[Replicable Practices] Howard Gardner and Leadership

Howard Gardner

The Washington Post maintains a leadership blog and although the posts are heavily based on a US political agenda there are 3 blog posts that are particularly interesting.

May 25, 2010 - Bold new future for higher ed? - Click here for Howard Gardner's response.

May 18, 2010 - Too smart to lead? - Click here for Howard Gardner's response.

May 10, 2010 - What qualifies a leader? - Click here for Howard Gardner's response.

[Replicable Practices] Civics 101

The goal of Civics 101 is to teach people about how the Government of Ontario works. Through animated explainers, interactive features and interviews with political movers and shakers in the province many answers can be found. The majority of the information is presented in either a video format (perfect for an interactive whiteboard lesson) or a printable PDF format. Make sure to check out the online simulators and their new blog!

Civics 101

• What is an electoral system?
• What are Ontarians voting rights?
• What is democracy and when did it begin?
• How a law is made?
• Who does what?
• Rights and Responsibilities?
• What is a budget all about?
• What does First Past the Post mean?
• What is a minority and a majority government?
• What is a by-election?

[Replicable Practices] Food Inc. Hungry For Change?

Hungry For Change?

Taken directly from the Official Food Inc. website:

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Food Inc. is an excellent documentary that in full or in part should be shown in class. The accompanying educators manual can be used in part or as a complete package, however, I advise you take a look at it for yourself since there are many visuals and topics that might want to advise the student's parents the type of topic that you are going to present.

Food Inc. can easily lend itself nicely into various curriculum strands. I have used specific sections as a topic of discussion for a media awareness unit and critically thinking component.

The official Food Inc. website also has a trailer of the movie. You can find additional videos and discussion guides on the educational material page.

[Replicable Practices] Individual Education Plan (IEP)

Looking for a specific reference to a particular section in one of my student's IEP I was searching within the school for the Individual Education Plans: Standards for Development, Program Planning, and Implementation, 2000 booklet. Having no luck tracking a paper copy down I resorted to the online version. One can navigate through the Ontario Ministry Of Education website to find it, along with curriculum documents, and other policy and resources documents.

• Update: The Individual Education Plan (IEP), A Resource Guide, 2004 (PDF) 

[Replicable Practices] Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC)

Identification, Placement, and Review Committee

The (IPRC) is created under the authority of Ontario Regulation 181/98, which provides information about the Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC). The Education Act requires all publicly funded school boards to provide special education programs and services to students who have been identified as exceptional pupils.

1. Written request from a student's parent(s)/guardian(s) or the principal of the school must refer the student to an IPRC. The parent(s)/guardian(s), as well as a student who is sixteen years of age or older, have the right to attend the IPRC meeting and may request that the IPRC discuss potential programs that would meet the student's needs.
   
2. The IPRC will decide whether the student is an exceptional pupil and, if so, what type of educational placement is appropriate. On the basis of these discussions, the IPRC can recommend the special education programs and/or services that it considers to be appropriate for the student.

•  A regular class with indirect support
• A regular class with resource assistance
• A regular class with withdrawal assistance
• A special education class with partial integration
• A full-time special education class

[Replicable Practices] SEAC (Special Education Advisory Committees)

© Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2007

Being armed with values and knowledge can be considered an important building block in the foundation of replicable practices. The Special Education Advisory Committees website is a site filled with behind the scenes information that can come in handy when discussing issues surrounding students with special needs.

Unit 1: An Historical Overview of Special Education in Ontario
Unit 2: Roles and Responsibilities
Unit 3: Responsibilities of School Boards and Their Special Education Advisory Committees (SEACs)
Unit 4: Legislation, Regulations, and Policy Documents Related to Special Education
Unit 5: Education Funding

[Replicable Practices] Special Education Funding

Ontario Ministry of Education

How does Ministry of Education fund our public education system? Each year the ministry provides funds to school boards through a series of grants. This Education Funding contains information on this year's grants, plus links to information on grants from previous years.

School Board Funding Projections for the 2010-11 School Year (PDF, 463 KB)

Special Education Funding Guidelines: Special Equipment Amount (SEA), 2010-11 (PDF, 437 KB)

Special Education Funding Guidelines: Special Incidence Portion (SIP), 2010-11 (PDF, 1.02 MB)

[Replicable Practices] Study Guides II

Muskingum University

Muskingum University, located in east-central Ohio has a Center for Advancement of Learning. The center's motto is to emphasize the development of lifelong learning skills through commitment to a learning strategies philosophy.

Resources are devoted to General and Subject Content,  High School to College and Post Grad Learning Strategies.

[Replicable Practices] PDF Online

Have you ever been frustrated because you found a great PDF file but wished it was as a Word document?

Have you ever been frustrated because you have a Word document but wished it was a PDF file?

PDF Online by BCL Technologies

[Replicable Practices] Conversation "Video" Sparkers!

I really like the series of videos from the Shift Happens series. I find that these series of videos are great conversation sparkers. My experience in showing them is to create a spark that ignites a really great debate. I have watched the video and come up with a series of questions that I ask before the video and then again at the end. I use them to guide the discussion, however in some classes I find that the students initiate the conversation. I normally let them be and guide only if necessary. I find that showing them at the end of the year the students can take their prior knowledge, merge it with their new knowledge and altogether have a new schema around certain topics.

1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

[Replicable Practices] eWorkshop.on.ca

eWorkshop.on.ca

I try to better myself in the the areas of Literacy, Instruction and Leadership. In order to promote replicable practices without trying to improve myself is a meaningless message and not very professionally satisfying. The Ministry of Education of Ontario has a collection of resources at eWorkshop for Literacy and Numeracy for K to 6 teachers.

If you are not sure, then let me tell you . . .

What is literacy and what is my role as a teacher?

What is numeracy and what is my role as a teacher?

[Replicable Practices] I will stop procrastinating . . . tomorrow!

One of the topics that I cover is my GLE class is the topic on avoiding procrastination. I always begin each lesson with a replicable practice that deals with a hook or an attention grabber, or any other unique way to motivate interest in the lesson. Many times I turn and seek assistance from a very close and dear friend of mine, YouTube.

Tales Of Mere Existence: "Procrastination"

[Replicable Practices] Resumes II

Original Post: Resumes I

nextsteps.org

An additional resource I used designing one of the culminating activities. This website presents career information in three steps.

1. Career Planning
2. Job Seeking
3. Career Maintenance

Thanks to: The City of Calgary, The Government of Alberta and Canada.