Maine teachers certainly know that for the past few years NCLB has brought us an emphasis on assessment. This has meant an inordinate amount of teacher time focused on testing and creating ways of testing students. While accountability and testing have their place, in most cases there has been very little time and energy left to spend on looking for ways of actually improving instruction.
Some of the questions are: How do we better engage students in the excitement of learning? What models of instruction are out there that might make a difference. What do other educators in the State have to offer us? How might technology help us with teaching the skills that are necessary in the 21st Century?
Finding answers to these questions and others requires time to explore as teaching communities. The buzzwords that are being used are PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) and Capacity Building.
For additional information in understanding these ideas, find the following links in the resource list:
Professional Learning Communities
http://region6.mainelearns.org/proflearncommunities.htmlCapacity Building and Michael Fullan
http://region6.mainelearns.org/fullan.htmlWhat do you think?
Wikispaces is an easy and convenient place to set up a digital learning space to complement face-to-face staff development. It's free and straightforward . . . . without layers of bureaucracy to work through when dealing with limited time and energy.
How is your high school MLTI Leadership Team functioning? Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School's Laptop Squad is alive and well. According to social studies teacher, Richard Byrne, the "squad" meets once a week and also offers Tech Tuesday in room A110 from 2:15 to 3:15 to help people familiarize themselves with the software installed on the MLTI MacBooks and web applications. This week there will be an introduction to Keynote. Richard has created a blog called Free Technology for Teachers to further assist in the collaboration.
