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	<title>Lesson Upgrades &#187; General</title>
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	<link>http://lessonupgrades.com</link>
	<description>Education for the 21st Century</description>
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		<title>Robot Avatar Lets You Go to Meetings without Actually Going There</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/robot-avatar-lets-you-go-to-meetings-without-actually-going-there/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/robot-avatar-lets-you-go-to-meetings-without-actually-going-there/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 May 2010 20:32:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=1106</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I thought we could all use a little fun.  This robot just struck me as funny.  Imagine just logging in  to your computer and virtually attending a meeting.  Or in teacher-speak, a professional development session. Or, in this particularly stressful time of year, what if we could just log in from home and teach our kids remotely?  Do you think this robot could conduct activities for us during May?  We could be grading at home while we monitored our classrooms from our laptop! But of course I&#8217;m just joking&#8230;.for now. Robot Avatar Lets You Go to Meetings without Actually Going There.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Success Gets into Your Head-and Changes It &#8211; Harvard Business Review</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/success-gets-into-your-head-and-changes-it-harvard-business-review/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/success-gets-into-your-head-and-changes-it-harvard-business-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 May 2010 10:27:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daniel Pink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brain compatible learning]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=1078</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is an interesting article with evidence that should fundamentally affect the way we teach. Research by MIT neuroscientists shows that our brain actually rewires in response to success.  Now that may not seem groundbreaking, but the corresponding finding might surprise you.  The brain does nothing in response to failure. In other words, if you perform a task and are successful at it, your brain physically changes.  And furthermore, those changes linger for several seconds, making a repeated success much more likely. This article caught my eye because I have always subscribed to the business mantra that &#8220;we learn more from our failures than our successes.&#8221;  But that is not true of your brain.  It actually learns more from success than from failure. The first person that made me question the validity of focusing on your mistakes was Dan Pink in his book Johnny Bunko.  It was Lesson Two: &#8220;Think strengths, not weaknesses&#8221;.  I think that many times I do the opposite.  I focus on my shortcomings.  And as an unfortunate result, I often encourage my students to focus on their own shortcomings.  &#8220;There&#8217;s no need to practice what you&#8217;re good at, practice on what you need to improve.&#8221; As [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Marzano&#8217;s Instructional Strategies and Dan Pink</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/marzanos-instructional-strategies-and-dan-pink/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/marzanos-instructional-strategies-and-dan-pink/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Apr 2010 10:55:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daniel Pink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lesson Plans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Play]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Story]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Symphony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[A Whole New Mind]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=976</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a great site for resources on Robert Marzano&#8217;s instructional strategies. If you are familiar with Marzano, then you will find this site particularly interesting as it connects instructional technology resources with each of his strategies.  If you are not familiar with Marzano, each strategy is briefly defined so that you can implement the technology while knowing which instructional strategy you are using. I also sorted out a few of Marzano&#8217;s strategies and applied them to Dan Pink&#8217;s aptitudes from A Whole New Mind.  Here are a few of the obvious connections that I made after reviewing the strategies on the Marzano website: #3 Complex Cognitive Tasks (Symphony) #4 Cooperative Learning (Empathy) #8 Graphic Organizers, #12 Non-linguistic Representations (Design) #11 Interactive Games, #12 Kinesthetic Activities (Play) #19 Summarizing (Story/Design) I&#8217;m sure there are any number of parallels that can be drawn between Marzano and Dan Pink&#8217;s aptitudes, but I thought these were the easiest to implement. So if your district is asking you to utilize the Marzano startegies, don&#8217;t worry.  You can still develop your students&#8217; right-brain aptitudes at the same time! Marzano&#8217;s Instructional Strategies.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Futurity.org – Are teens just a bunch of selfish slackers?</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/futurity-org-%e2%80%93-are-teens-just-a-bunch-of-selfish-slackers/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/futurity-org-%e2%80%93-are-teens-just-a-bunch-of-selfish-slackers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:18:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=1011</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I ran into this article and just had to pass it along. It seems like this time of year is an especially cranky time for teachers.  I know that when I come home during the Spring, my stories dwell more and more on this entitled, lazy generation of teens. But this article helped me to put things in perspective.  According to a Michigan State University study, today&#8217;s teens are about the same as teens from the mid-1970&#8242;s.  They are no more self-absorbed and they do not have a disproportionately high self-esteem. Instead, today&#8217;s teens are worried about their place in the world.  How will they fit in?  The same concerns that all of us had when we were younger. This article&#8217;s timing is perfect for me.  I was in danger of becoming the cranky old man that complains about how spoiled these kids are today.  But instead, I am now asking myself &#8220;How can I help?&#8221; There is no question that the world has changed and it will be immensely challenging for this generation to succeed in our global economy.  But we are the ones that can help.  Even in the Springtime, when our patience is limited and our students [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Bloom&#8217;s Taxonomy and Dan Pink</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/blooms-taxonomy-and-dan-pink/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/blooms-taxonomy-and-dan-pink/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daniel Pink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Meaning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Play]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Story]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Symphony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[21st Century Skills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[A Whole New Mind]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=950</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was asked once by a colleague to relate Dan Pink&#8217;s Right-Brain aptitudes to Bloom&#8217;s taxonomy.  To be honest I have always preferred to apply Bloom&#8217;s Taxonomy through the verbs that are usually associated with his work.  My colleague and I threw out as many verbs as we could remember, and I wrote them on a whiteboard, categorizing them within the six AWNM aptitudes. Our list was very basic, but we launched a great discussion about higher level thinking skills and Daniel Pink&#8217;s Right-Brain skills. I would like to offer a version of that discussion here.  I took some time to recreate my previous conversation and wrote down a number of verbs from Bloom&#8217;s Taxonomy.  There were many verbs that could fit within multiple aptitudes, and my categorization is just one person&#8217;s opinion. (The Chart) But as I struggled to find the &#8220;perfect&#8221; category for each of Bloom&#8217;s verbs, I reflected on a statement by Dan Pink that I read in an interview with him.  To summarize, Dan Pink stated that it is essential to develop all of the aptitudes in an effort to stimulate the full creativity offered by our &#8220;Right-Brain&#8221; skills.  Furthermore, the six aptitudes are interconnected and [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>How Millennial Are You?</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/how-millennial-are-you/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/how-millennial-are-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:49:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=766</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So we can&#8217;t be all work all the time.  I ran into this online quiz about the Millennials.  Since I have been hearing so much about the differences between this generation and all others, I thought I would give it a try. I landed smack in the middle of Gen-X. But I think it&#8217;s a worthwhile exercise.  Especially if you look at the background of the questions.  This is the generation that is now entering the workforce.  And from what I have read, the next generation has even less in common with previous generations. If you do take the five minutes to complete the quiz, be sure that you poke through some of the data that they provide on the final score page.  It gives some very interesting background on the Pew Research methodology. Have fun! How Millennial Are You? Q1.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Education Week: Study Links Rise in Test Scores to Nations&#8217; Output</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/education-week-study-links-rise-in-test-scores-to-nations-output/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/education-week-study-links-rise-in-test-scores-to-nations-output/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:18:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=745</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After attending a Career and Technical Education training this week I started to look around for some data.  And even after two days of facts and figures, this article stood out to me. Economists have tied actual GDP numbers to improving education.  Something that we all felt was true, but here are some hard figures to consider. Just adding 25 points to the U.S. PISA test score would add 3% to our nation&#8217;s GDP.  While that may not seem like a huge impact, that would actually be $41 trillion dollars over the lifetime of a person born in 2010.  Or, a 25% increase in personal income during that time. Considering our current recession, many states have resorted to cuts in education.  That&#8217;s like a company cutting its research and development budget right when they need it the most.  It&#8217;s short-sighted and dangerous, but practically inevitable. But as you read the article, notice the last paragraph.  Eric A. Hanushek, an economist at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University discusses the use of resources, particular the deployment of effective teachers.  If you use effective teachers in the most-needed areas, you can gain tremendous results without significant increases in cost. As an example, [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>New Plan Would Let High Schoolers Graduate Early &#8211; NYTimes.com</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/new-plan-would-let-high-schoolers-graduate-early-nytimes-com/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/new-plan-would-let-high-schoolers-graduate-early-nytimes-com/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:47:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daniel Pink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Drive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=712</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wow!  This would be quite a change in our educational system.  I&#8217;m not sure how I feel about it, but I can see some of the advantages. According to the article,  schools would no longer be held to &#8220;seat time&#8221; or credits to graduate high school students.  Instead students would take a battery of tests at the end of their sophomore year in order to see if they had achieved &#8220;mastery&#8221;. Those of you who have read Dan Pink&#8217;s latest book, Drive, can easily see the connection.  Plus, students would be able to attend community college and focus on their future careers, developing &#8220;purpose&#8221;. I worry about student maturity, and whether or not they would be ready at age 16 to focus on college.  But after reading Dan Pink&#8217;s book, I tend to think that they might just rise to the occasion. We all should be keeping an eye on this plan.  I have heard about shortening school, using board exams, etc., but this is the first large-scale implementation that I have heard of.  It makes you think! New Plan Would Let High Schoolers Graduate Early &#8211; NYTimes.com.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>KC TechNet and Benjamin Wilkoff</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/kc-technet-and-benjamin-wilkoff/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/kc-technet-and-benjamin-wilkoff/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:28:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daniel Pink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Symphony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[21st Century Skills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[A Whole New Mind]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=669</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This past Friday I had the honor of being a presenter at the annual KC TechNet conference.  I conducted a morning session over implementing Dan Pink&#8217;s 21st Century skills from A Whole New Mind into the classroom.  The session went extremely well, and I think that the participants left with a great framework for implementing technology.  It always amazes me how well the Six Essential Aptitudes adapt themselves to every phase of education. The keynote speaker at the event was Benjamin Wilkoff, who has an outstanding grasp of technology.  His take on work flow and authentic learning really introduced me to some new ways of approaching technology in education.  You can see his presentation here, and I would highly recommend you read through his blog. My main observation about TechNet was the continued importance of Symphony in education.  When Dan Pink discusses Symphony in his book, he speaks of taking large amounts of disconnected information and forming new and insightful patterns. With the vast amount of information supplied at TechNet, I began to feel overwhelmed.  But when I applied the Six Essential Aptitudes from A Whole New Mind, things began to make sense.  I was able to filter the information [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Teacher, Revised</title>
		<link>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/teacher-revised/</link>
		<comments>http://lessonupgrades.com/general/teacher-revised/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:56:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Curt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Meaning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Daniel Pink]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lessonupgrades.com/?p=301</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a really interesting project that I found while I was looking through some education blogs.  As you think about Dan Pink&#8217;s Meaning aptitude from AWNM, this site gives you a resource for returning to your own personal sense of meaning.  Teachers have a strong sense of meaning in their lives, but you definitely need to revisit and &#8220;revise&#8221; your teaching to avoid burining out. Enjoy! Teacher, Revised.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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