Friday, June 17, 2011

Google Teacher Academy

The Google Teacher Academy is coming to Seattle this summer.   Only 50 educators get to participate.  I sooooooooo hope to be one that gets invited. There are sure to be opportunities to connect with likeminded educators committed to continually learning, risking, and sharing.  I've given it my best shot; my application has been submitted and my application video (on motivation and learning) posted online (and below).  The waiting begins.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Summer Homework: A Reading List for Educators

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Homework on the beach (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spree2010/4930763550/) / Ingo Bernhardt (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spree2010/) / CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)"]Homework on the beach (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spree2010/4930763550/) / Ingo Bernhardt (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spree2010/) / CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)[/caption]

I was a bit surprised to hear that in our Upper School we assign homework over the summer.  It is usually to read a novel for an English class or something similiar, but still, I was surprised.  It is part of the culture here though, and it is difficult to argue with anything that supports the notion of "always learning."  At a faculty meeting the other day,  I was assigned some homework of my own. Our Director, Dr. Bieber, suggested we pick one of the "strands" under umbrella of  school improvement, skim a few and then read one closely.  I've posted the list below (compiled by Dr. Bieber,  Mr. Mobbs and Mr. Helmer with links where possible as it looks like a provocative list of reads that will spark some discussion at the start of the 2011-12 school year.

Assessment for Learning


How Should We Measure Student Learning? The Many Forms of Assessment. There is more than one way to measure a student's abilities by Edutopia Staff

Drive (excerpt): Dan Pink: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc - Animated Video 11minutes

Dan Pink on Motivation - TED Talk 19 minutes

From Degrading to De-Grading: Alfie Kohn

Seven Practices for Effective Learning: Jay McTighe and Ken O'Connor

Show Us What Homework's For: Kathleen Cushman

Authentic learning/Inquiry


High School at a Crossroads: Ed Coughlin

Inquiry learning – journeys through the thinking processes: Kath Murdoch

Making Thinking Visible: Ron Ritchhart and David Perkins

Problem-Based Learning: The Foundation for 21st Century Skills: John Barell

21st Century Skills


Comparing Frameworks for “21st Century Skills”: Chris Dede

The Five Minds for the Future: Gardner, Howard

Innovation Through Technology: Cheryl Lemke

Preparing Creative and Critical Thinkers: Donald J. Treffinger

School for the 21st Century



A Diploma Worth Having: Grant Wiggins

Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow—Today

Designing New Learning Environments to Support 21st Century Skills: Bob Pearlman

Leadership for Learning: Powell and Powell

Do schools kill creativity? Sir Ken Robinson