Focus on Learning from Allison Knox keynote

Think about this--workers of tomorrow need to be motivated self-learners. In what ways can teachers utilize the 21st century skills framework to provide students with the skills and knowledge and abilities to succeed in a global economy, in their 21st century futures?

Read How People Learn by Dr. John Bransford to find out more about:

• Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their studnts bring with them.
• Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth, providing many examples in which the same concept is at work and providing a firm foundation of factual knowledge.
• The teaching of metacognitive skills whould be integrated into the curriculum in a variety of subject areas.

If you are doing these things, great! Are your colleagues? As teacher leaders, do we help each other to make sure these things are happening in our classrooms? How many of us have the courage to throw out what's not working? Do we even know if something is working or not?

And remember--21st century skills does not equal technology. Technology is a major player, but it's about good teaching and learning, it's about authentic learning opportunities, it's about formative assessment, it's about critical thinking, creativity, and innovation.

Teach to the Beat

I attended this breakout session facilitated by our very own John Swanson. John offered several ideas to the participants on making the lessons meaningful and productive. First and foremost, we must decide just what is it that we want to get across. Once we've chosen an objective, it is then we can begin our song selection. When allowing students to choose, it's very important to review the lyrics to insure classroomm appropriateness. We want our students to contribute, but we want them to be responsible as well.
Using music in the classroom has limitless classroom applications from the language arts classroom to the sociology classroom. It's the delivery that is important. John modeled the Socratic Seminar: ask a question, then wait for discussion. If discussion doesn't take off right away, be patient. It may be necessary to rephrase the question, then wait. When using the Socratic method in the classroom, seat everyone in a circle so the discussion and ideas can circulate amongst the participants.
Using a medium that students are familiar with will enhance the experience; they will be engaged. Students will have a chance to showcase their lyrical favorites. Those who do not usually contribute to class discussion may feel comfortable and knowledgeable to speak. Almost everyone has a song or album or artist they identify with. Find out why. Get them to share. Scaffold the learning: how does music reflect the world's activities? Each and every student has an opinion. Geting them to share and feel comfortable doing so is key.

Podcasting: Easy to Do, Big Outcomes

Post by Julia: In Dr. Tyson's breakout session he showed us a podcast that a calculus teacher (Mr. Levy) does for his students. For each class Mr. Levy uses a digital white board and records everything he writes on the board with screen capture software. He also records his voice with a small microphone that he just clips to his shirt and plugs into his computer. By subscribing to his calculus podcast, each lesson is automatically uploaded by a computer or mp3 player. This is a great way for students to review material or look at something a second time if they need to practice the skill. (If I had had this in high school, maybe I would not have needed a tutor for calculus and maybe I would not have shed so many tears of frustration!) If you're at all interested in integrating podcasts into your teaching, definitely come to Podcasting 101 Breakout session on Tuesday. I attended the Podcasting In-Depth and was really pleased (and surprised) to find that it's easy! The software does the hard work for you. I feel confident in saying that if you have a computer with internet, you too can podcast. I think your students will really benefit and most likely get excited about creating their own podcasts.

Dr. Tim Tyson - Monday morning keynote at TIE08

Dr. Tyson's presentation was rich in story, and his stories reflected our current point in time. From his great grandfather to his current students, Dr. Tyson challenged us to think about our perspective of school. One resource he mentioned is Daniel Pink's book, "A Whole New Mind" and how that book makes the point that our schools are preparing students for work and workplaces that no longer exist. He also shared some intriguing statistics like one-third of the U.S. workforce is made up of independent contractors. While Dr. Tyson shared his vision of school and what students should be doing, I was wondering how the student products of his project-based learning might look. I was happy he shared several of his students' two-minute videos. (These can be viewed at MabryOnline.org and iTunes.) The films showed the students' questions about the issues they were studying...including child slave labor in the Ivory Coast and stem cell research. The questions posed in the videos were rich and deep. And showed the students had grappled with REAL and COMPLEX issues. What I'm left wondering is where the learning went from there...I will check out the videos when I'm not rushing to my next TIE Conference session to find out the answer to that question!

Pat McGill - TIE 2008 Sunday Keynote Speaker

Here we are at TIE 2008! This is very exciting for me as this is my first TIE conference! After the afternoon indepth sessions, we participants have gathered in the Convention Center to hear Pat McGill. Several things Pat said have stuck with me:

1) Listen. When you scramble the letters of the word "listen" you get "silent." That's what we as teachers need to be; we need to be silent when we listen.

2) Model. Mentor. Monitor.

3) 80% of Baby Boomers who leave the classroom will open a business or find a nother profession. None will retire.

4) Pat's 5 r's: Real, Rural, Ready, Reachable, and Remarkable

5) Sometimes we don't have to say anything, just being present is enough.

6) After showing us 5 shapes, Pat asked us to choose the one that we most identified with. Then she revealed what those choice mean:
Boxes keep us on task; they are not time wasters.
Rectangles are in transition or change; do not stay in rectangle mode for more than two years.
Triangles will take charge when something is falling apart.
Circles (70% of South Dakotans are circles) are great listeners, great team players, and whole- brained.
Squiggles are creative; they ask why?

6) Pat suggested reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Speak with Integrity.
Quit Taking things Personally.
Don't make assumptions.
Always do your best.

If you ever get a chance to see Pat McGill, I would encourage you to do so.
http://www.patmcgill.net/