Month: February 2012
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Changing the Pictures of the Classroom in Students’ Heads by John Nail
These are my notes from John Nail’s presentation, “Necessary Accountability for Individual Learning” on February 20, 2012, at a Yukon Public Schools professional development day. John is on the school board of Yukon Public Schools and is a home developer in Yukon. MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. John is publishing a book…
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Save and Transfer YouTube Videos to an iPad
(Cross-posted from iPadWithWes.com) Sometimes, to teach a class, its can be helpful to save a local, temporary copy of a YouTube video to your computer and transfer it to an iPad. Then the iPad can play the video from its “Photo Roll” without being connected to the Internet. This is especially helpful in places where…
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Where to Start with Technology Integration in Oklahoma?
I received an email recently from an Oklahoma teacher in a small, rural school district which just received their first classroom computers and needs help getting started with technology integration ideas. These were the five ideas I shared with her via email. What would you add to this list of suggestions? If you can, I’d…
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We’ve Only Just Begun (to share our voices with media in Yukon Schools)
On February 15, 2012, the Yukon Review newspaper shared the following photograph and article about my work this semester as an “innovative instructional coach” for Yukon Public Schools in Oklahoma. I am focused primarily on helping a group of fifteen teachers integrate multimedia into their curriculum as required by the new Common Core State Standards.…
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Student Storychasers Begin Work at Skyview Elementary in Yukon, Oklahoma
(cross-posted to Storychasers.org) On February 15, 2012, the Yukon Review newspaper shared the following photograph and caption about the first student Storychasers group starting at Skyview Elementary School in Yukon, Oklahoma. 3rd grade students are working with their principal, Carla Smith, to write articles about school news and record their articles as a “radio show.”…
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Think Differently and Support AutismOklahoma.org
Did you know 40% of children diagnosed with autism cannot speak? For reasons we don’t completely understand, the numbers of children in our society diagnosed with autism are on the rise. The following is a beautiful, powerful video scripted and created by AutismOklahoma.org. This was published at the end of last month on YouTube. It…
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Online Petition: Oklahoma City Public Schools Must Adopt Balanced Internet Content Filtering Policies
To acquire and practice literacy skills today, students and educators in Oklahoma City Public Schools require access to Evernote, Google Docs, Gmail, Edmodo, Posterous, Celebrate Oklahoma Voices, and other educationally appropriate, interactive websites. All these websites are currently (as of February 9, 2012) blocked by OKCPS for student access. OKCPS must stop its “draconian” and…
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5th Graders Develop Problem Solving Skills with Lego WeDo Robotics
(cross-posted from the Yukon Public Schools Learning Showcase website) Some 5th grade students at Lakeview Elementary School in Yukon Public Schools are developing their problem solving and computational thinking skills using Lego WeDo Robotics kits. On February 13, 2012, fifth graders Cade and Thomas used the graphical, icon-based programming environment of the Lego WeDo Robotic…
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A Response to the Alleged Consensus on America’s Failing Schools
This evening I started reading Terry Moe and John Chubb’s 2009 book, “Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education.” I’m familiar with Chubb and Moe mostly for their article, “America’s Public Schools: Choice IS a Panacea” included in the 1995 text, “Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Educational Issues” which I read…