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"This is a collection of project-based engineering lessons for kids. Project-based learning allows students to control the direction and pace of their learning. Activities that promote investigation, critical thinking, and hands-on subject matter are also central to project-based learning. These project-based lessons focus on basic principles of physics, structural, and mechanical engineering. Physical models are built from a similar set of materials that can be easily sourced online (links are provided in-lesson). All of the project plans in this collection are designed to be used in an after school enrichment setting, though you may use and modify these ideas for other not-for-profit purposes provided you cite The Workshop for Young Engineers. This is a growing and improving collection of lesson plans. Please comment to share your ideas to improve lessons and photos of your designs."

"These days, new ideas about "best practice" in the classroom are published every day. It is an indication that educators are increasingly taking ownership of their own destiny, and with social media making the sharing of ideas so easy, teachers have constant instant access to new and exciting suggestions from around the world. Though this is exciting, there is an associated danger. The ideas badged as "best practice" are, more often than not, untested in any reliable way. This means that teachers could be implementing practices that do not impact positively. Worse still, they could be having a negative impact on learning. Perhaps rather than "best practice", we need to consider "effective practice". Thankfully, we now have access to a body of research that helps us know what sits in the area of effective practice: the work of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is hugely accessible and allows teachers to see what works, and how much it costs. Similarly, the work of John Hattie, from the University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Education, helps us get to grips with what he terms "visible learning" - aspects of teaching that can be seen to makes a difference. Both the EEF and Hattie cite the development of metacognition in our students as a highly effective approach to securing progress over time. Metacognition is not an instantly easy word to understand - people sometimes glaze over. But in my experience, once it is explained, people "get it", and "want it". It is a powerful concept that can make a significant difference to our students."

"A picture is worth a thousand words, but it might also be worth a thousand dollars if your school gets hit with a copyright violation claim. This happens to schools every year as students or teachers inappropriately use an image that they do not have the rights to. Thankfully this does not have to be the case as there are loads of high quality pictures that can be used in school projects without any licensing concerns. These can include images that are released under creative commons, or are in the public domain, or simply are copyright-free. Of course depending on the license, it may still be necessary to cite where the image came from to provide proper attribution (and it can be a good practice to do even if not required). There are many sites and tools that can help educators and students find free photos, clipart, icons, and more. See below for a list of many of these, and be sure to share your suggestions for other resources to add to this collection."

"This post is a summary of an article submitted to the Learning Partnership for use in their monthly newsletter Spark. To read the full article, please visit: https://bit.ly/2pERWIG  Computational Thinking (CT) and the use of computer programming (often referred to as "coding") to support math instruction has gained momentum in recent years. CT has many definitions but most researchers agree that it "involves the use of computer science concepts such as abstraction, debugging, remixing and iteration to solve problems" (Brennan & Resnick; Ioannidou, Bennett, Repenning, Koh, & Basawapatna; Wing as cited in Lye & Koh, 2013).   There are many "potentials" for using computer programming as a context for the development of CT in the mathematics classroom, four of which I've listed below:"

"For the most part, American children aren't great at math. But Chinese children tend to be excellent. Testing half a million students worldwide, the Program for International Student Assessment is one of the most widely cited measurements of global education, and it's consistently found Chinese students at the top of the academic pile ... and Americans much nearer the bottom. Some experts argue that the PISA assessment, like any standardized tests, primarily measures a student's ability to take the test, not their knowledge, but hardly anyone disputes that the American education has some work to do when it comes to math.  In Lenora Chu's new book "Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve," she begins to unearth the cultural differences that lead to this gap - and it's not just about what happens at school."

"Computer programming, otherwise known as coding, is currently offered in a small fraction of US K-12 schools. There has been a push to change this recently, as evidenced by several White House initiatives, the heavily publicized Hour of Code program, and recent large scale adoptions of hands on STEM programs such as Project Lead the Way. Serious challenges remain. Many schools find themselves ill-equipped to set up coding for schools programs, citing reasons such as insufficient human capital, out-of-date equipment, and high speed internet issues. Setting up effective coding programs at schools can be challenging, and there as many issues to consider including curriculum selection, staffing, professional development, and funding. One fundamental issue dogs nearly every program implementation. Trained engineers with coding backgrounds are needed to provide the level of rigor needed to support high quality computer programming courses. It is hard enough to find skilled engineers to handle private sector demand, and even more challenging to find those with in teaching. In this guide, we provide teachers and administrators with guidance on how to set up effective K-12 computer programming courses, whether they be comprehensive STEM curriculum implementations, daytime classes or after school clubs."

"In addition to doing away with homework, Maier will encourage parents to spend quality time with their kids each evening, reading to them for at least 20 minutes. While there is no solid evidence that homework is beneficial for academic success in younger kids, there is plenty of evidence that reading is. Maier cited the work of Richard Allington as support for her decision. Allington is a professor of education at the University of Tennessee, and has dedicated his career on studying early literacy."