I started my career in education in the late 1980’s. To increase my salary, I enrolled in graduate courses and the I could take a purchase order from the school when I enrolled. My principal or department head needed to “approve” the course, but it was informal. When I started I was in control of Read More
Category: Teachers
On Instruction
While some associate instruction with the leaners as a passive recipient of information, Burton, Moore, and Magliaro (2004) suggest this is an inaccurate conclusion, and they suggest instruction can provide a structure for approaching a complex body of knowledge and also for maintaining knowledge. Reif (2008) identified several factors that make instruction effective including articulating Read More
On Teachers’ Technical Knowledge
I’ve been thinking about Mishra and Kohler’s (2009) TPACK, the framework for understanding teaching in the digital world. Over time, the tools that provide educational relevant capacity have expanded. Today, we include: Computers: The desktops and laptops with Windows or the Macintosh OS installed. Applications: The programs used on computers. Your profession probably has “industry Read More
Thinking About Basics Skills and Higher Order Thinking (Again)
I’ve written about this in the past on the blog, but the topic has come back into my professional thinking, so I’ve capturing it again. In 2008, I have a stroke and spent the summer learning to walk again. For the 20 years of my career in education until then, I had rejected the “back Read More
These Things I’ve Come to Know… About Learning
I decided to become an educator in 1980 or 1981. That means I’ve been paying attention (close attention) to learning for over 40 years, but I’m not sure I really understand it any better now than when I started. I have a much more sophisticate concept of learning, but damned if I can define it. Read More
Some Assumptions about Educators
I assume educators are new to the work of teaching and learning. This has little to do with the length of readers’ curriculum vitae or the years spent in front of students. I can state with confidence the best teachers approach new students, new curriculum, new strategies, and new colleagues as a and opportunity to Read More
Curriculum Repository Proposal
A few years ago, I was asked to draft a proposal for a curriculum repository for a community college. The had seen some of my ideas about this type of resource such as is explained on my post “Curriculum Repositories” and also “Curriculum Repositories Defined” and wee interested in how I might craft a more Read More
On Academic Freedom
One of the issues I’ve seen raised in recent months, and one that I expect will become more common as we move into the “post-COVID” era of education is academic freedom. Specifically, I refer to the argument by faculty that they have the “right” to teach in any manner they see fit and that any Read More
Technology Literacy
Technology literacy has been on my mind. My definition is inexact, but I can recognize it in people. You might be able to judge your own technology literacy by reflecting on how you react to new technology. For this post, I am going to ignore those who enthusiastically accept any new device. These folks are goo to Read More
A Gap in Education
The foundational idea of education is that students are able to “do something” after the process is complete that they could not do before. What students can do depends on the experiences that comprise their education. There seems to be two competing versions of what we hope our students will be able to do after Read More