Teacher Tuesday: Sir Ken Robinson, Learning Without Frontiers

Sometimes it is important to just take a minute for yourself.  I know as teachers we aren’t very good at doing that, so today I am giving you an excuse…after all, it is #teachertuesday!  Last week Sir Ken Robinson spoke at Learning Without Frontiers, the resulting video is a must watch.  Go grab yourself a snack, put your feet up and prepare to be inspired and challenged!

 

I am currently working on a platform (Learning Genome) that will make it possible to personalize learning for every student, so as soon as Robinson went there I was all ears.  Here is a break down of that portion:

  • Education must be personal because children are individuals.  All children have different aptitudes, interests, and passions.  It is our duty to connect children with their own sense of possibility.
  • Human resources are like natural resources, they are often buried deep and have to be exposed.
  • We don’t know what we are capable until we have the opportunity to find out.
  • A narrow (boxed) curriculum cuts off opportunities because talents have been segregated off from the curriculum.
  • Students conclude that they aren’t good at anything because they don’t find success in the narrow scope of what is required of them.
  • Personalized education puts children in touch with their real capabilities, gives children a sense of creativity, and gives students a sense of confidence.
  • Education must be personal, economic, and cultural.

What challenges do you find in personalizing learning for your students?  Do you believe personalizing learning is important enough to take on that challenge?

What’s Your News?

Picture 4

What it is: What’s Your News is an online newsroom staffed by ants.  Complete with anchormen and a studio, What’s Your News is a “news show” aimed at 4-7 year old students that introduces them to the wider world.  The news covered is kids news, and it comes right from their homes (or classrooms).  News stories could be anything from the arrival of a new pet, to a lost tooth, or being able to play a new tune on the piano.  Students can submit their own Breaking News with the help of a teacher or a parent.  There are fun games to play that teach students about how news gets reported.  Learn about all of the characters by visiting them backstage.  Watch fun clips from the What’s Your News Nick Jr. TV show.  Print some fun activities including a make your own newspaper, build a What’s Your News studio, or download a special reporter pack that helps your students become roving reporters.  

How to integrate What’s Your News into the classroom: This site is just so cute, you can’t help but fall in love with it (and the characters).  What’s Your News is perfect for a communities/neighbors unit.  Students will learn about what is happening from news reports created by other kids.  I love the way this site involves kids in sharing news.  It would be fun to share classroom news on What’s Your News each week.  Download the special reporter pack for your students and have them put on their own weekly news show for your classroom.  Introduce your students to the wider world through this kid-friendly news show.

Tips: Before you post student pictures online, please make sure that you have school and parent permission to do so.  If you can’t post students pictures online, consider taking pictures and reporting on special class projects, a class pet, or a science experiment.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using What’s Your News in your classroom.