Participating in the Pinnacle Leaders program in my district means I have an excuse to meet with brilliant people near me at least once a month and talk educational turkey. It also means I have a set or two of iPads lying around for me and my students to play Read more…
Goodness knows I’ve done some experimenting with portfolio platforms. I’m pretty satisfied with the VoiceThread option at the moment, but when my Pinnacle amigo, @jkylewood demonstrated Seesaw (that’s web.seesaw.me NOT seesaw.com, by the way) after #langchat amiga @alenord had already been talking it up, I saw something broader than portfolios. Now Read more…
Ohhhh, I wanna dance with somebody…somebody who’s in my district! Sandbox PD is the only way to go. Surround yourself with a few good brains, zero in on a few good goals, and play. And that’s just what we got to do in Pinnacle this week. So here are my Read more…
TPaCK: Three ingredients blend for masterful instruction.[image from Umpqua Dairy] Pinnacle Personalized my Learning yesterday! I took a quiz built with a few Google Sheets formulas and Google Add-Ons (Copydown and AutoCrat), and it told me what I needed work on! Apparently I needed work on understanding the TPaCK framework Read more…
Teachers don’t need another hero, but we do need teacher leaders. (Tina Turner photo) “…Or you can close the door and subvert.” This was one of the options that was offered in my Methods of Teaching High School English class over a decade ago. It seemed like kind of a heroic Read more…
I assessed my students’ proficiency in interpretive reading, interpersonal speaking, and presentational writing earlier in the semester with their first Integrated Performance Assessment. I think we’re all feeling pretty good about their reading about now (although some need a little work on their portfolio evidence still), so I’m switching out Read more…
Discuss one “observation” area that you would like to improve on for your teacher evaluation.Though I’ve been directed to discuss but one, I find my goal encompasses at least THREE observation areas! This is the year that Genius Hour moves beyond the language department (i.e. me). I have interested parties Read more…
A quality five-minute movie project will suck weeks away from your class time, if done right. Then again, with the right technology–a coupla iPads, apps, and Web 2.0 accounts for example–a decent 30-second video can be churned out in a class period often with just the technology half your kids Read more…
[View the story “Pinnacle Leader Training Day 1” on Storify] [View the story “Pinnacle Leader Training Day 2” on Storify] [View the story “Pinnacle Leader Training Day 3” on Storify] [View the story “Pinnacle Leader Training Day 4” on Storify]
“Smiles” by ChrisConnell Adults will not listen to you just because you’re the teacher. Adults expect to know why what you’re presenting is worth knowing before they’ll engage. Their experiences automatically color their interpretation of and interaction with what you’re trying to teach them. They decide what’s worth learning and Read more…