Kim Caise's Blog, page 12
August 18, 2015
Global Collaboration Day
Join us on September 17 for Global Collaboration Day. The day will be honored with classrooms around the connecting and learning together.
The day is described by the Global Education Conference, sponsored by Lucy Gray and Steve Hargadon, as,
On this day (and beyond), experienced global educators and other professionals will host connective projects and events and invite public participation. The primary goals of this whole day event are to demonstrate the power of global connectivity in classrooms, schools, institutions of informal learning and universities around the world, and to introduce others to the tools, resources, projects, and networks that are available to educators today.
July 30, 2015
Connecting Classrooms through Global Projects in Leaps and Bounds – speaks VOLumes conference 2015
Below are the resources shared during my “Connecting Classrooms through Global Projects in Leaps and Bounds” for the “speaks VOLumes conferences 2015″.
July 23, 2015
Connecting Classrooms through Global Projects – Conference Presentation
Many educators know and are constantly challenged to introduce new and innovative ways to reach their students and foster enthusiasm for the learning process. As an alternative to the textbook and current events model, global projects provide a unique look at the educational process by introducing students to cultures and classrooms at a global scale.
If you have been looking for a way to enrich your curriculum or increase the rigor and relevance of your learning activities, join me Thursday, July 30, 2015, at 4:30pm EST/3:30pm CST as we talk about what this strategy entails and easy ways to introduce participation in global projects to re-energize your teaching. I am participating in the
July 16, 2015
Pearson Losing its Hold in the Testing Game
The state of New York recently announced that it was replacing Pearson as its testing vendor and is going to go with Questar Assessment Inc, a smaller Minneapolis based company. Questar is receiving a $44 million, five-year contract. Pearson’s $32 million contract ends this December and was responsible for developing the Common Core-aligned tests that have been given to New York students for several years. Pearson’s tests have had repeated complaints about the validity and content of some of its questions.
Just a few months ago, Pearson lost its three-decade testing contract for the state of Texas. Educational Testing Service won the state’s new testing contract of a mere $280 million spanning the next four years. Pearson will keep a small portion of the testing business though, just $60 million compared to Pearson’s last contract with Texas for $468 million over the past five years. Living in Texas, I know many educators were glad to see that Pearson’s presence was lessened. A new test was developed that was supposed to be harder because the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test was too easy and teachers were achieving high passing scores. The new test that replaced TAKS, the State of Texas of Assessment of Academic Readiness (STARR) is extremely difficult and is not without controversy over the questions and difficulty level.
In 2014, Pearson lost its contract to provide tests for public schools in Florida, and a new $220 million, six-year contract instead went to the AIR (formerly known as the American Institutes of Research).
July 5, 2015
Sale price of “Kid Detectives” – $17.76 for a Commemorative Copy
To commemorate the July 4th celebration, we are lowering the price of my book “Kid Detectives Classroom Learning Activities: Mystery Aventure Quests” to $17.76 including shipping! Take advantage of this sale price until July 7th when the price will return to $19.99. Help celebrate July 4th and get your signed commemorative copy mailed to you right away! To order, leave a message on the contact form of this website. I look forward to hearing from you!
July 2, 2015
What I Learned from #notatiste15
June 30, 2015
Connecting Classrooms through Global Projects
Many educators know and are constantly challenged to introduce new and innovative ways to reach their students and foster enthusiasm for the learning process. As an alternative to the textbook and current events model, global projects provide a unique look at the educational process by introducing students to cultures and classrooms at a global scale.
If you have been looking for a way to enrich your curriculum or increase the rigor and relevance of your learning activities, join me Thursday, July 30, 2015, at 7pm EST/6pm CST as we talk about what this strategy entails and easy ways to introduce participation in global projects to re-energize your teaching.
June 22, 2015
June 15, 2015
Facetime to Attend School
Eight year old Gabriel Dispenziere is a student who interacts with his peers and teachers using a web conferencing application and mobile device. He sits at a desk in his house and participates in the activities from a distance due to an extreme food allergy he experiences.
He isn’t allergic to just specific foods. He is allergic to all foods and any remnants on a person so he is unable to attend school or be around others that may have food particles on them. He cannot eat any food and is fed through a feeding tube at night. Gabriel is not able to be around anyone who has food on their hands, body or breath or he will have an allergic reaction due to his rare health condition.
Gabriel is very intelligent and skipped first grade. He is unable to attend school as he cannot risk being exposed to food particles on peers or airborne. But this year Gabriel has been to partially experience being part of a classroom for the first time due to the use of technology.
Gabriel has an iPad at his desk and there is an iPad mounted to a rolling stand in the classroom so that the students can see and interact with Gabriel as well as with his teacher. Gabriel and the students use Facetime to contact and interact with one another from a distance. He can now raise his face, participate in paired or group activities safely and securely from his iPad at home.
Gabriel was diagnosed at age two with eosinophilic esophagitis commonly known as EoE. It is a rare condition that causes the esophagus to inflame from allergic reactions to various food products. Unlike Gabriel, some are only allergic to a handful of foods but Gabriel is allergic to all food products.
With the recent addition of using Facetime, Gabriel is able to ‘attend’ school even though he has never been able to set foot in classroom or school building. If he leaves the house he has to be very cautious where he goes to avoid all food products. Gabriel is not allergic to sugar so he gets lollipops as treats and got cotton candy and snow cones on his birthday.
June 9, 2015
Moments to Remember
At the end of the school year, past students often come by and make a special trip to see a teacher who has made a difference in his or her life. It is always heartwarming when you receive a card of thank you message from a parent or student as well. The end of the school year is always bittersweet as you look forward to vacation as well as the opportunity to hear from students you had in class in the past. I call those moments of remembrance, “Paychecks of the Heart!”.
Since I have been working with master’s level students, I have received a few of the special moments via email about how much they appreciate the guidance and feedback I have provided through the course assignments I facilitate. I appreciate those moments too.
Please share below any special moment to remember that you experienced this year and share our paychecks of the heart. I can’t wait to read your moments to remember!
