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Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers | TED Talk | TED.com
- important part of education as a sort of compulsory subject?
- Well, I think there are about three reasons: technical jobs so critical to the development of our economies, what I call "everyday living" -- to function in the world today, you've got to be pretty quantitative, much more so than a few years ago: figure out your mortgages, being skeptical of government statistics, those kinds of things -- and thirdly, what I would call something like logical mind training, logical thinking.
- Well, I think it's about four steps, roughly speaking, starting with posing the right question. What is it that we want to ask? What is it we're trying to find out here? And this is the thing most screwed up in the outside world, beyond virtually any other part of doing math. People ask the wrong question, and surprisingly enough, they get the wrong answer, for that reason, if not for others. So the next thing is take that problem and turn it from a real world problem into a math problem. That's stage two. Once you've done that, then there's the computation step. Turn it from that into some answer in a mathematical form. And of course, math is very powerful at doing that. And then finally, turn it back to the real world. Did it answer the question? And also verify it -- crucial step. Now here's the crazy thing right now.
- math education, we're spending about perhaps 80 percent of the time teaching people to do step three by hand.
- the one step computers can do better than any human after years of practice
- we ought to be using computers to do step three and using the students to spend much more effort on learning how to do steps one, two and four -- conceptualizing problems, applying them, getting the teacher to run them through how to do that.
- think in terms of the fact that math has been liberated from calculating. But that math liberation didn't get into education yet.
- I estimated that, just today, across the world, we spent about 106 average world lifetimes teaching people how to calculate by hand.
- hat's absolutely the right thing, for people to follow their self-interest. I was somewhat interested in ancient Greek, but I don't think that we should force the entire population to learn a subject like ancient Greek.
- might follow with their own interest and perhaps even be spiked into doing that.
- A hundred years ago, it's certainly true that to drive a car you kind of needed to know a lot about the mechanics of the car and how the ignition timing worked and all sorts of things. But automation in cars allowed that to separate, so driving is now a quite separate subject, so to speak, from engineering of the car or learning how to service it.
- "No paper?" (Laughter) If you were born after computers and paper, it doesn't really matter which order you're taught with them in, you just want to have the best tool.
- "Computers dumb math down." That somehow, if you use a computer, it's all mindless button-pushing, but if you do it by hand, it's all intellectual.
- school practically today is more than applying procedures to problems they don't really understand, for reasons they don't get?
- So the problem we've really got in math education is not that computers might dumb it down, but that we have dumbed-down problems right now.
- So programming is the way I think we should be doing that. So to be clear, what I really am suggesting here is we have a unique opportunity to make maths both more practical and more conceptual, simultaneously.
- I even talk about us moving from what we often call now the "knowledge economy" to what we might call a "computational knowledge economy," where high-level math is integral to what everyone does in the way that knowledge currently is.
- completely renewed, changed math curriculum built from the ground up, based on computers being there, computers that are now ubiquitous almost. Calculating machines are everywhere and will be completely everywhere in a small number of years
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Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers | TED Talk | TED.com
- e've got a real problem with math education right now. Basically, no one's very happy. Those learning it think it's disconnected, uninteresting and hard. Those trying to employ them think they don't know enough. Governments realize that it's a big deal for our economies, but don't know how to fix it.
- I believe that correctly using computers is the silver bullet for making math education work.
- real world and what it looks like in education
- education it looks very different -- dumbed-down problems, lots of calculating, mostly by hand.
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Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us - YouTube
- They gave them these challenges and, to incentivise performance, they gave them three levels of reward. If you did pretty well, you got a small monetary reward. If you did medium well, you got a medium monetary reward. If you were one of the top performers, you got a large cash prize - As long as the task involved only mechanical skill, bonuses worked as they would be expected. - Once the task called for even rudimentary cognitive skill, a larger reward led to poorer performance. - the higher the reward, the better the performance. They're saying that once you get above rudimentary cognitive skill, it's the other way around. -I mean, sorry, low performance - two weeks' salary. Medium performance - a month's salary. High performance - two months' salary. Those are real good incentives. You'll get a different result here. -Higher incentives led to worse performance. - For tasks that are algorithmic, a set of rules you have to follow and get a right answer, "if then" rewards, carrot and stick, outstanding! - when it requires conceptual, creative thinking, those kinds of motivators demonstrably don't work. - The best use of money as a motivator is to pay people enough to take the issue of money off the table, so they're not thinking about money, they're thinking about the work -They're saying, "You probably want to do something interesting. "Let me get out of your way." One day of autonomy produces things that had never emerged. - Many are technically sophisticated, highly skilled people who have jobs. OK? They have jobs! They're working at jobs for pay, doing sophisticated technological work. And yet, during their limited discretionary time, they do equally, if not more, technically sophisticated work, not for their employer, but for someone else for free. - What we're seeing now is when the profit motive becomes unmoored from the purpose motive, - When the profit motive is paramount or when it becomes completely unhitched from the purpose motive, people don't do great things. - we start treating people like people, 10:18 not assuming that they're simply horses - slower, smaller, better smelling horses - if we get past the ideology of carrot and stick and look at the science, we can build organizations and work lives that make us better off. - our world just a little bit better
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Creating a Culture of Collaboration Through Technology Integration | always learning
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Teacher Collaboration with Technology Integration
-It should not be misunderstood that all teachers who do not currently utilize technologynecessarily feel that there is no benefit from integrating technology into a lesson. - For example, theuse of an online grade book, such as PowerSchool, can be viewed as something additionalthat the teacher must use. If the teacher is already maintaining a traditional paper-basedgrade book, then surely an online grade book is an added task. However, an online gradebook provides many time-saving advantages over the traditional version.- The differences between technology-based learningand paper-and-pencil learning started a new discussion about teaching and learning throughtechnology. Wolfram points out that to the students, who were born into the age oftechnology, which came first is irrelevant. -The technology integratordoes not become an expert within each subject area; the integrator instead often looks atexisting lessons and activities and suggests modifications that will further engage students ina way where they can show what they know.- In addition to understandingthe technology and technological resources available within the school, the integrator mustunderstand the pedagogy behind the tool use and quickly grasp the intent of the objectiveswithin a lesson or subject provided by the teacher he or she is working with.
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Technology Teacher 12/21/2015
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Technology Integrators Wear Many Hats
Integration. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JOTS/v32/v32n2/okojie.html
Module One Overview. (n.d) SNHU EDU 64. Retrieved from
https://bb.snhu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-9585145-dt-content-rid-24306458_1/courses/EDU- 641NC-16TW2-MASTER/EDU-641-14TW4-MASTER/edu_641_module1_overview.pdf
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Monday, December 14, 2015
Technology Teacher 12/15/2015
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Rethinking the Technology Integration Challenge: Cases from Th ree Urban Elementary Schools
-Th e task for schools became that of determining how technology and curriculumwould operate to strengthen student learning- Despite studies documenting the effectiveness of technology to supportstudent learning, barriers to technology integration have been identified. Forexample, the issue of preparedness of teachers to respond to the influx of technologyresources, and of schools to keep up with the mechanical functioningand maintenance of equipment, was one major barrier. Further, many teachershad not been prepared to utilize technology in their teacher preparation programs.- So although instructional technology has been a routine part of the educationallandscape for several decades, the integration of technology in classroomsstill lags behind expectations for its use (Cuban, 2001; Jones, 1998; Rogers,2000), and especially for traditionally underserved populations - Th e principal described technology as a tool to help teachers integrate the curriculum,which is foundational to the school's philosophy. She believed that itwas important that teachers have newer and better equipped computers; digitalcameras and iMovie were also now available for teachers to use as they choseinterdisciplinary projects for their students that incorporated some aspect oftechnology use.- Th e role of teachers was defi ned generally by the expectation the principal setthat each teacher would use technology to have students support their requiredinterdisciplinary projects. The specific relationship of technology to particularaspects of the curriculum, however, was not identified from the top down. Itwas up to the teachers themselves to figure out the most appropriate ways to integratetechnology. - movie of a fi eld trip.On a school-wide basis, students played a major role in technology use. Anactive Technology Club was formed that was empowered to document variousevents of importance to the school and the community. These activities included,for example, filming an urban technology exposition featuring work from allthree partner schools and filming a bird count at a local urban nature center. - At the start of the project, teachers reportedthat technology was viewed as an add-on. It was used to reward students, tokeep them busy, and to teach basic computing skills. As time passed and personneland hardware resources were committed, more teachers began integratingtechnology into their curriculum. Evidence can be seen in video productionscreated by upper grades students, the study of African-American poets bysecond graders with disabilities, lost pet books developed by fi rst graders, andresearch on Mother Jones conducted and disseminated by second graders. Technology-basedactivities supported content. Some teachers used technology tosupplant usual instruction, others used it to augment or follow up instruction.Technology shifted from being used three to four students at a time to beingused in whole group instruction as well as small group, paired, and independentuse. At this school, technology became a tool for collaborative learning, a toolmade increasingly available through lab and wireless resources.-e. Students used technology as a free choice item, to writefi nal composition drafts, and to learn basic skills. Teachers reported that theybelieved in the notion of technology integration but admittedly were not practicingit. Th e inconsistencies in availability, connectivity, and compatibility oftechnology throughout the school made it challenging to use technology acrossmultiple learning environments- Th e leadership function of principals, however, can only go so far. A secondscaff old we believe may hold importance across these case studies is teacher leadership.Th e principal at Rosa Parks talked eloquently about the role of teacherleadership in the future of the school. In the face of budget cuts, she chose todiscontinue a dedicated technology specialist. Instead, she discussed the importanceof hiring staff members who were technology savvy as a means to movingthe school ahead. - Preparing a school well for technology integration appears to represent aspecial instance of professional development, one that has a unique identityrequiring a unique kind of stewardship. - Traditionally, professional development encourages teachers to change theirpractice within a relatively familiar zone of operation.- Without a clear vision of the goal of technology as it relates directly to the curriculum,it is possible to get distracted along the way with the details of acquisition,with productivity goals, or with generalized uses of technology-but notuses that are specifi c to various aspects of the curriculum- However, technology integration is not simply a top-down aff air. When eithera principal or a technology leader in a school is more focused on technology acquisitionand less focused on alignment, it will be critical to have a teacher leaderwho can step up to address the curriculum question-
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JOTS v32n2 - The Pedagogy of Technology Integration
- The problem of integrating technology into teaching and learning process has become a perennial one. Common excuses for the limited use of technology to support instruction include shortage of computers, lack of computer skill and computer intimidation
- Technology used for teaching and learning should be considered an integral part of instruction and not as an object exclusive to itself.
- The scope of technology integration is examined with a view of showing its relationship with pedagogy. It should be noted that technology, which is used to facilitate learning, is part of the instructional process and not an appendage to be attached at any convenient stage during the course of instruction.
- Using technology to enhance the educational process involves more than just learning how to use specific piece of hardware and software. It requires an understanding of pedagogical principles that are specific to the use of technology in an instructional settings…Pedagogy-based training begins by helping teachers understand the role of learning theory in the design and function of class activities and in the selection and use of instructional technologies
- Technology in education is commonly defined as a technical device or tool used to enhance instruction.
- This definition does not take into consideration the pedagogical principles upon which the application of various technologies into educational inquiry are based. Such a definition is narrow because it isolates technology from pedagogical processes that it is intended to support.
- teachers should develop strategies to motivate students to keep them focused as the instruction progresses and to consider that different students prefer different learning styles and that they learn at different rates.
- teachers should be able to engage students in an exploratory learning experience which is designed to stimulate thinking
- In a broad sense, technology integration can be described as a process of using existing tools, equipment and materials, including the use of electronic media, for the purpose of enhancing learning
- “they did not resist technology per se but agreed that they could not fully integrate it into their own practices because of the organizational, administrative, pedagogical, or personal constraints”
- Technology should not be treated as a separate entity but should be considered as an integral part of instructional delivery.
- When you go to the hardware store to buy a drill, you don’t actually want a drill, you want a hole, they don’t sell holes at the hardware store, but they do sell drills, which are the technology used to make holes. We must not lose sight that technology for the most part is a tool and it should be used in applications which address educational concerns. (p. 87)
- Therefore, technological application should be based on sound teaching and learning principles to avoid teaching hardware and software technologies in an isolated manner. Technologies used for instructional delivery should form part of the cohesive components of instruction; they should not be detachable objects.
- student teachers (70%) maintain that it is a tool for instruction; they fail to relate it to pedagogy or identify how it will help them to improve their teaching or facilitate learning. An educator who does not understand the purpose of technology integration or how it could be applied is less likely to achieve success in a technology-based learning environment.
- That thinking critically involves our recognizing the assumption underlying our beliefs and behaviors. It can give justifications for our ideas and actions. Most important, perhaps, it means we try to judge the rationality of these justifications.
- “we know how to teach people to build ships but not how to figure out what ships to build”
- students will progress toward becoming reflective practitioners who think and rethink their positions and assumptions
- Technology should be implemented in the classroom only if its role in a given instruction is determined along with pedagogical issues related to a given instructional task.
- argue that school administrators make decisions about technology training without consulting teachers who will integrate technology into instructional process. Teachers who are in a better position to articulate their needs and identify their weaknesses have minimal input in planning the technology training they receive. Thus, technology integration training becomes a general identification of various hardware and software technologies, which does not address specific learning problems nor pinpoint the way technology can be used to improve instruction
- It is important that teachers recognize that a relationship exists between technology in education and pedagogical decision-making. According to Anderson and Borthwick (2002) research evidence shows that “participants whose technology instruction was integrated in their methods course reported more frequent use of technology for both teacher productivity and student projects during both on-campus courses and their first year of actual classroom teaching”
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- Identifying learning objectives in a technology-based instruction requires teachers to select and/or adapt instructional technology to match the objectives based on the students’ needs.
- Presenting instruction using technology as part of the instructional process requires teachers to choose the methods that are relevant to the objectives, the technology selected, learning styles, modes and pace of learning.
- Evaluating technology-based instruction requires teachers to select appropriate evaluation techniques that are relevant to the objectives, methods of instruction, and to technologies that have been used.
- Designing follow-up activities using technology requires teachers to select appropriate follow-up materials that are relevant to the objectives of the instruction and technologies that are accessible to the students as well as easy to use.
- Developing course enrichment materials using technology requires teachers to provide opportunity for students to explore issues related to the course materials and to provide them with the opportunity to select and analyze course enrichment materials using technology in ways that broaden their problem-solving skills.
- Locating sources for additional instructional materials using technology requires teachers to use the internet and multimedia networks to develop additional learning materials and expand instructional resources aimed at broadening the knowledge and the skill gained.
- Designing a dynamic classroom using technology requires teachers to provide a learning environment that is colorful, engaging, exciting, interactive and energetic as a way of encouraging students to venture into the world of technology and to discover knowledge for themselves.
- Educators are encouraged to view technology integration from a wider perspective and be reflective in their teaching as they use technology to support and facilitate instruction.
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An Introduction to Technology Integration | Edutopia
- we're seeing now is that technology is being used to fundamentally transform what the classroom is. Fundamentally transform what you can do with a classroom.
- I think to define technology integration, it's really using whatever resources you have to the best of your abilities. Technology, it's a tool. It's what you do with that tool, what you can make, what you allow the students to make.
- For us to feel like we really are connecting with our kids, and to make learning fun for our kids and meaningful, we need to meet them where they are.
- When you create, you take ownership of your learning. You understand it in a very different way than if you just memorize something from a textbook, or if you just read it over and over again, or watched it in someone else's film.
- his internet thing that has become a big part of our lives. It's really enabled people around the world to connect in ways we never imagined.
- People always say that the kids respond better when they're able to share their work. Well, of course! Because they have a valid audience. It doesn't go into a pile on the teacher's desk, and then get handed back to their folder. Kids today can create stuff and share it with the entire world. And they have that authentic audience. They have people that actually, not only will read it, but also care about it.
- We have a set amount of time to learn something, and then there's an exam. You get a B; I get a C. Even though the exam identified that you have some basic weaknesses, I have even more weaknesses, we'll then move on to the next concept.
- you have the potential to everyone learn at their own pace, and master concepts before they move on.
- It's not about the mode of creation, it's not about the tool, it's about the learning, it's about the process, it's about the look on my students' faces, the fact that they can stay focused, motivated, engaged, and they're sharing ideas.
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Was "Old School" So Bad? Part 1 | Edutopia
- "Maker classrooms are active classrooms. In active classrooms one will find engaged students, often working on multiple projects simultaneously, and teachers unafraid of relinquishing their authoritarian role. The best way to activate your classroom is for your classroom to make something."
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How to Manage Cell Phones in the Classroom | Edutopia
- Students could conveniently take their music with them and also conveniently tune out any undesirable noise. Within this cocoon of music, students feel safe and protected.
- students have to understand beforehand that using their phone has an educational purpose and what the consequences are for straying from that purpose
- As long as a student is not causing problems, they can use their phones as much as they want outside of class, and each teacher has to determine how much phone use goes on in class. Cell phones in the classroom can be a significant discipline problem and classroom management struggle if clear and explicit guidelines are not established the first day
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The role of the Technology Integrator
- Teachers often fall into a wide range of categories. There are teachers who fully embrace technology integration and work diligently to incorporate and integrate technology into each and every lesson, which ultimately engages the students. - The administration within schools and district levels is often a driving force for the integration of technology into the curriculum. Administrators, many of whom were once teachers themselves, may emphasize student engagement and the enhancement of student understanding through technology use. - groups may consist of parents who feel as though education should continue the way it was when they were in school.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Technology Teacher 06/24/2015
- Grading and Reporting Notes-Grading and reporting are foundational elements in nearly every educational system. Grading represents teachers’ evaluations — formative or summative — of students’ performance. - Reporting is how the results of those evaluations are communicated to students, parents, or others. -To make grades more meaningful, we need to address both the purpose of grades and the format used to report them. -Grades should reflect students’ performance on specific learning criteria. - In particular, educators distinguish among the product, process, and progress learning criteria -They focus on what students know and are able to do at a particular point in time. Teachers who use product criteria typically base grades exclusively on final examination scores, final products -Teachers who consider responsibility, effort, or work habits when assigning grades use process criteria. The same happens when teachers count classroom quizzes, formative assessments, homework, punctuality of assignments, class participation, or attendance. -After establishing explicit indicators of product, process, and progress learning, teachers then assign separate grades to each indicator. In this way, they keep grades for responsibility, learning skills, effort, work habits, or learning progress distinct from grades that represent students’ level of achievement or performance -pically, the “achievement grade” is expressed as a letter grade or percentage that represents the teacher’s best judgment of the student’s level of performance relative to the explicit learning objectives for the class or course. -For nonacademic factors such as homework, class participation, effort, and learning progress, teachers typically record numerical marks (e.g., 4 = consistently, 3 = usually, 2 = sometimes, and 1 = rarely). The development of rubrics helps make this process explicit for students and parents. -The Kentucky experience in standards-based reporting shows us: Teachers need to know the domains or strands, clusters or organizing elements, and standards; Teachers need to base grades on explicit criteria derived from the clearly established learning standards that appear in the national standards; and Teachers need to clearly distinguish among product, process, and progress criteria in assigning grades (Guskey, 2009). -uccess in grading and reporting will be augmented as Internet-based applications are developed that allow teachers to record student performance and tally it to determine grades. Such applications should be teacher friendly and include procedures for printing and distributing report cards -Grades are most effective when they reflect only achievement. When grades include other aspects of student performance (e.g., effort or progress), they have less meaning as a summary of achievement. - teachers would assign separate grades for achievement, effort, and progress - The end result will be not only more meaningful grades but more useful grades that will inform teaching and learning. -Report cards have the primary function of clearly communicating the level of student performance in relation to the attainment of the learning expectations for a reporting period -Reporting should be meaningful for the educational teaching and learning process -Reporting must be valid, reliable, fair, and useful; nothing less should be expected if we want to link grading and reporting with students’ mastery of content and practice standards.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Technology Teacher 06/21/2015
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- filled with numbers indicating how they are faring on dozens of specific skills like “decoding strategies” and “number sense and operations.” The lowest mark, 1, indicates a student is not meeting New York State’s academic standards, while the top grade of 4 celebrates “meeting standards with distinction.”-Educators praise them for setting clear expectations, but many parents who chose to live in Pelham because of its well-regarded schools find them confusing or worse.- the numbers ensure more consistent grading across classrooms, tamp down grade inflation and refine focus on individual academic skills.-new approach was more accurate, because it measures each student against a stated set of criteria, rather than grading on a curve, which compares members of a class with one another.-“The dilemma with that system is you really don’t know whether anybody has learned anything,” Dr. Guskey said of grading on a curve. “They could all have done miserably, just some less miserably than others.”-“I think the present grading system — A, B, C, D, F — is ingrained in us,” Mr. Tirozzi said. “It’s the language which college admissions officers understand; it’s the language which parents understand.”-“What happened was the high-performing students said, ‘I don’t have to work that hard’ and they all stopped trying,” said Ellen Ulrich, a San Mateo mother of two who is lobbying for a hybrid card that would retain letter grades for achievement and effort alongside the 1-to-4 scale for specific skills.-The report card itself is one page, but it comes with a 14-page guide explaining the different skills and the scoring.-“I was never the A student, and it would constantly frustrate me,” Dr. Lauro said. “Nobody ever bothered to tell me how to get that A, to get to that next level.”- benchmarks for each marking period — rather than a year-end standard — to give more timely snapshots of students’ progress (and allow many more students to earn 4’s from the beginning).-
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Technology Teacher 06/15/2015
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Benefits of Flexible Grouping - YouTube
-Flexible grouping means that students are not trapped in the same grouping all the time but only with the same groups for a short period of time. -Students can also move from group to group -it does not help students if they are trafficked with the same group. They don't get to meet other students. If this happens they start to follow a very narrow path. -Students will put themselves with certain groups. We need to break down those boundaries and move them around -Students can stay in skill based group. The greater the kids learn from each other the better.
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Socratic seminar on the American dream - YouTube
-collaboration and socratic questioning can lead to comprehensive conversations about a subject and provide opportunities for multiple viewpoints to fully develop a valid argument. -In this video the students discussed the American Dream and were able to have a deep conversation that led to a more complete view of the American dream with divergent thinking based on each students socratic questioning.
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Questioning in a Socratic Seminar - YouTube
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- Socrates was one of the greatest educators who taught by asking questions and thus drawing out answers from his pupils -Conceptual clarification questions Get them to think more about what exactly they are asking or thinking about. Prove the concepts behind their argument. Use basic 'tell me more' questions that get them to go deeper. --Why are you saying that? What exactly does this mean? How does this relate to what we have been talking about? ---Probing assumptions Probing their assumptions makes them think about the presuppositions and unquestioned beliefs on which they are founding their argument. This is shaking the bedrock and should get them really going! --How did you choose those assumptions? Please explain why/how ... ? --Probing rationale, reasons and evidence When they give a rationale for their arguments, dig into that reasoning rather than assuming it is a given. People often use un-thought-through or weakly-understood supports for their arguments. ---Are these reasons good enough? Would it stand up in court? How might it be refuted? Questioning viewpoints and perspectives Most arguments are given from a particular position. So attack the position. Show that there are other, equally valid, viewpoints. --Why it is ... necessary? Who benefits from this? Probe implications and consequences The argument that they give may have logical implications that can be forecast. Do these make sense? Are they desirable? ---Why is ... important? What is the best ... ? Why? Questions about the question And you can also get reflexive about the whole thing, turning the question in on itself. Use their attack against themselves. Bounce the ball back into their court, etc. --What was the point of asking that question? Why do you think I asked this question?
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Technology Teacher 06/01/2015
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Differentiating Instruction, 6-12, Part II: Tiered Assignments and Flexible Grouping - YouTube
-everybody does the same task but have 3 levels of complexity -get in depth in some levels and general in other. put different ideas and put them together -when students are given something that they can succeed at, it increases enthusiasm and motivation -if they are given an assignment that is over their head or boring to them, it impacts their learning negatively -tiered assignments --creations --distribution --assessment -teachers make tiering decisions based on their ongoing assessments, current skills and understandings -writing, creativity and understanding of the topic can drive differientiation -
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Ken Robinson: How schools kill creativity | Talk Subtitles and Transcript | TED.com
-. We have a huge vested interest in it, partly because it's education that's meant to take us into this future that we can't grasp. If you think of it, children starting school this year will be retiring in 2065. -all kids have tremendous talents. And we squander them, pretty ruthlessly. So I want to talk about education and I want to talk about creativity. My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status. -We stigmatize mistakes. And we're now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make. And the result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacities. - The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe this passionately, that we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it. -Every education system on Earth has the same hierarchy of subjects. Every one. Doesn't matter where you go. You'd think it would be otherwise, but it isn't. At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and at the bottom are the arts. - Art and music are normally given a higher status in schools than drama and dance. There isn't an education system on the planet that teaches dance everyday to children the way we teach them mathematics. -I think you'd have to conclude the whole purpose of public education throughout the world is to produce university professors. Isn't it? They're the people who come out the top. And I used to be one, so there. -They all came into being to meet the needs of industrialism. So the hierarchy is rooted on two ideas. Number one, that the most useful subjects for work are at the top. So you were probably steered benignly away from things at school when you were a kid, things you liked, on the grounds that you would never get a job doing that. Is that right? Don't do music, you're not going to be a musician; don't do art, you won't be an artist. Benign advice -- now, profoundly mistaken. -f you think of it, the whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance. And the consequence is that many highly-talented, brilliant, creative people think they're not, because the thing they were good at at school wasn't valued, or was actually stigmatized. And I think we can't afford to go on that way. -more people worldwide will be graduating through education than since the beginning of history. More people, and it's the combination of all the things we've talked about -- technology and its transformation effect on work, and demography and the huge explosion in population. Suddenly, degrees aren't worth anything. Isn't that true? When I was a student, if you had a degree, you had a job. If you didn't have a job, it's because you didn't want one. -It's a process of academic inflation. And it indicates the whole structure of education is shifting beneath our feet. We need to radically rethink our view of intelligence. -"How did you get to be a dancer?" It was interesting. When she was at school, she was really hopeless. And the school, in the '30s, wrote to her parents and said, "We think Gillian has a learning disorder." She couldn't concentrate; she was fidgeting. I think now they'd say she had ADHD -And they watched for a few minutes and he turned to her mother and said, "Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn't sick; she's a dancer. Take her to a dance school." - I believe our only hope for the future is to adopt a new conception of human ecology, one in which we start to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity -Our education system has mined our minds in the way that we strip-mine the earth: for a particular commodity. And for the future, it won't serve us. We have to rethink the fundamental principles on which we're educating our children. -There was a wonderful quote by Jonas Salk, who said, "If all the insects were to disappear from the Earth, within 50 years all life on Earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the Earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish." And he's right. -And the only way we'll do it is by seeing our creative capacities for the richness they are and seeing our children for the hope that they are. And our task is to educate their whole being, so they can face this future. By the way -- we may not see this future, but they will. And our job is to help them make something of it.
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-Whether the teacher was trying to motivate her students to buy into a topic,focusing on a more efficient process, or attempting to spark their interest and build theirknowledge base, she has clear reason for her plan. The end result is that the responsiveteacher builds a repertoire of instructional strategies, each with its specific purposes and aimin mind.-Scaffolding is an instructional strategy used by teachers to guide students to attain morechallenging goals via a safe and encouraging process-e. Again, the idea is that the teacher willbegin with more supports in place that will challenge all students, and she will pull supportsaway as the students gain more confidence and baseline knowledge of the topic
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Technology Teacher 05/27/2015
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Rick Wormeli: Gradebooks - YouTube
-2 axis grading book-Standard based not criterion based- one axis needs to go and there needs to be standards-2 pages to one student with all the assessments with the standards. -Test focused on just standards. Each get a unique score for the standard. - 5 or six grades for one test. -grade only what is tested-mode or median is better that average-meet as a department and where are the nonnegotiable standards. -Formative is the larger section. I color code formative and summative. We do 90 ten.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Technology Teacher 05/19/2015
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Classroom Management through Cooperative Groups - YouTube
-students of all experience levels can make contributions in collaborative groups ad be successful -
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Technology Teacher 05/13/2015
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Rick Wormeli: Formative and Summative Assessment - YouTube
-Summative is post learning. You are allowed to make summatives formative. -Teachers hould focus more on formative assessments. -Can students learn without grades. Yes but they can't not learn without feedback, -Need descriptive feedback for formatives. -learning is ongoing. -formatives need to have checks for learning and descriptive feedback. -no feedback don't have much instruction value.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Technology Teacher 05/11/2015
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-when asked the right questions, in the right ways—students can be an important source of information on the quality of teaching and the learning environment in individual classrooms. -Analysis by the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project finds that teachers’ student survey results are predictive of student achievement gains. Students know an effective classroom when they experience one. - Even a high-quality observation system entails at most a handful of classroom visits, while student surveys aggregate the impressions of many individuals who’ve spent many hours with a teacher - Teachers want to know if their students feel sufficiently challenged, engaged, and comfortable asking them for help. Whereas annual measures of student achievement gains provide little information for improvement (and generally too late to do much about it), - Not every survey will produce meaningful information on teaching. Not to be confused with popularity contests, well-designed student perception surveys capture important aspects of instruction and the classroom environment. - four overriding requirements of any system considering student surveys as part of formal feedback and evaluation for teachers: 1. Measure what matters. Good surveys focus on what teachers do and on the learning environment they create. 2. Ensure accuracy. Student responses should be honest and based on clear understanding of the survey items. 3. Ensure reliability. - Reliability requires adequate sampling and an adequate number of items—but without overtaxing students 4. Support improvement. Measurement for measurement’s sake is wasted effort. Teachers should receive their results in a timely manner, understand what they mean, and have access to professional development resources that will help them target improvement in areas of need. Student surveys are as much about evaluating systems of support for teachers as they are about diagnosing the needs within particular classrooms. -Benefits to Student Perception Surveys 1. Feedback. Results point to strengths and areas for improvement. 2. “Face validity.” Items reflect what teachers value. 3. “Predictive validity.” Results predict student outcomes. 4. Reliability. Results demonstrate relative consistency. 5. low cost. Expense of administration is minimal. - Tripod is designed to measure teaching, student engagement, school norms, and student demographics. To measure teaching, the survey groups items under seven constructs, called the “7 Cs”: Care, Control, Challenge, Clarify, Confer, Captivate, and Consolidate. -students’ level of agreement on a fivepoint scale. Here are two items under “Clarify”: ■ “My teacher has several good ways to explain each topic that we cover in class.” ■ “My teacher knows when the class understands and when we do not.” - These results don’t show how survey results relate to student achievement—that is addressed further on—but the contrasts suggest that students are capable of discerning -“stakeholder perceptions”—including student survey responses—account for 5 percent of teachers’ overall ratings. Other components include: -■ Classroom observations: 40% ■ Student achievement/learning gains: 50% ■ Evidence of content knowledge: 5% - For a survey to be predictively valid, it means that, on average, the teachers who get the most favorable survey responses are also those who are helping students learn the most. -Over time, alignment with student outcomes could deteriorate. This could happen if somehow teachers altered their actions in ways that improved their survey results, but without improving their underlying performance on practices associated with better outcomes. In such a situation, a system would see that teachers’ rankings based on survey results bore little relationship to their students’ learning gains. -Survey items need to be clear to the students who respond to them. -Good Questions: “The comments that I get on my work in this class help me understand how to improve.” -Well-designed surveys account for the fact that not all students read at the same grade level. -Confidentiality for students is a nonnegotiable if surveys are part of formal feedback and evaluation. If students believe their responses will negatively influence how their teachers treat them, feel about them, or grade them, then they’ll respond so as to avoid that happening. -Although in many situations teachers will distribute student perception surveys in their own classrooms, no teacher should receive back a completed survey form that would allow the teacher to identify who filled it out. In the MET project, following procedures generally employed in administering Tripod, paper surveys were distributed to students with their names on peel-off labels that they removed before completing them.All that remained on the form when they finished were unique bar codes to let researchers link their responses to other data collected for the study but which no school personnel could use to identify respondents. Students also placed their completed forms in opaque envelopes and sealed them -Along with the quality of the items used, reliability is in part a function of how many items are included in a survey. Both reliability and feedback can be enhanced by including multiple items for each of a survey’s constructs. -“If you don’t understand something, my teacher explains it another way.” ■ “My teacher has several good ways to explain each topic that we cover in class.” - It’s of little help to a teacher to be told simply “you scored a 2.7 out of 4.0 on ‘Care.’ ” - For most people, improvement requires the example and expertise of others. While student surveys can help point to areas for improvement, they can’t answer the question: Now what? Motivation without guidance is a recipe for frustration. -Often the best way to help teachers understand what student perception surveys are, and what they are not, is to share the items, to point out what makes them well-designed, and to show their alignment with teachers’ own views of quality instruction. -
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Technology Teacher 05/04/2015
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-A learner profi le describes the ways in which a student learns best. A comprehensive learner profi le includes information on student interests, learning preferences and styles, and differences related to gender, culture and personality. It also might include information on student learning strengths, needs and types of supports that have been successful in the past. A learner profi le needs to be dynamic, as individual learners are constantly growing and changing. -Learning preferences and styles --Learning preferences typically refer to the general environment in which a student learns best. -Learning styles typically refer to how a student tends to use senses to learn. Rita and Ken Dunn (1987) identify three types of sensory learning styles. • Auditory learners—like to hear directions aloud, discuss what they are learning, use word games, puzzles, riddles and songs, work with partners, do choral reading, teach others for clarifi cation. • Visual learners—like to draw pictures to represent ideas, use games and puzzles, use visual clues to remember, go on fi eld trips for a “being there” experience, use visualization to see pictures in their minds, use graphics and fl owcharts, use videos for review, look at books, watch others to see what to do. Part 1—Making a Difference | Meeting diverse learning needs with differentiated instruction 25 • Kinesthetic learners—like to have opportunities to move around, trace and outline, act out concepts and stories, make models or do experiments, write or draw while listening, walk while talking, imagine themselves in the situation, examine and manipulate material. - Judith Dodge presents four general thinking styles.1 • Concrete random thinkers—are creative, make intuitive leaps, enjoy unstructured problem solving, like choices, are self-motivated, see the big picture and not the details. • Concrete sequential thinkers—like order, respond to step-by-step instruction, enjoy learning with concrete materials, attend to details, work within a time line, appreciate structure. • Abstract random thinkers—are guided by emotion and interest, seek environments that are active, busy and unstructured, like to discuss ideas and interact with others. • Abstract sequential thinkers—enjoy theory and abstract thought, focus on knowledge and facts, thrive on independent investigation and research, usually prefer to work alone to prove things for themselves. -The goal of a learner profi le is to fi nd out as much as possible about how an individual learns. The goal is not to label students as certain kinds of learners but rather to help them develop multiple pathways for learning. -Thomas Armstrong (1994) came up with student-friendly terms for each intelligence: • verbal-linguistic intelligence (or word smarts) • logical-mathematical intelligence (or number smarts) • interpersonal intelligence (or people smarts) • intrapersonal intelligence (or self smarts) • spatial intelligence (or picture smarts) • musical-rhythmic intelligence (or music smarts) • bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (or body smarts) • naturalistic intelligence (or nature smarts). -three intelligences that he suggests exist in varying combinations and strengths in each individual. • Analytic intelligence (or schoolhouse intelligence) involves the linear type of learning found most often in schools. • Practical intelligence (or contextual intelligence) involves seeing how and why things work as people actually use them. • Creative intelligence (or problem-solving intelligence) involves making new connections and seeking innovation. -Learning patterns can be infl uenced by student gender and culture, as well as unique personality. -Students are most motivated and engaged when they are learning about something they are interested in. Having areas of interest identifi ed as part of learner profi les helps you to regularly consider these interests in your instructional planning to vary projects, themes and examples used in your instruction. -Learner preference inventories provide students with ongoing opportunities to refl ect on and talk about their learning preferences. These opportunities help students to develop the self-knowledge, vocabulary and confi dence to tell you what works best for them. -Social inventories provide valuable information for assessing social competence. Understanding how a student gets along with others and functions in group situations can be helpful for both you and the student. -Reading inventories are typically given at the beginning of the year. They provide an opportunity for students to share information about the kinds of reading they enjoy, as well as their understanding of themselves as readers. -Interest inventories, including general interest and “All About Me” inventories, should be administered at the beginning of the year -Assessment information Assessment and diagnostic information is an important part of a learner profi le. You can gather this information from a variety of sources, including: • cumulative records • report cards • individualized program plans (IPP) • standardized assessments parents• • previous teachers and other school staff involved with the student. -Individual learner profi le information can be recorded in a variety of formats. Many teachers fi nd it most practical to use individual fi le cards that can be kept close at hand for reference - I would use google docs -What is a class profi le? The information gathered about each student can be compiled to create an overall picture of the class as a community of learners. A class profi le identifi es the strengths and challenges of all students as well as the stage each student is at in his or her learning. It is a resource for planning that conveys a great deal of critical information at a glance. It is a living document that can be added to and revised throughout the year based on your observations or other information that you receive. -Develop your own learning profile Take time to do some self-refl ection and ask yourself questions about your own learning strengths, how they have changed over time, and what the implications are for teaching and learning with your students. Consider questions such as the following. • What are my learning strengths? • How have I developed these particular strengths over the years? • How do my strengths and preferences affect my teaching? • What types of intelligences and preferences do I want to more consciously incorporate into my teaching? -See this source for learning survey examples
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Response to Intervention: A Tiered Approach to Instructing All Students - YouTube
- 3 tiered approach to instructing all students. -All students participate in tier 1 instruction - content should reach 80-85% of students in this level -Tier 2 builds upon tier one with more specialized instruction for those who did not understand the first time. Small group of students in the general classroom. Offered to 15% of students who did not respond to tier 1 instruction -tier 2 interventions do not replace tier one instruction but actually supplement it. -tier 3 intervention for students who severely lag behind their peers in academic gains - tier 3 - intensive, evidence based interventions delivered to single of very small groups of students. Most likely a special teacher of specialist. Only about 5% -students do not have to be identified as disabled to receive this intervention.
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Carol Ann Tomlinson on Critical Transformations - YouTube
-I have been counting on her to help me yet in that moment, I realized I didn't know enough to help her. -I have to teach conent to human beings and I have to know those human beings -Transformative moment
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-Teachers need to develop a deep understandingof who their students are, how they learn, and what engages them in the learning process.Responsive teachers know their students well.-A student's ethnicity, socio-economicstatus, religious beliefs, race, gender, learning disabilities and abilities, personal experience,and readiness to learn are all areas that teachers must consider when developing a picturefor each one of their students-Content standards are meant to establish accountability to insure that all students arereceiving the same basic education and also support accountability in terms of assessment.While, in short, standards advance the idea of providing for all students, they also presentbasic hurdles of which educators must overcome-In Stage One, the desired results are outlined with theestablished goals and supported by understandings and essential questions. Knowledgeand skills are also part of Stage One and together with the other Stage One elements, helpto tackle any unanswered pieces of school and district standards. Stage Two representsassessment evidence and includes performance tasks as well as other related evidence.Stage Three, the final piece of the basic UbD Plan, is the developed learning plan andincludes the many activities that will take place throughout the unit time period to deliver thecurriculum.-
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Technology Teacher 04/27/2015
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Differentiating Instruction, 6-12, Part I: Student Choice and Multiple Modes of Learning - YouTube
-Ways to Differentiate - Content - example jigsawing. - learning process - provide different avenues for accessing learning - differentiating the product
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Ian Jukes Understanding The Digital Generation - YouTube
-screenagers- first gereation to grow up with mouse in their hands and be able to interact with screens -Digital Natives - grow up in digital languages. they speak digital as a first language. -WE are digital Immigrants -digital is our second language -digital bombardment -brains of digital have changed physically and chemically. -50% of brain wiring comes after birth -input and experience -intensity and duration of exposure -neuroplasticity -skills are not measured in current system -
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RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms - YouTube
-"Trying to teach today's students the way we were taught in the past"-We must raise the standards. The current system is conceived for a different age.-Model must try to work for all not just the few. -broken into two categories. Academic smart and non-academic -few benefit while most do not. -divergent thinking - it is the possibly to see multiple ways of thinking and possible answers to a question.-Groups are natural habitats for great thinking- age should not be a determination of knowledge
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- We must look at education the same way a quarterback looks at the football field. We must perceive where things are headed so we can respond appropriately. We must accept that we have a paradigm for how we expect life to unfold; that in times of radical change, we all suffer from some degree of paradigm paralysis; and that change requires us to let go of ideas and ways of doing things that we hold dear. -The essence of what educators must do in the future is the very same as it's always been: to help students learn the relevant skills, knowledge, attitudes, attributes, and behaviors that they'll need to be good and productive citizens, parents, and workers. - Students will still be able to meet, discuss, play basketball, and interact with others in smaller, community-based schools that are close to their homes; but the need for a large school building with all its resources will be greatly diminished due to access to virtual learning resources. -When this occurs, the focus of schooling will shift away from achievement based on age and grade level to the mastery of content and skills. - New technologies will also keep track of individual progress through established educational milestones in a nonlinear fashion. This is impractical in the current education system where students are taught concepts in a unit-by-unit sequence, year after year. -In the current system, it's impossible to keep track of an individual's progress when learning proceeds this way. However, exponential growth in the power of technology will soon produce intelligent technology that can easily keep track of the path these conceptual links follow for each individual student. How is this possible? -technological tools have been used for searching, retrieving, viewing, organizing, calculating, and editing information. Although these powerful tools assist with many tasks that would normally be beyond human capabilities, their use has been guided by direct human involvement. High-level thinking and the decision-making process have remained exclusively human tasks. -Web sites will run intelligent software that presents learning material in a variety of formats, responds to student questions, and tailors instruction to the individual learning style of a particular student. Face-recognition software will automatically provide an individual student with complete knowledge of his or her learning history and preferences. Interacting with this intelligent software either online or embodied in a robot or car will become as natural as interacting with human teachers. -Education will focus on two sets of multimedia information processing skills. The first set of skills will be concerned with how a student receives and decodes messages sent in a wide range of media. -The Educator's Role: User and Advocate of Technology. Teachers must become advocates for getting current technology into their classrooms so that all students can benefit. Instead of banning digital devices, 1:1 computing should be encouraged. This isn't about being "progressive." -It's about having a digital network culture where using digital tools is the new reality of both business and personal life. A young person simply can't leave school without relevant technology skills and expect to succeed in modern life. -New online tools and SMART tutors will allow experts in various fields to virtually enter the school environment to meet with students and assist teachers with course content. The responsibility for instruction will become shared between educators and the community. -One can't be static in such an organization. For many teachers, this will mean realizing there is a big difference between teaching for 15 years and teaching one year 15 times. -They just don't do it in school. It happens as they search the Internet for information on topics that interest them. They're getting online guitar lessons, searching Google for ad-vice on how to fix a mountain bike, learning how to alter images in Photoshop through YouTube, and investigating what to do about acne from WebMD. They're discovering all kinds of things about the world around them -- just not the kinds of things they encounter at school. -Online environments with SMART Agents will share multimedia information with students in natural interactions involving voice, facial expression, and body language. Simulations will empower students to discover how the world around them works through amazingly realistic virtual experiences of the microscopic, outer space, and everything in between. History will come alive with re-creations of important events, battles, speeches, and so on. Students will have access to information sources that will allow them to experience current events firsthand. The focus of teachers will shift to creating learning tasks that challenge students to develop higher-level thinking skills through discovery. -To ensure that the task produces the engagement and relevance necessary for effective learning, the problem should have a link to the world outside school. Constructing these tasks requires a bit of skill and involves a number of factors. Training in problem-based instruction needs to be a priority for teachers, especially those who have been using a content-driven approach for a long time. -The answer is no; written tests predominantly reflect only memory and the regurgitation of content. -To understand the limited scope of written tests, let's think about how the motor vehicle department decides whether a person has learned enough to be allowed to drive a car on public roads. A multiple-choice test assesses whether student drivers have learned the rules of the road and some basic concepts of speed and braking. Upon passing the test, a student is granted a learner's permit to practice driving a car. The final evaluation is done by an examiner who rides along with the student driver to gauge the level of driving skill as the student performs various driving tasks. Although the aptitude test is one part of the evaluation, it can't measure the true level of a student's actual driving skills. -Because of the increasingly disposable nature of information, the importance of memorizing specific content will decrease. Instead, students must learn to apply processes for writing, researching, and problem solving in order to accomplish tasks. To succeed in the modern world, students must be able to: * Determine the relative importance of various pieces of information that may be contradictory or incomplete, then make personal evaluations of that information to develop informed opinions; * Articulate informed opinions through writing, presentations, debates, and various multimedia communications; * Use imagination to produce creative expressions of ideas and feelings through story, poetry, music, visual art, and performing art; and * Combine technical skill and creativity to cook a meal, build a desk, perform an experiment, and so on. -Real learning encompasses social skill development and the consideration of others. We must embrace other forms of evaluation or develop new ones if we hope to get a complete picture of student learning. -As sophisticated software takes over summative assessments, teachers will have time to use evaluative tools that are currently underused or not used at all. This will be an essential shift because many of the skills and attributes of people who will be successful in the future aren't easily measured by written tests. -We must recognize that the current education system has been set up to prepare students perfectly for a world that no longer exists. - Despite the perception of much of the public and the media, teaching is a difficult, challenging, stressful job. Teachers are asked to do a great number of things beyond teaching. The kinds of changes we're suggesting here will never happen within the current model of professional development for teachers. -If we want to see the kinds of changes necessary to bring schools in line with the new reality, then we have no option but to radically reprioritize and restructure professional development for teachers.
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- UbD is built on the belief that in order to organize and put to print an effective curriculumunit, teachers must first determine what the unit goals and outcomes will be.- the three stages of UbD1. Identifying Desired Results2. Determining Acceptable Evidence, 3. Planning Learning Experiences and Instruction-A classroom environment has beenestablished that promotes individual differences and the collaboration that will take placebetween those different students. Students understand that fair is not always equal and thatwho they are as individuals helps to highlight what they need as learners.- Universal Design for Learning is aninstructional approach that reminds all educators to design their classrooms and units withstudents’ diverse needs in mind.-They Facebook, Twitter, Text, Skype andcommunicate in ways that many of their teachers and parents do not. Their brains have been conditioned differently and their learning experiences should follow suit. Their teacher knows that she/he must mold their education differently- When this occurs, the focus of schooling will shift away from achievement based on age and grade level to the mastery of contentand skills (p.16).-21st Century is not really about technology; it is about learning and the learner- UbD, DI, and 21stCentury learning. They are interconnected to build curriculum units that take into accountwell planned instruction and assessment that personalizes education for students.