"Can We Keep 'er Dad?"

I began this blog as an experiment, knowing nothing of the edusphere or the amazing opportunities for collaboration that can occur on your own time. Although I used a pseudonym, a local person who knows a little about me could have (an some apparently did) follow the bread crumbs to my secret identity.

Why secret? Well, if I somehow managed to create a mess, I thought I could just vanish the blog and forget about it. But of course, the internet never forgets. So I kept it simple, sane, suitable for general audiences, and responsibly critical.

Since I'm retired (and elected), nobody can fire me, and I don't have to put up with any bozos who might try to restrict my first amendment rights. So I asked myself, shall we keep the blog? The answer is yes. The connections, collaborations, and insights shared have been great, so Repairman becomes yours truly, Hugh O'Donnell.

For those of your with Blogger platforms, my "comments" nom de plume will automatically change. For you WordPress folks, I'll sign in all over again.

Funny, I do feel the freedom!

Educational Technology That Works...

...is the title of a promising wiki (like I know so much about wikis, novice that I am) that is devoted to classroom instruction integrated with Web 2.0 (about which I'm still learning).

I'm excited for several reasons.

Marzano's work -- featured on the wiki -- recognizes the convergence of education research and he emphasizes the practical application of the research.

This wiki may be a good model for the experimental Edubloggers wiki.

And most interesting of all, this wiki is an electronic version of six publications (plastic comb flip-books) that were put out by our district curriculum and instruction department back in 2000 to remind teachers of the main things to remember about the instructional strategies we were then beginning to promote: differentiated instruction; individualized instruction; cooperative learning; brain-based research applied to learning and instruction; multiple intelligence theory application; and assessment literacy (Stiggins, et al).

Those little books were fantastic -- they are collector's items now (for the geeks among us, anyway), but they were expensive and time consuming to produce. The wiki takes the place of all that and even spreads the joy of contributing around to whomever is willing and qualified.

All this discovery is total fun!

Don't Worry, We'll Make It!

The best of plans can run into rough water, but the deep pool coming up next is calm and has good fishing.

The wiki kick off has been revised and will not require so much attention that principal's will be shaking their collective heads saying, "So that's where my star teacher lingered instead of getting ready for the first days of school!"

We anticipate many different conversations on different education topics. Not everyone of us burns with the same enthusiasm for each of them, so appearances at all gatherings are not expected.

If you're an edublogger with an interest in instructional improvement and you're curious about what grading has do with it, speak up here and maybe join the conversation.

From this point RepairKit may reference the Edubloggers wiki occasionally, but my blogs on "grading for learning" will be independent. I'll be looking for you on both sides! ;-)

New Wiki In Town! 2

Here's an update on our wiki...

First, participants discussed wiki goals, use, and format. Then Eric edited and finalized the Front Page that outlines where we are at this point.

We'll begin our exploration of standards-based grading with a warm up wherein we analyze a couple of grading situations that made major metro papers. In SBG Warm Up Draft 1, we'll look at the articles separately, comment on each of them, then compare the situations and draw some conclusions about what's being described in the articles. (Articles are on this page.)

Standards-Based Grading, or SBG from here on, is also known as "grading linked to standards," and "grading for learning." (Thanks to Exhausted Intern for the new term and three-letter acronym!)

The end goal is to produce a document or series of wiki pages that can 1) serve as a primer for educators new to SBG, 2) facilitate a quick review for educators who have been exposed to the concepts, 3) be a training tool for professional development sessions.

This topic is red hot and ready to roll.

New Wiki In Town!

Eric Turner of Second Hand Thoughts has been hard at work constructing a wiki for edubloggers to share and polish thoughts about the education topics near and dear to their hearts.

While poking around in Eric's new construction zone, I came upon the above image. It's from Eric and it pretty well sums up the aim of the new wiki.

Any more conversation/ideas about how it's going to work? Let's hear from you!

Eric's my choice for ad hoc wiki foreman at least till it's up and running. How does that sound?

A Grading Conversation

I'll be off the grid for a couple of days, but was hoping to contribute something constructive prior to taking off.

Labels/categories/topics in a blog sidebar, although they may be a way to keep track of topical conversations, don't go far enough. A search function also helps. (There's probably an efficient Web 2.0 way to do it, like a topical aggregator, but it hasn't touched my mind yet.) So this is an experiment, a "sticky" post. (I'll figure a way to make it sticky!)

Eric, in Second Hand Thoughts, reinforced my desire to broaden and deepen the conversations on what the Exhausted Intern calls SBG or "standards-based grading," aka, "grading for learning," or "grading linked to standards." (Eric has in mind an idea for focusing conversations that goes beyond what I'm hoping to do here.) Here goes...

So far, I've talked about SBG with the following folks who have "grading" listed on their topic sidebar...

The Science Goddess of What It's Like On the Inside
The Exhausted Intern of Not Enough Hours

...and folks who don't have "grading" listed as a topic, but have addressed the issue in posts or "comments" either on RepairKit or their own blog:

Miss Profe from Hardknock Teacher's Life (See today's knock-your-socks-off post.)
Miss A of Confessions from the Couch
The Midwest Teacher of Teach Me, I Dare You

This is also an open invitation to join the conversation.

If I left anyone out of this conversation, my sincere apology and please mention it in a comment to this post. I'll cut and paste your link above.

My goal is to list, in one place, all of you with whom I exchange ideas about SBG. (If this is a dumb idea, or there's a better way to do it, please tell me!)

Great Book/New Way to Publish

Just a quick note on a laid-back Sunday…

Yesterday, in the mail, I received David Warlick's book Classroom Blogging: A Teacher's Guide to Blogs, Wikis, & Other Tools that are Shaping a New Information Landscape (2nd Edition).

Being a newbie in this arena, I skipped around the book, vacuuming up tidbits that seemed immediately relevant to my blogging needs, and some that confirmed that I am somewhat on track. I'm happy to say, there's still a lot more to read and absorb.

This isn't a book review, so much as an expression of excitement. Both to get the information from a well-regarded authority, and to get it in a form that is so "cutting edge"…a book.

But, mine is a copy of the book that didn't physically exist two weeks ago. Before that time, I imagine, it was just code stored in a server at Lulu, a partial roll of page paper, and a couple of linear feet of cover stock. This is a "print-on-demand" book. My first ever.

Ordering from Lulu.com was like ordering from Amazon, but with different titles. This is a self-publishing facilitator, as well as a web retailer. The book was $20.95, just a few cents more than the 1st edition currently being sold on Amazon. (Warlick says edition 2.0 will be available there soon, but why wait? It will be the same price, and Lulu doesn't charge as much for shipping.)

The book arrived just three business days after they emailed me that it was in transit. From the time I ordered to the reception of the email was not more that three or four days.

The book arrived in a standard cardboard book jacket that featured extra cardboard top and bottom, and it was carefully wrapped in a piece of foam sheeting that insured perfect condition upon arrival.

I was impressed, and you will be too if this is your first experience with Lulu.

Authors need to check Lulu out as well. What a deal! When I'm ready, they'll be my first choice of publishers.

(Image credit to David Warlick on 2 Cents Worth.)