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Blog: Ed Tech Today

Got A Minute, Two or Five? Ideas for...

I am a strong believer in having kids on task throughout the class session. Lessons rarely finished “early” and if they did, I always had something for the kids to do until the class ended. I usually didn’t give students “free time” to start homework or to read a book or magazine. That’s because that seemed to be a signal to have a chat fest. If I started the class by quickly checking homework or doing some clerical things, I had a bell ringer (is this term still used?) or activity for the...

Blog: Ed Tech Today

"It Felt Like I had a 1,000...

Several years ago, a colleague and I conducted a pilot study that involved teaching 24 gifted elementary students how to meditate and practice other mindfulness techniques. Mindfulness has many definitions but generally involves training one’s mind to purposely pay attention. Each Friday, we met in the school’s media center and had the students practice breathing methods, visualization, yoga, mindful eating and walking, and gratitude. Following each practice, we interviewed the students...

Blog: Ed Tech Today

Around the World in 30 Days: April 2017

C. M. Rubin’s Monthly Global Education Report

Innovation guru Clay Christensen has his eyes on Parenting. In a revealing interview with CMRubinWorld this month...

Blog: Ed Tech Today

The Global Search for Education: Hey...

It’s called the economy of life-long learning - aka the digital age, aka the fourth industrial revolution. And we’re just at the beginning. Newer and newer technologies are creating accelerating changes impacting the way we live, work, produce and consume. Within the next decade, it is expected that more than a trillion sensors...

Blog: Ed Tech Today

The Global Search for Education: Global...

So search engine giant Google had this neat idea a few years ago to allow its engineers to spend 20% of their time working on things that really interested them – the goal being to inspire creativity and indirectly increase productivity. Some significant innovations came out of Google’s 20% time. Well-publicized “20% products”...

Blog: Ed Tech Today

The Global Search for Education: Is...

A good life is not one that is free from struggle, but one in which people have the tools to overcome what life throws at them. By that logic, a good parent is one who immerses his child in lots of small, authentic opportunities to navigate and conquer challenges.” 

— Clay Christensen

Clayton...

Blog: Ed Tech Today

"Weighing the Pig" in U.S....

Recently, I had the opportunity to learn about the British educational system from a visiting professor from Cambridge University. When the issue of standardized testing came up, she used a memorable analogy. She said schools spend too much time “weighing the pig, expecting it to grow.” The expression, which apparently originated from a story by a farmer to his son in the early 1900s, teaches that the activity of weighing or measuring does not produce results or improve performance—it simply...

Blog: Ed Tech Today

The Global Search for Education: New...

“Perhaps the most distressing threat to student well-being is bullying, and it can have serious consequences for the victim, the bully and the bystanders.” — Andreas Schleicher

“When disenfranchised youth from the heart of our countries, who have ticked all the boxes of formal education, join the...

Blog: Ed Tech Today

TREES! Free Interactive Notebook...

TREES! Interactive Notebook Activity by Gail Skroback Hennessey

Click here for a free downloadable version. 

Arbor Day 2017 is...

Blog: Ed Tech Today

Considering Teacher Evaluation Models

First, I’m not theoretically against evaluating teachers or the idea of holding professionals accountable. Evaluation systems can provide teachers, new and experienced, with new perspectives and consistent feedback that helps them grow and perform at higher-levels. I have personally received feedback that dramatically changed my teaching practice. As a supervisor of undergraduates who are training to become teachers, I know the value that comes from being evaluated by others in the field....

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