In my last post about my Science Alive wiki, I mentioned that our Renaissance Fair Project was starting, (here is the assignment). I also mentioned that with our lousy computer lab, I wouldn’t be blogging again as I did last year. Well, I decided to go ahead anyway! I can’t use our useless communal teacher […]
Category: Pedegogy
Wikis in the classroom: a reflection.
Well here it is, my completed Science Alive Wiki. After an incident delayed getting feedback from my students until last Monday, things got extremely busy with preparation for the Renaissance Fair and my Grade 5 Transition Retreats [the subject of a future post]. All this included 3 afternoons out of my classroom at other functions… […]
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“Some Assembly Required”
I thought I was going to spend the long weekend reading my book for our book club, but I had a Whole New challenge instead: Putting together a million piece puzzle for my kids to play on in our back yard…. swings, monkey bars, slide, fort, climbing wall, and picnic bench all neatly packed in […]
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“I’m a mop not a sponge”: Metaphors all the way down
A well-known scientist once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the Earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got […]
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WOW: Bringing Science Alive! (wiki)
What happens when you: Allow students to determine what they need to learn, and then enable students to manage their own learning activities? I recently started a wiki space for my Grade 8 Science classes called Science Alive! The concept is to let students choose their own topic to explore, and then demonstrate learning on […]
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Assessment & Rote Learning: Math Conundrums
Thanks for visiting! Look at the sidebars on the right to find a variety of posts about education, technology and learning. You can also check out some other Math or assessment related posts, or connect with me at one of these sites: Multiply Two Negatives and You Get a Positive. So, I take ‘Rote Learning’ […]
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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 […]
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Marking What Counts and Reporting on Report Cards
“Just because something can be counted, doesn’t mean it counts, and just because something is difficult to count, doesn’t mean it doesn’t count.” Subbaraman Iyer In my first year of teaching, another first year teacher on my team, Ken Andrews, designed a marking system for Humanities (English and Social Studies combined). In his system students […]
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ASK [for help] and Ye Shall Receive, SEEK [the right questions] and Ye Shall Find [the right answers].
On Tuesday I got to hear Chris Kennedy speak. He is a principal, teacher and somewhat of an unofficial district technology guru. His main message: “It isn’t about the Technology!” Good teaching practice transcends the use of technology. What technology can do is: create new ways to use and improve your skills as a teacher; […]
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“The Power (and Peril) of Praising Your Kids”
How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The Inverse Power of Praise. A Feature in the The New York Times, By Po Bronson. Thanks to Kris from Wandering Ink who sent me this link. I will let the article speak for itself: Dweck sent four female research assistants into New York fifth-grade classrooms. The researchers […]
