Here is one that I just love: 8 Awesome Education Infographics for Teachers
These are a couple of my favorites
Inspire Creativity:
27 Ways to Increase Participation:
Now this is interesting. We know 3M and Google does it, but now there's an argument to use "20 Percent Time" in the classroom. I think our move to 1:1 will make this a real possibility.
It's already made me more apt to try and take advantage of new technology to improve my lessons.
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And whoever said Twitter is all just about gossip?
I just received this link from a former student of mine. He said I should think about using it with my College Comp 2 class next year. Way to model being a 21st century digital citizen!
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Here is an interesting article on the always controversial topic: measuring teacher effectiveness.
This article is a summary of a massive 45 million dollar, three year study funded by the Gates Foundation. They used three different measures to gauge teacher effectiveness: test scores, observations by "trained" observers, and student feedback.
That sounds a lot like what the state has in mind in two years to use to gauge teacher effectiveness. And as it stands - I'm totally fine with that.
First, the test scores. Now I think we do way too much testing as it stands. Do we need to really use so many NWEA tests when a fraction of our teachers (at least at the high school) use any of that data at all?
I'm certainly no fan of over testing our kids, but some testing is fine. And even vital.
Here's an irony - I hate the BST writing test. I think it encourages average, thesis/support writing. If you don't believe me, look at the state samples for adequate prompts. Any essay four or above is a highly skilled personal narrative. Not a basic five paragraph theme.
Yet, when I taught Comp 9 (the class that - in part - preps our kids for the BST - and to be fair - the class also gives our freshmen a wealth of writing experiences), I was always proud of how many of my kids passed the test. So on one hand I bash the test, but as soon as I have students pass the test, I'm gloating.
The same is true for the MN reading test too.
Irony.
So I'm not discounting tests. I just think we should have fewer of them. It would be also great if we could get the scores back in a much timelier fashion.
Second, trained observers. Our history department has already started observing each other. I think this is a great concept. But the difficult part will be offering criticism. And the even more difficult part will be how to take that criticism and do something positive with it.
Now, I've said this many times. I'm sure any one can walk into my room and watch me for one block and come up with half a dozen things I could do tomorrow to be a better teacher (start each block more effectively, ask better questions, foster deeper discussions, and close the lesson with a better task or assignment).
I really like the idea of teachers observing other teachers. But the problem is this - who's going to do it? If you select your "master" teachers, I am worried. If they are "masters," why take them out of their classrooms? Let them teach.
So who's left? Outsiders? I don't like that idea.
Training other teachers to do it? Fine. But the training better be sold to the staff. So they legitimately buy in to this process or it's all for nothing.
Finally, student feedback. Without a doubt this is the feedback I'm most comfortable with and support the most.
Why?
Because I have already been subject to this for the past six years via my college in the high school classes. I've used it to improve. And I believe it highlights what the students find more helpful about my classes. So I get the best of both worlds here - I see what I need to improve on (usually giving less in-class work time and returning work more promptly) and I see what I need to keep doing (engaging students and giving them a variety of writing experiences).
In the article, the authors interview Thomas Kane, who oversaw the study. Here is his take on the big-picture conclusion of the study -
The most important finding was we learned that if you combine those measures, you can identify sets of teachers who cause greater student achievement to happen. And I use that word “cause” because in the second year of the study we randomly assigned classrooms [of students] to different teachers. We had measured teachers’ practice in the first year, when they were assigned to classrooms the usual way. From that we had an impression—based on the observations, student surveys, and achievement gains—of who the more effective and less effective teachers are. We said, let’s test those impressions by randomly assigning classrooms to both groups, and let’s see what happens. And what we learned was not only were there differences in achievement following random assignment, but the differences were similar to what we would have predicted based on data in the first year. Teachers do tend to be assigned different kinds of students, but it’s based largely on the students’ prior test scores, and that is something you can control for.
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Here is an interesting list - 10 mental traits of truly innovative leaders -
How many do you have?
Recognizing Patters
Predicting
Questioning
Coordinating
Mastering
Experimenting
Deciding
Networking
Persistence
Optimistic
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Here is another interesting list and one that goes along with my core belief about education today: 10 Ways to Teach Innovation.
The list is excellent. Here are my two personal favorites --
Reward discovery. Innovation is mightily discouraged by our system of assessment, which rewards the mastery of known information. Step up the reward system by using rubrics with a blank column to acknowledge and reward innovation and creativity. I call it the Breakthrough column. All of the rubrics on the PBL Tools section of my website have a breakthrough column.
Be innovative yourself. This is the kicker, because innovation requires the willingness to fail, a focus on fuzzy outcomes rather than standardized measures, and the bravery to resist the system’s emphasis on strict accountability. But the reward is a kind of liberating creativity that makes teaching exciting and fun, engages students, and—most critical—helps students find the passion and resources necessary to design a better life for themselves and others.
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Thanks to Twitter, Sir Ken shared this link himself. Here he is on the Charlie Rose show talking about his sequel to The Element.
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And finally, this is awesome? 30+ Ways Teachers Can Use Pinterest.
It's hard to estimate just how much Twitter and Pinterest have impacted me as a teacher. But it is certainly far more than an PD training I've done or much of my undergrad education coursework. That's for sure!
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