Moving to Excellent

Over the course of the year, we have talked about providing the time and space to allow students to create and perform at an excellent level. This philosophy was built on the ideas of Ron Berger, and his book Ethic of Excellence. This video provides a great example of what we can learn from the precision of the fine arts, and how we should be striving for this type of excellence in all classes. Passion-driven education only works when students are able to be proud of their excellent work that stems from pursuing their passion. We all need to see the fruits of our labor.

Five for Friday- Links and Resources

While listening to a podcast on the way to Florida, I stumbled on this phrase that really pushed my thinking about taking risks for kids when we know that we can't totally invest in all 150 kids as deeply as we would like.

"Do for one which you wish you could do for everyone."

Seems like a great place to turn for increasing the blended learning model in our classrooms.

Academic Earth is extensive video library that lets students (and adults) take video courses from the worlds top scholars all in one place…for free! The mission of Academic Earth is to give everyone access to a world class education. Subjects covered by Academic Earth include art, architecture, astronomy, biology, business, chemistry, computer science, economics, education, electrical engineering, engineering, entrepreneurship, environmental studies, history, international relations, law, literature, mathematics, media studies, medicine and health care, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, religious studies, test prep, and writing.

Need to learn some technology, looking for new ways to integrate. How about this great site?

http://teachertrainingvideos.com/

Incredible TED talk about the digital world that our kids live in, and how it needs to impact education now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8djV8slDN0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Another great educational TED talk entitled teaching Jetson Children in Flintstone Schools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvqy0CAMdCM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This site is in beta stage, but it is a search engine for how-to education videos. It seems like a tremendous resource for our blended learning environment.
http://www.sophia.org/

Lead...Don't Manage

In these days of the fourth quarter when everyone is looking for ways to check things off the list and get things done, it is often a difficult time to lead as a principal. These are the times when new ideas and new conversations are lost in a wilderness of work. It is the perfect time though to watch a video like the one below to remember what is possible and to refocus our eyes onto "the basics" of education. Enjoy the brilliance of Sir Ken Robinson.

Five for Friday- Links and Resources

Ready to build your Professional Learning Network, read this....
http://weblogg-ed.com/2011/personal-learning-networks-an-excerpt/

Would anyone find it helpful to have technology integration resource page like this for our students, teachers, and parents?
http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/

As we get ready to redouble our training efforts in the area of cooperative learning, it is worth noting that cooperative learning is truly a research-based strategy for growing students. See link.
http://ht.ly/1bPxap

Defining Moments is approaching....great collection of digital storytelling resources
http://cybraryman.com/digitalstory.html

Being one of the only 1:1 schools in the area can be lonely. What can we learn from Maine and their work as a state in this area?
http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1785

Get in the Game

This is the type of citizenship that I would like to build in my students. I hope that our April 13, school-wide service project is one step in this direction. Enjoy this short motivational TED talk that speaks about being an everyday hero.

Five for Friday- Links and Ideas

Incredible Data Sets for Social Issues....
This site makes data come to life for kids.
http://measureofamerica.org/maps/?area=Districts&race=All&sex=All&year=Year2010&index=HealthIndex

This site looks at the education data in an easy to use way....
http://www.wikieddata.com/home

TED Talks for just Education is launched; which one of our students will be the first to have their own TED talk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzQ-r5ifusc&feature=player_embedded

Spent is a social justice game simulation that helps students understand the tough circumstances that so many face that have caused them to be homeless and in need of outside assistance. The game uses scenarios that are true to life and shows students how each decision that they make has consequences. Spent would be a great game for students to play in an economics or social studies class.

This seems like a great enrichment project for our top learners.
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/03/new-student-video-contest-hosted-by.html

How to Create Less Time for Me- TED-ED