by Smadar Goldstein | May 8, 2012 | Creating Global Classrooms, Less Teacher, More Student, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
During my time as an online educator, I’ve used a variety of video conferencing platforms. I have taught students in public schools, Catholic schools and Jewish Day Schools and complementary schools. The technology is powerful, but there is something that catches my eye each time I run a session: it’s the human reaction to these technology-supported events. I think there is a need, in today’s wired world, to connect to another person far away, living a different, yet somehow similar life.
by Rachel Small | May 1, 2012 | Less Teacher, More Student, Passion Based Learning, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices, Web Tools That Deepen Learning
Students use Google Docs to write their poems. They use the GDocs sharing function to share their poem documents with me and some of their classmates (if they choose). I read their poems (from anywhere at anytime), give them one specific comment, and offer one constructive suggestion to improve their poem that I hope also adds to their poetry writing repertoire. Then we share in VoiceThread to a public audience.
by Kathy Cassidy | Apr 24, 2012 | Creating Global Classrooms, Global Communities of Inquiry, Less Teacher, More Student, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
It was magical learning about a place my students had never before heard of and will probably never see for themselves. Learning that was totally led by the students and their interest in that classroom in Greece. And that learning will continue. The children in Greece, too, have questions for us to answer. More magic. More serendipity. I love my connected classroom.
by Beth Sanders | Apr 19, 2012 | Creating Global Classrooms, Less Teacher, More Student, Student Life, The Compelling Need for Change, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
My teaching mission is simple yet absolutely necessary to helping my students prepare for their futures. I began this school year with a list of questions that could help me envision, plan, reflect and maintain focus on where my students and I needed to be when the last bell rings in late May. Out of my personal questioning and reflection came what would be the essential question for my 11th grade social studies students during our time together: “What does it mean to be a citizen nationally, globally and digitally?”
by Shelley Wright | Apr 6, 2012 | Less Teacher, More Student, Passion Based Learning, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
While some teachers may wonder about the merits of PBL, I’m sold. My high school students have learned much more in an inquiry classroom than others did when we had a traditional one. PBL allows them to have a say in what they learn and how they present their knowledge. Every semester I’m impressed by the hard work and energy my students pour into their projects. Here’s the story of our biology projects this year.
by Rachel Small | Apr 2, 2012 | Less Teacher, More Student, Making The Shift, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices
To me, authentic literacy learning has two goals: to help students develop a passion for reading and writing, and to help them learn to implement the strategies that adult readers and writers utilize for genuine purposes. I’ve been searching for ways to do this, in a climate of high stakes testing and a commanding curriculum. Involving my kids in virtual book clubs with students in other schools is my latest discovery.
