world-shaker:

There are some great case study examples in here. One was on ePortfolios, and I’ve included a little excerpt below:

“These portfolios represent purposeful collections of student work that serve as evidence for their individual abilities,” says Ken Holvig, the school’s Head Computer teacher. “The steps for creating the portfolio include collection of work samples, selection through teacher and student input, reflection, projection of future goals and presentation to parents and peers.” The e-Portfolios are shared online through Google Sites.

“Our seventh graders have responded to the challenge by building robust documents rich with chosen artifacts and personal reflection,” Holvig notes. In other words, the process of creating e-Portfolios of their own work is motivating students to create better work; thus improving their education and their job-hunting resources down the line.

infoneer-pulse:

A new report from Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called Primary Sources: America’s Teachers on the Teaching Profession, finally quantifies just how hard teachers work: 10 hours and 40 minutes a day on average. That’s a 53-hour work week!

These numbers are indicative of teachers’ dedication to the profession and their willingness to go above and beyond to meet students’ needs. It never was, and certainly isn’t now, a bell-to-bell job.

The 7.5 hours in the classroom are just the starting point. On average, teachers are at school an additional 90 minutes beyond the school day for mentoring, providing after-school help for students, attending staff meetings and collaborating with peers. Teachers then spend another 95 minutes at home grading, preparing classroom activities, and doing other job-related tasks. The workday is even longer for teachers who advise extracurricular clubs and coach sports —11 hours and 20 minutes, on average. As one Kentucky teacher surveyed put it, “Our work is never done. We take grading home, stay late, answer phone calls constantly, and lay awake thinking about how to change things to meet student needs.”

» via Washington Post

creative idea to encourage self-reflection and creativity

kbkonnected:

Very Cool Lesson!

textbookslayer:

The “Build Your Own Hero Kit”

My students shortened it to BYOH (bye-oh) kit. This was an intensive project that took about 3 weeks to complete with my group of Grade 7s but in the end they thanked me. THEY THANKED ME! How often do junior high students thank you for lesson planning?!

The…

world-shaker:

Some eyebrow-raising ideas (or at least delivery) in here. I’ve included a few below:

5. The Role of Standardized Tests in College Admissions
The AP Exam is on its last legs. The SAT isn’t far behind. Over the next ten years, we will see Digital Portfolios replace test scores as the #1 factor in college admissions.

6. Differentiated Instruction as the Sign of a Distinguished Teacher
The 21st century is customizable. In ten years, the teacher who hasn’t yet figured out how to use tech to personalize learning will be the teacher out of a job. Differentiation won’t make you ‘distinguished’; it’ll just be a natural part of your work.

7. Fear of Wikipedia
Wikipedia is the greatest democratizing force in the world right now. If you are afraid of letting your students peruse it, it’s time you get over yourself.

From 2009 to 2010 we saw a growth of one million students in online education in the US according to the Sloan Consortium Report. It is the biggest growth measured so far and whereas traditional on-campus classes have been growing at only 2%, online education jumped ahead at a whopping 21% growth-rate. That’s ten times faster!

world-shaker:

Here’s one idea:

Discussions in character

An effective way to use Twitter is to have students tweet in character. Let’s look at a specific example based upon Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Divide your class into groups of about five students each and have a Romeo and Juliet tweetup. Assign each group a unique hashtag (i.e. #chsenglit11 for CHS English Literature Period 1 Group 1). If you are using TodaysMeet, create a separate room for each group. Then assign each student a character from the play. Each group will be assigned the same set of characters. In our example, you will now have several groups with a Romeo, a Juliet, a Mercutio, etc. For the assignment, have the students tweet in character about important parts of the play or even tweet new scenes. A directive might be, “Tweet your character’s thoughts immediately after Juliet’s wedding gets moved to the next morning (before she drinks the poison.)” Make sure they tweet in the Shakespearean writing style! This assignment could be a one-time event or a continuous assignment throughout the entire unit of study.