Test Tension

Last year's scores will soon be released. What do they mean, and how have they changed education? Are we now just teaching to the test instead of teaching to the child -- the child's needs with regards to becoming a thinking, caring, productive person? Are we causing children to lose talents because they aren't exposed any more to art, music, and the joy of learning?

Visit: http://www.wholechildeducation.org/ an new website sponsored and promoted by the Association for Curriculum and Supervision Development (ASCD). Also, watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTRKHR-6i3k



What do we really want for our children?

PB Wiki

PB Wiki allows me to easily keep lesson plans, links, student pages available for all five of my classes.


Link to
http://educators.pbwiki.com/PBwiki-educator-videos



Link to our new
PBwiki tour

Learning

I applied a slideshare in my second post. It took over my blog. Do I fret? No! I'll try to fix it with this blog! As I said in the Wiki 1 slide show: Have a go!

Wiki 1: How to Start on the Wiki

Update:
This is for early Wikispaces and also worked with initial PBWiki 1.0 sites. It was adapted slightly for my PBwiki student users two years ago (2007). Much has changed since.

The original is from Chris Smith here:
http://wikivideolibrary.blogspot.com/2007/05/wiki-1-getting-started.html

Also see the more current information in the library of wiki information Chris Smith has created about wikis at:
http://wikivideolibrary.blogspot.com/

Welcome

Writing is hard fun. ~ Donald Murray

Welcome to Nespelem Writes

Join us in puzzling through the process of writing well. Dare to delve into your thoughts and learning, and share those ideas with others.

Why is writing "hard fun?"

William Zinsser explains:

"Writing is thinking on paper."

"Writing and learning and thinking are the same process."

Our brains solve puzzles. Transferring ideas onto paper is a puzzle; it's a process that requires careful thought, and the puzzling, although hard, is fun --- we feel accomplished when we've done it right. And doing it right means, according to Zinsser,

"Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity."

So lets keep it clear, brief, and simple: engage your brain, enjoy the puzzle, and join in a collaborative effort to learn writing by writing.

Ms. Edwards