Group work, collaborative groups, peer groups, buddy work, whatever you want to call it, it involves kids theoretically working together. In elementary schools, group work is quite common. Having taught 2-4th grades for 10+ years, we can tell you, group work happens. For some reason, as kids advance in school, group work changes, or disappears entirely. It’s a shame. Continue reading
Ok, I know, some of you are wondering what this post is doing here. Stick it out, and we will get there.
Parents. That one word can evoke a wide range of reactions from teachers. After this many years in education, I think I have seen and/or experienced all of the possible reactions. The key to a child being successful is a team effort. How can we foster that partnership with parents, and how does EdTech factor in?
A few days ago, I wrote about various ways to collaborate with others using Google Apps for Education, or GAFE. Technology today allows for collaboration in so many ways, but it is important to remember that Continue reading
Yesterday, I participated in a great discussion about utilizing Google Apps for Education (GAFE) for collaboration. Tweets were flying back and forth with great ways to collaborate with peers. One of the things mentioned was that not all teachers are comfortable using EdTech to collaborate. In fact, there are many that are not comfortable with collaboration at all, EdTech or not. In the interest of giving some level of comfort to everyone, I decided this would make a great topic to blog.
You can go to just about any venue where educators come together, and hear umpteen (yes, that really is a word) strategies to use in the classroom. You will hear catchphrase after catchphrase, all claiming to be the be all end all fountain of knowledge, the bringer of prosperity to all students. Ok, that may be a wee bit extreme, but you know what I am talking about.
Teacher conventions are filled with people like those described above. People who say this ONE thing, be it strategy, app, program, or whatever, will do more for kids than any other. The fact of the matter is that no one thing does that, it is how one implements that one thing that makes a difference.