Here are some links and articles that I would love to share with you this week:
1. Come join the Video Story Problems Channel – Ben Rimes has started a fantastic idea for educators to share resources, or have access to them through this channel. Through this collaborative venture, Ben has seen people use video to present “real-life math problems” (watch Dan Meyers Ted Talk or read his blog for more great ideas on this) and has asked others to participate and share their own. You can check out Ben’s post or else go straight to the channel and check out or add to the project. Although there is not much there yet, through collaboration, there will be opportunities for this to grow.
2. Lifelong UNLEARNING – Will Richardson discusses the notion of “unlearning” and how as educators, if we are to move schools forward in this time, we need to undo some of our old practices if we are going to be successful now. As Will closes the post, he asks some very important questions that every educator should consider:
“It’s that last part that we as educators have to begin to model more transparently for our students. How are we connected with the larger world in ways that show our ability to learn differently and to collaborate with others? How are we ourselves engaging in the process of unlearning, of constantly challenging our long-held beliefs about education and the world in light of a moment when becoming educated now encompasses many paths, and when we carry classrooms and teachers around with us in our backpacks and in our pockets?”
3. 10 Reasons Your Students Should Be Blogging – Matthew Ray shares some great reasons why your students should be blogging, which I am a huge advocate for. It just needs to be done consistently and with purpose. Here is one of the reasons that he lists in his blog:
“Authentic writing for authentic audiences. The writing is authentic because kids are writing about whatever they want. Even if I decide to give them prompts or topics to write about, they know teachers and other students will be reading them – not just me. Again, it’s all about their investment, and no doubt knowing you have an audience waiting with baited breath to read what you have to write is something that motivates.”
You should definitely check out the entire post.
Hopefully this will give you some ideas and things to help you with your practice. One video that really inspired me this week showed me the power of always having fun and staying young. I wanted to share that with you also:
cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by gibsonsgolfer