All Blog Posts Tagged 'teaching' (111)

A week ago my knowledge of the education system of Finland was, to be honest,  almost non-existent.   I knew that they were consistently ranked number one of all “Western” countries in PISA testing but had no idea how they did it.  Then, last weekend, I attended a keynote address by Professor Teemu Leinonen, Professor of New Media Design and Learning at the Media Lab of…

It is common when blogging  to re-post video that is current, up to date, modern.  I’m breaking with that trend on this post by linking to a clip dating from 1960.

 Marshall McLuhan was a key thinker in the early days of electric  media – when television and radio were emerging forces.  He achieved near guru status with his concept of “The Global Village”.   The…

If mathematics has a poster boy it is – or at least should be – Dan Meyer.  Meyer is something of a rarity in the field of public discussion of mathematics; he is not an academic, he is not an  educational administrator,  he is a teacher -  someone who works in real classrooms with real students with real mathematics.    It is this “real world” context that makes him worth listening to – and which provides the grounding for his instruction.

Meyer is an advocate of authentic…

Originally posted on The Freshman Transition Network.

Are you required to create formal growth objectives for next year?  Or are you simply interested in finding new ways to grow professionally regardless of whether or not you are required to have formal objectives?  Would you like to reach more effectively your most needy students?  Do you hope to have a lasting impact in the lives of the young people you…

I’ve been reading a lot of assignments of late to do with literacy generally and the “literacy wars” in particular.   Perhaps predictably the students fall comfortably into the “phonics” or “whole language” camps – few have made the accurate observation that both approaches co-exist in the classrooms of effective teachers.   Some have stretched a little further to include…

We live in an era of bells and whistles and razzmatazz, the 30 second sound bite, flash animations and “edutainment”.   For a message to “hit home” it has to be delivered with all the “bells and whistles” that are possible. Right?  Wrong.



Educational consultant Alan November proves that powerful thoughts, spoken softly in the most traditional manner of all - a teacher in front of some students with only some slides (still images) to help him, can be riveting.…

It’s Easter.   I’m sitting with my coffee with an Easter egg, enjoying the delicious blending of coffee and chocolate while reading, with considerable pleasure it has to be said, some fascinating traffic on the blogs around the world – many of them debating the merits or otherwise of the Khan Academy and the recent speech at TED by the Academy’s founder Salman Khan.   Then…

I just started reading the book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath which is about why some ideas take off and others don’t. It’s actually blowing me away. The thought of making an idea stick is not just for advertising people but it should be on the minds of anyone trying to get a point across. For example if you are a teacher presenting to students or a student doing a presentation, an entrepreneur selling a new concept or trying to…

With the iPad2 on the launching pad, it’s a great time to share this list of useful iPad apps for teachers from guest writer Paula Dierkens.

There’s no doubt that the iPad is an excellent device, and if you own this gadget, it makes sense to pick up the applications best suited to your lifestyle and profession. So if you’re a teacher, here are ten great iPad apps that you must try…

I remember when I joined the university about 17 years ago (it feels like only yesterday!) I was given the task of handling a laboratory class. I already had some experiences as a graduate assistant during my time as a Ph.D. student so it was not very difficult. I think I did quite a good job designing new experiments, interacting with the students and helping them with the experiment and marking the lab report. During the first few months, I had to attend induction courses including one or…

I've been trying to land a job with KC Distance Learning for over a year. My interest in online education began three years ago, when I chose to homeschool my oldest child who had recently been given an IEP and was still not doing so hot in the classroom. Since I was a teacher and had just recently left my position due to a relocation, I was jobless and needing a focus. I decided to take on the education of my own child and after careful research into the world of homeschool curriculum I…

With the Thanksgiving season fast approaching many teachers are developing lessons about both the holiday and how the Pilgrims established their settlements in Plymouth. There are numerous websites with information to help with this - here are the ones we rate as our 'Top Three'.

Teachers of younger students will appreciate…

Togetherville.com is a kid-focused social platform built on three core tenets: education, entertainment and expression.

In addition to providing kids with a way to share their thoughts and concerns about their education, Togetherville has partnered with DonorsChoose.org to give kids a chance to show their school pride, join the discussion on education and give their school a chance to win…