In Kevin Killeen's Algebra class at JMA, ninth and tenth graders are working to develop the skills and dispositions to be self-reliant learners. While practicing solving equations, students relied on different means of support. They were asked to work independently or with partners, and to "coach, don't cheat." If students struggled with a concept, they could look to their partner for help, or turn to MathPapa, an online algebraic equation solver. What I was most impressed with was that students were more interested in understanding the process than getting the answer, and in fact, if they didn't understand the MathPapa explanation, they then turned to Mr. Killeen. Mr. Killeen and his students that understood the topic best offered tutorials throughout the class. Thanks for the great class!
Last week, almost 20 teachers and administrators from Bulkeley Upper, Bulkeley Lower, and JMA participated in Education Elements School Design Workshop. After learning about design thinking by participating in the Marshmallow Challenge and experiencing a simulation of a station rotation, participants got to work in instructional and classroom design. This group utilized the time to think through classroom challenges and discover blended tactics to solve the problems they identified. Kudos to them for their hard work, and I'll soon be in touch with the teachers who did not attend to work through their designs.
Cool Tools
This week, the tools are about you, not the students. The first is PBS LearningMedia, which is creating great open educational resources (OER) for students and open resources for teacher professional development. I'd invite you to explore what this site has to offer, as well as check out these webinars:
Apps, Tools and Tech Tips You Can Use Tomorrow
Additionally, I'm really intrigued by this live, virtual field trip being offered by Alabama Public Television to take students to important sites connected to the Montgomery Bus Boycotts.
The other site I would like to direct you to is BetterLesson's Master Teacher Project for Blended Learning. BetterLesson has put together a series of vignette's by experienced blended teachers to explain systems and designs that work. They are brief, focused, and very useful. Hope you enjoy!
Professional Learning
In Why flip the classroom? ‘If kids aren’t learning, it’s not them, it’s you’, listen to and read about one teacher's decision to switch to a flipped classroom.
The title How tech is taking the terror out of learning doesn't do justice to this article's narrative description of using tech to enhance learning rather than replace teaching.
Appropriately, Mrs. Greene tweeted this resource on social media: Social Media in Education: Resource Toolkit.
News from the US Department of Education last week was all about #GoOpen, a campaign to push for open licenses of educational resources, or OER. Read about the launch of the campaign in Education Department Wants Schools to #GoOpen and check out The Learning Registry to see the government's foray into organizing these efforts.
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