The passion gap Photo credits: positiveimperative.com “Nothing great in the World has been accomplished without passion.” — Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher, 1832 I recently spoke at the Dell Innovation in Education Panel at the Texas Association of School Administrators 2013 Conference in Austin. When we were invited to sum up at the end, I realized that one guest had not been invited to the table: Passion. I was the first to interject this word, saying that “passion should not be the number one thing on the agenda, it IS the agenda.” The #TASA13 hashtag on Twitter, which had been moving moderately, exploded, with several dozen tweets supporting my statement. At any other conference in any other industry, passion is on the lips of nearly every participant, but at some education conferences, you are far more likely to hear the words “assessment,” “standardize,” “common core” and “pedagogy” than you are to hear the word “passion.” Why does passion matter?
Stump The Teacher Teacher Reboot Camp The lesson you never got taught in school: How to learn! | Neurobonkers A paper published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest evaluated ten techniques for improving learning, ranging from mnemonics to highlighting and came to some surprising conclusions. The report is quite a heavy document so I’ve summarised the techniques below based on the conclusions of the report regarding effectiveness of each technique. Be aware that everyone thinks they have their own style of learning (they don't, according to the latest research), and the evidence suggests that just because a technique works or does not work for other people does not necessarily mean it will or won’t work well for you. If you want to know how to revise or learn most effectively you will still want to experiment on yourself a little with each technique before writing any of them off. Elaborative Interrogation (Rating = moderate) A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true. An example of elaborative interrogation for the above paragraph could be: Reference:
The Nerdy Teacher 10 Team-Building Games For The First Day Of Class 10 Team-Building Games For The First Day Of Class by TeachThought Staff Team-building activities are great. Not only can they help establish routines, tone, and expectations, they’re also fun, and can help learners feel comfortable. Though many older students in high school and college may groan at their thought, they’re usually fun, and great ways to help students feel at ease. Before you dismiss them as too juvenile, try one. Note that which game you choose, your rules for the game, and any revisions to the rules depend on the nature of the class you’re using them with. 1. Ideal Grade Levels: K-20 First student gives a fact about themselves—I love basketball, I have two sisters, etc. 2. Ideal Grade Levels: 6-20 Two chairs are placed together to resemble park bench. What: College Basketball game Who: Kentucky and Kansas When: Early April Where: New Orleans 3. Ideal Grade Levels: 3-12 In circle, first student offers two facts and one piece of fiction about themselves. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Manifesto for education change (This article is a compilation of tweets – feel free to add your comments and questions and advance the conversation.) Imagine Learning Manifesto for education change #edchat #education #cpchat The world is changing rapidly. Regrettably, education is not keeping pace with change. With clear shifts to online activity everywhere else, we should expect this to happen in education. Will schools have a role into the future? Physical space is just as important as virtual and/or pedagogic space. Leadership roles should match priorities, not history. I heard it said recently that “schools are not mortgage paying institutions”. Engaged learning cultures need to be stronger than any other culture a child experiences. Schools need to be located in new spaces avoiding/rejecting the ‘one box per batch’ classroom model. Teachers need to grow their capacity to be inspirational mentors, working in teams. Learning is life; life is learning. And assessment.
More pedagogic change in 10 years than last 1000 years – all driven by 10 technology innovations Pedagogy - one of those words that’s used when people want to sound all academic. So let’s just call it learning practice. Of one thing we can be sure; teaching does not seem to have changed much in the last 100 years. In our Universities, given the stubborn addiction to lectures, it has barely changed in 1000 years. So what’s the real source of pedagogic change? It’s not education departments who peddle the same old traditional, teacher training courses or train the trainer courses. Suddenly we had Google, then in the last ten years Facebook, Twitter, BBM, MSN Messenger, Wikipedia, YouTube, iTunes, Nintendo, Playstation, Xbox. 1. Education and training have been tied to the tyranny of time and location. 2. The simple hyperlink encourages curiosity and is a leap to more learning. 3. Google aren’t kidding when they state their mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. 4. Jimmy Wales should get the Nobel Prize. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
12 Most Out of This World Leadership Lessons from Star Wars A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a trilogy was born that was so epic people discussed it for years to come. There were explosive battles, valiant heroes and super villains. That trilogy is Star Wars! Star Wars was the first movie that I remember seeing, and it has to be the movie that I have watched the most in my life. Every viewing brought a new lesson as I grew up. Let’s travel to that galaxy where we will join Yoda, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader but never Jar-Jar Binks to find the 12 Most Out-Of-This-World Leadership Lessons from Star Wars. 1. I know Yoda didn’t quite say this, but the spirit behind his words is clear. 2. The coolest Jedi trick is Obi-Wan using misdirection to escape detection from the Storm Troopers in the famous line, “These are not the droids you seek.” 3. Luke Skywalker has the raw talent to be a Jedi, but he had to spend a lot of time in the swamp learning how to use the force. 4. Han Solo is a narcissist. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
SmartBlog on Education - Making learning viral - SmartBrief, Inc. SmartBlogs SmartBlogs This post begins in a place that’s far away from, well, just about everything. We’re traveling to place called Zuni Pueblo in northern New Mexico. Zuni is miles away from McDonald’s, Wal-Mart and many other corporate flagships that permeate our society. For example, it’s a 45-minute drive down a one-lane road just to find a grocery store. After arriving at this remote destination, I decided some exercise was in order. He played “Gangnam Style.” Everyone in the room cheered in response, and the class was instantly in motion. Clearly some ideas are viral. But viral ideas should be much more than funny music videos or cat pictures. So, how can we make important ideas and skills replicate them once they’re inside our learners? 1. A learning experience that’s participatory invites people to join and contribute. 2. A learning experience that’s plain means that it’s simple. 3. Viral learning idea isn’t new. These three tenets of viral learning design have important implications for education.
The Wing to Heaven Just give me the fish! cc licensed ( BY SD ) flickr photo shared by CollegeDegrees360 “We have to stop thinking of an education as something that is delivered to us and instead see it as something we create for ourselves.” Stephen Downes Traveling around and speaking at conferences, I have peeked my head into several sessions and try to figure out which ones have the highest attendance. I don’t have time to learn how to fish… just give me the fish! Unfortunately, I am unable to give those sessions anymore. One of the reasons that many people would much prefer going to the session that just gives them stuff “Monday ready” is due to the lack of time. Doing sessions at convention and outright telling people that they will have to continue working on their learning after this session can be a daunting thing. Every once in awhile though, I see tweets like this that know this focus on learning, can have a huge impact: If we as educators continue to focus on our learning first, won’t we become better teachers?
'Grit' Is More Important Than IQ Born to Learn ~ You are Born to Learn