All posts in July 2009

I’ve used sticky note annotations before with students. Using notes to mark questions, add thoughts, and draw conclusions helps students focus as they read. And it stops them from simply highlighting the entire book!  Last year, we were able to move that process to Diigo for those pieces of text I found online. Next year’s…

I had the same reaction when I read the Chronicle’s article about Dean Jose Bowen’s decision to remove computer equipment from his classroom. Bowen’s contention? That students will be more engaged without distractions from PowerPoints or laptops. More than any thing else, Mr. Bowen wants to discourage professors from using PowerPoint, because they often lean…

How Children Learn and How Children Fail, John Holt Death at an Early Age, Jonathan Kozol Deschooling Society, Ivan Illich Mindset, Carol Dweck Made to Stick, Chip Heath The Book Whisperer, Donalyn Miller The Schools Our Children Deserve, Alfie Kohn The Global Achievement Gap, Tony Wagner Understanding by Design, Grant Wiggins and Tighe Schools That…

Ok, so now I will try to put into practice what I summed up as over-arching goals in the last post. Here’s my first attempt with the students’ summer reading. The department’s requirement is to do a learning activity with the summer reading, but beyond that, it’s up to us: (I’d love some feedback from…

Our faculty is reading Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe this summer. I’ve already read it and try to utilize their work in my lesson planning. But reading the book again has given me extra incentive to really DESIGN my plans thoughtfully. Three other books have re-focused me this summer: Building Literacy…