As a teacher collaboration is a term that is often used to describe when teachers meet together. However, collaboration isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about relationships between teachers and their students. When looking at …
Back in my first year as a middle school science teacher, I asked experienced colleagues, “When will I know what I am doing as a teacher?” One said it would be at least three years. Another forecasted five. Well, I am approaching the end of my fifth year, and I have come to know what … Continue reading “Boost your professional learning network with Twitter chats”
What happens when you allow two people with seemingly different backgrounds to work together? Great collaboration! This is true of a program co-sponsored by the Center for Educational Equity and Big Brother/ Big Sister that paired 9-14 year old girls with adult women to learn about computers. The little and big sisters would meet to … Continue reading Co-learning, Co-teaching, and Cogenerative Dialogues to Improve Learning and Teaching Outcomes
For my current course (Teaching, Learning, and Assessment II) in my Digital Education Leadership Program at Seattle Pacific University, we are looking at the ISTE Standards for Educators. These standards are fairly new, having been “refreshed” in 2017. For this first module in this course, we are looking at Standard 4 – Collaborator: Educators […]
Collaboration. It’s one of the biggest buzzwords in education, and when done properly can take your teaching to the next level. The problem is that time is not something teachers have a lot of. What tools exist for asynchronous collaboration that will actually make life easier while enhancing student learning? This was my guiding question […]
In a recent post, I explored the way faculty behavior—specifically in the form of modeling and collaboration in the classroom that enables students to co-construct knowledge—is a primary factor in connectivist learning. Here, I would like to address the subject of how an institution can … Continue readingCollaborative Professional Development as a Key to Sustainable Technology Integration
For our last post on ISTE Coaching Standard 4: Professional development and program evaluation, we’re thinking about what technology rich professional learning looks like, in the ideal. In my own typical fashion, I am generalizing the population to “learners” before thinking about the specifics of professional development (PD) for teachers. Ideally, an online learning community looks like … Continue reading “Engaged conversations: text-based vs. verbal (Module 5, ISTE-CS 4)”
Involving Many Stakeholders Like some of my colleagues in the Digital Education Leadership M.Ed. Program at Seattle Pacific University, this quarter has led me to think more broadly about professional development for teachers and specifically professional development through technology. Much of the learning this quarter has been new and valuable to me as a first … Continue reading “Regional Teacher Professional Learning and Technology – Module 5”
This year, our middle school has taken part in an amazing opportunity to pilot a new, web-based science curriculum that incorporates digital simulations and hands-on learning experiences in an immersive learning environment. As a school, we are teaching the curriculum with as much fidelity as possible in order to be able to provide useful feedback … Continue reading “Individual Project Lesson: Modeling and Understanding Chemical Reactions in Middle School Science”
Blogging as a practice shows great potential for students and teachers to redefine science classrooms. When implemented thoughtfully, blogs can empower students and expand the classroom through interactions with outside learning communities. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards call for 21st century science students to be creative communicators and global collaborators, and … Continue reading “Redefine Your Middle School Science Classroom with Blogging”
