Quisitivity - Latest Comments

Re: Lessons Learned from Pawn Stars

Christine — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:17:35 -0000

Great points in this post. So many of our students do have passions about learning, but they just don't fit into the "system of school."

Re: Lessons Learned from Pawn Stars

ktenkely — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:39:02 -0000

What strikes me about the show is how much history these guys really know. I wonder if they knew that they liked history so much in school? My guess is that they didn't like the "school version" of history. It is interesting how passions in learning play out in life. You are right, we can't try to fit students into the spaces we think they should fit in, it is up to us to help them find creative ways to play out their passions.

Re: How to Change a Child’s Life

Diana Laboy-Rush — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:23:57 -0000

Very well put! What if this was the metric by which a teacher were measured. I remember the teachers who did this for me and an argument can be made for the impact it has had on who I am today. What a message.... Thank you!

Re: How to Change a Child’s Life

pamthompson — Thu, 27 May 2010 07:58:28 -0000

What a lovely idea! This is why people say that it's the teacher that makes a difference. Relationships are so important. If a child feels safe and valued they are bound to be more open to learning.

Re: How to Change a Child’s Life

Melissa — Tue, 25 May 2010 10:40:00 -0000

Great post! I love the paragraph where you talk about "lighting a fire" being a rule. I would want to put my child in a school where "every child in our care left school every day feeling valued, encouraged, smart, and capable."

Re: Tech Tools: Student Blogging

Buzz Garwood — Sun, 16 May 2010 21:46:13 -0000

"...blogging is more about reading than it is about writing. Students can and should take time to read a great deal about what they want to learn before they write about it. The teacher can and should provide starting points for this reading, but the power of blog reading comes from students exploring on their own, following links within blog posts, reading other articles by the same authors, and looking for new connections and relationships."

I'll also add to this idea: that getting students to read one another's blog posts- and offering constructive criticism as to their content, use of writing conventions like capitalization, usage, and mechanics further supports that blogging is more about reading than merely writing. Great post. Thanks!

Re: Guest Blog at TransLeadership

ktenkely — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:19:14 -0000

Great post, I have the same "annoying habit". I think it is probably a common one, those of us who are learners, can't help but share.
I am looking forward to meeting you and learning from you at ISTE (oh yeah, sharing too) :)

Re: Failure Is Not An Option…But It Should Be!

abtajofromjimma — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:21:22 -0000

hello sir/madam,
i'm from Ethiopia.the things that you heve disscused above are fantastic and good.And i want to ask you one basic question that is contradicted in different texts.The question is as follow:
Is it error more sereous make hinderance in communication than mistakes?or Mistake is more difficult than errors?please, discuss on these questions.

Re: No Longer a Teacher

Pam — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:42:55 -0000

I very much appreciate your addition of designer in the redefinition of teacher- today heard someone speak to idea that teachers need learning studios where they work collaboratively to co-create learning opportunities. Is the next logical step is to redefine students as learners and designers?

Re: No Longer a Teacher

lindatrader — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:28:25 -0000

I am reading this blog as a part of an online course I am taking where they have used your blog to help us learn about Wiki's in the classroom. I totally agree that teachers must be learners first and yes designers also. I have a Master's and have taught for 20 years but I am still taking courses (mostly online now) as that is the most efficient use of my time. I value my graduate programs that I have taken and plan on continuing in that area. Thank you for zeroing in on how we need to change to facilitate our students' learning in the future. I am learning how to navigate Wiki's to use with my students in order to allow collaboration and research that they will be comfortable using as they are using technology daily.

Re: Tech Tools: Interactive Fiction

Emily Starr — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:42:37 -0000

I love this idea like the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. Stories could be written incorporating a variety of curriculum subjects.

This activity would be wonderful to get elementary students applying comprehension skills such as cause and effect, sequencing, and predicting.

Re: Failure Is Not An Option…But It Should Be!

R. Med — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 04:37:32 -0000

I enjoy your posts and this is definitely one of my favorites. I will link to it in one my future posts.
I believe, as I am sure you do, in being born to learn from our failures. nobody, even the gifted, is immune from experiencing failure in his life. It is part and parcel of the process. As babies we learn to stand up and take a step or two, but the option of falling again is THERE!

Re: Tech Tools: Student Blogging

Thomas Boito — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:48:14 -0000

Thanks for this post. It planted a seed in my mind for a teacher I work with. I think blogging may be a useful tool for her and her students.

Re: Tech Tools: Student Blogging

Melissa — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:35:09 -0000

I had wonderful results using blogs with the gifted education students I taught last year. You have done a great job describing why blogging should be used with students, all students not just gifted ones. Thanks for sharing!! I will be bookmarking this blog to use when I talk to teachers about blogging! Thanks!

Re: Tech Tools: Student Blogging

ktenkely — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:48:23 -0000

I think you summed it all up perfectly, it all comes back to providing our students with authentic learning experiences. Technology allows our students that possibility, connecting with other students with similar interests from around the world and also with experts on any and every topic. My GT kids really enjoy blogging and do it more often than most of their classmates. I think it gives them an outlet and a place to be understood.

Re: Tech Tools: Student Blogging

Christine — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:46:30 -0000

Great ideas for all, not just gifted students. Many times teachers need enrichment activities for students as well. Thanks for sharing, and I'll share this information with my network of teachers as well!

Re: Tech Tools: Interactive Fiction

Gerald Aungst — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:48:23 -0000

@Kelly, one of the things I like about it is how describing an object in the code makes it act like a literal, physical thing. The author has to think through how the player/reader is likely to interact with the object, so descriptions have to be rich and actions have to be planned.

It's great for learning characterization, too, since you have to plan out multiple conversation paths depending on what the player/reader decides to talk about. The author has to think deeply about the character and understand far more than ever gets seen in the final product.

Descriptions of places must be clear and evocative, since they must not only build a picture in the reader's mind, but they must actually work as described. Writers can learn a lot about the craft of writing by working on small portions of IF code.

Re: Tech Tools: Interactive Fiction

Kelly Tenkely — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:12:45 -0000

IF is a great way to get students thinking about problem/solution in writing and thinking critically. Writing this way would have students going through the entire writing process. I love the ideas!

Re: Tech Tools: Interactive Fiction

Thomas Boito — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:59:45 -0000

This was interesting. I'd forgotten about those things. Nothing ever completely goes away, does it? They just get repurposed.

Re: Banish the PowerPoint Curriculum

Kelly Tenkely — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:06:40 -0000

Gerald, I love the way you applied this idea to curriculum design. It is time that we got some curriculum zen flowing through the school system. Every teacher should understand the design process, it should be an extension of what we do every day.

Re: Banish the PowerPoint Curriculum

Linda Aragoni — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 08:16:34 -0000

I feel sorry for teachers who are inundated with stuff the must teach. They don't even have 30 seconds to think about whether (let alone how) that stuff could be used to further their objectives. I see third grade teachers being required to teach vocabulary that I decided my first-year college students don't need to know.

Nobody wants to use the word "objectives" but I believe that's what is needed as a starting point. See http://www.you-can-teach-wr... Having spent a lot of time writing instructional materials for industry, rather a nut on the topic of objectives. I don't think education can be run like a business, but using some business-like principles might not come amiss.

Re: Banish the PowerPoint Curriculum

Gerald Aungst — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 07:49:53 -0000

@Art I also have experience with PA standards. I spent some time as the science coordinator in my previous district, and had to find a way to fit all of the 4th grade standards into the K-4 curriculum. It doesn't work. We made many compromises to avoid a curriculum that was impossibly oppressive.

I do think that a problem-based curriculum (rather than a content-based one) could be part of the answer. If we create deep, interesting problems for students to solve, they will touch on many more ideas included in the standards than we can address otherwise.

Re: Banish the PowerPoint Curriculum

Art Titzel — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:42:15 -0000

I've read Reynold's book and blog, as well, and I totally agree with your connection to curriculum. Your post struck me because as an American History teacher, the History Standards from the state I'm from (PA) is packed with so much information it would take 12 years of just teaching American History to properly teach it. Now with a push for ever more aligned curriculum and teaching the art of teaching is being supplanted with the "science" of teaching (whether it's a canned program or not). Data driven and standards aligned curriculum are being foisted on all of us to be sure students can regurgitate facts that will be forgotten after they take the test. That's accountability. Excellent post, worthy of being passed around.

Re: No Longer a Teacher

Gerald Aungst — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:47:33 -0000

@Todd, I understand what you're trying to say, but I strongly disagree. While the personal learning is important and cutting edge, there is still tremendous value in time-tested, thoroughly explored understanding that has made its way through the publication process. I would hardly call it redundant. That's not to say that every graduate program is equally relevant, of course.

There's also the structure and rigor that's built into those programs. In your life, you are free to choose to learn (or not learn) whatever you like. In a graduate program, you are both constrained and stretched. In most of the graduate courses I took, I found that I was exposed to ideas and books that I would never have chosen on my own, and I thought about them more deeply because of the requirement to respond and discuss the ideas.

Formal education is by no means dead. It may need some updating in some cases, and it needs to take other ways of learning into account, but I think there will always be a place for it in our professional development.

Re: No Longer a Teacher

Todd Wandio — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:43:58 -0000

I like your new definition of our profession. Actually, I have avoided graduate school, because I find my personal learning has exploded past the offerings at a graduate level. By the time any new idea is explored to a publishable point, it is nearly redundant. Thank you for the clarity of thought in this blog.