This video was produced by the New Brunswick, Canada, Department of Education. It reflects their thinking about our rapidly changing world, the future of education and the needs of their students. At PDS we are always thinking about our students and how to serve them best. As you watch the film – what are your … Read more
Part two of: The Age of Bricolage: School in the Change Blender: Technology is always disruptive: Think of the introduction of the printing press, or the combine harvester, or the typewriter. Think of the mechanical looms and the factory system of the industrial revolution that destroyed a way of life for cottage industry weavers. Some … Read more
When everything around is changing so rapidly that it feels like living inside a blender on high speed, habits and traditions can be comforting. As the year rolls along in any school there are the dates on the calendar – love them or dread them, those ceremonies, and celebrations – that are familiar, anticipated and … Read more
Advice (random and very incomplete) for new teachers: Please round out the list with your thoughts: Sign on to Twitter. Follow the smartest people you can find in your areas of interest. Build a great PLN – personal learning network – of the wisest and most helpful people you can find. Follow people with whom … Read more
Looks like the new UK education minister is channeling Thomas Gradgrind: Pupils must learn about Miss Havisham, says Minister They don’t know enough facts, he says. Maybe it’s the fact that Mr. Gibbs does not know enough about Charles Dickens, the age of information and learning theory. Not to mention that his frame of reference … Read more
Learning about Sprout Creek Farm is a big part of the kindergarten curriculum but what exactly are they learning? Readers of this blog know I am a supporter of all things kindergarten but some things just go too far. Take this morning for instance. In the active play area hay bales and straw were being … Read more
A must read article from the Times of London. Playing Games Makes Your Child Clever
A school in May is like a two year old deprived of a nap. That’s how my colleague Liz describes it. Everyone is stressed out, too busy and cranky. The weather is unpredictable with storms and frost one moment and sunshine and blossoms the next. The calendar is stuffed with culminating events, showcases, performances, final … Read more
It’s not about the tools and the testing, it’s about the learning and the thinking. Digital literacy is an important entitlement for all young people in an increasingly digital culture. Every school should have an organized policy for language across the curriculum… Two documents, two eras. The first from FutureLab (UK) – a wonderful introduction … Read more
Math makes sense of the world: Here’s math teacher Dan Meyer speaking at the TEDxNYED conference in March.
If blogging is supposed to have an element of timeliness then I have given up on that ideal. After all – I am still writing about stuff from the NAIS annual conference in February. Fess Parker died in March and while my mind went instantly to the Davy Crockett craze of my childhood, it’s only … Read more
It is quite possible that the assigning of grades to school children and college students as a kind of reward or punishment is useless or worse… I’ve discovered an absolute treasure trove of fascinating material: Popular Science has put its entire 137 year archive on line. The quotation above is from Examinations, Grades and Credits … Read more
Click for an UPDATED version of this experiment and with a great new video. It’s always great when a student or a teacher sends along a report, picture or a video of something cool going on in the classroom. Or, as in this case, a cool experiment during vacation. This is a first attempt at … Read more
The Art History class took off for Italy last week. It’s well over 4,000 miles from Poughkeepsie to Zurich and on to Florence but here’s the extra mile: Wayne created these books – in Florentine red – one for every student. It’s for notes,sketches and reference on the trip. The sleeve at the back has … Read more
Teacher of the Year Anthony Mullen has another excellent Road Diary post today. At Kent State University, Ohio, he walks down a grassy slope looking back at the spot where, almost forty years ago, the National Guard stood in line to confront student war protesters. And then the fatal 13 seconds that left four students … Read more