CFF Networking Meeting
February 19, 2009
9:00 AM
1. Welcome
2. Reminders from PDE Mentor - Capital Day is Wednesday, May 6th. Look for teachers and students who are doing great things to show off.
3. Presentation Equipment Overview
4. Mobi
5. Now that the equipment is installed - advice for Cohort 3 schools. Carl asked the newspaper to follow the teachers from start to finish to document the changes! Ask teachers what one thing they would like to do and that will be the teacher's "specialty". Try a lesson, then keep that lesson for the "Flip the Switch". Plan ahead and do it earlier. Send a questionnaire to the teachers asking them for a lesson that they want help with. Throw out certain tools to the teachers and ask if there is any interest in it. Check the listserv for help, also
6. Flip the Switch or Spotlight on CFF Events - Lehighton, May 1st; Panther Valley still waiting; Weatherly is doing a Spotlight; March 23 will be a meeting with the Lehighton School Board; Anne is having a teacher come each month to the School board to show what they are doing. Let Cathy and Virginia know if we are doing anything special with CFF. Let Kara Thomas know c-kthomas@state.pa.us when are you having it and afterwards, who came.
7. Results from Collaboration Day Surveys - Will email those to everyone. Cathy is working on a letter to our legislature about CFF and will include some of the comments by the teachers in the surveys.
8. April 17 CFF Showcase - March 31st @ 5:00pm to 7:00pm. (set up will be 4 pm or 4:30pm). There is a school board retreat at the IU. Could a teacher from each district showcase at this. CFF, ESL and teacher leaders will be featured. Precursor to our showcase in April.
Invitations - Start creating invitations for the event, email. RSVP was April 8th. There will be a breakfast. (9am - 11am) Set up between 8am and 8:30am. We want to do a single sheet to give data and extent that out to in the state. Four different sessions for the afternoon. Hand pick teachers for the this. Looking for a product. Rigor that shows what CFF is all about. Not a presentation but using technology into the curriculum.
Afternoon PD: General session: TiGlobal, Google Apps and Education, CPS, Scratch, ePals, Thinkfinity/Nettrecker, Moodle for teachers. Teachers get one session in the afternoon of their choice.
9. Date Updates 2009 – 2010
a. Networking for Feb 2010: moved to Feb 10 (because of PETE&C)
b. PETE & C 2010: Feb 21 – 24 (CFF pre-conference will be on February 20)
c. Showcase? March? Definitely not during PSSAs
d. Non-core Content Collaboration Day? Probably in March
10. Sharing- Ideas for Embedded Learning Course. What do we do when teachers are slowing in their excitement and we become IT helpers? Be sure to do a zipped up backup on your Moodle files.
11. Individual PD needs
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Discussion with Daniel Pink
New metrics--examples? One danger is metrics that are fake such as the writing section of the SAT. It is timed, upper class kids are taught how to do it while the students without that preparation do not do as well. Delaware is requiring Art, is making it compulsory a good thing?
Conceptual age with grow into something else but what? Urgency for adaptability, to learn, persistence. After looking for a 3.0 or higher(lower is lazy) THen look for musicians and athletes because they have worked hard(practice every day) and they realize that it is not individual effort but working together, has an effect on others.
New US leadership, what do you see? As a matter of real politics, not much change in education. Economy is priority as is energy. Also, funding schools tough.
Catalyst for change: emergence of Asia/offshoring
Don't squelch art by grading it...a thought. Let's bring art into all classes! Not a segregation of art and other topics.
Check out other books by Pink "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko"
A lot of upper middle class SAT do not like this. But we are not abandoning the left brain, but adding to it.
If I could design a school it would look like: Best teachers, "how would you design it?"
What to ask perspective Supterintendents? Check people skills, do you know the names of the principals and teachers? Tell us the biggest mistake, how did you rectify it and what did you learn, What kind of technology do you use? When was the last time you taught a class? As about parent/community tell a story about them.
Will there be a few creative at the top and the rest at the bottom. "Lump of Labor fallacy" only a fixed amount of jobs is wrong. In the moment is a imagination poverty. We don't know all the jobs and the future.
Conceptual age with grow into something else but what? Urgency for adaptability, to learn, persistence. After looking for a 3.0 or higher(lower is lazy) THen look for musicians and athletes because they have worked hard(practice every day) and they realize that it is not individual effort but working together, has an effect on others.
New US leadership, what do you see? As a matter of real politics, not much change in education. Economy is priority as is energy. Also, funding schools tough.
Catalyst for change: emergence of Asia/offshoring
Don't squelch art by grading it...a thought. Let's bring art into all classes! Not a segregation of art and other topics.
Check out other books by Pink "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko"
A lot of upper middle class SAT do not like this. But we are not abandoning the left brain, but adding to it.
If I could design a school it would look like: Best teachers, "how would you design it?"
What to ask perspective Supterintendents? Check people skills, do you know the names of the principals and teachers? Tell us the biggest mistake, how did you rectify it and what did you learn, What kind of technology do you use? When was the last time you taught a class? As about parent/community tell a story about them.
Will there be a few creative at the top and the rest at the bottom. "Lump of Labor fallacy" only a fixed amount of jobs is wrong. In the moment is a imagination poverty. We don't know all the jobs and the future.
Keynote Speaker - Daniel Pink
Speech writer for Al Gore 1995-1997
Philosophy of political/effective speakers has three key elements: brevity, levity and repetition!
Education and the Economy
He is not an educator, he is a business writer. Purpose of ed is not to delivery workers to businesses. It is to allow student to highest human potential. But, students will be working. There is a misalignment W/ business and education. We need to prepare students for their future, not our past (quote from someone else).
Graduated from Yale law, was in lower percent of class....why law school? The middle class dream of getting a solid hold in the middle class.
The science of left-brain and right-brain has grown, lots of misconceptions. Our brains are complex, but elegant. Used to be the logical, step-by-step thinking, like SAT were the most important. Today they are still 100% necessary, but not sufficient. Now, artists, empathy are now the abilities that define our students future. This is not a recipe for a better America. This is an argument.
Why is this happening? Effect: skills tilting. Asia, Automation, Abundance (we've covered this one!). Offshoring is under-hyped in the long run. Like new technologies, short run is slow but long run has a huge effect. India had an advantage, a billion people. Even is 15% are talented and ambitious 150 million people. THis is larger than the Japanese population. In the US, we have 143 million working. But that's not the end of the story.
Next year, the world's largest speaking country will be India. And communication with India is FREE! What this means is that routine is a death sentence. Any routine (script, formula, step w/ right answer) races to the lowest bidder.
Automation. Software can now replace brain work, not the right side but the left side. Example: go to a lawyer for no-fault divorce. Cost 2 grand. But it is uncontested, so forms need to be filled out...no contest! Forms are routine..offshore! Now divorce software/companies cost $249.
Abundance. Right now we are certainly in a down time but things will turn up. Lots of materialism. Self storage is larger than the motion picture business.
Students need to look and answer these questions: Can someone overseas do it cheaper?Can a computer do it faster? Is what you're delivering in demand in an age of abundance?
Here is what he sees: Novelty, Nuance, Customization. Then, when he looks at education: Routines, Right answers, Standardization.
6 abilities matter most: design, story, symphony, empathy not logic, play not just seriousness, meaning not just accumulation.
Priliminary issues, how to move the education system: Experiment with new metrics (what gets measured gets done) we must measure right brain things. Show limits of left brain. The Rainbow project is an alternative SAT funded by College Board. This a better predictor of college grades. Race/color blind test. JSPE measures med student's empathy. Next get real about STEM. Right answers are free now. Rule based discipline, not real. we need reasoning esthetically to diagnose.
What does Google look for to hire: See big picture! What does creativity mean? Problem solving(ed) problem identification(business). Problems often a a few right answers.
Tear down those walls. We still have walls between subjects. We want our students to be "multi"..... Listen to what STEM tells us? Looking for engineers, passion, life long learning skills, understand, innovate, communications skills.
Infuse arts eduction throughout the curriculum. Not ornamental but fundamental.
Promote and defend autonomy. The more we give teachers and students autonomy it is good.
Teachers push the boulder up the mountain day by day...thank you to teachers!!
Philosophy of political/effective speakers has three key elements: brevity, levity and repetition!
Education and the Economy
He is not an educator, he is a business writer. Purpose of ed is not to delivery workers to businesses. It is to allow student to highest human potential. But, students will be working. There is a misalignment W/ business and education. We need to prepare students for their future, not our past (quote from someone else).
Graduated from Yale law, was in lower percent of class....why law school? The middle class dream of getting a solid hold in the middle class.
The science of left-brain and right-brain has grown, lots of misconceptions. Our brains are complex, but elegant. Used to be the logical, step-by-step thinking, like SAT were the most important. Today they are still 100% necessary, but not sufficient. Now, artists, empathy are now the abilities that define our students future. This is not a recipe for a better America. This is an argument.
Why is this happening? Effect: skills tilting. Asia, Automation, Abundance (we've covered this one!). Offshoring is under-hyped in the long run. Like new technologies, short run is slow but long run has a huge effect. India had an advantage, a billion people. Even is 15% are talented and ambitious 150 million people. THis is larger than the Japanese population. In the US, we have 143 million working. But that's not the end of the story.
Next year, the world's largest speaking country will be India. And communication with India is FREE! What this means is that routine is a death sentence. Any routine (script, formula, step w/ right answer) races to the lowest bidder.
Automation. Software can now replace brain work, not the right side but the left side. Example: go to a lawyer for no-fault divorce. Cost 2 grand. But it is uncontested, so forms need to be filled out...no contest! Forms are routine..offshore! Now divorce software/companies cost $249.
Abundance. Right now we are certainly in a down time but things will turn up. Lots of materialism. Self storage is larger than the motion picture business.
Students need to look and answer these questions: Can someone overseas do it cheaper?Can a computer do it faster? Is what you're delivering in demand in an age of abundance?
Here is what he sees: Novelty, Nuance, Customization. Then, when he looks at education: Routines, Right answers, Standardization.
6 abilities matter most: design, story, symphony, empathy not logic, play not just seriousness, meaning not just accumulation.
Priliminary issues, how to move the education system: Experiment with new metrics (what gets measured gets done) we must measure right brain things. Show limits of left brain. The Rainbow project is an alternative SAT funded by College Board. This a better predictor of college grades. Race/color blind test. JSPE measures med student's empathy. Next get real about STEM. Right answers are free now. Rule based discipline, not real. we need reasoning esthetically to diagnose.
What does Google look for to hire: See big picture! What does creativity mean? Problem solving(ed) problem identification(business). Problems often a a few right answers.
Tear down those walls. We still have walls between subjects. We want our students to be "multi"..... Listen to what STEM tells us? Looking for engineers, passion, life long learning skills, understand, innovate, communications skills.
Infuse arts eduction throughout the curriculum. Not ornamental but fundamental.
Promote and defend autonomy. The more we give teachers and students autonomy it is good.
Teachers push the boulder up the mountain day by day...thank you to teachers!!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Searches other than Google
http://foreverlearning.wikispaces.com/
Nettrekker
Power Library - Just use the local library
Visual search engine searchme
Boolify
Clusty
refseek for students and academics
Spific
Create a Google search on your own.
Web Literacy text very helpful
To search library of congress, ~Google~site:loc to find only articles from the Library of Congress. ( in Alta Vista use "host:"
To find the sites linked to an article: link: URL of article
Nettrekker
Power Library - Just use the local library
Visual search engine searchme
Boolify
Clusty
refseek for students and academics
Spific
Create a Google search on your own.
Web Literacy text very helpful
To search library of congress, ~Google~site:loc to find only articles from the Library of Congress. ( in Alta Vista use "host:"
To find the sites linked to an article: link: URL of article
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