20 Tips for Creating a Professional Learning Network Networking is a prime form of 21st century learning. The world is much smaller thanks to technology. Learning is transforming into a globally collaborative enterprise. Take for example scientists; professional networks allow the scientific community to share discoveries much faster. Just this month, a tech news article showcased how Harvard scientists are considering that “sharing discoveries is more efficient and honorable than patenting them.” As educators, we aim to be connected to advance our craft. Learning networks are based on the theory of connectivism, or learning from diverse social webs. What are some ways to grow your PLN and improve the quality of your interactions? 10 Tips For Using PLN’s Keep the spirit of collaboration as your driving force. 10 Tools & Strategies for Establishing a Productive PLN Use Diigo, Evernote, Pocket, or Delicious to bookmark links. PLNs are a powerful change agent. Tagged as: digital tools, free professional development, PLN, teaching
Value of Student Work A student self-portrait from Ron Berger's student work portfolio Photo credit: Ron Berger I travel with a heavy suitcase. Over my 35-year career as a public school teacher and educator at Expeditionary Learning, I have been obsessed with collecting student work of remarkable quality and value. I bring this work with me whenever I visit schools or present at conferences and workshops, because otherwise no one would believe me when I describe it. The student work in my giant black suitcase is exemplary -- beautiful and accurate, representative of strong content knowledge and critical thinking skills -- but it's not from "exceptional" students. Student self-portrait Photo credit: Ron Berger When I work with educators around the country and pull this work out of my suitcase, it changes the vision of what is possible when students are allowed, compelled and supported to do great things. Seeking Value Student-designed Greenprint Austin's Butterfly The Greenprint Snakes
Top 7 Guides on how to Use iPad in your Classroom iPad is definitely a gadget of huge potential in education. Many schools in the States and Canada are adopting it as a learning tool within their curriculum. Developers have already started creating e-textbooks with enhanced mobile compatibility. More important, there are now several apps that are easy to use and that enable teachers to create their own teaching content to go on iPad. Given this growing important of iPad in education, Educational Technology and Mobile Learning deemed it crucial to provide its readers with some of its best guides and posts we have published here during this year. 1- 12 Questions to Ask before Using iPad with your Students 2- 62 Ways to Use iPad with your Students 3- 100+ Tips on how to Integrate iPad into your Classroom 4- Excellent Slides on The Use of iPad in Education 5- iPad in The Classroom A Great Free eBook 6- 29 iPad Resources, Tutorials, and Guides Every Teacher should Know about 7- 8 Free Resources on The Use of iPad in Education
Reframing Worksheets Worksheets matter! I know we hear a lot of talking points that tell us to get rid of them, but I think it's much more complicated than that. That call for "no more worksheets" comes from a place where that is all there is. By that I mean classrooms where students do nothing but worksheets. Often these worksheets are de-contextualized from relevant work, and this is where there's an opportunity to reframe and refine the traditional worksheet. There is a time and place for drill and practice or individual practice -- even in a PBL project. A recent visit to a PBL school jumpstarted my brain on this issue. Worksheets That Model a Career Tool Students consistently worked on a piece of paper shown below. As we design worksheets, let's consider making them look like the real-world work that students are doing -- or could be doing. Worksheet used at ACE Leadership Academy Credit: Andrew Miller Other Tips for Worksheets Include the Driving Question Where Students Can See It Rubric and Reflection
Videos Suggested for Back to School Faculty Meetings and other educational audiences This post could be almost infinite: there is most certainly an extraordinary array of options for videos which expand educators’ understandings and inspire advances in 21st century learning. But curation is about choice and selection, and while I know I will leave out many, I thought I’d offer up a set of 15 of my favorites for your consideration for video screening at at back-to-school or beginning-of-the-year faculty meetings (and/or parent and board meetings). I’ve starred those that might also serve as useful and engaging videos to share with students at back to school or other assemblies. I am sure every reader will have their own opinions about the videos I’ve left off this list, and please: add them below using the comment box, or, post yourself your own set and share the link from this post to your own. 21st century learning generally: 1. 1b. 2. 3. 4. 5. * 5b. 6. 6b. 7. * 8. Innovation * 9. * 9b. * 10. * 11. Project-Based Learning 12. What PBL Isn’t. What PBL Is. 13. * 14. 15. 16.
Vocabulary Instruction We know that there is a strong relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension. Systematic vocabulary instruction is an integral part of a K-12 comprehensive literacy framework for instruction. I consider it a privilege to have supported many teachers, coaches, & administrators in building a community that values word learning across classrooms and content areas. Common characteristics of effective vocabulary instruction have been documented in numerous professional journals and books. Effective vocabulary instruction across grade levels and content areas is key. I write frequently about vocabulary. You can put this infographic to use tomorrow. Download today’s tool by clicking on the tag at the end of this post. Like this post? Please read our Reblogging and Reposting Policies here before reblogging or reposting. Have you found these posts helpful in supporting your literacy efforts? The following two tabs change content below. Kimberly
21k12 in 2012: My Year in Blogging, including Two Top Ten Lists My fifth year in blogging is now coming to an end. My blog began with in the fall of 2008 over at blogspot, and then I migrated it here to wordpress in late January 2009. Once a year– and only once a year, I like to share some reflections and statistics upon my year here at 21k12. 2012 sadly saw a small dip in the number of postings: down to 120 posts this year, compared to 150 last year, 165 the year prior. But, I do allow myself vacations– and as I completed my third and final year as St. As for total page views, growth continued. But I did double again, for the third year in a row, taking 2012 views to 142,000. Let me be clear here: there is no possibility that 2013 will see a fourth “doubling” in views. In classic 20/80 fashion, it is only a very small number of posts and pages which generate the view rates in the five figures that support the high overall totals. The 21st century videos post I pulled together in a couple of hours in August, sitting on my couch watching the Olympics.
10 Rules for Students and Teachers (and Life) by John Cage and Sister Corita Kent by Maria Popova “Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.” Buried in various corners of the web is a beautiful and poignant list titled Some Rules for Students and Teachers, attributed to John Cage, who passed away twenty years ago this week. The list, however, originates from celebrated artist and educator Sister Corita Kent and was created as part of a project for a class she taught in 1967-1968. It was subsequently appropriated as the official art department rules at the college of LA’s Immaculate Heart Convent, her alma mater, but was commonly popularized by Cage, whom the tenth rule cites directly. RULE ONE: Find a place you trust, and then try trusting it for awhile.RULE TWO: General duties of a student — pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students.RULE THREE: General duties of a teacher — pull everything out of your students. Donating = Loving Bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings takes hundreds of hours each month.
Top 10 Posts of 2012: Deep, Meaningful and Creative Learning Flickr: CriCristina It may come as no surprise that the ideas that are top-of-mind for educators, parents, and policymakers are the very topics conveyed in the most popular MindShift posts this year. Giving kids the tools to create, teachers the freedom to innovate, making students’ work relevant in the real world, giving them access to valuable technology. These are the aspirations that have resonated most with MindShift readers this year. Here are the top 10 posts from 2012. Being able to use the Internet and operate computers is one thing, but it may be just as valuable to teach students how to code. So much about how and where kids learn has changed over the years, but the physical structure of schools has not. The conversation in education has shifted towards outcomes and training kids for jobs of the future, and in many ways the traditional classroom has become obsolete. Can creativity be taught? Related
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: Teacher's Comprehensive List of Great Educational Technology Resources Coming to you from the Canadian Maritimes ( Halifax), Educational Technology and Mobile Learning is an educational blog dedicated to curating, reviewing and sharing EdTech tools and mobile apps. The purpose is to help teachers and educators effectively integrate digital technologies into their day-to-day teaching, learning and professional development. For any questions regarding our website or the content we publish, please contact EdTech admin, editor and blog owner, Med Kharbach at: info@educatorstechnology.com. Med Kharbach is a doctoral researcher and a former teacher with 10 years of classroom teaching experience. Kharbach, M. Example: Kharbach, M. (2016, December 30). 9 Fundamental digital skills for 21st century teachers [Blog post].