"Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will."

"Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will." Curiosity is the key... As an educator, I think that this is an easy quote to follow. As lifelong learners

Google Searching or Cracking the Code

So... I fight with my family about Google all the time. They are irritated at me for not being irritated at Google when it picks up key words and does my thinking for me... or predicting ... or searching. I am very trusting and they are very skeptical. Maybe I should worry about my digital footprint more than I do. Oh well... I have to confess that I have made the statement "google is making me stupid" but I don't really believe it. Instead, I love how I can find almost anything that I'm thinking about via a google search. Not to mention images, translations, news, etc. I will say that it makes the art of skimming and scanning a serious hobby!! So... what I want to remember from what I've learned today is pointers from this article. Yes... I've argued w/ a certain family member about checking link-backs to websites for some type of verification or proof of who they are and what they are about (learned about this from Alan November). So... yes, it's here in this article as well. I've learned that I do know some things worthy of sharing... even if they don't want to agree... :)

Top Ten Lists for Problem Based Learning Projects

Edutopia's Top Ten Lists... I'm totally enjoying Edutopia's top ten lists this fall...I think my favorite one to remember besides "GIVE UP POWER to EMPOWER (not being a helicopter teacher)... is meeting with the team managers for communicating.

Students Asking Questions

Harvard Education Letter

I think of the inquiry lessons that I worked on with a colleague 2 years ago. The lessons were centered on student questions within the context of a plant unit. ie - Does candy grow from a seed? I provided the students an opportunity to explore seeds of all sizes through images and loads and loads of real seed. We explored where a seed comes from... and I fondly remember planting a "jolly rancher" candy as part of our work together. I remember how challenging it was for me to "plan" for these lessons, not knowing what questions the students would ask each day in the course of our work and I tried to predict what they may want to pursue. With that memory... I wanted to archive this article to think more about questioning... and inquiry... and structures that may support questioning or not.