Be of Use

Doug Johnson let me hook myself to his star as we collaborated on a Danielson style rubric for technology integration. Like in her framework, the highest levels of instruction have the students leading the way and doing the heavy intellectual lifting. Same applies here - when students are actively engaged with using the technology for deep learning you're meeting the distinguished mark.  Doug's column on it is published in this month's issue of Educational Leadership, with a link to the rubric we worked on. Take a look. Please, feel free to use! Article is here http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar13/vol70/num06/Technology-Skills-Every-Teacher-Needs.aspx Rubric is here http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el201303_johnson_rubric.pdf

I'm sold on personalized learning for kids. As a parent I see everyday, if you give kids the opportunity to create and explore they take off with it. Adults, that's a different story. We've already been programmed to learn a certain way. This past winter (well we're still technically in winter...) I lead a professional development day starting with a keynote on Digital Literacy. In my email to the staff a week ahead of time I listed the learning resources and clearly stated that this would be self-directed learning time. After my presentation, I go off to the library to facilitate and I have 50 teachers staring at me waiting to start. Be free my children...go off and learn. Easier said than done. How do we break people of the habits they've learned over decades of schooling K through a Master's Degree, on to professional learning events? Putting together/curating resources is easy. The adult learning...that's the hard part. I think having personal learn