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The Third Teacher by OWP/P Architects
The Third Teacher by OWP/P Architects My rating: 4 of 5 stars Upon finishing The Third Teacher, I immediately catalogued it and put it in our professional development resource section. The versatility of the experts that speak out for design in education in this book make it a rich read. It isn’t a how to,…
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Making thinking visible
I started the year knowing that I wanted to spend more time helping students to be more visible about their thinking process. Why? I think we spend too much time evaluating products and not enough time evaluating processes Learning to express yourself is such an important skill Dissecting your own process will make patterns/habits visible…
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Tuned out: Engaging the 21st century learner by Karen Hume
Tuned Out: Engaging The 21st Century Learner by Karen Hume My rating: 2 of 5 stars If you want a quick snapshot of all that’s happening in educational theory, this is the book for you. At the risk of sounding over-confident, this is exactly why this book was not for me. It’s a basic primer…
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The Taming by Eric Walters and Teresa Toten
The Taming by Teresa Toten My rating: 3 of 5 stars I expect high things from anything that Eric Walters puts his name on. After the Ontario Library Association nominated this as one of the best Canadian young adult fiction of the year, I expected even more. Until halfway through I thought I had found…
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American Gods by Neil Gaiman
American Gods by Neil Gaiman My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book doesn’t really fit into a genre … it takes place in present day in America. Our protagonist, Shadow, and the dysfunctional relationship with his wife certainly seem realistic. Enter the gods … and suddenly magic is happening everywhere in subtle ways. American…
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Is it possible to grow readers who are also digitally savvy?
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to hear Penny Kittle speak about reading and how complex it is for intermediate/senior teachers to teach. Kittle estimates that in 1st year college/university that the average pages a student reads is 500. She proposed that the #1 reason that students drop out after first year…
authentic audience, books, children’s literature, critical thinking, definition of literacy, digital literacy, Don Tapscott, education, Grown Up Digital, Heather Durnin, inquiry-based learning, literacy promotion, Literature Circles, Penny Kittle, reading, struggling reader, student-centred learning, Vygotzky, young adult fiction