Measuring effective teaching

This is a guest post from Dr. Bob McNergney, Professor of Education, University of Virginia. He is a native of Nebraska and started his education career by teaching high school in Iowa and Nebraska. Dr. McNergney has co-authored three books and his writing has appeared in the Handbook of Research on Teacher Education, Educational Researcher, Journal of Teacher Education, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. He was part of a University of Virginia team that created Virginia's teaching performance assessment used for state certification. I want to thank him for making this post for our class. --Dr. Topp
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Even though I am a co-founder of an education/technology company, this is my first blog participation. Please forgive me if I goof it up!

I am interested in the use of technology to evaluate teaching behavior. See the article from the Journal of Teacher Education attached. Don't worry about the statistics, but focus on discussion of the Teaching Performance Record (TPR). Long story short... go to tpr.casenex.com and explore the instrument using "district" as the name and "demo" for the password.

I submit to you that if you are a teacher, it doesn't matter where you go to school, how smart you are, or even whether you like students. What really matters is what you do when you plan for instruction and as you interact with students. That is what TPR measures!

December 3-10 -- Internet Safety

Please read the short article on requirements of schools concerning Internet Safety.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/news-by-subject/safety-security/index.cfm?i=55557

What should schools do to help students stay safe online?

In the comments section, add 2 bullet points that you think would be best.

Also, read your colleagues' comments and give your reaction if you wish.