Philosophy Without A Home

Did anyone think about starting a lesson study group? As I have traveled around my schools and asked people if I could observe them either for a full period and just a couple of minutes I have tried to make sure everyone has understood that my observations are for my own personal studies and not used for any part of their formal observations. Yet some people have still intimated that in their experience there has never been any sort of observation happening that didn’t involve evaluation of the teacher’s skill set. The philosophy I am developing though is that the best way to truly excel as a teacher is to observe and be observed. The difference is that observations change focus from what the teacher is doing to what are the students doing. If anyone wants to start a group I am more than happy to be the guinea pig.  I don’t get the opportunity to teach much these days and I love to do so when I get the chance. If two or three people want to get together and design a lesson with me

My wife always seems to complain that I think I know every thing and I think I’m perfect. I’m not sure where she gets that because I usually think of my self as a sort of humble guy. It occurs to me that some of these resource emails might make it look like I think I know everything and want to explain it to everyone. That is not the case. Most of these resources do not come from my personal in class experience. I haven’t taught regularly in the classroom for a few years now. I get to teach a lesson here or there, but really I spend most of my time as the second teacher in the room. Most of these resources though come from what is commonly called a PLN or a personal learning network. These are teachers and administrators who are using these activities in the classroom. So no I don’t use these things but some people whom I think are pretty good teachers have used them in the classroom. With that in mind I want to go back to videos in the classroom. Students aren’t the only ones who lear

I started getting into computers around 1995. Back then I thought it would be pretty cool to carry my computer around with me. I wasn’t thinking about the early laptops, but literally rebuilding the desktop computer stuffing it into a backpack and carrying it around. I thought I could break the keyboard into two pieces and strap them to my thighs. I would put teeny tiny projectors inside dark sunglasses and that could be the monitor. Way back then everything was dial up so I thought the portable modems of the day could be used as a mobile dial up. Then of course everything would have to be hooked to a giant car battery or something. Obviously I never pursued this, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. I-O Keyboard from http://nexus404.com/ There are small Bluetooth keyboards  Though I don’t see why they don’t make them so you can split them into two pieces. 3-D glasses from Zetronix http://www.zetronix.com/ There are wearable monitors.  http://cdn.slashph

Hello Teachers, Speaking of resources I can't believe I didn't give these to you last week.   http://www.khanacademy.org/ http://www.jogtheweb.com/ I've showed how to make simple videos using Jing Project. The sites JogtheWeb and Khanacademy specialize in videos for edcuation. Unfortunately, like most video sites they host their actual videos on Youtube so you can't access them on from the school. To use videos from these sites at school you will probably have to use a laptop, open the video at home and let it load all the way, then bring the laptop to school without closing the browser or turning it off. The video will still be loaded and ready to play without an internet connection. There are other ways to download Youtube videos but none that are legal as far as I know. There are some sites that are open on district servers. They include Academic Earth. A collection of university lectures. Teacher Tube Basically a youtube specifically for

I spend a lot of time in different rooms in different schools. I see many different ways to arrange desks. (Pictures are representative and not actual rooms mentioned) There is the standard arraignment of desks in a row. (Why is that considered standard?) This is a great way for every student to be able to see the chalkboard. (yep chalk) The teacher in this room does like to use direct instruction a lot, but she will also ask the students to move into groups of four at least once a week. When working in the room I often stand in the doorway and watch the students. The teacher is forced to work at the board at the far corner and I think sometimes the students at the back of the room are don’t feel like part of the class. Then there is the arraignment of groups of four desks. In most rooms this feels crowded, but it does allow students to work together, which is what our math curriculum requires most of the time. Some students need to be situated so that they face the teacher mo