One of the biggest reasons I enjoy using Twitter is it enables me to connect with educators from all around the world. Additionally, Twitter has proven to be an efficient and effective platform to discuss pressing educational issues. Unfortunately, most…
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Added by Justin Tarte on February 6, 2011 at 6:58am —
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A couple weeks I decided to do something most educators would never dream of doing. I gave all 140 of my German students the opportunity to assess me. I explained to my students that the assessment was 100% anonymous, and the most…
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Added by Justin Tarte on February 2, 2011 at 9:30am —
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6 Solutions to the Most Common Teacher Problems...
Last week we had our third professional development day at Seckman High School. As a PD representative, I had the opportunity to lead two PD sessions. The format of my sessions was to…
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Added by Justin Tarte on January 31, 2011 at 6:11am —
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5 Ways to Empower Your Students...
Here are 5 concrete examples of how I am empowering my German 2 and 3 students. I was inspired to write this post after reading a great post by Chris Wejr (…
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Added by Justin Tarte on January 24, 2011 at 6:47am —
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5 reasons educators should start reading blogs:
1) - Blogs are the heart of learning and sharing... If you are an idea and inspiration junkie like myself, then you will find blogs to be extremely beneficial. Educators of all ages and backgrounds are bringing their ideas, reflections and experiences to one convenient location; their blog.…
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Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:39am —
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I recently made some big changes in my German classes. I have been contemplating these changes for a while now, so please don't assume I made these changes without thoughtful consideration. My focus has transitioned to having my students show what they have learned, instead of simply assessing them on what they are willing to do. It bothers me when I see students who have a high level of content mastery, but yet have a low grade. Likewise, I see misrepresentation…
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Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:36am —
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Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:32am —
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Oh, Thanksgiving. Time for all those F’s we love: Food, football
and...family. Okay, some of those things we love more than others.
I have had many discussions over
the years with one of my fellow educators about people; people that we
enjoy and those we don’t. Recently, we… Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on November 21, 2010 at 8:09pm —
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Several great and interesting things happened to me this week:
1) -
On Wednesday I attended my 2nd #ecosys chat: If you have
never taken part in the #ecosys chat, I strongly urge you to check it
out. The #ecosys chat has a new topic every week similar to other
Twitter chats, however this chat centers around education reform and the
interconnectedness of society and its impact on education. As the…
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Added by Justin Tarte on November 21, 2010 at 8:04pm —
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This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the EdcampKC technology conference in Kansas City, MO. This was my first
"unconference," which basically means the entire conference was
participant-driven and each session was presented by someone who was
actually attending the conference. There was a big board set up in the
main room, and before the conference officially started any person
interested in presenting was able to…
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Added by Justin Tarte on November 9, 2010 at 7:13pm —
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I experienced two very important things recently:
1) - If you ask, you shall receive...
Last week I asked 5 students to answer 5 questions related to
education. The questions have nothing to do with my class content, nor
will the students receive anything for completing the 5 questions. I
simply asked 5 of my students to give me their opinion and feedback on
certain education related issues. The…
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Added by Justin Tarte on October 29, 2010 at 8:12pm —
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This past week at school has been particularly busy, and unfortunately this means not getting to spend a lot of time with my two favorite
girls. Coming home from meetings, training sessions, and classes late
at night are all the perfect ingredients for an exhausted and mentally
drained educator. We all have experienced work weeks like this...work
weeks that never seem to end and never seem to give you a moments…
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Added by Justin Tarte on October 17, 2010 at 1:58pm —
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The path to growth and development can be ugly at times. Educators are part of a world that is continually changing and evolving, and as such
we are forced to take a leap, and at times take a leap when we are not
ready. Going through all my undergraduate classes at Mizzou we were
always told how rewarding and fantastic the field of education is, and
from where I sit right now I could not agree more. So...the big
question…
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Added by Justin Tarte on October 10, 2010 at 8:05pm —
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I watched this video on TED: Ideas worth spreading (which I highly recommend)
http://www.ted.com/,
and I have to say I was really intrigued by the topic. Every day at
school I get the opportunity to see students growing and
developing...some more than others, and some not enough. However
inconsistent their growth may be, one thing is for certain...the growth
and development of children can be summed up in one word - amazing! If
we…
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Added by Justin Tarte on September 22, 2010 at 5:35am —
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My first official working day at school was today...I witnessed ups and downs, heard screams of joy, and whirlpools of pessimism and
discontent. As I thought more about the "happy" people, and the not so
happy people, I decided to concentrate on why the "happy" people were
happy. I soon realized there seemed to be a couple underlying factors
that lead to their happiness / enthusiasm toward the new school year.
I have to…
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Added by Justin Tarte on August 16, 2010 at 4:47pm —
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Last night as I was sitting in my doctoral class I was reminded why I thoroughly enjoy the cohort format of educational leadership classes.
By no means am I the smartest, most intelligent or most knowledgeable
person in my class. To be honest, I would say I am probably closer
toward the bottom of the class in terms of my educational experiences
and knowledge. As weird as it might sound, I am completely okay with
being toward…
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Added by Justin Tarte on August 9, 2010 at 6:17am —
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Over the last several weeks I have had the opportunity to speak with several different people who are the
leaders/coordinators/directors/supervisors in their respective
departments within my school district. This opportunity has given me a
new found appreciation for the many intricacies of a large suburban
school district.
As a current classroom teacher I plan my lessons, go to school, teach
students, grade…
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Added by Justin Tarte on August 4, 2010 at 12:11pm —
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How often do you hear students complaining about a teacher who told them to put their cell phone away, or turn their iPod off? If your school
is anything like my school, then I am sure you hear this on a daily
basis. Integrating technology into the classroom has been a hot topic
over the last several years, and as our society continues to embrace new
technological advances, Education 2.0 will hopefully continue to…
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Added by Justin Tarte on August 4, 2010 at 12:07pm —
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