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"As a curriculum supervisor and a demonstration teacher at the A. Harry Moore School of New Jersey City University - an innovative urban special education school - we are always looking for new and interesting technology applications that will pique the interest of our student population while connecting to academic and social goals. We recently found a learning opportunity that benefits our student population in many ways and in an unexpected way: through the Pokemon Go App. This piece will share our story and discuss how we used Pokemon Go Pokestops on the New Jersey City University Campus and in various Jersey City neighborhoods to supported social engagement, community awareness, travel, and 21st century instruction."

"n this episode we're talking to Laura Fleming. Laura has been an educator in the state of New Jersey for 20 years.  She has been both a classroom teacher and media specialist in grades K-8 and currently as a Library Media Specialist for grades 9-12.  Laura is a strong advocate of using New Media and Vanguard Techniques for Interactive and Transmedia (multi-platform) Storytelling. She is also the author of the best-selling Worlds of Learning:  Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School (Corwin, 2015). "

"Game jams have been growing in popularity. In a game jam, teams are challenged to design a game in a short period of time. In essence, game jams are a game about making a game. Students apply systems thinking, user empathy, collaboration, storyboarding, and iterative design, while also learning how to tackle broad, open-ended problems. Matthew Farber, author of Gamify Your Classroom: A Field Guide to Game-Based Learning, will discuss his use of game jams in his middle school social studies classes, as well as digital game jams in the after school club he advises. He will share resources from the Moveable Game Jams he attended in the New York area this year, including Quest to Learn, in New York City, as well as the A. Harry Moore School Game Jam Day, in Jersey City, NY, which he facilitated."

"n florida, a coalition of parents known as "the recess moms" has been fighting to pass legislation guaranteeing the state's elementary-school students at least 20 minutes of daily free play. Similar legislation recently passed in New Jersey, only to be vetoed by the governor, who deemed it "stupid." When, you might ask, did recess become such a radical proposal? In a survey of school-district administrators, roughly a third said their districts had reduced outdoor play in the early 2000s. Likely culprits include concerns about bullying and the No Child Left Behind Act, whose time-consuming requirements resulted in cuts to play. [1] Disadvantaged kids have been the most likely to be shortchanged: According to a 2003 study, just 56 percent of children living at or below the poverty line had recess, compared with 83 percent of those above the poverty line; a similar disparity was noted between black children and their white peers. [2] FROM OUR DECEMBER 2016 ISSUE Try 2 FREE issues of The Atlantic SUBSCRIBE The benefits of recess might seem obvious-time to run around helps kids stay fit. But a large body of research suggests that it also boosts cognition. Many studies have found that regular exercise improves mental function and academic performance. [3] And an analysis of studies that focused specifically on recess found positive associations between physical activity and the ability to concentrate in class. [4]"

" What are MakerSpaces? Makers build, fix, and create. They are students, teachers, tinkerers, cooks, technology buffs, architects, crafters, performers, hobbyists, builders, artists, engineers, scientists, and writers. They use the MakerSpace to solve real life problems with access to tools and materials. A MakerSpace is not confined to a school setting but can also be a community space like a public library where community members off all ages, means, and abilities can design, prototype, and create original works. On March 18th and 19th, we celebrated New Jersey Makers Day, and I had the opportunity to visit a number of different Maker events in various communities. These are some themes and big ideas that I noticed in my travels. Perhaps these big ideas will inspire you to create your own MakerSpace makeover in your own classroom, school, or local community."

"Eleven-year-olds running a classroom? That could sound outlandish to some elementary school teachers, but not to Joe Jamison, or "Mr. J" as he is affectionately called by his fifth-grade students at Lawrence Intermediate School in central New Jersey. "I learn from my kids," says Mr. J, as he dips his hand into a Philadelphia Eagles football helmet - otherwise known as the "helmet of fate" - and pulls out the name of the next group of students to give a presentation on Mercy Otis Warren, an American playwright and poet, not to mention one of the few female propagandists of the American Revolution, which Mr. J's class is studying."

"What is the best strategy for starting a makerspace in your school? How long should you take to plan your makerspace before you get started? Is flying by the seat of your pants a good idea or a bad one? What are the key features of an 8 foot tall DIY teeter totter? Stay tuned for the answers in today's podcast.  Our guest today is Laura Fleming.  Laura is a librarian and media specialist at New Milford High School in Jew Jersey.  A little over a year ago, she started a makerspace in her library, and the results have been unbelievable.  I'm not a big fan of spoilers, so let's get straight to the interview."

"Every child deserves the opportunity to shine, whether academically, through the arts, in sports or via community service. School districts throughout our country work to fulfill their mission to provide these opportunities, first by offering the most robust curriculum possible. Financial strains, however, can often limit extracurricular activities. Yet we can all remember from our own experience that schools, at their best, provide an array of performing and visual arts programming and a wide variety of sports and community service clubs. Numerous studies support engaging students in such a broad range of activities. In fact, as noted by John H. Holloway, a consultant for the teaching and learning division of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey, limiting outside activities can have a negative effect for students:"

"For an entire school year Hillsborough, New Jersey, educators undertook an experiment, asking: Is the iPad really the best device for interactive learning? It's a question that has been on many minds since 2010, when Apple released the iPad and schools began experimenting with it. The devices came along at a time when many school reformers were advocating to replace textbooks with online curricula and add creative apps to lessons. Some teachers welcomed the shift, which allowed their students to replace old poster-board presentations with narrated screencasts and review teacher-produced video lessons at any time."

"he video does not seem remarkable on first viewing. A title informs us that we are watching Ashley Hinton, a teacher at Vailsburg Elementary, a school in Newark, New Jersey. Hinton, a blonde woman in a colourful silk scarf, stands before a class of eight- and nine-year-old boys and girls, almost all of whom are African-American. "What might a character be feeling in a story?" she asks. She repeats the question, before engaging her pupils in a high-tempo conversation about what it is like to read a book and why authors write them, as she moves smartly around her classroom. On an October morning last year, I watched Doug Lemov play this video to a room full of teachers in the hall of an inner-London school. Many had brought their copy of Lemov's book, Teach Like a Champion, which in the last five years has passed through the hands of thousands of teachers and infiltrated hundreds of staffrooms. To my eyes, the video of Hinton's lesson was a glimpse into the classroom of an energetic and likable teacher, and pleasing enough. After leading a brief discussion, Lemov played it again, and then a third time."

"Elementary school has always looked a little bit like training for a traditional office job: You show up at 8 or 9, sit at your desk, and fill out paperwork for most of the day. An average third grader might spend as much as six hours sitting in the classroom--only a little less time than the average office worker spends sitting at work. But as more offices realize that sitting all day long is actually pretty terrible for health and productivity, how long will it take schools to catch up? While some elementary schools no longer have recess, and people like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie argue that school days should be even longer, a few schools are already moving in a different direction. Some are testing out standing desks, and realizing that a little bit of activity can actually improve attention spans. Others, like Ward Elementary in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, are starting to fill classrooms with exercise bikes, so students can work out while they learn."

"New Jersey is set to become the first state in the nation to mandate teaching media literacy to students of all ages as a bill with the requirement heads to Gov. Phil Murphy's desk for a signature. "

"The Concussion Infographic is an interactive presentation that includes a description of concussions, appropriate treatment scenarios, different levels of concussion severity, high school injuries, prevention, and other safety measures."