My latest roundup of links and tools…

I read blocked blogs

Are you up to the challenge?

Why K-12 educators shake their heads at academia

  • Rick Hess perfectly captures one of my primary complaints about academia, which is that much of what we do is completely inaccessible (and/or meaningless) to K-12 educators

No hand-held electronics in front of the kids!

I was incredulous to read … the decision by the London Catholic School Board in Ontario banning hand held electronic devices in schools. . . . Even more bizarrely … school board employees are only allowed to use these devices "in areas from which students are excluded." Taken to its logical extent then this includes staff also being unable to use digital cameras to record student work or projects, create and listen to podcasts and so on.
Gareth Long

Like Alfie Kohn, Dan Meyer forces us to rethink / justify

New tools I’m finding quite useful

The impetus is on us, not them

Help a teacher develop an integrated lesson [that] … focuses on a local issue of real importance, in which they, their families, and/or others in their community have a genuine stake and interest. If their learning is situated in that type of context, I think you’ll find the impact of their learning experiences will be far greater, and many more of them will learn digital literacy skills alongside traditional literacy skills. Teaching in a problem-based learning environment is a lot more work than simply lecturing and delivering content to students, but it is the type of learning environment our students need to remain engaged in school work. Too many kids today are BORED by school. As the adults running our schools, it is our responsibility to remedy this situation.
Wesley Fryer

A couple of gems from Clay Burell

And a couple more from Gerald Bracey

We are a little egocentric, aren’t we?

And, finally, a reminder from John Pederson

One year ago: Well, what’s your answer? and Principal blogging not allowed