I put together a video for a leadership group that explains curating using scoop.it.
As you can see from the video, curating is not difficult. In my opinion, the hardest part of curating is narrowing to topics that are useful and not to broad.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Curating with scoop.it
I've recently started curating online resources using scoop.it. Initially, I was apprehensive and unsure what benefit curating would provide; however, in only one week I can name three reasons to curate. First, I can refer back to articles easily and quickly. Next, I am focusing my personal development in topics that I curate. Last, I am building an audience that follows items that I curate.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Setting goals for the new year
It's that time.... a new year has just begun, and many of us are thinking about setting goals or resolutions. Here are three tips on setting your own personal or professional goals.
1.) Make the goal realistic
2.) The goal should be measurable
3.) Tell people about your goal, ask them to support you in your pursuit of the goal
Years ago I heard about setting SMART goals. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) For me, the three steps I listed above are most important in setting goals.
Realistic- It would not be wise for me to make a goal that is outside what is realistic. I've worked hard for all I have, not much has been handed to me throughout my life. For me to make an unrealistic goal, I'd have to expect that many aspects of the goal be handed to me freely. As an example, if I made a goal of becoming the president in 2016, that would be unrealistic because I have not been preparing as a presidential candidate would have. Instead, a realistic goal would be blogging more frequently or planning for my kids college.
Measurable- I've found that not including a success measure in goals makes them wishes, not goals. If I were to make a goal of loosing weight in 2015 and didn't assign a number of pounds too my goal, then how would I know if it were successful? Make your goals measurable.
Tell others- My friends and family are extremely supportive; I wouldn't have attained all I have without their support. If I told them about a goal, they would not only support me, they would hold me accountable.
Whatever your new years resolutions or goals are this year. Be sure you make them realistic, you are able to measure them, and you tell others about them so they can support you and hold you accountable.
Wishing you a fantastic 2015!!
1.) Make the goal realistic
2.) The goal should be measurable
3.) Tell people about your goal, ask them to support you in your pursuit of the goal
Years ago I heard about setting SMART goals. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) For me, the three steps I listed above are most important in setting goals.
Realistic- It would not be wise for me to make a goal that is outside what is realistic. I've worked hard for all I have, not much has been handed to me throughout my life. For me to make an unrealistic goal, I'd have to expect that many aspects of the goal be handed to me freely. As an example, if I made a goal of becoming the president in 2016, that would be unrealistic because I have not been preparing as a presidential candidate would have. Instead, a realistic goal would be blogging more frequently or planning for my kids college.
Measurable- I've found that not including a success measure in goals makes them wishes, not goals. If I were to make a goal of loosing weight in 2015 and didn't assign a number of pounds too my goal, then how would I know if it were successful? Make your goals measurable.
Tell others- My friends and family are extremely supportive; I wouldn't have attained all I have without their support. If I told them about a goal, they would not only support me, they would hold me accountable.
Whatever your new years resolutions or goals are this year. Be sure you make them realistic, you are able to measure them, and you tell others about them so they can support you and hold you accountable.
Wishing you a fantastic 2015!!
Back to school
As the Winter break comes to an end, teachers and students head back to school. As a student and often times as a teacher I always wished we had more time off, time with family, time to relax. As an administrator, I am eager to get back. I'm looking forward to finishing the school year strong. I'm ready to see students learning, test scores rising, and seniors graduating.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
The Use of Scaffolds for Teaching Higher-Level Cognitive Strategies Article Summary
In the article The Use of Scaffolds for Teaching Higher-Level Cognitive Strategies, Barak Rosenshine and Carla Meiser list many documented ways scaffolding has been successfully implemented in classrooms, which yielded higher order thinking and processing skills by the students. Furthermore, these strategies once implemented, take no more time than without because learners need less scaffolding once he or she understands the material at a higher level. The scaffolds "bridge the gap between their current abilities and the intended goal".
At Castleberry High School, we strive to fill each lesson with higher level learning that is student centered. According to Rosenshine and Meiser, "scaffolds can be applied to the teaching of all skills, they are particularly useful, and often indispensable, for teaching higher-level cognitive strategies, where many of the steps or procedures necessary to carry out these strategies cannot be specified". These strategies include: models, concrete prompts, think-alouds, simplified problems, suggestions and hints; each can be used generously at first and less as students are capable of leading their learning through higher order thinking.
My five takeaways from the article:
1.) Reciprocal teaching- student lead which shifts responsibility of learning to students and away from teachers.
2.) Think-alouds- teacher explains his or her thought process as he or she gives students examples of the problems and steps.
3.) Concrete prompts- basically question stems made for students. Allows the student with an established procedure to start the thinking process.
4.) Keep the scaffolding within the students' "zone of proximal development". Students cannot learn AP Physics no matter how much scaffolding, unless they first have the sufficient background ability learned in other Science classes.
5.) If we do not implement scaffolds, our instruction at CHS is inadequately preparing students for college or post-high school learning.
Please take time to post your five takeaways from the article, and then comment on my post and one from a peer. (3 total posts)
At Castleberry High School, we strive to fill each lesson with higher level learning that is student centered. According to Rosenshine and Meiser, "scaffolds can be applied to the teaching of all skills, they are particularly useful, and often indispensable, for teaching higher-level cognitive strategies, where many of the steps or procedures necessary to carry out these strategies cannot be specified". These strategies include: models, concrete prompts, think-alouds, simplified problems, suggestions and hints; each can be used generously at first and less as students are capable of leading their learning through higher order thinking.
My five takeaways from the article:
1.) Reciprocal teaching- student lead which shifts responsibility of learning to students and away from teachers.
2.) Think-alouds- teacher explains his or her thought process as he or she gives students examples of the problems and steps.
3.) Concrete prompts- basically question stems made for students. Allows the student with an established procedure to start the thinking process.
4.) Keep the scaffolding within the students' "zone of proximal development". Students cannot learn AP Physics no matter how much scaffolding, unless they first have the sufficient background ability learned in other Science classes.
5.) If we do not implement scaffolds, our instruction at CHS is inadequately preparing students for college or post-high school learning.
Please take time to post your five takeaways from the article, and then comment on my post and one from a peer. (3 total posts)
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
My first ed chat...
I'm excited to share ed chat with you. Yesterday, Castleberry ISD leadership participated in our first ed chat. The Twitter chat can be followed on Mondays at 3:30 CST using #cisdedchat. We discussed the following, my answers to each question are below the question:
Q1: Share with us your favorite quote about leadership.
A1: "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader". John Quincy Adams
Q2:What is the ONE technology tool/resource that you have discovered that you want used in your classrooms and why?
A2: I'd like students to use various web 2.0 tools in context with learning. The students are comfortable if done regularly.
Q3: How will you get staff to engaged in building their PLN to facilitate blended learning in the classroom?
A3: Share our PLN's with them. They will do what we do, not what we tell them to do.
Q4: What skills do digital-age leaders need to possess or acquire?
A4: Visionary Leadership.. look beyond what we are doing in schools right now.
Q5: Share the link to your blog with the group.
A5: digitalhighschool.blogspot.com
Q6: please share your thoughts about the chat
A6: Thoughts: I liked the discussion. We covered a lot of info in a short amount of time.
Again, please plan on joining in on our chat next Monday at 3:30 pm CST.
Q1: Share with us your favorite quote about leadership.
A1: "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader". John Quincy Adams
Q2:What is the ONE technology tool/resource that you have discovered that you want used in your classrooms and why?
A2: I'd like students to use various web 2.0 tools in context with learning. The students are comfortable if done regularly.
Q3: How will you get staff to engaged in building their PLN to facilitate blended learning in the classroom?
A3: Share our PLN's with them. They will do what we do, not what we tell them to do.
Q4: What skills do digital-age leaders need to possess or acquire?
A4: Visionary Leadership.. look beyond what we are doing in schools right now.
Q5: Share the link to your blog with the group.
A5: digitalhighschool.blogspot.com
Q6: please share your thoughts about the chat
A6: Thoughts: I liked the discussion. We covered a lot of info in a short amount of time.
Again, please plan on joining in on our chat next Monday at 3:30 pm CST.
Monday, July 21, 2014
College Road Trip
I have two sons entering their senior year of high school this Fall, so we've spent the past week touring colleges. The trip took me across five states in eight days. If you've ever toured a campus you know that having walking shoes on is a must; we probably walked over 15 miles total. My wife and sons were sore and we were all glad the trip was over. I'm not sure we found the college for them, but we did omit many that aren't the right fit.
What surprised me the most was the lack of technology I saw at these prestigious universities. I fully expected to gain many new insights, see cutting edge technology, bring back these ideas to my campus; however, besides computer labs with wireless printing anywhere on campus, nothing I saw was more advanced than what we have at Castleberry ISD. In fact, the technology we are using in the high school classrooms is in many ways more advanced than that of the classrooms at the college level. I am sure the labs at the college level utilize more technology, but the regular classrooms mirror our classrooms before we infused technology many years ago.
What surprised me the most was the lack of technology I saw at these prestigious universities. I fully expected to gain many new insights, see cutting edge technology, bring back these ideas to my campus; however, besides computer labs with wireless printing anywhere on campus, nothing I saw was more advanced than what we have at Castleberry ISD. In fact, the technology we are using in the high school classrooms is in many ways more advanced than that of the classrooms at the college level. I am sure the labs at the college level utilize more technology, but the regular classrooms mirror our classrooms before we infused technology many years ago.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Classroom Behavior Management
This week I have dealt with a few minor classroom behavior issues. When this happens, I like to address the underlying student issues, but I also make it a point to review classroom procedures implemented by the teacher.
The following four components make-up the classroom behavior management approach:
Classroom Organization
Students need and expect routine. An organized classroom also allows the teacher to transition seamlessly between activities.
Self Management
Teaching students to manage themselves not only helps in the classroom, but also prepares him for life outside of school.
Social Development
Developing appropriate relationships with peers, teachers, and others is important. Sought by employers, social competency is a primary commodity in the American workforce.
Effective Instruction
Over all other components of classroom behavior management, effective instruction is the crux to creating an learning environment free of behavior interruptions. Included in this area: wait-time, appropriate feedback, scaffolded instruction, and organized lesson plans.
Reference:
https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/form143/index.html
The following four components make-up the classroom behavior management approach:
Classroom Organization
Students need and expect routine. An organized classroom also allows the teacher to transition seamlessly between activities.
Self Management
Teaching students to manage themselves not only helps in the classroom, but also prepares him for life outside of school.
Social Development
Developing appropriate relationships with peers, teachers, and others is important. Sought by employers, social competency is a primary commodity in the American workforce.
Effective Instruction
Over all other components of classroom behavior management, effective instruction is the crux to creating an learning environment free of behavior interruptions. Included in this area: wait-time, appropriate feedback, scaffolded instruction, and organized lesson plans.
Reference:
https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/form143/index.html
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