Critical+Friends

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Each Circle of Friends has a link to their own group google page. Use this page to post resources / artifacts / photos / and other project information useful to group work. This journey is about learning, applying and capturing insight into the work of "HEAT™-ing" up inquiry learning with students as meaning-makers and media-makers. =====

Learning journals a la blogging are meant to harness the power of informal learning and collaboration. INFORMAL LEARNING creates MORE learning than the formal face-to-face time! It is where steps are planned, alternatives are considered, and progress is noted, along with discovering the lessons learned along the way. Years of research and studies identifies two of the highest yielding PD practices to be activating collaborative cultures and purposeful reflective practices within the group like keeping learning journals. These two practices (collaboration / learning journals) significantly closes the gap between what is formally learned in workshops (which represents only 20% of mastery) and what actually happens in for kids with what is learned. The power of informal learning when combining these two together practices together taps into the 75% strategies of how most people including kids really REALLY learn new understandings/practices as together they make sense of the content/concepts introduced and begin the journey of applying it in their practices. The new social media tools absolutely increases the ability to tap into the "magic" of informal learning for all of us including our students. See Students as Bloggers - GREAT ideas for applying these same informal learning benefits into classrooms.

ONCE a WEEK BLOGGING
Once a week blogging by a designated team mate [along with team responses to each other] will summarize the week of team experiences with learning and working. Notes from daily meetings will be essential for the designated team mate to have in synthesizing the week. Any essential artifacts embedded or linked will certainly enrich the journey. The following week another team mate rotates to blog for the team.

The time invested is considered a significant added-value pay back that will increase the vision of Inquiry + Tech Uses into practice. At the beginning of each week, start a discussion thread from your Circle of Friends page reflecting on your journey along the way. At the end of each month, take time to visit the bloggings to add to discussions and comments. Enjoy all the many things you will learn along the way.

Questions to Inspire Reflective Practice a la Blogging
√ What have you been doing? √ What have you learned? √ How have your practices changed or not? √ What's working? What needs to work better? √ What is exciting you? Anything worrying you? √ Any surprises? Quotes from kids? Delights? Bummers? √ Any advice for moving things forward?