Continuing with my theme of questioning I have begun to look at the words we continually use in education. Today’s word is Accountability. I am an educator and I hear the word accountable almost every day. I just searched my reader and found Accountable and Accountability in many of the my unread items. It is a term we use, read, and write about often. When I come across the word I always want to ask “Accountable to Whom? Accountable for…
To me the word question is essential to learning. A learner asks questions and seeks answers. Questioning leads to deeper understanding and increased knowledge. Questioning is essential to growth. Over the last few weeks this word had caught my attention in the news, my twitter feed, conversations and my rss reader. Questioning seems to have a more negative connotation then positive in my recent experience. I have been wondering if this impression prevents our students from asking questions. The Merriam-Webster…
Nominations for the 2010 Edublog Awards are open. It is chance to recognize the time, effort and contributions made by those we learn from and with. I am taking the opportunity to recognize some of the people and communities that have made an impact on my learning and thinking and have challenged me to be a better educator. There are variety a categories, for the full list see the Edublog Awards homepage. I have spent the better part of the…
I took an impromptu road trip to Salem MA yesterday to check out the Halloween happenings. We had a great time. I brought along my VirginMobil mifi, so my daughter could complete her homework on the 5 hr round trip drive. I brought my iPad along for the day. We had a great time people watching with everyone in their Halloween best. We spent a good deal of the time walking around discussing the history of Salem, the witch trials,…
I have been thinking a lot lately about what makes a good student as compared to a good learner. Are they the same? Can they be the same? Are they inherently different? From personal experience I was a leaner but not a great student, in middle school and high school. I gave it my all in the classes I loved and read about those topics outside of school. I learned more then was expected or explained in class. I still…
I am moving into a new office space next week. It is a pretty nice space and has windows. I have been without a window for 5 years, at least now I’ll know if it is day or night. The office has been freshly painted and when confronted with all the wall space I was wondering how to decorate. What do you hang on the wall? What will inspire me when I feel the job is impossible and what will…
I am such a door mat. My daughter and I just had dinner in a restaurant where the tables are way too close together. The women at the adjacent table was loudly berating teachers. In her opinion it was a women’s job and really those women who become teachers do it because it is an easy job and they can still spend lots of time with their kids. Teaching is a job for women who just can’t commit to being…