Reflections on Teaching

Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages Through Our Student’s Eyes » Blog Archive » Discipline gone by the wayside?

• Tom Turner talks about the recent report making the rounds on getting rid of out of school suspensions. I share my own experiences with this. Tom talks about an important tool he used, engagement with technology.
  I’m going to focus on ego, and how that gets in the way. I think a lot of teachers (including myself occasionally) find themselves in showdowns with students that just won’t end up anywhere good. Sometimes, you need to be the adult which means not forcing your authority down their throat. I always liked one wags description of the character of Capt. Picard on Star Trek, TNG. He doesn’t take charge, he’s in charge. When you have that, you’re ready to be a teacher.
   - post by alicemercer

Dangerously Irrelevant: What makes administrators effective technology leaders?

• Scott McLeod asks if principals need to be tech savvy. Most people respond that a principal doesn’t need to know everything web 2.0, but they should have some grounding in the basics.
  I liked a comment from Scott Floyd about the idea of admins can delegate to more tech savvy staff (like a business executive). He dislikes business world analogies in education and feels that principals need to be more hands on because they aren’t handling widget, but real life human beings. That got me thinking (which could be dangerous).
   - post by alicemercer

Too much salt! : Educational Discourse

• Kelly Christopherson talks about that overwhelmed feeling one of his teachers got after a tech conference, and being helpful folks, everyone commented with some great ideas.
   - post by alicemercer

Reflections on Podcasting with My Class | ESL Technology

• Matt Horne and I continue our exchange about podcasting with our ELD/ESL students. This has been really fruitful for me in analyzing my classroom practice. Thanks Matt!
   - post by alicemercer