Archive for the ‘assessment’ Category:


What’s So Common About Common Core?

These are my notes from Dr. Sharon Wilbur, Tiffany Neill, Levi Patrick and Pat Turner’s presentation, “What’s So Common About Common Core?” at the Oklahoma Association of Elementary School Principals (OAESP) mid-winter conference on January 19, 2012, in Oklahoma City. The conference is sponsored and organized by the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA).

(Read More…)

Voices of #iste11 – Dr. Leigh Zeitz (Dr Z) on Digital Portfolios

Equipped as a storychaser with my iPad2, a $60 iRig mic, and the help of friends (as well as some bystanders) willing to be short-term videographers, I’ve recorded a series of interviews this week here in Philadelphia for the 2011 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference. This sixth episode is an interview with

(Read More…)

Digitizing an Elementary Writing Portfolio

Today my fifth grade daughter, Sarah, brought home her elementary writing folder. This folder includes samples of her writing dating all the way back to first grade, and she’s never been able to bring it home previously. She was excited to read me several of her essays, so I suggested we record them on the

(Read More…)

Video reflection from North Texas

Today I had an opportunity to spend the morning with Dr. Gerald Knezek visiting with educators in Irving ISD. There are lots of things to share which I’m thinking about now as a result of our conversations, but since I don’t have time to write them in a post at present I recorded a twelve

(Read More…)

Action Research: What Do We Know About Learning in the Cloud?

These are my notes from Sandra Plair’s session “Action Research: What Do We Know About Learning in the Cloud” at the “Teaching and Learning in the Cloud Conference” in Holland, Michigan on 21 Oct 2010. MY THOUGHTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. Session description: We often consider the technologies we use to be beneficial for teaching

(Read More…)

Podcast350: Leading Schools with Digital Vision in a Bubblesheet World (part 1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2: This podcast is a recording of a presentation by Wesley Fryer on June 16, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at the summer administrative leadership conference for Northeast ISD. This was a 2+ hour presentation, so the recordings have been separated into two parts. See the podcast shownotes for links to referenced

(Read More…)

Live and archived Ustream recordings from the Castilleja Summer Learning Institute

Tomorrow in Palo Alto, California, I’ll be spending the day with teachers at the Castilleja School finishing off their “Castilleja Summer Learning Institute” with a focus on digital storytelling. Our schedule (available as an event on Facebook) will include a presentation by yours truly from 8:45 – 10:45 PST on the topic, “An invitation to

(Read More…)

Want to Inspire Creativity? Invite LOTS of Opportunities to CREATE

Without creation, there can be no creativity. If we want to inspire our students to be creative, as teachers we must invite students to CREATE content frequently. Creative sharing should not take place only at the end of the year, or as a culminating project, but as a regular part of learning. The following story

(Read More…)

NCLB damages US education by narrowing the curriculum

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) continues to harm the formal educational experiences of millions of students and teachers in the United States. In her recent book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” Diane Ravitch explains why. In her chapter titled, “Hijacked!” on page 29, Ravitch writes: Whereas the authors of A

(Read More…)

Saving feedback for students in WebCT / Blackboard

Most of the assessments for my “Technology 4 Teachers” course this term have been short one to three question quizzes in WebCT / Blackboard which asked students to provide a direct link to their blog, where they responded to an assignment. This has made the assessment process fairly speedy for me, since I could readily

(Read More…)

Online Student Portfolios: What Tools Are Best?

I received the following question via email recently, and am posting it here along with my thoughts. I’ve been wanting to write and share about ePortfolios for several weeks, and this question has given me a good opportunity to do so. Please chime in with other suggestions and ideas! I wonder if Moodle is a

(Read More…)

Results in learning: What are ways we can assess the impact to teaching and learning? #i11i #vanmeter

These are my notes from Jen Sigrist‘s presentation, “Results in learning: What are ways we can assess the impact to teaching and learning?” at the Iowa 1 to 1 Institute on April 7, 2010. MY THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS ARE IN ALL CAPS. Jen is with Van Community Schools in Iowa. Results in learning: What are

(Read More…)

Notes from a Canadian Yoda: Darren Kuropatwa at METC 2010

These are my notes from a part of Darren Kuropatwa‘s METC 2010 workshop, “Extreme (web 2.0) Lesson Plan Makeover.” I was only able to attend a little of the afternoon session. WOW. If you ever have a chance to hear Darren present in person, do not miss it. I do not use the title, “Yoda,”

(Read More…)

Individualized Assessment on an iPod Touch Using Google Docs – via gWhiz MLA

Full disclosure: I spoke with a gWhiz representative today on the phone to obtain some of the info contained in this post. I am not affiliated with gWhiz and have not received anything (software / money / promises etc) from them. This is an unsolicited evaluation post of gWhiz MLA. Back in February 2009, I

(Read More…)

Podcast325: Implementing a Shared Vision for Digital Learning in Kingman, Kansas

This podcast is an interview with Scott Carter, superintendent of schools in Kingman, Kansas. Scott is continuing to lead his district to implement a bold strategic plan which was collaboratively created three years ago. The district’s top priority is to support “learning connected and related to the real world through the use of integrated curriculum.”

(Read More…)

Notes from LoTi Administrator Institute led by Dean Mantz (afternoon)

This is part 2 of my notes from the 3 August 2009 LoTi Administrator Institute led by Dean Mantz in Kingman, Kansas. My part 1 (morning) notes are also available. Dean’s July 23, 2009, post “Turning up the ‘HEAT’ in Education” is very important to understand what we are discussing today LoTi levels 0-3 are

(Read More…)

Notes from LoTi Administrator Institute led by Dean Mantz (morning)

I’m in Kingman, Kansas attending a one-day LoTi Administrator Institute led by Dean Mantz. USD 331 in Kingman is hosting us. I have been aware of LoTi and heard its creator, Dr. Chris Moersch, for at least the past five years. These are my notes from our morning session. This is a two day workshop

(Read More…)

Federal Guidance for ARRA Funds Released

At long last, the U.S. Department of Education released guidelines for states utilizing ARRA (stimulus) funds for educational technology. Here are the highlights from today’s eSchoolNews article, “ED issues rules on ed-tech stimulus funds.” My thoughts, comments, additions, paraphrases and clarifications are included [in brackets]. States can use up to 5% of funds for “state-level

(Read More…)

Learning, memory, stories, and books to read

Two new book recommendations worth noting from Ric Murry in his post, “Why Don’t Students Like School (ch. 3).” I’ve added both to my Amazon Wish List. (Hint to all you wealthy benefactors out there, my birthday is next month on the 20th. ) First, “The Back of the Napkin” by Dan Roam. Second, “Made

(Read More…)

Podcast319: Integrating Podcasting into the Classroom Using Moodle by Dean Mantz and Brian Richter (PodStock2009)

This podcast is a recording of Dean Mantz and Brian Richter’s presentation on May 2, 2009, at the PodStock 2009 conference titled, “Integrating Podcasting into the Classroom Using Moodle.” The session description was: How you use podcasting in the classroom-Integrating them into the class using moodle. This will include a quick lesson on how to

(Read More…)

© Creative Commons License