Google and social media use algorithms to feed us information that confirms our biases, which means we need to work to find the truth. I recently geeked out when I found a search tool and a Chrome extension from Media Bias Fact Check (MBFC) that makes it easy to find unbiased, quality journalism in just a few simple steps.
Simple Step 1 Install and use the chrome web extension from MBFC. See video below for instructions.
Simple Step 2
Learn how this search engine uses MBFC’s rating system. See video below for instructions.
Below is a screenshot from my Facebook page that shows how the Chrome extension works. The bar below the picture indicates that according to MBFC The New York Times is rated as left-of-center in terms of bias, with a high level of factual reporting.
And finally...
Use your new knowledge by taking this quiz on fake news. See if you can beat my score of 100%! :)
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Like many people, I have struggled with depression and anxiety for most of my life. Growing up, I thought that slapping a smile on my face and hiding my struggles was the right thing to do. I told myself that once I was older my depression and anxiety would go away. I even thought that getting my dream job of teaching at the K-2 level would cure me of all of my insecurities and worries. Unfortunately, being in my dream job only exacerbated my issues. I could not shake the feeling that I did not measure up to my colleagues. So not only did I feel inadequate in my personal life, but I now felt inadequate in my professional life. How do they have it all so together? Where do they find the time to put binders together for every unit? What is a ‘craftivity’? Why can’t I seem to get my stuff together? It wasn’t until I reached rock bottom one day in February a couple years back that I figured out that I needed to make a change. Thus the reason for my new mantra: “Good for them, not for me.” As teachers, we seem to find new ways to be hard on ourselves. We strive to be our best for ourselves, but more importantly, for our students. We compare ourselves, knowingly or unknowingly, to our peers and colleagues. We need to give ourselves a break. You are doing a great job. You are meeting the needs of your students. You are working hard. You are contributing to the greater good of the building. You matter. You make a difference in more ways than you will ever know. Of course, there is always room for self-improvement, but I would challenge you to take five minutes each day to reflect on all of the amazing things you do for your students and for your building. Celebrate those small victories. Reach out to a colleague to ask for help with a problem you’re having in the classroom. Keep a notebook on your table to jot down a quick sentence anytime you see a light bulb go off in a student’s head or when something happens that brings a smile to your face. Let’s celebrate the victories of those around us, but not let those same victories diminish our own self-worth. Good for them, not for me.” In other words, lift up those around you and remember that what works for them might not work for you. Find what makes you feel successful and happy. Chase that feeling and never look back.
By: Nicole Cody, Orchestra and Music Theory Below is an outcome and strategies/assessments from our current unit in Music Theory. I think this part of this unit displays some of the ways I use learning together, metacognition, real world assessments and making connections for new learning in my classroom. We are studying a movement from the Mozart Missa Brevis that Jason's choirs and my chamber orchestras are collaborating on for a performance in March. This is my "affective" outcome. I work hard to make sure I'm teaching more than just skills and knowledge in both my orchestra and Music Theory classes. Sometimes I think it is difficult to connect to the "real world" when teaching abstract materials, but the more deeply I study a piece before I teach it, the more I find meaningful connections that relate to other subjects and our overall understanding of the world and our place in it.* Outcome: "Students will reflect on the relationship between the movements in music and our understanding of life’s chapters." Strategies/Assessments: 1. Assign students to bring in the most recently read or favorite chapter book. Write down the main point of each of the first 5 chapters. Why did the author separate those main points into separate sections? Do they connect or are they totally separate? Linear? Topic related? Other? 2. Listening exercises (learn collaboratively)- Are these parts of the whole? Students will listen to select movements from various pieces of music from different eras, styles and composers and decide: Are these parts of the same whole? Why or why not? What musical evidence supports your answer? 3. Assign each student one of the other movements of the Mozart Missa Brevis. Ask them to extract the most important melodies, and list other important melodic material, rhythmic material, compositional techniques: anything they think might connect to another movement. Discuss as a class what "threads" unify this composition. 4. Your life’s chapters: 1. Think about your parent’s (or a sibling) lives. Chart an approximate timeline. Fill in as many details as you can. Where would you say new chapters opened and closed in their lives? 2. Chart your own life’s chapters. How would your chart change if you were sharing this with a family member, with your best friend? Reflect: Was it easier to chart your life or your family member's life? Do you think your family member would chart their life different? How can we use this understanding of self-perception vs. outer-perception to understand a composer's work? * Bold added by Allysen because I wanted to say "Love this!".
By: Allysen Lovstuen In the Iowa Core five Characteristics of Effective Instruction are identified.
According to documents on the Keystone AEA website some attributes of a Student-Centered Classroom are:
Some examples of things that are done in my classroom that I think reflect these attributes are: Learning Target Self-Assessments: Students have a list of the learning targets for the unit along with a scale so that they can rate their understanding of each. Notes on resources that we have used that students could look back at to improve their understanding if needed are included as well. Learning Together: Feel free to stop by my classroom anytime to see this in action. I love the sound of students discussing and debating mathematics as they build understanding. Test Journals: One part of the test journal I have my students complete is a reflection on the past unit (before they get the test back so it is their feedback and not mine). Students are asked to identify what was hardest for them, what they did to try to learn it, and if that worked or not. They then make basic action plans for the next chapter. What do you do in your classroom to build a Student-Centered Classroom? Please share!
By Jason Rausch with Sarah Zbornik As much I want each year to flow easily along, new challenges always present themselves. Last year, with completely new national music standards (Create, Perform, Respond, Connect) in place, I knew I needed to step outside of my comfort zone and embrace change. In the past, I have focused mostly on performing and music literacy standards, fairly standard in most high school music programs. However, knowing that creating is part of what we are tasked to teach, I knew I needed to emphasize an area that I generally leave untapped: Creating. Even though most were uncomfortable at first, it became a bit easier each time. Many times when we tried something new and built onto the scaffold, it stretched me, and I would ask myself, “Why am I doing this?” It put me in a vulnerable place, a place of discomfort. Even on the day of the concert, I said to a colleague, “Why am I doing this? It is much easier to simply get on the risers and sing a traditional concert.” However, when the concert was over, the feedback I received from the students and the community was affirming. The students enjoyed the challenge of composing, the parents were grateful for new learning opportunities for their children, and my administration and music colleagues appreciated the connection to the 2014 music standards. The pre and post survey results confirmed for me the benefits for the students. During the 2017 IMEA (Iowa Music Educator Association) Conference, Sarah and I presented the process we had taken with Creating in the Choral Classroom. Again, I was stepping out of my comfort zone, but I knew that by sharing both the process we took and the insecurity that I experienced, it might encourage others to step outside of their comfort zone. Plus, sharing the information helps us continue to learn and grow; it invites further conversation. Working on this project with my students, and then presenting it to the music world at large, was way out of my comfort zone. I even told the audience this at the concert. Many thanked me for modeling vulnerability and personally challenging myself to do something that stretched me as a teacher. I couldn’t help but think of my mentor, Weston Noble, who preached lifelong learning and vulnerability.
By: Allysen Lovstuen, Collaborative Teacher How often do you have those discussions about education that fire you up, get you thinking, and inspire you to do more? My hope for each of you is that you are able to find that opportunity to get out of the weeds and into the trees, to re-focus on why you are doing what you are doing, at least once a quarter. On Monday I had the chance to present to a group of "Emerging Educators." These are teachers that are in their last years of college or their first three years of teaching. The topic was Characteristics of Effective Instruction and I presented with two outstanding elementary and middle school teachers from Dubuque. I found this opportunity to look at what we do as teachers through the lens of Effective Instruction to be valuable and centering. I want more of that. That is why I am asking for your help. I want to hear what you do, I want to visit your classroom and see what you do, I want to discuss these things, hear different perspectives, and continue this focus rather than losing it in the busyness of day to day teaching. I want to learn from the greats around me and to never stop questioning. Are you willing to help me and join me on this? I could start conversation with a blog post, maybe once a week, about one of the five Characteristics of Effective Instruction identified in the Iowa Core and then we could continue via comments and organic conversations and see where it went from there. No deadlines, no pressure, but an opportunity to learn from each other. Please comment below if you, too, are interested in something like this. by: Dana Bockman, DCSD Facilitator of Data and Assessment With the goal of making instructional decisions, a teacher’s focus should be on the data provided through classroom work, observations, unit assessments, performance tasks, and formative assessment. Why, then, do we need standardized test data? What’s the purpose if it does not inform day-to-day decisions in the classroom? The Usefulness of the Standardized Test (“Big Picture Data,” as I like to call it)
For instance, if a student scores below benchmark on the FAST reading screener, we cannot jump to the conclusion that the student is a poor reader and needs interventions or placement in Title I or special education. We should compare that score with the student’s MAP data, literacy unit scores, Iowa Assessment scores, and so forth to either confirm that the student does struggle or to identify the FAST test score as an anomaly. When a deviation from the norm for a student arises, we have to ask ourselves why. We must determine the real reason for that score before changing instruction. “The problem with data is that it says a lot, but it also says nothing. ‘Big data’ is terrific, but it’s usually thin….”- Sendhil Mullainathan. Standardized testing has a place and purpose in education, but it is not a daily focus for our instructional decisions.
by: Dana Bockman, DCSD Facilitator of Data and Assessment Today, it seems like we are inundated with data. Every year adds more and more and more to our plates (and spreadsheets). So, what do we do with all this data? All data is relevant and useful in some way, but educators should be selective in which data they chose for various purposes. Teachers most often are focused on individual students' needs and how they can help their students achieve in the classroom. This goal narrows the focus of data analysis. Keep in mind that the term "data" does not merely refer to a number (in other words, a test score). Data is any and all evidence of student progress and achievement. And when making day-to-day instructional decisions, standardized tests are often not the best source of data. The Data Individual Teachers Rely On
When it comes to data, maybe Einstein put it best. “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” So, that leaves the question, which data is the most useful for your world? by Julia Benson, K-12 ELL Teacher
My lesson planning routine for English Learners:
Fairbairn, Shelley and Jones-Vo, Stephany. Differentiating Instruction and Assessment for English Language Learners. Caslon Publishing, 2010, Philadelphia.
Assessment and Instruction for ELLs: Instructional Strategies - The Benson Series, Part VI11/13/2017 by Julia Benson, K-12 ELL Teacher
General Instructional Strategies Make a Personal Connection
Connect the Students to the Content
Just Good Teaching
Support English Language Acquisition
Support Learning
Fairbairn, Shelley and Jones-Vo, Stephany. Differentiating Instruction and Assessment for English Language Learners. Caslon Publishing, 2010, Philadelphia.
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