10-Rep Learning ~ Teague's Tech Treks

Learning Technology & Tech Observations by Dr. Helen Teague

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Memphis School District Accountability Feature

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Quotes Instead of Rules…

Instead of class rules, try something a little bit different.

Our students see a mosaic of rules, procedures, guidelines…

Try something new (if it doesn’t work, you still have your rules, guidelines, and procedures) 🙂

Give students (middle school through high school) quotes instead. Ask them to relate these quotes to life in your classroom.

Some Possible Quotes to Include:

Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
~Malcolm S. Forbes

A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people of getting things done.

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had tried and failed.
~William James

All personal success is boundless when surrounded by courage, determination, hard work and vision. ~Congresswoman Susan King

Don’t dwell on what you lack; dwell on what you have and use it to the fullest with gratitude. Don’t dwell on your failures—learn from them and move on. Don’t dwell on your fears or sorrows—dwell on your hopes.
~Marian Wright Edelman

What others can be included?

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Summer Vacation Idea

As a visual twist on the iconic “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” invite students to represent their summer using pictures only.

Pictures may be uploaded to a class Flickr Account (use student birthday for captions when uploading). Once all pictures are uploaded, use PhotoShow for a visual movie trailer effect.

Pictures may be inserted into a slideshow program or online at Slideshare. Pictures may be printed, cut and used for a student “Getting-to-Know-You activity,” Concentration Game (print two copies of pictures), and/or desk identifiers instead of student names.

Invite students to bring in photos to scan or picture cards to upload. Give students a disposable camera to take pictures (develop using CD option) or invite them to draw and scan these drawings.

Other suggestions?

 

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Searching For Data

Educators search for data. They use data for two major purposes: accountability and performance improvement.

Accountability requires schools to prove something, while performance improvement is focused on improving student performance.

The conversation in the media, at the state and federal levels, and often, in schools is focused overwhelmingly on accountability.

A case in point:
Read More

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Parental Involvement

It’s no surprise that students supported by parents involved in their education tend to exhibit higher achievement; this study breaks down parental involvement into subtypes to see what actions make the most difference across 50 studies.

The authors of “Parental Involvement in Middle School: A Meta-Analytic Assessment of the Strategies That Promote Achievement” find that involvement described as “academic socialization” has the strongest positive correlation to achievement.

They describe this as involvement that “creates an understanding about the purposes, goals, and meaning of academic performance; communicates expectations about involvement; and provides strategies that students can effectively use.” Other types such as school visits and volunteering were positively correlated with achievement, but less so.

Interestingly, helping with homework was the only type not positively related to achievement.

Read more:

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Pickle People

Recently I volunteered at our local hospital. The occasion was a celebration for the 2000 hospital employees. The celebration theme was a carnival and there were games, caricatures, a dunking booth, a rock climbing wall, and plenty of food in the serving line. It was a typically hot, July day with temperatures in the 100’s.

All the favorite grilling foods were there…hamburgers, hot dogs, Texas smoked sausage, snow cones, watermelon, cookies, all the fixin’s.

Well, almost all of the fixin’s.

It is interesting how people react to the work done by others. Some are grateful, peppering their speech with smiles, “Please” and “Thank you.”

Not so for others. Others complain about the heat, (to people working in that heat!). Some complain about the lines. Some complain about having a 30-minute lunch.

And some complain about pickles.

Or the lack of pickles, in this case. Despite all the free food and drinks, and condiments, and extras, one woman noticed a lack of pickles. She was not consoled by pickle relish. She wanted pickles. No free meal or festive atmosphere would deter her determined complaining.

As you prepare your classroom for the approaching school year. As you send out your welcome letters and label books, desks, and supplies, please remember that there will be pickle people.

Pickle people are bitter. They usually give birth to pickle kids. And pickle kids are rarely absent. I guess the pickle doesn’t fall far from the tree! As you encounter pickle people, remember your goal, do not allow the bitterness to infect you. Do not let other people’s caustic comments and attitudes literally put you in a pickle.

You are not bitter. You are better. And your kids and students will be better for being in your class.

 

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Peer Review

 

 For generations, the academic community has relied on peer review as a way of enhancing the knowledge base and encouraging serious scholarship. Peer review can offer many of the same benefit to students… [and] computers [can] mediate the interaction among peers. Gehringer (2000)

 

·        Peer Review reflects constructive guidance at its collaborative best.

 

·        As an application to the classroom, Peer Review helps students and the teacher.

 

·        Anonymous Peer Review provides a framework for students to learn balanced reasoning at a time when modern discourse often descends into shouting and insults (and that is just on CNN and MSNBC!)

 

·        When using a thinking schema such as P*M*I, anonymous Peer Review teaches students how to offer points of help, practice proofreading, and strengthen other communication skills.

 

·        Peer Review introduces and encourages diversity of opinion

 

·        Peer Review models the importance of checking work before it is turned in. When the audience is the teacher alone, sadly, many students are apathetic. But when the audience is the students’ fellow classmates, an extra attention to detail emerges.

 

·        Peer Review offers students a practical application in this real-world review.

 

Peer Review provides a review committee for the teacher who often has, to butcher Robert Frost, “miles to grade before she sleeps.”

 

 

If you would like more information on methods for Student Use, please refer to this link:

http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/peerreview/studentintro.html

For forms to use with students, see this link: http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/peerreview/forms.html  and http://www.scribd.com/doc/2205303/English-122-paper-one-peer-review

 

Quote Source: Gehringer, E.F., 2000. Strategies and Mechanisms for Electronic Peer Review

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