Best Practice Exchange Facilitation for Continuous Care Retirement Communities

In previous posts, I have described Continuous Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs).  Recently I began exploring two CCRCs which are owned by the same non-profit organization.  My parents began living in one of them in 1992 and the second one is located nearer my home.

I had a tour of the Assisted Living facilities of the second CCRC--my Mom lives in the Assisted Living facilities of the first CCRC.  Both CCRCs have some best practices that are worth sharing as well as some areas for improvement.

As an organizational change consultant for more than 30 years, I would like to offer my services to these CCRCs as a facilitator for Best Practice Exchange.  Because my mother lives in one of the facilities, I would be happy to provide these services in exchange for credit for Mom's expenses at the facility.

I have not yet made a proposal to the CCRCs or their parent organization and I can see the value such a program could have on the two CCRCs I am familiar with and the potential value the program could have for the other CCRCs owned by the same parent organization.

Perhaps I can get someone to view my digital portfolio and to check-out my profile and services so that they can see that I am serious about these ideas.

Linking Science to Creative Writing--Multidisciplinary Practice and Exercise for the Creative Imagination

A recent visit to Adler Planetarium's Cyberspace website and a second viewing of Avatar led to the creation of a new project at DrM-Resources.  The Adler-Creative-Writing-Project was developed to give middle school and high school students (and any adults who want to participate) an opportunity to try their hands individually or collectively at working with science "facts" (from the Adler Cyberspace website) and with ideas from science fiction and fantasy to create a science fiction or fantasy short story.

Too often students asked me why I was speaking about science in a social studies class.  Because middle schools and high schools are often set-up with courses that appear to be in isolation, science, math, and English (language arts) are not seen to be related.

Research indicates that more learning takes place when schools work with multidisciplinary thematic units (see the paper on multidisciplinary thematic units).  Award-winning authors in science fiction and fantasy create multidisciplinary novels that have elements from many different areas.

Let's see what can happen with a project like this.

iPods and MP3 players for Education

This post came as part of a LinkedIn dialog in the "Faculty Room" group. Go to the link to view the group and all of the dialogs.

"iPods as Reading Tools" by Linda Bomar, L. (2006, May-June). iPods as reading tools. Principal, NAESP.org, pp. 52-53

Don't Turn 'Em Off, Tune 'Em In! (2007, September). NEA Today, 26(1), 17. Retrieved July 28, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1360186081).

I work with technology with both adults and school children. A literacy coach worked with the school district I was in last year and actually got the students to use text messages to improve their writing skills--and to get them totally hooked into his class.

Students love to explore the technology and, at various ages, many love to find porn or anything off-task--true in school and at work. Let's look at a "begin with the end in mind" perspective. If students don't learn to use technology appropriately in school, what do you think they'll do on the job after they finish school?

In the schools I worked in most recently, we did not have enough computers for all students. I had a variety of tasks for students to do on computers (see http://drm-ms-resources.wikispaces.com/). The school had firewalls and monitoring programs so that, for the most part, students had access to what they needed to work on.

While iPods and MP3 players were not used in school, I had students who read at a 3rd grade level able to quote the lyrics of some favorite songs. At the end of the year I was working with eAudiobooks--downloadable books that they could have on their iPods or MP3 players next to their music. The next task is to get them to listen to the books.

Technology is a part of our lives--whether or not we actually own the technology. MP3 players are becoming more and more widespread at lower and lower cost. When we can use the technology as a learning tool, it becomes much more powerful--and even becomes perceived by students as more relevant to their lives.

We do need to educate students and parents about how to be "safe" using technology. (See my "Learning Passport" wiki site--a link on the site I referred to earlier.)

Some observers report that our students have dwindling attendion spans. Our key as educators is to create engaging activities that students want to focus their attention on--and then make the engagement something they value and want to continue. Technology can help--if educators take the time to find out how to use it as a support tool rather than a distraction.