IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Hi All,

I will be transferring the blog to a new site over the next few days. Please check out the new blog at http://sunsetseminarblog.jaredtoddbloom.com/index.php. Let me know what you think about the new site.

Jared :)

Less Teaching, More Assessing

This month's issue of Education Update from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development has some great ideas for helping students to self-assess. One of the ideas that I really liked was a spin on an old idea, "the exit slip." In this version, the teacher asks the students to assess the "learning objectives" or reflect on what they learned. What are some of the ways that you use the exit slip? I plan to adapt this method in my own classroom this month. I will post my experiences and learnings over the next few weeks.

Jared :)

New Feature Added

Hi All,

I am adding a new feature called Clipmarks to the blog. This will allow me quickly blog interesting articles and links. Just click on any of the links under the Clipmarks in order to see the content. This should allow me to post more often to the site. Hope to hear your thoughts.

Jared

New Tool for Learning

If you are like me than you might be interested in a new site, Mediasite.com, designed to allow users to search for thousands "expert presentations and lectures" for FREE. Not only can you listen to presentations from some wonderful professors, but you also can see their PowerPoint presentations. In addition, you do not need to download anything in order to view the material. I can only imagine how many hours I will be spending on this site.

Jared :)

Academic and Scholar Search Engines and Sources

Hi Everyone,

Here is a link to a great white paper on search engines for the academic community. It is a pdf file; therefore, you will need Adobe Acrobat to open it. Let me know what you think.

"Internet MiniGuide Annotated Link Compilation white paper titled "Academic and Scholar Search Engines and Sources" is a 36 page research paper listing selected resources both new and existing that will help anyone who is attempting to find academic and scholarly information and knowledge available on the Internet" -Marcus P. Zillman

DIY - Paper Bookmarks

Here is a link to a site that has really great bookmark ideas that are easy for students to download and use. There are two files in pdf format that you can download and use right away. My plan is to use the idea to create unique bookmarks that students can turn in at the end of a unit. The link is at http://www.fabiosirna.com/journal/39/diy-paper-bookmarks.

Happy Holiday and Happy New Year

Sorry it has been a long time since my last post. I was finishing my last two PhD classes prior to entering the dissertation stage. In addition, I was asked to direct the high school musical, Titanic. Anyway, I will be asking various people to share the blog with me after the holiday season is over. I hope that this will make for a more interesting and varied blog.
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I am including a brief excerpt and link from the Teacher Leader Newsletter. I thought some of you might be interested in listening to Deborah Meier's views on testing and schools. For those of you that attended NYSEC, she was one of the speakers.


A PODCAST WITH DEBORAH MEIER
http://www.pbs.org/merrow/podcast/index.html
Noted education broadcaster John Merrow (PBS Newshour, The Merrow
Report) often does "long interviews with really smart people" for his documentaries but ends up using only a few minutes from each interview in the final broadcast. Rather than leave lots of insights on the cutting room floor, Merrow has begun creating podcasts of some of these interviews -- most recently a fascinating conversation with innovative small-schools educator Deborah Meier. Follow this link to Merrow's podcast site and look for the Meier piece. You'll find download instructions. You can capture the podcast for later play on your iPod or MP3 player, or listen to it online.