Rubric Nightmare

One of the reasons I started using rubrics was because the traditional way of  grading assignments was too time consuming for me and sometimes ineffective. So, I started using rubrics and life changed a bit, but not too much.  I found that when I had created the perfect rubric,  it was not the perfect rubric at all. I would come across issues that were not present in the rubric I had created. Even though I still use rubrics, since I refuse to go back to the traditional way, there is got to be a better way. According to Jennifer Gonzalez posting on " Cult of Pedagogy" the answer to this problem might be solved using a single-point rubric.  She says," A single-point rubric is a lot like an analytic rubric, because it breaks down the components of an assignment into different criteria. What makes it different is that it only describes the criteria for proficiency; it does not attempt to list all the ways a student could fall short, nor does it specify how a student could exceed expectations."

Creating Teacherpreneurs in the Classroom

In today's world, creating new ideas does not require a complicated business plan. The internet has created a new paradigm, where people can create their products and later on try to find the resources to develop them. Joi Ito explains this idea in this fascinating Ted Presentation.

Teachers can also become innovators in the classroom just like Joi Ito described those young entrepreneurs in his presentation. There is a new trend called Teacherpreneur. "The Teacherpreneur merges the image of the innovative classroom teacher with the risk-taking and entrepreneurial leadership that we commonly associate with those who create their place in the professional world," says Heather Wolpert -Gawron. 

Relating Steve Jobs's Idea of the Customer Experience to Education

How many times have you worked on something you felt was an excellent lesson plan only to see it fail miserably in front of your students? I know it has happened to me numerous times. Our challenge, as teachers, is to know our students' different talent levels and abilities. I equate this to what Steve Jobs said one time about knowing the customer. He said, "You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it and I’ve made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room. And I’ve got the scars to prove it.” The lesson I have learned is that no lesson plan, regardless of how good it is, will work if we do not know our students well.

The Libraries of the Future

What is the role of libraries today? With the way technology is rapidly changing the landscape in education, work, and many other areas of people's lives,will libraries go the way of the dinosaur or will they adapt to this new challenge? This article has some interesting answers.

Libraries

Learning from Students

Teachers Cultivate Minds

When Albums Rule the World

The Lost Art of Letter Writing

The Act of Giving Thanks

The Art of Letter Writing

Telling Stories: George Lucas and Steven Spielberg Talk about how Norman Rockwell Influenced their Work

Toulmin Method of Argumentation

History or not History?

The New York Times published an article describing  how authors of historical best sellers such as Laura Hillenbrand, John Meachem and many others are rewriting their original works when they write the same version for children in order to leave out things that may be uncomfortable for them to read. History cannot be sanitized. It either happened or it was invented. If  a writer decides to tackle an uncomfortable topic such as the Holocaust, it needs to be described in all its violence and horror. Leaving things out to make it more palatable for children is a disservice and it is not honest. Let the kids read the real thing, so they can evaluate for themselves the information.

Article

Should Teachers Use Social Media in the Classroom?

It all depends where you work. Some districts are more liberal than others. Districts that use social media  swear by it, while others feel that it can be an invasion of privacy for students and teachers. Read what these two articles report about it. What do you think?

Should Social Media be Allowed in Classrooms?

Abuse of Social Media

Teachers Grade the Common Core

Teachers feel more prepared to teach the Common Core State Standards and are already starting to see students improve their critical thinking skills. But the enthusiasm has dipped since last year, and only half say the new standards will be positive for most students.



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Two Excellent Non-fiction Resources Pertaining to Race in America

Article one

Earlier this week a white Ohio woman sued the Midwest Sperm Bank, a Chicago-area company she’d used in trying to conceive. The alleged error? Providing her with the wrong “product”—the sperm of a black man.  The plaintiff, Jennifer Cramblett, didn’t learn of the error until well along in her pregnancy—a pregnancy that resulted in a healthy, biracial daughter, Payton, who is now 2 years old.

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Article two

Going to jail for a robbery you did not commit.



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A Resource for the Bill of Rights from The New York Times Learning Network

The Bill of Rights protects some of our most basic freedoms, such as the right to practice a religion, to assemble peaceably and to speak freely. Sometimes, however, our society seems to prioritize other freedoms not enshrined in the Constitution, such as the right to buy what we want, eat what we want and even binge-watch what we want.  

Read for the lesson plan

The Importance of the Circle of Safety

Simon Sinek in his book "Leaders Eat Last" uses the concept of the circle of safety to make the point as to why some companies are more effective than others.  

He writes that since Caveman times humans have worked in a circle of safety to fend off danger. Sinek provides examples in his book that show why some leaders will go out of their way to care for their employees, not hesitating to give them support. In organizations where no circle of safety exists, individuals have to constantly work selfishly to protect themselves from dangers. In this type of organization, there is no cooperation and leaders do not look out for the best interests of their employees. As a teacher, right now, depending where you work, we are swimming against the current because there is no circle of safety. Throughout the country we are facing dangers like the Common Core, the abolition of tenure, the accountability of standardized testing, the divide of technology in schools, and the list goes on and on. We need leaders that can create circles of safety for us, the teachers,  who decided to make a difference and who give our service to the nation in such trying times.

Sinek Video

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Sinek

Interesting Article on Research Supported by Federal Government

The problem is that the research conducted using federal funds is driven — and distorted — by the academic publishing model. The intense competition for space in top journals creates strong pressures for novel, statistically significant effects. As a result, studies that do not turn out as planned or find no evidence of effects claimed in previous research often go unpublished, even though their findings can be important and informative.

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Building a Better Teacher

Kindergarten Looks Very Different Today

While days spent cutting out shapes and playing dress up 
may still be a part of Kindergarten in America, many five and six year olds are required to put away toys in favor of learning more sooner. Much of what Kindergarteners learn today was once saved for first grade. 

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Should More Men Become Teachers?

With so few men currently in teaching, other men may be 

less inclined to view it as a desirable option. “It will be less 

and less in their head that this is an occupation for males,” 

said Richard M. Ingersoll, a professor of education and 

sociology at the University of Pennsylvania who has analyzed 

education department data on the demographics of teaching. 

“There’s a snowball effect.”

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