Voices | Powerful Learning Practice

Online Learning Communities: Encouragement Connects Us

Posted by Patti Grayson on Jan 19, 2012 in Connected Leadership, Local Professional Collaboration, Personal Learning Networks, Teacher Leadership 2.0, Voices | 1 comment

Technology opens the door, but it’s the support and encouragement we find in authentic learning communities that connects us. Commitment is hard. Giving up outdated but comfortable ways of doing our work is hard. We all need encouragement to stay on course. Many of us are finding that support online.

Knocked Out of My Orbit: Becoming a 21st Century Educator

Posted by Susan Lucille Davis on Jan 17, 2012 in Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, Passion Based Learning, Student Life, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices | 11 comments

I have long believed the role of the teacher is to ask the best questions she can, and to help her students answer them. I also believe, more than ever, in empowering students and teachers with the attitudes and skills necessary to become change-agents in their own lives. That includes leveraging the powerful tools made available by new technologies to help students and teachers become co-creators of knowledge collaboratively and online.

Student-Led Parent Conferences: How They Work in My Primary Classroom

Posted by Kathy Cassidy on Jan 13, 2012 in Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices | 19 comments

Our student-led parent conferences always center around each first-grader’s individual blog. Their blogs are an online portfolio that shows their learning in all of our subject areas through the year. Because this work has been posted through the term, the parents have almost all seen the work before, but the comments that their children make during the conference regarding their goals help the parent to know what specific skills we have been working on and what to watch for through the next few months.

Shift Your Classroom: Small Strategic Steps

Posted by Shelley Wright on Jan 10, 2012 in Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices | 21 comments

Teachers who are interested in shifting their classrooms often don’t know where to start. It can be overwhelming, frightening, and even discouraging, especially when no one else around you seems to think the system is broken. The question I’ve been asked often throughout the past year is “Where should a teacher begin?” I’ve reflected on this a fair amount, and I think small strategic steps are the key.

The Essence of Connected Leadership

Posted by Sr Geralyn Schmidt on Jan 6, 2012 in Connected Leadership, Creating Global Classrooms, Teacher Leadership 2.0, Voices | 2 comments

As effective leaders do what they are called to do, they look back and support their followers. This support generates energy and gives the group strength to keep moving forward. I have seen this kind of leadership among those who mentor new teachers and assist them to find their voice and their gifts in the classroom. I have seen this in educators who take a reluctant learner and set their soul on fire with love of learning through their personal interest.

S H I F T – A New Year’s Resolution for 2012

Posted by Patti Grayson on Jan 3, 2012 in Creating Global Classrooms, Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, Personal Learning Networks, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices | 5 comments

As we return to the classroom in January we’re refreshed, renewed, and rarin’ to go, right? If you’ve been putting off shifting your classroom due to time constraints, fear, or confusion about what “shifting” is, now is the time to take that first step forward. In the five full months that remain (in most of North America, at least), commit yourself to one of these steps each month and you’ll be on your way.

Our 13 Most Popular Posts of 2011

Posted by John Norton on Dec 30, 2011 in Connected Leadership, Creating Global Classrooms, Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, Passion Based Learning, The Compelling Need for Change, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices, Voices Index, Web Tools That Deepen Learning | 0 comments

I’m a little reluctant to follow the popular annual tradition of announcing a “Top 10″ — mostly because I’ve read every one of the 100+ articles we’ve posted since our March launch. Whatever the click counts, I know how much great content we have to share, written by a remarkable cross-section of creative and visionary educators. Still, a colleague assures me that Top 10 lists are a good way for folks to sample the product and become regular readers. Reason enough. And I’m sure you won’t mind if I add a few extra!

The Only Real Legacy a Superintendent Leaves

Posted by Tim Holt on Dec 29, 2011 in Connected Leadership, Making The Shift, Voices | 8 comments

Knowing that in just a few years after departure, no one will remember the current administrator, their programs, or their philosophy, one has to wonder what a superintendent can do to have a legacy? There is only one thing: Build a school. That’s right, a new school. Much like a President’s Supreme Court nomination, the building of a school will be the only nearly-permanent legacy that will have any truly lasting consequence.

Social Media for School Leaders

Posted by Sr Geralyn Schmidt on Dec 27, 2011 in Connected Leadership, Local Professional Collaboration, Personal Learning Networks, Voices | 0 comments

“One can readily understand the value of communication between individuals within a school building, but the sharing of goals and vision among all stakeholders within the entire school community can only truly happen through the use of social media. What a great way to market and spread the passion of teaching and learning that is unique to your learning community!” says Catholic educator and IT leader Sister Geralyn Schmidt. For school leaders in need of social media help, she recommends Communicating & Connecting with Social Media from Solution Tree.

The Shift: Making Mongol Movies

Posted by Margaret Haviland on Dec 22, 2011 in Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, Passion Based Learning, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices | 2 comments

The first Westtown School World History Film Festival has come and gone. Two weeks before Thanksgiving my students were channeling Ken Burns — and serving as witting accomplices in my continuing shift toward student ownership of learning. This year I decided to continue the individualized learning approach I used last year in our unit on the Mongols, but I chose the communication medium beforehand: documentary film. Greedily, I wanted a broader audience for my students’ work, and I wanted an excuse to learn to make this sort of film. Here’s what we learned!