Use social media to shine on school quality reviews

Not only is use of social media good classroom practice, but in places that have quality reviews (an assessment and evaluation system for schools), engaging parents with social media will help schools shine.School quality reviews are used as evaluation tools in places such as England, Wales, and New Zealand and have recently made their way to the United States in places like New York City. Quality reviews are generally customized to a particular...

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Do You Have to Be an Entertainer to Engage Your Students?

A contributing factor to the high school dropout rate and one of the biggest complaints of students is simply that “I’m bored.” And...many teachers know that their students consider them boring.   So, what’s the answer?  Some would say that you need to be an entertainer.   I was recently interviewed on BAM radio by Rae Pica along with Mike Muir, Lee Kolbert, and Pat Hensley who wrote, “Should Teachers Be Entertainers?” While many...

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Rhonda Bliss (Jeff Bliss's mother) shares her thoughts

Editor's note: This post is from Rhonda Bliss. The mother of Jeff Bliss known for telling his teacher how he felt about packet-driven learning. I share this post with the permission of Rhonda Bliss. The original post can be found on Jeff Bliss's Facebook page here.By Rhonda BlissIt has been 2 weeks and Jeff's words continue to resound throughout the educational community of the world. It was and always will be about the poor quality educational system....

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How well does your school meet student expectations? Take this quiz to find out.

The Leaving to Learn movement, started by Elliot Washor and Charles Mojkowski is built on the idea that a great way to learn to find success in the world is to be in the world. The first step is taking down the barriers between school and the outside world and letting students leave, to learn. Washor and Mojokowski recently published a book on the topic. In it they bring the philosophy to life via real examples from schools following the...

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The hottest posts that everyone's reading

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog this week. Below you’ll see the top weekly posts along with the number of pageviews. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired, share it with others and/or leave a comment. Post Views The packet-driven classroomMay 19, 2013, 8 comments 4043 Was Jeff Bliss disrespectful for using his student voice...May 12, 2013, 12 comments 3661 What's your digital footprint? Take this quiz  ...Apr...

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Innovative tool for the NYC mayoral race

Who should be New York City's next education mayor? Gotham Schools helps citizens decide with an innovative tool which you can see in the photograph below.  Visit the site at http://gothamschools.org/2013-mayoral-race/I want more...

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4 Ways to Provoke Change In Our Education System

Guest post by Jaime R. WoodIn his most recent TED Talk, Sir Ken Robinson says, “There are 3 principles on which human life flourishes, and they are contradicted by the culture of education under which most teachers have to labor and most students have to endure...diversity...curiosity...creativity.”What does it take to infuse these principles into the education systems we build? This is a question that can’t be answered by one person alone, but in...

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5 ways to increase chances of a successful #1to1 implementation

As more and more schools hop on the 1:1 or BYOD bandwagon in one way or another it is important to deeply consider proper implementation.  While there is the promise for engaged and inspired learning, these large-scale implementations also present potential pitfalls for school districts that must watch the bottom line, provide adequate support for teachers new to the technology, and engage families in a dialogue about these powerful pieces of equipment that are going to be coming home in Johnny’s backpack each night.There is no shortage of...

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Wrong! Free computers don’t affect educational outcomes

In case you missed it, a wrong-minded study was released this month from the National Bureau of Economic Research that says that computer ownership does not affect educational outcomes. Makes you wonder how on earth earth such misguided studies can even be commissioned. Also makes you curious about who is really behind the funding of research that misleads readers into believing that poor kids don’t need the same tools their wealthier peers use for...

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The packet-driven classroom

Jeff Bliss got our attention when he shared his frustration with his teacher, classmates, and the world about his learning environment. The now viral video captures a room of passionless students, some with their heads down, some with a facepalm, some staring into space, all silently sitting at their empty desks seemingly disconnected not only from each other, but also from their behind-a-desk-fortress teacher.That is until Jeff Bliss got up and...

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The hottest posts that everyone's reading

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog this week. Below you’ll see the top weekly posts along with the number of pageviews. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired, share it with others and/or leave a comment. Post Views Was #JeffBliss disrespectful for using his #StuVoice...May 12, 2013, 12 comments 3888 5 ways to use Pinterest as a creation tool for lea...May 3, 2013, 3 comments 3672 7 free ways to capture student...

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Do we have to choose between student voice and teacher voice?

It turns out my support of student activist Jeff Bliss caused at least one teacher to announce on his blog that he wants to quit Tweeting and blogging.  Friends bombarded me with the post, accompanied by comments like, “This is great. We don’t need someone like that representing our profession.” Or, “Wow. He must really be threatened by students being heard. I think that’s a good sign.” I represent, apparently,all that makes him want to quit....

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Could PBL be the Solution to Education Reform?

Guest post by Bradley Lands  | Cross posted at The Landscape of LearningAt the behest of politicians, educators nationwide have been told to view students as statistics, not as individuals, and to view the purpose of the educational enterprise as raising test scores rather than developing capable minds [1].While I was taking a survey today about Response to Intervention (RTI) I began to reflect about how RTI and Data-Driven Instruction have affected my school.  In the past few years, I have noticed teachers becoming overwhelmingly...

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Was #JeffBliss disrespectful for using his #StuVoice to demand a beyond-the-packet education?

By now, you've probably seen the video of high school student Jeff Bliss demanding an end to what he calls "packet teaching." Instead he puts out a call to action for teachers to work to touch the hearts of kids to open their minds. The interaction was ignited when his teacher told him to stop his bitching about the test and kicked him out of class. A student flipped open the cell phone, caught his reaction on tape, and published it. It hit a chord with many and went viral, being viewed by millions around the globe.As Jeff shared his...

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The hottest posts everyone's reading!

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog this week. Below you’ll see the top weekly posts along with the number of pageviews. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired, share it with others and/or leave a comment.PostViewsWhat's your digital footprint? Take this quiz ...Apr 9, 2013, 2 comments26875 ways to use Pinterest as a creation tool ...May 3, 2013, 3 comments25447 free ways to capture student responses ...Mar 27, 2013, 7 comments23208 Real Ways...

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Pinterest curated into Joyce Epstein's 6 Types of #Parent Involvement

If you are responsible for helping to build and strengthen the home-school connection, you’ll want to follow Principal Joe Mazza on Pinterest. Mazza uses Pinterest to pin resources aligned to the National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs which build upon the six types of parent involvement identified by Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D., of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University.  Below you...

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Leave high school. Test out of college. Save $$. Find success.

Editor's note: There are plenty of questions around if college is really worth the time and money. Personally, I found a way to graduate college as a teen without going into any debt, so the decision wasn't too difficult. More and more people are finding innovative ways to have their cake and eat it too. Here's one such story.  Guest post by Laura Fokkena. Cross posted at Rise Out: Leave School. Start a life.I don't believe standardized tests...

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What breaks your heart? Tackle that with Quest2Matter

Quest2Matter is a youth-focused effort that encourages young people to tackle problems that break their heart. The Quest seeks to unlock the potential of young people to think entrepreneurially and innovatively and use modern tools to change our world.What is The Quest?The Quest is a catalyst that challenges students:Students who accept this challenge will know that they matter and that they can make a difference in our world.What makes a good quest?Ask...

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3 ways to use Twitter Fast Follow to strengthen the home-school connection

Did you know that anyone (in the US) can receive Tweets on their phone even if they haven’t signed up for Twitter? Twitter Fast Follow allows anyone to follow Tweets right from any phone with texting capabilities. For a school community, this can provide a simple way for people to get information they care about in real-time. It is a terrific way to build and strengthen the home-school connection. Here are some ways it can be used.I want more...

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The hottest posts everyone's reading!

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog this week. Below you’ll see the top weekly posts along with the number of pageviews. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired, share it with others and/or leave a comment.PostPageviews7 free ways to capture student responses ...Mar 27, 2013, 7 comments3259What's your digital footprint? Take this quiz  ...Apr 9, 2013, 2 comments25426 Reasons Why You Should Use 6 Laptops ...Apr 8, 2013, 5 comments14718 Real...

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