Category: Events

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Innovative Teachers Share Their Best Ideas for Technology in the Classroom

Horack and Saban

Last week, I blogged from the 2011 US Innovative Education Forum (IEF) sponsored by Microsoft Partners in Learning. See my post “Following the Backchannel at Microsoft IEF.” I was inspired by the 100 great projects presented by teachers from across the country. What impressed me most was the great diversity of work. Some projects were very complex in scale, others were elegant in their simplicity – presenting one great idea for the classroom. They also varied in subject matter, grade level and technology. And no, you didn’t have to use a Microsoft product to get in.

I had the chance to interview many of the teachers at IEF. They’ll be sharing project “how-to’s” in future guest posts here at Copy / Paste.

Educator Colin Horack and student Anthony Sablan (left) won first place in the Collaboration category for their creation of Project Unite, developed to combat bullying on campus. Franklin Pierce High School; Tacoma, Washington.

Eleven winning educators from the IEF will represent the U.S. and advance to compete against educators from around the world at the Partners in Learning Global Forum, Nov. 6–11, 2011 in Washington, D.C.

To get a sense of the energy at IEF take a look at this short video. My wife made the video cut (20 seconds in – great red earrings)
 …alas, I did not.

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Following the Backchannel at Microsoft Innovative Education Forum

I’m a guest blogger attending the 2011 Partners in Learning U.S. Innovative Education Forum (IEF) on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA. Here’s some of the Twitter stream following our #MSFTPIL hashtag. I’ve met some great teachers with very clever projects. Expect to see some of their guest posts in the future. Click here for info on IEF winners. 

Personal note: thanks to Microsoft for bringing recognition to these great projects. I was inspired by the dedicated teachers and their creative approaches to enhance teaching and learning. Thanks to all the folks who posted social media content for me to draw from. While the #MSFTPIL search will eventually fade away from the Twitter feed, this post will remain as an artifact of one awesome assembly of educators.

Here’s a Photosynth of our reception at Bell Harbor. After (most) all of you went downstairs, I decided to document the location – how can you describe a view like that in words?

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Save Our Schools March -You Can Make a Difference

Save-our-schools The Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action is holding a one-day fundraiser.  Please consider making a tax-deductible gift today, as part of their day-long May 7th “Money Cascade” to support the March. They’ve set an initial goal of $2500.  

I just made a quick $10 donation – will you match me?

Click here to go to their donation page via Paypal

Here’s more information from Save Our Schools March

“The march is being held in response to recent destructive ‘reform’ efforts which have undermined our public educational system, demoralized teachers, and reduced the education of too many of our children to nothing more than test preparation. Something must be done – and it must be done now!

Please join people from all across America as they gather to participate in the Save Our Schools March on Saturday, July 30 in Washington, D.C.

The Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action is calling on Americans everywhere to demand: 

  • Equitable funding for all public school communities. 
  • An end to high stakes testing for student, teacher, and school evaluation.
  • Curriculum developed for and by local school communities.
  • Teacher and community leadership in forming public education policies.”