Tag Archives: sharing

Using Technology to Humanize the Classroom: Khan’s Model

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At TED 2011, Salman Khan gave the talk inserted below in video. Under the video is a link to the library of Khan Academy lessons on YouTube (notice the sheer volume of videos and the topics covered…all for free).

Browse the Khan Academy library.

[Added 3-12-11 @ 7:36 a.m.]
Joe Bower offers some contrasting views of Khan Academy.

Connections! English and Art

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I really don’t have time to be writing a post, just now, at this moment. However, a team of English teachers in the Junior High School  included me on an email distributing a rubric for a current exploration of the god-teacher archetype, and I am blown away! I feel positively compelled to sing their praises.

Why am I blown away?

  • The rubric is designed for facilitating a detailed feedback to student learners.
  • The rubric is designed for providing feedback about the visual attributes of an assessment submission related to some complex understanding of the archetype.
  • The rubric was developed from the 6+1 Writing Traits Rubric, and the connections among the written word and the visual image are astounding – the direct comparison between the two assessment tools is so cool.
  • The developing teachers worked in PLC to advance their response to the critical questions: 1) what should students learn?, and 2) how will we know if they are learning?
  • The developing teachers include English teachers and an art teacher – the paths to developing project-based learning and integrated studies are more and more becoming the visible, rather than hidden, routes to improved instruction and learning. Collaboration is increasingly important to us as we seek to enhance learning at deep levels.
  • The sharing of the instrument was quick and assumed.
  • I understand how intense this type of assessment work can be, so I appreciate the effort that this extended team put into the process.

I could keep writing bullet points all afternoon. I am so appreciative of these teachers – these lead learners – finding ways to innovate, create, repurpose, and design. THANK YOU!

Formative Assessment and Sharing

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Recently, JB sent me this 90-second Dan Meyer video. I have watched it a dozen times, and I have shared it with my entire faculty. Near the end, Dan makes the critical point about sharing what we are learning.

Also recently, I posted about my annual 360º review feedback…particularly about sharing the results. This morning, as I clicked through e-mail, I received some formative assessment better than any grade on an assignment could ever communicate. Someone from Seoul, South Korea – a school person there – wanted to get more information about my 360º review questions and prompts. What a bright-spot form of assessment – someone actually read the post and followed up wanting more information. Thanks to my new colleague in Seoul – one I have never even met. And thanks to Dan for creating such a compelling message about the power of sharing what we are learning.

>>> [N] <[email]@gmail.com> 2/16/2011 1:02 am >>>
Dear Principal Bo Adams,

Hi, my name is [N] and I stumbled across your excellently written post about 360 reviews on https://itsaboutlearning.wordpress.com.  Our school, Saint Paul Preparatory Academy in Seoul, South Korea, is thinking about using a 360 review for our staff members as well.  We are at the development stage and I was wondering if you would share with us the review/survey questions you use.  We, of course, would use this information as reference only.  I completely understand, however, if you would like to keep the exact information private.  Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much for your time and energy.

Best,
—
[N]
Saint Paul Preparatory Academy
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Dear N,

I am happy to share – that’s what learning is really all about, isn’t it? The two links below should prove helpful for you, if I understand your request correctly. In the first, I have set up a Survey Monkey collector just for you. If you want to scrub the questions/prompts from here, you can. Also, you could enter data if you want to play with this particular interface. The second link will allow you full access to the results that you enter, so you can experiment with question filtering, etc.
 
If you have a Survey Monkey account, I am happy to simply transfer the survey to your account. I would need your user name from Survey Monkey to do so.
 
If I can be of any further help, I am here.
 
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N [fake link so as not to mess up N’s use]