Diane's Discoveries

Are You An "Agent-of-Change"

Here's another insightful article by Anne Davis: EduBlog Insights » Blog Archive » Answering questions about being a change agent and change management in education.

Dismantle the No Child Left Behind Act

Anne Davis points to an excellent petition regarding the NCLB Act: EduBlog Insights � Blog Archive � A Petition Calling for the Dismantling of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Read Lani Ritter Hall’s post on No Child Left Behind–One Size Does Not fit All!.

Science Leadership Academy

Thanks to Will Richardson, I just followed his link to another terrific blog. At first I was just curious about the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, but going to the author's (Chris Lehmann's) blog, I started reading her previous blogs which I believe you will find insightful and useful. Investigate her blog; I guarantee you won't be sorry you took the time! Weblogg-ed � Science Leadership Academy Up Close and Personal.

"...Chris Lehmann at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia...Bottom line is that Chris is building a vibrant community of learners among both teachers and students that has a unique feeling in the world of public schools I’ve seen...And it’s really not about the technology as much as it is about the culture of learning that they are creating. Yes, every student has a laptop. And they have been working with Moodle and Elgg to build class sites and online portfolios. But what’s neat is that the students are taking real ownership over what happens at the school...

Cell Phones: the Next Computers?

Will Richardson's blog brings discussion to the future of cell phones: Weblogg-ed � One Phone Per Child (?).

New Ideas for Educational Conferences

As you can imagine, I'm always interested in what's happening at educational conferences, and Anne Davis has some interesting thoughts to share: EduBlog Insights � Blog Archive � Warm thank-you from K12 Online Conference organizers.

Time Magazine Article

David Warlick points us to a Time magazine article: 2 Cents Worth � How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century.

"...an upcoming cover article for Time Magazine.  It is available now, online. TIME.com: How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century — Dec. 18, 2006 — Page 1: For the past five years, the national conversation on education has focused on reading scores, math tests and closing the “achievement gap” between social classes. This is not a story about that conversation. This is a story about the big public conversation the nation is not having about education, the one that will ultimately determine not merely whether some fraction of our children get “left behind” but also whether an entire generation of kids will fail to make the grade in the global economy because they can’t think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad or speak a language other than English.

This is a great article, if only that it validates what most of us have been saying for years.  This simply says it more loudly and to more people — and probably more eloquently.  Read it!"

Video Games and Education

If you haven't read David Warlick's "2 Cents Worth" blog recently, here's a link you will find interesting about "Video Games and Education": 2 Cents Worth » You Don’t Have to be a Gamer.

Follow-up to Building Bridges

In December, Konrad Glogowski followed up his October post about Building Bridges: blog of proximal development � Blog Archive � Students Reflect on Group Work.

When I posted my two entries on group work some time ago, I had no idea that this issue would follow me around for such a long time. It seems that wherever I turn, someone or something reminds me of advantages or disadvantages of group work. I’m not complaining - these are excellent opportunities for further reflection.

A couple of days ago, for example, I received a memo issued by administration at my school in order to “make sure that everyone is on the same page” and ensure that there is consistency on some key curriculum and administrative matters. The memo addresses study hall, homework, student absenteeism, and group work. In short, some pretty mundane and uninspiring issues. The section on group work, however, caught my attention:

'Please remember to assign and vary the partners in group work. Through speaking with parents and children, we have found that partner and group work is a very sensitive issue. To use their words, some students feel that they are “left out,” “stuck with,” or “looked past” during group work. Many of these kids have other social stresses to deal with. Can we all please make every effort to alleviate this stress during class time?'

Wait. There’s more. Last week, I received an e-mail from Jessica, my former student. She graduated in June and is now attending high school. Jessica was one of the participants in my doctoral research study. She found this blog a couple of months ago and has been visiting it regularly. In her e-mail, she offered her own response to my recent entry on groups:

'Hey Mr. G!
[…] I am reading Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden right now. GREAT book, by the way.
I was thinking, yesterday, about what you wrote on Sunday about groups in class. Right now, I am working on a project with three of my classmates in English. we are reading a short story, analyzing it and making a presentation to the class about that the themes are and things like that. I have found so far, that the kids I am working with are, to be frank, taking over, but total slackers, if that makes sense. The three of them tell each other what to do and how to do it, but none of them want to take charge and do the work - they just want to tell people what to do. So yesterday, I said to them that they should take some responsibility and do some work themselves and not end up dumping it all on me. I got, to my surprise, a very understanding answer. They agreed that it was unfair to argue with each other and end up giving me the work, and that they will go home this weekend and finish their different parts of the presentation. This is exactly what you said in They Begin To Build Bridges. In some cases, there are kids who are dominant, but not necessarily more competent than the others who take control and demand that they have it their way. Other times, it’s the kids who are dominant AND more competent than the others who messes it up for the whole group. It ends up being that one person who does the project and the others get credit for it, but I know teacher;s aren’t stupid. You even said yourself last year that you can tell when it’s just one person’s work.'

Building Bridges

Konrad Glogowski doesn't post in his blog often, but when he does it's so very thoughtful, i.e., this was posted in October (yes, I know, I haven't been actively posting in my blog either!) This is just a partial post; you need to go to his blog for all the information: blog of proximal development � Blog Archive � They Begin to Build Bridges.

"We have started a long novel study unit and the students will soon have to start working on major unit projects. The idea is to give them the freedom to explore the novel on their own, to make connections between the novel and any current or historical events, and to spend some time becoming an expert who will then present a specific aspect of the novel to the whole class. The question I am considering, though, is whether to make this an individual project or a group one. I think I understand the advantages and disadvantages of both but, as my previous post makes very clear, I am deeply suspicious of groups. I understand that we are social animals, that students need to learn to work collaboratively, that ideas grow when minds work together, and that team work is a highly prized skill out there in the “real world.” Yet, at the same time, I know that more often than not, when students work in groups many individual voices are subordinated to the dominant voice of the group."...

This post has several comments from others making for interesting reading.

The New Face of Learning

Oh, My! This is an excellent article by Will Richardson in the online magazine, Edutopia:

Link: The New Face of Learning.

WHAT HAPPENS TO TIME-WORN CONCEPTS OF CLASSROOMS AND TEACHING WHEN WE CAN NOW GO ONLINE AND LEARN ANYTHING, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME? By Will Richardson