Developing Education

5 Ways to Build a Better Teacher {Educational Leadership, Professional Learning}

mrkeenan — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:00:59 +0000

After my first intern experience several years ago, I had nearly sworn off the process. Not because he wasn't a good teacher or a great guy, because he was. No, the issue I had was with where his professional training was when he came into my room. While his teacher preparation was mainly sound in theory, in terms of practical knowledge he had very little. So I spent much of my time teaching him how to lesson plan, unit plan, etc., and he had to work twice as hard as he should have at the beginning to get his practice to where it needed to be. This experience led me to think about how we could 'build' a better teacher...

Why I’d Rather Have a ‘Limited’ iPod/iPad in My Classroom Than a Netbook {ipads in education, iPods in education, educational technology}

mrkeenan — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 04:16:43 +0000

My last post about the productivity of the iPad was my most reviewed, reposted, retweeted article yet. I know that there are those out there who have some difficulties seeing the iPad as a useful educational device, there’s one across the hall from me at my school, but there are certain concessions I’m willing to [...]

Creating a Culture of Mobile Technology in Education {iPads in Education, iPods in Education, 21st Century Learning}

mrkeenan — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:33:08 +0000

How do we create a culture of mobile technology in education, specifically inside the classroom? I think about this often as I do more to integrate technology into my own classroom. Students, and their teachers, are often very satisfied with the status quo mainly because it makes ‘sense’ to them. Our traditional models of education [...]

A New Perspective on the Professional Growth (Learning) Plan {Professional Learning, Professional Growth, Teacher Development}

mrkeenan — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:15:26 +0000

Every year teachers go through the process of filling out, creating or adjusting a professional growth plan. For me, this has always been a double-edged sword. I am very serious about words. As an English teacher, I know just how important something written can become, personally or societally....More at www.mrkeenan.com

Why the iPad IS for Content Creation in Education {iPads in Education, Mobile Learning, 21st Century Learning}

mrkeenan — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:37:52 +0000

I read a TON of articles on the iPad as a media consumption device. I see over and over that it is great for reading websites, books, interacting with social media, but when it comes to "real" work, it just doesn't cut it. I have to be the one to disagree at this point. When I look at this device as content creation tool, I think there are places where it just will not work, but those places generally already have specialized equipment. When we look at what the iPad can and cannot do in terms of education, we have to be realistic about educational needs, and the future of this device...More on Adventures in Learning blog.

5 Ways to Change Your Educational Leadership Style This Year {School Leadership, Education}

mrkeenan — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:12:32 +0000

With the new school year fast approaching, many educators have grand ideas about changes they would like to take in their approaches to teaching, to leadership and to connecting to other educators. I experience this every year, but I find the years where I do make some significant changes to my practice and other key goals, I have made careful preparations in some key areas. Today I'm going to focus on improving leadership within a school community, and 5 ways this can be... (continued at www.mrkeenan.com)

When A Community Mourns A Teacher…Farewell Skye McGowan

mrkeenan — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:58:49 +0000

Two weeks ago, our school lost one of its most effective, dynamic, engaging and powerful teachers. I have written him a letter, which I share with you now only to connect you with why I have been unable to post the last two weeks. It’s hard to suffer the loss of a mentor and friend [...]

5 Changes We Can Make in Education This Year {educational change, student learning, professional growth}

mrkeenan — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:22:51 +0000

We all know education is not perfect. We can read the blogs talking about the systems, the political pressures, the poor state of education. Unfortunately, too often this leads teachers to think that they are powerless to confront some of the fundamental issues in education. While we are not all going to march to the [...]

Why Educators Must Create GREAT Content {student engagement, teacher learning, teaching practice}

mrkeenan — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:22:50 +0000

I have touched on this topic here and there before, but it has become very apparent to me this summer as I watch some of the great media being produced outside education. We need to learn how to present our material better. Our students are being raised in a world where pervasive, polished and engaging [...]

Culminating Theory: Finishing My Curriculum Studies Course

mrkeenan — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:57:19 +0000

After our last series of presentations yesterday, it is time to put some reflections down about this course and what has come out of it for me. Curriculum studies is such a broad area of study, and as our professor put it, we all have our areas in the forest that we explore. What I have found in the past several weeks is a map of some areas of the forest, an itinerary of sorts, leading me to areas I can visit to support other learning I gain in education, or wish to explore for their own sake. I am so thankful for the opportunities I have had to expand my interests and have a guide through the areas I had not yet discovered...

Presenting an Educational Theorist: Lev Vygotsky {Curriculum Theory, Zone of Proximal Development, Teacher Education}

mrkeenan — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:25:51 +0000

I had the opportunity to do a presentation of curriculum theorist Lev Vygotsky recently in class, and prepared some fun activities for the project. I really enjoy this sort of blending of modern technology with the ideas of a theorist that was at the height of his influence nearly 100 years ago. This post features a history of Lev Vygotsky, and an activity to explain his theory of the Zone of Proximal Development.

How Do We Approach Curriculum? {effective teaching, student learning, curriculum outcomes}

mrkeenan — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:39:59 +0000

How do we approach curriculum if we want teach students effectively? Do we follow student interests and then guide students toward practical learning, or do we choose what we want to teach from the curriculum, and teach it so well that student interest is captured? It's the start of a discussion...

What Makes You (and your students) Happy? {student engagement, teaching environment, classroom climate}

mrkeenan — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:44:42 +0000

We all know how important empathy and personal connections are, we know the power to change lives that comes from authentic relationships. While it takes time to enact systemic change in a culture, I think the most powerful thing we can do as teachers is remember that the values, mythologies, facts and emotion that we present in the classroom will become part of our students' world view.

Curriculum Experiments: When Teaching Episodes Go Wrong {Teaching and Learning, Reflective Practice, Effective Teaching}

mrkeenan — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:38:54 +0000

As we know, not everything in our classrooms goes as expected. Often, we find ourselves trying to innovate and forge meaningful learning experiences for students that just don't pan out. But what can we learn from these episodes if we really consider what is happening in the classroom? Here's one of my experiences, let's see what you get out if it, and I'll provide my analysis afterward as well:

The Subversive Support for Education in Harry Potter {Pedagogy, Popular Culture, Literature Reflects Life}

mrkeenan — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:06:48 +0000

Reading the article Conjuring Curriculum, Conjuring Control by Robert J. Helfenbein from the journal Curriculum Inquiry, I felt a little like a child given a delicious candy. I mean, how often are scholarly reviews about curriculum tied to a text so popularized and current as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? As an English teacher, I was delighted. As a Masters student, I was impressed. Helfenbein really does a great job of tying together two seemingly disparate media and making sense of the implications of the resistance to authority developed in the Harry Potter novel. It's true that many of the phrases and pressures from the novel resonate with educators of today, particularly those facing high-stakes testing and standards implementation.

Gaming as Education, Gaming to Save the Earth? {Student Engagement, Civic Action, 21st Century Learning},

mrkeenan — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:26:02 +0000

This post is focused on a TED talk by Jane McGonigal, in which she argues that gaming could save the world if we do it right. Read the post to see where I fit with her theory!

5 Essential Questions About Curriculum {Teaching Practice, Teaching, Learning, Pedagogy}

mrkeenan — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:12:54 +0000

Curriculum is one of the touchiest subjects there is in education, because nothing else cuts so deeply into our pedagogy and the decisions we make daily in our classrooms....

Are you an Educational Modernist or Post-modernist? A Quiz.

mrkeenan — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:25:23 +0000

Yesterday, our class looked at the key ideas of William Tyler and William Doll and their respective (and divergent) perspectives on curriculum and implementation. In considering the ideas of these two scholars, I see more clearly than I ever have the differences between the modernist and post-modernist perspective in curriculum and implementation. After the initial [...]

A Teacher’s Relationship to Curriculum {teaching and learning, teaching, assessment, curriculum}

mrkeenan — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:20:11 +0000

What is your relationship to your curriculum? This was the question posed to our class today as we went to the curriculum lab to look at curriculum documents produced in Alberta. We looked at various levels and subjects, and the implications of age, scope and sequence, and the ability we have to surmount the challenges [...]

What is Curriculum Studies? {curriculum, metacognition, pedagogy}

mrkeenan — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:10:28 +0000

Curriculum studies is really the overarching questions arising out of Schubert's article. Curriculum Studies is the study of what is worthwhile to teach...

A Pedagogic Oath, Rewriting the Hippocratic Oath {Authentic Teaching, Student-Centered Instruction, Educational Change}

mrkeenan — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 02:40:33 +0000

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant: I will respect the experience and research of those teachers in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow. I will apply, for the benefit of children, all teaching methodologies [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of personal bias and judgement. I will remember that there is art to teaching as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh standard testing or ranking systems. I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed to support student learning...

Upcoming Posts on Curriculum and Learning

mrkeenan — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 02:25:09 +0000

Good evening everyone, I am currently in Lethbridge, Alberta engaged in my summer Masters courses. As part of one of my courses, I will be completing a journal of major curriculum thoughts and my response to ideas arising from my studies. I have received permission to share these ideas with my readers. This means you will be getting posts each weekday for the next couple of weeks, and I would (of course) love any feedback you can give me to revise and make the posts better. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the most frequent posting I have ever done! By the way, I will be posting the first three entries tonight to catch up, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading, and have a great night!

Creating Change in Education

mrkeenan — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:07:11 +0000

Welcome to the blog! We have been undergoing some changes this month as we revise the content and structure to make it better for you! Keep checking back, as there are going to be many great new ideas and a new layout coming in the next couple of weeks. I am continuing to post twice [...]

5 Ways To Move Students Beyond the Classroom

mrkeenan — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:30:32 +0000

We've been having some interesting conversations around the school the last couple of weeks about creating and changing culture in the school. We've come up with many strategies over the past couple of years, setting policy on late students, late work, collecting kids at risk, all in an effort to help students care about their school experience and try harder with more success. However, we came to the realization as our school and teachers have gained success with modern learning strategies, that we can't simply legislate students into better work and attitudes. However, if we involve them in the school culture, and they feel that they are doing something of value, it seems much of what we 'need' to enforce goes away on it's own.

There Are No Throwaway Students. {effective teaching, education, teaching with passion}

mrkeenan — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:01:32 +0000

As parents we always wish our kids to be the great ones that are respectful, helpful and diligent in school; but if my sons or daughter are not, I hope they have a teacher that tries a little harder to find out why.