'teacher research' Category
Anatomy of a Test Item
Three days with the Test Item Writer Workgroup in Fairbanks taught me something about test questions. We all know that asking questions and making tests is [part of] what a teacher does. But how many teachers have specific training for question-asking? I never had any. Even if classroom teachers don’t want to think too [...]
Tests, Genre and Empowerment
The case for teaching students about text genres has been made by critical educators for several years. Wendy Morgan, in Critical Literacy in the Classroom: The Art of the Possible, summarized the political rationale for explicit teaching about text genres by pointing out that genres are conventionalized means for accomplishing social purposes and
that students, [...]Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing
I had the privilege today of being invited to participate in an exercise of power that few teachers will ever experience.
Kids Voting
We’re having our municipal elections tomorrow and the kids are being encouraged to participate through a program sponsored by the school district and Kids Voting. I had the experience today of helping the fourth graders learn how to vote online. I knew this was going to be a stretch for a lot of them because [...]
Cookbook Education
Inquire Within, by Douglas Llewellyn is an introduction to inquiry-based science education. I’m reading it for a course I’m taking with the Alaska Science Consortium. The book provides background information on what inquiry is - and isn’t, and what it might look like in a science classroom. Llewellyn used the term cookbook science as a [...]
The World as Curriculum
I borrowed the title for this entry from a quote I referenced in my last post. It fits here because I’m mired in a problem evaluating whether to go it alone with something that I have next to no experience with - leaky faucets - or paying for expert help.
According to situated learning theory, [...]Etienne Wenger
Serendipitous discovery: I was eating lunch at my desk while the kiddos were out in the schoolyard. I was surfing through some blogmarks I’ve got on the work computer when I saw Learning, Technology and Collaboration: A Journey of the Self on Stepen Downes’ site. I’m always interested in ‘journeys of the self’ since I [...]
Learning and Community
George Siemens, at the Connectivism Blog wrote a thought-provoking post called Meaning-Making. The questions George is asking about where meaning comes from and how it happens address the magic part of teaching. George is developing a definition of learning - a goal that’s imperative for any of us who envision a future for education that [...]
Blogs and Genre
One of the things that I’ve noticed about blogging is that many different types of writing seem to have emerged as millions of people have begun to participate in this social practice. It seems to me that the initial wave of bloggers may have set a tone, but have certainly not defined blogging once and [...]
Transparent Teaching: Wiki as Lesson Planner
Tomorrow is the first student contact day for the school year. I’m sitting at my desk and wondering what I’m going to do with all of the eager energy that’s about to walk through the door. I wonder, “What do I usually do?” Good question. Then I wonder, “Why do I have to ask [...]
