Building Skills in the Interactive Schoolhouse

Vaile Fujikawa
IL
ET
CO
Thibodeaux, B. (2013, March 14). Building Skills in the Interactive Schoolhouse. Education Week. Retrieved from: http://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2013/03/14/index.html?intc=EW-TC13-EWH

Summary: Very inspiring video about a new take on learning at a school in Texas. Lots of hands on, see how things work, do it yourself type learning in environments that differ from traditional learning spaces. Instead of a teacher telling a child how something works the student gets to look it up or build a model of it herself.
Evaluation: What a great place to go to school. I wish these kinds of opportunities were available for all kids everywhere. It seems like it's kind of the trifecta of learning: you get to hear it, you get to do it, and you get to see it.

The Object Formerly Known as the Textbook

Vaile Fujikawa
IL
Young, J.R. (2013, January 27). The object formally know as the textbook. The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/article/Dont-Call-Them-Textbooks/136835/
Summary: What is the future of textbooks? Some publishers are creating an entire course worth of content with video, text and homework included in e-versions of their textbooks. How do these ebooks (or personalized learning experiences as some would call them) play into the future of education, especially MOOCs? Will MOOCs become the new textbook? How do these changes effect the publishing industry?

Evaluation: Reading this article really helped me see the value in these kind of interactive textbooks. The stuff that Young reports on in the article is a lot like what we have been doing in 250 and SLIS as a whole. I have a lot of questions about where we go from here and how these kinds of programs can be developed to help students who don't learn as well on their own. The move toward all "E" everything is slightly disconcerting to me, because I feel very strongly about the value of presenting materials in several ways to students. I just don't think that an ebook, even with a bunch of interactive software is going to appeal to all students. I guess that on some level it doesn't matter how far we've come, some students are still going have to learn in ways that are uncomfortable for them. 

How to Make Your Classroom a Thinking Space

Jessica Jones

ET

Boss, S. (2013, March 26). How to make your classroom a thinking space. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/thinking-through-project-based-learning-suzie-boss?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pos&utm_campaign=blog-thinkingspaces

Summary: Starting with an exert from Thinking Through Project-Based Learning: Guiding Deeper Inquiry, a new book by Jane Krauss and Suzie Boss, Boss asks readers to imagine a creative work environment. After readers come up with their image of a creative environment, Boss discuss how schools are a work environment for both teachers and student, therefore it should be a creative environment for problem-based learning. Boss then discusses how to make your classroom more creative, providing examples from schools around the country. A total of eleven suggestions are made, most of them a small adjustment that could easily be made in most classrooms.

Evaluation: After having read this article, I see how easy it is to incorporate creativity into the classroom space. Not working in a school presently, I am also trying to see how we can incorporate some of these ideas into the public library. While many suggestions, such as “Independent Work” and “Conversational Classroom” are strictly for classrooms, libraries can incorporate color, a video booth (for programming or Summer Reading Program), and new furniture. With suggestions easy enough and inexpensive enough for all teachers to incorporate, Boss is helping make it easier for students to do problem-based learning.

Allergic or Not? Middle School Students Design an App that Tells You

Jessica Jones

IL

Schwartz, K. (2013, April 9). Allergic or not? middle school students design an app that tells you. MindShift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/04/allergic-or-not-middle-school-students-design-app-that-tells-you/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29

STEM education is a trending topic in education, resulting in many schools embracing science, technology, engineering, and math programs and projects. In her article, Schwartz discusses STEM integration in at the Hampstead Academy. The eighth graders at this school created an app that allows people to scan a food’s barcode or search for it to see if they are allergic to it. They worked with advisors and the MIT Media Lab’s App Inventor Training Corps, mainly relying on the students designing and coding their app. Through her interviews with students and teachers, Schwartz shows that students are more engaged with what they are learning when they can see it turn into a real product in the marketplace. By examining an implementation of STEM in the Hampstead Academy, Schwartz shows the positive responses of students and practical applications to STEM in schools.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Parker, Linda

IL

http://www.p21.org/

     Noted above is the official website of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills group.  The sites gives specifics regarding what the 21st century skills are and why they're needed.  I found it very informative and helpful for those of us who might be novices.

A Collaborative Community

 Kaelyn Shaw

CO

Montgomery, S. E., & Miller, J. (2011). The Third Place: The Library as Collaborative and Community Space in a Time of Fiscal Restraint. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 18(2/3), 228-238. doi:10.1080/10691316.2011.577683 

Profile of Rollins College’s Olin Library serves as a model for the campus library’s reinvention as a “third place” offering students a collaborative community-building environment in which they can both utilize library-stored learning materials, as well as share information in an informal and casual workspace.  Rollins College demonstrates that in spite of the “new normal” of budget constraints and space/staff reductions, a thriving learning community can and should be built to enhance student and faculty participation and interaction with each other and library materials.  Literature reviews suggests such a “third place” preserves the traditional library model while allowing space to increase community and collaborative learning. 

Meeting the Millennial's Needs

Kaelyn Shaw

CO
ET 

Lippincot, J. (2012).  Information commons:  meeting millennials’ needs.  Journal of Library Administration, 50(1), 27–37. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01930820903422156

Information Commons are popular with millennial (also called net generation) students, who often work in groups, use technology avidly, and combine their academic and social lives. Enhancing the configuration of services for the Information Commons can assist in leveraging the value of the available content, hardware, software, and physical setting to support learning and academic programs. Understanding millennial students’ lifestyle is key to developing a robust service program to engage and support them.

Changing habits and academic practices of millennial students influence a change in library priorities and design considerations; especially given the evolution of the traditional library into information commons spaces.  Focus is given to the connection between the information commons and the way that millennials conduct their lives suggesting that the commons design should address this connection.
Specific considerations include space flexibility, accommodation of group activity and collaborative learning, space that reinforces community, access to technology and instruction on technology use, as well as the inclusion of some more traditional instructional and presentation space.
The definition and preferences of millennials is addressed, as are the many misconceptions and stereotypes of this age group. Knowing who the millennials are and how they differ from students of past generations provide insights into how libraries can best support this dynamic population.  Focusing on how students ideally will use the space takes priority over purely aesthetic considerations for commons design and will allow future information commons to address the needs of all students.

Reinventing Ourselves in the Digital Age

Jennifer Alfonso-Punzalan

ET
CO
IL

Hammond, J. & Barnabei, C.  (2013, May/June).  Reinventing ourselves in the digital age.  Library Media Connection.  31(6), 14-16.

This article is about Chris Barnabei, who is the teacher librarian for the Chambersburg Area Career Magnet School in Pennsylvania.  The high school is project-based and Barnabei helped to create the Knowledge Commons.  He writes about how he collaborates with teachers, the management of the 1:1 iPad initiative, partnerships with local businesses to identity real-life problems and solutions, etc. 

This is a fascinating look at how one teacher librarian is at the cutting edge of what we have been discussing in our LIBR 250 class.  It is an exciting read because it shows the potential of what communities can do to engage their students and solve real-life problems.  One thing that I noted was that the magnet school is competitive and only some students are allowed entrance.  I wonder how project-based learning could apply to everyone in every public school.

One helpful thing was that he has an app libguide that he mentions in the article.

Collaboration: What it is, What it Takes, and Problems

Cooper, O.P. & Bray, M. (2011). School library media specialist – teacher collaboration: characteristics, challenges, opportunities. TechTrends, 55(4), 48-54.

CO

Cooper and Bray supply readers with a great amount of detail in the different roles that teacher-librarians can play in schools. They spend equal amounts of time covering the different subtopics they identify in the title. One of the greatest portions was the characteristics of collaboration. They draw readers attention to the fact that often times collaboration is used as a broad overreaching term to apply to many different scenarios. It is their belief that true collaboration is not often achieved in schools. They do make that point that if teacher-librarians want to be viewed as indispensible, they will have to make their skills/ abilities and contributions known to the administrative personal just as often as they do with teachers. They also caution that the end result of collaboration is not just collaboration, but collaboration has result in increased student achievement. I found a great amount of merit in the portion Cooper and Bray spend in helping readers understand what true collaboration is. I think too often the term is tossed around without really examining what it is or what it takes. They offer a quote from another author that fully explains “true” teacher and teacher-librarian collaboration, one that I think is the best I have encountered yet:

When teachers and library media specialists work together to identify what students need to know about accessing, evaluating, interpreting and applying information; when they plan how and where these skills will be taught and how they relate the content are learning; when they co-teach so students learn the skills at the time they need them; and when they assess the students’ process as they work with information as well as the end product, they have truly collaborated.

Posted by Jessica King

The Shallows: Recommended Summer Reading

Greco, Rebecca
ET, IL

Carr, N. (2011) The Shallows:What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. Norton, 280 pages; ISBN 0393339750.
Nicholas Carr's Blog,  Rough Type: http://www.roughtype.com/

The series of short articles and infographics through which I've learned of many new tech tools and trends in education made me yearn for something longer and more fully developed, so I went old-school and read a book.  While I regret the 11th-hour nature of this posting, I think this book is a must-read for anyone working in education who thinks about technology and information literacy.  I highly recommend it to everyone as summer reading.

Carr traces brain development in human beings through varied communication forms across human history. His book is not as strident or skeptical of technology's impact on our minds as his blog is (see above address); nor is he sounding an overt alarm about technology's harm to children, as Jane Healey (1999) does in her book Failure to Connect.  However, Carr points out a key difference between reading linear, book-style text and reading online, with its links and sidebars: this second form of reading does keep us from reading one thing deeply; instead, it further develops our awareness to possible distractions and novel information.  Carr points out this this awareness to outside stimuli was crucial, for instance, for hunter-gatherers, who had to be constantly alert to new information all around them.  He describes his own experiences as a reader who came to miss the longer, deeper stretches of text immersion when he began to read--and skim-- online more, but he is careful not to privilege one form of reading over the other.  Instead, Carr points out that we are communicating in a  way that affects our brain wiring, and that the long term effects of these changes have yet to be seen.

I was surprised by Carr's measured tone in the book; I'd expected more of a rant. The brain research he cites does remind me of the changes I see in the middle school students I teach, though. Like many teachers, I see a big difference between the kids who read a lot independently and the kids who do not. In addition to having larger vocabularies and deeper background knowledge, the kids who read tend to be more patient, better able to venture a guess or prediction and see it through-- they are easier to sit next to in a movie because they're less apt to ask aloud what will happen next. In early adolescence-- a time of tremendous brain development the maxim is that "the neurons that fire together, wire together" is true.  Carr's work points out the difference between the kinds of wiring we develop through text exposure and through online "reading." While I know that I personally prefer deeper, longer reading, I can see as well that a more varied information field with multimedia availability has the potential to engage students who struggle with immersion in text.  What will it mean for their minds to be engaged in this way, rather than less engaged?  We will have to see.


 

Trends Shaping Cirriculum

ET
IL

Barseghian, T. (2011, February 4). Three trends that will shape the future of curriculum. In MindShift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/02/three-trends-that-will-shape-the-future-of-curriculum/

The three trends that are discussed are: Digital Delivery, Interest-Driven, and Skills 2.0. These are all trends and concepts that have been written about multiple times but the greatest contribution this article makes is the number of examples that are supplied. Each section receives equal focus in terms of giving readers additional materials and links to pursue. The Digital Delivery section offers the greatest amount of examples giving links to multiple collaborative sites schools have created to “allow educators and students to add, edit, and change the order of all the information on those sites according to their own needs.” The author ends the article by offering their ideas of what these changes in trends will mean for not just students, but the educational system at large. I really feel that the number of examples and additional sources to pursue is a fantastic addition to this article. It is these contributions that keep the article from becoming just another article talking about the growth of technology in schools.

Posted by Jessica King

Online Collaboration: Opportunities, and Opportunities for Conflict

Shapiro, Brian

CO

Robinson, K. (2013). The interrelationship of emotion and cognition when students undertake collaborative group work online: An interdisciplinary approach. Computers & Education, 62(0), 298–307. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.11.003

This article explores the emotional and cognitive impact of online collaboration. The researchers completed a qualitative study, pulling four main themes from the feedback they received—two focusing on the experience of group work, and two focusing on the influence of motivation and learning. “The findings were considered from two perspectives of the role of emotion in learning: the socio-cognitive model of self-regulated learning and the community of inquiry framework (COI)”  (Robinson, 2013). Robinson addresses the awareness of educators of the power of collaboration and the great need for online collaboration skills in the present and future world in which we live. But, her research indicates that despite its intrinsic value, many students view online group work with hostility and apathy. Because research shows that emotions and learning are closely related, in order to have online group work effective for all, we must address the emotions students have and create solutions for greater investment. The writer makes suggestions, based on her research, for increasing student appreciation for the value of online group work, and the technologies used to facilitate this work. Those suggestions will be the focus of this review.

All group work opens up a variety of opportunities for conflict, and Robinson explains that the additional challenges that technological group work can present often compound those conflicts. Technical breakdowns, disruption of online communication, and the delay of responses in a conversation are all issues avoided in a traditional classroom setting. Students also reported that the impersonal aspects of communicating online made them feel more apathetic or disconnected. Robinson argues that immediacy or the socio-psychological distance between two parties is the barrier that most makes people feel disconnected from others during online group work—this inability to “see” the group members as whole and real people. She then goes on to argue that we can achieve immediacy in an online environment by increasing aspects of our communication skills.  Robinson (2013) writes, “Immediacy can be communicated verbally by adopting an informal writing style, using slang, abbreviations and colloquialisms, by describing ongoing thoughts about ambitions and impressions, by describing life events even though they are unrelated to the task in hand  and by using figurative language."  Perhaps by using less formal language, group members will be able to “see” one another as whole and real people.

Another issue that Robinson found was that students who felt intimidated or not at the same level as the other writers or posters in the class, but may be reading everything and participating—albeit more passively, need to find support in the process. In collaborative work, these silent voices could be a source of frustration for other group members who may see this person as disengaged. For example, by offering tagging tools, tools that are hints and suggestions to learners as to how they might compose the next contribution. The implementation of such tools would need to rely on artificial intelligence (AI) methods and techniques so that the students who might benefit from access to such tools can be identified.  Once again we find that although aspects of online technology may cause barriers, it is also innovations in technology that can help students overcome these barriers.  She goes on to suggest that this type of data collection could highlight the students who are reading everything, but not writing as much, and teacher or tutors could intervene with those students on a one-on-one level. This would also help personalize the experience for these of students.

Many online classes have built in a synchronous discussion forum in order to create a sense of true conversation—and than can be effective for many students. But keeping in mind that most people opt for online learning programs because they have busy schedules that they have to work around, this attempt at creating community can backfire by creating resentment for the students who miss the synchronous discussion. Robinson explains that, “The inbuilt delay of asynchronous technology means that students have time to reflect before responding and this can benefit both task and relational aspects of group work.” Although both have their benefits to students, perhaps the benefits of the space and time to reflect and participate outweigh the attempt to have “real” conversations.

Technology for Interdisciplinary Learning

Greco, Rebecca

ET
Salopek, P. The Out of Eden Walk: A Journey Through Time.
Retrieved April 2, 2013 from http://www.outofedenwalk.com/

This incredible project traces journalist Paul Salopek walking the physical path of human migration out of Africa's Rift Valley, crossing though the Middle East, across Central Asia, northward through China, across the Bering "land bridge," then south through the Americas, ending at South America's Southernmost tip-- the Tuerra Del Fuego.  Salopek began his walk in February 2013 and is dispatching photographs and writings from each of his "milestone" locations.  Included in his project at each milestone is his plan to speak with the nearest human at each point and to record and publish this conversation.

National Geographic is sponsoring a companion site featuring Salopek's dispatches at
http://outofedenwalk.nationalgeographic.com/


I came across this site through the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Project Zero Site, which is sponsoring a companion blog titled "Walk to Learn": http://walktolearn.outofedenwalk.com/


I was intrigued by the project documented there in which students around the world are creating maps of their own neighborhoods.  The Project Zero site is more theoretical and applies Salopek's journey to broader educational questions, thus fitting the theory section of this course.  I was struck by the power of technology as a classroom tool here in which students can readily access maps, blog posts, and photographs, tracing a truly incredible journey from their own classrooms around the world. Here technology's reach is compelling; this project surely involves multiple entry points for students and many rich classroom opportunities.

Flipping the Classroom

ET

Brame, C.J. (2013).  Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. 

Retrieved March 15, 2013 from http://www.studygs.net/citation.htm

This great website provides a useful, concise and comprehensive summary of the flipped classroom approach.  It emphasizes its four main components as: 1. first-exposure learning prior to class (in which students learn about a subject independently before class time), 2. task incentives, such as online quizzes, to demonstrate completion of first-exposure learning, 3. pre-class assignments that assess students' levels of understanding regarding the topic, and 4. in-class activities that promote synthesis, analysis and collaboration of knowledge.  

In addition to the other articles posted on flipped classroom, I thought this link provided a great synthesis of the information and made a compelling argument for using the flipped classroom approach.  It promotes in-depth learning, rather than simple regurgitation of facts.

Meaning, Identity, and Literacy in Preteen Virtual Worlds

Kaelyn Shaw

CO

IL

Meyers, E. (2009). Tip of the iceberg: Meaning, identity, and literacy in preteen virtual worlds.                 Journal of Education for Library & Information Science, 50(4), 226-236. Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/ehos /detail?sid=27775b3ca86c464fbd041d3a43873cde%40sessionmgr11&vid=2&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=llf&AN=502988489

Every day millions of children ages four to 12 login to shared virtual environments where they play, socialize, create, and explore a digital landscape as virtual characters. While much of the research and media attention has been focused on adult virtual environments such as Second Life, or massive multiplayer games like World of Warcraft, children's virtual worlds comprise the largest and fastest growing segments of this online genre. Virtual environments are quickly becoming an important aspect of children's out-of-school lives. The challenge for educators is to see how virtual spaces may be leveraged for learning and literacy. This article provides an overview of children's virtual environments and presents a four-part framework for further analyzing these spaces. The author posits that SVEs may be viewed as an identity space, a new literacy, a problem-solving context, and an online community. The article concludes by suggesting a research program for the continued exploration of SVEs and the rich array of information practices that surround their use by young people.

I feel that this article proves that programs available on the Internet can be used as literacy tools for students. As Meyers states, “Logging in, creating an online identity, chatting, and sharing a profile with others are skills and ‘literacies’ that transfer across several applications” (Meyers, 2009).  It is important for educators to recognize technological tools as they emerge and how they can be used for learning, creativity, collaboration and problem solving.

Canadian School Libraries and Student Achievement

Kaelyn Shaw

CO
ET

Haycock, K. (2011). Connecting British Columbia (Canada) school libraries and student achievement: A comparison of higher and lower performing schools with similar overall funding. School Libraries Worldwide, 17(1), 37-50.Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/ehost/detail?sid=63dd7f7e-3e89-4152-96fd-61559ce13e64%40sessionmgr12&vid=2&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=llf&AN=503009234

Research over time has established associations between components of the school library and student achievement. This study was designed to investigate these associations in schools in British Columbia (Canada) where the government provides equitable funding of public schools while allowing individual school districts and schools to determine individual funding priorities. Findings replicated what numerous previous studies have shown: higher student standardized test scores were associated with a school library that is more accessible, better funded, professionally staffed, managed, stocked, integrated and used. Findings moreover pointed to higher student achievement in those schools where greater resources, from the same limited allocation were assigned to school libraries. Results of this study are of practical interest to policy makers, school and library administrators, and educators with a vested interest in student achievement and the future of school libraries.

I feel that this article provides valuable research in the field of education and librarianship. School libraries that provided more accessibility, (longer hours, an increase in qualified staff) for students created a higher achieving student body. This is a great article that promotes school libraries as an enhancement for student learning backed up by statistical data conducted by the author. Ken Haycock is a professor at San Jose State University, I have had him and this is what drew me to read and share this article.   

How to Fuel Students' Learning Through Their Interests

Amy Truter

ET

Quillen, I. (2013). How to fuel students' learning through their interests. MindShift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/02/how-to-fuel-students-learning-through-their-interests/.

David Preston, a high school teacher in Los Angeles, uses a variation on inquiry learning that  he calls "open source learning," which is all about allowing students to choose their own learning path based on their interests and personal goals. He requires students to maintain a blog and encourages them to be creative in what and how they post. Additionally, he makes use of video conferencing to connect his students to authors, as well as allowing his students to form groups around a particular interest in order to practice writing for AP exams.

I really like this idea of connecting students to the curriculum through their interests. I'm sure many students would perform better in school and care more about their education if it were made important or meaningful to them. After all the readings I've done this semester, I really feel like students need to take ownership of their own learning in order to make any progress and giving them free reign in what and how they produce for classroom assignments is a really great way to do this.

Who Decides?

Parker, Linda

CA

Sadker, D. M., & Zittleman, K. R. (2007). Teachers, schools, and society: A brief

     introduction to education. (p. 354-358). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. 

     Retrieved May 5, 2013, from

     http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Who_What_Shape/

   

     This article provides an excellent overview of the number of entities that shape, mold, and choose curricula for our schools.  The list of those involved include:

• Teachers
• Parent/Community Groups
• Students
• Administrators
• State Government
• Local Government
• Colleges and Universities
• Standardized Tests
• Education Commissions and Committees
• Professional Organizations
• Special Interest Groups
• Publishers
• Federal Government

     These groups have competing interests for trying to decide what is taught to our children in the classroom.    The authors mention in the article, "Anyone from the president of the United States to a single parent, can impact what is taught in your classroom."  All the more reason to stay abreast of what's happening at the local, regional, and national level because it will have a bearing upon us.

Additional Thoughts on Differentiated Instruction

Parker, Linda

ET

Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement (2008). A

    teacher’s guide to differentiating instruction. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from

     http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Teacher_s_Guide/

     I found this article to be very helpful because of how the concept of differentiated instruction was defined and how the article provided practical tips and pointers for teachers to use in bringing materials to a diverse level of learners within the classroom. One of the most important ideas listed was the fact that differentiated instruction alone will not automatically improve performance, but that it comes from a combination of factors such as curriculum, instructional strategies, student interest, activities, and student satisfaction.

Real-World Problems Require Real-World Skills

Parker, Linda

ET
CO
IL

Schroeder, E. E., & Zarinnia, E. (2001). Problem-based learning: Develop information

     literacy through real problems. Knowledge Quest, 30(1), 34-35.

     This article speaks to the power of collaboration among teachers, teacher-librarians, and students as an effective means for developing real-world skills related to solving real-world problems.  Authors, Schroeder and Zarinnia, compare two different types of assignments: 1) a teacher assigned project where students go to the library to look up information to complete a report; 2) a problem identified for which students need to find solutions, collaboration takes place between teacher, librarian, and students to guide in higher-level thinking, development of critical thinking skills, and implementation of information literacy skills.  The article mentions that all too often, the second scenario doesn't take place as often as it should (and this is exactly what we've been trying to develop in our class transformations).  Clearly, the second assignment is an example of best practices for engaging learners and partnering with them in developing 21st Century skills.

   

   

Teaching Smart

Parker, Linda

CA
CO
ET
IL

Resnick, L. B. (1999). Making America smarter. Education Week, 18(40), 38-40.

     Although this article is a little older, it looks at what's needed to teach cognitive skills associated with intelligence so that learners are held to a new standard of excellence as compared to being held to old standards of aptitude or performance where learners are compared to one another.  In reading Resnick's article, I found it foundational as a precursor to what was needed in the classroom of the future to enable and equip students for higher learning.  For example, the author discusses a core of principles (which made me think of the Common Core) to guide the work, allowing extra time for those students who need it (differentiation), engaging students in thinking (inquiry and problem-based learning), meeting or exceeding the expectation of a higher performance level and holding students accountable based upon their own application and investment in the subject (Constructivism).  

     Amazingly, we are just now seeing the implementation of those types of skills throughout classrooms in our nation - some fourteen years later!  On one hand, it seems as though times are changing so fast (i.e. technology) and, yet on the other hand, it seems as though change can't come fast enough (i.e. education).  


     

Weighing yourself to measure your physical fitness

Shapiro, Brian

CA

Marzano, R. J. (2003). Using data: Two wrongs and a right. Educational Leadership, 60(5), 56-61.

In today’s data-obsessed educational culture, many schools are standardized testing, classroom testing, keeping portfolios, and having endless meetings about DATA! And of course it is a key component of strong, effective teaching—to be able to assess where students are in their understanding of a concept or ability with a skill. What makes this article interesting is that it highlights, based on research, two large-scale errors to avoid when a school is trying to use data to effectively drive instruction.

The first “wrong” is relying heavily on indirect measures of learning. In a nutshell, this means do not rely on generic or “off the shelf” standardized tests to measure the progress students are making in their learning. Marzano explains that these tests do not adequately assess the content taught at a given school or class. In some cases the data can even produce false conclusions. The metaphor he uses, compares relying heavily on standardized tests to measure learning is like only weighing yourself to measure personal fitness. This seems obvious on some level, but clearly it is not given the amount of budgeting decisions and now even teacher-effectiveness measurements based on these sorts of tests.

The second “wrong” is when schools have no explanatory model to interpret the data. Marzano contends that this second wrong is “less obvious than the first and therefore more insidious as a result." (Marzano, 2003). Data is not useful if there is no plan in place for both interpreting and using the data to drive instruction.

The “right” option that Marzano focuses on in this article is the idea of keeping a running “report card” of the actual skills and content being taught in classes, by teachers. Of course teachers would need the time and support to be able to do this, but if done consistently it will drive instruction, allow for focused scaffolding and challenges. In addition to this brief summary of what the right way to collect data is, Marzano briefly touches on the school, teacher, and student level factors that affect student learning. He also provides a chart that would allow school leaders and committees to assess where they are in implementing a “Guaranteed and viable curriculum.” The chart guides the team is not only addressing where their school is, but how much each of five factors would improve student learning, and how easy or difficult would each one be to improve at their school, providing an individualized system to analyze and plan.

Teacher Knows if You've Done the E-Reading

Amy Truter

CA
ET

Streitfeld, D. (2013). Teacher knows if you've done the e-reading. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/technology/coursesmart-e-textbooks-track-students-progress-for-teachers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

This article describes a program called CourseSmart that tracks college students' progress through digital textbooks. This software allows college professors to see how often their students are reading the textbook, when they skip pages, and what kind of notes they are taking using the highlighting and notes tool available through the textbook, assigning each student an "engagement index" that condenses their textbook usage into a single number.

I think this article is super interesting, because, while describing college courses, this technology could just as easily be adapted to use in elementary and high school classrooms, especially as more and more schools adopt more technology in the classroom. I think giving teachers the information about how their students are interacting (or not) with the textbooks will give teachers an opportunity to explore alternate teaching methods, and maybe using this technology in conjunction with curriculum as discussed in Remixing Melville could get students engaged in all new ways.

Tips for Beating the Clock in the Classroom

Amy Truter

ET

Johnson, B. (2013). Tips for beating the clock in the classroom. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/beat-classroom-clock-tips-ben-johnson

This article provides a handful of ideas to help teachers maximize their allotted teaching time. Johnson gives examples of "time wasters" in the classroom and then elaborates on how teachers can overcome those time wasters. He advocates the jigsaw method of learning, as well as using collaborative groups to enable to the students to work together and teach each other. He also suggests using time before the lesson begins to determine where each student is at, knowledge-wise, and build a foundation for the rest of the class through vocabulary and really clear rubrics.

The ideas in this article are rapid fire suggestions for teachers looking to maximize their time. Johnson doesn't really provide any concrete examples of his ideas or explanations for how new teachers might implement the practices suggested, but the comments section has some really wonderful, real life examples of ways to save time in the classroom.

Remixing Melville

Amy Truter

CA
ET

Schwartz, K. (2013) Remixing Melville: Moby Dick meets the digital generation. MindShift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/remixing-melville-moby-dick-meets-the-digital-generation/

Henry Jenkins and Erin Reilly are working hard to create curriculum that teaches high school students Moby Dick on their terms. Inspired by Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, who taught Moby Dick to a group of incarcerated youth and had them reinterpret the novel to relate to their own lives, Jenkins and Reilly developed and tested a curriculum that uses "remixing, reinterpretation, and multimedia elements." The goal is to make the learning experience more meaningful to students by making it more participatory and creative, using immediate assessments that are part of the learning process.

I really love the idea of being taught literature in this fashion. I may have read everything assigned in high school, but I know I was not the norm. I think teenagers could really benefit from this type of curriculum and teachers who are open to the idea of trying something new and daring. I would definitely be interested to know more about their teaching methods and how you teach teenagers Moby Dick without necessarily forcing them to slog through the whole thing.