📰 Read Write Respond #063

Where did March go? Each month I reflect upon different aspects of life, however this month it feels as if everything has blended together. Whether it be moving, unpacking, tidying up our old house, fixing things in the new house, or supporting schools with this and that, it was little surprise that I got run-down. Life has its ways of communicating at times, especially when we may not want to listen.

Here then are some of the posts that have had me thinking:

Education

On “Easy” Books…Again

Pernille Ripp addresses the conundrum of whether to allow readers to read ‘easy’ books. She suggests that the task is to develop people who want to read, not just who can.

COVID coaches: tutoring only works when backed by quality teaching directed at the students who really missed out

Jenny Gore explains that if the tutoring program being implemented by the Victorian and NSW governments is to work then it needs to involve quality teaching.

Story Dice – The Handy Story Idea Generator

Dave Birss has turned the classic story ideas dice into a digital generator. There are two versions: five and nine words.

Change in Education and What Needs to be Done

Stephen Downes addresses what is currently unsustainable in education and what is subsequently needed in regards to change.

How to remember more of what you read

Steve Brophy explains his use of Roam Research and the Zettelkasten methodology to develop a deeper dialogue with what he reads.

Technology

From Me to My

Olia Lialina traces a history of the people who challenged the architecture and protocols in the development of the web. He explains how this has evolved to a web focused on graphic design.

The mess at Medium

Casey Newton reports on Medium’s latest pivot, this time away from having its own editoral team, instead moving to a freelance model.

You Don’t Need Substack To Build an Email Newsletter

Ernie Smith goes beyond Substack and Mailchimp to discuss a number of options associated with managing newsletters.

Free Markets

Cory Doctorow reflects on his experience of running a campaign associated with the audiobook for Attack Surface and the challenges faced by a ‘free market’.

General

The Commute: Walking 90km to work

In response to being asked to give a lecture about adventuring, Beau Miles decided to walk the 90 km to work as a point of stimulus. By slowing down, he captures aspects of the environment that often get overlooked.

Blokes Will Be Blokes

Anna Spargo-Ryan discusses the crisis in Federal politics, suggesting that Scott Morrison’s response has been akin to “bringing home a bunch of flowers because you worked late again.

extinction.fyi

Doug Belshaw has created a new site collecting together links associated with the climate emergency.

1991 saw the music industry turned upside down, and 30 years later, its echoes remain

Matt Neal reflects on the impact of 1991 in music and how Nirvana and the grunge movement changed everything.

FOCUS ON … Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

I learnt recently about the passing of Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano:

It is with the deepest sadness that I share that the remarkable Silvia Tolisano @langwitches passed away on March 1, 2021. Brilliant, original, innovative, and ahead of her time, she made a powerful impact on thousands of teachers and learners throughout the world. pic.twitter.com/5SZASiVnKs

— Heidi Hayes Jacobs (@HeidiHayesJacob) March 3, 2021

Silvia was someone who helped me foster my understanding and appreciation of the power of blogging in and out of the classroom. In celebration I went back into my links and bookmarks to curate a list of posts that have inspired me:

Visible Thinking Routines for Blogging

Tolisano expands on thinking routines to help learners make thinking visible they blog.

What Do You Want to Know about Blogging?

Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano responds to number of questions about blogging, such as how to start out in the classroom, setup precautions, develop a habit and extend your thinking beyond the simple view of blogging

Blogfolios: The Glue that Can Hold it All Together in Learning

Silvia Tolisano highlights the power of the blogfolio as a means of extending learning.

Digital Portfolios and Content

Tolisano unpacks a number of questions and considerations associated with digital portfolios.

10 Tips for Embedding Digital Portfolios as Part of your Classroom Habits

Tolisano provides some suggestions for getting going with blogging, including being patient, celebrate the skills and share the ownership with students.

Blogging as Pedagogy

In this presentation from BLC17, Tolisano shares ways in which blogging helpos support four primary areas: reading, writing, reflection and sharing. She also includes a rubric for blogging and commenting.

5 Opportunities to Amplify Your Writing

Tolisano discusses some of the ways in which digital medium allows us to re-think writing and reading experiences to amplify ideas, connections, references, and audiences.

The Three Stages of Documentation Of/For/As Learning

Tolisano explores the different stages of documentation. She splits it up into before where teachers decide focus, during where the work is documented and after where you act on the work captured.

Literacy and Documenting Learning

Tolisano produced a series of posts examining the effects documenting has on the awareness, skills and habits associated with digital literacies.

Amplify Reflection

Tolisano brings together a collection of routines, taxonomies, and prompts that support reflection in ourselves and give a variety of choices to grow as reflective, metacognitive learners.

Curation as an Educational Challenge

Tolisano discusses the importance of curation in the classroom. To support this, she provides a number of platforms and practices to use

Computational Thinking and Learning for Little Ones

Tolisano reflects upon her computational experience with her grand-daughter.

Sketchnoting FOR Learning

Tolisano unpacks the different elements associated with sketchnoting and the power to make thinking more visible.

Fit2Learn: Learning How to Learn

Silvia Tolisano‏ breaks the ability and preparedness to learn into six different aspects: mental training, physical training, process, fuel, injury and events.

Professional Development: Got a Twitter Minute?

Inspired by Sharon Bowman’s book The Ten Minute Trainer: 150 Ways to Teach it Quick & Make it Stick, Tolisano provides a series of one minute activities to do with Twitter during workshops.

A Scavenger Hunt to Connect and Document Learning

Using the GooseChase app, Tolisano documents the creation of a scavenger hunt to help participants with build their own personal learning network.

Building a PD Learning Hub for your School

Tolisano suggests that having a platform to document learning, organize and archive initiatives, action research, and institutional memory not only helps teachers with reflecting, but it also gives them a space to practice digital literacies.

#remotelearning- It’s Happening

Tolisano compiles all of her resources to support online / remote learning.

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Read Write Respond #063

So that was March for me, how about you? As always, love to hear.

Cover Image via Marcel Steeman