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The Makerspace Phenomenon
By Cathy Collins The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones. — John Maynard Keynes Makerspaces are all the rage these days, and a hot professional development topic. I had the opportunity this past month to immerse myself in the world of...
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Beyond a Number
This morning I greeted many students at 7:30. The MCAS minion was ready to serve them. I was wearing a full minion costume since I would spend my day handing out pencils, erasers, and tissues. We began testing promptly at 8:30 and some students worked right until buses were dismissed...
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Kevin Crowthers
Kevin Crowthers Upper School Science Worcester Academy Independent 6-12 School What is the one thing you are really passionate about? I love Biology. I love learning about Biology and being able to share the beauty and complexity with my students. I am fascinated with the ability of modern scientific research...
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Out of the Vacuum
I recently received a blog article from ISTE about being prepared for tech month. Barry Bachenheimer wrote, “You can’t make decisions in a vacuum. You have to have a shared vision. Empowerment, assessment and engagement all require shared vision.” I began to think about my own experiences with integrating technology...
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Jonathan Schmid
Jonathan Schmid Director of Innovation & Technology Meadowbrook School of Weston, Independent K-8 School MassCUE: So Jonathan, what is one thing that you are really passionate about? Jonathan: I’m excited about helping students become creators by using technology, and having them use it to express themselves by creating new things...
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Using research and data to define and measure success (on your terms!).
Using research and data to define and measure success (on your terms!). Message Body : Chances are, as a school administrator you may feel like maximizing the potential for educational data, research, and evaluation is out of your reach. Many feel educational research and data has been too long monopolized...
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The Case for Free
Have you ever been approached by someone with that “too good to be true” offer? Most people will probably answer this question with a resounding “Yes!”. The dream vacation where half of your time is spent with sales people trying to sell you property on a distant island. The free...
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60 Seconds
Though the statistics are staggering I have begun to think about the world my students are growing up in. The graphic above shares what people do online in 60 seconds! 60 seconds is the time it takes to microwave food, the amount of time my Mia face brush runs for,...
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Finding Voice: Appreciating the Audience Summary
Six students crowd around a wooden, kidney shaped table. Each is excited to share a story that they have been working on for the past few writing blocks. As the children begin to read their stories aloud proudly I begin to close my eyes. One robust child turns to me...
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There and Back Again: A Technology Director’s Tale
Beginning in 2013, the theme of our seven half-day trainings with staff has been “Integration.” Any coach or director that planned a half-day training was free to take this theme and apply it to their subject area however they saw fit. As the Technology Integration Director, my focus was on...
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The Soulful Nature of Change
If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow – John Dewey Over the past month, I have weeded (discarded) approximately 4,000 outdated, older books from our library’s collection as part of current renovation efforts to create an updated, modernized, technology-rich environment for our students at...
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Reflections of an Ish-ful Educator
Cathy Collins In Peter Reynold’s book, “Ish,” a creative spirit learns that thinking “ish-ly” is far more important than “getting it right.” Hearing Reynolds reinforce that important message in his Ted-ish talk at this year’s MassCUE Conference caused me to reflect on my own path toward becoming an “Ish-ful” educator....