Group items tagged

"As seventh grade students at Mt. Ararat Middle School finish reading a memoir by a former Afghan refugee, they had an opportunity to delve deeper into the narrative Friday by communicating electronically with one of the key characters via Skype. Using Skype, an online videoconferencing tool, the students conversed with Alyce Litz, who plays a prominent role in the book "The Other Side Of The Sky: A Memoir" by Farah Ahmedi. The book was previously published in 2005 as "The Story Of My Life, An Afghan Girl On The Other Side Of The Sky."

"As educators, we give feedback to students on their work all the time: in the moment, daily, weekly, and at the end of a unit or year. And research about formative assessment tells us that feedback is a foundational practice that makes a difference in student learning. But how can we make sure our guidance truly encourages our students' learning and growth at each interval? The literature includes some practical ideas to help us get there. It tells us that there is a continuum of feedback, which starts at one end with a focus on what's right or wrong. At the other end of the continuum, the type and amount of information provided turns the feedback into instruction. Let's take a look at three different feedback models derived from the literature and the insights we can take away from each one."

"Education has to focus on learning how to learn - metacognition. School will still be important, but not to impart what happened during the Revolutionary War or to teach the quadratic formula. School, he said, should focus on teaching young people the intangibles, the things that make humans unique: relationships, flexibility, humanity, how to make discriminating decisions, resilience, innovation, adaptability, wisdom, ethics, curiosity, how to ask good questions, synthesizing and integrating information, and of course, creating. "

"A performance task is any learning activity or assessment that asks students to perform to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and proficiency. Performance tasks yield a tangible product and/or performance that serve as evidence of learning. Unlike a selected-response item (e.g., multiple-choice or matching) that asks students to select from given alternatives, a performance task presents a situation that calls for learners to apply their learning in context. Performance tasks are routinely used in certain disciplines, such as visual and performing arts, physical education, and career-technology where performance is the natural focus of instruction. However, such tasks can (and should) be used in every subject area and at all grade levels."

"The end of the school year presents us with an opportunity for reflection at Envision Schools. We take a final measure of students' progress throughout the school year, celebrate the many Envision graduates that will be heading off to college in the fall, and consider how we can incorporate those lessons into improving our own work to best enable, encourage, and ensure student learning."

"Kids between the ages of 8 and 18 spend 11.5 hours a day using technology - whether that's computers, television, mobile phones, or video games - and usually more than one at a time. That's a big chunk of their 15 or 16 waking hours. But does that spell doom for the next generation? Not necessarily, according to Dr. Gary Small, a neuroscientist and professor at UCLA, who spoke at the Learning & the Brain Conference last week."

Children in the Mehlville district may have the chance in two years to attend an elementary school with an alternative curriculum - one that uses real-world problems to help students learn and without the restraints grade levels sometimes place on learning. It would be a school that parents would choose, and there would be no admission requirements. If more children apply than there are seats available, the district would hold a lottery. That kind of competition for classroom seats has largely been limited regionally to the city of St. Louis. There, district magnet and choice schools, along with independent charter schools, offer language immersion education and schooling that focuses on science, engineering, technology and math. Mehlville Superintendent Chris Gaines received preliminary approval from the district's School Board last week to move ahead with a "Choice School of Innovation" that would be the only of its kind in St. Louis County.

"Alan November's "Digital Learning Farm" was the inspiration for my classroom jobs. The idea couldn't be more simple: people are empowered through meaningful work. Children used to be, in the times of farming, useful and necessary contributors to their families' farms and other livelihoods. Once children's work became going to school full-time, that feeling of usefulness and importance faded. Most teachers understand the importance of giving kids jobs to do, and many traditional classrooms do designate roles such as "line leader" and "pencil sharpener"to fulfill these needs. Digital tools offer the possibility of exciting upgrades to these jobs, allowing students to learn through doing while making authentic contributions to their communities."

"3.Feelings of belonging help retention: Most students perform better and are more satisfied in their online learning experience if the institution cultivates positive working and social relations among learners, says the report. To build a stronger sense of belonging or relatedness to students part of online learning, the researchers recommend Thornberg's four metaphors enabling engagement in online spaces: 1) Caves, where distance learners can find time to reflect and come in to contact with themselves; 2) Campfires, or formal environments where students have the opportunity to listen to stories from which they construct knowledge from those with expertise and wisdom; 3) Watering Holes, or informal environments where students gather at a central source to discuss information and create meaning with their peers; and 4) Mountain Tops, where students celebrate their findings and present their ideas to an audience.

The New Year is a wonderful time to start trying some new things. "You've spent a good amount of time with your students and feel more comfortable exploring new strategies and practices that are more tailored to their learning needs. I want to share some great ideas that you can use to change things up for the second part of the year -- and that can also help beat the winter blues."

"Many students face the same strange situation when learning to read. There are plenty of hours allotted for reading instruction-far more than for writing, science, art, or even math-yet a child can go through an entire day without holding an actual book in her hands."

"One small change in the classroom can make a big difference. And the same is true when it comes to professional development. In the past year, the switch to visual note taking has impacted my thinking. Visual note taking, also known as sketch noting, is taking down notes and information using both words and pictures. When listening to a speaker or reading text, we naturally form mental images. In sketch noting, the note taker captures those images and creates sketches and doodles on paper or a digital device, such as a tablet."

Because of these experiences, I have a firm belief that my students also grow and achieve more when they learn to overcome obstacles and persevere. One way to encourage that can-do attitude is to invite others to recognize my students for their effort and success. Recognition from outside the classroom sparks something in students that leads to bigger and better things. I want to share a story about how that happened for me and my students this year.

"Augmented reality experiences are generally triggered by geographic location or image recognition. In the latter case, apps can be programmed to recognize specific images and then take a series of actions when those image are encountered. For example, when looking at a car engine an augmented reality app may identify where and how to top up fluid levels. Of course that trigger image can also be a printed image in a book or on a wall. Imagine walking around an art museum and pointing your device at a painting on the wall. A video pops up immediately displaying an interview with the artist and explaining the nuances of the painting. Tap on the screen and it shows you other works by the same artist. Another tap and you can order a print. The art becomes a digital doorway to an augmented experience that enables you to explore and learn more. Now consider a similar scenario with a printed image in a book."

"There are tons of quick and easy ways to integrate technology into your instruction -- with powerful results. I've been a fan of Quick Response (QR) codes in education for years and even wrote a book all about how they can be used to promote deeper learning in your classroom. When speaking to teachers about these black-and-white squares, it's so much fun to see the "aha" moments as we explore different ways to use scannable technology in the classroom."

"The students work, huddled in pairs, jotting down ideas in notebooks. The classroom buzzes with collaboration, punctuated by giggles and laughter. Students are excited to be writing as we start our annual celebration of Script Frenzy! "

"Teachers who are interested in shifting their classrooms often don't know where to start. It can be overwhelming, frightening, and even discouraging, especially when no one else around you seems to think the system is broken. The question I've been asked often throughout the past year is "Where should a teacher begin?" I've reflected on this a fair amount, and I think small strategic steps are the key."

Video about next generation of textbooks

As a teacher, it's strange to think of New Year's resolutions in January because we tend to think more about setting goals in time for the new school year, instead. However, in the spirit of the start of the calendar year, I'll ignore the master calendar and talk about my resolutions as if they weren't already in place, or already drifting from my crosshairs.

Having devices in your classroom for students to use, whether you have carts of computers, iPads, or Chromebooks; a 1:1 program; or a BYOD initiative, can be exciting and overwhelming at the same time. Using these devices to provide content support and differentiation for each student is not hard to do. You have long been supplying material for your students at all levels to both remediate and expand their knowledge base. But what about designing formative and summative assessments that use technology and target higher-order thinking skills? Teachers should ask themselves this question, as well as how to develop tasks that transform what goes on in the classroom.