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How to be an Ed Tech Advocate

heather — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:26:24 +0000

OK, guys. So I got it from the horse’s mouth at CUE. According to the ISTE Director of Governmental Affairs, No Child Left Behind is not going away.

In the weeks leading up to the election, the Obama administration talked the talk, proving that Educational Technology was on their radar, but if you’ve been listening, the silence on Ed Tech has since become deafening. (...)
Read the rest of How to be an Ed Tech Advocate (515 words)

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Post tags: achievement gap, blog, budget, CUE, Ed Tech, education policy, EETT, equity, ETAN, fundraising, internet literacy, k-12, k12, learning, lobbyist, middle school, NCLB, obama, online, school accountability, school funding, technology, Title I, tween, UCI, writing

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Top 10: How to Take Control of Your Teaching

heather — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Occasionally, I repost this article so that new readers can find it more easily. Based on some very enthusiastic feedback, it has since morphed into a book proposal called The Top Secret New Teachers Handbook. I’ll share more as it evolves…

I’ve been developing this Top 10 list of ways to take control of your teaching even in the face of, well, teaching. It’s an advice list on how to encourage respect, and, if necessary, how to demand it as a means to make sure you aren’t being taken for granted.

Let’s face it, if you are feeling appreciated, you will be happier in this difficult job. Consequently, your students will be happier, and quite frankly, if they are happier, they will be more successful. After all, an unhappy teacher’s room has the smog of misery in it, and for a student, it hovers like a stench that affects their own victories. And while it benefits a school to keep its teachers happy, it is a teacher’s responsibility to demand those things that make this challenging job better than tolerable.

I think that finding those tricks or strategies to keep in your pocket is important in any career; but in education you need them even more so. Otherwise, the day-to-day duties of the job will eventually grind your enthusiasm to a halt and it won’t just be you who is affected, your students will be affected as well.

I will be expanding on each of these over time, but in a nutshell, here’s my TOP 10:

(...)
Read the rest of Top 10: How to Take Control of Your Teaching (1,396 words)

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Judging Websites for History Day

heather — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:08:02 +0000

Yesterday I was proud to judge a number of our group website entries for our History Day competition. Three of our history teachers use History Day as a project-based learning opportunity for all of their students. These students have their projects judged in their different categories by going through the process of oral presentation in front of a panel of teachers and administrators. From this group is selected those who will represent our school at the next level of the competition.

It was fascinating seeing my own students through a different lens. Groups of students came in front of my panel, some in suits, and some in the tuxes they perform in for orchestra, to present their websites. The theme this year was “Actions and Legacies: Individuals in History.” We saw websites about everything from Rockefeller to Ho Chi Minh.

The students for the most part used either Google or Synthesite to develop their free websites, which in regards to a competition is a little bit of a concern in that many competitors use more elaborate, paid-for sites that look far sexier. But our kids did what they could with what they could and the sites, for the most part, look good. And considering that they probably taught themselves how to create the site, the students should be commended.

We evaluated everyone’s site based on the visuals and the content. In general, there were notes that we gave that were universal. For one thing, the use of visuals to highlight specific points was an important concept the students needed to understand. Without multi-media, for instance, a website might just as well be an essay. It’s the visuals, the links, and the multimedia aspect of them that make them websites. Timelines, for instance, that combine both primary sources and links, are a great opportunity for visual impact.

In regards to content, there seemed to be an overarching lack of commentary. For middle schoolers, writing personal response can be hard. But what we’re trying to emphasize is that just delivering the facts is not an analysis. And if we’re looking to teach high-level thinking, there must be present that next step of information delivery – the evaluation.

Many of the students delivered the facts, but added no judgment. They were missing the higher levels of Bloom’s. They neglected the commentary.

When teaching history, it is vital that a teacher not just teach the facts, but give guidance in pulling back the lens and evaluating the bigger pictures. How did this figure fit into history and amongst their contemporaries? What is the impact that they made on those who followed them? What is your opinion of their contributions given your expertise in their accomplishments?

Commentary comes in many different ways, but including it is the difference between information regurgitation and true, deep comprehension.

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Post tags: blog, Character Education, commentary, competition, CUE, digital natives, history day, internet literacy, k-12, k12, Language Arts, online, teaching, Title I, tween, UCI, Writers Project

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The Carnival #178 is in town!

heather — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:49:35 +0000

An (aspiring) Educator is hosting this week’s Carnival of Education #178. I’ve tweaked my How to Take Control of Your Teaching list and although it’s still in an evolving state, you can read it here. Enjoy the Carnival and the post.

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It’s the End of The Internet as we Know It (and I feel…)

heather — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:36:20 +0000

Check out this kinda frightening prediction from early Time Magazine sources. It seems that there is an attempt to create blocks of media packages starting as early as 2012 or earlier. That is, very much like TV cable packaging, the Internet would only be sold in blocks to purchase access much as you would your HBO Basic or Plus packages for cable.

Just imagine the even wider achievement gap that would occur if schools had to pay for their Internet packages.

If it’s true, we need to get more media attention on this attempt to stomp out the global communication that we have all come to know, love, and support.

I can’t say I know a lot about this subject, but it’s definitely worth looking into. Of course, there’s no way Google’s gonna let this happen, of course. After all, they’re a juggernaut in the business of universal information access.

Have you heard any updates on this topic that our Ed Tech community should be aware of? What steps should we take to ensure that it doesn’t happen?

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