Category Archives: project-based learning

A Mind-Bending Web 2.0 Way to DO History and Non-Fiction Writing

In recent years, postmodernists have challenged the validity and need for the study of history on the basis that all history is based on the personal interpretation of sources. In his book In Defence of History, Richard J. Evans, a professor of modern history at Cambridge University, defended the worth of history. –Wikipedia: “History“
–the […]

For the Roses: My Latest Position on Classroom Blogging

Carolyn Foote wrote this week about the new Pew study on the effects of technology on teen writing. An article about the study in eSchool News (free subscription - well worth it - required) pulls out a few details that for me, at least, suggest some weird thinking. The “news” that
[t]eens who […]

Muhammad Ali: A D- Student? Or an F- School?

[Update 2: Goodness! A 75-comment debate exploded in less than a day.  Best sustained conversation among all commenters (not just responding to the post) that I’ve ever seen on this blog.  A true “cocktail party” about an important subject: Assessing with a bias toward writing, versus assessing to reward non-written communication skills equally in grades.]  […]

Project Global Cooling Blows in to Bangkok

International School of Bangkok’s Justin Medved asked me to spread the word about their elementary and middle school Project Global Cooling events, both of which will be Ustreamed:
Middle School Concert for Climate Change - 12-2 pm Bangkok Time on Thursday April 24th
Elementary Earth Day Festival - 8am - 1pm Bangkok time on Friday April 25th
[…]

Education as Pretense: Schooly “Speeches” versus Real “Talks”

The always-interesting Doug Noon of Borderlands wrote a post recently that’s worth a click, but here’s the gist:
This post is about the talking part of student presentations, and helping kids to develop an actual public speaking voice. I discovered last week, by accident, just how much my students have to learn about talking in front […]