Einstein’s Secret to Amazing Problem Solving (and 10 Specific Ways You Can Use It)
Einstein is quoted as having said that if he had one hour to save the world he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution. This quote does illustrate an important point: before jumping right into solving a problem, we should step back and invest time and effort to improve our understanding of it. Here are 10 strategies you can use to see problems from many different perspectives and master what is the most important step in problem solving: clearly defining the problem in the first place! The Problem Is To Know What the Problem Is The definition of the problem will be the focal point of all your problem-solving efforts.
The Common Core is the “what.” PBL is the “how.”
Can you hear me now? I guess you have a Need to Know. Forty-five states have signed on to the Common Core.
Pixar's 20+ Rules on Storytelling for Teachers and Students
A week ago I posted here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning a poster made by Pixar in which they featured 22 rules on storytelling and it was really so informative reading all the feedback you sent me , however, today I woke up to an email from a colleague of mine teaching in the State in which he shared with me the graphic below. I was really surprised because at the time I published the first poster on Pixar rules of storytelling I did not know that such a graphic exists and going through it I found it way better than the one I initially posted earlier . I mean better in terms of layout and organization of its content.
What’s the Best Way to Practice Project Based Learning?
By Peter Skillen Project Based Learning can mean different things to different people, and can be practiced in a variety of ways. For educators who want to dive in, the good news is that a rich trove of resources are available.
What Makes Project-Based Learning a Success?
At one high school in Texas, where every class in every grade is project based, the answer is devotion to a consistent process, belief in relationships, and commitment to relevance and rigor. Results? Hard to beat. Thanks to an effective PBL model and a school culture that values relationships and autonomy, Manor New Tech students, teachers, and its principal, Steven Zipkes (right), are achieving impressive results. Credit: Zachary Fink
Project Based Learning
(image from education-world.com) Project Based Learning (PBL) is a great way to teach students content, 21st century skills, and engage them in something fun and educational. I spoke more about PBL in an earlier blog ( and we had some great reader comments (Tech&Learning, May 2009, page 14). Today I'd like to give some tips and ideas on how to get started with PBL in your classroom. First of all, PBL can be used in any classroom, in any subject, at any grade level.
PBL: Project, Passion, Play Based Learning
Effective and progressive educators understand and attempt to implement PBL strategies and practices within their learning settings. What is PBL? Project-Based Learning? Passion-Based Learning? Play-Based Learning?
A Non-Freaked Out, Focused Approach to the Common Core
CCSS Implementation Tip: When folks start to freak out about the CCSS, go to the Grand Canyon. (That’s me on the left.) When I set out in June 2012 to blog through the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), I was, as long-time readers know, a diehard standards avoider. To me, standards were nothing more than codified wish lists created by committee. They were useful for getting good grades on School of Ed lesson plans, and that was the extent of their value.
10 Things in School That Should Be Obsolete
Flickr: Corey Leopold By Greg Stack So much about how and where kids learn has changed over the years, but the physical structure of schools has not. Looking around most school facilities — even those that aren’t old and crumbling — it’s obvious that so much of it is obsolete today, and yet still in wide use. 1.
- 30 Online Multimedia Resources for PBL and Flipped Classrooms by Michael Gorman
1 Comment May 28, 2012 By: Michael Gorman May 28
Free Project Based Learning Resources from Edutopia
Edutopia, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, is an excellent resource for educators. Their site has a huge variety of resources, tips, and research on education and is accessible for free. They are a big proponent of Project Based Learning (PBL) and also have a lot of resources on best practices in education. Resources include lists of reading materials on PBL, links to schools that are using PBL, Resources from Edutopia on PBL, Resources from Maine on PBL including examples of PBL, lesson plans, assessments for PBL, planning guides for teachers and schools, professional development resources, resources for parents, and links to organizations and other resources on PBL.
Seeing the Classroom as a Hub of Technology-enabled Social Change
Antero Garcia, who teaches English at a high school in South Central Los Angeles, is a PhD candidate, focusing on critical literacies and civic identity through the use of mobile media and game play. He utilizes his classroom as a center of youth participatory action research. His students assess and address real-life needs in their South Central community. Garcia is on the conference committee for the 2012 Digital Media & Learning Conference in San Francisco, Calif: “Beyond Educational Technology: Learning Innovations in a Connected World.” Garcia is heading up one of four important sub-themes in the conference, “innovations for public education.” A strong advocate for youth and teachers in public education settings, he is also one of the featured bloggers at DMLcentral, where he consistently pushes the digital media and learning community to be innovative, yes, but also relevant and meaningful.
The Great Gatsby: Book Versus Movie
'Gatsby' obsessive Jon Reiner analyzes the liberties that Baz Luhrmann takes in adapting the novel—what he gets right and what he gets wrong. “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can,” urges Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s high-octane adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, which opens today after a worrisome stutter step and both fevered and dreaded anticipation. The famous line, which in the novel breaks the code on Gatsby’s “twilight universe” and portends his doom, illuminates the screen with a cautionary subtext Fitzgerald didn’t intend: Please Baz, don’t you do it!
