Why Teach Meets ROCK! | From the Sandpit.... “Teaching without Twitter is like walking around with your eyes closed” (unknown) “It’s time to realise that teachers who leverage social media for learning are at a greater advantage than those who don’t” (@gcouros) “Teaching without Twitter is like playing tennis with a golf club” (@joe_kirby) “I had no one to speak to about this stuff before Twitter. It’s a revelation to find out I’m not alone. I could not agree more with the quotes above, Twitter has been a revelation and an eye opener to the many fabulous professional learning opportunities, I did not even know existed 4 months ago….Teach Meets for example!! I admit to also being fascinated by the Teachmeet phenomenon, a self confessed CPD geek and magpie, my own Twitter handle @Dubai_Teachmeet was an attempt to set up such CPD events, where I teach in the UAE.. professional development at grass roots level, bottom up, by teachers for teachers, exactly the way it should be! TM Presentation here Problem? Helen’s #TMLondon Blog post
PARCC Integrating Technology Resources So what is #Stickability? by @TeacherToolkit and @Head_StMarys Stickability is a term used within the notable 5 Minute Lesson Plan. I have decided to write a short post, based on the demand for clarification. Definition: What is ‘stickability’? So, that’s the definition (above quote). Do your lessons have ‘staying power?’ (or preferably, ‘sticking power’?) Do your lessons have ‘sticking power?’ Regardless of all the other content written within The 5 Minute Lesson Plan, ‘Stickability’ is fundamentally what learning and lesson planning should be all about. What is the fundamental aspect of the lesson, you need students to learn? And questions to ask yourself (the following lesson)? How will you know that it has stuck? Twitter-collaboration: I would like to quote a Twitter-colleague Stephen Tierney, Headteacher of St. Developments via Twitter I make reference to @Head_StMarys and a photo-quote – shown below – due to the following lesson planning structure Stephen has shared: ‘Outstanding’ teaching focuses on ‘the learning’ and not the planning, or activities.
I Teach Bay #GoodinTen – Requires Improvement CPD programme, by @TeacherToolkit #SLTchat Classroom teachers; aspiring leaders; educational experts and senior teachers come together online – most Sunday evenings – to discuss the following school leadership topics as part of #SLTchat (Sundays 8pm). You can find links to SLTchat (and this discussion) here. What I am about to share, was formulated out of discussions that took place during 2nd June 2013: Improving teaching and learning for teachers with low motivation?How do you improve ‘Requires Improvement’ teachers? #SLTchat 2nd June 2013: The results were collated from a choice of 6 topics and voted for by anyone. Click to visit the web-poll You can find the full archives of this particular debate, here; The series of tweets that instigated this post are shown below: Click to go directly to the tweet and my tweet-response to this question was: Sharing good practice: As a result, I am sharing a new CPD programme I have curated for teaching staff. The programme: What if?
Science The State Board of Education has adopted the more rigorous Ohio Revised Science Content Standards as part of Ohio's New Learning Standards for academic learning. The Kindergarten - Grade 12 Ohio's New Learning Standards will be fully in use in Ohio classrooms by 2014-2015, when assessments that align to the standards are in place. ODE encourages districts to start implementing these Ohio New Learning Standards in Science now to better prepare students for 2014-2015 and beyond. Achieve released April 9, 2013, the final version of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As a lead state in the national initiative, Ohio will review the document to determine what future action should be taken. Content Standards and Model Curricula In October 2013, Career Connections strategies were added to the Instructional Strategies in the model curricula. Ohio Mathematics and Science Partnership Program Grant Problems and Ideas Related State Developed Assessments – Science and Social Studies
TeachMeet East Lancs As It Happened | MrColley.com Last night saw the first #TMELancs at St Mary’s CHS in Astley. It was a hot one, but we still had a turn out of over 50 people who shared some amazing classroom practice. Firstly, thanks to everyone involved. One word of advice, don’t apply for internal vacancies and organise a teachmeet at the same time! We videoed the event, and I’ve included the footage of the presentations here. Julia Skinner - Improving writing using blogging & 100 word challenge Then it was on to the presentations. Lee Parkinson – 1 second every day Next was Lee Parkinson (@ICT_MrP) who played the master stroke of showing video of his kids (triplets – sir I salute you). Kate Davies – Demonstrating Progress Kate shared lots of great images from her school of how staff are using displays to demonstrate pupil progress. Frank Farrell – 3D Images Frank (@FrankFarrell) gave out his 3D glasses (about £1 per pair) and talked about how he used freely available 3D images on the web to stimulate writing and discussion.
Educational Service Center of Lake Erie West 5 Minute Marking Plan by @TeacherToolkit and @LeadingLearner | Leading Learner Marking is an occupational hazard for all teachers. Whilst the “5 Minute Marking Plan” can’t do your marking for you (sadly) it will help you focus on the job in hand and help ensure you maximise your students’ learning and your own. This planner adds to a growing number of 5 Minute Plans produced by @TeacherToolkit including the “5 Minute Lesson Plan” and the “5 Minute Assembly Plan” which are available on @TeacherToolkit’s website. The thinking that underpins the plan seeks to highlight those elements of marking that have greatest impact on learning, namely: Sharing the key marking points (you may refer to these as success criteria). The time spent on marking students’ work must also help you identify common errors, so you can: Require students to correct and improve their workRe-teach elements of the lesson, scheme of work, programme of study or syllabus to help close key gaps in students’ knowledge, understanding or skillsInform future teaching programmes The big picture? Like this:
Don't Miss These 25 Digital Media Resources Here at Mashable, we understand that it's difficult to keep up with the latest in tech news. I mean, after all, Sharknado aired this week (that's a cinematic gem that you just have to make time for). But fear not — we've got you covered. To help ensure that you're still your tech-savvy self, we've rounded up this week's 25 best digital media resources, including customizable Instagram gifts and some adorkable wedding invitations. Editor's Picks 15 TED Talks That Will Change Your LifeFeel like getting inspired, motivated or just looking for a feel-good cry? Social 11 Musical Vine Videos That'll Get Stuck in Your HeadLeave the seven-minute power ballads to Celine Dion and Meatloaf — these Vine users know that true musical genius can be spotted in mere seconds. Lifestyle How to Become a Thought LeaderWhat separates a thought leader from any other leader? Tech Getting to Know Evernote BusinessNeed some efficiency and collaboration in your workplace? Have a great weekend, everybody.
Part Five: How do you develop a strong learning culture amongst staff? | teachertweaks So the results are in: the teachers have spoken! In the last post, I was eagerly awaiting teachers’ votes for the different options to develop our learning culture. We have 68 teachers at my school and 52 of them voted. For me, that is an achievement in itself – even though teachers are super busy, they still managed to find the time to make their voice heard. This gives me confidence that the new ideas that we implement next year will make a difference because teachers have decided what they think will help them to develop their practice. Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson, in Shaping School Culture: the heart of leadership state: Every organisation has a culture, that history and underlying set of unwritten expectations that shape everything about the school. Presently, it is difficult for me to define our school culture. So what kind of teachers do we want to be? Making a change: listening to teachers’ concerns Time for an anecdote. - Work in teams to create a supportive environment
Professional Development: Four Ways to Start Changing the World This Summer Image credit: iStockphoto Changing the world sounds like a tall order. But in reality, educators play their role to help change the world every single day. The summer is a great time to start planting seeds of change in our personal or professional practice. Here are a few quick ideas to keep in mind over the next few weeks before we gear up to go back to school. 1. Sharing is a key theme in the speech I gave at ISTE this year. Spend some time sharing this summer. Many of you are saying, "Well, I share all the time." 2. We all have personal passions. One idea would be to organize a back-to-school event where the proceeds go to a charity that you, your school, or your community is interested in supporting. While you can plan a school-wide event and let your imagination run wild, this can be also be on a much smaller scale, like decorating some coffee cans and putting them around the school with a link to a PollEverywhere poll that changes each week or month. 3. 4.
8 Great Videos About the Flipped Classroom Following is a selection of eight videos that discuss the flipped classroom and why it makes so much sense. Learn how the flip enables teachers to truly personalize the classroom and differentiate learning. Discover how flipping the classroom can go hand in hand with mastery learning. Take a deeper dive into flipped instruction and questions that many teachers raise when they first learn about it, in a flipped class panel discussion. 1. 8th grade math and Algebra 1 teacher Katie provides an excellent explanation of why she flipped her classroom in this 3 and a half minute video. 2. This video is from one of the leading proponents of the flipped classroom. 3. This video from “mathjohnson” clears up misconceptions about the flip by explaining a lot of what the flip classroom isn't (which interestingly gives a lot of perspective on what the flipped classroom is). 4. The Flipped Classroom Workshop in a Book by Kelly Walsh, available now! 5. 6. 7. 8.