Category: Ed News

These blogs have to do with education as a whole. I write about different topics concerning ed reform and educating our 21st century youth.

Comparing Traditional and Alternative Grading Schemes

This is a guest post by Elaine Hirsch. Movements for change and reform in the US educational system challenge nearly every aspect of the student’s experience, and grading systems are certainly not exempt from this. In an ongoing struggle to best measure the effectiveness of our education system, traditional and alternative grading systems have been …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/12/21/comparing-traditional-and-alternative-grading-schemes/

Unstructured iPad Time

We have a traditional bell schedule with six periods of classes a day for our students. Each class lasts about 50 minutes with four minutes of hall passing time to get to the next class. Most of our classes are close enough apart that kids can get to their next class rather quickly. So if …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/12/12/unstructured-ipad-time/

Questioning

Talk Moves Poster

Through my work with the Olympic Math and Science Partnership (OMSP) I have been learning a lot about the formative process. One aspect of formative assessment or assessment for learning that is of extra interest to me has been questioning. Questioning used to be one of the five key strategies of assessment for learning but …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/12/05/questioning/

Freedom!

Recently I gave all my 6th graders a reflection survey to have them share with me their thoughts on what they’ve learned from some of the projects we’ve completed. I also asked them to share with me their thoughts on how well they have been working independently and in their teams. I always end the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/12/04/freedom/

What is STEM?

My work as a grantee of one of the first WA STEM Entrepreneurial awards is very exciting. I gotta say that doing this type of work is a great way to keep my job fresh. At a recent WA STEM grantee meeting I learned about the next level of the work. My work at school …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/11/29/what-is-stem/

Learning Styles

Associate Professor Steve Wheeler wrote a blog recently about learning styles titled A Convenient Untruth. In his blog Steve writes about the dangers of using the idea of learning styles to brand kids as one type of learner. It’s a good read and definitely something all teachers should be aware of so they don’t use …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/11/28/learning-styles/

Top 10 iPad Apps for Teachers

Guest Post: This article was submitted by Lori Hutchison. She owns the site Masters in History and is an Art History Professor. As the use of iPads becomes more popular in the classroom, teachers are looking for practical ways to incorporate them into their teaching and their daily lives. Here are ten great iPad apps …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/11/25/top-10-ipad-apps-for-teachers/

Leave with Your Students

This is my 21st year teaching and today I did something that I’ve never done in my career; I left work with my students. Literally. I experienced what it’s like to wait behind the buses to pull out of the parking lot. This is huge for me. Twenty-one years and I’ve never left school with …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/11/23/leave-with-your-students/

Habits of Mind

Content area teaching, teaching subjects in isolation, separate of each other, is a common practice in school. I’m guilty of continuing the traditional practice of specializing and teaching only one subject. And the funny thing is that my national board certification is on integration (generalist)! I started my career as an elementary teacher, 4th and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/11/21/habits-of-mind/

Billy Jack and the Freedom School

Okay, I’m a Billy Jack fan. And after being drawn to watching his movies again I found them even more cool than when I first watched them as a kid. I remembered the martial arts and butt kicking Billy Jack did and I too felt the passion of Billy Jack at seeing such hatred over …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/11/15/billy-jack-and-the-freedom-school/

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