UbD stands for “Units by Design” which is a method of designing instruction so that it is focus on the desired learning. In my humble opinion it really is nothing more than a remix of the “Outcome based education” design of the 1980′s. Don’t misunderstand my opinion; I am not against this type of designing [...]
I haven’t blogged for quite a while and for good reason. Due to budget cuts, my teaching position was changed and I now find myself teaching at 2 new schools. One new school would have been a stretch but having 2 new ones and 600 students to learn, 6 grade levels to teach and 2 [...]
The state of Colorado has adopted new content standards and have now been in the process of getting the word out to districts how they are different from the old standards….and they are vastly different. The old standards for all content areas read more like a check-off list or for my purpose in this blog, [...]
I have a favorite song that I like to teach the little ones in my music class called “It Takes A Whole Village” and the words continue to say, “to raise a good child”. Of course we have heard this phrase many times and I don’t doubt that people believe it but I had an [...]
Robert Frost is famous for poetry and one of his most famous is, of course, “The Road Not Taken”. The beauty of any poetry is that there are times in a person’s life when little phrases from the poetry pop into your mind. They give you wisdom at time when you need it, patience, hope, [...]
I said give IT up not give up! What is “it”? “It” is CONTROL. I have an awesome student teacher right now and this morning we had a very stimulating discussion about the philosophy of education. Now I remember back when I was in my college ed classes and preparing for going out into the [...]
I was reading a blog just this morning about the “whole child” and it brought to mind what has been nagging me in the back of my mind during many of the recent meetings and professional development sessions I have attended. The sessions and meetings I attend that happen to be about music and the [...]
I recently read a blog post from Sabrina Stevens Shupe, an education advocate and former Denver teacher. This is an excerpt from her blog: “One main reason I stopped believing in the dominant narrative about school reform is because I experienced firsthand how top-down policy churn impacts teachers’ ability to focus on our actual work. [...]
I recently read an article about how Kindergarten is the new first grade. It was fairly accurate about what is expected in kindergarten now vs. a few years ago. At the end of kindergarten, students are expected to be reading at the level of what used to be expected somewhere during the first grade year. [...]
C, E-flat and G go into a bar. The bartender says, “sorry, but we don’t serve minors.” So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not [...]
Few topics today are as hot and controversial as educational reform. The controversy isn’t whether or not we should reform education but rather how and who should do the reforming! It seems to me, much of the philosophy about reform comes from the standpoint of “what should an incoming freshman to college know?” That was [...]
My grandmother lived to be 103! She was one of the few people who lived through the turning of two centuries since she was born in 1899. I am in awe when I think about the changes in technology she experienced. Grandma was a teacher around the time of the first World War (without a [...]
I just finished 4 long but inspiring days at the Center for Integrated Arts Education Institute at the University of Northern Colorado. If you have a large group of people attending an event like that from kinder to college professors you will get varying reflections and opinions on its worth. This is my 4th year [...]
I have been following with interest and amusement lots of recent tweets and blogs about the use of ipads in the education world lately. I have had several people email me directly for my opinion on whether or not they should or shouldn’t purchase one. I certainly don’t want the responsibility of that decision but [...]
We all hear lots of buzz about 21st century skills and it always amuses me to hear what people have to say about that phrase. In an earlier post, I already gave my opinion about this phrase, so I won’t belabor that point here. I think that educators need to see what that is – [...]
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of working with a most dedicated and inspiring group of people. Our district has a group of elementary teachers who agreed to participate in a two year project to use ipods to help young students improve in early literacy and/or math skills. In the fall, I did a one day [...]
It has occurred to me that we are in the midst of a huge change in educational philosophy and don’t even realize it. There has been lots of discussions, blogs and tweets regarding educational systems changing from the “industrial age” format to the new technology integrated type of education. The problem or disconnect is really [...]
Every year at this time the news, blogs and conversations I am exposed to are centered around standardized testing, most specifically in Colorado, they are centered around CSAP. Do people really ask the question: What is the value or point of standardized testing? The obvious answer of course is: so we can measure what students [...]
I just finished completing a survey from the district regarding budget cuts. One of the first or second pages had a question about how would I rate the importance of keeping the arts. Really???!! I would have believed that in 1980 but not 2010. Why would anyone in this day and age think arts are [...]
I have been thinking a lot about what holds back schools from embracing the technology that is available to them. Of course there are always an every blossoming “wish list” but the truth is, we have a lot of technology available to us as teachers that isn’t being used or isn’t being used to it’s [...]
Having this blog active could change how Thompson School District communicates exponentially! (Did I spell that right?) How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. If I can start at the tail and someone else starts at the ears, we can get it done. I am so happy that Diane Lauer has [...]
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