Comparison of Christensen and Pink

Both books were similar in that they discussed the impact of technology on education, business, outsourcing, the use of graphs and pics to validate their points of view, thinking and the need to adapt to change. They both emphasized (in differening tones) the urgency for society and educators to "keep up with the times" and adapt to change in order to be successful in today's economy and learning environments.

The books are different because they were published three years apart from one another. Another difference, I found quite interesting was the "tone" of each of the authors. Christensen's tone was straightforward and forceful, while Pink's message was impacting --yet the tone was subtle. (Perhaps geared more towards all the right-brainers out there!)

Both books were interesting , enlightening and emphasized the necessity of adapting to "change". I enjoyed reading them both.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." by Charles Darwin

Power Point Presentation Feedback

The power point activity on "rubric-ing" our colleagues presentations was quite interesting! It was interesting to receive constructive criticism from our fellow classmates because it gave us different perspectives and allowed us the opportunity to share ideas and techniques. The techniques utilized by the various members of the team were as unique as each individual. The constructive feedback provided ideas and suggestions on how to improve the next PPT. The use of the rubric also allowed for a greater frame of reference. Presentation Zen also offers practical and helpful ideas. I enjoy creating power point presentations! I use it often in my presentations during staff development.

My question is-- when are we going to begin working on Excel spreadsheets?? I'm somewhat familiar with the formatting of the cells; it's the formulas I have the greatest difficulty with.

Nonetheless, the cooperative nature of the PPT activity was useful and productive. As a matter of fact, as I viewed my teammate's presentations I acquired ideas on how to improve my presentations next time.

Exercising Blogging

Wow! Blogging certainly is something overwhelmingly new to me. I opened the page, http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers#toc9 and entered a world totally unfamiliar --yet alluring. Initially, I wasn't quite clear on which blog or blogs interested me. So, I just starting opening them and started reading until I came across an entry that was of interest. I found myself opening one blog after another. The list and the topics were extensive. The topics spanned from any to the real to the surreal! It was interesting to see so many members of the learning communities from different parts of the world communicate and share their thoughts, experiences, challenges, triumphs. It was shocking to open some blogs that are posted by educat0rs!

There were several blogs that seemed to interest me more than others. There was one teacher blog I found particularly interesting: it was -- http://lifelongreader.blogspot.com. This one was particularly interesting because it was a blog established by a teacher. However, most of the postings were from secondary school students from all over the world and their reflections on current or past readings. The postings varied in nature, from personal reflections, reading preferences, news related postings, current events, response to newpaper articles and anything and everything that had to do with readings that peeked their interests. On the most part the postings were well thought out and informative in nature. The students posted their opinions and supported their points of view. I thought this was a great blog for fostering a love of reading and responding. Some of these postings were better written than some adult postings.

http://edublogawards.com was interesting also. This is where you can find many award winning blogs.

I opened http://principalcowart.blogspot.com because the wording was sort of catchy. I'm actually glad I opened it because it was interesting to see that the principal used a speech given by a 12 year old young man as an introduction to his blog. The interesting part was that the speech was in video form on you tube. The boy' s message was inspiring and it was a great way to continue to lure readers to their blogspot.

Using Disrupting Class

I could use Disrupting Class and the ideas contained in the text to guide an initiative of "change" within our school community. The book provides dynamic explanations about how and why schools have struggled to improve throughout time and how "disruptions" can assist in solving these issues in a positive and effective manner. Disrupting Class would serve as a framework for dealing with organizational issues in the school-- from parenting to computer based learning that meets the needs of all learners to using the tools necessary to ensure that the goals of the organization are achieved. Christensen provides examples of research that helps delineate the reasons why and how we must "change". Therefore the book would serve as the vehicle to guide the quest and acceptance of this initiative.

Disrupting Class would be beneficial in addressing various problems in my current school. First, it would help in addressing the problem of using technology in the classroom. Many of the new teachers take full advantage of the computers in their classrooms, the use of computer labs, smart boards and other technological tools. They do not hesitate to infuse technology with all other content areas. On the other side of the spectrum, we have the more seasoned teachers who are complacent with traditional style of teaching and prefer not to engage in the use of technology. Christensen's book would be helpful in this aspect because it provides research that emphasizes the need to "change" and it also provides valid, reliable examples of how reform happens in the business world as well as schools. Secondly, Disrupting Class would provide a guide for "change" in the area of developing collective efficacy within the school environment. It would help in addressing the issue of how important it is to believe that the efforts of everyone are important to the success of the organization (our school). The first mechanism of movement is success. The second mechanism of movement is a common language. Therefore, having a common language or goal would ultimately lead to success because we would have a common framework for solving issues within the school community.

Christensen's book could be a powerful tool; a tool that can be used for a book study. I would have the teachers read a chapter or two and gather to discuss the implications and how we could use the ideas in the text to improve student achievement and organizational goals.

The outcomes I would aim for are: "change", schoolwide implementation of technology and creating a sense of collective efficacy in our school setting.

Thoughts about Bloom's Questions Exercise

I thought the Blooming Questions exercise was an effective way to generate questions. It allowed us the opportunity to create questions about the text and demonstrate an understanding of what was read. If the Bloom's Taxonomy sheet was available initially, the questions would have been worded differently and higher order thinking questions would have been formulated sooner.

I liked the fact that we were able to reference the text and generate questions using the terminology in the book. Generating our own questions and then comparing our teammates questions to ours was also an effective way to begin conversation, refer back to Disrupting Class and come to a consensus on what questions would be chosen. The collaborative effort made the exercise enjoyable and thought provoking. This allowed us the chance to challenge one another and support or reasons for generating the questions.

Exchanging papers with other teams and having the Bloom's Taxonomy on hand made the task of revising the questions much less complex. The task was made easier because the words needed to write higer order thinking questions were on hand.

A couple of things were surprising. First it was interesting that all members within the team had written the same question, however, the wording was different. Secondly, it was surpising how one or two words in the revision of another team's questions changed questions from lower to higher level questioning.

This would be a great activity to do with faculty members after reading an article during faculty meetings or grade level meetings. It would demonstrate comprehension of the material and give practice in developing higher order thinking questions.