Learning in Maine

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Visual Literacy Continued . . .

Find these new pages at the LIM Resources Wiki. Feel free to modify, add, delete, elaborate, extrapolate, etc. . . . and include projects that work for you. AND . . . please do give yourself credit by adding your name and/or email address.

Elements of Art
Principles of Design
Styles of Art
Artists
Art History

Photo Credit: Water Lilies

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

'08-'09 Conference/Workshop Calendar

It's time to once again build a calendar for conferences and workshops available to Maine educators for the coming school year. A wiki list has been started here. Please add events that you are aware of.

I am a dinosaur . . .

I came across the writing of Maine teacher, James G. Fabiano, this evening, amazed that I hadn't noticed his writing before this. In "A Dinosaur of Education," there is an opportunity to appreciate the perspective of long-time teachers.

What do you think?

A Dinosaur of Education Blog
Other Writing by JGF
Life Without Teaching

Walking the Talk

Recently a new type of conference called Constructing Modern Knowledge premiered in New Hampshire. Sarah Sutter of EduEyeView attended and gives an excellent review of this novel experience. Iconoclast Gary Stager was the organizer and promoter of this "hands-on" dive-right-in experience.

Photo Credit

“Become the change you wish to see in the world."

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Collaborating with Google Docs

Teachers and Principals Talk about Google Docs

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Shining Eyes

Essential Question: What creates excitement in learning?

Photo Credit

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Unless Someone Cares

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~The Lorax, Dr. Suess

It's been a good day. My youngest niece, Emily, played Sour Kangaroo with enthusiasm in Auburn Little Theater's production of Seussical Jr. Community theater is magical . . . and this performance was no exception. The idea of gathering a diverse group of people, assigning roles, learning skills, practicing, and working as a team to create a performance to delight an audience is the essence of good project-based education.

Shouldn't schools be doing more of it?

"Is there a common denominator that transcends the millenium -- that will survive the amazing technological revolution that we are in? All the technology, programs, buildings, and other resources that we have, will not have the life-changing power of one caring person"

"The Common Denominator is you."

~ Dr. Mark Eastman

Essential Question: In the end, what is most important?

Character at LIM Resources

Caring/Compassion

Process Skills at LIM Resources

Wisdom of Dr. Seuss

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Nonverbal Communications

Question: If much of what we communicate is nonverbal, why don't we study it in schools?

Resources at LIM Resources Wiki on Nonverbal Communications

Photo Credit

Friday, August 1, 2008

Fed Up

I just caught, on MSNBC, another prominent politician once again bashing American teachers. The argument seems to be that, if teachers worked hard enough, all problems in our schools would be solved. What absolute balderdash!

Why do we just silently let these across-the-board statements of disrespect go unchallenged?

I'm so weary of this. Attacking workers instead of the cultural problems that have developed due to disparity of income and wealth . . . and the encouragement of the lowest common denominator in our mass media . . . in the most powerful nation in the world is downright dishonest. This scapegoat mentality does nothing to improve education. I would argue, instead, that our culture has become coarser because of the lack of ethical concern and behavior of the ruling class.

Public school teachers work within a system pretty much dictated by national and state law. The idea that school unions have some incredible power is, in my mind, ludicrous. Teachers do the best they can within the parameters of their environment. The teachers I know work hard . . . in many cases, even to the detriment of their own personal lives.

Reconfiguring the curriculum boxes and measuring student progress as if students were merely widgets in the economy is not the answer. A variety of causes have created an underclass that has lost hope for a better future and sees no good reason to work at something that will unlikely make a difference in their lives.

Want better scores? Eliminate student apathy!

Essential Question: How do we eliminate student apathy?

Photo Credit

U.S. Presidential Election

Richard Byrne's blog, Free Technology for Teachers, brought my attention to this new Common Craft video about the Presidential electoral process.

Essential Question: How do we inform and engage our students in a non-partisan manner?

Presidential Election Information
Wikipedia: United States Presidential Election, 2008
History Central: United States Presidential Elections

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Online Highlighters

I've been investigating online highlighters for the purpose of teaching summarization stategies. Though Diigo and iLighter are more sophisticated, I'm leaning towards Awesome Highlighter which can be used without a plug-in download and is straightforward and user-friendly in operation.

Try Awesome Highlighter out here.

What has your experience been?

Frog & Toad

Indeed . . . waking up needs to be high on the list, but not only waking up, but waking up with enthusiasm for a new day and the ability to forgive. So much wisdom from these small amphibians.