Common Principles for Uncommon Schools

Horace Technology And Information Literacy

Adventures in Web 2.0: Introducing Social Networking into My Teaching

“As new technologies shape literacies, they bring opportunities for teachers at all levels to foster reading and writing in more diverse and participatory contexts.” –“A Changing World for Literacy Teachers,” 21st-Century Literacies: A Policy Research Brief, National Council of Teachers of English Five months ago, I introduced Web 2.0 technology to my students, and already, there is a story to

Digital Portfolios: Documenting Student Growth

The digital portfolio process at Camino Nuevo High School (CNHS) offers an essential 21st century skill to our students. All students are trained in basic web design to build and maintain their digital portfolios. These skills equip them with tools they will likely use in their future endeavors in college and the professional world. We believe using the Internet as

Distance Learning and the CES Common Principles

Sometimes our classroom is quiet. You might hear the tapping of the computer keys and an occasional chuckle or a sigh. Two or three students sit at separate tables; one is focused on the laptop screen diligently writing her second draft of her science report. In the other room, a student meets with Mr. D. about his math project. Sometimes

Go to the Source: More about the Schools and Organizations Featured in this Issue

Amy Biehl High School 123 Fourth Street SW Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102-3201 telephone: 505 299-9409 http://abhs.k12.nm.us Boston Day and Evening Academy 20 Kearsarge Avenue Roxbury, Massachusetts 02119 telephone: 617-635-6789 http://www.bacademy.org Camino Nuevo High School 3500 West Temple Street Los Angeles, California 90004 telephone: 213-736-5566 http://www.caminonuevo.org Charleston Collegiate School 2024 Academy Drive John’s Island, South Carolina 29492 telephone: 843-559-5506 http://www.charlestoncollegiate.org The

How to Conduct a Boolean Search

by Kim Carter, Librarian, Souhegan High School, Amherst, NH Computers search information databases by looking for the exact string of characters entered by the user. In other words, if the user asks the computer to look for “coaching soccer,” the computer scans for entries where those two words appear exactly as typed. Therefore, searching for “rainforest” would yield different results

Learning Technology Skills Through Social Entrepreneurialism

The only complaint I heard at the ninth grade Applied Technology final exhibition was, “Only $3,000? But I want to make a donation to every organization!” I had to agree. It was a dilemma, and a frustrating one, at that. Do you give your money to HALE (Hispanic Americans Learning English), the organization which teaches young Spanish-speaking children on John’s

More Information about Information Literacy

Brainstorms and Blueprints: Teaching Library Research as a Thinking Process, by Barbara K. Stripling and Judy M. Pitts. $22.50 from Libraries Unlimited /Teacher Ideas Press;    800-237-6124   800-237-6124 . From Library Skills to Information Literacy: A Handbook for the 21st Century, by the California Media and Library Educator Association (1994). $20 from Libraries Unlimited/ Teacher Ideas Press;   800-237-6124  800-237-6124 . CD-ROM

Notes on This Issue

I hope that you experience this issue of Horace as compelling, illuminating, and a significant force for change in and improvement of your practice as an educator. “CES 2.0: Technology and the Essential School” presents insight into and experience from seven educators across the country who have immersed themselves in the world of cutting edge technology in order to improve

Pitfalls of Library Assignments

by George Merrill, librarian, Montgomery High School, Santa Rosa, California 1. Teacher overemphasizes form, especially when making the assignment. Matters of length, number of sources, width of margins, or placement of footnotes take precedence over developing a thoughtful approach to meaningful research. 2. Evaluation is based solely on the final product rather than on the process, a demonstration of the

Searching, Synthesizing, Analyzing in the 21st Century ‘Stacks’

by Mark Gordon, Librarian, Oceana High School, Pacifica, California For his Senior Exhibition, Oleg wanted to explore the ethical and practical issues surrounding the privacy issue on the Internet. He realized after a talk with me that this was a fast-breaking, currently evolving issue. It was likely that there would be few books on it, because of the typical long

Tech Tips for School People

Multi-line central school phone systems can foul up attempts to telecommunicate. A good solution is to install a few dedicated single lines exactly where you need them to use your modems. No matter how fast computers are, people still take time to learn new things. Allow for plenty of extra time to get teachers and students up to speed, and

Technology as a Fence and a Bridge

Note from the author: Over the past few years I’ve become increasingly curious about the role of technology in the classroom. I’m interested in teacher attitudes toward new technologies and whether technologies can help us think differently about teaching and learning. This article is adapted from a paper I wrote for a doctoral course on technology, society, and education at

Technology in the Essential School: Making Change in the Information Age

No matter how powerful, high tech alone can’t make schools better. But if schools will first define the issues facing them, technology can prove a key strategy in achieving their goals. Ninth-grade history students in Tucson, Anzona take on the roles of citizens of the ancient Greek city-states competing for survival-huddled in teams as Macintosh computers calculate the economic and

The Digital Portfolio

The concept for the Digital Portfolio was developed by David Niguidula with the support of the IBM Corporation, as a computer-based tool for what the Exhibitions Project at the Coalition has termed “planning backwards.” A first implementation was developed by Richard Bourgon at the Coalition of Essential Schools. Primary development of the current prototype was done by Michelle Riconscente of

Through Our Eyes

I am a dancer. A teacher. An improviser. My pedagogy is centered on the concept of embodied education, a model that invites students to bring their whole bodies to the learning experience. I invite students to learn with their minds, bodies, spirits, and emotions all present, intertwined, and interrelating. I pay attention to the energy in the room, the relationships

Twittering About Learning: Using Twitter in an Elementary School Classroom

Many years ago, when I first started teaching, a colleague showed me a great technique for communicating with families: At the end of the day, she used a 24- by 16-inch chart tablet to produce daily news in shared writing with her students. She, and then I, chose one student each day to take the tablet home. That student illustrated

Weaving the Library Program into the Curriculum

The work of Barbara K. Stripling and the late Judy M. Pitts lends both theoretical and practical weight to library media specialists and teachers who regard thoughtful research skills as a crucial part of a curriculum. They urge schools to include librarians in school planning from top to bottom, as described in this chart reprinted with permission from their useful

What Students Should be Able to Do: Seven Steps to Solving Information Problems

1. Define the need for information. What are you going to use the information for: work, play, or academics? Provide a frame of reference: whom do you need information about, what, when, where, how, why? What do you already know? Frame and focus your question. 2. Initiate the search strategy. Determine what information you will search for, often by dividing

What Students Should be Able to Do: Seven Steps to Solving Information Problems

Active learning requires students to ask the right questions-then to find, evaluate, and use information from a flood of newly accessible resources. Coaching in those skills lies at the heart of a thoughtful and rigorous curriculum, and gives the school library an important new role. THE MOMENT OF TRUTH for one New Hampshire student came with “moose hunting,” when he

Where to Go for Help: A Resource List for Technology and Learning

General guides to technology Report of the Technology for Restructuring Institute, Toni M. Maddox, ed.; published by Center for Excellence in Education, Indiana University, 201 North Rose Ave., Bloomington, IN 47405. A guide in outline form which identifies key issues in school change (including authentic assessment, learning styles, outcome-based education, student as worker); lists references and resources in each area;

Where to Go for More: Resources for Technology and the Essential School

Technology that Enhances Powerful Teaching and Meaningful Learning Honor Moorman, whose article “Adventures in Web 2.0: Introducing Social Networking into My Teaching” is featured on page 3 of this issue, suggested many of these resources for incorporating technologies that increase interaction into the classroom. Classroom 2.0 Classroom 2.0 is a social network devoted to the use and impact of collaborative

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