I’ve been a little obsessed with Corwin’s Visible Learning MetaX since Matthew Mays shared it at a conference last month. I’ve been skeptical of Hattie’s work in the past, and to some extent, I still am. Recall that Hattie’s work centers around distilling all of the research around education, and analyzing meta-analyses to draw conclusions about what works in education. When you keep summarizing and … Continue reading What Should We Stop Doing?
Years ago, my elementary schools were very fond of Accelerated Reader. Students would read a book from the Accelerated Reader list, and then take an online quiz that measured reading comprehension. If they passed the quiz, they were awarded points for reading the book. When they reached certain levels, they received certificates, awards, and other prizes. This was much easier to manage than reading logs … Continue reading What Do Grades Mean?
Remember 21st Century Skills? Back at the turn of the century, we were all abuzz about the needs of our students as we moved into the new millennium. We knew we had moved from an industrial society to a service economy, and we were transitioning into the information age. We knew that schools had to adapt. And we had some pretty good ideas on what … Continue reading Blended Hybrid
“I saw student choice. The kids were writing their own songs. It was definitely DOK-4.” We were debriefing an instructional rounds experience after observing a fourth grade music class. The teacher-observer was pretty insistent that this was engaged, student-directed learning that required students to employ extended thinking skills to create something new. “The students were all doing the same thing. The teacher walked them through … Continue reading The Starting Point
It’s 8:30 on a Saturday morning, and I’m sitting in a rapidly filling high school cafeteria in Philadelphia. As I look around, a see a few familiar faces, and even more familiar names. But for the most part, these are strangers. They’re not part of my world. They’re from urban schools. Charter schools. Parochial schools. Private schools. They’re teachers. Integration specialists. School leaders. Professors. Students. … Continue reading A Common Purpose
The two-week break in the #change11 MOOC has given me an opportunity to catch up a bit, and to reflect on the experience so far. It’s now sixteen weeks since the start of the course, which has included thirteen weeks of content, a week of introduction, and a two-week winter break. According to Stephen Downes, the course has 2,000 registered participants. The course web site … Continue reading What’s not to MOOC?
Taste of Tech 