The Cursed Pencil Sharpener

grayer:

In the great American debate over education, the education and technology corporations, bankrolled politicians and activist-profiteers who collectively comprise the so-called “reform” movement base their arguments on one central premise: that America should expect public schools to produce world-class academic achievement regardless of the negative forces bearing down on a school’s particular students. In recent days, though, the faults in that premise are being exposed by unavoidable reality.

Preach!

Friday night.. I needed to hear this! :D

(Source: edumeme, via positivelypersistentteach)

gjmueller:

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, self-affirmation is the process of identifying and focusing on your most important values. Doing this can boost problem-solving abilities, the researchers claim.

“An emerging set of published studies suggest that a brief self-affirmation activity at the beginning of a school term can boost academic grade-point averages in underperforming kids at the end of the semester.

(Source: gjmueller)

thecompasspoint:

The country’s strongest innovators embrace creativity, play, and collaboration — values that also inform their physical spaces.

• Spaces designed for learners that facilitate many modes of learning from individual quiet study to group performance and everything in…

(Source: fastcodesign.com)

gjmueller:

A curriculum crunch for California

In California, the curriculum standards and the new tests that go with them are supposed to be implemented in the 2014-15 school year.

That’s soon, and at the rate California is going, it won’t be ready. The core curriculum standards lay out extensive guidelines about the knowledge and skills that students should master in each grade of public school, in both reading and math. But there are many complicated steps involved in turning those guidelines into a day-to-day educational plan for California schools, and the state isn’t even close to halfway through them. It hasn’t figured out how to go about training teachers, and won’t begin to adopt new textbooks — a slow and politically rancorous process — for at least two years.

What’s more, common core is expensive, requiring extensive new training for teachers, new textbooks and computers on which the new tests must be taken. It’s unclear where the state will find the money.

image via flickr:CC | woodleywonderworks

world-shaker:

Presented without comment. 

(Source: space-rockets, via theyuniversity)

gjmueller:

FreeTech4Teachers is a great resource for teachers and edtechs like me. This post in particular had a number of links to iPad usage studies, something I’m very interested so I’m putting it here for you, too.

1. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development for Victoria, Australia iPads for Learning – In Their Hands field trial studied the use of iPads in nine schools
2. The iPad as a Tool for Education is a study based on iPad use at Longfield Academy, Kent, England . There is strong emphasis on interpreting the data generated by surveying students and faculty.
3. Reading With iPads – The Difference Makes a Difference studied the impact on the reading comprehension, knowledge of content, and analysis skills of boys aged 11 to 13 who read using iPads.
4. Promoting Student Engagement by Integrating New Technology into Tertiary Education: The Role of the iPad studied the use of iPads by teachers and students in distance learning and in-person learning environments.
5. The Impact of the iPad and iPhone on Education was published in 2010 and is speculative in nature as the students surveyed had not yet been given iPads.

world-shaker:

20 Quick Actions You Can Do Today To Set Your Classroom Up For Massive Success

An impressive and thoughtful list. Most of the ideas come with linked resources. Here are three (click through for the rest):

Action #7 Pay attention to noise and light surroundings, which may distract learning (30 minutes)

Teachers only have so many resources and control over the actual classroom structure. Using throw rugs and curtains help to diminish excess noise from hallways or in the room. If you have a reading area, why not set up a table lamp from home for more cozy lighting? It may not seem like much, but the environment plays a big role in a student’s ability to concentrate.

Do you or your parents have any old furniture at home? Adding a chair or couch to a silent reading area will greatly enhance your student’s willingness!

Action #8 Deal with smartphones from the first day with a proactive plan for integration (10 minutes)

Whether you like it or not, smartphones are working into younger and younger hands. Some schools may have a ban on smartphones altogether, but if your school does not, consider creating a plan that uses smartphones in the classroom. Banning them will only give you a headache as you spend hours trying to referee, confiscate, and deal with unruly students. Who wants to waste time doing that?

Why not create a smartphone area in your classroom? Everyone must put his or her smartphone there at the beginning of the day. For five minutes before lunch or after work is finished, they can go over to that area and use it for research or educational gaming. When you work with your students, you might find they are more apt to compromise as well.

Action #9 Create a list of “question words” that help you with effective questioning (10 minutes)

Create a board or poster with excellent words to use in questioning your students. These words can be used not only for instructing, but when students are asked to question each other. The NDT Resource center has an effective list of words to remember.

ernestmedia:

It was my fifth grade year.

It was a lousy classroom. Kids throwing books across the desk. Paper on the floor, pencils broken. This became routine for the rest of the year and I hardly recall learning anything. What I did remember was a young, insecure teacher that…