them to tell them what to do next. Students need to develop this love of learning and excitement to want to know more.

The Learning Now opening not only lights a spark of excitement and energy, it sets the tone, the expectation, and it extends the invitation to "Join the Learning Club, ' which is how we frame the rest of the day as we spend our time together figuring out how to make sense of this amazing world and the people that inhabit it. How far can we take it?

This is a wonderful way to start the day. I wish that all classrooms were started this way…

How can you develop

this energy,

this passion,

into your classroom?

Let me know.

[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s!]

Technorati Tags: passion,energy,learning,excitement,Angela Maiers,Learning Now,education

Sleep, Sleep, Sleep

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:52:00 +0000

Those of you who know me well, know I love a good nap/sleep, although I like to wait until late at night and sleep into the day… This is a fun slide show about the benefits of sleep!

ENJOY!
Rest your brain!

Technorati Tags: rest,sleep,education,brain

One Writer's Beginnings

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:39:00 +0000

I just found out about a family member's new blog and I had to write about it. My husband's cousin's wife... my cousin-in-law, I will call her. (Usually I just call her Portia.)

Recently, I applied for a position, part-time, teaching 5th grade writing and social studies. In my usual over-the-top research and enthusisam for any subject that gets my attention, I began researching various writing sites. How to teach writing... to the elementary school student. These days, at least here in NC, there is a push that teachers must also be writers themselves. How else can you teach a student to write if you don't know how to write and haven't experienced writer's block, etc., yourself?

I have never really been a writer, in the past.

I say that with 137 blog posts to my credit, but I don't feel many of those posts are really writing.

I just sit down at the computer and start typing - whatever comes into my mind. I don't "craft" the writing, certainly not like my "cousin-in-law" does. Portia has a way with words. I have no idea how long she takes to write these posts and podcasts, but they are really good.

Now, I am thinking, if I had gotten that job, could I have called upon Portia to be a guest speaker to my students? To ask her to talk about how she decides upon her topics, her words, her ideas. Yes, I could have and I would have, now that I know this fact about her.

So, as Portia comments about the internet, blogs, Facebook, and podcasts, etc. the current modes of communication of our children and even some of us oldsters, her comment has hit pay dirt.

I have made a new friend on the internet, that was already someone I knew, but I didn't really "know."

So tell your friends and family about what you are doing when you start. Don't be afraid. There will plenty of support from the Right People!

When you have time and the inclination, stop on by Portia's new blog..

One Writer's Beginnings
...Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More/

Where do Goldfish Come From?

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:20:00 +0000

Many of you readers are familiar with Lee and Sacha Lefever and their Common Craft videos that explain many concepts in simple and easy to understand terms.

Apparently Lee grew up in NC, my new home state, and that is where the Blue Ridge Koi/Goldfish fish farms were started.

In this entertaining and educational video, that I originally found on on Richard Bryne’s blog, Lee tells the story.

Enjoy watching.

How can your students make a video or use the strategy of the Common Craft video to “teach” a concept that they are required to learn by your state’s benchmarks/learning standards?
Let me hear your ideas.

Technorati Tags: Common Craft,Lee Lefever,Sacha Lefever,goldfish,koi,education,videos,benchmarks,learning standards

Wordle and a WORD WALL

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:49:00 +0000

Another blog I read involved an Instructional Coach and Consultant observing various NC classrooms. Here is a video he made showing a classroom with a WORDLE - Word Wall .

Just another idea for using the visual to help in education!

How could you use Wordle in your classroom?

Technorati Tags: Wordle,Word Wall,education

Technology advances – In time for Christmas?

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:50:00 +0000

Reading one of my favorite educational blogs Top 20 Hot Christmas Toys and what you can learn at T+L I found this video which shows the beginning use of brain waves and physical responses like blinking an eye techniques which will soon be incorporated into many devices.

I can easily see how this will help the handicapped and elderly, but I am thinking what impact will this have on education and learning?
What do you think?

Technorati Tags: technology tools,robots,Christmas,toys,brain waves,handicapped,elderly,education,technology

IDEA PAINT – what a great idea!

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:33:00 +0000

I just read a wonderful, inspiring blog post. You can tell that I am a teacher and easily amused. Teachers frequently like “techy” ideas, artistic ideas, and office supply ideas…. so listen to this.

Angela Maiers over at Angela Maiers Educational Services – Putting Learning and Learners First had a great blog post entitled IdeaPaint - Let Your Students Make Their Mark.

The videos tell the story completely, but I, too, want some of this at my house! I wonder how much it costs and where you can get it. It is an idea that is just in time. Schools and parents of young children, especially, will love this; businesses can also use this concept.

Now I want to know if you can get it in other colors!

Watch the videos and ENOY!

Where would/could you use this paint?

Technorati Tags: white boards,paint,Angela Maiers,education,fun,IdeaPaint,Dwell on Design

LEARN NC ONLINE Conference 2009

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:41:00 +0000

I had a wonderful learning experience today and all from the comfort and privacy of my home!

I participated in the LearnNC Online Conference 2009. Peruse the agenda here. Later, you can view the taped portions of the afternoon online conference. All conference sessions are to be archived on LEARN NC website and posted here when they're ready. Also all handouts are available. This was an all day conference for those attending in person, but only the afternoon was available online.

For me, one of the most interesting parts was the discussion about PBL (Project Based Learning) by a high school science teacher, Kelly Yonce. Kelly had been a typical teacher for 5 years and then found out about PBL. She started teaching in that manner in all her classes and now has been doing for at least 4 years. She clearly states that it is a different way of teaching and takes a lot of preparation and constant revising, but she feels her students truly understand the concepts she is teaching rather than just spitting back definitions on a test. Read about her here.

There was another session that was full of interesting tools and sites that are all FREE. These sites are mentioned in a blog entitled Instructify which is “published” by LearnNC.

This was an excellent way for me to learn from home and at my own pace. I could listen and participate online and then I can also review everything and print out or review the handouts from online at any time after the conference. It makes learning convenient and suited to my needs today.

Thanks LEARN NC!

Technorati Tags: LEARN NC,Instructify,LearnNC Online Conference 2009,education,tools,PBL

21st Century Schools

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:05:00 +0000

A very interesting video from Clif Mim's blog states

Stephen Heppell’s video about 21st century schools provokes you to consider what lies ahead. Wes Fryer states that this video “makes a strong case for blended learning where the learning connection between home and school is seamless.”

What more can I say?

Well, here is a bit more on the subject from the ITSC website, another video of Stephen Heppell.

"If we teach today's students as we taught yesterday's, we rob them of tomorrow." - John Dewey

Keep your eyes on this site for future information re: ISTE 2010 February 14,15, 16, 2010 in Portland Oregon.

Technorati Tags: ISTE,Stephen Heppell,Wesley Fryer,21st Century,future,schools,education

Teaching vs. Learning

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:33:00 +0000

I just read a blog post at Modite by Rebecca Thorman entitled Become an expert quickly.

Rebecca Thorman supports my philosophy about Learning…

Teaching something gels the concepts in your brain so much better than just hearing about it or doing it.

Teaching makes you think about the whole idea and synthesize it, make it understandable to others. Teaching what you have learned is the best way to know what you learned.

Rebecca says

So tell me, how well can you explain what you do? How well do you understand your passion? Could you teach someone else to do it?

Doing is just not enough. Rebecca says

When you do something like send a pitch, for example, you’re learning. You’re testing your ideas and theories through the reaction you receive, the resulting outcome. In this paradigm, it’s okay to fail, you discover through trial and error, and through persistence and hard work, you win.

Teaching makes you think through what you think you know. In explaining and teaching the concept to someone else, you have to understand all aspects of the subject matter, from many different angles.

Rebecca agrees that there is a difference between learning and teaching. In learning…

But there’s an entire level of awesomeness missing. And you can only ascend to the next level by then teaching someone what you have learned. Because then you’re testing your values, ideas and theories with another person’s values, ideas and theories. You understand the underlying challenge more by defining it for another. Teaching – good teaching – requires you to exchange knowledge, not simply impart it. Learning is individual. Teaching is collaborative.

So, when you teach something, you get something back that makes you even understand the concepts better. It confirms what you thought you learned - what you thought you knew about the subject OR maybe it confirms that you were wrong and you have to change your knowledge.

Teaching is sharing knowledge, sharing empathy, sharing ideas. It’s pushing you to understand with entirely different lenses. Just like your body needs both cardio and strength training, your mind needs both learning and teaching.

Teaching is the definitive learning experience. And it’s the quickest way to expertise.

How do you provide experiences for your students to not only Learn, but teach what they learn?
Share your ideas.

[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s!]

Technorati Tags: learning,education,teaching,knowledge,Modite,Rebecca Thorman

Art online

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:42:00 +0000

I read a blog post at Teachers Love SmartBoards about SMARTBoards and Creating Original Artwork that mentions an online drawing program in Beta called ArtPad. This can be used on a SmartBoard but also on an individual computer.

I worked with the program and made a drawing, but when I saved the link for my artwork, I could not find it.

You also have the option of e-mailing your drawing to friends. At this point it has not yet been e-mailed to me. I will update if I get it in an e-mail.

I made a screen shot and copied it into Paint and it is shown here. When you are on the site, you can have the experience of the drawing from beginning to end replayed.

Below are the links to my drawings:
#1 http://artpad.art.com/?kq14ofy5hng
#2 http://artpad.art.com/?kqaxe31jxncw

Please comment if you can find/see them. Perhaps there is something wrong on my computer. I have been having problems with the Java applets.

If this program works properly, then it would be a fun way, especially for younger students, to make art.

Technorati Tags: Teachers Love SmartBoards,ArtPad,art,drawing,online,education

Learner experts or Content experts?

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Should teachers be Experts in Knowledge of their Subject Matter or Experts in How to Teach Students?

Most people would agree that there should be some of each type of Expert in every teacher. But the question is which is most important? Also which is most important at what levels of teaching?

In the past, from my experience, and perhaps from a current perspective of how teachers are taught in college, I surmise the following levels of expertise:

Elementary school teachers are to be knowledgeable in HOW to Teach. It is thought that the knowledge that elementary teachers are presenting to their students is knowledge that every educated person knows if they have received a college degree. Thus, more of their time in the teacher education degree in college is spent on teaching methods, or on teaching methods related to specific subjects.

High school teachers have had more emphasis prior to teaching certification on being very knowledgeable in their Subject Matter field of teaching, but not to the degree that they are an expert. They need to know beyond high school knowledge of the subject matter, and probably a thorough college level knowledge of their subject matter, but still not an expert.

In college teaching situations, professors need to be true experts in their fields to be respected and able to present the level of material that is necessary for a college level class. Unfortunately many times in college lower level courses, it is teaching assistants that do most of the “teaching.”

In this current day of Information Overload and Access to Instant Information, is this expertise of knowledge of subject matter as important or more important than knowledge of HOW to TEACH?

Are teachers merely the Information Dispensers, the Information Curators, the Information Inspirers, or the Information Extenders?

(I need to work on that word Extenders. There is a better word that I am not coming up with at this time. Feel free to comment to me about a better term. Maybe Information Facilitators?)

From Ashley Tan’s blog, Another dot in the blogosphere, he writes about this question in Innovation in educational technology. Ashley says":

Polivka offers some answers to his question. But I think the best one is that teachers often see themselves as content experts instead of learning experts.

Education as an industry is full of people who are content experts, and severely lacking people who are learning experts. Or more specifically, learner experts. I don’t mean people who know and adhere to theories about learning. I mean people who really get the whole process, and are passionate about it, from the learner’s perspective. People who love the thrill of learning, the way kids in kindergarten love it, and want everyone to have that sort of joy again. People who want to learn, and want others to learn, and want everyone to apply that learning, with the same exuberance that hobbyists do. What makes learning work and why? What makes learning exciting, interesting, rewarding? We need more people who are experts in those things, because whatever products they create will reflect it.

It’s time to relearn teaching.

Teachers should be facilitators of learning, Information Facilitators, not just Information Dispensers.

How do you make learning fun, exciting, interesting, and rewarding to the learner?

[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s!]

Technorati Tags: learning,education,content,how to learn,learner's perspective,facilitators,Ashley Tan,Another Dot in the Blogosphere,Polivka

Each one, Teach one

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:20:00 +0000

From Each one, teach one by Ashley Tan at his blog Another Dot in the Blososphere. Ashley says

Karl Kapp shares his thoughts on how students can become better learners. They should teach.

Kapp calls this approach the “each one, teach one” method. Catchy name for something that I am sure progressive educators practice but might not label as such. Perhaps he should trademark it!

I agree that as students learn something, they learn it more clearly when they teach it to someone else.

Teaching a concept requires students to understand the concept and to formulate how to make someone else understand it. Now, students may not think about various learner strategies and how to teach all students in the class, but they will be able to reach certain students because they are coming at the learning from a student’s perspective which most of the time a teacher cannot do. I know many teachers try to get this perspective, but, of course, students are best at this!

How do you allow your students to teach the lesson?

Technorati Tags: Ashley Tan,Another Dot in the Blogospherer,Teach,students,education,each one teach one,Karl Kapp

Birds on the Wires Make Music

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:08:00 +0000

I found this on Bird’s eye view a blog post by Ashley Tan at Another dot in the blogosphere.

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Looking at something from a little different perspective.

How often do we encourage our students to come up with a different answer to our questions?

To think about the assignments in a different way than we had ever intended?

What do you do that allows different answers to your questions?

Technorati Tags: Bird's eye view,Ashley Tan,Another Dot in the Blogospherer,individuality,education,different

GLOGSTER.com …POSTERS here we come!

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:28:00 +0000

One of my Diigo groups posted this bookmark and I decided to try it out!

Glogster is a poster making application. I only made one (see below) but it was a lot of fun. I know you can import photos, probably drawings too, add text to them, save them, and also you can publish them to the web if you want or keep them private. I could embed the code for this one into my blog as well.

I didn’t quite like the way my text laid out on the speech bubble, but perhaps I could have played around with it a little more. I am not sure if there were alignment adjustments available. I know there were font size and color adjustments. I think the number of fonts is limited.

Overall, for a free tool, I think it is worth a project or two. Besides if the kids like it, they can use it also on their own time and perfect their technology skills!

I always love it when a student takes something we use/do in class and then goes home or in study hall extends the lesson further by using it for their own purposes! Authentic learning!

What fun, yet educational tools do you introduce to your students?

Technorati Tags: GLOGSTER,Diigo,education,poster,technology,tools

PPT2YOUTUBE.. making a flash movie

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 08:17:00 +0000

If you read yesterday’s post, PowerPoint into AuthorSTREAM, you will know what I am doing here… trying the competition’s way to insert a video into your blog.

I think that this video might be too big for a blog. The file is certainly much larger than the AuthorSTREAM file was and certainly bigger than the original PowerPoint File was. This file is 6 min 41 seconds long.

It is the same file that I used yesterday, but I made it into a MP4 file at 640 x 480 with 30 frames per second. Those are the recommended statistics or parameters to make the best video.

When I inserted it into Windows Live Writer, where I have been composing my blog posts lately, it seemed to take a VERY long time, but perhaps it was being converted into UTube video style. We will see how long it takes and if it is able to be posted to my blog, or if it will be too large. I think it took about 10 minutes or so to get it formatted into the Live Writer blog composer.

So, if you see a video, it is OK. If you do not see a video, go through to my actual blog if you are in a reader. Sometimes videos, etc. don’t show up in the reader.

I think it is working right, but I wonder when you look at my blog how long it will take to start.

This is so much fun! You’d think I was a kid in a toy store! I AM!

Lifelong Learner! – that’s me!

Technorati Tags: lifelong learners,Power Point,AuthorSTREAM,videos,PPT2YOUTUBE,education,technology tools

PowerPoint into AuthorSTREAM

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:21:00 +0000

I made a comment on a NING that I am a member of and someone commented back to me that if I was so “gung-ho” on technology, I should check out the following platform. So I did.

I have been playing with one of my PowerPoint presentations ever since. My presentation had audio on each slide that the student was able to click on to listen. That way the student could listen to the audio on a page as many times as necessary for that student to understand what was being learned.

Either my original audio was VERY POOR quality (which it may well have been) or the click as you go audio did not translate to this platform. Thus, I spent a little time re-recording the audio in one fell swoop in a higher audio quality (which took up more space), but the sound carried through to the Authorstream platform. It is not click as you go for either the slide movement or the sound, but it is adequately slow speed for a young learner, I believe.

Living and Non-Living Things

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by fivbert | Upload your own presentation

Here’s the actual comment back to me:

With your strong interest in Technology, I recommend you take a look at Wiziq's virtual classroom and authorstream's power point presentation platform. Both are web based platforms, have a bunch of features and free basic service.

I have not yet had a chance to try the other product he mentions. Another day, more fun!

How could you use this platform to engage your students? If your students are old enough and savvy enough, how could they use these technologies?

Technorati Tags: Power Point,presentations,AuthorSTREAM,Wizig's virtual classroom,education,technology

Just Wash Your Hands

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:24:00 +0000

This is a video created by Bill Nye Tells Kids to Wash Their Hands that I found in Richard Byrne’s blog post where he says:

It’s a quick music video reminding kids to wash their hands to prevent the spread of germs.
The video goes nicely with these ten videos that I linked to last week.
The video also goes well with these lesson plans about preventing the spread of germs.

SO….Just Wash Your Hands!
[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s!]

Technorati Tags: Richard Bryne,Free Technology for Teachers,germs,wash your hands,Bill Nye,education

PLNs = Personal Learning Networks

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:54:00 +0000

Jeremy Biddle, jbiddle, over at Lutheran Educators wrote a post about PLNs - Personal Learning Networks. He created a VoiceThread video to explain it.

http://voicethread.com/share/603588/

Everyone should have one. Most of us have started ours already, but may not have realized it. Now we just have to constantly improve it, add to it, and learn from it.

Who is in your PLN?

How do you increase your PLN?

Happy Learning!

Technorati Tags: PLN,Personal Learning Network,Jeremy Biddle,Lutheran Educators,VoiceThread,education,technology

How we learn… most important

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:38:00 +0000

“Our culture lies. They say they want to encourage and reward individuality and creativity, but in practice they try to hammer down the pointy parts, and shame off the different parts.” – Sandra Dodd

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits wrote an interesting post entitled Education Needs to Be Turned on Its Head.
Leo says, and I agree:

What we learn in school isn’t nearly as important as how we learn, because how to learn is the lesson of school.

In other words, find problems that interest you, and figure out how to solve them.

Schools and learning need to be working to teach students how to learn, how to learn independently.

As a parent, my goal for my children always was to make them independent. We, as parents, are always teaching our children something new so that they will be able to live on their own without us, their parents.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tagtagainep19/3764366994

It is the same way with schools and learning. Students need to be prepared for their own lives, their futures, when they have to think on their own, when the teacher is not there dictating what needs to be done or learned and how to do it.

Sometimes, you’ll have to solve problems that aren’t so interesting, just to solve problems that do interest you. That’s OK. That’s how things work.

And here’s a secret: we already know how to do this. From birth. This method of learning is innate in all of us. It’s built in.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/funpictureswithkids

So let’s allow students to use their natural curiosity to learn the skills they need.

Teachers should be facilitators of learning, not dictators.

How do you facilitate learning in your classroom?

Technorati Tags: learning,education,facilitators,dictators,Leo Babauta,Zen Habits

[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s!]

Flickr

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Small CC photo below from:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=creative+commons

http://www.flickr.com/ has a selection of photos that are creative commons photos.

There are really some striking photos in the collection. When you need just the right image and don’t know where to find it, try FLICKR – Creative Commons images. You can right click on these photos and go to “COPY with url” and the information regarding that photo will be added to wherever you are going to place the photo. This is most helpful to teach students the importance of giving credit where credit is due, even if it is allowed to be used. This picture above was from Everyone’s photos with the description Creative Commons.

ALOE BLOSSOMS MACRO (CREATIVE COMMONS PROJECT)http://www.flickr.com/photos/grope4mac/3547437152

There is also a group called Flickr- Creative Commons- Free Pictures. The photo below was from this group.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryall/219441351/in/pool-creative_commons-_free_pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2960091638
The picture above is from the collection Flickriver - Most interesting photos from Creative Commons- Free Pictures pool.
With this photo I had a little bit more trouble getting it inserted into my blog. I am not sure why, but am glad it finally worked.

So make use of appropriate photos and be sure to add the appropriate information regarding copyright.

And teach your students to do the same!

Technorati Tags: Flickr,photos,copyright,crative commons,education,technology

Student Blogging Guidelines

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:27:00 +0000

Many schools in this 21st Century are adding blogging to the writing experiences of their students. It can be an experience that makes students more aware of the global connectedness of the world in this day and age and provide an outlet for their writing spirit. It makes a purpose to their writing, a reason to write so others can understand what you are saying, a reason to use correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar, etc., not just another assignment.

Student Blogging Guidelines by Kim Cofino at Always Learning reminds us of several items to think about before opening up our children to this opportunity on the web. Her school developed these for 3, 4, 5th graders last year and has now posted them for K-12 students as well. They are well worth perusing.

Student Blogging Guidelines
As a student blogger at ISB, you are expected to follow these blogging guidelines below. Use the questions in italics to help you decide what is appropriate to post on your blog.
1. Only post things that you would want everyone (in school, at home, in other countries) to know.
Ask yourself: Is this something I want everyone to see?

2. Do not share personal information.
Ask yourself: Could someone find me (in real life) based on this information?

3. Think before you post.
Ask yourself: What could be the consequences of this post?

4. Know who you’re communicating with.
Ask yourself: Who is going to look at this, and how are they going to interpret my words?

5. Consider your audience and that you’re representing ISB.
Ask yourself: Do I have a good reason/purpose to do this?

6. Know how to give constructive feedback.
Ask yourself: What will I cause by writing this post?

7. Treat other people the way you want to be treated.
Ask yourself: Would I want someone to say this to me?

8. Use appropriate language and proper grammar and spelling.
Ask yourself: Would I want this post to be graded for proper grammar and spelling?

9. Only post information that you can verify is true (no gossiping).
Ask yourself: Is this inappropriate, immature or bullying?

10. Anytime you use media from another source, be sure to properly cite the creator of the original work.
Ask yourself: Who is the original creator of this work?

Commenting Guidelines
As a blogger, you will be commenting on other people’s work regularly. Good comments:
are constructive, but not hurtful;
consider the author and the purpose of the post;
are always related to the content of the post;
include personal connections to what the author wrote;
answer a question, or add meaningful information to the content topic;
follow the writing process. Comments are a published piece of writing.

Even adult bloggers can learn some hints for themselves about how to act when blogging online.

Blogwalker also has some timely Tips for New Bloggers that you also might want to check here.

If you do have a class of bloggers just starting or continuing to develop their blogging skills, please check out this Blogging Challenge by Sue Wyatt. It may be too late to join, but it can still be an excellent opportunity to learn how to comment on someone else’s blog – an important skill.

A teacher might not send her students to this following site because it is more written for adult media consultant bloggers, but the tips included here at 7 Habits of Highly Effective Blogs can be adapted to use for students as well.

I just posted comments to a class of 1st grade bloggers and 5th grade bloggers. The 1st grade bloggers posts were edited by the teacher, as many would not yet be readable, but I can hardly wait for the year to progress to see how the students are learning to write. There will be amazing differences, especially in the 1st grade blogs!

Do you have your own personal blog?

Do you have a professional blog for education?

Do you encourage your students to blog, even if they are in 1st grade?

Do you need someone to read those blogs?

Ask your twitter community. That is how I found out.

Technorati Tags: blogs,Kim Cofino,ALways Learning,Sue Wyatt,blogging,guidelines,7 Habits of Highly Effective Blggers,Kami Watson Huyse,comments,twitter

Getting to Know Your Students

fivbert@gmail.com (fivbert) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Matthew Needleman at Creating Lifelong Learners wrote a recent post entitled Back to School Week- It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint.

He writes about how many teachers prepare “Getting to Know You” activities for the first few days/week of school. He makes the point though that you will need to wait throughout the year, the long haul, to really truly “Get to Know” your students.

And it is a life long journey. Sometimes, you see your former students after many years. You wonder what happened to that “cute little girl” or that “rambunctious little boy”? You may see them “All Grown Up’” and can see glints of their former selves. OR they are completely different.

Just remember, you have an influence on their life and you need to be sure that influence is a positive one. One that will help them become “All that they can be!”

A little extra time spent helping them, doing something special for them, making the lesson come alive to them, creating a love of learning can have a lasting effect on them, their self-esteem, and their future.

As Matthew concludes:

So, if you think you’re going to get to know your students during the first day, first week, or even first month of school, remember it’s a marathon and not a sprint and keep yourself open to getting to know who they are all year. Knowing who they are helps you know how to reach them. And the ones who are hardest to reach need you the most.

What will you do to get to know your students?

Will you remember them long after they leave your classroom?

Will you recognize the Person they have become in later years?

What positive effect will they remember from your class?

[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s!]

Technorati Tags: Matthew Needleman,Creating Lifelong Learners,marathon,sprint,Getting to Know,self-esteem,influence,Back To School,students