I’m always dreaming of the ultimate time management system. I used to joke about the 36 hour graduate student day.  Just right for getting it all done.  These days I rarely have time to joke!   That’s one of the appeals of this great blog article Joan Vandervelde recently sent me.

Looking for rock solid advice on how to handle the work flow of teaching online? Need a little help with your course designs? Trying to get a handle on online assessment?

This terrific blog entry is a real gem. Check it out!

• Christopher D. Sessums :: Blog :: Notes on Workload Management Strategies for Online Educators

  Excellent overview of online instruction / design ideas. Concise, well illustrated… a must read!

  (tags: e-learning assessment design)

• How to organize your cluttered desktop and regain your sanity

  (tags: time management)   I keep meaning to try this fellows desktop folder system, my desktop looks like my office a battle zone!

http://www.ulm.edu/universityrelations/news/nov07/moodle.html

http://tarrysingh.blogspot.com/2007/11/open-source-e-learning-louisiana-state.html

For more financial details: http://mfeldstein.com/louisiana-state-university-moves-to-moodle/ 
What keeps budget conscious college administrators paying through the nose for Blackboard, D2L, or E-College? My theory is they are risk adverse. They stay safe and allow inertia to rule. By sticking with the big outfits that overcharge for online services they can ‘play it safe’. Who ever lost their job by hiring Blackboard to provide an online learning environment?

But what if it becomes clear that you could save a million dollars+ over a decade by going with Moodle? Hmm… perhaps some of the savings could be invested in training professors to teach online so that students could get a ‘quality’ online education?

Could someone in admin get canned for NOT being technically adept enough to make the Moodle move?

Sure everyone knows that open source software is like a free puppy. You have to pay for maintenance. But the wisdom ULM displays is going with Moodlerooms, which supplies everything: tech support, servers, software upgrades for about $1 a student. With the big boys charging outrageous seat costs, and Moodlerooms providing world class infrastructure and Moodle… what’s keeping other struggling small schools from making the change?

It used to take vision and guts to switch to open source.

Now it just takes fiscal responsibility and common sense!

ps. I know the folks at Moodlerooms and believe in what they are doing… that’s why I’m writing! ~ Dennis O’Connor

I recently presented at CTE’s Time to Teach National Conference in Charleston South Carolina. I was part of an energized group of over 100 administrators, master teachers, and curriculum specialists who spent four days learning research based practical strategies that will help any teacher create a orderly classroom environment based on mutual respect.  I appreciated the ‘use it on Monday morning’ practical aspect of this conference & training.  I know this will make classrooms better places to learn and boost student performance.

I’ve taught thousands of teachers over the years.  I love technology infused curriculum and have brought that knowledge and passion to my teaching.  The single greatest complaint I’ve heard from teachers around the world is: “I don’t have time to teach this! The curriculum is overwhelming me as it is.”  When I realized that working with the Time to Teach behavior management strategies would really save teachers 6-9 hours a week I lit up.  Finally a way to bring high interest curriculum into a teachers day, by eliminating the stressful interruptions of pesky low level misbehavior.

I’m so excited by this possibility, that I’ve decided to develop several conference presentations and an all day workshop to teach these ideas.  After 6 years of teaching primarily online… I’ve decided to go back to the face to face classroom.  I’ve got to reach out beyond the net to the classroom teachers who need this. (It took me 30 years to put all this information together.. now I think I can teach the basics in a day.

Save Class Time (http://saveclasstime.com)

Save Class Time Blog (http://saveclasstime.com/serendipity)

I’m developing a new website and blog to support my research and teaching about classroom management.  By blogging first and formalizing later, I hope to catch the immediate excitement I’m feeling about this new venture. I’ll be cross posting between this blog and SaveClassTime for awhile as I build content on the new site.

Research Bibliography

This is a bibliography of research about classroom management.  I’m compiling resources to support and explain the fundamental principles underlying the Time to Teach classroom behavior strategies taught by Rick Dahlgren, founder of the Center for Teacher Effectiveness. 

• Discipline Options

Allen, T. H. (1996). Developing a Discipline Plan for You. Retrieved from http://www.humboldt.edu/~tha1/discip-options.html (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07)  (tags: savetime time_to_teach)

• Winning Ways: Teachers Talk about Building Rapport with Students

Bosworth, K. (1996). Winning Ways: Teachers Talk about Building Rapport with Students – Three Perspectives. Teacher Talk. The Center of Adolescent Studies, IndianaUniversity. (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07)  (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• CAFS-About US

Bosworth, K., McCracken, K., Haakenson, P., (1996). What is your classroom management profile? The Center for Adolescent Studies, Indiana University. (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07) tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• Part II – Summary of Steps to Conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment

Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP). (1998). Summary Of Steps To Conduct A Functional Behavioral Assessment. (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07)  (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• An IEP Team’s Introduction To Functional Behavioral Assessment And Behavior Intervention Plans (2nd edition)

Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP). (1998). An IEP Team’s Introduction To Functional Behavioral Assessment And Behavior Intervention Plans (2nd edition) (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07)  (tags: savetime time_to_teach)

• School Size, School Climate, and Student Performance

Cotton, K. (1996). School Size, School Climate, AND Student Performance. School Improvement Research Series. I Close-UP #20 (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07) (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• Education World ® School Issues: Wire Side Chats: Firing Up Teacher-Student Communication

Delisio, E.R. (2006). Teacher-Student Communication. Education World. School Issues: Wire Side Chats: Firing Up Teachers. e-interview with Kathleen Cushman. Retrieved (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07) (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• Education World ® School Issues: Wire Side Chats: Reforming Teacher Education Programs

Delisio, E.R. (2005). Reforming Teacher Education Programs. Education World. School Issues: Wire Side Chats: Reforming Teacher Education Programs. e-interview with Dr. Howard Seeman (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07) (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• CHARACTER COUNTS! National Office – Character Education Resources

Josephson Institute of Ethics. (2006) Character Counts! (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07) (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• ECT Interview: Thomas Lickona, Ph.D. Talks About Character Education | Scholastic.com

Lickona, T. (2006) ECT Interview: Thomas Lickona, PhD Talks ABOUT Character Education. Early Childhood Today. (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07) (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• Ravaging Resistance:
  A Model for Building Rapport in a Collaborative Learning Classroom

Murphy, M., &
Valdez, C. (2005). Ravaging Resistance: A Model for Building Rapport in Collaborative Learning Classroom [Electronic version]. Radical Pedagogy, 7.1, 1. (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07)  (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• What is a Functional Assessment?

Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (Pacer). (1994). What is Functional Assessment? PACER Center, Inc. (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07)  (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• Public Agenda Research Reports: Teaching Interrupted

Public Agenda. (2004). teaching Interrupted: Do Discipline Policies in Today’s Public Schools Foster the Common Good? Prepared by public Agenda with Support from Common Good. (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07) (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• SIX WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR NONVERBAL COMMUNICATIONS

Ritts, V., & Stein, J.R. (2005). Six Ways to Improve your Nonverbal Communications. (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07) (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• School Planning & Management – Color in Education

Thompson, S. (2006, February 15). Color in Education. School Planning & Management. Peter Li Education Group.  (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07)  (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)

• The Chronicle: 8/8/2003: Sssshhh. We’re Taking Notes Here

Young. J.R. (2003). Sssshhh. We’re taking Notes Here: Colleges look for new ways to discourage disruptive behavior in the classroom. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Section: Students, 49(48), A29. (Retrieved from the Internet 1/25/07) (tags: saveclasstime time_to_teach)