How many can you name?

Elizabeth Green in the NYT Magazine of March 10th comments on how to build a better teacher. With the headlines screaming a new age of "carrots" from the revision of the NCLB legislation by Team Obama, how does this fit in? Uncommon Schools' Doug Lemov has an answer - or rather 49 of them in his Taxonomy being published in April, Teach Like a Champion. I counted 9 examples out of 49 in the article and on the website:

1. Strong Voice

2. Cold Call

3. Precise Praise

4. Positive Framing

5. Build Momentum

6. Warm Strict

7. The J-Factor (Joy)

8. Assume the Best

9. No Opt Out

I was chilled to know that Build Momentum has a subcategory called Narrate the Positive. How many of these could there be? So I challenge you, readers, can you come up with 40 more? I'll check when the book arrives. First person to win gets my copy when I'm finished reading it and laughing.

Warning - Adult Content! Talking about Education!

Recently a friend posted this and it's enough to make me repost and stand up and say "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more!" a la Beale in Network

I've been taking an online line class and we've been hip deep in theory - Contructivism, andragogy and other epistemologies and methodologies ( I love Greek). I may begin to boycott any word that doesn't show up on my spell checker. Anyhow this is from the TED convention.

I call it -

Is anybody listening?

Engaging online students

Having been on both sides of the room so to speak, I am perplexed as to how to engage the "social capital" of online students who don't - just don't. In a classroom I would stand beside them or ask them questions but with a "class" of 100 or so, how can an online instructor keep up with who's sleeping in the back of the room or who's just checked out and is texting their boyfriend? In a physical classroom I have a sense of juggling the plates. Keeping everyone spinning at once, I enjoy the tension. But online? I feel like I'm learning a new language by sitting at the table next to foreign speakers.