Education Blogs

The Houston school board voted this morning to approve another one of Superintendent Terry Grier's let's-get-this-done-yesterday initiatives: night classes for high school students. The so-called twilight school is slated to operate on seven campuses: Sharpstown, Lee, Jones, Kashmere, Worthing, Scarborough...

Blogger and middle school teacher Heather Wolpert-Gawron concludes her thoughts on the ideal teacher prep program.

The social media phenomenon continues to bring interactivity to the mainstream and lead more and more people into a connected world.

A clear example of this is the Emmy Awards where NBS is rolling out social media on the red carpet:

1. Official Twitter Stream: Follow all the news as it comes through on the Emmy's Official Twitter page
2. Tweet About Presenter to Jimmy Fallon: "Tweet something about the presenter and Jimmy may use your tweet as part of his introduction for those presenters during the show"
3. Backstage Ustream:  8 Camera webcast of various events backstage taking place live
4. Red Carpet Live UStream: Watch all the chaos and fun live on the Red Carpet
5. YFrog: Using #Emmys, the Emmy Awards are aggregating photos and videos taken by fans and celebrities.
6. Ol' School but Still Valuable: Discussion board, Interactive Ballot, and I'm sure official Live Blogging (didn't see this though)

These different ways to engage with the event highlight how social media has become part of everyday life, and the reason why companies are going to great lengths to ensure social media is embedded into their events and practices.

What about Schools?

This leads me right to schools. What are we doing with social media? Put aside the formal learning and teaching for just a moment and focus on the school as a whole. How are schools understanding the social media phenemenon in order to leverage it for events, activities, and athletics? How are we allowing the community to better connect, engage, experience, and support the great work we do?

At no other time that I can recall, we have an opportunity to take ownership of our "brand" within media. For some, opening these doors means perhaps losing control, which has never been there. Through social media, you may not have control BUT you can take ownership. You don't have to wait for the newspaper or radio to write the story, cover an event, or share news. The power is in our hands to promote and engage with others about our message.

The question is how will we help our schools embrace and leverage social media for the school's academics, activities, athletics, celebrations, community, and events? How will our schools cultivate a social network both digitally and physically not just push information? How will we take ownership of our brand, a brand that sees the mainstream media shredding administrators, schools, and teachers on what seems to be a daily basis?

Remove the line that we are standing behind that provides a false sense of security, a false sense of insulation, and a false sense of control.

It is time for schools to rise up, tell their story, and amplify it. Social media provides that stage!

Ryan Bretag
Glenbrook North High School
Coordinator of Instructional Technology
Blog: Metanoia
Twitter: ryanbretag

Image

cc licensed flickr photo by Ryan Bretag: http://flickr.com/photos/educationaltechnologist/4934065929/

Your challenge, if you choose to accept, is to find a way to connect your students with a scientist, engineer, or other expert and share it with us.

The Alliance for Childhood is coming out against so-called kindergarten boot camps, or any intense effort made to ready young children for school. The efforts are not resulting in any significant academic progress, but is rather depriving children of...

A Maine high school takes on the project-learning task of building a replica of a 16th-century ocean vessel.

Are there specific technology tools you use in the first weeks of school? In case you’re not sure where to start, I asked my Twitter colleagues to tell me what tools they are planning to use, or have used, during the first week of school and why.

Many schools struggle to impose consequences that are effective without being overly punitive.

The 2010-2011 school year is upon us, and with it comes many new teachers who are excited to enlighten the minds of students who will sit before them for the next 10 months. This is also a time where administrators may wonder how successful the teachers will be and if they are going to meet the challenges of becoming an effective expert teacher. Regardless of the time spent interviewing them on several levels, evaluating their demo lessons, and talking to their former colleagues, the question remains, Who are the teachers that are really going to shine?
Potter Stewart, a US Supreme Court Justice, is famous for saying when defining pornography, “I know it, when I see it." The same can be applied to great teaching. Some may say that it has to with caring for your students and your craft. Some may say that it is being passionate about teaching. None of that really captures that top 1% of teachers.
“In most schools, teacher evaluation is a joke,” according to Marshall in her book Is Supervising the Heck out of Teachers the Answer? This thinking has begun to change in our district, since the introduction of Danielson's Framework. Administrators use Danielson's Framework for Teaching to provide a foundation for what is expected from our teachers. New teachers are provided with professional development on the Framework so that they are aware of the expectations of the district in regard to teaching and learning. Prior to a classroom observation, the teacher is involved in a conference with their administrator where they discuss the four domains of teaching, including: planning and preparation (Domain 1), classroom environment (Domain 2), instruction (Domain 3), and professional responsibilities (Domain 4). The administrator shares the Framework rubric and provides an opportunity for the teacher to explain how he or she will show evidence of the chosen components within the framework. After the classroom observation, there is another conference with the teacher and administrator where the teacher plays a significant role in evaluating his or her lesson. The rubric is used to help guide this discussion and create suggestions for improvement.
This is an effective framework; however, there is one fatal flaw whenever you put anything on paper and try to evaluate someone within a framework or rubric. It is difficult to capture that top tier of whatever you are evaluating. The use of Danielson's Framework has reduced this thinking; however, there is always room for improvement. Marzano says, "Beyond a few basics, there isn't one right way to teach. Rather than prowling through classrooms with checklists of “correct” practices, administrators should be looking at interim results with their teachers, identifying the most effective practices, and improving what's not working." This is one reason why it is imperative that administrators make themselves present in classrooms as frequently as possible. What other ways exist to evaluate "that" top tier of teachers? Tell us, how do you plan on tackling this issue?

Teresa Ivey and James Yap

The social media phenomenon continues to bring interactivity to the mainstream and lead more and more people into a connected world. A clear example of this is the Emmy Awards where NBS is rolling out social media on the red carpet: Official... LeaderTalk Contributor http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/

The 2010-2011 school year is upon us, and with it comes many new teachers who are excited to enlighten the minds of students who will sit before them for the next 10 months. This is also a time where administrators... LeaderTalk Contributor http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/

[VIDEO] The president and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) explains why the time for virtual education is now.

[VIDEO] The president and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) explains why the time for virtual education is now.

Social and Emotional Learning expert Maurice Elias offers up seven ideas to keep in mind at the start of the school year.

Social and Emotional Learning expert Maurice Elias offers up seven ideas to keep in mind at the start of the school year.