Whatisschool December 18, 2014

Thank You!

Thank you for voting #whatisschool Best Education Twitter Chat/Hashtag of 2014!  Its been a blast creating a forum that sees over 2 million innovative educators each week. Thank you for all your support and sharing your ideas on how we can change education to develop critical skills for a 21st century workforce. There's a lot more to come in 2015!  Archives from tonight's chat on coding in the classroom are posted below. Merry Christmas! -Laura 

Making Computer Science Work For You

#whatisschool Thursday December 18, 6PM EST

Last week was computer science week, a time in which educators around the world strove to integrate computer science into their classes with an hour of code.  Children teachers and parents joined together to make games, program robots and found out that gaining 21^st century skills is a lot of fun and can be easier than you think.  So how do you get started with coding?

Ambassadors for coding come from all walks of life.  The video below shows this diversity and provides instructions for a simple coding project based on the characters from Frozen that you can do with your students by clicking here. 

Questions #whatisschool Thursday December 18, 6PM EST

1) What projects have you tried or want to try with your students that involve programming or writing code?

2) What is the ideal age to expose students to learning code, why?

3) How can students and teachers use computer programming to integrate arts and core competencies?

4) Does learning to code bridge gaps and create applicable uses for other disciplines taught in school?

5) What types of products would you create, what problems could you solve programming with your students?

6) How can programming and coding help students become future leaders and get them excited about learning?

_______________________________________________________________

Whatisschool December 11, 2014

Amazing!

It was such an incredible chat tonight, so many great ideas flying by it was hard to keep up. My take away was that we are more than ready to operate on a global level and bring this to our students, the question is how. As we move forward implementing ideas that will shape education for the betterment of students, teachers and parents we need to find ways to create consistency to make sharing easy. What we do on twitter as PLN is a great example. Thank you for joining us each week and making #whatisschool one of the best chats in the twitterverse. You are amazing!  Archives are below.

Creating A Global Collaboration Project

#Whatisschool Thursday, December 11, 2014 6PM EST

Global collaboration is a buzzword in education conjuring up images of children using instant imaging to join classrooms halfway around the world or authors and experts sharing their experiences with large audiences in remote locations.  But recently it has become much more. Collaborative projects augmented by technology have transformed classrooms and communities around the world by taking ideas and bringing them to life. So how do educators set up successful global collaborations?

"We can learn from each other and so enrich our own lives. We need not all be equal in order to live together. And sometimes we are more equal than we want to admit it." –The Inside Out Project

The Inside Out Project focuses on using artistic expression to create great collaborations.  This building in Wupperthal, Germany was covered in portraits as part of the Different Views Project, which promotes racial tolerance by using photographs to bring together people of different ethnicities, religion, culture and origin.  The hope? To show that being different opens up more possibilities for all of us and should be celebrated.

So what can you and your students create using global collaboration?

Questions #Whatisschool Thursday, December 11, 2014 6PM EST

1) How can global communication be used to share teaching expertise throughout a student body or global community?

2) What lesson would you add an aspect of global collaboration to?

3) How can you use modern and traditional communication to gain support, interaction and feedback from your community?

4) How could the learning environment be changed to create your ideal global classroom, what tools would you need?

5) What experiences, successes or failures do you anticipate collaborating on a global scale would bring, what would students learn?

6) Can you initiate a student led collaborative project or challenge with your class using global collaboration to solve it?

Whatisschool December 4, 2014

WOW!

Wow, this week has been one of great news and surprises!  Not only are book sales of the Great Story World Mix-Up up, but I have been contracted by a national US company to write innovative science curriculm aligned with STEM for children k-6.  This fits perfectly with the magic and science the two main GSWMU characters, Penelope and Jilly (who are written by my daughters), use to solve big problems in a magical place called Story World that they really messed up.  I am tickled pink!  To add to the good news I just found out that #whatisschool is a finalist for edublogs best education chat or hashtag 2014.   Credit for this goes to YOU!  Thank you for all the support you have given  as we strive to build a forum that allows educators, students, parents and other interested people to share ideas so we can shape the future of education instead of having it shaped for us. It is an amazing and exciting time both for educators and students who will change the world in ways we cannot imagine. Please take a minute to like us now, vote for #whatisschool by clicking here or below, voting ends December 18!  Thank you again for making #whatisschool a great place for sharing and learning.  Archives from this week's char are posted. -Laura

Teaching Skills For Global Collaboration

#Whatisschool Thursday, December 4, 2014 6PM EST

When every computer is a publishing center, marketing platform and distribution center how do YOU teach students to create and collaborate? In this blossoming age of technology the need to develop skills that allow students to become global creators and collaborators is greater than ever. As technology continues to rapidly evolve it influences everything we do in profound ways effecting not only our personal lives but the jobs we have and the way we go to business.  So, what can you do as an educator to harness technology to ensure students have the skills they need to compete, create and collaborate in a global arena?

Questions #Whatisschool Thursday, December 4, 2014 6PM EST

1) What does global collaboration mean to you?

2) What programs or collaborations would you like try at your school, how would they enhance your class?

3) What skill sets will students need to be successful in a global arena, how can you teach them?

4) What role will technology play and how will it change the way people live and go to business 20 years from now?

5) Will your students be prepared for success in the world you envision 20 years from now?

6) How does school need to change to make students the global creators and collaborators of the future?

Related Reading

Getting Kids Ready For Global Collaboration

Technology In The Classroom

Amazing!