An interesting perspective: Do you have a hand in this?

 by Olga LaPlante

I am a dy/dan blog reader, and recently there has been a post about bloggers – especially the successful ones – who unknowingly become part of a game to improve money flow to certain institutions. If you are a blogger and don't want to improve the third party's bottom line in this way, you may be interested in learning more: http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=9672.
I would love to hear other people's thoughts about this one!

Collaborative Problem Solving

by Olga LaPlante

I am a convert. Last summer, I took a class (for my teacher certification renewal) in addressing the needs of exceptional students in the regular classroom. It was amazing. One of the things that came out of it was finding a book about problematic behavior, "Lost in School" by Ross Greene, PhD.

I am now a big believer in the CPS approach.

I have just discovered this site and noticed some of our own Maine schools practicing this approach to helping students develop skills they lack to deal with problems and demands appropriately. Check out this testimony from Kittery and in Sanford.

This approach is very down-to-earth, no-nonsense, and practical. The administrators in the videos talk about the implementation, and the success – and challenges, of course! – they have had in their buildings.

iFacilitate

It's been a very long time since I've posted to this blog, but now it's time to return. I've joined an online learning community called iFacilitate2011 which is all about learning the basics of facilitating online learning, a skill that I'm very interested in learning.  You can join, as well, right here.

Right away I was impressed with iFaciliate because it is making using of Google Sites and Wikispaces, two of my favorite tools.  Added to this was Elluminate, a synchronous meeting place.

I'll be using this blog to reflect on resources and discussions within the free online iFacilitate course.