Here in Pennsylvania, we’re transitioning to a new evaluation system for educators. The “Educator Effectiveness Project” was designed for teachers, educational specialists, and principals. The system includes a method to assess teaching and leadership practice as well as multiple measures aimed assess that educators, through best practice, have demonstrated a positive impact on student achievement....
At my school, I simply call myself a helper. I often say to students and parents, there are many helpers in our school. This universal concept implies safety, community and support. Moreover, it offers understandable, common sch india viagra oolwide language for elementary students. When students acknowledge me as a helper, it goes right...
Without a doubt, students, staff & families are going to come in Monday morning talking about the events that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. Feel free to use this letter with your own school and perspective in mind to identify what steps you might take in proactive school safety initiatives. Embedded within the letter are...
Following are a few resources I believe you will find helpful as a parent of an ever-changing teenager: Edudemic, an education technology website, put together a list of 25 education blogs for parents with topics ranging from how to increase learning outside of school to preparing for the college application process: edudemic.com/2012/08/25-education-bogs-perfect-for-parents-and-just-about-anyone-else. Penn State...
One of the schools I work at recently decided to try a new way of recognising student achievement. We are having an ongoing discussion about how to recognise achievement, when that might happen during the school year, and what that might look like as we move forward in the school year. While the discussion...
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by familymwr Recently I was asked about the idea of using specialized software to connect with parents so that they can login, see all of their child’s grades, marks, assignments, homework, and a ton of other information. Although I believe that these systems are designed to...
“People come from all over the world to the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning. Typically they come to see buildings, spaces and furniture. They leave seeing the possibility for reconstructing their own learning spaces, pedagogy, teams and thinking. That is, I suspect, at the core of my professional achievement.” Cross post of an...
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by familymwr Recently I was asked about the idea of using specialized software to connect with parents so that they can login, see all of their child’s grades, marks, assignments, homework, and a ton of other information. Although I believe that these systems are designed to...
Last night my grad school colleague and friend Brandon Wiley shared with me 17 minutes of thought-provoking lecture – from a student. I was struck by this inspiring Ted Talk from 17 year-old Nikhil Goyal. He is a current senior at Syosset High School in New York, and has chosen to make his valuable...
Cross-posted at eFACE Today This year, our K-6 staff began learning in a new virtual way using Twitter. After a couple staff in-service trainings and after school workshops, parents and teachers ventured into this new educational Twitterverse. As we enter the final week of school, I’d like to share it’s initial impact on teaching...
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” ~Lao Tzu~ We hosted an un-conference last week with a collection of some of our district’s strongest teachers to explore and engage in conversational learning. Sixty or so members of the York Region District’s Literacy@School team gathered for an edcamp-type day and tweeted out using the...
Last week, I had a chance to meet with some parents from our school, and plan an upcoming 60-minute meeting in April – only this is not going to be like any other meeting we’ve had in the past. On Monday, April 23rd, our Home & School Meeting will be broadcasted over the web...
Many schools are beginning to use social media to send out information to parents. Examples include twitter feeds and facebook pages. These initial forays into social media are a first step. They provide parents and the community with greater access to information regarding the school and the learning happening within its walls. A key facet of school...
Early during the 2010-2011 school year, my Principals Advisory Council came up with the idea to engage parents and community members by teaching technology classes once a month. We were cognizant of a potential gap that was occurring in terms of technology tools our students use, we use, and our parents use. If we...
At Kent we provide many opportunities for parents and families to stay informed and involved in their child’s education. Nothing is better than face to face communication but many times this is not possible. Therefore, I believe it is important to provide a variety of ways that parents and families can both receive information...
“We do not remember days, we remember moments.” ~Cesare Pavese~ We forget, in the rush of school days that hundred of lives are lived every day in our buildings. And, since schools are places where youth and energy are the norm, we are not always well suited to meet the challenges that death and...
Cross-posted at “The Wejr Board” blog. I recently had the honour of presenting to a neighbouring school district about my journey in developing on online personal learning network (PLN) and becoming a connected leader. The slides from the presentation are below but here is a brief (ok, this is LONG for a blog post)...
On October 21st at 8:30 am, George Couros and I will host a workshop / discussion at The Educational Computing Organization of Ontario’s Conference exploring how leaders and aspiring leaders in the field of education can use online tools and social media to develop leadership competencies across the Ontario Leadership Framework. Watching the pre-conference chatter on twitter, I noticed...
Have you ever read one of those emails that just got under your skin? You know that email or post that just elevated your blood pressure to the point where you felt like your head was going to explode? You then frantically type out a response and hit the send button only to think,...
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