What would Friday on this blog be without a review of some of the great reading I’ve done from Ontario Edublogs this past while.
Here goes….
Are you an educator? Do you use Twitter?
Colleen Rose is leading a webinar in the near future and is crowd sourcing some ideas and thoughts. In this post, she’s asking for input to these questions.
The results remind me of the good old days of blogging where people were actually replying to blog posts! As of the time of writing, there are 54 responses. That’s great and not something that’s seen often these days. Granted, about half of them are from Colleen sharing her thoughts on the comments but it still is impressive. You’ll recognize many of the names there from any list of Ontario Twitter users.
Some of the replies include links to blog posts where people have had their own take on this topic.
- Why I use Twitter by Laura Wheeler
- Ice Storm Fury and Tweaking Twitter Thoughts by Diana Maliszewski
- 20 Things I Learned in Twitter by Rodd Lucier
- Using Twitter – PD in Focus 6 by Vicky Loras
It’s not too late; if you’d like to throw in your thoughts, I’m sure that Colleen would appreciate reading them.
Even if you don’t enjoy auto racing (who doesn’t?), Tim King’s comments about a documentary of the Dakar Rally is a good read. It pits an amateur against professional racers. From the story, Tim draws a number of parallels. This one is interesting.
I’m sure Tim has a particular student in mind when he comes to this conclusions. I got one in my mind.
If you’ve ever taught at a Faculty of Education or had a student teacher, you know the light in the eye and the idealism that goes with the potential educators. They’ve already excelled in education for most of their lives. They’ve got a three or four year degree and now work towards a second degree in Education. We’ve all been there. We know how the game is played.
Then, we’re plunked in front of kids who don’t know, are learning, or just refuse to learn! That’s where teaching demands “resiliency, creativity, and agility”.
This is a cleverly written post. Each time I read it, it takes me on a different journey. Well done, Tim.
Critical Literacy and the Internet
If you are, or think you are, teaching students to be careful users of the internet, then you really need to read this post from Deborah McCallum.
It’s a very academic treatment of the class of web resources known as “Cloaked Websites”.
Does your treatment of this form of literacy go this deeply? This is a very good read and share amongst colleagues. Deborah’s looking for additional resources for teaching about this. Do you have some to share?
Interview with “experienced” presenter Kim Gill
Peter McAsh is embarking on a new direction as we approach the Bring IT, Together Conference. He’s identified a few “experienced” Ontario Educators / Presenters and interviewing them about their presenting experience at the BIT / ECOO Conference.
The current interview is with Kim Gill who I’ve personally done the BIT Challenge thing with. I’ve known Kim for a long time and I can’t think of a person more bubbly and who genuinely enjoys her profession and makes no attempt to hide it!
Plus, she always has food!
Read the interview with Kim here and get inspired.
She’s not the only one of the BIT Blog. Make sure you check out:
- Interview with “experienced” presenter Aviva Dunsiger
- Interview with “experienced” presenter Jonathan So
- Interview with “experienced” presenter Danika Tipping
There’s more to come! This would be a good time to remind everyone to get their proposals in. The deadline is March 31.
I still remember this advice from a veteran teacher as I was in my second year of teaching and had curriculum documents open all over the place and was planning a unit on something. I can’t remember the unit now but I remember the advice. “Don’t get too excited. This too will pass.” Then, I got a history of education that he’d experienced over his years in the profession. Lots of changes, lots of advice, lots of expert panels, lots of difference curriculum, … He’s long since retired but I’d love to hear his thoughts about data driven, data informed, change, innovation, …
Lisa Noble makes a nice connection between innovation, today’s youth, and the inch worm.
It does make you stop and think. Will change happen because the Ministry eventually provides a curriculum that’s relevant? Or will it happen because educators are stopping to observe students and what they need? What’s more responsive?
What I’ve Learned From the Danes (Part 1)
Forget Finland. What is some advice from another Scandinavian country?
Danika Tipping spent some time in Denmark and made an interesting observation.
Are we ready for a school system without so many rules?
Can we indeed legislate everything? If not, could we just legislate common sense?
How often are rules proactive? How often are they reactive?
How many are truly necessary?
It’s definitely been another great week of reading. Check out these blog posts at their original source. You’ll be inspired; I know. Then, head over to the big list of Ontario Edubloggers to see what else is happening. Add yourself to the list if you’re blogging and not on the list already.
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.