KML Curriculum and Instruction Blog

I was drawn into the article  How do I get a PLN?  through Edutopia.  I felt that it gave me several good ideas.  First of all I loved the list suggested at the bottom of the article. How to Build a PLN Spend 20 minutes a day interacting and collaborating. Here's how: Start a Twitter account that focuses on  following educators . Build a circle of  connected educators  on Google+. Follow  education blogs  (read and comment). Follow  education chats  that are specific to your content area. Join and participate in education groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. Accept invitations to collaborate. Another key idea from this article included that teachers are personal and professional learners.  Technology can definitely be one of the tools to achieve that Professional Learning Network at KML.

The ProCon website came my way in an ASCD Educational Leadership magazine I was reading.  It lists 49 controversial issues that could serve in several ways in our classrooms.  Supplemental materials include essays, links, pro/con lists, and lesson planning ideas in the Teacher's Corner .  After browsing this site, I noticed that several videos had warnings/advisories attached to them.  Teaching our students discernment would also have to part of this website's usage in our classrooms.

"A groundbreaking guide to surviving, thriving, and finding meaning in a world rocked by the outsourcing of jobs abroad and the computerization of our lives." Presentation of Book As  Kate Schaffer  requested at a recent K-12 Art Committee meeting, I read the book A Whole New Mind.   Please note that her review of this book is listed through the  KML Faculty File Share . This book struck me in many ways: I teach in a predominantly left-brain (information) dominant classroom and do not appeal to the right-brain processes that my students need. I train my students in many ways that can be duplicated by the abundant world that we live in.  I desperately need my students to think critically.   The six senses this book mentions (Design, Story, Sympathy, Empathy, Play, and Meaning) are lacking in my information driven classroom. Our students desperately need a well-rounded education in the arts that develops their whole mind.