Why Unzombify?

To learn means to open one’s mind to the possibilities that lie before them. The mind should not be closed off to any thoughts that pop into it. We should work to accept all ideas for what they are, ideas that need to be explored, accepted or rejected after careful consideration or built upon so that better ideas are developed. Unzombify is exactly that. Open your mind to the possibilities that lie before you.  Boldly follow your thoughts to reach new horizons Explore the possibilities of life.

Through unzombify.com explore it with like minded people. The world is yours to explore.

Education rests in your hands.

Please take our survey to help us grow Unzombify to meet your needs. We want to make SOLE the best it can be.

Parent Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/s_p

Teacher Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/sole_t

Student Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/s_s

Unzombify

Unzombify is a new website that will give access to students anywhere in the world to work together on SOLE projects or project assignments. We are also working to develop curriculum related assignments for Homeschool children or anyone else who wants to participate.

We are excited to provide a place for your insights to help us develop the website so that it becomes tailored to your specific needs. Take our survey on the website or contact us through the website.

www.unzombify.com

Education is yours to develop.

Welcome to unzombify.com, the latest in SOLE.

Welcome to unzombify.com. As a recently retired teacher with over 30 years teaching experience I fell in love with SOLE when reading about it. What amazed me the most was the enjoyment, learning, and camaraderie that developed because the students were working together on assignments. As an academically weaker student said, "I love SOLE because now I feel like an equal with the smarter kids." SOLE is the great equalizer

I have used SOLE to teach most subjects, using the big questions posed in the curriculum to delve deeper into topics. I mixed this with true SOLE, as found in Sugata Mitra’s Handbook, where students researched their own topics of interest.

Now that I have retired from public education I wish to continue to build upon SOLE experiences by giving students anywhere in the world an opportunity to work together to research topics of their interest. Please join me to help build my SOLE organization

Please visit the website and then take one of our surveys to help us make the SOLE experience a rich one for everyone.

Parent Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/s_p

Teacher Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/sole_t

Student Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/s_s

Coming soon, Unzombify: the new SOLE experience.

When Reading and Research Share....

I love it when the way I teach is supported by research. Below is a summary of the research done by Ivey and Johnson:

Engagement with Young Adult Literature: Outcomes and Processes

Gay Ivey and Peter Johnston

Reading Research Quarterly, 48, 355-375 (2013)

They are talking specifically about books to have the engagement in reading where I used technology to get the same results.   

• Engaged reading. Students reported (and the researchers and teachers noted) deep engagement with books and book characters not only during class, but also outside of class—students said they were getting in trouble for reading during other classes and after bedtime. Others even reported reading instead of watching television and playing video games.
• Talk through and about books. Students said they talked more about books, both in spontaneous conversations with their classmates, and with friends and family outside of school.
• Relationships. Students described changes in their personal relationships that they attributed to their engagement with reading. They often used the books they read as a way to make new friends, deepen existing friendships, and grow stronger and more complex relationships with teachers and parents.
• Identities/selves. Many students saw themselves in a new light as a result of engaging deeply with reading. For example, one student identified herself as a bookworm; another student commented that his reading had improved to the point that he no longer considered himself a “slow” reader.  Other students’ comments reflected a similar shift from a fixed performance mindset to a dynamic view of learning.

Agency. Many students in the study reported an increase in agency—the sense that they have the power to make positive changes in their social relationships, academic and personal lives, and in their communities.

December 18 2015

I have been able to prove this in my Grade 5 classroom over the last two years. I have documentation of improved reading levels. Behaviour problems were minimized. Intellectual discussions and explanations from the students increased. Student confidence increased dramatically. My shyest and weakest students were able to participate as equals with their peers. I look forward to another successful year this year using SOLE as the only way to have the students learn.

A New Primary Education

Convert the curriculum into questions

Preferably, questions to which no one has an answer

Change assessment from factual recall to creative expression of ideas

Look for methods of problem solving rather that the application of memorized procedures

Use SOLEs as a major pedagogic method where children find their own answers