Wednesday, July 31, 2013

"Time is a variable" finds an advocate in the 1-to-1 Foundation. Here are three important reports

Look at the website of the Colegio Fontán:  CLICK HERE

You can find the key phrase from Dr. Fischler's work:  Time is a variable.






Here's the website of Learning 1 to 1 Foundation, which has brought this Fontan system to the USA.


Hover over "FRE" and then click on ARTICLES 



Here is the webpage for articles by Erika Twani and others   click to find the articles (because there is no direct link visible).  

See some videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsOvh_l_RE4

The Learning 1 to 1 channel



So.. what will you do with your NET IMPACT?
How about forwarding the
link to the L1to1Foundation channel to your colleagues?





Let's make this video go viral
Post this code on your facebook wall... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjgyjhhU1Co


Sunday, July 28, 2013

Ask former students (part 2): "Avoid asking us to accumulate knowledge that will disappear from our minds in a short time."

...as the student is able to work on a pleasurable environment, her/his motivation and productivity increase...



I asked former students
(a) what do they remember from the classes we had together
(b) what do they recommend for my future procedures
(c) would they like to be virtual mentors?

Here is a reply.


Hello, Mr. Steve! How are you? In my opinion, your teaching method is newfangled and original. And that is the reason I admire it. I have been all my life on a room accumulating knowledge that will disappear from my mind in a short period of time, because they will not be useful for me in a future (and because my memory is finite, of course). But, during the ISP program, you gave us work that was of our interest. In my case, I did an essay related to the Spanish Civil War. I remember that I felt really comfortable doing it. First, because personally, I love that period of the Spanish History, and I never had the chance to study it in depth. Also, because you gave us enough time for finishing it, without an excessive pressure. 

I blindly trust in the effectiveness of your method. In conclusion, as the student is able to work on a pleasurable environment, her/his motivation and productivity increase. Also, I believe that your teaching procedure allows students to focus on the areas of knowledge that are of her/his interest. All these aspects that I have mentioned directly affect the academic results of the students and their self-steem (because they have responsibility). But, what is more important, your teaching methods made classes more pleasant and enjoyable: students were more blissful.

I am interested on receiving questions, and I prefer to get them by e-mail. 


Regards, Pablo.

Pablo Ruiz Rivet can be reached at < pabruri AT  hotmail  D O T  c o m >

Saturday, July 27, 2013

What categories do teachers need feedback about? Here are 12 topics for your consideration, including empowerment, climate and student engagement.

Here's the evaluation that Diane Grondin gave me in December 2010.  The document is on Scribd.com.

Here are comments made by Diane Grondin, one of the ten best principals I’ve encountered.

Student Engagement
Need to circulate and be more aware of student activities.  Outstanding mini lessons to motivate and cover concepts.

Student Management
Need to work on classroom redirects.  Recognizing classroom management issues is an area that needs improvement.

Student Support
Mini lesson covers math and life skills

Empowerment
Puts up student work everywhere.  Works diligently to get student to think through the process and apply it to life.


Educational Practices
Outstanding practices when looking with subject base activities.  Uses video tape, YouTube, and other technology to instruct.  Guides students through use of technology.

Climate
Boost students’ self-esteem.

Communication
Need to work on communicating with your mentee’s parents.

Cooperation
Works very well with peers.  Always having outstanding ideas on supporting teachers and students.

Data Management
Use a pen, not a market, for communicating with peers.

Diversity of Learners
Accepts students as they are and is always willing to work with all students.

Professional Development
Always learning and growing.

Mr. McCrea is an outstanding educator with a solid subject based.  He needs to work on areas of intervention and redirection of student behavior.  Overall evaluation:  Satisfactory.






Here's a procedure: Ask former students to make suggestions (adapted from Big Picture Schools)


The Big Picture:  education is everyone's business,
the 2004 book by Dennis Littky, points out that one of the best sources of teacher training is a postcard sent to former students.  "What worked, what do you wish you had been introduced to or thought about before you left high school?  What should we teachers know about?"


Here's the letter that I sent to some former students.


Hello ISP program students from January 2012

I want to let you know about "what happened to the posters that the ISP students made."  I kept some of the posters.

Other posters found life in books.  I'm showing your work to my new students at Miami Arts Charter  miamiartscharter.net

(A) PENPALS  ... I want my students in Miami to have penpals with people who speak more than one language, so I thought about you.
  

(B)  Thought for the day:   I'm planning to have a channel for the "thought of the day" and other items that will combine "mathforartists"  -- I invite you to visit the channel and the blog and the websites.   Thank you for your time.

As individuals, you remain in my mind as distinctive forces -- your questions and creations pushed me to develop better procedures.   I think you remember that I was trying to create a positive environment for you inside a box.   
CHECKLIST (what are good principles in a classroom?)
a)  let the students make decisions
b)  give them time to complete something that they started.
c)  find a comfortable place to work.
d)  give them work that means something to them.   Ask them to create personal goals and let them work on those goals.
e)  ask students to write about something that they like.


I hope you have found teachers who use these same ideas.   Please write to me with any suggestions about how to improve my classroom procedures.

Do you remember some of the events that you did?   
a)  the old poet who came to the school and EVERYONE was told to go to the gym to listen to the old man?   I thought that some of you might have been bored.   Perhaps I should have exempted you from that activity?
b)  the start of the day?  In that little room with no windows?   
c)  the space on the soccer field where your group sat after lunch?   The school administrators were so worried that you needed to go to "do something productive" and many days we spent an extra 20 or 30 minutes sitting on the grass.   I liked watching you out there.   Sometimes many teachers try to push too much on the teenager's brain.

I look forward to your input and I hope you will write to me with suggestions and comments.
If you want to receive questions from my students at MAC  (Miami Arts Charter), please let me know.   I can ask my students to contact you by email or by facebook -- please tell me your preferred method.

By the way, have you seen the video by Benjamin (with the translation into Hungarian)?




Steve

=======  

Do you see the power of this procedure used at Big Picture schools?  The teachers benefit from the students who send tips about "I never used matrices" and "I wish someone had told me about Daniel Amen's suggestions about how to manage information overload."
The photos that appear here are from the wonderful class that I was given to "manage."   I think they managed to organize how I behaved....
This is a random piece that I posted on the Edutopia facebook page to indicate the power of lecturing less  LectureLess.com
Since using the FLIPPED CLASSROOM, I no longer have a "teacher voice."   Now I randomly and unintentionally whisper to people "...and for class tomorrow, please come in ready to talk about this topic."  


Steve McCrea









More photos from the January 2012 learning experience.








The profiles are Bal____  KN_____  Prin_____  Ope_____
Ref_____  Car____  Comm____  Ris____  Inq____ Thi_____




Send comments to TheEbookman@gmail.com

The profiles are Bal____  Balanced
KN_____  Knowledgeable
Prin_____  Principled
Ope_____Open Minded
Ref_____  Reflective
Car____  Caring
Comm____   Communicator
Ris____  Risk Taker
Inq____ Inquirer
Thi_____ Thinker




What do we need to follow in addition to updates to Twitter, FB pages, blogs and YouTube channels? How about Edutopia's Pinterest board...? This is why I like Brainpicking

Just when I thought that I was overwhelmed with "notifications" of updates, I found another useful filter.   My current favorite curator is Brainpickings.org and I even send $1 a month to the editor.  Twitter, FB, Youtube and blogs each generate notifications by email (including this blog, which has only five subscribers.   Can some of you who are reading this check to see if you might possibly have forgotten to subscribe to this blog?)



So what is the best procedure for students?  What should they see their teachers do?   I wonder if it makes sense to show students how to sign up for a blog with a "throwaway" or "public email address, so that the notifications don't clutter the inbox?  Or is it important to be confronted (as I am) with notifications daily?

IN FAVOR OF DAILY EXPOSURE TO NOTIFICATIONS
1.  I found out about Dimitri Christiakis through an email notification.
2.  I can choose WHEN to expose myself to the list of interesting items that flow toward me.
3.  I might as well look at the floow, at least three times a week, because I tend not to schedule a quiet time to evaluate what is out there.   Better to 

AGAINST DAILY EXPOSURE TO NOTIFICATIONS
1.  The brain does better without the 
2.  Daniel Amen made that observation:  
Checking for messages is an important way to communicate, but it is better to set aside specific times each day to work on them and leave them alone the rest of the time.
-- Dr. Daniel Amen, Magnificent Mind at Any Age

See the full post here


Here is the comment that I left at the Edutopia site:

Since using the FLIPPED CLASSROOM, I no longer have a "teacher voice."   Now I randomly and unintentionally whisper to people "...and for class tomorrow, please come in ready to talk about this topic."  


So the purpose of this post is (1) to invite you to discover Edutopia ... and if you know the site, at least you can also sign up for their Pinterest board.  They have curated a collection of posts that have benefitted me by providing quick items for posters.
I even found the following link ... (which I sent to the teachers in Bologna with whom I shared a Skype session)...
I remember the effort to put ipads in the Italian school.
I hope this article is helpful.


 
This is why it makes sense to subscribe to BrainPickings.org

(2) The second purpose is to underline the usefulness of BrainPickings.org.

Look at these posts:
Book of Symbols
Aldous Huxley's book for children
an interview with the 84-year-old Carl Jung


Wow.




Here are some more links to items that I found through the Edutopia Pinterest page

21 ways to become a 21st Century Teacher


Ten skills that modern teachers need






Friday, July 26, 2013

Tire on a truck. Physics in the world. What happens when there is a flat tire?


Wow


Which came first?  The flat tire or the blown out tire?

see the answer at the end...

Enviar desde mi dispositivo Android MetroPCS 4G


This is an example of what happens when a teacher gets connected to a mobile phone and a blog.  Apparently I can post anything to my phone...  







HINT:  What has to happen first to lead to the second event?







ANSWER:  If the tire blows out first, will the next tire go flat?


No....

The tire went flat... then the lack of support cause the second tire to explode from the added work.

Projects, Dan Pink, Autobiographies and Personalizing the Curriculum: Dennis Littky's book about Personal Leraning Plans is a good start

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bJyAVmMfe0


Highlights from this video show the direction that many schools can go if they study Dennis Littky and the Big Picture philosophy








Dan Pink offers suggestions to teachers and students

Look at A Whole New Mind for tips about the future













Find out more by going to