Good Times with the Northwest Observer

Here is the article Mike Shaw wrote for the Northwest Observer when he visited us on Day 3 training. Check out page 8-9. We had a great time talking and taking pictures; I got my TMZ reference from him. Great Guy and Great Writer!!

http://issuu.com/pscommunications/docs/nwo_08-02-2013?e=8663047/4262235

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Day 1 Training

Day 1 tablet training took place on June 21st. I went in with very few expectations; everything was so new and unknown, I didn't know what expectations to have. They tiered the training for beginner and advanced and I had signed up for the advanced class; not because I am an advanced user of technology, but because I find technology user friendly, in most cases, and easy to figure out with some "tinkering". My only concern at this point was keeping up with the rest of the class. Every school has been assigned what they have termed a PLEF (Personalized Learning E-something Facilitator??) This is a person that is assigned to our school to guide us and help us through this process. Ours is fantastic and dynamic!! And he was our instructor the first day. Day 1 was spent as it should; learning where things are on the tablet, leaning how the interactive features work, exploring applications and some functions on the tablet. There were also a ton of Ampl...

Great Success is always Predicted to Fail

How many times am I going to hear this??? "The kids will break them, lose them, and they will get stolen." "In 2 years the tablets will be irrelevant and useless." "The tablets will not solve our educational problems." By the way, educational problems will never be solved. (That should be in that quote with death and taxes.) Is is not just human nature to resist change? Absolutely! But, hey, is all this negativity really necessary? History speaks amazing success of many innovations and ideas that were doubted and predicted to fail. What I see is a general lack of knowledge, written by a whole bunch of people that went to school, but yet, have never spent one day teaching school. FYI: It's real different now. I would like to hear from an actual student; talking about how the tablets are not going to help them, or how the tablets are useless, or how the tablets will be irrelevant in their education in 2 years, then, I think I would...

Personalized Learning Production

Robin Britt has been BUSY!!!! Check out this great video he put together on the way I approach personalized learning through flexing the environment. This model has evolved in my EC Inclusion class through the years and was inspired by Guided Reading Group experience I had teaching at the elementary level. When I moved into the middle school, I was unsure how to structure my Language Arts Classes. I quickly learned that whole group was not the answer and I needed to do something else to meet the individual needs of my students. Hence, the Instructional Support Group. Check it out! (Click play or click the link below.) http://youtu.be/XJDxM2KFv-g Disclaimer: When I first watched this, I was like "Who is that person on the screen?"... so serious....and professional.....But then I thought....You know what?...... I am passionate about this model........ and it not only produces academic gains, but it also helps me really get to know my students....that...

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