Group items tagged

"When we use literature circles, small groups of student gather for an in-depth discussion of a literary work. To ensure that students have a clear sense of direction and remain focused, each group member is given a specific task. For example, one student may be the designated artist; s/he is responsible for using some form of art to explore a main idea, a theme, or significant scene from the text. Another group member, the wordsmith, might be responsible for documenting important, unusual, or difficult words from the reading. Regardless of each student's role, each group must collaborate as they read, discuss and critically engage with texts."

"Conducting Literature Circle with mobile devices such as the iPad, not only provides immediate access to a diverse selection of books, but also to reference materials, research tools, interactive maps, and a slew of creation and dynamic notebook apps. Within this single device, students can quickly check the meaning of a word, run a quick background check on a historic event, or articulate their understanding of text with a range of multimedia apps. Teachers can now easily differentiate the processes students can use to demonstrate understanding. "

"Which digital device is the better learning tool for students - a Chromebook or an iPad? If you're not aware of the hottest current digital device debate, you're probably not a parent or an educator. Once upon a time, that debate might have been about VHS vs. Beta, or Mac vs. PC. However, in prime time ed tech school district circles, folks are fiercely focused on Chromebooks vs. iPads (both now below $400). The big question? Which is the smarter purchase for their students? On the flip side of the classroom debate, Mom and Dad might not like the fact that portable digital tools are becoming more and more invasive. However, how's a parent to ignore these must-have lightweight mobile monsters, which are antiquating the family desktop and nurturing independence? Not to mention all your kids' friends seem to have one. So which digital device is best?" If you're not aware of the hottest current digital device debate, you're probably not a parent or an educator. Once upon a time, that debate might have been about VHS vs. Beta, or Mac vs. PC. However, in prime time ed tech school district circles, folks are fiercely focused on Chromebooks vs. iPads (both now below $400). The big question? Which is the smarter purchase for their students? On the flip side of the classroom debate, Mom and Dad might not like the fact that portable digital tools are becoming more and more invasive. However, how's a parent to ignore these must-have lightweight mobile monsters, which are antiquating the family desktop and nurturing independence? Not to mention all your kids' friends seem to have one. So which digital device is best?"

Kim COfino's blog post on the Collaboration cycle

 Technology Enhanced Literature Circles

"Google+: The Dark Side of the Circle"

"This is basically a simple guide on how teachers can leverage blogging in their classroom teaching. This graphic is inspired by our popular post : " The Ultimate Guide to The Use of Blogs in Education " My aim behind this work is to provide you with some handy ideas and tips on how to use blogs with your students. For reasons of brevity I have mentioned only four blogging platforms, these four are among the most reputable in the educational circles, but of course there are several other platforms that you can use as well."

"I have a confession to make.  I hate meetings. Maybe that is not entirely true. I hate bad meetings. You know the ones where you spend a lot of time going round and round in circles, yet seem to accomplish little at the end of the day.  One of those main staples of these meetings has been "brainstorming".  This process is one that has been heralded in not only meetings, but also for "Design Thinking" (here is a document on the techniques os brainstorming in design thinking from Stanford University, Institute of Design). So out of sheer curiosity, I googled "brainstorming is bad" to see what I found (not biased at all I know).  Here are a few of the articles that I read with little snippets from each."

I keep circling back to this question of what do we need to know, or to learn. It comes up so often in conversations around education and is closely connected to what we hope to achieve for our students. It is a question whose answer shapes not only what we teach but how we teach and what we assess. It strikes at the heart of how we perceive the role of education in society and the way we answer it reveals much about our personal philosophy of education. 

"Pinterest is a visual bookmarking platform that has gained so much in popularity within the educational circles.Tons of teachers are now using it to organize, curate, and share teaching and learning materials. Pinterest has also made it easy for users to interact with the content they read via adding comments, liking , and joining others Pinboards ."

"Years ago, this phrase was thrown around a lot in tech circles: 'The applications make the platform'. In the case of the iPad I don't know that apps entirely 'make the tablet' - but great iPad apps are definitely a huge factor in making it such a game-changing device. "

"There are holidays like Mother's Day, Earth Day, Thanksgiving Day. Even a Talk-Like-Shakespeare Day. But Friday is Pi Day. Really! It's official. The date March 14 (that is, 3/14) was designated Pi Day by House Resolution 224 of the first session of the 111th Congress of the United States. It begins "Whereas the Greek letter (Pi) is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter," and is followed by 11 more whereases before it resolves to support the designation of "Pi Day" to encourage "schools and educators to observe the day with appropriate activities that teach students about Pi and engage them about the study of mathematics.""

"The debate about homework is growing heated in education circles. With more and more demands being placed on teachers, students, and educational leaders, homework can provide valuable practice time for students. It can also be a time of torture where families lose their precious little time to conflict and stress, as the battle of "I don't want to do my homework" ensues. It's important to impress upon students the value of getting the work done, but sometimes homework demands are unrealistic, bringing up the question "Is homework productive?""

"Dialogue circles, arts programming, and team-building activities create a positive school culture and support academic growth at Glenview Elementary School."