Group items tagged

"Grab your mask and gloves and head on into the Dissection Lab for dissection photos, videos, worksheets, and quizzes!       Please note that these dissection images may be upsetting to some viewers."

"The race to be the go-to technology in your classroom is more than heating up. It's on fire. Like, someone grab a fire extinguisher because the race is ablaze. The two biggest contestants in this race are, not surprisingly, products from Apple and Google. Both Apple and Google are in a high-stakes race to own the education ecosystem. They're going about it in different ways but their goals are the same: to have their products used by the next generation."

"Every teacher knows that visual aids are a good way to facilitate the learning process and grab students' attention for a long time. Educators use different posters, videos, slideshows to explain a new topic, provide more details or even test students. Presentations take a prominent part in the visual aids collection. Their main benefit is that teachers can combine various types of content in one presentation: text, images, video clips, music. Saved in a video format, presentations can be easily shown in class, uploaded to YouTube, embedded into a school website, or shared on any other educational resource."

"Dinosaster is an online game in which students move a dinosaur across a timeline in a Mario Brothers-like style of running and jumping. The object of the game is to hit each dinosaur bone along the way. When a new bone is grabbed a new fact card about a dinosaur appears on the screen. The object is to get all the cards and discover why the dinosaurs became extinct."

"Science Today is a terrific free app for iPads that brings quality informational text to the fingertips of your students.  Kids can read about a variety of high interest topics.  They'll interact with a wide range of content while building their skills as nonfiction readers.  This app could be used to enhance a science lesson, provide background knowledge, or just give students a space to read about animals, ecosystems, or any topic that grabs their attention."

"Primary source documents, especially photographs, are powerful tools for grabbing the attention of students.  Sometimes it's challenging to find the right picture to connect to a historical fiction literature circle or to support a Social Studies lesson.  I'm a big fan of Google Image searches but another option is to check out the LIFE photo archive hosted by Google.  You can search over a hundred years worth of photographs by typing in a keyword or choosing a specific event or time period.  This is a terrific resource for teachers who work with students of any age!"

"Here is a good infographic that grabbed my attention today as I was leafing through Debra's creativity Pinterest Board. The visual features some interesting tips to help in brainstorming creative ideas. I have gone through these ideas and I think these could be a useful resource to use with students. When students are working on a writing task or a classroom project, these tips could probably help them generate some innovative ideas and boost their thinking process."

E-commerce, gaming, and social networking sites are grabbing the maximum attention, where you knowingly, or sometimes even unknowingly submit your personal information. And, Internet perpetrators are taking advantage of the pervasive Internet, people's growing dependencies on the Web, and addiction thereof. Thus, what you share on the Web, and with whom you share is an area of concern.

"Ever have a thought slip away and wish you had written it down? Grab one of these modern note-taking apps, and you'll be able to jot down a promising idea at the drop of a hat. For some people, there's no replacement for pen and paper when it comes to taking notes. However, if you're open to a more high-tech way to record your thoughts, you might get more mileage from one of the many note-taking apps that are available to download for free from the Windows Store. Whether you're taking down shopping lists or writing HTML code, there's a notepad app out there that will suit your needs perfectly. Here are some of the very best modern apps to help you record your ideas and keep them organized."

"Analogies are one of the best kept secrets in education. Often used as multiple choice question items or as warm-ups to begin a lesson, analogies are use teaching and learning strategies because of their flexibility, ease of use, and tendency to force cognitive load on students. I use them constantly in my classroom, primarily due to their grab-and-go format. Any place, any time-verbal, drawing, exit slip, discussion, one-on-one, whole class, group work, begin class, end class, abstract or concrete thinking, analogies are imminently useful. They're also everywhere-debates, commercials, sitcoms, poetry, hip-hop, video games. What's not to love?"

"Mobile devices as teaching tools are becoming a more and more common part of the American education experience in classrooms, from preschool through graduate school. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 58% of U.S. teachers own smartphones - 10 percentage points higher than the national average for adults. Those teachers are building that tech-savviness into their lesson plans, too, by embracing bring-your-own-device policies and leading the push for an iPad for every student. In 2013, an estimated 25% of U.S. schools had BYOD policies in place and it's reasonable to assume those numbers have risen in the past two years. What do these mobile devices really add, though? Is there more to this tech trend than just grabbing the attention of students? Is mobile technology boosting classroom instruction, or is it all just a flashy way to accomplish the same things as analog instruction?"

"One of the webinars that I did yesterday for Simple K12 was about useful YouTube features for teachers and students. If you couldn't attend the webinar you can still get the handout that I shared during the webinar. 8 Overlooked Useful YouTube Tools is embedded below as a PDF. You can also click here to grab it from Box.com."

"Need something to keep you busy this weekend? Look no further. The Weekend Workshop is our weekly column where we showcase a badass DIY project that you can complete with minimal skills and expertise. We've dug through all the online tutorials on the Web, and gone the extra mile to pinpoint projects that are equal parts easy, affordable, and fun. So put on your work pants, grab your tool belt, and head to the garage - it's time to start building!"

"It is a challenge to seize children's attention and not to let it go. Some teachers experience great difficulties in keeping students engaged and involved in the educational process due to objective reasons. Luckily, there exist some tricks to help resourceful teachers, one of them being visual aids. Looking at bright and colorful images, students are more likely to digest the material without boredom and remember it afterwards. But why are visual aids so effective and how to create them? First of all, visual aids are helpful, because they show the data visually. Some facts, connections and outcomes are much easier to understand when they are represented as a picture. For example, some statistics, shown as a diagram will be much more winning than its detailed descriptions in words. Then, as visual images have the sense of modernity, they easily grab children's attention for some time. Thus, they are useful for highlighting some essential points and setting true accents. And finally, visual aids and pictures boost children's creativity. By looking at something beautiful and challenging, by perceiving the right way of data organization, students can get inspired and come up with new and outstanding ideas. "

"Here at Make: we see new, ingenious projects from our community every day. Many of these projects are made possible with the use of development boards. However, if you're new to the whole idea, it can be confusing to parse out the differences between boards and the advantages of using one over another. We've created this super simple guide to help you get started. Then, when you're ready, head to the Maker Shed to check out Arduino and Raspberry Pi Starter Kits, which come with all the goodies you need for your inaugural projects. Not sure you want all those peripherals yet? Start with the essentials: Grab the board of your choice and guide yourself with our Getting Started With series for Arduino and for Raspberry Pi."

"When Jennifer Lanier began working as a media specialist at Summit Parkway Middle School in South Carolina's Richland School District Two, the school library looked like one most of us remember from our own school days. "There were large heavy tables and chairs with shelves lining all walls," she says.  "It was a very fixed space."  After a period of intensive research, she was ready to make some major changes. "My library is now split into two main sections," Lanier explains, "with the circulation desk as the dividing point.  I focused on renovating the back half first.  This would become the Creative Commons area.  I removed the shelves from the corner, purchased six tall mobile tables, a few stools, six white boards, and twenty beanbag cubes." The idea, Lanier explains, was not to set up the tables, stools and cubes ahead of time but, rather, to leave the furniture out of the way and let users (both students and staff members) grab it and reconfigure the space to meet their needs.  "The arrangement of the space does not dictate the way collaboration is carried out; instead the collaboration can freely flow in the direction it takes.  Users can gather around on the cubes to discuss an idea.  They can break out to a project table and visualize it on a white board.  The simple act of moving allows the brain to be more creative." "

"How can you place learning goals front and center in a tech-rich classroom? Let the phrase "tasks before apps" be your reminder to focus on technology's purpose for learning, even when bright and shiny digital tools grab your attention. As a teacher in a one-to-one iPad classroom, I strove to make the most of the tablets in my students' hands. From screencasting and moviemaking to reading activities and skill practice, these devices elevated and energized my students' learning experiences. Digital platforms can give children access to learning experiences that meet their individual needs, such as when a student uses the free Microsoft Learning Tool Immersive Reader to hear a passage read aloud. Digital tools can open up the world to students, such as virtual-reality videos from the New York Times that showcase a place they may never have the chance to visit. In my current role as a professional development facilitator, I spend time in other teachers' classrooms in schools across the country. The phrase "tasks before apps" was born out of my coaching conversations and presentations to educators. It is a reminder that, even as we consider how technology helps students do new and amazing things with their learning, we must always place learning goals at the forefront. Here are four strategies to make the most of technology and embrace a "tasks before apps" mindset this school year."

"Ask our team, "What's new?" and you'll hear about how we're learning on the go with podcasts. Ask our teacher bloggers about new practices they're trying in their classrooms and you'll hear how their encouraging reflective learning with podcasts. At the start of a new school year, we think they are a great way to continue learning and stay engaged. So grab your headphones or sync the bluetooth, and get ready to listen and learn-here is our list of favorite podcasts you should check out to support your learning."

"This giant collection of LEGO challenge cards is a simple prep, fun way to sneak some STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning into the day. With cards that range from easy to difficult, little engineers will love tackling the designs. Grab your set below and add them to a classroom center, engineering activity, homeschool lesson, or free play. There are so many ways to use these cards!"

"Facebook, not so long ago, ruled the social media roost. Across nearly all important demographics, the Zuckerberg-led time bomb flattened the competition. Sure, it was losing teens, but many of them were just being diverted to other Facebook-owned properties, like WhatsApp and Instagram. Now, according to Pew Research, only 51 percent of teens use Facebook - down 20 percent from 2015. Zuckerberg better grab a helmet because this time the sky really is falling."