I had the opportunity to participate in a webinar through ASCD today. The topic was the “whole child”. This is a natural tenet for middle school educators, but it is interesting to see ASCD take on the issue. (You can check out the ASCD project through this link.) There were several interesting things about the webinar. There were about a dozen participants. We ranged geographically from California to New York. Our occupations ranged from State level administrators to Superintendents to Principals. It was an interesting way to discuss and share amongst people that wouldn’t have gotten together at all. It certainly was a different experience than a normal conference.
We had the opportunity to look over some of the documents and give feedback. The crux of the conversation formed around involving the community into the development of children. Part of this was focused around lobbying politicians, but most of it was very hands on about getting individuals in the community involved. This is something that is always easy in theory, but harder in practice. With everything else that is going on in school right now, this is one more “ball to throw into the air”. However, it is very important that we remember that kids are more than test scores. Please don’t misconstrue that statement. Academics is extremely important. Test scores are crucial. All kids need to achieve to high scores. However, schooling should also be about even more than that. Not at the expense of academics, but in addition.

We’re now on Podcast Alley!

Well, it’s summer. A time for rejuvenation. A time for reading. Up first for me was “Results Now” by Mike Schmoker. A very good read. It really re-energizes and points out that it’s time for the isolation of teaching (education) to end. And I guess that is a big part of our premise here. This is one more attempt to break down the barriers of isolation and provide for some meaningful discussion amongst educators.

Results Now focuses on leadership and the governance of schools. However, the underlying issue is that the only way to improve the results that a school will see is to focus on the teaching and learning in each and every classroom. Mr. Schmoker makes an impassioned case that what must matter is what is happening in the classroom. To that end, the most important thing that can happen is for teachers to truly talk to each other. Not talk as in “Hey, hows ya doin?”, but talk as in comparing tests results from the students sitting in front of the teachers. This is a huge culture shift. Are teachers ready to start having their students take the same test as the kids down the hall and then comparing the results? Even more important, do we have any choice? Is there a moral imperative to do so?

Here’s a fascinating idea that combines some old time interests (sharing lesson plans) with some new technology (wiki’s). Although not specific just to middle school, you can search by middle school to find lesson plans. Here is who they say they are:

“Curriki is more than your average Website; we’re a community of
educators, learners and committed education experts who are working
together to create quality materials that will benefit teachers and
students around the world.

Curriki is an online environment created to support the development and
free distribution of world-class educational materials to anyone who
needs them. Our name is a play on the combination of ‘curriculum’ and
‘wiki’ which is the technology we’re using to make education
universally accessible.”

Joining is free and easy. The idea is a simple one. Without a lot of input though, the idea will fall short. This brings forth a fascinating idea, What if every teacher contributed one of their best lesson plans?

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) has just opened a new web site. This web site is all about “The Whole Child“. We’ve seen an interesting move toward addressing health issues as well as academics. I know that we have greatly changed our menu at my school to reflect better nutrition. Additionally, we have tied in many health issues into the curriculum and some of our Advisory activities. However, when push comes to shove, we are graded on solely on academic scores. Now, some of us believe that educating the whole child is not only a moral imperative, but something that the public and the government ought to recognize and support. How do you feel? What is your reaction to the new ASCD web site?

It’s the end of the year. Personally,I have really mixed feelings about this time of year. There is still so much to do. Plus, crazy as middle school can be, I really love working with the kids. I’ll miss them this summer as we send them off. It will be nice to get some time to prepare for next year. And of course, we’ll finish getting ready to “go live” with the podcast.

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Had an interesting conversation the other day. One of the points of discussion was what teachers really use the internet for. Well, it seems for that small group, the number one answer was…….finding lesson plans. 
I’m not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, it probably is a good place to start. On the other, there are so many rich directions that the internet and technology could travel to help students grow and develop. 
Well, there certainly are many places to find lesson plans. Here are a few:
– Teachers.net (Harry Wong is big here)
– Big Sky (Oodles of lesson plans, but older)
– Discoveryschool.com
– Apple Learning Interchange

Do you utilize lesson plans from the Internet? Do you have a favorite site?

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Although WebQuests have been around for quite a while, some teachers have never really gotten into them, some have forgotten about them and some were never exposed to them. With summer coming up, it might be a good time to take a look at them once more. I found this page about webquests that has a couple of things going for it.

1. It is a actually designed as a professional development experience. The idea behind the webquest is to look at a couple of other webquests with a group.
2. It contains active links to 4 different webquests.
3. It is middle school centered.

A couple of points that need to be considered. Webquests can be a wonderful teaching opportunity. However, just like any other strategy, they can also be abused or pointless. Too many WebQuests have become simply a “reporting of information”. That is, instead of addressing the higher level thinking skills that WebQuests were designed to address, they’ve become another “information recitation” project. Too many of the WebQuests that I’ve seen lately simply involve reading and summarizing (necessary skills of course). WebQuests are an opportunity to go far beyond that. By definition, WebQuests should involve students to analyze, synthesize, exercise judgment, exercise creativity, and problem-solving skills in a task that authentic version of situations that they may be facing now or will face in the future. This is the power of a WebQuest. Like many other strategies, this is one that should be in your toolbox. This is also a terrific strategy to address the needs of differentiation. Ah, but that is another post.

Had a really busy Middle School kind of day today. I decided that I could use a little rejuvenation. I saw this the other day. It reaffirms at least some of the things that I believe. Please note that I don’t necessarily accept all of the statistics or ideas put forth in the presentation. However, I do think that it is a good discussion starter. Take a look.

Download: Posted by jsdt4 at TeacherTube.com.