How about a Socratic Oath for Educators?

“That More May Learn More”

--ICOSE--

International Community of Socratic Educators

--Founding Charter Principles—

As a member of the Socratic Community, I hereby attest:

1. That the desire and capacity to learn is inborn within me and others...

2. That a spectrum of talents and gifts is possessed by each of us...

3. That I respect the dignity, worth and uniqueness of each learner...

4. That my talents have been given to me to be developed,

to be shared and to leave the world better for my being here...

5. That I am privileged to be called as an educator, and entrusted with the passing on of our culture,

the world’s knowledge and our collective bests...

6. That I shall always remain open to the insights and gifts that others bring,

and add them to my own store of knowledge for sharing with others...

7. That I will stand up for my beliefs and principles, but always thoughtfully consider and respect the same in others who may differ with me...

8. That I will admit my error or change my stance when confronted with incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, no matter the personal risk...

9. That I will suffer the unsettling experiences and stresses that accompany the risks of learning more and espousing the new and unknown...

10. That I will join in and help establish the many circles of learning that are a part of my learning life and Professional Learning Network...

11. That I will persist in my efforts to grow as a person and share as a teacher and educator as long as I live...

12. That I will remain committed to my Socratic oath: “That More May Learn More!” and more!

=== Established: July 3, 1999 By Dr. Tom King St. Paul, Minnesota

Thought I'd try something new and give Prezi.com a go. Seems to have some advantages over Powerpoint. Here's a starter effort for a Preso Jerry Stenger, John Seipp and I gave at UST on January 11, 2010. Any feedback or suggestions greatly appreciated!

A New Math: Do we really need to memorize the quadratic formula??

Years ago, mathematician and songster Tom Lehrer, parodied the vagaries of the so-called New Math, a well meaning, but largely ineffectual attempt to move math from drill and kill to understand the pinions better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNCUuh8_VhE

Many good extras have been added to the math curriculum over the years. Among them is project-based learning in which solving a real world problem motivates the mathematical tools needed to solve it.

After teaching and pondering for many years, I have come to the conclusion that the entire K-12 math curriculum needs a thorough inspection and overhaul. Much of what's there is no longer relevant, if it ever was, especially given the tools we have today.

More to come as soon as I can better think through how to present this call to action. In the meantime, all suggestions are welcome!

Beyond Duncan's Call to Teacher-Ed Betterment

Higher-ed, like business, is profit-driven and there's little motivation to change the status quo.

There are no universal, high standards teacher-ed is held to, other than accrediting agencies, like NCATE, which fewer schools of education choose to attain. Worse, such accreditation is rarely focused on on follow-up.....how well are they teaching once they leave us.....what can we do to stay connected and help them improve performance, especially during those first three critical years.

In my own teacher prep decades ago, I was lucky to participate in a Ford Foundation Teacher Trainee program. Several salient features: we interned in classrooms for four years; we observed the district's 'best teachers' at all levels; early on, we worked one-to-one with students, then small groups, then the whole classroom; we got a lot of helpful feedback.

By the time we were offered a job, we had the confidence and skills to be more successful. More importantly, we knew we wanted to be teachers.

Duncan's plan needs a strategy and funding to make change happen. Just talking about it isn't going to make it better.

Twittering!

It's what's happening!

Drops the Degrees of Separation by half.

Terse and pithy ideas from those of like mind.

You're invited to check mine out at ProfTK on twitter.com

Cheers!

Palindromic & Pithy Point Well-Made!

Check out this powerful and simple youtube video my good friend Jerry Stenger sent me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Sam & Josh Productions: "Grey Wolves"

OK, OK...these are my grandsons, Sam and Josh, ages 8 & & respectively, and they made this video almost entirely by themselves....with a little help from their homeschool teacher, their mom and my daughter. But truth be told, a lot of kids can do this these days. 

Tell me. Generally speaking, who do you think understands these concepts of nature's predators better? Someone who can correctly answer 10 multiple choice questions, or someone who can re-present an engaging video on what they've researched and learned?

For myself, I opt for the latter. Tell me what YOU think! 

htttp://mac.com/dtking/iMovieTheater127.html