praxis effect

Photo

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:31:58 -0400

These are but two graphs on Bill Moyer’s What Matters...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:38:01 -0400

These are but two graphs on Bill Moyer’s What Matters Today blog. The post they are pulled from, “Two America’s, Then and Now” paints a picture that reveals how very much alive inequality is today.

A comment on a recent NYTimes teacher piece

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:10:45 -0400

I searched through NYTimes’ archive of medical / law / finance / congressional / military reform articles looking for pieces that fail to quote a doctor / lawyer / banker / policy-maker / enlisted soldier, and I found zero. Yet, here is an article — printed above the fold on the front page of the Sunday Times — about teachers, teacher evaluation, and education reform that quotes not a single teacher.

While this has been par for the course in policy circles and lesser publications, the perpetuation of this trend in a publication of the Times’ gravitas has become routinely disappointing.

One of the first rules of managing change is to enlist, engage, and involve vested parties, especially those for whom the change impacts the most. A shared vision and buy-in are key to implementation that lasts. However, before either of those can be realized, we must ensure that teachers are actually a part of the visioning and, at a minimum, a part of the conversation.

The Times can be a part of this solution by simply doing what they typically do well: quality journalism. When you write about K-12 education, quote a K-12 educator, just as you do when it comes to other professions.

Smoothies For the Brain Newsletter Sign up

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:58:40 -0500

Smoothies For the Brain Newsletter Sign up:

Get interesting articles and resources to help you in the classroom and in your work with students, especially those who can sometimes vex and challenge us. From the good folks at NEARI Press.

Super high resolution image of Jupiter (from 1979)....

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:49:17 -0500

Super high resolution image of Jupiter (from 1979). Amazing.

via The Planetary Society via NASA via Voyager via Rocket Scientists via Old School STEM education via JFK’s vision and challenge via Russia’s space trump

Edu-blog Nominations

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:39:49 -0500

Best Group blog: Ecology of Education — Insightful posts on a range of edu-topics by big thinkers.

Individual Tweeter: @EdReformPR — Sarcastic, humorous, clever, and occasionally ridiculous.

Administrator Blog: A Space for Learning by @PamMoran — Intelligent, progressive, steeped in the space between pedagogical theory and practical application.

Best Open PD: Global Education Conference — The global reach connects educators and thinkers from around the world, empowering them through collaboration and networking.

Lifetime Achievement: @DianeRavitch — Having dedicated enough time to education to see the fruits of her efforts and then to have the courage to stand against the very reforms she championed has made her a model for reflective learning. Her work continues to influence on a broad scale.

Free Web Tool: Learner Sketch Tool — Empowering learners of all ages to better understand and leverage their own learner profiles to meet their goals. Increases metacognition and gives teachers and students a starting point for dialoguing about authentic personalized learning.

12 Brain Rules

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 10:36:06 -0500

Below are the 12 Brain Rules developed by John Medina. You can find the original list in his book “Brain Rules” and on his Brain Rules website.

EXERCISE | Rule #1: Exercise boosts brain power.
SURVIVAL | Rule #2: The human brain evolved, too.
WIRING | Rule #3: Every brain is wired differently.
ATTENTION | Rule #4: We don’t pay attention to boring things.
SHORT-TERM MEMORY | Rule #5: Repeat to remember.
LONG-TERM MEMORY | Rule #6: Remember to repeat.
SLEEP | Rule #7: Sleep well, think well.
STRESS | Rule #8: Stressed brains don’t learn the same way.
SENSORY INTEGRATION | Rule #9: Stimulate more of the senses.
VISION | Rule #10: Vision trumps all other senses.
GENDER | Rule #11: Male and female brains are different.
EXPLORATION | Rule #12: We are powerful and natural explorers.

Teaching Metacognition (A Short Resource List)

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 23:00:26 -0500

A short list of metacognitive resources for educators.

Metacognitive Strategies for Reading Comprehension - The Educator’s PLN

How the Internet is Shaping Our “Global Brain” - Tiffany Shlain - Harvard Business Review

Metacognition - BrainFacts.org

BRAIN POWER: From Neurons to Networks - YouTube

Teaching Metacognition: The Value of Thinking About Thinking

Teaching Metacognition

‎net.educause.edu/upload/presentations/ELI081/FS03/Metacognition-ELI.pdf

‎aaalab.stanford.edu/papers/Teacher_metacognition.pdf

CAL: Digests:The Role of Metacognition in Second Language Teaching and Learning

Impoverished Early Childhood & PBS

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:34:25 -0400

Let’s just be clear for a second: Millions of children living below the poverty line have NO access to quality early childcare to nurture their minds. They enter school already well behind their more affluent peers.

That deficit is minimized (not solved, just lessened) by the quality of PBS programming, Sesame Street as the flagship. You can’t talk equal access to education (and by proxy equity and equality — read as social justice) without addressing this key Experience Gap.

Cutting PBS is paramount to cutting the lifeline to some meager amount of early childhood education for millions of impoverished children across this nation of ours. At a scant 0.012% of the federal budget, it is well worth the cost. We should be outraged at the hypocrisy of anyone talking about education without acknowledging the vital importance of the earliest years.

PBS is working to fill that gap. What are we doing?

Parent/Teacher Influence on Student Achievement

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 21:52:56 -0400

Below are some links for those interested in research related to the difference between parent and teacher influence on student achievement.

1. From “Education News” on a UK study released this year

2. Paper from Phi Delta Kappa’s Summit on Public Education

3. Review of literature from Association for Middle Level Education

4. Literature Review from the London Centre for Leadership in Learning

BREAKING: Teacher's Mo Kicks Cancer's Arse

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:31:00 -0500

Greetings from the last week of MOVEMBER!

You may have noticed the fine mane of manliness growing upon my upper lip and down my cheeks - my Mo, as the mustache is affectionately called in Australia. (If not, I’ve included two images from Day 25 for your amusement.)

Why, might you ask, have I, along with two buddies, taken my ordinary face and turned it into something extraordinarily *manly* and ruggedly ridiculous? I’m glad you asked.

To change the face of men’s health — specifically to raise awareness about men’s health issues and to raise money to fight cancers that affect men. Just as the pink ribbon has raised awareness about breast cancer, the Movember mustache promotes healthy living among us men — to help us fight back against something that has affected us all.

We all know people we care deeply about who have fought or are fighting cancer. As a result, we’ve all felt the same helplessness watching people we love struggle against a shapeless and relentless foe. Now, with mustache on face, I can do my part, however small (and comical), to fight back. My MOtivation this year is my Uncle Al, who used to rock a sweet horseshoe Mo back in the day.

This Movember over 1 million mo-bro’s and mo-sista’s are participating around the globe! (The sisters are participating in support — most are not actually taking part in the hair growth, I hope.)

You can help us kick cancer where it kicks men by donating to our team Mo Space page (TallyMo). Proceeds benefit Livestrong Foundation (Lance Armstrong’s cancer fighting foundation) & Prostate Cancer Foundation. (This link will take you directly to my donations page and this link will take you to the team’s donation page.)

Join us in raising money for a cause that affects us all. Not just because we are reminding everyone of why most of us don’t grow mustaches year round (see below picture for reminder), but because the fight against cancer isn’t fought on one front alone. Help us ensure that dads, husbands, brothers, sons, uncles, nephews and friends stay healthy and live long lives.

Please consider donating something — $1, $2, $489 — for those you love(d) who have fought, will fight, or are fighting cancer.

Thank you. Not only for making this ridiculous facial hair worth it, but for making a contribution that will help make a difference.

Photo

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:23:53 -0500

The problem with multiple choice tests. Read question 12 (real...

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:45:08 -0400

The problem with multiple choice tests.

Read question 12 (real question from a real test, issued to students).

None of the optional answers correspond with areas where trees are actually growing.

Therefore, a student may reason, “Maybe there’s a pollution problem with the island (or too rocky) and trees are not able to grow there. Perhaps the flood plain is regularly flooded and trees are not able to grow there because of the moisture variability. The base of the mountain may be an especially poor place for trees to grow due to frequent rock slides. And with climate change, the mountain top may be suitable habit for trees to grow as the area warms, especially since there are already a number of trees growing on the mountain.”

nprfreshair: This stunning 360 degree panorama of the night...

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:59:47 -0400

nprfreshair:

This stunning 360 degree panorama of the night sky was stitched together from 37,000 images by a first-time astrophotographer.

motherjones: Animation of Wave Propagation from the Japan...

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:33:18 -0500

motherjones:

Animation of Wave Propagation from the Japan Earthquake

Via NOAA’s Center for Tsunami Research

One of Dr. Seuss’s WWII propaganda cartoons supporting war...

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:20:00 -0500

One of Dr. Seuss’s WWII propaganda cartoons supporting war bonds to cage the Nazi beast.

Source: University of California

Just over a month away: Pie Day. Er, I mean, Pi Day.

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:07:34 -0500

Just over a month away: Pie Day. Er, I mean, Pi Day.

ollymoss: Star Wars My take on the original Star Wars Trilogy....

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:22:42 -0500

ollymoss:

Star Wars

My take on the original Star Wars Trilogy. Officially-licensed, limited edition 24x36” screen-printed posters available through Mondo Tees on Monday 20th December. A small number of signed artist-proofs will be available from me on Wednesday 23rd December.

ollymoss: I came up with this idea on the way to meet with the...

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:17:21 -0500

ollymoss:

I came up with this idea on the way to meet with the guys at Marvel, but didn’t show it to them (for obvious reasons).

The Sesame Six, a play on Fantastic Four #1. (From TeeFury)

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:36:04 -0500

The Sesame Six, a play on Fantastic Four #1. (From TeeFury)