Building a Culture of Lead Bloggers

I came across this great article in Edutopia about Creating a Culture of Can. I was reading it with an eye to creating a culture of blogging, and thought that the article could inform and support the approach that I have adopted. I’ve started getting the lead-advisers into the role of blogging. I’ve provided over…
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Leadership in a Culture of Change & Flexibility

Last night, taking part in a professional development forum, I came across tools and dispositions necessary for success in the 21st Century. One that really struck a cord for me is that “students must learn the strategies and importance of embracing change while in the midst of change, and be flexible” and that during the…
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Blogging Scope & Sequence

Thanks to Justin for pointing me to this great resource on Blogging Scope and Sequence. It has given me a lot of food for thought in terms of how to stretch blogging across the curriculum, and how to best create standards and goals for each grade level to work towards. What I would like to…
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Action Plan

  My action plan will center around creating a culture of blogging, and effective leadership. At Greenwood College School, all teachers are expected to engage in on-going professional development and assessment. I have established these two areas as areas that I can work on to enhance my contribution to the learning community. What I will…
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Content vs. How to Make It…

Yesterday’s Cohort 21 F2F session provided a lot of time for putting faces to names, for putting names to schools, and ideas to be flushed out more completely. A few things struck me: 1) When the cohort held the unconference session in the afternoon (examining the role of technology in collecting data for and of…
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What is Authenticity in the 21st Century English Class?

Susan Davis writing for “Getting Smart” begins her blog post on “Teaching Authentic Writing in a Socially Mediated World” with this idea: “…I don’t know where to start. You see, I’ve completely bought into the idea that what we teach our students should be authentic, that is, tangible and real in ways that are meaningful and purposeful for…
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Teaching a Pittance of Time in the 21st Century

It is November 11th, and it is the day of stories. Stories from what our students might consider ancient history, stories from textbooks and primary documents; stories told from black and white movies or sincere, frightened faces, and hard working bodies in the bodies in the trenches. How well can students connect to these stories?…
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Report Cards: Time for Reflection

This first report card is always a bit of a wake-up call for students and teachers alike. It’s a time to reflect on the work that has been done, the learning that is happening in the classroom, and as such, it serves as a launching pad for the rest of the year. Using the concept…
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Diigo: A Cautionary Tale about Pinterest

With the myriad of social media tools, teachers must be very careful with the one(s) that they invest themselves in, and especially what they ask their students to invest in as well.  This past week Diigo was hacked and its services were down. Many of us are already using Diigo, and I’ve been using it…
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Cohort 21 F2F Oct. 20th

Well, it’s almost lunch, and we’ve already accomplished so much (just check my Twitter Feed!). I’ve gotten to know a lot about the people that I’ll be learning with throughout the rest of this year. I’m sensing that there is a little bit of Vygotsky’s ZPD anxiety around blogging, what it is and how to…
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