Group items tagged

"Today while I was looking for a citation from " Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners " , it dawned on me to compile a list of the popular iPad apps that promote visual thinking. Making Thinking Visible is by all means a must read for those of you interested in knowing how thinking can be made visible at any grade level and across all subject areas through the use of effective questioning, listening, documentation, and facilitative structures called thinking routines. Another book I have in my shelf and which is more or less similar to the one cited above is " Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work " in which Dan walks his readers through the different practices of making thinking vivid with less words."

"As I continue my semester both as EAP teacher and MA student, I'm confronted with issues related to where learning occurs and how it is most facilitated. As a reflective practitioner, I notice the former evidenced differently among my students and have been trying to connect this to my own graduate experiences to come to some theories about the latter. Though my conclusions are not absolute, I keep questioning whether concrete learning outcomes provide the teacher/student with anything beyond disappointment and whether the teacher really teaches anything. "

"Today, I finally got an iPad. An iPad mini, to be exact. And now the search for good French apps begins. The choice is vast and while there are many free apps to choose from, it appears that often the better apps cost money. The problem is, one cannot explore an app until it is bought! I therefore created this blog to facilitate the search for appropriate FSL apps. I will be reviewing apps on a regular basis, and rating them so that you can better judge whether to buy them or not. I will only review apps that require a purchase. The free ones you can test out yourself (see some of them below, #1)!"

""If you're doing all that, who's doing your job?" "People only present because they think it looks good on their resume." "She's obviously all about herself, I mean, look at what she does." IMG_5438These three statements literally were shared with me this year, along with a couple others. Some to me, some with me…all about me. It's hard to hear statements like this and NOT feel as if they are attacking you personally, even though I doubt that was the intention. (er…I hope.) Last Monday at #ISTE13 I was able to go to George Couros's sesson on "Leading Innovative Change". I'm not sure what I thought this was going to be about, but I knew I wanted to see the Couros show, :) His intent was to share how his school division created a powerful vision for innovation and share the steps to guarantee success. What I heard was a defense for all that I believe in and have tried to convey as a teacher, as a technology facilitator, and as an assistant principal. What I heard was the reason I blog, tweet, and share."

"When teaching with digital natives in a digital world, one question facing many educators revolves around integrating technology to help facilitate learning: How do you work technology into the pedagogy, instead of just using something cool? That task can be especially daunting in language arts literacy classrooms where reading and writing skill development is the crux of daily lessons. However, as 1:1 technology initiatives roll out, integrating technology into the classroom is our reality. With hundreds of sites, apps, Chrome extensions, and platforms available, choosing the right ones can seem overwhelming. As an eighth-grade language arts teacher, I've experienced this myself. Following are four tools that can help provide immediate formative assessment data as well as top-of-the-rotation feedback to help students develop personal learning goals."

"Leaders in high-performing, high-poverty (HP/HP) schools know that success requires more than just high-quality teaching and learning. The entire school, as a system, should work together to develop a common instructional framework that provides a vision of what success looks like. When a ship loses its compass, getting to port becomes a game of chance. It's no different for a school. When a school, particularly one characterized by high poverty and low performance, lacks an instructional plan or framework, progress will be anything but systematic, and more than likely patterns of low performance will continue. Through the collaborative efforts of the leaders and staff, HP/HP schools focus on three kinds of learning: student, professional, and system. These learning agendas influence each other, and leaders in HP/HP schools make the most of this connection to facilitate sustainable improvements in teaching and learning. Professional learning is the adult learning that takes place within a school, while system learning conveys how the school as a whole learns to be more effective. In other words, as people within the school learn, the system learns."

"Two years ago I attended an edtech conference focused on the then up-and-coming trend of makerspaces. The opening keynote speaker ended his presentation with a charge for all in attendance: "I hope that makerspaces don't become an edtech fad that goes away as quickly as it has risen to popularity; I hope you all can figure out how to do it right." So what is the "right way" when it comes to using makerspaces? And now that they have been established in schools all across the globe, how can we measure the impact that makerspaces have on student learning and achievement? Most facilitators would agree that standardized test scores may never accurately reflect the impact that makerspaces have on student achievement. Rather, it is a combination of the design thinking processes, service learning experiences, and 21st century skills being developed in makerspaces that are positively impacting student learning."

"his is an infographic that features a set of 12 iPad apps ideal for librarians. The purpose is to provide librarians with applications to facilitate their work and enhance their productivity. The selected apps cover different areas from citation and bibliography to note taking and referencing."

"Play is abundant in the lives of those considered to be creative. It facilitates social bonding, boosts productivity and enhances your mood. As positive psychologist Christopher E. Peterson put it, play is "…a robust predictor of how satisfied we are with our lives." "We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once." - Friedrich Nietzsche  I have two left feet, so I'm glad Nietzsche wrote metaphorically. With this quote, I think he was saying something true and profound about the importance of play-that it's an essential part of living a good and balanced life. What I hope to convey are some philosophical, scientific, and personal reasons for why we should all get serious about messing around. I hope that by reading this, you'll feel compelled to actually pencil in some time for more frivolity."

"I've been traveling the country speaking on the power of a student's voice in his or her own educational experience along with the need for transforming learning spaces in today's schools. Both topics are very important to me not only for my own passion as an educator, but as a parent of two children. I've personally seen the impact a learning space can have on a child's experience within the classroom. Additionally, I've been fortunate to have my children surrounded by caring educators who value the importance listening to students. This week I have the pleasure of speaking at Blackboard World in D.C. When I arrived at Blackboard World, I knew the first stop I had to make, the student maker space. Blackboard invited students from all ages to participate in a day of creating their ideal learning environments. The company partnered with the Smithsonian to provide resources and guides to help facilitate the activities. Children would rotate between 5 stations throughout the day - each station lasting roughly thirty minutes."

"Group Games is the perfect app for Outdoor Education Leaders, PE Teachers, Sport Coaches, Drama Teachers or anyone looking for an easy reference guide to over 50+ games designed to actively engage a group of participants."

"Loopy! is an exploration tool that facilitates an introduction to basic math concepts. Children are asked to solve three levels of age-appropriate numerical, addition and subtraction problems using pebbles and loops. Before going on to the next challenge, children are provided with positive and encouraging feedback on their answers to help them improve."

"The changes made to iOS and the growth of the App Store have facilitated the iPad's metamorphosis to a legitimate creative force, and, potentially, your next work device."

this is an excellent powerpoint, circa 2012, which highlights the changes afoot in learning and teaching facilitated by facility with digital tools. The table of 8 essential elements in the periodic table of digital literacies organizes the discussuion. All 8 elements begin with the letter C and include critical, communication, creative, confident, creative, civic, constructive and culture. I think I would add connective...but I digress.

"Last week on The Inclusive Class Podcast, guest Kathleen McClaskey, shared a number of Apps that can "level the playing field". In other words, these Apps can be used to help students with special needs and/or learning difficulties participate in classroom reading, writing and math activities. "

"Educators facilitate others' learning experiences, but their own learning experiences are far from over. Through podcasts, educators can learn even more about their field and the forces impacting it - especially education technology. Apple's iTunes store has an entire page devoted to edtech podcasts. Sorting out the best listens can be a daunting task, so to make things easier, we've compiled a list of our favorites you should check out today."

"Welcome to the Global Alphabet Screencast! The purpose of this experiment is to explore the capabilities of global collaboration facilitated through the use of iPads as a screen casting device. Anyone is welcome to contribute to the global alphabet screencast by simply selecting one letter of the alphabet and creating a short (30 second or less) screencast that captures the meaning, essence or unique perspective on that particular letter. This project would not be possible without the creation and thoughtful development of Explain Everything"

"The Maker Movement is one of creativity and invention. Of Do-It-Yourself ingenuity. Of making things with your own hands. Building something from scratch can shift a lesson from a lecture into an experience. Students can play, diverge, tinker, make mistakes, help each other, and express themselves with the appropriate guidance of a teacher/facilitator. The end result can be anywhere from an honest try to a creative wonder. Whatever the case, consider adding the following tools to your experiential learning toolkit. Curated by elementary school technology coach Elizabeth Espinoza, this comprehensive collection contains web, desktop, and mobile apps that can help your students become makers and inventors."

"Incorporating exercise and movement throughout the school day makes students less fidgety and more focused on learning. Improving on-task behavior and reducing classroom management challenges are among the most obvious benefits of adding physical activities to your teaching toolkit. As research continues to explore how exercise facilitates the brain's readiness and ability to learn and retain information, we recommend several strategies to use with students and to boost teachers' body and brain health. "