Phosphorescent Posts: metaphor surfing for bright ideas

My most recent post, “I’m a mop not a sponge” , highlighted a metaphorical epiphany that one of my students had about his learning style. This post will look at metaphors I have found on my journeys through the blogosphere since then. 2 rules to my quest: 1. The post title must contain a metaphor. […]

The Web2.0 Prophecy: An Adventure

Originally posted: March 13th, 2007 Reflection upon re-reading and re-posting: Until now I have been adding my reflection at the end of these re-posts. However, I thought with this post it should come first. Why? Because it is important that I share the date of the original post before quoting other bloggers who were expressing […]

Learning Conversations

Learning Conversation_ Part I It was refreshing to hear Maureen Dockendorf, our staff development co-ordinator, (Director of Instruction), speak at our Building Leadership Capacity (BLC*) series introduction. She encouraged us to become ‘intellectual companions’ that enter into ‘learning conversations’. The part I liked most about her talk was the direction of the conversation. She spoke […]

Square Peg, Round Hole

A composition of other people’s thoughts and ideas… with a theme. How to Bring our Schools Out of the 20th Century by Claudia Wallis, Sonja Steptoe, Time Magazine cover story Dec. 18, 2006 “For the past five years, the national conversation on education has focused on reading scores, math tests and closing the “achievement gap” […]

Application of Constructivist Principles to the Practice of Instructional Technology

Application of Constructivist Principles to the Practice of Instructional Technology By Bonnie Skaalid I found this while procrastinating on finishing my masters paper. Disgusted with how this has transformed from a labour of interest and love to one of ‘hoop jumping’ that is just what I Googled… along with ‘education’. This is just what I […]

The purpose of a system is what it does.

Stafford Beer coined the term Cybernetics. He was a brilliant man who, among other things, wrote a novel about a very wise but forgetful wizard. This excerpt tells you what he thinks of our education system. The title alone- referring to the Education Minister- should give you a hint of what is to come. Excerpt […]

Hello world! ‘Pair-a-Dimes for Your Thoughts’ finds a new home!

A few years ago, a friend sent me an invitation to join him on a social network and start something called a blog. I signed up and my first post, “The purpose of a system is what is does” set the metaphoric tone for my ideas and thoughts that will fill this space. Essentially, I […]