Sign the Motion to Amend




Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Communications

Thoughts? What does it mean for corporations doing biz via internet 24/7??

We all learn differently

But we all learn better when we
see an example,
hear a voice,
practice the task,
empathize with the role,

reflect on the experience.

Why it's so hard to resist tempation: Radio Lab's Story on Willpower and the Slacker Brain

The discussion of the relative weakness of the prefrontal cortex which governs willpower is a fascinating study and one with real implications for educators. Cognitive load is  easily maxed out and the first casualty is willpower?

Positive Interactions

http://www.jongordon.com/newsletter-012510-positiveinteractions.html

Love this suggestion to make daily rituals out of praising employees, going for a walk with your spouse, sharing positive stories.

Must DO!!!

Figuring Things Out

Nothing is as simple as we hope it will be.
- Jim Horning

Thinking about how to teach Call Center employees.

Knowledge -

• Bus. Purpose,
• mission
• Brand
• Who does What - LOBs lines of responsibility
  
• What's Your Job?
• Tools - you use to handle/ Triggers -> Send to Correct Resource.
  

• Customer Service
• Empathy
• Professionalism
• Ethics / Golden Rule

• What's a PA, SPP, Sales Check Info, warranty, claim, case, escalation?
  

• Cause / Effect Classification - Category / Reason

Prejudices & Learning

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
- Albert Einstein

Adversity in Learning

Have you learned the lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you? Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed passage with you?

Walt Whitman
US poet (1819 - 1892)

Realistic in Today's World?

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.
- Thomas H. Huxley

Gilda Lyon's Presentations on Teaching

Trainers - Science

When I was researching assessment and how to assess the quality of teaching, I ran across these wonderful presentations by Gilda Lyon, a career science teacher in Tennessee. They are definitely of value for anyone who thinks that pre-assessment is a waste of time. She also gives some wonderful suggestions for performing informal formative assessments to help students identify what they know and what they still need to learn. I'd appreciate knowing what you think of her presentations.

Just when you think you know everything

You run across something you wish you'd been reading all along. Just found a site that should be on on my list of links. Edutopia.

Beyond Smiley Sheet Evaluations

In our work on developing a plan for Middle School Redesign, we identified the need for teachers to elicit feedback from students and parents regarding the success of their teaching and their students' learning. One of the most commonly used tools for evaluating training in the work world is the smile sheet. Researcher Will Thalheimer has developed his own evaluation \that seeks to provide more specific feedback regarding specific objectives and concepts taught. He even provides a link for you to download his form to use as a template for your own course evaluation. Of course, his form is designed to measure reactions to a one-time workshop offering, but his approach is interesting and would be very useful to apply in the work training setting.

Downes Definitions of Education and Learning

From his canaries.ppt presentation,

Education is fundamentally a process of communication;

Learning is fundamentally a process of growth.

-- Stephen Downes

New law changing the way districts statewide calculate GPAs

New law changing the way districts statewide calculate GPAs

We keep trying to even the playing field so schools like UT Austin don't end up with such low percentages of blacks or others from low socio-economic backgrounds.


We need more research on effective assessment and qualitative evaluation. Predictors of success cannot always be reduced to numbers.

25 Teachers Who Drastically Changed the World | Teaching Tips

25 Teachers Who Drastically Changed the World | Teaching Tips

Every once in a while I need inspiration to continue in my chosen path. This list acquainted me with some unknown names and included some well-known figures I don't often think of as teachers.

Why I'm a Generalist

Since we cannot know all that there is to be known about anything, we ought to know a little about everything.
- Blaise Pascal

Who Dares to Teach Must Never Cease to Learn

1799. John Cotton Dana (1856-1929). Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989

Below are some of my other favorite quotes about teaching.

The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards; and curiosity itself can be vivid and wholesome only in proportion as the mind is contented and happy. – Anatole France


If you plan for a year, plant a seed. If for ten years, plant a tree. If for a hundred years, teach the people. When you sow a seed once, you will reap a single harvest. When you teach the people, you will reap a hundred harvests. -- Kuan Chung (d. 645 B.C.)


Learning without thinking is labor lost; thinking without learning is dangerous. -- Chinese Proverb

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books.-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



It is the object of learning, not only to satisfy the curiosity and perfect the spirits of ordinary men, but also to advance civilization. – Woodrow Wilson



Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.

-- Thomas Szasz (b. 1920), U.S. psychiatrist. “Education,” The Second Sin (1973).


A teacher can but lead you to the door; learning is up to you. – Chinese Proverb


The teacher’s task is not to implant facts but to place the subject to be learned in front of the learner and, through sympathy, emotion, imagination and patience, to awaken in the learner the restless drive for answers and insights which enlarge the personal life and give it meaning. -- Nathan M Pusey, President, Harvard

Teaching is . . . .

Teaching is about transmitting information and best practices through human interaction from one generation to the next.


How do we measure quality teaching? Through principle-based assessment rather than scores-driven regulation.



Self-assessment (what used to be called reflection) is key to improvement.

Resource Based Learning: Definition

RBL: Definition
Canadian Website for Saskatchewan Schools about the integration of teaching and research, with teacher/librarian as resource for the student researcher.

Austin is 21st in high school graduation rates

Austin is 21st in high school graduation rates

Austin has a graduation rate of 58.2%. The surrounding suburbs have a rate of about 71%. The ethnic rate stats at the end of the article are interesting and may be more reliable, since they are nationwide averages. It would be interesting to compare the ethnic make-up of AISD schools compared to those same suburban schools.

The sad fact that these statistics highlight, even though the article is silent -- No child left behind has resulted in children failing out of the public education system. Students who cannot meet the standards are more likely to drop out, and less likely to be encouraged to remain in school. The stakes (withholding of federal funds) are too high for the schools, and the measures too focused on scores (narrowly interpreted), rather than growth in student achievement.