Even 8 year olds get it

Oct 19

Even 8 year olds get it

My wife, after spending the last 10 years as a teacher librarian is back in the classroom. She's doing a fantastic job and has committed to share her students work through her blog. I set her up with posterous and it's working really well. She's posted more than once a day sharing photos, videos and is getting great feedback from students and parents....

Read More

You’re Allowed

Jun 09

You’re Allowed

Reading Seth Godin is a little bit like attending a fancy, high end reception..not necessarily a full meal but lots of juicy, interesting little items to snack on. Like this one: "How long did it take after the birth of blogs or Twitter for you to begin speaking up? Before this, you had no cheap, easy, allowable way to speak your mind to the world. You...

Read More

“The deleterious effect of gradings and its offspring”

May 20

“The deleterious effect of gradings and its offspring”

It's that time again when we get busy calculating grades to determine the winners and the losers. I realize few if any teachers think of it that way but to many, that's how it comes across. You can argue that it's simply a celebration of hard work and excellence. Maybe. Maybe not. It's been over a year since one of my students wrote a very heartfelt...

Read More

How to Make Better Teachers

Nov 18

How to Make Better Teachers

Cross Posted at the Huffington Post.  Want to instantly create better teachers? I know how. One word. Blogging. Now before you roll your eyes or accuse me of oversimplifying the very complex issue of teacher evaluation and monitoring hear me out. I began teaching in 1988. It was a tough job and thinking about getting better was superseded by survival instincts....

Read More

Who’s Got My Attention?

Nov 15

Who’s Got My Attention?

John Pederson is slightly obsessed with this question and Ewan recently explored this idea as well. I see the Edublog awards are upon us. I'm not going to provide you with my lists but instead offer you some people I've been paying attention to and why you might too. While there are many folks that have my attention pretty much everyday, I hope I can offer...

Read More

Well this is Embarrassing

Nov 05

Well this is Embarrassing

Cross posted at TechLearning Global education, diversity and multi-cultural appreciation are ideas that I believe are essential for our student's success. I also believe as educators we need to model this for them.  So when I used this tool to see where the folks that I follow reside, it was a little embarrassing. A little North American centric ya think?...

Read More