Best Practices

 At a recent presentation I used the Promethean ActivExpressions, a learner response system, to poll about two hundred teachers, administrators and technologists asking the following question among others: “Besides funding, what is the number one problem in education?” I received some very thoughtful and thought provoking responses as the participants texted in their answers, but one reoccurring theme stuck out to me. There is not enough time.

I attended a very informative Ed Week Leadership Forum in Philadelphia recently where I was able to listen to Ed Tech leaders talk about how changing the way we teach is imperative for the kids we see every day! One idea kept at me all day…

On Sunday, June 26 from 1:00-2:50 in the SAFARI Montage Effective Digital Classroom, Meeting Room 105A at ISTE, we will be offering a free hand-on workshop for advanced users of SAFARI Montage.   If you are a SAFARI Montage experienced user, then this session is for you!   

Lately I've been thinking about how blended learning will be implemented in an environment where teachers are already tasked with endless mandates; differentiate instruction, provide real-time formative assessments, go from sage on the stage to facilitator of learning, and do all this while infusing 21st century technology for today's digital learners.

Are you a teacher in Pennsylvania?  Are you attending ISTE next week?  If so then please join me and Traci Landry and Christine Yarzabek from Derry Township School District to learn how to use SAFARI Montage in the classroom. 

Reading my current issue of School Library Journal, I was impressed to read an item about SAFARI Montage’s launch of an app for iPads and iPhones. While I have not treated myself to an iPad yet, I am enthusiastic to see technical applications for the “popular” tools such as the iPad get into the hands of educators.

Hi and let me introduce myself as the new Curriculum Director for SAFARI Montage. I am an educator with a drive to change the way we teach in the 21st century. When working with and thinking about our students today, the digital native as an individual or the iGeneration as a whole, it is clear to me that teaching strategies need to move and improve at a faster rate than ever before. In my blog I will focus on best practices for digital instruction.

As curriculum director, I try to meet with the Middle School core curricular staff at least once per month, if not more often. That particular campus houses grades 5-8, and due to the testing structure in Texas, has the largest number of state assessments to administer of any of our campuses.

We’ve just begun 2011 and I am already seeing so much great teaching. It’s hard to decide what to share.