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. […]

“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 […]

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 […]

on being a blogger…

How is a post inspired? Where do the seeds of thought that blossom into these very words come from? The seeds • I have a student in my class that is currently on a very unhealthy diet. I know that I cannot convince her to get off of it without replacing it in some way. […]

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’ […]

Reflections: Visit Counts, Technorati, Comments and Ego: A Good, Bad, and (almost) Indifferent Post

An honest look at my blog. The Good: • This site, elgg.net, is not going to be called EduFilter (seems my e-mail wasn’t the only complaint). Elgg is now EduSpaces, a name a number of us recommended – though I bear no claim to my voice being listened to since I also offered a dozen […]

SUCCESS(full) Presentation

success: Richard St. John (From TED) This isn’t only a presentation about what leads to success… it is also about presenting successfully. It is about how to use Powerpoint (or another presentation tool) effectively: Simple graphics, purposeful movement/animation, a single key word, effective use of bold font, a minimalist quote, good pacing, simple humour, and […]

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 […]

Licensed To Pill: We live in an over-prescribed (and over-labelled) society.

Licensed To Pill Comedy or social commentary? – – – – New voices: #3 of 7, this blog is probably better read than mine, but again I think it is invaluable for educators to read: The Genius in All of Us by David Shenk. In a recent post, Labels and Limits, David quotes a Washington […]

Portal Needed to Connect Classrooms to the World: Global Citizens can Share Talents and Skills with Students

Originally posted: February 21st, 2007 [Update: Fieldfindr on Ning-October 3rd, 2007] Here is an idea that has been brewing in my mind for a while: FieldFindr A space where teachers can meet global citizens who have skills that they are willing to contribute to a class. Teachers can find people in a field of interest […]