http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach A "teacher to go" blogs about teaching, technology, and education in general Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:56:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As a teacher, I am thankful for: An orphaned pack of construction paper discovered at the back of the cupboard -- unfaded! A parent who asks, “What can I do to help?” Free online tools without a “what’s popular” button, Friday nights, Going home on empty-tote-bag ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/11/18/a-teachers-thanks/ As Thanksgiving approaches, I thought it appropriate to talk about the blessings of educational technology for which we should all be thankful. I talked with several teachers this week about what concerns them most as they plan a technology-infused activity or project with their students. As part of an OK2Ask online ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/11/13/barriers-and-blessings-a-bionic-humpty-dumpty-story/ For the past 18 months or so, I have been a big fan of a certain web 2.0 tool that allowed students to create online books that could be viewed interactively and shared by URL. In a big email push this past week, they revised their user agreement. I read ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/11/05/the-economy-strikes-again/ I am far behind at checking out all the good things in my Google Reader. This one is weeks old, but as I read it I hear myself let out a satisfied "Mmmmm" as if I were eating a chocolate truffle:  "Schools Adopt Art as a Building Block of Education." ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/10/30/mmmmm-art/ Relationships. Chad Sansing writes a great post about the value of relationships in the classroom. Even the links are a good read. Isn't that the point: the links are as important as what is said. The links are person to person, person to thoughts, person to words. Chad underscores the ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/10/08/hot-marshmallows/ Have you ever found pieces from two different jigsaw puzzles that actually fit together, one a blue piece of a geometric design and one a scrap of sky from an entirely different puzzle box, yet surprisingly an appropriate "match"?  Two posts from separate feeds in my Google Reader today interlock ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/10/01/thinking-aloud-allowed/ In today's data-driven life, everyone wants a way to measure (and perhaps pay) a good teacher.  Parents have always wanted a way to "know who the good teachers are." Administrators want a way to put a quantitative label on what they know (?) is happening in their schools. But ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/09/17/good-teachers-worry-deep/ More education happens over warm Diet Coke, cold coffee, and chocolate than the experts ever realized.  A recent study, discussed in this Edweek article [I hope this is the correct link for the free access version], demonstrates the positive effect that "top notch" teachers have on peers, especially in informal, ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/09/04/sharing-the-chocolate-of-teaching-and-learning/ In honor of the first week of school, I am rewinding to the days when I worked to meet the needs of individual kids instead of masses of teachers. Scott McLeod posted yesterday about a teacher desperately seeking a reading "program" for what I call a "severely and profoundly gifted" ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/08/28/severely-and-profoundly/ For those of us accustomed to being told when to talk, walk, eat, and even go to the bathroom (in 41 minute increments with 3 minutes between), the shift in culture between our familiar schoolworld and the broader e-world is as difficult as right-brain/left brain shift. Forget the digital native/immigrant ... http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/2009/08/20/altering-time-and-space-thinking-counterclickwise/