Mind Dump

Mind Dump

Scott McLeod  //  Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University. He also is the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), the nation's only center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators, and was a co-creator of the wildly popular video, Did You Know? (Shift Happens).

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Mar 9 / 4:45am

A disconnect between student learning and teacher evaluations?

by Scott McLeod
When Rhee took over the D.C. schools in 2007, "8 percent of our eighth graders were on grade level, but all the adults in our schools were rated as exceeding expectations," Rhee recalled to NEWSWEEK. "How can all the adults think they are doing an excellent job but producing at an 8 percent success level? There's a wild disconnect there.
via http://www.newsweek.com/id/234592/page/2

What's this look like in your school district?

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Filed under  //  assessment   leadership   teaching  

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Mar 8 / 11:15am

8 norms for the Net Generation

by Scott McLeod
To reshape pedagogy, Tapscott says that we must consider eight norms for the Net Generation: freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed, and innovation.
Don Tapscott via ASCD at http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/tapscott.html

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Filed under  //  edtech   learning   teaching  

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Mar 6 / 2:02am

What did you get to do today?

by Scott McLeod
You know what I got to do today? I got to talk to young adults about science. I got to pick their brains, and they picked mine.

I ate basil grown in my classroom.

I dragged a human skeleton through the hallways, eliciting the usual stupid jokes.

I helped a student teacher become even better than she already is.

I found a rattlesnake bean in our classroom, cultivated by a student who grew up in an urban town. He planted it in November. It grew, using our breath to make the stuff we can now eat. Communion.

I got to sing, to teach, to dance, to play, and I got paid to do this.

via http://doyle-scienceteach.blogspot.com/2010/03/hey-teach.html

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Mar 5 / 11:53am

Is complaining part of teachers' DNA?

by Scott McLeod

In teachers' lounges, I've heard teachers complain about kids who are poor and disadvantaged. But I've also heard other teachers complain about those who are spoiled and overly advantaged.

Why? Because that's what teachers do. They complain. They can't help it. It's in their professional DNA. Everything is always someone else's fault. They never want to accept responsibility for kids who drop out of school but they're the first in line to claim credit for the kids who wind up in the Ivy League.

Ruben Navarrette, Jr. via http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/05/navarrette.teacher.firings/index.html

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Filed under  //  education   teaching  

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Feb 9 / 4:56am

Schools that are serious have someone at the top who is willing to focus on the learning

by Scott McLeod
What I’m finding more and more as I visit schools that are getting more serious about “change” is that they have someone at the top who is willing to focus on the learning and not on the other crap. And you can pick these people out in a heartbeat; they are leaders AND learners, and they’re not ashamed to share the driving questions they have about their schools with those around them. They have a passion not for making AYP or top schools lists as much as they do supporting their teachers to be learners, allowing them to look at their own teaching as a deep learning experience and share that learning with others.
Will Richardson via http://weblogg-ed.com/2010/educon-22/

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Filed under  //  education   leadership   learning   teaching  

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Jan 28 / 5:02pm

Bill Ferriter hates interactive whiteboards

by Scott McLeod
I’m willing to argue that even with time and training, interactive whiteboards are an under-informed and irresponsible purchase. They do little more than reinforce a teacher-centric model of learning.
Bill Ferriter via http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/01/27/tln_ferriter_whiteboards.html

Found via Russ Goerend, http://opt.posterous.com/teacher-magazine-why-i-hate-interactive-white

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Filed under  //  edtech   education   teaching   technology  

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Jan 27 / 5:20am

I wouldn't do it if it weren't for credit

by Scott McLeod

On the great homework grading debate, a teacher says:

"But I want to give them credit for doing it.  They did it, so they deserve something for it.  I don't think I would do it if I didn't get credit!"
via http://mctownsley.blogspot.com/2010/01/but-i-want-to-give-them-credit-for.html

How about making the task something worth doing?

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Filed under  //  education   teaching  

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Jan 26 / 3:20am

The power of grades

by Scott McLeod
The power of grades to impact students’  lives creates a responsibility in giving grades.
via http://tzstchr.edublogs.org/2010/01/26/gradefog/

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Jan 25 / 5:32pm

The promising use of ed tech is not about creating gimmicky video games or virtual worlds

by Scott McLeod
the promising use of technology in education is not about creating gimmicky video games or virtual worlds, but about using software and hardware to rethink the business of teaching. In that regard, technology is most effective when it can do one of three things: 1) Replace costly and inefficient activities, such as spending long amounts of time grading multiple choice questions, 2) Make it easier to manage and oversee a class, such as course management software that makes it possible for professors to see which questions students frequently got wrong; or 3) Make students more active and responsible for their learning, such as programs that tailor exercises to areas where students need help and then generate repeated problems so students can keep working on an idea until they really understand it.
via http://www.quickanded.com/2010/01/education-technology-is-not-about-gadgetry.html

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Filed under  //  education   gaming   learning   teaching   technology  

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Jan 25 / 6:42am

A relationship between PISA and GDP?

by Scott McLeod

Relatively small improvements in the skills of a nation’s workforce can have a big effect on its future economic well-being, concludes a new international study that seeks to quantify those benefits.

For the United States, the research suggests, modest gains in student achievement as measured by one international assessment could cumulatively boost the country’s gross domestic product by tens of trillions of dollars over the coming decades.

“There’s almost a one-to-one match between what people know and how well economies have grown over time,” Andreas Schleicher, the head of indicators and analysis for the education directorate at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said at a briefing held here last week to discuss the findings. “It’s not the quantity of schooling that drives success in countries, it is the quality of [learning] outcomes that we see that is explaining the relationship.”

via http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/01/27/19costs.h29.html

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