http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer Jspencer's Blog in XML! http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=765 Get the conversation started with this month\\\'s quote from Neil Postman in Teaching as a Subversive Activity: \\\"In order to understand what kind of behaviors classrooms promote, one must become accustomed to observing what, in fact, students actually do in them. What students do in a classroom is what they learn (as Dewey would say), and what they learn to do is the classroom\\\'s message (as McLuhan would say). Now, what is it that students do in the classroom? Well, mostly they sit and listen to the teacher. Mostly, they are required to believe in authorities, or at least pretend to such belief when they take tests. Mostly they are required to remember. They are almost never required to make observations, formulate definitions, or perform any intellectual operations that go beyond repeating what someone else says is true. They are rarely encouraged to ask substantive questions, although they are permitted to ask about administrative and technical details. (How long should the paper be? Does spelling count? When is the assignment due?) It is practically unheard of for students to play any role in determining what problems are worth studying or what procedures of inquiry ought to be used. Examine the types of questions teachers ask in classrooms, and you will find that most of them are what might technically be called\\\"convergent questions,\\\" but what might more simply be called \\\"Guess what I am thinking\\\" questions.\\\" *Do you agree? Do you think students are not encouraged enough to ask substantive questions in the classroom? What shifts are you making in your own classroom? What are the challenges? Watch the AALF 21 Steps to 21st Century Learning video entitled Explore Contemporary Learning. How does the learning experience for the students in the video compare to the experiences Postman describes? We\\\'d love to hear what you think! Join the conversation and let us know! Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:50:00 EDT Justina Spencer (Jspencer) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=745 Get the conversation started with this month\\\'s quote from Ramsey Musallam, Chemistry teacher and TED talk presenter: \\\"Flipping a boring lecture from the classroom to the screen of a mobile device [is] the same dehumanizing chatter, just wrapped up in fancy clothing.\\\" - Ramsey Musallam Do you agree? Is flipping a classroom a step forward or not a step anywhere at all? We\\\'d love to hear what you think! Join the conversation and let us know! Tue, 11 Feb 2014 11:25:00 EST Justina Spencer (Jspencer) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=673 Get the conversation started with this month\\\'s quote from The Golden Notebook, by the late Noble Prize winning South African author Doris Lessing, who passed away last month: \\\"Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: \\\'You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself - educating your own judgements. Those that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society.\\\" Do you agree with Lessing? We\\\'d love to hear what you think! Join the conversation and let us know! Wed, 11 Dec 2013 11:03:00 EST Justina Spencer (Jspencer) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=636 In Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing our Minds for the better Clive Thompson writes: \\\"The truth is that old and new modes of thinking aren\\\'t mutually exclusive. Knowing when to shift between public and private thinking--when to blast an idea online, when to let it slow bake--is a crucial new skill: cognitive diversity.\\\" Do you agree that cognitive diversity is a crucial skill? As an educator, is this something you\\\'ve discussed with your students or colleagues? We\\\'d love to hear what you think! Thu, 03 Oct 2013 10:54:00 EDT Justina Spencer (Jspencer) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=552 We\\\'d love to hear your thoughts on this quote from Alfie Kohn: \\\"We are living through what future historians will surely describe as one of the darkest eras in American education -- a time when teachers, as well as the very idea of democratic public education, came under attack; when carrots and sticks tied to results on terrible tests were sold to the public as bold \\\"reform\\\"; when politicians who understand nothing about learning relied uncritically on corporate models and metaphors to set education policy; when the goal of schooling was as misconceived as the methods, framed not in terms of what children need but in terms of \\\"global competitiveness\\\"-- that is, how U.S. corporations can triumph over their counterparts in other countries. There will come a time when people will look back at this era and ask, \\\"How the hell could they have let this happen?\\\" \\\" Do you agree with Kohn? Join the conversation and let us know! Tue, 30 Jul 2013 13:24:00 EDT Justina Spencer (Jspencer) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=497 We are currently compiling a list of Storytelling Apps for our upcoming May newsletter. Are there any apps of this kind that you use in your classroom? If so, please share them with us here and we will be sure to spread the word in our next newsletter! Many thanks! Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:24:00 EDT Justina Spencer (Jspencer) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=470 What constructivist, creative software tools have you been using for iPads or other tablets? To get the discussion started, I recommend Evernote. I find it indispensable for capturing thoughts, information, and images. What would you recommend? Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:43:00 EDT Justina Spencer (Jspencer)