Kelly's Curriculum Corner

I love school improvement! It sounds geeky and surreal, but it’s true. I practically get goose bumps talking about continuous improvement and high leverage instructional strategies. We have worked hard at our IU to offer comprehensive services to support our school districts and truly thought we had most of the territory covered. However, turns out we never considered the role of school libraries as a source of school improvement. Summary of Research Concludes (Findings from 19 State and 1 Province including Pennsylvania) : “A substantial body of research since 1990 shows a positive relationship between school libraries and student achievement. The research studies show that school libraries can have a positive impact on student achievement—whether such achievement is measured in terms of reading scores, literacy, or learning more generally. A school library program that is adequately staffed, resourced, and funded can lead to higher student achievement regardless of the soc...

Back in December I shared that Southern Columbia School District in Catawissa, PA intended to have a Four-Day School Week through January and February to save on heating and transportation costs. According to School Leader News the idea of a four-day school week is gaining momentum around the county . National Trends Select districts in about 17 states already have a four-day week with similar proposals being considered by the legislature in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Missouri and Washington. The four-day school week was introduced in the 70's in response to the oil crisis and is now gaining fresh momentum in these troubling economic times. In order to meet state laws regarding instructional hours, most districts found they had to add just over one hour of instruction per day.   According to Associated Press (the source for this article) research indicates that districts save on transportation costs and can lead to increased attendance and teacher retention. In addi...

According to Susan Patrick , President and CEO of International Association for K12 Online Learning , all secondary schools (grades 7-12) in Singapore close for one week each year, but students continue their education through online learning. "Singapore trains all of their teachers to teach online, using a learning management system and digital content.  All secondary school teachers and students use online learning and they have 100% e-learning in their schools every day.  In fact, to ensure all teachers and students are comfortable learning any time, any place, Singapore holds e-learning week once a year.   They physically shut schools down and the continuity of learning continues through the well-developed and continuous use of the e-learning delivery model that is used in the face-to-face classrooms, too" (email communication, January 8, 2008). e-Learning Week provides several opportunities. It forces all teachers to utilize technology tools an...

Back in the fall I posted, Who's On Your Network , which discussed Will Richardson's article in Education Leadership entitled, Footprints in the Digital Age .   One of his recommendations was to join Facebook and to be perfectly honest... I didn't get it. What could I learn as an educator from Facebook?  As luck would have it, my husband's family is very active with Facebook, with Will's urging and their availability I decided to take the plunge. I have to say I am impressed. I have reconnected with family members, friends from high school and college, and colleagues from previous positions. With Facebook the past and present intersect, letting me in seconds catch up with friends and family. As an educator, Facebook gives me insight into the why and how students use social networking tools. In fact, I can see why students crave these tools. When you consider that building positive relationships is the corner stone of school improvement, how can we not investig...

Scott McLeod, Dangerously Irrelevant , posted this quote in a recent blog entry: Technology will never replace teachers. However, teachers who know how to use technology effectively to help their students connect and collaborate together will replace those who do not. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach What comes to mind as you read this quote?

The current approach to educational technology integration is to train ALL teachers in the use of web 2.0 tools and HOPE teachers choose to infuse these tools into instruction. We train and hope with no guarantee that all students would benefit. I am wondering if our approach is the most effective and efficient it could be? Instead of focusing on all teachers, I am wondering if we shouldn't focus our energies on a FEW teachers in efforts that would benefit ALL students. I am suggesting schools create Technology Intensive Courses. Imagine if ALL students had access to a technology intensive course each year they were in high school. It would be great if all teachers and courses integrated technology tools, but shouldn't we at least ensure that all students have access to at least one? My thoughts are that curriculum committees would identify at least four courses that would be rewritten to include 21st century skills, not as an add on, but as genuine concepts, tools and ...

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to instruction that utilizes multiple methods of presenation, engagement and expression to help students overcome learning barriers. Technology is maximized in a UDL model. Technology provides the venue for increased engagement. It allows for multiple methods of presentation and expression. UDL takes advantage of the technology in the room .... available to all learners e.g. interactive white boards, common software such as Inspiration, podcasts/podcasting, etc.... I am struck by how closely this mirrors the goals for the Classrooms for the Future (CFF) grant initiative. CFF is less about the technology than it is about critical thinking, collaboration, and engagement in learning. However, I think training in UDL could help teachers better understand the purpose of the CFF goals. UDL has the potential to deepen teachers thinking about how to create a learning environment that helps students overcome learning challenges. Technology has...