Here is the transcript of your backchannel conversation for . This is a wiki page. As such, you can edit this page and insert text into the transcript, contining the conversation, as I have done. To edit, click the EDIT link at the top of the page. The password is teacher.
You can indent your comments by inserting --> at the beginning text. Many HTML codes can also be inserted. Other formatting features can also be found at the bottom of the edit page.
Reading now, on flight back home from Texas. - dfw
Added lines 19-20:
Thrilled to be here. You know you're in East Texas when you get out of the car and your glasses automatically fog up and you have not problem finding a good meal of seafood . - dfw
Added lines 29-30:
One of the best things about this is that of evaluating myself. I learn from what you guys focus on in the chat, what I'm getting right and what I'm explaining wrongly. - dfw
Added lines 43-44:
Yea! But it's a grade I don't think I could teach. There something about little 3 foot tikes hugging me around the knee caps -- I just don't think I could go there ;-) - dfw
Added lines 49-50:
Yes! And we so need people who love the tech, who live the "light." However, I'm one of those who loves what you can shine that light on. - dfw
Added lines 59-60:
Yep! However, in another presentation I make a point for increasing focus on art, music, drama, heritage, etc. and for the very same reason. When my wife and I bought an HDTV the other day, we weren't concerned about the tech of it. We were shopping for a better picture, better sound, etc. We were shopping for a better experience with what the creative arts people contribute. We shop creative arts much more than the technical arts. It's economy. Dan Pink and Richard Florida both express the very well. - dfw
Added lines 65-70:
Knitterchat is a personal experiment and in constant beta. So it is not publicly available. However, I recommend the following free tools for your consideration:
Added lines 79-80:
It is an intensely exciting and wondrous world that we live in. Learning about it should be just as exciting. - dfw
Added lines 85-86:
Thanks for your comment. - dfw
Added lines 91-92:
Hmmm! I'd actually not thought of this as something that would work in meetings. I don't do meetings that much since leaving the NC State Department of Public Instruction. - dfw
Added lines 101-102:
Yea, but college is going to be interesting to watch. It's going to change. So much is going online, and not just because it's cool, but because it can be done more cheaply. College costs too much, considering how much money most people make from the jobs they're prepared for, after graduation. College is going to change, and I'm a little lamentful about that. I'm a romantic at heart when it comes to education. Can you believe it? - dfw
Added lines 111-112:
The future they're going to choose. The future they are going to invent. - dfw
Added lines 117-118:
I think that this is a huge distinction that many educators do not realize. A classroom that is information abundant is very different from a classroom that is information scarce. It's a wholly different approach to teaching and learning, especially when that information is less packaged. - dfw
Added lines 123-124:
And so much more. It's so much more than just programming. It's learning math by using numbers buy working numbers. The assessment is not just, "you got that right (√)!" or "You got that wrong (X)!" The assessment message is, "That Worked!" or "That Didn't Work!" No matter what the response, you've learned something new. - dfw
Added lines 129-130:
This idea of students learning by learning to program is huge right now, and there are many more now in addition to Scratch. Interestingly, this was one of the earliest applications of computers in education, teaching children thinking skills by helping them learn to program. - dfw
Added lines 135-136:
They're out of Australia. Very robust, but wonderful tech support, both in Australia and here in the states. - dfw
Added lines 149-150:
Again, no √ or X. It's, "It worked!]+" or "[+It didn't work!" - dfw
Added lines 159-166:
They move on by questioning themselves on the other side. Questioning drives their learning. There are actually size qualities that I usually write about, and one is that their experience is "powered by questions!" They are that the experience is...
- Responsive
- Provokes Conversation
- Is powered by Questioning
- Builds Identity
- Inspires Personal Investment
- Is Guided by Safely Made Mistakes - dfw
Added lines 171-172:
Start small. Leave stuff out. Start with a problem, not an assignment. Why do we put word problems at the end of a math unit. Shouldn't the word problem come first, and students question themselves into the math. - dfw
Added lines 177-178:
Yes, but student initiated inquiry. - dfw
Added lines 183-184:
Yes, and what a fantastic question, "What do you think?" - dfw
Added lines 189-190:
It's part of the conversation we were talking about after the presentation. The best professional development is the casual conversations that teachers have among themselves everyday. The district/schools need to facilitate those conversations, and much of can take place via the networks, Edmodo/Twitter, etc. - dfw
Added lines 195-196:
Yea! Just think about the effects of asking 6th graders editing the writings of 4th graders, and then sent back to the 4th graders. Think of the effects of asking 8th graders to develop learning resources for 6th graders. - dfw
Added lines 205-206:
That would be a great way to do it. It's what's wonderful about blogs, that you can do almost anything with them. - dfw
Added lines 211-214:
Hmmm! Might be interesting to have just one blog and invite any teacher can write to it. You can set up categories for the blogs so that only 1st grade blogs could be viewed, or only Social Studies articles. So much you could do with this. - dfw
Another tool you might consider is Diigo. It's a social bookmarking tool. You can bookmark web sites with a comment as to how it might be useful. Sites can be tagged by subject area or even standards objectives. Any teacher could contribute to it and all teachers could access it. It could probably actually be intergraded into the blog, depending on the blogging platform you use. - dfw
Added lines 219-220:
This reminds me of a recent NPR article talking about the difference between education in the U.S. and in Asia. Here, if we see students struggling with something, it's seen as a problem. Something's wrong. However, in Asia, students struggling is a good think. It means that they're working on their learning. It's the difference between working to make it easy to learn and working to make the learning hard. We value what we pay a higher price for. Of course high-stakes testing makes that difficult. We need to kill high-stakes testing. It's government conspiracy to kill public education. Did I say that out loud? - dfw
Added lines 225-226:
We also need to give ourselves permission to get it wrong sometimes. - dfw
Added lines 235-236:
Learning can be playful. Another big thing in ed tech is gamification, and not just in education. I'm afraid that we aren't really getting it right yet. Most of it is about badges, which is just a different way of giving grades. It goes much deeper than that, game mechanics. I know of a school in New York that actually hired two game designers to help students plan their units and projects. - dfw
Added lines 241-242:
Would be so easy to do, and you could do it with just one blog. - dfw
Added lines 247-248:
..and it's such an authentic way of learning. It's playful and empowering. - dfw
Added lines 252-253:
Such a powerful thing to say to students. - dfw
David
I look forward to reading your conversation.
23 Aug 2013 - 10:34:41
Mike
That's cool..
23 Aug 2013 - 10:35:09
Whitney
Welcome to VISD! :)
23 Aug 2013 - 10:36:01
Melissa pugh
Too cool
23 Aug 2013 - 10:36:04
Ryan
Neato....
23 Aug 2013 - 10:36:08
Jennifer
Hello
23 Aug 2013 - 10:36:49
Jan Johnston
We're in!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:37:09
Jennifer
1st grade rocks!!!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:37:18
tonya
Love technology!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:37:28
Cody
awesome!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:38:11
Melissa pugh
STEM rox
23 Aug 2013 - 10:38:23
Christie
This will be great to use in the classroom!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:39:03
Lisa
This is great.
23 Aug 2013 - 10:39:06
Bugar
- :School is cool!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:40:34
Donna
Loving Knitterchat! Thx for sharing Dave!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:41:23
Donna
@Christie Yes! And in meetings and workshops too!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:43:16
Rexanne Thomas
What a great tool!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:44:37
JE Rhodes
School is cool and college rules!
23 Aug 2013 - 10:45:01
tonya
I'll take that jacket in black please
23 Aug 2013 - 10:53:40
Whitney
Prepare them for THEIR future, not ours.
23 Aug 2013 - 10:55:20
Rexanne Thomas
Our classrooms no longer have to be information scarce. Access to technology removes the ceiling.
23 Aug 2013 - 10:59:32
Donna
Teaching critical thinking with Scratch.
23 Aug 2013 - 11:09:38
Whitney
Scratch.mit.edu Create stories, games, and animations Share with others around the world
23 Aug 2013 - 11:12:07
Whitney
Edublogs http://edublogs.org
23 Aug 2013 - 11:13:44
Rexanne Thomas
edublogs.org for teacher & student blogs
23 Aug 2013 - 11:13:51
Donna
Edublogs--http://edublogs.org
23 Aug 2013 - 11:14:10
Rexanne Thomas
Assessment generated when their learning experiences respond to them.
23 Aug 2013 - 11:15:44
Whitney
We are a question asking culture.
23 Aug 2013 - 11:22:47
Melissa pugh
The power of questions!
23 Aug 2013 - 11:29:52
Sarah
Start small. The kids HAVE to ask questions.
23 Aug 2013 - 11:30:12
Melissa pugh
True inquiry
23 Aug 2013 - 11:30:23
Melissa pugh
Answer with a question
23 Aug 2013 - 11:30:49
Donna
How can we work collaboratively among grade levels to create projects using technology?
23 Aug 2013 - 11:34:04
Donna
@donna Let's work on that...any other teachers out there want to work across grade levels?
23 Aug 2013 - 11:37:49
Donna
@donna Let's work on that...any other teachers out there want to work across grade levels?
23 Aug 2013 - 11:38:01
tonya
Maybe a district wide blog for teachers to share ideas
23 Aug 2013 - 11:39:35
Donna
The blog idea sounds good. Thoughts? Topical? Campus? Grade/subject area?
23 Aug 2013 - 11:43:42
Donna
Children succeed by getting it wrong. Big paradigm shift in how we teach and think!
23 Aug 2013 - 11:45:38
Whitney
We need to give them permission to get it wrong.
23 Aug 2013 - 11:46:23
tonya
create one page with sub pages designated by grades/campus/topic?
23 Aug 2013 - 11:47:30
Donna
Can we be playful enough to give ourselves permission to get it wrong?
23 Aug 2013 - 11:50:08
Melissa pugh
I like the subject area grade level blog idea
23 Aug 2013 - 11:50:29
Melissa pugh
I get it wrong a lot. That empowers my students
23 Aug 2013 - 11:51:22
Whitney
Surprise Me!
23 Aug 2013 - 11:52:17