Resources

Giving up the Chalkboard!

Great resource for any Kansas school!

This article describes a community meeting where Inman students demonstrated the use of their TRC equipment. Great idea!

Inman students demonstrate classroom technology for parents.

The TRC Grant RFP for the 2008-09 school year is now available on the KSDE website.

Reflection is the process through which educators tap into knowledge that can improve their practice. At the heart of reflection is the belief that, given opportunities to carefully consider their work, educators possess the necessary knowledge to improve their practice. This involves not only looking back to make sense of what happened, but also looking forward to anticipate what’s coming up and what you need to do to prepare.

Reflection is an element in all inquiry-focused professional learning, such as action research, examining student work, classroom observation and feedback, and lesson study. Without reflection, few of those activities would generate the intended learning. One of Dewey's (How we think, 1933) basic assumptions was that learning improves to the degree that it arises out of the process of reflection.

Oftentimes, we get caught up in the day-to-day activities and forget to take time to reflect. How are you encouraging your TRC Teachers to reflect? This could be done as a group or individually. Consider the following:

Keeping a reflective journal using Google Docs
Posting reflection questions to a blog and having teachers post comments
Having teachers create their own blog to “journal” their experiences

Note: TeachStrong.org is a great place for your group to have a virtual presence - complete with Forums, Blogs, photo sharing, etc. and it's easy to set up!!!

We look forward to more conversations regarding reflection during our January Facilitator Workshop!

Questions are the tools of the trade. But questioning can be tricky for someone new to a TRC Facilitator role. Oftentimes, teachers feel put on the spot and the situation can become uncomfortable. Balancing the manner of questioning and the timing of delivery can be tricky, especially when you are establishing a relationship.

Facilitators must maintain a collaborative, trusting relationship with teachers so the teacher sees the questions as prompts for reflection, not critical judgments that put the teacher on the defensive. When questions are grounded in student work and student learning, the dialogue between teacher and facilitator can maintain a collaborative spirit, with a common goal to improve student learning.

Effective questioning takes experience. Next time you meet with your teachers to collaborate, try focusing your questions on curriculum and student needs. For example, three focused questions to pose when working with teachers might include:

What is the content to be covered?
What does this piece of student work, or this student's response, tell us about what this child understands?
What might you do next?

‘Let’s Fight it Together’ is a powerful film produced by Childnet for the Department for Children Schools and Families to help sensitize young people to the pain and hurt which can be caused through cyberbullying. Digital citizenship isn’t just about recognizing and dealing with online hazards. It’s about building safe spaces and communities, understanding how to manage personal information, and about being internet savvy - using your online presence to grow and shape your world in a safe, creative way, and inspiring others to do the same.

Use this site to learn more about TRC. Look for upcoming events and check out the technology resources. This site is new and still under construction. Keep checking back for more information.

This site is devoted to Earth and Space science. Great information that allows user to adjust reading level. Resources/Links for Astronomy and the Universe, Our Solar System, Our Planet, Life, Geology, and Physics. Also includes teacher resources, games and puzzles, and other interactive ideas.