tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18122172222510525742012-01-26T06:05:00.401-05:00Featuring commentary on educational technology from down in the trenches.Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.comBlogger4161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-26600483188788924522012-01-26T06:05:00.000-05:002012-01-26T06:05:00.469-05:00

The the cornerstone of Mercy 2.0 is our transition to the iPad, the first changes involve moving to “the cloud”.We are in the process of moving us to Google Apps for Education.   Besides being free,  Google Apps gives us the advantage of moving easily across platforms.  Don’t worry, your work will not be immediately impacted.  Even when we move to Gmail (this summer), you will be able to keep the

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-43274492246619143682012-01-22T03:01:00.000-05:002012-01-22T03:01:00.185-05:00

Given that we just recently announced that all of our ninth graders would purchase iPads, we are thrilled by Apples' recent announcement this week about apps that may change the textbook paradigm.  We have long been frustrated that while less expensive digital versions of popular books proliferate, the availability of ebooks has only recently begun to slowly increase.  Apple's announcement

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-3026376864319686782012-01-19T05:25:00.001-05:002012-01-19T05:25:01.259-05:00

Twenty-one months after a large group of us met to dream up M-Hub, we officially launched at a staff meeting, today.  The students, presented an introductory video and conducted to a live tour of our site. Opening Presentation The girls then directed the staff through search activities looking for universities, careers, etc. Sarah directs the activities The searches began at our Moodle portal,

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-80739449648721569172012-01-15T05:32:00.002-05:002012-01-15T21:54:26.535-05:00

Last week I was the beneficiary of two separate phone conversations concerning Mercy's adoption of the iPad for incoming ninth graders.  I learned a great deal from Lisa Tortorich, principal of Mercy Burlingame about their pilot program with the iPad.  They will be requiring an iPad of all students, next year.  I also spoke with consultant,  Lucy Gray about a whole range of topics.  But both

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-88591584077847959552012-01-12T06:00:00.001-05:002012-01-12T06:00:01.002-05:00

joyoftech.com Why Aren't Students Using E-books?  The slow adoption of digital textbooks by students doesn’t necessarily mean that textbooks will be the last bastion of print. But it does highlight the ways in which students’ needs aren’t being met yet by digital content providers. That means there’s still a huge opportunity here to reshape what the textbooks of the future look like. Openly

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-84758466465295783982012-01-08T05:45:00.004-05:002012-01-08T09:34:21.053-05:00

We have been working through the details on our transition to an iPad 1:1.  We communicated a letter to our current parents and included the following FAQ which describes some of the effects that this change will  have on the community in the time to come. We'll have a "mixed environment for quite some time, which will be very challenging, but exciting! Mercy 2.0 iPad FAQs for Parents

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-35777630760964949582012-01-01T20:49:00.003-05:002012-01-04T19:04:12.678-05:00

Flickr CC photo byErica Hargrave 5 Online Resources for Budding FilmmakersAlthough nothing can help you develop that intuitive knowing like hands-on experience can, here are 5 great resources for learning filmmaking skills.http://www.pauldevoto.com/blog/ TimesCast/2011: The Year in MediaA look back at the growing intersection between social and mainstream media.http://nyti.ms/uSBKOt 10 Apps

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-71754564786856485472011-12-30T05:51:00.001-05:002011-12-30T05:51:00.249-05:00

As the year ends, I am re-posting my five most popular 2011 musings.  This one was ranked #1 in page views, so I am quite pleased to reshare it.  It was inspired by my favorite assignment from last school  year. ------------------------- I've gone head with my plan to assign pairs of my 10th grade American Government students the task of creating a one minute political commercial for a real

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-29868404338018841132011-12-29T05:39:00.000-05:002011-12-29T05:39:00.733-05:00

Screen Capture from TC Web Mail Usage Declines . . . . As the year ends, I am re-posting my five most popular 2011 musings.  This one was ranked #2 in page views. (Frankly, I have no idea why, other than the title). Matching Learning goals and Web Tools In Leonardo’s Laptop, Ben Shneiderman provides teachers with a powerful framework, Collect-Relate-Create-Donate (CRCD), for designing

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-15643195312641661832011-12-28T05:56:00.000-05:002011-12-28T05:56:00.091-05:00

As the year ends, I am re-posting my five most popular 2011 musings.  This one was ranked #3 in page views and recalls meeting two of the finest educators I have ever had the pleasure to meet. In January, i spent six weeks in Texas,  first consulting with the Belton ISD and then working with the CBL Implementation team.  It was an exciting experience with extraordinary networking opportunities.

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-24390496756487269042011-12-27T06:00:00.008-05:002011-12-27T06:00:02.265-05:00

"Woo-Hoo" Flickr CC by JAKULL As the year ends, I am re-posting my five most popular 2011 musings.  This one was ranked #4 in page views.--------------------------------- I have been more or less slogging away at the CBL wars for the past few weeks.  In some instances, particularly the professional development sessions (PCGs), it has been difficult to gauge how well things have been coming

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-87933157985353139062011-12-26T05:14:00.003-05:002011-12-26T05:14:01.352-05:00

As the year ends, I am re-posting my five most popular 2011 musings.  This one is a personal favorite and was ranked #5 in page views. --------------------------------- Thanks to a Challenge Based Learning project that truly rocked, for at least one night, "teenage apathy" was brought to its knees. Lynn Waldsmith, Mike Gruber and I challenged our students to defeat teenage apathy in our English

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-56862400972062102892011-12-21T20:47:00.000-05:002011-12-21T20:47:23.936-05:00

The new CBL community site replete with two Mercy challenges I've been on a bit of a Challenge Based Learning sabbatical.  Distracted by learning a new job and ramping up projects like M-Hub and Mercy 2.0, I haven't participated in any CBLs this school year.  Fortunately, CBL has been moving along quite well despite my neglect: * Mark Nichols has been working determinedly to bring The

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-16139136913361265192011-12-20T12:42:00.000-05:002011-12-20T12:42:52.968-05:00

Flickr CC Photo bydavidAigner This week we announced a major change to our educational technology plan at MHS.  As part of what we are calling "Mercy 2.0", we are moving to the iPad as our 1:1 device and we will be adopting Google Apps. Among the reasons: The iPad’s functions fall more in line with current staff and student usage than our current device.  What is more, the 400,000 apps

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-75936128267365688262011-12-15T05:58:00.022-05:002011-12-15T05:58:00.514-05:00

Slide from AP Gov update to "Media" chapter. As I explained in Re-enlisting as a Digital Teacher,  until recently I have not been certain I would continue teaching my AP American Government and Politics class.  This ambiguity caused me to stay with an edition of my e-text a year longer than I otherwise might have done. Necessity being the mother of invention, I turned the datedness of the

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-10490384287647635442011-12-11T05:52:00.068-05:002011-12-11T05:52:00.215-05:00

"It is true that technology can be dirty. It is true that technology itself isn't going to fix our problems. Technology really isn't a "tool" anymore. Technology is a context. Context produces culture. This happened before back at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The context of industry produced all sorts of pollutions and evils; it also produced the medical revolution and eventually gave

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-17875952328986555342011-12-08T05:48:00.049-05:002011-12-08T05:48:00.586-05:00

Flickr CC by copelaes Major Medical Library Closing . . . . Moving to Digital The William H. Welch Medical Library at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, will close its doors to patrons on January 1, 2012. But the library as an information resource is not closing; it is just moving completely online.http://bit.ly/vqzSJv A Head Teacher Writes . . .  My idea is for the school to invest

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-43205195264260029162011-12-04T05:24:00.004-05:002011-12-04T20:10:53.431-05:00

Flickr CC by Kate Tomlinson Today presents the ultimate in narcissistic Drive-thru posts.  But I have technology preoccupations on all fronts. At work our Technology Plan (which I refer to as MHS 2.0) is coming to a head.  It includes a review of our 1:1 device, department, cloud hosting, curriculum, bookstore.  It's very comprehensive and we are working like mad to pull all of our information

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-36377894890320536622011-12-01T05:57:00.001-05:002011-12-01T05:57:00.263-05:00

Flickr CC Photo by Lesleyk "If you're not astonishing the kids, they won't be astonishing you back!" -- Stephen Heppell "The slow adoption of digital textbooks by students doesn’t necessarily mean that textbooks will be the last bastion of print. But it does highlight the ways in which students’ needs aren’t being met yet by digital content providers. That means there’s still a huge opportunity

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-40992730807494032682011-11-27T05:47:00.027-05:002011-11-27T08:12:58.623-05:00

I told my boss last week that I want to continue teaching.  This is hardly an earth-shattering announcement as I have been teaching every school year since I started in 1975.  And now I am down to one class, since I have other duties.  So it is not necessary that I continue, but I think I'd like to do so. Having a great group of students makes it an easier decision.  So does the fact that it

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-56556067036967769602011-11-24T05:49:00.000-05:002011-11-24T05:49:00.151-05:00

Saginaw high school students find 2 Lake Huron shipwrecks "The best kind of learning is hands-on," he said of the Lake Huron adventure. "This wasn't just about finding a shipwreck. This was a lesson in life. ... They came in with doubts about what they could do. ... They did the work. They ran the equipment. They were the crew. What they achieved, well, it was beyond dreams."http://bit.ly/qRKcPx

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-71318501410154925212011-11-20T05:55:00.001-05:002011-11-20T05:55:00.829-05:00

Mr. Meatloaf photo by Steffen Löwe Gera   "Schools need to shift from differentiation to customization/personalization.  They need to allow students to define relevance and meaning, to sift through multiple media choices, to organize information according to the meaning they create rather than the teacher-driven transmission of conceptual systems.  Schools could also learn to create fewer

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-2863712299413940662011-11-17T05:58:00.002-05:002011-11-17T05:58:00.781-05:00

Lenovo ThinkPad I've been guiding work on a major technology plan since midsummer.  Major decisions are impending on curriculum, cloud hosting, ebooks, and teacher training.  But the centerpiece of the study has been the road map for our 1:1 computing program.  And the biggest immediate decision concerns the device we will use next year on our journey. It's incredible how fast the computing

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-15837598170601813572011-11-13T05:15:00.002-05:002011-11-26T17:19:36.185-05:00

It was fun discovering, recently, that four of my Challenge Based Learning movies have been grouped together in iTunes under "Toolkit for Challenge Based Learning".  I made these in 2010 after working on this project with fellow Apple Distinguished Educators at Full Sail University in Florida.  The marvelous Katie Morrow spear-headed this project.

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-71515738211969799602011-11-10T05:46:00.002-05:002011-11-10T05:46:00.257-05:00

From "Meet M-Hub" Wow, it's really happening.  We invited 50 women to fill out our survey to "M-Hub" this week.  Here's the invitation:   I welcome you to be among the very first "mentors" to visit the M-Hub web site and fill out the "Mentor Survey".  This information will not be searched by our students until January, 2012.  In the mean time we will use these first entries to test out our

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-91854783337398399012011-11-06T05:56:00.001-05:002011-11-06T05:56:00.188-05:00

Screen Capture from MHS Open House Site Today, Mercy will be hosting its Open House.  I'll be posted in the Media Center where instead of a featuring a particular 1:1 computing device, we will have students on hand who will demonstrate or comment upon activities such as * a science app on the iPod Touch * Art Rage animations * a video explaining how a class uses its Ning * a video created for

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-79044159057379039222011-11-03T05:53:00.002-04:002011-11-03T05:53:00.131-04:00

From "The Power of Design . . . ." The Power of Design and Visualization DataThere’s a growing recognition that design is not simply about making products attractive. A well-designed product, (or space, image, service) can be easier to use, fit better into the flow of people’s lives, suit the needs of a broader range of end-users, increase productivity, and even influence emotions (which in

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-41851896475507533722011-10-30T06:04:00.001-04:002011-10-30T06:04:00.070-04:00

Flickr CC photo by madichan In the near future I am going to have an opportunity to be present for an iPad demonstration. I am looking forward to it very much.  My spouse and some of my very good friends have essentially replaced their laptops with iPads. Observing them invites me to think that students could benefit or even thrive with them as compared to equipping them with other devices.

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-87405578260733598342011-10-27T05:52:00.002-04:002011-10-27T05:52:00.068-04:00

Flickr CC Photo by kariek I got myself worked up into a bit of a lather about ebooks last week.  I won't bother you with the details about what exactly triggered it, but I can say in general that I discovered the paucity of ebooks has been a continuing disappointment to the parents at our school.  I think all of us were hopeful that once all of our students purchased laptops they would save

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-82266029520783897282011-10-23T05:46:00.002-04:002011-10-23T05:46:00.591-04:00

Flickr CC photo by ville-arles I attended a very good conference last week, and I do not want the following remarks to suggest otherwise.  It's just that this one was missing a major element that I've become used to by only attending ed tech conferences.  The missing element was any interaction.  Other than an open mic standing in the middle of some 200+ of us, the conversation was one-way.

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-90421641686233339972011-10-20T05:23:00.001-04:002011-10-20T05:23:00.631-04:00

YouTube Launches Site Specifically for TeachersThe new teachers site is part one of two big initiatives on the part of YouTube geared towards educators.  Teachers can also sign up to become part of the YouTube Teachers Community, a mailing list that allows them to share ideas and best practices.  http://bit.ly/pG8Dhh Do the Opposite Sometimes innovation stems from just deciding NOT to do

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-22620817313781324132011-10-16T05:56:00.002-04:002011-10-16T05:56:00.052-04:00

The M-Hub Project has been underway since March, 2010.  The student leadership nucleus who took on the project as sophomores are now eager to implement the plan they have designed to connect students with "experts" in the school community like alumnae and parents. This enterprise has been a great learning experience for all concerned. It has been most gratifying to see the students working side

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-45922138487003172152011-10-13T05:50:00.002-04:002011-10-13T06:38:44.506-04:00

Flickr CC Photo by Joost J. Bakker IJ Muiden Photostream E-book Publishing Upends a Publishing Course In the past year, e-books have skyrocketed in popularity, especially in genre fiction like romance and thrillers. For some new releases, the first week has brought more sales of electronic copies than of print copies. http://nyti.ms/nUDpqr  A Great Video To Get Students To Think More Carefully

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-87779618614297271722011-10-09T05:21:00.001-04:002011-10-09T05:21:00.518-04:00

CC Photo of Steve Jobs (1955-2011) “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-41599583861994908792011-10-02T06:13:00.015-04:002011-10-02T06:13:00.615-04:00

With my new job I have curtailed my presentation schedule, but I have just submitted proposals for presentations to a state conference and national conference.  Here are my topics: Free Multimedia Activities for Secondary Students that Don't Gobble Time!  A high school American Government teacher will show how to introduce robust collaborative, multimedia activities into your curriculum

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-16789261436767724382011-09-29T05:52:00.003-04:002011-09-29T08:52:52.495-04:00

Amazon Challenges iPad's DominanceWhile Bezos is looking to battle Apple in the tablet market, he is also mimicking the company's focus and its founder . . .Steve Jobs. http://bit.ly/on8lLM  MIT Researchers Use iPhones to Detect Cataracts Here’s another way the iPhone is revolutionizing medicine — it’s now a cheap, portable tool for detecting cataracts, the leading cause of blindness

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-72844697746982944312011-09-25T05:26:00.000-04:002011-09-25T09:30:44.421-04:00

Flickr CC Photo by a11sus The Eight Pillars of Innovation Have a mission that matters Think big, but start small Strive for continual innovation but not instant perfection Look for ideas everywhere Share everything Spark with imagination; fuel with data Be a platform Never fail to fail http://bit.ly/nhqDPe In Classroom of the Future, Stagnant Scores Schools are spending billions on

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-50462988936852661102011-09-22T05:57:00.002-04:002011-09-22T05:57:00.634-04:00

Two nights ago, with a colleague,  I made a presentation to the parents of our ninth graders about our 1 to 1 computing program. Once again I have found that I learn quite a bit by making a presentation on a subject.  Since our 1 to 1 computing program is six years old, we can now point to some very significant elements of technology that are now commonplace in our curriculum: * Coursework and

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-77891040310677690812011-09-18T05:51:00.003-04:002011-09-18T09:24:18.232-04:00

Joshua Bell When I was at ISTE 2011, I attended Steven Kalmon's session with the dry title of "Assessing Progress toward Digital Age Learning."   Its an important topic, actually.  As employers more greatly value skills like creativity, initiative, problem solving, and collaboration with team; how do schools' assess progress in those skill areas? Conventional testing does not remotely measure

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-68138957488417338672011-09-15T05:54:00.001-04:002011-09-15T05:54:00.272-04:00

"Custom Cuff Links"  Flickr CC Photo by mandymooo I am Young Detroit "I Am Young Detroit" is not just a blog, it’s a movement that highlights Detroit’s young Doers: Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Leaders under 40. We profile Young Detroiters who are making their mark on the City of Detroit through their accomplishments and service to the community. We also publish positive news clips

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-11125602869609571472011-09-11T05:59:00.001-04:002011-09-11T05:59:00.691-04:00

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-10472766188995531112011-09-08T05:00:00.002-04:002011-09-08T05:00:00.969-04:00

Wikispaces home page for Qatar Academy Of course I am only a rookie, but In my first two months on the job, I have been leaning heavily* on the following technologies: Doodle I've given this meeting scheduling software a real workout because I have set up several meetings which included 6-20 persons.  One can use Doodle to whip up a poll in a couple of minutes, deploy it, and then determine

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-38124344542745344742011-09-04T05:50:00.003-04:002011-09-08T06:01:06.401-04:00

I posted this to our staff discussion forum a couple of months ago,  It garnered zero interest other than skepticism from the parties it would help the most  *   but it did not get any traction. . . . However I still think its a good idea, so I'll share it here: Having a daughter attend Mercy was wonderful and eye-opening. An example of the latterwas the frustration and trouble of trying to

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-91813219451443702842011-09-01T05:57:00.030-04:002011-09-01T05:57:00.705-04:00

All A-Twitter about Education "Back to School" by Timothy Valentine Some of the top tweeters in education. http://bit.ly/os5ElN 14 Free and Simple Digital Media Tools With so many free (or inexpensive) useful tech tools out there, editing video, audio, or photos doesn’t have to cost a fortune – or leave you with a headache. If your digital media needs are simple, your tools can be

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-66877001216621225452011-08-28T05:59:00.048-04:002011-08-28T05:59:00.710-04:00

graphic from Wikimedia Commons Today's blog post marks number 400 at the Drive-thru, so I'll indulge myself in reflecting on what my blog means to me these days. From the beginning, the Drive-thru has served as a way for me to work out my thoughts on various instructional technology topics.  When I started, it was fun for this English major to simply start writing in an authentic way.

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-60697370946428176602011-08-25T05:53:00.028-04:002011-08-25T05:53:00.775-04:00

Beginning the School Year:  It's about Connections, Not Content Most classes, starting with about middle school, begin the school year with reviewing the content to be covered, expectations regarding grades, and other academic information provided by the teacher or instructor.  The human or social element is often disregarded.   What is interesting is that most learners enter the classroom

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-78940337104674295092011-08-21T05:55:00.002-04:002011-08-21T08:42:49.793-04:00

When I attended the "Challenge Based Learning Group Think" in Cupertino last year, I had the opportunity to meet a really bright guy-- Reuben Puentedura.  Reuben had already made a great impression on me, but I was still surprised when at the end of our conference, several Apple Education employees waiting outside our conference room descended on him like a rock star. Not long ago, while I was

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-31038457421490389702011-08-18T07:23:00.004-04:002011-08-18T07:28:16.527-04:00

The Seven Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools Sometimes teachers and administrators need a kick in the pants to see what they perceive as problems re-framed in a different way. Adam S. Bellow, author of The Tech Commandments, and founder of eduTecher, spoke to a roomful of receptive teachers at the recent ISTE 2011 conference, and demonstrated some of the ironies and contradictions

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-7007227214644001392011-08-14T05:58:00.001-04:002011-08-14T05:58:00.098-04:00

Flickr CC Photo by basb I am a project oriented person, and for better or for worse I tend to have three or four things going at once.  I find that I manage this pretty well until about two-thirds of the way through.  Sometimes I then get a little bored and let my mind drift to new projects. Not this time!  I am very geeked about the following techie initiatives that I can pursue as an

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-62884003649580828332011-08-11T05:53:00.001-04:002011-08-11T05:53:00.036-04:00

A colleague of mine sent me an a newspaper article about a local high school, whose innovative (and courageous!) principal was launching a "flipped classroom" design: Instead of students receiving instruction in the classroom and then tackling their homework at home where they don’t have teacher assistance, the students in Clintondale High next year will watch their teachers give instruction

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-88604639722358679952011-08-07T06:01:00.002-04:002011-08-07T06:01:00.750-04:00

I had a nice meeting recently with a young English teacher who drove up to visit with me about Challenge Based Learning.  He'd been to one of my presentations and thought he would like to try this design in a new prep-- Business English. He had a strong understanding of the CBL model and terrific determination to innovate with the course.  When discussing "rubber meets the road" issues like

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-6589217608506115752011-08-04T06:00:00.005-04:002011-08-04T06:00:11.628-04:00

"Take Out" with generous permission of americanvirus Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown-  "Students learn best when they are able to follow their passion and operate within the constraints of a bounded environment. Without the boundary set by the assignment there would be no medium for growth." Esa Kukkasniemi - "I enjoy creating and innovating new approaches for teaching. As a principal I

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-25166387823847800042011-07-31T05:50:00.034-04:002011-07-31T05:50:00.313-04:00

Flickr CC photo courtesy of Beinecke Library I have been working this summer on a survey for our staff on their technology usage.  The intent of this project is entirely for planning purposes.  I have put a lot of thought into this and solicited feedback from various experts in our community.  The process has created some challenges for me that I have decided to air in this blog post.  Perhaps

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-79192099419761587652011-07-28T05:56:00.004-04:002011-07-28T17:46:28.112-04:00

Churchill (Wikipedia Commons) Scott McLeod -- "I wonder how long will it take us for us to start expecting educators to use these social media tools. It’s been 30 years since the advent of the personal computer and we’re still struggling to get teachers and administrators to integrate digital technologies into their daily work in ways that are substantive and meaningful." Jackie Gerstein --  

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-6443844290572853792011-07-24T05:52:00.002-04:002011-07-24T09:46:42.885-04:00

I am writing this after having recently listened to a fairly astonishing series of presentations that concluded the official business of the 2011 ADE Summer Institute in Arizona.  After dividing into project teams, the ADEs set about the business of creating educational resources for a new ADE channel on iTunesU. I admit that I was more than a little skeptical at the outset.  It seemed to me

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-74541571331642316342011-07-21T05:52:00.008-04:002011-07-21T11:00:18.831-04:00

Flickr CC Photo by indie.ca Since I am attending the 2011 ADE Institute at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU, I am posting six Apple links. Apple iCloud vs. Amazon Cloud Player vs. Google Music Beta With Apple dropping the third shoe in online music services, after Amazon and Google, some striking differences are now apparent. Katie Morrow's Curated Challenge Based

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-75075469873635186082011-07-17T06:00:00.002-04:002011-07-17T06:00:04.311-04:00

Flickr CC photo by John Biehler I'm headed to Arizona to participate in the 2011 Apple Distinguished Educator Institute, hosted at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.  I'm excited, but the experience is completely different from merely two years ago.  Then, I was really nervous about how I would "stack up".  I was so self-conscious at first that I'm not sure I took

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-68298548543920350822011-07-14T07:53:00.003-04:002011-07-14T07:56:08.112-04:00

"Link" Flickr CC Photo by bulliver Netflix Subscribers Threaten to Quit, but Will They Really? Even if a bunch of DVD-by-mail subscribers do leave, Netflix will be happy to replace them with the more profitable streaming subscribers.http://bit.ly/pK2fwH Google Apps v. Office 365 Feature Showdown Microsoft took the beta label off of Office 365 last [month], and many consider the cloud-based

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-27618210054144544042011-07-14T05:28:00.001-04:002011-07-14T05:28:00.422-04:00

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” -Einstein The learning process is one that engenders and reinforces wanting to learn more.  --Seymour Sarason by way of Webblog-ed: Creative Commons photo of Ralph Waldo Emerson “The

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-45763784742781481552011-07-10T05:50:00.002-04:002011-07-10T05:50:00.445-04:00

Flickr CC Photo by alfromelkhorn This past week,  my wife and I passed a significant technological milestone. . . . (at least for our demographic). We got rid of our land line phone. Granted, to younger folk and the masses of other cultures, having the expensive redundancy of a house phone in addition to a mobile seems ridiculous. But to us, the home phone seemed such a basic feature of family

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-79128927831023967672011-07-07T05:36:00.003-04:002011-07-07T05:36:00.596-04:00

This was my first week in the new role of Associate Principal/Operations.  While I can still "blog from the trenches" by continuing to teach one class,  two friends have congratulated (?) me by noting that I have moved to "the dark side".  Several have wondered if I will miss teaching (Of course I will), but after 36 years in a full time teaching gig, I welcome a very different challenge and for

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-20186349672515662672011-07-03T05:58:00.001-04:002011-07-03T05:58:00.205-04:00

1451 and counting! I wish I had something profound to say about Twitter, having passed the 1500 Tweet milestone.  My feelings have only warmed to it since I started, but it is not exactly a central part of my life. Nowadays, I particularly enjoy tweeting with journalists and fans during sports events.  It is also a steady source of material for this blog because it takes me out of my usual

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-86484043864032522792011-06-29T05:45:00.001-04:002011-06-29T05:45:00.602-04:00

Today, Wednesday, June 29, I am be making a presentation at ISTE 2011, called, “Challenging the Challengers”.  This will tell the story of my efforts to cultivate the Challenge Based Learning  through a formal professional development program.  We had our ups and downs, but finished our time together with several CBLish challenges ready for next year.  These projects involve all grade levels at

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-649169928763111152011-06-26T06:00:00.018-04:002011-06-26T06:00:02.529-04:00

Flickr CC Photo by Etrusia UK As Tom James, our IT Network Administrator, recently put it, "These are exciting times!".  For anyone involved in educational technology, like Tom and I, yes indeed, 2011 is an exciting time. We stand on the edge of so many changes.  Ours is a school which strives to be cutting edge in ed tech innovation. Since resources are finite but the possibilities seem

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-73429699338099886722011-06-23T05:56:00.001-04:002011-06-23T10:38:57.540-04:00

Flickr CC Photo by shimray I watch with fascination the evolution and transformation of the newspaper business.  My Grandfather Baker was once editor at the Ann Arbor News, a newspaper that has morphed into annarbor.com.  A while ago, I while scanning Newspaper Death Watch I came across some of John Paton's remarks presentation to the INMA  Transportation of News Summit. As I looked over his

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-84674791563344638912011-06-19T05:58:00.003-04:002011-06-19T05:58:00.339-04:00

Will Richardson: screen capture of ashley's video reflection . . . . I have little doubt any longer that it will be a “roll your own” type of education, one in which traditional institutions and systems play a vastly decreased role in the process. That the emphasis will be on learning and what you can do with it, not on degrees or diplomas or even test scores. As I Tweeted out yesterday

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-54216874886640849632011-06-16T05:59:00.001-04:002011-06-16T05:59:00.096-04:00

I was enjoying my Sunday morning browsing through sports  (I like opening tabs for my eight favorite sites and sampling here and there from each).  In the Detroit Free Press I came across a (predictable) end of the year "Scholar Athlete" article.  I was thinking how odd this is.  At one level, this a cultural thing-- We extol athletics to such a degree that we have to create fake incentives to

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-6940140970247438922011-06-12T06:01:00.001-04:002011-06-12T06:01:00.579-04:00

Our professional development sessions produced several challenge based learning designs for next school year.  While some of these do not strictly conform to the CBL model, they will involve a ton of  students in a variety of courses.  Our main object was to cultivate the Seven Survival Skills that Tony Wagner outlined in his Global Achievement Gap, and I am confident that these (among others)

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-60072588028420760262011-06-09T05:56:00.003-04:002011-06-09T05:56:00.557-04:00

Flickr CC Photo by Jeff Hester I write this post with no anger, some frustration, and much bewilderment.  This year at my school we used a staff wiki for staff collaboration and sharing.  I truly believe that this became a viable place for sharing documents and achieving at least a modicum of collaboration.  I would give us an A-. One feature of the wiki was a "forum" for discussing issues

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-57528549635772536462011-06-05T05:59:00.000-04:002011-06-05T05:59:00.672-04:00

"Chillin" CC Photo by eviltwin I've enjoyed making a classroom project one of my summer past times.  This was something I could do on my terms and at the time of my choosing.  Some teachers like to get completely get away, but if you keep an oar-in, consider refreshing with one of these resolutions or practices: * If you use study guides in your discipline, try for an online hyperlinked guide

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-90402018629273961872011-06-02T05:56:00.000-04:002011-06-02T06:54:20.695-04:00

Last week over two days we have had a film festival of sorts in S-7.  My final assignment as a teacher of American Government turned our to be one of my best.  After studying some classic presidential campaign ads, students storyboarded a one minute ad for a local personage of stature and ran him/her for Governor or of Michigan or U.S. Senator.  Coincidentally, over the two day period we had four

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-5370008431043355002011-05-29T05:35:00.005-04:002011-05-29T08:08:57.723-04:00

"Linked Together" by willowmina The Future of Education is Mobile" by Daniel Donahoo The revolution in technology, and subsequently educational technology, is an opportunity, but not a guarantee.http://huff.to/k1CTqB "10 Facebook settings to check right now!" by Mark W. SmithAs Facebook becomes the window to the Web for its more than 500 million users worldwide, the security of the

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-59033318021973979522011-05-26T05:22:00.001-04:002011-05-26T05:22:00.284-04:00

Jean Piaget I think that human knowledge is essentially active. Cathy Davidson (via Will Richardson): Learning’ is the free and open source version of ‘education. Overheard from a "Job Coach": "Educators like to measure success in activities rather than results." Gwendolyn Brooks: A writer should get as much education as possible, but just going to school is not enough; if it

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-27454047645360078882011-05-24T05:40:00.000-04:002011-05-24T05:40:00.450-04:00

This TedIndia video was passed along to me in an email that was shared with some Challenge Based Learning junkies. I can see why. Kiran Bir Sethi describes an initiative at Riverside School in Ahmedabad to make India's cities more child-friendly. Her design includes features what we strive for in CBL: If learning is embedded in real world contexts-- if we blur the boundaries between school

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-43060741093559145652011-05-19T05:54:00.000-04:002011-05-19T05:54:00.052-04:00

Circumstances have conspired to allow me lengthy conversations with my brother-in-law this year.  Even though he married my wife's sister over thirty years ago, I never considered that we had much in common and polite chat was the norm when we got together now and then. But Fred is a pretty amazing guy.  A couple of years ago he decided to change careers.  He was doing well with a steady job

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-66722528126097512862011-05-17T05:55:00.001-04:002011-05-17T05:55:00.170-04:00

I always enjoy hyping CBL projects with my students. I urge them to consider how important making a difference for our "Big Idea" will be.  I ask them to set the bar high and be willing to fail doing something important rather than settling for something ordinary.  I tell them that this is the special something they get by having me as a teacher.  I jump around a bit and shout.  I look them in

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-73053255765007009572011-05-15T05:55:00.000-04:002011-05-15T05:55:00.499-04:00

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. --Henri Bergson, French philosopher (via Joanna Seymour, ADE) Lesson plans should be that, plans. Students and teachers should have the ability to transform lessons into authentic learning opportunity. - Jackie Gerstein EdD, Argosy University In today’s schools, students typically learn

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-87710644162345264132011-05-10T05:55:00.001-04:002011-05-10T05:55:00.098-04:00

I recently sent out this missive to the friends of M-Hub, our online project for networking students with adult experts within our high school learning community. Lest you think that M-Hub has fallen by the wayside, I thought I would give you an update on our feverish behind the scenes activity: We are now working directly with the school web designer on the web site for M-Hub.  Our leadership

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-73702209681313569392011-05-08T05:33:00.000-04:002011-05-08T05:33:00.544-04:00

Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.   ~John Dewey When we received our ADE Training two years ago, the class of '09 was taught to celebrate failure. After all, it is fundamental to learning and success.  So rather than making this post a show and tell, I'll dance through some of this school year's failures, and remark

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-50135055577602867452011-05-06T06:03:00.000-04:002011-05-25T19:23:47.522-04:00

"half dozen farm eggs"  Flickr CC by bimurch The future of Ed Tech is “Bring Your Own Device”, (BYOD), and schools will more than likely move away from providing devices for students sooner than later.  While BYOD is far too radical for many school districts at this time, it is inevitable that this is the future.  The sooner districts embrace this future and begin to plan for it, the more

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-77869051625093005092011-05-05T05:31:00.001-04:002011-05-05T05:31:00.398-04:00

Elaine Wrenn:I absolutely love having kids do video reflections!  They have been such an authentic way for us to understand our students' thinking, where they are in the process, how they are feeling about the process, and what they are learning.  It's hard to describe the element that is captured in a video reflection that you don't always get in a written reflection.  It's like you can see them

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-19355498802373572002011-05-03T05:53:00.001-04:002011-05-03T05:53:00.168-04:00

As I mentioned in The Other Side of the Coin post, I have heard repeated calls to assess CBL-- particularly our school's Dallas Team pilot.  On the one hand this is ironic, because no educational venture at our school has been more studied and transparent.  And on the other hand,  the call is premature since the majority of our teams have not even implemented their plans.  Don't get me wrong, I

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-82599896367387449012011-05-01T05:55:00.002-04:002011-05-01T14:36:33.400-04:00

I admit to some fatigue with the PCG thing.  But I have revved up my engines for one last push after Easter Break.  Before I make that push, I want to reflect on an area of frustration. It seems like some folks will take a swipe at CBL at every opportunity.  A portion of the skepticism and criticism is no doubt valid, but more than a tad is motivated by those who just want it to go away because

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-50047474436950564262011-04-28T05:57:00.005-04:002011-04-28T06:23:13.557-04:00

I gave my tenth grade students extra credit for attending our school's Women Mean Business Symposium. Besides being a great experience in and of itself, it relates closely to an upcoming class project.  However, when students reported back to me on their experiences I was delighted to find how valuable the event had been at teaching the importance of two themes I have emphasized in my

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-26317752280970646382011-04-26T05:47:00.000-04:002011-04-26T05:47:00.166-04:00

In my last post, I introduced Walter Russell Mead’s essay about The Crisis of the American Intellectual.  I reflected on his assertion that the “learned professions – lawyers, doctors, university professors . . . and (aspirationally anyway) school teachers and journalists" operated from “guild” world views which did not meet the needs of contemporary America. I commented that “the guild metaphor

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-22594885518003749532011-04-24T05:51:00.000-04:002011-04-24T05:51:00.175-04:00

Recently, I came across an interesting blog post by Walter Russell Mead,  titled The Crisis of the American Intellectual.   He blames the demise of the American intellectual on three factors.  The first cause is the devotion to the “redistributionist and administrative state” which permeates corporate, university and intellectual thought. This struck me as relatively unoriginal, but the two

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-35100976550872807482011-04-21T05:25:00.001-04:002011-04-21T05:25:00.286-04:00

The students in the Independent Project . . .  are remarkable because they demonstrate the kinds of learning and personal growth that are possible when teenagers feel ownership of their high school experience, when they learn things that matter to them and when they learn together. In such a setting, school capitalizes on rather than thwarts the intensity and engagement that teenagers

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-69194807930445207612011-04-19T05:59:00.000-04:002011-04-19T05:59:00.320-04:00

Even though most of my teaching prep now involves American Government, for the first eighteen years or so at Mercy, I taught English classes, exclusively.  I even served as Department Chair for a period.  Now, due to a variety of choices and circumstances I am down to merely one section of English the entire school year. My emotional connection has also weakened to the department.  My enthusiasm

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-65525910767733835692011-04-17T05:52:00.019-04:002011-04-17T18:16:36.802-04:00

Those of us who were in attendance at the  "Fight Apathy! Fair" are still enjoying the memories of this CBL challenge.  The solutions our ninth and tenth graders implemented were exhibited to a broad audience.  Here are some of the comments: From an attending teacher: Your students did it . . . with you as cheerleaders.  I could hardly believe my eyes when I arrived in the lobby at 5:30

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-69602425411305375012011-04-12T05:05:00.001-04:002011-04-12T05:05:00.248-04:00

I tried something new with my AP Government Challenge Based Learning project this semester.  Instead of calling on them to take action to solve a political problem, I went for something more abstract.  I asked them to come up with a “health care solution” that would be presented to a “panel of experts” of their own choosing.  I had a very small class that was divided into two teams.   I’m using

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-16669856113773027032011-04-07T05:56:00.000-04:002011-04-07T05:56:00.330-04:00

When we make our learning transparent, we become teachers.~George Siemens  But the biggest roadblock today is that so many of America’s best-educated, best-placed people are too invested in old social models and old visions of history to do their real job and help society transition to the next level.~Walter Russell  When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this - you haven't. ~Thomas

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-68312744347720094732011-04-03T05:42:00.002-04:002011-04-03T08:48:44.640-04:00

My tenth grade American Government class is moving into the final phases of their Challenge Based Learning projects.  These ten teams have been challenged to "Get Teenagers to Care about Politics." This challenge has included a couple of new twists: 1) I have really emphasized the importance of the students' gauging the effectiveness of their solutions. 2) We are planning a "Fight Apathy! Fair

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-46626323708225531642011-03-31T05:00:00.003-04:002011-03-31T05:00:08.125-04:00

Here are half a dozen interesting links to take into the week's end: This one is for any of my administrator friends at Belton ISD, who might still be reading the Drive-thru.  A quick read, and well worth it.  It comes via North Dakota ADE, Craig Nansen. Essential iPad Guide for Principals Is the following a glimpse at the future of the connected higher ed student?  This came to my attention

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-88604747469535424002011-03-29T05:53:00.001-04:002011-03-29T05:53:00.246-04:00

Our school's interdisciplinary pilot CBL project has produced a number of unusual issues. Like any first time enterprise we would certainly redesign aspects of the program a second time around.  But I think some of these issues point to broader education challenges. One in particular grinds me: A recurrent gripe that students in an art class (or French or Biology) should not be working on a

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-68502561935941080582011-03-27T05:59:00.000-04:002011-03-27T05:59:00.076-04:00

It's been quite some time since I have written about my "blogging about vlogs" activity.  This is the third year and of doing this with my seniors, and they are still going strong.  Essentially, through the school year, each student creates a short video commentary on a current event.  The rest of the class then posts comments on the video.  They are not required to participate in each one, but

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-44220695626783053932011-03-24T05:25:00.001-04:002011-03-24T05:25:01.084-04:00

I moderate an extra-curricular activity - The M-Hub Project - which when fully realized will actually serve the curriculum.  The experience has caused me to think that traditionally curricular v. extra-curricular activities should be viewed as less distinct parts of an education that a chool provides. The girls in the project have learned a great deal about technology, problem solving, and

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-44787556914462166312011-03-22T05:56:00.002-04:002011-03-22T05:56:00.460-04:00

An open letter to the many friends of M-Hub project:   Last week marked a couple of wonderful milestones.  It was almost exactly a year ago when we had our first after school meeting to discuss the possibility of creating a network of "experts" from within the Mercy community that our our students could tap for their project, career, and college research. The idea flowed out of my experience in

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-63384884625472671372011-03-20T05:50:00.004-04:002011-05-23T22:55:24.941-04:00

Recently, I had a wonderful, intellectual conversation with my daughter.  She has returned to academia at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. She was working on a paper, and I found that I could actually give her some reasonably helpful feedback on her thesis.  She is writing about the influence of cultural frames and from my studies I know a little something

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-44242646209429343122011-03-17T05:35:00.000-04:002011-03-17T06:24:12.947-04:00

I've just completed a new web site.  Weebly allowed me to put it in place very quickly, and I hope you agree it has a clean look with simple navigation features.  I purchased the domain name and upgraded to "Pro", so that I could take advantage of some of the navigational features.  However, Weebly is also extremely useful to  those who don't pay. The web site is all challenge based learning,

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812217222251052574.post-74456496738936392582011-03-15T05:56:00.001-04:002011-03-15T05:56:00.446-04:00

Leading professional development for Challenge Based Learning has been quite of experience*.  Like the CBL process itself,  I have done some zigging and zagging along the way.  Heading into the final quarter of the school year, I want to provide an opportunity for closure.  Consequently, I have prepared a "work sheet" for the staff teams who are developing challenges for the students. CBL Work

Larry Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507758358144530420noreply@blogger.com0