K12 Lesson Strategies - Three Easy Tweaks

Today the K12 education world has tons of experts analyzing and measuring infinite nuisances. There are plenty of learning theories old and new. Students face a raft of assessments to supposedly measure what they have learned or are capable of learning. Yet, every school day the fact remains, there is a teacher in a classroom – doing the trench work – to carve out learning in the lives of students. I’ve been there and I’ve done that successfully. Being a K12 teacher is an unforgettable experience and an awesome responsibility. Here are three easy and simple tweaks that can be done in any classroom, around the world and in any language, to expose learning opportunities and shape lifelong learning skills in the future leaders of our world.

The three easy tweaks are here:
http://www.educationreporting.com/article-K12lessonsStrategies.php

Have a great weekend, Jack

The brain in education - go figure....

I'm sure, from teaching in classes and living my life, that each of us IS - NOW - a whole being.

We have a brain and feelings ..... the cognitive and behaviors ... they mix and match producing what "drives" us to do and determines how we perceive.

You've heard this before, if five people watch the same apple fall from a tree ... you're gonna hear five different/similar stories ... created from five unique experiences.

Those "unique experiences" are what makes classroom teaching so much fun and fustrating too (for me).

Anyways, here's an article on how the brain is arriving back on scene in the "education research" world. It's a good read, but for me the fact still remains .... each of is a "whole being" and too much slicing and dicing takes us off the path of perceiving how education occurs.

http://www.educationreporting.com/viewArticleDetails.php?id=601

Ciao, Jack

Privacy in classrooms

This is real and not a hoax .... something worth noting for sure:

Reuters is reporting... Canadians find vast computer spy network...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canadian researchers have uncovered a vast electronic spying operation that infiltrated computers and stole documents from government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

The alarming part of this article for me is that spying can take place in a room from a computer......
"The network they found possessed remarkable "Big Brother-style" capabilities, allowing it, among other things, to turn on the camera and audio-recording functions of infected computers for potential in-room monitoring, the report said."

Teachers and students now have a another level of privacy concerns in classes around the globe.

Caio, Steu

K12 means cloud computing and smart objects?

The New Horizon Project (2009) was released ....

It was full buzz concepts like ....
.......Collaboration environments (increasing since professionals are expected to work across geographic and cultural boundaries)
....Cloud Computing ...the emergence of large-scale “data farms”)
....Mobiles (cell phones)
....Geo-stiff.(good ole GPS)
.....the Personal Web. ( desire to reorganize online content rather than simply viewing it)
.....Smart Objects. (aA smart object “knows” something about itself — where and how it was made, what it is for, where it should be, or who owns it, for example — and something about its environment.)

But the only this I really can apply to a k12 class that I ever taught were the challenges identified ....

...There is a growing need for formal instruction in key new skills, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy.
....Schools are still using materials developed decades ago, but today’s students come to school with very different experiences than those of 20 or 30 years ago, and think and work very differently as well.
....Teachers are expected, especially in public education, to measure and prove through formal assessment that our students are learning, including collecting and measuring data. But, exiting systems are not capable of managing and interpreting real time information flows on the scale that is anticipated.

The challenges I can relate to 100%. I also get that collaboration environments (Project Based Learning) work to help students assimilate knowledge ... but I don't see the other technology trends impacting K12 classes .... do you?

Cheers Jack

PS - read the report here: http://www.educationreporting.com/2009-Horizon-Report-K12.pdf

Learning Games - thousands of K12 games in all content areas

Ed Tool Directory

Earn Extra Cash - Help K12 Education - work from home part time

Green Education Resources - resources for ecology and project learning

Radio show - looking for teachers

Hello,

I am hosting s radio show discussing innovative ideas being used in K12 classrooms around service learning and project based learning.

More specifically, I want to interview some K12 teachers or organizations that work with K12 teachers/campuses in those two approaches.

I'm eager to meet a few folks who can donate 10-15 minutes being interviewed over the phone for the show episodes.

Personally, I'm a big believer in service and project learning since I used them when I was a teacher so I'm hoping to find current K-12 teachers who can volunteer a few minutes to spread the word (your successes) - you'll be helping other K12 teachers! :-)

If interested, please go to this link (click here) ... complete the (confidential) form and I'll call you.

Wishing you the best life has to offer, Jack

--
Jack Harrington
research: http://www.educationreporting.com/

Teaching is supposed to be fun....

..... where has all the fun gone in teaching?

My classes were rigorous .... I had the students working.

....today these digital kids have so much energy ... I figured ou tthe hard way I have to use energy to my advantage or else they're a fast moving train that's 'bout to run me over.

I was talking to a teacher friend the other day and we were reminiscing ...... we had both been reading and talking to other folks .... all we were hearing ....from many different sources .....was about the pain of teaching ......

This fella and I have similar tastes in learning ... we made the kids do the work. We like to be a guide for students .....

...being the sage in class just doesn't work for us.... apparently it's not working for a lot of teachers nowadays.

I want my students leaving class exhausted ... so I use every tidbit of conversation to fire up critical thinking ... once that fire is burning ....

...all I have to do is stoke it with questions.

Students will get to the learning opportunity with the appropriate guidance.

...and when I'm giving that kinda guidance .... teaching is fun!

If you want some free scoop (research and step-by-step guide) on an effective critical thinking technique then click this link ....

http://www.educationreporting.com/edtools/free-offer.htm

Wishing you the best life has to offer,
Jack

Classroom WIP

Several weeks ago when I introduced teacher WIP, I got a bunch of emails telling me some interesting stories about classroom projects, some good and some scary ones too.

Teaching, my opinion, is a conundrum.

There is no recipe that fits all teachers or every classroom of a certain subject. When I read some of the efforts underway to improve education, they strike me as efforts to homogenize classes not improve scores ….. or better yet improve learning.

For me, WIP is the one global aspect of every classroom, because classes have work in progress.
Here are two excellent WIP examples…

- teacher presentation
When I’m delivering a lesson I tweak it from class to class. No presentation is perfect and being aware of what didn’t work in last class period, can bring a lot more learning to this class period.

- teacher tools
When I first started teaching the older, experienced teachers brought me lots of worksheets and paper resources. AS time and classes went by, I found out how much student attention rebels with those so I had to expand my horizons on resources to produce more effective lessons.

…..more on WIP later.

Wishing you the best life has to offer, Jack

Ed Tools Directory

Education Learning Games

Green Education Resources

Two ideas to enhance your success

….. through a stroke of synchronicity, a few weeks ago, I reconnected with Greg Nath whom I met while getting my Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction. He is making the offer to fatten your wallet possible! I like his idea because while you earn some extra cash, you are also helping improve K-12 education. Nope, he’s not asking you to purchase anything and there are no hidden fees.

The second idea is for enterprising folks who want to put their product or service to K-12 teachers, K-12 administrators, K-12 students, or K-12 students.

Check it out at http://cli.gs/Jg3QsB.

Happy Friday, Jack

Successful Teaching Tools &Techniques For 21st Century Students

San Diego, CA (ER) March 10, 2009 – Statistics show that more than 50% of new K-12 teachers are leaving the profession in their first five years. One contributing factor is student behavior. Teachers without the materials and classroom management skills necessary to sustain engaging lessons end up with classes full of behavior problems. Teachers want to make a difference not babysit students. ER offers a substantial remedy with its’ Education Rebel ezine.

Read the entire press release.

Accelerating Class Participation

I want you to have the scoop on the importance of building classroom collaboration.

In my classes collaboration fueled learning and definitely helped improve test scores.

Professional Learning Communities (PLC) are the proven method for teachers to share knowledge, so it figures that students can learn the same way we adults do …… with proper classroom management techniques …… you agree?

Collaboration can be used in two ways: class activities and group projects. My goal is to give you some tools that will boost your lesson building skills so they include more student participation. We all know when students are engaged the opportunity for learning is exponential.

…..many of you already acquired my FREE Orchestrating Classroom Participation ebook, now I have another goodie for your classroom…

…..my well respected Education Rebel ezine subscription (12 months) is now only $49.95.

You gain 100% access to my 15 years of expertise and research to 21st century education research, lesson accent material, and experts that rocket your understanding of helping students learn. Yep, I do the behind the scenes work and serve it to you in my online ezine every month…. you’re definitely not going to find this quality resource anywhere else.

With my ezine you have a one stop data mine with scores of video clip resources, professional development resources, content specific web sites, and much more.

The last time you visited Education Rebel the annual ezine subscription was $99.

My special offer to you today is a 50% price reduction!

That’s right, you’ll receive 12 months for one dollar and some pennies per week.

When you subscribe in the next 24 hours I’ll send you - absolutely free - Building Learning Successful Environments. This top notch ebook has the templates, detailed instructions, and comprehensive techniques to fuel student curiosity and explode class participation.

Wishing you the best life has to offer, Jack

Click here to subscribe

PS: I have only a limited supply of Building Learning Successful Environments to offer so act today to receive yours now.

Education Rebel web site

Elephant in the classroom

One overlooked and always present variable in classrooms is peer pressure.

Every student has a lot of attention and concern on what other students think or perceive of him/her. Yes, it was that way for me too when I was younger.Why not put that concern of what others think about you to good use in learning? Every day I do some sort of activity where students are working in small groups, and they’re not always the same groups. After two months, all the students have worked together at one time or another.

Current research proves it and I have heard it from the mouths of students, students learn a tremendous amount from each other when they work together.

Teachers, your job in this type of activity is to be a facilitator. Make sure students: 1) understand the tasks before starting and 2) stay on task. There is a caveat, digital kids today are for the most part good multi-taskers. They can talk about what is going on after school and do their work too. Give students plenty of room to participate with each other and you’ll see their concept understanding grow.

Parents, find out from your teachers how much group activities they do in your child’s class. If all that is going on is reading textbooks and doing worksheets – then I don’t blame the students for acting up or being disinterested. Better yet, ask your child what kind of activity they do in class and compare their answers to the what the teacher reports.

Putting the power of peer participation to use in K-12 classes is an essential ingredient for learning.

Wishing you the best life has to offer, Jack

Checkout my research here.
Teachers, get my free ebook here.

Measuring Curriculum Checklist

We know that every school and classroom has a curriculum, but how can you measure it?

Everyone will agree, both parents and teachers want the curriculum to develop students.

Traditionally, curriculum will focus on academics. With all the high stakes testing taking place, which starts in middle school, it makes logical sense to focus daily lessons on testing material students will see. I know, I did that when I was teaching.

As a parent, I want my kids to develop the skills to be a progressive thinker. Ya know, be able to think a situation through by examining the circumstances from different perspectives and considering the different variables/outcomes. Then, use that information as a foundation for the choice being made.

Let’s be honest, all us grownups can remember at least one or two bad choices we made. I’m not saying it’s impossible to stop making bad choices, I just want my kids to be equipped with the thinking skills to reduce bad choice making.

I have developed two methods; one for teachers and one for parents to measure curriculum for their unique education requirements. Teachers can use it for developing and delivering more potent lessons. Parents can use it to evaluate classes and student performance, discussions in teacher-parent conferences, or in choosing a school.

I’ll be talking about my methods here for a few weeks. If you want me to send you a free five point Curriculum Measuring Checklist (CMC) send me an email:

Teachers, get your free CMC by sending an email to: edrebelteducators@gmail.com.

Parents, get your free CMC by sending an email to: edrebelparents@gmail.com.

I have already done the classroom work and education research. The way to a better world is by educating our future leaders today, and that is what I have: the nitty gritty on what it takes to develop students. My information drill downs into the core of what works and doesn’t work in educating the whole child during the K-12 years.

Wishing you the best life has to offer, Jack

Visit my education research site here.

Best and Worst Jobs - 2009

Hey, what's the best way to point kids in the direction for life after school?

Tell 'em that the work today is preparing them for that all essential and necessary "career" ....

Click here to see the top 10 careers and worst 10 careers.

Education Guiding Principles: Diversity

One thing I heard over and over during my elementary school was that this country is a melting pot. We have cultures and ideas from around the world that all contribute to making this the great country it is. And, even though I grew up in an inner city neighborhood in the Midwest, looking around my classes all I saw were pretty much other white kids.

Now, so many years later, when I talk to my students about what they learn in their Social Studies classes, they don’t hear about that melting pot, but just look around any class and you’ll see it.

Diversity is here to stay in our culture, which includes our classrooms. As a teacher, it takes on a new aspect in the effort of learning. Why? Because students have different moods and behaviors each day. Because students have different learning skill sets. Because students have different emotional needs. Because students have different perspectives….. and so on and so forth until, as a teacher, I realized the most important ingredient about my classes is the diversity of the students. With the appropriate teacher effort, the diversity of students in class can provide students with real life examples of "the outside world" every day during studies..... aka building social skills while building also building academic skills.

So why am I carrying on about diversity as a teacher? I think the national curriculum we are promoting in schools, even though no one officially calls it such, is pushing teachers to homogenize classes and lessons. This is our 21st century response to better education - mass producing students using a test gauntlet that begins in middle school. Nurturing student diversity, thus classroom diversity, is a key to enhancing the learning skills and social skills of students.

The Blue School is an example of very naturally including diversity in learning. If you get a chance to review their mission statement and results you’ll be amazed, like I am, at what the concentrated effort of a few people can produce.

Happy 2009! Jack

PS: Wanna start the new year with an excellent teacher read? Try Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto who is an an award winning teacher In New York.

Teachers Collecting $125 For Sharing Their Wisdom

None.
Nada.
Zippo.
Zero.

.... that's how much wisdom teachers sent me.

.....without any entries submitted there won't be a list of winners to provide.

Jack

Education Guiding Principles: Responsibility

Typically one might consider responsibility to be “towing the line” or doing behaviors that are expected under certain circumstances. In education responsibility is more a compilation of ownership, right action, and congeniality. I think educational experiences come in all shapes and sizes but the deeper they resound the more organized chaos is present.

Students must own the effort they make, which in the end will translate into the knowledge they acquire from the activity exercise during class: what they learned. The easiest way this I’ve accomplished this is using relevant lessons – a lesson that relates what is being taught in class as somehow enhancing student life skills or enhancing the quality of student life outside of school.

While working in a class activity there is certain action that is beneficial to obtaining learning. For example, if Johnny and Anita are chatting it up – not working on the activity tasks: working with other students to investigate, collect information, and make educated guesses, then there isn’t really much hope they are acquiring the necessary info to learn anything. But, just nudging them to focus on the tasks while they continue chatting it up will transform a wasted activity into a contribution to their acquiring necessary info in the goal of completing class work. Digital students can multi-task better than I and many other “adults.”

Every situation has some form of decorum and class decorum is set forth in classroom management polices and activity guidelines. A class without some guidelines is unorganized chaos. The line separating unorganized chaos and organized chaos is very fine, but the difference is organized chaos has the existence of assimilating learning above and beyond survival skills. For example, at the K-12 level, telling students they need to use the supplies and their notes to make a poster explaining XYZ has less learning potential then enhancing those instructions by asking students to include specific information in the poster: title, theme, illustration of cause and effect.

When students are expressing responsibility they are producing a context that naturally builds life skills. In these situations a “ teacher” moves out of the traditional role of being the classroom “expert” dispelling wisdom, instead she/he is a facilitator – a resource for students – that guides the learning taking place.

Jack

Education Guiding Principles: Curiosity

Learning is active - right?

....that would translate into I'm going to have to want/do/know "something" in order for my "education" to occur.

For example, how did I learn about the raging new social network games: Pet Society and Kidnap!?

I logged in and accepted the invite from a friend and began playing them, one game at a time. Sure, I'm pretty slow at picking them up but I'm making progress day by day and discovering the features of the games.

My "education" of social networking games expands ....not in a class or formal setting ..... instead it happens as I bang around around on my computer - driven by my own curiosity.

I'm not a big gift buyer during the holidays, but I enjoy going to the store and exploring the toys and games. How? I pick them up and read the boxes and talk it over with myself (quietly) or with my shopping buddy. Again, my own curiosity is the driving force that creates this opportunity for my "education" on holiday gifts.

In traditional schools, a classroom with out some activity that will fire up student curiosity has a degrading potential for learning. And, this is one of those teacher qualities - the ability to peak and maintain student curiosity - they don't teach you in pre-service programs that churn out thousands of new teachers a year.

One bright spot in school "education" where curiosity is harnessed by design is Sudbury Schools, http://www.sudval.org, where students learn at their own pace, imbibe responsibility and experience education. When you take a few minutes to read about how they have setup "education" you'll be amazed and surprised.

Jack

2008 Top Three Education Innovations

Three creative and innovative education ideas in 2008 include the following:

1. Pay-To-Behave Program Debuts In D.C. Schools

2. Open Book Exam: Prepare Kids for Life or for Exams?

3. Service Learning As A Tool For Reducing High School Dropout Rates

…and then there is always the Quality Counts Report full of various measurements….

Have a happy 2009!

Jack

Teachers Collect $125 - Share Your Wisdom

……that is correct, you can put a hundred and twenty-five bucks in your pocket for talking about your class ….. or your teaching.

Here is how it works…..

I am looking for K-12 teachers (any grade or content area) to write at least 1,000 words to describe their teaching. Why? I want to print your teacher wisdom in my ezine starting In January when I roll out a brand new ezine format. That is correct, I want to share your wisdom with other teachers so they can apply it with their classes.

The key points…..

A. Your entry must be sent to me by midnight on December 30th, 2008.

B. Every entry will receive a free subscription to my Education Rebel Ezine and 50 of those entries will be selected to receive $125 in cash.

C. The cash award winners will be posted on this blog by January 12, 2009 and payments will be mailed to those winners by January 9, 2009.

These are the two pieces of information your entry, a minimum of 1,000 words, must include:
1. A brief introduction about your teaching background and class (one paragraph maximum).

2. Discuss one of the following:
- what works in your teaching style to encourage students to learn?
- explain professional development work that has improved your teaching.
- describe a project based learning activity in your class and the learning
results.
- describe a service learning activity in your class and the learning results or impact on campus or community.

Entries must be sent in a Word document or a Google document.
Each entry must include your name, email address, school name, and your mailing address (where the check will be sent). Entries must be received at educationrebel@gmail.com no later than midnight on December 30th. The cash award winners will be notified by email on or before January 5, 2009 and their payments will be mailed to them by January 9, 2009. All entries will receive a free one year subscription to Education Rebel Ezine. When you submit your entry you’re giving me the rights to print it in my ezine for unlimited issues along with your name, grade, and state. I will not share any other information you provide with any other organization because I respect your privacy.

If you have any questions you can send them to me at educationrebel@gmail.com.

I know you’ll have time over the holiday break to share your teacher wisdom with me and I’m paying you to do it.

A beautiful sunny day today, Jack

Effective Teachers Have WILL

…..was looking over what has helped me the most in my teaching to reach my “getting organized” goal for 2008 and thought I’d blog it.

It’s fair to say that it takes a special type of person …. a certain chemistry … to be a teacher. Not everyone has it or is willing to make the effort to obtain it. I’m all for keeping the effective teachers and helping the ineffective ones, but from what I’ve seen and heard, usually the ineffective teachers don’t know the slide they’re on or won’t agree to being supported - they’re just doing a J.O.B..

I detailed my thoughts about teacher chemistry in the TeacherHandbook (free) that you can pick up at www.educationrebel.com so I’m not going to carry on about it here.

What is WILL? Very simply, it’s Whole children Influenced by Living Learning. I have being doing lessons with a WILL focus for years and I’ve been helping other teachers do them - because they saw the positive results in my classes. WILL starts with a martixed lesson using an OPTIMUM design which is easy to put together and implement.

There are two phases of this OPTIMUM design. The first phase is that a least 40% of your students must be familiar with working in student groups …. plus ….. your students need to be familiar with doing certain critical thinking exercises that are consistently woven into your lesson activities.

A matrixed lesson is built using Objectives, Activities and Resources. Activities are a part of almost every lesson in my classes. Students working in groups have opportunities to flex their social skill learning muscles. I use different “comparing” exercises to get them comfortable with looking at similarities and differences between things - thus building their analytical skills - and building those critical thinking skills too. Once you have 40% of your students familiar with working in groups you are on your way!

One “comparing” example is having students examine completed white boards (posters, models, pictures, reports, and so forth). The goal is to have them describe similarities and differences between whatever they are comparing. I like the completed white boards since students work on them in groups after I give all the groups the same prompts for a specific set of questions or challenge or scenario. There is never a wrong answer, make sure you always use student comments and work as a contribution to the learning objective, or a contribution to their critical thinking skill, or just a plain ole “good work” comment.

Note I didn’t say that 40% of your students are “comfortable” with working in groups. I’m not a believer in comfort zones in class. On the other hand, students need to be familiar or confident with working in groups. When 40% have reached that point they’ll pull the rest of the class with ‘em.

BTW, If you trust me enough to talk with your teacher friends then I’ll instantly give you three of my highly rated classroom resources. Click here to learn more.

The critical thinking skills develop as we educators help students ask better questions. While they are comparing the boards I always do a two minute talk about the constant comparing every one does all day:

- why did you wear those clothes today (you compared them to other clothes)
- when you go to the store, why do you buy some tomatoes and not the others? (you compared them to other tomatoes)
- why do you hang out with Anita and not Sally? (you compared their characteristics and choose one over the other)

This kinda conversation qualifies this “comparing” exercise as relevant to students. When kids see the link to class work and life “outside” they will participate. Bottom line is, we all compare stuff constantly without everything thinking about doing it. As a teacher, bringing the “comparing” activity to the surface is a potent relevancy tool for your arsenal.

Traditional education got students used to memorizing: the development of thinking skills that recognize the value of patterns, self-questioning, associations, and mental pictures ….. and you can use that as a starting point during “comparing” exercises. The more of these exercises you do in class the better worn the path becomes in the direction of boosting the core-thinking processes that naturally induce metacognition.

BTW, if you’re interested in some easy reading material about critical thinking to get 2009 started in a fresh direction take a look at my handbook. (Click here for free copy)

Enjoying a winter rain and wind storm, Jack

PS: After the holidays I’ll be detailing phase two about using WILL with classes.

Teacher Creativity Opens Learning Potential

Checking the net for education stuff this morning I found an amazing (and true) story of a couple of teachers at Woodland Park HS in CO ……..

They came up with a redesigned lesson idea….. put it to work ….. and everyone wins! The teachers have more individualized time with students, students can learn in ways that work for them, plus the test scores are improving!

What did they do? They stopped lecturing in class for 45 minutes everyday, gave students a DVD of the lecture to take home, and then used class time to work individually with students on problems. Check out the news interview here.

Staying warm, Jack

Home | Ezine Subscribers | Teacher WIP | Classroom XYness | Tell A Teacher | Weekly WIP Pick

Teacher WIP UP

Today the WIP UP (unlimited potential) is all about curriculum…….

…..this global village connection was established in 1997, it’s a treasure trove with thousands and thousands of pages of covering opportunities across the curriculum and it’s all free.(the site)

…… Wiki, wiki, who has a wiki? ….. I bet you’re gonna see the need for this in your arsenal too. (watch and learn)

….. news flash here, this fella is outta the box, when the school budget was exhausted and he needed money to print his math tests for students …. he sold advertising on the exams to make ends meet. (read more)

……Generation Yes site ….. worth a read and tell your students about the global project (age 10-13) they can run with. (read more)

…….the Teacher Domain has media resources galore for any content area …. they are even have tempting professional development media too…… yes, yes they are free. (the site)

Cruising again, Jack

Home | Ezine Subscribers | Teacher WIP | Classroom XYness | Tell A Friend

Educators - figuring out your XYness

..... you can evaluate your class activities using my Teacher Classroom XYness.

...... all class activities migrate through four zones of 1) disruption (starter) 2) organized chaos, 3) excelling, and 4) accomplishment. The real "trim tab" is knowing the trigger points for each zone because that will allow you to manage the students appropriately. You can see the Teacher Classroom XYness here.

This is Part One, the teacher skills I covered earlier ........ today I just want to get you the XY chart so you can compare this technique to your work and chew on the points below:

- all activities start in disruption since that is when students find out what they need to do ...... stuff like the roles and responsibilities ..... how they'll be graded .... and how this ties into class work.

- the organized chaos will be the shortest, hopefully, lived zone, as students get focused on larger tasks they will be more involved with peers and actions that can be readily assessed.

- all the major task work is above the Curriculum Skills bar as moving above that bar is dependent on multiple teaching skills.

- the accomplishment zone isn't the "end all" for students..... when their work is completed they become tutors and start helping other student groups get the work accomplished.

......more details when I publish Part Two on this one.

Jack

Education Rebel - Teacher Handbook For Digital Age - FREE for limited time

Teachers - Got Your WIP On?

.....teachers are always in a WIP [pronounced WHIP] mode
since they constantly have Work In Progress. That's not just the classroom stuff
either, they have skills to maintain and that takes a concentrated effort with
focus and attention

.... I like visuals, if you want a copy of my teacher WIP diagram just click here to get it.

Basically, there are four skill sets a 21st century teacher must have, the details in the diagram illustrate the bare minimum - a baseline. Here is a brief description of each:

Curriculum Skills

Understands, designs, and uses instruction to make connections that induce educational
experiences that in turn create life long learners.

Technology Skills

Ability to use and manipulate technology to advance instruction methods and engage students.

Classroom Management Skills

Has effective control of classroom environment using various approaches to eliminate disruptive student behavior.

Career Development Skills

The time and effort to participate in activities, outside of classroom work, that promote a wider breadth of teaching practices.

It's worth noting that there are certain overall requirements that need to be met in order for teachers to have an environment where these skills can be achieved:

1. An administrative supported approach to instruction that supports project based learning and isn't a MASH schedule to produce correct multiple choice answers.

2. Class sizes are manageable and not a classrooms full of 25 or more students.

3. Teachers have the technology and tools available to them on a regular basis in their rooms, which doesn't include scheduling a computer lab across campus that has 30 computers for 1,000 students.

What are your thoughts?

Jack

Education Rebel - Teacher Handbook For Digital Age - FREE for limited time

I was shopping today and was surprised to see Christmas trees and decorations slung around store. Wow, time flys. Hope you are finding some time to say warm and enjoy the Fall colors!

Performance Pay News
Catching up at news for the US Dept. Ed I liked that Secretary Spellings knows, "Nothing helps a child learn as much as a great teacher." I also learned that in 2006, President Bush created the Teacher Incentive Fund, which supports districts in rewarding teachers and principals who have increased student achievement and helps to recruit and retain high quality teachers and principals in the neediest schools. Since 2006, $196 million has been awarded to 34 grantees; new performance pay models have been created and existing programs have expanded. This year, the Department is awarding 34 grants nationwide totaling approximately $97 million. Here are three links to get more news...

- Information about performance pay...

- Information on Teacher Incentive Fund

- Information on the Center for Educator Compensation Reform

NLCB - Latest News
The most current results for NCLB are available too at the US Dept. Ed Site. Click here to view 'em state by state.

Doing What Works
Gotta check this out because the Dept of Ed is promoting project based learning. You can watch the videos here and they are made from schools aoround the county. Click here to view.

Got Time for Serendipity?

Synchronicity is the only decent planning tool sometimes for me.

During my work with students in the Blue Planet Society, an after school club of volunteering students, I was lucky enough to meet some very well meaning people in the community who believed in young people and sincerely want to help the environment.

Sue Sylvester at Adolfson & Peterson Construction was incredibly helpful and supportive in many ways to the club. She was also instrumental in organizing events to help teachers in getting green information for their students. The volunteer work in the community she gives tirelessly to support the environment is exceptional.

Mary Holden is another amazing person. Her work in Raising Arizona Kids Magazine includes calling attention to green efforts and projects in schools. She was incredibly kind to send me a copy of Last Child in the Woods by Robert Louv. Reading that book opened my eyes to a world I thought I knew but then realized I had a whole lot more to understand - a wonderful gift for me indeed.

There are many amazing individuals, I think, who are spreading some useful and educational nuggets that everyone can use. Here is another one ….

Shaping Youth
Amy has an awesome blog that has an eco thread and other great information about how media and marketing influence kids today.

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Teachers for Green Schools

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Facebook: Collaborate With K-12 Educators

Unruly Classes – Ordinary People Being Leaders

Teachers have a job like no one else. No kidding.

Get unruly with a cop you can get arrested or detained.

Get unruly at a restaurant and you’ll be refused service.

Get unruly with your partner and they will tell you to get out.

But, get unruly in a K-12 class and the responsibility of a teacher is to run through their discipline system with the priority to keep you in class and have you be educated. My discipline system worked like this:
- first incident of disrupting class was a verbal warning.

- second incident of the same behavior was calling home, which sometimes meant stopping class – thereby disrupting 25+ students learning the content.

- third incident of same disruptive behavior was a “Responsible Thinking Form” and trip to the Dean.

- fourth incident was writing a Referral, which goes in student permanent file, and a trip back to see the Dean.

What I saw as a teacher was that there is a very small minority of students who are disruptive but then they can disrupt the entire class.

I think there are two ways to reduce disruptive behaviors and thereby support students who want to learn in excelling. First, remove disruptive students. Public K-12 classes are not experiments in behavior modification. Students that continually disrupt more than one class need to be set free. Put them in an alternative learning environment or put them to work at a job skill or a job. The worse action to take, for teachers and students who want to learn, is putting them back in a classroom.

Second, teachers need to be better leaders, which definitely requires a certain chemistry; a mix of content knowledge, people skills, presentation skills, some degree of being technology savvy, and compassion. I do agree that it’s tough to train leaders. Think about it, we can take an ordinary person and spend thousands and thousands of dollars to make one Navy Seal. But has anyone built or even researched the effective program that turns and ordinary person into a K-12 teacher?

Students nowadays are more prone to be technology savvy, able to multi-task, and obviously looking to understand more about life and their role in it. The television shows and movies they watch cover serious stuff and that comes with them to class, along with everything else that is happening or not happening at home. Today, young people are inundated with sex, violence, speedy advertisements, and dysfunctional behaviors at all levels of life. K-12 students today are not a docile blank slate waiting to be filled. They have an undying thirst to understand.

When you look around at the majority of new teachers, what do you see?. They are 20 something and fresh out of college. Kudos to them for making a decision to support education, but they have little life experience to offer students. My concern is that we are filling K-12 teacher slots with young teachers who lack the life skills to be able to teach because they are unable to match or exceed student thirst. They haven’ been out in life enough - yet. Sure they know the content, but can they deal with what else is happening in a K-12 class?

The chemistry of teaching isn’t easy. We all had at least one teacher that knew everything but couldn’t control the class. Or, the teacher that was everyone’s friend and no one learned a darn anything. Remember the teacher who filled every class period with worksheets and s/he just sat at their desk? And then the nightmare teacher, where you did exactly the same thing every day in class.

Life experience is priceless – no matter what profession you are in. It means volumes to the students when you can pull life into a lesson and talk to the lesson content. That is called engaging students with life outside of class. The other point, students are always taking everything to the limit – don’t all young people do this? I did. Young people need to test the limits to see what they can get away with. The challenge of new teachers is that s/he hasn’t built up a repertoire of meaningful social experiences to deal with “behavior incident” situations because they have been learning the subject content.

K-12 teachers must be a solid leader in the land of young people thirsty to comprehend our complex world. We owe it to new teachers to train them, not in being book smart, but in the comprehensive chemistry of effective K-12 teaching. If you know of a “pre-service” teaching program that you think offers the right chemistry for training teachers please let me know.

What helped me the most as a new teacher?
Harry Wong – a must read and then DO IT.

Multiple Intelligences – Harry Gardner
Even though he has little research his ideas are compelling and helped me understand individual students.

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K-12 Grants for project learning and service learning


Make Your voice Heard – Report cards
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Equity: Teen Video Gaming or Science and Math

A recently released Pew study on the internet, teens and gaming explains what we expected: 97% of ‘em play video games or console games. What else? That 99% of boys and 94% of girls are “enthusiastic” players.

When I was a kid a social experience was interacting with people that usually occurred outdoors. Not today, according to that report, for most teens, gaming is a social activity and a major component of their overall social experience.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education in the United States is at an all time low. Everyone agrees on this – even McCain and Obama. The US job segment requiring science and math skills had only 8% of the total number of degrees awarded in 2001. Since 2003 there has been a reduction of 50% in undergraduate enrollments of computer science degrees. This is no guessing game – at this pace in 2010 the vast majority of the world's scientists will anywhere but USA grown.

My take is education must be reformed: 1) curriculum needs to take advantage of what teens like to do, 2) teachers need to put technology in as much of the school day as possible, and 3) education stakeholders must take some bold steps – NOW – to curb these trends. How?

National curriculum standards that mandate technology use.
Incorporate technology training for teachers to bolster their skill level to and support using technology methods in K-12 classes. For example, we know students play and enjoy video games so move that forward by requiring a portion of the daily lesson include using a video game. Using what students like to do already as a teaching tool. Video games are essentially a problem solving garden. Every scenario the player is given requires critical thinking to find the solution.

Obligate sufficient assets to supplement existing curriculum resources.
The BBC recently reported that using computer games daily helped boost math scores in Scottish schools. K-12 teachers must provide students with meaningful and frequent learning opportunities using technology. I have read all the studies that say teachers have the computers they need and that just ain’t so. As a former high school teacher, I can tell you that there are not enough computers to go around in the schools. Many times the computers don’t work. Students interested in learning are being cheated because they don’t have the technology tools necessary to challenge them – that’s a crying shame to the USA.

Weave every subject into video games.
The Pew report also state that little evidence exists of concerns that gaming promotes behaviors or attitudes that undermine civic behaviors. With that objection out of the way, gaming can be used for all the core content subjects. Other studies have shown that student collaboration, working together on a project, is a positive influence on learning. That, as an educator, I know to be true.

Hey, I’m not a technology freak. No, I completely enjoy the outdoors and nature. People, we have to get real about the future of our leaders. To have scientists, engineers, and world leaders for tomorrow we need to start NOW.

Here are three of my top learning from playing resources:

1. Games in Multimedia
Many of these are online and some can be downloaded. The majority of online entries are free and cover multiple subjects.

2 Whyville
A Web-based virtual world that provides inquiry-based education for middle school students. Created by University of Texas professor Jim Bower -- a former professor at the California Institute of Technology and founder of CalTech's Pre-College Science Initiative.

3 WISE – Web Based Science Inquiry Environment
Funded by NSF this site offers a host of case studies where students perform sequenced tasks to research, analyze, and arrive at conclusions.

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Say it - report cards: teachers, students, and parents

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Facebook: Collaborate With K-12 Educators

Secret Of Engaging Students

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Ingenuity in K-12 Classes

Wondering how to get your math, social studies, reading, or science students to sit up and get engaged?

Students are full of ideas. So wrap your content around this question …..Got an idea that could change the world, or at least help a lot of people?

Why? Google wants to hear from you -- and they'll pay as much as $10 million to make your idea a reality.

Yup, critical thinking exists in every school content area. And, this question shows students the power of using thinking skills to help yourself and others. I am a big fan of improving thinking skills – being better analyzers of data and using creative solutions to solve issues – because that is a basic life skill.

Thinking, isn’t it a shame that more teachers don’t emphasize it during lessons? Here is a real world opportunity. Learn more by clicking here and read the Google notice.

The United States of France?

I know this is an education blob but when I read this article in Time it made so much sense. Read it for yourself by clicking here. One paragraph that caught my attention...

"We've always dismissed the French as exquisitely fed wards of their welfare state. They work, what, 27 hours in a good week, have 19 holidays a month, go on strike for two days and enjoy a glass of wine every day with lunch — except for the 25% of the population that works for the government, who have an even sweeter deal. They retire before their kids finish high school, and they don't have to save for a $45,000-a-year college tuition because college is free. For this, they pay a tax rate of about 103%, and their labor laws are so restrictive that they haven't had a net gain in jobs since Napoleon. There is no way that the French government can pay for this lifestyle forever, except that it somehow does."

So how does the education system in France rate? The OECD, currently ranks France's education as the 25th best in the world.

USA education is primarily a State and local responsibility. It is States and communities, as well as public and private organizations of all kinds, that establish schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment and graduation. The structure of education finance in America reflects this predominant State and local role. Of an estimated $1 trillion being spent nationwide on education at all levels for school year 2007-2008, a substantial majority will come from State, local, and private sources. This is especially true at the elementary and secondary level, where just over 91 percent of the funds will come from non-Federal sources.

In 1999, France's GDP was close to FF 9,000 billion (EUR 1,330 billion) per resident. Of this total, just over FF 600 billion (EUR 95 billion) were devoted to initial or continuing education: 7.2% of GDP.

In 2005 the USA GDP was $12.4 trillion. The federal funds attributed to K-12 education was almost 3%.

The US spends more per student on average per year but both US and France fall in the range of $8,000 - $8,800 per K-12 student (USD).

Read about education in France here .

Keep the faith and don't forget to vote.

Got STEM in Your Lesson

A Global Challenge
A global project-based competition for high school students with a focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics of the complexities of global warming and the future of energy. Come learn from and interact with the Executive Director, David Gibson, and find out how students gain 21st Century skills through a self-guided project.

Innovative Programs Foster Education
During the course of the program, students will have the opportunity to work with the Global Institute of Sustainability to research and develop designs to mitigate the urban heat island, participate in “cognitive apprenticeships” with companies like Boeing, Intel, SRP, Motorola, and Microchip, and team up with the Mars Education Program to design autonomous rovers capable of navigating Mars-like terrain.

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Say it - report cards: teachers, students, and parents

Remember nature? Southwest glory is here.

Teachers for Green Schools

Green School News

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Facebook: Collaborate With K-12 Educators

Secret Of Engaging Students

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Okay to Bailout Wall Street but not K-12 Education - huh?

The news about covering the gushing wounds of greed on Wall Street is common news around the globe. Just how much are the taxpayers – you and me – going to pay in the name of stabilizing the financial markets?

"We're talking hundreds of billions of dollars - this needs to be big enough to make a real difference and get at the heart of the problem. "This is the way we stabilize the system." Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson

I understand why the Bush leadership is doing this move but I’m not saying I agree with the approach or the tactics. In case you missed the video I made, here are some key expenditures that put funding education in perspective……

--> $8,246: annual average spending per K-12 student in USA.
National Education Association – Ranking and Estimates 2005

--> $22,632: annual average spending per incarcerated person, excluding federal facilities. Department of Justice – State Prison Expenditures 2001

--> $49,026: average USA K-12 teacher salary in 2005-06.
National Education Association – Ranking and Estimates 2005

--> $361,000: annually to put a soldier, Marine, airman or sailor in Iraq or at bases and on ships in the region according to the Congressional Research Service. Houston Chronicle, April 29, 2006

So here is my question, why are we going to spend “hundreds of billions of dollars” on Wall Street - a number produce by greed and mismanagement - and we are unwilling to spend some serious cash to better educate our K-12 students – the future leaders of this world … cleaning up the messes of the people in power now? Go figure. Better yet, send the President and Speakers an email to tell them your thoughts at ……

President George W. Bush

Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Speaker Harry Reid

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Facebook Here's A Quick Way To Collaborate With K-12 Educators Worldwide
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Keep that Money Rolling' - K-12 Teacher Grant Resources

Youth Service America is offering the annual State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning: grants for youth-led community improvement projects across the United States and Canada. The program offers one hundred grants of up to $1,000 each to teachers and service-learning coordinators who engage youth (ages 5 to 25) in implementing service-learning projects on Global Youth Service Day, April 24-26, 2009. Click here for more info.

Toyota Tapestry Grants for Science Teachers
A partnership between Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. , Inc. and the National Science Teachers Association, the Toyota Tapestry Grants for Science Teachers program offers grants to K-12 science teachers for innovative projects that enhance science education in the school and/or school district. The program will award fifty large grants and a minimum of twenty mini-grants, totaling $550,000 in all, for projects implemented during the 2009-10 school year. Project categories are Physical Science Application, Environmental Science Education, and Integrating Literacy and Science.

The Target Field Trip Grants program will award U.S. educators grants of up to $800 each to fund a field trip for their students. Target Field Trip Grants may be used to fund trips to art museums, cultural events, civic experiences, and environmental sites. Up to five thousand grants will be awarded across the United States.

NEA Foundation
The NEA Foundation supports a variety of efforts by teachers, education support professionals, and higher education faculty and staff to improve student learning in America's public schools, colleges, and universities. Learning & Leadership Grants provide opportunities for teachers, education support professionals, and higher education faculty and staff to engage in high-quality professional development and lead their colleagues in professional growth. The grant amount is $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups engaged in collegial study.

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K-12 Grant Resources

Teacher as Researcher Grant This grant supports classroom teachers who undertake action research inquiries about literacy and instruction. Grants will be awarded up to US$5,000, although priority will be given to smaller grants (e.g., $1,000 to $2,000) in order to provide support for as many teacher researchers as possible.

Improving Students’ Understanding of Geometry Grants for Grades K–8 Teachers
The purpose of this grant is to develop activities that will enable students to better appreciate and understand some aspect of geometry that is consistent with the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics of NCTM. For 2009–2010, grants with a maximum of $3,000 each will be awarded to persons currently teaching at the grades K–8 level.

George Lucas Foundation List of Grants
The George Lucas Educational Foundation is a nonprofit operating foundation and is not a grant-making organization. The comprehensive list at this web site includes grant information for all subjects and grade levels.

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Teachers for Green Schools: you can support social responsibility and build character education skills in students.

Education Gaming News

The Secret Of Engaging Students

Green School News

Constructing Innovative Teaching

Service Learning: Community Café
The Community Café is a table-service soup kitchen that has served more than 15,000 meals to needy residents since December 2006. Kristen Allcorn founded the Café as part of a high school community service project.

Project Based Learning: Digital-age projects give students room to follow their own interests.
Elise Mueller is a Bellingham, Wash., teacher who seems to be in an ideal setting for project-based learning to thrive. She and two fellow elementary teachers share teaching responsibilities for grades 3-5. Students come to Mueller's room for social studies and language arts; her colleagues teach science and math. All three teachers integrate technology, and they regularly plan projects that cut across disciplines. But as Mueller told me recently in an interview for Northwest Education magazine, there's still one remaining challenge: getting students on board.

Education Games: One Stop Resources - all subjects
The world of wikis is … well rich and wicked too.
Finally, a decent resource for all you interested in exploring the world of education video games. Check out this Education Game Resource wiki and you’re bound to learn at least one new resource today.

Online Teacher Community

K-12 Green Ed News

Moving Forward: Rewiring K-12 Lessons

This video clip is worth a view for three reasons minimum ....
1. You will know exactly what the financial commitment of politicians is today for K-12 education.
2. You will gain some ideas in designing K-12 lessons
3. Your ideas of what education "is" will be refreshed.

Enjoy!




Want Your Students To Increase Participation?

Here's A Quick Way To Collaborate With K-12 Educators On Facebook.

Global Ed Village: International Perspectives on K-12 Education

A different cut today at viewing K-12 education. Let’s take a look at what is in the international news: here and here.. After all, the world really is a global village. We need some earnest dialogues and efforts about sharing success of education with all countries. That will help shorten the learning curve and build a brighter future for the younger generations.

If you are aware of any efforts and/or dialogues please tell me so I can follow them.

Americans say U.S. schools don't teach needed skills
Half of Americans say U.S. schools are doing only a fair to poor job preparing kids for college and the work force. Even more feel that way about the skills kids need to survive as adults, an Associated Press poll released Friday finds.

Nigeria: Aliyu Vows to Eradicate Education Backwardness
SENATOR Nuhu Aliyu (PDP, Niger North) has pledged to contribute his quota to the reversal of the education backwardness of the people of his constituency.

Outdoor classes start in schools
The foundation phase includes classes outdoors and experience of the environment. It starts with three and four year olds and extends up to the age of seven. But a teaching union said staff were under "enormous pressure" to deliver, without the promised level of funding.

French education minister finally admits defeat in battle against the English language
For generations the French have viewed the English language as an ugly tongue furthering brutal Anglo-Saxon values around the world. But after years of fighting its increasing influence, the French government finally admitted 'Oui - the secret of success is speaking English.'


The Secret Of Engaging Students.
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Green School News
Education Gaming News
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Go There -> Quick Way To Collaborate With K-12 Educators On Facebook.

Do You Find Yourself Saying: "I Wish I Knew How My Students Are Thinking?"

Student feedback is essential for teachers to grasp the class knowledge and to determine the correct strategy for teaching. Taking that feedback personally can shatter or inflate an ego. Instead, look at the news objectively …. as sign posts on the road of improvement. Teachers, to excel, we need to know what methods and strategies to hang onto cause they work, and what to let go of.

Our students are our best mechanism for understanding our teaching successes and/or gaps.




The Secret Of Engaging Students.
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Green School News Education Gaming News
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Here's A Quick Way To Collaborate With K-12 Educators On Facebook.

Enriching Education By Connecting K-12 Teachers

Okay, I've taken the leap and started a group on Facebook: Quality K-12 Education: Taking the Next Steps.

Yes, I did "do" some serious thinking about it but in the end, social media is what more students are interested in. Don't believe me? Ask your students how many have a page in Facebook and/or My Space. These outlets are here to stay.

I am thinking it's time to harness a tool like this for teachers to band together. The purpose of my group is to provide information that includes current reports and research, educator feedback, teaching methods and strategies, events, and curriculum in an effort to discover the "best practices" K-12 educators can implement to build a dynamic learning environment in their classroom.

Join me in my group and contribute you wisdom, questions, and ideas. I look forward to participating with you. Click here to go to the group web age in Face Book.

Spotlighting Innovative Strategies and Teachers

Technology, Cross Curriculum Learning
Such is life in Whyville, a Web-based virtual world that provides inquiry-based education for middle school students. Created by University of Texas professor Jim Bower -- a former professor at the California Institute of Technology and founder of CalTech's Pre-College Science Initiative -- Whyville looks and feels like a game to the kids who use it. For teachers, it is one more tool for delivering lessons in a package that delights their students.

The EAST Initiative: Students Use Technology to Promote Collaborative Learning
Students helping students and using technology with project based learning. Ready to be inspired? The read this article and watch the video. Yes, the teacher, Tim Stephenson, is to credit for his persistent initiative and commitment.

Kindergarten Goes Virtual
Here are two words I never thought would go together: kindergarten and virtual. The content being offered is across the curriculum and totally interactive. Check it out.

Teacher Magazine (requires free account sign up)
Cindi Rigsbee, North Carolina's 2008 teacher of the year, has spent most of her career working at disadvantaged middle schools and was used to poor teacher morale, but when she switched to a new school before classrooms were even finished, the teachers began to work together in a newly formed professional-learning community. The experience, she says, was transforming: instead of trading woeful classroom tales, educators collaborate to boost student achievement.

Startling Facts - Real News - On High School Graduation

"If three out of every 10 students in the nation failing to graduate is reason for concern, then the fact that just half of those educated in America’s largest cities are finishing high school truly raises cause for alarm. And the much higher rates of high school completion among their suburban counterparts – who may literally live and attend school right around the corner – place in a particularly harsh and unflattering light the deep undercurrents of inequity that plague American public education."
Cities in Crisis - an Analytic Report on High School Graduation
Published April, 2008

I will say it till I'm blue in the face, lessons have to meaningful to students in order to capture their attention. That means in many classes a reinvention is necessary. What is an ideal instruction model? I think Project Based Learning is as long as the lesson has been connected to students lives outside of class. Why? It is a method of learning that allows students to collaborate with each other, work with their hands, and gives teachers a framework to work with individual students or small groups. Get my free eReport on implementing Project Based Learning when you purchase an annual subscription for $19.95 ..... less than two movie tickets and a box or popcorn.

A Secret to Building an Improved Learning Environment

Students have stimulation form so many sources .... flashy billboards, television shows that carrying four plus character streams per episode, advertisements blitzing volumes of images in barely seconds, and so forth. They have so many choices, that's why as K-12 educators the key to capturing their attention is by relating the lesson material to their life.

To obtain a free eReport with information about using Project Based and Service Based Learning in K-12 classes click here. Check out this current news and research on meaningful and relevant lesson material ....

Ten NYC schools to pilot Core Knowledge literacy curriculum
The pilot program, which will involve about 1,000 children, represents a shift from the Bloomberg administration’s longstanding approach to teaching children to read, known as “balanced literacy.” Under that approach, children are encouraged to select books that interest them, at their own reading levels, from classroom libraries. The theory behind the approach is that it is more important to ensure that young children are truly engaged by books than to dictate that everyone read the same thing. (NY Times)

Why classic literature fails to resonate with modern teens
Teens raised on video games and YouTube have an increasingly rocky relationship with classical literature, and high school English classes are partially to blame, writes high school English teacher Nancy Schnog. If teachers really want to instill a love of reading, they should assign books that resonate with teens before delving into classic literature, she writes. (Washington Post)

New academy aims to hold adolescent girls' attention
Tatshianna Pires, 9, loves school, and a girls' academy set to open next week wants to keep it that way. With no boys, small classes and extra-long school days, the tuition-free academy aims to keep 60 urban girls in the fifth through eighth grades from dropping out and to help them steer clear of truancy and early incidence of pregnancy. (Boston Globe)

Understand Learning Results ...In Less Than 10 Minutes

I think everyone will agree that results are probably the key to understanding how effective K-12 education is or isn't. The question becomes what results need to be analyzed. How can we be sure the examination of performance provides valid and reliable data? That is to say, will the examination measure the same data each year again and do all participants have an equal opportunity?

Here is a site, Measuring Up, that provides result data on every state for K-12 over a number of years on a variety of topics. It also allows you to compare state results using different topics. For example, you can compare AZ, CA, and NY on subjects within participation, achievement, and affordability. Perhaps the best stat here is being able to see the number of students going on to two or four colleges, after all isn't that the ultimate goal of high school? Sure a high school diploma is great, but if you don't go to a technical school, college or university to get some skills you're bound to be part of the service sector working for minimum wage.

Check out Measuring Up and tell me what you think.

The Power of Education

High school must include teaching academic skills with life skills to students. But how does that translate to college? Well, take a gander at the links below. Herein lies the evidence that just having academic skills won’t cut it. Sure, they are a good start, but being successful in the projects described below means a student brings some quality life skills too.

Examine Killer Bugs
Students work in state-of-the-art labs to learn about infectious diseases.

Working with Monkeys
Work here has created significant breakthroughs in biomedical and behavioral research.

SETI
This program uses idle PCs, you can hook yours in to SETI, thus creating a supercomputer to analyze data from radio telescopes.

Create Video Games
An Ivy League school that offers a degree in game design to support academic studies, including artificial intelligence and computer animation.

Books & Laptops - tools that keep on giving

As a former educator from an inner city high school, where students of less privilege are the majority, I have learned more about myself in four short years than I knew possible. At the same time, I discovered acres about smart kids in bad circumstances, the power of hope, along with streams about what to hang onto and what to let go of....

This last week I finished reading A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind. A truly remarkable story of a remarkable student ... particular poignant for me as it brought those subtle issues I dealt with in my classes - every day- to the surface .... ahhhh, so there are people "in the know" that recognize the issues ... but so little seems to be accomplished with all the talk .... I guess - as usual - it rests on the shoulders of classroom teachers to accomplish learning since teacher are the front line of education.

Laptops for less that $200 provide an opening for those of less privilege. Check out the the program at One Laptop Per Child. You can donate or request laptops here. This is the right program to provide useful technology where it can do the most good - in a classroom full of creative and energtic minds.

If you know of a classroom in need of these excellent tools let me know.

Quality Teaching - Everyone Knows It Must Be So

What makes a quality teacher?

Surely, this teacher type accomplishes learning objectives ... meaning students are excelling in academics ... but how?

Experts will say they know the material they teach, they practice proficient classroom management skills, they must have decent organizational skills, and to some degree they must get along withe their teacher peers on the campus.

From my teaching days, besides knowing the material, I would say the most important skill is having a stage presence in class. With that presence a quality teacher can discipline students fairly and equitably ... along with rewarding students ..... BUT most importantly, with that presence the teacher builds a learning environment where students feel safe. When that safety is in place, students WILL engage themselves by participating while also acting respectful.

There is a bunch of essential information one doesn't get taught about quality teaching during the process procuring an education and passing subject matter exams to secure a teaching certificate. Honestly, I'm not a fan of having young people come barreling out of college and head into teaching. Why? They don't have the depth of social skills required to handle the velocity of teenagers today. Sure, maybe they can be effective in the primary grades as those students will interact with them as adults. But in high school, I think older people should be teaching. And when I saw older, I mean people who have been out in the world working in careers and are ready a career change BUT not ready for retirement. I might as well say it, I have also seen some very old teachers that should be retired.

Where am I going with this? Peer review. I think teachers should be evaluated by peer review to keep their jobs. Administrators have too much going on and by letting teachers evaluate teachers there is a process in place that is on a level playing field. Here is an excellent article and audio file from NPR on a current peer process in place in Ohio that seems to be working well.

Peer Review System for Teachers Spreads

Back to School Time - Who's Prepared?

The summer is rolling to an end over the next few weeks. K-12 students around the world will be trading in days filled with couches, beaches, and bicycles for desks, chairs, and fluorescent lighting ... and hopefully a meaningful nine months filled with a quality education.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of education is providing students with skills - life skills - preparing them to be successful global citizens. Yet, I'm not sure we are getting that done ... or even if it can be done given the structure of K-12 public education. Did you ever stop to think that there are 52 education systems in the USA (one for each state, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico). While, the federal government shares legislative authority over education, administrative control rests with states and is the responsibility of state boards of education and local districts.As I wondered more about this I began searching for the national policy or the mission of public education. All those people, organizations, and ensuing politics seem like a recipe making chaos.

Well, my research produced a USA national education policy called NCLB which was signed into law effective 2002. It's based on four main principles: accountability based on results; increased flexibility and local control for state use of federal funding; more choice for parents; targeted funding for education methods proven to work.

There are many ways to measure if NCLB is working or not. That will take me houndreds of blog pages to examine. Some perspective, in 1983, the national report, A Nation At Risk, delivered a wake up call for our education system. It described stark realities like a significant number of functionally illiterate high schoolers, plummeting student performance, and international competitors breathing down our necks. It was a warning, a reproach, and a call to arms. Have we learned our lessons ... is NCLB and/or previous education reform improving K-12 education?

One example, a study done to look at if students are prepared for education. Students were considered unprepared if they came to school without 1) books; 2) paper, pencil or pen; and/or 3) homework. The results showed in 2002 there were more unprepared students that in 1980 or 1990. This begs the question, what does it mean for a student to be prepared in 2008 and beyond ?

I know from my teaching days .... sure it's great if students have a pencil but they don't - no biggie - I was prepared with spares they could borrow . No paper - no problem. I had paper for students to use too - I was prepared. Whatever material we needed for class I made sure to have in the classroom, my students didn't need to bring a book. Who uses a textbook in class anymore? Boring. Going to read? Teachers - please - use an article from current research or news to teach the learning objective. Bottom line for me ... I know, without a doubt, that a majority of students who didn't have a book, paper, or pencil/pen were still prepared to learn.

To me, being prepared to learn means being open to thinking, discussing, ready to analyze, and ready to listen to the teacher/students ... ready to do the class work. I think, evaluating a student's preparedness for education based on outdated criteria comes from using an outdated approach to defining education and thus produces an unrealistic image of what learning really is.

As we get ready to start this new school year, let's hope that the educators and teachers are ready to deal with students freshly using methods that integrate 21st Century learning opportunities. I know that many will be prepared to engage students and thus set the stage for a educational school year.