Monday, February 14, 2011

Another drop-- third in the series

One drop of water helps to swell the oceanphoto © 2009 Ygor Oliveira | more info (via: Wylio)

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”
--Ryunosuke Satoro

One drop, then another
We can become an ocean
Changing learning

First drop--
Second drop--
Third drop here --

How tough is it for us when we learn new things? What keeps us on a course of learning, be it a new sport, a new computer application, a new recipe when cooking? From Jay McTighe



Do his words resonate with you?

And if it's tough for us, what about our students? How can we make a difference? How can we help them?

One drop--
What if we were exemplary in modeling persistence and enabling that for our students?
What if we--

Talk about yourself as a learner. Share your own failures and what you learn from them. Admit what you don’t know. Find out together. WhatEdSaid (her entire post on resilience is so full of goodness; thanks to her for the McTighe video and the inspiration for this post)


What if we push them a little bit farther?
This is one of the trickiest but most essential ways to work out children’s persistence muscles. It’s tempting for older kids who do something well to stay in their comfort zone and never venture beyond that point. Push them to try just a little bit harder next time. greatschools.org
What else can we do to encourage persistence?

Another drop to improve education-- model and enable persistence
If we each adopt this one drop, imagine the ocean--

Friday, February 04, 2011

One drop-- the second in a series

One drop of water helps to swell the oceanphoto © 2009 Ygor Oliveira | more info (via: Wylio)

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”
--Ryunosuke Satoro


One drop, then another
We can become an ocean
Changing learning

Second drop (first drop)
Give students choice

From Mr. Chase, a narrative on learning that ended:

The progress came when I remembered what I believe to be true:

  1. Give kids choices. http://autodizactic.com/blog/?p=647
And from Max Fisher who also shares strategies for providing choice to students:
Choice gives them a sense of empowerment over their learning environment. Choice helps keep them engaged. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev048.shtml
And from Anna
No matter who comprises our student populations, I am learning that providing choice to those students is crucial. Without the chance to make choices, and the skills and resources that help inform those choices, none of us would have much room to grow. http://www.fromstudiotoclassroom.com/2010/10/learning-to-offer-choices.html
One drop to improve education-- provide choice for all our students-- beginning with little ones, small choices, larger choices -- opportunities to make decisions--

Choice--
Empowering--
Engaging--

If we each begin with this one drop, imagine the ocean--
Imagine changing learning with this one drop--