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Authentic learning

This tag is associated with 61 posts

Assisted Accountability – The True Flipped Classroom

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(Originally posted on the Edunautics blog) Eric Mazur introduced the flipped classroom to much interest a couple of decades ago. The idea—and a very good one—is that the time we have together in class is precious, and is being totally underutilized by a one-to-many dissemination of information. In the internet age, Mazur thought, why couldn’t we do … Continue reading →

The Mixed Messages of School

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Originally posted on the Edunautics blog. School to students— “Here’s the problem. Here’s how you solve it. Don’t fail. Do it, or else.” And now that you are done with school— “Please identify problems, Figure out how to solve them, Learn from your failures. Oh, and BTW, use influence—not power—to get people to do things. … Continue reading →

To Quit or Not To Quit: That is the Question

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In recent news, there has been a barrage of videos, letters, and articles from educators around the country – explaining in no uncertain terms why they are walking away from the teaching profession. Excessive testing, an administration that isn’t supportive, difficulties with classroom management, a lack of autonomy – the reasons continue and continue. These teachers have gotten much attention for their … Continue reading →

Teach for America: A Terrific Model for Expansion!

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Since Teach for America has been so successful at solving the problems of education in our country, I’m proposing we take their model and apply it to other failing systems and issues at hand. If the biggest problem in education is a lack of quality teachers, and we can provide those teachers and thus solve … Continue reading →

I’m Angry

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It’s Monday, and I’m angry. I’m angry because, after a weekend of careful planning, after differentiating an assignment for students who have mastered skills at different levels, after catching up on all of my grading, after getting my lesson plans in on time with the TEKS and the Reading Comprehension standards and the ELPS, I … Continue reading →

Teachers as Activists Part One: Little “p” politics

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Recently, I attend a meeting of the Austin Social Justice Teachers Inquiry Group, during which we talked about… politics. A scary word in a school. Big “P” Politics referred to ways teachers can be involved politically beyond the walls of their classroom; little “p” politics meant bringing current events and social justice into lessons and … Continue reading →

Playing with Math

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This post was first posted on my personal blog as Visualizing Math. Thanks to David Wees (who has retweeted it) and David Loitz for the push to put it here as well. I love math.  Am I an expert at it?  No.  Do I make mistakes as I teach it?  Probably–but I work hard not … Continue reading →

Self-Organized Learning in the Standardized Classroom: Possible?!

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Work within the system for slow systemic change, or from without for idealistic radical change? This is one of the most exhausting choices facing modern alternative educators. I want to take a crack at how we might approach educational transformation from within a typical public charter school with all its focus on core curriculum and … Continue reading →

Is society incompatible with imagination?

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It’s been a while since I last blogged here — part of the reason is that I didn’t feel I can contribute as much in the efforts to change education as the rest of my Coop friends, but part was my feeling I need to focus on my family and my own health after the … Continue reading →

What if…

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every classroom you knew gave these Gifts of Opportunity?  Do YOU give them regularly? While this blog post was written for business, it is SO True for education! What opportunities would you add?     *thanks to @kariweston for the link on Twitter.

Let’s play: “Stand on the Line”

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While progressing through my MA studies, I met with a young woman (I do not denigrate her youth, for she is only one decade younger than I am, but her outlook and attitude certainly were “youthful”) whose open expression of her life experiences affected me quite deeply. She was born and raised in Utah; her … Continue reading →

Cooperative Catalyst Presents: Kirsten Olson

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Kirsten Olson is a leading writer in the U.S. describing education from a student’s point of view.  Her recent book Wounded By School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing Up To Old School Culture(2009) was one of the ten bestselling books at Teachers College Press this past year, and was nominated for Book of the Year … Continue reading →

Cooperative Catalyst Presents: Dream School Commons

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Jaime R. Wood is founder of Dream School Commons, a nonprofit organization with the mission of starting innovative low-cost or no-cost schools that serve populations in need. She is also the author of Living Voices: Multicultural Poetry in the Middle School Classroom (NCTE 2006). She started her teaching career working with middle school students in an alternative charter school … Continue reading →

What Season Is It?

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It’s almost fall and we all know this. But how? Particularly how will our students know? Will it be the paper leaves that comes out of boxes and get taped to our cinder block walls? Or will it be because they are having the bounty of fresh foods available from a school garden or local … Continue reading →

Open Education: learning is at our fingertips

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Over the past decade, there has been a steady rise in Open Courseware programs. Open Courseware is the concept of college courses being offered to the general public free of charge via the internet. The pioneer of the Open Courseware movement was MIT, who began this initiative in 2002. Soon, reputable universities such as Yale, … Continue reading →

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