Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

As I wrote in my post last week, I was heading to ISTE 2012 in San Diego. I wrote about several things the conference had to offer that I wanted to explore, so I thought this would be a good time to provide some feedback since the conference is now over.  First, I was so impressed with the technology, which of course one would expect at a technology conference. But, the fact that throughout the entire conference free wifi was available was really a bonus and something that other conferences really need to consider. It allows for participants to stay connected. All the tweets and blogs that occurred throughout the day provided additional support and exposure of the conference,which I think might outweigh cost.  Second, I really felt the structure of the conference fostered collaboration and gave everyone time to see exhibits and learn without feeling torn. I know at the math conferences there are so many presentations scheduled at every time, with no breaks, so as a pa...

I am going to the ISTE 2012 Conference in San Diego this coming weekend/week. That in itself is pretty  exciting.  It's my first time at ISTE, not for lack of wanting, more for lack of timing and cost.  I am very excited knowing I am going to be immersed in technology, meeting other ed-tech enthusiasts, and just learning more about what's out there that can help me personally and professionally.  Another reason I am excited is that I will experience a conference that has some very different options from the math conferences I usually attend. I am not knocking math conferences. Rather, what I am pointing out are the many ways in which the ISTE conference differs in what it provides in the way of collaboration, networking and technology that is unfortunately, not often a part of math conferences.  This may be true of other content specific conferences, but since I am most familiar with math conferences, that is my point of reference. I am sure a lot of it has...

I posted an article a while back about my thoughts on the flipped classroom: Math Anxiety and the Flipped Classroom .  In this post, I basically expressed my concern that many teachers are using the flipped model to continue the same traditional way of teaching - lecture and homework, and merely switching where these things happened. If this is how the model is being used, especially in math, it is not going to improve student learning because it's the same old thing. My hope was that those embracing this model were truly doing something different - really using the class time to connect with their students, provide collaborative learning experiences, engaging in real-world applications, projects and extending the learning to make connections - not just reviewing homework. In short, teaching DIFFERENT in the classroom - where the classroom becomes a student-centered learning experience, not just a regurgitation of what they saw/learned in the online 'lecture'. That's...

I was trying to find some inspiration by viewing some previous Ignite talks. I came across this one by David Elliott entitled Unpacking Beliefs at this year's NCSM in Philadelpha, PA back in April. David talks about how our thoughts lead to beliefs, beliefs lead to actions, and actions ultimately lead to improvement. In light of all the things in education we are suppose to focus on these days (Common Core, curriculum, strategies, testing, teacher evaluations, etc.), what really matters is what we believe. If we don't believe teachers can improve, then they won't. If we don't believe technology can enhance learning, then it won't. If we don't believe students can learn, then they won't. Not believing means we are never going to take the right actions that will lead to change and improvement. An interesting thought....might explain why so many things 'fail' in education.  David ends by talking about belief in our students, the ultimate goal of edu...

I read this article yesterday by Andrew Ujifusa entitled New Tests Put States on Hot Seat as Scores Plunge . Basically, states that have implemented new standardized tests to address revised academic standards, such as the Common Core State Standards, have seen a drop in student scores, so panic has ensued. What I want to know is: has no one ever heard about the implementation dip? Whenever you try to implement something new, there is going to be a period of adjustment, scores will go down if we are talking tests, classroom behaviors will change and achievement will go down if new teaching strategies are being implemented - in short, any time you try something new, it is NOT going to go exactly as planned!  Mistakes will happen, things will be bad before they get better - it's part of the whole change process.  Which is why we need to be implementing changes slowly, early, and over time so that things that go wrong can be adjusted. Image from images.google.com What ...