Thinking

In your blog response to this blog posting reply to my three requests:

1. As a middle level educator you will do many things from presenting concepts and ideas to students – to working with colleagues – to evaluating assignments – to thinking about how you can make your classes exciting - to exciting your students to explore the world of ideas and concepts that surround them – to reflecting why some lessons work and why some lessons didn’t work. You will be exhausted by what you do and what you don’t do. It is important for you to reflect and think what those some of these things may be.

One of the most important things you will need to do but may not have time to do once you are in the classroom is thinking of about thinking and thinking about learning. Do you spend much time thinking about thinking and thinking about learning?

Ponder how you are building your own philosophy of teaching and ponder on how you are building you own philosophy of learning. Share some of your ponders and how you define thinking and learning.

To be a successful educator each educator has to have his/her own concepts what learning and teaching - share yours.

Share what your beliefs are - beliefs about life – about schools – about teaching - about students and about school leadership.

Share what things really frighten you about being an educator and why you think they frighten you.

2. Examine the various standards you got in class. Take at least three standards – each one from a different set of standards and share how you will make it come to life in your classrooms.

3. Explore two - three Websites that I share at the end in this blog posting and share you thoughts about them and then provide three- four of your own websites that you think other middle level teachers should know about – and a little about them.

One clip at a time - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1ZByPflgJ0&feature=player_embedded#t=445

An anthropological introduction to youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAO-lZ4_hU&fe

Is Anybody listening? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAO-lZ4_hU&feature=player_embedded

Larry Lessig - how creativity is being strangled - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q25-S7jzgs&f

The power of media - technology - is awesome - we can all make a difference large and small.

Twitter and the world malaria day - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZADez_MIr5I&feature=player_embedded

Carrot mob makes it rain - http://vimeo.com/925729

I look forward to reading your thoughts.