Sharing+Page

Use this page to share great links and articles. If you have a document you would like to include, email Joan, joan.cusano@rtsd.org


 * Articles **

The Way of the Wiki:Building Online Creativity and Collaboration []

Is Google Making Us Stupid?//by Nicholas Carr// Click here to access an NPR podcast containting an interview with the author. The page also includes the story translated to text, but the conversation included in the podcast presents additional thinking.

Summer Rejuvination Guide - download and check it out
 * From Edutopia.org - a great website**


 * Brain based learning - articles on Executive Functioning**

"The 2.0 Teacher" eBook by A.J. Juliani: Check it out HERE


 * Great Websites - Add your favorite here! **

[|http://www.delicious.com] This is a way to save all of your bookmarked websites in one place. Your favorite websites are all saved online, so that you can access them from any computer with an internet connection. You are welcome to visit my delicious site, yummy :) []

http://groups.diigo.com/user/agabriele Take social bookmarking to the next level with the ability to collaboratively note-make (highlight, leave comments/post it) and share web-sites. Diigo does what delicious does, with some add on bonuses.

http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp This is the V.A.R.K. guide to learning styles online, free assessment you can have your students take. This only addresses 4 major learning styles (as research shows there are MANY more), but is a good jumping off point. Some ideas: students take, score, and put them in groups by learning style. Use the provided suggestions and ideas from the site as well as their own experiences and have them discuss: "How do I intake information and learn best? How do I output information and what is the most comfortable mode of presentation?" You can then go on to have them brainstorm ways they can adapt to situations that do not fit their strengths. Get them thinking, it's not what the teacher is not doing (we know that is the case most of the time), but what can I do to adapt to him/her. Also, continuously remind them that they are going to be a mix of all the learning styles, and that this is a small glimpse into a much deeper understanding of self.
 * Learning to Learn**

Using these types of assessments with students, not just for them, is what makes all of this powerful for their understanding of self. I have learned and come to believe that part of our job is to help students become independent thinkers and learners who, by the time we are done with them, do not need us anymore. I want my students to leave my classroom confident, knowledgeable (both content-knowledge and self-knowledge), and armed with a backpack of strategies to help them be able to learn on their own. It is great for me to know the brain, personality, and learning style make up of my classes so I can achieve an effective balance in facilitating learning, but it's just as if not more important for them to understand this as well. In the spirit of this, some other resources to seek out: The Highlands Ability Battery, Ned Hermann's Brain Dominance Instrument, Myers-Briggs Personality Test, 360 Feedback, and the DiSC Behavior Profile.