The Moodle Question

After talking to Kevin Crouch and Ryan Sager, it appears we are just scratching the surface of what Moodle has to offer.  The platform has the ability to be as "virtual school" as we want it to be.  Questions that have come out of these conversations include the role/ relevance of Atlas Rubicon and also the use of Skyward's grade book when in fact Moodle has the capacity to be not just a grade book but also a grading tool in a way that is just not possible in Skywards.

Service Learning

In my research about service-learning, I have come across several good resources and used these to create a PowerPoint for the middle school staff.

Here are some key ideas that we need to keep in mind as we build our program:

• Service and service-learning can co-exist 
• AISC must have a common definition of what service-learning is so that action is focused and purposeful. 
• Community wide training should help people understand the process which needs to be followed for participants to gain the maximum benefit. 
• Students must be involved in the planning- relevance is key
• It needs to be developmentally responsive. AES has created a continuum that allows for students from all three sections to participate, with greater choice beginning in grade 8.
• AISC must create a structure to support teachers and students, that structure includes: 
• A Service-Learning Coordinator to make connections with local groups joined with a committee of teachers, students, parents and others to guide the work.
•  Access to PD surrounding the process of service-learning, pre-service, service, and post-service are all crucial parts of the work. 
• Here is the link to the National Youth Leadership Council website, which provides a host of information on the topic.
• The middle school and high school will probably be having an assembly on January 22 hosted by the Rotary Club as they have approached us about starting an Interact Club. This will probably start off as a service initiative but could certainly grow into a service-learning opportunity.

•  List possible actions
• Begin having conversations with the staff to plant the seed about what service-learning is and is not.
• Begin having conversations about how service might fit into the existing curriculum
• Find allies within the staff who might be willing to facilitate the thinking that is occurring at each grade level and would be part of the committee
• Assess the experience/ expertise within the staff
• Plan PD opportunities and make sure everyone understands the vision and process
• Look for any and all possible connections.  Ideally we want to forge partnerships with quality organizations that will stand the test of time

Ultimately, I would like to see us "go slow to go fast." I think building a solid foundation by creating structures that will support teachers and students will go a long way towards embedding service-learning into our culture so that we fulfill the school vision.

Sense of Wonder and The Brain

How can we instill the "State of Wonder?"

http://www.naturalcuriosity.ca/pdf/BranchISection.pdf

Inquiry places students’ questions and ideas, rather than solely those of the teacher, at the centre of the learning experience. Students’ questions drive the learning process forward. Teachers using an inquiry-based approach encourage students to ask and genuinely investigate their own questions about the world. 

The inquiry-based approach is not a rigid methodology or set of procedures. Rather, it entails an overall mindset, one that pervades school and classroom life to foster a culture of collaborative learning and idea improvement. Teachers continually encourage students to contribute their ideas and engage in critical problem-solving processes in a variety of contexts, whether curricular or social.

The process of student learning, more so than the teacher’s focus on ‘covering the curriculum’ is paramount.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/may/31/wonder-room-nottingham-university-academy

The Nottingham University Samworth academy has a room packed with curiosities and puzzles that stimulate pupils' imaginations, and generate a sense of wonder

He firmly believes the idea should catch on. "I think every school should have a place where wonder can be celebrated. Being interested in seeds, literally and metaphorically, I'm keen to see this idea germinate and spread."

The school's principal, Dave Harris, rarely misses an opportunity to talk about the Wonder Room. He first met his "agent" at the nearby campus where McFall is doing his second doctorate in "wonder and learning", based at Nottingham's Learning Sciences Research Institute. "I bumped into Matthew in a corridor there and we started talking about ways of engaging children and changing attitudes," Harris says. "We hit it off and the kids loved him. He's been coming into school since September – once a week because that's all I can afford to pay for. But the room is open at other times and children wander in during breaks between lessons."

The Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia, meanwhile, has been taking its handling collection to schools across the region for the last three years. "They're mainly objects from Papua New Guinea," says marketing assistant Sam Morton. "They're used as ways to get children to think about their own culture and heritage."

What does brain research say?

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/improving-executive-function-judy-willis-md

In the near future, success will depend on accelerated rates of information acquisition. And we need to help students develop the skill sets to analyze new information as it becomes available, to flexibly adapt when facts are revised, and to be technologically fluent (as new technology becomes available). Success will also depend upon one's ability to collaborate and communicate with others on a global playing field -- with a balance of open-mindedness, foundational knowledge, and critical analysis skills so they can make complex decisions using new and changing information.

We have the obligation to provide our students with "activating" experiences that stimulate judgment, pattern recognition, induction, deduction; and activate prior knowledge, analysis, and prediction. Experiences that promote executive function activation include evaluating and doing something with information while they learn, such as discovering relationships between what they learn and what they already know, or transforming new learning into another form, such as writing about math or symbolically transforming a story into a drawing.

What is the definition of a 21st Century learner?

http://www.p21.org/

P21 and its members provide tools and resources to help the U.S. education system keep up by fusing the 3Rs and 4Cs (Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and innovation). 

"Integrated Projects = Deeper Learning ow.ly/fIqLW (via @edutopia)#edchat" 30 Nov

The Framework presents a holistic view of 21st century teaching and learning that combines a discrete focus on 21st century student outcomes (a blending of specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and literacies) with innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21st century.

The key elements of 21st century learning are represented in the graphic and descriptions below. The graphic represents both 21st century skills student outcomes (as represented by the arches of the rainbow) and 21st century skills support systems (as represented by the pools at the bottom). 

Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes

Mastery of core subjects and 21st century themes is essential to student success. Core subjects include English, reading or language arts, world languages, arts, mathematics, economics, science, geography, history, government and civics.

In addition, schools must promote an understanding of academic content at much higher levels by weaving

21st century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects:

• Global Awareness

• Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy

• Civic Literacy

• Health Literacy

• Environmental Literacy

Learning and Innovation Skills

Learning and innovation skills are what separate students who are prepared for increasingly complex life and work environments in today’s world and those who are not. They include:

• Creativity and Innovation

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

• Communication and Collaboration

Information, Media and Technology Skills

Today, we live in a technology and media-driven environment, marked by access to an abundance of information, rapid changes in technology tools and the ability to collaborate and make individual contributions on an unprecedented scale. Effective citizens and workers must be able to exhibit a range of functional and critical thinking skills, such as:

• Information Literacy

• Media Literacy 

• ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) Literacy

Life and Career Skills

Today’s life and work environments require far more than thinking skills and content knowledge. The ability to navigate the complex life and work environments in the globally competitive information age requires students to pay rigorous attention to developing adequate life and career skills, such as:

• Flexibility and Adaptability

• Initiative and Self-Direction

• Social and Cross-Cultural Skills

• Productivity and Accountability

• Leadership and Responsibility

2 1 S T  C E N T U RY  S U P P O R T  S Y S T E M S

Developing a comprehensive framework for 21st century learning requires more than identifying specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and literacies.  An innovative support system must be created to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities that will be required of them. The Partnership has identified five critical support systems to ensure student mastery of 21st century skills:

• 21st Century Standards

• Assessments of 21st Century Skills

• 21st Century Curriculum and Instruction

• 21st Century Professional Development

• 21st Century Learning Environments