In an Upper School math class, Lauren effortlessly moved among the students, her computer, and the Smart Board. Students completed problems on paper with the assistance of Geometer’s Sketchpad as a modeling environment, and then Lauren manipulated the same model on the Smart Board while checking for student understanding.

In seventh grade World Cultures, students spent the period developing their trip planning projects, in which they design a hypothetical trip to an eastern hemisphere country in great detail, including a daily itinerary and budget. The entire project is completed in Google Apps (Earth, Docs, and Spreadsheet).

Beyond the trip planning project, it was interesting to note the new table arrangement in Paul’s classroom and how every student was completely on task. The S shaped classroom arrangement provides for both student collaboration and quick teacher access.

In third-year computer science, Andrew explained that students were building simple computers from the most base level using bread boards and a computer-based modeling program. We also discussed the place of computer science in a six-discipline high school and the role of AP exams in our schools.

Early World History students worked in small groups to formulate four different kinds of thesis statements and post their ideas to an online forum for class discussion. These ideas will form the foundation for their individual final writing assignment of the year.

Media Arts students were honing their practice with critique, explaining their reactions to their peers’ work to each other, and then taking notes on a video.

In these classrooms, computers were used very naturally in the course of teaching and learning. They did not receive undue attention, and frankly they were hardly mentioned. Desktop and website applications functioned as part of the fabric of the learning environment, and the students mostly accessed prior knowledge to complete the work of the day.

In this TEDx talk, Pat Bassett outlines a vision for schools of the future, which feature process, collaboration, and creativity, among other skills. Like many other presentations on this topic, the purpose of the talk is largely inspirational.  Bassett shares examples to demonstrate that a new paradigm for schooling is emerging and implies that you should get on board! Little time is given to how a school makes fundamental changes to its instructional program. What may we take from this talk to inform the process of school change?

First, let’s take a closer look at Bassett’s examples. Where do they exist within the instructional program?

An international school: a robotics program in third and fourth grades

Falmouth Academy robotics program: submersible robot

St. Mark’s School: inflatable donut grenade launcher

Snowball grenade launcher competition, 6th grade school community event

St. George’s School Da Vinci summer camp: wedgie-proof underwear

Dan Meyer, throw away the textbook

Watershed School (Colorado): grade 6-12 expeditionary learning

Lamplighter School (Tennessee), grades PK-4: fourth grade egg business,

Rio Grande School (New Mexico), grades PK-6: sixth grade forensics

Teton Science Schools: the park as the subject, three- to seven-day programs for school groups

Moving the Classroom Outdoors: book on outdoor learning

Nueva School (California), grades PK-8: design thinking

NAIS Challenge 20/20: pairs U.S. with schools in other countries to work on 20 global problems

Fay School (Massachusetts), grades PK-9: Water Walker

Montessori School of Denver (Denver), PK-6: malaria solution

ISENet: PLCs and crowdsourcing lessons and curriculum, Buckley Othello curriculum

FoldIt: computer game to contribute to research by solving protein structure problems

What did you notice? Elementary and middle schools? Ancillary, co-curricular programs? High schools, particularly the core instructional program, are notably absent. What else did you find?

Why do we tend to see more instructional innovation in the earlier grades? Perhaps teachers and parents see a broader purpose for education in the early years, to develop in children not only basic competencies but also a love for learning and understanding of how to succeed in school. Perhaps grade level teams are strong in the life of the elementary or middle school teacher, whereas the high school teacher primarily works within a subject area department.

In high schools, why do co-curricular programs such as robotics exemplify the qualities of creativity, communication, and collaboration, and core classes do not? Does the pressure of preparing students for the college admission process cause teachers to narrow curricula and teaching methods? Do schools overly recruit teachers who have acquired advanced degrees in the traditional six academic disciplines?

What, therefore, can one do to encourage greater innovation in high school programs? Here are some ideas that I have seen schools begin to implement.

Strengthen grade-level teams in the high school. What faculty meetings and other opportunities may we create for teachers to coordinate content and teaching methods within each grade level? May we adopt an organizing theme for each year of study?

Design collaborations between innovative co-curricular programs and subject area teachers. Robotics and other experiential programs have experience creating learning environments outside of traditional subject areas and college prep expectations. What lessons can discipline-based teachers learn from co-curricular programs and integrate into their programs. What outright collaborations between co-curricular leaders and subject area teachers may we facilitate?

Broaden the definition of the academic discipline. In college, architecture, philosophy, economics, and environmental science are disciplines, too. Why should high schools restrict themselves to science, history, art, English, languages, and math?

Network with other teachers and schools. Join a consortium of schools attempting to innovate in similar ways. Encourage teachers to get off-campus and visit other schools and organizations. Encourage the development of a broader conception of the purpose of education in the high school.

Visit colleges. Let’s update our understanding of college prep. What are colleges doing today, and how has instruction changed from when we attended college?

Reward risk-taking. Fund new curriculum initiatives. Build risk-taking and experimentation into professional evaluation criteria. Avoid denigrating experiments that fail.

Celebrate alumni accomplishments. What have our alumni accomplished in their adult lives? What high school experiences were most helpful to them in college and beyond? Let’s identify what qualities of our school programs our alumni most value. Let’s also notice what they fail to mention.

Read and explore together. Encourage a culture of common reading and investigation of new educational methods in one’s faculty. Fund professional development, and set aside time for exploration of the purpose and execution of teaching.

Develop common purpose. Reductionist as they may be, catch phrases such as “experiential education,” “life prep,” and “design thinking” serve as a common rallying cry for faculty, students, and parents, strengthening our core purpose and reminding us of what the institution stands for.

What other methods do you use to encourage innovation in your school? What has worked, and what has not worked?

A graduate describes the low expectations from others that he experienced as a student.

“I was told by a counselor that I ‘didn’t look like a TAG student,’ when I applied for the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program in seventh grade.”

full article

Predominantly African American AP calculus class is exceptionally rare, marked by camaraderie and success

The Oregonian profiles the high expectations that a north Portland teacher has for his African-American students.

“To build the AP calculus class to 15 students, Reis recruited teens who showed the strongest math skills and the best work ethic — a group that turned out to be mostly black.”

full article

What is your reaction to these two articles?

(Click on the image to view a larger version.)

Mobile users visit the same top pages as computer users, with one exception. Our online family and employee directory is the sixth most popular page for mobile users and ninth for all users. Update: when I remove iPads from the mobile category, the directory and athletics schedules both move up a couple of positions in the top pages list.

Will mobile traffic eventually exceed computer traffic? I don’t think this data much helps us understand that.

Currently, the Catlin Gabel website displays the same on computers and mobile devices, but we are working on a mobile theme to present mobile users with a more usable interface. It will be interesting to observe whether that affects website overall traffic and popular pages.

You Say You Want A Revolution?

I returned from last week’s NAIS Annual Conference abuzz with asense of potential and possibility for substantial educational change. If
you did not attend, innovation was the conference theme, and presenters from across the country shared many projects that featured student-centered instruction and 21st century learning. I felt more momentum for significant change in classroom instruction than ever before. Have independent schools begun a wholesale shift toward new models of teaching and learning?

In the same week, an article titled “Twilight of the Lecture” ran as the feature in Harvard Magazine (Lambert, 2012). In the article, a Harvard physics professor described his discovery that student independent and group work promotes learning better than lecture. For those interested in innovation and teaching and learning, this news may be discouraging. How can we be in the midst of a revolution in instruction if college instructors are just now considering an alternative to the lecture?

We have seen a parade of impressive, though small-scale, educational initiatives over the decades, such as global programs and Maker’s labs. However, over the same period of time, these changes have lived on the periphery of the instructional program at most institutions, while the core instructional model, informed by persistent educational beliefs, has remained unchanged. If a high school educator from 1950 were suddenly transported to the present, he would find today’s typical classroom very familiar. Can we do anything to give the latest wave of school program innovations more staying power, a greater chance to become part of the fabric of the school program?

Innovative practice necessarily starts small, as the most innovative teachers try out new ideas, take risks, and make mistakes. How does an institution scale the ideas generated by a small group of pioneers up to a whole school program? First, we must recognize that the exploratory spirit of the pioneers is either diminished or completely lost when others are asked to implement an idea they did not invent. The remainder of the faculty is unlikely to find the new ideas as inspirational and self-evident as do the pioneers who adopted them.

In one implementation strategy, the pioneers spread out to the departments and programs responsible for implementing the innovation (Carrigg, Honey, and Thorpe, 2005). These individuals may be able to sustain some of the pioneering spirit and original purposes of the innovation as widening circles of people implement the ideas.

Adopting a new form of teaching requires an experienced practitioner to feel like a beginner again. Some of the most critical thinkers in one’s faculty will be willing to become beginners if the new program is thoughtfully constructed, carefully explained, and critically evaluated. Providing substantial time for discussion and preparation will also help thoughtful practitioners feel ready for these new experiments. Teachers may also appreciate the flexibility to modify aspects of the new program to be responsive to their local context.

Second, we must organize other parts of the school to support the initiative. How many good ideas have we seen fail for lack of space, time, funds, professional development, parent communication, or teacher evaluation? The less-than-glamorous work of organizing support programs behind an innovation must be completed with careful attention. Support activities may include funding sources, classroom modifications, technology systems, and professional development days.

Third, attention to the innovative practice must be maintained to ensure a long life for the initiative. An official curriculum can lose much of its original design as it passes through the “multilayered curriculum” (Cuban, 2012). Teachers determine what is actually taught, students determine what is actually learned, and assessments determine how the effectiveness of the curriculum is measured. This requires the instructional leadership of the school, the pioneer group, and all of the teachers to continue to design, share, and assess their work on the initiative over the span of years.

Schools may make a strategic effort to sustain the most effective innovative projects. Teacher support, program alignment, and long-term attention can transform pilot projects into permanent programs.

Further reading:

Carrigg, Fred, Margaret Honey, and Ron Thorpe (2005). Moving From Successful Local Practice to Effective State Policy.

Scaling Up Success: Lessons From Technology-Based EducationalImprovement. 1-26.
http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787976598.html

Cuban, Larry (2012). The Multi-layered Curriculum: Why Change Is often Confused with Reform.
http://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/the-multi-layered-curriculum-why-change-is-often-confused-with-reform/

Kassissieh, Julia and Rhonda Barton (2009). The Top Priority: Teacher Learning.Principal Leadership.
http://educationnorthwest.org/webfm_send/641

Lambert, Craig (2012). Twilight of the Lecture. Harvard Magazine
http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/03/twilight-of-the-lecture

How would we know whether school innovation, speaking broadly, is a movement or a fad? How high will adoption peak, and then how far will it fall? One way is to track stories about school innovation. However, this dialogue seems insufficiently complex to allow one to understand the mechanics or results of innovation. Many reports of innovative practice feel similar. A singular leader invents a brilliant idea, an unknown number of teachers embrace it, and students are transformed by the experience. The focus of the presentation is usually on the idea itself, and the argument for effectiveness is often circular and unsubstantiated.

Another approach is to find quantitative studies. These take years to develop, but as we have seen with studies of youth and social media, the results can be extremely compelling. I am not aware of significant quantitative studies of program innovation in independent schools. Are you?

A third is to gather the wisdom of others. Many colleagues have worked in our schools for decades and may speak authoritatively about whether schools are substantially different from before. Speaking personally, I hear them say that schools have changed significantly on the surface but the core values have remained pretty much the same. Thinking more broadly, some scholars suggest that secondary education in the U.S. has not changed for decades.

I would love to hear about rigorous study of independent school innovation, quantitative reports of broad trends, or other useful information on this topic. Specific information about this innovation trend will surely help us facilitate the best of it within our schools.

View Map Of Oregon in a larger map

In the following map, each student designed a fruit salad from a list of ingredients and then mapped the distance to the place of origin of each fruit.

View Fruit Salad in a larger map

Global Online Academy
Online School for Girls
Stanford University Online High School
eSchool Network

In addition to high academic standards and inquiry-based instruction, these online learning organizations strive to maintain the highly personal qualities of independent school instruction and learning support. However, they do so using different methods.

In a joint white paper, Global Online Academy and Online School for Girls write:

Independent schools teach the whole child and our schools hold relationships sacred. Online independent schools are no different.

Our teachers communicate regularly with families and schools so students get the support that they need.

GOA and OSG offer fully online, mostly asynchronous classes. How do they build strong teacher-student relationships without synchronous class meetings? OSG and GOA teachers frequently send individual email messages to students, hold office hours, and schedule one-on-one Skype conversations. This degree of student interaction is only possible with small class sizes and a commitment to regular teacher-student interaction. Teachers also sustain presence through recorded video and discussion forum facilitation.

Stanford University Online High School

Stanford runs an accredited, independent high school through the Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY). Many students take a full load of online classes through the program, and some take selected courses to augment regular school attendance. Live, video-based, twice weekly, whole class seminar classes serve as the central instructional feature.

Participation in these sessions provides the full measure of what the OHS academic program has to offer and the abilities it fosters in its students.  In discussion seminar, students participate in fast-moving conversations, stake out, defend, and critique positions on their feet, and participate in the instructor’s modeling of inquiry in a discipline.

Stanford is piloting a higher-resolution version of the video platform with selected schools, intending to make the seminar experience even more immersive. Stanford believes in the central importance of the seminar-style discussion to the university-level class experience as well as the necessity of high-definition video to make this possible in an e-learning environment.

(quote source)

eSchool Network

This network is not a school, nor are its classes fully online. Rather, the network facilitates the development and sharing of electronic instructional materials for teachers to use in blended learning environments in their schools.

Resources in Digital Alexandria are intended for blended/hybrid classroom environments that combine “face-to-face” learning time with “online” learning time. eSchool Network is not a stand-alone school; think of us as a community hub. (source)

According to director Kevin Ruth, schools are integrating these resources at different levels, some using the online resources to enhance full-time classes, and others reducing the number of face-to-face instructional periods each week. The teacher-student relationship is supported primarily by maintaining face-to-face instructional time.

(quote source)

We used DocuSign to bulk send eSignature enrollment contracts to families and manage their completions. The process did not go entirely smoothly the first time through. DocuSign is in the process of transitioning from a desktop client to an entirely web-based system. Bulk sending to multiple recipients per envelope is only available in the desktop client edition, whereas shared fields and conditional fields are only available in the web version. We are hopeful that  the web client will be able to bulk send to multiple recipients by next year!

McGraw Hill and Exprima Media will soon release an anatomy ePub document, two years in the making.

The current disruption about mobile devices and textbooks is an extension of the Internet as a disruptive moment for the electronic distribution of instructional materials.

We are currently in a phase of multiple platforms vying for industry longevity and/or dominance. No wonder it feels so varied, shifting, and confusing.

http://inkling.com is one new publisher of enhanced electronic instructional materials.

A tension exists between instructor curation of electronic materials for a course and publisher curation of electronic materials for publication and state adoption.

One college is using http://www.epubbud.com as a free, simple, multi-platform ePub authoring environment. This stands in marked contrast to the proprietary, closed, iAuthor application recently released by Apple.

A number of education staff in the audience expressed that it would be impossible to require college students to all purchase from one platform. This makes me think of colleges that did exactly that with Mac laptops many years ago. I’m not sure how many of these programs are still around.

What does this all mean for secondary teachers? At this point in time, I imagine that only the very earliest adopters will be creating their own materials in iAuthor, whereas most will wait to see how this industry shakes out. If I were to recommend a solution to a school, I would encourage one to stick with web-based instructor curation for the time being, as it is the most multi-platform, media-rich, multi-user, linkable resource currently available. iAuthor would make sense if the school has a 1:1 iPad program, but one would need to be careful to maintain one’s own pedagogical style within the highly structured authoring environment of iAuthor.

As Mr. Wesch began to rethink his teaching, he visited Mr. Sorensen’s class and was impressed by how the low-tech professor connected with students: “He’s a lecturer. He’s not breaking them up into small groups or having them make videos. That’s my thing, right? But he’s totally in tune with where they are and the struggle it takes to understand physics concepts. He is right there by their side, walking them through the forest of physics.”

http://chronicle.com/article/A-Tech-Happy-Professor-Reboots/130741/

(courtesy of Eric Castro)

I had a similar experience with a long-tenured colleague who completely shunned technology in his teaching. Many students identified him as their favorite teacher, and the qualities they admired most were his insistence on high standards, his expressed care for student learning, and the refinement of his lesson materials. His approach did not work well for all students, but his success reminds us that teaching is multifaceted, multiple profiles of effective teaching exist, and one should always embed technology-based instruction within the context of good teaching and learning.

Catlin Gabel features:
- a progressive education philosophy consistent with project-based uses of technology
- six full-time IT staff and an appropriately sized technology budget
- 1:1, two-platform student laptop program in upper school
- leading-edge use of mobile, web, open-source, and curricular applications
- 53 acre campus on the outskirts of an affordable, sustainable city
- a spirit of collaboration and innovation

I am happy to answer questions about the position and school if you contact me.

Apply here: http://www.catlin.edu/employment

Position Title: Director of Information Technology
Department: Information Technology
Reports to: Division Head
1.0 FTE, year-round position

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Information Technology provides strategic leadership, facilitates IT projects, and coordinates department operations to ensure the delivery of robust and reliable technology resources.  The Director is a collaborative, visionary, and dynamic professional who understands the technologies, knows how to bring people and technology together, provides effective leadership to technology professionals and reaches out to support, train, develop and respond to the needs of faculty, staff and students. The Director is a valued member of the administrative team who serves on a variety of collaborative teams charged with instruction and operations planning.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Administration
• Attend administrative leadership team meetings and contribute to consultative discussions
• Inform division heads and department directors of the work of the IT department
• Collaborate with administrative team members to ensure consistency and coordination of IT activities
• Serve on other committees as needed (e.g., Communications, Knight Scholars, Senior Projects)

Vision and Planning
• Establish IT priorities, initiate projects, and set policy regarding information technology services
• Develop technology plans that stay abreast of new developments and support the school
• Define and deliver cost effective, reliable and secure technology solutions to the school
• Consult with school leaders and end users to understand academic and administrative needs

Assessment
• Provide ongoing review of technology systems and methods
• Recommend enhancements that reduce costs and improve effectiveness
• Provide ongoing evaluation of IT policies, procedures and documentation
• Maintain, audit, and continuously improve security management

Communication
• Communicate IT policies and procedures to students, employees, parents and other constituencies
• Advise members of the Catlin Gabel community on effective uses of technology resources
• Share with other schools and organizations to maintain knowledge of innovations and best practices
• Uphold Catlin Gabel’s Information Technology program as a model for other institutions

Management
• Maximize the department’s ability to provide high-quality, reliable IT systems to the school
• Solicit, collect, and respond to IT expense requests from all parts of the school
• Develop and manage an IT budget in a manner consistent with the school’s plans and vision
• Lead IT department position searches and assist with other position searches as needed

Professional Development
• Build the capacity of faculty, staff, students, and parents to effectively use IT systems
• Oversee internal training for IT staff and develop programs for all faculty and staff
• Assist administrators with the application of technology to enhance operational effectiveness
• Actively cultivate schoolwide dialogue about effective uses of technology in the school

Webmaster Responsibilities
• Develop and implement a school-wide website strategy to meet program needs
• Install, configure, manage, maintain, and troubleshoot web applications
• Investigate, pilot, and recommend new website technologies to the school
• Provide training on school website applications to faculty, staff, students, and parents

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Supervise, evaluate, and support the professional growth of the senior IT positions
• Desktop and Laptop Technologies Manager
• Database Specialist
• Systems Administrator

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Education and Work Experience
• Master’s Degree, featuring advanced study in an academic discipline
• 7+ years experience in information technology services with progressively greater responsibility.
• 3+ years management responsibility, including project management and demonstrated group facilitation, team building, and collaboration skills
• Classroom teaching or equivalent school instructional experience

Technology Experience
• Broad knowledge of application software, operating systems (Windows, Mac, and Linux), interactive website, and server technologies as used in educational environments
• Familiarity with network management standards, best practices and procedures
• Knowledge of emerging technologies and their application to an education environment and administrative offices
• Knowledge of proprietary and open source content and collaboration software and their effects on academic practices and policies (currently Moodle, Drupal, WordPress, and NetCommunity Spark)
• Knowledge of administrative data systems (e.g., Blackbaud products)
• Familiarity with different systems for managing narrative student progress reports
• Online learning or virtual education experience desirable

Management
• Skill in budget preparation and management and ability to adhere to and operate within guidelines
• Ability to keenly analyze and effectively solve problems

Personal Qualities
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies
• Strong verbal and written communication skills

INTERPERSONAL CONTACTS

Daily interaction with faculty, staff, students, parents, volunteers, and vendors

WORKING CONDITIONS

Daily interaction with faculty, staff, parents, vendors, trustees, and volunteers.  On-call for problems.  If a mission critical job in the school is jeopardized by a system or network malfunction, the problem must be resolved as quickly as possible.

Catlin Gabel School believes that each employee makes a significant contribution to its success.  That contribution should not be limited by the assigned responsibilities.  Therefore, this position description is designed to outline primary duties, qualifications and job scope, but not limit the incumbent nor the organization to just the work identified.  It is our expectation that each employee will offer his/her services wherever and whenever necessary to ensure the success of our endeavors.

Updated 2/21/2012

Announcing A New Leadership Seminar:
Innovative Leadership
July 15-19, Hillbrook School, Los Gatos, CA
Registration is now open 

Join the Santa Fe Leadership Center and Hillbrook School for an exploration of innovation in school leadership. This highly interactive seminar is designed for school leaders who want to delve deeper into the concept of innovation, who want to increase their capacity to bring innovative practices to their schools, and who want to foster a culture of innovation and creativity in their communities.

Today, schools are challenged to prepare students for a rapidly changing world which requires rethinking and re-imagining school – from instruction, to physical space, to time, and spirit. To meet this challenge, school leaders must adapt ahead of the curve.  They must be innovative.

As a school leader, are you prepared to meet the changing needs of your school and your students? What does it mean to be innovative? What conditions must exist to foster a culture of innovation your school community?

Who should attend? Leaders at all points in their careers and serving in all different capacities are encourage to attend.

Enrollment is limited to 40 school leaders.   

The new Global Online Academy website includes course offerings for 2012-13. They represent a big step up in variety and sophistication over year 1. Detailed descriptions may be found here.

AN INTRODUCTION TO BIOETHICS

COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT: CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS

DECLARING OUR HUMANITY: APPLYING PHILOSOPHY TO MODERN GLOBAL ISSUES

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES THROUGH THE LENS

GRASSROOTS HISTORY OF CHINA

THE HISPANIC EXPERIENCE

JAPANESE LANGUAGE THROUGH CULTURE

MEDICAL PROBLEM SOLVING

MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS

USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS TO SOLVE GLOBAL ISSUES

9/11

ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS

FRENCH HIP-HOP

GLOBAL HEALTH

IPHONE/IPAD APP DEVELOPMENT

MEDIA STUDIES

MODERN ETHICAL DILEMMAS

URBAN STUDIES

PLAYWRITING 2.0

I personally came away with much appreciation for the diverse perspectives and experience of different education professionals, as well as a grab bag of promising tools that others are using. Most importantly, we are succeeding in creating a new, broadly based professional network in the Portland area.

Delightful Design (Rachel Wente-Chaney)
Design principles for non-designers. One of my favorite books is Robin Williams’s The Non-Designer’s Design Book. Her lessons are useful for all people, but I think especially so for educators.
Link to presentation: http://goo.gl/zfYVZ
Link to Delicious Stack: http://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/Ebvf4P

iPads in the Classroom (Mike Kruse)
I will share best practices from numerous deployments that I have surveyed around the nation.

Smart Search (Colette Cassinelli)
A show-n-tell / discussion around search and how to effectively teach students & teachers to move on the basic Google Search. Some of the session links

Intro to Web 2.0/EdTech Strand (Melissa Lim)
Three of my favorite web 2.0 tools and how I use them in the classroom.__http://bit.ly/edcamppdxweb20__

Why Is School Change Hard? (Richard Kassissieh)
School Change theory, Larry Cuban and David Tyack, systems thinking, mental models of “good” education, industrial model for education and the information age.

Speed Innovation Session (All)
In this session, a large number of participants have 3 (5?) minutes to share a tool, tip, idea, or anything else. The idea is to share out a wide range of ideas very quickly, with suggestions for further reading/resources on each topic.

Literature Circles to Create Content Area Relevancy (Ben Bleckley)
Sharing resources for finding young adult literature relevant to specific content topics, ways to develop student self-directed discussion skills, and assessments. Discussion Links  Talking Points

Leave Your Tech at the Door (Corin Richards)
Let’s have a conversation about student-centered learning and other great teaching practices crossing content and grades levels. Of course, technology MIGHT creep into the conversation. This could be a continuation of Richard’s change theory discussion.

The Multi-layered Curriculum: Why Change Is often Confused with Reform

… once states adopt curricular frameworks in science they will have only a passing similarity to the science content and skills that teachers will teach once they close their classroom doors. In the real world of age-graded schools, pedagogy, assessment, and professional development are thoroughly entangled while the official curriculum too often sails above the clouds loosely tethered to what happens in classrooms.

Larry Cuban finds four layers of curriculum in schools:

1. The “official,” state-mandated curriculum

2. What teachers teach

3. What students learn

4. What is assessed

Read more

What Can the U.S. Learn from Educational Change in Finland?

We should not ask whether Finnish educational model would work in the United States or anywhere else. The question should be: What can we learn from the Finnish experience as high performer and successful reformer?

Finnish lesson is that good policies and overall well-being of people, including poverty reduction, are the corner stones of sustainable educational success.

Pasi Sahlberg (by way of Larry Cuban) underscores the key lesson from Finland, that a demonstrated alternative exists to test-based school accountability systems. The Atlantic also wrote on the topic.

Read more

Study: Class size doesn’t matter

… we show that an index of five policies suggested by over forty years of qualitative research — frequent teacher feedback, the use of data to guide instruction, high-dosage tutoring, increased instructional time, and high expectations — explains approximately 50 percent of the variation in school effectiveness.

If this becomes the new conventional wisdom, then independent schools will need to update their marketing messages. Independent schools are generally well-positioned to speak to highlight teacher feedback, tutoring, and high expectations and perhaps less well-positioned for data-informed instruction and increased instructional time.

Read more

Teachers Resist High-Tech Push in Idaho Schools

Teachers are resisting, saying that they prefer to employ technology as it suits their own teaching methods and styles.

Legislating computer use, especially if it results in teacher layoffs, would generate a strong reaction, wouldn’t it?

Read more

LiveBinders Comes to the iPad

Sorting Out an Avalanche of iPad Apps for the Best of 2011

Free Tech for Teachers and The New York Times offer some quality app selections that may work well for schools. I am especially interested in presentation tools for organizing content, whether for student portfolios or other, more short-term purposes.

LiveBinders  Best of 2011