Today is supposed to be the turn around for warmer weather heading into Super Bowl weekend. Let’s hope that’s true. With all the stories about animals left out in the cold and Jaimie’s refusal to wear snow boots, we’re both looking to get out and put together a few thousand steps. According to my watch, we’re down 3 798 from last week.
In the meantime, I’m so happy to share seven amazing, thought provoking blog posts from Ontario Educators. Read on…
A Modern ‘Who Came First’ Debate
There’s no doubt in my mind for the classic debate. The chicken came first.
And, actually, I think that the modern debate has a definitive answer as well. Technology appeared before the Pedagogy to use it. In some cases, it appeared well before we learned how to use it effectively. New technology continues to emerge, on the market well before its use in the classroom has been explored or understood or even asked for.
Tina Zita understands
Modern learning is not about the tool. It is about a set of global competencies that is needed to be successful in an ever changing workforce. I struggle even writing workforce because I think it’s so much more. The global competencies are about us finding our place in our communities and contributing.
I know that the savvy technology leaders who read this blog will agree wholeheartedly with her observations in the post.
It brings to light a bigger question though. Tina’s district is lucky that they have someone with her skills in place to provide support and leadership for educators trying to keep up. That’s not a slam against teachers; with all that’s happening, it’s the reality.
Is it malpractice for a district to buy more “stuff” – looking at you iPads and Chromebooks and the latest gadget and throwing it into the classroom without a program of professional learning to implement, understand, and sustain effective uses?
I thought this post from Jay DuBois was interesting. He’s noting a drop in his blog posting since leaving the classroom for a coaching role.
Blogging is an interesting beast. It can truly be a way to do any type of communication that you wish.
I would suggest and recommend that he actually increase his blogging in his new position.
Why?
- a personal documentation/diary of activities performed during the job
- documentation for a performance appraisal (what are you doing?)
- stay in contact with your education clients when you’re not there
- post his schedule online
- take and share pictures/video of exemplary practice that you witness
- share anecdotes from visits, comments from kids
- share and comment on your professional reading
- highlight upcoming professional learning events
The list could go on and on. Obviously, I’m a big fan of blogging; it will be interesting to monitor Jay’s progress and see what “Reset” means to him.
Jim Cash is one of those guys who really stays on top of things. A visit to his station at the Minds on Media station at Bring IT, Together is a must. I have fond memories of him having a number of micro:bits on hand and so we were able to program something that I’d always wanted to do but could only visualize since I own only a single micro:bit. We used the wireless connections between them to create a primitive slot machine with a micro:bit controller and a number of other micro:bits displaying the “fruit”. If we’d had enough time, we could have calculated the payouts too.
If you’re at all interested in coding, you know that Scratch has had a major reboot recently. In this post, Jim takes us through what he considers noteworthy changes
- Nothing that was in 2.0 has been removed in 3.0
- 12 blocks are new or tweaked
- Talks about enhancements
- Extension Library – micro:bit as example
- HTML5 and Javascript – no more Flash
- Drawing and Sound Editing
You’ll have to read his post to catch the rest. Jim’s not done though and provides a “wish list” of things that he wants to see in the future.
If you believe that learning should be messy, then this post from TheBeastEDU should be right up your alley.
It’s all part of a story about staying in a house at the Bring IT, Together conference but The Beast stopped me at the dining room table.
I have never known a world where the dining room table is not centre of the universe.
Now, I’ll be honest. I have never, ever lived in a house that had a dining room. We always had a kitchen table and that’s about it. It was the place for meals and we were never allowed to put our stuff on it.
One of the things that my mom always insisted was a desk for me to work at. So, I’ve always had one. It started with my grandmother’s old desk and has replaced by a couple of others over the years. In fact, I’m writing this post at one right now. As you can see, it doesn’t make things any less messy.
Don’t hate me, Andrea. I know where everything is.
“We should trust in people, I told them, not processes.”
If there’s any takeaway from any discussion about leadership, it’s always about the people. Always, always, always.
You can always change processes…
…and you can always lead people.
What does R.E.A.L. leadership mean to Joel McLean?
- Resourceful
- Engaging
- Aspiring
- Listens
Of course, he breaks out each of these points in the post.
I wonder if there’s anything missing. I’ve always operated on the premise that the real goal of leadership is to create more leaders
Lots has been said and discussed about the trial balloon from the current government about easing up on class sizes. This includes me.
When it comes from a classroom teacher, it is grounded in their reality and beliefs. I think we’ve all had big class sizes at times. I still can’t believe that I taught a Grade 9 Mathematics class of 37 (you never forget the big numbers) in a room that seats 24. Not everyone had a textbook which further increased the pressure on all.
What I like about reading Paul McGuire’s posts is that he is able to step away from the classroom and look more at the big picture. After all, a principal should be analyzing everything that’s happening in her/his school and making recommendations and decisions going forth to carve out the best school that can be.
This got way more attention than my tweets usually do. I think this is a good thing, there are many educators who are concerned about class size in kindergarten and primary. As a former elementary principal, hard caps in grades 1-3 made a huge difference in the learning environment for children and their teachers.
In today’s reality, it’s often difficult for principals to speak out this way. Fortunately, it doesn’t stop Paul and leads nicely into his voicEd Radio show.
What school and Curling have in common
My story as a curler is certainly different from Jennifer Casa-Todd’s. My experience was as a member of the high school curling team. I don’t even recall what position on the team I was; just that four of us were asked to be on the team because our parents curled. Is that skill even transferable?
I don’t even recall who our Skip was and I certainly don’t recall him being supportive of us growing as team members. For us, it was a couple of days away from classes to practice and then to compete in a bonspiel. If I remember correctly, we played one game before being knocked out – curling wasn’t big in my town because we had to go to a completely different town to even play. But, I got my school Curling badge to count towards my school total.
And, like in Jennifer’s post, I do recall a lot of yelling. When “sweep” was yelled, we really did sweep not like today’s brushing…
And, back to her post – after all, it’s about her and not me! Jennifer shares a story of growing in the sport going from Lead to Second. That is indeed a major change requiring more skills. Jennifer focuses on the takeout and how her Skip is helping her develop this and other new skills. Therein lies the comparison between school and curling.
Yelling for inspiration is required in one and optional in the other.
If curling is new to you, take the two minutes it takes to watch the video and you’ll be up to speed! Two minutes to understand and a lifetime to master.
I hope this little read warms up your Friday morning.
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This post is part of a regular Friday morning routine around here. You can check out all the past posts in the link above.
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