PD
A Voice from the Classroom: Three Puzzles
Three puzzles: (1) How can I continue this blog effectively when I’m too busy to write it well? (2) Do crossword puzzles belong in the classroom? (3) How can we find the best way to teach each student? I’ll tackle them one at a time, bringing up along the way the research I promised in my last post.
Puzzle #1: I can’t. That one was easy! Which is why this blog took so long to...
Creating Unconferences in Your Learning Community
Saturday, February 5 was a professional development day for all consultants at AUSSIE/Editure. Consultants from every area—literacy, math, science, social studies, and instructional technology—gathered together to learn best practices and strengthen their expertise. Our focus was From Spark to Flame: Igniting a Culture of Innovation.
This particular PD was unique in that the Digital School Solutions (DSS) department headed the workshop in an ...
A Voice from the Classroom: Property on the Lake of Literature
Last weekend a tornado of workshop planning, bathroom repairs, and out-of-town visitors wiped out the time I needed to follow up on my blog post “The Hero Journey of a Reader.” Gina gave me a pass. Thank you, Gina.
First, an update on the “Tarzan Method” of reading. Cecily Iddings, a teacher of high school Global Studies students at District 75’s Lillian L. Rashkis school, tried it with the...
Ahead in the Cloud
It’s not about a product … it’s about an approach. The ideal professional development, even for specific training on a particular piece of hardware or software, expands the conversation to consider the culture of the school itself. In professional development that goes beyond the tradtional expectations, teachers do more than implement a new tool; they grow their interactions with their students, their peers and the world itself. Creating this situation like this can be challenging; the offering must provide...
Paragraph Six - Pelicans
I’m asking myself two questions in this last blog of the school year. How many students are celebrating the ideas that have inspired them throughout the year, along with the skills they’ve developed? Conversely, how many are feeling the sting or the exhilaration (or, worse, the indifference) of their standardized test scores?
I suspect the latter number is far higher. John Dewey, who I mentioned in an earlier post for his concern about...
Paragraph Six - On Buying Hyenas and the Limits of Perfection
I meant to break away from the topic of freewriting this week, but I came across a new one that I can’t ignore.
I was facilitating a Curriculum Design Team workshop for the New York City Department of Education District 25 and 28 Magnet School Program. We always open our workshops with a freewrite. After the two minute silent writing session, teachers were sharing their ...
Paragraph Six - Let Us Now Continue to Praise Freewriting
Last week I was politely interrupted by my word monitor Gina while giving evidence for the benefits of freewriting. I promised to move beyond the dry research to hear the more liquid anecdotes this week. And so I will deliver.
First a spanking fresh one, from a workshop last week. I had planned a session to introduce the International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Programme to the staff of PS 201 in Queens. My task was to promote questioning, inquiry, connections – all hallmarks of the...
Elmore in the Bronx
“The best indicator of how strong a new teacher will be in 5 years is determined by what the other teachers in the building” said Dr. Elmore, when stressing how important professionalism, consistency and collaboration are to school culture and quality teachers. On May 20th, over 60 principals and assistant principals gathered at Manhattan College to see Richard Elmore speak on school improvement and his...
