TEDxAAS – My first one…
The students in charge of this did a fabulous job!!
Happy First Day Everyone!!
I love the first day of school each year. This year, with dissertation work continuing, I again ushered my own two kids into school, but did not take the reins of a classroom or building. I miss it.
I love the rain beating down on my umbrella while watching buses safely deliver kids to my building. I love the calls on the hand-held letting me know that Johnny isn’t sure to which classroom he is assigned. I relish the parent handshakes, the unloading of supplies. The wide-eyed enthusiasm is part of my biological clock and it refreshes me with each iteration of the cycle. Like the children in this video, I’m floating toward the heavens in awe of the mystery that is yet to emerge.
May you all have a wonderful “blast off” whether you have started or will soon do so. May this year be an exciting one where you accomplish all that you seek for yourself and for the children in your charge.
Dr. Kirpal Singh (Singapore Management University) laments in a movie featured at 21Foundation that we are focusing on preparing kids for today or yesterday, but that very few of us are preparing kids for tomorrow. That needs to be our focus and we should recommit to reaching out further than we can comprehend to address the needs of these citizens of a new millennium.
Microsoft Surface – When?
So, it’s been out for a year or so and the educational implications are just starting to take shape.
Here’s one in a UK Primary School
Here’s the link on educational development of this device:
http://www.rm.com/generic.asp?cref=GP1365987&SrcURL=/surface/
Microsoft Surface details: http://www.microsoft.com/surface
Tech-savvy educational leaders will be watching this development with interest because it constitutes the first viable initiative that can effectively address the dynamic early learning environment. If we can put these in ECE classrooms with all of the collaborative tools that are demonstrated here, we are on the road to a true revolution of the educational pathway.
Pay close attention to the details here. Students login by placing a nametag on the table. Content is tailored to their needs and level – even within the context of collaborative play. In general, this resolves our discomfort with having young students in front of computers. Let’s take it one step further and imagine walls that literally open to a child’s fingertips and allows them to interact with inexhaustible content. Consider the live collaboration and then think of the virtual collaboration that is also possible. This whole concept just screams for creativity and innovation.
Student learning and the new era of professional development…
I’ve been impressed with my re-introduction to educational reform in Washington through my Superintendent Leadership Seminar (first in a year long series). The concept here is personalizing student learning and this is far beyond earlier concepts of differentiation or individualization. Personalizing has more to do with the involvement of the student in understanding the process of their learning through learning targets and meaningful, relevant learning episodes.
In this professional development series, there are 6 elements of positive impact on student learning:
- Student learning is structured for understanding
- Student learning experiences are designed to engage and support all students in learning
- Student assessment is used to direct learning
- Students participate in maintaining effective environments for learning
- Students prepare to live and work in a multi-cultural world
- Teachers develop the art and science of a professional educator and are active in the profession to positively impact student learning.
No rocket science here. Just foundational look at the continued development of best practice.
Amazing song – We need teachers to learn…
A wonderful song for reflection as vision and mission statements are reviewed and re-thought.
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