Pamper or Push?

In schools, self-esteem boosting is losing favor to rigor, reports Chandler of the WashingtonPost.com. 

The article reports that the age-old wisdom suggesting that high self-esteem leads to high achievement may be incorrect. This theory resulted in lots of "way to gos", "good jobs", and "everyone's a winner" praises and affirmations - but what research shows is that it led to very few, if any, academic gains. 

Current psychology and brain research has encouraged an increasing number of teachers to stop the "empty praise" cycle, and to instead, articulate a more precise, and scientific vocabulary for praise that will push children to work through mistakes and take on more challenging assignments. 

Learn more at at the Post

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

14 Steps to Meaningful Blogging

Wanna try blogging with your students, but you aren't sure how to start? Read this great article 14 Steps to Meaningful Blogging. Mrs. Ripp walks you through getting started in easy-to-follow steps.

1. Pick an easy platform
2. Teach how
3. Safety
4. Commenting
5. Start small
6. Involving parents
7. Connect with peers
8. #comments4kids
9. Visits others
10. Explore
11. NO grading!
12. Challenge them
13. Map connections
14. Time

Get all of the details in the full article.

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

7 things you should know about QR codes

Check out this informative article from Educause, 7 things you should know about QR codes, where they give you the "low down" on QR codes. They address the following questions:

1. What are they?
2. Whose doing it?
3. How does it work?
4. Why is it significant?
5. What are the downsides?
6. Where is it going?
7. What are the implications for teaching and learning?

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

QR Codes - bringing life to art

Have you ever looked at a piece of art and wondered what the artist was trying to convey, what their message was? Wouldn't it be neat if the artist could talk to you while you were viewing the artwork? With QR does - the artist can!


QR Codes, also known as "quick response codes", have become very popular. They are used to link physical objects (magazine article, picture, art, projects, etc.) to virtual information (YouTube video, recorded message, digital presentation, etc.).

• How do you use them? Generate the code and paste it to the physical object. 
• How do you read them? With a QR scanner app installed on your cell phone.

See how one teacher used collaboration, integration and QR codes to bring new meaning student projects -  Transliteracy - QR Codes and Art.

Want to get started with QR Codes -

QR Code Generators

1. Google URL Shortener - Generate URL Codes for your proojects
1. Insert URL, 
2. Click "shorten"
3. Click "details"
4. Locate the QR code and save as an image file

QR CodeScanners

1. iPhones, iPad & iPod - QR Scanner from the App Store
2. Android - QR Barcode Scanner
3. Blackberry - QR Code Scanner Pro
   

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

CSI - Twitter

Crime scene investigation has become a huge passion of many TV watchers over the past few years. One classroom teacher found a creative way to combine passion for investigation and social media to uncover the story behind a pile of bones found on school grounds... 
Sound intriguing? Sound a little scary? I'm sure the students thought so to! 

• The Crime: A skeleton was found on the school campus 
• The Question: Where did these bones come from? 
• The Mission: Investigate and find out! 

Read the full story CSI Twitter - Crime Scene Investigation. What a great example of using social media in the classroom!

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.

                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL

Is your classroom racist?

Featured on Edutopia is a really great article titled "Creating an Anti-Racist Classroom". In this article, Lee suggests 5 strategies for creating a classroom that encourages and appreciates all students.

1. Don't ignore race - Ignoring something is sometimes conceived as unwillingness to appreciate, so don't be guilty of ignoring student race. And if you do have unspoken biases, which most people do of some sort, explore them, discuss with your peers and find ways to ensure a fair, friendly and inviting classroom for all students.
2. Seek out established community organizations - Many times resources exist that we simply are not aware of, so find them!  It's very possible that located right around the corner are cultural, religious, educational and youth organizations that would love to work with you and your students.
3. Remember that communities of color are not monolithic - As you are well aware, stereotypes are not true of all people in the stereotyped group. Learn about the individual, don't assume what you haven't discovered for yourself. Treat each individual as the unique person that they are!
4. Read -  Educators hold an awesome power in their hands, the power to change. Use that ability to positively impact the lives of your students, by constantly learning. Read, listen to and observe others, this will strengthen your ability to provide a fair education to all of your students.  
5. Self-awareness is the key - Take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself "Am I unintentionally favoring certain students?", "Am I using preexisting labels?" - be honest with yourself and if you find that are acting unjustly towards your students, diligently work to overcome this. 

What the future holds.... 3 trends

A great article, Three trends that define the future of teaching and learning, was recently published at Mindshift. This article alludes to the fact that the following 3 trends are a huge part of the future of education - so be sure you are preparing in a way that will embrace each of these:

1. Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate! Need I say more? Whether it's through social media outlets, in class projects or other technology venues, the future of education includes collaboration!
2. Tech-Powered - A 21st century classroom finds ways to successfully integrate technology into student teaching and learning. That doesn't mean sticking a PowerPoint presentation here and there, it means that educators will find inventive and purposeful ways to incorporate the digital world into the classroom environment. 
3. Blended - What a wonderful opportunity for educators. With the emergence of digital technology, the teacher will be free for more one-on-one student attention. Providing blended education allows the student to access classroom lessons and materials 24/7. This is great news for both the teacher and the students!

Check out this article - and take away from it a new mission for finding ways to incorporate these 3 practices into your curriculum!

Are you preparing today's children?

Mindshift recently reran some of their most popular articles from the previous year - included in this rerun is an article titled How do we prepare our children for what's next. This article discusses the ever-changing face of education and addresses the fact that education has not caught up with these changes, thus students are being failed. In the article 3 suggestions for parents to help prepare their children are given:

1. Experiment with SCRATCH - which is a really cool and easy to use, and it provides great technology experience for children.
2. Embark on a meaningful project - if you've heard it once, you've heard it a hundred times "Project-based learning" helps prepare today's children for tomorrow's world. When 65% of today's grade school kids may end up doing jobs that haven't been invented today, teaching methodologies such as project based learning teach children skills that be carried into any/all careers that they may one day hold. 
3. Learn how to be a responsible digital citizen - The digital world is here to stay - instead of sticking our hands in the sand and pretending that it doesn't exist, it's time that we embraced it and all that it has to offer... with the good comes the bad. Teach digital citizenship and all of the responsibilities needed by today's digital youth.

This article also addresses the culture of fear, 21st century classrooms and more! Read, learn and DO!

Education is changing, are you?

Are you ready? Will your future students say "Wow, what a great teacher!" or "You call that a teacher?".

Education is changing - are you reading, learning and preparing for those changes? If not, you should be, because if predictions are true, the education of tomorrow is quite different from today! Check out this great article 21 Things That Will Be Obsolete by 2020.