Archive for May, 2009
Twenty. Plastic. Rhinos.
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
When I left the library today, there were twenty plastic rhinos lined up on one of the tables. And one deer. And R2-D2.
A kid had come to the library at lunchtime to work on stop-motion animation (the latest craze at our school) and left without cleaning up.
Here’s the thing about student-centered learning. Sometimes, it results in kids who are so comfortable in their learning environment (good) that it becomes a mess (bad). Of plastic mammals.
(PS - the technique we use for stop-motion can be found here.)
When I left the library today, there were twenty plastic rhinos lined up on one of the tables. And one deer. And R2-D2.
A kid had come to the library at lunchtime to work on stop-motion animation (the latest craze at our school) and left without cleaning up.
Here’s the thing about student-centered learning. Sometimes, it results in kids who are so comfortable in their learning environment (good) that it becomes a mess (bad). Of plastic mammals.
(PS - the technique we use for stop-motion can be found here.)
Empowering Learners (new AASL Guidelines)
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Gulp - the new AASL guidelines, Empowering Learners, cost $42. $42 for 64 pages. That’s a lot.
But as I’ve been discussing the guidelines with friends and colleagues, it occurs to me that the document identifies instructional partner as our #1 future role … and yet the guidelines have little to do with creating a school environment that makes that partnering possible. Instead, the guidelines primarily concern themselves with collection development, staffing, and library management.
Now isn’t that interesting.
Gulp - the new AASL guidelines, Empowering Learners, cost $42. $42 for 64 pages. That’s a lot.
But as I’ve been discussing the guidelines with friends and colleagues, it occurs to me that the document identifies instructional partner as our #1 future role … and yet the guidelines have little to do with creating a school environment that makes that partnering possible. Instead, the guidelines primarily concern themselves with collection development, staffing, and library management.
Now isn’t that interesting.