muddling about

It is hard to imagine, but another summer holiday has nearly come to a close. Only two weeks until I step back into my office and the classroom for another school year. Teaching can be a strange profession. Where else do you get 30 “do-overs”, “mulligans”, and opportunities to “play again”? As a somewhat dark [...]

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 I recently have been observing some formal debates in an English classroom. Hearing students articulate their thoughts through debate is a rewarding experience. They never fail to impress! The kids were very engaged in the debate process despite some often daunting and advanced topics. However, it wasn’t always the content that was resulting in the [...]

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I was introduced to Friedman’s book “The World is Flat” by one of division’s consultants, Dean Shareski, about two years ago. At first, some of the ideas were hard to internalize because they really disrupted my reality. However, over time, I have become more familiar with his work through experiences in grad studies, reading blogs, [...]

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I have a secret – I’m a Nascar fan. Actually, I’m a huge fan.  Anyhow, I read an interesting set of quotes earlier this week that gave me a laugh and a reminder. The quote was from former champ, Tony Stewart, who wrote about the newly remodeled Vegas race track as being “ridiculously fast…. it’s [...]

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For the first time in years our internet connection ground to a snails pace this morning. Of course, this happened precisely when I was trying to use my blog, wiki, and various sites for an HTML project with the computer science 30 class.  Instead I chose to jump ahead a few days and introduce the [...]

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For several years I have used a Course Evaluation with my grade 10 to 12 students. The form, although far from being statistically sound, has been very valuable and has greatly influenced my practice. By listenting to my students and allowing them to provide honest and critical feedback I know I’m building better relationships with [...]

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I’m taking an online class from the UofR on educational leadership of technology and we are discussing an interesting issue this week. The issue is that students expectations with using technology are often very different from how it is used in schools – or at least what is appropriate use. My contention is that students [...]

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